Chapter 9

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A couple of weeks after Ethan started learning Occlumency, Helene called him over, to teach him something.

However, right as he arrived in the study, of course there was his mother sitting, but there was also a pile of books.

Letting out a devilish smile, Helene said, "Sit down, we are going to learn runes."

Shivering inside from the smile, Ethan obeyed his mother as Miyuki hopped off his head and left the room, ignoring Ethan's betrayed look.

Helene rolled her eyes at her son and said, "Runes aren't as bad as you think, the only tedious part is learning a few ancient rune languages. Then, if you are talented enough, you will be able to derive all the other ones, and then runes become really fun."

Ethan sighed, and asked, "How many ancient rune languages do I have to learn?"

Helene grinned and replied, "Norse, Egyptian, Chinese, Gobbledegook, Mermish…"

Ethan stopped her, "Fine, I get it!"

Helene laughed, before saying, "Don't worry, it's not as complicated as it sounds. Besides, the power of runes is not one to laugh at. With enough preparation, a Runemaster can give any wizard a run for their money. You remember the Kitsune?"

Ethan nodded, of course he did.

Helene gestured at the rest of the room and said, "Runes will also protect your house, and they are necessary to explore ruines. Exploring a pyramid without a Runemaster would be suicide."

Then, with a snap of her fingers, Ethan favourite toy, the small dragon, appeared in the room, and Helene said, "Runes can also allow you to easily make a living. If they can be used to animate toys, they can also be made to create an army. The Terracotta Army once swept through China."

Ethan said, "I know runes are important, and I'm going to learn them, but look at all those books…"

Helene smiled and comforted him, "Don't complain when you have it so easy. Your ability to memorize is already quite fearsome, and your strengthened mind from Occlumency and Meditation only accentuates that. You don't know how much I wished I had your capacity. Believe me, if you don't learn them as a child, you are going to regret it in the future."

Ethan nodded, and Helene said, "Unlike your Occlumency classes, we aren't going to have a class everyday, that would be useless. Instead, we will have one per week, but you will have homework. First, I want you to read all of these books, and then we will work on memorizing certain chapters."

Ethan nodded again, at least he would only have to read the books in the beginning. But thinking about how tedious it was going to be, Ethan once again sighed as he lifted a finger and levitated the books.

Helene didn't look surprised at that as both her and her husband knew about his magic, how could they not with how much he used it. They had already seen it once with the Kitsune crisis, so Ethan didn't bother hide his advancement from his parents.

However, with a twitch of her finger, all the books dropped back on the table. Ethan, who had just gotten up, looked at his mother curiously, and saw her gesture at the seat.

Sitting back down, Ethan saw his mother sigh, something she very, very rarely did.

"We are going to talk about your grandparents."

Ethan, who was wondering what exactly she wanted to talk about, was shocked. But after a moment, he asked, "Is your father Gellert Grindelwald?"

Helene froze, and Ethan explained with a smile, "I did my research. Someone Newt Scamander knew, and feared. Someone who would force us to live in hiding. Someone you are ashamed to be related to. Someone related to Durmstrang."

Helene remained silent for a few seconds, before sighing once again, "I should have known you would have guessed. You know what he did too then?"

Ethan nodded, "I do. Do people know of our existence?"

"Our existence? The entire world, I guess. However, very few really know who we are. I think the latest rumours were that we are hiding in Dracula's Castle in Transylvania."

Ethan smiled at that, he already knew about the paranoia of the wizarding world.

However, Helene added, "People still know of your existence though. They are expecting your appearance when you turn 11."

"How so?"

Helene revealed, "Your legal name isn't Ethan Rimor, but Ethan Grindelwald. The Ministry knows about it, and the information was quickly leaked that you are the same age as the Boy-Who-Lived. Since you will be entering school at the same time…"

Ethan finally understood why his parents would forget to pick up the newspaper so often, as they weren't actually forgetting it, but simply not picking those that would mention the name Grindelwald.

He could imagine the headlines too, which had probably been prepared for years already, and as soon as he made a public appearance, all they would need would be a picture.

Ethan smiled imagining it, but still asked, "Why use your name as my legal name? Why couldn't we use dad's?"

Helene replied, "Because it isn't only my family who's complicated."

Ethan raised at eyebrow as he tried to recall any mention of the Rimor family, but he never had heard of it, be it in this life or his last one.

"You remember the Sacred 28?"

Ethan nodded, they were the 28 remaining families in the UK who were truly Pure Blood, meaning their families were only made of wizards, the squibs and those who married non pure-bloods erased from the family line.

However, that was more theory than reality. More than pure-blood families, those 28 families were the families who had been controlling Britain for centuries. The majority of the members of Wizengamot, Britain's highest court of law and magical Parliament, were members of the Sacred 28.

Helene added, "Several other countries have similar families. The US has the Founding 16. They are 16 European families who first settled in the US, and their grip on the US is even stronger than the Sacred 28 on Britain. They not only wield high positions in the MACUSA, but also in the muggle US as they don't really care about blood purity.

"The Rimor Clan is both a political and economical giant, whose influence stretches on all five continents."

Ethan asked, "Let me guess, dad didn't leave the family on good terms?"

Helene shook her head and said, "Your father was originally the prodigy of the family, you know about his duelling career. However, while the Founding 16 can be said to have more power than the Sacred 28, they are also more restrictive. His marriage was arranged, but he didn't agree to it as we had already met…"

With a shit eating grin, Ethan exclaimed, "Don't tell me you ran away together!"

Helene had a small smile herself as she nodded, which made Ethan burst in laughter. He never would have guessed that his parents were actually the heroes of a romantic story.

Helene shushed the laughing Ethan, and continued, "Because he fled, especially with me, the clan expelled him, and so you can't legally use the Rimor Clan, so we had no choice but to use my name."

Ethan asked, "What about you then?"

"My name also is Grindelwald, and so is your father's. However, I use a fake name for work. No one would want to work with me otherwise, no matter how skilled I am."

"Did you ever try to change your name?"

"No, I am not ashamed of my name, unlike what you think. Your grandfather did terrible things for sure, but he had more than one side to him. He truly wanted the good of magic kind, in his own twisted way."

She looked a little lost for a moment, before she added with a smile, "Besides, running away from our name will not bring us anything."

Ethan nodded as he shared a similar ideology. After a moment of silence, Ethan got up, levitating the books off the table as he began walking away. Before leaving though, he said, "Thank you for telling me, mom."