Old Camelot, 1990, 28th of August, 6 AM
With a subtle pop we and Bippy emerged into a lovely glade, the summer sunlight glinting off of dew-covered trees. Birds cooed and called to one another, several males dancing to gain the affections of a female, all whilst the grass softly tossed backwards an forwards in the waning wind.
Stepping forwards we both took in the beautiful nature surrounding us, Bippy disappearing within seconds of emergence. Old Camelot was an ancient magical site for Britain and just so happened to be the location of the LeFay manor. Having researched the difference, Lun had understood that the modern Camelot was the foundation of the Ministry of Magic; the building itself considered a castle itself. Old Camelot, on the other hand, was the seat of power for Morgan LeFay and later Arthur Pendragon.
Old Camelot was steeped in magical leylines, the veins of pure force supposedly granting the entire location with natural invisibility and perception filters. This was the reason why New Camelot was made and served as a replacement to the original... Wizards and Witches loved their traditions and thus they needed a Camelot to carry on the governance of Britain itself... It was a curious touch of history, but lacked any details as to how beautiful Old Camelot truly was.
~The lilacs and tulips are beautiful...~
Lun's tone was calm and serene as he sighed lazily inside our soul. I couldn't begrudge him his relaxation, since our surroundings were wonderfully freeing. A smile met our lips as I spoke.
"Yeah, Morgan LeFay sure knew the value of peace, it seems."
We stepped forwards through the glade, the grass pressing beneath our feet as our green cloak and black robe scraped along the tops of the grass. Wind swept through every ounce of nature as we slowly trundled forwards towards the Mansion... If it could be called that...
You see, the LeFay 'mansion' was actually a Roman Villa. Many considered the LeFay family ancient and had the misconception that families over 2000 years old lived in Medieval keeps or castles... This wasn't true for LeFay or Pendragon... Both families were around during the first Saxon invasions of the British Isles. The Western Roman empire had crumbled and the colonies of Rome splintered into different countries or factions. Morgan LeFay, born a roman citizen with a Celtic family name, had established control over all of Britannia before a rebellion broke out in the Scottish Highlands; Arthur Pendragon. Anyway, both families were around when the Western Roman Empire fell and thus had Roman buildings and architectural norms.
We were both shocked as a full Roman Villa stretched out before us. The white marble gleamed in the idyllic plane that had abruptly emerged from the edge of the tree line. Perfectly manicured gardens lazily filled the centre of the villa's entrance, framed by detailed marble pillars and the soft but vibrant red terracotta roofing tiles. Tall pine trees lined the edges of the complex, the size of the structure bolstered by the synchronicity within every single detail.
~Damn... This is, wonderous! Imagine how father would feel seeing this ancient structure in all of its glory...~
I nodded internally towards him whilst we continued forwards, both of us marvelling at the perfectly cut hedges and the pristine sandstone pathways. Flowers sprouted from small pots and isolated gardens whilst the sound of water gently trickled through the entire front yard. Finding the large fountain that sat imperiously in the middle of the already resplendent garden, we gaped at the awe-inspiring statue of Morgan LeFay.
She, the statue, stood at ten feet tall. Holding a broadsword of bright orichalcum with imbedded rubies along the hilt, it cut an intimidating figure. The statue stood with its sword plunged into the black-white marble below it, both hands held upon the pommel as its face slowly turned towards us, its painted eyes slowly lowering to look down upon us and make judgement.
Taking a step back we both internally felt dread. Magic was flaring around us like a viper ready to strike. Every single statue in this garden, which we mostly had ignored or passed off as merely beautiful, had turned their heads to face us. From statues of Ancient Greek heroes; Achilles, Odysseus, Hercules... To a few heavily detailed manticores... All of them were watching whilst the central figure of Morgan LeFay slowly tilted its head to match the direction of its gaze.
The central statue opened its mouth suddenly, a soft feminine voice swooning through the air much like a haze of heat. "Dic nomen tuum et scito id verum esse; monitus enim es et in terram LeFay ingressus es."
None of the words made sense except for the family name which both the statue's representation and them held. Lun hummed in our soul whilst I slowly moved my right hand into a grasping motion; getting ready to whip out my wand if things become violent.
~I- I think it is asking for our name... Dic nomen tuum, is a direct askance of our name.~
'Well, do we give it both our names?'
~I'd not take the gamble sis. Tell it both our names. I think the most important part is our family name.~
'Fine.'
Sighing I pushed forwards, our hand staying in preparation as we both regarded the central statue. Everything was silent and still whilst we prepared our answer. The statues had halted in waiting as the question clung to the dangerous atmosphere.
'Wait! Do I have to answer in Latin?'
~... Didn't think of that... Um... Just say our names, avoid speaking any Latin~
Rolling our eyes we both breathed in, the tension coiling around our stomach.
"Solaris, Lunaris, LeFay-Grindelwald-Emyrs-Nightingale." The words perforated the tense silence as the statues around the garden all shifted back into place. Magic, once vicious and violent, ebbed into a calm ripple as the statue in the middle nodded with a smile. Its painted exterior shrugged and shifted much like a human would have before the structural foundation that held it in place lowered and it jumped off of its podium; the flow of water from the varying animals around the fountains exterior ceasing.
"Sequimini me, filii domūs LeFay, ad systema praesidii vos ambos conectere debemus."
~Something about us following and doing something about a system?~
'Great, we've got a useless translator...'
Lun huffed and rolled his eyes whilst I continued observing the statue as it strutted off towards, what I would assume, was the main foyer of the Villa proper. Following behind the domineering guardian of the Villa we couldn't help but marvel at the interior design.
Below our feet was a luscious mosaic depiction of a kelpie and dragon fighting one another above the Mediterranean with numerous little islands scattered in the foreground of the artwork. Further in the room the mosaic turned a bright white with interspersed greys to create clouds... Lun was drooling at this point whilst I watched countless magical lights flicker on throughout the villa.
The statue walked out to the middle of the room and turned towards the right corridor, the floor plan of the villa being very open. Fighting my brother's need to stay and observe the mosaic more we both eventually ran to catch up, finding the statue walking past the Hypocaust and numerous other rooms that looked suspiciously like ancient equivalents to potions rooms, training grounds and toilets. 'Perhaps this is a barracks of sorts?' Lun shrugged as we continued trekking along.
We moved through sprawling rooms, long corridors, hallways that were polished into a blinding white and small gardens that broke apart the endless stretches of white. And then, just as we were close to going insane at the number of rooms we had counted on our way here the statue stopped before an opulent chamber.
Mosaics covered every single part of the walls, floor and ceiling within the room. Pure gold light slithered out from the miniscule gaps between the mosaic's pieces, the light coagulating and concentrating within a small circle in the exact centre of the chamber. In that circle, we stepped to the side of the statue as it stood in the doorway, Lun and I noted the presence of small pedestal with a preserved Raven sat upon it.
"Tange familiarium nostrum, te in magicis domūs nostrae ingratiā, fieri sicut olim fui et suam sortem vincere."
I turned to Lun within our soul and received a shrug in response to the statue's words.
~She probably wants us to touch it or do something to it...~
Exhaling my frustrations we stepped forwards, the Raven held tightly within a stasis field whilst the golden light created a semi-corporeal barrier that shimmered ever so faintly as our movements moved the air inside the room. Seeing the shield we slowly reached our hand out, an attempted caress that seemingly failed as our limb simply moved past it and touched the Raven.
Magic exploded around us as our senses immediately connected to hundreds of properties around Europe, the details of each one flickering into our mind as the wards of this particular Villa resurrected from the ambient state they were in before. If before the defences were akin to a small climb up a hill, now, they were Hercules' challenges and Odysseus's travels.
Blinking back tears and faint fractured filaments within our eyes, a distant cawing sound scraped the inside of our soul. Immediately we felt the change to our magic, our sight and smell taken from us in this moment. Like the shadows that coalesce within the brightest of lights, akin to the darkest recesses of space and existence, our magic felt all encompassing whilst simultaneously concentrated. The nature of our magic had somehow been influenced... Mutated... to integrate a power that had been accumulating for a very long time. It worried me almost as much as it did Lun, seeing as how we were barely beginning to gain control before.
~Magic is in the soul... Father was correct! That ritual we just underwent changed the size and nature of our soul in some fundamental way!~
He sounded very excited, whilst I only felt a shiver crawl up my spine.
'I-Is it dangerous? Did it hurt us in any way? Could it be used against us...!? I really don't like the idea of our soul being touched in any manner that we weren't aware of.'
~Chill out sis... This is just a boost to our power and dominion. The ritual most likely just added the info of all our new houses as well as the magic power. Seemed too simple for anything more powerful or permanently changing.~
'But it did change us! It changed our magic!!!'
~E-Ehhhh... It'll be fine! Probably...~
I facepalmed as our vision slowly returned, waves of magic that were previously invisible now clear as day.
'You were saying?'
~I'll look into it as soon as possible. See if there is a library.~
Rolling our eyes I eventually looked around the room finding zero sign of the Morgan LeFay statue nor any sign of danger. It seemed its job was over and now we were the owners of this Villa.
...
Leaky Cauldron, 1990, 28th of August, 6 AM
Harry had learnt many thing in his short time in this world. To keep his head down was learnt soon after he became four years of age and he had been beaten for getting higher praises than Dudley in kindergarten. To keep his thoughts to himself was the next lesson, pounded into him by an infuriated Petunia after he had asked where his Christmas presents were. Many lessons followed, all of them painful and demeaning. Until finally he reached the perfect equilibrium in which he could just exist without getting too many beatings or abuses.
For eleven years of his life this was a necessity. Now, he sat at a table in the leaky cauldron with a professor from a magical school he'd only learnt about nineteen days ago. He was a wizard and magic was wicked in its uses. He'd spent the last few weeks studying every book he could sink his teeth into. From cleaning spells to attacking spells, called Jinxes, Hexes and Curses, he found it all so useful.
He had been told that he couldn't use magic as a minor, a rather ridiculous rule when he was inside Diagon Alley, since he could circumvent it entirely by simply acquiring a secondary wand from questionable sources; that were readily available mind you. With his off-hand wand now acquired he had already cast every spell within the first year syllabus, his hunger for more gnawing at him constantly as he devoured dryly worded potion books as if they were a cure for hunger.
"Now, Mr. Potter, you will meet me here at 7 am, three days from now. I will guide you to platform 9¾ and get you settled in for the train ride to Hogwarts."
He nodded whilst chewing on his bacon and eggs, the yolk spilling lightly down his chin before he licked it up. In his whole life he had never been given bacon and eggs; despite having to cook it for his cousin and uncle many, many times.
"Got it." She scrunched her face a little at the lack of manners from him but shook it off a moment later when she considered the scars she'd seen along his arms; their existence impossible to hide properly.
"Very well, Harry, I shall leave you here then. Please do not be late that morning..." Merely nodding as he enjoyed his meal, she took off, the green flames of the floo whisking her form away into a plume of dull smoke that was sucked upwards through the chimney.
It was there Harry sat for a few hours simply people watching. An unfortunate side-effect of his stay with his captures was the need to watch people and tell if they were angry, upset, sad, violent, hungry... He couldn't help but fall into that same routine as he watched the wizards and witches around him. This was the case before he felt the need to get up and do something.
Inevitably, being young, that lead him to the massive bank at the end of the street where armed goblins scowled at wizards who simply wanted to access their services. He didn't care about the mood of the goblins, nor the disdainful glares that the seemingly rich and powerful gave him as he walked up the stained marble steps.
He ignored the upturned noses of many of the tellers as he reached the teller towards the end. His only purpose was to see if his parents had left anything for him. The professor had entered the bank without him a few weeks ago and ever since he'd been interested in the place; despite being told by her that he shouldn't go inside.
"Name..." The old goblin intoned with barely contained boredom.
"Harry Potter." A startled yelp sounded from behind Harry but he ignored it, ignorance allowed you to be unhurt after all...
"Key?" Harry turned his head at this.
"Key? I don't have one."
The goblin almost choked upon his own spittle as his eyes widened massively.
"You lost your key...?"
"No. I never received one, or had one to begin with."
The Goblin lost all blood within his face, his hands snapping wildly as a small runt of a goblin rushed forwards; whispers exchanging between them. Eventually they ended the conversation and the teller turned back to Harry.
"Mr. Potter, if I could have you follow me? Account Manager Griphook will be mightily interested in meeting you." Harry frowned as the goblin all but yanked his arm to follow him, his desperation bleeding into how his beady eyes darted around the room.
"Sure...?"
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