Get comfortable, turn the page, and let’s see what this story has been hiding 🔥 ✦ Pippy the house-elf came huffing toward Elias with two swords balanced awkwardly in his small arms.
The blades were far too long for his slight body, and every step looked like a struggle.
“Professor Vale,” Pippy squeaked, “Professor Dumbledore asked Pippy to return your two long swords.
He also asks you to visit the Headmaster’s office.
The password is Fizzing Whizzbee.” “Thank you, Pippy.
You are a very diligent elf.” The compliment nearly made the house-elf jump out of his own skin.
He barely managed to contain his delight, bowed deeply to Elias, and vanished with a crack of house-elf magic.
Elias watched the spot where Pippy had disappeared with open envy.
Whatever form of Apparition house-elves used, it was a very useful piece of magic.
The return of his swords surprised him even more.
He had assumed they had been lost during his crossing between worlds.
Instead, they had somehow remained close enough to be recovered.
A witcher carried two swords: silver for monsters and specters, steel for humans and beasts.
The steel blade Elias used was a standard Toussaint knight’s sword, engraved with runes that caused weakness and bleeding.
His silver sword was a long, narrow Viper School blade.
Both had tasted the blood and lives of countless creatures.
With the two blades back on his shoulders, Elias felt a familiar sense of security settle over him.
He set off for the Headmaster’s office with a long stride.
Naturally, he attracted plenty of attention along the way.
Students stared at the strange man walking openly through Hogwarts with two swords across his back.
Even the portraits leaned together and whispered as he passed.
No doubt the castle’s most bored residents had found a new topic to dissect.
“Password?” asked the gargoyle standing guard at the entrance.
“Fizzing Whizzbee,” Elias replied.
“Correct.” The gargoyle rotated aside, revealing the spiral staircase behind it.
Elias paused to study the stone creature, curious about the magic that animated it.
After lingering longer than necessary, he finally climbed the stairs into the Headmaster’s office.
Dumbledore was already waiting.
“Elias,” he said pleasantly, “I asked you here because, as a professor at Hogwarts, I believe you ought to have a wand of your own.” “I am sorry, Professor Dumbledore, but witchers cannot use magic beyond Signs,” Elias said with genuine regret.
The magical world had an extraordinary variety of spells, and he would have liked very much to use them.
“Professor Vale, I have been able to feel considerable magic in you,” Dumbledore said, more serious now.
“If you can draw on magical power to release Signs, I see no reason you should be unable to use a wand.” Elias frowned.
Since arriving in this world, he had indeed felt that something about his body had changed in ways he did not yet understand.
“Perhaps we should test it first,” Dumbledore said.
He handed Elias a spare wand and demonstrated.
“Aguamenti.” A gentle stream of water flowed from the tip of Dumbledore’s wand and gradually filled the cup in front of him.
Elias copied the movement as closely as he could.
“Aguamenti.” A thick jet of water, more like a high-pressure fire hose than a household charm, blasted from the wand.
It slammed into the Headmaster’s desk and knocked it over.
The portraits of former headmasters shrieked and ducked away in panic, terrified of being drenched.
Fawkes burst upward with a startled cry and circled the room overhead.
Elias stopped casting at once.
Dumbledore reacted just as quickly, using Reparo and Scourgify to return the office to its former condition.
Even he looked startled.
“Professor Vale,” he said after a brief pause, “it appears you can indeed cast with a wand.
Your control over magical output, however, has some difficulties.
I suggest you speak with Professor Flitwick often.
As our Charms professor, he is ideally suited to help you, and he is already quite interested in your Signs.” His eyes twinkled again.
“For now, come with me.
We should choose a wand for you.
We can take the Floo Network to Diagon Alley.” Dumbledore stepped into the fireplace first and began explaining the use of Floo Powder.
“Oh.
Yes, of course,” Elias said.
He was still embarrassed by the chaos he had just caused.
The portraits around the office were glaring at him with undisguised resentment.
“The Leaky Cauldron.” Elias threw down a handful of Floo Powder.
Green flames rose around him, and when he opened his eyes again, he was standing in the Leaky Cauldron.
Dumbledore was already waiting in the pub.
Beside him stood Tom, the innkeeper, who was making every effort to be agreeable.
The chief disadvantage of Floo travel, Elias quickly discovered, was that it left a person coated in soot.
Dumbledore noticed his disheveled state and kindly cast Scourgify.
“Hello, Professor Vale,” Tom said warmly.
“Tom, proprietor of the Leaky Cauldron.
You are welcome here any time.
If you ever get tired, we always have rooms upstairs.” Tom had clearly learned about Elias from Dumbledore.
Elias returned the greeting politely, then followed the Headmaster to the small courtyard behind the pub.
Dumbledore tapped the ordinary-looking wall with his wand.
The bricks began to shift.
A moment later, a wide passage opened before them.
“Welcome to Diagon Alley, Elias,” Dumbledore said, smiling.
“Remember, to enter, tap the brick three up and two across from the dustbin.” Elias stared.
He had seen Diagon Alley countless times in films and books during his first life.
Standing before it in person, however, left him momentarily speechless.
Bright sunlight spilled over the nearest shop: Potage’s Cauldron Shop.
Cauldrons of every size and material were displayed inside, from copper and brass to pewter, silver, self-stirring, and collapsible models.
Owl shops, apothecaries, and busy storefronts crowded his field of vision.
There was too much to take in at once.
At last, a tall white building drew his attention.
Gringotts Wizarding Bank.
“Come along, Elias,” Dumbledore said.
“You need an account at Gringotts.
I will advance your first month’s salary so you can buy necessities today.” The bank entrance gleamed with bronze doors.
Goblin guards in scarlet-and-gold uniforms bowed as Elias and Dumbledore approached.
Elias studied them with curiosity: small bodies, long hands and feet, sharp features, and fine, pointed teeth.
“Goblins,” Dumbledore murmured.
“And Elias, staring is generally considered impolite.” Elias gave a faintly embarrassed nod and looked away.
Past the second set of silver doors, an inscription warned strangers against greed, theft, and the punishment waiting for anyone who tried to take wealth that did not belong to them.
“Gringotts has excellent security,” Dumbledore said softly.
“Only a madman would attempt to rob it.” They entered the broad marble hall.
A hundred or so goblins sat behind a long counter, writing in ledgers, weighing coins, and inspecting gems through eyepieces beneath the white stone ceiling.
The moment Dumbledore arrived, a goblin came forward with visible enthusiasm.
“Good day, Mr.
Dumbledore.
What may Griphook do for you?” “I would like to open an account for Hogwarts’ newest professor,” Dumbledore said.
“Of course, Mr.
Dumbledore.
No trouble at all.” Griphook turned toward Elias.
“This is Mr.
Vale, yes?
Please come with me.
Mr.
Dumbledore, if you would be so kind as to wait here, we have almond biscuits and hot cocoa prepared.” The goblins’ hospitality startled Elias for a moment.
Then he understood.
That warmth had been prepared for Dumbledore.
The account-opening process went smoothly.
Before long, Elias had received his first salary as a professor: two hundred Galleons.
✦ ✦ ✦ Ready for more?
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS EmberHollow Thank you for reading.
I hope this chapter pulled you deeper into the story.
Stick around, because there’s still a lot waiting just ahead.