Sunlight shined through the foggy window and illuminated the small bedroom on the second floor of the Hog's Head Inn. Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Vesryn stirred and opened his eyes as he exited his trance, an old elven technique that was used to replace sleep through the use of mental exercises. It allowed the practitioner to rest the mind and body while remaining semi-conscious. Although Vesryn knew that it could only replace sleep for so long before becoming harmful and would have liked to actually sleep for the night, he decided it better to err on the side of caution. At least until he could truly determine who in this world was his enemy and who could become his allies.
Standing up, Vesryn dusted off his trousers as he looked out the window. The man called Moody, an ex-auror or dark wizard catcher, had left last night after his questions were answered. Professor McGonagall, however, had asked the barman, Aberforth, to give him a room for the night while she went back to the castle to prepare for the next day. And now as he stood alone in the old, worn down room staring out at the open field behind the building, Vesryn could only give a sigh of resignation as he recalled all the information he had been given.
"Ugh, not even a week here, and I've already fought an army of undead and had a run-in with a bigoted cultist." Vesryn muttered quietly as he walked over and opened the old, worn down window before leaning out to take a deep breath of the fresh air outside. Breathing out, he watched as the grass swayed gently in the breeze, a corpse of trees standing tall and obscuring the tilted and run down shack that was barely visible from between the trees. To the right was a large hillside that the building was built against and marked the end of the street in which the inn was built. Leaning on the windowsill, Vesryn watched as the morning rays of sunlight slowly illuminated the world before him from behind the hill. As he breathed in the morning air, the sound of footsteps on creaking floorboards pulled his attention towards the door. A second later, the sound of knocking echoed into the room before it was followed by an unfamiliar voice.
"Excuse me, but Professor McGonagall is here for you." The voice of what seemed like a young boy called out from the other side of the door.
"One moment!" Vesryn said aloud as he walked towards the door. Pausing for a moment, he focused his senses on the other side of the door.
'Breathing, one person. Shorter than I am. No one else on this floor. Glasses clinking, downstairs. Talking. McGonagall and Aberforth. There's something else down there.' Vesryn tilted his head slightly as his pointed ears twitched to pick up as many details as he could. Details that his senses never would have been able to pick up before he came to this world. Taking a deep breath, Vesryn opened the door and came face to face with a young boy that stood a couple inches shorter than himself with short black hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. Looking at the boy for a brief moment, Vesryn couldn't help but notice a similarity with the man in the portrait he saw last night. Looking up, he saw the painting in the corner of his eye with the same man, now awake and holding hands with a black haired woman in a black dress, while the python he saw last night was nowhere to be seen. The boy, noticing what he was looking at, turned to look at the painting across the building.
"That is my grandfather and his wife, Aurelius Dumbledore and Nagini Dumbledore. I never met them myself. They died shortly after my mother was born." The boy said as he looked down at his feet.
"Hm. Sorry for your loss." Vesryn said as he stepped past the boy and started to make his way towards the stairs.
"I'm Aurelius Dumbledore the Second. What's your name?" The boy introduced himself as he walked briskly after Vesryn.
"Vesryn."
"So, are you excited, Vesryn?"
"For what?"
"You're going with Professor McGonagall to get supplies, right? For Hogwarts." Vesryn paused for a moment at the top of the stairs.
Vesryn had accepted the necessity of going back to school. Did he need to? Probably not. He was confident that, given enough time, he would be able to teach himself how to use magic in a proficient enough manner. But that was the problem, time. He needed time to reach a point where he felt confident in his ability to face any and all challenges again. Sure, he still had his skills, and the increased strength of his new body did make up for some of what he lost. But, that didn't change the fact that he was still lacking compared to the way he was before he came to this world.
His new physique is superior to his old one, maybe twice as strong as he remembered being at eleven years old, which put him at around four times stronger than the common human man, but that was still severely lacking compared to the fully trained and adult body he previously had. Not to mention his weapons, his armor, and his resources were all gone. Everything he once had that enabled him to further enhance his abilities and cover his weaknesses were lost to him. He was now under equipped and alone without anyone to rely on in a world that he only had a shallow understanding of. He needed time to re-equip, and retrain his body to a capable level. Time that this school might be able to give him. After all, how much trouble could a school for juvenile wizards really give him?
"Yes. Yes, I am." Vesryn answered before letting out a sigh of annoyance and muttered under his breath. "You should learn some magic, Ves. It'll be helpful, Ves. Ugh, I should've listened."
"Did you say something?" Aurelius asked as he followed down the stairs.
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"Yes, I said you should get ready to go. You're coming with us, apparently." Vesryn responded as he turned to look at Professor McGonagall and Aberforth.
"What? No I'm not."
"Aurelius! Go get ready! You're gonna go with Professor McGonagall to get your school supplies." Aberforth called out as he spotted the two boys coming down the stairs. Aurelius froze at the base of the stairs as Vesryn continued on towards a table in the corner of the room. Dusting off a layer of dust from the chair and table, Vesryn could hear the sounds of rushing footsteps as Aurelius ran back up the stairs.
"Good morning Vesryn." McGonagall greeted as she walked over to the table as he sat down in the corner chair.
"Good morning professor. So how does this work? I don't believe I have any of your currency to buy the school supplies." Vesryn responded as he pulled out an apple from his bag and took a bite out of it.
"Oh, you don't need to concern yourself with your school supplies. The school has a fund set up for students who cannot afford school equipment, though you may have to get some of the books second hand." McGonagall explained as she looked at the empty chair across from him before turning her gaze back towards him as she opted to remain standing.
"And what if I wanted to purchase other items or services?"
"I'm afraid, you would need to rely on yourself to get the necessary funds for any other purchases." Vesryn closed his eyes as he thought about his options.
"Is there somewhere I can trade in or sell materials?" McGonagall turned her head slightly.
"Like what?"
"I have a little bit of gold and silver that was used to make jewelry." Vesryn answered, causing McGonagall to raise an eyebrow.
"I inherited it." He added.
"Ah. Well, in that case, I'm sure the goblins at Gringotts can help you make that exchange."
"Hmm. Yeah, that still surprises me. Goblins running a bank." Vesryn closed his eyes and shook his head as he attempted to imagine several goblins dressed in loincloths and fur scraps running around with an abacus in hand, screaming about taxes and loans.
"Regardless, I guess I need to make a trip to this bank then." Vesryn said as he stood up and dusted himself off.
"Okay! I'm ready to go!" Aurelius shouted as he came running down the stairs.
"Aurelius, take this. Make sure you listen to Professor McGonagall." Aberforth told the boy as he handed him a pouch, the jingling of its contents giving Vesryn a good idea of what was in it.
"I know, Gramps, I know." Aurelius said as he took the coin pouch and slipped it into a pocket on the inside of his coat.
"I'll keep an eye on him, don't worry." McGonagall said before gesturing towards the door. "Let's be on our way then."
With the two boys following close behind, McGonagall led them north-west through the village streets that were slowly beginning to fill with people. Several shops of varying sides decorated both sides of the street as they walked. Vesryn watched as the people around him exited the numerous thatched cottages around them and went about their day, tending their gardens and picking up the day's groceries before heading off to handle whatever business they had for the day. Despite the occasional stare he caught from the many witches and wizards, Vesryn eventually found himself standing in front of a different inn. Stepping into the significantly cleaner and better maintained building called the 'Three Broomsticks Inn,' the group was met with an enthusiastic greeting from a blonde haired, green-eyed woman.
"Good morning, Minerva, Aurelius." The woman greeted as she placed a bowl in front of a man seated at one of the numerous tables. Tucking the now empty tray under her arm, she turned to look at Vesryn as he stepped inside after the other two. "And who's this?"
"Good morning, Rosmerta. This is Vesryn, I'm taking these two to get their school supplies." McGonagall said as she gestured towards the boy.
"Pleasure to meet you, mam." Vesryn said with a slight nod of his head.
"Oh, he has manners. How refreshing to see. So, what can I do for you all?" Rosmerta asked with a smile.
"I was hoping to use your floo network. I'd apparate, but I thought it might this might be the better option." McGonagall said as Vesryn looked around the building, his eyes catching a bundle of paper that had what looked like several moving pictures. His eyes narrowed slightly as he read the text on the paper.
'Daily Prophet. June 28th, 1991.
Flight of Dragons Loose, Muggle City Obliviated.
A never before seen gathering of dragons have been spotted over The Lady's Lake. Several Hebridean Blacks, Common Welsh Greens and even Norwegian Ridgebacks flew over the lake last night, causing the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes to dispatch Obliviators to the surrounding muggle communities. Experts are unsure of what is the cause of this strange phenomenon that has brought several different breeds of dragons together, but they believe that it may in fact be connected to the events eleven years ago that preceded the increase of both size and intelligence of dragons around the world. Experts believe that the dragons may in fact be searching for something, however it is unknown at this time what that something might be.'
Vesryn watched as a large black dragon appeared in the picture, breathing a stream of fire into the air as it flew out of sight. His eyebrows furrowed as he thought to himself. 'The Lady's Lake, that's where I was when I got the letter, wasn't it?'
"Come, we have a lot to do." McGonagall said, her voice bringing Vesryn out of his thoughts. Giving the paper another glance, he turned and followed the professor as she led them towards the fireplace at the back of the inn. Picking up a large pot from the table nearby, she held it out towards the boys.
"Take a handful of the floo powder, throw it into the fireplace, step into the fire and say loudly and clearly, 'The Leaky Cauldron.' Aurelius, you go first so Vesryn knows what to do." McGonagall instructed as Aurelius stepped forward and grabbed a handful of the powder. Vesryn watched as the boy cast the powder into the fireplace, that quickly erupted with an emerald green fire that seemingly produced no heat. The young boy then stepped calmly into the fire before turning around to look at him.
"The Leaky Cauldron!" Aurelius called out before the flames quickly wrapped around him, and he disappeared, leaving only the softly glowing embers behind.
"Alright, your turn, Vesryn. Remember, 'The Leaky Cauldron.' And make sure to keep your elbows tucked in close to your body." McGonagall told him as she held the pot out in front of him. Vesryn grabbed a handful of the strange grayish-silver powder and threw it into the fireplace before stepping towards the flames.
"The Leaky Cauldron." Vesryn repeated the strange phrase as clearly as he could. In an instant, his surroundings darkened as he watched countless different views pass him by. Different kitchens, living rooms and even offices zipped past him at such incredible speeds that if it wasn't for his own enhanced senses he might not have been able to see the different locations clearly. Then as quickly as it started, it came to an end as he was pushed through one of the 'doorways' into an busy room filled with people eating and drinking. The sound of fire erupting drew his attention behind him as Professor McGonagall stepped through the fireplace and looked around the room.
"Professor McGonagall! How great to see you. Tea as usual? Or perhaps a whiskey?" The barman called out as the Professor led the two boys across the busy room.
"Not today, Tom. I'm here on business." McGonagall answered as she led the boys towards a door in the back.
"Not a problem, Professor. Take care now!" The barman called out as the trio stepped through the door into a small walled courtyard that had little else other than a single rubbish bin.
"Make sure to pay close attention. You'll do well to memorize this. From the rubbish bin, three up and two across. Tap this brick with your wand." McGonagall explained as she pulled her wand out from her sleeve and demonstrated slowly for Vesryn to see. With a slight smile on his face he watched as the bricks of the wall quickly began to shift and fold open revealing a large cobblestoned alley filled with an assortment of different buildings of varying sizes and a crowd of people shuffling back and forth as they went about their business.
"Welcome to Diagon Alley."