บท 18: Chapter 16

[A/N: Hey guys, I just noticed that some reviews are not appearing even though they have been posted and can be seen from notifications. Anyone have any clues as to why this might be happening?]

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I felt a prick which I assumed was the drawing of blood. The wall glowed and then with a pop sound, it opened. I quickly removed my hand and the vault opened completely.

It was a bit anticlimactic but I wasn't complaining. I saw coins littered around the vault and some potions rack and cauldrons at the corner.

There were some other things like a cabinet filled with cutlery and a bookstand with some old books in them.

"Severus you did it!" Eileen said and patted my head.

"Congratulations….heir Prince," Adgroft commented.

I inadvertently gave a smile and scooped up some coins.

"How much do we have?" I asked Eileen.

Eileen looked at Adgroft who pulled out a parchment and began reading it out.

"Vault 545- Prince. Let's see….it has 10000 galleons, 18000 sickles and 80000 knuts."

I had read about wizard currency and knew that galleons were the highest valued coins. 17 sickles made a galleon and 29 knuts made a sickle.

I quickly calculated the amount to galleons and we had roughly around 12000 galleons. Quite a decent sum. It was on the poorer side when it came to pureblood houses but then again, the Prince family was in decline so it made sense.

From what Eileen had told me, an average pureblood family had around 50000 galleons in the vault. Of course, this was not taking their assets from businesses into the picture so they probably had more.

But still, 12000 galleons was a huge amount for the average common household. The Weasleys for one would be able to live lavishly for years with this amount and could probably support more kids.

It seemed I had a long way to go before I became rich enough to buy whatever I want. I was sure I could reach that level if I played my cards well.

I had made around 200 galleons this year courtesy of my suggestions to Rosmerta and Eileen had earned around 100 from working at the inn and selling potions bringing up our total as 300.

But once Eileen opens her own shop, this amount could easily be doubled and maybe even more if my ideas did well.

"How much do we need?" I asked Eileen.

"Hmm...let's withdraw 3000 galleons first, 500 will be enough to cover two years of your term and with the rest, I will buy someplace in Hogsmeade to set up the potion shop."

So after registering me as the heir, we withdrew the money and left the bank.

"So does this mean we get the house as well?" I asked Eileen.

"Yes, we will move there once your term starts. I will put our current house for sale once we get back."

We had talked about this before and had decided to move back to the magical world once my term started. The Prince manor was in Godric's hollow and it was more convenient for Eileen too.

I had not told this to Lily and there was a high chance she would get upset but I wouldn't change my mind for her. The chance to use magic freely and observe other people use it was too precious to give up.

…

After coming out of Gringotts, Eileen decided to first get my uniform. We went to Madam Malkin's Robes for Occasions.

Malkin was an annoying woman who fussed a lot. I just wanted to get the robes and leave quickly but she was taking far too long.

I was glad I had the books already since Flourish and Blotts was filled to the brim and there was a long queue there.

Moving on, I had to buy a new cauldron since Hogwarts didn't allow the one Eileen used or the ones we found in the vault.

"So what do you want to get next Severus?"

"A pet…." I replied. Though I was eager for the wand, I wanted to keep it for the last.

"Alright then, let's go get one, which one do you want?"

I thought about it for a few seconds and answered, "Cat."

I always liked them and wouldn't mind having one so I chose a cat but then again, the other options were not appealing. The owl had practical uses but Eileen was already buying one for the house so that was out. A rat was useless and paying for it seemed like a stupid thing to do.

The rats sold in the pet shop were not special too so there was no point in paying for it. You just had to look in dirty places and you would find one.

As for frogs, I didn't find them appealing and didn't know how to take care of them. So the only option left was the cat.

"Very well..let's get a cat."

We walked around the street till we arrived in front of the pet shop- Magical Menagerie.

We were greeted by a guy with cheeriness. "Welcome Madam to the Magical Menagerie, the best place for all magical pets."

"Go on, tell him what you want Severus," Eileen said.

"I would like to look at some cats," I answered.

The man grinned and said. "Of course, Sir. We have all kinds of cats, which type would you prefer?"

Before I could say anything, he started speaking, "We have the popular Siamese breed, the Persian, the short hair, a few Burmese and if you are looking for something magical, something exotic we have…."

I just let him ramble. He had paused for dramatic effect but I wasn't gawking like he expected so he carried on surprisingly without much awkwardness.

"We have a special cat, one which is a half breed with the blood of a nundu running through it!"

A nundu….one of the most dangerous magical creatures which needed 20 trained wizards to subdue. I was curious about it and at least wanted to have a look at this half breed cat.

"Absolutely not, young man," Eileen said. She seemed to have noticed the glint in my eyes.

"It probably costs a fortune to buy and even more to maintain so we can't buy it. Moreover, it has Nundu blood running through it for Merlin's sake! It's clearly a dangerous creature."

The man awkwardly smiled.

I didn't let him start talking and quickly said, "Just show me some good regular cats, Mister. Preferably young."

"A regular cat?..." the man's enthusiasm took a hit. He had clearly mistaken us for some wealthy purebloods.

"Sure we have those too, come along." He gestured to me to follow.

He took me to the back of the shop where there were various pets and brought to me a row filled with cats. I looked at them. There were many but I picked a small black one. A kitten judging by its size.

"I will have this one." I pointed at the black one which was now sitting upright and cleaning its paws by licking them.

"Hmm…" the man hummed and unlatched the cage to pick it up. He grabbed it roughly, startling it in the process and then handed it to me.

I inspected its gender and found that it was female. I brought my palm under her chin and rubbed it gently, making her relax her guard and purr into me. I grabbed her by the nape and adjusted her on my arm.

Once we were back in the front, Eileen paid for her and we left the store.

"So what will you name..her?" Eileen asked.

"How did you know that it's her?"

"Well...my mum had a few when I was young so I would tell what gender she was."

I looked at the little kitten in my arm and pondered over the name.

"Nyx" I uttered. After going through some odd names, Nyx seemed the most normal sounding. It was better than some Japanese names I had been considering at least.

"Nyx..huh, that sounds apt for her." Eileen agreed on the name and thus it was decided that the cat would be called Nyx.

Nyx seemed sleepy so I put her back in the cage she came with. Eileen then decided to get an owl from the owl emporium but since it was on the other side of the alley, we decided to part ways.

Eileen brought me to Ollivanders and then left to go get the owl. The shop looked ancient with a sign that read Ollivanders: Maker of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.

I found it a little hard to believe that it survived for so long. This place was older than Diagon Alley itself.

I was a little curious about wand lore. How did the wand choose a wizard? Was it affinity? Certain traits? If so how did the wand know?

I was also curious about wand cores and the wood used. Why use phoenix feather, unicorn hair or dragon heartstrings specifically? Why couldn't other parts be used?

I put these questions in the back of my mind and entered the shop.