Of Schools & Harmony

chapter 3

Lucius, Marvolo, Severus, and Barty made their way to Gringotts and were greeted by a group of fiveGoblins waiting for them. Marvolo bowed in respect before addressing the group. “Naggrot, Sharpsong, Fangblood, Chuh, Vrolk, I offer my deepest gratitude to you for completing this ritual for me on top of all the other services I require for my school”.

“It was our pleasure Lord Slytherin, now if you follow us to the ritual room we can explain to you how the awakening ritual works, before discussing your bill for our services,”Naggrot said to the group as they made their way through the building. They were just about to enter the ritual room when someone spoke up. 

“Actually I would prefer a practical demonstration of the ritual,” Marvolo declared, stealing everyone's attention back to him. “Despite being completed the ritual hasn’t been tested yet, am I correct”?

[After all thanks to Dumbledore a majority of the European magical community in recent years have started to see decreased numbers of creature inheritances and blood based rituals outside of blood adoption were classed as Dark and, consequently, taboo. As such finding a person willing to test such a ritual that wasn't in Azkaban would be difficult to say the least.

“No we haven’t tested it yet, but suffice it to say our calculations are always accurate so we know it works the way it’s intended to.  If you’d like to, however, you could go through the Ritual right now. We certainly have the means to do that, for an additional fee of course,”Chuh suggested with a feral grin. 

“Of course I think it should be tested before we roll it out on a big scale," ”. Marvolo  huffed. "I also wouldn't dream of risking one of my people unnecessarily so I will try it myself." He made his way to the ritual circle the goblins had set up ahead of time, knowing that a practical demonstration would likely be requested. The Ritual circle itself was a relatively standard one, meant to protect those inside the circle from any outside interference while they were distracted by the ritual , along with runes to contain wizards in case they lash out after transforming into their creature inheritance due to instinct. Inside the circle rested a crystal Mortar & Pestle, a ritual knife, along with all the ingredients for the ritual ranging from animal, to crystalline in nature. As Marvolo is about to step into the Circle a voice from behind stops him.

“WAIT MY LORD!” Barty yelled, stepping forward with a slight bow. “I insist you let me undergo the ritual first. I know the goblins say it’s safe, but please, in case something goes wrong, let me sacrifice my life in your stead. Without you we would have no one to lead our school into the new era”.

Marvolo wished he could say he was surprised by this declaration but as always Barty is one of his most honorable knights willing to put his life on the line just to further the cause. He knew this ritual would not kill anyone thanks to all the goblin's hard work, but if it’ll soothe his conscience, then who is he to stop him? He takes a step to the side to let Bartley through. “By all means”.

“Very well then if you’re going first then strip off your shirt & get into the circle,”Fangblood said, getting straight to business. Barty noded, getting partially undressed as instructed, after all there are some things you shouldn’t question goblins about.

“Why does he need to undress for this”? Severus inquires, after all this Ritual will be performed on children & if word got around they had to be nearly naked for this parents might not take it well. As if sensing what he was thinking Chuh gave Snape a reassuring smile.

“No worries, the children who will undergo this ritual will only need to wear short sleeve shirts so as to not get any blood on themself since their creature inheritance will be awakened but not undergo any transformations until puberty like normal creature inheritances. Adults, on the other hand, will transform as soon as the ritual is over. We find people react poorly to suddenly finding themselves naked when their clothes tear apart because of the transformation some creatures go through & want to save money on replacing clothes”.