Deveraux's School for Magical Beings

Chapter Eight

~Harry Potter~

Looking back over the list, I perked up, "What is a faerie familiar, Rapclaw sir? I've never heard of faeries being spelled that way."

Rapclaw looked at the paper before getting up and making his way over to a bookcase built into the wall. As he scanned book titles, he stated, "Your mother, she never had an inheritance. However, according to your inheritance test, she had fey blood. Fey blood, Harry, is both rare and powerful. Centuries ago, Faeries lived among witches and wizards, sometimes even humans. They found their mates among both, as well as other beings, obviously. As wizards and witches went into hiding, the fae did as well, but not just from humans." He paused over a particular title, "They were hunted by wizards and witches for their abilities-they wanted them to be able to hide wizarding kind among the shadows, in one of the faerie worlds, accessible only through faerie circles. Faeries declined-wizards and witches, at least those that were not mates to faeries, were not allowed within their realm."
He gathered five tomes before turning and coming back to his desk, sliding the books over to me before continuing. "The fae retreated nearly fully into their realm. Occasionally, a faerie will feel the pull to leave their realm and find their mate. Sometimes, they would stay with their mate in this realm-others, they would swear in their mate, and take them to the faerie realm, usually never to be seen again. Your mother must be a child from a union that stayed. I am, however, surprised that she didn't have an inheritance."

Severus stilled, "Rapclaw, is it possible for someone to hide their inheritance, if it's an inheritance such as fey blood?"

Rapclaw cursed under his breath, "You believe Lily was able to hide her abilities?"

Severus nodded, "Lily-I don't know if she was able to learn everything about her abilities, but there was this one instance where I distinctly remember how she was an elf for Halloween one year when we were teenagers-what I don't understand, Rapclaw, is how it happened. Petunia-Lily's entire family were muggles. It is confirmed they were muggles-not a single ounce of magic in them. How is she a fey?"

Aloysius spoke, "Changelings! If the children sometimes fail to show fae features within the first few months of life, such as the ears and eyes, then they sometimes have them adopted by muggle families-it keeps them usually away from the magical world, but there are a surprising amount of supposed muggle borns who are really just late-blooming fey who were sent to this world for their own safety."

Severus seemed to accept that as a plausible answer, as he leaned back against the wall calmly. Rapclaw cleared his throat and said, "A faerie familiar, Harry, is just that. A fey creature, usually a feline or canine variety although sometimes it can also be birds of some kind. Those books will tell you nearly everything you'll need to know about your inheritance and how to call for your familiar and how to use faerie circles."

I smiled as I pulled the books closer to me and stated, "Can I pay you for these? I don't want to just take something from your collection without giving anything back."

Rapclaw seemed surprised for a moment before he gathered himself together and shook his head, "No, Harry, you needn't pay me for them. In most cases, I would simply take a small fee from the client's vaults, after alerting them of course. However, in this case, I do not wish to take your money, Mr. Potter. You have shown me more respect within this visit than any wizard has my entire life." He extended his hand across the desk and added, "I would like to be considered a friend, if not an ally. There are not many people like you, Harry, and I would enjoy being able to see you grow and help in whatever ways I can."

Suddenly feeling sort of shy, I felt my face flush slightly as I shook his hand and confirmed, "I'd like that, Rapclaw. I would like that quite a bit."

Aloysius cleared his throat lightly and asked, "Harry, I believe, will be coming to France, to my school. Is there anything in his family vaults accessible to him that may help him in any way?"

Rapclaw tapped his claws along his desk for a moment before he snapped his fingers and exclaimed, "There are many books in the vault, and he has properties, all over the world. The Potter's were a family who were well off, and married a descendant of the Peverell's. There are keys inside the Peverell vault. I believe that is where Lily and James got the keys to Godric's Hollow-the home originally belonged to the Peverell's. You should look at the log book and see if there are any in France-I don't recall off the top of the head."

I nodded, "Could I visit my vaults? Which ones do I have access to?"
He smiled slightly, "Nearly all of them now that you're Lord Potter. There is one vault whose minimum age requirement is seventeen."