“?????? ???? ???????? ??? ???? ?????? ??,” (“Welcome to the Indian Ministry of Magic,”) said the woman at the desk, “?? ???? ???? ??? ?? ???? ????”(How can we help you?)

  To which Anaya answered, “???? ?????, ????? ?? ????? ????? ???? ?????? ???? ?? ????????? ??? ??? ???? ?? ???? ????”(“Apologies, but two of us don’t speak Hindi. Would it be alright if we started using English?”)

  “No problem at all. Welcome to the Indian Ministry of Magic. How can we help you?”

  ‘That’s not how I remember Indian officials being. I mean, they were even worse in terms of bureaucracy than the Germans. This feels weird.’ Azarynth thought before deciding to speak.

  “I’d like to register as a citizen?”

  “Ah, sorry about this, but I have to ask. Do you have any citizenships in the magical world? If so, we’ll need to do some paperwork, but it shouldn’t take too long.”

  “Really, Priyanka? You know, we just came out of a tomb, and we walk in here with an unknown woman, with clothing so outdated it would look out of place even among the British.” Once she realised what she’d just said, she turned to William Dale, “No offence”

  “None taken. Can’t argue with facts.”

  “How are you no longer an— Anyway, so you seriously ask that under these circumstances, Priya? She’s a tomb dweller, if that wasn’t already obvious.”

  “I know, but protocol is protocol. So, do you have a citizenship or not?” She asked Azarynth, “And you have to be the one answering my question, otherwise it isn’t valid.”

  ‘Now that’s how I remember the Indian officials.’

  “I do not.”

  “Great! I’ll need to know your name and whether you have any certifications in terms of magical ability?”

  ‘I have a bad feeling about this; it’s moving forward way too quickly’

  “I’m Azarynth Veyloran, and I have no certifications at all.”

  “Alright then.” The official began writing before handing them a paper. “Wait here for about fifteen minutes, an official from the Wizarding Examinations Department will be coming for you and testing your skill in different fields, since they have to be included on your ID. After that, I’ll have it ready for you in about an hour.” Then she politely dismissed them by saying, “Good luck with your testing! Waiting rooms over there.”

  Once they were inside the waiting room, Azarynth finally voiced her confusion.

  “That was weirdly efficient. I remember stuff like this taking forever and needing way too many documents. I’d expected it to have gotten worse, since it had seemed to become more severe the longer our society survived. Seems my expectations were wrong.”

  “Not really. We had a crazy amount of bureaucracy in the past, but Maharishi Asim Jaggi, the strongest wizard in India, changed it by threatening to destroy the entire building when he had to work for over a year, just to register himself as alive and get his rights and positions back after some official miswrote the name on a death certificate. All the ‘absolutely necessary’ red tape was gone so fast you wouldn’t be able to decide how to express your surprise at how efficient the Ministry can be when their lives are at stake.”

  Azarynth chortled. “That explains it. I’ve also found threats to be quite effective at speeding up lengthy and unnecessary procedures.”

  William Dale, who had been silently accompanying them up until now, also had something to add. “It does tend to do that, but in Britain, the most effective method is being a pureblood supremacist. Every administrative matter is done within seconds if you throw in a few derogatory words about No-maj, their children or magical creatures.”

  “Is that why you behave like such an asshole?!” (Anaya)

  “Yep. Makes stuff go a lot faster, and they never actually compare behaviour to words, so you just need to say it during conversation. Even if they find you throwing the most expensive magical ingredients at a wounded Muggle, they’ll just think you’re prolonging their pain. Not that I ever did something like that. I ain’t that nice.”

  “Maybe that’s why you have so many backwards assholes in your country? You all just talk like that, so that the administration works faster?”

  “No. Our families are just really good at brainwashing purebloods. I was also a staunch pureblood supremacist until a certain…” His voice shook and took on a glum tone. “Incident.”

  Before the conversation could get any more depressing, a voice called out. “Azarynth Veyloran, please step outside for full testing of your magical abilities. Without your companions.”

  The testing room, or rather rooms, were hidden behind ancient-looking doors, each equipped with its own sign.

  “This is the testing hall.” The official, clad in yellow clothes, said in fluent English. “We will be going from room to room, and you will complete the test inside. All purely test your practical ability, as theory is mostly useless if you can do what you need to. We aren’t the British, who would give you half the points, even if you can’t even cast a proper spell.”

  His words amused Azarynth. ‘Well, someone doesn’t like the Brits. Seems to be a recurring theme in this country.’

  “We will be starting with the leftmost room. Let’s see your charms work, but before that, do you have any questions about the procedure?”

  “Are there any limits on the spells I’m allowed to use?”

  “No. You are even permitted to use ‘illegal’ spells, as this is to test your actual skills and not how well you know the law. Also, nothing besides your results will leave this hall. So you don’t need to worry about leaking family magic or anything like that.”

  “Alright, I’m ready then.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  They stepped through the door marked Charms and saw rooms labelled Level 1 through Level 10, followed by Journeyman and Master.

  “We’ll start at Level 1 and work ourselves up. I know it’s a lengthy process for those of high skill, but we have to make sure you’re capable of using more than just advanced magic, since you need mastery of the basics, to properly make use of the advanced stuff.”

  “Trust me,” Azarynth said, sighing, “I know. So let’s get started.”

  They stepped into the first room, where she saw a book.

  “The first task is this.” The official said, before he pointed his wand at the book, causing it to ignite. “Extinguish it before it burns it compl–.”

  He didn’t even get to finish speaking when a jet of water dashed out of the testee’s hands, extinguishing the fire instantly.

  He sighed. “At least let me finish explaining the task, please? It was still protected by my magic until I finished speaking. Nevertheless, you passed the first test of Level 1.”

  The Book disappeared, and in its place appeared three Goblets containing differently coloured liquids. “The next test is drinking the unpoisoned liquid.”

  Without even casting a spell or hesitating, Azarynth picked up the blue goblet, drank all of its contents, before drinking the red liquid as well. “Should I drink the last one as well?”

  “How did you know all three of them were unpoisoned?”

  “You forgot about the existence of artefacts. My ring tells me whenever I hold either a cursed object or a poisoned drink in my hands.”

  “This room would have alerted me if there was any foreign magic around you. Since it didn’t, it means you enchanted it yourself, and as such, you’re allowed to use it.”

  Azarynth pouted. “Damn… and here I was so happy about managing to cheat.”

  The room once again changed, as the goblets disappeared and in their place appeared a book. “Now, for the final round of this Level, I need you to read that book and cast the spell on the first page.”

  “I don’t have a wand.”

  “Well… This is awkward. Anyway, as long as you have the same effect, wand motions aren’t tested, but nevertheless, this will be a lot more difficult for you. If you want, I can make another task?”

  “No need.” She opened the book and, upon reading, asked, “Are the words necessary? Or are we allowed to use our own chants?”

  “You’re allowed, as long as the magic is the same. The room tests it not me, but it has let soundless castings and wandless ones pass in the past, so you should be fine.”

  Sceawa mē t?t l?dende lēoht! (Let me behold the guiding light!)

  A light appeared and moved towards the left wall of the room. A green light lit up once it touched the wall.

  “You passed this round. Congrats.”

  The next nine levels passed by without any difficulties, but after this began the Journeyman level, and with it the first of the so-called Mastery Ranks, which were the moment where the magic started getting specialised. One could no longer rely on simple, publicly available spells, but instead on a combination of ingenuity, improvisation, and, depending on the skill of the person in question, luck.

  “This is where the difficult tasks will begin, but you will not have as clear-cut objectives. Instead, you will have a final goal, and you have to find the path to the solution yourself. For these tests, there is a time limit of three hours per round. If you ever need a break, you can take it in between rounds. You can even leave and continue later on, but once you find out the goal, you need to stay here until you complete it, and time will not be stopped. You leave, you lose.”

  Once they entered, the surroundings were completely different from the regular rooms the previous tests had been in.

  “Wow.” Azarynth was honestly speechless. In front of her was a beautiful, giant castle. One that seemed quite familiar.

  ‘Isn’t this Winterfell? Well, no need to worry about whether they stole it, since the first book will only be published next year.’

  “Your task is to repel a dark being imprisoned in this castle. Keep in mind, you don’t need to kill it, just push it back in a confrontation.”

  ‘Damn… I love Reddit sometimes. Turns out the Winterfell Prison theory is gonna come in handy in the end. Oh, wait, I don’t even need to go into it, I can just do this.’

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Can I stay in here after completing it? It’s so beautiful, I really want to admire it for a while.”

  “Yes, you can, but make sure not to underestimate this kind of task.”

  ētēowa mē tone fruman t?s yfeles te tisne stede beswīce! (Show me the source of the evil that corrupts this place!)

  The place lit up with magic, and a cold, dark feeling spread in the air.

  ‘A dementor? It fits how they were described in the books, but were they really this strong? This gives a whole new perspective on the strength of this world's wizards, if Harry really managed to push back 300 of them with one spell. Then again, they never managed to kill even a single one, if those books are to be trusted. Anyway, I might have something for this.

  “Sorry in advance, this might feel really nasty, but I don’t have enough information to do anything non-ritualistic, and they all feel dark.”

  A horrific aura spread from her, making the Examiner tremble.

  Foregā nu, tū te on sceadum lifast. (Go now, you who live in shadows.)

  Ic fēle tīn yfel, ic wēg tīn scyld. (I feel your evil, I weigh your guilt.)

  Ne h?fst tū her rīce ne fl?sc. (You have no dominion nor flesh here.)

  The dark Aura enveloped the entire place before a horrific shriek came from the direction of the castle, causing both of them to wince.

  “Sorry. Should’ve cast a silencing spell before this.”

  The Official quickly managed to compose himself. “No problem, but a warning about the volume would’ve been nice.”

  “I thought you’d said I wouldn’t be able to solve this task with publicly available spells, but wouldn’t a dementor be solvable using just the Patronus charm?”

  “You thought that was a dementor? Fucking hell, this is bad. If that thing managed to escape, we’re in trouble!”

  “Umm…” Azarynth attempted to interject, unsuccessfully.

  “If your spell somehow broke the seals and the weakening enchantments are gone… Shit!”

  “Sorry, but it’s dead.”

  “What?!”

  “Well, I don’t know the Patronus charm, so I just used a good old vampiric ritual for the banishments of pretty much all dark beings. It hasn’t failed so far, even when I used it on Lamashtu. That thing’s dead. But just to be sure:”

  ētēowa mē tone fruman t?s yfeles te tisne stede beswīce! (Show me the source of the evil that corrupts this place!)

  The place lit up with magic, and a neutral feeling spread in the air. The source of darkness was gone.

  “Phew. You scared me there.”

  “So if it wasn’t a dementor, what was it?”

  “You just faced the only known chimaera of Dementor, Lethifold and Banshee. That was a merger of three amortal beings, and you just managed to kill it. Damn. I’m just gonna say you passed the Master test too, because what you just did should’ve been impossible. So, congrats, you now have a mastery in charms and are skilled enough to teach it at major schools. Now let’s continue with the next subject.”

  They stepped out and went through the rest of the tests. To no one’s surprise, she passed DADA, Charms, Runes, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Alchemy and Ancient Studies with ease, earning herself a mastery in those fields.

  She failed Potions and Herbology, due to the plants being entirely different from the game, and Astronomy, as well as Arithmancy, due to her never having learned either of them.

  She also received an apparition certification, which actually permitted her to use all forms of teleportation internationally, since it was given out by the ICW.

  “That… was impressive.” Was the examiner's assessment of her capabilities. “Sadly, any higher ranks will have to be tested at the respective guilds, but unless you want to become the headmaster of a school like Ilvermory, Beauxbaton, Durmstrang or Hogwarts, you won’t need something that high. I’ll need you to wait here for a bit, as the ID is made for you. It includes travel rights to every country in the ICW, so you can travel and even live everywhere except Liechtenstein.”

  After bringing her to Winterfell, he left again, and she explored the castle, concluding that it was even better than she expected.

  Almost an hour into the exploration, her Examiner returned and handed her her ID card. It included a photograph of her, as well as her masteries, and carried a glow once she held it in her hand.

  “The glow exists to prove you’re its rightful owner and not under polyjuice. It works by recognising your magical signature and is impossible to fake. Don’t ask me how, I don’t get it either, but there are these things” He took out some glasses. “That can check whether it’s an actual ID-light as well, so replicating the effect will not fool anyone.”

  “It might also interest you that this castle is a reproduction of one in the real world. We wouldn’t put that much effort into designing a test if we could just copy a design.”

  “Who owns it?” Her voice took on a fervent tone. “And can I visit it?!”

  “It belongs to a woman carrying the title Hand of Balance, and has belonged to her ever since the Palaeolithic people travelled these lands. It belongs to her, but according to Gringotts, she’s never claimed it, so it stands empty behind its heavy wards. The Indian ministry paid’em good money to get the blueprints.”

  “Good to know… Very good to know,” Azarynth said slowly.

  “I got my ID!” Were the words that greeted them as Azarynth entered the waiting Room. “And since it’s almost five, I’d say we pay homage to both the British and Indian traditions by having a tea party. You in?”

  Anaya’s first thought was, ‘Is she this happy about having an ID?’, before she realised something.

  ‘Wait, did she think she didn’t have any rights if she doesn’t have an identity? Doesn’t seem that unlikely if I can trust my old history professor. Well, the problem solved itself, before I even realised it existed, so it’s fine.’

  “There’s a good tea place close to here, if you are fine with masala chai.”

  “Haven’t had it before, so we’ll have to see.”

  ‘I’m fucking stupid, aren’t I? She’s from 5000 years ago, of course, she doesn’t know our tea.’

  The quiet kid (The experienced 50-year-old Curse-breaker) also voiced his opinion. “I’m also fine with it, although I must admit that I like the British teas more.”

  “Well then, it’s decided. Let’s go to jaaduee chaay kee jagah, yeah? They make good tea and have a great atmosphere.”

  “Alright.” Two voices said simultaneously.

  Once they had arrived at the tea place and received their teas, the conversation began.

  “So how were the tests? Any difficulties?”

  “I honestly have no idea what those ranks actually meant, but I didn’t even pass Level 5 in Potions, Astronomy, Arithmancy and Herbology. I didn’t know half those plants in Potions and Herbology, and I never learned the other two subjects. The rest went all right. Though I have to ask, what do those ranks actually mean?”

  “I think it’d be best if I answered that question, since Anaya actually hasn’t stepped into the mastery ranks,” William said.

  “The first seven Levels equal the first seven years of school, and are meant to test whether you are still capable of what you learned back then. This is then followed by three additional levels, which are intended for self-study, depending on the path you choose to take. Once you have reached level ten in the fields needed for your field, you can apply for an apprenticeship with a guild, or major company, where you will be taught said profession by a teacher in a master-disciple model.”

  “Of course, you don’t need to take that path. Everything can also be done as you want. You just need to pass the tests, but this path has proven to be the most efficient, because the difficulty spike from level 10 to Journeyman is so extreme that no one really passes it without one-on-one teaching.” Anaya interrupted. “For example, I reached Level 10 in third grade by self-study, but I wanted to achieve Journeyman in Runes without an apprenticeship, so I dedicated my last four school years to it, but I didn’t even get close. I eventually gave up and joined Gringotts as a Curse-breaker. They give apprenticeships in the field.”

  “Though in all honesty, reaching Level 10 is already something beyond most regular wizards and witches. You only really need it for respected jobs, or ones where great danger is expected. Journeyman roughly equals a doctor title in the Muggle world.”

  “You know Muggle titles?!”

  “Yeah, it’s a fairly logical model, don’t you think so? Anyways, I’m one of the few master curse-breakers in the world, so if you need any help in the subjects of DADA, Runes or Charms, I have a mastery in all of those.”

  Azarynth started looking awkward. “Umm… How do I put this… So do I?”

  “What?!” Two voices simultaneously rang out, and Anaya would have been really happy about the existence of sound-isolating charms if she weren’t currently too preoccupied with another problem.

  ‘She has what?!’

  Wincing, Azarynth requested, “Please quiet down a bit. I have excellent senses, alright.”

  “Oh… Sorry.” Was the answer she received.

  “Now onto a completely different topic,” Azarynth’s reluctance to continue this subject was obvious. “Do the goblins still manage the economy?”

  “Yes. They do, but it’s no longer carried by the Goblin kingdom, but instead by the Gringotts Bank.” William Dale answered. “Why do you ask?”

  “I have to check whether I can still access my old accounts. If I can, I’m boutta be rich off of interest alone.”

  “Damn… How high were your rates?”

  “I honestly have no clue. Never cared about money, cuz I always had enough. We’ll see once we’re there. But let’s continue that conversation after tea.”

  Griphook has had an interesting time in the last few years. First, he had led Harry Potter to his vault and opened the legendary Vault 713. Later, the kid had actually requested him whenever he made any transactions with Gringotts, lacking the typical inability of wizards to distinguish one goblin from another. It led to him getting quite a good salary over time. He’d also been asked to hunt down quite a few traitors of Gringotts, which was usually a job only for high managers. But none of that surpassed this day.

  When, rather late into his shift as a desk clerk, a woman walked in. Her ragged robes and simple-looking equipment garnered her more than one disparaging glance from wizards, but the eyes of the goblins saw something else.

  Her used clothes were obviously battle-scarred, heavily enchanted and reinforced. She carried an old Grimoire along with a short sabre of seemingly Japanese make on her hips. Both of them seemed old and worn out, but were obviously still in working order, and created by someone who valued substance over style.

  Her whole posture screamed attentiveness. She wasn’t quite threatening, but was obviously prepared to fight at any time. And her eyes… They were grey, a very dark iron grey; they seemed to carry an unimaginable weight and an amount of both gloom and iron will he had never seen before. Not in a human, at least. He was sure she wasn’t one, but instead a magical being of some kind. Possibly an ancient dragon, maybe a vampire due to the bloody aura she emitted, but she was too powerful to be one of those blood-sucking weaklings.

  Suffice to say, the goblins saw the danger she posed, but in their business, danger equals opportunity, so all of them were wishing for her to go towards their counter.

  Griphook's shock when she moved towards him must’ve been obvious, because her first words towards him were, “No need to be surprised. You were the first one who wasn’t completely overtaken by greed the moment I entered the room. So I went to your counter.”

  “Yes… So, what is your name?”

  “I’m Azarynth Veyloran, and I’m here to find out whether there are any vaults under my name.”

  Looking around in an almost panicked way, he told her, “Follow me. No more words until we’re there.” He hastily walked through the hall to an inconspicuous door hidden in the corner.

  He led his female companion through a veritable maze of hallways and doors until they reached an important-looking door. “The person there will be the one to evaluate your claim. This is way out of my authority as a regular clerk.”

  “Ugh… How much more paperwork will I have to deal with? Why did I ever think it’d be a good idea to become the king of Goblinkind?” As he was about to continue his grumbling, he heard a respectful knock on the door. “Oh no… please, no more paperwork.” He muttered, despair obvious in his tone, but nonetheless, he fixed his posture and called out, “Enter!”

  Barely managing to hold back a sigh of relief when he saw Griphook entering along with a dangerous-looking woman instead of his secretary, with her signature mountain of paperwork.

  “Why are you here, Griphook? The managers are enough to deal with the inheritance of even a Most Ancient and Noble house. Why did you lead this woman to m–” Once he finally looked closely at the woman, he had to take a second glance, before he realised what kind of being he’d have to deal with. “I never expected to deal with one of your kind again. You’re a Vampyr. And a powerful one at that. A countess, maybe? Doesn’t matter.”

  He stood up from his chair.

  “I am Ragnuk the fifth, the current goblin king. What are you here for?”

  “I am here to find out whether I have access to a vault in this place.”

  “What is your name?”

  “I am Azarynth Veyloran.”

  Speechless, Ragnuk looked at her and realised how similar she looked to that legendary figure.

  “You’ll need to undergo a blood ritual to prove your identity. Fair warning: If you are lying, this ritual might just prove to be deadly.”

  “No problem.” Her calm was proof of her identity. No one would have that kind of calmness while telling a lie with possibly deadly consequences. Despite that, he still had to follow protocol and reached into his desk drawer to pull out a silver knife, as well as a stack of papers.

  He shuffled through them for a while before finally putting one of them in front of Azarynth.

  “Here. You’ll need to cut yourself using this knife and let at least a drop of blood fall on the paper. It will do the rest.”

  Once Azarynth did as he requested, Magic gushed out of the paper.

  Then it lit up in a strange mix of green and red, before transforming into three rings.

  Ragnuk let out a breath he hadn’t even realised he was holding in. “You are now the lady of The Founding House of Veyloran, The Most Ancient and Noble House of Peverell, and finally the Founding House of Emrys. As such, you have 5 votes in the Wizengamot for the Most Ancient and Noble House of Peverell, and ten votes per Founding House.”

  “How did I get the other two houses? I wasn’t even sure I would become the Head of House Veyloran?”

  “I can’t say for sure, but I can make theories about the conditions set by the ancient families. The Peverells probably had someone enforcing justice where there was none, as their condition. That is what they were famous for, after all, before the wizards started believing in those artefacts. While House Emrys probably had magical skills of a certain degree, as well as basic morality, as their conditions. I’m guessing based on the personalities of their founders here, so I might also be completely off the mark, but you are now rich. Congrats.”

  He savoured in her confusion for a while before continuing.

  “Do you want to take your seats now, or do you wish for a representative to take them? You can also wait, but you have to have someone in these seats within a year. Otherwise, the Wizengamot might get cranky.”

  “No problem. I’ll have someone take these seats later. For now, I’ll wait.”

  “There is one more matter we need to discuss. What do you plan to do with this money?”

  “Can you handle investments into Muggle businesses?”

  Slightly disgruntled, he nevertheless confirmed.

  “Then please invest as much of it as possible into Apple and Amazon.”

  “Alright. If you need anything else, talk to Griphook. He’s now your account manager.”