*Gobbledygook*
~Parseltongue~
-July 31st,993-
Alex lay in bed for a few minutes after they woke up that morning, just taking note of how they felt that morning. They were excited for the day, since it was their 13th birthday, and their birthdays with the five Protectors and Founders of Magic were always fun; especially since their birthday was during the time of the year when the castle was empty of apprentices, so they were able to spend the entire day with all five of them.
After a few minutes, they pulled themself out of bed and over to their wardrobe, ignoring the mirror hanging next to it until they were ready for the day. They studied their wardrobe before deciding on an androgynous outfit that leaned slightly more masculine. They pulled on their compression vest first, which was made of a mix of Acromantula silk and cotton, and which Merlin had gotten made specifically for them when they started going through puberty and found that some days they just couldn't deal with their developing curves. They slipped on a long-sleeved cotton shirt and then laced a regular, leather vest over the top. They pulled on one of their looser pairs of pants and laced a pair of shin-high boots over the top.
Once fully dressed, they strapped their wand holster on one arm and their knife holster on the other, both hidden under their sleeves, and strapped their daggers to each leg and tapped the rune on each dagger holster that caused it to turn invisible. Next, they attached their short swords to their belt, so they hung at each hip, again tapping a rune on each holster to turn them invisible. Finally, they placed their bow against their back, where it shrunk down and automatically stuck to the rune sequence sewed into all their clothes, the sheath of arrows being placed underneath their bow.
When Alex was done and fully kitted up with their various weapons, like they did every morning, they finally turned to the mirror, feeling up to looking at themself. They took in their appearance before nodding and leaving their room, heading down to the hall for breakfast. Alex entered the hall and took their seat at the table, the other five already there and waiting for them.
"Good morning Alex," Sal said, inclining his head towards them.
"Good morning Sal," they replied, before nodding towards the other four and greeting them as well.
"Happy birthday Young One," Merlin said.
"Yes, happy birthday Flame," Godric said.
"Thank you."
"Finish your breakfast and then we can give you our gifts," Helga said. Alex sent Helga a smile before continuing with their meal, conversation flowing smoothly amongst them. When they finished, everything was popped off the table, being replaced by a small pile of wrapped gifts.
Rowena pushed a gift towards them first. It was a tall gift, and when Alex unwrapped it, they found a pile of notebooks waiting for them. They looked through the various notebooks, all of which were a different colour, and noticed each of the notebooks had a different branch of magic or area that they were studying labelled on the front.
There was three notebooks in different shades of red; the mahogany one had Arithmancy across the front, the crimson notebook had Runes embossed across it, and the rose notebook had Spell Craft across the front. The warm orange notebook was labelled Healing, and the sunny yellow notebook had History on the cover. The jade green notebook had swirls across the front, labelling the notebook as ~Parselmagic~, and the pine green one had Fundamentals embossed on the front.
Alex continued looking through the notebooks, finding an aqua one labelled Languages and a teal one which had Potions written elegantly on it, while Aura Control was on the front of the navy-blue notebook. A royal purple notebook had Mind Magic on the cover, a caramel brown notebook had Animals embossed on the front, and Elementals was written on a chocolate brown notebook. There was a pitch-black notebook with Dark Magic curling across the front, a dark grey notebook labelled Offensive while Defensive was written on the light grey notebook, and a pearl white notebook had Light Magic on the cover.
Alex neatly piled their seventeen new notebooks next to them and then turned to look at the others. While they did really like the notebooks, and how each was a different colour, which would make finding the book they wanted easier, they already had multiple notebooks and places that they kept their notes for all their different lessons.
"Each of those notebooks are charmed to be everlasting. It should make it easier for you to keep all your notes in one place, so you can easily find everything. They are from both Merlin and I," Rowena explained.
"The pages also able to expand to twice their size, so you don't have to use multiple pages for a rune chain, potion recipe, or arithmancy work," Merlin added. Alex looked between two of their mentors and their new notebooks in awe; that would make things so much easier. The one thing Alex wasn't sure about, was how they knew about the Parselmagic book; they had been suspecting that Merlin knew about that particular ability of theirs for a while though.
"Thank you, Row. Thank you, Old Man," they said gratefully.
"Of course, Little Raven," Rowena said.
"I am glad you like them Little One," Merlin said, sending them a quick, discrete wink. Alex grinned; yep, Merlin knew about them being a Parselmouth.
"X, these is from me," Helga said, passing them two gifts. Alex thanked her and carefully unwrapped the first gift, revealing a wooden box that was covered in beautiful carvings. They opened the box and found a variety of paints, brushes, and charcoals. They carefully examined everything in the box, before turning to Helga.
"Thank you, Hel," they said.
"You still have my other gift to open," Helga replied with a smile. Alex nodded and turned to the other gift, unwrapping it to find three leather-bound art books, each a different size. They flicked through each book, marvelling at the quality of the pages.
"Thank you so much Helga."
"Of course, Alex."
"Happy birthday Emerald," Godric said, passing them wrapped present. Alex smiled and took the gift, unwrapping it to find a potions box. They looked at Godric in slight confusion, since they knew that Ric didn't like Potions.
"I know how much you enjoy creating new spells, and making and editing potions, and since I couldn't give you something to use in your Spell Craft, I did my best to find a variety of Potions ingredients for you. The box is charmed to be unbreakable, and it should expand to create more compartments if you want to add more ingredients," Godric explained. Alex nodded and opened the box and had to employ their Occlumency shields to stop their shock showing on their face and to prevent them from dropping all etiquette and gaping at the box. Godric hadn't just given them a variety of ingredients, he had given them some extremely rare ingredients as well; there was even Phoenix tears, Acromantula venom, Runespore venom and egg shells, deathcap, and fairy wings.
"Thank you, Ric," Alex breathed, still staring at the box in awe.
"You're welcome," Godric replied.
"What's in there Alex?" Salazar asked. Alex didn't reply, still staring at the various ingredients in the box.
"Little Snake?" Salazar asked. That broke Alex out of their shock and they turned to look at Salazar and blinked at him for one moment before smiling; it was the first time he had used one of his nicknames for them around the others.
"Sorry. I just can't believe Ric got me some of these ingredients," Alex explained, showing the ingredients in the box to Salazar.
"I can understand that. I am shocked that he managed to obtain some of those for you as well," Salazar agreed. Alex closed the box and gently placed it next to their box of art supplies, being careful to not jostle the box too much, since some of the ingredients in there were very temperamental and volatile. They then turned to Salazar, who was the only one who hadn't given them his gift.
Salazar pushed something across the table, and Alex finally noticed the disillusioned container; they had learnt to turn their aura vision off a few years ago so they weren't overwhelmed by magic all the time, and so hadn't even seen the magic covering it. They waved their hand over the container and dispelled the disillusion on it. Alex eagerly examined the large terrarium that appeared in front of them, their attention quickly landing on the snake curled on the rock, and a quick check confirmed their suspicions that the rock had a heating charm on it.
The others were looking between Salazar and Alex in confusion, but Salazar only had eyes for Alex. He was watching them with a small smile, which grew as Alex turned to him with a huge smile. Alex had left their aura vision active after seeing if the rock had a warming charm on it, and was now examining the string of magic, that seemed to stretch between them and the snake. They turned to look at Sal with a smile, having a suspicion about who the snake was.
"Is this?" they asked, trailing off as Salazar nodded.
"Yes Snakelet, that's Celest's daughter." Alex grinned, before looking back at the young snake. Celestine had mentioned that they would have a bond with her daughter while she had been pregnant, and now they knew that she had been correct; they could already see the weak familiar bond between them. Alex watched as the young snake opened her eyes and yawned, her neon yellow eyes staring straight at them, and they stared back in awe. They knew that a basilisk could turn their deadly gaze on and off, much like they could turn their aura vision on and off, but clearly the others didn't.
~You're beautiful,~ Alex breathed, reaching into the terrarium, and lightly stroking her scales, listening to the others freak out slightly over the fact that Sal had given them a snake while also stroking the young snake with one finger.
"Salazar, why did you give Alex a basilisk?" Rowena asked.
"You know how dangerous basilisks are. How did you even get one?" Helga added.
"She is the daughter of my own familiar, Celestine," Salazar replied calmly.
~May I pick you up?~ Alex hissed, and the young snake nodded. They gently reached in and picked her up, letting her slide up and around their arm and get comfortable.
~Do you have a name, beautiful?~ they asked.
~I do not. You may choose one for me, my bonded,~ the young snake replied.
~You can already feel the bond?~ Alex asked, running one finger along their familiar's scales. They had seen the bond start to thicken between them when they had first picked her up, and had felt it as well. Their familiar nodded, and Alex tilted their head, running through possible names in their head.
~Do you like the name Akira? It can mean bright, clear, and intelligent in Japanese, and is Hindi for graceful strength,~ Alex suggested; they had recently finished learning both Hindi and Japanese and had started to add Bulgarian and Spanish to the list of languages they knew, along with Jotun (the language of giants and ogres).
~I do. What is your name, bonded?~ Akira asked.
~My name is Alex,~ they replied, before turning to look at the others, who were all staring at them in shock.
"You're a Parselmouth Flame?" Godric asked.
"Yep. This is Akira, my familiar," Alex replied happily, running their finger down Akira's back again as they smiled. "And thank you Sal."
"Of course, Little Snake. She was destined to be your familiar, so it is only right."
"How long have you known?" Helga asked.
"I've always known. And Sal found out 2 years ago," Alex said simply, glancing over at Akira as she shifted around their body, getting comfortably settled across their shoulders.
"We have one more gift for you Little One," Merlin said, and Alex turned to look at him as he pulled a potion bottle out of his pocket. They stared at him, before looking around at the others in shock.
"Are you serious?" they asked, turning their attention back to the potion that Merlin was holding. It was a blood-adoption potion. It wouldn't erase the fact that Lily and James Potter were their biological parents and that they shared DNA with those two, but it would insert the five as their parents and change small aspects of their DNA to match each of their new parents' DNA.
"We are," Merlin said. "We could not think of someone we would want as our heir."
"I would be honoured. Thank you," they said.
"If we could borrow a blade," Godric requested; he may carry his own blades with him everywhere like Alex did, but it was much easier to make a small cut using a dagger or a knife than with a sword, which was his preferred blade. Alex nodded, bringing their knife into their hand, and passing it over to Merlin.
Merlin cut his thumb and let three drops fall into the potion, causing the shimmery, translucent potion to turn a deep, royal purple. Merlin then passed the potion and blade to Salazar, who nicked his thumb and let three drops fall into the potion, which turned a deep emerald. Helga took the knife and potion next, cutting her thumb and letting three drops of her blood fall in, the potion brightening to a vibrant, sunny yellow. Helga then passed the knife and potion to Rowena, who let three drops of her blood enter the potion and turn it a stunning royal blue. Godric then took the blade and potion and cut his thumb, letting three drops of his blood fall and turn the potion a fiery scarlet. Godric passed the potion to Alex and cleaned the knife before placing it on the table, knowing it would return to their holster soon.
Alex stared at the potion, which was still a fiery scarlet, before accepting the cork from Merlin and plugging the top of the bottle. They then swirled the potion until the colour faded away and it was returned to a shimmery translucent.
"Are you sure?" they asked, looking between the five.
"Yes. We have discussed this at length and have all agreed that we would love you to be part of our lines and to be our heir when you return back to your time," Merlin said.
Alex glanced down at the potion bottle before taking the cork out and drinking it all. They hunched over as a burning sensation spread through them, the burning feeling quickly followed by an ice-cold sensation. They shuddered as both feelings disappeared and accepted the mirror that Rowena passed them so they could have a look at the small changes in their appearance.
Their fiery red hair, which had given them one of their nicknames from Godric, had gained a few orange highlights, making it look even more like flames, the shade of orange almost matching Godric's own hair colour, and they seemed to have gained a smattering of freckles around their face, much like Godric as well. Their hair had also seemed to change texture, taking on a smooth, soft texture, falling gracefully around their ears rather than the messy, uncontrollable way it used to be, seeming to mimic Rowena's hair. Their jawbone seemed to have sharpened a bit more, taking on the same shape as Salazar's jaw, while their nose had become slightly smaller and their cheekbones more defined, matching the way Merlin's nose and cheekbones looked. Their eyes, while still the same emerald green, had changed from an almond shape to a rounder, softer shape, their eyelashes seeming to be thicker and more prominent as well, matching Helga's. They gasped slightly as they felt the family magics start to twine around them and seep into their own magic, moulding with it and connecting them to the lines of the five through blood and magic.
"How will this work when I go back to my time?" they asked once they had gotten used to the changes in their body.
"Salazar is the only one whose line continued to your time," Rowena said.
"That means you are the only heir to our families, and can claim your heir rings at eleven, when your core is stable enough to make a claim, like all other heirs," Helga said.
"And as the only heir, you will be able to claim Head of the House for our four lines at fifteen," Godric added.
"Merlin has already explained the different things that holding an heirship and Head of House position mean in your time and has mentioned how only you can sit in our seats," Salazar said. Alex nodded.
"You will also have primary claim to the Slytherin ring, as you have more claims to it than Salazar's blood heir," Merlin added. Alex nodded again, remembering how their inheritance test had already listed them as an heir to Slytherin; it had been as Secondary heir through conquest then, so adding blood and magic as Sal's adopted child would give them three claims over the ordinary two of blood and magic.
"Ordinarily, we would give you our family heir rings now that you have been adopted and the family magics have accepted you into the family. However, you won't be able to wear them when you go back to your time, so we have decided to let you claim them for the first time back in your time," Godric said.
"Ok. Thank you so much for this. I am honoured to even just be part of your line, let alone having the opportunity to be your heirs," Alex said. They understood where they were coming from; they had heard that the only reason someone should take off an heir ring was to claim the Head ring, due to the family magic that was merged with your own magic and connected to the family ring.
"And we are honoured to have you as part of our lines Alex," Helga said.
Alex smiled, reaching up to gently stroke Akira's head where she had fallen asleep around their shoulders, looking around at the five in the room. They were honoured that such important and powerful wixen wanted them as part of their families, as part of their direct lines, and was extremely proud to now be related to them through blood and magic. The only thing that would make this moment better was if Remus were there to share it with them. But even without him there, they were still extremely happy and knew that the rest of the day would be just as good.