"Glad to see you again, Mr. Potter, Lady Walpurga," Crookshanks bowed to us. "Are you ready to carry out your suicidal plan?"
"Nothing will happen to me... I hope.
"Follow me, the rings of the heads of the families have been delivered to my office.
Upon entering the office, I saw several simple wooden boxes on the table, covered with some kind of symbols.
...The skill "Goblin Runes Level 1" has been created...
"I take it these are the rings you need?" -but there was no answer, and I turned around. Two creatures with eyes like a House-elf and jaws hanging open were staring at me.
"Mi... Mr. Potter... how do you know Gobleduck?" Oops, my mistake.
"Um... would you be satisfied with the explanation that I read a goblin dictionary in my spare time?" I smiled.
"You just spoke pure Gobleduck. No dictionary could have taught you that. Even magicians who have worked with us for decades can't communicate like that. And you're only four years old!" The goblin almost shouted.
"Calm down, everyone has their secrets. Consider it my ancestral gift, I can understand many languages.
"Well, you never cease to amaze me, Mr. Potter. To answer your question, yes, those are boxes containing the rings of the head of the family, but only a sufficiently powerful heir can open them, and only with a huge reserve of magic can they be worn.
Well, we have different ideas about what constitutes a huge reserve. I walked over to the table and looked at the box.
"Mr. Hook, it says 'protection', 'curse', 'heir'. What does that mean?
"You also understand goblin runes?????
"No, what are you talking about? I just happened to be able to read it, or rather, I can read each symbol separately, but I don't really understand what they mean.
"Mr. Potter, these are goblin secrets. The fact that you were able to read them is a big problem for our entire race.
"Don't worry, I'm not interested in that yet," I smiled.
"Well, I'll have to report this to the head of the bank and the goblin council.
"Oh, no problem, I still think you're the most reasonable ones here, and we'll be able to work together.
"I understand, now get to work. I think your acceptance into the clan won't be a problem."
I picked up the first box and opened it, feeling a little mana drain out of me. Inside was a silver ring with a yellow stone (http://uvelir"master.ru/catalog/muzhskie-kolca/2_20.jpg let it be like this). I put it on and felt a sharp drain of magic, not critical for me, but still.
...Received the title "Lord Potter"...
Lord Potter (You are the legitimate lord of the Potter family, Artifact Crafting speed +100%)
...Skill "Artifact Crafting Level 1" obtained...
I took the next box, inside was a golden ring with a green stone, and I put it on without hesitation.
...Received the title "Lord Slytherin"...
Lord Slytherin (You are the rightful lord of the Slytherin family, Potion Making, Alchemy, and Mental Magic development speed +100%)
...Skill "Potions Level 1" obtained...
...Skill "Alchemy Level 1" obtained...
...Skill "Mental Magic Level 1" obtained...
Excellent...
I reached for the next box, but then I heard a voice behind me.
"Mr. Potter, please don't. It's incredible that you're still alive after delivering two babies, but I'm afraid you won't be able to handle any more.
"I really appreciate your concern for me, but if everyone else is like you, I'll be able to give birth to a few dozen more," I smiled again, looking at the shocked face of the goblin.
I opened the next box and saw a ring with a red stone and immediately put it on.
...Received the title "Lord Gryffindor"...
Lord Gryffindor (You are the rightful lord of the Gryffindor family, spell learning speed +100%, spell damage +50%, defence against all types of damage +20%)
And now for the best part, I opened the last box and found a ring with a completely black stone, and as soon as I put it on...
...Received the title "Lord Peverell"...
Lord Peverell (You are the rightful lord of the Peverell family)
"Um, Jarvis, is that all?"
...Yes...
"Where are the goodies?"
...You got a pretty good deal...
"That's true, but still, such a powerful family and not a single bonus..."
"Mr. Hook, do you happen to know what ancestral gifts the Peverell family had?
"Well, not much is known about them, except that they were incredibly powerful necromancers.
"All right, we've sorted that out. Have you prepared the rituals and documents?
"Yes, sir... I don't even know how to address you now...
"Let's forget all this nonsense, just call me Harry.
"All right, I understand, Mr... Harry.
"Let's do this, Lady Walpurga, can you take a look at the documents?
"Yes, Harry.
"Mr. Hook, are there any rituals we can perform today?
"Well, there's one ritual that can be performed at any time. It requires almost no preparation and is intended for the head of the family, but it requires a huge amount of magic.
"Well, let's do it then.
*****
In the centre of the ritual hall lay a dead woman, and not far from her, an old man knelt and muttered.
"How could this have happened? First, that damn squib ruined the boy and his entire family, and even after killing her for the ritual, I couldn't find him. And now my wand and robe are gone. Who could have done this? Who has enough power to summon my artefacts? Could one of the Peverells still be alive? That can't be...
*****
"Unbelievable..." whispered the goblin, "Mr. Potter, are you okay? How did you do that?
"Phew... I... don't... know... it's... as if...all my magic has been drained..." And it was true. The goblin had warned me that if the artefacts were in the possession of another wizard, I would need to expend more magic than he had to return them to their rightful owner. I had never used that much mana before, and there was nothing to spend it on. More than half of my reserves were gone in one go, and a sharp pain pierced my entire body.
...And I told you this ritual wouldn't be easy...
"Yes, I know, Jarvis, I just didn't know it would be this bad."
"Drink this," the goblin handed me a flask, "it's a mana-restoring potion.
...Received buff "Mana Regeneration Lv. 10" regenerates 200 mana per minute...
"Well, the potion is probably good, but it won't help me much. I'm fine, I just never used that much magic before.
"I told you, Mr. Potter, that this was a risky ritual, you could have died. I don't know what kind of wizard was guarding your artefacts, but he was incredibly powerful.
"Yeah, that old manipulator shouldn't have been weak.
"What did you say?
"Nothing, never mind, I just guessed who had those artefacts. Well, let's see what we've got.
***
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