The Slytherin Magus

Aunt Vannessa rode with me back to the Albeline Manor, looking much better than she did on our way there.

"Are you already packed up?" She turned to look at me, her veil was off now so I could see her puffy but concerned blue eyes watching me.

"Yes." Packing up had been quick and easy.

I just needed a couple of clothes for the short stay at my Aunt's place and the rest of the packing was my trunk and things for school.

I found out a couple of things, like a well-used broomstick. A Nimbus? I couldn't tell the make at first glance.

A wave of excitement had rippled through me, had I been on the Quidditch Team? School suddenly couldn't resume quickly enough.

I had previously had some reservations about moving to my Aunt's place but now I couldn't wait to leave the Albeline Manor behind, anything to get closer to Hogwarts.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that my Aunt lived not very far away from the Albeline Manor. I sort of expected her to live close enough to other people.

From the looks of things though the Albeline Family seemed to have a lot of land on the outskirts of the muggle town we lived in. It was logical because living directly beside muggles would be a recipe for disaster.

It was so strange thinking about things like muggles and magic, it felt like I would soon wake up from the really nice dream I was having.

Aunt Vannessa's house was more homely, it was a decently sized house that felt like a home as soon as I stepped in.

I brought Echo with me, letting her fly beside the car as we made the slightly bumpy ride to the House on Butter Street.

It was odd because Aunt Vannessa was the only one who lived on this 'Butter St.'

The uneven earth changed to a more uneven cobblestone path after we went past a crooked sign indicating Butter Street.

I didn't question it though, Wizards and Witches were nothing like humans, I couldn't use the same scale to measure them.

Aunt Vannessa helped me with moving my heavy trunk and extra stuff, using the levitation spell. 

I really hoped that she would say the spell out loud, a part of me really wanted to know the right way to say 'Wingardium Leviosa'.

I walked behind her, holding the cage that held Echo, my owl. Aunt Vannessa led the way, my floating luggage in front of us.

A couple of black cats rushed forward immediately after we walked in, and the door clicked shut behind me automatically.

"Castor! Pollux!" Aunt Vannessa happily greeted her meowing cats who gathered around her legs.

The two black cats eyed me and Echo who ruffled her feathers. I hoped we would all get along but their mischievous green eyes said otherwise.

"Here's your room." My Aunt informed me, my floating luggage gently dropping to the carpeted ground. "Mine is just down the hallway."

"Thanks, Aunt…"

"Just call me Vannessa, I'm not that old."

I wisely swallowed back my response. "Sure."

The room was much smaller than the one back in the Albeline Manor but that was to be expected.

The wallpaper was a pastel lavender and patterned with little white flowers, starkly different from the grayscale wallpapers that lined the walls of the Manor house.

"Why don't you settle in? I'll get started on brunch." Vannessa decided, leaving the room with her cats still rubbing against her legs.

I placed Echo on the top shelf of a dresser, wondering if I should let her go for a flight outside, she had been cooped up all day.

Granted, it was still morning, the funeral had barely taken an hour. The skies were still gray so it would be best to let Echo stretch out her wings before it rained again.

I pushed open the curtains of the window beside my bed, it was locked so I undid the latch.

Before I could turn around to release Echo from her cage, something came hurtling in through the window.

It crashed into my back making me jump and stumble forward in shock, I looked behind me to find an owl struggling to its feet. It didn't look very pleased.

It was a delivery owl!

And just as I had guessed, it was holding a copy of the Daily Prophet.

I quickly snatched up the rolled-up newspaper, eager to get my hands on one of them but the owl wasn't having it.

It attacked me, hooting loudly as it flapped its wings and pulled on my clothes with its beak.

Echo didn't appreciate this and equally started to hoot and make a ruckus from inside her cage.

Aunt… sorry, Vannessa rushed back to my room at the loud noises.

"Audric! What is… Oh dear! It's a delivery owl!" She exclaimed, hurrying forward.

She had changed outfits and was currently wearing loose jeans and an old-fashioned black sweater with an apron over it, her brown hair in a simply low ponytail.

It was such a whiplash that I froze and just stared at her.

She quickly brought out five strange bronze coins, Knuts.

'Crap.' I forgot I was supposed to give the bird money. Not like I had any on me, to begin with.

The rolled-up newspaper in my hand caught my attention again. 

I was more interested in the happenings of the Wizarding world than my Aunt dressing like my mom in my previous life would when she was younger.

'THE DAILY PROPHET' was written at the very top of the front page in bold, cursive letters.

The next line caught my attention. 

'DEATH OF THE ALBELINE FAMILY, THE FULL STORY!'

My eyes widened as I quickly scanned the page, eager to know more. There was an ominous picture taken of the Albeline Manor right under the headlines.

Sure, the Manor was intimidating but they didn't need to make it that creepy.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." Vannessa apologized in a flurry, snatching the newspaper out of my hands.

"Wait-"

"I'll safely keep this, you just concentrate on settling in alright? Food is almost ready."

"Uh, could I..." I tried to protest.

Her expression was set. "It's best you don't. Hurry up now, you need to eat."

I could only watch her leave with the precious newspaper article in her hands.

I knew I wasn't getting it back; at least, not by directly asking her.

I had two options, to wait till I got to school and hoped that I would still be able to see a copy of it or steal it when she wasn't looking. I already knew which I would be going with.

I just had to wait and bide my time till the right opportunity came.

Settling in was quick. I didn't need to unpack my school things so I was done in no time.

I had also utilized my time wisely and my stats were steadily growing. I still hadn't managed to get any SP though and it was a bit worrying.

"Audric! It's time to eat!" Vannessa's voice loudly called.

I got to my feet. I had released Echo but I left the window and the door to her cage wide open, she could return whenever she was ready.

I made my way down to the living room and then through a door to the side.

It led to a bright and airy kitchen. The interior decor was exactly what a witch would have.

There was a knobbly dining table set for two at one end of the kitchen, a big window right beside it.

The rest of the kitchen was clean and quiet save for the quiet clinking and splashing sounds of plates washing themselves in the kitchen sink.

The table itself had a floral patterned tablecloth placed on the round table, a slew of mouthwatering dishes arranged on it.

I hardly paid any attention to the food, although I made sure to compliment my Aunt on her cooking.

Instead, I was studying her intently, she didn't have the newspaper on her anymore so she must have already hidden it somewhere private.

I was on a mission that I couldn't afford to fail on because my curiosity was eating away at me.

I also needed to get more information to know my standing in this new world.

I ate quickly but absently, barely paying attention to what I was actually eating.

I was busy trying to come up with the perfect plan to steal the newspaper when a notification dinged in my head.

=========

<ATTENTION!!!> : 10 SP Awarded

=========

I stiffened, blinking in surprise at this unexpected development. 

I hadn't done anything differently, why did I get awarded Story Points?

Was it because I was planning to steal the newspaper article? That was easy enough to believe but I hadn't stolen it yet.

I doubted that the system would so easily grant me free points for just thinking about things. It had to be because I moved in with my Aunt.

If I got granted SP and also lost SP for little things that I did, it meant I wasn't given a lot of space for making mistakes. 

I would also have to take into consideration the possibility of losing or gaining SP whenever I took an action.

This led to my next worry, would stealing the newspaper article make me lose or gain SP?