See If I Care

~3~

They reached the front and Remus let Alex step forward and take control of their interaction with the teller. Alex gave a bow to the teller and made the traditional greeting in slow but confident Gobbledygook, so as to not trip over any pronunciation, before continuing on with their request.

*Greetings, Master Teller. May your gold overflow. I would like to talk to someone about an inheritance test and blood adoption. I am happy to wait should they all be occupied at the moment.*

*Greetings, young one. May your gold never dry. Griphook will take you to see Nurrak, the Head of the Inheritance and Family department,* the goblin replied before calling for Griphook.

*Thank you, Master Teller. May your enemies tremble before you,* Alex said before following the new goblin, Griphook, hearing the Teller's reply as they left.

*And may your enemies fall at your feet, young one.*

"What's going on?" Remus asked quietly as he followed Alex, who was following Griphook through the corridors that led away from the hall.

"Griphook is taking us to see Nurrak, who is the Head of the Inheritance and Family department, for an Inheritance test and a blood adoption," Alex explained, having found it much easier to follow the conversation than they had thought. It was only a few moments later that Griphook stopped outside one of the doors and knocked. The door opened after a moment and Griphook left with a short bow, which Alex returned. Alex and Remus walked through the now open door and found a goblin, presumably Nurrak, seated behind the desk.

*Greetings, Master Goblin Nurrak. May your gold overflow,* Alex said with a bow before taking a seat at the desk. Remus followed their action, bowing before taking his own seat next to his godchild.

*Greetings, young one. May your gold never dry,* Nurrak said with a nod, before switching to English, clearly for the benefit of Remus, who was looking completely lost. "How can Gringotts help you today?"

"I would like to take an inheritance test, and we are hoping to conduct a blood adoption," Alex explained.

"That is simple enough. I have the potion for inheritance tests here and it simply requires three drops of blood from the one wanting to take the test. I can also provide the needed potion for a blood adoption, but a suitability test is required from the one wanting to adopt," Nurrak explained. Alex and Remus nodded in understanding, and the goblin pulled out two pieces of parchment and two different potions. One potion was a pale silver with an almost mirror-sheen, while the other was a deeper silver with a pearl shine. Nurrak passed the pale silver potion to Alex and handed the deeper silver one to Remus, sliding a piece of parchment to each of them as well. Nurrak then withdrew a steel knife from a drawer in the desk and placed it on the desk.

"Both potions require three drops. Once the blood is in the potion, shake the potion for 30 seconds before tipping it on to the parchment." Alex took the knife first and used it to cut the tip of their thumb, sucking in a sharp breath and wincing at the pain as the blade opened their skin. They let three drops of their blood drip into the potion before putting their thumb in their mouth and corking the potion vial. They used one hand to shake the potion while slowly sending their magic to their thumb, letting their magic close the cut.

As Alex shook their potion as instructed, Remus picked up the knife and cut his own thumb, allowing three drops of blood to drip into the potion he had been given. After the third drop entered the potion, he corked the vial and used his wand to heal the small cut before shaking the potion. After thirty seconds, Alex stopped shaking their potion and uncorked it, tipping the potion, which was now a soft pink, onto the parchment. Next to them, Remus started doing the same thing with his potion, which had turned a flat rose pink. Alex ignored the words spreading out over their parchment, instead watching the words that started to write themselves on Remus', knowing that Remus' test would be much simpler than theirs.