Chapter 15 - Last Lesson, Gringotts, And Diggorys

Quinn and Alan walked in the gardens of the West manor. It was their last lesson, and both decided that a casual stroll would be the best way to end their correspondence.

Alan had his hands behind his back as he walked with his student of almost three years. "Sometimes I forget you still a little brat. I had completely forgotten that you too would need to attend a school."??

Quinn scoffed and retorted, "I will take that as a compliment. So young, yet so talented. Live with it, old man. The younger generation would always surpass the older one."

Alan chuckled but chose not to reply. He knew that if they started, both of them could go back and forth for hours, and even then, none of the two would concede defeat. Instead, he decided to enquire Quinn's future plans regarding mind-arts.

"Do you plan to improve your mind-arts in the future? What are your plans for the future?"

Quinn looked up at his teacher while replying, "The mind, body, and soul. The three most important things for a magical. Magic is connected to all three facets of a being. So it would be without saying that I would continue to develop my mind. There is no harm in developing my mind. It would help me improve my magic and life in general."

Alan nodded and probed, "And, how are you going to improve them?"

"Well, I would be in a place full of people, so training Legilimency wouldn't be a problem. Even though most of them won't have any defenses, I can still train other aspects of legilimency," answered Quinn, explaining his plans to exploit his fellow schoolmates.

Alan didn't comment on the blatant admission of the intended invasion of privacy of dozens of people, "You can train your legilimency with the method I taught you."

Alan had suggested to Quinn a method using which he would be able to train his legilimency alone without requiring a person as a target.

"Ah, yes. Using occlumency to train legilimency. I need to build a small shield system inside my mindscape and then remove the memory of anything related to the new shield and lock those memories underneath the shield system. This way, I won't know how to penetrate that shield and would be able to practice breaking occlumency defenses using legilimency." Quinn recited the method suggested by Alan. He also snapped his fingers and added, "I just need to find new ideas for occlumency defenses so that I could create new scenarios for me to go against. This way, not only my legilimency improve, but even my occlumency skill would also improve. A perpetual cycle of improvement."

Alan nodded in agreement but also asked, "And, what are the warnings that I gave you?"

This method did have a drawback that could harm the mind if used carelessly. "Never isolate a memory for a long period. Willful repressing of memory would always cause problems."

Alan patted Quinn on his back, "Correct, all you need to do is free the memory from its repression for a small period before you could once again suppress it. So, don't be lazy and follow proper procedure."

"Aye," saluted Quinn. He kicked a small pebble in his path and asked, "What about you? What are you going to do next? What is in the future for Mr. Alan D. Baddeley?"

Alan shrugged in response to the question, "I have no idea. There are some jobs lined up that I could take, or I could take another vacation and relax, or I maybe I would write a few research papers for publication. Ah well, I would follow where life takes me."

Both student and teacher fell into a comfortable silence as they continued to walk around the garden before Quinn spoke his thoughts, "You know, I wanted to learn more from you. Your lessons are so fun, and now they are going to end."

Without looking at Quinn, Alan offered, "You can come apprentice under me when you pass out of school."

Quinn turned up to look at Alan with surprised etched on his face, his eye wide, brows pulled up, "I didn't know you offered apprenticeships."

"Indeed, I don't offer apprenticeships. I stopped offering them when I turned hundred years old, but you are interesting enough for me to offer one. Plus, I am interested in how much you could improve. It would be fun to compare the progress from now, to let's say when you turn into an adult." Alan's time with Quinn had shown him Quinn's potential, and it would be worthwhile of Alans' time to teach Quinn at a higher level.

Quinn, without even thinking about the offer, accepted, "I would be honored to apprentice under someone of your caliber. I would come to find you when I think the time is right, so don't die before I do that, old man."

Alan chuckled and retorted, "You better keep on improving because if I find that you have slacked off, I will definitely kick you out before we even start."

"I will keep that in mind," laughed Quinn even though he knew Alan wasn't joking.

Alan fished out a pocket watch from his clothes and spoke after checking the time. "It looks like it is the time for me to leave."

Both of them walked to the floo-connected fireplace, and before leaving, they said goodbye. Quinn raised his hand for a handshake. "It was fun learning from you, Mr. Alan," said Quinn and used Alan's first name for the very first time.

Alan showed a similar smile and shook his student's hands, "It was nice teaching you, Mr. Quinn."

With that, Alan left the West Manor in a flash of green fire from the floo.

- (Scene Break) -

On the first of August, Quinn and George went out to Diagon Alley to get all the stuff needed for the upcoming school year. It was going to be Quinn's first time coming to Diagon Alley. It surprised that Quinn had never gone to Diagon Alley. He never needed to go shopping as he just needed to tell Elliot, and he would get stuff for him.

When Quinn thought of that, his first reaction was, "Holy Crap! I am a sheltered child! Maybe even a little spoiled." But Quinn managed to convince himself that he wasn't a sheltered child, as he frequently visited the non-magical world with Lia.

Diagon alley was just as it had been described in the books. Quinn saw a Potion ingredient shop and saw a bright stack of cauldrons outside the shop.

Cauldrons — All Sizes — Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver — Self-Stirring — Collapsible, read a sign hanging over them. The shop was named Potage's Cauldron Shop.

He saw a dark-colored building with a sign reading Eeylops Owl

Emporium — Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy.

And, many more shops like,

Slug & Jiggers Apothecary,

Broomstix; a store that sold brooms,

Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour,

The bookstore; Flourish and Blotts,

Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions,

Magical Menagerie; the pet store,

'ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ No(v) e lBin ᴏɴʟʏ.',

Ollivander's; the wand shop,

And, many more shops of many kinds, but George pulled Quinn, not stopping even at a single one. They walked straight to a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Carved into the white stone was the name of the building,

「Gringotts Wizarding Bank」

Then his eyes found the two figures clad in scarlet and gold, standing in front of the burnished bronze door.

"Goblins."

The identity of the figures escaped Quinn's mouth. They were about a head shorter than Quinn. Had swarthy, clever faces, pointed beards, and very long fingers and feet. Quinn had seen goblin before in his travels.

Quinn and George stopped a distance from Gringotts, and George looked at Quinn before speaking, "Gringotts Wizarding Bank is the only wizarding bank in Magical Britain. This means that goblins have a monopoly over the banking business. In the treaty signed by the Goblin Nation and Ministry Of Magic, it is stated that Gringotts would be the only bank in Magical Britain, and no other bank would be allowed to open and operate in Magical Britain. Failure to comply would, without fail, would lead to a war between the two parties. Plus, in the centuries they have been active, they have cemented their place in the lives of British people. They are too big to fail."

George looked at the building with displeasure in his eyes and spoke with contempt in his tone, "The Ministry Of Magic was foolish enough to sign that treaty and made it binding with no chance for renegotiation. Do you know why this is bad?"

Quinn nodded and stated the obvious, "This kind of monopoly allows them to charge any amount of money for their services. Because of the treaty you mentioned, they have free reign and have no competitor, much less than an alternative." Even though Quinn spent most of his time studying magic, he still was a child of a business owner.

George rubbed Quinn's head and praised him, "Excellent, you are completely right." He looked at the goblins at the door and continued, "Britain's Ministry Of Magic taxes its people a low tax amount, and it is praised all over the world for that, but what they don't know is the reason for such low tax prices. Goblins' charge a lot to maintain the banking system and economy of this country, and that makes the ministry impose lower taxes, to even out the expenditure by the people."

Then George smirked. An unusual expression from the usually stoic man, "That is why I slowly moved all of our family money to Switzerland. It took me ten years to move all our family money out of this damned bank. It was glorious when they realized what I had done, and they couldn't do a single thing about it."

Then George sighed, "Now, we don't use Gringotts for any financial services. It does cause us to spend an amount of money to transfer money to Switzerland regularly, for our business operated in Britain. Even then, it is much less than the amount that it would take to maintain our accounts at Gringotts."

Quinn nodded with an 'is that so' expression, "So, why are we here?"

George revealed the reason with a sigh, "Now that you are going to Hogwarts, you would be needing money for things. Knowing you, you would start ordering extra books and other things like potion ingredients via mail order. It isn't safe for you to have your entire allowance in person without security, and as Gringotts have regular contact with muggle banks because of the muggleborns, they have adopted a cheque service that would allow mail-ordering businesses to retrieve money directly from Gringotts. You could send us the list of things, and we could buy them for you, but it would waste unnecessary time. So, I have opened a student trust vault for you. Now, let's go in and retrieve your key."

The pair entered the bank, and the goblin guards bowed, and as they walked inside, they faced another door of silver, with words engraved upon them:

[

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

]

A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors, and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. Doors numbering an amount laborious to count exited the main hall, and goblins guided people in-and-out of these pathways.

George and Quinn made for the counter.

"Morning," said George to a free goblin teller. "We have come here to retrieve the keys and other items for Quinn West's student vault."

The goblin looked down at the pair from his high desk, and Quinn could almost hear a snarl in the goblin's voice as he spoke, "West."

"Yes, West." Once again, Quinn could almost hear the smugness in his grandfather's voice. And, Quinn had to say, he was loving this adventurous side of his grandfather.

Quinn silently watched as the goblin glared down at his grandfather, and his grandfather smiled up at the goblin.

"George West," the goblin identified George with a scowl on his face.

"Goblin," replied George with the smile on his face deepening.

After continuing the staring contest for another while, before the goblin harrumphed, "Papers."

George retrieved some documents from his robes and handed them to the goblin. The goblin studied them with the intent for a while before snarling something over his shoulder in Gobbledegook. The goblin turned to the human pair and said, "Wait, you will have your items shortly." Then he ignored them completely.

George and Quinn stood to the side to wait for their items, and while they were waiting, Quinn asked. "Grandfather, are you sure that they won't make trouble for me when I use their services?"

George shook his head and explained, "Gringotts make sure that their services are always on point. Goblins work hard to make sure that there are minimal mistakes. They know if they make mistakes, the ministry will breathe down their necks because the ministry doesn't like the treaty and are actively trying to find issues to put the Goblin Nation and Gringotts on the back foot."

While they were waiting for the goblins, Quinn heard someone call out, "Mr. West." Both George and Quinn turned to see who had called them out, to find a man and a teen walk towards them.

George looked at the man walking towards him and said, "Diggory, Amos Diggory."

The two men shook hands, but Quinn wasn't listening to them as he was too busy staring at the teen in front of him.

'Holy! He is Cedric Diggory, isn't he? So, the characters will look like their movie actors, huh,' thought Quinn as he observed a young Cedric Diggory.

Cedric Diggory sensed someone staring at him, and when he turned to find out, it was the kid who was standing with the man his father was talking to. He decided to talk to the kid and introduce himself,

'

"Hello. My name is Cedric Diggory."

Quinn snapped out his thoughts and introduced himself, "Morning, My name is Quinn West." He put out his hand for a handshake which Cedric shook.

"So, Quinn, how old are you?" asked Cedric.

"I am eleven years old," replied Quinn, and from the question, he could guess where this conversation was going.

Cedric perked up as he found something to start the conversation, "So you must be attending Hogwarts this year."

Quinn nodded with a smile, "Yes, I will be a first-year this year. What about you?"

"I will be a second-year this year. Have you decided which house you want to be in? I am in Hufflepuff," asked Cedric as they chatted.

Quinn shrugged and replied, "I haven't thought about what house I want to be in. I actually don't know how houses are assigned. My grandfather wouldn't tell me anything about it."

A full-blown smile appeared on Cedric's face as he said, "Then it is best if you get to know about it on the day itself. I assure you it will be a fun experience."

Quinn nodded as he already knew the sorting ceremony and was just asking so that the conversation would go on.

"So, did you buy your wand?" asked Cedric, knowing that getting a wand was the one thing all new students got excited about.

Quinn shook his head, but Cedric could see the excitement in his eyes, so he gave Quinn a piece of advice, "When you to Ollivanders, the owner, Ollivander would try to surprise you, so look out for him, okay."

Quinn tilted his head in confusion for show and nodded.

By then, Amos Diggory and George had caught up with each other and turned their attention to their children.

"And, who might you be, little man?" asked Amos Diggory.

Quinn turned to face Amos and introduced himself. "Morning, My name is Quinn West. It is a pleasure to meet you." Quinn once again put out his for a handshake, and Amos shook his hand with a smile.

Amos looked at George and asked, "Dear Merlin, Mr. West, I didn't know you had another grandchild."

George chuckled and said, "This one doesn't like to get out of the house."

The goblin teller called for Quinn and George to take their items, and after that, they parted from the Diggorys.

As they exited the bank, George told Quinn about Amos Diggory, "Amos Diggory, pureblood, works at Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the Ministry of Magic. Amos is actually part of the Goblin Liason Office. Though it is quite fortunate that he isn't the head of the Liason office, with his overly emotional personality, the goblins would have eaten him alive." George paused for a moment before stating, "He is barely competent at his job."

Quinn thought about the discrimination in the ministry and the purebloods occupying most of the high-ranking positions. The half-bloods occupied the rest of the high-ranking positions and no muggleborn representation.

Quinn was a pureblood because neither of his parents and grandparents were non-magicals (muggles) or first-generation magicals (muggleborns). But unlike most of the British pureblood families, West Family wasn't on their way to inbreeding. Quinn's grandmother was from France, and his mother from Italy and that had provided the family with sufficient gene diversity.

George looked at his grandson and smiled, "Come on, let's get to you all the stuff needed. Especially your wand."

Quinn grinned broadly in response.

-*-*-*-*-*-

[

A/N [1] - Now, let's make some things clear. Quinn West is ONE YEAR OLDER than Harry Potter. He was born in 1979 (Harry - 1980) and is starting Hogwarts in 1990 (Harry - 1991).

*

A/N [2] - Now, despite the speculations about Quinn following Harry, he won't be doing that. He will be a bit too busy learning magic. But, there will be some interactions that are inevitable. Now, I HAVEN'T actually revealed Quinn's current magic capabilities, I will reveal them when he officially enters Hogwarts.

*

A/N [3] - I am trying to keep this SEMI-realistic. He won't be as powerful as Dumbledore and Voldemort right off the bat. It would take time. Plus, Quinn WON'T solely focus on COMBAT MAGIC.

My design for Quinn is of an innovator/researcher. Combat Magic is NOT the only magic available. I know there is a war coming and combat magic would be important, but I still want to focus on "PRODUCTION MAGIC".

]

-*-*-*-*-*-

Quinn West - MC - 11 years Old - About to join Hogwarts.

George West - Grandfather - Dunked on Gringotts.

Alan D. Baddeley - Teacher - Has offered an apprenticeship.

Amos Diggory - Ministry Employ - Generally happy, but is quite emotional

Cedric Diggory - Hogwarts Student - 2nd-year student -Looks like his movie actor.

-*-*-*-*-*-

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The link is in the synopsis!