Epilogue

"We're going to be late, mum."

"Pish posh."

"Mum, it's nearly eleven," he stressed.

"I won't let us be late, Corvus," she promised him.

They were stuck in traffic, three kilometers from Kings Cross and it was September 1st 1990. His mother sat behind the wheel of a sleek red BMW. It was a luxury sports car with two doors. Corvus had to sit in the back; he was too small for the front seat. He'd be allowed to sit up front when he turned thirteen. "I want to get a good seat," he told her. "What if we get there and there isn't any good seats left? What if I have to sit next to some weirdo, mum? I don't want that."

"No one does," she agreed. "It's a big train, Corvus, there'll be plenty of seats."

Corvus frowned and shifted restlessly in his seat. In his left hand he held his wand. It was made of ivy, 13 ½" long with a core of phoenix feather. He waved the wand, golden sparks fired.

"Corvus," said his mother, sternly, "Save the magic for Hogwarts."

"All the other kids are going to have Ollivander wands, won't they?" asked Corvus. "I bet they work better…"

"They work the same," she told him. "Besides, one day you'll appreciate that you got a wand especially made for you by Gregorovitch. He got you that wand as a special favor, he's retired you know."

"It would have been cool to get an Ollivander wand though. They say he never forgets who he sells a wand to. I didn't get to see any of Diagon Alley," he complained. "We only stayed in London for two nights."

"That's because we couldn't leave Montreal until after the house warming party," she reminded him. "The Devereux family is a very valuable client, Corvy. I very much enjoy working for them. Besides, I distinctly remember a certain eleven-year old boy having a ball swimming in the pool."

"I had fun after you made us go to the party, mum. I'd much rather have come to England. There was so much I didn't get to see, we were just rushing."

"I'm sorry, I promise next year we'll have more time."

Corvus sighed, defeated. He was going to hold her to that promise, but still, it didn't make his first Diagon Alley experience any better. He had been looking forward to visiting England. They'd moved around a lot while he was growing up, due to his mother's job as a freelance crafter. But they never went to England. He only once went to England, which was in 1986 when he had to visit his dying grandmother. He didn't even know she existed before then. It was a strange experience. She was incoherent and she kept talking about her handsome sons. His mother always said they didn't have any family left after the Wizarding War. "Mum, what exactly happens at the Sorting Ceremony?"

"They bring in the first-years and they call each one up to the front of the Great Hall. Then they put a big, old hat on your head, the hat says what house you belong in."

"It doesn't hurt, right?"

She chuckled. "No, Corvy, it doesn't hurt."

"And you and dad were in Slytherin, right?"

"Yup, we were as green as it got."

"I want to be in Slytherin."

She looked at him through the rearview mirror and smiled. "Try to keep an open mind about it, Corvy. The other houses are just as good."

"I know." It would be cool to go through what his parents did, to live in the same place. And his dad belonged to Slytherin. So a little part of him was Slytherin, wasn't it? Corvus wanted to have a part of Slytherin in him too.

Traffic finally opened up ahead of them. His mother took a right, drove for about five meters and got stuck in another queue of traffic. Corvus groaned inwardly. He glared outside the window. Over the building tops he saw the top of a tower from Diagon Alley. It was a dark gothic tower. "Look mum, that's the Stirling Tower, isn't it?" he pointed to it.

"W-what?"

"The Stirling Tower, it's in Diagon Alley, actually it's on the street that separates Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley," he said, brightly. "A big family of pureblood crafters owned that tower. They were the Stirling family and the best crafters were trained in that tower."

"Where did you hear all this from?" her dark almond-shaped eyes stared at him.

"I read about them in Flourish and Blotts," said Corvus. "You know, when you had to go send those letters off at the post. You told me to wait there."

"Ah… What else do you know about the Stirling family?"

"They're all dead," he said, simply. "One of them went mad. He was a Death Eater and his parents never told him that he was a half-blood. That's what made him snap. His name's Ascanius, and they had a picture of him, mum. His mug shot when they finally caught him in '81."

"Hn."

"His face was all broken and beaten up," he explained. "Alastor Moody caught him, after You Know Who was already dead. But get this, mum, they couldn't lock him away at Azkaban."

"No, he was sent to Nurmengard. Azkaban will never hold a Stirling."

"You know about them, mum, don't you? From living through the war, right?"

"Yup."

"And you and dad probably knew them because you were both crafters," said Corvus. "I should've known. They were the best at crafting, weren't they?"

"I thought they were rather over rated, actually," she said, calmly. She pulled out her wand from her designer handbag. "You were right, Corvy, we are going to be late," she sighed. "You know what to do, sit back and hold on."

Corvus inhaled sharply and held onto the car's interior. His mother tapped the dashboard with her wand and slammed on the gas. Their red BMW became a blur as it launched forward. It magically wedged between rows of unmoving cars, snaked around crossing pedestrians and speedily arrived outside Kings Cross. Corvus jerked forward when the car returned to normal speed. That was fun.

His mother pulled the trolley with all his school things. He held her hand as they ran at the barrier between platform 9 and 10. Corvus forced himself to keep his eyes open as they past through the magical barrier. He didn't really see anything amazing; he saw a brick wall then a crowded platform.

Corvus never saw so many children and parents at one place at once. He took it all in with eyes wide open. His mother led him to big red steam engine, the Hogwarts Express. When he got his Hogwarts letter, his mother tried convincing him to choose another school. He could have gone to somewhere in Canada or in mainland Europe. They'd travel all over practically, except for England. But Corvus knew he belonged in Hogwarts, just like his parents. And his mother didn't argue with his decision.

His mother helped him put his things into a compartment. Already in the compartment was another first year, a boy with dark olive skin and spiky black hair. His mother encouraged him to introduce himself.

He held out his hand, "Hi, my name is Corvus Blackstone."

The other boy took his hand. "Anwar Rajan."

"Nice to meet you."

"Yeah."

After possibly making his first school friend, Corvus and his mother stepped off the train to say goodbye. Corvus didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Anwar…

"Oh, I almost forgot," his mother grinned, "I have one more gift for you."

"Really? What is it?"

She pulled something wrapped in black silk out of her pocket. Corvus took it and pulled back the silk. It was a silver pocket watch that had a face set with diamonds and emeralds. He gasped.

"It belonged to your father," she told him, her eyes brimming with tears. She brushed a wavy strand of dark hair back from his face. "He wanted you to have it."

So began Corvus Blackstone's first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

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Why did Leandra give Corvus a fake name and a fake explanation of their lives in England? Well after Sirius' arrest for murdering Pettigrew and betraying James and Lily ((of course Leandra had huge problems believing that)) Leandra felt that it would be better to keep Corvus away from all the horrible history attached to them. What else?? Oh yeah, Leandra pays Gregorovitch extra to make Corvus' wand because she can't risk Ollivander recognizing her.

Oh and...

Surprise I'm doing a spin off for Corvus :D it will be under the name "Salazar's Salesmen"

p.s. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! Especially Shaunna, who reviewed all five-hundred versions of this story, haha And to everyone really, I loved getting feedback and everyone was so encouraging and open-minded about what I did with Reg's character and whatnot. I love you all! KISSES!!!! LOTS AND LOTS OF KISSES!