25 December, Christmas
Allen woke up earlier that day than usual, and while growing up he lost the joyful sensation of celebrating the holiday, he was still excited for it, more so because of his friends and seeing how they'd react by seeing their gifts.
The more he grew up, the more he enjoyed seeing people's reactions to getting gifts, rather than receiving them.
For Armand, he got a small human figure made of wood, charmed to change into different types of animals, it had five different types of animals that it could change into. He bought it from a small catalog from Diagon Alley.
Of course, as well as a few candies, just like with everyone else.
For William, he got a figurine of a quidditch seeker with a snitch flying around the player in a never ending cycle of cat and mouse. The snitch was tied together to the doll with a small thread of acromantula's silk, reinforced with a charm to be almost impossible to break. Candies as well, since he enjoyed the thrill of it, he got him more boxes of Bertie Botts Beans than anything else.
For Sophia, since he already gifted her something for her birthday the other day, he spent a bit of time thinking about what to give her, until he reached the conclusion that he didn't know what to give her.
So he looked again through the catalog of all of the stores, looking for anything that an eleven year old girl would like.
The more he browsed, the less he found, until a particular object catched his attention. It was a yellow blanket which could double in size, impervious to the cold and it could even change into a small cloak to use around in your house. He also got her a few sugar flowers, similar to sugar quills, but they had the scent of the flower in the sugar and when you took a bite, you could taste the smell of the flower.
He even was tempted to buy some for himself after remembering the smell of vanilla extract but finding out the horrible reality after he tasted it, he shuddered as the memory came back to his mind.
And finally, for Elsie, he got her a quidditch figurine, similar to William's but instead of a snitch, it was a bludger, being hit by a beater at random intervals, the farthest it could go was about ten centimeters before coming back. She was also an avid fan of quidditch, sadly most of the merchandise about the sport was either too expensive or too cheap that it didn't make good for a gift, he also got her boxes of chocolate frogs.
All in all, while the gifts weren't something too grand, he hoped his friends would like them.
When he looked at himself in the bathroom's mirror, he saw a pair of green eyes looking back at him. A small tint of green light showed in them.
The following days after taking the potions that the healer recommended he felt the change, albeit gradually, he tried a few times using his eyes, it burned a bit, though not as much as before.
And now he was able to use them just fine, the only thing is that a small rim of red still lingered around his eyelids. Other than that, he was just fine.
He finished taking the last dose of the potions and sat down at the edge of the bed. Allen really didn't know what to do now, it was too early to be up, yet for some reason he couldn't sleep, even after laying down on the bed, he still remained awake.
He read a few pages of his books but nothing managed to divert his attention completely, in the end, he decided to go and wait in the living room, where all of the presents were most likely already put by the house elves.
One after another, his friends woke up, giving hugs to each other to celebrate, after that, they opened their gifts.
William got sweets for Allen, Armand got him a few books in charms and potions, Elsie got him a box of chocolate frogs, lastly, Sophia got him a small bag pack that he can put around his shoulders, way too similar to a fanny pack, with the advantage of being enchanted to have a bottomless space, all you need to do is think about the object that you want to get from the bag and it will come. That way, you don't have to search for it around every object in it.
All in all, Christmas was a good time. He enjoyed himself, and he'd like to think that his friends did as well.
---------------------------------
Three days before leaving for Hogwarts, Mr Bailey asked him if they could talk. He agreed, most likely knowing what he wanted to say.
Apparently, after Allen told Mr Bailey everything, he went around asking to the orphanage and a few other sources to confirm the story. Not that he didn't believe him, but to demand something, you need to have a clear understanding of the facts and how they transpired.
He listened to Allen's side of the story, went around and checked to see if it matched with what he was told, and after that, he went to the Walkers.
They spent the whole evening talking about the situation Allen was in, and what happened after they left him behind.
His aunt soon realized the error of their actions, but his uncle still didn't want to acknowledge the mistake on their part, apparently, the was adamant that they were in the right to leave him behind in a muggle orphanage. That way, no wizard would think to search for him, specially after all of the damage his parents did to the death eaters.
After Mr Bailey told him that they could've just taken Allen in as a baby when they fled the country to keep him safe, he didn't want to listen.
He was a stubborn man, that even after his wife tried to persuade him, he didn't budge.
In the end, Mr Bailey took his leave, he did all he could, showing the family their errors. And before they could be a family, they should apologize to Allen instead.
Mr Bailey explained all of this to Allen, but he stayed silent afterwards.
"I see…"
He didn't know how to react, he assumed more or less that the idea to leave him behind was from his uncle, why he couldn't tell.
Maybe he can't get along with his uncle and aunt, but that doesn't mean that he can't get along with his cousin.
He could at least try… when she gets to Hogwarts, for now, it was time to pack up, he didn't want to leave everything at the last minute, so he started packing since today.
Allen thanked Mr Bailey for what he did for him and took his leave.
--------------------------
He stored all of his books in the fanny pack that Sophia got him for Christmas, next time he would need to gift her something useful as well, like this, not only cute. Allen nodded to himself.
Just when he was about done packing, a small box was left on top of the bed, a silver lion and a golden snake engraved on the lid, the same box that he got for his birthday from his aunt and uncle.
He opened it and took the three Gringotts keys from the box. It's not like he forgot about them, but more like he didn't want to find out what his parents left him behind, if they did leave money for him, then he wouldn't be eligible for the Ministry's support the moment he came in contact with the galleons.
But if it was something else, it wouldn't really affect him.
Allen spent a long time thinking about what to do. He still had two days before they left for Hogwarts, so he could ask Sophia's parents to take him to Gringotts and check the vaults, after all, they weren't lacking in money, so they wouldn't be interested in small change that his parents could've left him.
'Right, then let's do that.'
He jumped out of the bed and ran outside, looking for Sophia.
"Phia!" Allen cried almost at the top of his lungs as he reached her room, knocking on her door.
"Wha- What?! What happened Allen?!" She ran as fast as she could to open the door.
"Are you okay?" Sophia asked frantically.
Allen nodded. "Yeah, I just wanted to ask if I could go to Gringotts tomorrow."
Her face suddenly turned to a whiter tone when she heard his explanation. Then to a red tone. "And that's why you screamed like something happened?!" She shouted in return, a bit mad.
"Uh?! Yeah, I mean, I just, I felt like it was important to get it out of the way, that's why I ran all the way here to tell you. Since we are really close to leaving." Allen explained.
She took a big breath to calm herself. "Alright, I'll tell daddy if he can take us to Diagon Alley, I wanted to buy some stuff anyway."
His face brightened when she accepted his request. "Thank you, you are the best!" After that he ran back again to his room, leaving Sophia dumbfounded.
----------------------
Allen pocketed the three keys on his bag right before leaving for the Alley, they would use the floo to travel to the Leaky Cauldron and from there, they would go straight to Gringotts.
When they reached the bank, Mr Bailey asked him if he wanted to accompany him, since goblins were treacherous creatures, it would be better for him if someone who has experience dealing with them went with him.
In the end he agreed, but asked Mr Bailey to only interfere if it seemed like he was about to get scammed or robbed.
They had to wait for a few minutes before being called by one of the goblins, apparently people were still making last-minute purchases for their kids, that meant they had to take money out of the bank.
After sitting down in front of the goblin, he stayed quiet, working on his documents without looking at them. Allen wanted to ask Mr Bailey if they should do something, or call out to him, so he turned around, and saw him shake his head left and right, putting his index finger on top of his lips.
'So we need to wait until he's done, uh?'
Ten minutes later, the goblin finally looked their, asking what they needed. Mr Bailey nodded his head, signaling him to take out the keys.
"Recently, I've come into possession of three keys for a Gringotts vault each. They were left behind by my parents to me, and I wanted to access them." Allen explained as he put the keys on the desk.
The goblin inspected the keys with minuscule precision before talking. "These are Joseph Lionheart, Mary Lionheart and Allen Lionheart's keys. Who of the three may you be?"
The question shocked him. Were goblins bad at differentiating between humans? Or even adults from children? Or maybe it was just a safety measure that they needed to ask. "I'm Allen Joseph Lionheart, the son of Joseph and Mary Lionheart." He answered.
"Hmm." The goblin grumbled as he stood up, taking the keys with him. "Follow me."
A small door opened from the side so Allen could go right behind him, when Mr Bailey was about to follow them, the goblin stopped him, saying that only the owner of the keys could go to the vaults.
"That's… an interesting rule, first time I've heard of it, actually. In my vault's case, everyone I agree to let inside, they can go with me. So why is it different?"
The goblin grumbled something about wizards always wanting to get the upper hand, and so on and so forth before answering him.
"The previous owners, that is to say, if I'm not wrong, Allen Lionheart's parents. Made an agreement with us, that only their direct descendant can enter the vaults."