"Enter, young man," the voice of an old man ordered as I got closer to the large entrance door with the symbol of the brotherhood above it.
Instead of listening immediately to the order, my gaze lingered on the symbol of the brotherhood above the door for a while longer because it still shone in a faint golden color in my eyesight and then I used that same ability to make sure I wasn't walking into a trap.
"Curious. I saw you looking at that symbol at our gate when you walked by at Christmas. You know of its meaning?"
An old man, perfectly groomed and with more vitality exuding from his body than should be possible waited for me near the entrance. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw he was tinged in green and not in red, because I might have had my means of escape, I didn't want to try them on an old man in a profession where most die young. Clearly, the man in front of me was trained to be an assassin, same as the white cloaked men and women in my dreams.
"The brotherhood of assassins?" I gingerly asked in a low voice.
"No need to whisper. Everyone who can hear us is initiated. Tell me about your training, young man," the man said and pointed me politely to a sitting room off to the side.
"You... are remarkably open. I merely found a book among the possessions of my late mother and it led me to believe you and others who are 'initiated' would treat everyone with suspicion," I said as I regarded the grand room I sat down in.
It was decorated rather tastefully with many old paintings that seemed to tell a story.
"Suspicion is a powerful tool. It is a necessary ability to hone. But if you are forever suspicious, you may never move forward in a meaningful way."
This was all a test, I was sure of it, but despite my dreams about other assassins, despite reading the book I found thoroughly... I didn't know how to steer this conversation. Not truly. And it was vexing me.
"I've... had a hard time finding allies..."
The old man's smile grew a little more friendly, "You're still young. There is always room for growth, especially at your age. Tell me; did you truly stagnate in your training and your personal relationships these past months and years?"
I closed my eyes for a moment and started smiling, "I guess you're right. I'm working on it. By the way, excuse me for not introducing myself. My name is Talion Macnair."
"A Scotsman? With such a unique name to boot? Did your parents have a flair for the dramatic or someone they really wanted dead when they named ye?"
It wasn't lost on me that he didn't introduce himself but rather asked me something that would get a reaction out of me no matter my circumstances, but I still calmly answered the man.
"My mother truly had enemies. As far as I am aware, even my grandfather was among them. But if that was her intention in naming me, I couldn't tell you. I never had the chance to ask her."
The old man's smile, to his credit, never faltered. But he still apologized, "Excuse me, young man. Being blunt and prying too much are weaknesses that only grow with age. My name's Jacob Frye. Named after my grandmother's twin brother and for only the most honorable of reasons. Sir Jacob Frye, first of his name, was a truly great man. One of the guiding lights in the British Brotherhood... once he grew up a little."
"Pleasure to meet you, Sir Frye. Can you tell me more about the brotherhood?"
"I can. But I won't just yet. Not before you answer a question your own."
I was an occlumens while he was not. I knew I could lie to just about any other muggle, but an experienced assassin who lived a colorful life might just have the necessary training to see the most minute detail I can't yet hide. I needed to tread carefully.
"Your eyes," old man Frye said as he pointed to his own. "You have the sight, right? Eagle Vision?"
Okay, treading carefully was no longer an option. This was now do or die. My fight-or-flight response was raring to go, and it looked like Jacob Frye picked up on it as he raised both hands, palms facing toward me as if to calm me down.
"Easy there. I mean you no harm. I, too, was born with the gift of Eagle Vision. A gift that quite a few members of my bloodline shared. Evie Frye, my grandmother had it. Her brother Jacob did, too. Their children, my father's generation, was skipped. But my oldest cousin Lydia Frye, who was one of Winston Churchill's most trusted advisors in the shadows during World War I thanks to it, had it and taught me how to use it."
"How come you share their last name? Shouldn't you have the name of your grandfather?"
"Really? Deflection? Okay, I'll play along, brat. If you're implying either I or my father were a bastard born out of wedlock, you're mistaken. My grandfather Henry Green was a talented and powerful man in his own right and me and my father would have proudly worn his name had they stayed in India as planned. Yet, it was not meant to be, and grandma Evie had to rush back to England because of Jack the Ripper, who had managed to successfully abduct and torture her brother before she managed to free him. Once back in England, my grandparents chose to raise my father as a Frye. Evie Frye was, after all, a knighted noble in the employ of Queen Victoria same as her brother and the family name held a certain weight in the right circles, something Henry Green's name couldn't offer."
A whole mountain of information was said and left unsaid as I tried to sort it all in my mind. Jack the Ripper, the infamous mass murderer active in the late 19th century, was not only real but also related to the brotherhood of assassins?
'Ugh, no. Concentrate on what's really important.'
I breathed out deeply and closed my eyes for a short moment before I looked toward the two hidden 'guests' in the room.
"Yeah, I do have what you call Eagle Vision if this ability is what I think it is. We have two hidden guests in the room over there and there. The dagger disguised as a letter opener on the cupboard over there is an item of some renown, and you appear to be friendly toward me. There's also that candlestick that should be a switch or lever of some kind near the entrance."
Jacob Frye started grinning like a little kid as he nodded in a pleased manner.
"You truly have it! My Stephen didn't awaken it, and I had him too late to try for another because I didn't want to bother a young lady with my decrepit form. It had always been a regret of mine not to teach someone with eagle vision."
"Master, I have eagle vision!" The 'apprentice' butler said with a resigned expression as he stepped out of the shadows.
"Ah! Potatoes, potahtoes. Now I get to teach two!"
"Uhm, four, master," the second shadow in the room said as one of the hidden maids stepped out and it seemed like all three younger assassins in the house actually had this apparently not-so-rare bloodline ability?
"You kids suck the fun out of everything! And stop revealing your abilities to random strangers - have I taught you nothing?"
"... random strangers? Master, you just told him everything..."
"And he appears as an ally in our vision, so he isn't a templar, master... you should know that..."
Jacob glared at them both before he flicked two sugar cubes at the two young adults in the room with blinding speed and immaculate precision as they left a red mark on their foreheads.
"I can't wait to get you out of the house! No respect," the old man said and walked out deeper into the house in mock anger. "Follow me, Talion."
The butler-looking young man looked at me with a kind nod and the maid curtsied toward me while urging me to hurry along, so I quickly fell into step with Sir Frye.
"Did you bring that book your mother left you?" The man asked as he walked down into the basement.
"... I did."
"No need to fret, I won't steal it. I just want to know what kind of book you got so I know the blanks in your education," Sir Frye said with a scoff.
"Oh... sorry. Here," I meekly apologized and handed him the booklet that I discreetly took out of my enchanted pouch. Thankfully, I had brought it along.
"Hmm, how far along are you in body conditioning?" He asked after leafing through it quickly. It looked like he knew the contents just by seeing its size and the page count.
"Uhm, I don't mean to boast, but probably unrivaled?"
The old man stopped and looked back toward me with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Unrivaled is a big word for such a young brat. Prove it," he said and pointed toward what appeared to be an obstacle course with painted, small wooden footsteps on walls, near ledges, and floating with ropes or on top of lone stakes down further in the incredibly spacious basement.
"Two minutes. Anything your hand touches that isn't painted white or the wall, you lose ten seconds. Anything your foot touches that isn't painted white or green, you lose five seconds."
With a challenge presented that I intended to crush, I got ready by throwing my coat over the first stake and jumped over it to the second step of the obstacle course. As the course progressed and the hurdles got harder and harder, I barely slowed down at all. Despite that, I didn't show Sir Frye the full extent of my prowess.
Every ledge, I could have pulled myself up with one hand because Flitwick had me train that to ensure I had a wand ready even when pulling myself up a cliff. Every second step, I could have likely jumped over like the very first one in the course, but it wasn't in line with my training that had me preserve stamina as much as possible.
And so it was that despite going just at a little over half my potential full speed, I ended the course in 57 seconds with over a minute to spare.
"I've heard about your kind," Jacob said with a sigh, and I stiffened up.
'How did he figure out I was a wizard already? Does he even know about us?'
"Actual prodigies, blessed with training results others would take decades to achieve. Ugh, just like Sister Lydia back in the day..."
'Oh... false alarm. But I mean... Flitwick did push me pretty hard, and then again, we did simply cheat with those potions and the elixir...'
"Haaa, that deserves a reward. More than the book and the knife I'd have given you," Sir Frye breathed out with a deep sigh, and it looked like I got him good with my performance.
"I would have given you a special knife and the missing texts to teach you... but if you're this far ahead already, all you lack is practical experience and martial arts training. Do you lack martial arts training?"
I nodded in response.
"Good. I'll have Tristan and Anna teach you when they get back from their mission," Jacob Frye deliberated out loud, and we stopped in front of a black chest in a storage area inside the basement.
"This is no time for solemn oaths and vows... but do you intend to be a part of the brotherhood, Talion Macnair?"
I once more nodded in response.
"You know about the templars already, so know that this affirmation isn't taken lightly. But in that case you can have this. I took a liking to you the minute you came into the house. It's only fitting a young gifted brat like you should inherit Evie Frye's hidden blade," the old man grandly expressed as he opened the chest with a flourish.
"It's fitted for the left hand, will that be a problem?"
"I'm ambidextrous, sir."
"Of course you are... in any case. This is a hidden blade that the brotherhood has used since its inception. These days, a bulky wristguard like this is hardly hidden if you don't dress appropriately, but you may ask Anna for a more modern version if you need it down the line."
"Thank you, sir."
"Go on, pick it up. I'll show you how to use it," Sir Frye instructed, and I stepped forward.
I had seen this kind of hidden wristblade countless times in my dreams, so I knew how to wear it and how to work it... in theory. And it looked like in practice, too, because the moment I donned the wristguard with the knuckle cover and one-shot-pistol and hooked it up to my ringfinger properly, I was able to get the hidden blade to pop out.
"Easy there. Initiates more trained than you have lost fingers due to inattention," Frye chided, but he wore a proud grin.
"Evie Frye was a grandmaster of the order and had more than one hidden blade. At more than one point, she wore one on both hands, so don't think this is her ultimate legacy and think you're indebted to me or something. Just treat it with the respect it deserves."
I looked down at the cane he used to pretend to walk with a limp.
"Like the cane sword?"
The old man started laughing, "Hehe, a quick study, are ye? Indeed, this cane comes with its own little tricks."
He held up the slim cane and showed me the golden eagle-head grip that looked sharp enough to kill someone with a well placed hit to the head.
"I'm not giving that to you, however. This one will remain in the family."
"I'm more partial to ravens anyway," I mused with a chuckle of my own.
The name of my house was 'Ravenclaw', after all. And while according to the talking hat two of the founders were part of the viking Raven Clan, of which I suspected Rowena Ravenclaw was one of those two, the heraldic animal of Ravenclaw was actually an eagle. I never understood why, but now I had an idea. I still liked ravens better because of my connection to the Raven Clan.
'That's even more suspicious. Rowena Ravenclaw had this bloodline ability for sure, and while she honored the Raven Clan by using the name Ravenclaw, she also knew this ability was called Eagle Vision... right?'
"Ah! Should you ever find yourself among members of the German Brotherhood, ask for Konrad Zurburg. The man has managed to train ravens to do his bidding. Terribly intelligent creatures," Sir Frye offered with a reminiscing smile.
"I see," I replied, thinking that either those very ravens have magical blood or I could likely find magical creatures to be even better than whatever this Zurburg trained. "When can I see you again? You know, for training?"
"Be here on 25th of February. I'll get you an instructor worth his salt."
I mentally checked and noted down that it was a Saturday. With a little trickery, I might be able to sneak out of Hogwarts for that weekend - though, I'd likely have to get Flitwick on board if I didn't want Dumbledore involved.