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[Shayde Silvergate]

One thing that Shayde was extremely happy about, was the fact that she was an absolutely spoilt brat. Those who knew about her parents would have been surprised by this, for her mother had passed away recently and her father was a drunk. However, the first year Slytherin was proud to say she had a love aunt - Gemma Silvergate-Peterson. She was the one who would said a small bag of treats to the eleven-year-old girl every morning. And, as usual, Shayde was waiting impatiently up at the Owlery with a watering mouth when it wasn't even light yet. School rules meant nothing to her, and bending them was her specialty. So much for staying in bed when it was dark.

It was definately unpleasant, having to perch on the very edge of a small wooden stool with droppings only inches away from her clean, new, Hogwarts robes. They were slightly big for her, only slightly, but occasionally she would trip over on the hems. Her aunt always said that one day she would grow into them, but it didn't mean that Silvergate liked them any better.

She found herself waiting for a rather long time that day, longer than usual. But when the sun's first rays began to peek out from behind the mountains and onto the frozen Grounds of Hogwarts, if one peered into the dark blue sky, they may have seen a tiny speck of white soaring to one of the towers of the castle.

"Finally!" the young Silvergate murmured to herself when she caught sight of her aunt's gigantic snowy owl winging his way toowards her. She threw open the window and greedily snatched the bag tied onto the bird's leg and ripped the package open.

Shayde had expected the usual - Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Drooble's Bubblegum and a Sugar Quill to suck upon in classes, especially History of Magic.

Her disappointment could clearly have been seen, for the eager look on the child's face had faded when she saw that it was empty, save for a tiny rusted key. A thing strip of parchment was curled around it and the girl pulled it out, slowly making out the words in the dim light.

It belonged to your mother, Shayde. She was found clutching it when she died. Does it mean anything you to? Please, keep it.

~ Aunt Gemma

Slumping, Shayde slouched miserably onto the stool again, care less to the fact that folds of material of her robes were now smeared with fresh, bird waste. She stared blankly at the note, then at the key. She had never seen it before in her life, but somehow it seemed strangely famillar...

Her train of thoughts were broken when she sound of approaching footsteps reached her ears. Wheeling around, her green eyes flashed coldly as she saw...

[Carron Zollow]

Carron had arisen early, like he normally did, rising out of his bed the same time as the sun began to rise over the mountains, lightly covering Hogwarts' grounds with a faint light, peeking in through the window of the dormitory. Every day he had been at Hogwarts, which had not been many at all, mind you, Carron went to see a group that Carron considered to be his friends, or as close to them as you could get. The owls. Yes, Carron visited the owls in the Owlery, because he had nearly no other friends, and he liked the cooing noises that came from the many owls, not to mention the peaceful fluttering of their wings. Owl dung wasn't exactly something to be desired, however.

But getting dung on his robes wouldn't really make them much worse. Carron was forced to buy secondhand robes, the smallest pair available. They were extremely torn and tattered, looking like they were a chew toy for a copy of A Monster Book of Monsters. And of course, the smallest pair in the store absolutely drowned Carron, leaving him swimming in the robes. He was constantly treading on the tattered hem linings at the bottom of the robes, and had to shake back the worn sleeves just to view his hands. His robes were another thing that Carron tended to get shy about, adding to his chances of never getting true friends.

Carron, of course, being forced to use second hand robes that he couldn't afford to tailor, hadn't been to experienced to the miracle that is sweets. Occasionally, if he was lucky, he would be given a piece of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, or maybe even a Chocolate Frog. Usually these came on Christmas, or occasionally Halloween, or if Carron happened to come upon a small amount of money somehow, enough to afford a sweet reward for himself.

Carron tried not to think of all of this, his robes and his monetary situation, and his thoughts were pushed out of his head as he reached the door to the Owlery. He pushed it open with a rusty squeak, and entered the Owlery. He looked around, and saw all of the beautiful birds perched throughout the large room, and turned his attention to one perched near the door, and adressed it. "Hi! How are you doing?" Carron happily asked the bird, who gave a small hoot in reply, ruffling its feathers slightly.

When doing so, Carron had not noticed the young lady at the other end of the Owlery, so he was indeed in for an unpleasant surprise when he turned around. "Shayde!" He exclaimed, part surprise, part horror, his voice still the high, slightly squeaky voice he had always had. It was then he noticed the rusty key she was holding. "Hey, whats that?" He asked, curiously.

[Shayde Silvergate]

"Oh, it's you again, is it?" Shayde spat distastefully, recognising the Ravenclaw who was standing in a pair of robes a few sizes too big for him. It reminded her of her own robes and she glanced down, suddenly conscious of what she appeared like in masses of folds of black.

Casually, the girl tucked a loose strand of hair behind her left ear and wondered what he was doing at such an early hour in the morning. She hadn't expected anyone to be up at this time and was a little annoyed at the fact that her privacy was intruded.

"It's a key," she said bluntly, lifting the piece of worthless metal up with her hand. "And I got no idea what it's for. Now I got a question for you: How the heck did you know my name, Mr. Ratty?"

That nickname could almost have been passed off as cute, if it hadn't been said with Silvergate's twin orbs narrowed dangerously and her arms crossed in front of her chest.

[Carron Zollow]

Instantly, Carron's self esteem was lowered, now almost a reflex to get depressed when he saw Shayde, especially after how she treated him after their first encounter. (Meanie. ) "...Yeah, it's me." Carron said, almost sounding sad at the fact. Why did he allow Shayde to get to him so badly? He just purely submitted to her at her first comment. Maybe he didn't want to fight anymore, because he knew he didn't stand a chance against her. "Sorry if I bothered you." He said softly and squeakily, considering if he should just leave. It's not like he would do any good to stay here, just get attacked again.

As he spoke to her, Carron made sure that he talked with his upper lip covering his top teeth the best he could, though it usually slipped once or twice per sentance, revealing his large gapped teeth. Teeth that had a slight resemblance to what, but a rat. This was a large reason why Carron hated to be called a rat, among others.

"I heard a professor calling you by that name as I passed the classroom." Carron spoke, chancing to look at her, for a pile of owl dung wasn't very interesting, or pleasing to look at. "Please don't call me Mr. Ratty.." Carron squeaked out, that sentance revealed a wide open glance at his gapped teeth, explaining why he didn't like the name. He quickly brought a hand up to cover his mouth, but it was too late.

Carron chanced to take a single step forward, to glance a little better at the key. He could see that it was well rusted. "Well, it must be old, for its developed rust...and look at the teeth...it is a really old, unique design." Carron muttered squeakily, more to himself, but loud enough for her to hear him.

[Shayde Silvergate]

((No I'm not! Imma good girl, I am!))

"I just didn't expect anyone to be up so early that's all," Shayde replied to him hastily, looking him up and down. Eyeing him distastefully, she watched him stare at a pile of bird droppings as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. "Hungry?" she threw in boredly. "I'm afraid at Hogwarts they don't serve what's been though a bird's stomach, Ravenclaw."

An almost inaudible 'eavesdropper' was added at the end of her words, more of a comment to herself than to him when he explained how he came to know her name. It was rather irritating, having someone know her name without her permission. Yes, Silvergate preferred to have permission and ownership over about everything, including her name, and sometimes even things that didn't really even below to her.

"Well if I'm not gonna name you Mr. Ratty, what should I call you? Rabbit Ravenclaw? Or do you have some silly title that people usually call you by?" It wasn't that Shayde [i]cared/i] to know his name or anything, but if this kid was going to whine constantly about what she nicknamed him then she'd rather call him by his proper name. That was, until, she was to learn the Silencing Charm of course. After that, she wouldn't give a damn about what people said because she could just shut them up, whether they wanted to or not.

The young Silvergate glared at him as he dared to approach her and she visibly backed away as if he was a dog that had just been picked out of a garbage dump. She watched as he shared his knowledge of the key before she carelessly slipped it into the pocket of her robes.

"Enough of your rubbish," she snorted rudely. "Even I could do that if I wanted to sound like a nerd like you, bookworm."

[Carron Zollow]

"Oh.." Carron sighed, not sure if she had been snappy again just because she didn't expect anyone else to be there, or if it was just because it was Carron. He thought she might have been lying to him, because she had been so mean before. Why would she have changed now? "I don't usually come up this early...I just woke up early." Carron squeaked, keeping his gaze off of the floor, and onto the Slytherin girl, but making sure to avert her eyes, choosing instead to stare at her midsection. He was a little more comfortable when he didn't have her eyes boring into his, he felt extremely intimidated when someone, especially her, was staring at him.

"No.." Carron muttered, trying to sound sure of himself, like she wasn't bothering him. Although, he was hungry. He knew that she was just using it to pick on him, due to the fact that thre was dung where he was staring, and didn't want to give her any reason to pick on him any more.

"M-My name is Carron.." Carron stammered, speaking quietly, hoping that if he spoke a bit quieter, that it would make his voice a bit lower, but to no avail. He really would have prefered her to call him by his true, given name, rather than some of the mean nicknames that she had tried him with prior.

Carron wasn't too surprised when she backed up once he had stepped forward, to try to look at the key. But it hurt all the same, that she was saying she didn't even want to be near Carron. He thought that he might be able to figure out at least what type of key that it was, or maybe even what it went to, if it opened a chest, a door, or even a large pendant or locket of some kind. Every thing had its own set of teeth, a distinct style. He would ask her if he could see it, to look at it, but he knew she wouldn't let him.

"I was just trying to help..." He murmurred, dropping his eyes again, before raising them back up, not wanting to look like he had given up. He wasn't trying to be a bookworm or anything.

[Shayde Silvergate]

Shayde was tempted to mimic the boy's "I don't usually come up this early... I just woke up early", but at the last moment she decided not to. She had been quite mean to him already, and the fact that this Ravenclaw had no backbone at all just seemed to take the fun out of it. She watched him as he stuttered and squeaked, and strangely, pity seeped into her heart. He seemed so small, weak and afraid.

Just like her...

Yes, Shayde was also scared. And small. And weak. But she didn't show it. She refused to show it. She had been taught ever since she was little, that she was a Silvergate. And Silvergates were proud, un-fearing and arrogant. Not snivelling around like the lower class people.

She watched as the boy introduced himself in a rather timid way. Carron. Carron. Silently, Shayde rolled that word over inside her head. Hadn't a teacher addressed him Mr. Swallow? Something similar to that... Mr. Zoro? The latter name sounded familiar, and litle did she know it was a character in a Muggle movie. Yes, her knowledge was somewhat limted, but random things crept in occasionally from here and there.

"I guess there'll be no need to introduce myself anymore," Shayde threw in casually. "After all, you already know me but anyhow, in case if your mind leaks - Shayde Ophelia Silvergate."

She bit back a response about him trying to help her and looked at him shrewdly, still leaning back a little. Reluctantly, she reached out and grabbed his hand roughly, placing the key upon his palm.

"There, now where's your expertise and knowledge on this, huh?" Shayde asked, watching his eye movement go down then up. Ahh, scared little thing, she smirked lightly.

[Carron Zollow]

Carron closed his eyes and braced himself for another full out asault of words once again, from the young, quick witted Slytherin. But it didn't come, and Carron opened one eye cautiously, as if to examine the situation. Carron didn't notice or realize it, because she seemed so strong, and intimidating, and sure of herself, but they were really quite a bit alike. Though if someone told him, Carron would obviously not believe them, because she hid it so well, and of what he saw of her. Carron's parents, both his muggle mother and wizard father hadn't taught him to be agressive, or overly proud or arrogant, or anything. They just told him to be himself, and leave it at that. Well, it turned out that himself wasn't really all that great.

After she told him her full name, first middle and last, Carron wondered if he should tell her his last name, to be polite. But, he decided that she didn't need to know it right now, so he wouldn't tell her, unless she asked him about it.

He gave her a small nod, to show that he heard and understood her when she told him her name, and his eyes trailed to the spot on her robes where the key would be hiding. His mind was already working, trying to think and recognize where he had seen something with a design like that. He knew that he had, he just knew it.

He was a bit surprised when she grabbed his hand, suddenly and roughly, and placed the key in it. Carron withdrew his hand, now enclosing the key, and brought it closer to him to examine. He had already plunged himself into deep thought, and barely heard her speak, not bothering to speak up, he was too busy now. His fingers ran over the handle of the key, caressing it, stroking over it, trying to familiarize himself with the shape. He would do texture as well, but it was rust covered, and therefore, given a new texture. Then, he moved to the teeth. It had a bunch of combs, all were very dull and blunt. Not due to age, Carron thought, but because of its design.

Now, Carron closed his eyes and tried to think, sort through his memories to find when he had seen a key like this. Then it hit him. Carron was standing there, with his father. The goblin asked Carron's father, if Carron had his key. Carron had studied the key quite a bit, his vault key, and had been pretty familiar with its design. Many blunt combs, all close together. Its handle was rather bulky, a large ring, with another ring inside of it, creating a lot of space between the rings.

Carron opened his eyes, his fingers absently winding themselves through the holes and spaces that they could fit through, in the handle of the ring. It wasn't the exact same design, but it was pretty close. That was how most keys worked, if they were in the same place, their designs were close. But this one was a bit different, with less frills, not as fancy. Carron asked himself 'Why?' But then it hit him. Because it was older! It was a key, that went to one of Gringott's original vault! Or so Carron believed. A soft word passed his lips, in a high pitched whisper. "Gringotts..." His eyes still glued to the key.

[Shayde Silvergate]

((Brain dead.))

"Ugh!" Shayde exclaimed loudly, covering her eyes as her eyebrows knitted together as a frown. "Stop with the squeaking or I'll have you drinking oil!" She glared at him coldly before her brain slowly processed what Carron had just said. Something that started with 'G'... grinning? Uh, groaning? No, no... Gringotts?

Yes! Gringotts! They had keys there for the vaults! And didn't it once contain a special object called the Philospher's Stone in vault seven-hundred and... was it twelve? Fourteen? Oh damn her memory, it just seemed to have died on her recently.

"You mean the bank?" she demanded abruptly, although she knew the answer to her question. "You're telling me that my mother was holding onto a key of the Gringotts Bank?"

As much as the Silvergates needed money, they never loved it. And to be holding onto something like that when dying... it didn't seem like her mother. What could Galleons, Sickles and Knuts do when you were dead?

Or maybe there was something else in there instead. But what did the Silvergates had that was so valuable that had to be locked away?

[Carron Zollow]

Carron glanced down again, a bit ashamed, when she told him to stop squeaking. It wasn't like it was something that he could control. If he could, he would have gotten rid of his squeaky voice ages ago. "It's not like I can control it." Carron muttered chirpily, no longer bothering to try and keep his voice from squeaking, it had never done any good.

After figuring out where the key had come from, Carron tried to figure out how old it might be, and how ancient the vault could be. It was obviously a very old key, and most vaults had been regenerated, or regulated, but the originals must still be tucked away somewhere. And from the formation of the rust, Carron determined, how it wasn't broken, the key had also not been used in a while. Whatever was in that vault, had been there for a very long time.

"Well, are there any other Gringotts that you know of?" Carron shrugged, his piping little voice breaking through the short silence after Shayde had spoken. "And you never know, they might have kept other things down there...a long time ago..." Carron contemplated, speaking more to himself than to Shayde, but loud enough that she could hear him.

This was getting really interesting. Here he was, trying to become a wizard at Hogwarts, like his father, and after being there just a few days, was helping the girl who had made his first days miserable, figure out what secrets lied with a rusty key, possibly unlocking a dangerous, exciting adventure, potentially diving into the secrets of the girls family, and history. Way to have a simple, calm experience at Hogwarts Carron, way to go.