I am Gryffindor!

"E-er, hey guys, how long have you been here ?" I asked, completely unsuspecting.

"Long enough to see the whole thing, kid," my grandfather said, crossing his arms with a mischievous smile.

I turned my attention back to the Flamels, who still had shocked expressions on their faces.

"Sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Flamel, I'll put it back where I found it," I said, quickly turning to place the staff back where I got it from.

"No, no, it's alright, little Aurelius," Mr. Flamel said, making me look at him.

"This chose you, and I never thought I'd see this happen," he said with a smile.

"Chose me ?" I asked, looking at the staff still in my hands.

"Aurelius, do you know how one gets a staff ?" Mrs. Flamel asked, slowly approaching.

I shook my head, I didn't know, in fact, I barely knew staffs still existed in this world.

"In ancient times, when wizards reached a very high level of power, their wands couldn't channel their magic properly anymore."

"So they went on a journey to create a staff that could meet their needs. Many couldn't find the right materials and chose to use magic with their hands instead," she said, crouching down to speak directly into my line of sight.

"But for those who succeeded, a new level of power was reached. Merlin himself made his staff when he needed it, and he was one of the few who managed to do it. Many people think the hard part was only finding the ingredients, but there are staffs that were never used by their makers. The one in your hands is one of those," she said with a smile.

"But then…" I said, looking at the staff. "What does that mean ?"

"It means," my grandfather said, approaching and placing one hand on my shoulder, "That this staff deemed you worthy of using it. You don't get a staff, you deserve one." He finished with a smile, showing his white teeth like jewels.

Hearing his words froze me, deserve one? But I didn't do anything, is this right?

"By Merlin's beard ! I never imagined a child would be able to earn the staff's recognition. I believe we should expect great things from you, little Aurelius. Bearers of magical staffs have always achieved great feats in history," Mr. Flamel said enthusiastically.

"What do I do now ?" I asked the adults in front of me.

"Learn, you must learn how to use it, and over time, create wonderful things with it. The only thing that can separate you two is death. You've earned a companion for life, kid," my grandfather said with a proud smile.

Amid all of this, I remembered something; there wasn't just the staff in that chest.

"Mr. Flamel, and what about that egg ? Does it have something special ?" I asked, unable to hold back my curiosity.

"Oh, that, I found it in one of my explorations a few centuries ago. I felt a special magical energy in it, but unfortunately, even after my efforts to hatch it, I never managed to. Now it's nothing more than a beautiful decoration," he said with a disappointed sigh.

"You can take it with you if you want," Mrs. Flamel said with a smile, surprising both me and my grandfather.

"N-no, it's not necessary, Mrs. Flamel, I just thought it was pretty and—" I started to say, but was cut off by her.

"Don't be like that, dear, you can take it. Consider it a gift for giving these old bones an extraordinary vision. Besides, you heard him, we couldn't hatch it. Now, it's just a simple decoration."

I looked over her shoulder, staring at Mr. Flamel, who gave a positive nod with a smile.

With a slight smile, I turned my attention back to the woman in front of me.

"Alright, in that case, thank you very much, Mrs. Flamel," I said happily.

Everyone's POV

"Hehe…" Mr. Flamel chuckled lightly, observing the scene before him.

My grandfather, seeing this, asked, "Something funny ?"

"Not exactly, just remembered a bet I made with an old fool a few years ago. Looks like I won one hundred and fifty galleons," he said with a triumphant smile.

* Hogwarts *

Sitting at his desk in the headmaster's office, Dumbledore wrote calmly on his parchment, his faithful phoenix, Fawkes, napping in its nest.

When suddenly, his peace was interrupted by a sneeze at the desk beside him.

" AAATTTCCCHIIIMM !! " Dumbledore sneezed loudly, startling the phoenix, who woke up, confused about what had happened.

After a few seconds of composing himself, the old man said, "Sorry, my friend, you may go back to sleep."

And with an unsatisfied chirp, Fawkes turned away from the man and curled up, trying once again to fall asleep.