Sunlight dawned on the Nightshade manor slowly as a big cat prowled the grounds seemingly stalking something. Fur white as snow with nearly white grey marks on the ears shone like a beacon as it seemed to find what it was stalking in a favorable position and pounced. Before the big cat could make contact the prey, in this moment a rather amused looking witch, froze the feline mid-air and swatted its nose lightly with her finger. "Wrong choice of form. Too heavy and it makes too much noise. So get to making your breakfast Amelia and review which one you should've taken" she said in a teacher like scold. Stepping out of the way and unfreezing the big cat she grinned at the pout on the muzzle before the form began to shrink.

In a matter of moments a young girl of eleven stood in place of the big cat. Snow white hair with grey highlights reached the middle of her shoulder blades in a french braid, porcelain skin contrasted mismatched eyes-her left eye a bright emerald while the right was a dark blue like a raging ocean storm- and being slightly above those her age in both height and starting to develop early she was a sight to most. "Yes mother, my school letter should be coming today if you are correct no?" she asked tilting her head slightly to the side causing her bangs to obsure her right eye momentarily. It was a strange concept to her that magical schools would know when, where and who to send acceptance letters to. Her mother had tried to explain her before about enchanted objects like school ledgers that kept track of every student that passed through the school halls and how it would self update for former students who had children. It was creepy and borderline stalkerish in her opinion but the magic involved to make such an object semi-sentient did intrigue the young witch.

"At some point, yes it should." The witch ruffled her daughters hair despite the half-hearted protest. She had been poised to tell the girl to scoot to eat but the appearance of five owls flying towards them made her pause. "Hold on, it may be here already. Which is strange in and of itself."

"Should there be a five owl entourage for it as well? That would be most peculiar" Ameli said. It would indeed be the most odd thing if it was purely for one letter. "Correction" her eyes narrowed slightly "four owls and what appears to be a Gringotts falcon. Now I'm much more curious, to warrant an eagle it must be extremely important for them to send it instead of an owl." She snapped her fingers and conjured a falconers glove around her extended hand thankful her mother had taught her to harness her magic wandlessly from a young age. As soon as the falcon landed on the glove she gave it a rather light run of her hand from the top of its head down to its finely muscled chest. "Such a good bird you are" she cooed rubbing his breast feathers making the falcons chest puff up.

The older witch rolled her eyes at Amelias little spoiling of the falcon as she collected the other letters from the owls perched on the backporch railing. To call her surprised was an understatement as there was not one school acceptance but four. The first three schools almost everyone knew about, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic-this she expected as they lived in Nice-, Durmstrang Institute and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but the one that surprised her was the last letter postmarked and the paper embossed with a harp. "The Keep? They don't admit anyone but.." Dark blue eyes shot over to Amelia as she continued to praise the falcon and pet his breast feathers. "Take the letter from his leg and let him fly, you know how the goblins are about time and money" she admonished gently as the fours scattered.

Once the pair were back inside Amelia tossed the Gringotts letter addressed to her mother on the counter. Humming slightly to herself she began to work around the kitchen grabbing fresh herbs from the pots on several windowsills. "Would you prefer an omlette or perhaps fresh crepes this morning? We picked up those fresh raspberroes yesterday and I can whip up some fresh whipped cream" she said peering over towards her mother who was pouring over the Gringotts letter. "Looks like its my choice then." Retreating to her humming she picked out the necessary ingredients to put together a decent omlette and began to cook. Moving about the kitchen like an expert young chef she juggled the two pans with an ease from spending so much time with her mother in the kitchen as her humming switched out for soft whistling. Just as she plated their food she heard her mother clear her thoat making her pause with two slices of french toat between her tongs.

"You know you're adopted right." Of course Amelia knew she was adopted, she had sat the girl down last year and tild her that but that in no uncertain terms she loved Amelia as her own daughter and would always think of her as such. The nod and questioning glance prompted her to continue as the young witch continued to plate breakfast. "Gringotts has deemed it necessary for you to do an inheritance to figure out just who you are precisely. I don't care what your birth parents named you or where you came from and you know you will always be my little angel." She chuckled at the slightly shy but loving smile she got from Amelia as the girl came over the table with two full plates. "But I think its a good and I have to agree with the goblins. They have set an appointment for us at ten. An inheritance test shall be done to see who your parents were, where you came from before you landed in my lap quite literally and if you have any vaults you can claim with Gringotts. I think it'll help you make a choice as well." She slid the four school letters side by side in front of Amelia. "Bulgaria, England, France or" she paused as her finger tapped the letter from The Keep "Ireland. Four of the premier magic schools in the magical world as we know and three of them never let anyone in without being a homeland national to the schools country of origin."

"Only three?" Amelia asked setting her mothers plate down and passing over the silverware.

"Hogwarts lets in anyone with magic so long as you get British citizenship. Durmstrang and The Keep" the older witch tapped the respective letters "only admit those with the blood of native sons or daughters which tells me your mother or father have to have family roots in those countries. Beauxbatons only admits french citizens, a loophole you were able to take advantage of since you quite literally appeared out of nowhere with no with nothing but a basket and the amulet around your little neck."

Amelia clutched the silver amulet hanging off her necklace, a silver dragon curled up clutching an emerald heart in its claws as the wings were spread out, before nodding. As much as she loved her adopted mother, something she would always say and never deny, the amulet and her one eye that didn't change in the blood adoption ritual was all she knew she had of her birth parents and things she cherished knowing that whatever happened to her birth family part of them was with her. "Well, the goblins will be able to shed more light on this than us just speculating. Eat and then we had to figure out how to kill a few hours time" she said releasing the amulet feeling a flash of warmth from it like every time she held it for an extended period of time. Light conversation came as she and her mother laughed about stupid little things. "So what do you know about the schools? Besides all the stories of Beauxbatons you told me of your school years."

"The Keep out of Ireland is a mystery to everyone but the students and staff who work there. What outsiders do know is that they are some of the most well disciplined witches and wizards to be taught. One of their more famous alumni Alexei O'Connor is a recognized Battle Mage by the ICW." A clap of the older witches hands summoned their house elf Mippy. "Could you be so kind as to clear the dishes for us Mippy? My daughter and I have to ready for this day of serious appointments."

Mippy nodded her head and snapped her fingers floating the dishes over to the sink before they began to clean themselves.

"And the other two?" Amelia asked with a finely raised eyebrow.

"Durmstrang is rumored and given a bad reputation as a dark school that practices all the dark arts. Its located somewhere in the north of Bulgaria by my guess since I only saw them once for an ICW event in my final year of school. Given they travel by ship it has to be close to the ocean and cold as all pits of hell since they present themselves with heavy thick furs." The witch paused trying to recall anything else. "Durmstrang is mostly a male population whether you ask about students or teachers. As for Hogwarts, its disappointing to say the least. Anyone with half a brain can look up their courses and they haven't changed in nearly two centuries. Their teaching outdated material and current headmaster seems not to care. I really wouldn't recommend choosing it but I will support your choice if you do."

"Mippy." Amelia turned in her seat and offered the house elf the letter. "Burn this please. I will not have my education undermined by subpar outdated material or deliberate use of subpar outdated material. Thank you Mippy" she said kindly as the elf burned it and the ashes scattered out the window. "Lets get ready then I suppose. We don't want to offend thhe goblins by coming into their sovereign nation looking like beggers."

-Gringotts bank-

When the pair appeared at the Paris branch of Gringotts both witches stumbled and caught themselves against the building side with their hands. "I hate portkeys" Amelia muttered darkly. She hated all magical transportation really except apparition and she had wait to get a license for that until she was sixteen and that bummed her out. Recomposing herself she smoothed out her blouse and skirt before heading into the bank behind her mother.

"Katherine and Amelia Nightshade to see our family vault manager. We have a ten o'clock appointment."

The goblin teller motioned for them to follow him. Five minutes later the pair of women were seated before a heavily scarred goblin. "Punctual as ever Lady and Heiress Nightshade, very good. Now, to the heart of the matter. Young Amelia" beady eyes turned to the young witch with a dagger offered to her "we need your blood."

-At Hogwarts-

Albus Dumbledore felt an ominus shiver run down his spine.