A knock brought both of our attention to the door of Carleton's study.

"Enter." Carleton allowed.

The door swung open and a man entered, he was dressed in formal clothing and had a stack of papers in his hands.

"Is there a problem, Maguire?" Carleton sobered up.

Maguire was an average-looking man with a pinched expression.

"I'm afraid so, sir." Maguire adjusted his spectacles. 

Carleton's expression turned dark. "Tell me."

Maguire dropped the papers on the desk in front of Carleton. "My research has finally produced results." He explained in a nasal voice.

Carleton laced his fingers as he stared at the papers put in front of him, his smug act from earlier all but gone.

"The ability that runs through the Albeline Bloodline does not show up in every one of them, as a matter of fact, it is quite rare…" Maguire stopped at this point and turned to stare at me.

Light reflected off his glasses, making it difficult for me to see his eyes.

Carleton picked up a landline phone from his table. "Come to my study." He simply said.

A few moments later, two men stepped inside the room.

One was big and burly, while the other was on the scrawny side.

"You called, sir?" The scrawny one was the one to speak.

"Release him." He waved dismissively at me. "Have Stugg take him to a room."

"It'll be as you said, sir." The burly one said in a rugged manner.

I remained passive, were these guys Imperiused too?

I doubted it, they looked like hired hands.

It was a relief to be released from my bonds, the chains had been biting into my skin.

Even though I wanted to hear the rest of what Maguire had to say, I was currently 'Imperiused' I couldn't go against Carleton's wishes.

So I let myself be led out, missing the rest of the conversation. 

Maguire had said something about a Bloodline ability, was it the same as my Bloodline Magic?

It was the one skill I was yet to unlock. Knowing the world of Harry Potter, I half-expected it to be something common like 'Metamorphaging'.

But something entirely new and different seemed to have sprung up.

I was led down a gilded hallway, taking turn after turn, rooms lined some of the hallways that we went past.

After a while, we got to a different part of the rather large mansion. The difference in decor was blaring.

Was this the servant quarters?

That bastard Carleton! I'm the heir to the Albeline House and yet he's making me live in the servant quarters?

The nerve of him!

"Oi! Stugg!" The burly man called out as we got here.

The particularly shabbily dressed House-Elf showed up with a scowl.

I knew that House-Elves favored pillowcases as their go-to choice in fashion but the outfit Stugg had in didn't even seem like fabric anymore. 

It was so old that the threads had frayed, it was torn and tattered with countless stitches and patches.

For an uptight cod like Carleton, he sure treated his House-Elf badly.

"How may I be of service?" Stugg straight up sneered.

"Sir Carleton said you should give this here guest a room." The scrawny one pointed at me. "Have any problems with that?"

Stugg's response was to grumble under his breath, his scowl still affixed to his face.

"Wha' was that?" The burly guy took a step forward. 

Stugg didn't back down even at the fierce expression on the hired hand's face. "Nothing, Stugg will do as Master bidded.

"Thought as much." He huffed. "C'mon Frank, we've got work to do." He beckoned to his scrawny partner.

I watched the leave, turning to Stugg when they were both gone.

Stugg eyed me warily. "Yous is Master's guest, yes?" He asked, eyeing me up and down. "Come with me."

I followed behind the short creature, striking up a conversation with him so soon could backfire so I kept to myself.

The room I was ushered into wasn't half bad even though it was in the servant quarters. 

There was even a connecting bathroom in the decently sized room, it was far better than I had been expecting. 

"If Master's guest needs anything, just call for Stugg." The House-Elf offered reluctantly. 

"Audric, you can call me Audric." I corrected. 

Stugg looked taken aback by this. Then he bowed slightly. "Of course." He straightened up and I noticed that his scowl was mostly gone. "I shall return with some food, Audric did not get to eat to his fill earlier…"

Stugg already left before I could stop him. 

My stomach chose that moment to rumble and I glanced down.

Well, it wouldn't hurt to get more food.

I also needed to clean up, a quick check through the wardrobe showed that my room back at the Manor was raided because all the clothes in the wardrobe looked awfully familiar. 

I cleaned up and changed into new clothes before Stugg made his way back to my room.

The House-Elf came with a much larger tray, full of steaming food.

"Thanks." I appreciated, digging in enthusiastically.

My already chaotic life had been flipped over by Carleton but he also provided me with much-needed answers and information. 

I would have been royally fucked if his Imperius curse actually worked on me.

Now that it didn't, I was given the chance to get my revenge.

And get it I would.

Basically, my family had been killed off because of the Albeline secret.

So the shame I had to bear ever since I transmigrated was fictional?

It made me want to punch Carleton in his smug face.

Maguire had said something that caught my attention.

I had to learn more about the Albeline secret as well as my Bloodline Magic before taking any steps.

For now, I would keep pretending to be Imperiused.

I laid in bed after eating, it was late afternoon now.

Today seemed to go on forever and so much happened within such a short space of time.

Starting with being summoned to the Headmistress' office to being accused of murder…

I actually forgot to ask Carleton but did he orchestrate the murder of Sawyer too?

It had to be him, no one else would have a motive.

But considering what happened to Jon working for the Death Eaters from inside Hogwarts, could that have been the case with Sawyer as well?

It was highly unlikely,  seeing that the Death Eaters were crushed after their plans to reconvene.

It was exactly the kind of thing that Carleton would do.

Not to mention, he had been waiting for me at the Manor like he expected me to show up.

If I was cornered, the last place I had to run to would be my home.

I rubbed a hand over my face. I had walked right into Carleton's perfectly executed plans.

In a way, I was relieved that Carleton himself had come to find me. It saved me from floundering around trying to figure out what was going on.

I had gotten a bunch of SP after escaping from Hogwarts and being brought to Carleton's mansion. 

My stats, especially that of Magical Power also went up considerably. 

For now, all I could do was wait.

I couldn't go snooping around when I didn't even know the layout of the place.

If Carleton managed to find out that I wasn't under his Imperius curse, I didn't want to know what would happen.

The man was cruel enough to physically beat the secret out of my family before going ahead to take their lives.

And then still went ahead to further ruin my life after I had managed to survive because he found out that he couldn't acquire the secret without a member of the Albeline family. 

Just how far was he willing to go for the Albeline secret?

What exactly is the Gem of the Abyss?

And how does my Bloodline Magic help to acquire it?

I had so many questions and the answers to them weren't far from my grasp.

I just had to bide my time, find out more information and figure out what to do next.

I also needed to try not to die before I achieved all that.