His entire face flushed pink at her words, and he laughed as he rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s very kind of you Miss Dempsey, but I promise there are many others who deserve that honor more than I could.” He dropped his hand back to wrap around the mug in front of him, but not before adding a seventh sugar cube. (At this point it was a nervous twitch for him and something for him to do with his hands.) He could think of several more deserving individuals, some of them included people he’d never met; they were the ones who found treasures people could only dream of, or followed every rumor to the edge of the earth in hopes of uncovering them. “But it will be exciting to see some things cemented in words by a true author.”

Gus grinned at her, wide and unjudging as he watched her face twist with excitement. He enjoyed spinning stories for her because it was nice to have someone who wanted to listen, rather than some of his friends who’d groan when he brought things up. “Underneath the ballerina, who was quite insane from having to listen to the bird since the creation of the box, or so I’d believe, we found a wand. We thought the box belonged to Miss Gormlaith Gaunt and we’d found Salazar Slytherin’s wand she was said to own, but unfortunately it was proven to be a fake.” The disappointment dripped in his own voice, but it was important to see that not all treasures were much, if anything at all. It was the journey to getting there.

“A bit disappointing, but I’ve also heard rumors that the Hogwarts Founders treasures are still hidden in Hogwarts somewhere.” And as a professor there now, he could look as much as he wanted. (Why this had just occurred to Gus was shocking.)

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