Death Needs No Master
May 20th 1998
London, England
12 Grimmauld Place
Once they knew what their plan was, that only left the question of who would be going with them.
Neville, unsurprisingly, jumped on it with the courageous loyalty that could have made him a fantastic Badger.
"There's nothing left," pain tightened Neville's face "I managed to convince Gran to put all but the essentials in storage, just in case, but she refused to leave Longbottom Manor. She was inside when the Death Eater's scorched the earth with Fiendfyre" Neville said, and Harry's eyes closed in sympathy.
"I'm sorry, Neville" Harry whispered, and the taller boy pulled him into a tight hug.
"None of this is your fault, Harry" Neville insistent vehemently, and Harry's shoulders shook as he held in sobs.
"What about the rest of your family?" Harry asked thickly, and Neville made a caustic sound.
"Oh, their all thrilled that I turned out not to be a worthless squib, dragging down the proud Family Name, and whatnot," Neville said bitterly, and Harry suppressed a shiver as his magic coiled around them protectively, "plus, Luna's mother was a Malfoy, and they're not impressed that I'm insisting on 'consorting with dark witches'" Neville mocked, and Harry's lips turned up into a small smile as he pulled back.
"Luna? Dark?" Harry laughed, and Neville grinned at him.
"Besides," Neville's eyes lit up, "you have no way of knowing if there will be compatible potion ingredients, so your going to need a herbologist" Neville said, and Harry made a dismayed sound.
"Potions" Harry harumphed, but resolved to spend some time flicking through some of his and Hermione's old notes.
Spending months in a tent, just Harry and Hermione, with her veritable library and one wand between them, Harry hadn't had any choice but to make do with mostly wandless magic.
Harry could use Hermione's wand to do basic spells, but no way was Harry leaving her defenseless outside the tent, when Harry couldn't even fight with her wand. So, inside the tent, Harry borrowed her wand occasionally, but mostly focused on other areas.
He learnt everything he could about potions, arithmancy, runes, basic warding, basic spellcrafting, magical theory, and occlumency. Not that the mind arts were any help to him with Voldemort, considering the breach was occurring behind any defenses he erected.
(He'd even managed to master a few simple wandless spells, mostly 1st and 2nd Year charms, and no transfiguration, to defend himself outside the tent, no one but Hermione had known-And now only Harry knew...)
Harry was no Potions Master, but he could manage most NEWT level potions, and he's reasonably sure he could pass the rest of his NEWT's comfortably.
Unfortunately, both Charlie and Bill had refused to come, they had asked Harry to reconsider, but were understanding when he explained that Harry would never find peace as long of the Magical World wanted him to be their golden boy.
That decided, they decided to divide and conquer.
Harry was going to liquidate the Potter-Black fortune, which meant he would be dealing with the goblins, who were already extremely unhappy about Harry, Ron, and Hermione stealing from their bank.
Neville also liquidated what was left of the Longbottom estate, but most of it had been spent trying to cure his parents, or squandered during the Wars.
In the 2 weeks since the War ended, Harry had been trying to diplomatically tell the goblins to piss off, as he'd been a bit busy going to funerals, recovering from the war, ensuring he had a roof over his head, and Harry had just taken custody of an infant.
And now he was planning to immigrate to another universe.
He was a bit busy, so the goblins could bloody well wait their turn.
Luna had unearthed a series of magical trunks, one of which she claimed had belonged to her godfather, none other than Newt Scamander, which would be acting as a menagerie for their livestock and plants. Neville took over stocking it with an unholy glee, and Harry made a mental note to be extremely cautious every time he went in there, lest he be eaten by some carnivorous plant.
Luna had attacked the Black Library with an enthusiasm that had Harry seeing frizzy brown curls in the corner or his eyes, and he'd had to excuse himself.
Harry knew that she was simply cataloguing the books for now, sorting out the ones that needed to be de-cursed, and that once she was done, she would move onto shopping for the books they didn't have.
So, three days after they had set their escape plan in motion, Harry set Teddy up in the library in his travel cot, under the watchful eyes of Luna and Kreature, and head for Diagon Ally for the first time since the end of the war.
It was a mistake.
May 22nd 1998
London, England
Diagon Ally
Harry was nearly mobbed the moment he stepped out of the Floo, and had to fight back the instinctive tensing of his magic.
Managing to duck around a corner, Harry found himself cursing that he hadn't brought his invisibility cloak, and wishing more than anything to not be seen.
The feeling of a cool breeze, carrying the scent of incenses and ozone, passed him, and suddenly, Harry was gone.
The cloak, which Harry hadn't realized until that very moment was missing, curled about his shoulders protectively, the fabric smooth and smoky, and the feeling quickly spread to the rest of him.
Preoccupied, Harry didn't step out of the way of the incoming mob, and tensed, but suddenly they passed through Harry as if he were no more solid than than mist.
What the fuck? Harry thought, and looked down at a heavy feeling on his hands.
On one hand, the thick golden ring held a flawless black stone, so dark it seemed to absorb the light around it, and in his other hand was the smooth length of wood belonging to the Elder Wand.
Shit.
That day, Harry cancelled his meeting with the goblins, and rushed back home, only for Luna to pull him back from spiraling into a panic attack on his questionable mortality.
Harry had confided the whole story to both her and Neville, and both had equally walloped him a good one for sacrificing his life, and were frothing with rage over Dumbledore's betrayal.
They were less concerned about the Hollows themselves, much to Harry's surprise.
"It sounds like the Hollows were a Divine Trial, and once you passed, you won the artifacts as a Boon" Neville shrugged, and Harry was reminded of how much he didn't know about the magical world as they explained.
"Most Purebloods, even the most devout believers in the Hollows, didn't truly believe they would become the Master of Death. Everyone knows Death has no Master, They cannot be shackled, for Death comes for everyone eventually. Most probably believed they would become immortal, or at least unageing" Neville explained, and Luna placed a calming hand on his shoulder when she saw the look of panic on his face.
"Neville is right, Harry. The Hollows were a Trial, probably not even from Lord Death, they were likely created by some trickster god that just wanted to see humans tear each other apart. It is ironic, isn't it, that the person to pass the Trial was the person to reject absolute power, hmm?" Luna arched an eyebrow, and Harry calmed.
"So, you think they're just powerful artefacts? Because I want nothing to do with this 'Master of Death' business. I figure I'll meet Death when its my time, but I'm not interested in rushing it" Harry gave them a nervous smile, and Neville shook his head.
"You can't enslave a Primordial Being, They would crush our world like a bug for even trying, and They aren't known for being merciful, so I wouldn't worry about it" Neville reassured him, and the tension leaked out of Harry's shoulders.
"Good" Harry relaxed, and looked down at the wand, ring and cloak on the table in front of him.
Now that that was settled, Harry picked up the wand, and a jolt of energy rushed through Harry and the three artefacts, they blurred like smeared paint on a canvas, and when they stopped, Harry found only a ring.
The gold had been replaced by a familiar deathly pale wood, inlaid with unfamiliar gold runes, the spiraled wood holding the resurrection stone firmly in its grasp.
"Where did they go?" Neville asked, and Harry watched how his eyes looked through the ring on the table, not seeing it, until Harry reached out and picked it up.
"Whoa" Harry whispered as even touching it sent a tingle of connection and power through him.
Harry slid on the ring, and with a wave of his hand, Harry turned invisible, intangible, and undetectable.
Now that was cool.
May 25th 1998
London, England
Gringotts Bank
But, that still left the goblins.
Once Harry finally made it into the bank, his struggles didn't end.
He was led under armed guard to a open cavern, rows up rows of beedy eyed goblins looked down at him, the urge to maim him clear in their eyes.
In every other meeting they'd had, Harry had barely walked away from the table without at least 10 threats of war unless Harry coughed up every knut he owned. If it were just him, he might have given in and let them have their precious gold, but Harry was a father now. Blood or not, Harry intended to raise Teddy as if he were his, and Harry intended to give him the childhood Harry never had.
And that included not growing up penniless, or gods forbid letting him go hungry.
So, unfortunately for them, Harry hadn't gone in empty handed this time, he came with the intention to draw blood, so when the goblins tried to threaten him, Harry had no problem giving them a toothy grin, and pulling out his proof.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but Sirius Black did leave the entirety of the Black Estate to me, including access to any accounts belonging to the House of Black, of which Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black is included. Not only that, but I was escorted to the vault by an employee of Gringotts" Harry told the collection of sharp teethed goblins, who all snarled and bristled like angry hedgehogs.
"Access, but not permission to remove any object not belonging to the House of Black" Kryll, one of the higher level goblins, managed to snarl in a deathly calm tone, and Harry gave an acknowledging nod.
"Yes, I was not permitted to take anything that belonged to the Vault I was visiting, and did not belong to the House of Black, except the object I took didn't belong to Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black, it was a Hogwarts Artifact" Harry smiled, and Kryll's expression soured.
"And the damages you inflected both structurally, physically, and finically after you... collected this artifact" Kryll demanded, his eyes like ice chips as they glared at him.
"Well, after I was attacked, unprovoked, by Gringotts employees and security measures, while collecting an item I was permitted, from a vault I was allowed access to, I was fully within my legal rights to escape using whatever means I deemed necessary, according to the Fairfolk Safe Passage Treaty of 1876" Harry said pleasantly, and Kryll was silent as he attempted to level his aura against his.
Before his death, and the horcrux's removal, Harry might have been scared, but Harry simply opened up his magical aura, and let the room feel the breadth and wildness of the magic coursing through his veins.
The room was deathly still for several seconds, even after Harry pulled his aura back.
"Therefore, I do believe our business is finished here" Harry declared, and none of the goblins moved as they waited for the highest figure, currently lounging on his throne, to make Their decision.
"I, Ragnork the Eighth, deem you, Harry James Potter, to be in violation of Good Faith with our Nation. You may never walk these halls unencumbered again," Ragnorok leaned forwards to level Harry with a truly impressive glower "You may walk away with no financial retribution, but your descendants will feel the breadth of your crimes for the rest of time" the Goblin King announced, and each of the pointy teethed little bastard grinned in feral satisfaction.
Too bad Harry was about to crush any feelings of victory.
"That won't be a problem," Harry gave his own toothy smile, "seeing as, I, Lord Harry James Potter-Black, am withdrawing all assets contained within this Institution entitled to Me effective immediatly. All currency is to be converted into gold bars according to the Transfer Price set this morning, the twenty second day of June, of the year one thousand nine numbered and ninety eight. Any attempts to resist or subvert my Will shall be considered in breach of the Safe Conduct Treaty of 1658" Harry announced, and the room went deathly silent once more.
"Are you sure this is your Will?" King Ragnork gritted through his teeth, knowing he was stuck.
"Yes" Harry said firmly, and the King raised his hand, and snapped his fingers, conjuring a long roll of parchment, and a familiar black quill.
A pitch back trunk appeared by Harry's feet, and none in the room blinked as Harry approached, and took both quill and parchment from the white knuckled grip of the Goblin King.
Harry read through the contract with a careful eyes, and after the parchment glowed gold in his hands, revealing no hidden deception, Harry signed his name with a flourish.
The trunk lid opened, and there was the rushing sound of falling coins as a deluge of galleons appeared above the trunk, and as the amount grew, Harry saw shiny gold bars appearing in front of it.
Several minutes later, the flood of gold coins hadn't slowed, and the collective of goblins began to look nervous.
"Give me that" King Ragnork demanded, and Harry freely returned the original contract, taking a copy for himself, and the quill, after burning off the traces of blood with his magic.
Harry saw the minute Ragnork understood what Harry had done, because he face went white, then red, then white again, and the Goblin Kings eyes practically glowed with rage as he glared at an impassive Harry.
Because Harry had said he was withdrawing all assets entitled to himself, not just the Potter-Black Estates. The amount of extinct bloodlines that remained unclaimed, some his by blood-right, and others left to the defeater of Voldemort, was staggering.
And it wasn't like most of those bloodlines were destitute, the Potter-Black-Prevelle estates alone could buy him a small country.
And then there was the riches, deeds to land, ownership in businesses, books, jewels, ancient magical artifacts, priceless pieces of history, many of which would be useless to Harry where he was going.
The first goblins were already bringing in trollies full of trunks which contained such riches, each contained a House sigil, some he recognized, and some he didn't.
"This can't stand!" one of the goblins protested, but was silent by his King, who was practically trembling with rage.
He knew as well as Harry that any attempt to subvert the nature of the Pact would result in the offending party loosing their soul, even indirectly. If King Ragnork allowed his subjects to resist him, He would also pay the price.
Wizards and goblins had been warring for thousands of years, and it was only after the Goblin War of 1639 that goblins became responsible for guarding the riches of magical folk. Of course, it only took one rebellion, where the goblins refused the magical access to their own vaults, for precautions to be made. In 1658, wizards won the Goblin Rebellion, and the Pact was made, making any attempt to steal from each other punishable by extinction.
Not just death, but complete annihilation of the soul, which both cultures agreed was a fate infinitely worse than death.
Goblins would have many more Rebellions, but never again did they restrict wizards access to their vaults, and never did they steal from their clients.
The Goblin King would be forced to let Harry walk out of the bank with everything he was owed, even if that included every knut within its hollowed halls, and Harry would be guaranteed safe passage, but as soon as his feet left those marble steps, he was free game.
The next few weeks would be a game a tag, as Harry and the others prepared for their trip, and the goblins tried to kill him for the 'insult'.
They couldn't afford to be too obvious about it, due to Harry's status as the 'Man Who Conquered', there would be a public outcry should he be gunned down by goblins. The goblins professed not to care about 'wizard problems' but they weren't stupid, they would wait a few weeks, then send assassins to kill him in the dark.
By then, Harry and his family would be gone.