Three's a Charm

Life was cruel and unfair. Calanthe Potter had known this since she was four, when she taught herself to read the words spiraling around her left ankle. It was a well known fact of life that everyone had a soulmate, even her, despite Dudley's often cruel words that no one would ever want her. From reading to try and find some answers about her own, she knew it wasn't always the 'boy and girl meet, fall in love, and get married' that her Aunt and the other kids say it's supposed to be. Some people had more than one soulmate, some had soulmates of the same gender, and some people loved their soulmates just fine but not romantically. Her aunt had a lot to say about people that broke the mold like that. The first group were slutty wanton freaks who knew nothing of self control, the second were freakish mistakes who's bond encouraged unnatural freakish behavior, and the third were broken freaks who were so self absorbed and selfish they didn't even love their soulmates properly.

Her aunt had an awful lot to say about anyone who didn't fit into her idea of what was 'normal'. She'd made the mistake of mentioning some of the examples she'd read of when her aunt had mentioned Dudley finding the nice girl who was his soulmate and settling down. Her aunt had ranted about 'the freaks' for over three hours. She'd never made the mistake of mentioning it again. She'd also been far more careful about letting her aunt know anything relating to soulmates in regards to herself. Not that she ever asked, but she didn't think her aunt would be particularly happy that her already hated niece had two soulmates and that at least one was a girl. Though she had no way of knowing whether their bond was romantic or not until she'd met them, and even then it could take some time to figure out.

That was actually originally why she'd gone looking for information about soulmates in her favorite place in the world, the library. Because everyone's soulmate bond acted differently. Amongst the most common though, were for either your soulmate's names, or the first sentence, though sometimes it was more than one sentence, they said to you to be written on your skin in their handwriting. Calanthe fell into the latter category.

The first set wasn't so bad. Written in a rich light chocolate color, its script had a look of hasty efficiency, the letters cramped together in small handwriting, like the writer had been in a rush but still wanted to be sure it was easily legible. It was scrawled on her chest, vaguely over her heart, reading, "Why yes, it's nice to meet you as well, I'm Kirihara Misaki. Generally you're supposed to start with a greeting like that before you start dishing out life advice. Though given that you're about half my age, some people would find it rude anyway."

One of her teachers was Japanese, and after debating for quite a while, asking her about the foreign name she didn't want to make assumptions about had revealed three things. First, the name was also Japanese like her teacher, second, unlike in the UK Japanese people introduced themselves by last name and then first, so assuming they used Japanese customs then swapping it to the customs Calanthe was familiar with, her soulmates name was Misaki Kirihara, making Misaki her first name rather than Kirihara as she'd first assumed, and finally, Misaki was a girls name.

Her teacher must have picked up on the dread she had felt at the possibility of her relatives finding out about the last one, since her face had gone all soft and she'd gently told Calanthe that she was glad that she'd felt comfortable enough to ask her about something so personal and would hold the information in the strictest confidence. Calanthe wasn't in the habit of trusting adults much, but given that her relatives weren't very fond of foreigners and Mrs. Suzuki knew that, Calanthe was fairly confident she was telling the truth, if only because she doubted her teacher would willingly talk to her relatives if she didn't have to.

She struggled to imagine a time when she'd blatantly try to tell a stranger how to live their life though, especially since she hated the way her aunt constantly stuck her nose into everyone's business and made her opinions clear without being asked, and she never wanted to be anything like Petunia. Maybe whatever she said to one of her soulmates wouldn't be as bad as what was clearly said soulmate responding made it sound. She really, really hoped whatever she said to her soulmate wasn't too rude. Or, what was that word she'd come across while reading? Presumptuous, that was it. She hoped it wasn't presumptuous.

The other words on her skin on the other hand, filled her with nothing short of dread.

"Get out of here kid. No one your age should have to watch someone die."

These were one of the two sets of words she'd painstakingly taught herself to read three years ago at the age of four, using the learn to read book her aunt had bought Dudley to figure out which letter corresponded to which sound. These were the words curling in downright beautiful handwriting around her ankle, in an equally exquisite dark blue. The first words one of her soulmates would speak to her. And they would be of their approaching death.

She wishes she'd never learned to read sometimes. Other times, she wondered if maybe she had enough time to become a doctor, and they'd just called her kid because she was younger, not necessarily because she was an actual kid. Then maybe… Maybe she could save her soulmate.

Every other kid in her primary school eagerly looked forward to meeting their soulmate, if they weren't delightedly lucky to already have. She felt nothing but nervous anxiety about meeting one of her soulmates and finding out what she could have possibly said to elicit the response she'd gotten, and pure dread everyday at the prospect of hearing the far more grim set of words that would be spoken to her. She wishes she never had to meet her soulmate sometimes. As long as she hasn't heard those words, she knew they were out in the world, alive. The moment she heard those words was the moment it would be over.

The prospect haunts her everyday.

It haunts her now too, as she cleans the attic at her aunt's orders. She's just finishing up when a flash of light goes off behind her. Turning around, she's baffled to see a large pretty dark wood trunk that definitely wasn't there earlier sitting innocently in the middle of the room. On top of it is a smaller box and a couple envelopes.

Hesitating for a few seconds, she cautiously approaches. Written on the front of the top letter in neat handwriting is her name. Uncertainly, she slowly reaches for the envelope and picks it up, underneath it, the second letter is also addressed to her, but she ignores that one in favor of the first for now. It's… not quite like any sort of paper she's seen before. It's heavier for one, and feels… softer? Smoother? She's not entirely sure how to describe it. Different for sure though.

Shaking her head, she flips the letter over and her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. It's sealed with actual wax and imprinted with a strange symbol, like they used to do a really long time ago. It's of a shield, and on it two animals rearing up opposite of each other with a sword and what just looks like a ornately carved stick crossed in an X between them, with a banner curling around the bottom of the shield reading 'Nolite Timere Messor' in rather fancy script. One animal is some weird skeletal horse with a head with reptilian features and large bat-like wings coming from its back. Despite how grim and strange it should be, whoever drew the image somehow managed to make it look both strong and gentle as well as graceful and elegant. The creature on the other side she recognizes as a Griffin from things she's read, and its depiction gives off similar feelings as the strange horse.

Curiosity piqued even more, she fumbles with the letter for a minute before managing to crack the wax and open the letter. Unfolding it, she glances down and is astonished to see it signed with her mother's name. She gapes for a minute before pulling herself together and begins to read.

"My Beautiful Flower,

I write this letter, hoping beyond hope that you shall never need see it, but I am a realistic woman, and I prefer to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Your father thinks I'm being over prepared and paranoid, but I would rather have a million contingencies set up just in case and never require a single one than have none and need them. And if you are reading this, then clearly it is needed.

I have written a few of these, each meant for a different outcome. This one is for the absolute worst case scenario I can envision coming to pass. Specifically, both your father and I are both dead and you somehow ending up living with my sister as your last close blood relative on my side of the family.

There are a few things I need to tell you, sweetheart. Things I'm sure Petunia has lied to you about, or simply refused to speak of.

Firstly, while I'm sure my sister has vehemently denied it, magic is real. It is genetic, and both your father and I, as well as you, are magicals. A wizard and witches respectively.

Second, I can not predict what Petunia has told you of our deaths, but knowing how terrible our fallout was, I'm confident in saying that they are vicious lies. As I write this there is a civil war going on in the British magical world. Your father and I are involved and are high priority targets of the opposing side, as such it's most likely that we were killed. There should be a second letter with this one that will tell you what happened, as well as contain copies of your father and I's wills and anything else I can think of that you may need. Should you require anything else, well that goes into my next point.

Third, this has appeared before you upon my instruction to Gringotts. They are the bank of the wizarding world, and are goblins, though they do far more than just banking. If you are reading this particular letter, mine and your father's wills were, for some reason, either never carried out or outright ignored. In the case of this happening, Gringotts was to carry out mine and your father's will to the best of their ability, as well as specific instructions I left to the Potter Account Manager. One of which was to select the appropriate letter I left of the various ones I pre-wrote and either give it and this trunk to you, or send it to you via activating the charm I placed on it depending on which was most appropriate. If you are reading this particular letter, then their instructions were to send it, along with the second letter, to you as early as possible while still waiting until the charm had determined you were mentally mature enough to understand them and the need for secrecy upon you being left in Petunia's care.

I also showed Brightblade, our Account Manager, memories of Petunia, so he would grasp just why I believed that you going to her was an even worse scenario than even the Malfoys or Lestranges gaining custody of you, since they were more likely to, at worst, raise you to be a pureblood supremist. As such, in the case that this specific letter was needed, he has accepted to be something of an unofficial guardian for you. Goblins in general aren't particularly fond of humans, but they consider children to be the most important treasure in the world regardless of race, and after viewing my memories, Brightblade understands very well that you will not be treated well by Petunia. Or worse, outright abused. I can only hope my sister and her husband have not sunk to such a level, but unfortunately, I wouldn't put it past them.

If you're reading this, then Brightblade either is doing or has done everything in his power to remove you from your aunt's custody. Whether or not he sent this to you after realizing it was impossible or if he sent this to you to carry out my instructions while still fighting to have you taken from your aunt I can't say, though I'm sure he'll have included such information in the second letter that's from him. Should you need anything you can contact him using the box that was delivered with this letter, the second envelope, and the trunk. It is a magical mailbox. You simply put what you wish to send to the recipient in the drawer and close it, and it will appear in the connected mailbox. These are only two way unfortunately, but Brightblade has the one connected to yours.

Fourth, the trunk is a magical space expanded trunk. This means that it is bigger on the inside. This one is basically a fully furnished house. The kitchen cupboards are also magical, similar to the mailbox, but one way with a preservation charm on them as well. That means that you can be sent food that will never expire or de-thaw or get cold depending on what is most appropriate for that food. I would like to think that Petunia will at least feed you right, but again I would honestly put nothing past her at this point. Brightblade has instructions to have you sent both pre-made meals as well as raw ingredients so you can start learning to cook for yourself if you like. He has been told to make sure these are appropriately healthy for a child your age, but if you truly hate something, he will be willing to work with you, provided you aren't simply trying to get out of eating your vegetables. That said, you do have a small weekly allowance for snacks. I won't have you eating nothing but junk food, but children should be allowed to enjoy an occasional treat.

As for the trunk itself, it has feather-light, fireproof, and waterproof charms on it, as well as any other general damage proof charm I could think of, not to mention more handy ones. I won't list them all here, but I have included a notebook in the small library/study detailing every spell I placed on it. Also in the library I left out some books for integrating into the wizarding world when coming from the muggle one, muggle is the term used by wizards to refer to non-magicals by the way, as well as my own journals which include my own experiences. Please at least read the actual books on the subject before you get your Hogwarts Letter at 11. The only other thing of major note regarding the trunk itself is that it shrinks down to a necklace or expands into its full size. To do either, merely place your hand or finger on the crest of House Potter in the center of the lid and simply say 'shrink' or 'expand' depending on which you want.

Fifth, while your father thought I was going overboard in my planning, he did help, and he also agreed to have a magical portrait made. A magical portrait is not the person it's in the image of, but it does contain not only the memories of the person in question right up to the moment they die via holding a magical connection to them through their blood added to the paint and a spell, but also a full imprint of their personality. It's the closest you can get to talking to the dead who don't leave a ghost. Our portrait is in the trunk. Even if we can't be there for you, I want you to be able to talk to some version of us, both on a personal level and for advice. He did insist, however, that if we were going to make something like this for you to have should we die that we add a combat room and a freaking forge.

It has been tradition in House Potter for almost as long as the family has been around that they not only learn physical weapons like swords, but also how to cast with them and make them for themselves. On top of that, the Potters have nearly been wiped out more than once, and have subsequently changed their name repeatedly to get away from those who wish them dead. This is relevant because they have long since made enchanted practice dummies, that are sort of like wooden mannequins, to act as teachers. There's one in the combat room that has been imbued with both the fighting and teaching abilities of practically every Potter that has lived since its creation. It will teach you how to use whatever weapon you choose to the full prowess a Potter should possess, as well as spar with you for more direct practice. The one in the forge is similar, though it of course is geared towards learning how to craft weapons and shields and whatever else a smith does.

Since James was insistent towards insuring the Potter knowledge was passed on, not that I'm particularly mad about it, I've used the notes the Potters kept on the creation of the dummies to imbue my own expertise as a Potions Master onto one and included it and a potions room for you(1). We may not be there to teach you ourselves, but I'm going to do everything I can to see that you have the resources to learn. With any of the dummies, you need only approach it and say 'I'm here for my lessons' to activate it.

The only real problem is that the enchantment never seems to work for etiquette lessons, partially because it's always changing, even if it's slower in the wizarding world, partly due to the fact that the Potters found it more difficult to separate the pure knowledge from the personality of the person. Likely because it's a social skill, and even when one acts the part of a perfect noble, their personality will still affect how they act. So unfortunately, on that front you'll have to find a tutor. I would suggest Andromeda Tonks if she's still alive. Your father and I may not be all that close to her, but we know each other decently well, she's a cousin so she'd probably be willing to do it, and she isn't a blood supremist either.

Sixth, amongst the instructions I left to Brightblade were the orders to include the rest of my pre-written letters, so that you may read them if you wish.

And finally, I am sure Petunia and her husband have told you horrible lies all your life, but I implore you not to believe them. I want you to always question the world, and the people in it. The why's, the how's, motivations and what people have to gain from their actions if anything at all. Having said that, if there is only one thing you take as the absolute truth, that you accept is true beyond a shadow of doubt, let it be this: Regardless of whatever vicious lies Petunia may have told you, your father and I love you with all our hearts. I won't lie, we didn't plan you, but you were the most joyous accident that ever happened to either of us. The day I told your father, he was so happy he cried for an hour, and then immediately after started going on about how we 'need to start preparing a nursery and start picking names and do you think we'll have a boy or a girl Tiger-Lily? Will they look like you or me Tiger-Lily? What if they don't like pranks?! Tiger-Lily, I'm a prankster, what if my precious baby doesn't like pranks!!!'

Yes, that is exactly what he said. An hour after I told him I was pregnant. It was eleven at night, and to this day I still regret putting it off until just before we were supposed to go to sleep because he kept me up until five in the morning alternating between rambling about everything we'd need to do to prepare for you and how amazing you'd surely be. With a few terrified worries about whether he'd be a good dad sprinkled in for good measure. That last one was entirely unnecessary though. In the past year since you've been born he's been a phenomenal father. The only issue we've had is that he loves you so much that you have him wrapped around your tiny little finger and I keep having to put my foot down so that he doesn't spoil 'his little prongslet' rotten. Prongs was a nickname your father's friends gave him, to explain the nickname he gave you.

You have been the brightest spot of joy in not only our lives, but the lives of some of our closest friends, despite the hard and dangerous times we live in. Never forget that.

With love,

Lily Marie Potter

P.S. I have no idea what sort of world you will be living in when this letter finds you, and as such I've included a list detailing people I know you can trust and those you absolutely can not. Some of them you may already know, some you may not, some of them might even be dead, unlike the letters, the list isn't tailored for every possible scenario I can think of but a blanket guide. Quite a few of these people are members of a group me and your father are part of called the Order of the Phoenix. Which is a tacky name, but it could be a lot worse. The Order formed because the Ministry may not be entirely in Voldemort's hands but it is incredibly compromised and therefore is unbelievably ineffective at dealing with Voldemort and his insurgents. Not everyone who's Order is immediately trustworthy though, so don't take it at face value."

So engrossed in reading her mother's letter, she doesn't even realize she's started crying until the words blur and a quiet hiccuping sob forces its way out of her. With shaking hands, she carefully refolds the letter as well as the second unread sheet and returns them to the envelope, scared of ruining the ink containing her mother's handwriting and words with her tears, before using one hand to hug the first thing from her mom she ever recalls even seeing much less actually touching or holding to her chest. The other hand raises to muffle any further noises she might make.

She knows better than to let her so-called family hear her cry.

Experience has long taught her to keep herself quiet no matter how emotional she is, but it's one of the extremely rare occasions where something overpowers the ingrained instinct to be silent. The only other times that's happened was when Dudley broke her leg and Petunia and Vernon refused to 'hear her excuses' as to why she couldn't do her chores, which was only discovered days later, or the few times the words on her ankle emotionally overwhelmed her.

When she finally calms her tears and therefore isn't at risk of damaging the ink she carefully reopens it and pulls the papers back out so she can look over the list.

"People you can trust:

Sirius Black. Your Godfather and a first cousin once removed to you(2), and brother in all but blood to your father. He's as loyal as the dog that makes his Animagus form. He loves you to pieces and would literally die for you.

Alice Longbottom. One of my best friends and your Godmother. Her husband Frank is equally trustworthy.

Remus Lupin OR Peter Pettigrew. One is a traitor, but unfortunately we don't know which at the moment, hopefully by the time this letter finds you the truth as to which will be known, but I might be able to help a little. Peter was made our secret keeper when we were forced into hiding, with Sirius acting as a decoy, and only the secret keeper can only reveal the location under a Fidelis Charm. So if our home is attacked then Peter is the traitor.

Andromeda Tonks. She is Sirius' cousin, so she's another first cousin once removed to you, and while James and I aren't particularly close to her, she is kinda close to Sirius with whom she's a first cousin and bonded with over both being the ironically black sheep of the House Black. And in any case, she's a good woman, and cares quite a bit about family, as long as you aren't a blood supremist anyway, so you should be able to rely on her.

Horace Slughorn. He's the current Potion Professor at Hogwarts and was one of my favorite teachers. Despite being well known to use his position to network students who have considerable promise, he's actually a very loyal man. We were rather close, so I know you can count on him by pure virtue of being my child if nothing else.

Minerva McGonagall. The current Transfiguration Professor, Head of Gryffindor, and Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts. A good reliable woman through and through, she was also fairly close to your father. She wouldn't turn her back on anyone in need. Though she is fairly strict.

Filius Flitwick. Currently, he's the Charms Professor at Hogwarts. He was my second favorite teacher, and I actually apprenticed under him for my Charms Mastery. He's very much like McGonagall, though much more cheerful and not nearly as strict.

Rubeus Hagrid. He's the Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts, and by looks he puts an actual bear to shame. Though unless he's in a fight, he's actually more like a big lovable teddy bear. He's not particularly good at keeping secrets around people he thinks are trustworthy though, and unfortunately it's it's little too easy to gain his trust, so while you can trust him with your life, be a little more cautious with information around him.

The Weasley Family. This one is a little trickier. They themselves are very good people, but much like Hagrid, I know they trust some people that I don't. Just be careful what you reveal if you find yourself dealing with them and you should be fine.

Alastor Moody. He's an Auror and mentored both your father and Sirius. He's a paranoid bastard, but he's reliable, so long as you aren't a reprehensible criminal. By which I mean he doesn't care much about a little law breaking, but murderers, rapists, drug dealers, and the rest of the worst criminals there are won't find any mercy from him.

Brightblade. I think it should be obvious that I wouldn't have left him as your unofficial guardian in some of the scenarios I've thought of if I didn't trust him. There's also the fact that while a goblin wouldn't try to do anything untoward to a cared for human child, they also wouldn't care much about one, however because of their own low birth rates they tend to be ferociously protective of children in general, so he swore a magical oath to me that if you ended up with Petunia, he'd not only do everything in his power to make sure you got actual care, but also that he'd only ever act in your best interest. As long as you're a child anyway. The Oath will be fulfilled once you're officially an adult.

People you can't trust:

Severus Snape. When we were children, he was my best friend, but our friendship has long since become nothing but ash and memory. He's not only a Death Eater, but a member of Voldemort's inner circle. Worse, he recently apparently changed sides and has allegedly become a spy. One would assume he'd realized he'd fallen in way to deep with the wrong crowd as as teenager and that yeah, the rape, murder, and torture of innocent people just because they aren't pureblood or bow to your cause is wrong. That is not why he changed sides. He tried to talk to me not long after joining the Order, and ended up admitting that he overhead information that pertains to either us or the Longbottoms. At the time he didn't know it could be about me, but he knew it'd be a death sentence for whoever it was about.

He passed it on anyway, and only joined the Order after he realized I was directly in danger of being hunted down. He's unintentionally revealed through his actions and the way he words some things that he has a frankly creepy and disturbing obsession with me, and worse, unwillingly let slip when James entered our conversation that he tried to beg Voldemort to 'spare Lily at least'. The little bastard was perfectly fine with my husband and child being slaughtered, just so long as I'm spared. I told him to stay the hell away from me, you, and your father or I'd gut him and hang him by his own intestines. If he ever comes near you without a damn good reason or bothers you, remind him of that and tell him that if there is an afterlife, I will be waiting for you and if he does anything to you I'll find a way to carry out that threat and more when he dies.

Albus Dumbledore. Unfortunately, unless he's died or retired, he's the Headmaster of Hogwarts. I hope I'm wrong about him, since that would put you not only near him, but under his authority. He's never done anything wrong that I know of, but I don't like the way he operates. He constantly just sits on valuable information that could save lives rather than act on it, and he puts up a grandfatherly front but acts like a dictator. Everything has to be his way. He has to know everything, he has to authorize everything, and Merlin help you if you don't follow his rules and do things the way he wants them done. Even if it's incredibly time sensitive and people will die if nothing is done and you don't have time to tell him. And I know that for a fact because just a few months ago your dad and Sirius caught wind of a planned Death Eater attack on Diagon Alley, the major shopping hub for wizarding society in Britain. Unfortunately by the time they learned of it, there was only half an hour before it was supposed to happen and Dumbledore was at a conference of the International Confederation of Wizards.

So of course they did the logical thing and gathered up as many members of the Order that could fight that they could in that amount of time and went over to Diagon Alley to evacuate as many people as they could and defend the rest from the Death Eaters. Dumbledore couldn't outright say he was upset since we saved a lot of people that day, but he made it very clear that he was dissatisfied he hadn't been consulted during the Order meeting.

And afterwards in private he reamed your dad and Sirius out going on about how the 'greater good needed to be considered over immediate action' and how they may have 'jeopardized the long term war efforts with their rash actions'. Which is utter nonsense. Yes, the larger picture does need to be considered, but there isn't a greater good than saving the population from V-mort and his Death Eaters! Other than preventing their total domination, it's the whole damn point of fighting back! Not to mention the fact that people will just submit if the Death Eaters run around unchallenged! Afterwards, he gave your dad and Sirius the cold shoulder for a month and whenever he did have to talk to them he was as frigid and unfriendly as if they had murdered his family in front of him.

Rita Skeeter. A so-called 'star reporter' for the Daily Prophet, the most popular newspaper in the British Isles, she's actually just a tabloid journalist who will twist any little piece of information she can get her hands on to make the most sensational story she's capable of. And if she can't find anything, she'll just make something up. Unfortunately, because most people believe practically anything printed in the Daily Prophet, the majority of the population takes her tall tales as fact. Avoid her at all costs, because she may not want to hurt you, but she'll destroy you socially if she thinks it'll make a good story and for no other reason than that.

All known and suspected Death Eaters obviously. I won't go over every single one here, there's a list I update as soon as I possibly can whenever I get information in a journal I keep specifically for all information I know on the Death Eaters, Brightblade would have put it in the trunk library per my instructions."

She returns the letter and note back to their envelope again, much calmer this time, then sets it down and picks up the other. The magical world had been exposed five years ago, when she was only two. The stars had all disappeared and a sky full of fake stars as well as two strange places where reality became strange and warped called Gates had appeared. The Heaven's Gate in South America, and the Hell's Gate in Japan. These stars were linked to people who became what would come to be called Contractors, people who have some sort of power that always comes with a strange unique price to pay for using it, as well as an increased sense of logic at the price of decreased emotional capacity.

In the chaos and confusion following the appearance of all these things, as well as people becoming 'Dolls', seemingly empty programmable husks with the ability to send out Specters through a medium that were capable of observing the world, some had assumed it was a magical phenomenon and full magical disclosure had occurred, which also exposed the information on Contractors and Dolls the non-magical governments had been trying to hide. The jury was still out on whether Contractors, Dolls, and the Gates were a magical phenomenon or something else entirely. Later most concluded that it actually would've been entirely possible for the magical community to stay separate from the new phenomenon and keep its secrecy, but by then it was too late, what was done was done and there was no re-hiding the magical world.

More than a few in that community expressed regret or even resentment that people had jumped the gun and exposed their world, but there was nothing they could do. Especially since most of these were traditionalist and they were under heavy criticism when disclosure of the magical world had also revealed how backwards and behind the times they were.

However, she hadn't known that she was magical. Though it did explain some of the times that strange things had happened to or around her, as well as why her so-called relatives, who were well known to despise anything magical, hated her so much.

Despite being emotionally drained, she flips over the second letter, clumsily cracks the strange wax seal with the words 'Gringotts' and 'Fortius Quo Fidelius' respectively above and below an old fashioned scale, and starts reading anyway.

"To Heiress Calanthe Lily Potter-Black,

My name is Brightblade, and I am going to assume you have already read your mother's letter that was sent with this one, your mailbox, and your trunk, if not I would suggest you set this aside and read that one first. As stated in your mother's letter I am both the account manager for House Potter as well as your unofficial guardian.

I will not dance around the topics I need to inform you about, so this letter will be brief, at least in comparison to how long it could easily be.

Firstly, before I can cover other topics, I was informed by your mother that your aunt would likely keep you in the dark as much as possible as to your heritage and inheritance. Though most of the information I must impart to you she very likely doesn't know to begin with.

To start, House Potter is a very old family, and having been rather smart about their dealings over the centuries are appropriately wealthy as well as being one of the Noble families of the British wizarding world. While you do have some cousins, most of them are rather distant, and you are not only the only recognized member of House Potter, but the last of the direct lineage, as such you are the sole Heir with a reasonable claim to the Potter Lordship and all its holdings. Furthermore, your first cousin once removed and Godfather Sirius Black was made infertile during the war and as such named you his Heir.

Most in the British magical world would assume you would only gain his personal holdings since it was well known that his mother disowned him. However, the disownment was only ever unofficial, as his mother did not actually have the power to remove him from the family and his grandfather, your great-uncle, who actually had the power to do so as Lord of House Black never disowned him from the family, and in fact named Sirius his Heir, though this was never publicly announced so few knew it, especially since Sirius was rather… conflicted about it and never made it common knowledge. Sirius is not dead, but he was given a life sentence in the wizarding prison Azkaban. By wizarding law, when such occurs the person in question is treated as legally dead and their will carried out. As such, the House Black Lordship passes to you. Hence the way I addressed this letter.

Secondly, I have done everything within my power, both my own, that of Gringotts which I am allowed to use, and that of House Potter to the fullest extent with which I was preemptively authorized to use by your parents prior to their deaths to remove you from you aunt's care, preferably to the care of Andromeda Tonks, Sirius' cousin and therefore another first cousin once removed to you. Unfortunately, all of these attempts have been blocked by one Albus Dumbledore, who also had the copy of your parent's wills in the Ministry sealed, thereby making it impossible for Gringotts to carry out our copies since they cannot be compared to the Ministry's copies for authentication, as well as forcibly getting himself appointed as your magical guardian. I know it means little, but I have little to offer on that front but my sincerest apologies for failing yourself and your parents on this matter.

Third, your mother asked me to insure you knew the truth of their deaths rather than whatever lies have been fed to you. I know she mentioned in her letter that there was a civil war going on. This was between blood purists who believed pure blood wizards should rule the world and any who didn't fit that criteria should either die or serve them, and everyone who opposed that thinking. The Death Eaters, as the blood purists were called, were led by a man who called himself Voldemort.

For reasons unknown to me, he broke into your home, murdered your parents, and proceeded to attempt to kill you. For reasons unknown to the world, you survived with nothing more than the lightning bolt scar on your forehead and he vanished. Because of this, you are heralded as the ‘Girl Who Lived’ by wizards and witches of the UK, as well as credited with somehow slaying Voldemort. There isn't a witch or wizard in Europe as a whole who doesn't know who you are and have an idea of what you look like. Especially since about a year after Voldemort disappeared the Daily Prophet ran an article about you and your parents as a sort of One Year Celebration thing, and they somehow got their hands on a photo of you and your parents when you were a baby to put on the front page. You and that scar are famous.

Fourth, there have been multiple attempts over the years from a variety of different people to gain illicit access to your vaults. As far as House Black goes, the only attempts made have been done by the Malfoys. The wife of Lord Malfoy, one Narcissa Malfoy, is yet another cousin of yours, having been born a Black and in fact is the sister of Andromeda Tonks. As she was apparently never informed of her and Sirius' grandfather's decision to make Sirius his Heir, she assumes that the Heirship will pass as it usually does when the Lord dies without a named Heir and therefore the Malfoys wrongly assume that Draco, their son, would be the de facto Heir since while the Black Lordship isn't required to be male, it automatically passes to the closest male blood relative when the previous Lord or Lady dies, unless there are only female potential Heirs or the previous Lord or Lady names their Heir. They have argued with Gringotts many times as to why they are not granted access to the Black holdings.

The rest of the attempts have been made towards the Potter holdings. The primary offender is Dumbledore, who has not only made repeated attempts to gain access to the family vaults and properties that have been firmly rebuffed since even you don't have access to the family vaults until you come of age and your parents gave me explicit orders, in writing separate from their wills, that should anything happen to them, no one is to be allowed access to the Potter properties unless it's given to you personally face to face, but he has also been funneling money from your trust vault. You aren't in any danger of becoming poor since only half is taken every year and it refills every year with one hundred thousand Galleons, but he has been pulling that full half out every year without fail. I don't know why he only pulls out half, but I imagine it might be so as to not draw more suspicion than he already has by withdrawing what he does.

Other than Dumbledore, there have been a few cases of distant cousins trying to take advantage of the current situation to 'grab a piece of the pie' as the saying goes, but the majority of them gave up after being rebuffed once. All but one of the few left tried a few more times, bringing lawyers and such to argue their cases, but ceased when it became clear that it just wasn't going to happen.

One though, the Flint family is a little more persistent and possibly has a very small bit of legal ground on which to stand. A bit over seven hundred years ago, 1282 to be exact, one Iolanthe Peverell, Peverell being the name of the Potter family at the time before they changed it for reasons unknown to me, married into the Flint family. Since Gringotts wouldn't open until 1474, roughly two hundred years after the marriage in question, the reasons are not known to Gringotts or myself, but a dowry was never paid by the Peverells.

They are now claiming that House Potter owes them substantial reparations, especially seeing as they are demanding interest be paid. Or rather, since there's a bit of magic that's showing them the Peverell family is still alive, they are just demanding their descendants pay them back, since even we at Gringotts didn't know that used to be the Potter name until we checked our records to find which family's magic it matches. The name change is understandable given the Peverells were thought to have been wiped out, but it matched the Potter family magic. How exactly they convinced the world they were gone with their family magic staying the same, I'm uncertain, but it is, which means it falls to you.

Since they have presented proof to Gringotts that has been verified, they have a legitimate claim unless you can provide proof otherwise. I have bought you as much time as I can by bringing up your age and the necessity of familiarizing yourself with family records as well as needing time to search for any possible evidence related to the incident in question. That being said, you have no more than half a year to present evidence disputing the Flint families claim before you must hand over what they are due.

Fifth, it has recently come to my attention that Albus Dumbledore has been attempting to set up a marriage contract for you with one Ronald Weasley. The Weasleys are generally good people, but unfortunately they genuinely believe Dumbledore to be a good man. It is likely why he's doing it in the first place, since it would put you further under his control if you were married off to such big Dumbledore supporters. You needn't worry too much though, a guardian that isn't related by blood or the fully adopted parent of a child does not have the authority to make legally binding marriage contracts. I imagine his angle with the contract uses the ignorance he's been keeping you in so you won't know better when the time comes, hence why I'm bringing it up.

Lastly, both Andromeda Tonks and one Remus Lupin have made repeated attempts to gain access to you. Miss Tonks has done so as she knows you are being raised in the non-magical world and as your cousin feels obligated to make sure you are being properly prepared to be the Heir and later Lady of a noble House. Mr Lupin on the other hand, was a very good friend to your parents, and from my understanding was something of a pseudo uncle to you as a baby, so he's been anxious to get in contact with you for no more than personal reasons.

While I'm sure there are many things we need to discuss, I understand that you are more than likely to be rather overwhelmed at the moment, particularly seeing as you also would have read your mother's letter. As such, I'll leave it at that and only ask that you send at least a note on whether or not you safely received the delivery. 

Potter Account Manager

Brightblade"

Tucking the letter back into its envelope, she stares at it in thought. Both letters had… given her quite a lot to think about. And more than a few questions as well. She taps the letter against her hand as she glances around. Petunia knew that the attic could take quite a while depending on just how much stuff had been haphazardly tossed up there since the last time Calanthe had cleaned it, so she wouldn't come looking for her for a few more hours yet. Decision made, she grabs the second letter and the box and opens the trunk. As soon as she does, the front of the trunk slides out to make a small staircase, presumably to make climbing in easier. Inside she finds a set of stairs leading down. Heading in, she immediately finds herself in an open area with a living room to her left and a kitchen to her right with a hallway directly across from her.

The living room was painted a dark red with gold trim, with three solid wood bookshelves matching the dark color of the trunk itself taking up the same wall the opening of the stairs was on. The wall bracketing it had only a shorter couch in a darker shade than the walls and the painting of her parents, who appear to be sleeping. It's a little weird to see a painting move, even if it's just breathing, but she blinks the fresh wave of tears from her eyes and forces herself to move on. Especially since she isn't sure she's ready to talk to them just yet. The last wall of the living room was taken up by a longer couch that appears to be a matching set with the shorter one. In front of the two couches was a long coffee table of dark wood that matched the bookshelves and trunk.

The kitchen on the other hand, while painted in the same red and gold as the living room, was done with two toned walls rather than one color and trim. Though the lower cabinets covered most of the gold on the bottom making it almost look like trim anyway. The cabinets seemed to be made of the same dark wood as everything else so far, the stove was unremarkable beyond the fact that it was unsurprisingly a few years old, and a decently large sink colored to give it a darker golden look without being obnoxious set in a dark wood island with matching wood stools made up the entirety of the kitchen at a glance.

Her stomach growls at the prospect of food after two days without following an article in the paper that talked about some continued argument between the magical and non-magical governments about some of the magicals laws that had pissed Vernon off because the magicals 'should just know their place' and had decided to punish her, which hadn't made sense until her mother's letter.

She's only ever been allowed to wait for everyone else to finish so she can have the scraps, and even after Petunia always watches her like a hawk and stops her when she decides she's had enough, so even when she does get to eat, it isn't a whole lot. As such, she wants the first full uninterrupted meal she ever remembered having to stay uninterrupted, so she reluctantly sets the box down on the counter and takes the two letters with her down the hall.

The hall had three doors to either side. The first on the left was a bedroom. Here she finds the first difference in color scheme, as the room is painted dark blue with a lighter warmer color of wood for the trim and furniture. The door was right in the corner on the left side of the wall when entering. Pushed up to the wall that shares the door was a vanity. The wall directly to the side, which would be behind the open door, had a dresser and wardrobe. The bed has a dark blue blanket matching the walls and it and its side tables, which were bare except for a lamp each and an analog alarm clock on the closer, were pushed up against the wall opposite the dresser. The final wall had a couple bookshelves and a door.

On the edge of the dresser not far from the door was a piece of paper. Taking a couple steps closer, she picks it up and finds a note in her mother's now familiar handwriting.

It simply reads, "Your dad wanted to decorate the entire place in the family's Gryffindor colors, but I thought it'd be better to match your room to your Marks. I can't tell what they are since you're so small, they just look like blobs to me, but nevertheless I thought you'd like this more."

Her eyes mist over again, and she quickly wipes at them before they can turn into proper tears and drop. Opening the other door in the room, she finds a full bathroom. Going back to the hallway, she finds that the door across the hall, the first on the right if she was coming from the living room and kitchen area, is the practice room. It's a larger open area. Along the wall with the door as well as the first third of the walls bracketing it were a large variety of different weapons, all on racks some of which were mounted on the walls while the rest were on standing racks. On the ground of the first third of the room were mats to soften falls, and in the center of them was what looked like a wooden mannequin, her teacher apparently.

The second third of the room just seemed to contain some exercise equipment, while the final third had a thick line drawn on the ground at the very start of it.

Scattered around the final third were a few small mock buildings and targets that were metal cut outs in the vague form of a human with fairly stock images of people on them, on one side they had meaner looking people pointing what had to be wands in a threatening manner that were obviously meant to be enemies, while on the other they had images of people that were clearly meant to be innocents, kids and the like. Every single one of them had one image on each side and could obviously flip around, to randomize which targets were enemies and which weren't. Some of them were just out in the open, some hidden in the "buildings" or behind other cover.

A closer look reveals that some of them were directly bolted to the floor while others seemed to be sitting on tracks, or had hinges that looked like they'd pop up in the empty openings where there would be windows on an actual building or from other bits of cover. Getting them to move was a simple matter of flicking a switch on the wall that lines up with the line on the ground. The dial next to the switch is pretty interesting, since according to the little booklet manual hanging from the wall turning it on causes the targets to start firing back with painting and stinging hexes so you know you've been hit, with the higher it’s turned up steadily increasing the difficulty.

Done giving that room its quick inspection, she moves onto the one next to it in the hallway, which turns out to be the forge, and once again has a wooden mannequin standing in the center. Not knowing much about it, she only takes a quick somewhat baffled look around at the equipment before moving onto the next room, the one across the hall. Something that takes less than a minute as she quickly finds that it's nothing more than a small room containing a washer and dryer that while they were designed to look similar to non-magical ones they clearly weren't, cleaning supplies, and a few other household items like extra blankets and sheets.

Having an idea about what the layout seems to be, she's pretty sure that the study/small library her mom mentioned, and the place she's aiming for, is probably the last room on the left, so she checks the last room on the right first, and indeed finds the potion room. Which confirms that the right of the hall was the training/practice side, while the left was more of the living side.

Inside the potion room there are bookshelves and glass fronted cabinets along the walls, the latter of which was full of what were most likely ingredients, with two longer island counters, each with three cauldrons sitting over burners that looked sort of like camping stoves, as well as small prep stations by each cauldron with various pieces of equipment such as knives, mortar and pestles, and scales arrayed neatly around an empty space to do the prep itself in, and two large sinks, one at the start of the closer island, and one at the end of the further island.

When she leaves that room and enters the library/study hybrid, she finds that while it is indeed small for a library, it's not a small room in and if itself, seeing as it's a circular room roughly forty meters(3) across with two stories, the walls of both floors lined with bookshelves. Making four points in a diamond shape surrounding the center of the room were two tightly spiraling staircases made of dark metal, a big dark wooden desk of the sort you would normally see in a study, and a large dark wooden table.

In the center of the room was a podium with a book on it, a metal cart to one side of the podium, and to the other side, oddly enough, was a wooden filing cabinet. The desk was right in front of the door in the diamond of landmarks, with the two staircases bracketing it and the table right across from it. The table was likely for when she wanted to actually study so she'd have room for more books as well as any writing utensils she might be using, whereas the desk would probably be more comfortable if she was writing letters or doing other things like that. Which she thinks she might end up moving into her room. While the idea of combining the library and study was nice, she doesn't need a dedicated study. It would probably be more convenient if nothing else to just shift things around a bit and put the desk in her room.

The library had become her favorite place when she was even younger after she learned that Dudley and his gang of bullies avoided it like they had a lethal allergy. Her years in there had turned her into quite a bookworm. Despite the itch to just start pulling books down and read, especially since the books on integrating into wizard society as well as her mother's journals were sitting out on the table as the letter had promised, she doesn't. Ignoring it in favor of the desk for now. Right in the center were two books, one labeled 'War Journal' the other much thinner one simply says 'Calanthe's Trunk', as well as a box labeled ‘pre-written letters’ in her mother's handwriting that she assumes Brightblade had left after he had selected the one she received.

First, she opens her mother's letter and pulls everything out, then swaps her mother's list of people for the note she found in her room before returning them to their envelope and setting it on the desk so she won't lose them. After she's done with that she tucks her mother's list into the war journal. Next, she finds some of that weird paper, parchment maybe, but the only thing she has for writing is a bottle of ink labeled Instant Drying Ink and one of those older types of pens that just have a metal bit on the end that you dip in the ink. Which is… a little daunting to be honest, seeing as she's never used one, but… it looks pretty simple, and since it used to be so common it can't be too hard, right?

Gathering up the writing stuff, including the pen holder, as well as her mother's war journal, she takes it back out with her to the kitchen island. Setting it all next to the mailbox, she starts poking around in the cabinets. Though for the upper cabinets, that does necessitate finding the step ladder her mother had helpfully tucked out of the way in the kitchen. It doesn't take long before she finds a cooler cabinet containing drinks.

Spotting what looks like a beer bottle filled with a cloudy looking yellow liquid, she pulls it down in bafflement, but a closer perusal of the label shows that in smaller print near the bottom that it's 'perfectly safe for and loved by children of all ages', so with a shrug she sets it on the island as well and continues her search through the cabinets, quickly finding one with various plates and bowls with wood coverings. On the lid of each was a painted on label announcing what pre cooked food was inside. Not being particularly picky, she just grabs the closest one, Shepherd's pie apparently, gets a fork from the drawer after some looking around, and takes them back to the island and her collection of stuff.

She pulls the wooden lid off of the bowl and twists the lid off of the drink and takes her first bite before rearranging the rest of her stuff until she has her food slightly to her left, her drink directly behind it from where she's sitting, the paper slightly to her right and sitting next to her food, the bottle of ink at the top of the paper, and the mailbox behind both her food and paper directly in front of her. With her fork in her left hand she takes another bite before she starts writing.

After immediately getting a little bubble of ink that ends up blotting the paper, she decides to start simple, and with a bit of struggle simply writes, "Have safely received stuff. Have questions, but using a pen with a metal bit at the end that you dip in ink. Do not know how to use, but all I have. Only used muggle stuff. Help please. Sorry for the mess."

Then she carefully tears the short note off and puts it in the empty mailbox, sets the pen in its holder, and turns her attention to her food. The Butterbeer is actually really good, though it's not particularly good with Shepherd's pie. They aren't bad together though. Just that the two don't compliment each other. Nevertheless, she relishes the meal as she opens her mother's war journal. The very first couple pages are dedicated to confirmed and suspected Death Eaters and sympathizers. It doesn't take as long as she'd thought it would for her to get a reply, seeing as she's only a quarter of the way through her food when the handle, a little metal half circle, begins glowing.

Pulling it open, she finds a folded sheet of the possibly parchment paper in there. The note reads, "I'm glad the delivery got to you safely. As for the nib pen, what you're using, they're fairly simple if you know how they work, but can be frustrating if you don't.

First there's a little hollow divet in the nib. It is a small ink reservoir, so when you dip the nib, make sure you dip it to the top of the hollow. Second, there were a couple blotches on the parchment. That occurs when you get a little glob of ink on the pen. To fix that, you need only wipe it off on the edge of your ink bottle, do so gently so as to not dislodge the ink from the reservoir. Finally, your writing itself was fine, but I don't know if you worked it out or if it was luck, so I'll say it anyway. The nib is curved as you have seen, when you are writing you want the top of the curve facing up. If you can see inside the curve, you are holding it upside-down. And that's all there really is to a nib pen. Keep those things in mind, and it should be as easy to write with as anything you may be used to.

And I would suggest using it. As an Heiress, and later Lady, when you write correspondence, official or otherwise, you will be expected to do so on nicer parchment and with either a quill or a nib pen. It will be incredibly obvious to most people if you don't use the correct parchment as well as if you use a muggle writing implement on the parchment, and it will reflect poorly on yourself and House Potter. As such, you may want to familiarize yourself with it. And improve your handwriting. Do not take this harshly, as I know it is not your fault given who is raising you, but neither an Heiress or a Lady should have such abysmal handwriting, even at seven. Since I am your unofficial guardian as per your mother's request, I will be acquiring and sending you a couple books on writing and calligraphy. Please read them and practice accordingly when I get them to you.

One last last piece of advice, for now anyway, Heiresses and Ladies do not generally rip their parchment, no matter how short their note is. It isn't a problem in this case, since I am your unofficial guardian and I imagine we will probably be sharing quite a few short notes, but do not do so for anyone else no matter how close you may be to them. All it would take is one falling out and they could show it around and negatively affect your reputation."

Grabbing a full sheet of paper- parchment she corrects herself, Brightblade confirmed it was parchment -, she takes a bite of her food as she thinks over her reply, especially since if she messes up or decides she needs to change something she won't be able to erase like she would if she was using a pencil. She has a feeling that scratching things out would be equally bad for her as tearing the parchment. When she writes she's careful to take Brightblade's advice and finds that now that she knows how to use it, writing with it isn't any different than writing with a regular pen or pencil.(4)

Eventually, though she's a bit hesitant, with her mother's mention of his magical vow, she chooses to be more to the point rather than dancing around topics uncertain if she can trust him, and settles on this, "Thank you for your help. It's much easier to write when I actually know how to use this. The only drawback is that I can't erase like with a modern pencil, and I assume it would reflect equally poorly if I scratched things out. Nevertheless, I look forward to those books to help me improve my writing, I've never liked my own chicken scratch, but I've never known how to fix it. It seems a little wasteful to use a full sheet of parchment for a short note, especially since I don't know exactly how much parchment I have since I didn't go through the entire desk in the trunk and I'm not sure how I'd get more, but I understand.

As for my questions, first how would I look into some people? My mother left me a list of people I can trust and those I can't as well as a journal of Death Eaters both confirmed and suspected as well as confirmed and suspected sympathizers. The war may be over, but they would still be blood purists, and as such, I'd still like to know what happened with them. Which were arrested and which weren't and why they weren't. Especially since regardless of what actually happened the night my home was attacked,-”

She has to pause for a little while to calm herself so she doesn't start crying. Or panicking in fear. But eventually she's pretty sure she's prevented tears and pushes on writing, “-they could decide they want revenge on me. So I think it's in my best interest to get caught up on the situation regardless of the fact that the war has been over for about six years.

Second, if Dumbledore is taking money from my trust vault, would it be possible to open a personal vault and transfer the money there as soon as the trust vault refills? Would Dumbledore, as my technical guardian, have access to a personal vault, and if not, if he asks about the transfers would it be possible for you to tell him I just want to build up my money so I have access to more for investing? Would it be at all possible, if I opened an account with a muggle bank, to connect it to my Gringotts account? I'd like to be able to make purchases in the muggle world and it'd be easiest if I had an account and card.

Speaking of people, how would I get in contact with Andromeda and Remus? And what would be the best way of checking if they trust Dumbledore? I don't think it would be very good for me if he found out what's going on. He's supposed to be my guardian, yet he left me with the Dursleys and not only never checked on me, but also never saw to my education in relation to my status. I imagine he did it for a reason and wouldn't be pleased to find things changing, so I'd like to keep him in the dark as much as possible and as such, wouldn't want anyone who thinks he's trustworthy to go blabbing to him. But I would like to contact Andromeda about getting lessons on etiquette and the like, and I'd like to get to know Remus. 

My mother also warned me of a woman named Rita Skeeter working for the Daily Prophet. Is it still the most popular newspaper, and do you know if that woman still works for them? What sort of libel laws are there in the magical world, and what sort of protections do I have as a citizen, and possibly as a Noble? Do muggle libel laws apply? And who owns the Daily Prophet? Is it a singular owner or a collection of people owning stock of the company?

I don't know if this is part of your usual help as my account manager, but you are also my unofficial guardian, so do you have any sort of advice on what to do about the Flint situation?

I'm sure I'll think of other questions, but for now I'll wrap this up with just a couple more. I know you said I couldn't gain access to my properties without coming in personally, but could I get a list of them? And of my other holdings? And you already said I can't access House Potter's holdings, but what sort of access do I have to Sirius and House Black's holdings and properties?"

Folding up the parchment, she puts it in the mailbox and goes back to eating and flipping through her mother's war journal. To her surprise, she only gets a few bites before the handle is glowing again. Opening it she finds a rather short note, "I will send a full reply shortly, but you asked about the Potter and Black accounts as well as your inheritance from Sirius Black. I can send you a regular statement, but Gringotts also offers a self-updating book to track one's holdings for a Galleon a month. Feel free to send this reply on the parchment you ripped earlier."

She blinks, then writes a quick reply on the ripped parchment, "I'd prefer the updating one."

She manages to finish her food before a new reply comes in, though this time along with the paper there are also three old fashioned keys, one stamped with the numbers 687, another is printed with 538, and the final says 701, as well as a leather bound book. She's quick to push her empty bowl and Butterbeer away to set the book and keys in their place before unfolding the parchment to read, "First, let me preemptively inform you that I'll be answering most of your questions out of order, since more than one of the topics segues nicely into another.

That out of the way you are correct that you should not scratch things out, and actually, there is a magical ink eraser, called an ink absorber. I imagine your mother would have bought one for you to use. It's a little glass ball. It's enchanted to be intent based, so you merely roll it over the word or words you would like to erase and it sucks up the ink of them alone. You can then return that ink to your ink pot by simply holding the ball over it and wanting it to happen. It will pop open, drop the ink, then close again for its next use. I would suggest you locate it. More than likely it would have been with your other writing supplies on the desk.

As far as how much parchment you have, Owl Order is available to all from nearly any shop in Diagon Alley, though most Nobles and purebloods tend to prefer to order self updating catalogs and mailboxes similar to the ones we are currently using, though they're called order boxes. Since you don't have an Owl to order the catalog and mailbox, with written permission to use a few Galleons from your account, I can see to it to have some purchased from some of the main shops in Diagon Alley and have them delivered to you. From there purchases are made through the catalog using your vault key and the delivery comes via the mailbox.

It isn't uncommon for pureblood families to have a mail room containing all their mailboxes. As for making purchases via key, as I'm sure you will want to know, a vault key is linked via magic signature to either its family or individual owner to be sure of valid use. You merely place the end of the key, like you are attempting to unlock the parchment, against a catalog that has been appropriately enchanted and it sends an order to Gringotts to transfer the funds for your purchase from your vault to theirs.

For purchases made in person, the majority of businesses order an enchanted financial book for customers to make purchases the same way. In either case, the catalog or book will then produce a receipt for you. Gringotts also has checks for more personal use that work the same, barring that the other person must also place their key to the designated receiver area of the check so we know to whom we must transfer the money, the check then duplicates itself so both parties may have a copy. A standard fee of one Sickle per purchase made via direct key transfer applies to both catalog and check.

It would be very possible to open your own vault, though it would be much simpler to transfer the funds to Sirius Black's old vault which is now already your personal vault. As far as Dumbledore goes, he would not have access, and as your legal guardian he should be speaking to you and therefore informed of what is going on. If he isn't, neither Gringotts nor myself has any obligation to inform him. As for wanting to use a card in the muggle world, I can certainly see where you're coming from and Gringotts can technically link an account to one in a muggle bank nowadays, but it isn't actually necessary. While it has taken a considerable amount of work over the past four years since magical disclosure, Gringotts has for the past year been proud to say that we now have cards that work in the muggle world. Much like with the keys, a standard fee of one Sickle per purchase applies, as well as an initial fee of one Galleon.

Your access to House Black's holdings is similar to House Potter's. This is because neither of those can be accessed by any but the Lord of the family or with the Lord's explicit permission. Unfortunately, while you may be Heir, you cannot legally become the Lady of either House until you are thirteen years of age. Since you are the one who will be the Lady, but aren't yet because of your age, there is no one to authorize access. Sirius Black's personal holdings, however, are entirely accessible to you since it is a personal vault that was directly inherited. As such, I have included the key to his vault, 538, as well as your trust vault, 687. You will notice I have also sent the key for vault 701.

This is because the majority of noble Houses keep a trust vault set aside to pass from one Heir to the next instead of continually having to create accounts. Since you are House Black's Heir, the vault is rightfully yours. As far as the Black properties go, since there was no order regarding them, you need only ask for the key to one and I can send it to you, assuming it isn't an ancestral home, which usually have the Heir and Lord rings set up as magical keys. As such, the House Black properties, as well as the Potter properties for that matter, are all enchanted to unlock automatically for someone wearing either the Lord or Heir ring, and therefore do not possess physical keys I could send. I have the Heir rings for both House Potter and House Black, but due to some legal tape, Gringotts can't actually send them without being asked…"

She snorts at Brightblade's unsubtle hint, but continues reading, "As for Mr. Lupin and Mrs. Tonks, I heavily doubt either of them would rat you out to Dumbledore, so to speak, but you could easily ensure it by officially employing them as a retainer and tutor respectively and simply add a confidentiality agreement into their employment contracts. Particularly since while I can help you track down the information you're wanting on certain individuals, and am willing to help, it would be beneficial to have someone you can ask to do odd jobs like that for you, and I doubt Mr. Lupin would be against it, especially since it would also mean he'd get to be in your life again. In any case, you would normally send a letter by owl, but seeing as you don't have one, I could get into contact with them for you.

On the matter of the Daily Prophet, yes Miss Skeeter is unfortunately still a high profile reporter for them. The ownership of the Daily Prophet is a little tricky. It's owned by stockholders, but quite a few of them died out during the war, and because of some laws in the wizarding world regarding deaths with no named heirs, they are held by the Ministry. The Ministry, as such, holds the majority share at the moment. However, those very laws state that the Ministry isn't actually allowed direct ownership and that they only hold them until they're purchased. However, the Ministry likes having controlling shares and being able to dictate what goes into the most popular paper in the wizarding UK, so they have gone to great lengths to keep that hidden, since they would be legally required to take either the best offer for them, or if no additional offer comes in within a month, the only offer for the shares.

There aren't any specific laws in the wizarding world regarding libel or slander, seeing as the laws are made by the Wizengamot which is almost entirely composed of Nobles and they can simply sue for damaging a Noble or Noble Houses reputation. Technically, wizarding Britain has the right to self rule, but part of that agreement was that they could self rule so as to keep their secrecy only as long as they adhered to basic British Law. The British Ministry of Magic has been arguing with the muggle government nearly since magical disclosure as to where British Law ends and their right to self rule begins. The Ministry, as such, may try to resist acknowledging any libel or slander laws the muggle world has for no other reason than to avoid giving more ground out of fear that they'll end up losing their autonomy.

As for the Flint situation, I would suggest hoping that House Potter has kept a record as to why the dowry wasn't paid. Otherwise, you might want to think of getting a good lawyer, which I would be happy to help with if it becomes necessary."

She folds the most recent note back up when she's through, then absently taps the edge of it against her palm as ideas rattle around in her head.