Gringotts
Harry and Filius had been walking for nearly half an hour, mostly in silence. The young student was still blushing furiously. Ever since Flitwick had told him about the ball, he couldn’t stop thinking about dancing with Hermione. It was like a dream come true - a dream he hadn’t even known about. But…
“I can’t dance.”
Filius turned around and smiled at him.
“Don’t worry, many of our students can’t dance. Minerva will be holding lessons, but if you want to I can ask Bathsheda for additional ones. Probably better for you as a champion.”
Harry nodded, a little relieved.
“And…do you really think she’d say yes? And how did you even know?”
Filius chuckled.
“Oh Harry, you’ve been dreamy and blushing the entire way from my office to the statue, since I told you to not anger your lady. You two have always been the source of rumours among students and even some teachers. The way you interact and rely on each other… Ever since you’ve been so devastated after her petrification, many wondered if you’d end up as a duo of inseparable friends for life or as the perfect pair of “soulmates.” You can’t imagine how many students gossip within a teacher’s hearing range…or how some of the staff table conversations are going. Either it’s wagering about which female student will slap Cormac McLaggen next, how long Cedric Diggory will be mooning over Cho Chang without making a move, who’ll be the next victim of a Weasley prank, what Peeves is going to do, who’s gonna forget to hand in his essay next or how long it’ll take to crystallise what you two are going to be.”
“What? So Professor McGonagall and Snape gossip about the Twins’ pranks and my potential love life when they’re bored at breakfast?”
“Not Severus, but yes, that’s an accurate description. And Minerva’s focus lies on Quidditch bets with Rolanda, in all honesty, but you haven’t heard that from me…oh, did you feel that? We’ve crossed the wards I think.”
Harry nodded, he too had sensed the soft tickling sensation that was often a sign of passing through strong magic. Then Filius pulled a silver tie pin out of his pocket and held it out towards Harry so he could touch the other end. A brief activation phrase in Goblin speak was spoken and they got pulled away until Harry found himself lying face down on a stone floor.
“Heir Potter. Your skill at using portkeys seems to be as good as your skill to reply to letters. Basically non-existent.”
Before the boy could get off the ground, Filius began speaking quickly, in something that very much sounded like a frustrated tone. His opponent - an elderly goblin, from the looks of it - seemed to be very surprised and stared at Filius Flitwick, filled with disbelief.
“I…apologise, Heir Potter. It seems like someone left you in the dark as well. Something like this has never happened in my memory. Here, let me help you up.”
While the goblin helped Harry up, he introduced himself as Gornuk, Son of House Goldclaw, account manager for the Potter family. He had tried to contact Harry since his tenth birthday, in addition to the yearly reports. Ever since then he sent letters over letters, trying to get the Potter Heir to come visit him. But no, the boy only dropped by unannounced to pick up a little bit of gold, or someone else would get it for him, and somehow no goblin deemed it necessary to inform him.
“Maybe some sort of confundus charm on the key? Who knows what’s going on in Albus Dumbledore’s mind. You might want to give young Harry a new key and reset the lock, not that someone takes money from him.”
Gornuk nodded, but then reassured them that - excluding Harry’s withdrawals for school - no one had taken any money from the account. He then led them into his office, a big and comfortable room with a few comfy armchairs next to a big wooden desk filled with documents and scrolls. On the back wall there were four coats of arms. The bear of House Longbottom, black on green ground, a falcon on yellow ground (a symbol he had seen Hannah Abbott wear a few times), a horse on orange ground (which he’d seen Lady Bones, Head of the DMLE, wear in a few pictures in the Prophet) and…
“A gryphon?”
“You…you don’t even know your coat of arms? Yes, a gryphon. It was once nearly changed into a Thestral when the Peverells married into the family, where the invisibility cloak comes from, but the Potters stayed true to their origins. The gryphon is rumoured to have been Merlin’s favourite animal. But those are all things that your librarian, whom Filius tells me is on your side, can tell you. We’re here to do what should have been done a long time ago. The reading of the wills of Lord and Lady Potter, your blood test, you taking up your title, visiting the family vaults and the introduction into your finances.”
The wills of James and Lily Potter were rather unspectacular, simply because they left more or less everything to Harry. Sirius and Remus got some money, and so did the Longbottoms. Since Dumbledore made himself Harry’s guardian via Chief Warlock privileges, the list of potential guardians was not important anymore. All but the trust vault were on lockdown until Harry took up the Heir ring so he would have access to his family’s books while at school.
The only interesting clause, added the day before going into hiding, was that Peter wouldn’t get his share of money if they died under the Fidelius, since he was their secret keeper, despite everyone assuming it was Sirius. Attached was a note officially stating this fact, signed by the late Lord Potter and bearing the magical signature and seal.
“That…does that mean I can get Sirius free?”
“Wait, are you telling me that…okay, not going to question it. Always felt a little unexpected to me either way. Yes, you can. We’ll make authenticated copies of it to keep the original safe, and then we will send it to the DMLE. But I doubt it will reach its destination, you know how the Ministry is. You take one too, and once you meet a Ministry official during the Tournament you can approach him as Heir Potter. He will have to listen then. Lord Crouch is a judge, isn’t he? He was the DMLE Head during that time and still holds sway. Either he or the Minister directly, that’s the easiest thing to do.”
Harry nodded, he knew how lazy and corrupt the Ministry was, and if Sirius hadn’t gotten a trial in the first place, then why should anyone now try to rectify their mistake? Everyone knew he was the bad guy, that was enough for all of them.
“Okay, good. And how is it with the finances now? I guess I only saw the trust vault?”
“Yes, that one gets refilled yearly with a stipend. Do you want an overview or something more detailed? I don’t know how much time pressure you are under.”
“Summary and then something more detailed for me to take back to Hogwarts and read with Hermione - my best friend?”
“That can be arranged. Excluding jewellery, art, furniture, books and similar things, your family has about fifteen million Galleons in liquid assets. The last war has really diminished the Potter wealth, especially because they were financing parts of the war effort and because a few properties were damaged and repaired afterwards. This includes your ancestral Manor.You own about seven percent of the Daily Prophet and affiliated magazines, fifteen percent of Zonko’s as silent partner and ten percent of Flourish & Blotts. You still hold seventy five percent of Sleakeazy’s and own a few potion patents. All of this is generating a passive income for you. Then you have Potter Manor, located in Wales, and apparently a beautiful location, the cottage in Godric’s Hollow and two vacation homes, one in France and the other near Rome. And I do have the paperwork for a small, ancient castle, but apparently the wards on it are so strong that no one has found it in the past three centuries and it should be run-down.”
“That…wow. That is more than I expected. Could you please add information regarding the locations to the documents I’ll take with me later? Maybe I can go visit some over Christmas.”
Harry was a little surprised about just how wealthy he actually was, based on what the Professors told him earlier he figured that the Potters were an old family with several inventions belonging to them, but that was beyond all his expectations.
Next item on the agenda was a standard blood test and then he could receive the ring. This was all necessary for them to gain access to the main vault with all the grimoires and tomes they were looking for.
For the blood test, a goblin mage joined them, pricked Harry's finger with a silver blade and let a drop of blood fall onto a tunic stone. This small stone was then placed onto a parchment, and once the mage had spoken a chant, several lines of text appeared.
Harry James Potter, son of James Charles Potter and Lily Rose Potter née Evans. Born July 31st 1980.
Health: malnourished from early childhood on, physical and core growth reduced. Correction via potions necessary.
Following a list of previous injuries (which wasn't too short) and how badly some of them were healed, there was a list of potions to improve his health.
Magical core nonetheless a few points above average. Expected to increase even further.
Warning: Magical leech resting in curse scar! Minor soul fragment of one Tom Marvolo Riddle detected. Due to its size and Mr Potter's core strength a removal via exorcism without the subject's death a while after the prescribed potions regime has a 97.8 percent chance of success. Inform curse breaker department immediately about the existence of several other soul fragments keeping Mr Riddle alive.
“I…I have a piece of Voldemort’s soul stuck in my head?”
While Harry was slightly panicking, Gornuk rushed out of the room to inform his superiors about this development. He had only read about soul fragments in the briefing following Tom Riddle’s not-death, this had been one of the more radical ways to ensure his survival and the researchers had been scared of this possibility. The Goblin Nation would have to decide what to do now.
Ten minutes later, Gornuk came back, and he seemed much more furious than before. Filius was still busy trying to calm down Harry, even though he himself was very worried and afraid. While he didn’t really understand what was going on, it was clear that something terrible was resting in young Harry’s scar.
Once the Goblin account manager had sat down again, he began explaining. Harry and Filius were disgusted by what a Horcrux was and how one created it. Then Harry told them about the Diary and how he destroyed it. First off, they were impressed by Harry’s defeat of the basilisk, then Gornuk came to the conclusion that a wizard as powerful and knowledgeable like Dumbledore must have recognised the Horcrux or at least felt the dark magic radiated by it. This led to the very disappointing assumption that the old wizard knew about the piece in Harry too and totally neglected him because in his eyes there was no way for Harry to live beyond the final confrontation with Riddle. And to be honest, if Voldy had created even one or two soul pieces less, this would have been the most likely outcome.
“Okay, but since I think we can’t stay all day here without at least my absence being noted at some point, could we please continue and look at Harry’s inheritance? I assume you can order the necessary potions and have a contracted exorcist who can perform the removal in due time?”
Gornuk nodded and after Harry affirmed this line of action, they continued reading the parchment, also because it was a nice distraction.
Magical Inheritance: Is able to take up the Mantle of Lord Potter due to early emancipation by the Ministry of Magic in compliance with the Goblet of Fire’s demand for an adult champion. May take up the Mantle of Heir Black as the family member with the highest claim. Since the Lord Apparent - Sirius Orion Black - who has named him his heir in 1981, suffers from dementor-induced infertility, and is thereby not expected to have an heir by his own blood, Mr Potter is the most senior choice by the rules of House Black, being a direct descendant of the main branch.
Mr Potter qualifies for both titles as the magical gifts are strong in him. Emrys’ gift pulsates through his veins, and as a direct descendant of the main branch of House Black as Electra Black’s great-grandson, he carries the gift of Pendragon as well.
Gift of Emrys (Talent of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter): inventions and magical innovations, potentially innate understanding for Ancient Runes, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration or Warding.
Power of Pendragon (Talent of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black): bearers of this power have innate charisma and are born leaders like King Arthur, but it is often associated with potential madness.
In addition to that - due to extinction of the other branches - Mr Potter may carry the French title of Marquis de Fleamont. His great-great-grandmother, Anne Potter née Fleamont was the last of this line. All remaining assets are already part of House Potter, including the French chateau. Note: French titles have no actual power since the abolishment of the monarchy and are merely symbolic and to commemorate their ancestors’ social standing.
Harry, who had read this out loud, had by now basically forgotten about the Horcrux, since he was completely confused. How the hell did this kind of magic know about Sirius (and his health), the state of various magical families and since when he has been Sirius’ heir? And what the bloody hell is that about an emancipation?
Gornuk began suppressing a laugh as soon as Harry spoke about the emancipation, and once the boy had finished reading the parchment, he couldn’t hold it back anymore.
“Bloody idiots at the ministry! Could’ve gotten you out over this technicality by refusing your emancipation, but no. Instead they have to endure an irritating and annoyed nobleman. The press is gonna love this, and the Minister is probably going to wet his robes, afraid of political backlash. You’d have voting rights and potentially old alliances to kick him out of office. Oh gosh, you two are making this day fabulous.”
While the account manager was laughing (and making a request for the Heir Black ring to be brought, as well as the Fleamont Ring), Filius explained to Harry how the blood magic worked. Yes, not all this information came from Harry’s blood, but the family magic within it was on some level connected to…well…magic. Not just to Potter or Black family magic, but to the source of that energy. That’s why blood magic was so feared, because if you knew the right spells and chants there was little you couldn’t find out. Everyone and everything was connected in magic.
A little while later (apparently the Black Account manager had been quite confused, and then almost ecstatic at the family having an Heir and a Lord who was in truth innocent) Gornuk had managed to get the rings for Harry, while Filius had somehow given him an overview over what that entailed.
The Wizengamot, where the Lords and Ladies of these old families sat on, was a sort of Supreme Court, and at the same time a sort of Parliament. There wasn’t much democracy in the Wizarding World. Those Lords and Ladies ruled on court cases, voted for a Minister, and could bring forward laws. But that didn’t happen often, the Minister and his Department Heads worked mostly without having to answer to anyone. The whole system was corrupt and broken.
When the Wizengamot came together, that usually meant that someone wanted to do something drastic, something that would lead to a public outcry. Werewolf laws. Restrictions on muggleborns. Those kinds of things. And then they debated and voted. Mostly it was a fight between the blood purists and the followers of Dumbledore, with a few grey votes in the middle to either tip the scales or make the whole project fail.
Harry obviously wasn’t happy about that, but right now he was given a chance to vote up there, possibly even twice in the long run (well, he and Sirius didn’t seem to be disagreeing on many things, so which of the two voted was a moot point actually). The Potters had old alliances, and so did the Blacks. The Fleamont name was merely to impress others, maybe to make his standing with traditionalists a bit better. Oh that’d be cool. If everyone wants your vote they’d probably stop slandering you that much. Lovely, this would make his life so much easier.
“I’ll do it. I hate the system, but having a voice there gives me a chance to change things in the long run. And for now this will give me additional privileges, access to helpful stuff and potentially support that I need.”
And so Gornuk handed Harry the first box containing the Ring of Lord Potter. There wasn’t anything spectacular about him taking up the title, just slip on the Ring, it flashes a little, and that’s it. No fancy vows or something like that, family magic didn’t work that way. All it did was carry special talents along the bloodline. After the broad golden ring of House Potter there was a thinner silver ring with an onyx for House Black and another golden ring for the Marquis de Fleamont.
“Okay, my Lord, now I think it is time to go see the Potter vaults. Better check with Lord Black for his approval for the Black vaults first. I presume you have a way to contact him? His manager shall await his letter or arrival.”
Harry didn’t even deny communicating with Sirius, just nodded and followed the goblin to his office’s door.
“Prof…Filius? Aren’t you coming?”
“Into your family vaults?”
“Yes please, if you feel comfortable with that. You probably know better what to look for there.”
Filius nodded and got up. Usually one wouldn’t get invited in another’s vault, but Harry truly was a special kind of person.
A long ride down into the tunnels later, Harry was advised to press his ring into the vault door for it to open, which it did. They were greeted by dozens of chests filled with gold and valuables, but that wasn’t why they were here. A few rows down the bookshelves began and, after checking for curses, Filius started to look for what they would or could need.
“James! James Charlus Potter, you haven’t been here for ages. Come here, my boy!”
Harry turned on the spot and drew his wand in surprise, only to stare at a painting of an elderly man, who looked a lot like him. Yes, the eyes were ice blue and his black hair was long grey, but they had the same chin and nose, the same cheekbones and even the same posture. A few potions to make up for the malnutrition and some new clothes and he would totally look like him. Harry lowered his wand.
“Oh. Not James. Those are the eyes of young Lady Lily. So why has my grandson never brought little Harry here since…well, you were about eleven months old, whenever that was?”
“I…Henry Potter? Oh god, oh god, I’m so sorry. Voldemort…and the killing curse…Aunt Petunia..”
Harry dropped to his knees, both to be eye-to-eye with the painting leaning against a wall and because the past days had already been so hard on him and with everything today…he just broke down sobbing. His ancestor didn’t even know that James and Lily were dead, and what had happened since then. Between sobs he managed to tell Henry most of his life story, at least in fragments, and soon Henry cried as well, after dropping into the big armchair depicted on the painting with him.
“Oh you poor, poor boy. Life has been horrible to you. And your family…all dead. A basilisk, the Tournament, Voldemort, a Horcrux…no child…no person should ever have to suffer from all this. But I’ll help you now.”
The crying teenager looked up, surprised and confused. Rarely anyone had ever worried or cared about him, and now, suddenly, he felt supported. Several people were there for him, and this trend didn’t seem to stop. How did he deserve this?
“Thank…thank you.”
“Harry? Oh, I’m so sorry.”
Filius had collected about two dozen books and went to look for Harry, but then saw him sitting on the ground and crying. Only when he spotted the crying figure of Henry Potter he understood what had triggered it. Oh god.
He put the books aside and came up to Harry, who allowed him to come closer while wiping away his tears. Now that he had let out everything, the stress, trouble, worries and whatever bothered him, he slowly began to feel better again. This school year had barely started and it was already taking a toll on him.
“I’m sorry, I…”
“Don’t apologise, Harry. Honestly, I’m surprised at how long you managed to function with all that…let’s call it chaos.”
Harry snorted.
“Yeah, chaos. That sums up my life nicely. Bitten by a Basilisk. Emancipated by some bloody deadly Tournament. A madman out to kill me. Teachers possessed by Dark Lords. Next I’ll probably face down a dragon, though that’s not really a step up from a Basilisk. Hah.”
Following a short introduction of Filius Flitwick to Henry Potter, they briefly talked about his choice of books, Henry suggested a few more and then pointed out a certain chest filled with useful stuff for Harry. It contained some of his weapons, his armour, backup wands, rune carving utensils, wand holsters and probably an assembly of some of his stuff.
The chest had an undetectable extension charm on it, which made the transport of all the books much easier. Lastly Henry asked to join them as well, simply because he was beyond all doubts an expert in several fields of magic, and because he wanted to be there for his great-grandson and tell him about his family. Harry was so happy about that, just the thought of having a family member - even if it was just a painting copy of their consciousness - around him and in his life was incredible.
And so a much happier and optimistic Harry left his family vault together with Filius, who was levitating the chest with all the stuff in it. Acting on impulse Harry briefly hurried the shelf containing dozens of jewellery boxes. He had wandered past them earlier and one of the objects there had reminded him of…well, whatever. Better safe than sorry and if there really was a ball, then he’d know who to ask and what to offer her to wear. She’d look even more gorgeous with that necklace.
Oh.
Yeah.
Filius Flitwick had been correct. Harry was an oblivious idiot in love. Damn.
Well, another reason to stop complaining. Maybe things would finally change for the better in his life.