Who am I?
Chapter 2:
Nausea was the first thing that hit Harry when the pair landed. George’s arm around his waist was the only thing keeping him up. Once the churning in his stomach ended, Harry opened his eyes too look around Diagon Alley.
The cheerful colors and magical bobbles that used to enchant him, now seemed to mock him; the bright colors and constant movement making his head pound and bringing up stomach acid to the back of his throat.
He was pulled out of his trance when Fred began leading the pair through the empty ally towards the towering bank. As they approached the entrance, the trio were met with the eldest of the Weasley brood, Bill.
“Hey Bill-“ Fred began as they approached the burly long haired man. “Thank’s for meeting us-“ George continued as he brought Harry to stand next to his twin. “At such short notice.” Fred finalized, grasping Harry’s hand in his.
“No worries brothers, I know I’ve not been around much the past few years, but I am here for you when you need me. I hope all of you know that.” Bill spoke more somberly than Harry had ever heard him, but he could hear how much Bill loved his siblings in his voice. Harry wondered if he would ever have a family like the Weasleys. “Now Harry, let's get you inside, we have a long day ahead of us.” Bill led the group through the empty looking bank.
They walked past the tellers; the morning shift goblins were counting their coins and marking papers as the group passed. Harry made eye contact with one of the diminutive beings. He recolonized the Goblin as being the one who’d escorted him to his vault before first year. Griffhook, if he remembered correctly. Harry gave a short bow as he made eye contact the goblin nodded in kind and continued counting his notes with his long spindly fingers. Harry rushed to catch up to the redheaded group he was following as he had fallen behind during the brief exchange.
The group arrived at the back of the bank’s expansive lobby. The white marble reflecting the firelight making the twins hair especially look like living flames atop their heads. Harry smiled to himself at the thought of the twins with fire hair, the two geniuses would surely be able to make a product capable of doing so.
“Harry,” He was pulled from his musings by Bills deep baritone voice. He was holding one of the large doors open and looking at Harry expectantly. “the twins and I will wait for you out here.” He smiled kindly at the teen, as Harry nervously made his way inside, still unsure as to what the twins had planned for him. He looked back at the two as he walked through the great stone doors. They smiled and both gave a jaunty wave as Bill closed the doors on their glowing faces.
The slam of the door nearly made him jump when a sudden voice spoke from behind him. “Come, sit down.” The grating voice was efficient and straight to the point. Harry did as he was told and took a seat in the russet colored armchair across from the wizened goblin sitting at the desk. “Now, Lord Potter,” he paused and looked at Harry through the small full moon glasses that sat on the bridge of his nose. “I’ve been informed by Heir Weasley that you have not been to the bank in quite some time, and that you need to go through the process of formally accepting your lordship.” He rustled his papers “We have tried to contact you during the summer vacations about the matter but have not had any response, is there any reason you are only now coming to claim your family’s legacy?” The goblin looked up at Harry sharply as he stared dumbly back at the intelligent creature.
“I’ve never got any letters from the bank.” Harry responded shyly as he looked down at his hands. He had a hang nail on his left pointer finger. “I live with my muggle family in the summer, could that have something to do with it?” he asked suddenly. Maybe the Dursleys had burned his bank letters.
“A redirection ward is more probable.” The goblin grumbled to himself. “It seems we will have to go in and do a full cleansing on your person.” He paused and scanned Harrys small form up and down, taking note of how the boy held his broken arm. “A full healing ceremony as well I’d wager.” He mumbled and took note with his ornate quill. “Before all this we will be administering a legacy potion to verify your identity of course.” He looked pointedly at Harry then.
“Of course, what do I need to do, sir?” he paused, feeling guilty he’d forgotten to ask the goblin bank manager for his name.
“Nillfang, I am bank manager Nillfang.” The goblin paused and got up from the desk to get into a cabinet set against the back wall. It was full of odds and ends that Harry couldn’t even come up with ideas of what they were for. Nillfang extracted an ornate golden bowl from the cabinet and returned to the desk. The bowl was similar to a miniature pensive. It contained a deep red liquid that gave off a faint golden vapor.
“Lord Potter, I will require 3 drops of your blood.” As he spoke, Nillfang pulled a silver dagger from his drawers and passed it to Harry. “This will show your familial relations for 3 generations. One generation for each drop starting with yours. We typically don’t do more than 3 unless a client requests us to.” As he explained, Harry took the dagger and sliced his finger and allowed 3 drops to enter the bowl.
Nillfang took a roll of parchment and dipped the end into the bowl. They watched as the blood soaked the paper before disappearing completely. With spider like fingers, the master goblin pulled the parchment out of the bowl and laid it onto the table for them to read.
Lord Harrison James Edwin Potter Stark
Son of Lillian Samantha Potter, Nee Evans and Anthony Edward Stark
Blood adopted by James Fleamont Potter and Sirius Orion Black
Godson of Sirius Orion Black and Alice Amelia Longbottom Nee Fawley
Grandson of Harold Albert Evans and Delilah Mary Evans, Nee Grace on maternal side
Grandson of Howard John Stark and Maria Collins Stark Nee, Campbell on paternal side
Blood adopted grandson of Fleamont Augustus Potter and Euphemia Chrysanthemum Potter, Nee Fawley
Nillfang nodded to himself and muttered in his gravelly voice, “It seems this matches our records Lord Potter. I will be back with your lordship rings, and we will send you off to the ritual chamber for your cleansing and healing rituals.” The elder goblin nodded again and began to get more papers in order as Harry continues to stare dumbfounded at the parchment.
“Matches my records? What does that mean, who is Anthony Stark? Why does this say he’s, my dad? James Potter is my dad!?!” Harry was starting to get worked up. His entire life was a lie, again. Who is this man, and how will this affect his life even more?
Nillfang looked up at the panicking child, as he was still a child in the eyes of the wizened goblin. “Soon after your mother fell pregnant with you, she and your father,” He paused and looked at Harry keenly, “came to our bank to request a blood adoption ceremony.” He began to rifle through his drawers of paperwork till he found the document he was looking for. “Here is the contract they signed at the time of the adoption.” He handed it to the child to look over. “Your father was excited to be your father, and that day made you his heir stipulating that as his first born, you shall inherit his entire lordship and estates.” He added as an afterthought, “Even in the case he has another biological child.”
Harry looked over the document he was handed, searching for answers held by those who had long been dead and buried. The paperwork had few answers for him. Simply a date, January 17th, and the legal information regarding the process of the blood adoption potion. At the bottom though were his parents’ signature. His mothers writing was an elegant scrawl, as though she wrote quickly without a care, but with determination for each letter. His fathers, James’ was more of an intelligible scribble with a pronounced J and P. Harry could see the lighthearted carelessness in the second signature. It was like getting a little glimpse into who his parents were.
“Who is Anthony Stark then?” He asked, suddenly remembering he has a biological parent who may or may not be alive. He looked to Nillfang expectantly.
The goblin looked at Harry, eyes looking at the boy in pity or as much as member of the Goblin Nation can truly convey. “I have never come across the name in my years in the bank, he is not likely a wizard, or a British one at least.” Harry tried not to let the disappointment show too much.
Nillfang set a box down on the desk in front of Harry, bringing him out of his depressed musings. “This is the Potter Lordship ring. As the Heir of James Potter and the Last remaining person with Potter blood, it is your right to claim this.” He looked at the raven-haired teen expectantly.
“Potter blood? How do I have Potter blood if James Potter isn’t my biological father?”
“When your parents performed the blood adoption, James Potter blood was added to you and essentially became your third bilolgical parent. This was the same when they brought Lord Black into the bank for the same ritual. Technically speaking you have 4 biological parents.” Harry nodded, but the idea still seemed outlandish to him. Magic was forever a never-ending puzzle he craved solving.
Harry eyed the ornate red box shined in the firelight, it reminded of him of the twins. They were waiting for him to finish up. He took the box off the desk; it was heavier than it looked. When opened, the box revealed dark silver band with a black stone imbedded into the front. Lions were etched into the facets around the stone. When Harry looked deep enough into the inky depths, a couple scratches stood out to him. He imagined that after centuries of use, it would have been scratched a few times.
He slid the ring out of the box and onto his left pinky finger. He had seen Mr. Weasley and a few other lords of the wizarding world do this, so he assumed it was correct. The metal began to warm as it shrunk to fit his hand, and the stone began to glow. When everything settled, Harry could feel the family magics that he now had control of. This feeling of power and security was new to him.
Harry was spooked from his stupor when Nillfang spoke “Now that we have finished here, let's have you escorted to the ritual chambers now. I cannot imagine that you are feeling very well.” Harry had mostly been able to ignore the pain, likely due to the potions the twins had poured down him before they came here but once the goblin mentioned it the pain started to make itself known again.