A/N: Well, this little plot wouldn't leave me alone. So we shall see where it takes us.
I hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable of J.K. Rowling's work. I just enjoy playing in the world she created.
Don't forget to review at the end please!
Chapter 1~ The Beginning
It was a cold November first evening when a figure wrapped in a heavy black overcoat strolled down the lane of Privet Drive. The first winter snow covered the ground. The sidewalk lamps cast a yellow glow turning the street into an eerie wonderland.
Counting the houses as he went, he stopped in front of the fourth house down, noticing a bundle on the doorstep. Checking both ways to make sure that no one was around, he opened up the small white picket gate, and walked through. When he came upon the front stairs, he picked up the small blue bundle and hugged it tightly to his chest. Taking out his wand, he cast a warming charm on the young child. The small child opened his eyes, wondering why someone or something had disturbed his slumber. When the young child noticed the familiar air of magic, he yawned in content before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep once more.
"I'll never let you grow up like I did little Harry. Whatever you need, I will be there to provide it to the best of my abilities. So mote it be."
The wind picked up. Magic swirled around the two sealing the promise that was made. Once done, the figure covered the small child before apparating away.
The mysterious man landed in front of a large marble building towering over the smaller shops and businesses below. The guard who was stationed out in front of the large doors eyed the stranger. The man gazed at the guard before speaking in the goblin language, "my I pass warrior?"
"What are you seeking human? Banking hours are from seven to six."
"I know this, but it is important that I speak to Ragnuk. It is argent."
"What business?"
"None of your concern. But if you must tell him something, tell him that James Holmes is here."
Flashback
Harry landed on his knees in front of the Leaky Cauldron panting heavily. A few people were giving him curious looks. Harry slowly stood up leaning heavily on his left leg. A fair-haired sandy blonde man with a belly rushed over to him giving Harry an option to lean up against him as a crutch.
"What can I do to help sir?" the man asked in concern. Harry could feel the magical aurora radiating off the man. Harry smiled when he realized that he was dealing with a wizard instead of a muggle.
"Not much at this point, thanks. Can you help me get to Gringotts? I must speak to Ragnuk."
The man gave him a curious look, but said nothing. They entered the dark but well kept pub and upon entering, they were hit with a wall of wizards and witches celebrating the defeat of the Dark Lord. They winded their way through the sea of people to the back storage room where the gateway between muggle and magical world was located. The stranger took out his wand and tapped the bricks. Like magic, the brick came alive moving aside bringing to life the alley. The alley was also packed with people, not because of the upcoming holiday, but because it was the first time in over a decade that people weren't afraid to leave their homes. Thankfully, the chaos was exactly what the two wizards needed to go unnoticed.
The two approached the doors to the bank. Harry nodded to the guards before quietly speaking in Gobbledegook, "thank you both for your services."
The two guards looked at each other sharing an unspoken conversation before they both nodded back in reply. They opened the doors for the two wizards allowing the sunshine to meet the cold marble of the bank interior. Harry stopped in the entrance hallway to catch his breath. The man that helped him looked on in concern.
"Are you sure there isn't anything I can't help with? To put it blatantly you look like shit."
Harry grimaced while supporting his side. "I should be ok. Thanks for your help mate. I apologize; I never caught your name."
"Theodore Tonks at your service, but I prefer Ted."
"James Holmes." Harry smiled reaching out to shake his helper's hand. "I appreciate the help Ted."
"No problem James. It was nice to meet you."
With a nod, Ted headed out the bank's doors. With a sigh of relief, Harry headed over to one of the tellers.
The goblin continued writing before looking up.
"How can Gringotts assist you today?"
Harry switched to Gobbledegook before replying, "I need to speak to Ragnuk sir."
Returning in the same language, "Ragnuk is a very busy goblin, do you have an appointment?"
"No, but the information that I have affects the entire Goblin nation and if..."
"I can see the wizard. If what he says is true, then it is in the best interests of the goblin nation for him to be seen." Every goblin turned around and bowed low while avoiding Ragnuk's eyes.
Harry bowed low in respect before speaking, "thank you master Ragnuk." The goblin grinned a toothy smile before motioning with his and to follow.
They wound their way through the narrow corridors of the bank, goblins passed them bowing to Ragnuk and giving questioning looks to Harry. They arrived on the very top level of the building. Ragnuk pressed his palm to the door. Once it took his magical signature, it clicked open. Ragnuk opened the door, letting Harry into his office. Harry glanced around noting the windows overlooking the Alley, along with the goblin paintings, daggers, and pottery, showing off the goblin culture.
"Your wand Mr..."
"For now Holmes."
"Holmes then."
"I would give you my wand if I had one Master Ragnuk. But you see, my wand was snapped just before I came here, and I haven't had time to pick up another one. Out of respect, mind you, I will place my dagger on the desk but I shall remind you that even though I am human, we still carry weapons. I hope that you do not underestimate the human race for in fact you had not asked for any other weapons on my person."
"Duly noted."
Harry placed the goblin made dagger on the desk the blade facing him while the hilt placed towards Ragnuk. Ragnuk raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
"You know Goblin customs."
"I was taught by a friend of the goblin nation."
Ragnuk nodded before replying, "on to business then. What information is so important that affects the goblin nation?"
Harry smiled, "I don't give my information freely. Like any good businessman, everything has a price."
Ragnuk smiled a toothy grin. He folded his claws together and leaned slightly over the desk.
"What will this information cost?"
"A set of adoption papers and a subpoena for Veritaserum for one Sirius Black."
Ragnuk nodded before he sent for a goblin to fill the order. "It will be done, but the information that you provide must be worth your two orders."
Harry nodded before he began.
"The name I was born with wasn't James Holmes. I was born with the name Harry James Potter." Ragnuk glared at Harry.
"Your Harry Potter is about 15 months old right now and if I hadn't come back in time, would be me. As you know, it is the first of November. My parents, Lily and James Potter, were killed last night. At the moment, Dumbledore has little Harry in his care. Tonight he will place Harry with his last remaining relatives, Vernon and Petunia Dursley."
Harry scowled his relative's names.
"Harry won't be staying with his relatives. Tonight I will take him and have him live with me."
Ragnuk leaned back in his chair before placing his hands on the desk. "That is all well and good, but what does this have to do with the Goblin Nation?"
"Everything. Let me tell you about my past..."
Harry explained his life with the Dursleys, how he was treated no less than an abused house elf, what his first Hogwarts letter held, all the years he went through school until he dropped out at the end of sixth year to hunt down Voldemort's Horcruxes, and eventually the battle of Hogwarts.
"Once Voldemort was killed, everyone thought that it would be over. Boy were we wrong."
Harry took a deep breath before continuing. "In the early '90s, muggles went through a war known as the Gulf War in the Middle East. Religious extremists started to pop up all over the world. Even London was hit with bombs in 2005. In 2001 the United States was attacked in New York City. This act is what started the war in the Middle East. It wasn't until 15 years later when The United Kingdom went through a muggle minister change. As one of the best kept secrets, each minister knows about the magical world for the safety and continuation of Britain proper. This minister thought that it was the magical community's fault that we had been at war for so long. So to counter act this belief, he decided to declare war on us."
Harry took a deep breath trying not to open the flood gates. "for the first two years, the muggle community was unsuccessful in their attempts for the most part. That was until they found Hogwarts."
At that point Harry couldn't hold the tears any longer. "They finally figured out that muggle repelling charms and wards proved that there were magical people there. They also figured out that at a certain height, the wards stopped affecting muggles. Even though they couldn't see the "hot spots" as they called them, they were able to stay on target through coordinates. So taking planes, they bombed Hogwarts. My wife, my godson, and two of my children died that day. Luckily my youngest was with me. James was only 14, Albus Severus was 12, and my godson Teddy Lupin was almost 17. Lily thankfully survived, but she died a year later in a raid in Diagon Alley. So how does this affect the Goblin Nation?" Harry wiped his tears with the back his hand.
"Not only was every magical creature hunted down like wild animals, but once they were found, they were strung up like ordainments on a Christmas tree. By 2018, Britain was condemned for radiation poisoning. The muggle United Nations barricaded Britain because there was too much radiation in the air. No one could go in and no one could go out. The rest of the world wasn't in much better shape. Because the world ended up against each other, everyone started to fall to radiation poisoning. Plant life wouldn't grow, the sky always turned cloudy, and the water was too contaminated to completely sanitize it so fresh drinking water was a thing of the past.
"So at the ripe old age of 38, I passed away from radiation poisoning. But that wasn't the extent of my adventure. So if we were to talk numbers, the entire war was bad for business. Death also was soon to be out of a job as well. So I became the quote God Send unquote for everyone.
"You see, when I was seventeen, I became the Master of Death. I was the last person to hold complete control of the three Deathly Hallows. With this power, I was able to have a wonderful chat with Death.
"Death is an odd being who has a sense of humor. He enjoys making souls miserable because he himself is miserable. He said that because I was the Master of Death, he could not touch me unless I went willingly with him. I knew that things needed to change. He saw my hesitancy and decided to make a proposition with me. If he was to send me back, I would have to stop not only Voldemort, but also stop muggles finding out about the magical community. In return, when the world was saved, he would be able to come at anytime and I would have to go willingly. So here I am."
"Why is there blood on your shirt?"
"What?"
The goblin pointed to the side of Harry's shirt. Harry stared at it before lifting the side of it up. On his side, there was a circle of runes. Harry ran his fingers over each one.
"Power, Strength, Wisdom, Protection, Death, Life, Stability, and Seal. It must be my vow with death. He certainly doesn't do anything half way." Harry whistled.
"Well Mr. Potter that was certainly an enlightening story. Seeing as there are truth spells woven into the entire room, I must conclude that your epic tale is indeed fact. So the adoption papers for young Harry Potter are yours," Ragnuk pulled out a mammilla folder and placed it on the desk. He then pulled out the stack of sheets that needed to be signed. "These needed to signed and initialed by you after you have the child. I will have them when you come back. The subpoena," he motioned at the door and immediately the door opened and a goblin walked through carrying another folder. "Will be sent to the Ministry upon my signature. Is there anything else you need from Gringotts today?"
"As a Potter, do I have access to the Potter vaults? Or do I have to use Gryffindor's vaults?"
Raguk folded his hands together in contemplation. "Because in essence you do not exist yet, I'm not sure if the vault will allow you entrance. It is probably better to use the Gryffindor and Slytherin vaults until you officially adopt young ."
"Wait, the Slytherin vaults?"
"By rite of conquest, you own the Slytherin vaults, but the rings have to except you as their owner. Sharptooth!"
A younger goblin walked in with two boxes in hand. One of them was made of holly, and the other was made of yew. Harry smirked at the irony. Sharptooth set both of the boxes onto the desk, bowed, and scurried out of the office.
Harry slowly opened the yew box first. The platinum ring was ingrained with emeralds and onyx stones giving the appearance of two snakes intertwined. Taking a deep breath, be slipped the ring onto his right hand ring finger. The ring glowed green, before shrinking to his size. Harry let out the breath he was holding. With more courage, Harry once again opened then holly box. The gold ring illuminated with in the box, setting off the rubies and white gold majestically. Harry then slipped on Gryffindor's ring onto his left hand. This time, the ring glowed a deep red before shrinking down to fit his finger. Harry closed both boxes at the same time.
"Well that's settled. All that is left is for you to sign young Mr. Potter's adoption papers, and after they are filled away, everything should be good to go."
"Ragnuk, politically, is it in my best interests to come out as a Potter decedent, or should I be completely unknown?"
Ragnuk shuffled through a couple piles of paper. "Unfortunately, there is not anyone that you could pose as in the direct Potter line. Your mother's line on the other hand, that one is a bit more flexible. Because she was a muggleborn, the magical community won't be surprised to see another family member have magical talent. With as powerful as you are, your supposed status won't be as much of a hindrance. I'm sure you will be looking for a place of employment as well?"
"There is enough money in both the Slytherin and Gryffindor accounts to sustain the two of us for a couple of years. I have a while to retake my NEWTs and after that I'll start looking into a career." Ragnuk nodded, and stood up from the desk. Harry stood up as well, and took the dagger that he placed on the desk up. He didn't sheathe the dagger, instead, he pointed it at himself. As the guest, Harry replied in Gobbledygook, "May your investments be great, while your enemies fall at your feet."
"May yours as well."
Harry bowed, and finally sheathed his dagger. He stepped out of the office, and headed down the stairs towards the main floor. Once he reached the lobby, he apperated away.
Ragnuk met James Holmes down in the Lobby.
"I have him." James pulled out the child from the warmth of his jacket. He cradled Harry against his chest.
"Let's get these papers signed so you can both get some sleep." Ragnuk pulled out a quill. "I'm assuming you know the properties of a blood quill?" James gulped, and nodded.
"You just need to initial in a couple places, and then sign at the bottom. I will stand as witness to this. Soon you will need to make a will so that if anything happens to you, Harry won't end up with the Dursley's and that he inherits everything from you. Are you going to change his name?"
"I'm going to tack on my new last name so that he will be Harry Holmes, but still have the Potter last name to carry on."
Ragnuk nodded. James went back to signing the adoption papers. Once he finished, he rubbed the top of his hand, and handed the two things back to the goblin. "Is there anything else I need to do?"
"No, you are free to go." the goblin waved his hand and the papers disappeared.
"Thank you. May your..." James yawned. "Just go human." Ragnuk scolded. James nodded, and left Gringotts and headed towards the Leaky Cauldron.