This story was written for the House Competition by Moonlight Forgotten (Year 3)
Round 7
House: Gryffindor
Position: Year 1
Category: Short
Prompt: Vault 394
Words: 1545
It was four months after the Second Wizarding War was over. Harry, Ron and Hermione rented a comfortable apartment together as roommates while they trained to become Aurors. Ginny had gone back to Hogwarts. One Saturday morning as Harry was resting at home after a long week of training, he was vising by two men. One was tall, thin and blonde while the other was short and plum with balding brown hair.
"Is this the residence of Mr. Potter?" asked the blonde man.
"Yes, I'm him. Can I help you?"
"I'm Garrett Selvyn, the proctor of the Potter family and this is Hector Vanberg, an officer at Gringotts," the blonde man explained.
This surprised Harry as he had never expected a visit from his family proctor. He knew a proctor was the wizarding world's equivalent of a lawyer. Hadn't he already received his family vault? Was there a problem with his vault or inheritance? He was also surprised to see a wizard officer from Gringotts but Vanberg explained that there were a few wizards that worked for Gringotts. The three men were seated in the hall.
"Mr. Potter, we should have visited you more than a year ago, after you turned seventeen, but with the war and the cleaning up Gringotts had to do after, we simply didn't have the opportunity till now," Mr. Vanberg explained.
"We're here to give you Vault 394, the Potter family vault and along with it, your family assets," said Mr. Selvyn at Harry's quizzical look.
"But I've already inherited the Potter family's vault, Vault 687," said the messy black-haired war hero.
"That was just your minor's trust-fund to get you by school. A minor's trust fund is accessible to a minor, but a family vault is only accessible with your trustee's permission until you turn seventeen. As your family proctor, I was made the trustee of your family vault by default since your designated guardian, Mr. Sirius Black was imprisoned," said the thin proctor.
"You mean I have more money than what was in Vault 687?" Harry asked disbelievingly.
"You have a lot more money than what's in Vault 687," the Gringott's officer answered him.
An hour later, Harry was at Gringotts with Selvyn and Vanberg. He was still in shock. He didn't care about money, but he was curious as to how rich his family was and more importantly what else he inherited from them. He hoped he would learn more about his father and his father's family. The train went deeper than Vault 687 before it finally reached Vault 394. A Gringott's goblin opened the vault to reveal the marvelous contents of the Potter treasury. There was almost seven times more money than in Vault 687 and along with it, there was also a collection of expensive jewelry made of gold, diamonds and other precious stones. Amidst all the money and jewelry, there was a set of keys.
"Your parents thought it was safer to stash all the family jewelry in the family vault. This one's the Potter engagement ring, worn by generations of women who married into the Potter family, including your mother," Vanberg handed a seven-carat diamond ring to Harry.
Harry smiled as he pictured the ring on the finger of his brown-eyed lady love.
"And this was the family watch, last on your father's hand," Selvyn handed a platinum watch to Harry.
Harry put the watch on and felt an array of emotions. The watch had been on his father's hand and it felt like a part of his father was with him. Not just his father, he realized. It had been worn by generations of his forefathers. He was now more curious in learning more about them.
"What are the keys for," he asked.
"These are the keys to the Potter Estate," said Vanberg.
"I have another house?"
"Did you really think your family remained in their current residence when they went into hiding? Even the fidelus charm was only placed more than a year later. That Godric's Hollow cottage belonged to an Order member of Albus Dumbledore who gave it to the Order as a safe house," Selvyn explained.
"I hope you don't mind that we took the liberty to arrange for the house to be cleaned up so that you won't be greeted by a house full of dust and dirt. We've billed the cleaning charges to your vault," said Vanberg.
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Selvyn reached the front gate of the Potter Estate and were entranced. It was almost as huge as the Malfoy Manor. It had a lot of greeneries in its front yard, a sizable porch and a fountain right in the middle of the font yard. If they were entranced by the front porch, they were even more entranced by the interior of the house. Like the exterior, the interior of the house was also styled according to the Victorian era.
"I love the antique Victoria style of the house," said Hermione in awe.
"Mr. Potter's grandparents were born in the Victorian era and hence the Victorian era taste," said Selvyn. "But your father modernized a few rooms, including his own bedroom," he added to Harry.
"In the Victorian era? But wouldn't they have been too old to have had Harry's dad?" asked Ron.
"They were, indeed. Fleamont and Euphemia Potter were childless for decades and had given up hope before they were blessed with James Potter in their old age," Selvyn explained.
The house had so many rooms, that Harry was sure he would get lost if he lived here. There was a private family lounge and a larger guest lounge, a game room and various bedrooms. He finally reached his father's room. It was different from what you'd expect of the house. It had a 1970s style about the room and Harry quite liked it. The room was decorated with merchandise of the Phoenix Pioneers up to it's bedding, and Harry understood it was his father's favorite Quidditch team. Aside from that, it had various bookshelves, trophies, a Gryffindor banner and pictures of James with his friends, parents and Lily. There was a singular portrait of Lily on James's study desk.
The room that most interested Hermione was the library. The Potter's library was it's exquisite. It had just as many books as the Hogwarts library.
"Harry, this would have been so useful for all our research without needing to stay back and sneak into the Hogwarts library if only …" Hermione began.
"If only my parents survived, and I grew up with them here. Yeah," said Harry quickly as Hermione looked apologetic.
They toured the rest of the house which included the room his parents shared, the master bedroom that his grandparents used, and the baby room that his parents set up for him, but he hardly got to use, a few other bedrooms, the kitchen, the dining room and a home gym. James had set up the gym as a teenager as he was concerned about keeping fit and building his body especially for Quidditch. Aside from that there was a Potion's lab in the basement. He was told that his grandfather was a Potioneer and it was a happy surprise to learn that his grandfather invented the Sleek-Easy potion that Hermione used at the Yule Ball. But he momentarily grew somber when he thought about how his mother loved Potions and how she would have kept the lab alive if she was still alive.
He was also delighted to see various portraits of his paternal family members. He eagerly learned a bit more about his family's history from Selvyn. The main one being that he was named after his great-grandfather, Henry Potter, nicknamed Harry who stood up to the Minister of Magic for refusing to aid the muggles during the war. They then went to the backyard which consisted of a large Quidditch pitch. The boys marveled at the pitch. He was momentarily saddened again when he thought about how his father and him would have bonded playing Quidditch at the pitch if his father was still alive.
"So, this is it, Mr. Potter. That's the whole house," said Selvyn, handing Harry the keys.
"When are you moving in, Harry?" asked Ron.
"You mean, when are we moving in," Harry corrected him.
Ron and Hermione exchanged puzzled looks.
"You're serious?" asked his red-haired bestfriend.
"Yes. I would really love it if you both moved in here with me,"
"But, Harry, we don't want to impose …" said his bushy-haired bestfriend.
"Nonsense, you're both my bestfriends. And I'd be lonely living in this big house all by myself,"
"Well, not exactly lonely as you'd have helpers in the house," Ron teased.
"Please," Harry implored.
Ron and Hermione exchanged looks before smiling at him.
"Alright," said the youngest Weasley boy.
"We'll move in," added the brightest witch of her age.
And thus, the Potter's estate was resurrected after it hadn't been lived in for 18 years. With the inheritance of Vault 394, Harry now felt more connected to his family than ever as he could feel the presence and memories of his family in his new but yet old house. Despite never having grown up in at the Potter Estate, it felt like home