A/N People might notice that I sometimes update with only paragraphs at a time often leaving chapters unfinished, this happens when I write on my phone and can only be arsed typing a few paras at a time, sorry for any confusion this causes

Once upon a time, in a world of myth and magic the fate of a whole story rested on the shoulders of a young boy, and by whole story i ovc mean that non of it is original and is all owned by JKR lol byeeeeeeeeeeeee.

In the small community that was Privet Drive everything seemed completely uniform and entirely normal, the houses a crisp white, the lawns short and green, the cars immaculate, it was all perfect and in its place, except for two anomalies, the frist stood out like a sore thumb and was often gossiped about, that was the unkempt house of the old woman known as Ms Arabella Figg, with her untidy garden, absurd amount of cats and distinct lack of expensive new car, she was seen as a blight on the pristine environment of Privet Drive, the other was rarely seen and only talked about in hushed whispers when the occupants of Number Four were sure too be out of ear shot, something which was surprisingly difficult because of Mrs Petunia Dursley's acute ear for gossip, and that was the fourth and mysterious resident of the Dursley house hold, Harry James Potter, rumoured to go to St Brutus's School for Incurable Criminal Boys, the untidy child was often forgotten about by the other residents of the road, only seen for the past few years mowing the lawn dressed in untidy rags during the summers, yet now a week in to the summer he had yet to be seen doing his chores and the wives were beginning to wonder whether the Dursleys had finally managed to rid themselves of their unfortunate leach.

The anomaly in question was at that moment lying in pain on his bed staring at nothing in much the same way he had been doing the entire time he had been awake since returning from school, not St Brutus's but Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, or has he had taken to calling it, Hogwarts School of Bitchcraft and Bigotry, the reason he had recessed in to his current near vegetative state was that Harry Potter had recently experienced something no teenager ever should and that was the murder of his friend Cedric Diggory and then being forced to take part in a disgusting ritual to resurrect the insane creature which had murdered his parents and slaughtered many of their friends, the Dark Lord Voldemort.

Staring blankly at his ceiling Harry was struggling not to break down and cry as he had done multiple times since coming back to Prison Drive a week ago, as soon as he had got through the door he had gone straight to his room with his trunk and Hedwig and collapsed in bed, Harry wasn't sure how he had managed to stay so composed on the train ride home or during the final few days of school but somehow he had managed to stay strong in front of his friends, but here he didn't have it in him to stay composed and civil, he would pay for his actions though, he barely noticed when not five minutes later his uncle had stormed in and screamed at him about his disrespect before padlocking Hedwigs cage and taking away Harrys trunk to put it in the cupboard under the stairs(luckily his wand was in the front pocket of his jeans and wasn't taken away, he made sure to hide it under the loose floorboard when he had the chance), the first night had been the worst for him, as soon as his body had given in to exhaustion and he'd fallen asleep he was drawn in to a nightmare, watching as Cedric died over and over again, he still blamed himself for his death, how could he not? it was him that had demanded Cedric take the cup with him, his stupid nobility had got his friend killed and he had to live with that.

Waking up screaming in the middle of the night had some problematic results too, his Uncle still angry from earlier had stormed in to his room and submitted harry to what felt like hours of lashings with his belt(it was in fact probably closer to thirty minutes, Vernon couldn't do much more without a break given his unhealthy lifestyle and gargantuan size) before leaving Harry whimpering and bloody to suffer, Harry was used to the whippings though it had been this way since he was five and had disturbed his Uncles sleep for the first time by crying out for food in the middle of the night, he did not know the time back then, having been locked in his cupboard for two days after dropping the Dursleys breakfast on the floor when the pan burned him, this was when he was learning to cook for the first time and couldn't understand the dangers of hot metal pans, its safe to say he didn't make the same mistake again with breakfast. But while he could handle the pain by itself usually when coupled with his mental exhaustion and grief induced depression at the murder of his friend it was to much for Harry to bare with, he balled himself up and cried quietly through the rest of the night.

Since that first night every time Harry closed his eyes even for a moment, every coughing fit or yawn he was back there in the grave yard, meaning that each night when Harry in the early hours of the morning could no longer stay awake he was forced in to awful nightmares and the beatings or whippings that followed, but now a week later the memory was starting to fade and he could manage to at least blink without seeing that sickly flash of green, feeling the unfortunate need to relieve himself, Harry prepared to get up, taking deep and painful breaths( he was sure that he had a rib broken at this point) He struggled in to a sitting position, his broken and battered body protesting as the bruised muscles were forced to work, after a few seconds to rid the dizziness that had overcome him Harry managed to stand up, grab his empty water glass (which had somehow remained unbroken during his uncles rages as he was prone to break objects or hit Harry with them) and make his way slowly to the bathroom, glancing in the mirror above the tap as he filled his glass, Harry noticed that his uncle had once again managed to completely avoid his face, after the first time that the school nurse had sent a letter home about his black eye Vernon had been very careful to avoid anything visiblevisible and had since developed a remarkable talent for it, which Harry almost appreciated, it meant that none of his friends knew his most closely guarded secret, not even Ron knew about how bad it was, the twins had a better guess having seen the cupboard under the stairs but they didn't think it was as physical as it was, he had managed to hide all the scars on his back and his bruises at the start of term not long after he got in to his second year with glamours while at school, unfortunately they ran out ever day and he had to re-apply them each night, something he couldn't do during the summer, but during the first year and the summers at the burrow afterwards he had had to change out of everyone's view even during quidditch to keep it secret.

When Harry made it back to his room he stopped at the door and bent down to pick up that days can of cold soup, just like the previous days he could barely stomach the idea of food but he forced himself to eat half the can before tipping the rest in to the bowl in Hedwig's cage, although she too hated the cold soup she had no choice to drink it to keep up some semblance of strength as she had been doing the rest of the week and the previous summers, even the horrible food was better than starving.

Harry was about to lie back down when he heard a tapping sound on his window, making his way slowly over there, hoping one of his friends had decided to write, he opened his window only to see an owl that was obviously not Errol (the ancient Weasely owl) fly in and drop a letter on his bed before whooshing back past him straight out the window. 'Definitely not his friends then' the thought moodily. Struggling back to it on his bed be turned the official looking parchment over to find it was from Gringotts. Curious as to what his first ever owl from the bank could be out he opened the seal and began to read.

Heir Potter

Gringotts Bank formally requests you come to your nearest branch at the earliest convenience to discus some discrepancies found concerning the Potter holdings.

Sincerely

Potter Accounts Manager

Director Ragnock

At first glance it seemed to be a generic summons to the bank, but upon rereading it Harry noticed some puzzling things, first he didn't know what to think about being called 'Heir Potter' it made him sound like some poncy Malfoy but also what on earth where the Potter Holdings, and why did they have their own account manager, to the best of Harry's knowledge the Weasleys had never mentioned having one, perhaps it was because his family was old? Neville had said something about it to him but he couldn't quite remember what.

It seemed he had multiple accounts, Harry began to wonder just how rich he was, he had thought that the vault he visited in first year was the only one he had, but maybe there were more, they might even have some family heirlooms! He thought excitedly, for the first time since coming back to number 4 some light fought his way back in to Harry's eyes. It quickly faded again when he realised he would have to walk all the way up Diagon Alley, he was sure to be mobbed by people and in his current weak state he wasn't sure he would even make it to the back, But he decided it would probably be a very bad idea to ignore an official summons by Gringotts and so he figured he would have to sneak out the house early the next morning. With something to focus on besides his own wallowing self pity Harry managed to get a couple hours of sleep that afternoon before being woken up by the sound of his Uncle getting home.

While the Dursleys were eating down stairs Harry went in to the bathroom and managed to wash himself in the sink with a flannel, he was at this point truly disgusting and it took three basins of water to get the blood and stench off him, he then not wanting to put back on his grimy clothes crept naked across the hallway and in to his room, he was lucky that neither his Aunt nor Dudley had seen him and they both would likely have vomited at the sight of his purple-black bruised sides and red streaked back, neither knew just how badly his Uncle treated him when he was woken up, and he didn't want them too either, he knew he would receive no sympathy from either just more revultion and would rather struggle alone than have Dudley make fun of him and try to cause him more pain than he was already in.

Searching for clean clothes in his room he managed to find an oversized hoodie of Dudley's that would be useful to hide his face on his way through the alley, after getting dressed in the most presentable clothing he had- oversized jeans which needed to be rolled up several times and then kept up by a belt and a pair of ruined trainers Harry sat down on his bed to wait up until early the next morning to leave, he didn't trust himself to lie down and still stay awake and Harry was desperately trying to avoid sleeping so that he didn't have any fresh wounds while trying to walk down Diagon Alley, trying to relax somewhat he leaned back against the wall the cold plaster soothing the red hot streaks which were still somewhat open and sore from his wash, trying to move his thoughts away from the third task and his horrible relatives he tried to think about what the meeting could be about and how he was going to muster up the courage and energy to escape the house.

*\(o_o)/ * t(-_-t)*

At four thirty the next morning Harry made his move, he forced himself to stand despite having been in an almost comfortable position. Grabbing the letter, his wand from his hidden space and the couple of galleons he had left over in the pockets of the jeans he wore back from Hogwarts, he slowly crept out of his room and down the stairs leaning heavily on the banister for support, making sure he avoided the creaky step that was three from the bottom, pulling his hood low over his face, he opened the front door and made his way unsteadily down the drive, Harry then stumbled a few hundred feet down the road before holding out his wand arm and waiting for the loud bang that signified the arrival of the night bus. Jumping slightly when the purple tripledecker slammed in to being in front of him even though he was expecting the loud noise after last time, Harry quickly clambered up the steps and on to the bus, putting a galleon in to Stan the conductors hand he managed to avoid the usual spiel and grunted out "Leaky Cauldron." Recovering quickly from the unusual feeling of his well practised speech being interrupted Stan gestured Harry to a bed a few from the front and said "I'll just get your change sir" before shouting the directions to Earn.

His grip being so weak from the lack of food and general unwellness, he didn't manage to hold on to the pole in front of him as the bus sped away and even Harry (who had a very high pain tolerance) couldn't stop the small cry of pain escaping when he flew backwards and slammed in to the far end of the bed, even as he pulled himself upright to accept the change from the somehow stable and vertical Stan(Harry was sure he must have been using magic to remain standing) he could feel that his back had opened up and was starting to ooze blood in to the t-shit he was wearing under the hoodie. 'Just great' Harry thought to himself sardonically 'Five minutes in and i'm already bleeding, i'm sure that bodes well for the rest of the trip'. Arriving at his stop was no better as his battered chest compressed against the pole in front of him brushing his already injured rib cage which made his eyes water in pain, it was a wincing and annoyed Harry that stumbled off of the night bus in front of the 'Leaky', he really could not understand what the wizarding worlds fascination with uncomfortable travel was but it pissed him off to no end, the nightbus was at least better than a portkey which he was sure would trigger some awful flashback or the horrible spinning of floo travel never mind the horror stories he had heard about apparition.

Making his way in to the dark pub Harry was surprised by the busyness of it, his experience with the wizarding world (staying at the burrow during the summer) told him that wizards weren't keen on starting early especially on a weekend, and he had been expecting it to be empty at five in the morning but perhaps it was just that particular family of redheads which were lazy, Harry had always felt awkward during the summer when he woke up hours before Mrs Weasely and the kids, he tended to lie in bed pretending to be asleep until someone came to wake him up, but he supposed having been raised to be up at the crack of dawn to start chores wasn't particularly normal either, it being a pub there was also the possibility that a few of these people hadn't gone home yet from the night before, which would explain the slight snoring sound that could be heard emanating from a few of the darker corners. Moving through the pub and out to the back alley as fast as he could without daring a glance at Tom the barman for fear of being recognised like the first time he entered the pub Harry tapped the correct sequence on the bricks with his wand and after pulling his hood lower still over his face he made his way slowly up the street.

Cursing the goblins for making their bank at the far end of the street at the top of the small hill, he had finally made it up to the top step of the bank, he stopped for a few seconds to catch his breath thoroughly annoyed at how weak he was he tried to stand up straight, however much it hurt him to do it and walk confidently in to the bank, remembering the probably only useful thing his Uncle had ever said "when dealing with money confidence is key", he had of course been talking to Dudley and hadn't known Harry was listening but the advice he thought held true. Harry supposed that he was somewhat lucky Gringotts was open at all hours of the day and night because he was sure that most muggle banks weren't open at this time of the morning but when your the main Wizarding bank in Britain and needed to service all manner of clientele it was probably profitable to be open when some of the more unsavoury members of society felt comfortable, thinking along that line Harry wondered what that made him seem like, dressed in awful muggle clothes coming in early in the morning but he didn't care to much, he was already here and it was to late to change in to better clothes, not that he had any besides his school uniform, which he was pretty sure would get him recognised instantly.

Upon entering the bank he noticed that there were only a few other people in there, all going about their business discreetly, the low number of people made the large entrance hall of the bank feel eerie compared to the usual racket of mid day service. Approaching the nearest teller Harry took notice of the name plate in front of the goblin, deciding it was probably best to be polite to the people in charge of his money he said in the steadiest most respectful way he could manage, "Excuse me err.. Mr Bloodclaw, i received an official summons from my account manager, but i'm not sure where i am supposed to go". The Goblin Bloodclaw stopped writing and looked up with shocked eyes towards the first wizard that had ever read his nameplate in his 20 years of working as a teller in Gringotts, only to be shocked again to see what appeared to be a muggle teenager in front of him. After an awkward moment of silence he replied "of course, do you have the correspondence on you mister?".

"Potter, and yes i have it here" Harry quickly handed over the letter, Bloodclaw who's eyes had widened even more to find the respectful young man in front of him was in fact The-Boy-Who-Lived, nearly fell off his seat when he saw who had sent the letter. It wasn't a widely shared fact but the director of the London branch of Gringotts, Director Ragnok was actually the leader of the goblin people as a whole and to receive a direct and hand written note from him was comparable to getting a personal letter from the muggle queen asking you over for tea.

Bloodclaw managed after regaining his composure slightly to stammer out "I-Ill call someone right over to take you to Director Ragnock" he then added in a quieter voice "I hope your business with Gringotts is m-most proffitable Mr Potter" He raised his hand and gestured a goblin over from the back corridor of the bank. Turning to the direction Bloodclaw was looking Harry was surprised to note that it was Griphook who was coming to guide him, When he arrived Bloodclaw handed him the letter and said something in hushed Gobbldegook, Griphooks eyebrows visibly raised before he replied in the same hushed tone, which made Harry curious as to what was said to cause that reaction but he held his questions and waited for the two to finish talking.

Griphook turning to Harry said in the same curt voice he remembered "Follow me Sir" before walking off towards the back of the building coolly.

The effect he was clearly trying to achieve was lost when he stumbled at Harry's address,"Of course Mr Griphook."

Turning his head sharply the goblin remarked "You remember my name?" in a surprised voice.

Harry confused why that would cause such a reaction simply answered "Why wouldn't I? You were the first goblin i ever met".

His answer seemed to shock Griphook even more but he regained his composure and continued walking, they turned a few corners before Griphook spoke again "Most humans don't take the time to remember anything about goblins they meet", Harry snorted at this, that seemed like the most idiotic thing he's heard, why would you not pay attention to the people who you trust your money with, when he said as much to Griphook the goblin barked out a laugh before claiming that "If there's one thing the vast majority of wizards lack Mr Potter its commonsense", this made Harry laugh, which in turn made him descend in to a painful coughing fit because of the damage done to him, Griphook seemed to notice his pain but he didn't comment on it, which made Harry thankful. The duo walked in comfortable silence the rest of the five minute trip, but the time they stopped in front of a pair of large oak doors Harry was struggling to keep up with the much shorter being, but was trying (and he was sure failing) to seem normal and not out of breath like he was."The director is expecting you" said Griphook before turning and walking away.

"Thank you, have a nice day" Harry called after him, had Griphook been facing the wizard, Harry would have seen the effect this simple nicety had on the goblin, Harry didn't know it but that simple politeness was sure to endear him to the goblins at Gringotts more than anything a Wizard had done for them in a long time. Turning back to the doors Harry took a few deep breaths to steady himself and wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans (now that he was here he was starting to become nervous about what the meeting could be about) before pushing against one of them, wincing at the effort it took to move the large piece of wood, but it eventually gave and swung slowly open.

*-_-* *\(-)*

When the door opened the goblin Harry assumed to be Director Ragnok looked up from the piece of parchment he had been writing on and looked pensively at him, after a brief pause in which Harry shifted nervously the fierce looking goblin gestured to a chair in front of his desk and said in a voice which was both surprisingly soft yet inexplicably hard and commanding "Please take a seat Mr Potter, I have been expecting you".

Walking towards the desk Harry took the opportunity to look closer at the room around him, the walls were carved incredibly intricately with patterns which wove in both scenes of nature such as a great oak tree which was situated directly behind the goblin framing him and harsh scenes of battle, which complimented the goblin in front of him. Ragnock himself looked much like the other goblins he had met with a hooked nose and sharp pointed teeth which were visible when he talked, however Ragnock had an angry red scar which ran from the right corner of his top lip up and across his cheek to his temple, the scar gave him a much harsher look than the tellers out front, but his eyes seemed to betray the battle hardened appearance, they were a remarkable mix of green and gold which seemed at the moment at least to be looking at Harry in an open and neutral way.

Taking the thankfully soft and comfortable seat he had been directed too Harry looked across the paper filled dark wood desk at the goblin, unsure of what to say he awkwardly began with "Its nice to meet you Director Ragnock, I.. err.. got your letter.. you wanted to meet with me?". Having never dealt with a bank before Harry still hadn't figured out what the goblins meant by 'Discrepancies' but it didn't seem good, having spent the night before coming thinking about what it could be about Harry hadn't come up with anything which left him more nervous than he would care to admit, but since he had barely interacted with the goblins he wasn't sure what he could have done to warrant a meeting with such a clearly important person.

"I did Mr Potter, but we have much to discuss and it will take some time I'm sure so perhaps some refreshments before we begin?"

Harry knowing he couldn't eat without feeling ill but not wanting to appear rude answered "Tea would be lovely" before adding in with a worried look, "and please Director call me Harry, Mr Potter makes me feel like I'm in trouble, I'm not in trouble am i?"

This made the goblin laugh, "Call me Ragnok then Harry, and no you aren't in trouble, at least not yet." the director said while pushing a button on his desk, which apparently was to call a goblin to them, when the goblin arrived Ragnock ordered some Tea and light refreshments for them both, once that was done he turned his focus back to Harry who after picking up on the 'yet' in Ragnocks sentence was looking very nervous."Now while we wait for the tea, maybe you could explain something to me Harry, why is it that it is only now that one of our letters has been able to reach you? We've been trying to reach you ever since you left the bank without meeting your account manager, that being me, at the age of eleven?"

Harry was stumped, Gringotts had been sending him letters? If what Ragnock was saying was true, and Harry was inclined to believe it was, then someone or something had clearly been meddling in his life without his knowledge, shifting uncomfortable Harry tried to think of a reply that was more than just 'Huh?', taking a moment to gather himself he said "Too the.. best of my knowledge your letter was the first time Gringotts has contacted me..."

The goblin looked back at Harry with a thoughtful expression on his face, "We've been sending you letters at least once every summer -knowing you couldn't come during the school year- for the past few years.." pausing as a miscellaneous goblin knocked and walked in to deliver the tea, after poring a cup for them each Ragnock continued "There isn't much that could stop a letter from us Harry, our owls are enchanted to pass through most magic, only the very strongest of wards could keep them out... Have you recently changed your place of residence?."

"No, I still have to stay at the Dursleys" Harry said bitterly, wishing he could live somewhere else, but nooo its safer there, so safe that he now had bruised or fractured ribs and could barely walk, 'yeah those blood protections really keep me safe' , he thought cynically, and then it clicked, the bloodwards, they were connected to the protection that stopped Voldemort from touching him, but at the graveyard he had used Harry's blood, he had touched him, did that mean that the wards around privet drive had fallen, it must do! Then why the hell did Dumbledoor send me back there! He had to have known they had fallen! Harry though angrily to himself. Ragnok just watched on concerned at first the resentment and pain on the young wizards face when he mentioned his home, only to be puzzled at the other emotions that flickered across his face, wondering what harry had realised that made him quite so angry. "I think that the wards around my house might have been broken but i'm not too sure" said Harry "If they have it means some people have some very important answers to give me."

"If you have the time after this meeting concludes Gringotts offers many services other than banking, including checking the wards placed around family homes" offered Ragnok, "But before we get to that we must first discuss the reason that you are here"