Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
'Harry's thoughts'
Chapter 1 – Start of a new life
3st August 1990
Harry Potter was 10 years old when they came for him. Having been sent back to his cupboard after making breakfast for his uncle, aunt and cousin, Harry lay down on his mattress staring at underside of the stairs again. That's when he heard the knock on the door. Harry opened the door a crack to see who was at the door.
"Good morning Mrs Dursley, my name is Mr Giles and I come from Gringotts. Can I see Harry please?" said a tall, plain looking man. He was dressed a nice black suit carrying a plain black briefcase. Harry saw his aunt stiffen as soon as the word Gringotts left the man's mouth.
"Are you here to take him away?" asked Petunia.
"If he is here then yes, otherwise all I need from you is the address you sent him to." Replied Mr Giles.
"Well good. Let's go into the kitchen and I'll go get him" Petunia led the way into the kitchen and set a cup of tea in front of the man before closing the kitchen door and opening the cupboard door. "Get upstairs quietly freak then come back down, quickly. Do not tell the man about your cupboard or I will tell Vernon" hissed Petunia.
Harry, shocked at the turn of events, crept upstairs as quickly and quietly as he could before rushing back down, not caring about the noise. Then Harry followed his aunt into the kitchen.
"This is Harry. Take him and never contact my family again" Petunia said while glaring at the man.
"Very well, Gringotts will never contact you or your family again. You just need to sign a few documents to say that you gave custody of Harry to Gringotts and you will never try to reclaim him or any of his assets. Harry, go and collect all your belongings." Mr Giles said while taking a few odd looking bits of paper out of his briefcase.
Harry left the room and went back into his cupboard. He picked up his school bag and packed it with the few clothes he owned other than his uniform, all his toy figures and the blanket he was told he was delivered in. Walking back into the kitchen, Harry saw that his aunt was sitting down facing the door while Griphook was packing everything back into his briefcase. "I'm ready sir."
"Very good. Mrs Dursley, any last words for your nephew?"
"You will be better off with them Harry. I'm sorry for you being dumped here but this is for the best." Petunia then got up and started on making Dudley a mid-morning snack.
Harry, looking a bit confused at his aunt's words, was led out of the room but the man's hand on his shoulder. Together they walked outside into a car. The man turned to Harry before getting in "Please refrain from asking questions until you meet Ragnok. Your questions will be answered then."
They set off, leaving Little Whinging for good. Somewhere in Scotland a silver instrument stopped whirring and fell apart. Unfortunately for the owner, no one was in the office and no one would be until the end of the month.
-Line Break-
Harry and Mr Giles entered Ragnok's office. Harry looked around in wonder and fear at all the weapons on the wall. He recognised a few of them like a sword and spear but there was a spiked ball on a chain that looked terrifying to the young boy. Suddenly, a strange looking creature looked up from the desk.
"Ah, Mr Potter. Sit down. Giles, go and fetch Griphook. He should have the required items" said the strange creature.
Harry sat down, still a bit weary of all the weapons and the strange looking creature in front of him. "Excuse me sir, but who are you?"
Ragnok let out a laugh that scared Harry even more before baring his teeth at him, making Harry wish he was back in his cupboard. "My name is Ragnok. I am the head Goblin of Gringotts bank. I am also one of the Goblin High Council."
'Goblin? What is going on?' thought Harry. He shifted again in his seat.
"Relax young one. No harm will come to you in this bank. Unless you attack a Goblin first of course. Now then Griphook will be back soon and we will explain what has happened today. Please leave questions until the end."
At that moment another of the strange creatures entered the office carrying in a pile of the odd looking paper, a few envelopes, a small bowl and a nasty looking knife. Harry immediately tried to shuffle his chair back away from the knife.
"Right, first of all we shall tell you why you are here. You are here Harry because your parents asked us to find you if you had not been heard of in the wizarding world by the age of 8. Your mother left Gringotts with a list of names of muggles that you could be with. The next thing to do is to hear your parent's will. Griphook, give the first item to Mr Potter."
The second creature, 'Goblin really I suppose. Ragnok said this one is called Griphook', turned to Harry and handed him the top piece of parchment. Harry took it and read
The last Will and Testament of Lord James Charles Potter and Lily Petunia Potter née Evans. We both being of sound mind and body do declare this to be our last Will and all other are invalid.
To Sirius Orion Black, we leave you 10,000 Galleons and the beach house in Spain that you love. Take care of Harry, Padfoot. Use the money for him and you to travel the world.
To Remus John Lupin, we leave you 10,000 Galleons and the cottage in Wales for your furry little problem. This is non-negotiable Remus. Just use the money to buy at least one good set of robes. Live your life a little, someone out there won't care about your problem, only your poor dress sense.
To Peter Pettigrew, we leave you nothing. If we are dead because of Voldemort then it is your fault as our secret keeper. However, if we die because one of Lily's spells backfired then you are to receive 15,000 Galleons and a pick of 2 homes other than the Manor.
To our son Harry James Potter, we leave you everything else. We are sorry that we aren't around to witness you growing up but know that we will always love you. Live a long life, find someone to settle down with and have fun.
James Charles Potter
Lord of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter
Lord of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Peverell
Lord of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Gryffindor
Lily Petunia Potter née Evans
Lady of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter
Lady of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Peverell
Lady of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Gryffindor
Harry looked up with tears in his eyes at the two Goblins in front of him. "Who are these people? And what do these houses mean? And who is this Voldemort person?"
The Goblins looked at each other before Ragnok started to explain "Voldemort is a dark wizard. About 15 years ago he started to attack witches and wizards who weren't pure bloods. That means a person who comes from 2 magical families. Then 11 years ago a prophecy was made. The prophecy said that a child would grow up to defeat him if his parents had defied him 3 times. Your parents heard about this prophecy and immediately went into hiding because they feel into this category.
"They were protected under a charm that hid the house as a secret in a person. As long as this person didn't tell anyone where your parents were, then no one could find them. Unfortunately, this secret was revealed to Voldemort who went after your parents and killed them. He tried to kill you, which is why you have the scar. However, you survived and obviously now we know that you were sent to the Dursleys.
"As to whom the people are. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were your father's best friends. Pettigrew was but I doubt he would be considered that now as he was their secret keeper. Black is currently is Azkaban because the Ministry thought he was your parent's secret keeper. Azkaban is the wizarding prison. You will want to get him out as soon as possible.
"Lupin's whereabouts are unknown to Gringotts at this time. I would suggest sending him an owl to contact him. He will have stories and things of your father's and possible something from your mother.
"Pettigrew is dead. Black killed him."
Harry sat there taking in all this new information. "What about this Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter thing? And what does this mean for me?"
Ragnok smiled at the boy again, scaring him again "A Most Noble and Most Ancient House is the highest rank of House there is. Most Noble means that at least 5 members of the House have done something noteworthy in the wizarding world. This could be making a new potion that cures a sickness, creating a new spell or defeating a dark wizard. A Noble House is one that has between 1 and 5 members that have done something noteworthy. The exception to this is the House of Dumbledore because Albus Dumbledore has done so many things to improve the wizarding world and he defeated Grindelwald, the Darkest wizard before Voldemort.
"A Most Ancient House is a House that was formed before Merlin's death. An Ancient House is a house formed after Merlin's death but has an unbroken chain of 10 generations of witches and wizards with no squibs, a non-magical member.
"This means that you have 3 of the High Seats in the Wizengamot. You also have 3 of the deepest vaults with the best protections that Gringotts can offer. You also have a trust vault that you can get money from but there are no heirlooms in that vault."
Harry took this in. He had gone from a slave in his aunt and uncle's house to apparent royalty in a new world in one morning. "Is there anything else my parent's asked you to do?"
"You need to have a heritage test, an abilities test and a medical check up. Your parent's have already paid for all 3. Now then, you need to cut your finger and drop 3 drops of blood into the bowl."
Harry stood and walked over to where Griphook had the bowl and knife. He cut his right index finger and let the blood drop into the bowl. The runes around the edge suddenly lit up and the blood formed into a griffin that quickly changed into a strange looking winged-horse. Harry looked on in shock as the horse type creature changes into a bird that he didn't recognise before changing into a raven. The raven let out a cry before disappearing.
Ragnok and Griphook shared a look before Ragnok let out a gleeful "Wonderful"
"Excuse me sir, but what just happened?" Harry sat back down a bit confused.
"It appears as though you are also the Heir to the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black" replied Ragnok. "The creatures you saw and the symbols of the Family Magic. The bowl is used to determine the Heir to a house if multiple people come forward claiming to be the Heir. The Griffin is the Family Magic of the House of Potter; the Thestral is Peverell; the Phoenix is Gryffindor and the Raven is the Family Magic of the House of Black."
Harry looked a bit confused at being the Heir to the House of Black but didn't question the Goblin. Harry didn't think it was wise to argue with a creature that kept weapons in their office. "Can we do the abilities test next?"
"Yes, 3 drops of blood on this piece of parchment. Then place this quill in the blood."
Harry walked over and did as he was told but jumped back in shock when the feather, 'Quill' he told himself, started to write by itself. As it was writing, Harry saw Ragnok and Griphook look more and more shocked before Griphook handed the parchment to Harry.
Name: Harry James Potter
Magical Power: Mage 1st Rank (core currently 85% blocked)
Parselmouth
Charms – affinity
Transfiguration – affinity
Runes – affinity
"What does the Mage rank mean? And why is my core blocked? And what is this affinity thing?" Harry asked the two Goblins
"There are 5 levels of magical power. First is muggles. Non-magical people. Then there are squibs. These are non-magical peopleborn to magical parents. They have some magic but not enough to be considered a witch or wizard. After that are witches and wizards. Next are sorcerers. Finally there are Mages."
"Right and what is so special about a sorcerer or mage?"
"Sorcerers are more powerful than a witch or wizard. They don't always need to use a wand to do magic. Mages are even more powerful. Most of them use a staff but can also do wandless or staffless magic."
Harry sat back in his chair holding onto the results of his test. He was struggling to take this all in, his vision started to blur slightly and he began to sway. "I think I need a rest." With that, Harry Potter fainted.