Thanks all of those who reviewed put this story on alert or added it to their favorite list. You guys make my world go round.
This story is beta's by pattyp723, thanks for the wonderful work.
Betwixt
By Kaicee
Part 2 Meetings
For every evil under the sun
There is a remedy or there is none.
If there be one, seek till you find it;
If there be none, never mind it.
The first meeting was a complete rush. Harry was tired beyond words but happy as a clam as Alice introduced him to Jasper and Emmet. Apparently the family had decided to start off small with the rest of them waiting back home. Once they took Harry in however Alice made a quick call as Harry got into the shining silver car telling them that Harry would be better of going to bed once they got home and to keep the welcome party tomorrow.
Harry sent her a thankful smile and promptly fell asleep now that he finally got to meet his cousin. He didn't gain consciousness again until thirteen hours later and missed the entire trip including the part were Jasper picked him up and carried him to his new bedroom.
He woke up the next day at ten and was pleasantly surprised by the room he was in. The style was calm with accents in different shades of blue. The bed was comfortable and opposite him he could see his wardrobe already packed with his clothes. Exploring he found that the open door let him to privet bathroom with toilet, sink and shower. A quick look showed that the closed door led to a landing with several more doors and stairs at the far left end.
Happy he took a shower and dressed in a set of pristine clothing, black jeans and a soft v-neck sweater in green. Going down he felt slightly nervous but it was washed away when Alice stood waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs and introduced him to everyone, including Jasper and Emmet again.
Esme was thrilled and as soon as she had been introduced headed off to the kitchen to make something for him. Jasper clasped hands with him in such a way that Harry just knew the vampire was really happy to have him here. Carlisle was nice and soothed him with just a few words that let him know this was now his home. Edward and Rosalie stayed a bit distant but not in a hurtful way and Emmet threaten him with a bear hug that nearly squeezed his lungs out through his mouth.
It was a fun time with breakfast of sliced fruits and thin pancakes. Tea was brought to him and every member of the family sat down as he told them about himself. For the first time in his life he didn't avoid the subject and found himself pleasantly surprised when he wasn't met with sad looks as he explained about the Dursleys and his life there. Pity was something he hated and it made him happy he would have to deal with it here. Of course they were angry for him but they respected Harry signals saying he was done with it and he considered it over.
When he told them of the magical world he slowed down and he appreciated the fact that the family had some knowledge of magic already. It saved him from explaining every time he mentioned something from his world that would be strange to those with no knowledge. It kept him going.
Finally when he talked about his cut off fifth year Jasper growled and Alice alternately rubbed her mate and Harry soothingly on their backs. Normally Harry wouldn't have liked this but for some reason it felt nice this time. When he stopped silence ruled for a long time, the vampires sitting so still they could have been statues.
Carlisle was the first to break the silence telling Harry that even though he thought it was a bad idea that they would help him train. "We can't help you all out, but I'm sure we can at least teach you some techniques and find a wizard for some home schooling."
"I have a few contacts I will call upon today." Jasper added.
He might look distant but Harry could feel the promise in those words. This cousin, however distant, would be the best kind of relative he could wish for. He believed life was going to get better and with each passing moment that belief was confirmed.
"Thanks, that means a lot to me."
Alice laughed and bounced off the couch and with that action the rest of the family came to life and soon Harry found himself listening to more stories on the family. Cute and fun anecdotes were passed along together with the more serious information.
In the end it took Harry three days to settle down completely, in that time he watched as all but two of the vampires went off to high school. A thing that had Harry laughing silently, some of them were hundreds of years old and still going to school. He stopped laughing pretty fast when Carlisle offered to enrol him.
Edward had laughed at him then showing Harry that though he did his best he could not ignore all tidbits of Harry mind. Harry had refused, stating that he had not received schooling since he was ten and that he would rather spend more time on preparing for his future problems.
Jasper had contacted some connections he told Harry that although three had been useless he was pretty sure he would have a name of a proper teacher in the coming days.
By now Harry started to get used to his silent cousin. The honey haired vampire had been a major in the Confederate army at one point and from what he knew about his past he had more experience in battle from after he was turned. Also Jasper was an empath, Alice had told him about this ability on the plane, and Harry knew that his cousin was sensitive to moods and Harry's tended to go up and down several times during the day. He was probably not the nicest person to be around if you could feel what others felt.
Settling down on his bed, Harry picked up the book closest to him, the one about occlumency and probably his least favorite subject. Still it was a skill he needed to learn and he firmed his resolve and opened the book. He wanted to make some headway for when his teacher arrived so they could at least skip the basic in some parts of his training.
After he read the same paragraph several times Harry knew it was time to change tactics. The nice weather outside was distracting him and as he stared out the window his thoughts kept drifting. He might as well go outside and read the book there.
Sliding off his bed he made his way down, popping by the kitchen for a mug of steaming tea and a snack before going out. The garden, another masterpiece of Esme, was lush with different green plants and artfully decorated with accents of colorful flowers even with the still cold weather. A winding path lead away to the back and a tea parlor with was just perfect right now. The roof of the parlor provided shade from the sharp glare of winter sunlight while the open structure let Harry see everything around him.
In the back, he could see the artificial waterfall, which held little sparkles as it reflected sunlight. The stream left the garden and Alice had told him that if he followed it he would end up in Quileute territory. Dragging his mind away from shape shifting Indians, Harry settled down to try and read the book again. This time he found himself reading two entire chapters before he was disturbed again.
Hearing muggle girl clearing her throat, made Harry snap the book shut and look around. She was standing at the entrance one foot on the dainty steps while the other still rested on the lawn. "Hello, I'm Bella Swan, Edwards girlfriend." She sounded like she was actually asking a question.
"Hello Bella, I'm Harry but I'm sure you already knew that. Was there something you needed me for?"
For a moment she played with her shirttails that come from under her coat, a black felt like one with big shiny black buttons. "Of course Edward told me a little about you, anyway Esme asked me to tell you that we're all going away for a little while and she'll leave the back door open for you and that they'll be back before dinner time."
"Okay thanks for the message, can you tell what you all are going to go too?"
He watched as Bella's cheek took a slightly pink color and her brown eyes looked away from him. She seemed very shy kind of girl and Harry wondered what she was really like. He couldn't really get a read on her like you could from others.
"Well, we had this planned from before you came so we couldn't really cancel. We're going to a mall in Port Angeles and because of some circumstances Esme is coming with Edward and me." The sorry was implied in there somewhere, so Harry decided to let her off the hook. She looked uncomfortable enough explaining as it was.
"Well, I hope you all have a nice time and find something good at the mall. Just one thing, could you ask Esme to buy me a survival guide book, you know, one with tips and tricks in it."
"Of course, I can do that, sure. So we'll be going now, umm good luck with your book." She finally let go of her shirttails as she awkwardly pointed out the worn out book lying on his knees. With a little wave Bella was off and not much later he could hear the car start and leave. Harry returned to his reading pulling the zipper of his own coat a bit higher.
After one more chapter Harry felt like he could strangle Snape. No wonder he had been doing so bad in their impromptu classes. The book explained about preparing your mind and none of it could be covered by Snape's barked line of "clear your mind". Hissing under his breath Harry decided that now was as good a time as any to start the first step described in the book.
It told him that preparing the mind was much like meditating but with the slight difference of that you wanted to get into your mindscape. It suggested being in a completely relaxed state when trying meditating for the first time, as it was hard for beginners. A simple tool like watching a candle flame or the rolling sea could keep the mind focused on not thinking about daily troubles. You had to see only the object and not let your mind wonder. Next came the part where you shifted your outward look inwards, this was the most hardest part as it required you to completely give up your senses. In other words not only did you have to somehow shift your look inwards, but you left yourself completely vulnerable while doing so.
Still, first he needed to get relaxed before trying to meditate; he looked at the stream again and shrugged. Tugging the book under his arm he followed the stream out of the garden and into the forest. Since he wasn't really sure what would relax him the most he would start with a walk and try the bath thing tonight if that didn't work out.
-oOo-
The walk was refreshing and the scenery fantastic but he found that it didn't do much for him. He felt the need to stay alert; to take in his surroundings and check if anything was happening. He should have expected something like this, what with the life he had lived all those years.
Deciding to give it up Harry turned around and followed the stream back up. Making good time on his trip back but when he finally stepped inside the house again the sun was setting and the clock told him Esme and Edward would probably be back any moment. For a short moment he wondered why the rest had to go to school while Edward and Bella hadn't, it probably had to do with their timetable or a project or something.
He took the time to bring his book back to his room before settling down in the living room in front of the TV. He put it in National Geographic and was pleasantly surprised with a survival show.
About an hour later, the guide on the show was explaining the basics he had been using so far for a second time, Esme and Edward walked in followed by the rest of the gang. They greeted Harry and after discarding their bags joined him in the living room. The exception was Esme who had gone straight to the kitchen to prepare Harry's dinner.
"Here's the book you requested." Edward said handing him a paper wrapped parcel.
"Thanks. So did you guys have a good trip to the mall?"
Edwards watched him as he ripped into the paper and retrieved his brand new shining survival guide. "Yes, we had to get some stuff for Bella and mine biology project. We could have gotten it earlier but the crafts shop in Forks was out of the stuff and with what happened to Bella last time in Port Angeles I thought it best to take Esme with us."
Harry watched as Edwards face contorted just a little bit and showed a bit of the beast he could be. He wondered how he could so easily forget that all of them could be very dangerous. He raised a brow in question at Edward's statement. Surely Edward alone was more than enough protection for Bella.
"Under normal circumstances I would be, but when it comes to Bella I have a harder time keeping control so I asked Esme if she would come along." Edward responded.
Harry sniffed but nodded in understanding. "I guess, thanks again for the book."
"It wasn't any problem dear." Esme called from the kitchen.
Harry just smiled and next to him he could feel Jasper move. Apparently his happiness made Jasper happy. That made him smile even more and feelings of fondness joined the happy ones. Now he had his dream family that did little things for him just to show they cared. And best of all they didn't try to guilt trip him into anything, a habit even his best friends sometime used on him.
That night he ate blueberry pancakes and had warm fudge on ice cream for dessert. They laughed and joked but all of them sat silent as Jasper talked in his cell to what was clearly a wizard. Harry held his fingers crossed and looked at Jasper trying his hardest to hear what the caller was saying.
Not much later they could raise their glasses in celebration as Jasper told him that a French wizard by the name of Jean had agreed to teach Harry. He was so happy with this news and wondered what Remus would say. That simple line put the letters to the forefront of his mind. Instead bathing that night he pulled the first of Remus envelopes from the stack and this time he opened it.
-oOo-
Days turned into weeks and Harry found that he really enjoyed Remus letters. They were a joy to read and a soft balm to his wounded heart. The older man talked of happier times and gifted Harry with many new mementos of his parents coming and goings, but more important he counselled Harry on what had happened and his past.
Therapy by letter Harry called it and it was working too. He still had a temper though, one that was regularly provoked by Master Jean, as the little French teacher liked to be called. The man had connected the Cullen house to the floo network and every Tuesday and Thursday Harry went to a training gym at some undisclosed location.
The first lesson had been about testing Harry to see what he could do, knew and didn't know. It had been the nicest lesson he had. After that it was like going to the military. Master Jean was all about proper conduct and respect and he drilled Harry on those things mercilessly, going back over the work Harry had learned in his previous years. Every wrong was met by corrective punishment that ranged from a lap around the gym to a gruelling exercise that left him so tired he could even muster up enough energy to feel anger or irritation.
Back home Jasper had come through with an obstacle course he changed daily. He coached Harry through it and presented different scenarios he had to think about too. It was a very good exercise that forced him to think things through lest he hurt himself. It also helped him somewhat with his hot temper.
Most notable of the time spent was his happiness. The training helped with his anger, the letter counselled him, but the family healed him. It was such a good feeling to wake in the morning and feel so happy. It was, he mused, something he was not used to. Sure there had been times at Hogwarts he had come close to this. And he was sure Hogwarts would always be his second home, but it had been replaced as his first home by the Cullen's.
The books had been great too. He was finally able to meditate but the shift to inwards was still beyond his grasp. The curses book was nice but Master Jean was much more practical so he hadn't really touched it. But from it all, the most interesting books were the book on bonds and healing. Master Jean was actually pleased that Harry put effort into learning how to fix minor wounds and told him to tell him when he was ready for more serious healing instruction.
What did nag at him was that he still hadn't figured out what his connection to Voldemort was. He didn't really get to think about it so the frustration didn't really built up. Harry thought with a smile, just now he had finished today's mission Jasper had prepared for him and it had left him truly depleted.
The shower had helped his tired muscles some but he knew he would be hurting tomorrow. At least he would be free tomorrow as Master Jean had blown a gasket last training session after hearing some news from his home country. He had told Harry he would be back next week and to go over what they had been learning the last two lessons.
His free day had been picked up by someone already, Bella Swan had asked him to come along to a meeting in La Push. While the Cullen's could not cross the boundary Harry still could and apparently Bella wanted to introduce him to his neighbours. Not to mention it would help Edward feel more secure about Bella going there.
The whole thing was a bit awkward, as Harry had no particular fondness for Bella. The last few weeks he found that he could not understand her. She had a loving family and a good normal life but she wanted to give it all up for immortality. A conversation he had overheard presented him with the reasons. She didn't want to be older than Edward and be with him for always. In his opinion those were some pretty stupid reasons.
Sure he could understand the always-together, part but to throw away what she had because of it was just beyond Harry. Then again he finally found a family, something of a miracle in his eyes so he was probably a bit biased.
Another thing that bothered him was how young Bella was in spirit and mind. Everything about her screamed of no knowledge of what was really out there, her little spat with James aside. She seemed to be cocooned and with the experience Harry had he hated being shielded and blind to the world with a vengeance.
Still she was a nice girl and he did manage to get along with her, as long as it was for short periods of time. He guessed he should be thankful that Edward didn't mind too much. The male vampire showed all the signs of one who had found his mate. It helped he guessed that most of the family held different opinions on Bella.
Rosalie disliked her and thought of her as a threat, which she was as muggles were not supposed to know about magic or creatures. A reason why Bella still did not know Harry was a wizard even if she did know about vampires and shape shifting wolves. It would cause more trouble if she learned more and more about their world, so keeping the knowledge to a bare minimum was the policy around the Cullen home. Alice liked her and loved to spend time with her, Jasper was more reserved and partially shared Harry opinion on her.
Carlisle, Esme and Emmet had no particular problem with her, as they were happy as long as Edward was happy. Carlisle did keep her under close observation and Harry saw him check to make sure no one out there knew about Bella regularly.
That night as he went to bed he practiced meditating and gained another step forward. He had seen flashed of his mindscape, a huge dark castle, and he could hardly wait for the day he managed to enter it.
-oOo-
The trip to La Push was spent mostly in silence. Harry could feel Bella going through different phases. She started with shy and unsure then to curious and shy and from there she got over her shyness and asked questions. At least now the trip wasn't so boring Harry thought; he still would have liked her more if she hadn't gotten to ask so much.
He understood the need to know more about him, he was a member of the Cullen family. A vampire family so what did that say about him. Was he normal, like her, or maybe something else like the shape shifters?
He still complied and offered her vague non-answers or if it was safe tiny bits of the truth. He could see in her brown eyes that she knew what he was doing and he could almost see the wheels in her brain turn as she tried to figure him out.
It made him smile, such a typical human thing to do. It reminded him that even if his world seemed to tilt from it axes others did not suffer from the same problem. A bout of nostalgia threatened to take over and Harry asked Bella to tell him about La Push and the shape shifters. She was more than happy to comply. She probably figured out by now that he didn't want to talk about himself or his life, he guessed he was grateful she wasn't at least one of those pushy girls that made everything their business.
For a moment he saw Hermione's face when he thought of that and felt slightly guilty. Hermione was a real busy body on top of being a know it all. He still loved her but the coming school year he wasn't too sure if he could take all her well meant bothering.
He was changing with each passing day and probably more and faster than any of his friends back home. Of course he was sure that they too worked hard in their way and Hermione was certainly one to get the most of her time. He found himself looking forward for the first time to seeing them all again on September first and find out how everyone had changed over the past seven months.
Bella was just telling him about how the pack was linked when they were in wolf form and that there was even a girl wolf. Thinking and listening seemed to have left him with some gabs in the information she had given but he was sure it wouldn't do too much harm. The whole telepathy thing fascinated him though.
"So they hear what everyone thinks, even the embarrassing stuff?"
Bella blushed lightly; he found that this was her default reaction to a lot of things. "Yes, Jacob talked about it once. I'm not sure if it was something I could tell to others." She looked at him sideway through her hair and Harry got the question without problem.
"No worries, I won't mention it. But just to be safe is there any other things I need to know about? Things that they might not like or hurts them?"
Bella's hand clenched the steering wheel and Harry watched as her mouth moved while she swallowed. Then like nothing happened the tenseness left and she let out a deep sigh. "Nothing much really, I guess you already know they don't like vampires or the smell of them so be ready to get some remarks on that. I guess you should try to contain your reaction when you see Sam's mate Emily, she has a wound on her face and the story behind it isn't so happy. Other than that just try to keep a level head as they transform when agitated too badly. Their emotions tend to rise really easy and they can't always control themselves."
He could feel the careful and honesty of her words so he found himself nodding before he had completely taken them all in. He was sure he wouldn't have any problems really; he had seen lots of weird things so a couple of scars wouldn't do much. And as for tempers rising high he would just have to look at it as an opportunity to practice his own raging outbursts.
Just then Bella turned her car of the road and parked it in an empty parking lot. A big wooden sign welcomed visitors to La Push and offered them a happy day. A metal white board next to it held a list of rules and next to that was a pole with directions. It held wooden arrows that pointed out the direction to the fishing store, toilets and souvenir shop in blocky letters.
"Welcome to La Push." Bella offered and Harry smiled at her.
"I'll just let you show me the way since they forgot the arrow to show in which direction the beach is."
They left the car behind and Bella led him down a well-worn path, soon he could hear laughter and talking, when they took a turn he was suddenly presented with the ocean and a group of people mingling happily. Most notable were the big males and He knew that those were the shape shifters at once.
Another few steps set his senses on fire as their magic washed over him. All his training had made him more sensitive to magic in general but beings tended to come in clearer as they were more concentrated than natural magic.
One of the shifters turned around at Bella's call and soon another joined the man. Both felt equally strong in Harry's mind and he wondered if he was dealing with the alpha and beta wolf. When the one on the left reached out his hand to Harry he was at least sure that he was the alpha.
"Hi Harry, welcome to La Push I'm Sam. Bella told us some about you but you're not quite what I expected you to be."
Harry took the hand and shook it. "Thank you, I heard some about you from Bella and the Cullen's too. I'm glad you let me come here it's a very beautiful place."
Normally not one to notice his surrounding Harry did mean what he said. He hadn't had much chance to see the ocean in his life and this was his first proper look. The seemingly endless quality of it pleased something inside of him.
"Hey, no need to fake it leech boy." The other shifter said. Sam growled and Harry looked at him, eyes wide and not sure to be angry or hurt.
This shifter while at least equally strong was younger than Sam. He was huge and his hair was longer than those of the others. Bella shushed him and he looked sheepish at her rubbing the back of his head.
"Sorry, sorry. It's just the smell tends to get to me. Bella could probably tell you all about my bad behavior as I tend to run my mouth when she smells strongly of them too."
"I guess." Harry answered slowly set on ignoring this wolf for the rest of the night. He focused his attention to Sam therefore and pondered the hidden message. Not quite what he had expected, he guessed that suddenly having a wizard on your territory was something unexpected indeed.
"I hope now that you have finally met me I'm still welcome."
Sam's response was immediate and warmer and kinder than Harry expected. "Of course. You're most welcome, let me introduce you to the tribe." Beside them Bella and the shaggy haired men whispered until Bella giggled and swatted him calling out his name. Jacob, Harry filed it away and let Sam guide him.
"I hope you understand that chances of you getting comments like that aren't going to be rare. Most of us have a hard time ignoring our born instincts; it's what makes us so dangerous the time before we turn and the few weeks following it. It's a battle to harness those instincts and some of us take longer than others."
Sam flicked his eyes towards Harry as he explained; a silent apology and it would be all that he would get. He could understand that, life was unfair and it would be even more unfair if he made trouble over something that couldn't be helped. He nodded to show his understanding and Sam showed him a small well meant smile in return.
"Well then, let's begin with the tribe elders. I understand that with the some of the crowd we got here tonight we can't speak of certain manners. Because of that I would like to invite you back at a later date."
That of course was not something unexpected and Harry had merely wondered when Sam would bring it up. "I would like to accept, I will need to check when I can come and I'll inform my cousin and the Cullen family as a whole when I go."
"Understandable." Sam agreed and the next moment they were sitting together with several elderly men.
Introduction became a long but fun affair. The Quileute tribe was mostly split between the elders and the youngsters, those in-between was explained were attending colleges or had married into another tribe or just left. Now with the shape shifters returning from legend the tribe began to flourish again.
Harry wondered about that. The lands had such a nice feel to them and he found he could not understand why people would leave it, especially those of the blood who would feel an even stronger pull to it.
He presented his question to Sam and found himself answered by three different shifters. The outcome was pretty much the same and it made Harry a bit sad. The times had changed and staying with the lands was seen as something stupid and unnecessary. Now with the shifters here again the bonds to the lands would be stronger again and the next generations, theirs included, would not leave their home so easily.
The shifter that had been introduced as Paul made a growling sound causing a couple of muggle teenagers to squeal and hop away from him in a fit of giggles. The shifter rolled his shoulders and a flash of golden eyes glared angrily at the girls before he turned back to the rest of them. "It's just plain stupid to me." He finally grounded out showing that he was not pleased with the new circumstances at all.
"Just ignore him, he's just naturally this sulky." An overly bubbling member said aloud, Harry thought he this one had been introduced to him as Quill.
Paul lunged at him with another growl, this time Harry could detect just a hint of playfulness to it. Quill darted out of reach and produced a raspberry. It seemed that was too much and Paul darted up and after him, Quill was gone into the night with just a few steps lead to the following Paul.
He watched along with Emily and another member whose name he really couldn't recall as the pair ran off. Finally Emily called their attention back by offering to get some more drinks. Harry wanted to protest but Emily stopped him.
"It's no problem at all. I meant to let Sam know that I'm doing fine anyway so it's convenient."
"Well in that case I would like another juice please." Harry lifted his empty glass to her and she took it from him. The other shifter declined and Emily left. Just then Bella and Jacob turned up by their fire and settled down.
"We need to go soon." Bella said as soon as she sat. "It's a school night so I have to be back earlier to my father."
"Okay, I'll just go say my goodbye's to Emily and Sam. Then I'm ready, that good?"
Bella smiled and blushed. "Yeah, thanks. At least it was fun being here, wasn't it?"
"Yes, this is a nice place. I'll be right back."
Harry set of after Emily and found her talking to Sam, his glass of juice in her hands. He offered them his goodbyes and promised to return soon for a longer talk and Emily waved his apology about the drink off with a smile.
When Bella and him walked back to the car Jacob followed. He was like a giant shadow that glided along the path and the hair in Harry's neck stood on end. He felt like he was being stalked and he couldn't help but look back at irregular intervals to make sure it was truly Jacob and that he wasn't showing any signs of attacking.
When the car came in view with it came the light of lanterns and Harry could make out the amused look on Jacobs face. It rubbed him the wrong way but he bit his tongue and kept his temper in check. Goodbyes between Jacob and Bella were short and made Harry feel like an outsider. He wondered how Edward felt with a shifter liking his girlfriend so much. What with their hereditary dislike for each other it had to bother him under normal circumstances but for Edward's mate to be, that had to be just harsh.
The ride back was nice and quiet. Harry had the feeling that Bella could feel his reluctance to talk just now and was respecting that. He found that he liked her a bit more for that but at the same time he liked her a bit less for hurting Edward, even if she probably didn't really mean to.
At home the Cullen's would be loud in their complaints about the smell of wolves and Harry would laugh with them as Esme put together a late night snack. It had been a fun free day and he had truly enjoyed meeting the shifters. Who would have thought that he could spend hours at an impromptu barbeque by the sea?
When he did reach his home however something in the air felt slightly charged. Uncomfortable he wished Bella a good night and walked the path to the front door with slowly. His mind was racing over what could have happened to cause such nervous energy to permit the sky and found his question answered when he entered the living room.
A grumpy Goblin was sitting on one of the couches, his family standing around it and no one was talking.
"Is there something wrong?" he just had to know. It couldn't be normal for a goblin to come to someone's house.
"Good, you're finally here. You a very rude person Mr. Potter." The goblin snapped out startling Harry. He had never met the goblin and was therefore pretty sure he could not have done anything to offend it.
Carlisle stepped in at that moment and guided Harry to the chair they had probably placed there for him. Jasper took to standing behind it giving Harry silent comfort and mental support.
"It seems Harry that you are the heir of Sirius. The goblins here had some problem getting your address information to inform you of his will and any obligations that come with it." Carlisle explained kindly. All the while the goblin just sat glaring at Harry as if he wanted nothing more than to rip Harry another one.
"Oh." Was all Harry could say as sadness overwhelmed him. Jasper grasped his shoulder with one hand and Harry felt a little bit better. In the background Alice hovered but she kept silent whole the rest of the family made a slow retreat to give Harry some privacy.
"Anyway, you are a very rude boy making me come here but now that I finally have you let's get on with it." The Goblin spoke up again, his harsh tone making the words meaner than they could have been.
"Let's see this here is the will, it is very straightforward. Except for some little things Sirius Black left to his friend Remus Lupin, his cousin Andromeda and something called the order, you are the sole heir. You will carry the heir title and at some point when you have children or decide to bestow the title on someone else, it will stay frozen due to you already being the Potter heir and are intended to be the head of house for your own family."
From there a long explanation told Harry that it wasn't possible for a person to be the head of two houses and he could therefore not assume the Black full title but a child of his could or as another option Harry could appoint the next heir if he wanted too.
While the Black family had been an old and well respected family at one point, the last decades had done them no good and most of the fortunes were gone. The Black's had never been one for property but their residential estate was in disrepair and not habitual. The second house was where the order resided and Harry gave permission for the order to continue using it.
Papers had to be signed and contracts read. It was a long night and there seemed no end of things to do to prepare everything. He was very thankful for Carlisle and Jasper who helped him decide and explained things he didn't understand. The goblin wasn't much help of anything and only spat out the occasional rude comment or instruction (which sounded like rude comments).
In the end all was finished and Harry could only sigh when something that the goblin had said made him sit up right. Excitement coursed through his veins as he asked his question.
"Can I have my parents will?"
The goblin snorted. "Sure. Add to my burdens why don't you. Making me travel to this country not making proper notifications of moving causing everyone trouble and now you want your parents will. Well Mr. Potter you could count yourself lucky I can get it for you without much trouble or you could have gone and get it yourself back in England."
Blinking Harry watched as the goblin walked to the fire and threw in a glittering object. He couldn't see it very well but he guessed it worked a little bit like floo only that a large filing cabinet appeared. Muttering under his breath the goblin pulled open a drawer and after going through the folders pulled out one with Potter name.
"Let's see, oh here it is last will and testament. It isn't much actually, just naming you as heir and arrangements for where you where supposed to go if they died. I've got Sirius Black and Remus Lupin named for caretakers but a ruling after your parents death made it impossible for you to be placed with them and the Wizengamot in an emergency meeting decided to let Albus Dumbledore choose a suitable place for you. It goes on to say that most of the older Potter estates are donated to various causes such as St. Mungo's and magical reserves."
Reeling with what he had been told Harry could feel his temper rise. He couldn't understand why he had not been placed with Remus. He could kind of understand Sirius being crossed of the list but why Remus. His temper was rising and he could feel Jasper shift behind him.
"Who… who was responsible for my parents will and made sure people were notified of its contents? In fact who was at the reading." His voice was slightly pitched and the goblin winced looking shifty and uncomfortable.
"Well, I can remember that with this one there was a bit of an accident. The will was only partly executed, the homes and donations were taken care of and we did make sure the Wizengamot knew who to put you with. It seems the goblin responsible however wasn't too careful and this caused some trouble."
All Harry could process was the word mistake. It rang in his mind and he felt like throwing something at the goblin. "There was a mistake, what mistake." He growled out.
"It resulted in you becoming a ward of the ministry shortly after you parents death and thereby placing you in a dangerous position. Albus Dumbledore stepped in and called for an emergency meeting in which he got them to vote for him to decide what to do with you. You can't complain Mr. Potter Gringotts has taken responsibility, it is not normal for a trust fund to have that much gold you know." The last was added snidely but Harry wasn't listening anymore.
He had almost been a ward of the ministry. Shuddering he thought of how that could have ended, he was sure that most roads let to his death. He guessed he had to be a little bit thankful to the Headmaster for at least made sure that hadn't happened. Still it would have been nicer if he had found Harry another family to live with, or to be more exact, that he looked somewhat harder and found Jasper all those years ago.
For a few moments everyone was still. Then the goblin snarled collected his things and set off to the fire. "If there is anything else you can come and get it yourself. I'm not ever going to take transatlantic portkey for anyone ever again."
With a roar of the fire it was off, probably to his portkey location. To everyone's surprise Jasper hugged Harry offering him comfort by both touch and emotion. Alice stepped from the shadows and made understanding sounds as Harry sputtered and shouted about what he had learned. From the background Carlisle watched and Harry knew he could talk to the vampire if he needed it.
-oOo-
After that one free but most turbulent and in the end painful day time seemed to speed up as it was filled with training, learning and growing. The first time he found his pants too short he and frowned and wondered if they had been washed to hot. Trying out a few others told him differently and one afternoon Alice took his seize to shop for him as he had refused to do it together.
After that nothing much happened to disturb him. Jasper kept up with creating unique assignments for Harry to complete on the obstacle course. Every once in a while he would see wolves watching him at the point where the course ran close to the border.
One of the wolves a russet colored animal even entered the course on some days causing extra havoc. As time passed Harry learned that this was Jacob in his wolf form and while he was annoyed some of the time he found that the longer he knew the shifter the more he was endeared with him.
When they met in person Harry found that Jacob still managed to rub him the wrong way some of the time. He guessed it was just part of the package and left it at that. His temper was easier to handle these days so the jabs didn't bother him too much anymore. Most of those meeting involved Bella so Jacob would spend more time focusing on her then him anyway.
Bella another thing he kind of got used too. He still found himself unable to really understand her or agree to the life she was choosing. He saw however that Edward was happy with her and Jasper told him once that the feelings were real. He guessed he could live with it since it wasn't really his problem unless the Volturi found out for Bella knowing was still punishable by death and not necessarily only hers.
On another note Master Jean was, as Harry discovered, a verbal force of nature. The man was temperamental and quick to go off in bouts of shouting. It seemed to be normal however and not something personal. After that little discovery he found he got along a lot better, well that and he learned to tune out most of the rants unless Master Jean hit upon something interesting.
In fact one of those interesting facts had been something about bonds. They had been going through Harry charms one of which was to light a candle without a wand, harder than it sounds but then most wandless magic was extremely hard even the easiest spells cost more power and endless amounts of time to get them to work. Master Jean however thought it would be helpful to know just a few tricks just for those moments you found yourself in a pinch.
Master Jean had mentioned something about how a wizard could bond with an element. Instantly curious Harry had managed to get Master Jean to spend the rest of the lesson bonds, elemental bond for starters but in the end bonds that could bind people.
It had been the most fascinating lesson in history, at least in Harry's humble opinion. Not only did he learn how he could bond an element to himself (only one because trying for more would be the death of any being stupid enough to try) and he got several hints on the bond between him and Voldemort.
So to say Harry had gone a bit research crazy when he wasn't too tired was putting it mildly. The book on bonds he had been reading on and off became much more useful when you actually had a goal and soon Harry found that the bond he shared was likely more a contract than an actual bond. And for once luck was with him, because the ministry automatically recorded any kind of contract made in the United Kingdom.
He had actually let Carlisle and Jasper deal with getting the papers. It had felt so good to let someone else take some of your problems and know they would do their outmost best for you. It was a feeling he still couldn't get used to even after all those months. He felt that every time it happened was like a precious gem to him.
So Harry had focused on picking an element next to everything else. He was still in the beginning stages of finding what fitted him best when Jasper came to his room one night bringing with him a bundle of parchment. It was the contract.
It wasn't a moment too soon as September first was only a week away.
Note from Kaicee: Thanks for reading this chapter. Be sure to leave a review if you enjoyed it. I love reading them. I hope I will see you all next update which will be Thursday.
