Again: Do not own Harry Potter! making no money off this
this chapter took a bit longer to write than I had expected. and at over 5,000 words that makes sense. so I may just start writing shorter chapters to keep the chapter count up. but we'll see. Hope you enjoy this Chapter. It will introduce a few plot points that have major repercussions later.
The Founders Riddle
Chapter 2 - Vernon's Ugly Purple Face and unknown friends
Harry woke up with a start. He had had an intense dream about Wormtail Being somewhere dark and ominous, muttering about stupid muggles and possessed cats. It didn't make any sense but it left Harry feeling Shaken and worried. The feeling soon passed though as he noticed Hedwig had returned during the night with a reply from Hermione. So before starting his day and planning how to leave he Read the short note.
"Harry,
I talked to my Parents and they said it was fine if you came to stay. They are leaving for the US in 2 days so maybe I can come get you tomorrow? We can take the Knight Bus. I wrote my phone number on the back of this note so call me if you're able to get to the phone. if not i'll be there tomorrow regardless.
Lots of Love
Hermione"
Harry was Thrilled! not only was he getting out of the Dursleys but Hermione was coming personally to get him out of the hellhole that passed as his residence during the summer. The only problem now was to figure out how to get to the phone without anyone noticing. Vernon always left the door to Harry's room unlocked when he left for work so Harry could shower, usually Petunia would come back up a couple hours later after breakfast to lock it again. Apparently today she forgot about it. It was now 10:30 AM and the door was still unlocked. Harry grinned widely today was definitely his day.
He made his way downstairs slowly, keeping his eyes and ears open for any sign of other people in the house. Vernon was at work until late that night, Dudley was more than likely out beating up more ten year olds to make himself feel more manly, and at the moment Petunia could be anywhere. So quickly and quietly Harry went downstairs and headed straight for the Kitchen to get a decent breakfast for once. Lately Dudley was forced to go onto a strict Diet due to the fact that he now weighed about as much as a baby Killer Whale, and the school nurse was concerned for his health.
After eating Harry made his way to the phone to call Hermione, a smile gracing his face at the thought of actually talking to her before heading back to school. As he picked up the receiver he fished the note with Hermione's number out of his jeans pocket to make sure he knew what numbers to dial. He waited all of fifteen seconds before a voice came on the other end of the line.
"Hello, Granger residence, Jean Speaking, how may I help you." To Harry he had almost confused the voice with Hermione's it was so similar, however just slightly deeper. "Hi Mrs. Granger, This is Harry Potter, is Hermione home?", "oh, yes Harry of course, I'll just call her down." Harry waited while he heard walk away from the phone and call to Hermione.
"Harry?," came the voice of his best friend, "Hi, Hermione", "hi Harry, I'm so glad you called! I can't wait for you to come over and see where I live!" so are you able to leave tomorrow? have you asked your aunt and uncle?"
She had said all this in what seemed like seconds so harry took a few seconds to catch up with the questions.
"Hermione not so fast, I can't wait to come over either, I don't plan on telling my aunt and uncle it would just lead to yelling which i would care to avoid. However I do plan on leaving with you tomorrow I already have almost everything packed up and ready to go. Hermione I was just wondering if you'd be willing to come with me to Gringotts tomorrow after we leave. I got a note from Sirius and he said I should go there to ask some questions. Would that be alright or do you need to be quick about coming to get me?"
He was sounding quite anxious on the phone so Hermione could do nothing but agree. "Harry it's fine we can go over to Gringotts if you need to. I'll be there around 10 O'clock okay." "Alright Hermione, I will see you then. Tell your parents thank you for me could you?" "yes of course Harry, bye". "Bye". Harry hung up the phone and quickly went back to his room to finish packing his things. Even with all of his excitement he was still a bit nervous. Tomorrow was Saturday which meant that Vernon would be home and probably the first one to the door when Hermione came in the morning. Hopefully this wouldn't all blow up in his face. Before going to bed Harry turned to Hedwig and gave her a small pat of the head saying "Hedwig why don't you fly to Hermione's tonight and i'll see you there tomorrow alright. She should have some treats and water for you", after giving a soft hoot of acceptance and a quick affectionate nip of the ear she was out the window soaring away, probably starting a hunt for a nice juicy rat. Harry walked over to his bed, undressed and went to sleep anxious and fidgeting throughout the night with the thought of leaving.
The next morning Harry was kicked awake by his whale of a cousin, quickly followed by a thundering voice from downstairs, telling him to shower, dress, and get the breakfast made. clutching his now bruised ribs in pain Harry hobbled to the bathroom to get ready for the day. As he was making breakfast the thought struck him that in just over an hour Hermione would be at the door to bring him back to her house for the summer. So with a goofy grin on his face which thoroughly confused his relatives, Harry finished making breakfast, ate his own measly meal without a fuss, and bounded up the stairs two at a time within a span of 5 minutes. As he threw the remaining clothes into his trunk and pried the loose floorboard up to grab his Invisibility cloak, wand, and photo album which Hagrid gave to him, he began thinking about the summer he was going to have at Hermione's, until he heard a bellowing voice call for him.
"BOY, GET DOWN HERE NOW!" Vernon shouted. Wondering what he had done this time Harry walked down the stairs and nearly fainted when he looked at his front door.
Hermione was standing there as if she came to the house everyday. She had a big smile on her face her wand, stuck behind her ear. She was wearing a simple white T-shirt and cut-up jeans. Harry's face lit up when he saw her but quickly fell when Vernon once again started yelling.
"BOY WHAT IS ONE OF YOUR FREAK FRIENDS DOING AT MY HOUSE? I WILL NOT HAVE YOUR ABNORMALITY PARADED AROUND THIS NEIGHBOURHOOD FOR EVERYONE TO SEE! GET OUT! Vernon was yelling so loud and so much that not only had his face turned an abnormal shade of puce; but in addition half of the people living on Privet Drive were now listening in to the conversation.
Harry was seething with anger, how could Vernon talk about Hermione like that. Harry was just about to say something when Hermione cut in.
"Excuse me Mr. Dursley, but what are you talking about? Harry and I have known each other for a very long time. I know he is a wizard but I am not as you may think a witch."
Harry was impressed by her inventiveness and let her continue. "My parents are dentists, they have their own practice and are fairly wealthy, Harry and I met back in primary school, although we didn't hang out a lot due to Dudley trying to beat up anyone that talked to Harry."
Vernon seemed to be trying to figure out if she was lying or not. After about five minutes of silence Vernon spoke. "If that's the case girl, why have you never come over here before?"
Hermione just smiled and answered politely, " mostly because Dudley tries to chat me up every time he sees me and I don't like it, me and Harry usually meet at the park and hang about there."
"Then why are you here now, if you don't like seeing Dudley". Asked Vernon starting to get suspicious.
"Oh I asked Harry to stay with my parents and I at our lake house this summer, I came by to see if he was ready to go." Hermione said this with ease; she still looked calm and collected not once slipping up in front of Vernon. Harry was very impressed by this and told himself to congratulate Hermione later.
" Well boy are you ready to go? And why did you not tell me and your aunt about this?
Harry shrugged and answered truthfully, "I didn't know how you would react Uncle Vernon."
"Go get your things packed and get out of here boy, before I change my mind!"
Harry and hermione didn't wait; right after Vernon said this they raced up the stairs to Harry's room. Once inside Harry closed the door and turned on Hermione. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming that soon? I could have warned the Dursley's beforehand."
Hermione looked at him with a grin on her face and said nonchalantly, " Because I knew I could take care of your uncle if things got out of hand. I never told you this but last year I put a stealth charm on my wand which means I can use it outside of school without the ministry knowing, that's why I always know how to do new spells before the year starts."
Harry stared at her dumbfounded, he tried to speak but no words came to him. When he could finally think again Harry turned to Hermione.
"You think you could do that stealth charm on my wand that way the dursley's couldn't bug me anymore. Oh and have I told you, you are absolutely brilliant!" Harry started laughing as he gave Hermione a friendly hug.
"Give me your wand Harry, I'll put the charm on it." Hermione said after they separated.
Hermione began saying a long string of words in Latin until the wand began glowing green, she then pointed the wand at Harry and muttered a couple words under her breath, the wand went from green to red and the light died out.
" The Ministry of Magic puts tracking charms on all wands so they can detect underage magic as well as a signature reading charm to tell who used it Harry, that's why they send letters to you right after magic has been used. The spell I just used, destroys those two charms, making it impossible for them to track you." She handed the wand back to Harry and smiled.
Harry gave her another hug before turning around, "so now to get out of here, I guess we could just use some shrinking charms and a featherweight charm huh?" Hermione laughed but nodded her approval. Lets do this Harry.
Within minutes Harry's entire room had been cleaned out and shrunk to the size of a lighter. Harry placed his compacted trunk into his pocket and walked out of the house with Hermione in tow.
"So Hermione, are you willing to come with me to Gringotts.?, Sirius told me I should look into my inheritance and my parents wills" Harry asked now realizing he wasn't sure if Hermione wanted to.
Hermione just shook her head in amusement.
"Of Course Harry, there is no reason not to. Do you think i could see the letter Harry?."
Harry stuck his hand into his pocket and fished out the letter. Giving it over he allowed Hermione to read it and think it through like always. Once she was done she handed it back nodding her head and giving Harry a soft smile.
"Well, i think he's right Harry. It is a bit strange that you've still never learned about your family, I know from some of my readings that the Potters are one of the oldest Wizarding families in Britain, and that includes the founders. So you must have something in the family vaults…" She paused for a moment, then added with some mirth, "And maybe we can do some shopping in the next few days. He's right about your wardrobe as well."
The ride on the night bus was as it always was… bumpy. Harry and Hermione were thrown from one side of the triple-decker bus to the other throughout the entire 20 min. ride to London. When they arrived on Charing Cross Road, Harry immediately took in his surroundings. They were only about two doors down from the Leaky Cauldron and the street was packed with tourists and locals all milling about their business.
Once inside the bar, Harry and Hermione made their way over to Tom who ran the establishment.
"Hi tom," said Harry jovially, he genuinely liked the wizened old barman. "how's things with the bar?"
"Oh just fine Mr. Potter, just fine. Heading into Diagon Alley are ye?". "Yes actually we are, just have some business at Gringotts to take care of, could you let us into the alley please? I can never remember the tapping order of those bloody bricks."
Tom laughed as Harry said this and made his way out the back door of the bar. Tapping the bricks to allow them into Diagon Alley, Tom sent them on their way with a quick, "come back anytime , " and returned to his work.
Diagon Alley was full of people as usual. Countless wizards and witches all clamouring to buy the items they needed that day. Harry and Hermione were not really concerned about it as they made their way to the giant white marble building that was Gringotts bank. As they entered, Harry quickly took note of how many goblins were present and if there would be any lines to speak to somebody. Seeing a minimal amount of people in the lobby and many free tellers; Harry approached the nearest one and after waiting for acknowledgement spoke clearly and got to the point.
"Good afternoon sir, my name is Harry Potter and i was hoping to visit my vault and speak to somebody about my parents will and any possible inheritance." The Goblin looked at him for a moment before bowing his head slightly and replying.
" Welcome to gringotts, Do you have your vault key with you?", Harry shuffled his feet for a moment.
"Ah, no, i don't sir. I actually have no idea who has the key to my vault. I've never been in possession of it." After this pronouncement the goblin at the counter looked shocked and slightly angry… Which Harry and Hermione both thought of as truly frightening.
" I'm sorry for my visage right now. However you must know that nobody, and I mean NO other person is supposed to be in possession of your vault key. Unless you give it to your parents for safe keeping it is required by Gringotts that you keep it with you at all times. Seeing as you have been an orphan since you were fifteen months old, the key should have been left with your families account manager until you first came to the bank to claim it. Do you know of anybody who may have your key?"
Harry looked at the teller with confusion and trepidation before answering in a cool, collected tone. "Master teller, the first time I came to Gringotts Rubeus Hagrid of Hogwarts had my key, but told me it was given to him by Albus Dumbledore. before second year, and last year I assume it was given to Molly Weasley as she was with me when I came to get my books."
The goblin they were speaking with came down from his chair behind the counter and walked around to where Harry and Hermione before speaking. "Mr. Potter would you and your companion please follow me. I will escort you to meet Maredac, The account manager for the Potter family. He will know what to do about this situation."
The duo followed the goblin to the back offices of the bank, after about 5 minutes of walking they reached an ordinary looking door with a plaque stating. *Office of Maredac, Personal accountant of family Potter, Black, Greengrass, and Bones.*
After a sharp pound on the door they were told to come in where the teller started speaking to Maredac in rapid Gobbledygook.
Maredac wasn't what you'd call imposing, more Stately and confident, standing about 5'5" tall and of slim, muscular build; he was a goblin you knew not to confront but still held an air of friendliness that you couldn't overlook. However at the moment, while speaking with the teller Maredac looked as if he was ready to rip someone apart, (a literal statement for a goblin), it was a very frightening moment for the two teens.
After the teller excused himself Maredac looked to the two teens and gestured for them to sit across from him so they could speak. Once everyone had been seated the goblin began. "
" thank you for coming, It is an honour to meet the son of Lily and James at last" Maredac bowed his head to Harry, as Harry bowed his to the goblin at the same time.
"Maredac, thank you for the kind welcome, the honour is mine to meet you. I was hoping to learn about my inheritance and find out if my parents had a will. Are you able to help with this?" Maredac eyed Harry for a moment before returning to his businesslike manner.
"Mr. Potter… may I call you harry?" Harry nodded his approval. "Well Harry, To be direct, I'm angered by the fact that you have never been informed of your status and your rights as of this moment. Mollden the teller who assisted you when you entered here has gone to fetch transaction records from your account seeing as you are not currently in possession of your key, we must now figure out who is."
Hermione Couldn't stay silent any longer and proceeded to voice some concerns. "Maredac? are you suggesting that somebody maybe stealing or embezzling money from Harry's family vaults.?"
"that is precisely what I am implying Ms….", "Granger" Harry threw in. "My apologies . Yes we must find out why Harry does not have his key and what this other person is using it for, or if they are using it. Failure to hand it over on their part once we have found this person will result in not only criminal charges but also a freezing of their assets in whichever vault they have access to."
Harry didn't know what to think about this so he decided not to press the issue any further. "Sir, could you contact me when you find out what's happening in this matter.?" Maredac nodded slowly without responding. "thank you, Maredac. Then without further discussion may we go through my parents will to see what they left me?"
"Of course , let's begin." Maredac reached into the drawer of his desk and pulled out a thick parchment envelope, sealed with wax bearing the Potter family crest. "This is the will your father handed to me the week before he died , It has been in this desk drawer ever since and has not been opened. I witnessed your parents will, however, since you were taken to places unknown before we even found out James was dead we could not open it to find out the contents. At this time i'd will read out the will and everything that has been bequeathed to you will be yours."
The Last Will and Testament of James Charlus Potter, and Lily Evans-Potter
We. James and Lily Potter here do swear that being of sound mind and body, have made this our last will and Testament.
Hi everyone. If this is being read than Lily and I have died and we have been betrayed by someone we thought of as a friend.
We will update our will after the war if we survive and no betrayal has taken place. That being said know that we have changed our secret keeper to Peter Pettigrew recently believing Sirius to be too obvious a choice for that role.
If Harry survives where we have not, we leave everything to him except for a few things we have left aside for his care-givers.
So to Harry, we leave you with all of the Potter family vaults you will have full access when you come of age or become emancipated, although we hope that will not need to be an option. In addition to the vaults there are the business shares in The Daily Prophet (roughly 55% of the company, currently being held in trust by the Tonks family), The Cleansweep broom company and many muggle businesses which do very well in the stock market.
Also we leave him our home in Godric's Hollow, and the Potter ancestral home outside what is now Glasgow, Scotland.
To Sirius Black our Brother and friend. We leave Harry's Guardianship. This is the only thing we can give you that could make you happy Sirius don't deny it.
To Remus Lupin, Our "furry" friend. We leave a nice nest egg of G500,000 in your vault. use it well Remus and buy some new clothes mate, you need them.
In case something happens and Sirius is unable to care for Harry, here is the line of Succession for guardianship.
1. Frank and Alice Longbottom, (friend and Harry's Godmother)
2. Remus Lupin (trusted friend and advisor)
3. Ted and Andromeda Tonks (after Sirius, Harry's actual Next of Kin.) (distant cousins)
4. Somebody from One of the ancient and noble families. (Bones, or Greengrass) (Sirius is head of the house of Black)
IMPORTANT! :
Under no circumstances is Harry to be Placed with My Sister or Her husband. The Dursleys are EVIL PEOPLE! They hate magic with a vengeance and fury i've never seen and would detest Harry, Just due to his parentage. If This Clause is breached the person responsible will be criminally charged and tried for ENDANGERING OUR SON!
James and Lily Potter
Witnessed: Account Manager Maredac
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Alexi Vhenoff (solicitor)
After the reading of his parents will Harry was Seething. Not only was it not opened, but Dumbledore Deliberately went against the most important clause of his parents will. Not only was he not supposed to even know the Dursleys but there were potentially FIVE other families in Succession to Sirius for Guardianship including other family! (however distant). Hermione could not only see but could sense that Harry was about to have a meltdown so quickly she put her hand on his arm and whispered into his ear.
"Harry calm down, we'll figure this out and we can Confront Dumbledore about this soon."
Harry visibly relaxed from the moment Hermione spoke, grasping and holding her hand for comfort. "maredac, What can we do about this, I am never going back to the Dursleys again so I need to know my options and what part the Headmaster had in this."
"Harry we are looking through the records as we speak. Have you never received a letter from Gringotts telling you your monthly balance or yearly interest acquisitions?" Harry shook his head in the negative. "Well it seems someone may be filtering or stealing your mail Harry, would you rather have us contact you directly concerning all of your banking needs ? we could easily send someone to you via portkey when we need to speak to you."
"I think that would be best Maredac, thank you. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today. And please let me know when you find out anything concerning who has had access to my vaults. oh and I Believe I need a new Key" Harry said, standing up and bowing to the goblin.
"I will Mr. Potter. I have one ready for you here. I will have all the locks changed on your vaults before nightfall. Have an enjoyable day."
Harry and Hermione left the Bank and decided to go to Florean Fortescue's Ice cream shop for some lunch and just to relax after what they had just learned. As they sat down at their table, Harry's ears were assaulted by a high pitched "Squee" from an unknown source, which presented itself as a person running up to Hermione like a missile and engulfing her in a fierce hug. Hermione was just as surprised as Harry at this and had to wait for the Person to pull back before knowing who it was.
While this was happening Harry was trying to figure out who was hugging his friend. Long Dark hair framed a heart shaped face which was stunningly beautiful; the girl had a slim figure and was already quite developed for their age group. As she finally pulled away from Hermione, they were finally given a full glimpse of her face and Hermione's face lit up instantly.
"Daphne!, what are you doing here? It's so good to see you." she said with sincerity showing on her features.
"Oh well mother and I were just here to do some shopping in the Alley; you know get some potion supplies new robes. things like that. What are you doing here, I've never heard of you being here except for the last week before school starts." Daphne laughed and it was then that Harry finally realized where he knew the girl from.
"Wait a sec, Daphne? as in Daphne Greengrass of Slytherin. You two know each other?"
"Oh that's right I don't think you and Harry have ever had an actual conversation Daph." Said Hermione remembering that Harry was still there. " Harry I'd like you to meet Daphne Greengrass. She's in my Arithmancy Class with Professor Vector, she's 3rd in our year for academics and yes a Slytherin."
"Don't worry Harry i'm not like my Slytherin Counterparts. I'm a true Slytherin: Cunning and Ambitious. I may be a Pureblood but my family is neutral when it comes to blood status. Not to mention I believe our two families have been allied for over a millennia." She said with a genuine smile. Seeing Harry's confused look she elaborated.
"Harry, The Potters and the Greengrasses are Two of four Ancient and Noble Houses in Wizarding Britain. Our Families along with the Blacks, and the Bones' essentially built this civilization from the ground up. As such our families hold controlling votes in most aspects of the Wizarding world."
"Wow, I didn't' know any of that Daphne." Harry stated looking more confused and overcome with information than before.
"but why do you always seem to be so cold at school.? Did you know that people refer to you as the Ice Queen of Slytherin?"
"Yes Harry i did." She Grimaced and scowled at this. "However, that's just a front I put up at school so the others in my house will stay away from me. They all know of my families neutrality and with half of our house being the spawn of Death Eaters, it's better that they fear me, then for them to try recruiting me…" She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Also, i'm pretty sure they are aware that if they tried to recruit me my father would declare Blood Feud on their families and completely destroy them politically and financially. We have that kind of Pull" She stated with a wink and smiled.
"Well it's nice to formally meet you Daphne, Would you like to join us for lunch? we've just come from Gringotts to deal with some business and were just hoping to relax for a bit before heading back to Hermione's house."
"Oh! You have a boy staying with you for the Summer Hermione? What does your dad say about that?" Daphne laughed at the blush that coloured Hermione's face after her statement.
"Hush Daph, My dad is… accepting of it." She said a bit bitingly.
"Don't get your knickers in a twist Hermione, I was just teasing. Anyway i'll go grab my mother and we can have some lunch."
Before she left Hermione mumbled something under her breath that neither Daphne or Harry caught.
"Sorry Hermione, we didn't catch what you said there." Daphne said smiling.
Hermione sighed, she knew she'd regret this…" I said!", she said with a bit of venom, "that I hate that phrase, I'm not even wearing knickers right now so it wouldn't even apply."
Both Harry and Daphne looked at the proper know-it-all bookworm in astonishment at that comment, then promptly Proceeded to burst out laughing at Hermione's indignation.
"Well on that note, I'll get my mother, shall I?"
Daphne came back quickly with her mother in tow and the 4 proceeded to have a pleasant lunch where they learned about each other, the ancient families and started to make plans to see each other more over the holidays. As they were about to leave Harry reached over to shake ' hand saying with sincerity.
"It was very nice to meet you , I hope we'll have a chance to see each other again soon."
"oh we will there are some things we must discuss along with my husband, so I'll try to contact you within the week. is it alright if we add your house to the Floo network? we can have it up and running by the end of the week and we can make it password protected so that only people you allow have access."
Hermione smiled, "Of Course Aeryn, that would be great, it would also allow Daphne to visit without any hassle on her part. Bye Daphne see you later"
"Bye Harry, Bye Hermione"
With that the four parted ways with Harry and Hermione calling the night bus to get to Hermione's. As they got to Hermione's street after another bumpy ride which took ten minutes, Hermione seemed to be bouncing on the balls of her feet. Harry took a look around as they walked the short distance to her house and couldn't believe what he was seeing.
The houses were huge! Closed in by fences and wrought iron gates; with perfectly manicured lawns and gardens in full bloom. Harry knew Hermione's parents owned their own dental practice and knew they were not lacking in money in any way, however, he was not prepared to see the size of the houses in Hermione's neighbourhood.
"Come on Harry, my house is just down the street and I have a surprise for you when we get there." Hermione was practically dragging Harry to her house, not that he minded. "Hermione, I'm coming I was just taking in the scenery. And what kind of Surprise?" He started following her and in no time they had reached her house. The house itself was smaller than the others on the block, but the Granger's seemed to have quite a bit of land to make up for it.
"So what do you think Harry?" Harry could see that Hermione was nervous about he would say, her eyes were shifting from the house to Harry and she was blushing slightly. Harry turned to Hermione and smiled, " I think it's great hermione', he saw her relax slightly, ' I felt so intimidated that your house was one of those monstrous ones… I thought I wouldn't be good enough for this place." Hermione was absolutely beaming, but just as Harry started to relax Hermione began laughing uncontrollably.
Not knowing what was so funny he just gave hermione a confused and slightly hurt look, Hermione stopped laughing immediately after seeing Harry's look. " Oh Harry I'm so sorry, I wasn't laughing at you, I was laughing at the fact that I was so nervous about you seeing my house." "Oh", was all Harry could say, so he walked up to Hermione and gave her a friendly hug and started laughing. "Come on, let's go in okay, we can get you settled." With that Hermione took Harry by the hand and led him into the house, smiling the whole time.
If you want to see the Potter Family Crest (the real One) check out Google images and type in Potter family crest.