Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I don't make any profit from this story. This is fan-fiction.
= Chapter 2 =
Setting down the large files on the table, Harry Potter drew a long breath before sighing loudly and shaking his head. Even if he wanted to deny it and hold on to hope that Molly Weasley's removals from his vaults were just to cover the costs of his books and school supplies, he had a difficult time explaining any payments made to Ronald Weasley in a way that didn't leave a bitter taste to his mouth.
Albus Dumbledore had been removing a sizable sum every year and had it converted into muggle pounds, and then removed it from the bank to deliver it personally. It was marked down to be paid to Harry's guardians, and given how the Dursleys had lived and spent Harry was pretty sure Dumbledore had indeed paid it forward to them. Not that none of it ever got spent on Harry. He had also removed a sum of galleons to be deposited in his own personal vault as payment for acting as Harry's magical guardian and proxy, although the said amount was notably higher than most magical guardians could claim.
Molly Weasley had been paid a small sum of galleons every year as well, in addition to sums taken to cover for his school supplies. Ronald Weasley in turn had received a sum of money to a newly made vault under his own name that he had restricted access to until he was of age, apparently as payment for services rendered. Thinking back at how Ron had practically bullied everyone else to stay away from him, even if he failed to do so with Hermione, it seemed rather obvious what Ron's task was. Always interrupting if Harry was talking to someone new, always trying to get Harry to stop studying and goof around instead.
"As you can see here on the last page, once we discovered the nature of these transactions we have put a stop to them, and reclaimed the amount paid to Dumbledore and the Dursleys in full along with interest by draining Albus Dumbledore's personal vault and a large chunk of his family vault. Since Molly Weasley made sure to withdraw the gold paid to her soon after it was placed into her account we have added that sum to the amount removed from Dumbledore's vaults. Ronald Billius Weasley was unable to access his vault yet, probably as a means to stop him from spending it too early, and has been recovered with any interest it had accrued, and the said vault closed. The latest payment to Molly Weasley was still in the vault and was removed from there immediately. Now, on top of the recovered money and interest there are Gringotts fees for unauthorized or fraudulent conduct, which have been leveraged against Dumbledore family assets." Clearing his throat at this the Director flashed another smirk with sharp, white teeth that would have made a shark envious.
"Seeing as his family vaults do not hold enough gold to cover the added weight of the fees and penalties, the Dumbledore family's share of stocks in various businesses is being liquidated. Normally we would allow you a chance to pick if you wished to claim some of them for yourself, but given your mention you wish to sell even your family's own assets in Britain it would seem counter-productive to add them to your accounts only to put them on sale a moment later under your name. Nonetheless, with the added fees and penalties this will mean the already dwindled Dumbledore family fortune will be diminished to a tenth of what it once was, without most of its assets to help them recover. We won't be touching the Hogshead Tavern however, as it is marked separate from the family assets, and additionally marked it will never go to Albus Dumbledore, being held by his brother instead, who seems less than friendly with Albus."
Nodding at this bit of news Harry let out a long breath. Hitting Dumbledore in the money pouch was probably the most he could do for now, the man held too much political power and was far too savvy to be caught in his schemes easily. Evidence would be circumstantial at best and witnesses would get harassed and doubted before the 'great vanquisher of Grindewald' in the Wizengamot especially now that they were all eager to apologize for doubting him earlier and wanting to make up for it. No, attacking the man directly was out for the moment, but financial ruin was another matter entirely.
"Well, now that we have settled that, we should get on with the pressing matter of the wills of both your parents and your late godfather. While I am sorry for your loss, having met Mr. Black and found him to be quite a character and more than willing to screw over other more pompous wizards, I must insist upon carrying these out now in order to achieve the goals you have already outlined of leaving Britain with your fortune." The director was looking at Harry seriously, the words having dug in. The topic of losing Sirius was still raw and sore, but Harry nodded his head in agreement.
"Yes sir, I believe if he made all these preparations he knew I should be getting the heck away from here by now. I miss him but I can honor him later, let's carry on with the business." He could tell that he earned some points and approval from the director with this statement as Ragnok nodded in a solemn manner before reaching aside to pick up a large sealed scroll as well as a sealed envelope with Harry's name on it. Setting the envelope down before Harry, the director examined the will's seal a moment before nodding his approval and tapping it with his ring.
"I Sirius Orion Black declare this my last will and testament, and revoke any other wills made in my name as falsified or outdated. I have delivered this will in person as witnessed by several high ranking Gringotts employees and the director himself, as well as being tested for any external influence such as charms and potions, making it a requirement for any alterations to my last will and testament to require this degree of scrutiny out of enlightened self-interest.
I degree that this will be read by the primary beneficiary before the actual, public will reading can take place, and thus already in effect by then and thus irrevocable and above any challenge I know a few ungrateful bastards out there would want to issue.
First off, as the Head of House Black I declare at the time I delivered this will in full health in body and mind that I find myself ashamed of what some daughters of the House of Black have become. Branded like animals by an upstart incompetent wizard like Voldemort, I declare that the House Lestrange has violated the House Black oath of Toujours Pur, always pure, by associating and serving an inbred son of a squib and muggle, and by making a daughter of the House of Black, Bellatrix, into one of his servants. I hereby declare the marriage contract between Bellatrix Black and the House Lestrange null and void, and demand the full return of the dowry paid to House Lestrange along with interest, as well as reinstatement of the debts owed to House Black which the previous Lady Walburga Black tried to annul by said marriage, even without the approval of the Head of Black. In addition, I declare Bellatrix Black an oathbreaker, and in violation to her oaths to House Black. I hereby demand the return of family magic from you and any of your spawn, and cast thee and thine spawn out of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, forever!
Now onto you, Narcissa. I wanted to believe you were smarter than that. Marrying the slimy Lucius for his looks even though he was just the grandson of a French upstart who got kicked out of the Noble House he was part of for violating magical oaths, and earning the name Malfoy, bad faith, as a warning to all of the tainted nature of their blood and honor. As proven by his willful subservience to the same son of a squib and muggle, Voldemort. By thus shaming the house of Black, I hereby annul the marriage between Narcissa Black and the House of Malfoy, and demand the full return of the dowry and interest, as well as reinstate all debts owed by the house of Malfoy to the House of Black, despite what the former Lady Walburga Black may have intended by her unsanctioned attempt to annul said debts before without approval from the Head of House Black. Furthermore, Narcissa, I demand the return of family magic from you and your spawn, and cast thee and thine spawn out of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, forever!
Lastly, we have the only sister worth honoring, Andromeda Tonks nee Black. I do not pretend to understand what went on in Walburga's insane head at the time she sought to cast thee out of our family, but as I have already revoked her previous declarations as they were never sanctioned in the first place, I hereby welcome you back to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black along with your descendants, with the dowries of Narcissa no-name and Bellatrix no-name to be delivered, with interest, as a late wedding present to you.
Now, onto more personal matters then. Bellatrix or any that represent her, along with the family Malfoy are hereby instructed to leave the will reading now, as you have no place here anymore. Refuse, and I have requested your heads to be put on prominent display atop the spikes outside Gringotts.
First off, to Lady Amelia Bones of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Bones I leave a package in the Vault 359 which I swear on my magic is already sealed and awaiting for this will-reading to take place. What lies inside is the proof that I never received a trial, the proof that I was never the Potter secret keeper, and the proof that Peter Pettigrew is a traitor and still alive, or at least was at the time of this will making. You will find hand written parchments signed by blood quill and magic as authentic, along with a solicitor's pensieve and a stock of memories that should prove most enlightening and interesting. In addition I am leaving a sum of 140,000 galleons to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement on the condition that you, personally, are entrusted to use it as you see fit.
Next, to Nymphadora Tonks I leave a sum of 20,000 galleons and a request that you remember to stay loyal to the family. Love whom you want and be free to choose your own paths, but I hope you avoid being leashed in the service of a delusional mad-man like the already banished members of the family were.
Remus Lupin, you are the last of the original Marauders and I want to honor James memory as well in leaving you with the secure little house we used to plan out pranks in the summer between sixth and seventh year, the only Black Property that I had access to back then, left by Uncle Alphard who passed away during our sixth year. That House has been renovated since then, and fitted with a sturdy cellar that can be sealed for a set period of time from outside to help with your Furry Little Problem. I also leave you a sum of 25,000 galleons, and a request. Remember to protect the Legacy Marauder to the best of your abilities against all that would oppose him.
Molly and Ronald Weasley. I find it difficult to express how disgusted I am with the two of you. I opened up my House for Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix in the hopes that it would help keep your family safe and hoping that I would also find a chance to spend some time with my godson Harry, and let him be a kid besides his friends. Instead I am treated like a freeloader in my own home, and what little time I get to see Harry you are shoving him to do chores by hand that would be done in half a minute by wand, and you have the gall to lecture me about being a bad godfather as well Molly.
As for your attempt to raid my library and remove books you thought dangerous, hate to say but all that you 'threw away' to be burned were replaced by conjurations before Kreacher stocked the real books in a safe room in the house that you could not even see. So for your aspiration to burn dark books was all for naught, for only the Head of Black can remove and destroy knowledge from the Black library for good. Even had your succeeded the library only hold those volumes of which there are copies, with truly irreplaceable books always kept in the Black Archive, and well beyond the reach of any non-family member.
Ronald, you spend more time trying to steal everyone's food at the dining table than you spend trying to improve yourself and learn, or do the chores assigned if you can slack off and claim credit for what Harry and Hermione managed to it was only that I could find it in myself to forgive you, but learning that you along with Ginny were all plotting to have Harry dosed with Amortentia keyed to Ginny and Hermione with Amortentia keyed to Ron to keep the two of them from getting together I am appalled to have let you under my roof.
Kreacher goes around unseen and he may hate me, but he is still loyal to the House of Black. I knew everything that went on in the house, and the only reason I didn't shout out loud is that our dear old Headmaster would have swiped it all under the rug. Jokes on you however, I have included my memories and evidence of these plans along with samples of the brew that Molly Weasley was preparing to the vault 359 that now belongs to Lady Amelia Bones. I leave both of you with thirty sickles each, you may ask the next person on this list about the meaning of that if you wish.
Hermione Granger, I am saddened to say you were Harry's best friend. Ronald was never more than a fair-weather friend and a thief, but you genuinely seemed to care for Harry, enough that the others would stand in your way. What you lack however is a good head on your shoulders to recognize that not all adults and authorities are worth trusting, and your claim that professor Dumbledore knows best is both well known and sadly misguided. I considered leaving you with most of my family library and a fair share of gold, but I fear the books would end in Albus' greedy hands far too soon, so I leave you a sum of 15,000 galleons in a vault at Gringotts, with your parents being entrusted with the key until your 19th birthday, upon which point I hope you have already distanced yourself from manipulative old men.
Albus Dumbledore, I have learned a great deal about you in the past years. You sealed the Potter will because it did not suit your plans. You did not help me even though you cast the Fidelius in the first place and BLOODY KNEW I was not the Potter secret keeper. You left Harry to be abused, you illegally assumed the position as his magical guardian, and you willfully ignored all the signs of abuse and neglect he was suffering in that house. You tested and tested Harry year after year, pushing him to danger and watching if he would survive or perish this time around. All of this while claiming to be working for some fabled 'Greater Good'. Grindewald said that his purge and the Nazi regime both served the Greater Good, it is heartening to see you recognize the company you associate yourself with most.
I leave you with a copy of the Magics Most Dark of Nature, with a page already earmarked on the subject of Horcruxes. More specifically, on the fact that after their invention in the late Pharaonic era, there has never been a single documented case of a wizard or witch outlasting their natural life-span even with a Horcrux. They can prevent death by direct trauma, but each one created hastens the death of the wizard or witch by draining their remaining lifespan that much faster. This said drain is enough to prevent even things like a Philosopher's stone from preventing physical and mental decay along with magical diminishing, dooming the one using such magic to a shortened life-span though making them a candle that burns brightly but swiftly until its time is soon up.
You may be wondering what I know about them and how, but the answer to that is simple. You and Severus may be unlicensed, and capable Legilimencers, and possibly even moderate Occlumence, but neither of you were trained by the Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House. While I would not confront you directly I have drawn quite a few interesting memories from Snape's skull over the times you have let that greasy bastard into my home, and those memories incriminate him and you quite nicely. They too have joined the vials in the vault 359, marked with a tag to denote they are merely observed memories rather than my personal memories.
Mundungus Fletcher, you cowardly worm, you tried to steal from the House of Black, well I hope you enjoyed the drinks that bought. Kreacher has been under order to steal it all back, and a lot of your suppliers were left with a note in your script stating "no hard feelings, it was just business gov'na." I hope you have a good place to hide or enough saved up to make a run for it.
Lastly, to my Godson and designated Heir, Harry James Potter, I leave the full wealth and assets of the House of Black, along with a letter given to you in person during the private will reading given to you as the primary beneficiary. Take the letter, read it, and get moving. I have secured you the most fabulous tour through Amsterdam's seedier nightlife, in the red light district. I have further included a set of tickets to Monte Carlo to learn how to gamble with the best of them. Lastly, I have a set of open tickets for various different countries so that you can choose where you want to make your new home away from the doom and gloom of this stormy British mess. Maybe in ten years you can come back and see what's left, by then the snake-faced bastard will be worm-food already anyway.
In order to be able to pull all of this off, I have used my authority as your oath-sworn Godfather and your TRUE Magical Guardian (oh shove a sock in it Albus too many names, you were NEVER Harry's magical guardian and you know it!) I hereby declare you a capable and financially independent youth already, and your maturity is far greater than some of the so-called adults in this meeting. I emancipate you while I am still alive, and hope that upon my death you take the solid advice from me to get the hell out of here while you still can, cub.
Last and not least, as Harry Potter's magical guardian I hereby OFFICIALLY demand that the previously sealed Potter Will be opened and read, as it should have been after James and Lily's death, and as it definitely should have by the time Harry was eleven and first visited Gringotts.
Mischief Managed,
Sirius Orion Black."
Harry sat a little numb after hearing the contents of the will but swallowing quietly he reached up to rub his hand to his eye-corners, before starting to open the letter in his hands at the goblin director's gesture. Instead of tickets mentioned in the will however, he found a lone letter sitting inside and waiting for him, in Sirius' own hand-writing.
"Hey there Prongslet,
If you are reading this, I am sorry for whatever happened and the fact I am no longer with you. I hope I went down with a heart-attack from too much sexual exertion in bed with a set of gorgeous big-breasted twins, but we don't always get what we want now do we?
Listen, I wanted to toss Dumbledore and his merry group of blind followers a red herring or two to chase after, if you would find it within yourself to pay for Gringotts to get someone to polyjuice as you and spend some galleons in both Amsterdam and in Monte Carlo it would be a perfect addition to your late dog-father's last prank. I imagine Mooney might catch on, but if he's got any marauder loyalty left he won't say a word about it.
I am not sure of where Nymphadora, Remus and Hermione stand when it comes down to loyalties, all of them seem to have some degree of loyalty towards Dumbledore but all of them have also shown to care for you. You may not really remember much of Nymphadora, but she knew you when you were but a child and volunteered to try and help you when Albus reassembled his bloody order under my roof.
That said, I would not be surprised if Albus and Snivellus are using loyalty potions in the food served by Molly Weasley to the order in the meetings, along with Albus' favorite brand of cryptic advice and kindly old man persona laced with a few subtle compulsion charms.
Next, whatever Albus Bloody Dumbledore tries to make you think about destiny and prophecies, remember that they only have power if you believe in them. Albus and Voldemort certainly do and seem to be acting on it, but if you don't believe and stay out of their reach, things will be settled on their own eventually anyway as I already mentioned. For all we know the dumb snake-face might attack a muggle military face and die at the hand of a muggle soldier with a solid slug through the skull accelerating his removal from mortal coil.
I've found part of it in Snape's memories, and its total hogwash, the teacher that Albus was interviewing was a total fraud and probably faked the whole thing, and even if not the Ministry has been gathering prophecies for years to study them, noticing that out of a thousand prophecies maybe one or two ever come true, and even then you have to squint about the meaning to fit the cryptic message to actual events that took place.
I'd recommend you leave Britain, definitely going beyond Europe as ICW has only ever held influence in Europe. Americans and Australians both regard us Brits with quiet humor and some measure of pity. I found it hard to believe at first but after getting our hands on some books from abroad as Charles Potter, James's father and your grandfather by the way, was an avid reader believing in progress, we discovered things in them that are common place elsewhere but were practically traceless in Hogwarts making our hobby of pranking future death-eaters, death-eater recruiters and pompous, self-assured gits and bullies into behaving a lot easier.
Now with that said, I'd seriously advice you to head to the United States. Las Vegas is further off than Monte Carlo, but you really should get some practice gambling sometime.
What do you say, isn't it time for you to live a little, with the burdensome title claiming you have already done so while Albus Dumb-as-door has been doing his best to assure you did not get to live a life at all?
Remember that I'll always love you and be proud of you, and we'll be waiting for you on the other side, but don't you dare come over until you are at least in centennial age, and hopefully with children and grand-children at that point.
Marauders Never Die, they just go to Afterlife to Regroup,
Sirius Orion Black, Prankster Supreme and a proud Dog-Father."
Smiling a little again as he wiped his eyes, Harry let out a long breath and finally chuckled along with a brief sniff. It was just like Sirius to start and finish with a joke. Starting his letter with one and requesting him to play along with one last joke on Dumbledore in the private letter definitely made him feel this would be a perfect way to honor the old man. He might even visit Las Vegas eventually, though he wasn't sure if he should even consider it until he was a little older though.
"Sir, did my godfather leave any instructions behind to hire a willing person as a distraction, armed with polyjuice and some galleons to lead Dumbledore's order on a merry chase through the places mentioned in the actual will?" He smiled a bit on noticing the smirk on the director's face followed with a nod.
"Indeed, he requested a sum of 10,000 galleons be set aside for this purpose but mentioned that you could add more if you wanted to make it more extravagant and indecent to freak out the rest of the traitors, such as Madam Weasley. We have a willing candidate who would be willing to carry out the ruse at the price of 500 galleons monthly salary in addition to whatever sum he is given in hand to spend in Amsterdam's red light district and the Monte Carlo. He is also more than happy to follow any guidelines, such as to tip generously, avoid certain acts, and whether or not to try to avoid too much publicity or outright pursue public notice." The director stated this calmly, before pausing and looking at him.
"Given that you should be able to prove that you are actually in the States the entire time any such false trail can be swept under the rug easily enough, especially if at the end of the journey the individually publically allows the polyjuice potion to run out and return to normal, leaving the public aware those acts were being carried out by a double rather than the original one." His words earned a nod from Harry who rather liked the plan, finding it hilarious to think the order members trying to hunt 'him down through such crowd.
"Add another ten thousand galleons to the sum, and hire him for two months. I should do at least that much for Sirius. Oh and instruct him to tip generously and not act like a total prick at least, even if he can go wild freely." He smiled in a warm manner before allowing a faint sigh t o escape his lips at the time.
"Can you start calling in the debts, selling the assets, and transferring the monetary wealth to the United States now? I would like to acquire sanctuary there, after all. Oh, and I have fought Tom Riddle... Voldemort several times by now, and heard something mentioned before about the right of conquest, could I use that to rob him of at least part of his assets?" Harry suddenly thought to mention, earning a raised brow from the goblin director.
"I would need to see these events as pensieve memories but it should be possible to do so, if there has been at least three clear defeats and more would only stand to make it more secure claim. Though I should mention that Voldemort's assets include by oath a tenth of each follower's total assets, so it could potentially take a while." The outright evil smirk on his face however made Harry rather certain the director was on board with the idea, and looking forward to it if it was doable.
= End of Chapter 2 =
A/N: Now I figure there might be one or two people out there that think I spend way too much time establishing things and setting things up. I could have summarized this and just started the story in Vegas, having Harry give a few outlines of what happened before in flashback or something. Yes, I could definitely have done that.
However, I recall it said before to "show, don't tell" where possible, and I am trying to follow this bit of instruction now and then. Of course the starting set up will take a bit more time than some events to come in the future, but I do plan to do a mix of both showing things at certain points, and at other times keeping it shorter and just telling what took place, especially if its weight on the story further is going to be minimal.
Now it seems Sirius is using a fair bit of references a bit difficult for someone from a pureblood wizard background to be familiar with, but I like to point out they had one rather brilliant and scary witch in the form of Lily Evans to introduce them to things, and I imagine Sirius took a liking to a number of things that sounded suitably impressive to him. It is probably also safe to say other than the few quotes he liked and some small bits here and there, he did not know the full extent of all that was mentioned.
Nevertheless, I am moving along with this story. I hope the next chapter will be the last one of the 'setting up' stage of Harry still in Britain, and at 4th or 5th chapter we should have the Will-reading (I won't repeat the will already read, but I will write on the reactions and what not), and the start of Harry's stay in the States.
I am not mentioning exact sums for Potter or Black fortune yet either, as I figure they would just be another little detail that changes form as the story goes and its suffice to say he is very wealthy, rich, but likely to be even wealthier in a while still.
Now while I plan on writing an adaptation of the Vegas Wedding challenge from this, eventually, I am not yet fully certain what the pairing(s) will be in this story when it comes to that. A few options do come in mind, but I am also considering the option of a coven forming eventually around Harry, as well as the option of him being married but also working closely with characters from the DC-verse further along.
I am not against the harem options but they seem a bit difficult to try and justify, especially when it comes to why the women in question would be alright with it, and not take it out on their husband. That said, Harry's luck being what it is, we'll see eventually. I would prefer that if it comes to that and Harry does end up with a coven around him that he would at least have to work at it to keep everyone content or happy.
I am inclined to consider Harry and Raven as the primary pairing for the time being though, with Raven being her sarcastic, emotionally restrained "kuudere" self. Given that I would prefer to let things be until the characters are physically eighteen however (I believe both of them had to grow up faster than most people, and are mentally a lot more mature than physically) before even entertaining the thought of starting to write certain events.
Another note, I am not against writing lemon/lime material, but given how things are on fan-fiction, I will likely leave it out of the chapters posted here, drawing the curtain and fading to black or switching to another location and focusing on another character or group at the time. I may well write the actual scenes, but set them aside to only publish them at some point elsewhere if there was an actual desire from others reading the tale for such, but in all honesty I expect them to be more or less extraneous material anyhow to the other parts of the tale.
Lastly, my note on the horcruxes? I don't think having your very soul, your life-essence torn into shards is going to be very good for your long-term survival. This story will reflect that, with Voldemort's time already rather limited and draining away by itself. Given he's also been killed physically, banished from possession, banished again from Harry's head in attempted possession, had his first and earliest Horcrux (the one likely to have housed the most of his soul/life-essence to begin with) destroyed, and being stuffed into a poorly made, inhuman homunculus body to even physically exist for the time being, I don't really see the soul/life-essence being able to support him much longer.
I'd wager there was a good reason people before didn't make more than one Horcrux, or at most three if they were that paranoid. Given how insane and inhumane Voldemort had got at that point I think he's torn his soul a few times too many, and indeed starting to burn out quickly.
Then again, I am not the original author of Harry Potter, because if I was then Draco Malfoy would have died before the end of the 6th book, Hermione would not have done a 180 and start treating Harry poorly while being jealous of Ron's girlfriend, and Snape would have been fed to Dementors for murdering Dumbledore after being already crippled by a wall of spells from the Defense Association (never Dumbledore's Army).
I'll try and have Chapter 3 up soon, still got some planning to do for Chapters 4 & 5 on details.
