Soul Mage

Chapter 2

Disclaimer, it may come as a surprise to you, but my name is not Joanne, nor is my surname Rowling. You can take this to mean that you aren't reading the original works of Harry Potter. There'd be no point in taking legal action against me since I'm a broke down hack with shallow pockets.

/ Begin \

Harry was having the most exhilarating time of his whole entire life, and with the usual disregard of young boys everywhere he wasn't even thinking about the ramifications of what was going on. It didn't matter that he'd discovered a ghost or that she'd turned out to be his mother. It didn't matter that he'd broken out of his cupboard and the two of them had just finished the most fun ride he'd ever experienced. It wasn't hard for it to be that either since he'd never really gone anywhere or done anything before tonight. For the first time Harry was actually acting like an eight year old and Lily feared he'd give himself whip-lash if he wasn't careful. There was just too much for him to see and he was attempting it all in one go. That all ended when he finally caught sight of the large building in the middle of the alley

Harry looked up at the imposing building with a sense of awe. Not because of the buildings size, he'd seen larger on their way into this strange little area of London. No, it was for the fact that the building looked for all the world like something rather large had leant against one corner and nearly pushed the building over. He wasn't even sure why the building was still standing since it actually looked like a good strong wind could finish the job at any moment.

The young boy would have been surprised at how accurate his errant thought had been, in fact it had lead to the giants being banned from Diagon Alley in the early 1600's when a drunk had decided to use the partially constructed bank as a scratching post. Goblins being the penny pinching bastards they were spent the next hundred years erasing any mention of the giant and convincing the public that the shape of their bank was magically significant as it strengthened their wards. It had also lead to a whole new era in Goblin construction as they attempted to reinforce the impression.

Taking his eyes from what he could only describe as a wonky building he turned to his mother.

"Um, is this the place?"

"That's right Harry. This is Gringotts, the Goblin bank. Now do you remember the phrase I taught you?"

Harry scrunched his face up as he concentrated on the strangely guttural sounding words his mother had taught him over the last hour. "Yes, I think so…but, erm what does it mean?"

"I have no idea, but your father said it was the only way to gain entrance to Gringotts after hours…"

"Couldn't we wait till the bank opens then?" he asked hopefully. He really didn't want to make a fool of himself if he made a mistake.

"No. We can't wait. I need answers to several questions that arise from where you were living and the faster we have those answers the safer you'll be."

"Oh…"

"Now we better get on with this Harry. Knock." The ghost gestured towards the iron black wood of the banks door. Reaching out hesitantly Harry grabbed the door knocker by the only part low enough for him to grab which turned out to be the grotesque caricature of a bearded wizard. A second later he was leaping back with a startled yelp as the face suddenly became animated and attempted to bite him. The only thing that stopped it was the fact that he only just managed to grasp its beard and it couldn't bite that far down.

"Don't worry about that Harry. Just give it a good knock and it'll stop doing that." She winced at the suspicious glare her son gave her, she'd forgotten that the doorknocker would do that. In her defense these were all things she'd been told a long time ago so it really wasn't a surprise, though her memories were becoming clearer as time went on. She'd think about that later when they had more time.

A few moments later there was a muffled thud as the heavy iron knocker met the wood for the first time and Harry was sighing in relief that his mother had been right the door knocker did stop trying to gnaw his fingers. That alone put her one up on any one he'd ever dealt with before. He'd never met an adult that treated him like he had two brain cells to rub together, and certainly none that would give him honest information. He'd learned about electricity the hard way as a child as his guardians had actively encouraged him to play with the power outlets and appliances near water. Harry smirked as he remembered how unhappy they were that it hadn't done what they expected. Instead of dying a horribly tragic death, he'd felt, pardon the pun, energized and had bounced around like a five year old on a sugar rush for hours afterwards. The Dursleys had installed secure power outlets after that as they never wanted to deal with Harry when he was like that again, and Harry, well Harry had liked the feeling and tried it again a few times.

Eighteen thuds and twenty seconds later a hatch above Harry's head snapped open and an amazingly long hooked and twisted nose asked.

"Well what do you want?" the gravelly tone sounded ominously angry. Harry froze for a moment, not in fear but in fascination, he'd never seen a nose quite like it. It was long and hooked, and to be honest looked like it had been broken in eight different places and directions, which it probably had. The fact that there was more hair protruding from it than he had on his head just pushed things up another notch in his boyish estimation. He almost giggled when the nose swept from side to side looking for the wizard who dared knock on The Dread Portal of Gringotts. "Huh, damn wizards wasting my time. Should be able to skin them like we used to…" the voice turned slightly dreamy as it contemplated the good old days just before the nose started to vanish back inside the bank and the hatch swung shut with a loud click.

"Harry, why didn't you…" Lilly asked quietly but stopped when she saw the expression on her sons face, "…oh." She'd forgotten how short he was and thought he must be traumatized by what he'd just seen. She'd stayed back to allow him to make the first move as he should and thus they'd missed their chance to enter the bank, or at least their first chance.

"I'm sorry Harry…" she trailed off as she saw a manic grin cross her sons face and wondered what that was all about.

Harry wasn't listening though, he'd just seen his first Goblin, he hadn't seen much of the creature and it had been a weird angle to view it from but it made him happy. He'd been called a freak and a weirdo so many times during his life with the Dursley's, but for the first time he knew that there were stranger things out there than himself. He wouldn't mind having the chance to rub their noses in just how strange the world actually was. Reaching out he grasped the knocker once more and really let the door have it this time, he could hear the loud thud echo within the building. If he listened very carefully he thought he could hear the feet of the doorman screech to a halt and grind into the flagstones as the creature began its irate return to the doors.

Stepping forward into the light she was just in time to place an ethereal hand on the young boys shoulder as the small peephole was slammed open once more.

"Make yourself known wizard! I swear I shall gut you if you are pranking me!" The nose moved around even more rapidly than before as it tried to capture the importunate wizard who'd disturbed his usually quiet evening guard duties. Wizards were usually smarter than to beard the goblins in their den and would never even think to attempt entrance to Gringotts after normal banking hours. It didn't mean the bank was closed for business, just that the interests of the bank moved elsewhere. It took a second but he finally noticed the ghost standing just within the circle of lights that extended to just outside the pillars that held up the massive marble portico that sheltered Gringotts entranceway.

"What do you want ghostie? Begone before I have the senior curse breaker bought forth to have you exorcised!" He knew it wasn't the ghost that sought entrance to the bank, for one she didn't have the physical ability to use the knocker. Besides the Goblins of Gringotts never dealt with ghosts in the normal course of their business, no, it took an extremely unusual occurrence for the bank to deal directly with the incorporeally deceased. Vampires, and a few extremely well wrought zombies on the other hand…well, the bank didn't like to deal with them either, but if they had money well all kinds of rules could be put aside as mere guidelines if profit was at risk.

Lily didn't answer directly she slowly raised her free hand and pointed downwards drawing the goblins attention towards the diminutive boy standing there as calm as calm could be.

"So!" he hissed, "It was you wizard child. You just stay right there, I have a flensing knife with your name on it," thinking the child would run away he bared his wickedly sharp teeth in a ferocious looking grin. What he wasn't expecting was for the boy to look at him resolutely and then speak.

"Gral'nuk. Ath'tar gek Gibber, del'gen t'ver asser var. Merak, des blenor gak, ng'var! Gal t'ver berik tane deis!" Harry finished the sentence his mother had been teaching him and looked up at her for reassurance. Sighing at the small smile he saw appear on her face he turned back to the goblin and saw a wide eyed expression of shock on the green skinned creatures face. He'd practiced that speech for nearly a half hour until the ghost had given a nod of approval before they headed here. The only thing he wondered was, what he'd just said to the Goblin. Whatever it was the Goblin seemed shocked, and acquiescent as he vanished momentarily and a loud clanking sound could be heard from within.

A rather normal sized door opened in the much larger main doors and Harry got his first good look at a goblin, it was rather large as far as he was concerned. Five feet six inches tall, the green skinned creature wore heavy armour in a dark metal that harry couldn't identify, he knew that he didn't want to get anywhere near some of those spiky or serrated edges. It was designed almost as much as a weapon as protection as many wizards could attest. Goblins liked to get in very close to their enemies, close enough that wizards, who were primarily ranged combatants were more scared of friendly fire than they were of the goblins themselves. The other thing that drew his attention was the rather large war axe the goblin attached to its belt. It looked like it was razor sharp and he couldn't stop from swallowing nervously as he stood there waiting for the goblin to make its next move.

It was at that point that Harry noticed something else about the goblin, aside from a rather daunting nose and dark beady eyes that glittered in the torchlight the creature had ears. And what magnificent ears they were, it looked like it was a lucky thing the guard weighed as much as he did, since if he was much lighter Harry reckoned a good stiff breeze would be a danger. Along the length of the massive ears were large gold hoops interspersed with deep notches cut into the soft flesh as if some of those loops had been forcibly removed. Harry winced at that thought before continuing his ruminations on the possible flight capability of Goblins. Those ears could provide enough lift if the Goblin were a little more aerodynamic in its features. Maybe that was the reason for that really heavy armour, maybe the goblins had experience with flight and didn't like it. Harry really wanted answers to the questions running through his head but a survival instinct he didn't even know he possessed had his mouth firmly clamped shut even if it did twitch suspiciously a few times.

Lily for her part watched her son as he stood stoically in front of the open door to Gringotts. She'd prefer that they be anywhere other than here dealing with Goblins, well that wasn't necessarily true, there were worse places to be, and it certainly wasn't feasible. They needed so many things before they could do anything, the most important of which was information. Things were not as they should have been and she needed to know why and who was responsible before they could plan anything. Harry would need answers to so many questions himself, but until she had the information herself there was no chance for that to happen. She'd watched him on the bus, wanting to tell him so many things, but the trip had been too short for there to be any real chance to have a conversation.

Besides, he'd been thoroughly enthralled by their trip as buildings and vehicles literally leapt out of the purple buses path before leaping back as if nothing had happened. When the vehicles didn't move then the bus would reform and slide between stationary vehicles, or over them. While she'd been alive this had been her least favourite form of transportation. Nausea was the biggest factor of that, now though she didn't have to worry about any of that, not with the decided lack of internal organs and hormones to upset. She also discovered that the upper level was the most stable level of the bus as the vehicle beneath them wove through, around and over traffic, the upper level was most stationary with only the occasional bridge that it needed to 'duck' under.

Her ruminations were disrupted moments later when the Goblin harshly cleared its throat.

"Gral'nuk ehtter vas! Deis, berik t'vor?" the Goblin stated while ushering them inside.

Both Harry and his mother stared blankly at the Goblin before Harry turned to his mother with a quizzical look.

"Don't ask me Harry, your father only taught me the one phrase of Goblin and I never had a chance to learn the language after that. What with the war and everything," she finished sadly.

Harry was even more confused now. War? What war?

Riptooth glanced between the two humans carefully before motioning again. "Are you coming in humans? Or do you want to waste more of my time?"

Harry rushed through the open door and stopped just within, he wasn't sure what he was expecting but it wasn't to see hundreds of Goblins swarming all over the place doing the gods only knew what. They were carrying heavy bags, stacks of paper, running hither and yon and on top of that there was a large amount of yelling going back and forth. It didn't take long for Harry to notice that they all appeared to be smaller than the Goblin on the door was and he could see that he could look any of them in the eye when speaking to them. Other than that they looked remarkably similar except they were wearing finely brocaded doublets in a riot of colours. Turning around to ask the guard where they should go he found that the creature had moved away quietly and left them to fend for themselves.

Lily hadn't ever seen the bank this busy either and she was in the process of closing her mouth and getting her brain back in working order when she remembered how important what she was doing actually was.

"Right. Come this way Harry," she said as she walked, though for a ghost that might be the wrong word, towards the row of counters across the room. It was lucky Harry had quick reflexes because the rushing Goblins made no allowances for the presence of the small child in their midst and if he wasn't watching he was sure they would quite literally have run him over with those heavy looking trolleys they were pushing around. The one Goblin that managed to push one through Lily Potter let out a startled yelp when he physically made contact with the ghost as the chill that went down his spine had been quite unexpected and he'd spent several seconds staring at the ghost in their midst with wide eyes. Until a sharp barking command snapped him out of it anyway and he once more rushed off pushing his burden helter skelter before him.

Harry let out a sigh of relief when he finally made the haven of the service counters, even if it did make him feel uncomfortable to have the tellers well over his head and peering down at him as if he were something odious the cat had dragged into the house. Looking around for a Goblin that might be helpful didn't provide him with any clues for as soon as they realized he didn't know who to see they all turned back to what they had been doing and studiously ignored him. Deciding that he wasn't going to be helped unless he disturbed one of them he walked up to the closest teller and cleared his throat. The Goblin behind the counter bristled but continued to ignore him so Harry cleared his throat even louder before saying.

"Excuse me sir." He gulped a second later as he found himself the recipient of a rather sharp eyed stare from the Goblin that had been using a rather large stamp on a rather large pile of parchment. Whatever those were every single one had a 'rejected' sign on it in bright red flashing ink when it was added to a much smaller pile on the other side of its desk. Even though it made him nervous Harry continued to make eye contact with the teller until the creature nodded slightly as if he'd passed some kind of test.

"State your business human," the creature grated out. Harry now had a fair idea of what a sneer sounded like and knew that he didn't like being on the receiving end of it very much.

"Er," Harry temporized.

"Well? Spit it out, I don't have all day. Time is money don't you know?" the last was almost growled at him.

"Um, I…"

"We're here to see the family account manager," Lily interceded.

"Its name?"

"I don't know," Lily admitted sheepishly. James had done all of their banking when he'd been alive. Not because he didn't believe her capable of doing it but because chauvinism was alive and well in the magical community and the Goblins would have given her a hard time.

The Goblin sighed in resignation, "Your family name," it demanded.

"Po…"

"Not you ghost, the boy. He is the only one with a family name here."

"Hey! That's my mother you're speaking to…"

"Indeed?" the Goblin sneered, "How interesting. Speak your full name boy or leave."

Harry gulped nervously, "Er, Harry Potter."

Looking disdainfully down its nose at him the creature then took a ledger our of a drawer and flipped it open. Looking back up it asked. "Is that your full name boy?"

Harry was flummoxed by the question, to be honest he'd only found out that his name was Harry when he entered school a couple of years ago. Up til that point he'd actually thought his name was freak. It'd taken a little getting used to on his part to actually have a real name and have people use it.

"Er…"

"James," Lily spoke up from beside him.

"Huh?"

"It's your middle name."

"Really?"

"Ah-Hem! So, your name is Harry James Potter?" the Goblin queried. "You will of course be called upon to prove that, and I assure you, you won't like the repercussions of failing our test."

"If that's what my mum tells me then it should be right." Harry didn't know what to make of the Goblins hostile demeanour, but he knew it couldn't just be directed at him since he'd never even seen a Goblin before let alone done anything to warrant it.

"Very well, RACKSPUR!" the Goblins yell broke Harry out of his thoughts in time to see an even smaller Goblin rushing towards them, though how he could tell through the sheer number of the creatures rushing around he didn't know. He was right though as the creatures small clawed feet skidded to a halt on the marble floor.

"Yes sir!" It almost snapped to attention as it studiously ignored the human to deal with its superior.

"Take this human to room 306," the teller said before lifting its rubber stamp once more and bringing it down on the next parchment in the stack, already having dismissed the humans as beneath its dignity to have further dealings with.

"Come with me!" Rackspur snarled before turning on his heel and almost sprinting away. What followed was a rushed and thoroughly disorienting trip through a labyrinthine warren of corridors where Harry was sure he'd been led in circles at least twice and maybe more on their way to only god knew where. Ten minutes of rushing ended with Harry facing a rather imposing black wood door set in the marble wall. He was about to ask Rackspur what to do when he noticed that the Goblin hadn't stuck around once he'd been brought to the right place. The only reason they knew it was the right place was that emblazoned on the door in large golden figures was the number '306'.

"Well this is it Harry. Knock on the door."

Harry knocked on the wood, and then louder a few moments later when there was no response.

"Pray enter," a deep voice called from within the room. Lily would have shivered at the way the Goblin stressed the word 'pray' if she'd still had a body. It almost sounded like something a spider might say to the proverbial fly.

Fighting down his nerves Harry pushed the door open and walked into the spacious office that if he were any judge couldn't possibly fit in a corridor that was filled with such doors. The doors were spaced some five to ten metres apart while this room was closer to twenty metres square. The walls were lined in bookshelves almost completely except where the door they'd entered through and a large fire place on the opposite wall were. There were five shelves that were filled with literally thousands of large books almost two feet tall each and each bound in dark red leather. The centre of the room was occupied by a large antique style desk, not that it would be considered an antique in the magical world. It was easily eight feet across and four feet deep and seemed to be covered with scraps of parchment and open books. Sitting in a chair behind that desk sat the oldest looking Goblin Harry had ever seen, the wrinkled leathery skin was also the darkest he'd ever seen. Though he had no way to know if its colour was a matter of age, it didn't really matter. The obsidian eyes that were fixed upon him were as sharp as any he'd ever seen.

The ancient Goblin peered over his half moon glasses at the small boy.

"You have the look of your father…but such things can be counterfeited. Best we make sure before we continue…" The unnamed Goblin lowered himself out of the chair and waddled around to face the pair who had disturbed his busy schedule.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Come here child," it snapped. Harry being used to obeying that voice reacted instantly and scurried forward while the ghost of his mother trailed uncertainly behind. She certainly had plans and plenty of questions but she'd never been in this situation before and didn't know how to react. The first thing was to make sure that the Goblins were on their side or at least neutral and that meant not alienating them if they didn't have to.

"You hand boy," the Goblin held out his hand slightly and waited for Harry to place his hand near enough that he could grab it and twist it over. Harry gasped in surprise that the Goblin had been able to do that since no one had ever been able to move fast enough to do that to him, he gasped again when he noticed the other hand contained a small silver dagger. By the time he'd fully registered the dagger though it had already slashed his palm and blood was welling into his cupped palm. The knife was quickly replaced with a quill that was dipped into the small pool of blood and before Harry could blink the blood and the cut were gone. It never even registered that there had been no pain during the whole incident but it would at a later date.

Harry staggered slightly as the Goblin released him from its iron-like grip and watched in morbid fascination as the quill was raised to eye level where the creature examined it minutely before tapping it with a claw-like fingernail. A moment later a disturbingly toothy grin split the aged features.

"Good. Now sit," he said as he gestured at the seat around a low table. In a muggle home it would have been a coffee table though a little long and wide. Here it was more of a conference table and the businesslike chairs that were arranged around it reinforced that image. Harry looked at his mother and noted her smile, though it was a little strained and decided to do as directed. Sitting on the edge of his seat Harry watched as the Goblin moved to a chair opposite him and sat down.

"This…is a blood quill," it stated as it raised said quill waving it from side to side. Harry watched it carefully not quite sure what to do or make of this. The last time the Goblin had said something innocuous seeming he'd been stabbed.

"It has two uses, the first and most common is the binding of magical contracts. The second, and most useful aspect of this quill is the recording of your bloodline, whether completely or in part. Each book in this room represents a magical family, whether old, new, extant or long gone. You may remember your first visit here Mrs Potter. That day we began the book of Evans, though it is now deceased unless your son chooses to provide an heir to that line of course. The books are linked to this quill, and thus to the blood contained herein, and thus you are weighed and measured to discover who you are as your blood is compared to that in the books."

"Um.."

"Silence boy!" the Goblin hissed causing Harry to rear back in his chair, "Your identity is still in question and until such time as you are verified as my client you will keep your mouth closed. Now, this shouldn't take very long as it will only need to record one side of the bloodline. It will of course name your mother since she is magical, it will however stop recording that side of the family since your mothers parents were muggles," the creatures lips turned up in disgust at the mere thought, or maybe it was just trying to look dramatic. Harry wasn't sure but either way he didn't like the way it kept referring to his mother. The Goblin had no trouble ignoring the glare from the eight year old boy though and simply snapped its fingers causing a piece of parchment that covered the entire length and width of the table they were seated at.

"Let us begin," the quill was placed nib down against the parchment and then released. Contrary to what Harry believed the quill remained upright and then began to move as it wrote his name, though he never knew he had a middle name before. He hadn't even known that his name wasn't 'Freak' until he'd been registered for school at the age of six, so finding out he was Harry James Potter was a bit of a surprise. The quill then drew a line upwards from his name before writing James Everard Potter.

"And thus you are proved your fathers son…and your mothers son," it stated in a much more pleasant tone(which wasn't saying much) of voice as the quill continued to write his mothers name of Lily Evans Potter. The creatures eyes widened a moment as the quill continued moving. "Hmmm, interesting," it stated while taking a quick sideways look at the ghost he looked speculatively at her for a moment.

"We will return to this shortly. In the meantime Lord Potter would you care for some refreshments?" Seeing the startled look on the young boys face he smiled a no less disturbing smile at Harry, though it was meant to be kindly.

"Would you like some tea? Perhaps some food to tide you over until your evening meal?"

"Yes thankyou," Lily spoke for the first time since entering the room, "I don't know when last my son ate but it has been at least three hours and he is a growing boy."

"Indeed," the Goblin spoke before snapping his fingers sharply, an even smaller creature appeared with a slight popping sound.

"Master is calling Tiggie?"

"Yes. I require refreshments for myself and my guest," he finished the statement by gesturing towards Harry.

"Immediately Master!" as quickly as it appeared the creature disappeared and moments later a large tray laden with all kinds of beverages and hot and cold foods appeared on the table between them. Lily watched fascinated as the Goblin helped her son select a variety of foods before pouring the tea himself and directing Harry to try the tea several different ways until he found a way he liked. It was surprising to watch such an old Goblin personally serve a human since the fierce creatures would normally never deign to stoop to such a servile function. Pouring its own cup of tea it finally sat back in his chair and took an appreciative sip of his tea before placing the cup back on its saucer.

"Now, down to business. I am Golfarb and I am the administrator for the Potter accounts. The first order of business is an apology. I apologise for my abrupt demeanour before but you see you are not the first supposed scion of House Potter to appear before me to claim the Potter fortunes. You will however be the first of those to leave here," the smile that formed on Golfarbs face was sinister appearing and Harry was thankful he was actually who he said he was.

"How might Gringotts help you today Lord Potter?"

"Um, I don't know. My mum is the one who brought me here." Harry cast a quick look at his mother.

"Dowager Potter?"

"The last thing I remember before today was facing Voldemort in the upstairs bedroom of my home in Godrics Hollow. I assume I died then...my son was not yet two years of age. You can imagine my shock when I 'woke' up and found that my son had aged six and a half years and was living in the cupboard under my sisters stairs. I want to know how this came to pass? My sister was not even named in my husbands or my will. How come my son is still alive when Voldemort was alone with him? How come…" she trailed off as the Goblin raised a clawed hand.

"The tale is long and strange but I shall do my best to convey it to you. That night Voldemort attacked your son is steeped in mystery. To tell truth there is no one alive who knows for sure how it is that Lord Potter survived the killing curse. Some say your sacrifice spared him while others declare he had a bout of accidental magic when you, his mother, was killed that the Dark Lord was unprepared to defend against. Others say that you were working on ancient charms of protection that aided you son in his survival…" the Goblins raised eyebrow invited her to answer his speculations if she cared to.

"James and I weren't working on anything like that. The Fidelius was our last line of defense and we were assured we were completely safe. As to the other two ideas, well I can't answer that because I didn't survive the killing curse and didn't see anything after that."

"Indeed, so no ancient charms? Not that it matters I suppose. Shortly after Voldemorts demise Dumbledore dispatched his representative to investigate your home."

"Not Dumbledore himself?"

"No, Dumbledore didn't attend the scene himself, as I said he sent his representative."

"And just who did he send, some of the members of the Order I suppose…"

"Then you would suppose wrong Mrs Potter. He did not send a group at all. He sent one person, a Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the keys and grounds at Hogwarts."

"He sent Hagrid? Alone? What was he thinking?"

Harry paused with a sandwich in his mouth as he regarded his mothers outburst with wide eyes. His mothers outburst didn't hold his attention for too long though as there was actual food in front of him and for once he could eat as much of it as he pleased.

"A question that I have asked many times with no answer that makes sense I'm afraid. We know that Mr Hagrid was unable to defend himself due to his expulsion from Hogwarts in 1947 and consequent snapping of his wand. Sirius Black was the second person on site that night but as per Dumbledore's orders he was denied custody of the child. In the meantime a slew of directives were issued for discussion by the Wizengamot. Between the time of your death and the time we here at Gringotts were notified of your death, a matter of half an hour, both recommendations had been passed by the Wizengamot. The first was to declare Sirius Black unfit to take care of a child on the grounds that he was single and there was the possibility that he had betrayed your family. The second was to suspend the Potter wills so that the appropriate guardian could take care of everything. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore had himself declared guardian as he had a plan to ensure Lord Potter was adequately protected."

"You're telling me that the Wizengamot was able to come to a consensus on such weighty matters in under half an hour?"

"Not only that but they had filled out all the requisite documentation, all two hundred pages of it. We find such alacrity in the Wizengamot to be highly suspicious."

"I wouldn't have thought that the Wizengamot could decide whether it was night or day in under twelve hours and then everyone would change sides just so they could continue."

Golfarb wasn't going to dispute her statement, he like many of the senior account managers had watched the proceedings of the Wizengamot and left shaking his head at their antics. Mind you, such disputes in the Goblin high council would lead to daggers or hand axes being drawn and used to good effect. The last Goblin left standing after the 'argument' was deemed to have been right. Not that there had been such an event in over three hundred years since Goblins tended to weigh the value of such an argument very carefully before they came to blows.

"I believe you have missed the point Dowager Potter, the fact that they acted with such alacrity where the paper work alone would take half a day to fill out correctly leads me to suspect that someone knew you were about to be attacked and failed to warn you or your husband. Added to other information we received before and after the incident we only have one suspect and it is I fear the most unlikely candidate from a wizards point of view."

"Albus Dumbledore…" Lily trailed off as she considered several things that had happened before she died. If she was capable she'd have shivered in reaction to the feeling of ice going down her spine. The problem is that death removes all illusions, no hormones affect the mind. The mind acts as if the person were an accomplished occlumens, or at least what an occlumens would aspire for. Total and absolute control of ones thoughts, fears, memories and desires. It allowed her mind to move much faster than if she'd been weighed down with her personal interpretation of events as filtered through her faulty memory. Things clicked into place at a frightening pace.

"Sirius would never have allowed this to happen, he would have fought it. From the expression on your face I take it he didn't…or wasn't able to…" she paused to think for a second, "What did Sirius do?"

"From what we have been able to piece together it seemed that after Sirius Black betrayed you and your family he went in search of your other close friends starting with Peter Pettigrew. When he found Mr Pettigrew, he was accused of his betrayal," Golfarb raised a clawed hand again to forestall any protestation, "Sirius Black then proceeded to attack Mr Pettigrew, an attack that killed him and twelve muggles in the resulting explosion. Almost instantly after that a team of aurors appeared and arrested Sirius Black. He was transported directly to Azkaban."

"Surely he was vindicated at his trial?"

"I fear there was no trial. I believe that he was an inconvenient loose end that needed to be removed lest whatever was planned unravelled before it even began. I have no idea what was planned, but I'm almost certain that it was to gain total control of 'The Boy Who Lived'. Even the circumstances were unusual in that the Wizengamot would have never intervened in such a case where a families last will and testament was concerned, lest they have the same thing done to them. It was a dangerous precedent to set where the purebloods are concerned. This action has not only set aside your families wills but has also destroyed the last member of the Black family."

"No!" Lily stood up abruptly, "I won't allow it! I won't!" she brought her fist down on the surface of the table.

Harry who'd finished with the assorted viands and for the first time he could remember actually had his fill was watching the woman who'd introduced herself as his mother as she raged. He couldn't even begin to figure out what the problem was but he wasn't going to get in her way. He watched as she jumped to her feet but for some reason he couldn't hear what she was saying, it must have had something to do with the loud ringing in his ears or maybe the fact that he felt so weak all of a sudden. Having his eyesight, which wasn't the best to start with go grey and fuzzy wasn't helping any either. It felt like he was being drawn, or dragged somewhere but he knew he wasn't moving. Then in a moment of clarity everything snapped back to normal, he could see his mother clearly could see what had happened just before the world went dark around him.

/ Hogwarts \

Four hundred and seventy miles as the crow flies, due north, lay an ancient castle. Once a place of war, a bastion of safety in an uncertain time, well, it was such still but that wasn't its main purpose. No more would armies crash against the walls seeking to destroy what was held safe within. Now it was considered the premier place of education in the entire magical realm, a jewel in the crown of the British magical community. It was not a place likely to be destroyed in a siege, far more likely would be the ravening hordes of children brought to learn in these hallowed halls bringing the castle down from the inside as they fought one prank war after another.

Albus snorted at his whimsy as he walked through the darkened halls. During the summer months it would still be light outside, it only being eight in the evening but now the hallways were both dark and cold. No sane child wandered these halls at this time of year, and those who did, did so only in direst need. That didn't stop the need for him to patrol his bailiwick for possible infractions of the rules. Truth be told it was a rather peaceful duty which he was quite happy to perform since it got him out of his accursed office and away from most of that paperwork that called his name accusingly. It took a few seconds in the quiet of the corridor to realize that that wasn't the sound of paperwork berating him from his distant office but the fact that the wards set to watch said office were going wild. Something was very wrong.

"Fawkes!" he said sharply as his blue eyes flashed. Whatever was happening would be dealt with. A ball of flame appeared above his head which he reached a hand into without hesitation or fear of being burnt and the corridor was once more empty, dark and cold.

To say he was surprised at the appearance of his office would be an understatement, when he arrived it was into a dark green cloud of smoke that reached from floor to ceiling and wall to wall and was thick enough that he could hardly see the bookshelves on the far side of the tower room. Through all of that there was the constant wailing of the wards.

A quick wave of his hands shut the siren down even as Fawkes let out a trill that he took to mean, 'Right I'll leave you to deal with this.' just before he flamed out of the room. Taking a breath he waved his wand in a tight circle while pulling it back towards him and moments later the smoke flowed towards him collecting in the palm of his off hand. It was hard to believe that all that smoke had compacted into a small cube no more than an eighth of an inch per side that nestled in his hand.

"Alright, would someone like to explain just what in tarnation is going on?"

"Don't look at me, you put me on this shelf facing the damn wall again. I couldn't tell you what happened even if I felt inclined to."

"Hat?"

"Oh stow it you old goat! Do you think it's a little boring staring at the same patch of stonework for an entire year? Do you care?"

"Why didn't you say something?"

"I have, but it's always, 'In a moment Hat,' or 'Sorry, I'm a little busy right now Hat.' I've watched this section of wall for four months, three days and sixteen hours. I could tell you how many minutes and seconds as well but I think you get the picture."

Albus raised his wand once more and waved it at the shelf lifting and twirling the hat in place so that the leathery features were once more facing the room. If he was expecting gratitude though he was doomed to disappointment.

"Well it's about time! It's not even like you had to get off your bony arse to do it either. Oh and by the way, I believe one of your monitoring devices was the cause of all this."

The headmaster took a quick look at the shelf of glittering silver paraphernalia he used to monitor his various duties and didn't see anything amiss.

"Did anyone see what happened?" he asked while directing his attention towards the numerous portraits of headmasters and mistresses of yesteryear. He was answered by a raucous deluge of sound as over a hundred portraits attempted to answer at once. Various calls of 'Sorry', 'In a different frame' or 'I was asleep' were the only answer he got.

"Silence! I think I get the gist, most of you know nothing about this. Could you keep that to yourselves? Only answer if you actually know what 'DID' happen!"

"I saw Albus," a painting of a man almost as old looking as the current headmaster stepped to the forefront of his golden frame and peered down at him.

"Well?"

"It started about an hour ago. One of those silver knick-knacks of yours gave a chirrup. Seen it before so didn't think anything of it. Then a couple of minutes before you arrived it emitted a piercing shriek that made me want to cover my ears before it began belching out all that smoke. Made it hard to see let me tell you, but then there was a rather large flash of light and something ricocheted off the ceiling. I think it came down behind your desk. Rather lucky really, if you'd been here I doubt you'd have been able to shield in time and it'd probably have needed the school nurse to sort out the damage to you."

"Yes thankyou Archimedes," he said absently to the last Malfoy to be headmaster as he gazed down at the idly spinning monitoring device. Knowing who it was linked to he took a quick glance at the second and third monitors and noted that while the one monitoring Harry was the same as it ever was even if it had relocated slightly the others were if anything stronger than they had been. Thinking that whatever happened must have strengthened the bonds of love between the Dursley's and Harry and thus strengthened the blood wards around number 4 Privet drive. He never realized that the wards were based on Petunia's love of her son and the miniscule blood connection that Harry and Dudley shared and not on her love for her nephew at all.

It would be quite a while before he ascertained the nature of his mistake, but, tomorrow would be whole new day. Dumbledore went to bed that night to sleep the sleep of the righteous and vindicated.

/ To be continued \

Authors notes:- I'd like to thank everyone who's added this story to their favourites, alerts and/or C2's. Also those of you who have reviewed this story, I've really enjoyed them and hope that all of the people who've read this story have enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed writing it.

I've been reading Harry Potter and Harry Potter fanfiction for nearly five years now and I've seen just about every plot line, plot device and pairing out there and trust me some of the pairings have grossed me out they've been that strange. I hope that in the scheme of things I've bought something new to the table that people can enjoy.