Disclaimer: Its JKR's not mine.

Chapter 2: Surprises in Diagon Alley

Hut-On-The-Rock, The Sea, Unknown

Harry woke up and found himself shivering, and he heard thunder outside. He looked around and remembered that his uncle Vernon had rented out the shack they were in to hide from Hagrid. 'I have to be careful. I can't let on how much I know. Dangerous things have happened to wizards that meddled with time.' Harry thought to himself, as he decided not to cast a wandless warming charm on himself, instead opting to wrap an old, moldy blanket around himself.

Harry thought back to his training, even though it technically never happened, seeing as he was in between, he still maintained all the knowledge and skills he had gained during those harsh seven years of training. Before it was all over, he had surpassed both his parents' and even Merlin's wildest expectations, and since they had an extra year and a half, he was taught to develop his metamorphmagus skills that they had discovered, along with becoming an animagus.

Harry looked at his watch as he came out of his daydream. He sighed to himself; he would be eleven in about a minute. 'Happy birthday Harry' he thought, as he drew a cake in the dirt, waiting for Hagrid's imminent arrival.

"3…2…1…" Harry counted down.

Boom! Dudley jerked awake, looking around in shock as Hagrid knocked on the door to the shack. Boom! At the second knock, Dudley bolted toward aunt Petunia, who was cowering beyond Vernon. Boom! Finally, the door gave way and flew off its hinges, slamming into the wall across the room.

"Who's there? I'm warning you, you're breaking and entering. Leave now, I'm armed," uncle Vernon said, sounding a lot braver than he looked. If one paid any attention, they could see the pee running down his uncle's leg as Hagrid stepped forward and ripped the gun out of Vernon's hands before bending it like a pretzel.

'This is priceless' thought Harry as he stood to face the first friend he had in the wizarding world.

"Budge up Dursley, yeh great prune," Hagrid said as he looked down at Harry. "An 'Ere's 'Arry! Yeh were jus' a baby las' time I saw yeh. Happy birthday to yeh. I got something 'ere fer yeh, mighta sat on it at one point."

Harry watched as Hagrid started pulling sausages, a kettle, and other things out of his pocket before he finally got to his cake.

Hagrid noticed Dudley starting to move closer at the site of the cake.

"Don't eat anything he gives you, Dudley!" Vernon yelled from his place in the corner.

"Don't worry Dursley, yer son don't need any more fattenin' up. It's a shame what yeh've done ter 'hat poor boy, I've seen dragons smaller than he is," Hagrid chuckled at the thought. "Give me a min' will yeh, Harry? Only I got ter owl Dumbledore, let him know I got yer letter to yeh."

Dudley paled even more as Hagrid pulled out a small, very ruffled looking owl from deep inside one of his coat pockets and quickly scribbled a letter to Dumbledore.

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

Gave Harry his letter. Taking him to Diagon Alley tomorrow to get his gold and school supplies. These muggles are right horrible great prunes. Weather is terrible. Hope you are well.

Hagrid

Harry smiled as he waved his hand at the fireplace, causing flames to erupt, and Dudley's jaw to drop as he pointed at Harry.

"W-What did you just do?" He managed to stutter out, looking horrorstruck.

Hagrid looked at Harry for a moment and answered before Harry could, "Its called magic. Young Harry ere's a wizard, an' a thumpin' good one at tha'. Harry tha' was wandless magic. How long have yeh been able ter do that? It usually takes years o' training till a wizard is able ter control yer magic ter that point."

"That? I've been able to do that for ages. I always knew I could do special things, but I was always beaten and starved for days when my aunt and uncle caught me," Harry answered smiling cruelly at the Dursley's. He was immensely enjoying taunting them; after all, they had treated him like rubbish all his life.

"What!" Hagrid roared, turning to face Vernon, whose face was fast turning from red to purple in rage. "Dursley, you been beatin' on James an' Lily's boy? That's suicide, it is. Do yeh want 'very witch an' wizard cross the country after yer blood?"

Vernon stepped up to Hagrid, who was easily twice his size, even with as wide as Vernon was. "We swore when we took him in that we'd stamp that nonsense out of him. Wizard indeed. It's unnatural, a disease. That kind of freakishness is nothing a good beating wouldn't cure."

"We swore that we wouldn't allow any of that nonsense in our house that night I found you with that letter from Dumbledore," Petunia said as she stood next to her husband, glaring hatefully at Harry, as if everything that had gone wrong in the last ten years was his fault.

Harry glared right back at her and faked a confused look as he yelled back at his aunt, "You knew!"

Petunia cackled evilly, as if she'd lost her mind, "Knew! Of course we knew! How could we not know, with my dratted sister being watch she was? Of course I'm the only one that saw her for what she was, a freak! Every summer she came home, turning rats into teacups and making the dishes wash themselves. Oh, but no. It was Lily this, Lily that. My parents were proud to have a witch in the family. Then, she decided to marry that Potter bloke and then you were born. We knew that you would be just the same, just as abnormal. And then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up, and we got landed with you!"

Harry watched his aunt Petunia gasping, looking relieved to have finally got that off her chest. "You told me my parent's died in a car wreck," he growled.

"Car crash!" Hagrid roared, slamming his fist against the wall, making the whole shack shake, threatening to collapse on them. "A car crash couldn't kill Lily an' James Potter. It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter, not knowing 'is own story, when 'very child in our world has grown up knowin' 'is name."

By now, Petunia's and Dudley's faces were both white. Aunt Petunia's in hatred, Dudley's in horror. Uncle Vernon's face, however, was threatening to suffocate him as it turned darker purple in raging fury at each syllable that passed Hagrid's lips. Harry thought that he might pass out soon enough from lack of oxygen to his brain, but he could only hope as much.

"Stop. I forbid you to tell the boy anything," Vernon screamed at Hagrid, waving his fat purple fist, shaking in front of Hagrid's face, before his courage failed again and he stumbled back at the look on Hagrid's face.

"Who are yeh ter stop him? A great muggle like yerrself stop Harry Potter from goin' ter Hogwarts? Yer mad. Yeh'd all be dead by noon," said Hagrid, turning to Harry.

"What's Hogwarts, err... sorry I don't know your name," Harry managed to get out, keeping the confused look on his face.

A look of shock came across Hagrid's face, "Didn't they tell ya anythin'… 'bout anythin'?"

"Err... Sorry," Harry looked down, trying hard to maintain the faked confused and sorrowful expression he currently had on his face, when in reality, he was enjoying every moment of this.

"Don't be, Harry. They the one's tha' should be sorry. All this time, yeh not knowing, I was beginning ter worry when yeh weren't getting yer letters. Oh, an' the name's Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Hagrid said, slowly turning around to face the Dursley's.

Uncle Vernon seemed to have gotten his courage back again because he glared at Hagrid and yelled, "He will go to a public school he will be thankful for it!"

"Nonsense," Hagrid replied, "He will be goin' ter Hogwarts unless a great muggle like yerself cares ter stop him, an' as I said before, yeh'd be mad ter try it. His name's been down ter go there ever since he was born an' he'll be under the finest headmaster Hogwarts has ever seen," Hagrid's chest puffed out in pride before he said, "Albus Dumbl-"

"I am not paying for some crackpot old fool to teach him bloody magic tricks!" Vernon yelled from his corner.

'Looks like uncle Vernon's stupidity got the best of him, time to earn that tail Dudley' Harry thought to himself as he fought not to snicker.

Brandishing his umbrella like a sword, Hagrid's eyes shown with rage and his glare was one to make even Uncle Vernon's contorted face turn from purple to white in a second flat. "YOU... WILL... NOT... INSULT... ALBUS... DUMBLEDORE… IN... FRONT... OF... ME..!" Hagrid roared at Vernon, his every syllable trembling with rage, causing uncle Vernon to cower once more. Hagrid's umbrella went swishing through the air before it came down and point at Dudley, who was trying to sneak half the cake into his mouth, shooting a yellow light at his bum.

With a small wag of his finger, Harry completed the transfiguration, which made Hagrid look at his umbrella in shock.

Aunt Petunia rushed over to the pig that was her son. "What have you done? Oh Diddykins, mommy will fix you right up," she said, hugging the pig and sobbing. "You," she pointed at Harry. "It's all your fault. You are no longer welcome in our home. You're no nephew of mine, you freak! Get out!"

"Come on, Harry, let's go," Hagrid said, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder after wrapping the only good blanket around him. "We'll get a room for yeh in London. Now I ain' prejudiced like them purebloods, but there ain' no need ter stick around here cold and miserable, bein' treated like that by that muggle filth. Mark my words, Petunia," Hagrid said. "I was there when Dumbledore left yeh tha' letter. Once he hears o' this yer gonna be sorry."

Harry stepped out the door as Hagrid was raging at Petunia, but not so fast that he missed the look of pure and utter terror on his aunt's face at Hagrid's last words.

Harry watched Hagrid step into the boat outside and shivered from the cold, which he could still feel from within the blanket.

"Here yeh go, Harry," he said, handing Harry his coat. "Now, don' worry bout me. Yeh keep warm. Yeh don't mind if I speed things up a bit do yeh?"

Harry shook his head, eager to get away from the Dursley's and out of the storm.

As they sped along towards the coast, Hagrid leaned in near Harry. "Yeh don't mind not mentionin' this ter anyone do yeh? I ain' really supposed ter use magic, not that I've got yeh."

Again, Harry shook his head before asking, "Hagrid, if I do something, do you mind keeping it a secret and not telling anyone? Not even Dumbledore, not until I'm ready."

Hagrid looked skeptically at Harry before smiling, "O' course Harry. As long as it's nothin' bad.

'Oh this is going to be wicked. I can't wait to see the look on Hagrid's face.' "Good," Harry said, "Because I'm tired of being out here in the cold."

A look of confusion crossed Hagrid's face, right before Harry touched his arm and apparated them both to the Leaky Cauldron. A moment later, after they both felt as if they were being squeezed through a tube, after two almost silent pops, they appeared in front of the barman, Tom. Harry snickered at the sight of them, because if the look of surprise on Tom's face at seeing Hagrid apparate in before he noticed Harry was funny, then the look of astonishment on Hagrid's face was downright hilarious.

Tom watched Harry, as he was rolling around on the floor laughing at the old wizard and the half giant. "Merlin's beard, Hagrid. It's Harry Potter. And if I didn't know better, I'd say he just apparated you both in here. I've never seen you apparate before, Hagrid, in all these years I've known you. I didn't know that you could."

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Potter, welcome back," Tom said as he stuck his hand out towards Harry, before Harry took his hand and shook it.

"It's nice to meet you too, sir," Harry replied as he took the barkeep's hand and shook it firmly while enjoying the look speechless look on Hagrid's face.

After a moment, Hagrid managed to compose himself, "Now, yeh no I can' apparate, Tom. Young Harry 'ere wants ter keep it quiet, so keep it ter yerself if yeh will."

"Of course, Hagrid. I assume you and Mr. Potter will be getting a couple of rooms tonight?" Tom asked, while looking Harry up and down, trying to measure him up.

"O', course. We might as well stick around. After all, tomorrow I gotta take young Harry here ter get his school supplies," Hagrid replied, as he patted Harry on the back, nearly knocking him forward into the counter.

Harry tapped Hagrid on the arm to get his attention, as the two men continued their conversation.

"Yeah? What is it, Harry?" Hagrid asked. Stopping in the middle of what appeared to be quite a thrilling tale about Hagrid chasing a dragon across the countryside on a flying motorcycle after it had taken off with a crate of dead ferrets from the front of Hagrid's hut.

"Sir, you heard what my aunt and uncle said," Harry looked up innocently as he continued, "They aren't going to pay for me to go to Hogwarts, so how am I going to get supplies?"

Hagrid chuckled to himself as he looked down at Harry, seeing himself all those years ago, remembering how difficult it all seemed at first to him. "Well, that's what Gringotts is fer Harry. It's the wizard's bank, didn't think yer mum and dad would leave yeh with nothing did yeh? Nah, first stop tomorrow is ter get yer gold. Just enuff to get yeh through the school year. Yeh know, Harry, yeh remind me a bit o' myself when I was yer age. I didn't reckon that I would ever fit in, but I always had a great time at Hogwarts, still do as matter o' fact. Yeh'll do great there. At Hogwarts everybody starts at the beginning. Seven years there and yeh won't know yerself. Yeh'll be with youngsters of yer own sort fer once, and yeh'll make some great friends."

As Harry listened, he sat there thinking about the next day. He would have to make an appointment with the goblins in order to get an account summary of his vaults, along with various other information.

"Hagrid, what did my aunt mean when she said that my mum got herself blown up? How did she really die?" Harry asked, hoping that the tone of his voice was convincing enough to fool Hagrid into thinking that he really was curious.

Hagrid nearly choked on his firewhiskey at Harry's question, causing Harry to snicker. "Well, I don't know if I'm the right one ter be tellin' yeh this Harry, but I guess yeh gotta know. I mean, yeh can't go into Hogwarts not knowin' why yer famous," Hagrid took another drink of his firewhiskey, looking nervous before he started to continue.

"Wait, Hagrid. You don't have to tell me, I can find out from someone else. You don't look like you really want to talk about it in the first place, and I don't want to make my first friend in this world upset with me. Although if Dumbledore himself trusted you enough to send you to get me, I'd feel much better knowing the truth from you. After all, I bet as a gamekeeper and someone so close to Dumbledore, you probably know pretty much everything that goes on," Harry said, reassuring Hagrid, yet carefully flattering him. Harry knew Hagrid too well, there was no way Hagrid wouldn't tell him everything he knew now.

Sure enough, Hagrid's eyes filled with tears of happiness at being called Harry's first friend and his beard twitched as he smiled with pride before puffing himself up. "Nahh, its ok, Harry. I can already tell, yer going to grow up into a fine young man," Hagrid replied, patting Harry on the shoulder and making him wince.

"Well here goes. About twenty years ago there was a wizard. He went bad, well worse than that. He was as bad as they come. Right 'bout that time he started gatherin' followers. Suppose some of em wanted a piece o' his power, cause he was getting power alrigh'. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him - an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Everyone that stood up ter him was murdered, even yer mum and dad. Yer mum and dad were two of the best witch and wizard I ever had the pleasure ter meet, Harry. It was an honor ter be their friend. As the story goes, yer parents found out that you-know-who was after em. Nobody knows what for, but then again, nobody lives once you-know-who decided to kill em. Well, yer mom and dad went into hiding for about a year before he finally caught up to em. Killed em he did, but the strange thing is, when he tried to kill yeh, somethin' happened. Nobody knows what happened that night, Harry. Somethin' about yeh stumped him alrigh'. He hasn't been seen since, and most people think he's dead. Cadswollop in my opinion. I'd say he's just out there somewhere, bidin' his time, tryin' to figure out a way ter come back."

"Hagrid, who is you-know-who? What's his name?" Harry asked slowly and deliberately, gauging Hagrid's reaction.

Hagrid's eyes glazed over, and his face went pale before he regained his composure and answered. "Blimey Harry, people are still afraid to say his name. Okay, but only this once. His name was V-V-Vold-."

"Hagrid," Harry interrupted. "Why are people afraid of his name? I mean, he's gone isn't he? What harm can a name bring? The longer people fear his name, the more power they give him that he doesn't deserve. Fear the man behind the name, I'd say, not the name itself."

Hagrid stared wide eyed at Harry for a moment before he started chuckling. "Yer wise beyond yer years, Harry. An' yeh sound a lot like Dumbledore. Great man, he is. Never was afraid ter call him by name either. Then again, Dumbledore is the only one you-know-who ever feared. Now what's that sayin' o' his? Ah, fear of the name, only increases fear of the thing itself. His name was V-Voldemort."

Harry secretly applauded Hagrid, who managed only to wince slightly at the name.

"Now Harry, don't go around sayin' that name. People are still afraid of it yeh see. It could bring trouble, an' we don't want that. Those were dark times, 'Arry. Yeh never knew who yeh could trust, didn't want ter go makin' friends with strange witches and wizards. Loads of dark witches and wizards were joining his ranks. Some wanted to live, but the most dangerous one's wanted a bit o' his power, cuz he was gettin' himself power alrigh'. Anyone who stood against him, he killed, and horribly at that. Some of his followers are bound to still be around, so people are still cautious. Most people still remember the constant fear we lived in 'Arry. Can yeh imagine what it was like for those pour souls who came home and saw his mark, floating in the sky above their houses? It was everyone's worst fear, seein' that mark. Families would come home and instantly know the dread of what they knew they would find inside. Nahh, 'Arry, it's best that ye keep his name quiet," Hagrid said, while looking at Harry, as if expecting something.

Harry smiled up at the big oaf and said, "Don't worry Hagrid; I don't want any trouble on my first day here." 'Personally though, Hagrid, that is just one of the things I plan on changing.'

"Well, we best get going up ter our rooms now, Harry," Hagrid said, while downing the last of his firewhiskey. "You'll need your rest for tomorrow. I'm gonna take yeh ter get yer school supplies, and there's only one place ter do that. Diagon Alley."

Harry thought to himself as he quietly followed Hagrid to their rooms. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. There were several things he had to do while in Diagon Alley, in order to prepare himself for the upcoming war against Voldemort. Before he went to sleep, though, he took a quill and parchment and wrote a long overdue letter.

Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts, Northern Scotland

Albus Dumbledore was in a good mood. The time had finally come for Harry Potter to rejoin the wizarding world. In fact, he had received an owl just a short time ago from Hagrid. Hagrid was with Harry, and would be taking him to gather his school supplies tomorrow. Yes, as he watched the boy over the years, he noticed that sadly, Harry was mistreated in a terribly inhumane way. 'Alas' he thought to himself. 'I must do what I can to help him. I know that he is going to blame me for placing him with the Dursley's, rightfully so. I just hope that Harry realizes that I had his best intentions in mind when doing so. When the time comes, he must be ready.' As Dumbledore leaned back in his chair in front of his desk, he looked over at Fawkes and said, "Only time will tell, old friend."

Just then, Dumbledore noticed two beautiful wolves sitting in his office, right in front of the door, just looking at him. One of the wolves was pure black, with a line of silver tipped fur running down the length of its back. The other was pure silver, with a line of jet black tipped fur running down the length of its back. However, besides the fact that the wolves were there in the first place, what caught his attention most was there eyes. The eyes of both wolves were a brilliant emerald green, and a fire shown behind each eye, making them seemingly even more beautiful to gaze into.

Before Dumbledore was able to gather his thoughts at seeing the wolves there with him, Fawkes let out a loud screech of phoenix song, just before a torrential vortex of blue and golden fire swept through his office. Out of pure instinct alone, Dumbledore had whipped up his wand and flicked a spell to freeze the fire in place, however, nothing happened. Not only was he unharmed, although his wand had been stripped from his old fingers and was now lying atop his desk, but the fire still raged.

For the first time in decades, Albus Dumbledore was struck speechless as the fire seemed to spin and swirl into a sphere hovering in the air above his desk, before it exploded outward. Instinctively, Dumbledore raised his arm to protect himself from being blinded from the flash of fire and a brilliant golden light. As Dumbledore lowered his arm, his jaw dropped as his ears rang with the powerful songs of a thousand phoenixes surrounding him. The experience was beyond words, and he knew that it could only mean one thing. Keeping his eyes closed, Dumbledore sincerely wished that he was not off his rockers, like many of the students liked to say.

When he opened his eyes, Dumbledore was again struck speechless. On his desk before him was a creature of astounding power and beauty. This creature had not been seen in centuries, not only because of its rarity, but also because a creature so pure could not stand to be in a world filled with corruption. In all his one hundred and sixty years of life, Dumbledore had never hoped, not even once, that he would have the honor to be in the presence of a royal phoenix. Yet, for some odd reason, the one standing before him had deemed him worthy, and it even had a letter in its beak!

The royal phoenix had jet black plumage, tinged with a dark red, in order to highlight the brilliant gold on the tips of each feather. As the phoenix looked Dumbledore in the eyes, the old wizard noticed that like the wolves, the phoenix had brilliant emerald green eyes with a living fire behind each.

Before Dumbledore could compose himself, the phoenix jumped into the air and disappeared, with a flash of fire and a single tail feather, burning with everlasting phoenix fire, floated down to his desk, alongside the letter.

After a few minutes that actually seemed like hours to the aged headmaster, Dumbledore was finally able to contain himself enough to take a look at the letter. The parchment was sealed with an emblem of a great black shield. It had a silver sword, burning with blue and white fire, stabbing down through the middle of it and the sword had a crown on top. On the left side of the sword, a royal phoenix spread its wings as if to fan the fire and a lion sat regally on the right side of the sword, with one paw reaching out towards it, claws extended. What fascinated Dumbledore the most though, was the basilisk at the bottom. It held the tip of the sword in its fangs, but what amazed Dumbledore the most was the fact that the basilisk was in mid transformation. Not many wizards knew that the king of snakes transformed into a royal black and green dragon, the kind of which that hadn't been seen in over a thousand years. The basilisk truly was the King of Snakes, and transformed into the Lord of Beasts, the royal drake.

Albus Dumbledore leaned back and sighed. He didn't know what to think about the phoenix that had appeared, or the seal on the letter. The motto Honoris et Decus, Castus de Pectoris Aevitas was emblazoned on a golden banner that wrapped around the shield. 'Honor and Glory, Pure of Heart Forever. Obviously whoever sent this is from an old family, although I have never heard this particular motto before,' Dumbledore thought to himself as he cast several detection spells on the letter.

Having not found any spells of any sort on the letter, Dumbledore carefully unsealed it and began to read.

Dear Headmaster,

Long time no see! It has been ten long years since the last time you saw me, and condemned me to the miserable life that I have led up to this point. I wish I could see the look on your face right about now, that is if you realize who I am.

Right now I am sitting at a desk at the Leaky Cauldron writing this to you. Hagrid is already in the next room snoring. I don't know what you were thinking all those years ago when you placed me with the Dursley's, but rest assured that you and I will have a long talk when we next see each other. I don't appreciate people meddling in my life, and though you may have had very good reasons for what you did, and I will require an explanation, you made choices for my life that have led me to being beaten, starved, and pretty much treated like dirt.

I will expect you to answer for all of this. Depending on what you decide to tell me, and your reasons, we may be able to work together. I will never forgive you for the hell you condemned me to go through, but there might be a chance that we can leave the past behind us and start afresh. After all, we have a war to prepare for if Voldemort ever returns. Like you, I don't believe that he is truly gone.

Meet me at the King's Cross station on September 1st. I will have something that you need to see. Make sure to bring the minister along with you.

Sincerely,

Harry James Potter

As Dumbledore finished reading the letter, he sat there with it still in his hands, contemplating the possibilities. Albus was not easily surprised, yet this was the third time in less than half an hour that he had been struck speechless. In truth, he was utterly bamboozled and apparently it was all because of a young boy, who until now, Dumbledore thought had grown up, completely oblivious to the world of magic that was kept secret, all around him.

'How does Harry know so much?' Albus pondered. 'He was supposed to remain ignorant of everything until now, so that he could grow up as a normal child, but this? What went wrong? How in Merlin's name was Harry able to get a royal phoenix of all creatures, to bring me a letter?'

Dumbledore went to bed that night wondering about Harry Potter. 'This will be an interesting year if Harry continues like this. He has already shown himself to be highly unpredictable.' As he thought about what had occurred in his office, just shortly before, Albus Dumbledore fell asleep with a smile on his face. After all, he had to meet the French ambassador and head auror Jean Claude Delacour at Gringotts tomorrow. If he timed things right, he would be able to run across Hagrid and Harry as they visited his vaults. Tomorrow, he would have his answers.

Delacour Mansion, France

Hundreds of miles away, in a small room, a little girl woke with a start. She found herself sweating as she sat up in bed. Lately, she had been having these strange dreams that seemed to be from a different time, and even when she was awake, she found herself remembering things that couldn't possibly have happened. At least, not yet. The girl looked around her room, and remembered where she was. She didn't understand what was going on, but she had a feeling that it had something, if not everything to do with her veela heritage. Lying back down to sleep, she vowed to herself that the next morning, she would talk to her maman and papa about it.

Leaky Cauldron, London

Harry woke with a smile and took a shower before he went to Hagrid's room. "Come on, Hagrid, wake up! Its time to go," Harry yelled, while throwing open the blinds.

"Blimey, Harry. Yer excited ain't yeh?" Hagrid said as he slowly got up out of bed. Nevertheless, he was smiling as he remembered his first day in Diagon Alley, after he had received his own letter.

Harry followed Hagrid out to the back of the Leaky Cauldron to the walled off courtyard, where there was only a small black trashcan, and some weeds. Harry watched Hagrid tap a certain sequence of bricks with the tip of his umbrella, causing an archway to form the entrance.

"Welcome, Harry, ter Diagon Alley," Hagrid said proudly. "Well, come on now. We're off ter Gringotts, ain't no safer place ter keep yer money. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe, 'cept maybe Hogwarts. Yeh'd have ter be mad ter try an' rob it. The goblins ain't nobody yeh wanna mess with, Harry, mark my words."

As Harry and Hagrid were partway down Diagon Alley, they came upon Gringotts near its intersection with Knockturn Alley. Here stood the imposing snow-white marble building: Gringotts Wizarding Bank towering over the other shops.

Turning sideways to face Harry, Hagrid swept his massive arm to the side as if to show Harry the world. "Harry, this is Gringotts. This is the place where witches and wizards store their money and other valuables. The vaults 'ere are miles below ground and are heavily guarded. Gringotts has been here fer centuries, and as I said before, it is run by goblins. Devilishly cunning, they are. They alone know the secrets of the twisting underground passages and the enchantments that are in place to defend against intruders. I once heard somewhere that there are even dragons down there. Crikey I'd like a dragon. Well, the goblins have a code that forbids them to speak of the bank's secrets, that's why no one can break it. It's protected by old goblin magic, and they would consider it treachery ter break any part of that code. Even the curse breakers have ter sign magically binding contracts in order to work for 'em," explained Hagrid as they walked up the stairs and passed through the burnished bronze outer doors of Gringotts before they came up to the small entrance hall. As they passed near the silver doors at the end were two goblins, grinning evilly at them. Each one had a uniform of scarlet and gold and scanned them as they walked in.

After the goblins waved them on, Harry read the inscription on the front of the large silver doors as the opened, before he walked through them and into the main lobby of the bank.

Enter, stranger, but take heed Of what awaits the sin of greed, For those who take, but do not earn, Must pay most dearly in their turn. So if you seek beneath our floors A treasure that was never yours, Thief, you have been warned, beware Of finding more than treasure there.

As they passed through the doors, again, flanked by goblins, they came into the vast marble hall that made up the main lobby. Here, by Harry's estimation, there were a hundred or more goblins were sitting at counters counting coins, gems, and other important things. Leading off the hall, Harry saw several doors through which at least one, and probably more of them, customers could access their vaults from.

Harry quickly found an open counter and walked up to it.

"State your business," the goblin said, looking at Hagrid.

"We are here ter withdraw some gold fer young Harry's school supplies," Hagrid said proudly, with a painful thump of his hand on Harry's shoulder.

Leaning forward, Harry barely caught Hagrid's next words as he quietly whispered to the goblin while handing the goblin a sealed envelope, bearing the Hogwarts crest. "Also, here's a letter from Dumbledore, concerning the you-know-what in the vault you-know-which."

The goblin read over the letter. "Does Mr. Potter have his key?" the goblin asked, as it peered over the counter, grinning evilly at Harry.

"Yea, I got it. Hold on," Hagrid said as he dug through his pockets, before finally pulling out a small golden key and handing it to the goblin.

"Very well, I will have a goblin take you to both vaults. Griphook!" the goblin called. Soon, another goblin came wobbling up towards them.

"Follow me please," Griphook said before turning and opening a door to guide them through it.

"Hagrid, would it be alright if you got my gold for me? I need to attend to some personal business here," Harry asked, hoping that Hagrid would agree. He really didn't need anyone with him when he made his claims.

Hagrid turned and watched Harry, wondering what was going on before he saw Dumbledore just coming in with a Frenchman and a young French girl that looked about eight years old. "O', course, Harry. An' when yer done, yeh might want ter have a chat with the headmaster. He's just over there and I reckon he came ter see you," Hagrid said while pointing over at Dumbledore, before he turned and followed Griphook through the door, closing it behind him.

The goblin that he and Hagrid had spoken to before looked suspiciously at Harry as he walked back up to the counter. "What else can I do for you, Mr. Potter?" he started to ask just before Harry raised his right hand, causing a ring to appear. The goblin's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he saw the crest that was bore upon the ring, which had three emeralds, three rubies, one diamond, and several smaller, magical stones surrounding it.

Harry grinned at the goblin's reaction before he spoke in the goblin language. "Please tell director Ragnok that I would be honored if he would agree to meet with me at his earliest convenience. There are a few matters that I must go over with him."

"Of course, my Lord. I believe that director Ragnok is in his office now. Would you like us to check?" the goblin said respectfully, hoping and praying fervently to himself that his blunder would not cost him his job, or worse, his head.

"Yes, please. That would be greatly appreciated," Harry answered. "Also, do not worry about your job or your life. You had no way of knowing who you were speaking to until I showed you, and I would be grateful if you would keep this to yourself."

The goblin looked practically gobsmacked at Harry's words as he practically ran through the door behind him.

"Harry, my boy. What a pleasure it is to finally meet you again," a voice called out from somewhere behind him.

Harry turned around sharply at the voice. "Hello, Headmaster," Harry said coldly. "I assume you got my letter last night?"

A look of delight crossed Dumbledore's face before he answered, "Ah, yes. I was most surprised at your words, and indeed, the method of delivery. Would you like to explain it?"

"Not at this time, Headmaster. I have several things to do today, but if you meet me at the station as requested, I will be glad to speak with you about that, among other things, then," Harry replied. "Who are your acquaintances?"

"My apologies, Harry. I did not mean to offend you. Please excuse my lack of manners also. This man with me is the French Head of their Auror Department, Jean Claude Delacour. He is here as an ambassador," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he held his hand out to a short, plump man, with a pointed black beard. Although his appearance might not have been that impressive, he carried himself with an air of dignity and authority.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Potter," the French wizard said, with a slight accent, as he held his hand out to shake Harry's. "This beautiful, little angel beside me is my daughter Gab-"

Monsieur Delacour didn't get to finish speaking as Gabrielle looked up at Harry, just before a look of apprehension dawned on her and she launched herself at him. "Harry!" she screamed, just before he was tackled to the ground.

Before anyone could react a brilliant white wave of light and magic tore through the main lobby of Gringotts, knocking everyone to the floor. However, the surprise didn't stop there, because the light seemed to be coming from Gabrielle. As the three wizards, along with several goblins stared in shock and awe, her body changed and aged itself to an age much closer to Harry's.

"Gabrielle, explain yourself. What just happened? Why did you tackle Mr. Potter to the ground?" Monsieur Delacour asked his youngest daughter, looking at her worriedly.

"Papa," Gabrielle started, as she sat herself up beside Harry. "He is the one I told you and maman about. He is the one from my dreams. He is my très spécial et chérir une."

Harry was confused as he looked at Gabrielle. She breathtakingly beautiful and was tall and willowy, for her age. She had an air of grace around her that made her seem like she was gliding when she walked the short distance to hug her father, before returning to Harry's side. She also seemed to emanate a faint, silvery glow, reminding Harry of her older sister Fleur. She had long, waist-length hair of silvery blonde, large, deep blue eyes that shown very clearly with her excitement, and very white, even teeth.

"My Lord, director Ragnok is ready to see you. Please follow me. I will escort you to the director," the Goblin called out to Harry as the goblin returned to the lobby.

Dumbledore looked at Harry pensively. "Harry, what is this about?" Dumbledore asked Harry, while he helped Harry to his feet.

"That is my business, Headmaster. For now, I must go," Harry growled before holding his hand out to Gabrielle. "Would you like to come with me? Your father and Dumbledore can conclude their business alone, and I promise that you will be quite safe with me."

"Now, see here young man. Just because I had expected this sooner or later, doesn't mean that I am okay with it," Monsieur Delacour said firmly, as he tried to step between Harry and Gabrielle.

"Papa," Gabrielle said without even a hint of an accent as she gripped Harry's hand harder. "We will talk about this later. But for now, I must go with Harry to this meeting. Please, Papa."

As he looked at the pleading look in his daughter's eyes, Monsieur Delacour sighed. He had been afraid of this ever since his daughters were born. Apolline had made sure long ago that he knew what might happen one day, but why so soon? His angel was so young.

Just this morning had wrought his worst dreams come true when his Angel told them of her dreams. From that moment, Jean knew the day was coming when he would have to entrust her to the one who would take care of her for the rest of her life. That didn't mean that her dreams made any sense. On the contrary, they scared the hell out of him. How did she know such things? He had brought his Angel with him to England, in the hopes of spending more time with her, and had unwittingly walked her right up to her bondmate. If she or Apolline had known who her bondmate was, they hadn't told him, and now he had little choice. "Of course, my Angel. I just didn't think that it would be this soon. Mr. Dumbledore and I will await you both here in the lobby.

"Oh, thank you, Papa!" Gabrielle smiled dazzlingly as she hugged her father tightly and giving him a peck on the cheek, before taking Harry's hand and following the goblin through the door, still smiling and humming happily.

Soon, they came to large ornate golden doors and the goblin rapped on one of the doors with his hand.

"Director Ragnok, Harry Potter wishes to see you," the goblin said.

"Send him in," a raspy voice sounded from inside.

Harry looked around as they walked in. They were in a large, circular room that practically screamed wealth. The architecture was ancient, antique yew and blackwood, inlaid with gold and mythril. The furniture was made from yew, except for the large, golden throne behind the desk that a regal looking goblin sat at. Everything in the room was of very exquisite craftsmanship.

Director Ragnok watched carefully as the young Lord Potter and his Lady friend entered the room. The child was dressed in rags, far from what the goblin had come to expect from such an old pureblood family. Still, the child's eyes were bright, and betrayed a depth that could only come with great pain and sorrow. Despite his age, Lord Potter carried himself with a strength and determination that screamed in defiance of his own upbringing. Something seemed... off, about the young human standing before him now.

"Hello Director Ragnok, may many fortunes smile upon you." Harry greeted in the goblin tongue.

Ragnok nearly fell off the throne from shock. Not only did the boy speak their language perfectly, he also spoke with manners. His eyes then fell on Gabrielle, who was standing shyly behind Lord Potter.

"What is it young Lord Potter?" the goblin asked in english. "How can I be of service to you today and who is this young veela that is with you? It is not often that we goblins see a wizard treat other magical creatures as equals."

"Please call me Harry. I wish to do a blood purity test. I would like to know of my lineage, and lay claim to any and all of my vaults. Also, I have heard that goblins are able to determine which, if any, special abilities that a witch or wizard may possess," Harry replied, while bowing respectfully to Ragnok and helping Gabrielle to her seat, before taking his own.

Ragnok nodded slowly as he listened to Harry's requests. Though he was slightly put off that Harry had knowledge of some of Gringotts' more obscure ritual services, Ragnok could not help but to feel a certain amount of respect toward the young Lord that was so very carefully holding back a great deal. "Indeed, all that is quite possible, Harry. Also, due to the report that Ripclaw gave me, I was going to request that you take both of these tests anyways, in order to verify your identity. This will all be at the expense of Gringotts, of course. We would not want to allow anyone, other than the rightful wizard to lay claim to such an ancient bloodline vault," Ragnok stated.

'If this boy truly is the heir, then we are in for some interesting times ahead of us. At least he seems to treat non humans with respect as equals. There is promise in this child. Let us hope that he is the one. He may finally be able to put these dark years behind us forever.' Ragnok thought to himself as he gathered the required papers for the two rituals.

"Harry, I can sense the old magic that is strong within you, but before I can say more, you must both follow me to our genealogy ritual chamber, where we can immediately perform the two rituals that are necessary," Ragnok said through grinning teeth as he stepped down from his throne and opened an ancient looking door that had appeared from nowhere in the side of the room.

Swiftly, Ragnok had moved to a door to the side that had not been there before and opened it, waving Harry and Gabrielle through after Harry had helped the part veela to her feet. Harry's gentleness and respect for her did not go unnoticed by the goblin, who was still slightly gobsmacked that the human was not a gibbering idiot at the site of a young veela that had little control over her allure. Smirking to himself, Ragnok admitted to himself that Harry's treatment of Gabrielle and the goblins, whom Harry had treated in a respectful way after their own culture, had brought him to admire the boy.

When they came to the room, Harry looked around and saw that the walls were covered in names of all the wizard families that had ever been recorded to have a vault at Gringotts. Also, a curious look passed over his face at the sight of what appeared to be a large aquarium that was cylindrical in shape, and it appeared to have a clear potion inside.

"This is our genealogy chamber. The liquid in that aquarium will be activated by the magic within you and it will light up names on these walls, depending on if you are the direct heir, or magical heir of the families," Ragnok explained as he led them into the room. "This will be quite an uncomfortable experience for you, since the ritual requires you to completely submit and allow your magic to control you and search you. Rest assured, you will be completely safe, however."

Harry looked at Ragnok cautiously, trying to determine if he was telling the truth or not. He could easily use legilimency, but he did not want to offend the goblins, especially when their cooperation was crucial. Finally, he asked, "What do I have to do?"

Ragnok grinned cruelly at Harry and answered, "You will have to be completely submerged in the potion until it takes effect on you, and then we will pull you out. During the period of time that it will take for the ancient magic in the room to work its course, you will use this ceremonial knife to cut your palm and drip some of your blood into this basin" As Ragnok said this, he waved his hand towards an ancient looking bowl that was covered in runes. It was sitting beside a silver ceremonial knife, along with a blank piece of parchment and a quill.

"As soon as the basin has enough blood, your hand will automatically heal itself, and you will use that quill, dipped in your blood, to sign your name on the parchment. The charms on that parchment, along with the magic in the runes that cover the basin, will show you any and all special abilities that you have, whether or not they have been discovered yet," Ragnok explained.

Gabrielle looked quizzically at Ragnok. She had been quiet up to this point as she felt a bit overwhelmed by the magic she felt in this room. She sensed the old and powerful magic that was gently stirring and could be roused easily if one knew what they were doing. "What about me, Director? Would I be able to perform these rituals also?"

Ragnok glanced briefly at Gabrielle before bowing his head, "I'm afraid not Miss Delacour. The veela blood in you would make the ritual disastrous for you, possibly killing you. Though blood magic and sex magic work well together in most cases, this is not one of those. In order for the ritual to work, the magic must completely overwhelm the witch or wizard and I'm afraid that if you were to go through it, the blood magic and your magic would likely collide against each other, since both brands of magic have dominant traits."

"That's okay, Gabrielle," Harry said as he softly squeezed her hand, seeing her face downcast and trying to comfort her.

"I guess so," she replied quietly.

"So, can we do this now, Ragnok?" Harry asked the old goblin.

Grinning, Ragnok answered, "Of course, Lord Potter. If young Miss Delacour would stay right here, we can get you situated and begin the rituals.

"Will you be ok, Gabrielle?" Harry asked softly as he looked her in the eye.

Gabrielle looked up shyly and said, "Yes, I will be fine Mon chéri . Let us get this over with. We still have to deal with my papa."

At that remark, Harry gulped, causing Gabrielle to giggle. The sound of her giggling was music to Harry's ears as it made him imagine sitting on the edge of a beach, watching the sunset, listening to the music the Gabrielle's voice spoke straight to his heart.

Snapping out of it, Harry stepped forward, slowly releasing Gabrielle's hand and looking at Ragnok, spoke clearly, "I'm ready. Let's do this."

As Harry climbed the stairs to the top of the aquarium, he wondered what it would feel like. Even Merlin did not tell him anything of these rituals. When Harry got to the top, two goblins lowered him into the aquarium.

Just as the tip of Harry's head submerged completely under the water, he felt like he was being suffocated. Try as he might, Harry could not move. His limbs simply refused to respond. Finally, running out of air, Harry began to panic and his body began to thrash around. To Harry, it felt like jagged wires were stabbing all over him and the pain was excruciating. Just when Harry was about to give up, however, his body seized and went rigid, and his magic exploded outward from him in massive waves.

Gabrielle was getting worried. First it had seemed that Harry had stop moving, but that was at least better than when he started thrashing about for a few minutes, looking like he was in mortal agony. Just when she was about to tell Ragnok to stop the ritual, Gabrielle's eyes shot back towards Harry as she felt a massive wave of power fill the room. She could barely stand looking at the aquarium, the light was so bright. After a few minutes, though, the light began to dim, but was still pulsing strongly throughout the room as the goblins pulled a glowing Harry out of the now golden and pulsating liquid.

Harry barely realized it when the goblins pulled him from the liquid. Believe it or not, he felt great! It was a horrible experience, but now he felt better than he ever had before. When he got to the bottom of the stairs and began walking over to Gabrielle, she ran over to him and launched herself into his arms.

"Are you alright, Mon chéri? I was so worried," She said, looking worried at Harry before burying her head in his chest. "You looked like you were in so much pain!"

Harry patted Gabrielle's head as he held her close. "I'm fine and yes it hurt like hell, but I feel great now."

"Are you sure?" Gabrielle asked, looking up at Harry with tears in her eyes. "I can't lose you now. Especially right after I finally got you. It seems a bit strange to me still, but I do remember you saving my life at the triwizard tournament. The foolish headmaster put me in that lake, knowing that the veela are still at war with the merpeople. He was a fool to believe that they would keep the granddaughter of the veela Matriarch safe. It was the perfect opportunity for them to ransom me and win the war."

This time, it was Harry's turn to be surprised, as he openly gaped at Gabrielle. "H-How'd you-," he managed to stutter out, causing Gabrielle to giggle again.

"I don't know," she answered. "My maman should be able to explain it to us, though. Before we can do that, you need to finish the other ritual."

Harry smiled at Gabrielle and nodded. It was true, he needed to finish so that he could complete he tasks he came here to do. He also had to talk with Gabrielle's father, and even though he didn't really want to speak with Dumbledore yet, Harry knew that the old man would not let him go until he had at least some answers.

Sighing, Harry stepped up to the table beside Ragnok, on which the basin and other materials for the second ritual sat, and picked up the dagger before cleanly slicing his palm and filling the basin with blood. Just as Ragnok had promised, after a couple seconds, his hand began to heal perfectly, not even leaving a scar. Next, Harry took the quill, and dipping it into the blood, he signed his name to the top of the parchment.

The second the quill picked up from the parchment after signing the last letter of Harry's name, golden lines began crawling all over the parchment and lighting up several words that Harry was sure weren't there before. Harry also noticed that several names began to glow on the wall, some in gold, and a couple in silver. Ragnok took the parchment from Harry's hands, along with a parchment of the names that had glowed on the wall before frowning.

"Interesting. Your results are spectacular, Lord Potter, but there was one problem. When I witnessed your reaction to the first ritual, especially the ending, it had me worried. By the looks of things, there was no need. If you would both follow me back to my office, we can continue our business there and I will answer all of your relevant questions," Ragnok said before he walked off, heading back towards his office.

Looking at each other, Harry and Gabrielle sighed before taking each other's hands and following him. Whatever the results were, Ragnok's last comment had them both worried, but if they stood by each other, they knew that they could get through it together. As for Harry, personally, he didn't understand what was going on between him and Gabrielle yet, but he liked it. And he definitely wasn't fixing to look this gift hippogriff in the beak.

Author's Notes:

For those of you who do not understand French, très spécial et chérir une means most loved and cherished one. The significance of this phrase will be explained in the next chapter by Gabrielle's mother. Also, the results are in! I know I'm evil to make you all wait. I can't wait to see what Harry can do. If anyone has any ideas of what special abilities they want Harry to have, let me know. I will consider all the requests, but obviously I may or may not put it into the story. Votes please!

For those of you who have noticed that I put Gabrielle with Harry in the summary, and not Fleur, kudos to you. The reason I am going to do it this way is because as Fleur is already several years older than Harry, her personal issues when it comes to men being able to resist her Veela powers area bit difficult to go around. It is also more difficult for an older witch, especially a veela, in a pureblood society to go after a younger wizard than it would be the other way around.

Another thing that makes Gabrielle more realistic and fun is that she still owes Harry a life-debt from the previous timeline. It'll be funner this way seeing as it will be simpler to explain her being with Harry, then Fleur. Personally, I think Fleur is a bit stuck up, even though Bill makes her ease up a bit. As for Tonks. She's a no brainer. I've already got an idea of how to stick her fun loving, kinky self in there.

Again, thanks for all your reviews.