A/N:
Original story by darknessallover, 'Harry Potter, Black Phoenix'. Rewritten with permission and given ownership of this story. Thanks.
Sorry to put this up so late. My sister was in the hospital for a week and spent most of my spare time there.
Well could strike a deal with my beta though my gf did like me in the bunny ears but my importantly I think I'll just keep going as I am, most I just pull/replace the chapter if there's any major mistake. What'd you think?
Here's chapter 3. Enjoy.
---- Diagon Alley – Leaky Cauldron ----
Harry stepped into The Leaky Cauldron, it was the same as always; people here and there, anybody and everything imaginable. All staring at him. He did indeed look like a muggle. He pulled his wand and flipped it about in front of them. They turned away, never seeing the scar on his head. Well, you know what they say, hidden in plain view.
He continued into Diagon Alley, he had some things to get. But first he needed money, so he headed to Gringotts.
He walked over to an open teller and recognized the Goblin at the counter, "Afternoon."
The Goblin raised an eyebrow and looked up from his work, "Ah Mr. Potter. We've been trying to get a hold of you for quite some time now. I take it your financial advisor has given you the news regarding your Godfather's will?"
This was unexpected, "Noo…" Harry answered slowly while shaking his head.
He had thought of something this summer, if his parents owned a house, then maybe there was more and he was going to ask for an overview of his finances. It did cross his mind that his Godfather might have left him something but he did not expect much if anything.
The Goblin's face grew into a sneer, "It is as we have feared it seems. If you do not mind Mr. Potter, please follow me to a private room where we will discuss your finances."
Harry just followed the goblin into a private room where he took a seat in front of a table.
"Well this day certainty's been full of surprises. Wonder what else can happen?" he thought.
An elderly looking Goblin walked through the door and Harry stood up to greet the Goblin who was followed by another goblin a stack of documents.
"Ah. Good to meet my milord. I am Goldtooth, President of Gringotts."
"Lord? I think you are mistaken. I'm just Harry or on a more formal basis Mr. Potter. Keyword being Mister."
"Please, take a seat while I explain. You see milord, with the pasting of your Godfather Lord Sirius Black, you come to inherit his title and most of the Black fortune after the other benefactors. And now that you are a legal adult in the Wizarding World and after the paperwork is done in the muggle World, you also inherit the title of Lord Potter as well as the Potter fortune."
Goldtooth gave Harry a moment to absorb this information, "This is Griphook who was promoted late last year and appointed as Gringott's overseer of your family accounts.
Griphook bowed, "It is good to see you again milord."
Harry gathered his wits and looked at the goblin, "Sorry. I can't quite place when I meet you but your name does sound familiar."
Griphook just him a toothy grin, "That is alright milord. We first meet about five years ago, I was a mere junior teller then and I brought you and your giant friend down to your trust vault."
"Ah. Yes. I remember you. Nice to see you again."
Griphook bowed again and walked over to Harry and handed him part of the stack of documents, "These are an overview and a breakdown of all your assets."
Harry quickly skimmed through the overview, it seemed that that combined total of the Potter and Black fortunes which included several properties and shares in many different muggle and wizard companies, put his total net worth around the fifteen billon galleon mark. Making him the richest wizard in the World but still no where near the riches man in the World.
"Well that's still a far off fantasy I guess but this will definitely help with my plans to deal with Dumbledore and Voldemort. Once I get an idea of what I want to done to them anyway." He thought to himself.
"Milord…"
"Harry."
"Excuse me?"
"Call me Harry. I'm not use to all this title stuff plus it's rather uncomfortable. I prefer first names if you don't mind?"
"Of course. That is what is quite unique about you Harry. Not many wizards and witches can be bothered to be quite as civil as you are, that's why we return the courtesy."
"Thank you, I guess."
"Well the other reason we asked you in here was that recent events have made us suspicious of your financial advisor who oversees your finances…"
"Wait. Who oversees my accounts?" As if he hadn't already guessed.
"One Albus Dumbledore."
Harry just growled. "Son of a bitch, I should have guessed." He mumbled to himself.
Goldtooth nodded to Griphook who took out another stack of papers and handed them to Harry, "These are all the transactions that have taken place from your family's vault since your parents' death."
Harry looked through the papers and found that every year since his parents deaths, nearly twenty million galleons was taken out of his family's account and spread amongst varies other accounts. The largest withdrawal was done last year, over five million galleons were taken from his account and spread amongst many other accounts.
Harry's breathing were coming in deeper and slower breathes, sounding almost like growls. He looked over at who made the transactions, Dumbledore.
"THAT BASTARD!" He yelled as he ripped the papers in half.
The two Goblins were taken aback by Harry's outburst.
"Harry, we were under the impression that you were aware of all his actions. You see, we had a document with your parents' signatures on it stating that one, if in the event of your parents death, one Albus Dumbledore would be the overseer of your family's till you started schooling at Hogwarts which is not unusual considering the times. It would have raised too many questions if he was given total control." Goldtooth explained, "We had no reason to doubt the document authenticity as well as other documents authorizing the withdrawal from your family's account with your signature on it."
Harry raised his eyebrow at that, "But I've never signed any documents regarding my family's account in fact I thought all I had was in vault 513 when I first came here."
"We know Harry. Vault 513 is a trust vault set-up for you by your parents till you become of age. But Dumbledore could not have any access to your family's account once you started school without your signature. Before that he could not withdraw too much at once if not he would draw suspicion on him as we would not normally report small transactions."
"So what finally made you decide to check on my account?"
"It is Gringotts' policy not to reveal the contents of a will to anyone other than the benefactors and whoever they choose. And since we knew the content of the will including your emancipation and taking up the titles of head of both the Potter and Black house, we could not reveal it to him. But his persistent of getting a hold of your part of the will as well as who the new head of the Black house is made us grow suspicious and we decided to review all the past documents."
Griphook handled him another stack of documents, "We found that these documents on top with your signature on them were forged. We did not know this till we managed to get a hold of some of your school documents which were confirmed to be yours and found that the signatures did not match."
Harry came to an old looking document, "That is the original document that made Dumbledore your financial advisor. The signatures of your parents are real but we found very faint traces of what we believe to be a concealment charm on it, leading us to believe that Dumbledore might have ticked your parents into signing it."
Harry was angry, scratch that he was royally pissed off. That Old Bastard has not only been keeping HIS money from him but also stealing from him.
"How do I remove Dumbledore as my financial advisor and any access he or anyone else other than myself might have?" He asked angrily.
The Goblins gave a sinister smile and Griphook placed a stack of documents, ink well and quill on the table before him, "Just sign here."
Harry looked through the document which was a contract, stating that Harry was the taking over responsibility of his finances and that no one was to be given access to his account without his written permission or any other recognized form of withdrawal. That was fine, there was no way he'd let Dumbledore have any control over him. He signed the contract without a second thought.
"Is there anyway to get my money back or any thing I can do to Dumbledore?"
"Yes Harry. You can sue him within a year to recover the money or failing which you can send him to Azkaban. We have all the evidence and can put you in touch with some of the finest lawyers the Wizarding World has to offer. "
"That will be fine. I don't plan on tipping my hand just yet. Is Number 12 Grimmauld Place under the list of properties that I own? "
"Yes, it is and this is a complete listing of all properties currently under your control." Griphook answered as he handed him a piece of document.
Harry quickly skimmed through the list and found that he now owed several properities in England including Godric's Hollow, Number 12, Potter Manor and a house in Hogsmeade. He even has a summer house in the States from his parents and one in Frances from Sirius as well as Black Castle in Germany and a few others.
Harry looked up, "I was wondering if I might know who the other benefactors are and what they received?"
"Of course as new head of the Black House you do have the right." Goltooth flipped a few pages of his folder. "Your Godfather left the following, Remus Lupin, one hundred thousand galleons, uncollected. Nymphadora Tonks, one hundred thousand galleons, uncollected. Albus Dumbledore, one hundred and fifty thousand galleons, collected. Nasscia Black Malfoy and Draco Malfoy nothing. All other distant relatives of the Black family also received nothing unless you count the tongue lashing and rude gesture your Godfather's image gave them." Goldtooth concluded with a hint of approval in his voice.
"Amongst other thing your Godfather has given the unofficial title of Godfather to Remus Lupin. Reinstated Nymphadora Tonks and her mother to the Black family line and disinherited Bellatrix Black Lestrange, Nasscia Black Malfoy and Draco Malfoy, cutting off the allowances they've been receiving from the Black family." Griphook explained.
"An image?"
"Yes, all wills not only come in a written form but also a recorded image in the form of a pensive. In fact we do have one for you. Do you want to view it now?"
Harry was torn, he really really wanted to see his Godfather's face, to hear his voice but he needed to conclude his business here too.
In the end he made the hard choice, "No. I'll view it later but I think there are only a few more things to discuss. Why is it that Lupin and Tonks have not collected their inheritance?"
"We were told they were unable to attend. And were represented by Albus Dumbledore during the reading but we did not release the money to him as he was not their financial advisor nor did he have any legal documents authorizing him to collect on their behalf."
"Good. More ammo for the up-coming fight." Harry thought. Even if he could not convince Lupin and Tonks to join him, at least that will cause some desertion in the ranks.
"Alright. In that case, that leaves only two more matters before I would like to view the pensive. One is there an easy way for me to move in between the two vaults without have to use the cart? And I would like to have all the money from my trust vault moved to the Potter family vault."
"Of course. We took the liberty of constructing a passage way between the two vaults since they would coming under your control and are fairly close together. Now Harry before we give you some privacy there is one more small matter."
Goldtooth pulled two small boxes form his coat and slid them across the table to Harry. He opened them, revealing two rings. One had the Potter family crest on it and the other the Black family crest.
"These are the family rings of the noble houses of Potter and Black. Once you put these on you will be recognized as the Head of both houses."
Harry placed the Potter ring on his left ring finger and Black ring on his index finger. He felt something surge through him and saw the rings glow for a few seconds before returning to normal.
"The rings have accepted you and you are now officially Head of both houses. We'll give you some privacy now. Griphook will be waiting outside the door should you need anything." Goldtooth placed a small stone bowl with runes on it as he stood.
Both Goblins bowed to take their leave and Harry returned the gesture. Harry waited till the door was closed before touching the bowl. It started to glow and a miniature ghost-like image of his beloved Godfather appeared.
A tear appeared at the corner of his eye as his Godfather spoke, "Hello Harry. Or should I be calling Lord Potter-Black now…"
---- - ----
Harry stepped out of the room, having finished listening to his Godfather. Griphook stood and bowed to him.
"Is everything alright milord?"
"Griphook just called me Harry."
"I'm afraid I cannot do that milord, it would not be proper. At least in public."
"Alright. Griphook, I've decided to follow some of my Godfather's and was wondering if you will consent to be my legal financial advisor, you will of course be paid a retainer's fee of fifteen thousand galleons a year."
"My… my lord." Griphook stuttered a look of shock on his face.
"Is that not enough? Please excuse me I'm not familiar with the average pay for different jobs in the Wizarding World. I do not wish to offend you." Harry was really worried about souring relations with the Goblins.
"NO! I mean no. Excuse me." Griphook regained his composure, "I mean that is a very generous offer. Very generous indeed. And I would be most honored to be your appointed financial advisor." Griphook bowed.
"Of cause that does not cover your annual bonus and twenty percent of any money you make through stocks and share with the ten million galleons you will be allowed access to." Harry gave him a slight smirk.
Griphook looked like he was able to have a heart attack, "Than… thank you milord."
"Now if you don't mind, I'd like to go my vault now."
"Of course."
After a quick ride, Griphook and Harry stopped in front of a large metal which boar both the Potter and Black family crests. Griphook told Harry that all he had to do was approach the door and place his hand on it. It will recognize him and open.
Harry did as instructed and the doors opened before him. He entered the vault, it was huge, almost as big as the Great Hall at Hogwarts. It was filled with mountains of gold, silver, bronze and precious stones with many trunks lying around.
"This Harry is just the Potter vault, the Black vault is down that passage way on the left and through that passage way on the left are way all your non-monetary valuables are kept, like books, scrolls, deeds and some family heirlooms and weapons."
"Let's go to the Black family vault." It was the same as the Potter vault but it had a potions lab with some of the rarest potions ingredients known.
"Griphook, I will need to make some rather large purchases, is there anyway I can make them without carrying tons of gold around?"
"Yes we've recently start a credit card system similar to that of the muggles and it has been very well received. Would you like me to get you one?"
"Yes and can you get it something with I can carry large amounts of gold with me. It's probably good to still carry some gold with me. Oh and can you get me a thousand pounds in nothing bigger than hundred pound bills."
"Of course Harry." Griphook made some quick notes on a piece of parchment which he rolled up and vanished. In less than three second a pouch appeared in its place. "Here you go Harry."
"That was quick."
"Gringotts prides itself on quick and excellent service if you're in our good books of course." Griphook gave a toothy smile.
Harry opened the pouch and removed the credit card and pounds, placing them in his wallet. Harry poured as many galleons as it would with was quite a sum as it was expanded inside and charmed to be feather-light. He strapped it to his belt and proceeded to leave the vault.
---- Diagon Alley ----
First stop, books, lots and lots of books. Well maybe not first stop, he needed one of those trunks like the fake Moody had in Fourth year. He walked into a shop advertising a vast array of trunks. He looked at everything, till he found one that had everything he wanted.
It was the size of his regular school trunk but could be shrunk down to the size if a match box with the right password and his magical signature. It had four metal locks which would open only to him and anyone else he gave permission to. It had five rooms in it, a master bedroom with a bathroom and lots of book shelves, a guestroom with bathroom, a kitchen, a hall and an empty room which he intended to turn into a gym, workout room and potions lab.
He ordered extra wards and charms to be placed on it when he was inside and wanted to use it as a house outdoors.
It set him back more than ten thousand galleons but it was worth it. He could use it as a house it he was ever on the run and needed to hide out somewhere.
Now for the books, anything to help him. To Flourish and Blotts, inside he began stacking books up on the counter in front of the clerk. He got books on animagus, metamorphatas, DADA, advance dueling, charms and transfiguration, magical theory, rune magic, and ancient magic. And most importantly Occlumency and Legilimency, he will not allow what happened last year to repeat itself again. He bought over thirty books, stacked them inside his trunk.
Outside he started going over what else he would need, when he saw something interesting, Knockturn Alley. He put a hand on a dagger, and went through into the darker part of the magical shopping center.
The first shop he stopped at was the very same one he landed in when he first came to Knockturn Alley. He entered the dark and dusty shop and walked towards the counter where he found Mr Borgin.
"I'm looking some of your rarer title of books, the ones you do not display."
"Bugger off. I have no such books."
"That is not what I saw when Mr Malfoy and his son dropped by but of course this might help persuade you." Harry placed a few dozen galleons on the counter.
Mr Borgin's eyes lit-up, "Right this way Mr…?" Taking in the man's appearance till is eyes fall on an all too familiar scar.
"Har… Harry Potter."
"That is Lord Potter-Black to you." He raised his left hand showing his family rings. "And if you value your life you will forget that I was ever here." Harry warned as he placed a few more galleons on the counter.
Mr Borgin took the galleons and bowed, "As you wish my Lord."
Harry followed Mr Borgin to the back of his shop and found lots of books on the dark arts and rituals. Harry bought nearly every book Mr Borgin had, much to the latter's delight.
"Do you know how the Ministry tracks underage magic and where I can get another wand?"
"The Ministry uses two methods. One is that wards are placed around homes with magical children in them and another will be the tracking charms that are placed on all legally sold wands but all these are useless if nobody monitors them. As for another wand I can point you in the right direction later."
"Can you remove the tracking charms?"
"The place where you can get your new wand can do that for you my Lord."
"Good if this is all you have in stock when it comes to books then I will take those directions now."
Harry paid for his books and followed the directions towards the Wands shop but another shop caught his eye. A Magical Pets shop. He's sure Hedwig won't mind. He walked in and looked around till he came to the area filled with different snakes.
He looked around till he saw a snake that caught his eye. It looked like a large python but no way near as big as Nagini.
"Can I help you." A young beautiful and pale skinned woman approached him, she seemed quite out of place considering all the old and/or dirty hags he saw as he walked along the alley.
"Yes this snake caught my eye."
"Ah. The Cobrathon. A very fine and deadly species. It was created by a dark wizard who tried to combine a King Cobra and a Python and you have what you see before you. It can inject venom into its victims, constrict them or spit venom at them but I will not get your hopes up. Not only are they very expensive but that are very picky about who gets to be their master."
"We'll see about that." Harry walked up to the cage and tapped the glass till the snake woke up and spread its hood, clearly annoyed at being woken up.
"What is your name?" Harry hissed at the snake.
The snake seemed quite surprise, "Desusss."
"Well Desuss I am in need of another familiar. Are you willing to come with me?"
"Yesss. I would like that, Masster."
Harry opened the cage and placed his arm inside which Desus coiled around and moved across his shoulder and rested its head on Harry's shoulder, the rest of his body.
"You're a parselmouth," the woman was shocked.
"Yes and he's agreed to be my familiar. How much do I owe you?"
"A thousand galle… galleons sir." The woman sounded scared.
"Very well." Harry took out the money from his pouch and gave it to the woman. "If you have any more interesting snakes or animals please do let me know and the extra is for your silence."
"Wait! How do I contact you?"
"Send a letter to Griphook at Gringotts, tell him you have a letter for Lord Potter-Black." Harry turned to leave the shop.
"Lord Potter-Black… Harry Potter!!!"
Harry found the wand shop and stepped in, he found an elderly man asleep with his feet on the counter. Harry cleared his throat loudly and the man woke up.
"How may I help you?"
"I was told by a business associate of yours that you can help me made a new wand and remove the Ministry tracking charms on my current wand." Harry told him as he placed a few galleons on the counter.
The man pocketed the galleons and asked Harry to follow him to a back room.
---- - ----
Harry stepped out of Knockturn Ally if you looked closely you would see no contacts, yet he saw perfectly.
He saw someone sitting at an outside café all alone, though he didn't know why. He knew it was Tonks, even if she looked like McGonagall's little sister. She must have been sent to watch for him. He put on his sunglasses and sat down across from her.
"Hey Tonks." He said and ordered a drink.
She looked him over, "Do I know you?"
He laughed, and grinned. "You and every other wizard in Great Britain."
He pulled off his sunglasses, pointing to his scar. She looked shocked and reached over and hugged him. He was rather surprised, but hugged her back. He looked at her confused when she let go.
She blushed, and morphed into something more recognizable as her. "I'm sorry Harry, but I have barely talked to anyone outside the Order for a month." At this Harry's confused look grew.
"Why's that?" he asked.
"Well, they think I'll cause trouble being on a mission, and don't want me in the Ministry right now, with the upheaval and all."
He nodded, understanding dawning on him, he had seen it in the Daily Prophet, every few days someone would try to make everyone else do something worthwhile, while awaiting a new Minister of Magic, he got a every other day subscription.
"Well, that sucks, but Dumbledore is a moron, so I can see that happening. You can hang around with me you know, just volunteer for my guard. I would love to have someone other than the muggles I'm with." He told her.
"Hmmm…. Sounds good to me. Right now is one of the few times they let me out," she paused looking him over, "Lets go do something!"
She stood, pulling him by the hand, off in the direction of a part of Daigon Ally he had never been to. Filled with pubs, inns, bars, and…well if he wasn't mistaken, they had wizarding clubs.
Her fingers had intertwined with his during the journey; he disengaged his hand, looking into her apologetic eyes. He paid no heed to the look and put his arm around her waist, and started off towards the club he had seen, she leaned in on his shoulder.
Outside the club he stopped. He put a hand under her chin, bringing her head up to look her in the eyes. He searched them for deceit, but found nothing but longing, and hunger, he smiled, lent down and pulled her lips to his. He loved the way she would move her tongue against his. He pulled up and again looked into her eyes, this would become his favorite activity.
TBC
A/N
Thanks for reading and do check out my other stories.
