Chapter 2: From Rags to Riches

Key: "Speech", 'Thoughts', ""Magical Incantations""

Author's Note: This chapter should be the last full chapter of exposition, next chapter we should be starting at Albus's new school. I know it has seemed like a bit much so far, but there were just a lot of things that needed to be set up in order for it to make sense in later chapters.

This will also probably be the last chapter for a while, as I am putting this story on a temporary hiatus until I gain some skill as a writer (through other stories). The reason for this being that I really want this story to get told well and it is going to be very tough to do so if I do not have the skills required.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Monday -=- November 6th - 28:31 -=- Flight BAW77D

Albus was huddling up against Chester to conserve heat as he felt the plane starting its final descent. He was tired, cold and hungry but knew he still had to find somewhere safe before he could truly rest. The fact that he had escaped England and was now circling around New York was something he should be proud of but all he could think about was how he hoped his fingers hadn't frozen solid.

Chester was a great black dog with ample fluff to stay warm. It was for this reason alone that Albus had chosen him as his newest temporary friend when he had realised that the temperature in the cargo bay would continue to decrease. He had also made sure to share some of his packed food with him in thanks for the company.

As he was rubbing Chester's side, to get some warmth back into his fingers, he thought about how lucky he was to have gotten as far as he had. He had spent the weekend preparing for this trip by scavenging anything of use in Potter Manor. Where he was going, he would be on his own. He wasn't sure if there even were any Potter properties on other continents and without knowing of their existence, much less their name, he was unable to portkey there through his ring. The only place he knew he could find this information in would be Gringotts and he knew that there was no chance he would be able find his way to them without being spotted.

He hoped there was a branch in New York so that he could get more by way of finances. All he had managed to find at Potter Manor was the equivalent of one galleon, ten sickles and five knuts in spare change. He was lucky that the money pouch he found was already enchanted with space-expanding and featherlight charms otherwise he'd be stuck carrying kilograms of bronze coins. He absent-mindedly rubbed his chest as he thought about what else he had found in Potter Manor.

After he had listened to the radio for long enough to make him feel sick, apparently his was not the only familiy murdered upon that fateful night, he had ran to the master bathroom to cleanse himself of the taint he had felt. He had been certain that he could still feel his parent's death on his hands and had scrubbed himself until his skin was raw. He had then bathed in something more like a small pool than a bathtub and had almost felt relaxed. He had reasoned that there must have been muscle relaxant mixed with calming draught in the soap he had chosen.

After he had gotten out he had gone from feeling almost completely relaxed to as tense as a fully drawn bow when he saw himself in the mirror. Just underneath each collarbone, he had been marked by two very unique scars - both had been quite faded and had seemed to be much older than the few days they were.

On his left side he was marked by the infamous lightningbolt and the right side he was marked by an upwards arrow.

He had needed to sit down after he had realised that the one on his left had matched, almost exactly, the one that had once marked his father when he had been a child. It was then that he had decided he had to leave the country, if not the continent, since the only way he would be able to stay alive would be if nobody kew that he had lived in the first place.

Albus was brought out of his musings as the plane's wheels made contact with the tarmac and decided that it was time to double check everything he had - him leaving something like an invisibility cloak behind for muggles to find was just asking for trouble. He quickly threw his blanket and change of clothes into his backpack as he checked the time on his watch.

'Hmm, I'll probably need a new watch, this one doesn't seem to understand time changes.'

Being a magical-based watch, it had experienced twenty-eight hours since its last midnight which, given how long Albus has been awake for, was a pretty accurate representation of his day. He made sure to check is right forearm, for the fifth time, just to make sure his holster was still there. It contained a voucher for an Ollivander wand and if he lost it, he knew he wouldn't have enough money to get one. It was just really disconcerting that he couldn't see or feel it except for a slight pressure just below his wrist.

"Goodbye Chester, enjoy New York," he said as he headed towards the cargo bay doors. He was wearing the most normal muggle clothes he could find, so that he could blend in with the muggle side of the airport. Most large airports had magiports attached, hidden away with notice-me-not charms, and he didn't want to get seen by any wizards if he could help it. As the cargo bay doors opened he followed the largest piece of luggage down, hoping nobody would notice the extra weight. He hoped he'd be able to get past all the airport security for a second time.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Tuesday -=- November 7th - 08:09 -=- JFK Airport, New York

Albus stared at the magiport help center and was contemplating whether getting seen by definite wizards was worth it. He had not been able to find any information about anything magical and had been forced to hide away and sleep in the airport.

He had tried everything short of directly crossing over into the magiport knowing that if he did they would probably ask for his identity and whether he had entered the country legally. This was something that he knew he wouldn't be able to lie he way out of. The magiport help center employee, however, looked like she could be convinced by a 'lost kid sob story'. Channeling as much repressed emotion as he could into being a frightened little boy he took off his cloak and walked up to the help center.

"E-e-excuse me, but I can't find my parents. They said they'ed just be going to the bank to get some money but haven't returned yet." he said, hoping that she wouldn't see through the lie.

The kindly looking lady had a petite frame and was dressed in a dark blue uniform. She had a round face with a sharp nose that contrasted her narrow brown eyes. She looked down into two very frightened looking green eyes and took immediate pity on the boy.

"Don't worry young man, I'm sure they'll be back soon. Would you like to wait here with me for them?" she replied, wondering why anybody would leave their child all alone in such a busy magiport.

"I w-was hoping that you could take me to them, they said they would be back soon unless something important happened. Can you please take me there?" he pleaded.

"I don't think so, I'm not allowed to take a minor without parental permission. I could get the the airport security to make an announcement if you'd like? What is your name?" she asked, with an apologetic look on her face. At the mention of a name Albus momentarily froze, he couldn't let his name get out and he needed to get to the neutral territory of a bank.

"No! Please, can't you just take me to Gringlegotts?", purposefully fudging the name, "It won't take two seconds, I just want to get back to my parents!" he all but screeched with tears building in his eyes. 'If I get caught they'll send me back and I'll die, I can't die! Not now!'

"Gringotts?! You mean they apparated directly out of the magiport leaving their child behind?" the lady said, beginning to worry. She had heard that European magicals were backwards, but this was ridiculous! She had thought they had simply went to small human-run bank that was built directly into the magiport. Gringotts was miles away, in New York's magical commerce square.

Albus was beginning to worry that he had taken it too far and made too much of a scene when the dark-eyed grabbed a hold of his hands and apparated him directly into the goblin bank. As soon as he landed she worriedly looked at him and said, "Please keep it a secret how you got here, good luck," before she apparated away with a crack. She knew what she had just done wasn't quite legal, but as long as her boss didn't find out she'd be okay. She just had to help the poor little boy, what else could she have done?

xXxXxXxXxXx

Tuesday -=- November 7th - 08:27 -=- Gringotts, New York Branch

Albus was about to step out of the magical arrival zone when to two goblin spears crossed in front of him. An small red light above the doorway flashed as the wards worked their way back over the apparition zone. Once the light turned green the spears were withdrawn and Albus was free to move. He stepped out and was greeted with a Gringotts that was quite different from what he was used to.

This branch of Gringotts had a more modern design than it's olympian British counterpart. There was no milling about of tellers counting coins or gems and no desks were raised to imposing heights. Albus had just left one of three entrances that were all joining up into one long hallway. Opposite from the many apparatition, portkey and other instantaneous magical transport zones were many odd articles of furniture from a medieval floo fireplace to a large mirror that rippled like water. Right down the middle came the start of the hallway that led directly off of the main entrance.

As Albus walked down the stone hallway, he found they they opened up into a large, very busy, room. The room was divided up into many clear sections, each with many desks manned, by Goblins with numerous small dividers inbetween. None of them seemed to be doing anything like the counting of gems he saw in London. All of them had a strange machine in front of them with books and papers spread across the table along with a couple pens automatically writing things down and nearly all of them seemed to be doing business with a customer of some sort.

Each section was denoted by being embed in one of the walls and have large letters carved into the wall itself to show what business they dealt with. Directly opposite the direction of the main entrance didn't have any section embed into the wall but instead was painted blank and had many flashing numbers and letters that were colored red, yellow and green. There were at least fifty humans, goblins, dwarves and races he couldn't even identify standing near the wall holding seemingly one-sided conversations at the top of their voices whilst working some strange floating machines.

Worrying that he wouldn't be able to find a goblin teller to work with he walked up to the International Commerce section and started to look for a free desk. What was truly bizarre was that he couldn't get an accurate count on the number of desks in that section and while while nearly all of them seemed to be taken, as soon as he thought about finding one his eyes would spot one that was free.

Albus walked up to a free desk and noticed that as soon as he passed the divider between desks all the sounds outside of them became muffled and muted. Before he could comment on this the Goblin looked up. He had a long scar down the left side of his face and had one ear that looked like it had a small piece bitten out of it. This fierceness was counterbalanced by the fact he was wearing a full suit and had a small golden name-tag, Raktooth, on his desk.

"Would you like this meeting to be made private?" he asked in a bored tone and slightly annoyed tone that implied he was simply following some sort of protocol.

"Um, yes please," Albus replied, thinking this goblin seemed a lot less unfriendly than those back in England. The goblin pulled a lever and everything that was beyond the small dividers of his office were suddenly replaced by a bland stone hallway. He was about to ask about what had just happened but the goblin, not wanting to waste any time, cut him off.

"What business do you have today?" he asked, getting straight to the point as any decent goblin would - time was gold after all.

"I would like to get some money from my vault, but my vault is currently in England?" he asked more than stated, hoping he wasn't about to be laughed at.

"Any currency located in any Gringotts vault can be converted directly without having to move the vault itself, for a small fee. Do you have your key?" said the goblin.

"No, I don't... but I, um, can you keep a secret?" he asked sounding a lot more like the child he was than the independent business partner he was aiming to be.

"A confidentiality agreement?" asked Raktooth, now paying full attention to the customer he was working with. There was gold to be had in secrets after all. At the young human's nod he continued, "Anything said in this room is now fully confidential unless said information can be seen as a potential threat to the goblin nation. You may request a magically binding contract if you so choose."

"Yes, please." he said, almost earning a raised eyebrow from the now very curious goblin.

"Please sign your name here," he requested as he handed over a sheet of paper and crimson pen to the young boy. Albus briefly read through some of it, just to be sure, but found it was all in legal jargon that didn't make sense to him anyway. He would just have to trust it said what he had been promised. He signed off his name and was shocked to see it being written in what looked like blood.

Raktooth noted the boy's shock as he took back the contract, "It uses your own blood to ensure it is magically binding. It simply siphons some from your main arteries, such that it doesn't cause any discomfort. If it were to be taken from the back of your hand, for example, you would probably feel something more like a small sting." He then proceeded to sign his own name off with the same pen, taking note of the name of his client. Just then the contract glowed brightly and disappeared and he nodded in the direction of the boy by the name of Albus.

"I do not have the key and only have the family ring as my entire family was recently murdered." he started, hoping that it would be enough to grant him access to at least some of his family's gold.

"May I see the ring?" asked Raktooth, ignoring the talk of murder - what non-goblins did to themselves was none of his concern. Albus took off his gloves and held up his right hand. The goblin scrutinized it for a moment and then stated, "It is genuine and the magic has accepted you. We now have two options. The first is that we can request for an immediate reading of any wills with you as a benefactor, legally affirming that you are indeed the next heir to your house. This option will require us to contact all others mentioned in said wills in order for them to be present during the reading."

Raktooth paused and looked up at his client, deciding that his client would favour the second option and signing the required forms to reserve the required facilities. "The second option would be to consent to a rudimentary blood ritual for a bloodline and magical acceptance test. These will be used to determine to which house you are a potential heir and whether said house's magic would accept you as its head. This option is not as popular due to the potential to be given full control of a family's assets if one is accepted as the new head of one's family - overruling any previous wills or inheritance laws."

"Isn't blood magic dark and illegal?" he asked, worried

Raktooth chuckled at the boy's naivety, "While it might be seen as 'dark' in Europe, such magic is perfectly safe and legal in this country. 'Dark' magic is not classified as such in most countries. If you use magic to break a law, you will be prosecuted. If you murdered someone you will be treated in the same way regardless of whether you used a cutting curse to the neck, a heart-stopping medical charm or even the infamous killing curse Avada Kedevra"

Albus shuddered at the imagery of Raktooth's example. Despite his mounting trepidation of requiring a blood ritual, the second option sounded more reasonable given his current situation. He wanted to remain 'dead' in the eyes of Europe and that meant not requesting a reading of the Potter will. The blood ritual, if successful, would give him full control over his inheritance without informing any others of his existence. To others, it would just seem like some distance relative must have surfaced in 'the colonies' and claimed the Potter fortune.

"Can we go through with the ritual, please?" he asked.

He was then lead out of the room by Raktooth and was joined two fearsomely armed goblins. They walked through many bare passages taking what seemed like thousands of turns until they came across a large curved stone door. Raktooth performed some complex movements in front of it and the door pulsed red before slowly opening.

They both entered a large circular room was barren except for a raised bowl underneath a large stalactite in the exact center of the room. Everything seemed to be carved out of a single piece of obsidian that seemed to hold many small red twinkling lights that were slowly drifting about the walls, ceiling and floor. Once the doors were sealed, they couldn't even be told apart from the regular walls. Raktooth led Albus to the center of the room and took out a small obsidian knife that was laying in the the bowl.

"Once I cut your hands, please keep it directly above the bowl and follow my instructions exactly." said Raktooth as he brought the knife to Albus's palm. Albus nodded and Raktooth sliced cleanly across his right hand and backed away quickly as the blood started flowing.

As the blood made contact the with the bowl, the room flared to life. What were once small red twinkles in the wall turned into brightly glowing lights that dripped down the walls, across the floors and directly into the bowl. The glow coming from the bowl started off no more luminous than small candle but was slowly getting brighter eventually reaching the brightness of the midday sun.

Raktooth suddenly commanded, "Press your hand into the center of the bowl!"

With his eyes closed due to the blinding glow, he pressed down his hand and submerged it in more blood than he thought he could possible before making contact with the bottom of the bowl. The entire room flickered and then went out. The only light remaining coming from the large glowing pool of blood almost entirely filling the obsidian bowl.

Raktooth's eyes had widened in shock when the glow had progressed to almost blindingly bright before he had realised that the room would not have been able to take much more and had commanded the boy to initiate the fail-safe shutoff. He walked up to the center of the room and his eyes almost popped right out of their sockets as he saw how full the bowl was. While the blood test was an relatively uncommon procedure, never before had he heard of such a saturated bloodline. This boy must have been a potential heir to something truly ancient for it to almost overload the chamber.

"Please command the bowl to show a list of currently gathered bloodlines." said Raktooth, determined to see how far back it managed to get before he was forced to put a stop to it.

"Um, can I have a list of currently gathered bloodlines?" asked Albus, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious at the almost gawking goblin. A stone tablet appeared on the side of the bowl and Raktooth stepped forward and grabbed it. They would have to go through list slowly, accepting too many bloodlines at once can be dangerous - even more so if they are only distantly related.

Raktooth started speaking slowly, almost as if in awe, "The lights that were gathered in the bowl were converted to small samples of blood from the bloodlines to which you were a potential heir to. The more ancient the line, the more blood that is gathered. I fear what happened is that this facility was unable to cope with a bloodline that must have been truly ancient due to the recursive magics involved. We can arrange for another test to be done in a larger bloodline chamber but it could take weeks to find one large enough. Would you like to proceed with the bloodlines already gathered?" They might have to build an entirely new chamber in order to figure out which ancient bloodline was invloved, given what he had just seen.

"Sure?" he almost asked. Albus was rather confused as to the significance of ancient blood and didn't really care about some obscure long-forgotten ancestors. Perhaps when he was older and he was more mature, but at this point in time he just wanted enough gold to survive and maybe pay for his magical tuition. Wanting to get this whole procedure over and done with he added, "Can I attempt to become the head of all the bloodlines I am a heir to in one go?"

This was probably the worst thing he could have said. Not knowing that his right hand was still a direct link to the chamber, he had issued what could be seen as a command and the chamber could not help but comply. As soon as the words left his mouth, the stalactite above the bowl started pulsing and charging up for a massive magical discharge. With a yelp, Raktooth jumped to the side, backing away as quickly as possible. Raktooth knew what was coming and could only watch in horror as a potential goldmine of a client inadvertently activated the acceptance ritual for every currently collected bloodline.

Albus was already slightly worried about all this blood magic, always having been seen as dark in Europe, and seeing Raktooth yelp and jump away pushed that worry into downright panic. He tried pulling his hand away by found that his family's ring was stuck to the bowl and that he couldn't pull his hand free. It was then that an almost solid beam of magic shot down from the rapidly discharging stalactite and made contact with the pool of glowing blood.

As it made contact with the pool, he was suddenly flooded with magic. The magic flowed directly through him, getting into every nook and cranny whilst attempting to determine whether he was an adequate head for so many bloodlines. So great was the magic involved that it was physically spraying off the bowl, little globules of raw magic leaving scortchmarks where they landed.

Had he been able to see his hand, he would have seen his ring glowing white-hot and his hand burning away to the bone before being rapidly repaired. His body wasn't physically able to channel torrents magic in and out of his hand, being somewhat akin to forcing the entire ocean through a small mountain stream, and he passed out from the pain.

Eventually, the blood level in the bowl started decreasing - the blood from each bloodline that was accepted being absorbed by the ring. Albus was limply hanging on the side of the bowl with his hand still being stuck to the center. It was only once the last of the blood was gone, that the chamber released the ring and he fell to the floor.

Raktooth made his way quickly to the unmoving boy and cast a basic diagnostic spell, the magical equivalent to checking for a pulse. He sighed in relief and levitated him up into the air behind him. If his heart was still beating, all that magic coursing through would have healed away any damage it caused. If anything, he would be healthier than before. He dropped the obsidian knife back into the bowl and picked up the stone tablet before he made his way to the door with his client levitating behind.

He was somewhat amused to find an entire squadron standing ready outside of the door and quickly informed them that he was unharmed and that there was nothing of importance to worry about. He then started merrily humming to himself - goblins never hum - as he walked back to his office.

'This fool might have accepted all those bloodlines by accident, but now that he's survived he'll probably make us filthy rich. We're all going to be swimming in gold thanks to this, perhaps I'll even get a promotion...'

xXxXxXxXxXx

Tuesday -=- November 7th - 18:11 -=- Raktooth's Office

Albus awoke with a start in a familiar office and felt utterly exhausted, despite having just woken up. He looked around and found Raktooth slowly working his way through a large pile of papers on his left, signing off each one before placing it on his right. As he took stock of the room, he remembered what had happened. He glanced down at his right hand and saw that his Potter family ring had seemed to be replaced by another.

"It has been modified by each bloodline that has accepted you as its new head." Raktooth stated without even looking up from his paperwork.

Albus lifted his hand and inspected the ring. Just about the only thing that remained the same was that the Potter crest was still visible on the front face, albeit much more embellished than before. The crest itself seemed to reflect light in a strange way, like it was made out of something caught halfway between a gem and a metal.

Looking closer he noticed that the ring itself no longer seemed to be made of just gold, it seemed to be made from a rose gold alloy and he had a sneaky suspicion that the reddish hue was not from a mixture of gold and copper. The most interesting change, however, was the number of gems embed all around the ring. Every visible surface that was not covered by the Potter crest had a tiny red gems that tiled all over the surface on of the ring. He looked up to asked a question and noticed that Raktooth had finished whatever paperwork he was working on and was silently observing him.

"Um, well. What happened?" asked Albus.

"You foolishly attempted to accept every bloodline gathered in the pool at once. That you survived, given how many bloodlines were gathered, is unheard of. Each bloodgem condensed in that ring is indicative of a family that you are now head of. Due to the confidentiality agreement, I am now the supervisor of all your accounts." replied Raktooth baring his teeth in a vicious looking smile.

"What does this mean for me?" he asked in wonder, realising just how many gems were embed around the entirity of the ring.

"It means that you are currently one of the most wealthy individual clients we have seen in centuries. The ring can inform you of the details of what that entails."

'The ring?' he thought to himself. 'Due to being the official recognized head of this ring, its numerous enchantments are fully accessible to you.' a metallic voice replied in his head.

Raktooth took his client's surprise as a cue to explain, "Most head of family rings have enchantments layered upon them to help with the running of a family. Many of the old nobility enchanted rings to contain self updating knowledge on all magical laws that can directly affect the family and its head. Here is the full list of enchantments currently on your ring." He passed Albus a sheet of paper.

'I guess parchment is a European thing.' he thought as he took the page. He then attempted to read as much of the list as possible:

Client 1611719: Family Ring Enchantments
Direct Linkage to Family Wards (multiple)
Direct Control of Family Wards (multiple)
Stored Family Wards Control Knowledge (multiple)
Temporary Key(er) to Family Wards (multiple)
Permanent Key(er) to Family Wards (multiple)
Variable Self-Powered Portkey (multiple)
Vocal and Tactile Variable Portkey Activation
Continuous Resizing Enchantment
Selective Invisibilty Enchantment
Selective Intangibility Enchantment
Selective Demidimensional Location Enchantment
Unique Magical Identifier (Verified) (multiple)
Full Comfort Enchantment Suite
Minor Protection Enchantment Suite
Minor Aliumutamentus Protection
Minor Aliumutanimus Protection
Minor Aliumutsanguimus Protection
Stored Magical Law Knowledge (Self-Updating)
Quasiresponsive Mental Dictation Enchantment
Quasiduomentu...

He stopped reading after that. He thought he understood some of it, but after the Quasirepsowhatsit he realised he actually had no clue what most of it meant. Glancing up at the fearsomely grinning goblin he decided that he would rather research what it all meant himself instead of asking him.

Deciding upon a change of topic he asked, "Can you manage all of my Gringotts accounts until I am a little older? I don't exactly know what it means to be a head of a family aside from being able to have full access to my vaults?"

Raktooth thought it was almost too easy, "I don't believe any individual would be able to manage the entirity of your assets, but I would be willing to become a senior manager of a small team who could do so - for a fee, of course," he said as the fearsome smile returned.

"That sounds okay, my father," his heart clenched, "never taught me what being a head of a family meant, I'm not even sure he even knew himself. As long as there is still some money left by the time I get a job, then I'll be fine." he replied.

Raktooth chuckled at this boy's naivety once again, "You could do nothing but spend thousands for every day of your natural life and your descendants would still have enough to survive for many generations. Would you like a list of your assets?"

Albus shook his head as he saw the goblin's hand move towards an even larger stack of paper than the one on his right. Perhaps on another day he would look over all of it, but he did not want to worry about all that at this point in time. In fact, he was just thinking about what he had to do and realised something rather important. If he were to remain hidden, he'd need a new name.

"Can I see the list of boodlines I was accepted by?" he asked, hoping that his plan would work.

Raktooth was slightly disappointed that he wouldn't be going over the finances but handed over the stone slate that was created by the bloodline chamber. He hadn't gotten around to copying all the information across onto the self-updating charmed sheet of paper, but he was sure he still had another day or so before the conjuration disappeared.

Albus looked over the list and was shocked by the first couple of names. Potter was expected but Black, Longbottom, Bones and others were a complete shock to him, although it really shouldn't have been. He was again reminded of how it wasn't just his family that were no longer alive.

The further he looked down the list, the less familiar they became and the more interesting they seemed. After seeing the name Prince followed by the name King he briefly thought about how his ancestors might have been a royal of some sort, but then again that would mean that some of them must have been in charge of a pottery business too and he did not want to even think about what could have earned the Longbottoms their name.

It was during these fanciful musings that Albus spotted a name that he immediately felt a connection to - Vindexi. It probably helped that it sounded completely wicked in the eleven year old's mind. Little did he know how accurate that name would later become. Aside from the late headmaster of Hogwarts, he had never heard of another Albus so he thought he probably needed to change his first name too.

It was decided, from that moment on he would be known as Alex Vindexi. It also had the added bonus of him keeping his nickname, Al.

"Since I am head of all these families, can I legally change my name and documentation? Could we create new documentation what I currently have is somehow lost?" he asked.

"As a head to multiple families, you may do what you please with regards to the legal names of those within your family. This includes yourself, what name did you have in mind and do I have permission to use your new name henceforth for all documents pertaining to your finances?" he replied, knowing that a name has much more power than a client number when dealing with wealth of that amount.

"Yes, and I would like to be known as Alex Vindexi." he responded and as he finished speaking his ring pulsed and the Potter crest shrunk down into a small gem whilst another gem expanded into a new crest that displayed on the face of his ring.

"With regards to documentation," the goblin started whilst correctly guessing his client's true intentions, "we are able to request an entire new set for the newly dubbed Alex Vindexi including the legalities involved in moving countries with full confidentiality. It will, however, cost you some gold."

"Done. May I withdraw some gold from my vaults and have a list of any properties I may own nearby? Can I also begin the process of transferring some of my vaults here?" the newly dubbed Alex asked.

Raktooth nodded as he handed Alex four sheets of paper, "Sign these three sheets and what you requested will be done, the last is a list of properties in the immediate area. How much would you like to withdraw from your accounts?"

"Just a handful of Galleons and Sickles to get by for a while." he replied noncommittally whilst signing where required.

"Perhaps you should read this whilst I finalize your documentation," said Raktooth as he handed Alex a handout common among European international clients. He gathered the required documents and walked out of his office to finalise Alex Vindexi's 'legal' arrival on the american continent.

Alex was reading his newest handout for information about the local currency as well as the conversion rate between the two. 'This is much simpler than at home, even the names make more sense.' he thought as he read through the document. The american continents all used the same currency with the same conversion rates based around the muggle American Dollar. One hundred bronze Aes to a silver Argent and fifty silver Argents for a golden Aurium. All in all, it made a lot more sense than Galleons, Sickles and Knuts.

When Raktooth walked back in he emptied he money pouch of its contents and refilled it with one hundred Auriums. He was also convinced to buy an automatic conversion enchantment in order to convert Auriums into Argents, Aes and even muggle currencies. He was told that once they moved at least one of his vaults he would be able to add a remote withdrawal enchantment. Of course the pouch would then require a suite of security enchantments, but that could be taken care of later.

Once he had gotten his official documentation, which was conveniently stored and accessed directly from his ring, he made it invisible and headed off to the magical departure zones in order to portkey to one of his properties. Apparently he owned a small apartment that had been charmed to be both unplottable and invisible to others somewhere in muggle New York.

"Hidden Hovel - New York" he said whilst pressing his ring and felt a familiar hook on his navel as he was magically dragged through a whirlwind of colour to his hidden abode.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Tuesday -=- November 7th - 19:20 -=- Hidden Hovel, New York

Alex collapsed into a heap on a carpeted floor, but unlike his previous adventure by portkey he was still conscious. 'Is it me, or can I just not land properly by portkey anymore? I could've sworn I knew how to do thi-' his thoughts were cut off as he took in what his 'Hidden Hovel' really was. Hovel being the last thing he would have thought of if he had been asked to name it. It seemed to be an equivalent to an entire floor converted into a single massive suite, at least from his perspective.

He spent the rest of the evening exploring various features of his 'hovel'. Most muggle outlets and appliances had been charmed to never run out of electricity and all his water was conjured by enchanted pipes. He was about to call out to order food when he realised that, even if he told them where he lived, they wouldn't be able to find him due to the many wards.

Eventually, he grudgingly made his way the kitchen to see if he could find anything to cook. Despite having been in charge of 'cooking duty' at Godric's Hol- before, he was never that good at it. That probably had something to do with the fact that he both considered it a chore and never really enjoyed it to begin with.

He was surprised to find that the food that was stored was still fresh, but he really should not have been, given how wizarding enchantments could cover everything from temperature and humidity to a virtually infinite shelf-life due to stasis charms.

In the end he 'cooked' a large sandwich and ate it in front of the TV, distracting himself with some comedic material in order to forget what his life had become. This was the first time he could truly relax since the incident and he was finding that it was a lot harder to deal with than he'd thought and had decided that it was best he just not thought about it - if he could help it.

He eventually fell asleep curled up in the feotal position after he movies couldn't keep the memories at bay. He eyes were stubbornly dry throughout the whole ordeal. As he fell unconscious, his magic and unconscious mind acted up and did what it did best and tried to keep him alive and safe. It started to repress and forge memories in order to keep him driven, determined and emotionally stable.

When he woke up, he would be Alex Vindexi and he would be ready to start his new life.