Harry Potter and the Final Journey
---------------------------------------
Chapter - 3
------------
The tense silence continued for sometime as all of them pondered on what had happened in the last hour or so. Harry was sitting there struggling with his thoughts. His head was close to bursting as so many the questions were burning into his head. Did he dare ask them? He shrugged to himself. Well he had nothing to loose and if Snape bit his head off, well he was used to that as well.
He thought of the events of the last few hours. What a turnaround! If anyone, had told him he would be drinking tea, discussing horcruxes and demanding oaths from Snape and the Malfoys of all people, willing to work with them against Voldemort, he would have hexed them, branded them a Death Eater, challenged then to a duel, something, but he would have never believed them.
But that is exactly what he was doing. He had already drunk the tea, he had discussed horcruxes and he was close to trusting Snape. He did not know about the Malfoys, but he could trust them if they would give them their oath. Harry was not extra perceptive about people on a regular basis, nor was he a Legilimens who could look into others minds and nor was he wise or clever and naturally intuitive about people at all times. But he had instinctive hunches and urges that never failed him. That was what made him listen to Sirius Black in his third year; even at a time he himself had thought Sirius was a murderer. The same hunch was proved right when he had followed Malfoy all through last year.
And that was why he was there in the dead of the night doing the most unlikely and unbelievable things possible. He suppressed a shudder as he thought of the consequences if Scrimgeour or any of the Order were to find out about his being in cahoots with Snape and the Malfoys. He would be in Azkaban along with Shaunpike before he could say Quidditch.
The thought of the conductor of the Knight's Bus, in Azkaban because of the Ministry's desire to appease the fear of the people by catching anyone and calling them Death Eaters almost made him snort and clench his hands in anger. How ridiculous could it get? Poor Stan, the only consolation, if it could be thought that was, there were no dementors now and Stan would not suffer like, like Sirius. Merlin, how that hurt, even after a year. If only he had learnt Occlumency, if only he had checked in the mirror, if only he had waited for some one in authority.
Harry heaved a huge sigh that caught the attention of the others. But he was too caught up in his memories to notice the sharpness of Snape's glance and the look of fleeting concern that his eyes showed for a moment, as he saw the misery etched on Harry's face, before it was wiped clean.
There were a few reasons Harry was willing to work with all of them. He knew he had to kill Voldemort somehow. He would do it too as he owed it to all the people who had died opposing the madman. He also owed it to the people who had literally saved his life by giving up theirs in exchange, starting with his mother and he would make sure it would end with Dumbledore, he told himself sadly.
But with the type of defence he knew and the level of Magic he had at present, he could not even win against Wormtail in his rat form. He suppressed another shudder. He would need knowledge of the Dark Arts and the unforgivables. His thoughts stopped there for a minute. He had to make sure he would not be adversely affected by learning all this.
But he had to know not only curses but also their effects; their counter curses and a way to heal them till help could be found. Of course all this would apply only if he were alive in the first place. But he had to be, he thought fiercely, he just had to be alive and keep himself in top form till he fought Voldemort and defeated him or went down with him. Either way, Voldemort would not live. Harry would not let it happen.
This is where Snape and the Malfoys could come in. they could train him in all sorts of Magic, dark and defensive, healing and even Potions, he could throw them like the muggle police threw tear gas and stuff. It would add an element of surprise in the attacks against the Death Eaters. If they gave him their oaths, he could negotiate for this type of training with them.
After all the way he saw it, he could not get better training to fight against the Death Eaters by being trained by these people, three of whom had been Death Eaters till very recently and one who was a Death Eater even now.
-------------
Snape was feeling very exposed. He had in all his life never revealed so much to anyone as he did to a Potter of all people. But this was not the time to turn squeamish. He simply had to get Harry's trust one way or other, as the war was hanging on this child. Of all the mistakes he had made he had to be caught in a situation where he had to aid Harry Potter and possibly give him an oath. That thought almost made him gnash his teeth together. The amount of power Potter would wield over him made him shudder a bit.
It was not that he hated the child, but every time he saw him he was reminded of James Potter, the werewolf and the bloody dog. Suddenly he heard a huge sigh and saw the miserable expression on Harry's face and against his will he softened slightly, very slightly, mind you. Potter's was an unenviable life. He had sometimes thought he had a dog's life but even he would not trade the miserable existence he called living, with Potter.
Now, Albus had forced him and well he could admit to himself, circumstances too had joined to force him to, Snape shuddered violently at this point, almost father the child. Well in his vocabulary what he was doing right now meant that he had already started. The only thing was he could not find any way out of this. And if he were honest with himself, really truly honest, well he did not want to, not because of James imbecile Potter but because of Lily Potter.
Lily was his best friend in school and he had loved her fiercely and had even after the way he had called her names in their fifth year. He had apologized, thinking and at that time knowing he had lost the one and only friend he had. Lily had befriended him, had come after that abused, both at home, and school, boy, who was awkward in his mannerisms and had no clue about relationships of any type, again and again till he had caved in.
His lips twisted almost into a small smile as he thought back to those days. At first he had thought she had wanted something from him and still later in early September in their second year he had thought she had wanted to know someone. He could see how her face had become red in anger and she had given him a yelling he had not thought possible from a second year Griffindor.
That was when their friendship started in earnest. He had been bowled over by her though in secret, but from that day onwards she was the family he never had and it had meant the world to the shy, awkward, poor boy, who had been abused both at home and school. His friendship with her in secret and that was what had had him going especially when he had been at the receiving end from the four Griffindors.
It was her memory and what his role had been in her death that drove him relentlessly even today, that was what had given him the strength to kill Albus, for the sake of Harry, her son. He was so tired sometimes and he had just wanted to well and truly get away from it all. He had even contemplated docking himself off a few times. He would then be able to be with Lily always and he could spend the rest of his time apologizing to her. After her the loss of a friend drove the reclusive man to almost the brink of insanity.
But he couldn't, couldn't leave, without doing what he must to defeat the man whom he had so foolishly allowed to lead him. The only other problem would be, when he got there, along with Lily there would be James Potter and the dog. It was really nice to call Black that, he concluded. The second other problem would be the fact Lily would have his hide for leaving Harry all alone.
He smirked inside. Albus and the dog were getting well and truly trashed now. Great!! He felt his heart melting as he thought of Lily. His last two years at Hogwarts were terrible as Lucius, Regulus and others convinced him about the Dark Lord and his plans for a muggle free society.
When Lily had heard, she had hexed him and then when he was oozing pus and sprouting painful boils and had a few other hexes and jinxes he did not even know as their combination made him truly horrible, she had begun the yelling. That was when he knew and remembered she was a muggleborn. When she had calmed down, she had cried as if she had not been a correct influence and a better friend as she had driven him to become something, she had always warned him, he would regret all his life.
She had tried her best, he thought, but he had not been listening. To make sure men like his father would never inflict their hate and fear of Magic on a child and wife was weighing more, as was the thought for recognition and power. What a fool he was. How deluded he had been. The fear and horror of killing and inflicting worse injury on muggles, witches and wizards who opposed them still had the power to make him throw up.
He had regretted. Or so he thought. But the worse was yet to come and come it did relentlessly as it should for men like him who had made it their career to hurt, kill and maim, in the form of a Prophecy that he heard and reported back. He gritted his teeth and felt the familiar feeling of sheer guilt running through him, as he thought of his role in the abrupt shortening of Lily's life, the orphaning of her child and the tilt it gave to the whole war. It was all because of him, all because of him. Enooough. His mind screamed. Enough.
He had paid back. How much had he done to retrieve his sanity from the brink of madness where he had tottered, for too long? He had proved time and again, by the lives he had saved by his spying, but the wound festering in his heart, mind and soul would never heal and as Lily had said he would always regret it till the end of time. He had helped Harry Potter in ways the boy would never imagine. But the void would always remain.
He calmed himself and forced himself to think of pleasant things. But as he thought, he found there were no pleasant things after he took the Mark. Lily had alternatively pleaded and argued with him during all of his sixth year and never let him go even when he had stiffly told her he was getting the mark after the year was over and if she wanted their friendship to end he could understand. She had slapped him. Hard.
The strangest thing was till she got together with Potter in her seventh year no one, no one knew about his friendship with her as, if anyone in Slytherin even had had an inkling of this they would have crucified him. Even then she swore Potter to secrecy and also warned him. He was obviously not amused and the day she told him, he had come storming and the three of them had the fight of all fights, Potter and himself hexing each other to oblivion, while Lily had hexed both of them. But, she somehow convinced him, and they continued to be friends till both of them finished school and afterward.
He could not hate Harry. Lily had told him about horcruxes, she was an unspeakable and apart from Potter, him, only him had known. She had not kept anything from him, even after he had taken the mark and he had let her down. It was her warning that spurred on Albus to start about the horcruxes. The fear that the Dark Lord will rise again had kept him cautious and he had played a part, which was realistic enough when he thought of James Potter and his son.
Not anymore. He had fooled even Albus and the hate and animosity towards James Potter was real enough to seep into his son. But now looking at him he felt a pang. This was a life for no one. At least Draco had had a choice. Potter did not have even that.
That was in the past. Now Potter had him and he was dammed if he would let him do it all alone. He had a duty and even if the boy spurned him, he would make him see reason, and help him get rid of the snake that called itself human.
-------------------
Lucius Malfoy had joined Voldemort to genuinely rebuild the wizarding world. His love of the power of Magic and love of protecting that Magic from being revealed to too many people was what had got him in this mess and threatened to end his line within the near future. He had imagined from the tales he had heard that the wizarding world would be purer and greater than ever before and if he were to enjoy a little bit of the power within the wizarding world, then so be it, he had thought. Besides all the pure blood families had already joined Voldemort and he had genuinely been afraid he and his family would be left behind.
He was a clever and a ruthless man with a leaning towards the Dark Arts. That had been another point in Voldemort's favour. He did not think that to practice the Dark Arts was to be treated on par with a criminal. But the wizarding world in the last three hundred years had changed as more blood impurity had crept in and with it the fear that the Dark Arts were responsible for all the squibs and the magically weaker witches and wizards.
It was not, contrary to public belief due to the infusion with the muggles but because of a rare genetic disorder that was because of marrying muggles without checking blood purity and compatibility with them. It could not be corrected, as proper research had not been done so far. He had been researching along with Severus before all of this had happened and later had been too frightened to do so. The fact the Dark Lord was going to end this problem was also another point in his favour.
At that time the excitement of the great changes that would take place, even though no one knew how it would be implemented, was the single thought running in the society. There had been killings, but they had been in revenge, which any pureblood could understand, or for the great cause that no one did. The terrible and unvarnished fact had been that all of them, who joined, joined for the power they wanted and none of them really cared how they got it, till they were caught in the crossfire and began to hurt.
He had not really bothered about the muggles and muggleborns. Muggles were so far beneath him he couldn't see them. Muggleborns were only slightly higher as they really had no background to speak of. They were good, that is, if a muggleborn witch or wizard was very powerful then when there was too much of inbreeding they, well they were useful; there was no other way to put it, for breeding.
It had all changed when he took the dark mark listening to Narcissa's family and here his lips tightened, sister and his own love for power had brought their whole family to this. This running away. Lucius Malfoy's pride was terribly hurt as he depended on a child for his family's survival. Draco was not as tough as him, how he had developed the so-called light values, and when, he did not know. But after all he sneered in his mind, his mother's family houses people like Andromeda and Sirius Black.
The Dark Lord had misused him, abused and molested his pride and family name and his coffers. If he weren't so filthily rich he would have been on the road with the best or should he say the worst of them. Now he had to repair the family name and bring back his status within the wizarding world and he agreed to himself, he had a lot work to do. He was willing to do what it takes, however, and thus the reason he was here. By aligning with Potter he could raise his head high and maybe even convince Potter or at least make him listen to allow him to help in the restoration and reparation of his world after the war.
-----------------
"Sir, how did you break Mr. Malfoy out of Azkaban? Do the aurors know of his escape? " And hesitantly," Do you have proof of all that you have revealed to me, and are you willing to give your oath?"
"The proof as far as I am concerned is Fawkes, Potter. He would never align himself with any Dark Wizard or an evil one. That also clears Lucius, Draco and Narcissa. They have repented and Fawkes understands, just as Albus would have. However, what you say has some truth in it. All three of them can give a general oath that they will fight against the Dark Lord and will not harm you. I cannot give the same oath, as I will have to work along side with him. You may be rest assured that I will not go with the Dark Lord Potter."
"It will be alright with the Malfoys, but how will I know you are saying the truth?" Snape, who bit out, at this point "Potter, if you doubt anymore you may ask Albus to confirm it," "No, that will not be enough as Professor Dumbledore could have been misled as well. Please do not get angry, Sir. Even if you give this oath I do not know how many will accept you in the order."
"I am working against the Dark Lord, Potter. I will always work with you and for you. I swear this on my magic and on my life. So mote it be. Is this alright or do you need more?" As Snape said this a swirl of golden colour came, surrounded him, and surprisingly reached out to Harry. "Accept it, Potter," he said. "How?" asked Harry bewildered and shocked. Snape said he would work for him. Unbelievable. Snape sneered, "Well you do not know what is an oath, Potter and you have the nerve to ask for one." Harry flushed, "Tell me what I should do? I accept your oath." No sooner than he said these words than the glow entered him and vanished.
Harry was taken aback. Snape was glowering at him and was definitely not happy to give him an oath. Still he had done it. So his trust was important. But more important was the fact that Snape wanted him to believe him at any cost. Why? Harry's doubts came back to him nearly overwhelming him. Was all this a ploy? He had asked for the oath thinking that it would show Snape in his true colours. But, instead Snape had accepted his doubt and had already given him his oath to work for and with him, for Merlin's sake.
Well! Snape could never work against the Order and Harry if he wanted to live. But Harry did not understand so many things. Why had he become a Death Eater? Why had he turned? Why, why, above all had he killed the Headmaster? Well he knew Snape would not give him any answers now especially after the oath. He sighed. It was all getting so complicated as if it was so easy before.
Snape also knew about the horcruxes. So did the Malfoys. Well he would have to take it as it comes. Not that he had any choice, he thought ruefully. Snape rather rudely interrupted him in his musings, " Have you finished, Potter? Thinking, Potter, must have been an extremely difficult thing. If you have quite finished then they are waiting for you," He added sarcastically.
Harry flushed. Snape was being his nasty self again. He nodded his head and looked at the Malfoys.
Reluctantly, glaring at Snape all the time the three Malfoys also gave a similar oath, saying they will work against Voldemort and help Harry to the maximum of their abilities. Harry accepted all of them. Then Harry asked," How did you break out of Azkaban Mr.Malfoy?"
Snape answered for him. "Fawkes helped me there. I had already planned with Albus about getting Lucius from prison in such a way he will be able to become free. Albus had also requested Fawkes to help. I cast the imperious on a Death Eater, fed him the polyjuice, and also permanently altered his features in a manner he will not be recognized. I also gave him a poison that will kill him in a few days. Then Lucius will be cleared, as we can come up with a story of the Dark Lord capturing him, and using the threat of killing Lucius to order Draco and Narcissa. We can also explain the Marks, if necessary, by blaming the Dark Lord who marked them as a punishment for Lucius's non co-operation, that way the three of them will be free. Lucius can then come out from hiding and make the necessary statements. Fawkes placed him in prison and took out Lucius from there."
"What to do now? Do I go back to Privet Drive or what?" "Yes. You must go to Privet Drive and I will accompany you. You may pack your things, from there we must go to Gringotts, then we will take it from there. Now, apart from Granger and Wesealey who else knows about the horcruxes?" "No one, Sir, we did not tell anyone." "Good. Come along now. The Malfoys will wait for us here."
Both of them held on to Fawkes who had been silently standing in a corner of the cave and watching the proceedings. In a moments time there was a flash of light and Harry found himself along with Snape in the smallest bedroom in Privet Drive.
"Well, don't stand there simply, Potter. We must get going at once. Pack up your things and you are not to use magic, understand." Snape said softly.
Harry started packing more than a little embarrassed at Snape seeing his pitiable room and his shabby things. Nevertheless he had to move fast before on Order member came to check on him. After Dumbledore's, well, whether they will come to check on him, he did not know but best was not to take any chances.
It took him very little time, as he had not really unpacked before he left with Fawkes. Soon he was ready and he looked around the room he had and that he would be leaving forever. He shook his head as if to clear it and not really feeling anything, he just stopped to write a small note on a piece of paper saying he was leaving forever and took it down and placed it in the dining table, where his aunt would see it in the morning.
Both of them again held on to Fawkes and in a minute they landed in a small alley just off Diagon Alley. Snape took out his wand and cast a few glamour charms on the two of them.
Diagon Alley was deserted and looked eerie in the night. There were a few people, very few people in the long alley. Both of them walked swiftly towards Gringotts, which was open all through the day and night, and went inside through a smaller entrance. Harry supposed it was the security for the night. Inside too, there was hardly anyone, which was not surprising as it was nearing midnight. How did people manage without money Harry wondered? Before he could think of anything they were in front of the Goblin, who was looking down on them.
Snape took out a parchment, wrote on it, and asked Harry to sign it. Harry looked at the piece of paper and saw what Snape had written.
I am Harry Potter and I wish to access my vault and ask a few questions in private of a goblin by name Sternboke, please. Harry Potter. There was a place left to sign and Snape asked him to do so.
Harry looked at him dubiously, signed the parchment and handed it to the goblin. The goblin took the parchment and read it and in return bought out a parchment and handed it to Harry. Harry took it and saw that there were only the words Verification: Harry Potter.
"Please place a drop of blood on your name for us to verify your identity," said the goblin. Harry looked startled at this and turned to look at Snape. Snape nodded at him and silently indicated to him to do as the goblin said. He then pricked Harry's finger. Harry placed his hand over the parchment and let a drop of blood fall on to it.
The goblin was silently watching them and when Harry let a drop of blood fall on the parchment, he took it away and watched the blood being absorbed. He turned to Harry and asked him whether his companion was to go inside with him and when Harry nodded, he told them to go straight down and turn left and enter the third door on the left.
Both of them entered the room and found a goblin sitting behind a large table. There were two comfortable chairs on the other side opposite to the goblin. Harry and Snape sat down and looked at the goblin expectantly. The goblin looked right back at them and asked them," Well, what do you want Mr. Potter?" Harry found to his consternation, both their glamours had fallen off. Snape however did not seem perturbed.
"Mr. Sternboke, has Albus's will come to you?" Snape asked, shocking Harry. Harry immediately turned around and glared at him. Snape did not even look at him. He was looking at the goblin, which to Harry's absolute surprise and shock nodded his head.
"Mr. Snape, the Headmaster's will, indeed has come to us. We have been waiting for both of you." Saying this the goblin flicked his fingers and immediately many parchments appeared. The goblin looked through these and laid the topmost of them on the table. "Albus Dumbledore has left everything to both of you." He said. Snape looked startled, "But his brother, Aberforth," he was stopped there by the goblin. "The Headmaster had already given to his brother Mr. Dumbledore everything he wished him to have. Both of you are the sole beneficiaries. He also requested that Mr. Potter be emancipated should something happen to him before Mr. Potter attained majority. He asked us to use the clause of no magical guardian for Mr. Potter."
"Well Potter will definitely be emancipated. Please give him the required forms to sign." The goblin then handed over various parchments to Harry and asked him to sign at all places that were already marked. Snape took the documents, went over them and read them carefully, shocking Harry of his concern. Snape then placed the documents and nodded to Harry to sign. Harry hesitated for a moment and then took the quill that Snape was holding towards him and signed his name at all the places indicated.
When that was finished, Snape and Harry were given a small golden key each. Surprisingly Snape did not get up to leave. He turned to the goblin and said, " Mr. Sternboke, Mr. Potter would also like to receive the wills of both Mr. Black and his parents. Could that be arranged as well, since he is emancipated now?"
To say Harry was shocked would be to put it mildly. He looked at Snape with utter confusion, " Sir, Professor Dumbledore has already told me I inherited from Sirius and I have the key to my vault for the past five years now."
Snape to his credit did not come back with nasty rejoinders. " Have you signed the papers to accept?" he asked. Harry shook his head. "Then you need to do that to accept the inheritance, Potter so that it cannot be claimed by any other."
"But Sir, how come it was alright for a whole year. He, it happened last year." said Harry.
"Yes, Potter, but you were a minor so his will was left for you to claim when you attained majority. But now since you have been emancipated it would be better if you claim it now." Turning to the goblin Snape said, "If you could fetch the relevant papers, we could take a look at them and sign them."
The goblin stood up saying it will fetch the relevant papers and excused itself.
In the meantime Snape turned to Harry and said softly, " Well Potter, the key you posses now is the key to your trust Vault. The Potters are an old family, older than the Blacks and Malfoys. How old they are and from where do they come from is not known, though. But they have always been deeply respected and have always aligned with the Light. You must take control of the Potter vault as well as the Black vault, Potter as there could be many things in the form of books and artifacts we might need in our quest that could be found in both the Black and the Potter vaults."
Harry had been growing more and more flushed as Snape explained. " Why did not anyone tell me about them? Why is information always kept from me? It was this lack of information that made me lose Sirius and made me see into your" Harry cut off at that point.
Snape did not look as if he remembered the fact that Harry had looked into his pensieve and had seen a pretty bad memory. Instead he said sneering slightly, "That was probably the only one thing I agreed with Black. I felt that you should have been given more information about your scar, about the Prophecy and that you should have been given explanations about the mind link you had with the Dark Lord. When I said so at an Order meeting before you were bought to Grimmauld Place, Black immediately agreed with me, even though that probably shook the very core of his being, he agreed and said that you should be told everything."
Harry glared at him, but rather half-heartedly at the slur on Sirius, but was shocked. Snape had wanted to tell him everything and Sirius had agreed. "Why didn't you?"
"That," said Snape softly, "Potter, is because we were the only two people who felt that way. Lupin was silent because of Black but the others, especially Mrs. Weasley, and the others Order members were pretty vociferous and as usual highly stupid to even think you were a child who could be smothered. They did not and even now I do not think they understand the seriousness of your situation and if they could cart you off so that you could be safe somewhere, they would. Albus came to his senses, but after Black fell into the veil but the others, I do not know and frankly do not care."
Harry did not know what to say. To think Sirius could have been saved, it was something he could never forgive himself for. He looked at Snape, "Why are you telling me all this?" he asked.
"So that I do not make the same mistake that could cost you your life or the lives of people you know. That is the reason I have been so forthcoming about so many things. We are at the most crucial juncture and at this point it has fallen on me, not only to help you in your search for the horcruxes but to train you to meet and defeat that excuse for a human being, I am not going to waste my time or yours for both of us to wonder at each others motives and loyalties. That was the reason I gave you the oath and I will not hide anything which you need to know either about the dark Lord or the horcruxes."
Harry was totally flummoxed. So that was why Snape had given him an oath. So that trust issues were taken care of at once. The fact that Snape was not going to coddle him and keep things from him was like a breath of fresh air for Harry. He felt sad that it was Snape who felt this way and not the others not even Dumbledore, all of them had kept him in the dark, for Merlin's sake he had another vault and he did not even know it till Snape had told him so. Telling him everything would have made matters so easy and could have saved Sirus's life.
They sat there silently each of them lost in their thoughts when the goblin came inside with a lot of papers and a small box in his hand. He placed the papers on the table and asked Harry to sign them on the markings. Before Harry could lift the quill to sign Snape had already taken the papers and was going through them. He checked them and nodded to Harry to sign them. Harry signed at all the places indicated and also pricked his finger to place a drop of blood at the bottom of both the wills. He then took both the parchments, in his slightly shaking hand and began to read the will of Sirius first. Both of them were very short and simple.
The Last Will and Testament of Sirius BlackI Sirius Alphard Black, of sound (Well that's debatable, I suppose) mind and body leave everything to my Godson Harry James Potter whom I looked upon as my very own son. I leave to him the Black Legacy, the Black name, the Black head of the family status, the Black Vaults and the Black properties.
Sirius Black
Harry blinked his eyes furiously. He was gone, really gone. The will made it all real. He turned to Snape to ask him what to do, when Snape pointed to the papers and asked him to sign. Harry sighed deeply and started signing. Once he finished, he opened the other will to find it equally short and to the point. His parents had left everything to him. Reading it he could not help feeling sad and a little let down as there were no private messages left for him by either of his parents and Sirius.
Once he finished signing the papers, the goblin gave him two rings, with the Black and the Potter crest on them. He then asked Harry to wear both of them to finish the process of inheritance of both the families. Harry felt a bit dubious about wearing them but seeing no way out of it he put them on his fingers. Both the rings pricked him and then after a moment glowed acknowledging his right to wear them and sized down to fit him snugly.
"If you do not wish for anyone to see the rings all you have to say is 'vanish' and they will become invisible to the eye," said the goblin. Harry immediately made the rings invisible to everyone by saying 'vanish'. "Would you like to go down to your vaults right now?" he asked. Harry turned to Snape to ask him, when Snape nodded his head once and asked him, " Potter would you like me to go down with you or should I wait here?"
Harry paused. He was given a choice. A mere few hours ago if anyone had told him he would even be talking to Snape, he would have hexed them, but now, well with the oath it was safe and if he was to collect books and other artifacts from the vaults, Snape could guide him better. He looked at Snape and asked him to come with him. At that something flashed in Snape's eye making Harry feel maybe he had said the wrong thing. Well he couldn't do anything about it now. He had offered.
They replaced their glamours and went after the goblin. The goblin took them to the carts, led them deep down into the earth and stopped after a long ride. They got down rather shakily, looking slightly green and straightening themselves looked around. The cavern was huge and the vaults were huge on the outside itself. They were standing on a ledge that curved around like a circle and there were very few vaults there.
"Place your hand on the door, Mr. Potter and wait for it to glow green. Then you may identify Mr. Snape as your companion whom you wish to enter the vault with you."
Harry nervously placed his hand on the vault door where there was a marking and felt his hand being pricked and a small tendril of something envelope him and probing him. The door was not only checking his blood but also registering his Magic. That could never be duplicated. After a moment the door glowed green and the goblin told him to request the vault to let Snape inside.
Feeling extremely silly for talking to a door Harry complied. "Er, this is Professor Snape who has come with me and I trust him. He has given me an oath to protect me. Could you allow him inside?"
Snape then placed his hand on another marking, which was probably for non-family members, and after a moment, his hand was also pricked, his Magic probed and registered and the door glowed green. Harry heaved a sigh of relief. That was another point to Snape. The ancient Magic had deemed him trustworthy.
"Once you have finished you may come out and ring the bell on this side. I will come and escort you to the Black vault then," said the goblin and left.
A moment after he left the doors of the vault noiselessly opened and Harry and Snape went inside.
End of Chapter - 3
-------------------------