Carlisle's Secret: The Lost Cullen
A/N – Thank you to everyone once again for some pleasing reviews! I hope you all will love this next chapter. I also thought I would add this in to make it clear for everyone what is being meant.
"Harry" – Speaking
"Harry" – Spoken emphasis
Harry – Thoughts or writing
Chapter 2 – Unwelcome Revelations
Little Whinging, Survey – England - 1995
Harry hastily packed his meagre possessions into his trunk. He was meeting the Weasley's today at Diagon Alley. They would be shopping for school supplies today as well as purchasing anything else they required before heading back to The Burrow.
Harry sighed, wincing as he accidently aggravated his injuries. His uncle had been less then pleased when Harry had asked him to drive him to London. When he informed the irritated man that he wouldn't be returning these holiday if he went Vernon had agreed to take, at the cost of a few bruises of course.
Once everything was packed he clicked the trunk closed, making a mental note to get someone at the Leaky Cauldron to shrink it for him. Harry moved over to Hedwig's cage, making sure that it was latched securely. The snowy-feathered owl hooted softly at her master as he lifted her cage.
The young wizard frowned as his eyes settled on the letter from Gringott's. Harry quickly picked it back up and read it through once more.
Mr Harry Potter,
You are herby requested to attend a compulsory meeting with the head coordinator here at Gringotts. The purpose of the meeting cannot be discussed through the mail. Please arrive at the bank at 2pm on the 31st July promptly.
Yours sincerely,
Tagworth
Gringotts Manager for Hereditary Affairs
The letter was signed off with Tagworth's signature and the Gringotts' seal.
Harry frowned in thought as he gazed over the elegant script. The summons was certainly mysterious enough. He wondered what they wanted him for not for the first time that morning. It said that it was from the head of the hereditary affairs office so it couldn't be about his vault.
Harry folded the note and slipped it into his jeans pocket. Grabbing his stuff, he took one last look around the room before he headed downstairs to face his so-called family.
…
Central London – England - 1995
Harry grunted in hidden pain as he dragged the heavy wooden trunk, with the owl cage perched on top, down the busy streets of Central London. The Dursley's had dropped him off on the way to the shopping district with strict orders to not come back for the rest of the holidays, or preferably, ever.
Harry groaned in relief when he finally turned onto Charing Cross Road and spotted the familiar sight of the Leaky Cauldron up ahead. Tugging harder, he half-ran, half-stumbled up to the warn-out door and pushed his way inside.
The pub looked as dark and shabby as ever upon first sight. It was relatively empty at that moment. A young woman sat in a corner with a bowl of Leaky Soup and a small group of middle-aged wizards were chatting quietly over a round of beers.
Tom, the owner of the establishment, was busy cleaning a couple of glasses at the counter. Harry quickly made his way over and asked Tom if he would shrink his trunk and birdcage for him. Tom happily obliged and shrunk the requested items after Harry let Hedwig out of the cage. He told her to head to The Burrow and to wait for him there. Harry pocketed the miniature items and made his way out into Diagon Alley with a thank you.
Harry grinned at the familiar sight of wizards and witches bustling along the cobblestone alley in search of their desired stores. All holidays he had felt numb, detached from all emotion. He supposed it was just the easiest way to handle living at the Dursley's. If you couldn't feel anything then things weren't so bad. Now, however, being back in the Wizarding World had caused emotions to resurface. Delight, peacefulness and wonder twirled inside him, finally making him feel somewhat whole again. It was like something important had been taken from him and then returned.
Harry glanced at his watch, cringing when he noticed that it was 5 to 2. He hastily squeezed his way through the crowed until he reached the wizarding bank. The last thing he wanted was to get on the bad side of the goblins.
With a minute to spare, Harry dashed inside and made his way to one of the many counters, unsure of where exactly to go.
The entrance hall consisted of two long counters running the length of the hall. Doors lead off from both sides to the many vaults. A hallway at the back of the building lead to what Harry assumed to be offices.
"Excuse me?" he called when the goblin behind the counter didn't look up.
The goblin glanced up with an annoyed glare. "Yes?"
Harry plucked the note from his pocket. "I received a letter yesterday stating that I needed to come in for a meeting today?" he replied, handing over the letter.
The goblin grabbed the letter and scanned it quickly. "One moment please." He finally said.
The goblin scurried out of the room. A few minutes passed until he returned with another goblin whom Harry assumed was Tagworth.
Compared to the other goblins, the newcomer wore a stylish black suit and well-polished black shoes. He was slightly taller then most of his kind and had large, piercing blue eyes.
The two goblins briskly walked over to him, the bank teller quickly getting back to his work while the other stopped in front of Harry.
"Good day Mr Potter, my name is Tagworth. Thank you for coming. If you will please follow me we can get down to business."
Without waiting for a reply, Tagworth spun around and set off at a brisk pace towards the hallway at the rear of the bank.
Harry followed swiftly. They made several turns down hallways until Tagworth finally stopped at a door that stated Hereditary Affairs. Without turning around, Tagworth gestured from him to come inside.
The office had a surprisingly lighter feel to it then the rest of the building. It was done up in different shades of blue and had a very regal appearance. Taking a seat in front of the desk, he waited for Tagworth to speak, suddenly feeling apprehensive.
"I called you here today as you need to take a lineage test." Tagworth began but was quickly cut off by Harry.
"A lineage text? What's that?"
Tagworth scowled. "It's a test that shows you were family."
"Why do I need to take one? I know who my family are." It wasn't so much a case of him not wanting to take the test. Harry hoped that it would reveal long lost family members that he might be able to go to instead of returning to the Dursley's. He was, however, curious as to why he was required to take the test.
The goblin's scowl deepened. "Its not our job to ask, Mr Potter. We were given the instructions a while ago and that's all you need to know. Now, use this dagger to lightly cut your palm. We need three drops of blood from you to do this properly. Drip the blood onto this parchment. After three minutes, it will reveal your family tree."
Harry did as he was instructed; slightly startled when the cut on his palm healed perfectly once the required amount of blood was taken.
Harry sighed as he waited impatiently for the spell to take affect. Finally, the blood droplets began to move, twirling round the page until words began to form. Harry blinked in amazement as the activity finally stilled.
He quickly approached and picked up the sheet, curious as to what it would reveal.
Harry yelped in surprise at what he saw. For the sheet of paper, right at the top, said…
Name: Harrison Carlisle Cullen
Born: July 31st 1660
Harry dropped the parchment without reading anything else. He was too stunned to read any further.
This is a mistake! Has to be!, he thought.
The goblin had raised an eyebrow at the strange reaction but remained silent as Harry composed himself.
"Excuse me Tagworth but there has been a mistake.", Harry stated.
The goblin growled at that comment. "I assure you Mr Potter that unless the blood in your body isn't your own then the lineage test is 100% accurate. Nothing can fool it."
Harry felt is blood run cold. "But…."
He grabbed the fallen parchment again and properly scanned it. At the top it listed some basic personal details. Underneath there was a family tree, starting with him and branching down into the past generations.
Harry quickly continued reading from the top.
Father's Name: Carlisle Alexander Cullen
Mother's Name: Aurora Sophia Hayfield
Blood-Adopted Father: James Charlus Potter
Blood-Adopted Mother: Lily Marie Evans
Harry frowned in confusion. "What does it mean 'blood-adoption?"
Tagworth snatched the parchment out of his grip and scanned it curiously. "Well, this is a surprise."
Harry growled, getting impatient. The world seemed to have been spun on its axis. Everything seemed so wrong now, so confusing.
How can I not be a Potter? I look just like James Potter, with Lily Potter's eyes! That's what everyone has always told me! How can that be wrong? How? If it's true then what happened to my real parents? How can I have been born in 1660?
"What does it mean?"
"Blood Adoption, mister Potter, is an old practice, not seem to often these days. Pureblood families who could not conceive an heir used it. Back in the medieval times, heirs could not receive their inheritance unless they were related by blood to the current lord of the estate. Even now, in the pureblood families, some aspects of inheritances can only be passed on by blood. James Potter was a pureblood so I would imagine that the Potter's chose to adopt you instead of going through a simple name adoption process, so you could still be the heir to the Potter Family fortune."
"Okay, I suppose that makes sense but how does it work?" Harry mused out loud. It was all so much to take in at once.
"Blood adoption is a legal process that involves the blood adoption potion. The potion is safe for use by all ages and is one of the few potions in history that has not risk of side effects. The potion is given to the child after a drop of blood from each adopted parent is added. The potion quite literally alters the genetic makeup of the child. So instead of having just 2 biological parents, the child has 4. Essentially, you are still the son of the Potter's in all rights except birth right."
Harry blinked in astonishment at that statement. So, I still am the son of Lily and James Potter then? This is crazy, completely freaking crazy!
Harry looked at the parchment, more specifically, the family tree. His name was written as Harrison Carlisle Cullen/Harry James Potter. Branching off from that were two blue lines and two red lines. At the end of the blue lines were the names Carlisle Cullen and Aurora Hayfield. Aurora's name had a black line under it and under that several numbers, 1633-1660. Carlisle's name was a similar case, with the numbers 1632-1660. However, the line under his name was a medium grey, not black.
At the end of the two red lines were the names Lily Evans and James Potter. The both had a black line under their names. They both had the numbers 1960-1981 under the lines.
Harry was pretty sure he understood what the lines meant but the numbers…they looked like birth and death dates but that was impossible surely? How could I have been born in 1960?
Harry scanned further. The lines branching down from James showed his parents but that was when it stopped. Lily's also listed her parents, sister, brother-in-law and cousin but that was it.
The lines branching off from his birth parents listed at least 7 generations back from what Harry could tell. However, the colours of some of the lines were starting to confuse him.
"What do the lines and numbers mean?"
"The lines show your relation to that person. Blue means blood relative, red means relation through blood adoption, green means relation through adoption and purple means relation through marriage. The lines linking couples means either at this moment or at their time of death they were married if the line is pink or yellow if not married."
Harry nodded. "And the numbers?"
"Birth and death dates of course."
Harry opened his mouth to comment but Tagworh cut him off. "And before you say it, the test is 100% accurate."
"But how is this possible?"
"I do admit it is strange. I might know someone who can give you some answers though."
…
Harry mumbled his thanks as Tagworth left him in a vault in the lowest realms of the banks underground network.
He had shown Harry to the Gryffindor vault, much to the shock of Harry. When he had asked why they were there, Tagworth had said that he had done some digging and found that the Potter's were direct descendants of Godric Gryffindor.
"Place your hand on the door. If you are the current heir as I suspect then you will be granted entry.", Tagworth had said.
"And if I'm not?"
"You'll see…."
Harry shook his head as he stared around the vault. It was huge, larger then the trust fund Harry's adopted parents had left him, that was for sure. Tagworth had told him that once he turns 16 he would have access to the Potter family vault as well as his trust fund. To say Harry was stunned to find out that his vault wasn't even a dent in the Potter fortune was the understatement of he century.
Tagworth had also mentioned that he would also have access to this vault any time he wished.
The vault held three chambers. The one he was in, the middle chamber, held a large number of artifacts and paintings. The one to the left held more money then Harry thought was possible and the one to the right was filled with more books and artifacts as well as several boxes of documents.
Harry wondered what on earth Tagworth had meant when he said that someone here could give him some answers. There was no one here….or so he thought.
"Hello young Cullen."
Harry jumped; spinning around to face a portrait of a middle-aged woman She had very long, wavy black hair and warm brown eyes.
Harry stared in surprise at the women. For some reason, he felt that he had seen her before. "Who are you?"
The women smiled. "I am Gabrielle Gryffindor, only daughter of Godric Gryffindor and the wife of Warrick Potter."
Harry couldn't stop himself from gaping at the painting.
Gabrielle smiled in amusement. "Nether less, we are not here to discuss who I am. You want to know who you are."
Harry stared at her, suddenly wary. "How do you know what I'm here for?"
She beamed, completely unfazed. "You just found out the truth of your heritage and have come looking for answers."
"How did you…?"
Gabrielle cut him off. "I know all this because it was I who brought you here to Lily and James when you were just 7 months old."
Harry gaped in astonishment. "You…you…Why? Why would you do that? What about my parents?" Harry began when a sudden thought made his blood turn to ice and yet boil at the same time.
"Did they let you take me?" he whispered, voice deadly calm.
Gabrielle's smile quickly faded. "Your mother was unfortunately deceased at the time. As for your father, I told him that your life, should you have remained would be bleak until your unfortunate death at the age of 7. You see, I'm a time mage as well as a seer. I had seen that you were needed here, that one of my descendants would defeat the descendant of Slytherin and…"
"So, my father let you take me so I could help defeat Voldemort?" Harry growled. He felt anger bubbling beneath the surface. However, even more pronounced were the feelings of hurt and betrayal. Harry had to admit that he might not remember the man but the thought that he would just give him away hurt like hell.
"No, I hadn't mentioned Voldemort. I told him that if you were to stay with your grandfather then he would have treated you horribly….."
"So basically you traded me from one horrible guardian to two? My life has been miserable with the Dursley's!" Harry could feel the mounting anger and yet at that moment the hurt was what was really taking effect. He just wanted to curl up in bed and never wake up. This was all too much.
Gabrielle was silent for a while, processing his words. Finally she spoke softly. "I am sorry. My visions do not reveal everything."
"Yeah, well thanks for that. You ruined my life on a whim. Now I'm really alone." Harry, despite his best efforts to stop it, could feel tears gathering in his eyes. The reality had finally sunk in. In a way, nothing had changed. He was still the son of Lily and James Potter. He was still stuck with the Dursley's. And yet, everything was now different. He had had family, had another mother and father. Yet, Carlisle had given him up. Given him away to a stranger based only on hollow words. How could he have known she was speaking the truth? Why would he give him away? Up until this moment he hadn't stopped to think too much on his birth parents. In the half-hour between finding out the truth and speaking with Gabrielle, he had been in too much shock to question how he came to be with the Potter's, why his parents had given him away. He had hoped, fleetingly, that perhaps he had been stolen or lost. He had hoped that maybe they had been searching for him. Obviously that wasn't the case. His mother had died and his father had just given him away.
"Not true, Mr. Cullen."
Harry frowned, not too happy about being called 'Mr. Cullen'.
"What are you talking about?"
"Your father is still around. He will be coming for you soon. He should have received a letter from me by now."
Harry frowned in confusion. "What? That's not possible. How can he still be alive? He would be over three hundred years old by now!" Harry was seriously starting to question the sanity of the witch or, more likely, the magic paint that was used to create the portrait must be wearing off? This just wasn't possible!
"Well, you are half right. He is alive and yet he isn't. That's for him to explain."
Harry just closed his eyes in response. He highly doubted that Carlisle Cullen was on his way. Even so, wasn't sure he even wanted his father to come for him. The man had given him away. What kind of caring father does that?
"I need to get out of here." Harry finally murmured. He needed time to think. Needed fresh air. Needed to escape all this craziness and billowing emotions.
"As you wish young Cullen. However, I need you to know something. Everything your father did was because he cared for you. He wanted to do what was right for you, what was best for your safety. Everything he did was because he had your best interests at heart, because he cared."
Harry snorted at that statement as he turned and walked away. His thoughts moved to Ron and Hermione. They had once been his best friends and yet he thought back to Ron's betrayal last year and Hermione's ever-condescending remarks. He thought of Dumbledore, whom he now realized only treated him as a puppet. He thought about the Dursley's the neglect and abuse he had received from them from day one. They had all claimed to care or, in the Dursley's case, were supposed to care and yet they didn't. It was all just smoke and mirrors, an act.
As he reached the door, he stopped and spoke over his shoulder. "Yeah, I've heard that one before. I didn't believe it then and I certainly don't believe it now."
Harry slammed the door shut as the tears of rage, pain and betrayal finally fell.
A/N – Another chapter down :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know your thoughts!