Hello everybody.

Thanks to all of you who left reviews to my story, I really appreciate them. This is the longest chapter so far and I have to give some credit for good ideas I mentioned in this chapter.

The statement about resting the magic in the summer months and having to get proper nutrients is an idea I read in the story 'To shape and change' by blueowl. Great story, you should read it.

As usual I sadly don't own anything, only this story idea.

Have fun reading and I hope for a lot of reviews.


Exchanging stories

The next morning Harry awoke and was slightly confused where he was. This wasn't the small room he had at Privet Drive. Then everything came back to him. He was in his godfather's house. Harry grinned and grabbed his glasses from the night stand. He put them on and really looked around in his room. It was spacious, easily three times as big as his old room. The room was connected to his own bathroom, had a big inbuilt closet and big windows.

Next to the window was a desk with some shelves above for books. The coloring of the room distracted Harry. It was really dark. Well, Sirius had said they would redecorate the place, so it didn't matter. Harry went into the bathroom, took a shower, brushed his teeth and put a fresh set of clothes on. Well, fresh was a relative term as they were hand me downs from Dudley and therefore at least two numbers too large for him.

Harry left his room and went down looking for the kitchen. It would be taking some time for him to get used to the big house. But he wouldn't rather be anywhere else. He could tell Sirius cared for him. It was just a feeling but it was a great feeling. He wondered if this was what it felt like having a real family. Well he would find out.

He finally entered the kitchen and could see that Kreacher seemed to have cleaned it. It wasn't as spotless as Aunt Petunia's kitchen, he wondered if he should still call her his aunt after what Sirius told him yesterday, but it was a lot bigger. It had a fireplace, an old fashioned oven where Sirius stood, trying to cook some food.

"Morning Sirius." Harry said happily.

"Morning Harry. I hope you like pancakes. I only had the ingredients for something simple. I got some milk and eggs from a farm a few miles outside of London two days ago and we had some flour left in the storage rooms. I will send Kreacher to go grocery shopping as I hardly can go for myself."

Harry nodded and looked expectantly at the baking pancakes. He sat on a chair and waited. It was a weird feeling to just wait for someone to cook for him. Except for important meetings he had to cook for the Dursleys, do the dishes, weed the garden, clean the house and of course be the scapegoat for everything that went wrong there.

"Something on your mind kiddo?" Sirius asked concerned.

"Well…" Harry started unsure of he should tell his godfather. He had never told any adult about this.

Sirius finished the pancake and put it on a plate with the others. Then he put it on the table and knelt before Harry to be at his eye height. He was worried about the boy. He knew the signs of an abused child, he himself had been one after all. It had taken James, Remus and Peter ages to get him to open up and tell them his problems. He didn't recognize that the things he had been taught how family interacted with each other was really screwed up for a really long time. And he would have to get his godson out of those dreadful rags.

"You know you can talk to me about everything? I know you don't really know me, but I want to be there for you from now on. I won't judge you, but I can't help you either, if I don't know what is bothering you." He said kindly.

Green eyes looked in gray ones searching for deceit. Sirius was troubled that Harry seemed to have such trust issues. No thirteen year old boy should have such a look. But he just waited. Harry had to decide for himself to trust Sirius with these things.

Finally Harry nodded.

"It's just that I am not used to have somebody make breakfast for me. Usually I had to make it for my relatives and if I did something wrong like burning the bacon, aunt Petunia or uncle Vernon punished me. I had to do a lot of chores. Then there was my cousin Dudley who always bullied me. Aunt Petunia totally spoiled him and if I dared to say something I was send to my room without eating. I have been hungry more often then I want to remember." He finished getting continually quieter.

Sirius was appalled. How could somebody treat a child like that? He knew Petunia disliked magic but to abuse Harry like this? Had nobody seen it before? He carefully looked over Harry's stature. He was small for his age and thin. Probably because he had only been given the least necessary feeding.

"This is over Harry. You will never have to do those things again except when you want to. For example if you want to help someone to do it. But I would never force you to do chores for me, especially not so many. You are a child and you have a right to have fun, play with your friends, chill out or whatever you want to do unless it is too dangerous of course."

Harry snorted at that thought.

"What is so funny Harry?" Sirius asked glad that Harry was seemingly feeling better.

"The point of dangerous free time activities. I seem to attract danger." Harry commented.

"Why do you think that?" Sirius asked concerned.

"I have not have a normal year at Hogwarts so far and you can't call my childhood safe with a brutal bullying cousin around whose favorite game is 'Harry hunting' along with his cronies." Harry said dejectedly.

"How have your years at Hogwarts been unnormal Harry?" Sirius asked.

"Can we eat first? It's a long story." Harry begged.

"Of course." Sirius agreed.

Sirius and Harry ate both a lot of pancakes with jam and syrup. Harry found them delicious.


After a filling breakfast Sirius made some hot chocolate that had survived the long absence of any inhabitants of the house.

"What would you like to eat later, so I can tell Kreacher what he should get for us?"

"I would like Pizza." Harry answered.

The Dursleys often ordered Pizza because Dudley liked it but Harry had never gotten any. It smelled so good. He really wanted to try some. Sirius nodded and put pizza ingredients and topping on the list. Harry was a bit surprised that a wizard like Sirius knew what pizza was. Ron had been totally clueless about it until Hermione explained it to him.

He also added some everyday things like fruits, more milk, bacon, eggs, coffee, tea, vegetables and utensils, including toiletries for both Harry and him to the list. Then he asked Kreacher to get the things for him and the elf disapparated.

Sirius led Harry to the living room and asked him to tell him about his first two years at Hogwarts and his childhood.

Harry began to tell Sirius everything. How he had slept in the cupboard under the stairs for ten years, that he never had any friends because everybody was afraid of Dudley and his gang, the accidental magic and how mad his relatives always were when it happened, the loose boa in the zoo, at this Sirius was howling with laughter and told Harry he would have loved to see that happening.

He then explained how Hagrid had come to finally give him his letter to Hogwarts. The visit in Diagon Alley, meeting Malfoy and disliking him immediately, the problems to get onto the Hogwarts express and meeting the Weasleys. Finding his first ever friend in Ron, their arriving at Hogwarts and the sorting.

Then he described the first classes, how he got onto the Quidditch team as the youngest house player in a century.

"Your father would be really proud for this accomplishment. He was a seeker on the house team himself." Sirius said smiling.

Harry smiled. It was nice to hear from someone who knew his father better than anybody else that he would be proud of him.

Harry continued his story of accidentally finding Fluffy, the incident with the troll on Halloween, making friends with Hermione, his first Quidditch match and the bucking broom. How Snape of all people had tried to keep him alive, but enjoyed taking points from Harry. The clues they put together to find out about the Philosopher's Stone, how they decided to get the stone before Voldemort could get it. The quests to protect the stone then the showdown with the Voldemort possessed Quirrell. The winning of the house cup due to the last moment points Dumbledore appointed them.

Then how he had met Dobby at Privet Drive, his warnings, how he had gotten Harry in trouble with the ministry and the Dursleys.

"We will owl the ministry when the time is right to clear this up. You don't need to keep a black mark in your records for something you didn't do. All the pureblood families know that only in muggle areas the trace can detect underage magic, otherwise they can't tell who cast the spell. It is not told to the children to prevent them from using magic during the summer.

"This is mostly not even to spite them, but young wizards and witches need some recreational time from using magic all year. It is like building muscles. Lily explained that to me. If you only work out and don't give your body the chance to rest, you don't have the benefit of growth. The same is true for the growth of your magical core. If you only work but don't rest, it won't grow like it is supposed to do. Of course you need proper food to really gain the benefits. Otherwise the body has nothing to power the growth. That is one reason the school medi-witch is in charge of the food plans at Hogwarts." Sirius explained.

Harry was really surprised to learn this Nobody had ever explained this to him. He was suddenly even more grateful for Mrs. Weasley's insistence to feed him properly during the stay he had at the burrow last summer. She probably had enabled his core to grow like it was supposed to do. He didn't want to think what could have happened if he would have had to go back with the starvation the Dursleys had put him through.

Harry continued to tell Sirius how Ron, Fred and George had rescued him. The time at the burrow, meeting Lockhart at Diagon Alley, the closed barrier to the platform, how they had flown the enchanted Ford Anglia to Hogwarts and crashed into the womping willow.

Then he described the nearly expulsion, if it had gone how Snape wanted it to do, they would have been expelled. He told him of the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, how they had suspected Malfoy the heir of Slytherin, how most of the students had believed him being the heir, because he could speak parseltongue, the attacks on muggleborns, how Hermione had found the last clue only to be petrified shortly after. How Ron and him had gone after Ginny as she had been lured into the chamber.

Then he described Lockhart trying to obliviate them and how it backfired. How he had gone on to rescue Ginny, found her, talked with Tom Riddle, found out that he was Voldemort and the fight against the basilisk. How he had gotten help from Fawkes, the sorting hat and pulled the sword of Gryffindor out of the hat. His killing of the basilisk but being poisoned.

Sirius had a hard time not to yell because he knew Harry would probably take it the wrong way. He needed to tell everything now that he had started talking about it. It needed to come out.

The story continued with the saving of his life by Fawkes tears and him destroying the diary that had started all this mess with the basilisk fang.

Then his latest summer holidays with the Dursleys. Sirius was pale when Harry ended his story. He would never have thought that Harry would have to face such dangers while being so young. How could Dumbledore have let all this happen? Why did he let Harry suffer like that at the hands of his relatives? Many thoughts swirled in Sirius head. There was something fishy. Especially with the quests Harry had to master the last two years at Hogwarts. Then his problems with learning. This had to be investigated and he knew just the way to do it. But he would tell Harry later. For now he had to tell him some things he should have been told when he re-entered the magical world.

"Alright Harry, while I am quite impressed with your achievements and very happy that you want to do the right things, I am appalled how you had to do so much on your own. I want to ask you something. Have you ever been given the pamphlets they give muggleborns before they enter Hogwarts? Have you been told which books would be good to read to get a better understanding of the magical world? The laws you have to follow?"

Harry shook his head. Now Sirius became furious. While he liked Hagrid very much, he was not the best possible instructor to lead a completely unknowing boy in his first impression of the magical world.

"Well it seems you have been denied important knowledge. I don't know the reasons why they didn't give you the pamphlets but normally one of the heads of houses is sent to introduce a muggleborn witch or wizard to the magical world, answer any questions that might come up, be it by the child or the parents and show them around Diagon Alley and explain the most important rules. While I trust Hagrid that he had shown you around, he is not that well accustomed with the differences between muggles and wizards. It seems it will be my job to do that. I just don't understand why they let the heir to two noble houses grow up so absolutely isolated from the magical world." Sirius muttered.

Harry couldn't answer this. He was just as confused as Sirius was.

"Well, we will have to make a trip to Gringotts later. Probably it would be best for you to arrange an appointment with the goblin in charge of the Potter accounts. Have you been told your parents' will?" Sirius asked.

"No, should I?" Harry asked.

Sirius face palmed at this.

"Okay now I am sure. Somebody intentionally hides important knowledge from you. And we will find out who it is. It is law that in case the heir to a wizarding family is orphaned he or she is to be informed of their parents' will when they turn eleven. The only exception is if there is no will of course, but this is really rare. It only happens if the new head of the family dies really soon after he or she has taken up headship. Normally the goblins send an owl to the child in question on their birthday to inform them that they are required for the hearing of the will at Gringotts.

"While many would suspect the goblins to prefer being able to keep the heirs in the dark it is the opposite. They can only gain profit with gold that is in circulation. Gold which only collects dust in a vault doesn't bring profit and goblins hate wasting money. The best way to get a goblin to help you with something is to make business profitable for both sides.

"I also want you to arrange with the goblins to be thoroughly checked for any magical blocks, curses, potions and other things that might hinder you."

"You think somebody tempered with my abilities?" Harry asked frowning.

"Yes I do. It just doesn't add up. You were powerful even as a baby. And now you have problems getting the stuff taught in the first two years? Any wizard with a talent for wandless magic like you should be excelling at least in Charms or Transfiguration. That was why Lily was so good at Charms. She was always the first one to learn a new spell and she got lots of points for Gryffindor by doing this." Sirius told Harry.

"So mum was also in Gryffindor?" Harry asked smiling.

"Yes, your dad and I were too. Even if my family was outraged by this happening. They petitioned for a resorting of me. A Black who wasn't sorted in Slytherin was a scandal for them. But it was denied, saying the Sorting Hat knew what he did. I'm kind of the white sheep in my family." He laughed and it sounded like a bark. "Well back to topic. The goblins have magic abilities that are mostly unknown to wizards. I know some of them because the goblins have declared me a goblin friend. It really is an honor. They rarely do so. When you get the date for your appointment, I will take you to Diagon Alley and accompany you in my animagus form. Probably some wizards from the ministry will approach you, but don't worry. If I am not mistaken, they will be way to glad for finding you in good health to punish you. After all they think I fled from Azkaban to kill you."

"But why?" Harry didn't understand.

"Remember, they think I betrayed your parents. They think I am a Death Eater, stupid if you ask me, as I don't have the dark mark on my forearm. It is a mark of a skull with a snake as a tongue coming out of its mouth and the sign of Voldemort. My stupid brother got one when he joined but then he seemingly saw what Voldemort was really up to and tried to leave but was killed while doing so. Broke my parents hearts that their perfect pureblood son died because of the man they thought to be the savior of the wizarding world." Sirius sneered.

"Are you sure they won't punish me, Sirius?" Harry asked timidly.

"Very. You will probably be told that it was very irresponsible to run away but that will be all." Sirius assured him.

"I really hope so." Harry mumbled.

"Don't worry. Just tell them, if they should show up, that you were scared what your relatives would do to you. Tell them what it was like living there and you will have their sympathies, if a witch is present you have won, they can't help it but fuss over mistreated children. It's their mother instinct." Sirius said sagely.

Harry thought of Mrs. Weasley and could only agree with Sirius. Sirius showed him where he could write his letter and told him what to write.

"Address the letter to chief goblin Snowcack he is my contact with the goblins." Sirius started his instructions.

Harry nodded and began writing.


To chief goblin Snowcack

Gringotts Bank

Dear chief goblin Snowcack,

it has come to my attention that I should have been informed of my parent's will the day I returned to the magical world. It was quite a surprise to learn that I was the heir of two noble and most ancient houses and a pureblood wizard. I apologize if I may have disregarded any kind of customs how to behave in company of the goblins, but I have been kept in the dark of the wizarding world even existing until Hagrid took me to Diagon Alley on my 11th birthday.

Further there are indications that somebody has blocked parts of my magical abilities.

As I was told by a reliable source the goblins of Gringotts Bank have very developed abilities to undo magical blocks, lift curses and neutralize Potions.

I would like to ask for an appointment by your convenience to discuss my investments held by Gringotts, my further inheritance and the aforementioned possible lifting of the blocks.

May your gold always flow and your enemies wither in fright.

Yours sincerely

Harry James Potter

Heir of the noble and most ancient house of Potter

Heir of the noble and most ancient house of Boldon


"Very good, Harry. Now you just have to let your owl deliver the letter and wait for Snowcack to answer." Sirius explained.

"But how? Hedwig, my owl, is at Ron's. I sent her there because Uncle Vernon would only sign my Hogsmeade form if I would behave like a muggle for the stay of Aunt Marge. And only because I threatened to slip up in keeping magic a secret."

Harry hung his head dejectedly. If only he could forget about everything connected to the Dursleys. Sirius, sensing Harry's discomfort with speaking about his relatives, decided to let the topic rest for now. Harry had told him a lot already. It would take time to find out everything that had happened at their house.

"Well, look at the attic, there is the houses old owlery. I'm sure you will be surprised." Sirius said mysteriously.

Harry did just that and climbed the stairs to the top floor. He found the door leading to the attic and entered. He was greeted by a pleased hooting snowy owl.

"Hedwig. You are here. How did you know where I was?" He asked happily.

"Your owl is very intelligent, Harry." Sirius said. "I noticed her entering as the wards inform the current Lord if someone or something is entering. As owls are the usual method of wizarding communication, they are able to pass the outer wards to the owlery. To get farther into the house the Lord has to give permission. I want to check her for tracking spells if she is clean, I will instruct the wards to let her pass them freely and only keep her out if one is placed on her later on."

"Wow, I didn't know you could do all this with magic." Harry confessed.

"How could you if nobody told you? But this will change." Sirius promised.

Sirius moved to check over Hedwig. When he was finished Harry saw him sweating.

"What is the matter Sirius, why are you so exhausted?"

"While I am able to use wandless magic Harry, it takes a lot out of me. I really need to get a new wand. Well, when we are finished with our business at Gringotts, I will have to make a trip to Knockturn Alley to get a new wand."

"Why Knockturn Alley?" Harry said shuddering remembering his visit there last year.

"I can hardly walk into Olivander's and buy a wand there, can I? The shops in Knockturn Alley are handier if you want something done without the officials finding out. Hedwig is clean, she can enter the inner wards."

Harry nodded and stroked his owl. Sirius had a smile on his face seeing the deep bond between Harry and his owl. Obviously Hedwig meant a lot to Harry. She was obviously more than a simple post owl, she was his familiar.

"Are you up to an important delivery, Hedwig?" Harry asked her.

She hooted agreeing. Harry took out the letter he had written.

"It needs to be delivered to chief goblin Snowcack. If possible, please avoid being spotted by too many wizards, they are looking for me as I ran away from the Dursleys. I will tell you everything when you get back, Hedwig."

She hooted assuringly, spread her wings and took off.

"Well, she will need some time. Meanwhile I will start teaching you some things you have to know." Sirius said.

He and Harry went back downstairs to the living room.

"Well, I think I will start with some of the most common customs between pureblooded families. Normally they just keep a certain respectful behavior towards each other and keep to the motto "Live and let live". There are of course exceptions. Some of the old noble houses have been allied for centuries and kept a deep friendship over generations. Others keep a feud with each other. The Weasleys and the Malfoys are a good example for this."

Harry nodded. The animosity Ron and Malfoy displayed was immense. They couldn't just let the other be. He had to admit Malfoy was a git and he couldn't stand him at all.

"If you meet a member of one of the old noble houses, best thing is to be polite and try to get a better impression of your new acquaintance. Just keep small talk. Ask about the family. Show honest interest. This way they will get a good first impression of you and that is important. Like it or not, you are a public person Harry and you will have immense political power in the future.

"You are the heir of the Potter and Boldon families and perhaps some others. You can never know before you let the goblins make an inheritance test. Due to the war against Voldemort lots of the old families died out without leaving an heir behind. So the goblins contact the nearest living relative. As I told you it is usual in wizarding families to marry into other wizarding families. So they are nearly all somehow related.

"Those pureblood families that outright opposed Voldemort were main targets of his wrath. His goal was to get the wizards to rule the world with him as the absolute leader. It would have been a dark and despotic leadership. You can't imagine how awful he and his followers were. You have to have experienced it to really understand it. No lesson in history could prepare you for that.

"Well, most of the noble houses expect the heir of another house to stand tall and proud as they call it. I prefer a less pompous attitude. Just show confidence in yourself. Treat others with respect as long as they deserve it, but clearly take position of what you believe in. Don't let others dictate what you have to like or what you have to do. Think for yourself, question what you are told. Not every figure of authority is always right. Some are manipulative and only want to use your social standing for their own benefit."

Sirius stopped to let Harry digest these first things. He would have to work with him on proper holding himself, dressing for different occasions, language, wizarding law, privileges and duties of heirs and so on. It would take some time, but it had to be done. Normally it would have been Dumbledore's job to tell Harry these things upon entering the wizarding world, but he suspected that he had his own agenda.

And he would find out exactly what Dumbledore's plan for Harry was. It would be bad if Harry would find himself in a situation he was totally unprepared for. If the last two years at Hogwarts were any indication, he would have to face a resurrected Voldemort sooner or later. Sirius really hoped it would be later for Harry's sake. He had already been very close twice and Harry had been more or less totally clueless.

His attempts in taking Voldemort on to do what was right in his opinion would be seen reckless in others. Hell, even the marauders hadn't been in such a mess during their first years. And they had tried to stir as much trouble without getting thrown out as possible. Becoming an illegal animagus was just one of them.

"Another thing you should do, Harry, is to make contacts with your yearmates. Not only those in Gryffindor but also those in the other houses. I won't tell you to like everybody but try to find out more about them. If I understood you right nearly eighty percent of the school turned against you because you can speak parseltongue. The only ones to stand beside you were those who really knew you and most of Gryffindor house. So try to let others also see the real you. I know you hate your fame, but you can't hide. Sometimes it is better to take the offensive then be on the defensive. I don't know if something else will happen but I wouldn't put it impossible. You will need every support you can get then. Let's just imagine Voldemort would finally manage to return, from your stories I can say that he came very close twice already, you had proof that he did, but nobody would believe you, because they are too afraid to lose their comfortable lives. What then?" Sirius asked.

"I understand. Only those who know me would believe it because they would know I don't really like the fame around me. They would not think I was only seeking attention. The rumors Lockhart placed last year certainly didn't help." Harry said solemnly.

"You are right. The last thing you have to do, when we have solved the mystery of your learning problems, would be to review everything you have learned the past two years and really master it. Knowing a spell and somewhat being able to use it, is only half of it. Finding out, when to use it, being creative in its use and in the end using it without words, that is mastery. I wish it would be just as easy as being an average student for you in your school life, putting a bit more effort into your O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s and be done with it.

"You sadly don't have this option. You need to excel. In all parts of your education. Even Potions with Snivellus. You don't have to like him, Merlin beware, but you have to get good marks because distinct knowledge in this area will help you in the long run. You need to get every advantage you can get while Voldemort is still trying to come back, when he is back and tries to take over again, you will be his main target again. You have to be ready then.

"I really wish you could have a normal childhood, but as somebody found it appropriate to place you with Petunia, they destroyed that chance. And now we need to get you ready as soon as possible. But don't worry, you won't have to only learn, just do it effectively." Sirius told him.

Harry smiled shyly and nodded. Sirius decided that this was enough of the serious stuff for now and it was high time that Harry learned more about the people his parents were. So he began telling Harry stories from their time at Hogwarts, how Lily first detested James and his friends and only in their later years there began to like him. They stayed in the living room for hours and Harry could just not get enough of listening to Sirius' stories. Nobody had ever told him about these things. He finally had a chance to get to know his parents better.