Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I don't make any profit from this story. This is fan-fiction.
= Chapter 4 =
Albus Dumbledore had flooed to Privet Drive as soon as the little gadgets on his shelf began blaring as Harry left the wards covering the area far too early for his liking. Frowning in distaste, he had wanted to phoenix flame there but for some reason Fawkes was being temperamental again. While Fawkes did not seem to mind taking an occasional letter from him to certain people, the ruddy bird seemed intent to make him find alternative means of travelling unless it was an emergency.
Given that Fawkes had chosen not to appear despite his call this time around, it seemed the bird did not rate Harry Potter's wandering as a suitably big emergency. It was troubling, but Albus knew there was a limit of what he could expect. Hogwarts, and through it, Fawkes were not always supportive of his plans though he did try and carry on with them for the greater good. Fawkes still stayed at his side most of the time at least, letting him keep his image as the leader of the light, but some days it seemed the phoenix was laughing at him when his back was turned and something fell apart yet again.
Having made his way through the house of his loyal squib follower, Mrs. Figg, Albus Dumbledore had strode over to the house with a frown on his face. His letter had been carefully worded to instill the boy to stay, along with a small compulsion charm in it to make Harry listen to him. It was imperative that Harry stayed with the Dursleys, otherwise the shield protecting the Dursleys during Harry's absence might fail and he did not want that to happen. The wards keyed to Harry's own magic and blood helped immensely in making certain that nobody could just uproot them from the house he wanted them to stay at. The wards fuelled suspicion and hate towards Harry, and misdirecting a number of social workers and police officers that had wanted to talk about Dudley's growing criminal record, as well as suspicions of abuse towards Harry.
No, Harry had to return, it was getting frustrating that the older the boy was the longer it seemed to take each year to charge the wards to a proper state. Harry had began to grow closer to that blasted girl, Granger, and that made him less of a broken down doll and thus he was unconsciously resisting the drain of his magic to fuel the wards meant to keep him in place. Of course he had hidden them behind 'protective' wards which would stand out so that some people, like Moody, would not get suspicious.
Not that those wards would really help Harry, no, they were keyed to protect his family members, after all. Harry's own protections were all internal and due to whatever trickery that Lily Potter nee Evans had pulled off. Albus Dumbledore had wanted it for himself but despite countless hours of trying to figure out how she had set the protection on Harry he had come up with zilch, nada, nothing. The answer was probably in the Potter vaults, but even with his magical guardian status recognized by Wizengamot the goblins barred him any and all access to them. Blasted things, but he had to deal with them so he kept his temper.
Reaching the yard he noticed the unpleasant odor of Mundungus Fletcher sleeping off another long night and following morning at a bar, 'looking for information and rumors', completely neglecting his duty. Albus could only sigh wearily as he shook his head and wondered why he didn't have any competent help. Raising his wand quietly and starting to trace a few spells into the air, he tried to pick up trace of any accidental apparition, of any summoning of the Knight Bus, or the possibility of a portkey. All of them came as naught.
Albus was frowning as that meant one of three different things. Either Harry had left by himself on foot, which seemed unlikely to him but with Dung asleep and not paying attention, it was possible, or he might have received a goblin made portkey which unfortunately didn't give off the same kind of signal as the ministry-approved portus spell did. The third and most chilling possibility was that there was more magic that Albus Dumbledore did not know, and with the boy's weird luck it was a possibility. Merlin help him, Albus was at his wit's end how to deal with the weirdness magnet ability that the Potter boy had.
Waking up Dung and learning he had seen nothing and heard nothing did not help his mood, so he had hurried to check the boy's room, finding his relatives missing. Their car was gone, so Albus briefly entertained hope they had gone off as a family to some event elsewhere, and that Harry was with them although he was not at home.
He delayed summoning his Order up until he knew, but to his frustration the Dursleys arrived late in the evening, tipsy and boisterous, with Petunia giggling and snuggling against Vernon's bulky side in a drunken fashion with Dudley himself having a rather ruddy red nose to him and a shaky step. Albus was even more frustrated to learn they'd spent most of the day celebrating Vernon's latest deal and had taken Dudley along because he was already becoming a man and needed to taste the luxury that being a successful businessman could bring. That meant thick stakes and expensive wine, in Vernon's opinion and on Vernon's expense account, something he'd write off as 'part of sealing the deal'.
The following two days of searching had proven fruitless, and caused Albus worry to skyrocket. When he had returned to Hogwarts late in the night he had not visited his office but made his way right to his quarters. In the morning he'd found all his tracking and monitoring devices keyed to Harry Potter to be molten slag, broken into several pieces, or scorched to ashes. The boy's blood had evaporated, even the spare vials he'd stolen from the hospital ward. Worse, by the state of the broken instruments the blood wards too had come tumbling down at that point. It was an unmitigated disaster.
The only silver lining to that day had been the Goblins had finally agreed to proceed with the will reading, announcing the public will reading would take place in three days time. Albus had worried slightly that Harry had managed to have his private will-reading despite his instructions, but learned quickly from William Weasley after a little inquiry that there had not been any signs of Harry at the bank in the past week at least. William was sure of it, so Albus had let that worry settle down for the moment. Of course, he might have thought differently had he known William Weasley's attention was mainly focused on an attractive young Veela working at the bank than monitoring the lobby and offices as Albus had intended him to.
Severus was missing as well which frustrated him. He needed the man back at Hogwarts, and he wanted to confirm that Harry had not managed to end up captured by Voldemort either. Unfortunately the sour man was missing on some task by the Dark Lord that he had been unable to comment on beyond a short Patronus message that 'Potter hurt him worse than we thought at the Ministry', which was saying something. Severus didn't praise Potter if he could avoid it, and Voldemort did not reveal weaknesses, so something serious must have taken place. On that note, it was probably good that Severus was gone actually, he needed to find out what was going on in the death eater camp after all.
The second day however had seen a seriously pissed off and angry Weasley matriarch floo him about disrespectful goblins sneering at her and telling her that the Prewett account she had been using for a while had been closed down and the money that should have been deposit there had in fact not been paid. This was another time that the goblins were involved, and it gave him a very bad feeling. Yet the will reading was approaching, and he had received his invitation already, so he figured he'd find out more there.
With any luck it would help solve all his problems at once. If Harry was there, the boy would have to be dragged back, whatever revelations he might have had would have to be obliviated, all the more easily thanks to Severus ripping the boy's natural occlumency barriers down. Oh how those had become a pesky nuisance over the years when Albus failed to get more than brief glimpses of most recent memories with passive looks despite all his practice. At least the boy didn't know that legilimency with a wand and without a vow of privacy would entail a ten year trip to Azkaban per use. Passive legilimency was at least grey area, since the ministry had not been able to monitor it.
When the day finally arrived, Albus Dumbledore made sure he had everything he needed. His wand ready, his spectacles still carrying the receiving portion of the two-part charm to detect Harry's invisibility cloak wherever it might be roaming, and a portkey back to Hogwarts to his office to slip onto Harry as soon as he found the boy and got him out of public view.
His good mood was ruined as soon as he was escorted to the meeting room however. Not only was the presence of Amelia Bones a dangerous sign, but there were two Black sisters present at the will reading, while he had expected only one. At least it wasn't Bellatrix. Narcissa and Andromeda were sitting as far away from one another as they could, but Andromeda was keeping an eye on Nymphadora which meant Albus couldn't rely on her help in this case.
The primary beneficiary's seat was empty, which left Albus somewhat thoughtful. The will reading was only taking place now, so Harry should be here if he had managed to slip out with goblin help, a conclusion that seemed most logical. The Malfoys would try and challenge the will, but he was reasonably sure he could manage as the Chief Wizard of Wizengamot to make young Mr. Malfoy back off. After all, having both Potter and Black fortunes for his warchest would definitely help Dumbledore's later plans.
"Ahh, Miss Bones, I did not expect you to be in attendance. I would likely to kindly remind you that only invited members should be present, and that if Ministry requires someone present I am more than capable of working in that role as well as standing in for Harry Potter." He spoke in a calm tone but hoping to get her to recognize that she had no place here, and hopefully the goblins would get her out before the will came up with its possibly unpleasant comments.
"I would have to agree, only invited members should be in attendance, which is why I am here actually, the invitation came as a bit of a surprise but the goblins have already confirmed it is authentic." Amelia's tone was conversational but those eyes of hers nailed him like a falcon staring at a field rabbit. She didn't like his tone and he got a feeling under that gaze like he was a bad-mannered young schoolboy before his mentor oh so long ago, about to be spanked. It was amazing what a level of threat she could level with a glare.
Before he could really argue about her presence any more however the doors were opened by a host of goblin guards escorting a senior goblin man with a necklace of sharpened teeth hanging from it. This definitely caught Albus' attention. Ragnus, the Goblin Director's own son was an up and coming figure in the Gringotts bank, but he did not deal with customers usually. At least, people hoped they wouldn't deal with them.
"Due to the contents of this will, the Director Ragnok has insisted on additional security to be in effect. Be warned that in addition to the usual penalties for drawing a wand without permission during this meeting, that act will be considered an act of aggression towards Gringotts itself, and by goblin law on goblin territory said individual will pay with their life. Keep that in mind and your wands where they are, do not draw them unless you have received permission for it, and we can keep things civil." The goblin man's tone brooked no arguments, and Albus found himself silently cussing in his mind. It would be difficult to argue against the Goblin Security Chief. The fact he was the director's son might have made it seem like nepotism, but Albus knew better. Ragnus had earned his position, and fought for it. This was a goblin Albus did not want to tempt fate with.
"I hold here the will of Sirius Orion Black, the Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. It has been verified and witnessed, and will step into effect here today. We have verified that with the exception of Lady Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black all named people are present." This confused Albus as he was certain that Harry would be named in the will, unless, of course, it was possible that Sirius had for once listened to him and left him to tend to Harry's inheritance until Harry was old enough.
"The primary beneficiary has already had a private will-reading, and approved of it. This was done as per according to the old laws of non-interference with succession of the Sacred Twenty-Eight." The smirk on the goblin's face as he delivered that bit of news was quite understandable, as it definitely set off a bomb in the room.
"That's impossible! I'm the closest male heir, I should be the main beneficiary! In fact, I chal-" The blonde youth had jumped on his feet only to be yanked back into his seat by his mother, Narcissa, who swiftly covered his mouth with her other hand while whispering to his ear. His paleness at what she was telling suggested she was just reminding him of the rules governing a challenge against the old laws. Death, and not a quick and easy one either. Narcissa was the sole reason he was still alive and free.
Albus Dumbledore didn't like it any better though. Not only did that mean that his fears about Harry having slipped from his fingers were true, but it meant that Sirius had got his will and if the Director and his son were involved then Harry had new resources at his disposal that would make tracking him very inconvenient.
He idly noted that not only were the Weasley family there, but so was the Granger family. Not just Hermione escorted by the Weasleys as he would have thought, but her own parents were there. That was a touch unusual, goblins did not tend to include muggles to will-readings, even squibs were a rarity, muggles being present at the will-reading of a family as powerful and old as the Blacks was practically unheard of.
Then the guards settled in place, and Ragnus cleared his throat, seeming to command silence and respect from everyone in the room. Molly Weasley looked like she had wanted to object but she knew better than to interrupt so soon after Draco's earlier outburst almost saw them all witness someone committing suicide by insulting the old ways before a goblin security chief.
As the will reading began, Albus winced as he heard the extent of Sirius' paranoia about falsified wills, but then again given that he was dealing with people like the Malfoys, perhaps it was well warranted, he thought to himself. He noted Amelia look thoughtful however, and focused on listening himself.
What followed was definitely a victory for the light. Lestrange and Malfoy families financially crippled, and two powerful marriages tying their names to the Blacks was something worth celebrating. The fact Nymphadora's mother was on the receiving end of a fortune and a new connection with her old family was also worth rejoicing. Perhaps Albus should spend some time convincing Andromeda to contribute, and surely young Nymphadora would help convince her of Albus' intentions.
Draco however looked almost purple with rage, which was not made any better by the snickering coming from Ronald Weasley who was grinning from ear to ear, or the self-satisfied look on Molly Weasley's face either. Well, the hostility between the Weasleys and Malfoys was nearly legendary, so this much was just expected.
While they were being escorted out there was a short moment of pause, and Albus briefly considered about inquiring about Harry, but the stern look on the goblins face gave him the impression that he really should not try and interfere. Sighing wearily, he remained seated and waited as the will reading began anew.
If he thought that Sirius' will earlier was beneficial to the light, he found himself wondering about the next parts. Sirius knew a fair share, and here he was surrendering all that information in Amelia Bones' hands. Based on the attentive look on her face now she was going to make full use of it too. The money left to her was also a mistake in Albus' opinion, he could have spent it much more wisely.
The gift to Nymphadora was far more restrained, but should help her feel more at ease, especially with her mother's newly gained wealth as well. From the looks of it, Nymphadora was incensed at being called by her name but at the same time smiling and leaning to her mother. Perhaps the one way to get away by calling her that was by doing it in your will. It might be she just didn't see the point of shouting at a man who was already gone.
The gift to Remus was met by a teary-eyed old man who nodded solemnly at the request to look after Harry. That gave some measure of relief to Albus, since asking Remus that meant he wouldn't be sending Harry away anywhere. That was part of his concern, even now he had no idea where Sirius' little tropical hideaway was, the place was so well protected only his Phoenix had found Sirius there earlier, and from what he had heard Harry's owl was another exception.
For a moment of hope, there was a definite pit of despair following right after however. Sirius' verbal onslaught on the Weasleys had more than one pair of eyes widening, and Molly looked on the edge of throwing the most fierce tantrum an adult woman could throw and Ronald Weasley wasn't far behind with his own temper either. He thought insulting Molly's and Ron's behavior was bad enough, but that was only a start.
"HE DID WHAT!?" Hermione's father shouted while glaring at the red-haired Weasley fiercely, gritting his teeth and hands clenched into fists. It was good that man did not have a wand or he would have drawn it then and there. Hermione herself was shocked and appalled, but swallowed quickly while speaking.
"Love potion. Merlin, they were going to- I'm going to be sick." She leaned to her mother who patted her back and glared at the Weasleys who looked like they were caught red-handed, though noisily trying to deny it.
"He's lying, we never-" Ron began to shout while Ragnus cleared his throat loudly. "-planned any of that, Honest Hermione, Sirius is just lying-" He tried to continue when Ragnus cleared his throat louder still, and the approaching goblin guards made Molly clench a hand on Ron's mouth to muffle his words for the moment.
"If you can hold still until the end of the will reading, please?" Ragnus stated sternly, before continuing. As nobody spoke, Ragnus did and Molly and Ron were growing paler yet as Sirius' will outlined the fact there was evidence of the Weasleys attempt awaiting with other evidence in that damnable vault that Sirius had left to Amelia Bones. Based on the stern look she had on her face, Albus would have to call in a lot of favors to stop this from going to court. Based on the looks on the Granger family he would also have to practice some obliviations and perhaps a loyalty charm or two on the girl afterwards.
Thankfully the next part directed at the Grangers seemed to give them something else to think about, though the suddenly thoughtful, greedy look on Ron's face while looking at Hermione did not go unnoticed by the girl who shuddered with a renewed disgust at the idea of what had been mentioned a bit earlier. Ronald Weasley managing to fool anyone on something this huge seemed unlikely given his short temper, and while he wasn't as bad as Hagrid he wasn't exactly the best person to keep a secret. The thought actually worried her, as Hermione found herself wondering how in Merlin's name both she and Harry were still his friends after his betrayal in the fourth year and the way he treated them both all too often.
Then the bomb dropped on Albus Dumbledore's lap, metaphorically, and he found himself looking like a deer in the headlights freezing stiff as Sirius lined out what he had learned, and brought it out in public. No, this could not be, those things were not meant to be known, they were his secrets, they were meant to stay secrets! The mention of Grindewald and the muggle bigots was a low blow, and he found himself amazed how the man was going for the jugular when it came to him. He was Albus Dumbledore, he demanded respect not ridicule. Unfortunately he found the goblins were watching him and fingering their weapons handles in a way that kept him from leaping up to protest. They wouldn't, would they? He really did not want to tempt fate with that, not with Ragnus involved.
The fact he dared to mention the horcruxes had Albus paler than his beard, and for once he was actually glad he forgot to bring any lemon drops with him, he would have surely choked on them if he had one in his mouth on what he was hearing. Preposterous! Albus Dumbledore had done his research, Sirius must have fallen prey to some hack writer, clearly the man had no author bias. No, that wasn't important, what was important that Amelia recognized the word, that look on her face too, this wasn't good, oh Merlin this was a nightmare.
Then came the statement about reading both his and Severus' minds. The jumping rise of her eyebrows on Amelia's face was something rare to see, but Albus missed it as he was too shocked to look anywhere but Ragnus who was grinning in a predatory manner, seeming to be feasting on Albus' suffering and pain in those moments. The damn bastard was enjoying every moment of Albus' fall, oh Merlin this was way too big to sweep under the rug and preach about forgiveness and second chances. Sirius had really screwed him over in his death.
Mundungus had been listening intently, quite pleased to hear secrets that would surely be worth a drink or two to the right people, or even some galleons, but then it came his turn and while he had half-expected to receive a few sickles and an insult or two, he was left in a state of shock at hearing what Sirius had done. The thought of all those fences, those suppliers, the people he did business with. Who all had he sold some of the trinkets to when he went stealing around the Order hideout earlier? He didn't remember.
This was not good, Dung had spent a lot of money on a 'sure thing' that turned out to be faulty, and he actually owed a bit of money he had borrowed in order to make a bigger profit, and now he couldn't trust in his usual fences if they might be looking for him thinking that Dung had cheated them. Oh damn, if One-Eye John was among them he was as good as dead, the elderly wizard was a cackling madman but had contacts all around. If John thought Dung had cheated him, then Dung would be floating down the river Thames soon without a breath or a pulse.
Albus Dumbledore was almost too numb to even notice the last part of what Sirius said to Harry, but Molly Weasley sure wasn't. Even the goblins winced at the resulting shout rising from her throat.
"WHAT!? SCARLET WOMEN AND GAMBLING, I OUGHT TO HAVE NEUTERED SIRIUS WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE! This can't be, ALBUS TELL THEM IT CANT BE ALLOWED! Harry can't be fornicating with scarlet women, he belongs to Ginny and you know it, WE GOT TO PUT A STOP TO THIS!" She screamed the last part while Ginny looked stunned and her face was matching her hair, one might have thought it was embarrassment if not for the hateful expression and anger glinting in her eyes.
"Harry wouldn't do that, he's mine, and if he did I'm gonna hex his bollocks to shrivel up! He's mine, mine I tell you, mine!" She stomped her feet on the floor, the two of them seeming hysterical, before Ragnus nodded, and suddenly the two of them slumped down unconscious on their seats. Still shivering and pale, Mr. Weasley nod his thanks to Ragnus while putting away his wand, having made the gesture for the stunner spell with his finger as a hand sign to the goblin with another hand over at his side where his wand was. Having got the permission, he had done the only thing he really could do. Save his family from any further humiliation, shame, and penalties. Clouded and addled by potions as his mind was, he could tell it was either this or a goblin blade that lay ahead if their ranting wasn't stopped soon.
Albus was looking at his lap, wondering if there was any way at all, anything he could do, any dirty trick or favors he could call in that could help him out of this mess. He needed Harry back, he needed Harry here, he needed to be free to act and he needed certain secrets to stay secrets not get loudly announced at a gathering where he did not command the total loyalty of everyone present. This was monumentally bad.
The mention of the Potter will actually slipped past his notice in the state he was in, a fact he would regret in the coming months and years. Seated there, he was too stunned to really move even as the Grangers got up, before Hermione stepped up before him.
"Regretfully, headmaster, I must announce my withdrawal from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and pursue my future education elsewhere. As I have already completed my OWLs and obtained wand-rights I believe that is my right and choice, and I cannot under these circumstances return there." She stated this with an almost dead tone, no respect, no awe, no adulation. Hermione Granger was one of the more fanatical supporters he had in the younger generation among the muggle-born given the carefully selected reading list that she had been provided, the right materials to lead her to the right conclusions, the occasional nudge and even the show of trust in the third year with the gift of a Time Turner.
If she no longer stood behind him, who would? For once, he felt his years on his back and shuddered to thing what the fallout from all of this would be. This would definitely ruin a lot of his carefully laid plans, and force him to likely expend the majority or even exhaust his supply of favors owed and require him to pay large bribes himself to avoid being ruined permanently. It would perhaps be possible to mitigate this somehow enough to make it seem like a huge mistake but an honest mistake and that was all, something he could apologize, repent for, and sweep under the carpet when nobody was looking.
That was when Ragnus stepped up before him and crossed his arms. "Mr. Dumbledore, I am here to inform you that your vaults are frozen pending the completion of an investigation for fraud, grand theft and larceny. You are also detained for at least the next two hours while we confirm whether or not we can accuse you ourselves, but I am certain the ministry won't keep the goblin messenger waiting too long before they learn that we hold their Chief Wizard under arrest of this sort." The smirk on his face mirrored the paleness on Dumbledore's face. The last time they tried to make the goblin messenger leave by having him wait 2 whole days before giving in.
Just as Albus Dumbledore's day was being ruined at Gringotts, the screaming, hateful family of Dursleys was being escorted to a police van in cuffs by a number of armed officers, treating the family like the worst criminals, marching them forth with cameras filming this and people snapping pictures.
"What did they do?" A curious neighborhood gossip, Mrs. Merrywether from number six, inquired from a nearby man who seemed like an official standing besides the police arresting the rowdy family.
"Oh, I am terribly sorry but I shouldn't be saying anything." He stated a bit evasively but looked at her as if appraising her for something. "But I am sure you can keep it a secret, right?"
"Oh, of course I can, my lips are sealed, definitely. I would just like to know as I lived right next to them all these years. It wasn't that ruddy juvenile delinquent of theirs was it?" She frowned a bit while inquiring about the lad that hadn't been seen for a while.
"Yes, it was partially because of the many crimes of young Dudley Dursley, really, running his own gang and trying to sell weed for the older boys and acting tough brandishing a pocket knife at younger kids, he should be grateful he gets in trouble now rather than later. He still has hope to survive with just a few years in the juvenile detention center, but if it was any later he'd probably go to prison for all of it. But no, the main thing here is fraud, grand theft, and child abuse committed by all three members of the family." The man helpfully clarified, purposefully misunderstanding who she meant and pointing out towards the truths.
"Dudley? But his parents insist it is all Harry's fault, their nephew-" She looked a bit surprised and confused for a moment, earning a friendly smile and a shake of his head from the young official who leaned in to whisper to her ear a bit loudly.
"Actually, young Mr. Potter comes from a very wealthy family that left everything they own to their son, to be kept in trust until he was of age. Unfortunately someone messed up and he ended up with his relatives who have since then been frauding the said trust by removing money to pay for their own extravagant lifestyle while beating and abusing their nephew and the real heir. They planned to have him so down-trodden he'd sign away his inheritance when the time came to get away from it all. Not only that, but the poor boy's parents were so wealthy they owned the company that his uncle worked for, and that was part of the reason the very rude and crude man there did not get fired despite the fact he kept harassing his secretaries, stealing from the firm, charging ridiculous things on the expense account and demanding undeserved promotions while insisting he was a large shareholder."
The way the woman's eyes widened on learning that was almost comical, while the young official nodded his head seriously, speaking in a louder yet voice while seemingly carried away.
"So you can see why these child-abusing thieving con-artists who intended to rob their poor nephew of his rightful inheritance and probably murder him off in the aftermath have little hope of returning. Thankfully the boy managed to flee and get in touch with the right people. It seems that a lot of reports got suppressed and faked earlier so obviously they have got their hands in some corrupt business, bribes have exchanged hands and the tax-fraud, oh I doubt I've ever met such freaks before, they really flaunt the laws of common decency and make normal people like us suffer for their greed! Good riddance to bad rubbish I say!" He nodded his head shortly, before heading towards a nearby car.
A nearby cameraman smirked silently at the tip he had received, the local news would definitely be interested in this, and the tape could be worth a fortune. This was something that would make the national news if not even further. A case of this scale did not occur often.
= End of Chapter 4 =
A/N: Despite my initial intensions, I found this chapter growing full even without the Potter will being read and discussed here. I also found myself focusing a lot more on Dumbledore than I intended, having originally thought on trying to write several different points of view at once. Unfortunately it became a confusing mess, and I set it aside as the first draft and decided to try something else. Likewise a longer, more at length section of looking around for Harry had to make way for other things, given how little it actually added to the story.
That being said, I do hope I still managed to entertain with what I put together into the chapter itself. This one grew a bit larger than the usual limits I try to keep it in, but I am still intent to try and maintain some 3-4k chapter size, with 4k+ optional but trying to at least stop it before 5k of text in a chapter. Suffice to say, it is part of the learning experience that sometimes chapters wary in size and I shouldn't try and impose too stiff artificial limits .
The next chapter will deal with Harry's arrival and the start of his stay in the States, while the future chapters after that will deal with both him and the fallout of the will readings in the magical Britain. The initial arc in Britain is over, the immediate set up will be done with the next chapter, and the intervening years will be next. Once those are done, I intend to move forward with the Vegas arc of the story.
That being said, I rather agree with the few comments made on it, I would prefer to avoid a massive harem or coven, it can be interesting at times to consider such but very difficult to write properly without it becoming a mess. I am somewhat inclined to keep it to Harry/Raven pairing, but consider the possibility of 1 or 2 others joining up, though that is very much in the air and under thought at the time.
I am considering the option of having others appear, from DC verse and HP verse, that would become part of a coven, but keep it so that the only relationship is with either just Raven or the 1-2 others, the Coven acting more as a social group or a possible team to deal with some threats in later times.
I've read a fair share of stories where Dumbledore always manages to slip through the cracks and restore status quo seemingly without effort despite how bad he is exposed before. Even for someone who has held a lot of people's respect before that seems unlikely when a lot of things are exposed that it would be possible for them to suppress all of it, not without making some rather morally questionable deals at least, and even then there comes a point where its seems implausible for them to have any method to escape the consequences.
Now, as for how I intend to progress about things, if Dumbledore will have some aces to pull from his sleeves or not, if he can wheel and deal with all that has been brought on to the surface, that remains to be seen, now doesn't it?
None of the characters are perfect, always right and correct, and flawless super-humans. If they were, they would be rather dull to read about anyway.
On another note, due to a bit of confusion in one of the reviews, I'll try and clarify: Harry offered 1/4th of the assets claimed by his Right of Conquest, the oath he took before the old laws and magic, not 1/4th of his total assets and wealth. He offered the 1/4th there because even if its 1/10th of the wealth of those families that pledged their loyalty to Voldemort there is likely to be some work establishing exactly who all that includes and that leaves the Goblins with a lot of work and potentially aggravated clients, although they did (perhaps reluctantly but still) tithe that much to their leader, a fact which Harry is now making full use of.
That means that if Harry's total wealth is say, 50 million Galleons so far, and the 1/10th from the richer death eater families amounted to say, 200 million galleons more, Harry would receive 150 million and be a very wealthy wizard indeed. On the same turn, if those same followers worded their oaths so it only affected their main vaults and they kept those only 'reasonably' stocked, it could be Harry has 50 mil in his own accounts while the total haul of the Death Eaters only amounts to 5 million, of which he'd receive 3,75 million galleons from then.
As for Harry knowing or not knowing his total wealth, given he went through the books he knows in person, but I'm not stating it out loud in the story so far so the reader does not know an exact total. Suffice to say, he's wealthy enough the goblins treat him as a priority client. V.I.P customer, someone who's affairs and business take priority in a crisis, that must be handled even if another account would suffer for it.
Phew. Anyhow, Chapter 5 is in the works, I will see if I can continue the pattern and put out the 5th chapter on the 5th day or not. I had a fair idea of the start, and on the Vegas arc I have my plans already in place other than the confirmation on the pairing, but on the intervening years I am still wondering what all to write and exactly how. I have the basic plotline and a number of things I could write about, but the problem is picking what to bring up and what to leave out. Seeing as Hermione's attempting to leave Hogwarts behind, and Albus has his hands full, and then there's the matter of Voldemort, Snape, and several others.
Nevertheless, the next chapter will take us away from Britain and following Harry once he makes his landing, and sets off to establish a new life. Also, potentially first touches with DC verse, we'll see.
EDIT: Had to return to this chapter to edit a few more awkward typoes that slipped past in the earlier write-up and review, only coming up after the chapter had already been posted. I really should get a beta at some point I figure.