AN: Yay another chapter down. Huge thanks to Alix33 who has graciously accepted the arduous task of being my Beta. Any errors remaining are mine and mine alone and should in no way, shape, form, or fashion be attributed to my Beta.

Disclaimer: I may own a three story Victoria mansion in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, but I do not own Harry Potter. I'll leave it up to my fans to determine which of the previous claims is actually true.

Recommended Fic for this chapter: 'Partially Kissed Hero' by Perfect Lionheart. This wonderful Tale is the inspiration behind the Challenge Ladies and Gentleman. We only hope that PL has a chance to come back and complete this wonderfully thought out and detailed world that so many of us have come to love.

Enough reading the shiny bold text already, get to the story!


Chapter 4: The Haunting of Cho Chang

Harry groaned loudly, his body protesting as he stretched and flexed his sore arms. Something had woken the group up earlier than usual and all of them felt restless until Harry had the great idea to start exercising. The room expanded instantly to meet their needs and they'd all spent an hour playing on the various types of gym equipment. One of the wonderful things about most Muggle exercise equipment is it typically doesn't have any electronics, so they had a large assortment of things to experiment with. Harry spent almost an entire twenty minutes trying to figure out a comfortable weight to bench press alone, while the girls rode laps around the room on two of the bicycles before deciding to simply run instead.

Stiffness and soreness aside Harry felt great and his mind seemed sharper. Whether that was due to waking earlier and being more awake as he started the day, as Hermione suggested, or because of him accepting his fairy side, as Luna suggested, remained to be seen. Either way Harry definitely felt like a new man.

The best part of the morning however was seeing Ron turn and run away when they'd ended up in the same corridor. Harry felt only a touch of guilt, as it reminded him of some of Luna's horror stories from Ravenclaw, but seeing as Ron actually deserved to be tortured the guilt was only minimal. Kind of like the guilt a parent gets when lying about the tooth fairy.

'Maybe I need to rethink my analogies,' Harry chuckled wryly, 'after all I could have thought the same thing about Santa.'

Nevertheless, Harry didn't dwell over it. Hermione got-bum rushed by Lavender and Parvati as soon as class began that morning, seeing as the two girls had gotten up early to help her with her makeup and discovered nothing but an empty and unused bed. Neither of the gossipy girls could get any information out of her though, but she had been forced to promise to tell all later.

Potions had turned into nothing less than a war waged in silence between Harry and Snape. If by silence you meant Harry using a double sided silencing spell on himself and singing a fine rendition of 'Whiskey in the Jar' during the entire class. The original Dublin version of course, like any great Englander would sing.

The fact that no one could hear him, and he could hear no one, never stopped Harry's enjoyment. Especially seeing Snape fail several times to provide the correct counter spell for the handy charm; something that, no doubt, would remind the greasy git of Sirius using the same spell on him once. Harry was awarded no less than a month's detention and lost over three hundred points. All to be appealed as Harry didn't actually do anything to disrupt the class, and completed his assignment correctly despite being unable to hear Snape yelling at him.

Further proof that Snape's teaching was about as effective as Brain Surgery for Dummies.

Actually that book is kind of interesting, which is in turn completely unlike Snape.

It was a fully and adequately unproductive day for the group as they marched outside to face the bitter November cold; at least until they changed to their fairy forms and raced each other through the tunnel leading to the Shrieking Shack.

Harry flew into the room and transformed midflight, sending him careening into Sirius who in turn careened backwards onto the bed.

"'Ello Mutt," Harry grinned cheekily as Sirius fought to get back out of the rather soft and luxurious bed.

"What the hell," Sirius demanded as he finally regained his feet, "was that?"

"Harry's been a little hyper today," Luna explained as she transformed right behind Sirius' shoulder causing him to jump backwards; which would have been innocent enough if it hadn't resulted in him once again stumbling onto the bed.

"Fucking fairies," Sirius muttered, eyeing the room for Hermione. Deciding he'd suffered enough Hermione simply transformed across the room with a mischievous wave that made Sirius wince for some reason.

"How was your day?" Harry asked, sitting on the edge of the bed that Sirius had very willingly vacated.

"Oh you know, me and the spiders had a lovely spot of tea with your elf. Curious little fellow isn't he?" Sirius deadpanned.

"Indubeta… Indeuvetebl," Harry frowned for a moment.

"Indubitably?" Hermione offered after a few other failed attempts at the word.

"Yes that," Harry said looking annoyed.

"What the hell is 'Indubitably'?" Sirius asked looking between the two.

"It is another way of saying patently," Hermione answered in her usual lecture voice.

Sirius blinked, trying to figure out of he was being pranked or not at this point.

"It means without a doubt," Harry explained.

"Oh, okay," Sirius said looking just a little doubtful himself.

"So anyway, I have a few questions I'm hoping you can clear up," Harry said leaning back against the headboard. "So what I do know is that I'm fourteen and the last surviving member of the Potter family, which means I can claim Head of House status. What I don't know is how to go about it."

"What have they been teaching you in that school?" Sirius wondered looking at Harry like he was speaking Russian.

"Definitely not politics," Harry answered with a frown.

"Good point, guess I never realized how much of an advantage the Wizard raised have over the Muggle raised when it comes to things like that. Any who it's a simple form you have to fill out at the Ministry then take to the Goblins," Sirius answered leaning against a creaking wall.

"That's it?" Harry asked, "just fill out the form and it's done?"

Sirius nodded, "Not always, but in your case yes. If James was still around there would be an honor duel involved, but no one can stop you from claiming what is rightfully yours."

"Why did you never mention this in the other timeline?"

"How the hell should I know? Maybe something stopped me, or maybe I just assumed you knew and would take up the charge when you were ready. I never thought to mention it before now, so it could be something that never crossed my mind."

Harry nodded; knowing he couldn't blame this Sirius for what that Sirius did without knowing the full circumstances, "Well, since it's so simple I'll go tomorrow, assuming I can figure out how to fade."

"Fade?"

"Fairy version of apparition, goes right through wards supposedly," Hermione explained.

Harry nodded his agreement, "Thus the reason we are here beyond the wards. The only idea I could come up with for testing was to try to apparate in my fairy form. If it fails completely or succeeds then no harm no foul. But if I actually apparate instead of fade I'd just assume that I am ward free to keep from sending any alarms to Dumbledore."

Sirius nodded, "So he doesn't know about the whole coming back in time thing?"

"Hell no, and it will stay that way. If he ever figures it out then I have a hell of a bone to pick with him," Harry said venomously.

"What did he do?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Several things. First, did you know he was a childhood friend of Grindelwald? They were really chummy chummy buddy buddy for a while, and had plans on conquering the Muggle world before they got into a bit of a tussle."

"What!?"

Harry nodded, "I've seen the proof. Albus might have mellowed, and he might have stopped his old buddy from causing even more damage than he did, but the man is no saint. He might not have agreed with Grindelwald's methods, but he definitely agreed with his ideas. Long story short, the Dumbledores and Bathilda Bagshot lived in Godric's Hollow. Bathilda is Grindelwald's great-aunt and when he got kicked out of Durmstrang he came to stay with her. This was shortly after Dumbledore graduated, which coincided with his Mother's untimely demise. Albus, the great and wonderful mind of the century, was forced to stay at home and take care of his younger sister Ariana. That is until a three way duel between Albus, Aberforth and Grindenwalkd ended up taking her life in some crossfire.

"Both of them being intelligent young men they started conversing heavily, and a few letters were sent between them. Bathilda kept one and Rita Skeeter got her hands on it while digging up dirt on Dumbledore's past. It was rather incriminating."

"Damn…" Sirius mumbled shaking his head sadly.

"Pretty much yeah. We'll keep away from the old codger as much as possible, and I recommend you do the same. I'm not sure what he's really about, but that is just one bone that needs picking someday. He left me unprepared and alone, up against nothing short of a suicide mission. If it hadn't been for Hermione and Luna I would have probably given up hope long ago. As it is they give me a reason to want a future free of tyranny and certain snake faced bastard."

Sirius nodded, "Alright then, get to work. Try to stay where I can find you in case something unexpected happens."

Harry nodded, shifting quickly into his fairy form along with Hermione and Luna. Closing his eyes Harry let his magic flow across his body, envisioning the opposite side of the room Harry pushed his magic towards it. A loud bang echoed through the small room and Harry fell swiftly towards the floor, only to be caught by Hermione and Luna before he landed. Flying him to the center of the bed Hermione started checking him for injuries.

"I'm fine love; that just… took a lot out of me. I think it's safe to say that isn't the trick."

Hermione nodded, finding nothing physically wrong with Harry, "So what did you do exactly?"

"Standard apparition, I don't recommend it," Harry answered already sitting upright on his own, looking only a little pale.

"Kind of like a full body splinching then," Sirius mused, working his ear with a finger hoping to get rid of the ringing.

"A what?" Hermione asked with a bewildered look in her eyes.

"Full body splinching. It's actually a misnomer, but it means only sending a small undetectable part of yourself forward while the rest of you stays behind. The location you leave from is always hit with a magical backlash as soon as you leave it, thus the cracking one usually hears. Thus if you're still there when the backlash happens, well they say it's like getting hit with a boulder."

"Wait wait wait," Harry said waving his arms, "you mean to tell me you can use a word like misnomer but didn't have a clue what indubitably meant?"

"Harry love, that's hardly relevant," Hermione said giving him a quick kiss, "I'm sure Sirius knows at least a few words that have more letters than his name."

Harry nodded, ignoring Sirius' mumbles, "Okay, either of you have any ideas?"

Luna cocked her head to the side, "I'm not sure why you didn't try this first, Harry. I mean Santa all but gave you the answer to begin with."

"That jolly old fat bastard didn't say anything about how to fade," Harry mumbled morosely.

"Well of course he did," Luna said with a small frown, "Dobby!"

Dobby popped into the room, his eyes dropping onto the mattress where the three fairies were looking at him expectantly.

"W-who called for Dobby?" Dobby asked taking a step back.

"I did," Luna answered stepping forward, "it's me, Luna, and that's Hermione and Harry."

Dobby's eyes crossed as he struggled to focus on the tiny fairy crossing the bed, "Misses Loona?"

Luna nodded patiently, "Yes, it's me. We need you to tell us how elves apparate."

Dobby frowned for a second, deep in thought, "It's hard for Dobby to say. Dobby doesn't know the words. Dobby simply goes where Dobby is wanting to be going."

Luna nodded happily, "Thank you, Dobby; you've been a great help."

Hermione sighed as Dobby popped away, "Well, that wasn't much help."

"What do you mean?" Luna asked suddenly appearing right beside Hermione.

"How?!" Hermione asked, eyeing the green-headed fairy in amazement.

"I just did what Dobby said. I just went where I wanted to go," Luna answered disappearing and reappearing rapidly throughout the room.

Harry grinned as he started popping around the room behind Luna. Finally catching her Harry faded them both back to the bed beside a scowling Hermione.

"Just trust in your fairy, Hermione," Harry explained, "it's sort of instinctual. You're over thinking it, it's all about intent."

Hermione nodded slowly, taking a deep breath and willing herself to fade onto Sirius' shoulder. Several seconds ticked by with no change and Hermione's face turned into a deep scowl. Acting on a hunch Harry faded right behind her and grabbed her waist yelling at the same time "Gotcha!"

Sirius flinched as Hermione's resulting scream erupted right next to his ear, "Harry! You bastard!"

Harry grinned, fading up to join her, "It worked, didn't it? You were pushing too hard, focusing too much. It's not like apparition where you have to deliberate and whatever the other D's are. Just go."

Hermione nodded clearing her mind. Picturing the bed, Hermione quickly imagined herself there and was tackled by a giggling Luna as soon as she arrived, "You did it!"

Hermione smiled, wrapping her arms around Luna, "It'll take a little getting used to. It's very different from apparition."

Harry nodded an agreement as he faded next to the pair, "It is, but now the world is our oyster, loves."

Luna grinned evilly, "Let's spend the night in Ravenclaw tower."

"Why Ravenclaw?" Sirius asked looking down at them.

"Revenge," Harry answered simply.


Fairies are known to be mostly docile creature by nature, preferring to frolic and live out their days with laughter and music, dancing among the flowers and creatures of the world. While that idea normally holds true, there are the other tales to take into account. Tales of horror and mischief that could, in no sane person's mind, be described as innocent or harmless.

These tales are usually chalked up to some form of dark fairy or myth, but the truth is something the Wizarding world as a whole has learned to hide, especially when the truth doesn't favor them. No, the truth is that the darker tales were usually fairies seeking revenge against people who had wronged them. It could be something as seemingly innocent as cutting down a favorite tree, or something as dark as capturing and killing one of their kind. To the Fae there is little distinction between the two crimes, as any crime against them is dealt with quite harshly.

Unfortunately for the many people who had stomped on each of their lives at one point or another, Harry, Hermione and Luna were quickly coming to terms with the parts of them that cried out for death and destruction. Harry had seen plenty of death and destruction in his life, however, and the more human part of his mind quickly made a realization. Death is soooo permanent. Misery however, could last a life time.

"Boys have you got a minute?" Harry asked eyeing the Weasley Twins who were hunkered down in a corner with their usual accomplice Lee Jordan.

"Anything," Fred started

"for the real Champion," George ended.

Harry nodded as Lee made his way to the couches giving them a bit of privacy.

"Rumor has it you boys are looking to start a joke shop?" Harry asked pulling up a chair.

"Your ears are long,"

"Oh golden one."

Harry nodded, "Tell me, how much would it interest you to be able to bounce some ideas off a real Marauder?"

"How?"

"When?"

"Which?"

"How?"

Harry's head bounced back and forth he couldn't be entirely sure of which said what.

"The how is simple. I have it on good authority and a message sent to the name Snuffles using Hedwig will reach none of than the ever elusive Mr. Padfoot. What I am about to tell you two is top secret, so I need your word on your honor as pranksters not to reveal anything I tell you."

Fred and George nodded anxiously making some unusual hand gestures that Harry only assumed was some kind of coded oath.

"Prongs was none other than James Potter."

"NO!" the twins yelled in unison, "then you!"

Harry nodded, "Exactly. I can also safely inform you that one Remus Lupin, who you might remember taught defense last year, is none other than Moony."

Fred snapped his fingers, "Now you're just having us on."

Harry shook his head, "Think about it. He basically pranked the entire school just by teaching here at all, given his condition. I have it on good authority that he feels it's the greatest prank he ever managed to accomplish."

"Who are the other two?" George asked rubbing his hands together like a mad scientist.

"Unfortunately I cannot give that information at this time. I can say that Mr. Padfoot is a lot closer than you realize, and you've no doubt seen him around from time to time. Maybe on a Hogsmeade weekend," Harry teased with a half-truth.

"All these years," Fred moaned.

"All the wasted opportunities," George finished with a frown.

Harry nodded, "Now, in return for Mr. Padfoot's cooperation in this deal you have to do me a few favors."

"Anything at all Harry."

"You name it, and so it shall be."

Harry nodded, "First, I need you to talk to Peeves."


Harry smiled happily, bunched up between his girls on a shelf in Cho's dorm room waiting patiently for the cruel Asian bitch to go to bed. Harry's grin turned to a curious raising of his brows as the girl finally arrived, wearing nothing more than a towel.

Harry quickly averted his eyes, only to have Hermione elbow him in the ribs and whisper in his ear, "You know you want to look, Harry."

"But…"

"But nothing," Luna said, "you can look, just not touch. We trust you."

Harry frowned, wondering if this was some form of either torture or a test. Hermione, however, proved it wasn't a test as she took hold of his chin and spun his head to watch the Ravenclaw Seeker drop the towel. Cho stood naked in front of her mirror combing out her long hair for several minutes before finally grabbing only a long shirt to wear to bed.

"Not bad, but both of you are prettier," Harry said after Cho finally closed her curtains.

"Agreed," Luna said, "and that was its own little bit of revenge. Whether she ever knows it or not, we know that she isn't as secure as she thinks she is. We know that she has been watched in her private moments, when she was so sure she was alone."

Harry shivered slightly as he grasped what Luna was saying. It's definitely an unsettling thought that someone could be so easily watched when their guard was down. For Harry it was nothing special, but he could see how some people would feel empowered by the ability to watch little moments like this.

The group waited for another hour or so, giving Cho plenty of time to fall asleep before springing their plan. Harry flew over to the window, throwing the latch and opening it fully, letting the cold November air flood the room. Hermione flew down and slid Cho's panty drawer open quietly. Shifting back to her normal form Hermione pulled a small packet from her pocket, carefully rubbing the white powder inside the crotch of each pair. The powder was mostly harmless, only causing a deep cooling sensation to permeate through any area of skin it touched.

Nodding Hermione shifted back to her fairy form and rejoined Harry on the shelf; a moment later Luna flew back as well, her evil grin gleaming in the pale room, "Ready?"

Harry and Hermione nodded, leaning back into the darkest corner of the shelf as Luna cupped her hands over her mouth.

"Choooooooo! Choooooo Chaaaaaaaaang!" Luna called out in an ethereal voice, her words reverberating around the tiny room. Harry heard a quick shift from the bed and knew Cho had just sat upright.

"H-Hello?" Cho asked cautiously, her hand slipping out of the curtains just long enough to grab her wand. The trio waited in silence for several long minutes as Cho screwed up her courage, finally cracking her curtains to peek outside. Flicking her wand she lit the torches and stuck her head out completely to look around the room. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the open window, and she hesitated for a long minute deciding what to do. Shaking her head at her foolishness Cho stomped forward, pulling the window closed with a small bang, her nerves clearly shaken.

Latching the window Cho let out a long slow breath, "Only the wind, I guess."

Cho turned and froze, her feet taking an unconscious step backwards in fear. Her eyes widened in recognition as her wand fell from her hand and clattered to the floor, landing in a small puddle of the yellow tinged liquid running down her pale legs.

The Chang family was far from traditionalist Chinese, but even Cho knew to respect certain proven aspects of her culture. When something is as well documented as Ancestral Ghosts and Spirits in her culture she knew better than to argue their existence. Being a Magical only reinforced these beliefs, as she often saw the proof of it floating through the halls of the castle on a daily basis.

As Confucius once said, 'Respect Ghosts and Gods, but stay away from them.'

Cho's scream echoed through the halls as she bolted from the room, leaving her wand lying where it fell. Voices filled the corridor as the whole tower came awake in response to the screams that were quickly fading into the distance. Harry grinned as he saw the message Luna had written in red ink across the hanging blue and silver curtains of Cho's bed.

'Leave my daughter alone Bitch!'

Harry hugged his girls warmly, fading all three of them to their waiting bed in the Room of Requirement.


Harry whistled happily as he walked into the Great Hall, heading directly to where Hermione and Luna were waiting for him. Cho was huddled up down at the far end of the Ravenclaw table, shivering occasionally as her clique offered her assurances and gentle pats on the back. Sitting down between his girls, who scooted to make room for him, Harry gave each of them a small kiss, "Good morning, ladies."

Hermione rolled her eyes and Harry's jovial perkiness as she started making him a plate of food, having lost the bet from last night. Harry smiled broadly as Hermione placed the plate in front of him, "Told you she'd piss herself."

"Oh gods Harry, not at the breakfast table. Please?" Hermione begged.

Harry nodded and shoved a forkful of eggs in his mouth, chewing slowly to rub it in a little. Swallowing loudly, Harry turned back to Hermione with a grin, "Next we need to figure out the whole Fae magic bit. Last night could have been so much better if we knew what magic we could use."

Hermione nodded around a mouthful of her cheese and mushroom omelet. Luna leaned into Harry heavily and spoke in a soft voice, "We should visit the fairies in the forest."

Harry blinked a few times, fork frozen halfway to his mouth. Hermione actually stopped in mid chew and was staring at Luna as is she'd suddenly declared a cure for cancer.

"Luna, have I told you how much I love you lately?" Harry asked before laying his fork on the edge of his plate.

Luna cocked her head to the side looking thoughtful, "Well there was last night, but I guess it really depends on your perception of lately."

"Luna, you're a genius, we should have done that from the very beginning," Hermione said as she finally managed to finish her bite of omelet.

Harry nodded, frowning as the morning mail arrived and the room was flooded with owls. Harry turned his attention back to Luna, "We'll try to go in the next few days, but we have more important things to see to today."

Lavender ran into the room rushing to Hermione's side and dragging the brown haired witch into a whispered conversation. Harry shrugged, knowing that if it was anything important Hermione would tell him later. Trying to tune out Ginny's small whoop of excitement as a package arrived for her Harry turned back to Luna, offering a sly wink before he started speaking loud enough to be easily overheard. "I heard that Peeves is saying he saw a new ghost around Ravenclaw tower."

Luna nodded, "I heard the Grey Lady talking about it earlier and there was some kind of commotion in the tower last night."

Lavender leaned around Hermione looking at Harry and Luna, "I heard one of the prefects got attacked by this new ghost."

Harry shrugged, "Surely Dumbledore would say something if it was anything really dangerous. Maybe one of the other schools brought a ghost along with them?"

Lavender looked thoughtful for a minute, "Maybe. But it's not unusual for new ghosts to make their way here though; ghosts are attracted to magic."

Luna nodded absently, "I agree with Harry, though, if it was anything really dangerous Dumbledore would say something to us."

Lavender shrugged, "You're probably right. I'll be keeping my eyes open just the same."

"Never a bad idea," Harry agreed returning to his breakfast.


Harry and the girls faded away from the Castle as quickly as they could after breakfast, reappearing in Diagon Alley where they flew lazily around the sky for a while. Landing in the darkened corner of an alley they resumed their normal forms and slipped out quietly. Harry nodded a greeting at the Goblin guards posted at the entrance of the bank as he led the girls inside.

"Hey, short shit," Harry said leaning against one of the teller stations lazily. The Goblin he was addressing dropped the coins he had been stacking neatly and froze for a moment in disbelief. Harry grinned and slapped his vault key down on the desk just as the Goblin's eyes started to raise, causing the Goblin to jump in surprise.

Harry would spend the rest of his life debating the theory that the same magic that saved him from Voldemort's 'Avada Kedavra' also worked on death glares. It wasn't that Harry hated Goblins, in fact Harry had a bit of respect for Griphook. This Goblin however, was not Griphook. And a Goblin, no matter how honorable or not, was still a Goblin.

Goblins were completely and utterly vicious creatures, and their hierarchy was as simple as it could get. The best warriors and financiers rose to power. The weak, dim-witted, and dishonored ended up in dead-end positions like tellers. Even cart drivers were considered above tellers to the Goblins. Tellers had to deal with Humans the most, you see, making it the lowest possible rung on the Goblin's social ladder. Even among their own people tellers were seen as beings worth little to no respect.

The resulting stare down lasted only long enough to Hermione to cough impatiently.

"Yes?" the Goblin drawled flicking his eyes between the key and Harry.

"Not the brightest torch in the dungeon, are you? See this key? Yeah, the one I just put on your desk? Sort of obvious that I need to get in my vault, or so I would think," Harry said using a single finger to twirl the key where it lay on the desk as he spoke.

The Goblin's eyes narrowed dangerously before muttering something in his native tongue. Picking the key up and inspecting it the Goblin nodded and handed it back to Harry before leading them towards the back of the room where the entrance into the tunnel system awaited. Waving a hand over the door the Goblin stepped back as another Goblin appeared from the other side.

"Take Mr. Potter to his vault," the teller said already turning away and heading back to his post. Harry grinned at the retreating Goblin before herding the girls into the awaiting cart.

"Why are we doing this first again?" a thin-lipped Hermione asked as she held onto the cart for all she was worth.

"Impressions, my dear," Harry said with a wink. "We've got to look our best when we piss off the Wizarding World, after all."

Hermione nodded, closing her eyes as the cart started moving, trying to tune out Luna's screams of glee and Harry's loud whoops.

Thirty minutes later the group left the bank, Hermione looking considerably paler after the experience. Harry wrapped his arm around her with a grin, leading the small group toward Madam Malkin's as quickly as he could. The alley was starting to fill with people going about their daily tasks, and the trio was hoping to remain unnoticed and unannounced as long as possible. Opening the door, Harry ushered his girls inside, smiling as the elderly matron of the shop greeted them jovially.

"And a good morning to you as well, Madam," Harry said sweetly, bowing low. "I hope we are not interrupting you on this fine day?"

Madam Malkin smiled warmly at Harry, "Not at all. Although I daresay the three of you should be at school, shouldn't you?"

Harry nodded, "Perhaps, but I had some family business to attend to and these two lovelies were ever so gracious as to accompany to keep me from my boredom. You know how things can be, I'm sure."

Madam Malkin nodded, knowing it would be beyond impolite to ask for any more details. One did not pry into matters of family business with the scion of an ancient and noble house.

Harry smiled, "Now then, onto our business here today. We all need the finest robes you can find for us, something befitting my position as the future Lord Potter. Of course my escorts will need something of equal quality. Money is no object when it comes to my ladies, you understand. I find that with the tournament I've been in the spotlight quite a bit, and we can't have me looking like a ragamuffin, now can we?"


Harry whistled jovially as he nodded his head towards some unknown ministry employee passing him to get into the lift he had just exited. Walking down the narrow corridor Harry idly read the labels on each door until he found the one he was looking for. Checking his new silk robes for any imperfections, Harry opened the door and stepped into the Department of Registry and Records. Smiling at the empty room, save a few workers who were bent over various pieces of parchment, Harry made his way towards the youngest looking girl.

"Well, aren't you a pretty little thing?" Harry asked leaning over the edge of her desk. The girl's head snapped up with a scowl that immediately turned to shock as she met Harry's green, knicker soaking, eyes. Harry smiled, reaching for the girls hand and placing a small kiss on it before she had a chance to object.

"Forgive me, but when I see such beauty I all too often seem to speak before I think," Harry said, raising his eyes once again to the shocked girl.

"I-it's alright. How may I help you?" the brunette said, finally regaining her composure. The young woman was very pretty; Harry hadn't been lying about that. Smiling as the woman leaned forward to give him a wonderful view of her ample assets Harry winked at her slyly.

"I'm looking for the necessary paperwork to file my Head of House status today. I was sort of hoping to dodge as much of the red tape as I could and I was wondering if a beautiful woman such as you could be of assistance," Harry said, raising an eyebrow ever so slightly.

"Of course Mr..." the girl hesitated looking at Harry expectantly.

"Surely you must know who I am?" Harry asked looking genuinely surprised.

The girl looked disappointed for a moment before answering in a husky voice, "I'm sure everyone knows who you are, Mr. Potter, but if I don't ask you your name then how can I ever have an excuse to give you mine?"

Harry grinned, leaning forward and placing his hand over hers, "But my dear surely you are none other than Venus herself? Or perhaps Aphrodite and your girdle hides beneath your robes? No? Then I fear that no name can give justice to your beauty."

The young woman blushed heavily, her eyes sparkling in a mixture of arousal and delight. Reaching into a drawer on her desk she withdrew several pieces of parchment. Glancing over each of them she lined them up in a neat row and lay a self-inking quill down beside them. Harry nodded gratefully, looking through the paperwork and signing his name in various places as the girl explained.

"Normally I'm supposed to hold these for a week, but maybe I could give them a little push if you like?"

Harry smiled warmly, sliding the paper back over to her, "Beautiful and generous. I was actually hoping to be in and out and have all of this finished today so I can take it to the Goblins."

"Please, call me Michelle," the brunette said as she checked the parchment over. Placing it in a small box on her desk the girl tapped it with her wand which caused the box to glow softly for a moment. Taking the papers back out the girl separated a few sheets and handed them back to Harry.

"I'll file these immediately. All you need to do now is take those copies and deliver them to the Goblin in charge of the Potter accounts," Michelle said as she wrote something on a scrap of parchment. Handing the scrap to Harry she smiled warmly, "And that is my Floo. Feel free to stop by sometime."

Harry grinned, taking Michelle's hand once again and placing another gentle kiss on it, "My dear, you have been a wonderful help to me. I thank you for all you have done."

Michelle blushed again, looking around the small room, "I'm glad to be of service, Lord Potter."

Harry smiled, bowing elaborately before turning to the door. Stepping into the hallway Harry smiled as two giggling Fairies popped onto his shoulders, "My, my, my, such a flatterer."

Harry turned and smiled at Luna, "It worked, didn't it?"

Luna nodded looking up and down the hall before hopping from her perch and resuming her normal form, "It worked very well, love. But what was that about a girdle?"

Hermione followed suit smiling madly, "Aphrodite was said to own a girdle that when worn made her irresistible to men."

Luna looked thoughtful for a moment, "I always thought that was just her Veela allure."

Harry stumbled slightly as the words hit his ears, "What?"

Luna shrugged, "Aphrodite was a Veela; everybody knows that."

Harry looked to Hermione who only shrugged, "It would make sense."

Shaking his head Harry looked at Luna gain, "How did your little mission go?"

Luna smiled, pulling a necklace with a familiar looking charm from her pocket and handing it to Harry. Harry caressed the little hourglass with a dark grin on his face before slipping the chain around his neck, "Good, were you caught?"

Hermione shook her head, "No, everything went perfectly. I took three turners from the back of cabinet and replaced them with duplicates using a wandless Gemino curse. With any luck they won't be discovered missing for some time and by then any link to us will be gone."


Harry walked into Gringotts again, heading directly towards the same Goblin he'd dealt with early, "Hello again, short shit."

The Goblin's hand shook violently for a moment before he took a deep breath and raised his eyes, "Welcome back, Mr. Potter."

Harry smiled and leaned against the counter, "I need to see whoever is in charge of the Potter accounts."

The Goblin smiled ruefully for a moment, "And do you have an appointment?"

Harry grinned wickedly, placing the rolled up parchment on the counter in front of him, "No, but I daresay this is important enough that he won't mind."

The Goblin looked doubtful for a moment reaching forward and taking the parchment. Scanning it briefly the Goblin frowned and let out a small sigh of impatience, "Indeed. Come with me then, Lord Potter."

Harry nodded, wrapping an arm around Luna and Hermione. The Goblin led them through several corridors before finally stopping and placing his palm on a door. A moment later the door opened with a click and the Goblin stepped back and bowed.

Harry grinned, "Thanks again, short shit."

Harry could have sworn he heard a growl as he stepped into the office where another Goblin was looking at him with interest, "Greetings, Mr. Potter, my name is Hooktooth. How can I be of assistance today?"

"Greetings, account manager Hooktooth. I am here to claim my Family ring," Harry said, laying the paperwork on the desk in front of him. The Goblin frowned for a moment before scanning the documents.

"I was not informed of this before…" Hooktooth said, looking doubtful.

Harry nodded, taking a seat, "Being me has its privileges, obviously."

Hooktooth eyed Harry for a long moment before pressing a small rune on his desk hesitantly. A moment later another Goblin came into the room and stood at attention.

"Inform Chief Ragnok that a new Lord Potter has graced us with his presence," Hooktooth said with a dismissive wave. The new Goblin gave a low bow before running from the room. Harry frowned looking at Hooktooth with narrowed eyes.

"This is not what I was led to believe is normal protocol for these matters…" Harry said slipping his hand slowly towards his wand.

Hooktooth nodded, not seeing Harry's movement, "Normally no, but the Potter account isn't just any account is it?"

Harry frowned and looked at his girls who both were sitting at attention, "Perhaps not."

Hooktooth nodded but made no move to clarify as they waited for several long minutes. Harry turned as the clicked open once again and the largest Goblin he had ever seen stepped into the room flanked by two others in full body armor. Hooktooth stood, bowing low as he spoke, "Chief Ragnok."

Ragnok walked around the desk and shoved Hooktooth out of his way with a small growl, taking the now vacated seat, "Welcome to Gringotts, Lord Potter. How may we be of assistance today?"

Harry eyed the large Goblin for a moment, "I've come for my family ring, Chief Ragnok. All the necessary paperwork has been filed and frankly I'm wondering why my time is being wasted."

Ragnok winced slightly, Goblins had often used that very line towards wizards, "We apologize, but you have to realize situations like this don't happen every day."

"So Hooktooth said. Forgive me for being blunt, but we have things we need to accomplish today, so can we get to the point?" Harry said leaning back in his chair.

Ragnok frowned but tried to keep his voice even, "Lord Potter, it has come to our attention that there have been some minor inconsistencies with your account. Normally we would have contacted you sooner, but Hooktooth only recently made us aware of it."

"How minor?" Harry asked leaning forward once again.

Ragnok shrugged, "Roughly fourteen-thousand Galleons over the last four years or so. Not a significant amount but it's where the money went that we feel will intrigue you the most."

Harry motioned for Ragnok to continue.

"As you know, the tuition for attending Hogwarts is just shy of two-thousand Galleons per year. Taken into account the amount of Galleons removed from the Potter Family vault, that would be seven years' tuition. When we discovered this we started tracking it and discovered that shortly before your first year at Hogwarts two-thousand galleons were removed from the vault and deposited into the Weasley Family vault. The following year four-thousand was removed, and the same for the two years following. It was common knowledge that you were on friendly terms with the Weasley family, and Hooktooth took it upon himself to ignore it."

Harry leaned back looking thoughtful, "Who exactly authorized these transactions?"

"Considering your placement with the Muggle family who raised you, your accounts were in a form of stasis with only Albus Dumbledore being allowed to make adjustments."

Harry nodded, "So in essence I have been paying for the Weasleys' youngest children to attend Hogwarts?"

Ragnok frowned deeply but nodded, "It would appear so, am I to assume then that you did not know about these transactions?"

Harry shook his head, "No, but I cannot say I am overly surprised. What are my legal options?"

"Legally, as in with the Wizengamot, very little. Even with the necessary proof they would twist it to being the Goblins' fault. Legally with Gringotts, however, should you pursue charges then Dumbledore would be declared Persona non Grata within our walls and we could reclaim the gold."

Harry nodded, "Is there a time restriction involved?"

Ragnok shook his head, "Theft to us is a capital crime. As such with adequate proof it holds the maximum charges that we can levy, regardless of the passage of time. If you should press charges then Dumbledore would be given two days to clear his vaults, minus the fourteen-thousand we would claim as rightfully yours. After those two days he would be unwelcome on any Goblin land under penalty of death."

"And the Weasleys?" Luna asked cocking her head to the side.

"They may have benefited from the crime, but they did not commit it," Ragnok answered with a nod.

Harry nodded, "Simple enough. I would like a copy of your findings as soon as possible and I will not be pursuing action at this moment. I feel it would be better served as… leverage."

Ragnok grinned evilly, "You mean blackmail, Lord Potter?"

"Semantics," Harry answered with a dismissive wave. "Gold I have in spades. Leverage I both need and lack. Now was there anything else?"

Ragnok shook his head before turning his head to Hooktooth, who wisely remained on the floor, "Hooktooth! Take Lord Potter to his vault."

Hooktooth's eyes widened, realizing he'd just been demoted to cart driver.

"I recommend Griphook," Harry said as he stood to leave, "I have it on good authority he is a fair Goblin."

Ragnok's eyes narrowed for a moment, "I will consider it."

Harry nodded looking down at Hooktooth who was crawling on the floor, "Come along, short shit number two, I don't have all day."


Harry sighed as he took his first look upon the great double doors that made the entrance of vault number seventeen. It was one of the oldest active vaults in Gringotts and just so happened to be the Potter Family vault. A great shield of gold with the Potter Family crest adorned the doors and Harry idly ran his hand across it. Tracing the wand crossed over a sword above a golden hippogriff Harry smiled

The smaller the number the older the family or establishment was in most cases. Hogwarts, for example, had use of vault number eleven, while it was rumored that the four founders had vaults even lower. Some people even guessed that there was a vault for Emrys, but the Goblins refused to either acknowledge or deny that rumor. In fact all inquiries into the Emrys vault had been treated exactly the same; with complete and utter silence.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked as she watched Harry touching the door.

"I'm fine," Harry answered, looking over at the Goblin who was standing nearby. "What do I do?"

Hooktooth, or as Harry now called him 'short shit number two', took a small silver dagger from a sheath at his side, "You'll need to slice your palm and lay it on the crest."

Harry nodded, having expected that. It was the same way he originally accessed the vault at Potter Manor in the last timeline. Taking the dagger Harry deftly slit his palm and slapped it on the crest to take away the burn from the cut. A sharp pain and the hand became comfortable numb as the door attuned itself to his magic.

Several moments passed before a loud pop echoed through the tunnel, rust falling free from hinges that hadn't opened in at least a decade. Harry pulled his hand away and Luna took it instantly, running her finger across the gash and muttering under her breath. After three passes the skin finally reknitted and Harry accepted a handkerchief that Hermione was handing to him to wipe away the remaining blood.

The doors opened slowly, groaning in protest as they did. When they finally opened fully Harry stepped into the vault for the first time in his life. He was immediately drawn to a small podium where a single ring lay upon a scarlet pillow. Harry caressed the ring with a single finger before picking it up and sliding it onto the ring finger of his right hand, the Potter crest on it shining brightly.

Harry felt magic pulsing through him as the ring's magic flooded into his mind. Like a whisper or echo a soft voice spoke to him, guiding him and directing him.

"I, Harry James Potter, hereby claim the mantle of Head of House Potter. On pain of death, I swear to uphold and protect the Potter name and honor. On loss of magic, I swear to do all in my power to protect those under my aegis. So I swear and so mote it be."

Hermione and Luna shivered slightly as the magic coalesced around Harry confirming and binding his oath. Smiling broadly Luna stepped forward and dipped in a curtsy, "Milord."

Harry smiled before pulling Luna into his arms, "Never milord me, Luna, there will be enough people doing that soon enough."

Luna smiled happily, "I know. I just wanted to get it out of my system."

Harry chuckled looking back at the vault which was filled with countless treasures and heirlooms. The vault at Potter manor held many wondrous objects, but they were by and large stolen and illegal. Harry had never seen this vault before, the war being hot and heavy when he had learned of its existence, and he felt a sort of melancholy as he glanced around the chamber. Here in this vault was everything that had been taken from him in the past. Identity. Family. History.

This is who he was.


AN: There we have it folks, another chapter coming to a close. I've seen amazing response to this story already with nearly a hundred reviews after only three chapters and I hope I continue to write a story that you all enjoy. And yes, adding a comment at the end about reviews is a well-planned ploy to remind you to do so please. Sue me.