Hi everybody! Merry Christmas! Thank you for sticking with me for this long, and for being so patient while I tried to write this chapter over an incredibly large period of time. I am extremely sorry!
I worked all last night to finish this chapter, so that I could post it as my Christmas present to all of you, And for those of you who don't celebrate Christmas this will be your early/late birthday present. Thank you for your reviews, they are the only things that kept me from just giving up on this story.
Warnings: swearing, emotional breakdown, and a lot of Harry being adorable.
Disclamer: Sadly I do not own this, if i did then Harry would not end up with the Weasley bint (sorry all you Ginny fans, but If you like her then this is not the story for you)
"talking" thinking $parseletongue$
Chapter 7 Meeting Mr. Weasley
"Mr. Harry Potter, the goblin in charge of your vaults is waiting for you downstairs."
Harry turned to look at Bernard, his head house elf. "Please tell him that I will be right down. Oh and Bernard…"
"Yes Mr. Harry Potter?"
"Haven't I told you not to call me that?"
Bernard turned his head down, ears drooping sadly.
Harry took pity on the elf, knowing that it must be hard for him to get used to calling his master by their first name, and said, "It's alright Bernard, I am not mad at you. Just please use my name from now on."
Bernard bowed gratefully before aparating into the sitting room to relay Harry's message.
Once Bernard was gone, Harry turned back to his book, sighing wistfully at the pages brim full of exiting things to learn. With a thump Harry placed the book on his desk, and then pulled himself off of his bed. He started to call for Samara, but she wasn't in the room anymore. Harry guessed that Griphook wouldn't want to be kept waiting so he just left her be and walked down to the sitting room quickly.
"Hello Griphook. Did I forget an appointment? Or is there some other reason that you have come?" Harry asked nervously as he sat down across from Griphook. Even in someone else's home Griphook still had the air of someone who was in charge.
"No you are not late for an appointment…" The goblin paused for a moment, "After you left Gringotts I came across some very strange information. At first I thought to owl you about what I found but then I decided that such grave news is best told face to face, plus by using owls you risk the chance of the letter being intercepted and read by unwanted parties. Apparently you have not one, but two magical signatures in your body. This is a very odd and rare occurrence, so I took it upon myself to research what could have caused such a phenomenon. I only recently came to a conclusion about the cause of this." Griphook leaned in slightly, wetting his lips nervously, "You have a piece of a soul, also known as a Horcrux, attached to your scar. We suspect that the Horcrux is Voldemort's since the Horcrux has the same magical signature as the dark lord."
"I know that you said that a Horcrux is a soul piece, but can you explain it a little more?"
"A Horcrux is an object, or person in which a Dark wizard or witch has hidden a fragment of his or her soul for the purpose of attaining immortality. Creating a Horcrux gives one the ability to anchor one's own soul to earth if the body was destroyed. The more Horcruxes one creates, the harder it is for them to die. We do not know if the Horcrux will be dangerous to you, but I have read a few things that say something about Horcruxes having the power to possess people, so just in case we would like to move the Horcrux from your scar, to an object that we can keep under a watchful eye."
Griphook gave Harry some time to digest this new information. One thing that caught Harry's attention was the fact that Griphook had been using the word we instead of I.
"Who is we?"
"That is a good question to ask Harry. We Includes me, the head goblin of my section, and one of Gringotts curse breakers William Weasley. He has had the most contact of all the Gringotts employees with Horcruxes Normally he works with the Gringotts bank in Egypt breaking curses in the pyramids, but lucky for us, he wanted to take some time to be with his family, so he has been transferred over to us for the next month and a half."
Griphook had noticed a surprised look flash across Harry's face at the mention of Mr. Weasley. Griphook knew that Harry was probably worried that he wasn't a trustworthy employee, because of the money that his family had taken from his vaults. "Harry please do not worry yourself. Both me and my superior have vetted Mr. Weasley quite harshly before revealing anything about you or your situation. During the vetting sessions we used Veritaserum, a truth potion, which is extremely hard to get around. We have found him to be a loyal and trustworthy employee. Not at all the type to use this information against you."
Harry let out a sigh of relief at this news. Merlin this is really stressing me out, Harry thought worriedly.
"Please take this port key." Griphook stretched out his hand showing Harry a small bronze coin, "It will take you to a room where Mr. Weasley is waiting. He is the one who will be casting the spell to rid you of this foul object. The port key will activate on its own in five minutes. I will be going first to tell my superiors that you are coming."
Harry took the coin from Griphook, and watched in amazement as the goblin disappeared with a pop. Apparition was extremely fascinating to him, because it was just like the supper power of teleportation that he had read about in Dudley's comics, one time that Harry had managed to sneak one out of Dudley's room while cleaning.
Harry sighed tiredly. He had woken up in a good mood this morning but in light of everything that Griphook had been telling him, Harry felt as if a huge weight had fallen upon his chest. Being alone wasn't helping either; there was nothing to distract him from the dark images that swirled around in his head. He kept watching the same scene over and over in his head, like a really horrible song on repeat. At first he would just be standing normally, but then a gross dark sludge would begin to poor out of his scar. The sludge would surround him, even pouring into his screaming mouth; soon he would be swallowed whole by the darkness. Harry wrapped his arms around his legs, shivering and shaking. He wanted nothing more than to hide under his covers and cry, but he couldn't move. Harry felt completely numb, and the tears just wouldn't fall. Even the pulling sensation in his navel, the tell-tale sign of a port key didn't wake him from his stupor.
When Harry arrived at Gringotts the man standing nearby began talking very fast; Harry tried to listen but it felt like his ears were clogged and everything sounded muffled and distorted. He wanted to ask for help, but his lips just wouldn't work right. Harry closed his eyes trying to shut everything out. After it had been quiet for a while Harry thought to himself that maybe the giant man had left the room, but suddenly the man dropped to his knees in front of Harry and wrapped him up in a big hug. The hug was so unexpected that Harry froze in the large man's grip. The man's right hand began rubbing circles on Harry's back, and Harry felt a tear roll down his cheek. He tried to stop it, but the slow rubbing finally made him lose it. The tears poured down his face, not stopping no matter what he tried, even though crying in front of a stranger was extremely embarrassing.
After a few minutes Harry finally managed to get the crying under control. Harry quickly pulled away from the larger man, and turned away, so that he could wipe his face without the man noticing.
"You ok kid?"
Harry turned back with a frown on his face "Of course I am ok, why would you think I am not?" Harry lied.
"You were crying Harry."
"I wasn't! I was just… Umm... Sweating from my eyes."
Bill shook his head at the ridiculous statement but went along with it to keep the kid from being embarrassed. "Of course kid-" He stopped when the boy frowned again at being called kid, "Harry. It's very nice to meet you; I have heard good things from Griphook." Bill reached out a hand for Harry to take.
"My name is Harry Potter. I have heard good things about you too" Harry introduced himself, as he took Bill Weasley's hand and shook it. "Griphook told me that you are going to get rid of the Horcruxes. Is this true?"
"Yes. It is my job to cast the spell that will get rid of the Horcrux. If you will come this way then we will get started."
Bill led Harry over to two plush seats where they both sat down across from each other.
"What are you going to do, to get rid of the Horcrux?" Harry asked. He fished in his pocket and pulled out a crumpled paper napkin to blow his nose. "Allergies," he told Bill.
"The pollen's been bad this year," Bill agreed soberly. "While researching Horcruxes I came across a spell that should work to remove it. First it should rip the soul piece off of you and then suck it into an object that I attach the funnel spell to. There it will stay until we have decided what to do with it. In case you wanted to know the spell is Nutrientibus Anima. The spell should be painless but I can't be sure since I have never cast it before. "
Harry weighed his options and the amount of risk vs the gain in this situation. He studied the facts and finally decided that it was worth the risk to be rid of the Horcrux. "I will do it."
"As soon as you are ready I will begin the spell."
Harry sat up stiffly, and nodded as a sign that he was ready. Bill whipped out his wand, but was so quick that Harry couldn't even tell where he had pulled it from. With his other hand Bill pulled out a simple silver ring. He pointed his wand at Harry's scar and said with a serious voice "Nutrientibus Anima!" And out of his wand shot what looked like a small funnel of wind. The small end then attached itself to Harry's scar, and the bigger end stretched down towards the ring. As the tornado spun quicker Harry felt a sucking sensation in his head. It didn't hurt, but it was an extremely weird sensation almost like someone was trying to suck out his brain. Finally the Horcrux was sucked halfway out of the scar. It was quickly pulled out the rest of the way with one final suck. The Horcrux was pitch black and shadow like. As it flew towards the ring a horrible face appeared on it, and began screaming angrily making both Bill and harry shiver. Once the Horcrux was in the ring, the funnel disappeared back into Bill's wand, and Harry was finally able to slump over from exhaustion. Bill started to get up worriedly, but Harry waved him down tiredly.
After about five minutes of resting Harry perked up enough to ask Bill, "so what happens now?"
Bill popped his back and neck before answering "Well for now the ring will be hidden somewhere safe. You will go home and come back tomorrow for your last appointment. Meanwhile I will keep researching until I find some way to get rid of this accursed thing. Hopefully I will also find a way to figure out if Voldemort has made more Horcruxes." Harry started to nod but stopped when he thought of something that he wanted to ask.
"Bill if you don't mind..." Bill gestured for him to continue, "What does this Voldemort guy have to do with me? And why does everyone seem so shocked by my name?"
Bill's mouth dropped open ridiculously wide, like in one of Dudley's films. "You... you mean... You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"How could you have not been told?"
"Told what?" Harry snapped out annoyed.
Bill raised an eyebrow at Harry's annoyed voice. "You are famous in the wizarding world. You defeated the dark lord Voldemort as a baby by rebounding his killing curse that was meant for you. Sadly your parents died in the attack, so after you were proclaimed the boy who lived, Dumbledore hid you away from the wording world. No one knew where he hid you, only that you would come back in time to begin Hogwarts."
This time it was Harry's turn to gape in awe. He couldn't believe it. Harry the freak, famous. And with wizard parents no less. No wonder people had stared at him like that. Harry remembered asking Samara about it but she hadn't said anything... Shit, Samara! Harry finally remembered the snake that he had left behind in his numb stupor.
"Thank you for explaining that to me Bill. I would love to talk to you some more, but I am sure that Samara is worried sick about me right now."
"Yes… Yes... Of course. To get home just activate the port key from before by saying home sweet home. The goblins will send you an owl with the time for your last appointment." Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the coin. "Could you please send me owls about the research progress?"
Bill smiled at the sweet little boy. "Sure thing Harry." Harry smile at Bill and said goodbye before activating the port key and disappearing.
As soon as the port key dropped Harry in his living room he found himself being attacked by a pissed off Samara.
$How could you leave without telling me where you were going. For all I knew you had been kidnapped and we're being tortured by Voldemort. I am so mad at you right now! Where on earth did you go?$
"Can I use the Pensive? I have been practicing and it would be much faster than trying to explain everything."
Samara just slithered around his wrist tightly, and shook her head in the direction of Harry's room. Harry cringed sadly, she was too angry to even speak to him. Harry took the stairs slowly so as to not jostle, and anger the already pissed off snake even more. Once in his room, harry did as he had been taught and extracted the memory with his wand. Once it was totally out he dropped it into the pensive watching the blue mist swirl around. Samara slithered down his arm and dipped her head into the pensive. After what seemed like hours, Samara lifted her head out of the memory and turned to stare at harry with a thoughtful expression.
$Are you sure that this Bill is trust worthy enough to hold such an important secret?$
"Yes. I trust him for now."
$Well then that is good enough for me. Just next time please remember to tell me before you go somewhere.$ Once Harry had promised, Samara continued, $So are you up for practice?$ Harrys eyes lit up in excitement at the mention of magic practice. $Today you will be practicing the correct ways to prepare potion ingredient.$ Harry whooped in excitement, and raced towards the potions dungon. Potions practice was quickly becoming one of his favorite things to do every day. Only eating the delicious food made by his house elves, and talking with Samara were higher on his list. Life was finally starting to look up for harry, but Samara could smell a storm brewing, and soon it would come and cover up his blue sky.
Please continue reviewing, It really does help!
I will try to get out the next chapter much faster.
ByeBye!
