Chapter 7

"What does that mean?" Alex asked quietly, he had not really followed much of their conversation, but it seemed like he might be able to understand this. He at least wanted to understand.

"It means Alex, that the goblin in charge of Mr. Potter's vaults was not truthful with him and hid information from him." Rocnar sneered. "Did you ever get statements from the bank on the status of your accounts, a summons when your godfather died? There were many things that should have been shared with you were kept from you. It was not until recent that we discovered this discrepancy. In recent light of this insight, was are doing a deep scan on many of the accounts within our bank to make sure this was not more widespread." Rocnar declared unhappy that such a thing had happened within his bank.

Harry clenched the arm of his chair tight, so many things had been hidden from him and now he was learning still more had.

"what does discreepicy mean?" Alex asked quietly curious at the new word.

"Discrepancy, it means that he was not acting like he was supposed to, that there was something wrong in the accounts he managed compared to other accounts." Rocnar responded explaining for Alex.

"Did anyone else know of this?" Harry asked.

"Dumbledore possibly." Rocnar sneered at the name. Goblins had never really cared for the wizard. "He acted under the guise of your magical guardian much when you were not in the magical world. We do not know how much of that was true, but once you entered the wizarding world you should had gotten information such as statements and summons, regardless of your age and who your guardian would have been. That you didn't means they were blocked and redirected."

"Do you have records of those statements that I could get? I would like to be able to see what I actually have given light of this." Harry asked with a sigh, more manipulations from Dumbledore. He may have respected the man, but he wasn't as disillusioned about him as he once was. Dumbledore had manipulated much in his life. "Can you find out what is keeping statements from Gringotts from reaching me and fix them?"

"I will look into the matter. As for your previous statements, I have all your information with me, it seemed pertinent to bring to this meeting. This file lists all your assets, monetary and otherwise. The information is broken down by name and vault." Rocnar explained handing a thick file to Harry. "But mainly, you do not have to worry about much concerning Griphook. Not being informed and slacking on investments that popped up seems to be it. there were only a few large transactions ever made from your accounts. Those being for school, and when you were little a stipend for your relatives in regards to your care. After you entered the wizarding world, it looks like the only other major withdrawals started in 1995, though not enough it negatively impact you."

Blinking Harry took the file and opened it glancing at some of what it held.

"Names? 1995, for the Order of the Phoenix is the best I can come up with, though I have no idea why, make sure that's not still happening. As for my relatives, I never received a Knut from them in terms of decent care."

"Yes, poor management indeed, Griphook was not the best banker. as for the names, there are the Potter, Black, and other such vaults that came from families and the number of vaults with them." Rocnar explained to Harry and Alex. "I will see what I can do in regards to your realtives, perhaps we can talk at a later time concerning that issue."

"Sure, but other vaults? I can understand the Potter and Black vaults, though I had no idea there were multiple ones. But where did these others come from?"

"Many are from the first war. Quite a few older families that were heavily damaged during the war and no sign of regaining numbers passed their vaults on to you in thanks for defeating the Dark Lord. You haven't gotten quite to many of those yet this time around, one or two perhaps." Rocnar explained.

Harry flipped to see some of those, but was surprised to see that many of those old vaults looked to be empty save for a few artifacts that resided in them.

"What happened to them, many seem to be cleaned dry?" Harry asked.

"Ah, that brings us back to our main reason for meeting. Your escape caused a great deal of damage you realized?" Rocnar asked. "Not only was there the possibility of reputation damage with the bank, but there were also multiple physical damages that needed to be addressed."

"Yes, I realize that." Harry responded with a slow nod.

"Many of those accounts were not touched previously, due to a restriction being placed on them for no one to access them but yourself." Rocnar began to explain.

"I don't mind if money was taken out of my accounts to pay those off. You can take whatever was needed to fix damages." Harry told Rocnar remembering how they had burst out of the bank of a dragon.

"Commendable. Your interactions with goblins proceeds you Mr. Potter, personally I had hoped you would say something like that. We first became aware of the issue with our accounts when we sent a letter informing you that we were to do just as you suggested. When no response came and no way to contact you, we went ahead hoping you would come to that decision yourself or made to accept next time you entered the bank." Rocnar smiled grimly.

"I think I will take that as a complement." Harry replied unsure what to say. He had a feeling that if he had said no he would have been forced to agree eventually.

"Do so. We took from the Lestrange vault and emptied it first considering after Bellatrix's death it reverted back to a Black vault. We doubted that you would have to much problem taking from it considering. Next, we used monetary from your lesser vaults, most of those were successfully able to cover the repairs cost. We left any artifacts residing in the vaults as you can see." Rocnar explained pulling files out of the stack Harry had indicating which vaults had been taken from as well as pulling out a statement detailing how much was taken.

Harry chose to not comment on how large the numbers were. If the Goblins felt it was necessary to take that much from him he wasn't going to complain. It would only cause more problems and he didn't want to get on their bad side more than he already was.

"You stopped the war and removed the hand the Dark Lord had placed upon the goblin nation. While we may not have approved of your method to do so involving our bank, you did manage to do us a service indirectly. For that your punishment is less server. Paying for the damage and a more strained relationship with a few goblins are your dues for your attempt. Do not try such a stunt again. You are a major holder in the bank, thus we cannot loss you completely, as well as you are one of the few who treat us with the respect we deserve. Be careful in your dealings with us in the future." Rocnar warned.

"Your leniency is much appreciated, Rocnar, and I will keep your warnings in mind." Harry replied thankful he had not been punished to harshly for what happened.

"Now, that matter is taken care of, I wish to hear the story of this boy, Alex, and why he mentions adoption." Rocnar said gazing at Alex, his tone much changed from the tense atmosphere previously.


"Oh! Harry saved me!" Alex exclaimed and began to tell Rocnar his story about how Harry had come across him and taken him in after adopting him in the muggle world. Harry added a few comments here and there, but let Alex explain. Finally, Alex came to the part where Harry asked if he wanted to adopt him the wizarding way.

"My house-elves came to me, they are from old pureblood families, and they were worried if I was going to leave the adoption at a muggle level or do it also in the wizarding community. I had not realized this and thanked them asking how I should go about the process. Kreacher the house-elf I inherited from my godfather recommended blood adoption. He said doing so would make Alex mine, make him my actual son. Kreacher said the best way to do this was come to the bank." Harry explained.

"And your house-elf was right." Rocnar commented. "I am sure that you have noticed the low number of purebloods. It was once common practice to introduce new blood to help keep the lines fresh by blood adopting a Muggleborn or half-blood child that needed a family. This would not erase their old blood completely but add to it, overshadowing the old. Sometimes it would be one parent or both parents that would add their blood to the adoption. It is the old way of accepting one into the family."

"What would that mean for us?" Harry asked.

"We would do the adoption using your blood to override the father's. He would be renamed a Potter and would identify as such on any records used to test bloodline. He would gain a few Potter features and be tied into the family magic." Rocnar explained. "This was popular with the half-bloods who had muggle parents. The process would render the muggle parent practically nonexistent in tests, once adopted the child would be pureblood."

"How do we do that?" Alex asked excited, he wanted to be a real family with Harry. He was following as best he could, but all he really understood was that Harry would be his father and that this used to be done more that it is now.

"A potion, that you are lucky we have in store." Rocnar stated summoning a vial and cup. Harry stilled as Rocnar pulled out a knife and looked at Alex. For a four-year-old he had a surprisingly determined look on his face and didn't look to scared.

"What do we have to do?" Alex asked jumping up and looking at what Rocnar had laying out.

"Each of you will need to cut your hand and let the blood drip into the chalice here. Once the both of you have done that I will add the potion where it will mix together with the blood. Once that is done you will both need to drink the potion. You will feel the magic wash over the both of you as the changes take effect. You will feel it more than Harry." Rocnar explained holding up the knife.

Alex gulped looking at the sharp edge of the blade. He looked back at Harry with worry but also longing in his eyes.

Harry knelt down next to him and pulled him in a hug. "How about I go first, and then I'll help you. I promise that as soon as were done I will heal you, alright?"

Alex nodded and buried his head against Harry chest. He brought Alex over to the desk and set him on it that way he could see.

Taking the knife, he brought it to his hand and sliced along the flesh. He winced at the feeling and set the knife down quickly. Holding his hand over the cup he let the blood drip down until the nod from Rocnar signaled it was enough.

Sighing he took his wand and cast a healing spell showing his hand to Alex. Alex took it and examined how it looked like the cut had never happened.

"I be brave to." Alex announced holding out his hand to Harry.

Harry hated the fact that he would have to hurt Alex. He quickly but gently ran the knife over his hand and they both held it over the cup. Alex had tears running down his face from the pain, but he bore it knowing he had to do this.

Harry quickly pulled Alex's hand back when he saw the nod from Rocnar and healed his hand.

"Shh, my brave little boy, you did so well." Harry said running his hand up and down Alex's back and wiping off the tears. Alex whimpered and hid his face.

Harry watched as Rocnar poured the potion into the cup and the liquids instantly swirled around each other combining. He was thankful when it was done mixing that the new potion didn't look to much like blood. It was actually a pale yellow now compared to the murky silver it had been before.

"It is done. You both just need to drink this for the potion to take effect." Rocnar said holding out the cup. "Drink about half of it and have the boy finish the rest."

Harry took the cup and started to drink the potion, he wasn't sure how he knew when he had drunk half of it but he lowered the cup and passed it to Alex. Alex took the cup gingerly in both hands and started to drink. He grimaced at the taste but dutifully drowned the rest.

As soon as Alex finished Harry gasped along with Alex as they felt eth magic take hold of them. Harry became aware of his magic reaching out and wrapping around Alex and Alex's reaching out in turn to find him. Their magic connected and retreated leaving Harry with the feeling that Alex was truly family now. He felt as if Alex had been his son all along.

Harry watched as other changes took over Alex. Alex's physical appearance began to change slightly, his face taking on a more Potter look to it. His eyes changing from a blue to a mix of blue and green lightening the color. His hair grew some and seemed to thicken, tough thankfully it didn't become as wild as Harry's own. He was glad that it stayed blond, only darkening slightly.

"The physical changes will not be to apparent from what you see here, but as he ages he will continue to look like a Potter." Rocnar said gazing at the two of them.

"I'm Harry's son now?" Alex asked eyes wide and happy.

"Yes, you're my son now." Harry said gathering the young boy who was his in his arms and hugging him tightly. Alex giggled and hugged back as hard as he could.

"One last thing," Rocnar announced pulling out a slip of parchment. "His name, that way it can go on record. I will also file this with the ministry with a contact I know who will keep this discrete. I assume that you want this unannounced for the moment?"

"Yes, I don't want this getting out to the press just yet. If that could be sealed as soon as it is filed I would appreciate it. If you could inform the minister when you file it that would be appreciated also." Harry asked.

"Of course. Now for the name." Rocnar asked.

"Well his name was Alexander Sterling before." Harry said gazing at Alex.

"Did you wish to keep it that way?" Rocnar asked noticing the hesitant pause that Harry had.

"I've been thinking, I want to keep his middle name beginning with an S, but I kind of want to use the Black tradition of naming after stars. But I don't know many star names." Harry admitted.

Rocnar nodded and took out a blank parchment and showed it to Harry. He looked them over before smiling, and pointing to one that seemed perfect.


Author Note: So hope this chapter cleared up the issue that some pointed out about Harry's vaults. No, Griphook did not clean Harry out. Just light stuff not to be noticeable, and dealing with Dumbledore more than he should have concerning Harry's vaults.

So, to reiterate from last chapter I want your opinions on Alex's middle name. Harry now has the opportunity to change Alex's name. Wanting to use the Black tradition of naming their children after stars. Harry's idea is going to be keep the S, but make it a star name. my problem is I can't decide what star name I want to give Alex. So that is where you my lovely readers come in. I will give you a few of the names I found, I will tally the names and you will be find out what Harry has chosen. Whichever names gets the most votes I will use.

Sirius- after his godfather, means scorching

Sarin- could not find a meaning for the star name, but is part of the Hercules constellation. Did find an Indian translation of the name though, means helpful, or hopeful. I did not realize the issue about the nerve gas in the name before, I didn't really know about it. So, lets just say that Harry doesn't know the connection considering that he lead a very sheltered life in terms of his relatives never caring and it probably never coming up. As well as him having left the muggle world in terms of education by the time he was 11, so little instance to learn of it. For this story it's just a star in the Hercules constellation.

Saiph- pronounced SAFE, means sword

Scorpius- the scorpion

Tell me which you think sounds good with Alexander Potter. The name will be chosen in the next chapter.


Sirius- six votes

Sarin- ten votes

Saiph- five votes

Scorpius- three vote