Harry Potter: the Spectacular Spiderman
Chapter 7
Harry mused, for the hundredth time, if this was the best plan they could come up with. Hours of heated debate last night, after Amy's oath-takingoath taking and revelations, had finally been hammered into a plan. The plan had elements of risk. Harry could accept that, for himself, but he was mortified by the risks that the others would be taking on his behalf! Grumpily, he barely noticed as they pulled into the empty parking lot in front of the Oxford Education building.
He was unsure about this 'Floo travel.' He was worried that someone would recognize him despite their precautionary, if elementary, disguise. Too much was being left to chance, and too many people would be at risk. However; no one would allow themselves to be left behind on this, their first reconnaissance, into what seemed to be a hostile and fantastically alien world.
Lost in his rehashing the plan, Harry barely noticed when they parked and everybody else got out, until Hermione nudged him with her elbow.
She said quietly, "We're here."
Heaving a heavy sigh, Harry got out. Upon seeing everybody giving him a questioning look, he offered a slight smile. He spoke to the assembled Bowmans and Grangers.
"I'm still not comfortable with all of you coming along. This could end up being dangerous!"
"Buck up, lad. We went over all of this last night. There's strength in numbers. Besides, you are the one in the most immediate danger. We all agreed to do it this way, so just get over yourself," Mr. Bowman replied for them all.
"Fine! I get it, but I don't have to like it. Come on, everybody link hands and we'll go to the Greenhouse and meet up with Amy," Harry said resignedly.
"Wait a second, Harry," Hermione said.
When Harry stopped and gave Hermione a questioning look, she said, "I want to know if anybody else can see the Greenhouse. Only those who have magic can see it, right? So, let's find out now if anybody else in our group can see it. You know, like Lana and Lisa, perhaps?"
So, just outside the greenhouse, everyone let go of hands. Suddenly, everyone except Harry, Hermione, Carrie and Amy turned away, and started to wander off. Harry's group quickly caught up with the scattering people. Only once they made skin-to-skin contact with each one, did the ones act as if coming out of a fog. They were suddenly able to see the greenhouse once more, and no longer felt an urgent need to be somewhere else.
Amy snickered at the adults' chagrined expressions as she held the door. With a wry grin, she explained.
"That's the effect of the muggle repelling charm. Not only can you not see whatever is protected, but you suddenly remember an urgent need to be somewhere else."
Hermione's brow furrowed into a frown of deep concentration, she muttered, "There goes that theory."
Harry gave her a quizzical glance, and asked, "What theory is that?"
"Oh, I just hoped that at least Lisa or Lana would have been able to see through the Muggle Repelling Ward."
Once everybody was inside, Amy took charge. She pulled her wand and began transfiguring the parties clothing into heavy cloaks and robes. She walked over to a huge stone fireplace and said, "Ok, I know we discussed using the Floo, but now that we're here, I better explain how it works and what it feels like. This is Floo powder. All you have to do is throw it into the fireplace and say your destination. Like this."
With that said, she tossed a handful of the powder into the fireplace, and a gout of green flame shot upward. Everybody flinched back, expecting to feel heat from the flames.
Carrie shrieked in disbelief, "God! You expect us to walk into flames like that?"
Amy rolled her eyes, and said, "They're magical flames that open the way into the Floo system. They won't hurt you. They're not even hot. Now once you step inside, you'll be sent spinning through the Floo system to your destination. Remember to clearly say, Leaky Cauldron. Queue up you lot."
Don Granger gulped, regretting all at once the fact that he was first in the queue. His wife and daughter, then Harry and Amy, and finally, the Bowmans would follow Don. As he threw a handful of powder and green colored flames roared up in front of him, he thought. This has got to be the craziest shit I've ever done, including jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. He girded his loins and stepped forward into the flames. "Leaky Cauldron", he managed to croak out.
Suddenly, Don found himself whirling out of control, through what seemed to be an oversized chimney. Soot was everywhere; obscuring his vision, stinging his eyes, and making him cough. He noticed bright openings passing by at incredible speed. He tried to keep his eyes on the next one as he approached it, and determined it was another fireplace and he caught a brief glimpse of a room beyond. Without warning, he shot out of one of the openings. Caught completely off balance, he stumbled into a large, dimly lit room.
Knocking the soot off of himself, Don turned back to the fireplace just in time to catch his wife, as she came hurling into the room face first. He had just gotten her settled back on her feet, when Hermione came skidding out of the fireplace on her bum. Laughing, Don bent and helped her to her feet, amidst a cloud of soot. Between all of his laughter, and the cloud of soot, tears of laughter were rolling down his cheeks. Amy stepped carefully, and gracefully, out of the fireplace.
Grimacing, Don said, "You'll have to tell me how you pulled off that trick. We all ended up flung out of the fireplace, completely out of control."
With a smirk, she said, "It's traditional to let everyone have their first shot at the Floo without telling them the trick. All you have to do is step off as you exit."
No sooner had she finished, than Harry came spinning out of the fireplace in an incredible sideways cartwheel. But before he could land on his face and go skidding across the floor to knock them all over like tenpins, he shot one hand down, stopping both his spin and his forward momentum. Then he dropped to both feet with a grin.
Hermione gave Harry a glare, to which he just smirked.
Don said, "Nice reflexes."
Harry looked around the room. A few patrons sat at crude wooden tables, with rough wooden bench seating. The décor was late middle ages, with torches in wall sconces. Crude lanterns hung above a few of the tables.
Harry said, wryly, "What a dump!"
Once everybody was through, the girls surrounded Harry. They acted as part of his protective camouflage, as Amy led them past[J1] the bar, and through a doorway that led to an alcove. She pulled her wand and tapped several bricks in a five-pointed star pattern. As soon as she finished the pattern, the bricks began to roll away, and open up. Within seconds, there was a wide brick archway, that opened to a cobblestonedcobblestone street beyond. Amy turned and grinned at their wide mouthed awe.
She said brightly, "Welcome to Diagon Alley!"
Amy passed[J2] through the archway, and they straggled after her. None of them could help but cast second or even a third glance at the archway, as they stepped through. When they were through, and finally tore their eyes from the archway, they saw a busy cobblestoned street, lined with shops on both sides. The clues that magic was pervasive were there, but other than the fact that everyone wore robes and cloaks, it was not too obvious. The Alley turned to the left only fifty feet from the archway, and the only shops they could see were an apothecary, a cauldron shop, a sporting goods store, and a luggage shop/travel agency. It wasn't until they looked into the displays in the front windows that the magic became obvious.
In the apothecary, there were liquid filled jars full of eyes, that all blinked in unison. The cauldron shop's display had a large cauldron sitting over an open flame. The flame had no obvious source. A stirring rod was in the cauldron, thatcauldron, which moved by itself.
The sporting goods store had a picture that moved! As they stopped to watch the entire sequence, a man walked into the frame. He took off his backpack and began pulling out items. First, was a package, which he tossed to the ground, and they watched in awe as a four-man tent erected itself. Then the man drew out another package, and tapped it with his wand. At that point, it grew, and became both a picnic table with a cooking stove at one end. Finally, the man stepped into the tent. The picture changed to an interior view, showing him coming through the tent's flap, into a much larger room than would have fit into the area of the tent. There was a central fireplace set in a sunken flagstone stone hearth, surrounded by couches and comfy looking chairs. To the right, there was a full kitchen. To the left was a long dining room table with chairs. Bookshelves lined one wall, and cabinets lined the other. Four doorways led off to what were later shown to be nicely furnished, good-sized bedrooms, plus a bath, all with large storage closets.
When the sequence restarted, Harry looked at Amy and said fervently, "I gotta get me one of those!"
Ignoring both Don and Paul grinning like fools and nodding in unison, Amy turned and said over her shoulder, "Come on! First stop is Gringotts Wizarding Bank. We need to get some galleons before we go shopping."
They walked to the bend in the alley, and could see even more of the Wizarding shopping area, before them. In the distance, they could see a massive white marble building rising above the rest.
Amy pointed at it and said, "There! That's Gringotts. Now, stay together and we'll be there in a minute."
At nine in the morning, on New Year's Day, the Alley still had a few customers moving about. No one seemed to take undo interest in them, though, as they walked to the bank. Everyone gawked at the odd displays in each store they passed. Eelyops Owl Emporium had the dozens of fierce looking owls on display. Mantra's Musical Muse had a quartet of instruments playing themselves a beautiful Carole in its window. Quality Quidditch Supplies had several brooms in the window, with moving posters showing each broom in action. Two teams of players zipped about playing a strange game with hoops, cannonballs, what looked like a football, plus a tiny golden ball with wings. They had to drag Hermione past[J3] Flourish and Blott's, when she saw the books. Hermione dug in her heels, until they told her it would be their first stop after the bank. The moving manikins in Madam Malkin's display entranced Carrie, especially when she realized that with every completed turn down the window, each dummy's wardrobe was swapped out completely.
When they all started up the wide steps to Gringotts, it finally drew their entire attention. The polished brass doors seemed entirely improbable. However the sight of plate armor clad guards (with nasty pikes, held at 'present arms'), eyeing everyone as a patron hurried out; made Lorna flinch, and Lana and Lisa reach out to hold their mother's hands.
Amy reached the doors first, opened up one door and held it for the rest, waving them in. Once Paul stepped through, Amy followed, only to find the entire group huddled closely by the door. Harry, Paul, and Don had all unconsciously taken up defensive positions between the women, and the short, sharp toothed, cruel looking goblins nonchalantly carrying out their business.
Amy rolled her eyes at them, and led them towards the tellers. As she stepped in front of one of the goblins, he looked up and took in the group with one look and a sneer. In a grating, gravelly voice, the goblin spoke in overdone, and patently false politeness.
"Yes? What business do you have with Gringotts, on this, the first day of the new year?"
Amy grabbed Harry by both shoulders, and pulled him in front of the goblin. When he just stared at the goblin's long nose, grayish green skin, and pointed teeth for a moment too long, she gave him a nudge.
Harry dropped his eyes, looked at the pile of gold coins the goblin had been counting, and said in a rush, "I'm here to see about my inheritance."
The goblin reached out with one hand held palm up.
He said, "Key please?"
Harry looked down at his shoes, blushing furiously.
He muttered, "I don't have any key."
The goblin frowned, but undeterred, simply said, "Hand."
Harry started, and looked up into the goblin's yellow eyes from under the brim of his baseball cap. Seeing the outstretched hand waiting, he hesitantly placed his hand in the goblin's. The goblin turned over his hand, so that it too was palm up, and with his other hand pushed a bowl, marked with strange symbols onto the desk.
Holding Harry's eyes with his own, he drew a small dagger and said, "I will need a few drops of your blood, youngling, to determine your lineage."
Before anyone could protest, the goblin swiftly drew the dagger across Harry's palm. Harry winced briefly. Waiting for a bit of blood to pool in his palm, the goblin turned their hands over and let the blood run into the bowl. The symbols on the bowl flashed red. The goblin waved his free hand over Harry's. The blood and cut disappeared as if it had never been there at all.
The goblin drew out a rolled parchment, partially unrolled it. He set the bowl on the right side of the parchment. Everyone watched in amazement, as the blood flowed up over the brim of the bowl, and onto the parchment into names leading of to the left. More and more names appeared, and the goblin shot a startled glance at Harry. The goblin watched avidly until the blood stopped flowing out of the bowl, several minutes later. The names being written had long since disappeared into the still rolled portion of the scroll.
Without taking his eyes off of Harry, the goblin grasped the scroll, and then in a low voice said, "Follow me."
Amy glanced surreptitiously at the other patrons. All seemed to be going about their business without taking any notice of the large group leaving the lobby for deeper portions of the bank. As the double doors to the lobby closed behind Mrs. Granger, the goblin turned back to them.
He asked irritably, "You aren't all planning to join Master Potter in the Inheritance Registrar's Office, are you?"
Harry waved at the rest of the group and said firmly, "These are my vassals and allies. Is there a place that the girls and their mothers might wait, away from the gawkers in the lobby, while the others come with me?"
The goblin muttered under his breath, turned, and led them down the corridor to a set of heavy wooden doors. He opened them and raised his eyebrows, until Mrs. Granger and Mrs. Bowman led their daughters inside. Harry stuck his head in, and seeing a plush conference room, gave the goblin a smile.
Harry bowed to the goblin and said, "Thank you… I'm sorry, but I don't know your name, teller…"
The goblin looked as if he had swallowed something sour, then he closed the door to the conference room.
He gave a curt bow said, "Griphook. My name is Griphook, Master Potter."
Harry gave the goblin a wry half-smile, and bowed briefly. He formally intoned, "Greetings, Griphook. My thanks to you for finding a comfortable place for my allies to wait. Lead on."
Griphook led Harry, Amy, Don and Paul deeper into the bank. The ornate highly polished marble gave way to rough-cut granite. Griphook grabbed a lantern off a table when they reached the end of the hallway whichhallway, which was already lit by sconces. The humans unconsciously crowded closer to each other in the darkness. Finally, the lantern's light revealed a door made of heavy oak beams, banded in iron, with much silver filigree. Griphook rapped smartly on the door.
Apparently hearing an acknowledgment that none of them had caught, Griphook pulled on the door. Slowly, it swung open. Harry stepped inside to see an ancient goblin sitting at a huge carved granite desk.
Griphook followed the last of the party into the room, and extinguished his lantern. Then, he stepped forward and bowed deeply, waiting for acknowledgement from the ancient goblin. Impatiently, the old goblin raised a shaky hand and waved for Griphook to give him the scroll.
He asked, "Well, Teller, just whom have you brought to us, today?"
"Registrar, I bring before you, Harry Potter; last scion of House Potter; Heir of Gryffindor, and Heir of Slytherin by right of conquest." Griphook said.
"Gryffindor? Slytherin?" asked Harry.
"Gryffindor and Slytherin?" breathed a wide-eyed Amy.
Eyes glittering, the ancient goblin's white feathery eyebrows almost disappeared behind his head as he took the scroll from Griphook. With a wave of his hand, he both dismissed Griphook and conjured four chairs. He poured over the scroll for a moment, then looked up with a start to still see four humans standing in front of his desk. He harrumphed, "Yes, Mr. Potter. The Potter's have long been known by the goblins as the heirs of Gryffindor, but none have ever claimed their rights under law and tradition. You became the Heir of Slytherin by right of conquest upon the death of one Tom Marvolo Riddle, when, after murdering your parents, he died trying to kill you. Sit down. Sit down Master Potter. Now, tell me, who are your friends."
Harry waved his hand to Amy, and said, "This is Amy Butterfield, my vassal, and last member of the Butterfield family." He turned to Paul, and said, "This is Paul Bowman, my surrogate father, ally, and father of my three best friends." Finally, he looked at Don, and said, "This is Don Granger, ally, and father of my other best friend."
As each was introduced, they chose a chair and sat down. Eyes narrowing with each introduction, the old goblin waited until Harry had sat as well. Then, he clasped his hands together and rested his elbows on the parchment, to keep it unrolled and in place. He asked, "What can I do for you today, Master Potter?"
Harry looked pointedly at the scroll, and said, "I am here to claim my heritage. I understand that normally, I would only be able to access my trust vault, but as the last member of the Ancient and Noble House Potter, I invoke the 'Last of Line' clause, and claim 'Head of House' status."
With a slowly growing smile, the ancient Goblin said, "Most irregular. Where is your magical guardian, Master Potter? And what does he have to say about this?"
Harry was taken aback. He stuttered, "M-M-Magical Guardian? What Magical Guardian?"
"The one who was appointed by the Wizengamot to safeguard your interests in the Magical World. The one who was designated to watch over your well-being and introduce you to the Magical World and your rights and responsibilities. The one who should have been going over your monthly financial statements that Gringotts sends to all vault holders. The one who has had possession of your trust vault key, and who should have been using its contents to enrich your education prior to your attending Hogwarts."
Harry looked more and more confused as the goblin went on. At a loss, he looked at Amy.
In complete bewilderment, he asked, "Do you know what he's talking about, Amy?"
She frowned in concentration, and slowly began to answer, "Oh, I know in general terms. What I don't know is why none of these things have been done."
Eyes narrowing in surmise, she looked sharply at the goblin and asked, "Who IS Harry's Magical Guardian?"
Smirking, the ancient goblin answered, "Albert Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore; Order of Merlin, First Class, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot."
Harry shook his head in negation. He said, "That's too many names and titles. Regardless, I've never even seen or heard of the man! How can he claim to be my Magical Guardian? He hasn't done any of those things! In fact, for the first four years at my relatives' house, they beat me, starved me, and treated me like unwanted garbage! They never even told me my name! How could he have been looking out for my well-being?"
As Harry's rant went on, and he got louder and louder, the goblin's frown grew deeper.
He growled, "You say you've never met the man? I think its time for accountings then, don't you? Normally, your Magical Guardian should accompany you to claim your Head of House Status. But, as it was also his responsibility to prepare you for your role, and he seems to have abdicated said responsibility, I am inclined to grant your request. Is this young witch responsible for your being before me today?"
Harry clamped down on his temper, and unwilling to trust his voice, simply nodded.
The old goblin bowed his head to Amy.
"Mistress Butterfield, you have done young Master Potter a great service. For that, I grant you my name. I am Axgore, Registrar of Heraldry, and Keeper of Lineage." Axgore turned his baleful glare on Harry and went on, "You understand, as Head of House, you do not gain immediate emancipation. That would come with being endowed as Lord Potter. However, what we can do, is open the archives. We will then determine what happened in your case. A review of the legal records regarding your 'placement', the financial records of your Trust Account, and access to your Family Vault could prove… illuminating," Axgore finished with a feral grin, showing all of his pointy teeth.
Suddenly, Axgore, belying his apparent frailty and aged decrepitude, roared in a thunderous voice, "Griphook!"
Griphook came scrambling back into the room. Before he came to a stop, Axgore began bellowing orders, "I want the Potter Ledgers; the Book of Families Archives from 1979 to 1981; the Archived Wizengamot Proceedings, for the same time period; and make it quick, Teller! Oh, and take Master Potter to both his Trust and Family Vaults. Now, you all accompany Griphook. Go with Master Potter to his vaults. We will meet back in one of the conference rooms, near the lobby, upon your return."
Griphook snapped to almost attention, and turned abruptly. He grabbed his lantern, and led them back towards the lobby. Just before getting to the doors that led back out into the lobby, Griphook turned and opened a door. He looked back at Harry, and said, "Please wait here. I will make the arrangements for the information the Registrar required and for the meeting room. I will be but a moment."
While they waited, Harry was thinking. While he thought, he paced. While he paced, he got angry. Finally, Amy grabbed his arm and pulled him gently to a stop.
She gave him a smile and said, "Harry. Stop. There is no need to get worked up. We still don't have enough information."
Harry snorted. Then he blurted out, "Not enough information? My 'Magical Guardian' never bothered to show his face! Not once in my life! You come along and tell me more about my family, and my magical heritage in an hour, than I've learned in my whole life! In fact, everything I had been told up to that point,point was a lie! And I doubt it was coincidence that I've never seen a single statement about my accounts!"
Amy almost cried, "You just don't understand! Dumbledore is supposed to be the 'Leader of the Light', 'Champion of Muggleborns', and 'Friend to Muggles'. Beyond his other, official titles, he's 'The One Who Defeated Grindelwald'. He has a Phoenix as a familiar, and is the most powerful wizard alive. His political position and reputation are unassailable!"
Harry snarled, "That's all great! Yet, he placed his precious Boy-Who-Lived with abusive, non-magical relatives and never once checked on my welfare! And yet, there's dozens of Boy-Who-Lived books, supposedly about me and my life. They even have my picture on the cover, yet I knew nothing about them!"
By the time he finished he was shouting. Harry's hair began to move, as if blown about in a strong wind. Don and Paul gaped at Harry, glanced at each other, and decided simultaneously that they needed to calm him down. They stepped forward and each gripped one of Harry's shoulders firmly.
When Harry focused on his eyes, Paul said firmly, "Harry! You need to calm down, before your magic gets away from you."
Harry closed his eyes, fighting to control his temper. He took several deep, cleansing breaths before opening his eye just in time to see Griphook step back out into the hallway. Griphook gave Harry a look, turned and walked toward another set of double doors. Behind the doors, were trolley tracks. On the tracks, was an odd looking 'mine cart.'
Griphook waited until everyone had taken a seat. Then he vaulted in, and pressed a lever, all in one smooth motion. The cart rolled slowly to a drop off, then swiftly accelerated until they were rocketing along the tracks at breakneck speed. Harry gave an excited whoop and Amy met his grin. The glow of the lantern, mounted on a pole in the back of the cart didn't give off enough light to see the details of beyond twenty or thirty feet. So, each drop-off and turn caught them by surprise. After several harrowing minutes, Griphook grabbed the break handle and they ground to a stop in front of a platform hewn out of the native rock, leading to a metal door.
Don and Paul staggered from the cart, and tried to regain their balance and composure. Harry and Amy both leapt out, and stood near the door, waiting. Unsuccessfully, they tried to hide their impatience at Griphook to open the vault. Griphook stepped up to the vault door and began making passes over its surface.
Harry asked, "Which vault is this?"
As the door's many latches released, and the door started to open, Griphook replied, "This is your Trust's vault, Master Potter."
Harry looked inside, and was stunned to see a pile of gold coins, stacked in neat piles. Each pile was 100 coins high, and as he counted, there were twenty rows of twenty columns each. Harry went over and picked up one of the gold coins and hefted it. He gave Amy a sharp look and said, "Forty thousand gold coins, each weighing one ounce, means that in this, my trust vault, at today's exchange rate of two hundred Pounds Sterling per ounce of gold, there's approximately eight million Pounds Sterling!"
Griphook gave Harry a sharp-toothed grin. He said, "Very good Master Potter. This vault is refilled every year on your birthday to ten thousand galleons, or half of the interest earned on your family vault, whichever is greater. This is one year's allocation."
Harry listened to what Griphook said and frowned. He said, haltingly, as he thought aloud, "If this is one year's allocation, then where is the rest? Wouldn't each year an amount be added to what was already in this vault? I've never made any withdrawals, in fact, until just recently, I didn't even know this bank existed! Where is the rest of the gold that was deposited in prior years?"
Griphook ducked his head at the accusatory stares from the rest of the party. He answered, with obvious shame, "The withdrawals must all have been legally done. Apparently legitimate requests from your Magical Guardian. For a full accounting, we will have to wait for our meeting, when we audit the account."
Harry looked about the vault. It had bare, rough, stone, walls, but contained nothing except for the piles of gold coins. He looked back to Griphook and gave the goblin a resigned sigh.
"Fine. Let's head to the main family vault."
They retraced their steps, back out to the platform. While Don and Paul gave the mining cart dubious looks, Griphook closed and sealed the vault. They boarded the cart and spent another few minutes zooming through the dark. Soon, Griphook pulled on the break lever and they coasted to a stop in front of a much different platform, with a much different door. With a gesture from Griphook, eight torches on each side flared to life. Slabs of marble paved the floor and walls surrounding a huge set of twin bronze doors, each embossed with a heraldic shield. A huge foot thick, two-foot high bar of solid bronze went across both doors, and in the center was a shield with the same heraldic design.
Griphook motioned Harry to join him at the huge lock. Griphook drew a small ceremonial dagger slowly and held out his hand. Harry sighed, rolled his eyes and offered his hand.
He looked over his shoulder at Amy and said, "Goblins take the old saw about bankers 'bleeding you dry' to a whole new level."
Harry winced as a smirking Griphook made a slash across his palm then moved his hand to come into contact with the center of the heraldic shield. The blood flowed into the etching of the heraldic shield, and moved against all logic to cover every nook and cranny. As soon as every part of the family crest was covered in Harry's blood, it began to pulse with a deep, blood red light. The cut in Harry's palm closed and disappeared, and a series of clanks and metal on metal screeches came from the huge lock. Then, the bar pulled back smoothly from both sides and the brass double doors opened.
Harry gaped at the riches revealed. If he had thought about it, he would have realized that if his trust vault only received half of the annual proceeds from his family vault, then it would have to have at least twenty times the amount he had seen there. He started forward, and said over his shoulder, "Come on then! Let's see what we can find in here."
Griphook grabbed his wrist. As Harry pulled to a stop, he looked at the little goblin quizzically.
Griphook smirked, and said, "The protections on a family vault will not allow access to any not of your blood without your expressed approval. In fact, at the moment, none of us can even see inside, as a Confundus Ward only allows us to see an amorphous gray mist."
Shocked, Harry looked to the others, and seeing them all nod in agreement, asked Griphook, "What do I have to do to allow you all to go inside?"
"Simply take the hand of the person you wish to allow entry, and say, 'I, Head of the Ancient and Noble House Potter, grant entry to, and 'state their name'."
After granting Amy, Mr. Granger and Mr. Bowman access, Harry turned to a surprised Griphook and granted him access as well.
Ignoring Griphook's surprise, he turned back to the Vault's entry and said, "Come on then, I'll need some help to make any sense of all this."
Harry led the way, but they all stopped in stunned silence just inside the door. The huge pile of gold, nearly as tall as Harry, was piled in a haphazard fashion against one wall. Impressive as all that gleaming gold was, it was the shear number of suits of armor, weapons, jewelry, furniture, scrolls, books, chests, paintings and tapestries that bedazzled their senses. Finally, Harry broke out of his stupor.
Harry looked beseechingly at the group, and plead, "Ok, I need to find any papers my parents left. Their will, a list of properties, any personal correspondence or journals, anything that can shed some light on what happened to them."
Griphook walked over to a huge antique desk with dozens of cubbyholes. He climbed up on the chair and began pulling ledgers and paperwork out of the cubbies and sorting it into piles on the desktop. Leaving him to his task, the rest separated and began to inspect the accumulate treasures of centuries.
Unable to make sense of the various magical knickknacks, Mr. Bowman and Mr. Granger were limited to inspecting the furniture, books and jewelry. Looking at a diamond necklace, the two men looked at each other and shook their heads. This piece wouldn't have looked out of place beside the Crown Jewels! With five diamonds on each side, doubling in size as they approached the center, and the first stone being at least a carat, and with a perfect blue diamond of at least sixty carats, this piece alone had over one hundred twenty five carats of flawless, blue diamonds!
Unwilling to so much as touch such valuable treasures, Don and Paul simply took note and tried to swallow their awe at the nearly priceless relics. Harry wandered aimlessly, pulled in several directions at once. Harry finally picked a direction, when he spotted a scorched trunk in an alcove to the right of the entrance. At first, Harry's efforts to open the battered scorched trunk were useless. Then, while he was fiddling with the lock, he felt something prick his finger. As he jerked his hand away, sucking on the bleeding fingertip, the trunk briefly glowed blood red. The trunk then swung open by itself.
Inside, the trunk was larger than it appeared. Looking inside, Harry saw a bewildering array of knickknacks, personal possessions, clothing and household items. Harry dug for a picture frame. He saw a picture of four adults, three men and a woman holding a newborn. The three men were smiling and laughing, two were patting the other on the back, while all three beamed at the woman and the baby. The woman looked up, and Harry found himself staring into his own eyes. In shock, his eyes darted to the baby. The baby had an unruly mass of wispy black hair, matching one of the men. Tears ran unnoticed down his cheeks, as Harry watched the men in the picture take turns chucking the infant under the chin.
Amy had found another small alcove cut into the raw stone. It was set up like an office, with a huge desk, and a shelf with hundreds of cubbyholes. She reached out for one of the scrolls, when a tiny bolt of static electricity stung her, and she heard a sob. Rubbing her tingling finger with her other hand, she left the alcove looking for the source of the sob. She found Harry holding a picture frame, tears streaming down his face, head bowed.
Diving to her knees to envelope Harry in a hug, Amy pulled the sobbing lad to her bosom. Harry broke down completely and cried for several minutes, throwing his arms around Amy's neck. Finally, as his crying settled to the occasional broken sob, Harry weakly lifted the picture.
Voice breaking, he asked, "I-Is this my family?"
Amy had to wipe the tears from her own eyes before she could see the picture. She pointed to the tall wild haired handsome man with the shorter black hair.
"Yes, Harry. This is your father, James Potter." Then she pointed to the beautiful, happy, auburn haired woman, and said, "And this is your mother. Lily Potter nee Evans."
By now, the entire party was standing nearby. Don and Paul stepped forward and each put a hand on Harry's shoulders.
Paul asked, "What has you so worked up, Harry?"
"I-I've never seen a picture of my parents before. A-and they look so young and happy, but they were dead, a year later," Harry managed. He gulped convulsively, and then asked, "Who are these other two men?"
Amy took the picture from him, and looking at the men, she grimaced before answering. "One of them is Remus Lupin, and the other," she paused, and snarled out, "is Sirius Black."
With a puzzled frown, Harry asked, "Who are they? A-and if they were so close to my parents, why haven't they ever visited me?"
Amy's gave him a bleak look, and said, "Sirius Black betrayed your parents to Voldemort that night, then tracked down another friend, Peter Pettigrew, and slaughtered him and a dozen muggles. He's been in Azkaban Prison every since, and good riddance to the traitor. Remus Lupin? I don't know him personally, so I could only guess."
"What? How? I don't understand how all that could happen to the happy people in this picture in a year."
Amy hugged him to her bosom, and said, "It was war. Just be glad they found some happiness together in such a bleak time. I understand they got together while at Hogwarts. It's probably the only place that was operating as normal at that time. People were being killed in their homes and in Diagon Alley and didn't know who they could trust. By the time He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was defeated, the number of marriages and births were less than half what is normal. I wouldn't be surprised if your Hogwarts class isn't the smallest in a century."
Trying to distract the boy, and to get them back on task, Paul said, "Your family's treasures are amazing, but did anyone find any of the important papers we needed?"
Amy stroked Harry's hair soothingly. She murmured, "I'm not sure. I found an office area, but the papers and such were warded. Probably only Harry can retrieve them."
Rising shakily and wiping the remaining tears from his eyes, Harry asked, "Amy, can you bring this trunk? I think it was my parents' possessions taken after they were killed that night. Then can you show me this office?"
Amy answered, "Sure, Harry." She drew her wand, and cast a shrink/feather light charm on the trunk, then summoned it and put it in her pocket. She took Harry's hand and led them back over to the office alcove she'd found.
Harry went straight to the desk and simply grabbed all of the papers and scrolls into a pile before asking Amy to shrink them as well. As Harry and the others were discussing coming back to do a complete survey of the vault's contents, Griphook offered Gringotts' services, to inventory the vault's treasures.
As the group left the vault and climbed back into the cart for the ride back to the surface, Snarlfang… head of the Bloody-Hand Clan of the goblins… snarled in frustration. Some fool was asking about the Potter accounts! He could only gather half of his clan's warriors for a quick response, let alone get a response out of his allied clans. He felt doom creeping up on him and his clan, but first; first, someone would pay, in blood.
Edited By TeNderLoin
[J1]'passed' is a verb. In this sentence, 'past' is an adverb. :)))
[J2]Here, 'passed' is the verb, and is correct.
[J3]passed is a verb, and may only be used as a verb. That is the test: "Is this usage calling for a verb?" If it DOES, then 'passed' is correct. In all other cases, use 'past'. :)))
