Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Warnings: Violence , and Mature Themes.

Chapter 10

Harry walked into a cavernous chamber that he estimated was much larger than the Great Hall of Hogwarts. As soon as he stepped inside, the chamber lit up brightly with light, and looking around, Harry wasn't positive that he had located the source of the lighting. Brushing it off as a peculiar Magical phenomenon, Harry turned his attention to the contents of the cavern. It was best described as a mess, and that was putting it lightly. The only thing that seemed relatively organized was the dozens of Bookshelves that Harry saw were lined towards the back of the chamber.

'Those must be the books from the Potter Library.' Harry mused as he walked around the disorganized possessions that were his now. He honestly didn't know what he was expecting to find as he waded through the various artefacts and the recovered items from Potter Manor. Glancing around casually, he spied various oddly shaped instruments, and copious amounts of Jewellery and an abundance of precious gemstones scattered around, either encased on shelves or overflowing from within trunks. There were also various armoured suits scattered throughout the chamber.

It was a while before Harry caught sight of something that he had been searching for. He had hoped that his parents had been thought to mark the items in their house at Godric's Hollow for recovery as well, and as he approached the three trunks, his hopes were met.

There, lying together, resting against a pile of other trunks were the three trunks that mattered to Harry the most. He wiped the small amount of dust that had settled over the name plaque of the Trunks. They simply read, 'Harry' , 'Lily' and 'James'.

He traced the names of his parents with his finger, lost in his thoughts. So much had happened to him recently, and he was not sure if he was even able to make sense out of it. He was simply living each day as it comes and he honestly hoped that he wouldn't have to continue like this for long. Harry didn't know how long he sat in front of the trunks, just gazing at the names, thinking about how his life would have been if Voldemort hadn't killed them. He would be living happily with his parents, Sirius would not have been on the run from the law, and Remus wouldn't have distanced himself from the Wizarding world . . . If only . . .

'It does not do to dwell on dreams Harry, and forget to live.'

Harry froze as Dumbledore's words echoed through his mind and wrecked his train of thought. He got up hastily, staring at the trunks with a torn expression on his face. He would like nothing more than to spend the rest of his time going through the contents of the trunk, but he knew that if he did so, he wouldn't be able to handle it.

Harry sighed as he backed away from the trunks.

'I'm sorry mum, dad, but I will definitely come back. Definitely.' Harry thought and walked out of the chamber, closing the door behind him softly. He walked wearily over to the couch and sunk down on it bonelessly, emotionally exhausted. He rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly, and took a few deep, calming breaths.

Trying to distract himself of his earlier thoughts, Harry got up and walking over to the throne-like chair in the room, sat down upon it. He felt a tingle at the nape of his neck, and realized that it was associated with magic that was being coursed through him.

A paper appeared before him on the desk with various options of withdrawing money in the form of either Wizarding money or Muggle currency. Harry wrote out 10,000 Galleons and 50,000 Pounds to withdraw, figuring that he would be needing the money when he went to stay with the Grangers; he intended to buy himself clothes of his own. As soon as the tip of the quill left the paper, it glowed once and two deceptively small pouches were deposited on the table in front of him. One of them marked with a golden 'G' and the other with a green 'P'.

Harry peered into the pouches curiously, and he saw that the inside of the pouch was considerably larger. Pocketing the two pouches, Harry took one last glance at the door leading to his parent's trunks and walked out of the Vault. The door snapped into position as soon as he had stepped out, startling Harry slightly. He saw that there was a Goblin waiting for him, and he took a cart ride back up to the Bank. Even the cart ride was unable to pull him out of his thoughts, and he was surprised that he had reached the Bank in such a short amount of time.

Harry was greeted by Griphook as he walked towards the entrance of the Bank.

"I presume you have concluded your business, My Lord?" Griphook asked.

Harry nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Griphook looked at him for a bit longer than necessary and told him that he had asked various representatives of Construction firms to meet with him shortly. Harry was surprised that Griphook had been able to gather them so quickly, but kept silent as he began following Griphook's lead. As Griphook was about to round a corner, Harry saw him freeze in place and he suddenly felt threatened, and was immediately on guard. Instincts taking over, he crouched down slightly, getting a firm balance on his feet, pried to deal with the unrecognized threat. Unknown to him, a slight wind began picking up at his position, ruffling his clothes slightly and his eyes gained a slight glow to them.

(Break)

Hermione huffed angrily as she again tried to concentrate on the book before her, she really should have fed from Harry before he had left a few hours ago, and now she was dealing with her hunger as well as the book that she was reading. As she had read the summary of the book on Mind Arts that Perenelle had given her, she was surprised to learn that the author didn't belong to the human race. The book was written by a Dwarf. This puzzled Hermione to no end, she knew for a fact that they had gone extinct in the mid-sixteen hundreds, but considering that the Flamels had been around for more than six centuries, she realized that it was certainly possible that Perenelle would have a book written by them. Although she knew next to nothing about the art of Occlumency, she suspected that there were not many people in the world that knew of this method of practicing the art.

She again read the passage of the second chapter of the book that detailed the beginnings of shielding your mind against intruders.

". . . after you have successfully found your magical core, you can begin to shape and manipulate it. Imagine your body as a whole and concentrate solely on your mind. You will eventually be able to envision a space that is the centre of your mind . . ."

Hermione had no trouble in finding her magical core. She had begun doing that her first year after asking Professor Flitwick one of her endless questions, and he had told her that all witches and wizards could envision their core with little difficulty. Purebloods and those children raised in a Wizarding home could do it before attending Hogwarts, and by the time that they reached their final Maturity, didn't think much of it. It had taken her a few hours, but she had been able to see her core for the first time, and it was amazing to say the least.

Though the frequency of watching her core had decreased over the years, she still did it from time to time, and it never failed to calm her down and leave her with a sense of peace. She had taken the opportunity to see her core after the incident a few days ago. She was shocked the first time that she had seen it, previously, her core had been an average sized ball of pale blue, but it had changed to a royal blue colour, deep as ocean and had increased in size considerably, almost twice as large.

Hermione concentrated and was again met with the sight of her core, and she smiled warmly. She tried to envision her mind, but after a considerable amount of effort, sighed and came back to awareness. Her stomach growled. Hermione sighed and began reading the chapter again, looking for something that she might have missed, as she waited for Harry to return from Gringotts. She was regretting her decision to not accompany him more and more as time passed on. She needed her drink, dammit!

(Break)

Perenelle was feeling quite happy after accomplishing her goal at Gringotts. After reading Harry's letter from his Godfather and reading about getting Potter Manor reconstructed, she had been hit with an idea, and she was sure that Harry would appreciate her help. Ragnok, the Director of Gringotts and more importantly, brother of the King of the Goblin Nations was a tentative friend of hers, and she wasn't sure that he would accept her request or not, but was happy that it had all worked out. She always hated asking others for a favour. She didn't grovel mind you, just asked politely. That was, after all, how she asked for favours.

Walking down the hallway, Ragnok at her side; she hoped that Harry would be alright after seeing the contents of his Family Vault. He was a 13 year old boy after all, no matter how mature he may seem. She hoped that what she had planned for today would distract him enough that he would temporarily forget his troubles.

Just as she was about to round a corner, she felt a great deal of magical force being emitted from the next hallway. She immediately recognized it as Harry's and hurried up in front of Ragnok, correctly interpreting his distress. Ragnok wasn't suppressing his aura, and Harry's instincts, his inherent pride, associated with being a Vampire must he reacting to it. As she came in view of Harry, she was amazed at the literal spring well of power that oozed from him, coupled with his glowing eyes, she was sure that anyone that hadn't experienced such power before would be simply rooted to the spot. She hurriedly motioned for Ragnok, who was behind her and still not in view of Harry to suppress his aura.

(Break)

Harry was surprised to see Perenelle walk in front of him, but he didn't let up on his stance. He was confused however; he could have sworn that he felt threatened in some way.

"Professor?" Harry questioned.

Perenelle walked over to Harry, and noticing Griphook standing behind him, bowed at his hips; she ignored his presence and draped her hand on his shoulders and stood behind him, whispering softly so that only he would be able to hear her.

"You need to calm down Harry. I know it may sound confusing, but I will be teaching you about your Vampire heritage later. There is a Goblin that I need you to meet, be respectful, but don't forget that you are a Lord, and more importantly a Vampire." Perenelle said softly.

Harry was thoroughly confused by Perenelle's words. He had read everything that there was to read about Vampires in the Hogwarts Library, but what she said and his own reaction earlier hinted at a fact that there were some things that were not written down anywhere, things that he was experiencing lately. He nodded subtly.

Harry looked up just in time to see a regal looking Goblin, tall for his race, standing in front of him. His presence practically screamed royalty, and Harry realized that this was the person or Goblin as the case may be that he was feeling threatened by. His fingers twitched subconsciously, moving near his cloak where he kept his wand, however useless it might be.

Harry noticed that Ragnok was eyeing him, as if estimating his worth and if he was to take a guess his threat level. Ragnok smiled disarmingly at him, and said, "You must be Lady Perenelle's new apprentice, I must say it is a pleasure. I am Ragnok Swiftblade, Director of Gringotts."

Harry was confused as to how he should address him, but was saved from answering by Perenelle. She recognized what Ragnok was trying to pull here, and she would not stand for it. Her Apprentice might be a little wet behind the ears, but she was going to change that.

"Please Director, I think that we should finish up our business as swiftly as possible, don't you?" Ragnok smiled a feral smile in response.

"Indeed. Griphook inform the Gentlemen that you have called that their services are no longer required. The Goblins will be carrying out the construction of Potter Manor." Ragnok directed at Griphook.

Griphook stifled his startled gasp at that statement and bowed respectfully before he practically ran down the hallway.

(Break)

Harry released a tired sigh as he was walking down the marble steps of Gringotts. Judging by the absence of the sun in the sky, he realized that he had skipped lunch entirely while talking about the specifics of the way he wanted Potter Manor to be constructed. His interaction with Ragnok was strained at best, and he was happy when he left stating that he had other businesses to attend to. Despite that, it was an afternoon well spent in his opinion. He had said that he didn't want the outer structure to be altered in any way, but the inside of the Manor would be an eccentric mix of the Muggle and Magical world.

The plot of land was approximately 25 sq. Miles in area, and the Manor was a small part of it. He grinned slightly at the various additions that he had made to the Manor that were not present previously and couldn't wait for it to be completed, not to mention the surprise that Perenelle had promised him. As they were about to leave, Perenelle had motioned for Harry to go ahead and thus he had missed her handing over a thick roll of scrolls to Griphook, and muttering quietly. He was pleasantly surprised when he had asked when would it be ready. He knew that Magical Construction was bound to go faster than that in the Muggle world, but , he hadn't expected to be living in it next month! He simply couldn't stop smiling.

Perenelle was walking slightly behind Harry, looking amused at his smiling face. She would make sure that he had plenty of reasons to smile, he would be working non-stop to take down Voldemort, and it was bound to turn ugly. But, she wasn't preparing him to fight Voldemort alone, when she was done with him, his name would be whispered among the Wizarding World with the same reverence and fear associated with Merlin and Morgana.

"Come Harry, let's get that wand of yours looked at." Perenelle said, heading towards Ollivanders' and Harry, still smiling giddily, followed.

(End Chapter)

A/N:- So how was it? I hope that I was able to correctly convey the subtle change in Harry's mentality. Tell me if you have any ideas if you think that will help improve my writing . . . Thanks for reading. Also note that the story will turn slightly more mature, in the coming chapters. . . .

Review!