Feels good to be writing this again.
Has anyone read "Mixed With the Lightning of Slaughter"? It's an interesting Naruto Peggy Sue [Sasuke is the one sent back] with a very interesting idea. The future knowledge doesn't override the past mind, Sasuke is still his pre-Shippuden self but with bits of his future self's knowledge. What's real cool is how it is written, Sasuke has trouble telling his present from the Future!Sasuke's past and it'll blur between reality and memory mid-sentence to show this. Why do I mention it? Because I really like that idea of the knowledge not fitting well, or of the older persona not dominating the younger one, and am thinking of basing the events where Harry gains Kain's memories on how Sasuke deals with his knowledge to a degree.
Another chapter, another attempt to entertain you all. I honestly do not have anything else to add, so on with the show!
'Harry Potter' belongs to J K Rowling.
'Legacy of Kain' belongs to Crystal Dynamics.
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XX 12 Grimmauld Place XX
Harry sat at the table in the dining room, sorting the mail that had arrived. One was an invitation from Narcissia to a small dinner party later that week. The polite words, and distinctive hand writing, told him she only sent it for the sake of appearances.
"I'll have to arrange a prior engagement." Harry joked before setting the letter aside. Opening the next letter, Harry saw it was from Andromeda. "She wants to have me over for dinner next week… Kreacher, when will the Portkey be ready?"
"Master is to leave tomorrow." Kreacher called from the halls, where he was busy cleaning.
"I see." Said Harry as he rose from his chair and walked to his bedroom. There, sleeping in his cage by the window, was Harry's pet owl. Using a nearby quill and some parchment, Harry wrote a quick note and woke his owl.
"Glaucus, I have a letter for you." Harry said loudly. Once the owl was awake and had stretched out his leg for the letter Harry continued. "Take this to Andromeda and wait for a response, understood?"
An affectionate nibble at his master's finger was the reply Glaucus gave before he flew off. Smiling to himself, Harry returned to the dining room and the rest of his mail. At the bottom of the small pile Harry found a letter from Gringotts. Tearing open the envelope, Harry read the message.
Dear Mr. Black,
It has come to my attention that a substantial amount of Galleons was added to your vault by our Muggle Intermediary. This is highly unusual as our Muggle Intermediary is primarily tasked with assisting muggle born witches or wizards with transferring capitol from their muggle accounts into Gringotts accounts. Now as the House of Black has no accounts in the Muggle World, to the knowledge of Gringotts, you are required to attend a meeting with myself this afternoon at 2.15pm to explain the source of these Galleons. Punctuality and full disclosure are demanded!
Vault Manager Gornuk.
"Demanded!?" Harry snarled as he Folded and set the letter, summons really, aside. The goblins dared to demand from him! "I don't believe this, filthy beasts."
"What is wrong Master?" Kreacher asked.
"We'll soon find out." Harry muttered through gritted teeth. "What time is it?"
"It is 12.45am Master." Kreacher answered. "Why is you wondering?"
"I have been 'summoned' by a goblin to Gringotts." Harry told the elf. "Come, I want to buy some things in Knockturn Alley before I leave tomorrow. I'll get them now and then see that the thing wants."
"Yes Master." Kreacher nodded before making his way towards the front door. "But Master should be careful… Mistress always saying that goblins should be respected. They smart and cruel and Mistress say they almost like Slytherins."
"I highly doubt my mother ever cared for the goblins." Harry pointed out as he joined Kreacher on the front step. Like the rest of the house, it had been enchanted to be hidden from the surrounding muggles.
"No no, not care for. Mistress respect them as shrewd." Kreacher corrected as he took Harry's hand and Apparated them away.
XX Gringotts XX
"Now then Mr Black." Gornuk began once Harry's meeting with the withered old goblin had begun. Gornuk's desk was covered in folders and rolls of parchment. "Can you explain why a member of Gringotts bank transferred six hundred and forty two Galleons from his private vault into your own vault as, and I quote, 'return on investments'?"
"I gave him money to invest." Harry answered, doing his best to sound polite and cooperative. "He was paying what he earned for me."
"Using Galleons as currency in the Muggle World is illegal and carries a minimum sentence of six months in Azkaban." Gornuk pointed out as he made notes on a sheet of parchment. "The Ministry will also confiscate all assets purchased with the Galleons."
"A-Azkban?" Harry whimpered.
"Yes, that is standard punishment." Gornuk told him before checking some files. "Although, your age may cause them to impose a more lenient sentence... I shall be forced to lock your vault until the Ministry decides what shall be done although Gringotts is under no obligation to prevent you from leaving if you wish to attempt to avoid the Ministry."
"I... I... Thanks." Harry said, on the verge of tears. He slipped from the chair and walked towards the door. "H-How much did he manage to make me anyway...? You know, in those muggle pints?"
"Pounds." Gornuk corrected. "The muggles of Britain use Pounds. And what he transferred is the equivalent of of three thousand, two hundred and ten pounds... Why do you wish to know?"
"I wanted to know how much two thirds of the money he made was." Harry answered before leaving the office. Pausing only to summon Kreacher, Harry made straight for the main floor and exit.
"What is they wanting Master?" Kreacher asked as they crossed the main hall.
"Mr. Black! Mr. Black!" Called out a goblin before harry could answer. Once the goblin caught up, and caught its breath, it continued. "Vault Manager Gornuk requests your presence... As does the Head of the Board."
Looking between the door and the rather anxious goblin, Harry turned and followed. Instead of leading Harry back to Gornuk's office, the goblin led Harry even deeper into the labyrinth that was Gringotts. The goblin stopped outside a set of double doors, waited until Harry was right beside it and then dragged a clawed finger down across a lock. With a loud click, the doors swung open and revealed a large meeting room. The high walls where decorated with tapestries depicting famous, and infamous, goblins. Between each tapestry was a silver wall fixture containing tongues of golden flame. Most of the room was taken up by an ancient and ornate table. All but one of the chairs was occupied and Harry noted how the chairs, and the goblins in them, seemed to grow larger and older as you moved from the empty seat towards the far end.
"Welcome Mr. Black." Called out the goblin sitting directly across from Harry. It was, by far, the oldest and most imposing of the group assembled. To his right, and slightly back, stood Gornuk who wore a cruel smirk while to his left, and even further back, stood a very nervous Ted Tonks. "Please, have a seat."
"Thank you." Harry managed to squeak out as he sat himself in the smallest and most pitiful seat in the room. "What now?"
"Now?" The old goblin repeated. "Oh now, well firstly would you care for tea? Or perhaps some confectionaries?"
"No thank you… sir?" Harry answered, adding the sir for lack of any other term of address.
"Chairman will suffice." The Chairman of Gringotts England told him. "My proper title tends to be difficult for your kind to say correctly… Now, I must apologise for Gornuk's hasty actions earlier. I have already cancelled the lockdown of your vault and the notification of the Ministry."
"T-thank you." Harry said, trying not to smile as he remembered hearing once that goblins considered a smile a threatening gesture. "Why?"
"Why? Because we've spoken with Mr. Tonks and know you broke no law." The Chairman told him. It seemed to be trying its best to appear friendly and kind. "Ted here told us how he exchanged the Galleons for Pounds before he bought your 'shares' and that he turned the Pounds back into Galleons before adding them to your vault. There's no law against that."
"But Gornuk said…" Harry began.
"Gornuk misunderstood the situation. The Chairman cut in. "The law in questions steams from a time when hour Galleons and Sickles could easily pass for muggle coins just as there coins could pass for ours, to the foolish and unvigilant… But the muggles now use Pounds and pennys which look nothing like our coins, the law has just never been updated."
"Oh… That's good." Harry said, managing a weak laugh.
"Indeed and even if the coins were still in use, you'd still have done no wrong." The Chairman explained, its voice sounding positively thrilled. "For you see, you exchanged them and that is not covered by the laws… And for that, you and Ted here have the thanks of my kind."
"For what?" Harry asked. He was very confused by what was happening.
"You've given us an opening, a loophole if you will, that we at Gringotts can use to get around a limitation one of my predecessors agreed to." The Chairman explained. "But you've given me an idea. As I'm sure you know Gringotts has in the past given loans to long term clients with spotless records… The House of Black is, without a doubt, one of our oldest clients and your family has never really moved against the bank. So, what I propose is that Gringotts will issue you with several substantial loans which you can use to invest in choice businesses in both the Wizarding and Muggle world, using a percentage of the dividends paid out to pay back the loan over several years… Now you will have to leave the papers proving ownership in the bank's possession as collateral, but that's just a formality. What do you think?"
"I eh… I don't understand." Harry admitted.
"Then I'll make it simple." The Chairman said, dropping any guise of kindness. "I want to put a lot of Gringotts' gold in your vault, you'll then take that gold and invest it in companies Gringotts wants to see grow or wants influence over. Whatever you get from owning part of them is then handed over to the bank, minus a small percentage that you and Tonks here split, and we have a mutually beneficial working relationship… Is that clear enough for your silly, little human brain to understand?"
"Yeah." Harry answered before he'd even finished processing what had been said. There was silence for a few minutes. "I'm sure we can come to a mutually beneficial agreement… And I would be a fool to make a foe of my bankers, wouldn't I?"
"That you would, that you would." The Chairman agreed, his mood changing back to one of friendliness. "Now I see here from your vault records that last June the late Walburga Black authorised a transfer of several hundred Galleons to our Russian branch as 'tuition fees'… I take it you plan to spend some time abroad studying your wand craft?"
"Yes, I'm leaving tomorrow and shall be returning on the seventh of August." Harry told the old goblin.
"Well, enjoy your time overseas." The Chairman smirked. "And when you return be sure to visit your Vault manager, Mr. Tonks and Gornuk will be spending the next few weeks searching for the best places to invest."
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Okay, short chapter I know… Sorry. Most of this chapter is focused on the beginning of Harry's relationship with the goblins [in chapter one he mentioned that he'd "done a lot for the goblins over the years", here we see what he meant] and laying the foundation for his friendship with Gornuk.
Next chapter will mostly focus on Harry taking lessons in duelling in an environment where any use of magic will be ignored [the way the Trace works all the Ministry will know is a British under-age witch or wizard is in an area where magic is being cast, but that the boy or girl is outside of their jurisdiction and so they can't do anything about it], a bit more of his dealings with Gringotts and Harry's first real meeting with Sirius face to face… It will not go well.
I'm dyslexic, so please point out any mistakes in spelling or grammar [I spell things the way they do in England and Ireland, so some things may look off to Americans]. Please leave your opinion via review or send them via PM, I'd like to know what you think. Well, I think that's everything I've gotta say so, hope you enjoyed the chapter.
This is Highvalour saying bye and thanks for reading.