Emerald Moments
Chapter IX

Disclaimer: I'm broke, don't own it, don't sue me.


It was nearing sunset on Sebastian's fourth day in London. He, Steven and Laura had spent the last three days getting to know the area. They now could get back to their hotel or the airport from anywhere in the city, had memorized the Underground routes, and could locate at least two police stations in every part of the city. Tomorrow they were headed to Diagon Alley; it was time to continue their search for Dr. Peterson. Earlier that afternoon they had walked past the Leaky Cauldron, so they didn't go in completely blind.

Bastian sat on the roof of the hotel watching the sky change colors as the sun fell closer to the horizon. Dawn and Twilight were his favorite times of day, they always had been. Even in the bustling city, everything seemed so peaceful; there was a tranquility present that took the harsh edge off the realities of the world. As the sun dipped below the city's skyline, Bastian sighed and pulled himself to his feet. He knew tomorrow would be difficult; until now Steve had been able to help, but from here on out, Bastian would basically be on his own in the wizarding world. Taking one last glance at the fading daylight, the boy made his way to the door and went inside; it was time to find his mentor.


The tavern was dark and smelled strongly of pipe tobacco. As Bastian and Steve entered conversations quieted, but the noise level rose again as the bar patrons realized the newcomers were not the people for whom they were waiting. Bastian made his way to the counter; he waved at the bartender to get the older man's attention.

"What can I get for you?"

"We're visiting from America; could you tell us how to get into Diagon Alley?"

"Ach, sure. Head through to the back alley," he pointed to a door. "Then tap the bricks: three up, two across."

"Three up, two across. Thanks. We'll be back later for a drink." The bartender nodded and moved down the counter to the next customer.

The two men made their way out the back door. Bastian pulled his wand from his arm holster and tapped the bricks as instructed. Steve had seen magic before, but he couldn't help watching in awe as the bricks rearranged themselves to provide a portal to Diagon Alley.

As they stepped into the Alley, Sebastian was struck by how behind the times the British wizarding world seemed to be. He knew they were way behind when it came to technology, but he hadn't been expecting to be transported into the middle ages. While American wizards still used robes for ceremonial occasions, few people actually wore them on a day-to-day basis. Here, however, Bastian found himself out of place in his khakis, hoodie, and sneakers. Looking around, he was grateful he had worn his black knit watch cap that did an admirable job of covering his blue and silver hair; he had a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn't have gone over too well here.

Steve looked around in astonishment. He understood the magical and mundane worlds were different, but her had never expected his world to be so altered from that of his nephew.

"Is… is this normal?" Steve quietly asked the younger man.

"Not in America. I've never seen so many people in robes outside special occasions. It must be the custom here though." Bastian glanced in scorn at a group of young men who were slightly older than he was himself. "I'll wear a robe when custom dictates, but you'll never catch me in those damned dresses on a regular day." His uncle just laughed.

"C'mon, Butch. Where are we going first?"

Sebastian glared at Steve before mumbling something about the bank and stalking off down the Alley. They soon spotted the gleaming white building labeled: "Gringots Bank." Sebastian stopped to read the inscription on the pillar outside.

"Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits of sin and greed.
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors,
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there." (1)

Steve snorted and shook his head. "Why don't they just put 'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here,'?" (2)

"Maybe they're afraid they'll scare away the customers?" Bastian and Steve burst out laughing, not caring too much about the looks they were receiving from passers-by. When they again had control, Sebastian pulled the giant door open and they entered the bank.

Bastian walked up to the nearest teller and just managed to control his shock at coming face-to-face with a goblin. He frantically searched his memories for his lessons on proper etiquette when dealing with this proud race.

"Well met, Master Hunter." Although his greeting was accompanied with a small nod, he never broke eye contact. He got nervous when the goblin did not respond right away, but breathed a small sigh of relief when the goblin answered him.

"Well met, Mage Apprentice." The goblin didn't nod, but if Sebastian recalled correctly, it wasn't proper for a master to show that level of respect to an apprentice.

"I need to open an account and transfer American muggle money into both British pounds and the local wizarding currency. Can I do all that here?"

"Indeed. We'll get the process for opening an account started, then deal with the money while we wait for that to finish." The teller came out from behind the desk. "Follow me please." Bastian and Steve followed the smaller being to a second desk where he pulled out a piece of parchment and a small jewel-covered ceremonial dagger. He asked Sebastian to hold his wand hand over the parchment. As Bastian was ambidextrous, he just stuck out his right hand. The goblin took the dagger and made a small cut on Bastian's palm. After letting five drops of blood fall on the parchment, he handed Sebastian a handkerchief and led him back to the other desk.

"How much were you planning to change today?"

"$5000 total, $3000 into wizarding money, $2000 into British pounds."

"There's a 15 Gallon fee on transactions that size, is that alright?" Bastian had no idea if that was fair or not, but he wasn't going to argue with goblins over money. He nodded and handed the money to the creature. A few minutes later, the goblin handed him a wallet and a moneybag.

"The wallet contains the muggle money, totaling 1025 pounds. The wizarding money is in the bag, it contains 7330 Gallons; I took 15 Gallons out for the fee. Wizarding currency has three main coins: Gallons, Sickles, the silver ones, and Knuts, the bronze coins. There are 17 Sickles to a Gallon and 29 Knuts to a Sickle."

As they were finishing the transaction, a second goblin came and stood next to their teller. The two bank employees held a quiet conversation before turning back to the humans.

"It appears there were some complications with your account creation, if you would go with Ragshaw, everything will be straightened out."

"Thank you for your help, Master Hunter." Bastian turned to Ragshaw, "Well met, Master Hunter."

"Well met, Mage Apprentice. Please follow me."

Ragshaw led them down a marble corridor to a small room with an oak table. He indicated to the chairs and sat down opposite the two increasingly confused men.

"As Gatenack said, there were some complications in creating your new account."

"It's not because I'm not 18, is it? Because Uncle Steve is allowed to sign as my guardian."

"No, your age has nothing to do with it. And even if it did, the age of majority is 17 here." Sebastian and Steve looked at each other; this would make things easier.

"The problem is you already have an account here, several in fact."

"What?! How's that possible? I've never been here before."

"Indeed, you have not, or you would have known about this. These accounts were left to you by your parents when they died."

"My… my parents?" Bastian was unable to say anything else.

"Wait a second. Are you saying you know who Sebastian's birth parents are?" Steven was in just as much shock as his nephew. After 13 years of wondering where the kid came from, was it really as simple as dropping some blood on a piece of parchment? That was unbelievable.

"I see there are some things you need to know before we continue this." Ragshaw riffled through the stack of papers in front of him. Finally, the goblin pulled out a single piece of paper and handed it to Sebastian. He read it and passed it to Steve without saying a word.

"What is i—oh." Steve read the paper carefully. Several minutes later, he was still trying to grasp the fact that they finally had this information in their possession.

Certificate of Birth
Name of Child: Potter, Harold James
Mother: Potter, Lillian Evans; deceased
Father: Potter, James Alexander; deceased

Date of Birth: 31/07/1980
Time: 0637
Weight: 3.26 kg
Eyes: Green
Hair: Black

Adopted Name of Child: Carter, Sebastian Xavier
Adopted Mother: Carter, Laura Waltzer
Adopted Father: Carter, Jackson; deceased

"So… so my parents didn't abandon me; they were killed by Voldemort? Which would make me the Boy-Who-Lived? 'What a twist.'" Bastian started laughing, Steve looked at him as if he were crazy.

"You alright there kiddo?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. It's just really funny that I did all this research on that 'Harry Potter' kid, and it turns out it was me all along." He started laughing again. A few minutes later, Bastian finished laughing and was ready to continue. "Okay. So I'm Harry Potter. What else do we need to talk about, Ragshaw?"

"Your late parents' will." The goblin pulled out a folder and flipped it open. "Their will stipulated that, in the event of their deaths, you were to be placed into the care of Mr. Sirius Black or, if something should happen to him, Mrs. Alice Longbottom. That obviously was possible as Mr. Black was sent to Azkaban and Mrs. Longbottom was checked into St. Mungo's the day after your parents died.

"In regards to your inheritance, the exact details are in the will, if you care to read them, but it basically says you own a number of properties across Europe and several in America and you now have three vaults, totaling several billion gallons, not to mention investments in several major companies, both magical and mundane."

Bastian and Steve couldn't believe what they were hearing. In the last half hour, they discovered Sebastian's birth family and found out he was extremely wealthy.

"We need to talk to mom about this before we do anything else today." Bastian turned to Ragshaw, "Thank you for your help today, Master Hunter. If I have any further questions, may I contact you?"

"Indeed, Mage Apprentice. I am the Potter accounts manager, so any questions you have regarding your holdings will be directed to me."

Bastian rose and gave the goblin a slight bow before following his uncle from the room.


1 - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
2 - Dante's Inferno, the last line of the inscription written on the gates of hell.

AN: Hey, here's the next chapter! I know I promised some of you this would be out over the weekend, but I went home for Thanksgiving and left my copy of The Philosopher's Stone at school, and I needed some information from it.