"You see that house upon the hillside, Potter? My father lived there. My mother, a witch, who lived here in this village, fell in love with him. But he abandoned her when she told him what she was…He didn't like magic, my father…"

"He left her and returned to his muggle parents before I was even born. Potter, she died giving birth to me, leaving me to be raised in a muggle orphanage… but I vowed to find him… I revenged myself upon him, that fool who gave me his name… Tom Riddle…"

Still he paced, his red eyes darting from grave to grave.

"Listen to me, reliving family history…" he said quietly," why, I am growing quite sentimental… But look, Harry! My true family returns…"

Harry woke up with a start, perspiration beaded on his forehead, breathing heavily.

"Stupid, stupid. Really, how could I forget?"

Voldemort was but one man. It was really his followers and the people with similar mindset, the ones who took joy in muggle baiting, and torturing, that were the crux of the problem. They would have to go too.

The struggle within a single century due to two dark Lords was nothing new in the history of wizarding world. What was new was the fact that there was a warrior of light equal in power, if not more, to unite and lead the struggle against the said Dark Lords. The ensuing pitched battles, with no side emerging victorious, had all but wiped out most of the old wizarding families. Even families like the Weasleys, which were famous for their large broods, had just one family left with the weasley name, their numbers recovering only in the last few years.

All families of repute, and old name and traditions, were hanging by their last threads of existence. The Potters, the Malfoys, the Longbottoms, the Parkinsons, the Bones, the Notts, the Diggorys, the Goyles, the Woods, the Crabbes, the Bells, the Greengrasses, the Johnsons, the Zabinis, all had just one single member in the current generations. Still many of them didn't have even the single members like these; the Dumbledores, the Lestranges, the McGonagalls, the Blacks, the Prewetts, the Crouchs, the Marchbanks, the Carrows and many more had no heirs to show. If there ever was any time to integrate the muggleborns into the wizarding worlds without any opposition from the blood purists, it was probably now.

All the supporters of Voldemort would have to go. In time, when Harry would be able to claim his position and seats in the Wizengamot, and exert his influence due to the various seats that his family had accumulated over the centuries, he would be able to push his agenda. Better still, he would not meet much opposition, if it was he who had the Minister's ear by default, there being no Malfoys and Umbridges.

The composition of the wizengamot, Harry had discovered, was more like a council of the prominent families, where money spoke the most powerful of all.

First of all was the manner in which seats were initially allotted, then retained, and finally, redistributed.

During its conception, 123 families of the wizarding Britain had congregated and decided to promulgate laws after several decades of strife and lawlessness which killed many. The wizengamot was supposed to be the supreme council in all matters, and its decision was to be final and binding. Over the years, they had created the seat of the minister, who was supposed to carry out the day-to-day activities of maintaining law and order and apprehending violators of the said laws. He was also allowed to introduce bills, besides the members themselves, which had to be defeated by a majority vote to prevent them from becoming laws. The idea was that if enough people were not opposed to it, the bill must be good for the people

The minister, in turn, was selected by the wizengamot. The families, which had become the part of the first wizengamot, were actually feudal lords. All of them had titles and lands, and they had subjects and tenants. As such, they generally selected ministers which promoted their own interest, and increased the businesses of their tenants by introducing favorable laws. Quite frequently, a rich Lord would pay some financially troubled Lords to help him get a minister of his choice voted in office. Agenda based selling of votes was pretty common.

The way the seats were retained was unique.

All families, which had a seat on the council, made a one time payment at the beginning of every century. The amount to be paid was equal to hundred months worth of current salary of the minister's post. The amounts were automatically deducted from the family vaults, if the said amount was less than 5 percent of the galleons present in the family vaults.

A notification was sent to the family head, if the stipulated amount could not be automatically deducted from the vaults. The family had the time period of one year in which to make the said payments.

If unable to do so, the family could sell the wizengamot seat within the same period to any other family which did not already have a seat on the wizengamot. The price for such a trade was agreed upon by the two parties in question, and the new family was supposed to pay the one time fees within the stipulated one year time frame, with written proof of approval from the said family.

If the family which previously held the wizengamot seat failed to make claim to the said seat within the said period, the seat was then offered to the richest family from among those who did not already have a seat on the wizengamot.

A lesser branch of an existing family could lay claim to the seats thus made available by adopting a new name, and opening a new family vault in the Gringotts, and acquiring at least 50 acres of land as the property of the family, and registered as unsaleable, due to being hereditary family property.

A first born wizard or witch could also lay a claim to such a seat, if he or she met the criteria of being the richest one from among the families which did not already have a seat on the council. However, they must have a land property of at least 100 acres, also made unsaleable by being registered as family property of the newly registered wizarding family.

If a family vault had enough money to make the payment, but no head of the family, a representative was appointed by another head of family, who happened to be the closest blood relative of the last existing member of the family.

If a family did not have enough money to make the payment, and no head of the family, the seat was simply put up to be offered to the richest family who was not already on the council. Associated families, which had the power to appoint a representative for that family, generally overcame the problem by simply depositing the requisite amount of money to allow automatic payment of the fees, if they could afford it. Several old families were thus in control of almost 4 to 6 council seats via standing instructions to maintain the said accounts.

Harry had since then discovered during his two years of study of wizarding law that no new families had joined the council in the last two hundred years simply because no new families, viz the muggleborns wizards and witches, had been able to afford the said payment. Jobs in the wizarding world simply did not pay enough to accumulate that kind of gold. Starting a business in the wizarding world, although extremely profitable, was still very difficult, simply because of the daunting starting costs, and the already entrenched players in almost all sectors. Some businesses, like wand making, were lost arts because these skills were simply passed on from father to the heir, and the result was three wand makers in the whole of Europe. Same happened to businesses like trunk making, and armor making.

The seats thus left unoccupied were to be filled in by the minister for tenure of ten years, after which the appointed member was given the option of meeting the criteria of holding the seat, and thus claim the said seats. The ministers, over the years, had carefully appointed yes men on these seats, who did not have any significant financial muscle. The total number of such seats in the present council was 35, thus making the minister very powerful, enabling him to pass any law, with the support of merely 28 independent members which were not his yes men.

Needless to say, it was not a difficult job for a minister to garner such support. Only problem for a minister was that these appointed members were not allowed to participate in the voting for a new minister. The voting quorum was formed simply of the members who had paid for their seats, and a majority vote of 67 percent of the quorum was essential for the appointment. Since the remaining seats were almost evenly split between liberals and conservatives, it was never a good idea for a minister to antagonize any faction if he wanted to get re-elected. Additionally, a no confidence vote could be brought by 51 percent of the voting quorum, and 75 percent of votes were required to impeach the minister.

Harry's long term goal was to give the muggle born wizards enough financial power to buy these wizengamot seats, and thus make some rules which would further the cause of muggleborns and other sentient creatures, who were ignored and ostracized by the old families. He also intended to make the Hogwarts system of education redundant, by opening a school which would have the best of both the muggle and the wizarding educations. The fact that the wizards lived to almost double the ages of muggles, meant that they could easily devote a few more years than muggles towards their education. As it stood, they were spending less time than the muggles, what with no wizarding colleges and universities. This was one of the most probable causes of the stagnation of the wizarding society.

If Harry's plans were to succeed, he would need to remove the disruptive elements of the old Dark families. From his time in the graveyard, and his time in the headmaster's pensieve, Harry knew the identity of all the death eaters, and although they escaped prison, he knew that they really belonged there.

During his two years in exile, Harry had realized that Albus was being unnecessarily idealistic. His idea of 'second chance' was useless when faced with remorseless killers, who tortured for fun, raped with no guilt and murdered with abandon. Whether the victim was a child or an adult made no difference to them. How could Albus expect them to change their ways? The judiciary was so corrupt and nepotistic, that they escaped with the flimsiest of excuses.

Harry was not Albus. Harry had hardened gradually, first with the murder of Cedric in front of his own eyes, then the passing of Sirius through the veil, and finally, with the loss of the headmaster's life. He would bring justice and he would not give them a 'second chance'.

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7th July, 1987, Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley Branch, London

An old man entered the bank with his very young grandson. He headed to one of the counters, and stood in line. There were only two people in front of him. His turn came soon enough.

"Could you tell me where I should go for information on expedition, exploration and excavation parties?"

Snarkhook looked up from his counter. The bank had not had a client who wanted an expedition, exploration and excavation party in almost five decades. There were various reasons. Generally, these expeditions were wild goose chases, which were not profitable, and were done merely for interest. Due to Grindelwald, and then Voldemort, the wizards in Britain and Europe had hardly the time or inclination to pursue such interests.

Secondly, the cost of hiring such a team was extremely high. Because profitable venues had already been claimed by the goblins and placed under the Fidelius, there weren't many places that the wizards could go to excavate and turn up something of value His interest was thus piqued. Seeing that there were no customers behind the old man, he decided to accompany him to the office of research and expeditions himself.

"Seeing that you are my last customer, I will lead you to the office myself. Please follow me," Snarkhook said as he climbed down from his counter to lead the man and his grandson probably, to the aforementioned office.

The two humans followed the goblin through a maze of corridors. When the goblin pushed a huge set of doors at long last, and went inside, the two humans made to follow, but were stopped by the guards on the door.

"Wait here," one of the goblin guards said gruffly. "You will go inside only when you are called in."

The other goblin guard noticed with interest that while the old man simply acquiesced with a neutral expression on his face, the little human had a distasteful frown on his face. Suppressing a wry smile, he just focused his security visor on the little human out of curiosity.

Immediately, he had to look away. He had been in the presence of numerous wizards over the last 19 years, but had never been overwhelmed by the core radiation of any of them. It was the responsibility of the guards to assess the power levels of the wizards before ushering them in the presence of any of the Elder goblins. He had served on the security detail when the Dark Lord Voldemort had come calling, and he had been on the security detail on numerous occasions when the old goat of a headmaster of the Wizarding School had visited. Neither of them radiated so much power, and this human was probably only seven years old, not having started the use of a wand even. The Elder must know!

Grimtoe quietly slipped into the door after telling Hammerfoot to keep an eye on the small human.

Entering, he bowed to the elder Rimclaw, who was conversing with Snarkhook.

"What is it Grimtoe, that you had to come to tell me?" the elder goblin asked as he looked at him.

"Elder, it is about the two humans standing outside your door, who came with master Snarkhook. In fact, it is about the smaller human."

"Go ahead, Grimtoe, we don't have all day."

"Elder, his core radiation…"

"What about his core radiation? He is just a child, for Rimrod's sake. I have entertained both Dumbledore and Voldemort in the past, Grimtoe, and you were there on those occasions."

"I know, elder, and that is why I felt that you must know," Grimtoe said, looking at the floor.

"What must I know Grimtoe? Hurry up, don't test my patience," Rimclaw snarled.

"Well, elder, when Hammerfoot told them to wait outside, the older human just agreed, but the little human became irritated. Out of curiosity, I just focused my security visor on him, and I had to immediately look away. Never have I seen so much radiation from a single core, elder." Grimtoe stood quietly after finishing his report.

"You mean to tell me that this human child of probably seven years, who has never likely held a wand even, has a core more powerful than even Voldemort and Dumbledore, and he is coming into a meeting with elder, and he is already irritated because you stopped him outside the door?" Snarkhook asked curiously.

"Yes master Snarkhook, that is an accurate summary," Grimtoe said softly.

"What are you waiting for, Snarkhook? Usher him in, and arrange the best of refreshments for the two humans. If the little human is as powerful as you say, we should be careful to not antagonize him. He will certainly be an important player some day. It is better to be on his good side." Rimclaw ordered Grimtoe.

As Grimtoe rushed outside to fetch the two humans, Rimclaw looked at Snarkhook. "The closet on the far right side of the wall near the mer's statue has a power meter, Snarkhook. Get it, and set it on the table. Be quick."

Snarkhook hurriedly did as he was told. By the time he finished setting up the device and took his place behind the elder goblin, the two human were striding inside. However, when the small human saw the device on the table, he stopped in his tracks. The older human looked at him and asked,

"What happened, Elander? Is everything all right?"

"I think, grandfather, that you would not be able to serve your purpose here any longer. I suggest that you get the items on that list that I made yesterday night which you have in your pocket. I will deal with them on my own," the little boy said to the older human, apparently his grandfather.

Rimclaw first frowned when his meter told him that the older human had no magic in him. He was a muggle, for Rimrod's sake! Then his eyes widened when the meter start pushing against the top of the indicator, beyond 1100. The meter had been calibrated with Dumbledore's power after the defeat of Grindelwald, at 1000. Even Voldemort, after all his rituals, had merely touched 997!

When he felt Snarkhook nudging him, he looked up to see that the older human was walking out of the door, while the little one was standing in the middle of the room, as if he had stopped walking while coming in, due to some unknown reason.

The small boy looked at the two goblins with narrowed eyes. Snarkhook became apprehensive and started to fidget. Rimclaw looked at him curiously, waiting for him to say something

"Is this how you treat all your customers, goblin elder? By breaking treaties, invading privacies, and using restricted devices without permission? By being rude, and by being uncivil, by making us stand while you yourself lounge on your padded seats?" The little boy said acidly.

Rimclaw paled as the human, Elander, continued his diatribe. How did he know he was a goblin elder? Did he recognize the power meter for what it was? How did he know that it was a restricted device? And how did he know that that it was against the treaties signed between the two governments to use it without permission? He paled further when he heard the accusations of being rude and uncivil…

"I beg your forgiveness, Master Elander, but…" his reply died in his throat when he was rudely cut off by a near shout from the little human.

"Goblin elder, I did not give you permission to use my first name. You go on breaking protocol after protocol, and you sneer on us and call us uncivilized? How interesting!"

Rimclaw shut his mouth. He did not know what to do. Never had he been in such an embarrassing situation. He, a goblin elder of 200 years of age, was getting a dressing down from a seven year old human on etiquettes and protocol, and he could not protest! Simply because the human was right! Since none of the humans generally knew the rules and the ways of engagement, and also because the humans never approached the goblins until and unless the services of goblins were desperately needed, these trespasses had been ignored for several decades now. However, it did not excuse his behavior. As an elder goblin, it was his duty to set an example, not create strife with other races. He watched the human as the human glared at him and Snarkhook.

"Sir, I again ask for forgiveness for my slights and oversights. Please forgive me. I sincerely request you to take a seat, and allow me to make amends," Rimclaw pleaded. If this human launched a full fledged complaint with all the descriptions that he had mentioned, the wizarding government of Britain would swoop down on them for breaking the treaties, and confiscate the bank. They had always been looking for excuses!

Elander visibly restrained his anger, and marched towards the seat in front of the table. Seeing that the size of the table was not suited for his client, he immediately signaled to Snarkhook, who created two easy chairs, a couch, and a coffee table on one side of the room.

"Honored sir, please come and sit here, where it may be more convenient, if I may be so bold to say so," Snarkhook said in as soft a voice as he could. His voice was strained from the effort that he was making to prevent it from trembling.

Elander stopped walking towards the main table and looked at Snarkhook, and then he looked at the coffee table and the couch. He changed his track as he walked towards the newly appeared sitting arrangements.

A/N: I know that the pace of story, some will say, has slowed down. Actually, initially, i had decide that the story would be completed in about 50-60 thousand words, but i am writing more leisurely now. I may change my mind again, depending on the time available to me. I have recieved no expressions of interest for the two chapter titles that i had put up for grabs, so i will assume there are no takers. Any advice is welcome. I am not e review fanatic, but they are welcome and definitely a moral booster. Lastly, I do not have a beta, so if anyone is interested, do let me know.