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Chapter 20

"Tomorrow's getting harder make no mistake
Luck ain't even lucky
Got to make your own breaks"

-Bon Jovi 'Its my Life'

(Ebony P.O.V)

The rest of the week went by in a blur. Dad's temper had been incredibly shorter since we'd received the reply from Gringotts, and was quick to snarl at anyone who did anything to annoy him, even in the slightest, and his protectiveness reached a new peak too. It was quite often that I saw him around where I was having classes, and come the end of the day, he'd pull me to the Gym for a couple of hours training before dinner, and a few more hours after. He even caught Snape by the throat once, when he'd sneered at me, and tried to put me in detention.

Word spread quickly that dad was someone to tread carefully around, and that included not annoying me.

Friday night, when I got back to my room after training, I collapsed onto my bed, sighing.

"What's up?" Hermione asked, looking up from the book she was reading.

"Someone's messing with my life, and it's making dad paranoid."

"I am not paranoid!" He yelled, as he walked past the room.

"Yes you damn well are. Paranoia is still paranoia even if they are actually out to get you! And you aren't just hanging round outside my room for the fun of it!" I yelled back. "As I said before." I gestured to the door. I had no doubt that Hermione had also picked up on dad's constant hovering.

"Yes, well, can you blame him? First your mother, then the Brotherhood, and then this? You're his daughter, all decent parents, if you know what I mean, are protective of their kids. And he's a Feral, his instincts to protect you have been doubled by the fact that he has more animalistic instincts. All these instances, added together are just the trigger. You already know this Ebony. Once everything's been sorted out things should go back to normal."

"I just liked things the way they were before this school year sorted. Only one good thing has come of it so far. And that is finding out that I'm dad's biological daughter, but couldn't it have happened a different way?"

"It happened the way it happened. You are just going to have to deal with its consequences, and the consequences of what tomorrow's meeting brings up. You should get some sleep Ebony. You have a long day ahead of you."

"You're right. I'll just have a quick shower and turn in."

Hermione nodded her approval. So, after a quick shower and a change into a pair of flannel shorts, and a camisole, I was in bed, and drifting off to sleep, after setting my alarm for six the next morning.

I knocked my alarm clock off about two seconds after it started buzzing.

"Wha' time is it?" Hermione said sleepily.

"Six. Go back to sleep Hermione. I'll see you later."

"Good luck." She mumbled, and with that, she fell to sleep.

I got a form fitting black button up, short sleeved black shirt, and a pair of black trousers. Hermione had advised me to go dressed smart. I also used my school shoes, but I was going to wear the coat dad had gotten me for Christmas, which I'd recently adjusted, like I had with all my clothes, with near invisible slits to the back, so I could slide my wings in and out easily.

I took a quick shower, and got dressed. After that, I slipped quietly out of the room, by passing the door by phasing through the wall. When I was out in the corridor I put my coat on, and then headed downstairs.

Dad was in the kitchen already. The envelope that contained the portkey and the letter was placed in front of him, as well as a plate of food.

"Morning dad." I said, giving him a hug.

"Morning cub. How did you sleep?"

"Well. You?"

"Alright."

I nodded, and got myself some food. We ate in silence, and then, come five to eight, I pulled the hair clip that would serve as our transport, out of the envelope, leaving the letter in there. Dad placed the letter in his coat pocket and we both put a finger to the clip, having used a portkey once before, when Professor Sprout had been sent to explain about the wizarding world.

When it started to glow blue, I felt a tug behind my naval, and was pulled away from the mansion. I landed on the ground, and barely managed to catch myself. I straightened up, and saw dad doing the same. I looked round to see that we were in the corner of the large atrium of Gringotts. A goblin came over to us, and asked for the letter, for verification. Dad handed it over, and the goblin told us to follow him. He also told us that Scrimigor was already here.

We were led to an office where a goblin and a battle scarred man already sat. Both stood when we entered. The goblin had been seated behind a dark wood desk, and the man had been seated in one of the well stuffed chairs in front of the desk.

The man, who I assumed was Scrimigor, had a mane of dark brown hair, and had a load of scars. He held out his hand to dad first.

"Rufus Scrimigor." He introduced, shaking dad's hand, and then mine.

"Victor Creed and this is my daughter, Ebony." Dad introduced.

He turned to the goblin, and before he could ask, the Goblin introduced himself. "I am Snorack. Please, take a seat. We have a lot to go through today."

The three of us sat down, and I found myself in the middle seat.

"It came as a great shock for me to receive your letter Miss Creed." Snorack said.

"Please, call me Ebony." I said. I had read a bit about Goblins, and I had more respect from them that I did for allot of wizards tat I'd met.

The old goblin nodded. "Very well, Ebony. As I said, it was a shock. All muggle born children should have been informed of their magical guardian upon their introduction to the wizarding world. And the fact that we did not test your inheritance is also extremely worrying. Somehow, someone managed to bypass it completely. This is extremely worrying."

"Indeed." Scrimigor agreed. "I was told that you had been informed of the wizarding world, and had no desire to contact me to ask me any further questions. I now see that it was a grave error on my part to just except that."

"Who told you that?" I asked.

"Dumbledore." Scrimigor said. "He said he'd picked you up personally, and introduced you to the wizarding world, before you had said you had no need to talk with me."

I shook my head, frowning. "Dumbledore didn't tell me I was a witch. Sprout did. She was the one to introduce me to everything. I only met Dumbledore on my first night at Hogwarts. When he called me to his office to talk."

"What did he want to talk to you about?" Snorack asked.

"He said that my magical signature had been really hard to track down, and the American Ministry knew I existed, but couldn't find me. So they had asked for his help. He'd agreed, and when he'd found out, he asked that I go to Hogwarts instead of an American wizarding school instead. He said he wanted to test to see if I somehow had any blocks, preventing my magical signature being detected, that could be potentially dangerous to me."

"What did he do then?" the goblin asked.

"Waved his wand in an arc over my head a couple of times, I felt a tingling sensation, and then he said there had been a few, but he had removed them."

"You wrote to tell me of that." Dad said. "I was thankful that he'd found and removed them. But did he really do what he said? If not, what the hell did he do?"

Snorack waved his hand. "That can be deduced with a simple test."

"We should start then. It seems as if there are two tests that now need to be preformed. This may end up taking longer than first expected." Scrimigor said.

Snorack pulled out a piece of dark blue parchment, a gold quill and a silver knife. "We will start with the inheritance test. Ebony, if you would please provide seven drops of blood exactly onto the quill, and we will see if you are related to anyone within the wizarding world, and if you are to eventually inherit." Snorack explained.

I felt dad stiffen slightly as I was handed the knife. I made a cut, and willed myself not to heal over until the seven drops had hit the quill. The blood was immediately absorbed by the quill, and once the seventh drop hit it, it sprang to life, and began scribbling furiously. No names appeared after the name of my biological mother, who had the word muggle next to her name in brackets, but there were loads of names after dads, who had squib and mutant written in brackets next to his name. My grandfather was also a squib, but after that, they were all witches and wizards. However, there were three names that stood out on the parchment. The first one that appeared was Rowena Ravenclaws. Then, after many more names, came Merlin Emrys, and Morganna Le Fey. My jaw dropped, so did dads and Scrimigor's.

I looked at dad in shock. "I get my magic from you as well as my mutant abilities?" I asked.

"It seems so cub." Dad said.

"You and Uncle Jimmy are Squibs." I said.

"That may be." Snorack said. "But as you are a mutant, and not just a squib, that makes you eligible to accept your titles."

"What titles?" Dad asked.

Snorack motioned to the parchment, where the quill was writing a new list.

Titles in line to inherit:

Lordships:

Emrys

Le Fey

Ravenclaw

Creed

I was once again stunned.

"But all four lines died out long ago supposedly." Scrimigor said incredulously.

Snorack shook his head. "They were merely lost, when their only heir turned out to be a squib, and moved to the Americas. Until now, their have been no known eligible heirs. And guess who stands for those seats on the Wizingamot."

"Albus Dumbledore." Scrimigor said.

"Correct." Snorack said.

I was fuming, so was dad, but then something dawned on me, and I started to laugh.

"What's so funny Cub?" Dad asked.

"You're a Lord!" I laughed.

Dad groaned. "You had to laugh." He muttered.

"You're the last person I'd expect to be a Lord!" I laughed.

"Shut up cub." Dad said. I laughed a little bit longer, before quieting down. "What's next?" Dad asked.

Well, there is the other test, the one for any blocks or spells placed on Ebony. And there is the matter of the vaults that you have inherited." He looked at dad.

"Which will take the longest?" Dad asked.

"That depends." Snorack said. "It depends on whether Ebony has any blocks on her or not, and if so, what needs to be done to remove them. I suggest, that Ebony takes the test first, and then after that, go through your assets, and then remove any blocks that have been placed on Ebony."

Dad nodded. "Lets do that then." He agreed.

"If I may, what action do you intend to take against Dumbledore for this, and any more crimes he may have committed against you?" Scrimigor asked.

"I'll see when I've found out everything." Dad said. "That way, I know exactly how long I should draw out any pain that I cause him."

Scrimigor nodded. He had obviously gauged the type of person dad was by now.

Snorack pulled out another piece of parchment, this time,, however, it was black. He once again handed me the dagger. "Three drops, this time Ebony."

I once again cut myself, and let three drops of my blood hit the gold quill. Once again, I saw the quill jump into action.

What I saw made me pale.

Magical Blocks:

Fifty percent of magical ability: blocked.

Animagus ability: blocked.

Soul Bond: blocked.

(All of the above were placed by Albus Perciveal Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

I saw that Scrimigor and Snorack were ashen. Dad was tense. "What the hell does that mean?" He demanded in a growl.

"This- this is… HOW DARE HE?" Scrimigor roared. "Not only has he blocked a lot of your potential, but he has limited your lifespan to see you through to the end of your school career at the latest!"

"WHAT?" Dad yelled.

In a slightly more controlled voice, though I could still hear the anger in his voice, Snorack explained to dad and I what this meant. "Ebony, you are fifty percent less magically powerful than you should be. You should also be able to pull of the Animagus transformation with extreme ease, which is now impossible. And then we come to the last, and far more serious block. You have a soul mate, which can still be found out, even with the block in place. However, this spell will prevent you from bonding with your soul mate, which could normally be done by the admittance of your feelings for each other, and a kiss. Just keeping Soul mates apart forcefully from each other could be disastrous, but by placing a block, preventing you from completing the bond that has been present since birth, has signed both yours, and your soul mates death certificates. If the block is not removed, the both of you will most certainly die by the time you reach your magical majority. It can be removed by a ritual we can perform, but the backlash it could cause, could kill you."

"But that's only a possibility, right? If it's not removed, it's a certainty." I said. "Even if I have three different healing factors as some of my mutant abilities?"

"Yes." Snorack said.

Before I knew it, dad had me in a potentially bone crushing hug. "I want all these blocks removed from my cub. Her abilities should men that she has the ability to stop aging, and not die. Like me and my brother. I will not bury my daughter, Snorack!"

"Of course, but we need to determine who her soul mate is, and call them here, to determine if the same block has been placed on them. If so, then it will also need to be removed, or they will both still die, and then it is imperative that both Ebony and her soul mate start to get to know each other, if they do not already."

I made a slight choking noise. What about Harry?

"How do we find out who her soul mate is?" dad asked.

Snorack called out something in his own language. A minute later, another goblin brought in a heavy leather bound tomb. Snorack opened the book to the first page, which was blank. He gave me the knife, once more. "One drop this time Ebony, if you will, onto the page this time though."

I made yet another cut, where I had the previous two, and let a drop of blood fall onto the blank page. It was absorbed, and the pages started to turn of their own accord, quickly to a page that was just passed the halfway mark. My name was placed next to another halfway down the page, but there were no others after it. I reluctantly dragged my eyes from my name, to the one it was next to. I felt my heart soar.

The single name next to mine was the one I wanted to see. Harry James Potter.

A/N: Please review! I hope you enjoyed! I think this is one of my longest chapters yet in this story.