Sorry for the long wait. I hope the new chapter makes up for it a little bit.

Thank you to HPAddictAnonymous who has made time in her rather busy schedule to beta my story.

Thanks for reviewing. I really enjoy getting some feedback on the plot. As for Luna being absent from the story - I have felt bad about that. She's great. Unfortunately I could not find a way to give her a purpose at this point in the story. I guess, I tend to be too focused on the main plot line to have her pop up on the side lines. However, Luna will play an important role later on in the story.

For those who have read the reviews and wondered how I ended up reviewing my own story - it was an accident.

Chapter 26

"Mr Potter," Lawyer Greengrass rose to sit on a low leather couch in front of the fire place.

"Lawyer Greengrass," Harry inclined his head and took in his surroundings. The fire light cast shadows that drew patterns on the green walls of the ancient looking study.

"I have gathered all your legal documentation," his lawyer announced, "We can go through it now, if you are so inclined."

"Yes please," Harry nodded.

"Come on in then," his lawyer pointed his wand at a small figurine above the fire place and then offered his hand to Harry.

He must have adapted the wards to allow Harry entry to his home. It was a good double safety measure; the figurine probably was a password triggered guardian, but even knowing the password wasn't likely to be of any use without the direct verbal invitation and the offered hand.

Harry managed to step out of the fire without stumbling and Lawyer Greengrass directed him towards a high backed arm chair in front of his large desk.

"Would you like a drink? Some tea perhaps?"

"Yes please," Harry smiled, searching for an appropriate topic for small talk, knowing it would be deemed rude to start discussing business right away. He was still not very good with small talk, as he always had too much on his mind to care much for it. He came up with a blank.

"My niece has told me that you have started meeting up with her at school," Lawyer Greengrass observed him carefully over his teacup.

"She's great," Harry nodded, "I've recently started meeting people from other houses."

"Slytherin house can get quite lonely in these dark times. Distrust within the house is running deep, more so than usual,"

"Slytherin is the house with the most diversity, politically speaking," Harry nodded. "The two front opposing lines of the upcoming war are running right through it."

"Very well observed," Lawyer Greengrass nodded approvingly, "Few stop long enough in their preconceived notions about houses to see that. And Then those prejudices are quite often confirmed by themselves. I sometimes wonder how many Slytherin's from my year at Hogwarts took the Dark Mark because they felt it was they only way they were likely to get some acceptance and make their place in the world," he sighed.

"However, now that you give Syltherins the benefit of the doubt the rift within the house will only run deeper."

"I trust that in the long run most will choose freedom over the allure of power in the service of the Dark Lord."

"You are a remarkable young man," Lawyer Greengrass' lips twitched.

"I do my best," Harry smirked and sipped his tea.

"Moving on to legal matters," the lawyer paused and continued as Harry remained silent, "I find the contents of your parents' will most unsettling." Harry's head snapped up and he fixed his lawyer with an inquiring stare.

"The Dursleys, your current legal guardians, were explicitly excluded from guardianship." Harry sucked in a breath.

"Dumbledore!" he grasped his wand more tightly, "that meddling old..." he couldn't even find a fitting word to describe the man, "What right has he got to subject me to their 'care'?"

"None at all," Lawyer Greengrass confirmed with a grim smile.

"Who have my parents mentioned as possible guardians?" Harry asked.

"Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Frank and Alice Longbottom, Emiline Vance and Hestia Jones – in that order."

Harry jumped up and agitatedly paced the study. His lawyer leaned back in his chair, his hands folded in his lap.

"Obviously, I'm never going back to the Dursleys, never mind Dumbledore's reasoning," Harry stated and his lawyer nodded.

"Who do you want to take on guardianship?" his lawyer had reverted to smooth professional tones.

"Remus Lupin," Harry answered without hesitation, "He'll probably need some convincing but in the end he can't refuse." Remus concerns about being an unfit guardian for Harry due to his lycanthropy were still valid, but Harry could mostly care for himself, always had anyway, and then he was at Hogwarts most of the time. He liked Remus and besides he could simply not afford to have a guardian inclined to put his or her nose into his affairs, preventing him from dealing with matters of the war as he saw fit.

"Alright we'll see what we can do," Lawyer Greengrass made a note in the heavy folder in front of him.

Harry was furious, raging mad – Dumbledore had acted directly and knowingly against his parents' wishes by placing him with the Dursleys. Before this summer he would have immediately stormed Dumbledore's office to vent his temper. Only he was not the same boy as he had been then.

His formerly infamous fits of rage had mainly stemmed from feeling helpless. Now he sought to fight those roots of his rage and his temper had gotten easier to control. He only had to plot very carefully what course of action would benefit him the most, so that the years of misery under the Dursleys roof had not been in vain.

Then it hit him; he would give the 'Daily Prophet' the exclusive interview they so fervently desired. It was time to reach the public in regards to his outlook on the war, tradition and muggles, anyway. However, this time he would have legal support, in order to prevent the "Daily Prophet" from twisting his words around.

Harry's own ideas would considerably blur the profile of the dark side, as far as politics went. (Maiming and killing your opponents were no form of politics in his books). Obviously, he would not be seriously considered an option at first, but eventually he would gain credibility.

"I'd like you to accompany me to the office of "The Daily Prophet", Harry announced, "I'm giving an interview."

"As you wish," his lawyer smirked, "Would you like to make a stop at Gringott's as well – in order to arrange the financial part of your foundations?"

"Yes please," Harry said excitedly. Finally, his plans were set into motion.

"Then I'll arrange the meeting with Gringott's first," the lawyer suggested and threw a pinch of floo powder into the fire place as Harry nodded his agreement, "Gringott's, Diagon Alley, Ragnok," he intoned clearly, putting his head into the green flames.

Goblins, Harry noted, were not very fond of windows. The room was only lit by a couple of torches on the rough stone walls. Ragnok sat on a throne like arm chair behind his desk. The furniture felt gaudy to Harry's eyes but the display of gems, gold and silver was probably an indication of the goblin's wealth and influence.

The "Guide for the Young Pureblood" mentioned goblins and their customs only in passing. They were considered beneath a wizard's notice and were only even mentioned at all because they guarded wizards' money and their actions or inaction could therefore have a very great impact on a wizard's life. The gist of the small passage on goblins was: "They are not to be trusted," which really did nothing to help Harry.

"Mr Potter, Lawyer Greengrass," the raspy voice of the goblin called, "How can I be off service to you today." Ragnok appeared ancient and yet his teeth were pointy as he welcomed Harry and his lawyer with a full fledged grin.

"Ragnok," Harry executed a carefully measured half bow.
Surprise and then suspicion flickered across the goblin's face. While Harry knew nothing about goblin customs, Ragnok was probably more knowledgeable about wizarding customs than Harry, who by wizarding etiquette had treated the goblin as his equal.

"Mr Potter would like to open two trust funds," Lawyer Greengrass replied smoothly. Ragnok gestured for them to take a seat in front of his desk. Lawyer Greengrass began to briefly outline the terms for each fund and then took a parchment out of his folder and handed it over to Ragnok.

Ragnok looked it over, his sharp eyes flicking keenly over the spidery script. Then he lifted his head to pierce Harry with an impenetrable gaze, which Harry met determinedly, even if he felt slightly intimidated.

Finally Ragnok reached for an empty parchment and scribbled several inches in a very narrow script and then handed both drafts back to Harry's lawyer who checked them over and then nodded approvingly, passing both drafts to Harry.

The contract Lawyer Greengrass had crafted specified Harry's obligations as the donor of wolfsbane potion, as well as the obligations of a werewolf accepting the potion from Harry. The contract Ragnok had just drawn up, was the one between Harry and Gringott's.

Once again he would have to sign in blood, in order to validate the magically binding contract. Upon signing the contract the werewolf was obligated to enter into an Unbreakable Vow.

"On my life and magic, I hereby swear, never to attack a human, except in self defence, while under the influence of the wolfsbane potion." was the exact wording of the Vow to be.

Harry had wanted to restrict the werewolf's obligations to a bare minimum. This was not about forming or rather forcing political alliances, but about providing options for those without a choice, while hopefully keeping them out of the war altogether.

Contracts could not be taken lightly. There were cases where a witch or wizard was a slave to the contract, which forced them into a never ending chain of actions and inactions. Finally Harry took the blood quill from Ragnok and signed the contracts. He hardly felt the small cuts on his wrists as the blood quill drew his blood. However after each signature he felt a small weight settle on his shoulders, felt a little more restrained, felt restrictions settle into his magic, redefining his self until they would truly become a part of him.

With each werewolf entering the contract Harry would feel the weight shift, feel obligations be heaped on his shoulders. However, as this was a two sided contract, the weight would never squash Harry. The obligations between Harry and the werewolf equalled each other out. They would still be magically bound together by the contract, but it should not interfere with their daily lives.

The opening of the his trust fund for muggle raised children was much more straight forward, as the children were not entering into any obligations themselves. The arrangement was once again validated by Harry's blood signature.

When Harry felt that the contract had settled properly, he left Ragnok's office via floo to the office of the 'Daily Prophet'.

The editor of the 'Daily Prophet', a middle aged man, was all too eager to have an interview with 'the Harry Potter – the Chosen One'. His enthusiasm was only slightly hampered by Lawyer Greengrass' warning that slandering Harry's image by printing anything but Harry's actual statements could easily bankrupt the newspaper or even indebt the editor himself to Harry for his remaining life time. In the end he agreed to the terms laid down by lawyer Greengrass. Even an authentic interview with Harry Potter was bound to sell well after all.

When the interview was over, the editor was glassy eyed, his hands were trembling from excitement. This interview would provide the most startling news since Harry had survived the killing curse as a baby. It would shake the foundations the wizarding world had comfortably been built upon and around for centuries.

Of course, Harry had advertised his newly founded foundation for werewolves, but he had also talked about his own upbringing, introduced his plans for muggle raised magical children and he had expressed his honest compassion for the upbringing of one Tom Marvolo Riddle, who had had experiences with muggles very similar to his own, fifty years ago.

The name would only ring a bell with a few of Voldemort's supporters but it would irk Voldemort to no end. He had worked so hard to leave his muggle heritage behind only to have his enemy publish it in the paper, expressing his concerns no less.

The editor was very skilled in his business as he understood it – selling stories. The interview would be discussed everywhere and by everybody. People would demand follow up stories, researches on the topics mentioned in the interview. It was very likely that for weeks to come he could fill no less than three entire pages with reader's letters alone.

His fear on how You-know-who would react to the interview was easily pushed aside by greedy day dreams of incredible stories and equally incredible wealth.