Chapter Seven

The next day, Sirius decided to take Harry with him to Gringotts. If no one recognized them, they would take a little shopping trip around the alley. They could both use some new clothes and books.

The auburn-haired wizards blended easily with the crowd at Diagon Alley. The man and boy looked just the right balance of alike and not alike to be father and son. It helped that Harry called him Pads, which sounded like a childish lisping twist on Dad. The just a few months past two-year-old boy was in awe of the new magics surrounding him. He saw magic on a regular basis, sure, but it wasn't a whizzing miniature quidditch figure nor a bouncing puppy with three tails. He saw spills cleaned and minor injuries healed. He saw ubiquitous magic surrounding him in the trunk. It was so mundane to his existence, it barely counted as magic anymore.

"Booms! Pads, Booms! Look. Look at the booms, Pads!" Harry said, literally jumping in the man's arms. The little boy grabbed his face and turned it to look at Quality Quidditch Supplies. "Can we pwease go look at the booms?" Harry asked. Sirius laughed.

"Prongslet, if you're a good boy while we're in the bank, we'll stop and see the brooms on the way home, okay?" The boy pouted but his attention was quickly and easily turned by the sight of the ice cream shop.

"Ice keem, Pads! Ice keem! Can I have some ice keem, pwease?" The little boy asked, squirming in the man's arms in an attempt to get down.

"After lunch, Harry. If you're a good boy, we can have an ice cream with sprinkles after lunch." The little boy grumbled but agreed. He didn't want lunch! He wanted ice cream, with sprinkles! HIs disappointment didn't last long when he saw the pet store. Sirius didn't answer his pleas to go inside the shop; instead, he just walked quickly. They'd have a long trip ahead of them when they left the bank, if Harry had any say in the matter.

A few minutes of quick walking saw the pair in front of the massive bank. Harry stared at the goblins with awe and trepidation. He couldn't decide if the goblins were little kids, like him or not. They were small like him but they didn't look like little kids in their eyes. Harry wanted to play and figure this new mystery out. Sirius let him down, once they were in Harnock's office. The little boy peaked around the side of the desk at the imposing goblin account manager. When Sirius wasn't looking, the goblin would make silly faces at the little boy, causing him to giggle and duck back around the corner in shyness.

"Mr. Prongsworth. It's good to see you again. How may Gringotts help you?" Harnock asked. He was being very solicitous. He often made sizable commissions with this one.

"I am prepared to begin hunting the soul shards. Finding and destroying the items is my second highest priority," Sirius replied. Might as well get right down to business. The goblins didn't deal in pleasantries.

"Very good, sir. Have you located an item for Gringotts to dispose of … for a fee?" the goblin responded with a greedy grin.

"Yes," Padfoot said, withdrawing the sheet the goblins had provided to him showing the items and their locations. "I believe this item is already within Gringotts. I will gladly pay you to dispose of it."

The goblin got a very displeased look on his face. He took the sheet and looked at it closely. Yes, he saw it now. The cup. In the … it looked as if it might be in the LeStrange vault.

"It does appear so," Harnock said with a sneer. "This item violates the terms of vault ownership for Madam and Lord LeStrange. They will have 30 days to empty their vaults or all items will be confiscated." The goblin said this in a bland voice.

"Of course, both Madam and Lord LeStrange are both in Azkaban prison at this time, so they likely won't receive their notice. Gringotts will gladly take the fee for disposal from the balance of the confiscated LeStrange vault. For alerting us to this matter, you will receive a 10% finder's fee. The appropriate amount will be added to your vault." This was all said in a vicious voice. The goblin cackled for a moment when he was done speaking. His portion of the finder's fee was 20% of the vault balance. It was a sizable commission, indeed.

"Is there anything else Gringotts can do for you today?" Harnock inquired, still cackling slightly.

"I wanted to know if Lily and James had any provisions in place for Harry's primary education?" Padfoot asked. If he was going to start hunting soul shards in earnest, Harry would need somewhere to go for a few hours each day. Nookie couldn't watch him full time and keep up with her other duties. It wouldn't be fair of Sirius to ask her to.

"Let me check," the goblin responded. A few files and a few minutes later, and Harnock had an answer. "Yes, the Potters had provisions for young Harry to attend the Mulberry House School in Hampstead. He was set to begin at two years old in September. Would you like me to contact the school for late admissions? The two to six-year-old class can choose to attend either morning, afternoon, or full day. Which do you prefer?"

Padfoot thought for a minute. "Yes, please do contact them. Ask them if Harry can start with the new semester in January. Request afternoon attendance, please. That should allow me a few hours per day to spend with him. He's cuddly in the mornings," Padoot said the last with a smile. The goblin looked unmoved, though he peak-a-booed the boy as Sirius looked down at the brochure for the school.

"We need to grab some galleons from my vault and have them converted to pounds. Then, we will be done for today, Harnock," Padfoot said, still looking down at the brochure. "Can I take this with me?" he asked.

"I can make you a copy, Mr. Prongsworth, for a small fee," the goblin said with a remorseless smile. He quickly tallied up all that they had discussed today and handed the fee sheet to the wizard to sign off on. Padfoot shook his head but complied quickly. Afterall, only a small fee for account withdrawal and a small administrative fee were being charged to him today. Bellatrix and her incestuous husband would pay the rest.

"Let's go to see about those brooms, eh, Prongslet?" the man said, tickling the baby as he picked him up to leave. "We're going to go for a ride first. Do you want to go for a ride? It'll be faster than your broom, I promise," he said with a grin. Harry enthusiastically agreed and they were off.

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