Harry had never been down here. After travelling further underground on the mine cart for over half an hour they stopped at a very rugged looking metal door. Following his lead Harry got off as Barefang slid his index finger into the lock hole of the door. It opened following a clicking sound as he stepped aside, indicating Harry to go in first.
He hesitated but slowly walked in as Barefang followed before the door closed behind them and various small fire torches hanging from the cave walls inside the place lit up.
Harry looked around. It was a small place for a human to call as an office but it seemed spacious enough for a goblin. There was one table which had some parchments neatly stacked on one side while the other side had basic magical stationaries. In the middle of the table was a gold plate with the name of Barefang engraved on it.
Barefang sat in the chair indicating Harry to do so as well before he asked for the document from Harry. Harry handed him the document as Barefang looked at it more closely this time before he put it on the table, stood up and headed for the small door behind him. He came back a minute later carrying a small glass bowl as he placed it on the table beside the document and snapped his fingers.
A small vial with a clear liquid inside it appeared into his hand out of thin air as he opened it and poured a few drops of that transparent liquid on to the blood marks in the document. The liquid turned red from coming in contact with the dried blood as he carefully floated the drops into the glass bowl which Harry now noticed had a clear liquid as well.
The liquid inside the bowl turned red as soon as Barefang added the dissolved blood in it before he then took out a small knife from his drawer and gave it to Harry. He told Harry to drop some of his blood into the bowl and the idea behind it was that if the liquid changed from red to some other color then the blood on the document wasn't of his parents.
Harry complied, understanding the magic as he made a very small cut and put two drops of his blood in the bowl. As soon as he had his cut healed immediately. They then waited for about a whole minute but the red color of the liquid didn't change. Harry's eyes lit with hope as Barefang told him that the document was indeed legit.
"How come you were never informed about this?" Barefang asked.
"I…I didn't know it existed until today," Harry said.
"That is not my point," Barefang said. "As witness Albus Dumbledore should've given this document to you very early on. It is a very serious crime to withhold the information of a will from its inheritor."
"So what should I do now?" Harry asked. "I don't know anything about things like this."
Barefang looked at him for a moment before glancing at the document. "The will states that you are to be made an emancipated minor," he said. "That can be done here at Gringotts but I see that you don't live with any of the mentioned guardians."
"Ho…How did you know that?" Harry asked, surprised.
Barefang smiled which Harry personally thought he didn't like the look of as the goblin bared his teeth and…fangs while doing so.
"This will is a magical document, Mr Potter," Barefang said. "It responds according to the things that are complete and incomplete according to the wishes of the testator/testatrix."
"So it will know if I am living with a guardian or not?" Harry asked. Barefang nodded. "How?"
"It is an official process that you need to undergo in the ministry of magic," Barefang said. "You and your intended guardian will be made to fill and sign certain documents following whose verifications a drop of blood of your new guardian will appear beside their name on this will."
Harry thought about it for a minute before looking at Barefang. "I would like to become an emancipated minor," he said. "You said that it can be done here at Gringotts, right?"
"It can be," Barefang said nodding his head, "but as per the will you cannot be made an emancipated in the absence of your guardian. Seeing that none of the mentioned have been officially appointed as your guardian I am sorry Mr Potter, but I can do nothing about it. You first need to make it official whoever it is that will become your legal guardian."
Harry nodded as he stood up and turned around to leave. Barefang watched him go when he stopped him. He'd barely seen a witch or a wizard like Harry who was this polite and kind while talking to a goblin. "Mr Potter." Harry stopped and looked at him. "May I look at your vault key?"
Harry looked at him for a moment before handing him the key. The goblin snapped his fingers and a similar silver box the tellers had in the atrium appeared on the table. He put the key in the box and activated the runes. Harry saw them glow from yellow to orange.
"Just as I had suspected," he said with narrowed eyes.
"What?" Harry asked as Barefang handed him the key.
"There has been use of a key similar to this to open your vault, Mr Potter," Barefang said. "I saw it first when you gave it to me in the bank's atrium but I didn't think anything of it until now. Realizing how much new to all of this is to you are and seeing the look of surprise on your face I stand correct that you don't know that someone is stealing from your family vault."
"St…Stealing?" Harry asked.
"Did you ever give your vault key to someone?" Barefang asked.
Harry thought about it as he realized that there was only one person he'd given his vault key to – Mrs Weasely. But then why would she steal from him? It didn't make any sense. "I did but then I got it back," he said.
"I can see that," Barefang said. "However, like I said your vault was accessed using a duplicate key."
"How can that be possible?" Harry asked.
"It's not," Barefang said. "One would get caught immediately when using a duplicate or fake key to open a vault which is why the only other explanation for this to be possible is the involvement of one of our own."
"You mean a goblin?" Harry asked.
Barefang nodded. "He has not only betrayed his ideals but has also committed treason against our nation, king and our very morals," he said. "This is why it is very important that you tell us who you gave your key to."
Harry thought about it for a moment. "How much was stolen from my vault?" he asked.
Barefang snapped his fingers as a parchment appeared in his hand. He looked at it for a minute before putting it down. "There has been a steady withdrawal from your account as per your vault's balance records. It started happening at the beginning of last year and the last withdrawal is dated for yesterday. In overall there has been a withdrawal of over a hundred thousand galleons from your vault."
Harry was shocked. Over a hundred thousand, he couldn't believe it. It was a huge amount of money. He himself had barely used about five thousand galleons since the start of his first year and to know that someone stole over a hundred thousand galleons from his vault…he trembled with anger and confused emotions. If this thievery was really done by Mrs Weasely…he still couldn't bring himself to believe it.
"What…What can I do about it?" Harry said.
"We will be conducting an investigation," Barefang said. "But as per goblin and magical law of the ministry we can only take action on our own kind. There is clearly an involvement of one goblin and one human, at least. We will find the goblin responsible for it and he will face our law. As for the human I am sorry we cannot to anything to whoever he or she is. All we can do is file a request for investigation by the DMLE."
Harry nodded. "What can I do in the meantime?" he asked.
"You can have your key changed," Barefang said, "or if you want it to be even better you can use trace magic to lock and unlock your vault with your physical contact but for that to happen you will personally have to come to open your vault every time. You cannot send someone else on your behalf."
"Let's do that," Harry said.
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Harry came out of the bank and stood there for a minute. He had a copy of his parents' will in his pocket and a new vault key which was linked to his vault through his blood. This way only he could open his vault. He thought about what he could do now. There was no other way to know about this ongoing situation other than asking the Greengrasses about it. Sirius was on the run and no one knew where Remus was. Neville's parents were brain dead and since Dumbledore had kept the will a secret from everyone Harry doubted Neville knew anything about it. So that only left him with the Greengrasses and he had no idea how he was going to do things from now on.
Luckily, he'd decided to go ahead with a plan. He didn't know whether or not it was a good plan but seeing the situation he was in now he was glad that he had something to move forward with.
He made his way towards the left of Diagon Alley where there were a few hotels. He booked a room there for the rest of the week before catching the knight bus to go back to Privet Drive. Once there he grabbed his belongings and left his relatives a note saying he had gone to his friend's house and wouldn't be back until next summer. This is how it was. The Durseleys never really bothered with whom Harry met in the magical world so he never bothered to tell them his friends' name. To them all the magicals were freaks.
Harry returned to the hotel and settled his things in the room before writing a letter to the Greengrasses and attached a copy of his will to it. He then sent Hedwig with the letter and waited for a reply. He didn't know where or how far they lived so he didn't know how long the reply was going to take. He had a week's time before he was to leave for the Burrow. He still hadn't decided whether or not he wanted to. To think that Mrs Weasely stole from him…he didn't know how much truth there was to it but he also couldn't just ignore it until the real truth came out.
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Matthias was enjoying the morning sun in the garden when he spotted a beautiful snowy owl coming towards him. He raised his hand as the owl gracefully sat on it and hooted at him, extending its leg where a letter was tied.
"Hello beautiful," Matthias said as he scratched the owl's feathers before untying the letter from its leg. He noticed the owl didn't left which meant that it was instructed to get a reply from the receiver.
Matthias wondered what this letter was as he opened the envelope and began reading it.
Annabelle was making different batches of potions. A healer by practice she had a small healing center in Diagon Alley where those who didn't want to go St Mungos, went. She was very reputed and known for her skills as a healer and had often received offers of dream posts at St Mungos but she had always declined. She liked to work on her own time and without anyone hovering over her head telling her what to do. If she accepted the offer from St Mungos that is exactly what was going to happen to her.
She would often wake up early in the morning and checked her inventory of different types of potions. During these hours she had instructed her husband and two daughters to not disturb her so when Matthias started calling her she wondered what had happened.
"You need to see this!" Matthias said as he handed her the letter which Annabelle took looking at her husband with confused eyes. She then looked at the letter and began reading it.
.
'Mr and Mrs Greengrass,
I don't know whether or not you were aware about it but I only recently found out that my parents had left a will for me and in it you were mentioned as one of my legal guardians in case anything ever happened to them.
I am still taking all of this in as it came to me as a shock. I don't even know who you are as neither Remus or Sirius ever mentioned you two to me. I am sorry if it came out rude but I am still shocked about all of this. But seeing that the will is real and my parents mentioned you two as my guardians I would really like to hear from you.
Harry James Potter.
Ps. With this letter is a copy of the official will and testament of my parents.'
.
Annabelle looked at her husband, her eyes wet as he hugged her closely. He gave her comfort as she cried for her best friend. If anyone had ever found out then it would've been disastrous for both of their families.
"He is expecting a reply," Matthias said. "What should we write to him?"
"I want to meet him…see him," Annabelle said looking at her husband. Mathias smiled as he nodded slowly.
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Harry stood on the footpath looking at the café on the opposite side of the road. Matthias and Annabelle were supposed to meet him there right now. He wondered as a pureblood family why did they choose a muggle café but he knew he had more pressing concerns at hand.
He walked inside the café and looked around. He had no idea what they looked like. As he stood there looking at the customers a waitress walked up to him and smiled. "You must be Harry," she said. Harry looked at her for a moment before nodding once. "They are waiting for you," she said before she turned around and started walking. Harry followed her.
When she took him towards the stairs Harry realized that the Greengrasses were not on the ground floor. Upstairs was for people who wanted some privacy as Harry saw it had cabins everywhere.
The waitress took him to one of the cabins in the corner of the room as she knocked on the door three times before leaving. Harry looked at her go when he heard the door open and saw a man over six feet looking at him.
"It is good to meet you," the man said extending his hand for a shake. "My name is Matthias Greengrass." Harry shook his hand when a woman came up to them and looked at Harry. Before Harry could do or understand anything she hugged him. He just stood there motionless, confused to do anything when Matthias cleared his throat. The woman broke the hug before looking at Harry apologetically for a moment.
"Shall we talk?" Matthias asked looking at the two of them.
He'd come this far on his own, Harry thought. No one had told him anything about it. They had hid it from him and one of the people he trusted and cared for blindly had apparently stole from him. And now he was meeting one of the biggest families of Magical Britain who were supposed to be his guardians.
Harry had never thought that a moment like this would come in his life. It was more surprising than his first experience with magic and the magical world.
Harry nodded slowly before walking inside the cabin as Matthias closed the door and applied a series of privacy charms so that no one would be able to hear them. Once they were all settled in Matthias spoke.
"I know this is somewhat surprising for you as it is for us," he said. "When we got your letter we were shocked to know about…about the existence of your parents' will…"
"I don't know you," Harry said interrupting Matthias. "I didn't even know that my parents knew you. I didn't even know about their will…anything! Not even Sirius or Remus told me anything about you two…that you and my parents knew each other." He paused, had a look of realization and sighed. "I'm sorry," he said slowly. "I…I didn't mean to."
"You definitely have questions on your mind, no doubt," Matthias said. "We would be surprised if you didn't. All of this…it's been surprising for us all." He then paused for a moment before taking a long breath. "To be completely fair, there is a reason why Sirius or Remus didn't tell you about us." Harry looked at him. "That is because they too, don't know that your parents knew us."
"Why would my parents not tell them about you?" Harry asked.
"It was a dark time, Harry," Annabelle said. "To tell you about it we would have to go a little bit back."
"Ann was your mother's first friend in the magical world," Matthias said. "From what she tells me they met on the Hogwarts express at the start of their first year. They became very close very soon but after the sorting Ann told your mother that they couldn't be seen as friends in public because of the animosity between the Slytherins and the Gryffindors. So they kept their friendship a secret. Not even your father knew about it."
That took Harry by surprise. "But if he didn't know then…why did he write your names in the will?" he asked.
"From what we understand," Ann said, "it was your mother who wrote that will. She and I were very close. Because we couldn't spend time together in Hogwarts we would often go see each other during summer holidays. Matt was angry about it at first when I told him about us," she said with a smile as she looked at her husband.
"I was naïve and blinded by our society's norms," Matt said. "I am a changed man now, more so after you-know-who's fall." He smiled at Harry.
"So no one knew about your connection to my mother?" Harry asked. "I am sorry to ask that question. It's just…It's just that I don't know who to trust."
"After what has happened we don't expect you to trust things blindly," Matt said. "But yes, no one knows that we knew your mother or that she knew us. It was better that way, more so after you-know-who rose to power."
"It was surprising to know that Lily never told James about us but that was Lily," Ann said, smiling at the memory of her friend. "She often did things without telling anyone about it. I guess when she was writing that will…" she stopped as her eyes became wet. Matt put a hand on her shoulder as she leaned on it.
Harry just sat there looking at the copy of the will that they had on the table. His mind was also preoccupied thinking about Mrs Weasely stealing from him. He felt a sense of desperation and loneliness. "Prove it to me," he said grabbing the couple's attention. He looked at Ann with confidence. "Prove to me that what you say and think is true." He didn't know why he'd said that but he couldn't think of any other thing. He felt like he needed to trust someone. If this all turns out to be a lie then he didn't know what he'd do. After everything he had experienced – the daily abuse from his relatives, being in constant danger whenever he was in the magical world, people betraying him…he'd had enough.
Ann and Matt looked at him for a minute before Matt nodded. He looked at her wife who shared his look. "We are willing to take the wizard's oath and show you our memories of your mother, if those are enough for you to trust us," Matt said.
Harry looked at him before nodding. He knew what a wizard's oath was. One couldn't simply take it and lie. The magic would kill them. If they were willing to risk their lives then he was for it. It was their choice. They were the ones who came up with the idea of taking a wizard's oath.
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Vernon was one happy man when he returned home along with his wife and son and found Harry's note. Finally, they'd got rid of the boy. But then the realization dawned on him as he thought what would happen next. He didn't know how long it would take. That man always seemed to know everything that happened inside this house. This is why Vernon hated those freaks.
"Honey?" Petunia came by his side wondering what had gotten her husband to go from happy to terrified when she realized it too as she read the note. Why did they have to be dragged into the mess of those magical people, she never understood. It was all her sister's fault. If she had never turn out to be a witch they'd never had this trouble in the first place. And now the brat was gone who knows where and they had no way of finding him.
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King Warthog was a just and fair goblin, a hero amongst his people which is why he had been elected as their king twenty years ago. And even today he ruled the goblin kingdom with the same fairness, justice and transparency. Under his rule no goblin had dared to betray their own kind, their own morals and principles. Those who had were dealt within a month of King Warthog's election. So when the king was informed about a case of treason by one of the goblins he, just as the entire goblin nation, was shocked.
The throne room was quiet unlike any other day as the doors leading to it opened slowly and the traitor goblin was brought before him in chains. The guards dropped him in front of the king who looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"Your charges are aiding a thief in stealing from vault 687," Warthog said. "How do you plead for this accusation?"
"Guilty," the goblin said without hesitation. He knew what his fate was going to be the moment he was caught. The goblin law was absolute. It spared no one, not even the king if he was found guilty of a crime. The law was equal for everyone.
Warthog stood from his throne and walked over to the goblin. "You are older than me, Griphook," he said looking at the goblin. "As children we are taught to respect our elders here in goblin nation. So it is surprising to me that a wise old man like you could do such a thing." He then looked at Barefang who was present in the throne room. "I have been informed about this case, and I have also received a request from teller Barefang." He then looked at Griphook. "If you tell us who this magical was that you helped steal from vault 687 your punishment will be reduced from twelve to eight hours of every day torture for the rest of your life."
Griphook knew it was a considerable reduction in his punishment. As per the goblin law killing their kind was not practiced or accepted. Instead, the accused was subjected to daily tortures for the rest of his life. However, the torture was worse than probably the cruciatus curse so he was not going to let this opportunity go. He was assured that nothing would happen to him if he helped her steal from the vault. In return he neither got the gold that he was promised and he was caught by his people. So it seemed fair that he also betrayed her.
"It was Molly Weasely," Griphook said.
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Thanks for reading…