Harry woke up with a gasp, panting as he tried to bring his breathing under control. It was the same nightmare again as he'd found himself as an old man going inside the big building where a huge snake kills him. He also saw Pettigrew in that dream along with a skinny man.
Drenched in sweat Harry calmed himself down. This had become a new norm for him – the nightmare – since the last few weeks. He wondered why it always happened to him as his eyes fell on the small calendar in his room and he realized what he had planned for today.
It still seemed very early to do this as he still had about two weeks' worth of summer holidays left before the beginning of his fourth year. But after Ron had invited him to watch the final match of Quidditch World Cup a week from now he thought that it would be better if he bought his fourth year's books and other items beforehand. The Weaselys were very late and bought their school stuff a day before they were to leave for Hogwarts.
Harry had been with them the last two times but now he had realized that it was better to just buy his things beforehand. And so today he had planned to go to Diagon Alley to buy the things he needed for his upcoming year. The students had received the list of items that they would need for their new term yesterday so he knew what he had to buy.
Also, going this early to the alley meant that there would barely be any crowd and he could buy his things without any rush. And the added bonus to all of this was that his relatives were not at home. The Durseleys had gone to meet Vernon's sister whom Harry had blown like a balloon last year. Ever since then she'd refused to come here and Harry found that really funny.
He prepared himself a little breakfast before grabbing his wand, some magical money and a casual cloak to wear around his neck and left the house. It was still very early for anyone to be awake so he didn't worry much about people seeing him wearing a weird robe and standing on the street as Harry raised his wand and a few seconds later the knight bus appeared before him.
The bus dropped him at Diagon Alley and just as he'd thought it was almost empty. There were very few people but all of the shops had opened. He needed a new set of uniform as he'd outgrown his old one. He'd grown quite a bit this summer as did his hair. He didn't bother to cut them as he wanted to try the new look.
His first destination was Gringotts as he headed straight for the alley's end point where the huge magical bank was. The guard took a look at him as Harry entered the gate. There were no customers inside. The goblin tellers and account managers were busy doing their paperwork in complete silence. All that silence made the place a bit eerie as Harry slowly walked towards the nearest teller when he realized that a different goblin was sitting there.
"I would like to withdraw some money," Harry said as the goblin stopped his work and looked at him. He looked more menacing than the previous goblin.
"Name?" the goblin asked.
"Harry James Potter," Harry replied.
"Key?" the goblin said bringing forward his hand. Harry handed him the key as the goblin verified it inside a small silver box engraved in runes. As the goblin closed the box after putting the key inside, the runes glowed a warm yellow. He then took out he key and handed it to Harry.
This was standard security procedure to make sure that no imposter tried to steal money from someone else's vault. The goblin told him to follow him as Harry did.
"Where is Griphook, if you don't mind me asking?" asked Harry. He always felt intimidated by the goblins so he talked to them politely. He'd seen people being mean to them but that was simply because of their blood-based discrimination.
"Griphook's shift doesn't start before nine," the goblin said. "I suppose you often conduct business with him?"
"Oh," Harry said realizing. "Yes."
"You must be coming between nine in the morning to nine at night," the goblin said. "That is his shift."
"May I ask your name?" Harry asked after about a minute as they entered the caves section. It was always very cold in here with moist walls and the sound of the mine carts echoing in the depths.
"My name is Barefang," the goblin said as they stopped by one of the mine carts. Barefang waved his hand and the lantern in front of the cart lit up. He climbed onto the front seat as Harry sat on the back before the cart began to move. It took a while to go where Harry's vault was and the small rollercoaster journey on the mine cart was spent in silence, as usual.
They stopped by vault number 687 as the two got off. Harry gave Barefang his vault key as the goblin used it to open the vault door before giving the key back to Harry and stepping aside. Harry slowly walked inside. The mountains of gold galleons never ceased to amaze him as he took out his pouch that was the size of his palm. It was magically extended on the inside so one could put anything in them without worrying about space or weight of the items.
Harry began putting enough galleons he'd need this year. Once he was done he looked around for a second as he realized there were other items in the vault he'd never noticed before. He never had enough time to properly look inside the vault as he'd always be in a hurry. His first year when Hagrid had brought him here for the first time the half-giant was running late for an errand from Professor Dumbledore. In his second year Harry had mistakenly flooed himself over to Knockturn alley, adding more time to the Weaselys' already late schedule and last year seeing that they were late once more he'd simply given his vault key to Mrs Weasely when she said that she'll get him his money from the vault as she was going to Gringotts to get some money out of the Weasely vault anyway.
This time, however, he had time to actually look around but then he realized something as he looked at Barefang who was standing outside, his hands in the front, folded as he stood like a guard protecting the vault. "Excuse me," Harry said grabbing he goblin's attention. "Can I look around the vault?"
"Hmm," the goblin said simply before going back to his guard-state.
Harry smiled as he went straight for where he saw other items were placed in the vault. There were expensive furniture, books and other items. He looked at them when is eyes fell on an ornate box as big as his trunk. It said 'Potter' on top of it with embedded diamonds and there were engraved runes around it. Harry recognized those runes. He'd read about them last year. They were used to secure things only certain people could unlock. In this case it was probably him.
He smiled as the box opened with a faint click on his touch and expanded to at least five times its size. Once it had opened completely Harry was surprised to find what it contained as he looked at the portraits and names of various people, each with a small box in front of them which contained a wand.
All of them were Potters…from his father's side as Harry looked at their names. The first ever Potter was named Insignias Potter born in the year 1208. Harry looked at his wand which was at least two feet long and about as thick as his forearm with a blue crystal on top of it. If Harry didn't know better he'd say this was more of a staff rather than a wand. There was a bark like vine wrapping around the length of the staff and the crystal, keeping it in the place.
Harry wondered whether he could use the wand as he slowly picked it up. He didn't feel anything a witch or a wizard generally felt when lifting a different wand from theirs but the crystal on top of it glowed faintly as the staff began to increase in its length until it was at least a foot taller than Harry.
Harry looked at it with mesmerized eyes as he'd never seen or held something like this before. He wondered if he could try spell casting with it so he looked at Barefang. "Can I cast spells inside the vault?" he asked.
"The vaults are protected from inside-out," Barefang said. "If you cast a spell on the inside, it won't come out of the vault." Harry just kept looking at him dumbfounded. "It means yes. You can cast a spell inside the vault as long as it is not an unforgivable curse."
Harry smiled as he held the staff firmly. He felt a slight burning sensation from it but it wasn't uncomfortable. He decided to use a very basic and harmless spell so he pointed the staff towards the vault's ceiling. "Lumos!" he said as he felt like someone had sucked all the air out of his lungs. The entire cave filled with a blinding white light but the sudden exhaustion Harry felt made him fall on the ground, the staff falling from his hand as the spell broke and the flooding light inside the vault disappeared.
He was on his knees gasping for air as his throat felt dry and his body felt weak. He knew this feeling as he'd experienced this before…last year when he'd defended his past self and Sirius from hundreds of dementors.
His core had given out a tremendous amount of magic at once. He knew it was temporary and that he'll recuperate from the exhaustion in a few minutes so he stayed on the ground, trying to bring his breathing under control as he felt his energy returning. A few minutes later he thought he could stand on his feet again so he tried, taking support of a Victorian era chair beside him on which he sat as he looked at the staff. The glow in the crystal had died.
He knew that a wand only helped control the flow of one's magical core and as per that theory this staff was clearly meant for someone whose core was extremely powerful because the way it had impacted on Harry's core over a simple lumos charm he was sure that he'd die if he tried casting anything stronger with it.
He carefully put the staff back in its case as he looked at the pictures of his ancestors. Curious, he went straight for the last picture which was of his grandparents – Fleamont and Euphemia Potter. His heart sank a little bit seeing his parents' pictures weren't there but at least he could get to know his grandparents and the Potters before them…in a way.
Closing the box he put it back where it belonged as he continued his 'tour' inside the vault. There was a lot of things he'd never gave his attention to before simply because of lack of time. Today was not that day.
Shifting his eyes from the furniture and ornaments to the books Harry saw they were very old. He picked one up and was surprised to see it contained spells from ancient times. He knew that because majority of the spells he saw in that book was rune-based – the kind of magic that was practiced in very old times. He'd learnt about it in History of Magic.
He put that book back on the shelf as he smiled. "Hermione would kill for these," he said when he thought of something and picked one of the books. It was a book on ancient charms. It would be a nice birthday present for Hermione, he thought as he put that book in his pouch when he felt something.
It was a weird feeling but also sort of familiar. He couldn't describe it as he looked towards the book shelf. As he looked at those books curiously his eyes darted to a small leather wrapped journal at the end of the shelf.
He picked it up and opened it when something fell out of it. Harry saw it was a letter. As he picked it up and turned it around he stopped – his eyes wide with shock as he saw the name the letter was addressed to.
.
'To our son, Harry'
He felt a little chill as he quickly opened the letter.
'Dear Harry,
We had never anticipated anything like this to happen but if you are reading this letter then it means our worst nightmare became true.
It pains me to write this letter because we know what it means. It means that he probably won but it also means that we succeeded in saving you. You might think how this is all good and we know it's not. But what matters is that you are safe. That is all we ever wanted – for you to be safe.
We hope that wherever you are, you are safe. Please know that we did whatever we could to ensure you survived even though we couldn't. Your safety is paramount to us which I think is very reasonable. Any parent would sacrifice everything for their children. That is what it means to be a parent so this is the least we can do.
We hope that wherever you are, you are safe and happy. Please don't be sad on our account. When you go to Hogwarts make lots of friends but be careful of those who try to lure you in because of your social status. By the time you start Hogwarts you'd have already known about it, though and we hope your guardians will prepare you for it. We didn't want to leave you this soon but we hope you have learned about your place in the society and know about your responsibilities as well.
Always be happy, Harry. That is all we hope for you to be.
Lots of love,
Mom and dad.'
.
The tears never stopped as Harry cried his heart out. Barefang glanced inside the vault and saw him crying before he went back to standing like a guard outside the vault. A few minutes later Harry had stopped crying and looked at the letter once again when he realized it had a second page attached to it.
He looked at it and saw various stamps and two drops of bloods at the bottom of the page. It was addressed to the ministry of magic and Gringotts and from what Harry could gather from it all it was an official document. As he looked at it his eyes widened as he read the first line in bold letters.
'Last will and testament of James and Lily Potter'
His parents had left him a will. Curious to know what it said he continued reading.
'In sound mind and body and without any pressure from anyone we make this will to avoid any dispute or difference regarding our movable and immovable properties after our death.
Life is uncertain, therefore, we are making this will to ensure that our son Harry James Potter is given the life he deserves in case we are no longer in his life. So we bequeath all of our movable and immovable properties to our son along with the titles we hold coming from a long line of the ancient and noble house of Potter.
It is to be made sure that our son is made an emancipated minor so that he can carry out the official and political requirements needed for the survival of our family name. It is also to be made sure that he does these in the presence of his legal guardian/guardians as long as he is a minor by age or is not confident of his decisions.
.
'Authorization of Temporary Guardianship'
We, James Fleamont Potter and Lily Evans Potter, the parents of Harry James Potter hereby grant temporary guardianship of our son to either one of the following people/families:
Sirius Orion Black – Godfather of Harry James Potter and Family Friend.
Matthias and Annabelle Greengrass – Family Friends and Allies.
Frank and Alice Longbottom – Family Friends and Allies.
We authorize the temporary guardian/guardians to act on our behalf in making all the decisions on the daily basis for our son as we have our utmost trust and faith in them.
Parent(s) information:
James Fleamont Potter, Lord of the Ancient and Noble House of Potters
Lily Evans Potter, Lady of the Ancient and Noble House of Potters
Child/Children information:
Harry James Potter, Heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Potters
Certified that the above will has been signed by the above-mentioned testator/testatrix in my/our presence I/we have signed as attesting witness/witnesses in the presence of the testator/testatrix and in the presence of each other. After the contents of the will are explained to the testator/testatrix, he/she/they understand and agree with the same.
Witnesses:
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore,
Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Chief Warlock of Wizengamot, Ministry of Magic, Magical Britain
Supreme Mugwump, The International Confederation of Wizards
.
There were so many questions in his mind as Harry looked at the paper in his hand. He trembled with emotions and confusion as he tried to find the meaning into all of this. To him it felt very clear yet very complicated at the same time.
How come he had never known about this until now, he thought as he looked at the piece of paper. How come no one had ever told him about it? There were lots of questions inside his head as he ignored the tears that rolled down his eyes.
What did this mean to him from here on out? He then looked at the three names in the list of guardians his parents had picked for him. None of them said 'Durseleys'. So then why was he sent to them? If there was a legal document to make sure he ended up where his parents wanted him to be in their absence…then why did none of it happen? He had so many questions and he didn't know what to do with it.
He needed answers as he looked at the bottom of the will. Dumbledore had signed his name under the witness section. So he knew about this but then why not tell him, Harry thought. Being in this magical world for three years now Harry knew Dumbledore often did things without telling anyone any reason behind it. But Harry couldn't figure out a reason why Dumbledore would send him to live with his relatives. He knew Dumbledore had sent him there because Hagrid had told him about it in his first year.
Even Sirius had expressed shock when he'd come to know that Harry was living with the Durseleys in his third year. It was as if Sirius had never expected it to happen. And Harry couldn't find the Durseleys mentioned in the list of guardians his parents had selected for him.
But the biggest question of all was that how come no one had ever told him about this? At least Dumbledore could have as he knew about the will's existence seeing he was the witness when the will was written. So then why, Harry didn't know.
He needed answers as he looked at the will once again. He couldn't contact Sirius because he was on the run. Sirius had told him that he would contact Harry as the aurors could intercept the letters Harry tried to send him through owl.
Remus' name wasn't in the list of guardians and Harry could make a guess. The werewolf barely survived on his own after Harry's parents' death so he couldn't have been able to take care of Harry. That left Frank and Alice – Neville's parents on the list but everyone knew their present condition.
That left the only remaining guardian on the list which had surprised Harry the most – the Greengrasses. He knew Daphne Greengrass and by that he meant that she was in the same year as he was and that she was in Slytherin. She also had a sister two years younger than her in the same house. That was all he knew about her. To think that his parents had mentioned her family in the second place for his guardians puzzled him. As he thought about these new revelations he thought of something.
"Barefang?" Harry called as the goblin looked inside the vault. Harry walked out as he knew goblins couldn't enter any assigned vaults. Harry showed him his parents' will as Barefang looked at it with complete focus. "Is this all true…uh, I mean is this real?" Harry asked.
"There are two blood marks on the document which could only be of your parents'," Barefang said. "We can verify them in my office."
"Let's do that," Harry said. "Also…never mind. We'll talk once we are in your office."
Barefang looked at him for a moment before nodding as he took the key from Harry and locked the vault doors.
00000
Thanks for reading…
