Gobbledygook

I've gotten several comments about the amount of money Harry is worth. One thing to remember, is that most of that is tied up in various investments, and it's also the combined total of what all the heirlooms (and books) in there are worth as well. There is not that much gold literally sitting around collecting dust. That's how much the vault is worth in total based on the combination of other items liquidated value and investments, plus the actual gold.

There is a bit of a time skip here.

Here is the current poll for the Muggleborns name:

Morgan (or Morganna)- 6

Allegra (Italian for Joyous)- 5

Rosetta- 2

Lydia- 2

Lydia Rose

It was finally Saturday.

Finally the day where he was going to meet with Severus... he had been sitting here staring at the clock for the past hour or so, trying to muster up the courage to go. He had initially wanted to get there early, so he was going to leave at eleven, but it was almost twelve now and he still had yet to leave. He better get his courage up now, or he was going to be late.

And he knew, from past experience, that Severus wasn't going to sit waiting for long. At most, he would wait for maybe fifteen minutes, maybe, before he wrote Remus off as a bad job and left.

He didn't want that to happen... he had so much he wanted to ask him, like how on earth all this could possibly happen.

How could Sirius be thrown in Azkaban just like that... how could he, he, turn his back on him like that? How could he suspect Sirius, James and him were like brothers while he and Peter were just... on the sidelines a bit.

Oh, that's not to say that he and Peter were just tagalongs, no. They were genuinely an inseparable group where each of them contributed. Ideas, homework help, comfort when one of them needed it... when one of them messed up, they all suffered for it until that one got his head together and apologized... and meant it. When he was outed as a werewolf to the rest of the group, it was Sirius who did the research and suggest the other three become Animagi, to keep him company and keep the wolf calmer.

He said that since wolves were pack animals, that having others nearby would help. Oh, they might not be wolves themselves, but they would still be nearby. And they could still help keep the wolf calm. Sirius even went so far as to send a letter to his grandfather, making it sound like he was just curious, to inquire if any research had been done to see if wolves could infect another human if said human was in an Animagus form.

(Somehow, he doubted that his grandfather believed it was just for curiosity sake).

But James and Sirius... when Sirius had to run for it from his own home, it was James he went to first. When Regulus joined the Death Eaters, it was James he went to first, barely intelligible through his tears and sobbing. When his parents died, it was Sirius that James went to first, and when Harry was born, it was Sirius that James called first and named godfather... along with Severus it seemed.

Those two were just as close, if not closer than Fabian and Gideon Prewett, and those two were magical twins for Merlin's sake. They could literally read each others minds.

And he believed them when they said that Sirius betrayed James and Lily to Voldemort. When they said Sirius was the responsible for betraying little baby Harry... their Cub.

The Cub he abandoned on the word of one old man that he never trusted in the first place.

What kind of pack Alpha did that make him? That he just abandoned the pack's Cub like that?

Sure, there were probably wards in place, and their connection was muted almost to the point of being shut down, but...

Sure, he never really exerted his authority in that aspect, especially while they were all human, much to his own regret sometimes, but... as Alpha it was his job to take care of the others.

He glanced at the clock again and grimaced. What kind of pack Alpha did it make him if he was afraid of one little meeting, especially when it was a meeting where he would learn how his two remaining pack members were doing? Of course, he was also probably going to be hexed five ways from Sunday, but... that was a small price to pay for abandoning them.

Sighing, he got up and left.

11:59 AM.

Albus sat behind his desk, deep in thought.

It was getting to be late in October, and the brat still wasn't showing any signs of being under the potions, or the charms he wove. He should be defending Albus at every turn, especially in light of the newspaper articles coming out.

He was having to endure the looks of the students, and some of the staff. All of them, questioning him. Judging him. As if they had the right to question any of his decisions! He was Albus Dumbledore! Everything he did was all for the Greater Good! And if he was the only one who was capable of understanding what the Greater Good was, well...

He had finally been forced to lift the ban on the Prophets in the wake of so many angry parents, especially when he found out the Weasley twins were sneaking the blasted things in, anyway. No matter how much he searched, he could not find out how they'd been getting in and out of the school... it had to be one of the secret passageways... Albus had never been able to find them no matter how much he searched. He had initially thought that he would learn of them when he became Headmaster and took control of the Wards.

Nope.

He had tried, several times, to follow the Marauder's when they used one of them, but they always gave him the slip somehow. Or, seemed to know they were being followed, leading to them giving it up as a bad job and going back to the Common Room. Whenever that happened, they never tried again for at least a few days, sometimes longer.

That wasn't important now, though. Well, finding the passageways was, he needed to be able to block them up to keep students from getting out. They could not be allowed to move wherever, whenever. They were children and didn't know what was best for them, after all.

But... how to get Potter back under his influence?

With Black back in Gringotts and his assassin caught and talk of him being handed over to the ICW for sentencing, that avenue was closed for the time being... at least it was until Black was released and allowed to go home. Hmm...

He dug through the files his informant managed to get ahold of... there.

A contracting company Gringotts used was being hired out to renovate and otherwise make necessary repairs to Black properties, whichever ones needed it the most. Although, they seemed to be focusing on the main manor and a property in London first... if he could get somebody on those work crews and leave a few... gifts, behind for when Black returned home...

He nodded, satisfied. That was one problem dealt with. Now to get the boy back under control period.

He was starting to wonder if Severus hadn't been more involved in all this then he thought.

Severus swept into the Three Broomsticks at 11:55 and requested a room plus butterbeer and lunch, asking her to keep an eye out for Remus Lupin and send him up if he bothered to show up. The look Rosmerta gave him when he said that, with the annoyed look on his face, said volumes for what she thought of his assumption that he wouldn't show. Of course, she was one of the few that knew just what was currently going on between him and Harry, she'd been subject to more than one drunken rant on his part not long after James and Lily died. (Luckily under hastily thrown up privacy wards).

This was obviously before he pulled himself together, just in time to be thrown in Azkaban for being a Death Eater. It took Albus a month to bother getting him out, and another few weeks to push him into being the Potions Professor at Hogwarts. That first year was... interesting. To say the least. It wasn't long after he had his life back in order that he felt he was able to look after his godson and started demanding to know where he was, started demanding his godson period.

Albus tired of his demands pretty quickly, and forbade him from mentioning his godson again lest he find himself right back in Azkaban, sharing a cell with Sirius. Now, this was before James and Lilies wills were found, so he briefly entertained the idea just for the sake of ripping Sirius Black apart with his bare hands. Luckily for Sirius, common sense reared its head and he resisted, otherwise he wouldn't be able to keep an eye out for Harry. Wouldn't be able to keep an eye on the old fool.

That, and finding those Wills would have been useless since Severus would have killed him.

He was brought out of the past by the door opening to reveal one Remus Lupin. He checked the time and raised an eyebrow when he realized the wolf was right on time. He narrowed his eyes. Remus didn't do right on time. He did a half hour to an hour early if he could. "How long did you stand there staring at the time, debating whether you should run again or not?" He asked icily.

Remus winced. "An hour." He said, quietly. Severus grimaced when he came further into the room and he got a good look.

"You look awful." He was a very blunt person. Don't let anyone tell you any different.

"Yeah, well... employment may be possible in other countries, but there are still few who will even consider hiring one of my kind." Remus was bitter. Sure, he had found a good job, and it paid well enough to keep him fed, but not much else. When he got back in Britain, he'd only been able to get a meal in the Leaky Cauldron every few days because Tom knew him and didn't mind Werewolves. Severus quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Well, that was one point in his favor for not taking Harry. However, that was the only excuse he could possibly have for not seeking Harry out. The fact remained that he would have had to search for the boy, and actually interact with him over the years, in order to actually be able to take the boy with him. So, it was a moot point.

"Sit." He finally said after a few minutes of watching the werewolf in front of him. "I've ordered lunch. You look like you could use it." He added, still eyeing the man, wondering if Sirius would be willing to give the man a job or something. It would guarantee the wolf didn't have any reason to run off again, and still keep his pride intact. Well, once they cursed it into his head that it wasn't being done out of pity or sympathy, anyway.

As angry as he was with the wolf, he still wanted Harry to be able to get to know him. Remus could provide that calm and quiet that Severus and Sirius couldn't.

Remus scowled half-heartedly at the repeated comment on how he currently looked. He was well aware of how awful he currently looked, thank you very much. It wasn't like he could afford three meals a day since he'd got back, and had no more income since he came back.

They waited in silence for a few minutes, until Rosmerta came and brought them their food. After she came and left, Severus spoke while watching Remus savor his food for a moment. "Why?" He said simply.

Remus paused and glanced up, not even needing to ask, 'why what?' He sighed and finished chewing before answering. "After James and Lily..." He choked on the words, before he continued as if nothing happened. "I was still with the packs on Albus's orders. I only knew something happened, through the pack bond. I didn't know what, though. It wasn't until I got back to report that I learned He found them and..." He choked off. "Albus told me everything about Sirius and Peter, and I tried to demand at least seeing Harry, but he refused. He wouldn't even tell me who he was placed with so I could say if Lily and James would have approved. All I was told was that he was safe." He chuckled darkly. "I refused to even think about Sirius, the betrayal was just..." He shook his head and pulled out the Daily Prophet articles Severus had sent. He'd been carrying them around all week.

"He refused to tell you where to find him, did you even try it by yourself?" Severus asked, eyes narrowed. "He's the Pack Cub, finding him that way should have been as easy and simple as breathing."

Remus shook his head. "The bond was cut off. Or, smothered, something. I don't know, I can feel enough to know he's alive, other than that..." He shrugged and shook his head. "I can only guess that some wards were added or something to block it, but then that wouldn't work when he's not under those wards, would it?" He asked, he had actually just thought about that. Because Harry clearly wasn't under those wards for at least two weeks before going back to Hogwarts.

And, not feeling his Cub had almost driven him over the edge, driven him feral. Losing his Cub on top of the rest of his pack... He'd been surprised when Greyback showed up out of nowhere, taken one look at him, and put him to work. Kept him busy, and his mind off his loss. So that going feral didn't happen... if that happened, it would have been a death sentence, any wolf he came across would have killed him on sight, if the Aurors or Hunters didn't get to him first, anyway. For a feral wolf was out of control, and there was no way of rehabilitating them, of bringing them back under control. The only course was to kill them, it was an act of mercy, really.

When he was finally coherent enough to care, he'd tried to fight Greyback off, but then the older wolf forced him to listen to what really happened when Remus was bitten, forced him to watch the memories, too. It wasn't Greyback that bit him, it was a wolf of his pack that went feral after losing his Mate and Cubs to the Hunters. The fact that they'd used the Homorphus charm on him as well, had not helped matters, at all. Greyback happened to be the last thing Remus remembered seeing before falling unconscious, because Greyback got there just in time to stop the other wolf from killing him. He'd come back the next morning, to speak with Remus' parents and/or offer to take Remus in, if they didn't want him anymore, anyway. They refused to have anything to do with Greyback, and ran him off.

After that, John Lupin was the one to start the rumors of Greyback being bloodthirsty, and going after children. He also became one of the biggest supporters for the Hunters. All while keeping his werewolf son hidden, of course. He made it a point of searching for cures, and the Wolfsbane came about during that search, but it was useless for a wolf that accepted themselves. They were already in control. No, Wolfsbane potion was little more than poison, especially taken long term.

Greyback also explained that he did nothing to earn his reputation, yeah, he brought kids into the pack. But that was only after rouge or feral wolves bit them. He never personally went after kids. Never. About the only thing true about him was that he was a Death Eater, one of the first. He was rarely ever summoned though, he mostly joined just because the Dark Lord promised to abolish the current laws against werewolves, he mostly acted as the liaison between the Dark Lord and the wolf packs. (like Remus did for Dumbledore, only the wolves would never side with Dumbledore even if he was the last wizard on the planet. He may have the wizards fooled, but not Creatures or those otherwise affiliated with the Dark) Of course, that was before his plans suddenly started changing.

After Greyback deemed him mentally stable enough, he left Britain to find work.

Severus was silent as Remus explained all this. He didn't say anything for a long time, chewing his food while he watched Remus fidgeting with his fork.

Finally, he spoke. "How did Greyback know to come?" He asked.

Remus shrugged. "He must of heard what happened. It's no secret among the wolf communities that my pack is made up of humans. Or who they are. One way or another, my pack had just been destroyed in a few hours." He honestly didn't care how Greyback found out, he was glad he did.

Severus nodded. Finally, he started explaining everything that had been happening while Remus was gone. Including what had happened within the school the year before. By the time he was done, he knew Harry would be back from visiting Sirius for the day, and Remus was pacing in agitation.

"I want to meet him." He said abruptly. Severus had not been expecting that. He tilted his head. "Harry. I need to see him." Remus elaborated.

Severus blinked, and he understood. Remus may not have gone feral, but it was close. He may have been deemed mentally stable enough to be able to function without the risk of going feral again, but it was close. It could still happen. That chance was going to be there the longer he was kept from his cub, especially now knowing just how badly his cub had suffered, and he wasn't there.

Severus considered the werewolf in front of him for a moment, before he nodded. "I was planning on bringing Harry into the Forest tonight, to pick some ingredients. Teach him some more about them, and how to find them in the wild if he should need or want to. We'll be out there at eleven, you can come around one, we should have most of what I want found by then." He said, and stood up before he swept from the room.

Narcissa studied the letter in front of her with a slight frown.

The first week of school, she had written to Draco, and made it very clear how tenuous his position currently was, and that his behavior had to change. She had made it clear just how that was to happen, and what she expected of him.

His answering letter had not been encouraging. Nor, had the reports she had asked Severus to send her regarding his behavior. While he did seem to be leaving Heir Potter-Black alone for the most part... if anything his behavior had only grown worse since his first-year. More arrogant, and more confrontational with those that the Malfoy teachings would say 'don't even deserve to live, let alone wield magic'. In other words, the Muggleborn and half-bloods. Whereas the Blacks took more of a 'wait and see if they can be useful to us' approach.

Most of the time...

Depending on which Black you were talking to, anyway.

Although... even the ones that proved themselves useful were still considered scum under their shoes.

In Draco's letter to her, he had implied that Sirius wouldn't dare disown him because he was the Heir to the Noble House of Malfoy. And that his father would crush Sirius like an ant if he ever tried. He said something about Sirius needing to consider himself lucky that the House Malfoy ever graced House Black with their presence. (She was half tempted to disown him herself, after that slight to her birth House, not to mention what he implied about her!)

And, reading this report, not even being taken off the Quidditch team like he did seemed to have curbed his behavior.

She set it down and leaned back, frowning. She only had until his fifteenth birthday to correct his behavior or they were both disowned from the Black Family. Sure, the Malfoy vaults were extensive, but nothing like what she was used to, nothing like what Draco was entitled to as a son of House Black. Not to mention, being disowned would be a disgrace, Lucius would probably be angry enough to get rid of her... find another powerful family to marry into to replace the influence lost...

Draco would never learn what he was entitled to learn, he would never learn the Family Magic. The Malfoy Family had no such Family Magic to teach him, they were old enough, but their origins were in France. Everything they had was destroyed years ago, if they ever even had Family Magics to begin with.

No, she would not allow Draco's father to get them disowned from her birth House. Because that was what all this boiled down to, this attitude displayed by Draco was instilled in him by his father, if they were disowned, it would be Lucius's fault.

She pursed her lips in thought before reaching for a piece of parchment and quill.

She would meet with Severus, and they would work out a schedule where she could come to Hogwarts and start correcting her sons attitude.

It was clear that she couldn't wait for the Yule season.

Harry yawned as he followed Severus into the Forest. Since it was Saturday, Severus had made it a tutoring night, although a late tutoring night... it was a good thing he could sleep in tomorrow...

Although if Oliver Wood even considered the possibility of getting him up for a morning practice, the boy was getting cursed, and Harry may or may not try to regulate his magic.

"Why are we doing this so late again?" He asked after his yawn. He readjusted the strap of his bag on his shoulder, the same bag Severus had gotten him in the apothecary for carrying his ingredients in.

"There are some ingredients that are only useful when picked during certain phases of the moon, and they can only be picked by the light of the moon, so these ones can't be grown in a greenhouse, they would never be of any use." He looked up. "Now, there are several ingredients that I'm running low on, that can only be picked tonight. Of course, any other ingredients we run across that don't need the moon, we can still pick." He gave the closest thing to a shrug that Harry would ever see him give. Some of the ingredients picked tonight, could of course go into Harry's storage cupboard in his trunk, and maybe a few cuttings.

Harry nodded his understanding, looking around. He didn't really like being in here, last time he was... Voldemort was drinking unicorn blood and tried to attack him.

It wasn't a good experience.

"Hey, what's this?" He asked suddenly, going up to a tree branch and reaching out to touch the soft, white strings hanging from it.

"Unicorn tail hair." Severus said, impressed. "It is very versatile, used in wands and can be used in other areas as well. It's very strong, nearly impossible to break. Also, on the market it runs roughly twelve Galleons a hair."

"...Seriously? One strand of this stuff, for twelve Galleons?" Harry deadpanned.

Severus chuckled at his disbelief. "It's very rare, and as I said versatile. Because unicorns stay to themselves, don't let men approach, and are even wary of women, it's difficult to get. Most of what we get is found in trees after being caught and torn out, much like what is here." He gestured towards the hairs still stuck in the tree. "Here. Let's gather it, and you can decide what to do with it later." He said, moving to start gently untangling it from the tree. It was too valuable to just leave here.

Although, he supposed Hagrid might find it later, and he knew the half-giant used it during his duties on the school grounds. According to him, the stuff was perfect for tying a splint or something on a creature so they couldn't rub through the strings and remove said splint. He also braided it into ropes to use for tying injured creatures up so he could treat them without them running away, apparently some of the creatures were too strong for regular rope.

Of course, he doubted that any of that would be how Harry would use it...

Carefully, the hairs were removed from the tree and folded up so they wouldn't get tangled. They were then placed in a small bag Severus had brought to put leaves and such in.

He did, though, glance at how close they were to the tree-line and frown, making a mental note to let Hagrid know that the unicorns had been coming pretty close to the school, their usual area was further in than this. Especially after that incident last year where several unicorns turned up dead. (Now he knew that was Quirrell with the Dark Lord sticking out of his head, but...) Wouldn't want somebody (a student) spotting one and getting ideas. Probably stupid ones...

"Alright, did you study those ingredients I told you to look up earlier this week? Enough to recognize them?" He asked his godson after the hairs were carefully tucked away.

"Yes, I was wondering what that was about." Harry said with a small smile. He had honestly been slightly confused, but he memorized the pictures as asked, he should have known that Severus didn't do anything without reason.

Severus gave a small smile of his own back. "Indeed. Keep an eye out, if you see something else you think we might find useful, say something. Keep an eye out for more unicorn hair, if you want, as well... and stay close." He instructed, eyeing the boy sternly. "I don't want you getting lost out here. You were lucky enough Firenze came to your rescue last year." He frowned at the thought.

Harry swallowed, and nodded. He had no intentions of leaving Severus' side, that was for sure. Especially with Halloween coming up next week, he had no wish to invite something to happen, he only hoped this year would be quiet, and there would be no more trolls.

They spent close to three hours in the Forest, gathering ingredients and just spending time together. Harry ended up finding two more trees with unicorn hair snagged in the branches, these hairs joined the ones already carefully tucked away. Harry ended up with several more cuttings to add to his greenhouse, as well as an interesting one he was going to give Neville, he didn't remember seeing it in the Longbottom greenhouses.

When Harry wasn't looking, Severus had unsnagged a fourth bundle of hair from another tree and put it away, he had plans for it. All the other strands, Harry got to keep and decide what to do with. It wasn't like Severus needed it, or that he couldn't just come in the forest later on and find more.

Severus checked his watch and frowned. Remus should have been here an hour ago. What was keeping him?

Just as he was glancing around in annoyance, he heard a twig snap behind them. His wand was in his hand, and Harry was being shoved behind him as he spun around before he even registered that he'd moved. They may be in a safe part of the Forest right now, but this was still the Forbidden Forest. One never knows what they might find in here. To his relief (and annoyance), it was just Remus.

"Lupin, don't do that again." He warned, pointing his wand at him for good measure, once he'd had a moment to catch his breath, anyway. "You're late."

"Sorry." Remus shot him an apologetic smile, otherwise his attention was on Harry, who was slightly uncomfortable with his gaze. "I was getting something, and lost track of time." More like using up what little money he had left to get Harry something to at least hopefully be a start at making up for the numerous missed birthdays and Yule. He'd sent something every year, but it always returned unopened and untouched. He kept it all, of course, and he would give it to Harry later, but right now... it had taken him a long time to find something just right.

"Lupin?" Harry questioned, a thoughtful look on his face as he thought back to where he'd heard that name before. "Oh! Uncle Sev told me about you." He eyed Remus curiously. This was Moony? Guy looked like he could use a few meals.

Remus glanced at Severus in surprise. But nodded, although he was curious about just what it was that Severus told him. And how much of it had to do with his being a werewolf. "Yeah, cub. You've gotten so big." He whispered in awe. "Ah, here, I uh... I got you something." He said quickly, holding the package out. It wasn't much, but it was what he could afford. It took the last of his meager funds, for that matter. He would figure something out for meals in the coming days.

Harry glanced at Severus, before reaching out and taking it, looking curious. As he opened it, Remus looked on nervously. "I know it's not much, but..." He trailed off when Harry took it out and held it up, letting the packaging fall to the ground. Severus raised an eyebrow and looked grudgingly impressed about how perfect it was, especially considering this was the first time Remus had seen Harry in eleven years.

Harry didn't do big gestures and gifts. At least, not towards himself. His friends, he would spoil them rotten, as long as it was something he knew they would like. Case in point, the birthday gifts he got for Longbottom and Granger. And the party he threw Granger, full of Pureblood children who followed tradition regarding acceptable gifts for a newly thirteen year old witch.

"I love it." Harry said softly, holding the drawing pad and pencils to his chest with a smile. Really, Severus only briefly mentioned the boy could draw. It was just a random, passing thought. Remus must have been trying to decide for hours what to get Harry, and then, when he finally figured it out, must have spent forever finding a store open this late at night that sold what he wanted. Of course, it would have been a Muggle store, but... unless he used magic to break in, and left the money on the counter along with a note about what was taken.

Remus seemed like the type.

For now, he sat down on a fallen log and let the two talk, only occasionally chiming in.

It was a very good thing the next day was a Sunday.

Tom Riddle sat in his 'library' within the diary, deep in thought. He'd finally been able to pinpoint when his thoughts started becoming clearer, and he only did that when he noticed that he was no longer half a soul. But, rather he was now most of a soul.

And wasn't that eye-opening.

And a little concerning... because it meant the main soul was probably insane at this point, and somebody was destroying the other Horcruxes, or something was happening to them. The pieces of soul within those containers was then coming to merge with him, which meant that, as half of the main soul, he was the biggest piece out there. Yeah... that wasn't good.

So, now he had to make a choice. He could take over the girl, and come out, continuing his original plans, while gathering the rest of the soul that had not yet joined with him, or he could get the girl to give him to somebody else... no matter who he had her hand him off to though, it would be another fangirl.

That was guaranteed. Of course, she was a fangirl too, but her brothers were those he'd declared off-limits because of their actions in attempting to protecting the Potter boy from the others...

Whatever he decided, it would need to be quick. Samhain was coming up, and he had plans to open the Chamber then, to check on Slitha. Maybe let her out to roam... and perhaps start to purge the school... although he hadn't yet decided if he was going to continue what he'd already started back in his sixth year and go after Muggleborns, or if he was going to change targets.

As you can tell, Tom Riddle really hates fangirls and boys. Perhaps even more than he does his Muggle heritage...