A/N: Thank you for the favs, follows and reviews. As it was asked, I'll clarify. Draco is the blood son of Narcissa and Lucius. He calls Severus his Papa because the man has a relationship with his father and treats Draco as a son.
If I finish writing next chapter soon, I'll post it on the 30th. If not, well, we'll see each other on the 4th and a Very Happy New Year!
Edit: Corrected Albus name. Thank you LexisRee and damn you stupid corrector.
10 - Final touches
"What did you say?"
"The key you presented is longer usable; therefore we'll take care of its disposal."
That goblin must be daft; that's the only explanation. "What about the new one then?"
"You would need to request one from the account's manager."
"Then take me to him already."
Thank Merlin, there weren't that many people around. It could have turned into a scandal. But, really, they should have notified me about such a thing. It is a big deal to be without one's vault key.
They came to a halt in front of a door, which had 'Ragnok' written on a nameplate. Albus didn't even care to knock or wait and entered the office. He was Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore after all. He was more than entitled to bypass such frivolities.
"Mr Dumbledore. What a surprise to see you. What good winds brought you to my humble office on this most beautiful day." The goblin was showing him the goblin equivalent of a smile, which involved lots of teeth showing.
"Yes. I believe I was not informed of the change of my vault key."
"That is most strange indeed. We always notify our clients about any and every change concerning their vaults and accounts."
"Well, I wasn't. Maybe we could replace it now."
"Of course. Just wait a moment."
Albus sat there waiting for a good half hour. How there they make me wait for them to make amends for their mistakes. Merlin knew how much Albus had to reign in his temper before incompetent people. And he was having such a good day...
"Mr Dumbledore, your account's manager informed me no changes were done to either your vault or account. That is except your regular income being deposited. You may go to him with your further inquiries. Truth to be told, I can't fathom why you were brought to me in the first place."
Albus gave a slight nod of acquiescence and followed the directions he was given to his manager's office. There, he got to know that indeed nothing was changed, even if a few investments of his appeared to have ceased making profits. About the key change, he was told that specific key should have been handled by Ragnok, as he was the manager of the Potters. Albus backtracked to the other office and again entered without knocking.
"Ah, Mr Dumbledore. I hope your questions were answered."
"Yes, most of them." Albus was already letting his impatience and disappointment be known by the tone of his voice. "Except for the one I asked first."
"Strange. I do remember telling you your vault key didn't undergo any changes and further inquiries should be taken to your account's manager."
"That you did."
"Then I see no reason for your question to not have been answered."
"Yes. It was some minor misunderstanding. The vault key which I was told had been changed is the one to Vault 687."
"Oh! That one falls under my jurisdiction."
Finally, Albus was getting somewhere. "So, where is the replacement key?"
"It is with the vault's owner of course. He requested a new one so he could take some gold to buy his school supplies, I believe. A most fine young man. You should be aware that when a key is changed, we invalidate all other keys pertaining the vault."
So the boy came, after all. Better start planning the next steps. School will start in a little less than a month; that gives me time for the last preparations. I wasn't expecting the Dursleys to let him come with such ease.
"Will that be all, Mr Dumbledore?" The goblins question startled him off his thoughts.
"Yes. No. Well, I still need a copy of the new key."
"You can't expect Gringotts to give away keys that don't belong to the clients requesting them."
It was such a sharp statement that it almost threw Albus off balance, almost. "That would hardly be a problem when the client requesting it is a guardian for the owner." Albus knew he had to be diplomatic here; it wouldn't do to start a war with goblins when they were still warring against Voldemort.
The goblin pulled a few sheets of paper out of the middle of a pile to his left and read it over. "I have to inform you that while your statement is true, I still can't provide you with a key to any vaults belonging to the Potters. That would be outright theft, and insisting on that request will aggravate us dearly."
The situation was really getting out of hand. Albus knew that was a subtle way of telling him to back off. He knew, though, that he could make the request through the Ministry of Magic and that was where he was headed next. "I see. I will try the Ministry then."
After he served himself some warm and delicious tea, Albus reclined in his chair contemplating the meaning of everything he learned that day. Harry Potter had requested not only a copy of his key; he requested it to be changed. For either request, he would need to know the procedure for identifying himself to the goblins. In all truth, one just had to ask, and this fact ruled out someone else's intervention.
At the Ministry, he was informed that he was no longer guardian to The-Boy-Who-Lived and that the files concerning the boy were not available to the public for protection reasons. As such, Albus couldn't access them. Once the boy started his schooling, Albus would only have access to the file that stated who the boy's new guardian was.
He requested a report from a squib who lived not too far from the boy. He never had any use for the woman before, he maintained her just as a precaution. And what good thinking that was! Now, he just needed to wait a few more minutes to know of the Dursleys. As if on cue, Mrs Figg face flashed on his fireplace inviting him to come over.
Stepping on the other side, he was welcomed to a house decorated by someone with awful taste. He couldn't blame anyone for not knowing what was best. He sat down on a patch of sofa less buried in cat fur and waited for the woman to start. At least, the sweets she offered to go with his tea were to his taste.
"Headmaster, I'm afraid I don't have much to report." He just made a gesture encouraging her to keep do it anyway. Better little than nothing. "I heard that a couple months ago there was an incident involving even the police. I didn't know about it because I had to travel to see to a friend. I'm sure it was nothing at all since last month I saw Mrs Dursley throwing the trash out like nothing happened. And I heard someone say she took the boys out on a trip. That would explain why no one answered the door."
Alarm bells went off in Albus' head at the last sentence. He quickly said his goodbyes giving some silly excuse of wanting to go for a night walk and left to the Dursleys. It couldn't be right. No one answering the door wasn't strange per see, but it just didn't feel right to Albus. Something was off and he would learn what was.
As the Squib said, the house seemed empty. The protection ward he placed all those years ago was still there. Maybe, just maybe, the woman was right and they just went on a trip before the school year started. Albus still went inside and, to his surprise, the only thing strange was maybe some lack of muggle trinkets. He didn't know what one was expected to have in a muggle house but seeing it not empty and the ward in place reassured him.
Albus apparated back to his office, the perks of being Headmaster included that. Even if everything seemed well, Albus had to make sure the boy was still in Britain and coming to Hogwarts. He used all the tracking spells he knew of and then some and none returned the boy's location to him. Most peculiar. It was true you should have something with the magical signature of the person one was trying to locate, though some of the spells he used should give him a search area at the very least. He did one of those again and it only came out that the boy was somewhere on the British island.
Thinking a potion could be a solution, Albus floo called his potions' master. It was late at night but that was of no matter. Severus was his spy; he should be ready whenever he was needed. At last, said man appeared in front of him.
"Severus, my boy. How has your vacation been? Enjoying life I hope." One should always make use of niceties, they are a sure way to make one less inclined to resist.
"Yes, Headmaster. I was enjoying myself. I even got to sleep full nights. But by all means, do spare me the horrors of a well-rested body."
"Yes, yes. Good to hear that, my boy, good to hear that. Perhaps you could indulge an old man with some of your potions knowledge." Appear weak and you shall receive help. Stroke their ego and they shall indulge you.
"Perhaps."
"Would you know of a potion which could serve as a tracker of sorts?"
"I am able to think a few. Is it for a person, animal or object?"
"Oh. How are they different? Aren't both people and animals alive?"
"They are, yet their magic, or lack of, functions in different ways. There are some that could be used on both as well."
"I see. What would be the difference in one tailored specifically for animals and one for anything alive?"
"The one brewed for a specific tracking would need some sort of piece of the animal one wants to track. They also have a higher cost and brewing time. The more general ones should cost less and take less time to brew, as well as not being as powerful as the others."
"And how powerful would the general one be in contrast to the specific one?" Perhaps now that Albus didn't have access to the Potters' wealth, it would be wiser to not spend so much.
"The range of the area located would be wider."
"Is it possible for you to make one of those more general ones? I see myself in dire need to know where Fawkes goes every night; he always comes back so smug that I'm afraid he's up to something." Some twinkle should do the trick now.
"I see. I'll have it ready by the last meeting before the school year starts."
"Good. I'll see you then, my boy." And with that, Albus started planning how to feed the potion to the boy.
In a few days, students were to go to Hogwarts for the new school year. Unfortunately, Severus had to go a few days prior to organising the new supply of potions ingredients he asked of the old coot. He would do anything for that tracking potion I am sure. Severus was aware the potion would be used to track his Raven and made an extra effort in making it specifically not work well for his Raven. It would show a normal range for anything, but his Raven it would only show the country. The beauty of the situation was perhaps the inability of the Headmaster to ask for a more refined potion, lest he raises suspicions upon his person.
Severus knew sooner or later the man would find out about not being the guardian of The-Boy-Who-Lived. If the transactions going in his Raven's account was anything to go by, the old man liked to splurge other people's monies. Sadly, that was something for Petunia to solve; Severus was knowledgeable about banking and investments but the one who would do her any good was Lucius.
They could go without the man's help for a longer while still. Petunia gave priority to solve the problems within her muggle account first; Vernon had done quite the number on her. Petunia didn't tell him what exactly were these problems, not that wanted to know, but he was relieved to know she still intended to repay his Raven every cent they used. The mistreatment was simply left alone in the past; she was to repay that by treating him well from now on.
The Tiger and his Raven were doing rather well in their studies. Petunia had helped very much by buying the boys calligraphy books. One to teach them the letters and their variants, and a few notebooks for practising. They started out with fountain pens and now they could use a quill well, though both still preferred the pens.
Severus arrived at the boys' house. Today would be the last day to see them before they arrived at Hogwarts. The perfect time to explain the houses and how people and prejudice worked. He hoped Dudley had stopped annoying his Raven; the boy seemed to think it was fun to do so. At least, he was still protective of his cousin after some kid tried to hurt him to play with his kite. It was really something when one got an active bully on his side; it was always better to not be on the receiving end but being protected by it made one rethink things.
"Welcome, Mr Snape."
"Hello, Tiger. Would you call your cousin? I'll be at the living with your mother."
Dudley nodded and ran off upstairs. Harry was studying again to try and impress Mr Snape. Harry always acted like a baby near him and the man liked to indulge him. "Harry, Mr Snape arrived. Come on!" He saw his cousin perk up at the mention of his dear Mr Snape and they both ran back downstairs. Harry gave the man another one of his powerful hugs that knocked all your air out you and sat down on the rug in front of Mr Snape and mum. Dudley couldn't understand how someone so little and skinny could have so much strength in a hug.
"I hope you did all the studying we requested." Mr Snape said as Dudley sat down beside his cousin.
"We did!" Dudley only nodded after his cousin's excited answer.
"Good. I won't verify what you did or didn't study, however, I'll be able to know from your grades since I'll be at Hogwarts with you." Harry gasped and Dudley groaned. He wouldn't be able to have fun if the man was there.
"Today is the last we will see each other before your arrival at school. I had decided before to use this last day to talk about school. First of all, I expect you both to do well in your studies and receive only 'Exceeds Expectations' and 'Outstanding' for grades. If you have difficulties with a subject, look for an older student or your teacher for help.
"All first and second years take only the core subjects; you are allowed to choose electives from the third year. One of those core subjects is Potions, I teach that one and as such, I expect to be called Professor Snape. You will see that I am not an easy teacher; you will also see me act a bit differently towards you as that is what is expected of me."
"Different how?" Dudley asked.
"Harsher."
His cousin had another question, though. "Why do you have to do that?"
"An interesting question, Raven. I do have a reputation to preserve; you will be privy to that once at school or maybe the train. Also, I hope you remember I told you about the war and that I was a Death Eater."
Dudley and Harry both made an 'oh' with their mouths in understanding. Harry was supposed to have defeated the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters were supposed to hate him.
"Another piece of knowledge I want to impart on you is the House system. There are for houses at Hogwarts."
"Red and gold for Gryffindor. Green and silver for Slytherin. Blue and bronze for Ravenclaw. Yellow and black for Hufflepuff. Like my ribbons."
"Yes, Raven, like your ribbons. Each house has a trait said to be stronger. People say it is bravery for Griffindor, intelligence for Ravenclaw, loyalty for Hufflepuff and cunning for Slytherin. People also seem to have certain prejudices against each house; those would be respectively the houses of the good, the bookworms, the stupid and the bad. I strongly suggest you don't abide by such prejudices as traits are not exclusive of one house."
Mr Snape waited a little for the message to sink in. Dudley only understood he wanted them to have friends outside their own houses.
"Well, I would tell you how you get chosen for your house but I will leave that as a surprise. Each house has a teacher to... care for its students; that is the Head of House. Currently, I am Head of the Slytherin House.
"Now, as I treat you as part of my family, I will let you call me uncle when we are alone. At school that means inside my office without any other staff."
Harry advanced on him again. They chatted a bit more about what they learned about the wizarding world and Uncle Sev, so named by Harry, left to his house. It was actually pretty nice to have him as an uncle, better than Auntie Marge; he had magic, after all.