The entire room was quiet as The Director looked around and repeated the last statement to make sure it sunk in. "We would like you to accept guardianship of our son, Harry Potter." He read with more volume, and continued on with the explanation the Potters had included to go with their request.

"We know it would be customary to ask Harry's Godparents to assume guardianship of our son, but we thought that they are still very young, and a child is way too much responsibility for any young adult to carry, especially for those who did not specifically plan for childcare. We have all the faith in their ability to support Harry, but we would like them to live full lives at their pace, without the added pressure of being a full-time parent. We ask with all the hope and love in our hearts that they remain a major part in Harry's life, as his twin-pillars of support. Merlin knows if there is anything to go by on genetics, he will be a handful, like James was." Ragnok looked up when he heard a watery chuckle coming from Minerva and Filius at Lily's gentle jibe at her husband's Marauder heritage.

"We love you very much, Fiona and Sirius, and we hope you understand our reasoning, and continue to love Harry and guide him as the wonderful Godparents you are." He briefly glanced at Miss Flitwick, who nodded and whispered a barely audible 'I love you too', before laying her head on Master Flitwick's shoulder.

"Dearest Filius, you are a very important person to the Potter family. You have the wisdom, the discipline and all the kindness that our little Harry would need in his life to grow up as a healthy and balanced young man. You come from a family that respects every magical, and non-magical individual equally." The Director paused reading for a second, and nodded to himself in acknowledgement of the truth of the statement.

"Harry will learn to be open-minded and accepting raised by your standards. He will not tolerate favouritism, or bigotry. He will learn to be kind and trusting, but he will fight for the noble reasons of life, like you always do. He will learn to grow into his magical core with the grace you carry yourself with. Under your mentorship he will no doubt grow to be masterful at his skill-set, no matter the nature of his abilities."

"You, my Master, gave me the gift of family, you gave me a sister when my own blood rejected the very being of me, and for that I will be forever grateful. It is your acceptance of me in your family, as your honourary daughter, which sealed the deal on our desire to appoint you as our son's guardian. You will no doubt help him prosper with everything we mentioned already, but most importantly you will show him love, and he will have somewhere to belong with you, like I did."

"Please, think through our request. We understand if it would be too much to ask of you, and we have a separate clause in our will for other possible guardians should it become a necessity, - that will stay invisible -, unless you reject the opportunity, which we hope won't happen. Our representative and solicitor, Ted Tonks, has a copy of the pre-approved adoption paper we legally drafted with the help of the goblins, and our Head of the Potter Accounts has the original."

Director Ragnok looked at his able audience and stared into many emotional faces.

Filius was gobsmacked with the faith the Potters had in him, and the request of guardianship took him by complete and total surprise. He was fully expecting his daughter to be asked to step up for the role, since Lily and her were really sisterly, ever since the day they met each other. He also expected them to ask Minerva, before they actually asked him, however, he did think that Sirius was too foolhardy to be a full-time parent at this moment in time, which was proven by his foolish attempt at going after Pettigrew, which he had no doubt in his mind, - even before the reading of the will -, was what happened.

Minerva was smiling at her long-time friend, with a soft watery smile, that was uncharacteristic of her to show in public, as usually she wore the mask of stern Transfiguration Mistress dutifully. She learned early in her line of profession, that the softer you represent yourself to a class of miscreants, the more they attempt to cause trouble and slack off in their studies, thus she developed her own teaching persona, that was completely different from the warm-hearted woman that was her true self.

In rare occasions, like with the Potters and their Marauder friends, she would let her mask fall, and establish the bonds of friendship that would last a lifetime. After all, no matter what the troublemakers projected to those in the know, who else would have taught them to be Animagi, other than their Transfiguration Professor, who was an Animagus herself?

McGonagall had caught the trio in the Restricted Section in the Hogwarts Library, after midnight one day, perusing old Transfiguration Tomes in search of information on how to achieve the feat of being an Animagus. After she properly chastised them for being out past curfew, detracted a good amount of House Points, and administered detentions for each of them, she actually asked the glowing question of why they were looking for information on being Animagi.

Of course, she had a good idea about them being interested in attempting to be Animagi themselves, but she just could not think of any plausible reason three eleven year old children should even think about transfiguring themselves into animals.

At first there was awkward silence between the rule-breakers and their Head of House, but then timid little Peter Pettigrew blurted out young Remus Lupin's condition, and Minerva's eyes widened significantly. As Hogwarts Staff, she was privy to his predicament, but the fact that his dorm-mates were aware of him being a werewolf dumbfounded the witch.

Sirius and James glared at the blond boy until the Professor shared that she already knew about this, in fact the entirety of the Hogwarts faculty did, and asked them to specify the exact reason they wished to learn. Once they told her that they did not want their friend to be lonely during the Full Moon, and wanted to provide the young lycantroph with company during his transformations, her stern mask fell, and she offered an unprecedented opportunity of teaching them in secret.

She discovered James' affinity for Transfiguration early on in their private tutoring sessions, and she began paying more attention to him in class, giving him extra assignments, and paving the way for the possibility of taking him on as an Apprentice later on, which she did in his Fifth Year.

The same way Filius had taken a shine to Lily, she had taken a shine to James, and it was partially due to some friendly meddling by their Master and Mistress that they eventually stopped bickering like an old married couple to realize the good qualities in each other.

Minerva glanced at Filius, and her eyes softened at his expression. It was something akin to a mixture of shock, awe and sheer disbelief. She chuckled softly, and looked over to his daughter, who was both offering support to her father, and seeking his strength at the same time. There was a certain pride shining in her face at the thought of her father being this important to the Potters.

Nothing showed how much he meant to the late couple, like entrusting the safety of their only son to him.

"Well? What do you say, Master Flitwick?" Ragnok asked after letting the request sink in. "Would you like to take up the responsibility of being the sole guardian of Mr. Harry James Potter, or shall we activate the rejection clause?"

"I would like to take care of the youngest Potter, and hereby humbly accept the guardianship of Harry Potter." He said, standing up, and bowing to The Director respectfully. "I shall do my best to live up to the expectations and faith Lily and James placed in me."

Ragnok grinned a toothy grin that looked dangerous on a goblin's face, and motioned for both Griphook and Ted Tonks to step forward. "Let's begin taking care of the administration then, shall we." He said in an official tone, and grabbed a goblin-sanctioned Blood Quill that they used for signing legal papers.

Filius stood up as well, making his way towards the simple rectangle shaped desk with a smooth wooden surface, with several documents laid atop. He looked at the red Quill that sent shivers down his spine, as in his youth he had the misfortune to come across a rather vicious goblin, who decided to punish him for choosing to be a wand-wielder, instead of following the goblin customs, no matter that he was a half-blood.

The Director noticed his expression and raised an eyebrow at the odd reaction. He expected witches and wizards to shiver at the sight of a Blood Quill, as it was illegal according to Wizarding law, but he was surprised at Filius' reaction, as he had a standing in goblin circles as well.

He shook his head and nodded towards Griphook, who walked to the wall, motioned in an intricate pattern with his hands three times over, and a door appeared seemingly out of thin air. He tapped his fingertips against the door's surface and it opened to reveal two more goblins adorned in very high quality armour.

"Eban, Eanraig, please escort young Mr. Potter to us." The Director spoke swiftly, and turned to glance at the small baby with the soft tuft of black hair, and unblemished skin in Eban's black coloured arms.

As they walked closer, the witches and wizards in the room gasped, until Amelia spoke her mind. "Merlin and Morgana! He has an unblemished forehead. How is that possible?" She asked in genuine wonder, echoing the question that lingered in almost everyone's minds.

"When Professor McGonagall alerted us to young Mr. Potter's situation, we sent a team of warriors to retrieve him to safety, and sensed the foulest Dark magic possible in his scar. A team of highly skilled goblin Healers had worked together tirelessly to remove the taint from him." He explained without mentioning Horcruxes.

Madame Bones' eyes widened, and there was a murmur spiced with gasps and yells of disbelief audible across the room. They could not believe that Dumbledore just let the little boy to suffer with a cursed scar, like it was the most natural thing to do.

Andromeda was wringing her hands together in anxiety as she ran the possible scenarios in her head. There was only so many things Harry's cursed scar could have been, and given that she used to be a Black, she had a pretty good grasp on Dark Magic, even if she refused to practice it. Her aunt, Walburga, had forced her to at least read through the dark tomes in the Black Library, to have knowledge about their traditions and the path they wanted her to take.

That is when she came across a thin text on Soul Vessels and the method of creating them. It was possibly the foulest ritual she had ever read about, and even the thought of the ritual itself made her feel nauseous. The possibility that the Dark Lord had went through with the ritual was high, and then, as demented as he was, he most likely repeated the feat only Merlin knows how many times.

The thought that the innocent little son of the late Potters could have been such a vessel made her feel sick. Mrs. Tonks paled significantly, and grasped at the edge of her chair frantically, trying to take a couple of deep breaths. It was not a good idea to panic, and it definitely was not a good idea to let others know the reason why she was panicking.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Ted asked, when he glanced at the direction of his wife, leaping to her side and kneeling in front of her. "You are white as sheet." He said with worry flickering in his voice.

"N-nothing." She shook her head in denial, and squeezed her husband's hand. "Don't worry, love." She smiled a small smile, and forced her breathing under control.

Ragnok looked at the pale witch, and realized that she suspected the truth of the cursed scar, if not knew about the origin for sure. "Dragonclaw, please fetch a Calming Draught for Mrs. Tonks." He asked, showing a kind of courtesy that goblins usually neither shown, nor received.

"As you wish, Director." The nondescript goblin replied, and hurried out of the room, just to return a few seconds later with a potion vial in his hands. Unbeknownst to the witches and wizards present , this room was connected with several others, one of which was a small Potion Storage. Gringotts Bank extended deep underground, so at strategic points, several facilities and necessary item storage rooms were installed for the safety of their Nation.

"Thank you kindly." Andromeda said softly, as she accepted the potion from the goblin heartily and with a swift gulp downed it, relaxing immediately afterwards, as the liquid soothed her senses and tense muscles.

"You are welcome." Director Ragnok nodded, and looked at his audience. "May we get back to the matter at hand?" He asked, not wishing to go into detail about the Horcrux issue, as it really was not appropriate for this meeting, and there was still a lot to do.

"Certainly, I apologize for my outburst, Director." Madame Bones bowed and the rest of the gathering murmured their own apologies and everyone, except Ted and Filius had sat back down to their seats.

"Good." He grunted. "Now, Master Flitwick, do you wish to take young Mr. Potter under your family name? He would maintain his name, as he is the last of his line, but officially, until requested otherwise, he would be known as Harry James Flitwick."

Filius and Minerva shared a glance with each other, communicating with their eyes and nodded in a shared understanding. He also glanced at Fiona, whom nodded with a bright smile in agreement, so the tiny wizard made his decision known.

"Yes, I wish to take young Harry under my name, as it will provide both a sense of family and protection to him. However, should he wish to be known as Harry Potter, he should be reverted back to his original name." He squeaked in a clear voice.

"Very well." He nodded, did a few corrections to the parchment before him, and pushed the original legal document towards Flitwick. "Please sign above the dotted line. We will also need the signature of two witnesses." He said, and motioned for Ted and Minerva to act the part, and they signed both the original document, and the copy resting with the solicitor himself.

Eban stepped forward and placed young Harry into The Director's arms, as he was aware that he got attached to the little boy, and the Flitwick family would take him home soon. He wanted Director Ragnok to be a pleased goblin, because a disgruntled Director was a danger to be around, and he had to guard him at all times.

"Let's finish the reading with the inheritance of Harry, and then we can all get on with our day." Ragnok said stiffly and passed the baby to Miss Flitwick, so his Godmother could soothe the now rather nosily crying baby boy.

"Thank you for accepting responsibility for our Harry, Filius. We knew you wouldn't let us down, please love him as we would." He read. "We come to the last section of our will, the inheritance to our son, Harry James Potter, now Harry James Flitwick. To our son, we leave all of our remaining property, money, valuables, books, potion ingredients, artifacts, both personal and material items, the entirety of both our wizarding and non-magical holdings, and our legacy. We set up a Trust Vault for Harry that will pay both for his schooling and his clothing, feeding, and the general cost of taking care of him for the next seventeen years. This vault can be topped up to the maximum value every year from the main Potter vaults." He paused reading, and took a sip of goblin ale and then continued.

"Please only let Harry know about us when he is old enough to understand. We direct that when Harry gets eleven years old, he be allowed to get a real look into his wealth and holdings, and learn about what responsibility being Lord Potter comes with, when he takes up his proper place in wizarding society." He cleared his throat. "We direct that there be no betrothal contracts between Harry and anyone else, unless he knows and approves of the match. He should never be troubled with calculated relationships. Please always make him be aware that in his life, he always has a choice."

"We direct that until Harry becomes of age, or takes up the mantle of his Lordship, his inheritance shall be untouchable to him, except for his Trust Vault, which should be enough to take care of him and let him enjoy his young life." He said and looked up from the parchment briefly to see amusement twinkling in Master Flitwick's eyes. He chuckled inwardly, sensing just how much fun the Dueling Champion will have as a father of a famous baby boy.

"We thank you for respecting our wishes, and for taking care of Harry. Blessed be for all that you have done and will do for the Potter family, Filius! May you find bliss and happiness with him as your son. Thank you! Signed, James Charlus Potter and Lilien Eleanor Potter. Witnessed by Ted Tonks, and Griphook, Head of the Potter Accounts." Ragnok finished reading and let go of the will, which magically scrolled itself up, and placed itself back under the Potter family seal.

"With that we finish the reading of the last Will and Testament of James and Lily Potter. May they find happiness together in the Afterlife." He bowed, and handed the scroll to Griphook. "Please take the documents back to the Potter vault." He directed him, and turned towards the gathered individuals.

"Thank you for attending, I wish you all a good day." He said politely and walked towards Miss Flitwick, glancing at the baby in her arms. "I wish you happiness, little one. There will come a day that we will meet again, not far in your future, until then, blessed be child."

The Flitwick family stared as The Director, and everyone else left the room, and glanced at the newest member of their little family fondly. They huddled close together, and with Minerva by their side, took a Portkey home.

"Welcome home, Harry." Filius whispered softly, as they stood in the living-room of Flitwick Cottage, that in the next few years would truly become his home.


A/N: And with that, we wrap up the will and the placement of Harry, and now we can move on to where the real fun begins, the fallout from Dumbledore's machinations. That will be so much fun to write about for sure.

Thank you for the follows, favourites and reviews that you have graced me with since the last chapter! c: