I own nothing. Least of all this.
1:47
I looked down into the cold, blazing eyes of Castiel. "Can't we talk about this?"
His grip stayed tight, and I stayed stuck between a rock and a hard place. Specifically, the wall.
"There's nothing to talk about. You decided, in your arrogance and self-righteousness, that just because you thought you knew what you were dealing with, you could do as you wished. You could have destroyed his soul!"
"In my defense, I could just have easily destroyed my own, if I had actually had one."
"Cas, maybe you should let him down. It's pretty clear he had no idea he was missing his soul when he did what he did; and whoever this Moldy-wart was, the idea of part of his soul being stuck to Harry scares me more than Harry losing part of his own."
"Jody, with all due respect, you haven't seen what I have. I know what losing part of your soul does to people; or have you forgotten what happened to Mary Winchester."
Jody reacted as if she'd been slapped.
"I will not let that happen again. Not on my watch."
"Neither will I. Why do you think I came all this way? As soon as I realized what had happened, I knew I had to find out, and fix it, if I could."
"And can you, dear?" Cas and Jody turned to look at the redhead. "Fix it, that is."
"…I'd have to see his soul, first."
"I can check its condition just as well as you can."
"I said see it, not check it. There's a difference."
Jody put her hand on Cas' shoulder. "Cas. Please. Let him at least try."
"…Very well. But I will be watching you very closely."
"Noted."
Slowly, he lowered me to the floor. "Jody, if you could bring in Harry."
"Sure. Just one thing."
*SLAP*
I rubbed my jaw. "…I may have deserved that."
"Yep. And now that's two drinks I owe you."
I watched as she walked away. "Now that, is a woman."
"Agreed."
Rowena took a sip from her tea. "So, dear. Quite a story. Wizards, witches, a Dark Lord, a prophecy, a master manipulator, and soul magic. Like an adventure novel."
I snorted. "You have no idea."
"I suspected something larger than normal was afoot when the clearance for Cas to accompany Harry came, along with a message that made it quite clear to me that if I were to show it would cause a riot. Wandless magic by a nameless powerful witch would have put the fear of…well, of me into them."
"That's…one way of putting it. I did at least pick up some new study materials for both you and Harry while I was there."
"Oooo, let's see the loot!"
I began to pull out the copies of wizarding literature I had set aside for the bunker. By the time I was done, the entirety of the table was practically covered.
"…You do know how to treat a lady, don't you?"
"I try."
Cas looked even more confused than normal. "…How did you manage to fit so much into your pockets?"
"Well Cas, there's two explanations for that. The first is they're bigger on the inside. The second is…Magic!"
"…Can you…"
"Add the same ability to your own coat? If you like. Now, I will point out that the Potions teacher at Hogwarts had an obsession for Harry's mother, and hates Harry based on that principle alone, to say nothing of how he blames him for her death."
"And it would be in Harry's best interest not to antagonize him."
"Exactly. If you do nothing else, hammer all possible Potions related knowledge into his head between now and September. It should throw Snape off his game long enough to at least give Harry a chance."
"Snape? Unpleasant name."
"Unpleasant man."
"I can imagine. Not to worry; we'll have a grand old time learning together, won't we Harry dear?"
I swiveled back just in time to see Jody coming back in, Harry following behind.
"Hello Harry! Sorry about earlier; there just wasn't any good way to tell that story."
"It's fine. Aunt Petunia told me what happened to my parents; I just didn't know why it happened. Thank you. For telling me."
"Of course. Now, if it's alright, I'd like to just check something really quick to make sure those headaches don't come back. Is that okay?"
"…Will there be any more…"
"Runes? I doubt it."
"…Then okay."
"Right. Now, hold very still Harry; this won't hurt, it'll just feel a little…"
*SCHLORP*
"…Weird."
"…Is that…"
"His soul? Yes."
"…It looks whole to me."
"That's what I was afraid of."
"What do you mean?"
"Look. Here."
Running from the very center of the heart, directly to the surface, was a slender, cone-sized projection, entirely pitch-black.
"The Enochian only burned off just enough of his soul to absorb what it could of the Horcrux."
"Can you cut it out?"
"Not without cutting out even more of Harry's soul to go with it. They're interconnected now; any attempt to harm the bad will harm the good as well."
"And…does that mean…"
"I don't know. I just don't know. The good news is this; if he doesn't get any headaches from the scar in the future, we can safely assume it isn't attached to Voldemort anymore. And thus, not a concern. Well, beyond him probably knowing things he might not ever recall learning."
"Such as?"
"Hold on. Here you are, Harry. Shouldn't be a problem."
"Can I put it back in?"
"…If you like…"
*SCHLORP*
"…I have to admit, seeing somebody doing that to themselves just looks wrong. Now, to test. Harry, where would I find a bezoar?"
"In the stomach of a goat…how did I know that?"
"See? There you go."
"And that means what, exactly?"
"Well, for one, he'll probably be able to learn most of his spells and potions far faster than normal, simply because they'll already seem familiar to him. There is one other thing he may get out of this. But to check on that, we need a trip to Gringotts."
"I thought you said it was a good idea to stay as far away from Dumbledore as possible until absolutely necessary."
"I did. I meant the Gringotts' in New York. All Gringotts' branches are technically the same bank; it just exists in different places at the same time. Master enchanters and warders, goblins are."
"And what, exactly, can possibly be in store for him at Gringotts?"
"You mean beyond the absolute boat-load of gold that's been left for him by his parents? Well, that's for me to know and you to possibly find out."
Harry had jerked his head around at the mention of 'gold', Cas at the mention of 'parents'. They spoke practically in unison: "What do you mean…"
"…Go ahead, Harry."
"…What do you mean, gold?"
I smacked myself in the head. "Right! No Dumbledore means no Vault key, something that'll for sure get the Goblins riled up. Long story short Harry, your family was relatively well off, and tremendously old. In fact, there's probably a history of the Potter family in one of those books over there. Further proof of exactly how much power Dumbledore has, if he managed to spirit away the only remaining member of an Ancient and Noble House. You'll have quite a lot of money waiting for you in an account at Gringotts; whether or not Dumbledore's left a way for you to access it, much less been stealing from it, is another matter entirely."
Harry's eyes had widened upon hearing about a history of his family, and had practically dived into the pile of books. Cas looked on with no small degree of exasperation. "It would have been nice to know all of this while we were still in Diagon Alley, before we had to pay the regular way."
"What, and have Dumbledore potentially learn that you were in town? I think not. Now that we're in America, we can make a lot more noise without being noticed."
"So, when do we leave for Gringotts?"
"Oh, not until tomorrow at the earliest. I doubt you'll be able to pry Harry away from that book before then." I nodded towards where Harry had dug up a volume on Norman history, and was now perusing it with vigor. "And for another, I've got one more thing that's right up your alley."
"And what might that be?"
"A werewolf hunt. One where we want the target alive."
"And why may that be?"
"He was friends with Harry's parents, for one. For another, he could potentially be a spy on Dumbledore for us. And lastly, I need to hit him in the face with a chair for being a coward and not looking after Harry for the last ten years of his life. Oh, and if we can either cure him or give him control over his transformation, we can destabilize the entire werewolf pack structure of England."
"I thought the Men of Letters killed any and all monsters that set foot over there."
"Regular monsters, yes. Unfortunately, due to a very long series of circumstances, I've come to believe that they tend to give magical monsters a wide berth. Especially magical werewolves."
"And is this friend of Harry's parents magical?"
"Why yes, yes he is. His name is Remus Lupin. And he's going to help us hunt the most powerful werewolf in the entire United Kingdom; one Fenrir Greyback."
"Really? Remus? Fenrir? Lupin? Greyback?"
"Yeah, I know. Fate likes to take liberties to make things even more meaningful, at least that's what I think the idea is."
"I'm sure. Now, do you have any idea where this Remus Lupin is?"
"None at all. I came here first to make sure you had all the ingredients for the werewolf cure, as well as a place to hold him in the interim. He won't be hard to track; loners never are. It's the people who hide in crowds you have trouble finding."
"The cure shouldn't be a problem; and I think our dungeons are up to snuff."
"Dungeon talk already, Castiel? Things moving a bit fast over there, eh dear?"
"…Is it bad that you're the second witch that's made that kind of comment about us standing together?"
"No, just delightfully ironic. Now, how would you feel about helping us sort through these books?"
"…Might as well. Cas? You know where best to put these?"
"…I can think of a few empty bookcases."
"Oh, and do you mind if I crash here for the night? It turns out magical transport over an ocean takes a lot out of me."
"…You teleported all the way from London to here?"
"Oh, goodness no. Never a good idea to try that long in one go unless absolutely necessary. I frog-hopped from there to here."
"…And can you move multiple people with this magical transport?"
"Don't worry Cas. A trip to New York in the morning shouldn't be a problem."
"Both I and our gas gauges thank you."
"I'm sure. Now, I believe we were supposed to be moving books, weren't we?"
"Go ahead, Harry. Remember to say what I told you."
"…Greetings, Master Goblin. May the blood of your enemies flow from your blade."
"…And may the gold of your enemies flow into your vault. What business have you with Gringotts today, human?"
"I wish to have a new set of Vault keys made, and remove the access permissions from the old set."
"Name on the Vaults?"
"Harry James Potter."
"…Very well. Follow me humans."
Once more unto the breach…
"Account Manager Bloodfist, Heir Potter is here. He desires a new set of Vault keys."
Bloodfist looked up from his paperwork and sneered. "Incompetent humans. I suppose you lost the old set?"
"No sir. I was never given them, and it is my belief they are in the possession of a man who would wish me harm."
"So you say. You will still have to pay for the new set, and prove you are who you say you are. Only then will we deactivate the old set. Please use this knife and bowl to procure a sample of blood."
Fifteen seconds later, Cas, Harry, and I were all staring down at the parchment.
Harry James Potter
Heir Apparent by Blood of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter
Heir Apparent by Magic of the Most Noble House of Black
Heir Apparent by Blood of the Most Ancient House of Peverell
Heir Apparent by Magic of Most Ancient House of Slytherin
Heir Apparent by Magic of Ancient House of Gaunt
Magical Ward of Prince Hadrian Hamish Howlfang
Magical Ward of Lord Sirius Orion Black
Magical Ward of Tom Marvolo Riddle, Junior
Marriage Contracted to Ginevra Molly Weasley by Albus Brian Dumbledore
The Boy-Who-Lived
"…Well, Shmebulok."
"Witcher? What does all this mean?"
Harry looked up at us with wide eyes. "Am I gonna have to get married?"
"Oh, I doubt that Harry. That contract was drawn up by someone who is most assuredly not your Magical Guardian; therefore, it might as well be used for kindling for all its worth. No, it's the other stuff on that page that worries me."
"Human? The other human has referred to you as Witcher; is this your name?"
"Yes, Account Manager Bloodfist, it is."
"…The presence of you and your party is requested by the Chairman of the Goblin Nation. Please follow me."
"May we take this parchment with us?"
"It is of no concern to me; do with it what you will. Come; the Chairman is waiting."
I muttered to myself as we walked. "Up the airy mountain, down the rushing glen. We dare not go a hunting, for fear of little men."
"You didn't answer, Witcher. What do all of those titles mean for Harry?"
"It means, aside from being stupid rich, he will potentially hold…" I did a mental tally, "…Twenty-three votes on the Wizengamot. Huh. That's even more than I do. Anywho, that's only if the Houses of Black and Slytherin can't produce an Heir by Blood for each line. Even then, he'll still hold at the very least thirteen votes."
"I'm assuming that's a lot of power."
"An astronomical amount, yes. By contrast, the two most powerful men on the Wizengamot right now, aside from me, are Dumbledore, with seven votes (five of which are illegal), and Lucius Malfoy at six (five of which are also illegal, but we might want to leave alone for the moment to keep him focused on Fumble-dore)."
"I expect that with that much power there will be expectations of his behavior, yes?"
"You could say that. Luckily, I have several aces up my sleeve to teach him. The real problem is who he was listed as the Magical Ward of."
"Yes, I'm afraid I didn't recognize any of those names aside from yours."
"Lord Sirius Orion Black is the man I firmly believe was listed as Harry's guardian in his parents' wills; whether or not we'll ever actually see those wills is another matter entirely. Dumbledore promptly had him thrown into prison on the charge of betraying Harry and his family; this document, plus some other information I've already passed along to my lawyer, should theoretically put paid to that."
"And Tom Marvolo Riddle, Junior?"
"The original name of Voldemort. And the original owner of the fragment of soul that Harry absorbed. Which is why Harry is now listed as the Heir for House Gaunt; old Tommy-boy was officially the last of the Gaunts. The fact that Voldemort was never able to claim the Lordship has something to do with his dissected soul; since Harry has a complete soul, he doesn't have that problem."
"I'm sorry, are we skipping over the fact where a Dark Lord has more authority over Harry than practically anyone else?"
"Let's put it this way, Cas: would you rather he be under the thumb of someone like the Headmaster of Hogwarts, the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and Supreme Mugwump of the ICW? Or merely tangentially connected to the currently dispossessed ghost of a former Dark Lord? Count your blessings, Castiel. Many, many worse things could have been on that parchment."
"…I'll take your word for it."
"Wait here, humans. The Chairman shall be with you shortly."
"Is there a protocol for dealing with the Chairman of a Goblin Nation?"
"Oh, you have no idea…"
"Once again, Blade-Dancer, you bring good business to the attention of Gringotts. You were correct in your suspicions as to the tainted object we spoke of before; it has been returned to the correct Vault, and a substantial fine has been levied against the original depositors."
"I thank you for your speed, Chairman Ragnok."
"Yes. Now, it has been made known to me that this young human is the Heir Potter, and that through a series of events he has been deprived of his heritage rights by one Albus Brian Dumbledore. Is this correct?"
Harry nodded. "Yes sir, Chairman Ragnok."
"And were you the one to bring this matter to the attention of Heir Potter, Blade-Dancer?"
"I was, Chairman."
"When Account Manager Bloodfist returns, we will have ascertained the damages, and thus the extent of the…" Ragnok's eyes glistened, "…fines we can impose upon the Dumbledore Vault."
"We eagerly await then, Chairman."
"So do I. In the meantime, I should very much like to know the story of how the angel of your party has become the only one I have ever seen to successfully wield a wand."
I swiveled to look at Cas. "Really? You didn't tell me?"
"You didn't ask."
"Well, not only am I asking now, but so is He! Spill!"
"…The man at the shop, Ollivander, said he suspected it was because I had only one soul residing in my body. If I still had my human host, no wand would have matched both of us simultaneously. But since I do not, he was able to produce a suitable match."
"Gringotts grants you permission to draw your wand, angel, if you would be so kind as to let us see it."
Slowly, Cas let his wand slide out of his left-hand sleeve, turning it horizontal to avoid any appearance of ill-intent.
"…The wood appears to be aspen. And the core would be unicorn hair, I suspect?"
"No, Chairman. Phoenix feather."
"Fascinating. In payment of this knowledge, I would recommend to you the history of a group known as the Silver Spears, famous for accepting only the owners of aspen wands."
Cas bowed, and replaced his wand in his sleeve. "I thank you, Chairman."
The door at the end of the room swung open.
"Bloodfist! What is the final report on the dealings of one Albus Brian Dumbledore with the House of Potter?"
Bloodfist grinned toothily. "Terrible, Chairman. He has siphoned funds from both the main Vault and the Trust Vault; he has not granted access to the latter to Heir Potter as should have been done; he has negotiated an illegal marriage contract and bride price in Heir Potter's name with House Weasley; and he has sold off House Potter property illegally and kept the proceeds for himself."
"Excellent! After the appropriate punishments for these infractions, and the return of appropriate funds to House Potter, how much money is House Dumbledore left with?"
"Less than a thousand Galleons, Chairman."
"And that, Harry, is why you never swindle goblins."
"Yes sir."
"Bloodfist! Have you the new set of keys for Heir Potter?"
"Yes Chairman. Here is the Trust Vault key, Heir Potter. You shall receive the key to the Main Potter Vault upon reaching your majority and the assumption of your Lordships. Understood?"
"Yes sir."
"That is all, Chairman."
Ragnok stood. "Do the Houses of Howlfang, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Black, Potter, Peverell, or Gaunt have any further business with the Goblin Nation?"
"No, Chairman."
"Does the Blade-Dancer have any further business to bring to the attention of the Goblin Nation?"
"No Chairman."
"Then this meeting is concluded. May the faces of your enemies be trampled under your feet."
"…And may the nightmares of your enemies be filled with your victories."
"Another new one! Excellent! Keep up the work."
"Of course."
"Back to the bunker, then?"
"Yes, I believe that would be wise. I promised Dudley and Harry we would have a Scooby-Doo marathon; and I for one intend to enjoy Jody's popcorn."
"Well said. Right! Hold on!"
"…That was…not as unpleasant as the last time."
"Oi, I am still getting the hang of this! Just be thankful I'm not using Apparition; dreadfully unpleasant to everyone except the person doing the Apparating."
"…I'll remember that."
"Can I go now, Uncle Cas?"
"Of course. Remember; no snacking until after lunch."
"Okay!"
"…Good kid."
"Yes. He and Dudley have been through a lot; its nice to see them get a chance to relax."
"Well, I've got to be heading back to London for the night; take care while I'm gone. See what you can find on that group Ragnok mentioned; if I'm not familiar with them, maybe the Men of Letters were."
"Understood."
"And no practicing magic while I'm gone! At least not without Rowena; stick to Potions if you can. Those are easier to fix if they go wrong."
"When will you be back?"
"If all goes well, not until tomorrow morning. Late. Don't wait for me."
"I'll get that werewolf cure put together for when you get back. Are you sure it will work? After all, Lupin is a magical werewolf."
"No idea. That's why we're doing this now; I'd rather have as long as possible to work on a solution before the full moon. Goodnight, Cas."
"Goodnight, Witcher."
