Disclaimer: I own nothing; it all belongs to J.K.Rowling. I'm just borrowing the characters to play with for a while. This is for pleasure only, no profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.


CHAPTER FIVE – Connecting

Harry quickly looked at the bottom to see just who it was that wrote to him, and reunited him with Hedwig. It was signed 'N. Tonks.' Harry thought it must have been hard for her to even write that 'N.' He decided to see what she had to say.

Dear Harry,

I hear that you don't want contact from any wizards or witches, so do not fear I will not bother you again if you so wish. First I knew you would want to see Hedwig again. She has been a loyal friend to you, and even did me a few favors over the years. When you were incarcerated (God I'm sorry kid, I don't even know how I should refer to what I consider a travesty of justice equaled only by perhaps Sirius's lack of trial), well when you were gone, she went to Remus and he took good care of her. When Remus was killed, she came to me, and I was only too happy to help her out. You've got a great owl here. She's been missing you I could tell.

I would say I'm sorry, and I am, but I don't deserve your consideration. And we don't deserve your help. But I'll be honest with you, from my little understanding of human psychology, completely distancing yourself from humans, is a beginning sign of depression. And I fear it will turn into a hatred of wizards and witches. And you're right, you deserve to live the life your parents wanted for you. I just wish you can temper yourself with some joy and happiness again. Anything you need from me, I will give you. After Sirius and Remus, I feel I can claim dibs as your closest honorary next of kin, and that means being there if you need anything ever. I screwed up a decade believing what I'd been told and living with the whole out of sight and out of mind attitude. I would like to see you, and if you so wish I am willing to submit any sorts of oaths of confidentiality or honor, hell I'll give you a submissive Witch's Oath if you want. Just don't let the incompetence of the rest of humanity keep you from having your own happiness. I'm not saying you should forgive any of the wizards and witches you've met, I just think you'd be happier if you could meet new wizards and witches and be open and willing to share with them. You know what I am. If we truly have a clean slate just tell me what face you'd rather see. Heck I can be your mum if you want, but I might need to review my psychology for that one.

Sincerely,

N. Tonks

Harry chuckled a little at the thought of Tonks turning into his mom. He had already decided he was going to see her. A second person aware of where Harry stood and informing the rest to leave him alone was going to be a good thing. And he'd like to thank her for taking care of Hedwig. Not to mention Harry was curious how he might respond to her. He felt a detachment to all other wizards and witches and did not care to see them. But even he was aware he still held some base instinctual lust. He didn't think he would care to see Tonks regularly but he was curious if he was going to get angry with her. Dumbledore is somewhat naturally infuriating so he was a bad barometer to judge how he would react to people. He had no fear or worry about meeting with Tonks but it would be a necessary tedious chore. Even he was a bit anxious to see what would happen.

Harry wrote her back.

Dear Tonks,

I'm impressed you signed your note with an 'N'. Considering how much you liked your first name last time I saw you, that must have been trying for you. I will meet with you, if for nothing else than to assure I am doing fine and am happy. You're correct I don't particularly want to see or hear from anyone, but I was hoping a visit from me and you could better pass along that information to help prevent any future attempts to contact me. I haven't yet set up anti-owl wards where I'm making my new home so Hedwig was able to find me (although with her I don't think they would have stopped her), but I fear if many other owls tried they would not be able to make the trip. Hedwig barely made it to my shoulder and passed out against my face. It was quite heartwarming to know she's been there for me.

In my ideal world, you would all forget I ever existed, but I know that's simply not possible. I have some business to do in Diagon Alley tomorrow among other places. Perhaps we could meet up around noon in front of Gringotts? I'll bring some lunch, so we can have some privacy and talk. If you can't make it, I'll find you sometime soon.

Sincerely,

Harry

P.S. – Please don't look like my mum. I have enough issues as it is.

Harry sealed the note and turned into his phoenix form. He grabbed the note in his talon and fire-flashed his way to Grimmauld Place. He was glad his gut was right, and sure enough it seemed Tonks had made this her home once Sirius's will had been read, and Remus booted the Order from it. He dropped the note in front of Tonks, saw she had a deeply saddened look on her face, and sang out a few trills. She didn't appear any happier, but perhaps a bit bittersweet. He fire-flashed back to his new home.

Harry met back up with Archimedes and Dobby and they gave each other progress reports. Archimedes informed him the griffins seemed more receptive than he had even expected and were looking forward to sharing their own private island with a variety of magical creatures. They agreed that the presence of wizards would be best left up to Archimedes' brother, as they shared a similar opinion of humanity that Harry had. Dobby had cleaned up several of the bedrooms, and on Harry's insistence had claimed the second largest one as his own. It was right next door to what was clearly the master bedroom that was going to be Harry's. The room they designated the kitchen had been cleaned, and cooling charmed cabinets had been set-up by Dobby. Dobby apparently had tried to use his house-elf magic and pop all the way to a house elf friendly store to pick up some food and groceries, but it had completely tired him out. He managed to pop back to the sanctuary and then needed a nap. He asked if they could come up with a better system for transportation. He could pop if he needed to, but it wasn't a very good idea considering how taxing it is on him. They had already decided the portals were going to be priority and Dobby would be able to use those freely.

Harry offered to get them a muggle meal for dinner tonight and they could plan where to put the portals. Harry fire-flashed into London and picked up a pizza for them. He was curious to see how his two friends at home would respond to it. He really liked the idea that that was his home. He had a home now. And he had a great friend in Dobby and two brothers now in Archimedes and Fawkes.

Archimedes was in his human form and found pizza was not a taste he was particularly fond of. Dobby on the other hand thought it was wonderful. In their discussions, Dobby suggested an ideal location for a portal. One of the properties Harry now owned was the Shrieking Shack. A location they could control right near Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, and the Forbidden Forest. Harry informed them he was going to talk with Ragnok tomorrow about spreading the word, and suggestions for where to put portals. He was also going to meet up with Tonks. Archimedes and Dobby were a bit surprised that Harry was visiting with a witch so soon. Both seemed to think Harry was more forgiving than he let on or perhaps wanted to be, but neither Dobby nor Archimedes was going to try and push Harry to either befriend more wizards or avoid them as much as possible. His interaction with others was his business, and they knew that they could provide him all the grounding, caring, and trust through just creatures if he never again talked to any wizards.

Archimedes went back into the forest as apparently the stone floor isn't as soft as the foliage in the surrounding areas. Dobby wished Harry a good night and Harry doubled checked his necessary spells for the portals. He thought it might be better to use a wand, so he went in search through some of the heirlooms. He found a red stained cherry wand that really seemed to like Harry's touch and gave it a few practice twirls. Golden sparks shot out and turned into miniature griffins and phoenixes of light. Yeah this was going to be a real good wand. He briefly wondered if his first wand had been snapped as is usual with convicted criminals, or perhaps it represented to useful a tool in a duel with Voldemort. He might have liked having it again, but it wouldn't be worth the trouble of conversing again with Albus.

The next morning Harry cast a portal next to a large tree just east of the castle. This one didn't need to have the Wizard notice-me-not charms or repelling wards he was going to put on all the others. He thought he might need to put a few more portals around the island, at the very least one in one of the larger lakes for aquatic life forms. But he would put those off until later, as he figured he might be modifying them a bit once they saw how they could be used most effectively.

He informed Dobby and Archimedes where he was going and left for a muggle delicatessen. He got some quick sandwiches, a couple bags of crisps, and some bottled water and sodas. When no one was looking he shrunk them all and put preservation charms on them and stuffed them in his pocket. He arrived at Gringotts and before he could say anything Griphook smiled and exclaimed "Welcome back. You are looking quite well."

Harry smiled. "Thank you Griphook. I was wondering if Ragnok had some time to speak with me. Perhaps you could join us if it's okay with him."

Griphook began leading him back to Ragnok's office and said "I would be delighted if I could help you in any way." He knocked the same special pattern on his door and ushered him in.

Harry bowed and began in Gobbledegook. "Greetings Ragnok. If you have time I was hoping to discuss some things with you and Griphook as well, if you don't mind."

Ragnok smiled and responded in English. "Welcome to you to Harry. My door is always open to you. Griphook may join us certainly. How goes your personal project?"

"Wonderfully. The amount of progress already should astound you." Harry said with a smile.

"Really? After just a day? So where are you at now, and what can we do to help?" Ragnok asked.

"Well, I haven't actually completely toured the whole island, but we are set to open our doors to any in need. I installed the first portal to what I'm dubbing as 'Sanctuary' to facilitate travel to the island."

"Great Gulgameth, you do work fast don't you?"

"Well, the biggest assistance was that it seems the only real intelligent creatures already on the island were a few dozen griffins. I managed to gain the leader of sorts as a brother, and he's going to be acting as an unofficial ambassador to welcome beings to the island, and designate areas to specific species if they wish."

Griphook and Ragnok both had shocked eyes and were silent for a second. Ragnok caught himself first and said "You took over some griffin's home and they're willingly accepting this? How on earth did you find such an island and where is it, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Well I guess you might be able to put it that way, but the griffins were actually quite welcoming to the idea. It seems they sensed something like this coming in the magic. As to where it is…well, can you guys keep a secret?"

Griphook responded. "Absolutely, Harry. Nothing you say will leave this room if you wish."

"Alright. Well let's just say, Atlantis isn't as far down at the bottom of the ocean as some people seem to think." Harry said with a playful smirk.

Ragnok just snorted and had to cover his mouth. "I hope you will allow me to visit some time. I'd be very interested to just feel the magic around that place."

"Absolutely Ragnok. Actually one of the things I wanted to talk to you about was to first ask that you spread the word in whatever form you had offered to. And secondly determine where the best places are to put in portals so that beings and creatures can get to them easily. I noticed I own the Shrieking Shack and thought that would be a good location to start. But I wondered if it would be worthwhile, if you wanted to setup a portal at Gringotts. Goblins will always be welcome there, but I didn't know how attractive it might be seeing as there's not a lot of profits to be made there."

Ragnok smiled victoriously. "We goblins certainly appreciate our gold, but there is a bit more than just that to us. I'd be honored to host a portal here. It would be quite easy to secure and control access and offer a quick outlet to the Alley as well."

Griphook added "I know I would love to see Sanctuary. Are there any guidelines governing which species to admit or deny? For example, vampires and werewolves are both very wizard-like in their existences, and I wouldn't want to impose on the rest of the inhabitants there."

Harry shook his head. "I'd really prefer as few restrictions as possible. Werewolves can be normal wizards most of the time, but they are just as persecuted as the rest of the creatures. I think we should allow any that are willing to abide by the general rules of Sanctuary. Though a ready supply of Wolfsbane would be a good idea. Perhaps even a secrecy charm on the portals to prevent their discussion outside of the island."

Ragnok added "I think this sounds more and more like a private utopia. And it should be safe. We won't be able to keep its existence quiet for very long I suspect though. Wizards will notice them missing."

Harry agreed. "Yeah, I realize that. I'm hoping this being a viable alternative may make some of them dissolve their alliances with the opposing factions in the wizarding war and it will be obvious then. I was planning to approach some of the giants in the next few weeks, and I believe most of them have allied with Voldemort. The longer we can maintain secrecy about it and easily regulate the portals the safer it will be. Once we get it established, it will make it a tantalizing target to both sides. But by then it would be madness if either were foolish enough to attack."

"Even if you were not there, there are many fierce creatures that would band together to protect and preserve their homes. I hope you are prepared for what you've undertaken here." Ragnok said. "I think you will get a very large immediate response from many species. If word were spread that it was Atlantis, it would be even worse." He finished with a chuckle.

"I think we should be okay, simply because we'll all have the same mindset about wanting Sanctuary to be a safe haven and home. But anyways, I'm meeting with a witch, hmm I almost called her a friend. Still unsure how I feel about humanity. Sorry, I'm meeting with a witch in about fifteen minutes. Shall I setup the initial portal somewhere quickly here? It acts as just a sort of doorway you walk through and end up on the island. Wizard Notice-me-Not charms, repelling wards, and I think that secrecy charm for now will be the main additional spells. Or would you prefer me coming back once you have a designated area?"

"Why don't you come back later and do it. We'll have a special room designated and prepared, and perhaps you could give me and Griphook a brief tour of the island after you make the portal?" Ragnok asked with a smile.

Harry nodded. "Sure, sounds like a plan."

Griphook added, "Giving us a little time also may allow us to come up with more spells to put on the portal if we can think of any necessary or useful other ones."

"Well gentlemen, or gentlegoblins if you prefer, it's been a pleasure. I'll come on by after meeting with Tonks, and I think I may setup the portal at the Shrieking Shack before returning as well. Apparently the distance to 'pop' for Dobby is such that it tires him out and that will make for a useful exit point even if we don't make that one known initially."

"Good afternoon Harry." Ragnok said and Griphook led Harry back out into the foyer.

Harry walked out of Gringotts and spotted a young looking girl with pink hair sitting on the steps. "Hello Tonks."