Chapter 3
It was an office.
A plain office. A little disappointing after the many halls and turns. Just one modern office, a couple windows, one desk and three chairs facing it. No massive gold chair or platinum etched desk, noting that screamed wealth. Just a wooden desk and a bit of tasteful art on the walls.
If it wasn't for the goblin already sitting at the desk one might think it was a human bank office.
"Mr Harry Potter, Heir to the Potter, Black, and Peverell. Please take a seat" the goblin indicated to the chairs. Harry took the middle chair and placed his hands on his lap in an effort not to fidget out of nervousness.
"My name is Kel StrongTooth. I will be blunt. I have been waiting for your letter since your eleventh birthday pertaining to your family accounts. Now we here at Gringotts have sent you multiple letters over the last three years and I myself would like to know, Are you intentionally insulting us by not answering? Or do you simply think it's funny to let your family's wealth stall and squander?" Strongtooth's voice had been slowly rising during his rant.
Harry wanted to disappear, to Shrink into the chair and vanish.
"I will not accept that your pygmy puff ate your homework as an excuse. You are now an adult and your magical guardian should have explained your inheritance long before you went to Hogwarts, now tell me why you haven't answered any summons." the rather angry goblin had slowly been going a bit red in the face as he waited for a response.
I'm an adult? Inheritance? Family accounts? As in multiple? Black like Sirius? Peverell?
What's going on? So much new information at once Harry was struggling to sort it, to make any sort of sense of it.
Strongtooth was getting impatient. Tapping his fingers on the desk waiting for the raven haired human to come up with a reply. The banking goblin opened his mouth about to grill Harry once more when a simple question took all the wind out of his sails in one fell swoop.
"Sir, what's a magical guardian?"
Silence filled the room, only the ticking of the bland clock on the wall made any sound for almost a full minute. Strongtooth tilted his head to the side trying to ascertain whether the human in front of him was serious. He had a whole speech prepared, he was gonna rip the human limb from limb. Verbally of course. Now however a simple question made him rethink it all.
Strongtooth took a calming breath before starting at a much quieter level "Heir potter, do you not know what or who your magical guardian is?"
A meek "no sir" was the reply. Again silence, but this time the goblin wasn't staring at Harry, instead his eyes were almost bouncing around in their sockets trying to connect some kind of invisible dots.
Kel Strongtooth practically jumped off his seating, the chair falling to the floor causing Harry to jump and grip his knees, shutting his eyes almost waiting for a physical blow to come. None came, instead the office door was ripped open and Strongtooth yelled something in his native tongue into the hall. Slamming the door the goblin reapproached his desk, reached into a bottom drawer and pulled out some parchment. Sliding the paper towards Harry "sign this" he commanded
"Um it's blank" Harry replied dumbly but pulled it towards him and grabbed the quill off the desk.
"Yes, it's blank. I need your signature to match or override any on file. This will also double check that you are indeed Harry James Potter"
Harry signed the paper and handed it back. "Sir, I don't know what's going on. I came to take money from my vault and now.."
"It's quite obvious you don't know what's going on, and if you give me a moment we shall get to the bottom of this" The recently signed paper was placed back in the drawer and immediately another shot out and Strongtooth snatched it, and took a moment to read it.
Strongtooth reached into a top drawer and pulled out a small vial of something clear.
"Drink this" he ordered and Harry compiled without question, mostly out of fear of the still angry goblin in front of him.
Once Harry drank the three drops of clear liquid, fog seemed to cover his vision, his brain felt like it turned to mush, like someone had turned off any and all ability to resist by squishing his brain into a tiny jar much too small for it.
"Alright I'm going to ask you questions and I want a simple yes or no for now. Are we clear?"
No resistance, not even a pause before he replied "Yes sir"
"You are Harry James Potter and are currently 14, correct?"
"Yes"
"Have you ever received any correspondence or replied to any forms from Gringotts?"
"No sir"
"We have already established you don't know what a magical guardian is, correct?"
"Yes sir"
"Then you don't know who your magical guardian is?"
"No sir"
"Have you been told anything about any of the Potter, Black, or Peverell inheritances?"
"No sir"
"Do you know how you became heir to the Black family?"
"No sir"
"Do you know how it is that you are considered an adult by magic even though you haven't reached the age of seventeen yet?"
"No"
"And finally, tell me all that lies within your vaults to your knowledge"
"I have stacks of galleons, sickles, and knuts."
"Do you know the total?"
"No"
Strongtooth seemed to pull another vial out of thin air and handed it to Harry "Drink" he commanded once again and Harry complied.
The moment the liquid seemed to hit his tongue it felt like someone pulled his brain from the much too small jar and was decompressing it. Almost like blowing it up like a balloon, one breath at a time trying to get it to its proper size. The moment Harry's brain felt properly sized the fog that seemed to cover his eyes was lifted and he instantly knew he could think for himself again.
"What was that?" Harry asked.
"In the future i'd suggest finding out what something is before you drink it, that was quite foolish of you. That was veritaserum, the most powerful truth potion known at this moment."
Harry turned red at his words. He's right. That was very dumb. I've no longer got anyone watching my back so i need to start thinking ahead and watching out for myself.
"Mr Strongtoooth sir?" Harry asked timidly, still nervous about the whole situation and his lack of understanding around it all. "What exactly is happening? Have I done something wrong?"
The aging goblin stood from his seat and walked around the desk and stopped in front of Harry. "First just Strongtooth will do fine. However even more important than that.." the goblin bent at the waist till he was in a deep bow making his body become a ninety degree angle. "I would like to apologize for my treatment of you when you first entered my office. I shouldn't have acted in anger thinking you intended to insult Gringotts, I should have gathered information first, and for that I'm sorry. It was a blunder on my part and you may ask anything of me in repayment for this insult."
Harry hadn't a clue what was going on. Here in front of him was a goblin bowed deep asking for forgiveness and even repayment. Everything Harry knew about goblins fell short. From Hermione, Ron, Hagrid, and even history class that he had managed to be awake for, not once had he ever heard of this. Goblins are supposed to be warriors, famed for their skills in blacksmithing, triumphs in wars, and unrelenting need for perfection in all aspects of whatever task they perform.
"Can you help me? I'm afraid i don't know what's going on" Harry spoke the words with a bit of a stutter but little did he know this was another question that would change everything.
Kel Strongtooth was shocked to say the least. This human boy, no young man in front of him could ask almost anything as repayment according to goblin tradition. Almost anything at all. From a new manager to punishment by pain, Strongtooth's wealth, or even his first born son. Harry could have even asked for Strontooth's head on a plate but instead he asked for help.
Help.
A Simple concept. To aid someone. Harry didn't specify in what, so Kel would help Harry until he asked him to stop, anything, no matter the cost as long as it was with in his power.
Kel Strongtooth stood up straight. "Help you, I shall Mr Potter." A grin overcame the goblin's face as he returned to his seat. "Now let's start. I'll start with information and see where else I can help after that." Reaching into the bottom drawer once more Strongtooth pulled out a bronze bell, ringing it softly and placing it back in the drawer. Not a moment later a knock on the door sounded and entered a much younger goblin who actually had hair and much fewer wrinkles. In his hands he carried a silver platter with a couple sandwiches and what appeared to be a teapot and two cups.
Once the tray was placed on the desk Strongtooth waved his hand in dismissal and without a word the young goblin excited the door just as fast as he entered.
Strongtooth took his time pouring the tea into the cups and separating them and the sandwiches onto plates allowing Harry to gather his thoughts. Sliding one plate with a cup of tea and sandwich towards Harry then grabbing his own and taking a sip of the still steaming tea.
"Now Mr Potter, where would you like to begin?" Strongtooth put down his cup and gave an almost evil grin.
Harry took a moment staring into the cup of tea in his hands. "Why have I never received any mail from Gringotts?"
The goblin frowned "Difficult questions first it seems. That at the moment can only speculate even though it should be one of two reasons. First, someone has placed a mail ward upon yourself either limiting who can send you letters or blocking them entirely, or second someone is continuously intercepting your mail. I believe it is most likely the first of the two because you never said that you received no mail at all, just none from gringotts. Therefore it's probably a ward, a limiter and redirection combined, someone is deciding what mail goes to you and where the rest goes. Probably your magical guardian."
Harry nodded along so far all had made sense to him and this brought it to Harry's next questions. "What is a magical guardian? And do you know who mine is?"
"The job of a magical guardian is quite simple. The magical guardian takes any responsibility in teaching its charge what it needs to know, family matters, finances, schooling, punishments, and making sure the child is well fed and taken care of. Should a magical child not have any magical family that can take responsibility one is then assigned to it, typically it's for muggleborns and it will be the head of house they enter in Hogwarts until they are of age. If a magical child is orphaned then it would fall to the family the child ends up with. You are a bit of a special case for two reasons." Strongtooth raised two fingers indicating the amount and with his other hand tapped each as he went.
"The first, you are a magical orphan but you were placed with non magical relatives, and the second, Albus Dumbledore claimed himself as your guardian."
This had Harry's full attention. "So I should be living with Dumbledore?"
"Not necessarily" Strongtooth steepled his hand and looked out the window of the office. "He can be your magical guardian and only check on you as needed. Muggleborns typically see their head of house once a month, once every two weeks, or sometimes weekly as needed depending on what needs to be taught or discussed. Considering you didn't even know what a magical guardian was until today id say he hasn't kept up any of his duties pertaining to it during your Hogwarts career" Strongtooth looked back at Harry "tell me, Has Dumbledore ever visited you at your relatives? Did he ever check in on you?"
"No, not once. Nobody has ever checked on me."
"Well it seems to be a good thing you're considered an adult, though it is in theory temporary." raising his hand to stop the raven haired teens obvious next questions. "The goblet of fire. Because you were chosen in a tournament that can only have adults participate, you are temporarily an adult until the tournament ends. Now with this window of time you can manage your family estate, perhaps set up a different magical guardian, or even find a family to adopt you when this status ends. You need not decide this moment, you have till the tournament is over before that needs to happen. For now let's move on to other topics."
Harry nodded dumbly "What's next then?"
"Let's start with the reason you're here, gold." Strongtooth reached in a drawer and pulled out some parchment and handed it to Harry "This is all you own from the Potters and Peverell's"
Harry didn't know what to make of most of it. Holdings. Percentages, names of companies he had never heard of. When his eyes reached the bottom the world felt like it spun out from under him. If it wasn't for the fact he was already sitting he probably would have fallen over.
I'm rich. Like actually filthy rich. I couldn't even count this high if I wanted to.
Properties? Like houses or something?
Shares in companies? Is that good?
Items of interest? What are those?
Heirlooms? Like family treasures?
Kel Strongtooth regarded the human he had just recently pledged to help in any way he could, he wasn't jumping for joy or showing any outward signs of greed, to him this a was unexpected but good. After all, didn't most humans want mountains of gold and to be wealthy? Once again Harry caught the goblin off guard with a simple question but this next one said much about the human teenager. AT first Strongtooth thought the human power hungry but the second half of it made everything clear.
"Heirlooms? Those things passed down in the family right? Does that mean there are paintings of family I can talk to?" The hope in Harry's eyes was so apparent you could almost manifest it into a physical object, and at that moment Strongtooth knew It wasn't riches or wealth the young man was searching for, he wasn't greedy or power hungry, he was searching for reason, a connection to the past to ground him, possibly a purpose to life.
"Heirlooms in the vault will almost always be jewelry, clothing, or weapons of the past, sometimes banners or objects of importance to the family. If you're looking for paintings you should try the properties Mr Potter"
Harry's stomach dropped when he heard the part about jewelry but the moment Strongtooth suggested the properties his eyes went back to the parchment. There was a list of about 10 properties but most had words like safehouse or vacation home beside them. Three stood out, the first was the cottage at Godric's hollow, but from what he was told the ministry had taken it as a monument. Maybe there was stuff inside? Or it was placed in a vault? The second was Potter manor. That sounded important. Thirdly was the one called Lilly's apt. Mums apartment maybe from before Godric's hollow? Harry made a mental note to check those three first but to also check all on the list.
"As you may be able to tell nothing has been done with the Potter and Preverell accounts because there has been no head of house in a while and your magical guardian didn't see fit to leave any instructions. We can do almost anything you want, keep in mind you're still in school and in the tournament so you won't have time to manage them or the investments."
"Can Gringotts manage them with directions? Can i leave this to you and trust you with it?"
Harry felt he was taking a chance but this goblin hadn't lied to him yet and had seemed to be honest, and also said he would help.
Strongtooth was rather shocked. He had been expecting the young potter heir to request another account manager especially after his insult earlier "I would be honored to regain my position as account manager for the potters and Peverell's"
Harry gave an uneasy smile "I honestly don't know anything about managing this so if you could help and possibly teach me when I've finished school id be very thankful" he finished gesturing to the parchment in his hands.
"Then together, heir Potter, we shall make the Potter and Peverell accounts flourish" Strongtooh gave a chuckle and had already started making mental plans of where to start when Harry interrupted his train of thought.
"Why do you keep calling it the Potter and Peverell accounts? Shouldn't they be separate?"
The goblin, happy to have his old position back and be able to actually act for the betterment of the accounts for the first time in thirteen years, smiled easily. The smile set Harry's stomach on a loop because the goblin was clearly happy but those sharp teeth and crooked smile looked very menacing.
"Well that's easy. The Peverell's were once very prominent over a thousand years ago. They ended up dying out but the final surviving member who was female married into the Potter family and somewhere along the way the head of house decided to merge the family accounts but keep the name to remember where they came from."
Kel Strontooth looked at the clock. "It's getting late but i have two more things to discuss and one to give you then I'll ask that you come make an appointment soon so we can decide on a direction to take your accounts, preferably soon, this weekend perhaps. You are an adult and can leave Hogwarts as you'd like after all."
"The first is how you came to be heir apparent for the blacks. The only information I was able to find is a will belonging to Sirius Black before he was sent to Azkaban stating all his belongings and titles are yours should he perish. However he was sent to prison and has since escaped.."
"He's innocent," Harry interrupted quickly. " He was framed and didn't get a trial. Peter Pettigrew was the secret keeper and betrayed my parents to Voldemort. He killed the muggles and framed Sirius."
Kel Strontoot's eyebrows shot up. "That's .. quite a claim. Can I look into the trial transcripts and then return to you? I can bring my findings to our next appointment and have suggestions as to how to proceed. Though it does explain why you would still be heir Black if he wasn't trying to kill you after all."
Harry now hopeful, nodded eagerly. He also made a mental note to write to Sirius about being heir black as soon as he had the chance.
"The second is once you are seventeen you'll have two seats on the wizengamot. The Potter one will be a sure thing, and if you're still the heir apparent for the Blacks then you'll have that one too. At the moment they're both empty but at the moment you can get a proxy for the Potter one"
Harry nodded along his head feeling heavy with all the information he had received just today.
The goblin reached in the top center drawer of his desk and pulled out a little silver ring and handed it to harry. "This is for whatever owl you choose as your personal one. It clips on the leg like a ring and will notify it when there is mail from us so we can always contact you"
"Finally before you part i have one piece of hopefully helpful advice. Ask your healer for a full check up and to see if she can remove the mail wards or find anything else. If not we can do it here on your next appointment but we goblins always come with a fee. Now is there anything else I can help you with before we depart for the day?"
M.A.
Fifty Galleons lie in a pouch in Harry's pocket as he knocked on Ollivanders shop door.
The day had been a whirlwind of emotions and knowledge and he was getting more exhausted by the hour. From being an adult to mail wards and account information and learning Dumbledore himself was his magical guardian but not actually doing his job.
The silver lining was that he could choose another, possibly get adopted or at least stay somewhere else and finally have his lifelong dream of being rid of the Dursleys come true.
But who would he pick? How would he pick? He would decide later for at the moment he couldn't stop the growing excitement.
This excitement was building like the pressure before a big quidditch game. Low in the pit of his stomach but slowly spreading throughout his body.
Ollivander opened the door and let Harry in. "I had been expecting you a bit earlier but I knew you'd come back before the day was up" closing and locking the door behind Harry he then led him to the front desk. On the desk lay a single open box containing a wand.
Harry knew it was his, even at a distance he could feel it.
"Cocobolo wood with a whisker of a magical white tiger wrapped in pure silver sitting exactly eleven and a quarter inches and it hums almost like it wishes to sing. The silver bled through in small spots, it was supposed to encase the whisker but it kept trying to show itself. If it wasn't for your blood as a conduit or more like an adhesive through alchemy.. Well, I dare say it's one of my finest creations, very tricky to assemble but here it is."
Harry tuned out Ollivander, his words no longer reaching him through the tunnel vision. All that mattered in that moment was the wand in the open box.
Dark almost black wood with veins of dark red ran the length of the wand, flecks of silver showed up like far away stars in the night sky. One string of silver circled the wand hilt to tip only three times over the total length, no ticker then line of ink from a quill.
Harry reached for his new wand unconsciously, he was still a couple feet away so Harry wasn't sure why he was reaching this early but something inside him compelled him.
The whole room started to vibrate, boxes and other objects started to shake and the oil lamps burned brighter and flickered with a passion. A warm breeze seemed to swirl around Harry, almost encouraging him.
Ollivander watched with rapt fascination, he had never seen this level of energy from a wand matching. I don't know if it's his own excitement or mine that's causing it. It's almost like the whole room is just as excited as he is.
The wand in question started to vibrate then shake before floating up halfway to meet Harry's hand. The moment the two touched the rest of the objects in the room went silent. A great pressure inside Harry released, like a giant ocean wave crashing against a cliff face attempting to break it.
This was it. This was the key to my freedom. The key from the Dursleys, from the tournament, from the other students, and from Voldemort himself. I just need to learn to use it. From now on I wont take anything lying down. I'll get stronger, until no one can force me to do anything. My life will be my own!
The room was silent for a moment before it was broken by the wand crafter "Wonderful, simply wonderful. That was a splendid display of connecting to a wand. Now a wand like that needs to be taken care of and not simply placed in a pocket. The custom wand and a wrist holder will be seventeen Galleons."
Harry didn't want to let go of his new wand just yet so he put the currency on the counter with his left hand then attached the wand holster. Finally he allowed the wand to leave his hand to be placed in the holster feeling the warmth of it along his forearm almost spreading through his body.
Oillivander smiled. "I'm sure we can expect great things from this wand and its castor"
A true genuine smile came over his face since, the first one since Sirius asked Harry to live with him months ago in the shrieking shack. "Thank you sir" Harry said sincerely before turning to leave.
"One more thing Mr Potter" Ollivander called before Harry reached the door. "I haven't sullied a wand as pretty as that with the ministry tracking charm, if you catch my meaning" The old wand crafter winked and Harry's grin got bigger on his face. "Thank you sir" And with that Harry headed back to the Leaky Cauldron to floo back to Madam Pomfrey's office.
M.A.
The fireplace in the office of the medical wing sprang to life with bright green flames and out flopped a messy haired teen, face planting straight onto the hard stone floor. A dramatic slow clap came from the only other occupant in the room followed by the unmistakable chuckle of the medical matron. "Well it seems you've inherited the Potter's ability with the floo. Both your father and grandfather did just about the same every time they traveled."
Harry picked himself up off the floor and brushed the soot off. "Well at least i can entertain you Madam Pomfrey'' he gave a lopsided grin before it vanished just as quickly as it showed up. Replaced by a serious face. Strongtooth's words came back to him and Harry took a deep breath. "Madam Pomfrey, can.. Can you do a full checkup on me? And check for possible mail wards?"
Poppy Pomfrey put on her medical persona. "Of course Mr Potter, let's get you on a bed"
Harry didn't argue for once, after all it was his request to get checked. Once he had the outer robes and his shoes off he laid on his usual bed in the corner of the ward the wand waving began. Harry could fully say he understood none of it, the waving patterns or the colors and their meanings went right over his head so he closed his eyes trying to keep his anxiety in check.
A few moments passed before Madam Pomfrey tapped her wand to a piece of parchment. It soon filled with magic ink detailing all the findings of the spellcasting. A small gasp was heard and Harry winced, he was pretty sure the reason for the gasp.
"Can you remove your shirt for me Mr Potter?" the medwitch asked in a soft voice.
"Not without a healer's oath" was his reply. Not a single pause before Madam Pomfrey had her wand in hand and offered the oath that magically stated confidentiality. As soon as the glow faded her wand was waved once more and the curtains around Harry's bed flew shut.
Harry unbuttoned his shirt and removed it keeping his eyes trained on the foot of the bed.
"The glamour too Mr Potter." She commanded in a soft voice.
Harry took a deep breath and let it out, as the breath left his lungs the glamor faded for the first time in years. He had kept up the glamour unconsciously since his first year. He had put a great many hours in his first month in Hogwarts trying to find it, then learn it to perfection to the point his magic would keep it up even if he was sleeping. The medwitch was the first to see him like this since his relatives.
On the bed lay a much to pale Harry potter, sunken eyes stared at the foot of the bed and each of his ribs were easily countable. The biggest eye catcher was the scars, not the one everyone knew on his forehead, but the rest of them. The ones that crisscrossed his body his upper body, chest and belly were marked all over with scars but his back had the worst of it. No patterns at all just scars of old wounds covering from his shoulders till they disappeared down his waistline.
"Oh Harry, Why didn't you come sooner?" the medwitch asked not expecting a reply.
"You'll be staying the night for sure to fix any old lasting bone damage with skeletal grow. I'm also prescribing a nutrient regimen for the next while to get you to a healthy point and if you're lucky it may help your eyes. I can't do much about the scars at this point, if they were fresh I would have a cream to help.. But yours are much too old for that. My scans showed signs of a mail ward some old compulsion potions and also a core binding spell. I've removed the mail wards, the compulsion potions had worn off long ago, however the core binder seemed to have been broken within the last two weeks."
Harry nodded along expecting most of this but the moment the medwitch mentioned a core binding spell his head snapped to meet hers "Core binding?"
"It's normal for young children to get their core bound till they reach between eight or ten so they don't hurt themselves with accidental magic. It normally fades with time or when someone becomes an adult it breaks itself. It's unusual that you still had one, and I don't know how, but it wasn't released. It was broken."
Harry thought fast. Nothing came to mind in the last couple weeks that might cause it. Did someone cast something while he was asleep? Was it before his fall down the stairs? After o maybe…
"The goblet of fire" Harry spoke out loud. "Only adults can participate, the goblins said magic sees me as an adult because of it."
"Madam Pomfrey nodded in response. "Yes, if the goblet somehow deemed you as an adult to magic itself, then the bindings would have broken on their own. But who cast the binding?"
The question hung in the air for a moment before the medwitch retrieved the proper potions and forced Harry to drink them and sent him to bed.
M.A.
It had taken Harry a long time to settle his mind before he could sleep. He spent a couple hours going through all the information he had learned that day and the changes like his wand and adult status. While doing so he couldn't sit still so he practiced using his new wrist holder, flicking his wrist to spring out his wand and time it to catch it perfectly. It seems like such a simple thing but the first few times the wand shot out and simply landed on his bed before he could even think to catch it.
Morning came fast. Harry did manage to get a few hours of sleep but was still up at 5. Madam Pomfrey did her weird thing and suddenly appeared when he woke and gave him a couple useful bits of information. The first was champions are exempt from classes and exams, the second was champions are allowed access to the library. Even the restricted section.
So Harry made up his mind at quarter after five in the morning November the seventh in a hospital bed. Today would be the start of taking control of his life. One step at a time, until only he could decide what happens to himself. Be it classes, people, powerful wizards, Voldemort, or even demons and gods. He would live his own life.
Even if he had to die to do it.