Chapter Four
After and Lupin and Tonks forced a pepper-up potion down their throats, the pair went upstairs to dress. Harry went to his room to pick through what clothes he had left to put together an outfit. Hedwig, who had no clothes, went with Tonks into her room to get some clothes that fit her.
Naturally, he was done long before they were, and he went downstairs to wait with Lupin. The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Harry turned to Lupin with a grin.
"So…" he said slowly. "You and Tonks eh?" Lupin chuckled.
"I tried to talk her out of it, so she resorted to a very serious threat."
"What was that?" he asked with a frown. He hadn't thought of Tonks resorting to threats for anything.
"She said either I go out with her, or she would start pursuing you instead. Couldn't let that happen now could I?"
While Harry blushed and spluttered for a second time that day, Lupin's face took on a thoughtful look.
"Then again…" he said slowly. "I'm not sure she won't anyways."
A loud thud told Lupin that Harry had fainted, and he stood over him, scratching his head.
"I could have sworn that Sirius said that we didn't have to worry about a response like this…"
Half an hour later, a recovered Harry and an impatient Lupin were finally rewarded with the sounds of Tonks and Hedwig walking down the stairs. The second Hedwig came into view; Harry knew that it was a bad idea letting Tonks help her dress.
The first thing that came into view was the knee length leather boots that Hedwig was wearing, followed by a healthy length of thigh that disappeared under a short skirt. A toned stomach was revealed in the gap between the top of the skirt and the bottom of a very tight t shirt. .
"Umm… Tonks?" Harry asked staring at Hedwig. "Aren't we supposed to be staying hidden somewhat?"
Tonks huffed and her hair turned a brighter shade of pink.
"It's all I have that fits her!" she protested. "It's not my fault that she is the same size as the form I take to go clubbing in! When we go to Gringotts, we also need to stop and buy the two of you new clothes."
"Besides Master," said Hedwig giving a little twirl. "I kind of like it, and it looks like you like it too."
Harry blushed and fidgeted before Lupin slapped him in the back.
"Don't worry about it. Sirius would be proud of you." He said with a mischievous grin on his face. "Just sixteen and you already have a girl calling you master."
"Moony!" Harry exclaimed, flushing a brighter red. "Will you shut up?!" Lupin and Tonks laughed while Hedwig just looked confused.
"Come on." Tonks said. "We can tease each other more at Hogwarts. It's time we get going."
Aiming her wand at the fireplace, she light it with a flick.
"Are you sure that Hedwig can use the floo?" Harry asked,
"Yeah." Answered Tonks with a cheery smile. "Anyone can use it, even muggles, if you know how and have floo powder."
Hedwig looked at the floo powder pot with disdain.
"Can't we just fly there somehow?" she asked with a nervous quiver in her voice.
"Sorry Hedwig." Lupin said kindly. "I know that you're still geared for life in the air, but until we know more about why you have changed… Harry is right. We need to try and keep a low profile. Landing in the middle of Diagon Alley on broomsticks will attract a little too much attention. Hmm…. Now that I think about it…"
He walked around Harry slowly, muttering under his breath.
"You need to be disguised a little Harry." He said slowly. "Tonks, think you could do something about that?"
Tonks smiled widely and whipped out her wand again.
"I thought you would never ask Moony." She said happily. "Now hold still Harry…. Let's see what we can do about you…"
Two minutes later, Harry had white hair to match Hedwig's, and was just long enough to cover his scar. His glasses had a powerful disillusion charm placed on them, and only someone looking carefully could see the hazy outline on his face. Looking into a mirror that Tonks conjured, Harry was surprised that with just those two changes, he could barely recognize himself.
"I think you have a calling in life Tonks." He said impressed by her work.
"Well, when you make a new face every day," she replied twirling her wand between her fingers. "You get to be skilled at fixing up other people's faces."
Suddenly Tonks' height shifted to match Harry's, while her hair grew longer and turned the same shade of white as Hedwig's.
"There!" she said happily. "Now the three of us are siblings from France being escorted around Diagon Alley by our loving Uncle Remus Lupin for a shopping trip."
Hedwig grinned widely and rubbed her head on her "Uncle's" arm. Lupin decided that someone really needed to sit down and teach her about how to show human emotions once they got to Hogwarts. Except kissing. She seemed to have that one down.
"Great!" Harry said looking at the three of them in the mirror before it vanished. "So with that taken care of, I guess we can get going now?"
Lupin nodded, but Hedwig still looked nervous.
"Ummm…" Hedwig said slowly. "Maybe one of you should go before me…"
"I'll do it!" Tonks called out, grabbing a pinch of floo powder and tossed it into the fire, which roared green. "Just do everything that I do." She told Hedwig.
"Ok."
Tonks stepped into the fire calling out "Diagon Alley!", tripped, and vanished into the roar of flames face first. Lupin winced.
"Ooo…" he said with a chuckle. "That's going to hurt… OK, Hedwig, how about you do everything she did except the tripping part."
Hedwig nodded her head nervously, and tossed in a pinch like Tonks had and stepped in.
"Di-Di-Diagon Al-Alley!" she managed to cough out and vanished in the roar of green flames. Harry groaned and face palmed.
"What's wrong?" asked Lupin.
"It's just that the first time I used the floo, I coughed out the name too, and I ended up in Knockturn Alley."
Lupin paled.
"I think we need to get over there right away." Harry merely nodded.
~Birds of a Feather~
It took Harry, Lupin, and Tonks twenty minutes to track down Hedwig, though in the end it turned out they worried for nothing. She had only come out of a fireplace a further down Diagon Alley, and had wandered around till she had found the Owl Emporium. That's where Harry found her having what looked like a one sided conversation with a Tiger Owl. He sat there watching her for a few minutes, trying to decide if people were looking at her more for what she was wearing or her conversation with the owl, before speaking up.
"Can you really understand what its saying?" he asked, getting a bunch of dirty looks from the other males who had gathered.
Hedwig turned her head to look at him and smiles happily.
"Of course I do Master." She said. "His master is the shop owner. We used to talk all the time while I was here before I was bought and given to you Master."
"Er…" Harry said slowly, ignoring the muttering of the other guys as they walked away slowly after hearing her call him master. "What is he saying? And I do wish you would stop calling me master."
Hedwig gasped, and her hands shot to her mouth while the Tiger Owl hooted angrily at him.
"What?" asked a flabbergasted Harry. Hedwig glared at him in only the way she could while the Tiger Owl continued to hoot angrily.
"He says how dare you ask me to stop calling you master." She said angrily. She moved up and stood right in front of him. Harry had no doubt that if she was still an owl she would be nipping his ears and beating him with her wings. "That is like telling Hermione Granger to stop being a bookworm. To Tell Ronald Weasley to stop being a quidditch obsessed walking stomach. To tell Draco Malfoy to be nice to a half-blood Gryffindor. Not only do you just not do it, but it also can't be done. You are my owner, my master, and nothing in the Great Skies is going to change that!"
Harry, thoroughly ashamed of what he has said, nodded sheepishly.
"I'm sorry Hedwig." He said softly, still under the angry gaze of the Tiger Owl. "I guess I've let Hermione's rants about SPEW rub off on me. You're right, you are my…er… owl, and I very glad of that and wouldn't change that fact."
Hedwig smiled, and stretched up slightly to kiss his cheek softly.
"Don't forget it again Master." She said just as softly as her kiss.
"Come on." Harry said taking her hand. "Moony and Tonks are no doubt still looking for you." Hedwig blushed.
"I've never gotten lost before Master." She admitted.
Harry chuckles as Hedwig said goodbye to her friend then lead her out into Diagon Alley, where they were quickly spotted by a worried Lupin and Tonks. It took them longer to explain where Hedwig had ended up, and to explain where Harry had found her. Lupin was intrigued to learn that Hedwig could still talk to other owls, and made a mental note to pay Hogwarts' library an extended visit.
"Come on." He told the others. "We don't want to be out in the open too long, disguised or not. The quicker we get to Gringotts the better."
As they walked down Diagon Alley, the three white haired "siblings" attracted their fair share of attention, Hedwig and Tonks being the main reason. Meanwhile Hedwig stared at everything that was around her with the same fascination that Harry had had when he was first there. Then again, when they got to Gringotts, they all stopped and stared.
In front of the white marble steps leading up to the bank were four squads of heavily armed goblins. Backing up each of these was a fully armored troll, its armor glinting brightly in the sunlight.
"I don't believe it." Breathed Lupin. "They actually did it."
"Did what?" asked Harry, staring at the trolls. Unlike the one he had faced in his first year, there was no denying that these trolls were highly intelligent.
"They had threatened to close off Gringotts to either side of the war." Lupin answered still staring. "Only people who had legitimate business with the bank would be allowed to enter. Anyone else such as…well…. known Death Eaters"
"Or a known Order of the Phoenix Member." Tonks said softly.
"Or people with no reason to be at the bank will be allowed to enter." Lupin continued. "And any attempt to try and get in anyways will be dealt with… harshly."
As he spoke, one of the trolls shifted, revealing a line of pikes that had somehow been embedded into the marble. On the tip of each pike was an impaled head. Harry winced.
"I can see what you mean." Harry said. "So how do we get in?"
"You and Tonks will be fine because you have vaults." Lupin said. "And you can get Hedwig in by saying you wish to open a vault for her. It's the outer checkpoint you need to worry about. I am sure they won't turn away customers once you're inside. However, I can't go in. Not only am I well known member of the Order, I don't even have a vault, and they know damn well I am too poor to afford to open one. I'll have to wait out here in the shadows."
"You sure?" Harry asked. "We don't have to do this now. We can come back and do it after the war is over."
"No Harry." Lupin said firmly. "It needs to be done. We are not just here to visit, but to empty most if not all of it."
"Empty it?!" Harry exclaimed, attracting a few curious glances. "Why?"
"Two reasons." Tonks answered. "One, if You-Know-Who makes a move on the Goblin Nation, Gringotts can't withstand a dedicated attack from his entire army. Two, technically You-Know-Who is in control of the Ministry of Magic, even though he has one of his Death Eaters in as a puppet Minister. Once he finds out your still alive, he can order a freeze on all accounts. We have no guarantee that your accounts will be restored once the war is over."
"Why wouldn't they do that?" asked a confused Harry.
"That's not for me to explain." Lupin said calmly. "You'll need to talk to Dumbledore's painting for that."
Harry scowled but nodded his head.
"I wanted to talk to that things anyways about Sirius." He said grimly.
"Go on now." Lupin said. "We don't have all day. Keep him safe Tonks."
Harry looked away while Tonks gave Lupin and very passionate kiss.
"Ok, wish us luck." He said once they were ready.
"No need Harry." Lupin said with a chuckle. "You're a Potter. You make your own luck."
"I hear you Moony." Harry said with a chuckle. "Be careful yourself."
Taking Hedwig's hand on one hand and Tonks' hand in the other, Harry walked up the steps past the goblin guards, who stared at them nastily as they passed. Nearing the line of severed heads, Harry slowed and stared at two of them that were in front of the others. One had long blond hair, while the other had long unkempt black hair.
Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange.
It was Tonks nudging him in the back that kept Harry walking past the heads.
"How and when did that happen?" he hissed at Tonks.
"The goblins must have gotten Malfoy." She whispered back. "Bellatrix is the result of Snape's wand work."
"What?!" Harry said in shock, causing one of the trolls to look at them suspiciously. "How? When?"
"Later Harry." Tonks said softly. Harry nodded with a scowl and the trio walked up to the only goblin in front of the doors in a three piece suit.
"What is your business with Gringotts bank?" he asked the three of them sharply. Harry doubted that nothing would make the goblin happier than if they said 'nothing.'
"I am here to access my vault and to open a vault for my sister here." Harry said gesturing to Hedwig, who was being closely scrutinized by the goblin.
"Keys?" the goblin asked sharply, his tone indicating that they had best have them if they didn't want their heads on a pike. They quickly held up their keys, and the goblin examined them closely, and Harry was amused to see the goblin unable to hide his disappointed look when he told them everything looked to be in order.
"Very well." he said at last. "Go inside and speak to the Head Teller. He will help you further."
"Thank you." Harry said and waited for the doors to swing open, very much aware that they were still be scrutinized by the bank guards.
Once inside the bank, Harry was instantly struck by how much different the atmosphere was compared to the last time he was there. Gone was the small crowd of people usually waiting for an available teller. The tellers were still counting their money, but on most of them the jeweled hilt of a dagger or sword peeked out from under their suits. The few customers that were in the lobby looked extremely nervous.
"Come on." Tonks whispered, nudging Harry in the back. "We don't want to hesitate to long in here. It would look suspicious."
Harry reluctantly walked up to the Head Teller, his mind briefly going back to the first visit to Gringotts, and a similar walk to the Head Teller. They stood in front of his desk for a few minutes while they waited for the goblin to finish writing in a massive ledger.
"Yes?" the Head Teller asked at last, setting down his quill and looking up at them.
"We are here to access the Potter Family Vault as well as my own." Tonks answered him quickly.
"Keys." The goblin said simply, and the two of them placed their keys on the desk in front of him. After examining them, the goblin's eyes darted to Harry and gestured for him to come closer. When Harry did, the Head Teller reached out with a long finger and poked Harry in the forehead. He yelped when he felt all the charms hiding his identity fade away.
"There will be no concealing your identity here Mr. Potter." He said sternly. "It will not be tolerated. We also must ask you to assume your true form Miss Tonks. Be warned that we will know if you haven't."
Tonks paled and fidgeted badly before nodding, muttering under her breath.
Taking a step back, she closed her eyes and her shape started to change. The first thing that changed was her hair that turned midnight black, and grew to just over the top of her breasts. They too changed, growing just enough that her shirt strained itself noticeably. Her body lengthened, adding to her height till she was about an inch taller than him, though he knew that would change in a year or so. The heart-shaped face stayed the same, though her nose shifted slightly to resemble Sirius's. When she opened her eyes, they were the same grey that all Black's seemed to have. All in all, Harry thought she looked great.
"Damn Tonks." He said appreciatively. "Moony is a lucky guy."
"Shut it Potter." She growled out. "The only three people to see this form till now were my parents and Madam Pomfrey. Moony wasn't going to see this till our wedding night!"
"I promise not to tell." Harry said quickly.
"You better not." She told him before addressing the Head Teller. "Happy?"
"Almost." He replied. "Who… or what, is your white haired friend here for?"
"Er…" Harry said slowly. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well she clearly isn't fully human." The Head Teller said in a tone that suggested he thought Harry was crazy. "A transfigured animal perhaps?"
"Hey!" Hedwig protested. "I am NOT transfigured!"
"She… er… is my owl." Harry explained with a red face and much shifting of his feet. "She turned into a human for some reason and hasn't changed back."
"Ah." The Head Teller said simply. He pulled out a sheet of parchment and a red quill that Harry instantly recognized as a blood quill.
"I will need you to sign your full name on this parchment." He told Harry, who nodded and quickly did it to get the expected accompanying pain over with.
Harry James Potter
The blood shined on the page for a few seconds before it started spreading across the surface in a language that Harry didn't recognize. He briefly wondered where all the extra blood came from.
"Most interesting…" muttered the head Teller as he read the parchment. "Ah… that will make the future interesting indeed…."
"Sir?" asked Harry. The last time someone had spoken like that he had found out her had Voldemort's wand brother. The goblin just chuckled.
"This is just a record of your holdings. I must admit that you have far more then what I had heard about. I do believe you will have a good time exploring your Family Vault. Has anyone informed you that Lord Sirius Black left you everything?"
"Yes." Harry replied, his heart feeling heavy suddenly. "Professor Albus Dumbledore did."
"Including the title of Lord Black?" Harry stared at the goblin, who was doing his best impersonation of someone who was talking to a five year old.
"He what?" Harry asked, not helping the Head Teller's current impression of him.
"You are the new Lord Black." The goblin said simply.
"Bloody hell…" Tonks said staring at Harry with a strange look in her eyes.
The Head Teller was yelling to another goblin in gobbledygook, who said something quickly in return and rushed off behind a pair of goblin sized marble doors.
"If you would wait a few seconds," the Head Teller told them. "We will sort all of this out."
A minute later, a goblin came over with two small boxes.
"Excellent." The Head teller said, clapping his hands together twice. Quite a few goblins stopped their work to turn around and watch them.
"These are the Head of House rings for House Potter and House Black. One you put them on, the family magic will recognize you as the House Lord."
"That's all I need to do?" Harry asked, eyeing the two boxes.
"Your Ministry would normally insist upon a formal event, along with meaningless oaths to family and whatnot. The family magic already ensures family loyalty, so we can easily forgo that useless drabble."
Harry nodded and opened up the first box. Inside was the Potter Family ring. He wasn't surprised at all to see that the stone was Gryffindor red. The crest was a phoenix with it fiery wings outstretched over a blue and yellow cheveron kite shield. He eased it out of the box, noting the weight of the heavy gold ring. Sliding it on, he was dismayed at how loose it was.
"Umm… it doesn't fit…" he started to say before the ring flashed brightly and he felt it shrink to fit his finger.
"You were saying Lord Potter?" the Head Teller said with a toothy grin.
"Nothing." Said a slightly red faced Harry.
He picked up the other ring box and flipped open the lip to reveal the Black Family ring. While the Potter Family ring was made of gold, the Black Family ring was constructed from pure silver. The stone was a bright emerald, while the crest featured a grim holding a small scroll with the family motto on it.
'I'm going to have to change the meaning of that.' Harry thought as he lifted the ring out of box and slipped it onto the middle finger of his right hand. A flash of light and the resized itself to fit.
"Very good Lord Potter-Black." The Head Teller said in an almost cheerful voice. "I should inform you that when the late Lord Sirius Black named you his heir, the contents of the Black Family vault were added to the Potter vault. Is that acceptable?"
"Umm…" Harry stammered, his mind one again struggling to keep up with the rapid changes of events in the past (for him) 48 hours. "Yes. I guess so." He said at last.
"Very well." the Head Teller said. "I normally would have assigned Griphook to be your guide again, but I am sorry to say he has gone missing. A Senior Cart Driver will have to do I'm afraid. He will meet you by the entrance to the tunnels. Have a prosperous day."
Harry nodded numbly and started walking towards the marble doors in the back, it wasn't long however till he realized that Tonks wasn't following him but was still standing at the Head Teller's desk looking at him strangely.
"What's wrong Tonks?" he asked. Tonks's lip quivered a few times before she suddenly flung herself on her hands and knees at a very shocked Harry's feet.
"Lord Potter-Black." She said softly with a waver in her voice. "On behalf of my mother, Andromeda, and myself, respectfully beg you to bring us back into the Black family!"
Harry froze, remembering the time Sirius showed him the Black Family Tree… and the burned off names on it. He may not know much in the magical world, but even he knew what Tonks was asking for, and what it meant.
"You were completely disowned?" he asked in a whisper of disbelief. In the magical world, being removed from your family's tree was bad enough. But to be completely disowned… not only did the disowned lose the family name, they also lost access to any money they might have associated with said family. If the family was old enough to have developed it, they also lost their ability to connect to the family magic. To the eyes of magical Britain, Andromeda had no name and no rights. Tonks was nothing more than a bastard. How she had gotten as far as she had in magical Britain's ultra conservative society was a mystery to Harry.
"yes." She said softly, tears dripping onto the white floor of the bank.
"Why in Merlin's name didn't Sirius let you back in?" Harry asked.
"Because Lord Potter-Black." Said an ancient looking goblin who had been standing by the doors. "Lord Sirius Black never had the chance to come down and claim the Head of House ring. He may have been the head of the Black family, but his actual control was limited without the ring."
To Harry, the answer was simple.
"What do I need to say?" he asked in a tone that made Tonks look up hopefully. She watched as his back straitened and his shoulders squared, right before her eyes he transformed into a Lord of an ancient and noble house. The old goblin gestured for Harry to bend down and whispered into his ear. Harry nodded and stood back up.
"I, Harry James Potter-Black, head of the Black Family, hereby right a grave wrong, and bring back into the fold Andromeda Tonks nee Black and her offspring Nymphadora Tonks (Tonks winced at this part), restoring their name, magic, and honor, so mote it be."
As he finished speaking, his ring flashed brightly, and from Tonks's right hand there was another flash, and smaller, more feminine version of the ring appeared. Harry knew somehow that a similar ring had appeared on Andromeda's hand.
"Thank you my lord!" Tonks squealed with delight after pouncing him, making Harry cringe.
"I really hope that you won't be calling me lord for the rest of my life." Tonks blushed and quickly let Harry go, nodding her head.
"Well if that is all," the old goblin said "I am supposed to take you down to the Potter Family Vault and Miss Tonks's Vault."
"Thank you." Harry said with a smile on his face. "I believe we are ready to go now."
"Excellent. If you and your party would follow me?"
Taking Hedwig's hand into his own, Harry followed the old goblin to the doors down to the tunnels, a widely grinning Tonks brining up the rear.
Birds of a Feather
The red orb, having left Surry far behind, continued its journey north following the slight tug it felt. For a brief while it had felt a faint secondary tug in London's general direction, but it soon faded into and annoying itch that was insignificant to the pull coming from the north. So it continued, trusting its instincts. After all, they hadn't been wrong yet.
A/N: Well, another chapter done. And this one was out much quicker than the last one. I am also pleased to say I am well into writing chapter 5. It should be out just after the first of the year.
As a side note, have any of you figured out how some of the ships will start to form? Yes… I said ships. That's kinda how the story is flowing from my fountain pen, so I just go along with it.
See you next chapter!