Disclaimer is in chapter 1.

Harry James Potter didn't look at his 'family', who quite studiously didn't look at him, as he headed out into the yard to finish his chores. The interior chores had all been completed by magic, partly because Harry didn't want to do them by hand, but mostly as the latest example that he could do a great deal to them if they tried to screw with him again.

The list of things to do outside, though, he'd do by hand. He enjoyed gardening anyway, and took a measure of pride in the fact that 'Petunia' won so many awards for her work on the lawn and garden. Doing that by magic would feel like cheating.

As he weeded, dug, pulled, and trimmed, Harry thought about the recent changes in his life. Xander had brought on more positive change in his experience than anything or anyone short of Hagrid himself when the half giant had come and rescued him just over three years previously. Harry talked to Hermione and Sirius every night now, getting more details from the latter, and making plans with the former.

Unfortunately, the thing he really needed information on, even Sirius only had partial knowledge of. The Mage Knight, a position of power and responsibility under the Queen, was something of a mystery. He had the overall idea of what it meant, but Harry was old enough and had been screwed over enough, to recognize that the devil was in the details.

Surprisingly, Hermione had found information on the Mage Knight in the muggle libraries. The position was official, known to exist, and within the non-magical world she had been able to give him a list of all his duties and responsibilities. It was on the flip side of the coin that they run into trouble.

Where did one look up information in the Magical world when one didn't have access to Hogwarts library, after all?

Sirius had suggested that Harry get to Gringotts, but to do that would require a trip into London, and through Diagon. Once there he could get into his vaults, not just the trust vault (Sirius had told him that his parents had more than one, much to his shock), and probably gain access to his family books.

Harry's hand clenched around a particularly tough weed, blood flowing from where its spines perforated his skin, and he yanked at it angrily. Why hadn't anyone TOLD him about those? He'd have given anything, ANYTHING, to be able to connect with his family in that way.

He sighed, throwing the weed into the pile, and clenched his hand reflexively. Hagrid probably didn't know, or just thought he knew despite all evidence to the contrary. Harry loved his friend dearly, but knew that Hagrid was a simple soul. Why hadn't Dumbledore said something?

But then, that wasn't really fair either, Harry supposed. It was hardly Dumbledore's job to look after him, after all. It was all just one more joke played on Harry James Potter by the world. One more in a long line.

So, he had to get to Diagon, and into Gringotts.

Now, the remaining question was, how?

Xander settled back, sitting on the grass at the peak of a hill that overlooked Malfoy Manor. One thing he couldn't hold against the Malfoy's was there choice of a place to live. The view was intense, overlooking a large lake with rolling hills beyond. He let his muscles relax as he enjoyed the view, grateful of the time to relax.

It was like he finally got some vacation time, and only had to come back to England to get it. Oh, he was still doing his morning routine, which was fairly intense he supposed. Compared to what he had been up to for the first month of his time, home, however it was just a maintaining routing to keep him from sliding back any.

He'd need to get some practice in for wand work, but at the moment it wasn't going to be easy to do. Without a partner to spar against the benefits would be minimal. He could work on his draw time, and aim, but dueling was a living activity. It changed with every breath, with every heartbeat.

It hadn't been until he met Chayton that Xander appreciated just how very different a culture he'd entered. Before that, his time with his Uncle had been more about fun and what was cool. Learning to hold a knife, how to block a blow, these were fun things that he'd never use. Chayton hammered that right out of him in a hurry.

The Magical World was an armed society, one in which the Code Duello still existed in most places. Most non-magical born didn't learn that fully until they were outside of school, navigating a culture they were only peripherally familiar with. Learning to fight wasn't something American children did, as a rule, in the non-magical world.

The Magical world, however, lived by an older code.

Chayton had likened it to the American Wild West, and the Europeans he compared to the early Victorian age. Magical children in both societies were trained to duel from fairly early ages, at least ones of certain social standing.

Certainly Draco had been, Xander knew. Wednesday also seemed to know more about fighting than most people he could imagine. He wasn't sure about the other children he knew, except to say that Hermione certainly hadn't been, and oddly enough Harry didn't seem to have any training either. He didn't think Ron Weasley did either, but honestly Xander didn't know the boy well enough. Ron was also from a very poor family, so probably fell under the class distinction that marked who was trained by default and who wasn't.

In rare moments of distinction, of clarity of thought, Xander had to admit that it all felt dangerously like a game to him.

Spells were clean, easy, and could be reversed for the most part.

That was a way of thought that Chayton had tried to hammer out of him, but had only succeeded in opening them up just a crack to thoughts of a more serious nature. Enough that Xander knew on one level that his trainer had been right, but not enough to really change how Xander felt about it deep down.

Chayton had, of course, ferreted that little bit of information out of his skull in record time.

Xander had been surprised when the older man just grunted and said that was to be expected before moving on. When he'd pressed him on it, Chayton had told him that only when and if he'd blooded himself on a real battlefield would he be rid of childish thoughts.

That kind of chilled him, Xander could admit, and it kept sneaking back in and chilling him again during odd times like this as he looked down at Malfoy Manor and the lake beyond.

It took the soft chime of his Spell Phone to break the cycle of thought and shake him from his reverie. Xander rolled over and pulled the phone from his pocket, flipping it open in what he called 'kirk mode'.

"Yo." He said into the device, "You got Xander."

"Xander, it's Harry."

Harry's voice sounded clearly through the device despite the fact that Xander wasn't holding it to his ear.

"Hey man," Xander responded, "What's up?"

"I think I need to get to Diagon Alley, but I'm not sure how from here." Harry confessed after a moment's hesitation.

"You ever use the knight bus?" Xander asked.

"I kind of thought that was for emergencies."

"Well, it is if you don't use one of the approved stops." Xander filled in what Mrs. Malfoy had told him. "When you flag them down randomly they have to use all sorts of charms and stuff to stay hidden. Go to one of the bus stops and you can get a ride from there."

"Where's the closest one, do you know?"

"Yeah it's..." Xander paused, thinking about it, "You know what... I'll come down and meet you, I've got nothing to do anyway."

"O... ok, thanks."

"No problem," Xander said, smirking suddenly. "Harris out."

"Huh?" Harry had time to say just before Xander flipped the Spell Phone shut.

Xander laughed all the way back down to the manor. He really got too much of a kick out of his jokes, even in his own opinion.

Harry hadn't been waiting for more than a half hour when Xander came walking up Privet Drive, dressed in jeans and a light denim sport jacket that Harry expected concealed his wands.

"Hey man," Xander said as he stopped by the roses Harry was just making some minor trimming adjustments to. "You ready?"

"Yeah," Harry said, putting his tools into a bag, "Just making some improvements while I waited. I'll drop this inside and be with you in a second."

"Cool." Xander said, then waited for Harry to get back.

It only took a few seconds, and Harry jogged back from the house, joining Xander as they started to walk back the way Xander had come.

"The 'rents still giving you trouble?" Xander asked as they moved.

"Huh?"

"'Rents, family, parents, whatever."

"The Dursleys are NOT my parents." Harry growled.

"Relax, man." Xander held up his hands, "It's just slang. Whatever they are, are they still giving you trouble?"

"Not like before, now it's mostly the silent treatment," Harry said after a moment of grudging silence. "Which I can happily live with."

"Cool." Xander nodded, "so what are we going to Diagon for anyway?"

"I want to see if my parents left anything in their vaults." Harry admitted, "or maybe if there's something about my family, and this whole Mage Knight business."

Xander nodded, it made sense. He'd be curious as hell too, to be honest. "You think they did?"

"Sirius thinks it's possible, but he's not sure." Harry said, "A lot of the family stuff could be in Potter Keep."

"Keep? Like, as in Castle?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah. Though, I guess it's literally a castle. Some old fortress used in one war or another. Sirius said that my Mum hated the place, drafty she claimed. I guess Sirius and my Dad thought she was barmy, but they didn't fight it too hard. Well, Dad didn't anyway."

Xander chuckled, "Yeah, like you'd fight Hermione if she had herself set on something."

Harry flushed, "I... Me and Hermione... we aren't..."

"I'm not saying you are," Xander chuckled, "But if you couldn't face her down, what chance would your dad have with your Mom?"

"I guess." Harry said, suddenly a little glum. "I can't help but wonder if maybe they'd still be here if they had stayed in the Keep, though. I mean, it's a fortress, right?"

Xander shrugged, "I don't know, but a fortress is designed to keep out an army, Harry. Not one man."

"Yeah, I guess."

They had arrived at the bus stop, and Xander led Harry into the warded section and pressed his wand into a runic symbol to summon the bus.

"It'll be along on its next pass through Surrey." He said by way of explanation.

Harry nodded, impressed. "They should have pamphlets or something to explain this to kids who weren't raised in the Magical World."

"I assumed they did." Xander shrugged.

"I wasn't given any." Harry replied, "I wonder if Hermione was?"

"Wouldn't she have told you?"

Harry rolled his eyes, "Not if she thought I already knew. I don't know if you noticed, but Hermione rarely goes on about stuff everyone knows."

"She does like proving just how much she can read, doesn't she?" Xander asked with a grin.

"To everyone in earshot." Harry grinned back.

"Over, and over, and over again." Xander laughed.

The two looked at each other, burst out laughing, and were almost bowled over in shock when the Knight Bus arrived with a bang.

As they got themselves composed again, Harry and Xander looked at each other for a brief moment, then grinned and climbed into the bus.

"She must never hear us talk like that." Harry said.

"Do I look suicidal to you?"

Diagon Alley was just as Harry remembered it, and he basked in the feeling of being back even as he kept himself hidden behind Xander, so as to avoid any boy who lived mobbings.

"I always feel cramped coming through here," Xander said as they walked, glancing around.

"Huh? Why? This is awesome." Harry grinned, "It's Diagon Alley."

"Most places in Europe feel cramped to me, so far anyway," Xander confessed. "Streets are bloody narrow, you know?"

Harry shrugged, he guessed they were narrow compared to Privet Drive, but he'd seen it just as narrow around London once or twice.

"Hogwarts is more open, but Hogsmeade is almost as bad. And you don't want to get me started on Witch's Alley in Toledo." Xander complained as they moved toward Gringotts. "Back home, Three Angels is like a national park compared to these places. I mean that literally, I think they actually have a small national park inside Three Angels."

"Three Angels?" Harry asked, curious about any other magical places.

"It's the Magical District in Los Angeles," Xander explained, "They warded off a few city blocks, then used expansion charms on the whole place. I guess it's actually several times larger than LA inside, but I haven't been able to really explore it yet."

"Wicked."

"Yeah, what I've seen of it is pretty cool." Xander smirked, "Wills, my best bud back home, she was SO put out to find that they had a Starbucks there."

Harry blinked furiously, "A muggle coffee shop, right? In a Wizarding area?"

"Money is money, Harry." Xander shrugged, "Hell I'm rich cause my uncle knew how to market a potion I made through non-magical channels. There's really a lot of crossover, if you know where to look."

"I didn't know that. I thought they were completely separate," Harry admitted, surprised.

"It looks like that here," Xander admitted in return, "So I can see why you think that way. But we live so close together that it's impossible to be perfectly separated. Especially with non-magical born witches and wizards coming in, and low magicals going out."

"Why?"

"Well, besides the whole culture thing, there's an exchange rate between magical and non-magical currency." Xander said, remembering one of his discussions with Gomez. "If the money can move back and forth, the people follow."

"Oh."

"I don't really understand it all, but my trainer back home was telling me about it a bit cause he was considered for recruitment to the Secret Service a while back."

"Your trainer was a spy?"

"Not that kind of secret service," Xander corrected, "The United States Secret Service has a magical branch."

"Oh, the guys who protect your President, right?" Harry had seen some movies in his day, mostly at school, but sometimes peeking over Dudley's shoulder.

"Yeah, but they don't just do that." Xander said, "They're the money guys. They track counterfeiters, and the Magical division are in charge of keeping wizards from destroying our economies."

"But... how?"

Xander looked over at Harry, wide eyed. Even he'd figured this one out without prompting. "Harry, dude... Mate... think about it. How easily could you rob a non-magical bank? Transfigure garbage into hundred dollar bills? Hell, did you know that Nicholas Flamel is a wanted man in the Americas?"

Harry blinked, "Really? I thought he was a good guy."

"He and the Secret Service guys had a difference of opinion over whether his making Gold from Lead was a threat to the American Economy." Xander said dryly. "They take that crap real serious back home, I guess. My trainer, Chayton, he turned them down because he doesn't like how they do things..."

The duo was walking into Gringotts by that point, but Harry was more interested in what Xander was saying. "Why?"

"They don't give quarter when dealing with magical fraud against non-magical money," Xander said, "Chayton told me that, once, they destroyed an entire block of a city to send a message to this Organized Crime Syndicate that was transfiguring perfect hundred dollar bills. There were a lot of people in there that didn't know anything about magic or the magical laws involved, and probably more than a few who didn't have anything to do with the crime."

"That's horrible." Harry said in shock.

Xander nodded, "Yeah. But the other side of the argument is that one wizard, left unchecked, could tank an entire country's economy, destroy millions of lives... without hardly trying. And if that happens, the Magical economy will follow in a heartbeat. That's why Chayton told me, you don't fuck with the Money Guys."

Harry had paled a little thinking about it, but couldn't really grasp that any situation could be that serious as to warrant that kind of response. "Still seems wrong."

"I'm not arguing," Xander shrugged, "But I guess every country has a group like that. Here in Britain, I was told it was a group called The Unspeakables."

"Wow." Harry shook his head, "That's just... wow."

"Yeah." Xander said, then nodded ahead of them, "Well we're here. You're up, mate."

Harry nodded, walking up to the counter.

"Key." The Goblin growled.

"I'm sorry, Sir, I don't have it. Is there any way to show who I am without it?"

The Goblin snorted, gesturing to one side. "Wait there, I'll send for an account identity team."

"Thank you, Sir."

The Goblin sneered at him and promptly ignored him as Harry and Xander shifted to one side.

"You may want to lose the Sirs, Please, and thank you." Xander suggested.

"I don't want to be impolite."

"Respect is earned." Xander said, remembering what Gomez had told him a while back. "Goblins have no respect for you, or anyone else, until you earn it. Look around, does it look like they respect politeness?"

Harry had to admit that maybe Xander had a point. He had yet to see, or imagine, a polite Goblin. All of the ones he was seeing were sneering, insulting, and generally taking any opportunity they could to make the humans around them look, feel, or somehow BE foolish.

Still, it didn't feel right to be sneering back. He didn't even do that to Malfoy.

"But I don't want to act like Malfoy or someone," Harry said finally, "I mean I really don't want to."

Xander shrugged, maybe Harry was right. He didn't know much about the Goblins himself, just what Gomez had told him, but the Addams Patriarch certainly hadn't softened any of his words when dealing with them.

"Up to you, I guess." Xander said finally.

Harry nodded, trying to figure out what he should do.

He was still thinking about it when the two Goblin team approached them from one of the corridors that led to the back of the Bank.

"You the one who wants an identity check?" The older looking one asked gruffly.

"That's correct," Harry replied, nodding as politely as he could while trying not to sound like a suck up. It was the best compromise he could think of that might suit both requirements he seemed to have been saddled with.

"This way."

"Can my friend come to?" Harry asked, nodding to Xander.

"Your account, your affairs."

Xander glanced at Harry who nodded, and the two of them followed the two Goblins into the back. They were led into a room with a large ornate desk, upon which rested a single feather quill and one sheet of parchment.

"Identity checks require blood." The Goblin said gruffly, "You don't like it, get out and go get your key."

Xander and Harry glanced at each other, but Xander only shrugged in response to the question in Harry's eyes.

Harry took a breath and nodded, "Alright."

"Sign your name on the line, then."

Harry frowned, puzzled, but nodded and picked up the quill. When he touched the nib to parchment a feeling of metal digging into his skin surprised him into jerking his hand up.

"Ow!" he blurted.

"Never used a blood quill before, boy?" The Goblin asked, his tone a little less harsh. "There's no getting around it. Just grit your teeth and sign your name, doesn't feel much worse than scratching yourself with a knife tip."

Harry looked at him, incredulous for a moment, but could detect no subterfuge in the Goblin's features. That may not mean much, he supposed, since they were so foreign as to be difficult to read at all, but he just nodded and did as he was told.

A few sweeps of the quill later, Harry was nursing a bloody scratch on his hand and the Goblin was filing the identity parchment in a large collapsible folder he had produced from somewhere.

A moment later a glow from the folder made him nod.

"All seems in order. Do you want your old key destroyed?"

"What? No!" Harry blurted.

"Oh? Where is it then?"

"Umm..." Harry had to think, "I guess Headmaster Dumbledore has it, or Molly Weasley. He asked me to give it to her so she could do my shopping."

Harry smiled a little weakly, "I'm not supposed to run around Diagon Alley alone."

"Likely wise advice, Mr. Potter. Even so, it is a good idea to always have your key. I can provide a duplicate, if you wish, but it will be charged to your account."

Harry was about to nod, but Xander broke in first.

"How much?" Xander asked, remembering the 'fee' the goblins had tried to charge him his first visit to a Goblin bank.

The old goblin smiled thinly, "The fee is mandated by Gringotts agreement with the Ministry, and is currently at two galleons."

Xander personally thought that sounded a little steep, but it wasn't obscene either. He just shrugged when Harry looked at him.

"Yes please, I'd like a copy." Harry said quietly.

"Very well. That will be just a few minutes. Is there anything else we can do for you?"

"I need to see my vaults," Harry said.

"I'll have an escort arranged as soon as you have your key."

"Thank you, I think that's everything."

"Very good, Mr. Potter. I hope your business with Gringotts will be profitable."

"For us both," Harry said with a slight smile.

The Goblin looked at him in surprise for a moment, then nodded curtly and left.