Hi I've noticed I got a couple of reviews that are questioning some of my characters and the way they react to Harry. I am making notes of all of these things, but I think that some people are asking for much more accuracy than is really possible in a fan fiction.
Secondly for the comments that some people are making about characters being out of character is ridicules. The basis of fan fiction is to put the characters in new and different situations, especially in an AU. Just because something isn't explained right away doesn't mean that there isn't an explanation for it.
The characters are not the same as the books, events happened differently, people reacted differently.
For those of you wondering how I came up with the name Altia for the lady of the lake, I made it up. I do that from time to time, just like every other writer on this site.
As some of you have probably already guessed geography was never one of my best subjects. That is probably the last detail I'll work out in any fiction I write.
If theses comments come off as a little harsh I apologize, but if someone expects to criticize my work you can also expect me to defend it. For those of you that are criticizing, why don't you try writing something down? It's a lot harder to write a whole chapter of anything than writing down a couple of lines about why something sucks.
The Chronicles of Merlin: The Return
Chapter Five
"I need your help with something. I think it would be best if you came to the burrow."
August 18, the Burrow, Weasley Kitchen…
"Sure." Draco responded immediately. "Should I bring my parents too?"
"It would probably be best." Hermione agreed. "We need all the help we can get."
In a couple of minutes the entire Malfoy family found themselves in the Weasley kitchen. To the shock of the entire Weasley family minus Ron the Malfoy's were actually pleasant. The ever present sneer that was set on Lucious's face was replaced with a relaxed smile.
"Before we start Harry, there's something I have to say." Lucious said as he walked over to Mr. Weasley.
"What do you have to say?" Mr. Weasley asked in a guarded tone.
"Young Harry has given me a lot to think about, and I have come to a realization. You saw a lot more of the real world than I did. I looked down at you, and I was wrong. I apologize." Lucious said sincerely.
"What brought this on?" Mrs. Weasley asked curiously. For as long as she'd know the Malfoy's they'd always been at each others throats.
"I think Harry put it best when he said 'to follow Voldemort is to invite death into your home.'" Lucious answered.
"Apology accepted" Mr. Weasley said a little stiffly. He had never met Harry before so he didn't know what to expect from the people he called friends.
"So what's up Harry?" Draco asked curiously. Over the past year he had picked up a few muggle phrases from Hermione.
"There's no easy way to say this." Harry said as thought about how he was going to tell everyone. "But today I met the lady of the lake, and she gave me Excalibur." Harry said as he removed the sword from around his neck and enlarged it.
"I promised her that I would find a way to free her."
"Unbelievable," Mr. Weasley said in awe.
"It truly is Excalibur." Lucious said in wonder.
"What did you need our help with?" Narcissa asked.
"I need to know as much as I can about Altia, the lady of the lake. As well as anything you can find out about how she came to be imprisoned their." Harry said.
"Consider it done." Lucious said. "I'll get everything I can together by October." He promised.
"I'll do what I can as well Harry." Mr. Weasley said. "I'm sure that the ministry has a few records about it as well."
"Actually Mr. Weasley I was wondering if you could help me with something a little more personal." Harry asked.
"What is it?" Mr. Weasley asked curiously.
"When Glory and I were growing up we had a nanny. Her name was Julia. She was the first one to stand up to my parents about the way I was treated. She disappeared soon after that, and I would like to find out what happened to her. She means a lot to me."
"I promise you Harry, I'll do everything I can to find this woman." Mr. Weasley said, taking an immediate liking to Harry.
"Thank you, all of you. It means a lot to me that you would help me." Harry said sincerely.
"Harry, you're practically one of the family. Your happiness means our happiness." Narcissa said with a smile.
"I promise Harry, we'll do this together." Draco said as he put his hand on Harry's shoulder.
Gringolts Bank, Griphook's office…
"To what do I owe this visit?" Griphook asked.
"We are here to claim Merlin's vault." James said smugly. If Harry wouldn't give him the vault he would simply take it.
"Merlin's vault, and what right do you have to that?" Griphook asked, genuinely perplexed.
"Our son is the reincarnation of Merlin. Haven't you read any of the newspapers?" Lily asked incredulously.
"Contrary to popular belief we Goblins are not obsessed with the going ones of you wizards." Griphook said with a sneer.
"In any case our son is the reincarnation of Merlin and we demand control over that vault." James said, loosing his patience.
"I believe that I will require a little more proof than your word before I allow you control of the largest fortune in the world." Griphook said, still not believing them.
"And how do you propose we do that?" Lily asked with a sneer as well.
"Harry Potter will have to come here where we can verify your claims." Griphook said.
"Why would he have to do that? I'm sure that we could perform any tests you have at home and bring you the results." James said. He didn't want Harry to know about any of it until it he had control of the vault.
"Merlin has left explicit instructions on how to handle his vault after his passing. If in fact Merlin has been reincarnated his vault will recognize him.
We will send a letter to Harry Potter informing him about Merlin's vault. He will be asked to appear hear in two days to transfer the vault to his control."
"We'll be back in two days then." Lily said as she and her husband left.
August 20th, Weasley Living Room...
Harry had decided to spend a few days at Ron's house with Hermione and Draco so they could figure out what to do. He wasn't sure how long it would take for Mr. Weasley to track down Julia. Harry even found himself getting excited about seeing her again, something he rarely did since Julia disappeared.
Today was also the day that he had to go to Gringolts. They had sent him a letter yesterday, explaining that they needed to verify his identity before he was able to access his vault.
"Are you ready to go?" Mrs. Weasley asked, breaking him away from his thoughts.
"Sure, I should be back in about an hour." Harry said with a smile.
"Are you sure you don't want us to go with you?" Ron asked. He knew that Harry could take care of himself, especially now, but he also knew how uncomfortable he got when he had to deal with the fact that he was Merlin. By going down to the vault today he would in essence be accepting the fact that he was Merlin.
"Yes Harry," Mrs. Weasley agreed. "It's no trouble at all." She didn't like the idea of Harry wanting to go by himself. She guessed it was the attachment she felt for him over the past few days. In the beginning she had wondered how a boy could change the minds of one of the oldest pure blood families in history, but it became obvious at the end of the first day.
Harry was the kindest soul she had ever met. He also had an incredible capacity for forgiveness and understanding. She now understood why Harry had the magical strength that he had, he was the only one that could not be corrupted by it.
"I appreciate the offer, but this is something I have to do alone." Harry said kindly as he disappeared in a swirl of light.
"We really have to figure out just how he does that." Draco said as Harry disappeared.
"From what Harry told me he went right through apparition wards without setting off any detectors. It goes right against the rules of magic." Hermione said in a huff. She truly was happy for her friend but she hated not knowing something.
Harry himself wasn't much help either. He just shrugged his shoulders and said "I just wanted to be there."
"Well you have to take into account that Merlin wrote most of the rules of magic, and they were all based on the average magical level of a wizard or witch. He also said that with enough power most if not all of those rules could be broken." Ron said loving the fact that he knew something Hermione didn't.
"Don't feel bad." Draco laughed at the look on Hermione's face. "Stuff like that just comes easy to us. Ron I were both raised in the magical world. It's all common knowledge to us.
"Well why didn't Harry know it then?" Hermione challenged.
"With those parents of his it's no wonder." Mrs. Weasley fumed. "They spent his entire life belittling him, telling him he was worthless. Harry doesn't even understand how powerful he is. I think he just assumes that we're all capable of what he is."
"Well it's not going to happen anymore." Ron said adamantly. "I don't think Harry's ever going to go back to Potter Manor. He knows as well as we do that there are a lot of people willing to take him in, now that he's finally coming out of his shell."
Gringolts Bank, Griphook's office…
Harry walked into Griphook's office as instructed and was met with the smirking faces of his family. At first he was shocked to see them, but soon it all fit into place. How else could the Goblins have known that he was the reincarnation of Merlin? They didn't care about what happened with wizards.
"Mr. Potter I presume." Griphook said.
"Yes, what reason do they have to be here?" Harry asked as he pointed to his family.
"We're here because you're still underage, and until you're of legal age I control all of your finances." James said triumphantly.
"Your celebration is premature." Griphook warned. "We still have not verified that Harry Potter is in fact the reincarnation of Merlin."
"Let's get started then." Harry said as they all got into one of the carts. He decided that he would deal with his parents after he inspected the vault.
"Here we are." Griphook said as he pointed to the vault. "Vault number one, if you place your hand here, the vault will read your aura."
Harry placed his hand on the large stone in the center of the vault. It began glowing a soft blue. As Harry looked at it more carefully a runic symbol flared to life and spun around Harry's opened palm. It reminded Harry of the stone he pulled from the lake.
The vault door opened with a quiet hiss. 'It must be pressurized.' Harry thought as he stepped inside.
Harry blinked as he looked around the vault. He expected to see a lot of money, but nothing like this. It was easily twenty times the size of the potter family vault and nearly filled to the brim. Off to the side was a large shelf filled with books, and a weapons case.
"All this was Merlin's?" Harry asked as he walked to the book case, leaving his family to gape at his fortune.
"Hundred of years of interest, plus the gratitude of the Goblin's go a long way." Griphook explained.
"What do you mean? What did Merlin ever do for you?" Harry asked.
"He helped us found this bank. When no one else would trust us with their fortunes he did, and in addition to that he helped set up the protection wards, many of which are still used today. We repay him by waving all bank fees and including exchanges or transfers." Griphook said.
"Now that everything has been verified you may begin the transfer." James said pompously as he stepped into the vault. "I want you to transfer 30 to Glory's trust fund and the other 70 to the potter family vault."
"What?" Harry asked unable to cover his shock. Harry blamed himself for not seeing it coming.
"I am afraid that is not possible." Griphook intervened.
"We're his parents we can do whatever we want." Lily sneered at the goblin.
"Although you do have access to this vault transfers are prohibited. It was a rule Merlin set up before his passing." Griphook explained.
"Well Harry's underage." Glory pointed out. "He isn't allowed to make that decision." She smiled smugly.
"I am afraid that you are only half correct." Griphook said his dislike for the Potter's minus Harry growing. "Although Harry is underage, Merlin was not when he instituted the rule. The rule can only be rescinded by Merlin."
"Do as we say Harry." Lily demanded. "Remove that silly rule, lord knows you don't deserve this money."
"That is also not possible. As you have pointed out Harry is currently underage. You will have to wait until he reaches legal age first." Griphook smirked before turning to look at Harry.
"A clever little loophole is it not?" Griphook asked.
"Brilliant," Harry laughed. "I was legal age when I made the rule, and I am underage now so I can't change the rule even if I wanted to." Harry explained to his family that still hadn't figured it out.
"We still have access to the vault right?" James asked as he realized that this massive fortune was slipping through his fingers.
"Unfortunately that is correct." Griphook admitted begrudgingly. "You may remove money from this vault, with a limit of 25000 galleons per month. You may not however remove any of the books, weapons, jewels, or anything else that would require an appraiser."
"Fine then, we'll just take it all out slowly." Lily smirked. "It may take a little longer, but we'll get it all."
"No you won't." Harry smirked as he considered the intelligence of his parents. "Merlin has investments in all blue chip wizarding businesses, having financed most of them. In addition to the fact that I pay no bank fees you will hardly make a dent in my earnings."
"How much do his investments bring in per month?" James asked greedily.
"Harry makes approximately 24995 galleons per month." Griphook informed them, only because legally he was required to inform them.
'How could that little shit win?' James thought to himself. 'He wouldn't even know what to do with all this money.' James thought as he grudgingly left the vault.
"When we get back home you won't be allowed to see your 'friends' for the rest of the summer." Lily ordered, regardless of the fact that the summer was nearly over.
"That's not going to be possible." Harry said as he disappeared in another swirl of white light. "I still have a lot to do before school starts."
"How does he keep doing that?" Lily growled. "The wards here are supposed to be impenetrable."
The Burrow, Weasley living room…
Harry swirled into existence, shocking Ginny and Hermione who were sitting and talking quietly.
"Sorry." Harry said sheepishly as he sat down.
"How did things go at Gringolts?" Hermione asked curiously.
"My family was there." Harry said with a sigh. "I really should have seen it coming."
"What did they do?" Hermione demanded. She had noticed nothing good ever came from Harry having to spend time with his family.
"They wanted to take control of my vault. Thankfully Merlin put rules in place to stop then, but they can still take 25000 galleons out a month legally." Harry explained.
"That's awful." Ginny gasped. "They're trying to bleed you dry. I hop Glory put them in their place."
"Glory put them in their place?" Harry asked, forgetting for a moment that Ginny really didn't know his family.
"Yeah," Ginny said, confused over Harry's attitude. "She's the girl-who-lived."
"There are a few things you don't know about Harry's family." Hermione said. She hadn't realized that Ginny was one of Glory's fans. This would probably be along the same lines of telling someone that Santa Clause wasn't real.
To Be Continued…