Pepper Potts, AKA Tony's sitter, was upstairs on the ground floor of the mansion, working on his schedule while Tony was downstairs tinkering with his cars. She suddenly heard a tapping sound at the window. Pepper looked but didn't see anything, so Pepper went back to work. The tapping on the glass got louder; when she looked up, there was a large owl on the balcony staring at her.
'What's an owl doing here in broad daylight,' Pepper thought.
The owl started tapping on the glass again to get her attention. She finally realized that the bird wanted her to open the window. Pepper stood up and opened the sliding door for the owl. It flew in and made it's way to the bar and landed. Pepper slowly walked towards the bird, afraid to frighten it, it almost gave her a bored look. When she realized that the bird wasn't scared of her, Pepper reached out and stroked its feathers. The Eagle Owl cooed at being petted.
"Oh, aren't you a sweet boy? You must be thirsty," Pepper said
As if to confirm her suspicion, the Eagle Owl smacked it's beak together and stuck out its tongue. Pepper smiled and brought him a bowl of water. While the owl was drinking water, Tony came upstairs, "Pepper, have you see- is that an owl?"
**It's a Eurasian Eagle-Owl to be precise, sir,** JARVIS said.
"Thanks for the information, JARVIS, but what's an owl doing on my bar."
**Drinking water, Sir,**
"Thank you, JARVIS, that was very helpful."
**You're welcome, Sir.**
"Pepper, maybe you can tell me?"
"He was tapping at the window, and I let him in to give him some water, Tony."
At hearing Tony's name, the Eagle Owl turned and pinned Tony with a stare, "Why is it staring at me?"
The eagle owl held out its leg. Tony noticed a note tie to its leg; he assumed it was addressed to him because the owl was only looking at him, "Who uses owls to send letters? I'm sorry buddy, I don't like being handed things."
The Eagle Owl ruffled its feathers and turned to Pepper, holding its leg out. Pepper's eyes widen, "I think he understood you."
The owl deadpanned at Pepper, "Sorry, I mean the owl understood you, Tony."
"How can an owl understand?"
The Eagle-owl gave an indignant hoot and snapped its beak at Tony; Tony help up his hands in surrender, "Okay, I'm sorry! You understand me! Shit, calm down."
Once again, the bird held out its leg to Pepper, she untied the letter from its leg, and the Eagle-Owl flew out the window but not before it cuddling up to Pepper and glaring at Tony, "Did, did that bird just flirt with you?"
Pepper rolled her eyes, "Here open the letter."
Tony took the letter, "This is written on parchment, who uses parchment?!"
"I guess the same people that use owls," Pepper said.
Tony broke the seal and began to read the letter. It read,
Dear Mr. Stark,
It has come to our attention that you have come into a vast inheritance from your mother, Maria Carbonelle's side of the family and that a contract has surfaced that must be fulfilled to receive it. You are required to come to our bank in London to claim your inheritance. Failure to do so within the next 24 hours will cause you to forfeit your claim. If you accept arrangements have been made for your travel, simply tap this parchment twice and say the word Gringotts.
We look forward to seeing you,
Bank Manager Ragnok.
Tony passed the note to Pepper, who began to read it, "Gringotts, I've never heard of a bank in London called Gringotts."
Something tickled in the back of Tony's mind whenever he thought of the bank, "Why do I get the feeling I've heard that name before? I think maybe my mom mentioned it once or twice when I was a kid."
"So then you think this is legitimate," Pepper asked.
"I don't see why not. I guess we're going to England tomorrow. JARVIS, have the plane ready by tomorrow morning."
**Yes, Sir.**
Now that it was settled, Pepper left the parchment on the bar and went back to work, and Tony went back to his lab. Later in the day, they both went to Stark Industries for a meeting. As the day progressed, Tony couldn't get the letter out of his head. He kept thinking about what was written. What kind of contract did he have that needed to be fulfilled? And what was his inheritance? Whatever it was, Tony was anxious to find out. So, Tony decided to do what the letter told him. At 1:00 in the morning, Tony got up, took a shower, got dressed in his finest suit, put on his most expensive watch and shoes, and went downstairs.
Tony then picked up the letter and held it firmly in his hand. He tapped the parchment twice and said, "Gringotts." The last thing Tony was expecting was to feel a tug behind his navel then to disappear. He suddenly landed in a plush chair in someone's office, "Good morning, Mr. Stark."
Tony turned towards the voice and jumped out of his seat. Sitting across from him was a thing of humanoid appearance. It was short and fair-skinned and had very long fingers and feet, dome-shaped heads. It also had razor-sharp teeth that it demonstrated when it smiled at Tony.
"What are you," Tony asked.
"My name is Bank Manager Ragnok, and I am a Goblin, sir."
"A what?"
"A Goblin, we run the Wizarding Bank Gringotts. Please, won't you sit down so we can get down to business?"
Tony's head was reeling. He didn't know what to think, A Wizarding Bank? That would mean that there are wizards, and if there are wizards, that must mean magic must be real. And the thought of magic being real was not something Tony's mind was willing to accept.
"Yes, Mr. Stark, magic is real," Ragnok said.
"How did- Are you reading my mind?"
"No, the skepticism is written all over your face," Ragnok said with a smile.
Tony rolled his eyes, "Alright, what am I doing here?"
"As the sole heir to the Carbonelle family, you are entitled to the entire fortune and the lands that correspond," Ragnok said, "But first we must determine that you are who you say you are."
"Okay. What do you need my birth certificate or something."
"Or something, Mr. Stark," Ragnok said with a smile.
It was the kind of smile that made Tony uncomfortable, all teeth, in this case, razor-sharp teeth. Tony gulped, "What do you need?"
"A drop of blood."
"I beg your pardon?"
"It's quite simple, Mr. Stark, all I require is a drop of your blood to map out your family tree, and that will determine if you are indeed the ancestor of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Carbonelle."
Tony thought for a moment, "How much blood do you need?"
"Only a drop on the parchment, Mr. Stark."
"Oh! That's not too bad."
Tony held out his hand, and Ragnok pricked Tony's finger. When a single drop of blood beaded up to the surface, Tony turned his hand and let the drop fall on the parchment. Tony watched, to his fascination, as his entire family tree was mapped out. Most of the names on the parchment had a gold glow, others silver, and others black.
"What do the colors mean?"
"The gold colors are those in your family that are either witches or wizards. The silver are for squibs, a child born of two magical that has no magic. And the black are for Muggles or non-magicals," Ragnok explained.
Tony followed the lines down to his parents. To his surprise, most of them were witches and wizards, a few had married Muggles, and there were a few squibs. But when Tony got to his mother, his eyes widen, "My mother was a witch?!"
"It would appear so, Mr. Stark."
Tony looked and saw that his father was a Muggle, but when he looked at his name, it was glowing gold. Tony almost fell out of his chair, "There has to be some sort of mistake. I'm not a wizard; I've never done anything magical in my life! I don't even believe in magic," Tony said unconvincingly.
"The parchment does not lie, Mr. Stark."
"Then why don't I show any magical traits!" Tony said abruptly, standing up.
"I'm going to assume that since you didn't know your mother was a witch, neither did your father. The only thing I can think of is that your mother had a spell put on you to suppress your magic."
"Why would she do that?"
The minute those words were out of his mouth, Tony knew why. Howard Stark was a man of science and a weapons manufacturer. He knew that his father would never have accepted his mother if he knew Maria was a witch. No matter how much Howard loved her. And Tony also knew that Howard would have treated him worse than he did or used him as a weapon. That would explain why his mother always looked so sad, especially when she looked at him.
"You don't have to answer that, Ragnok, I think I know why."
"So do I, Mr. Stark. But since it looks like Gringotts put on these blocks, we can remove them if you like. Of course, if we do, you'll have to be trained to use your magic. We can make all the arrangements for you. For a small fee, of course."
"Can I think about it?"
"Of course, Mr. Stark. Now, that your identity has been established, the inheritance and everything that comes with it is yours, including the marriage contract."
Tony choked on his saliva, "I'm sorry, did you say marriage contract?"
"Yes, for more than one thousand years, there has been a pending contract with the Ancient and Most Noble House of Carbonelle and the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter. The marriage contract states that the male heir of House Carbonelle is to marry the firstborn female heir of House Potter. Unfortunately, it was never fulfilled until this generation. The Potters have only ever born male heirs. But now, the contract can be fulfilled."
"Wait, you want me to marry a total stranger!"
"Of course not, you and Lady Potter-Black will meet right today, Mr. Stark, or would you prefer I call you Lord Carbonelle?"
"Tony will be fine," Tony took a deep breath, "Okay, so when do I meet her, and what's her name?"
"Right now, Tony, let me make a call," Ragnok said then left the room. A few seconds later, another goblin came in with a glass of fire whiskey for Tony so that he could settle his nerves, "Be careful with this whiskey, Lord Carbonelle. It's stronger than Muggle alcohol."
"I can handle it, and it's Tony."
The goblin shrugged and walked out of the room. Tony picked up the glass and smelled it. The whiskey smelled delicious; he carefully took a drink and marveled at the pleasant burn as it went down his throat, "I don't see what the big deal is?" Tony said.
Suddenly his face started getting red, and he heard a rumbling in his ears. Steam shot out of his ears, and Tony burped up a fireball. Tony's eyes widen, "That was badass," He said and took another drink.
Tony had finished his glass of fire whiskey by the time Ragnok returned, "I see you enjoyed your glass of whiskey."
"Yeah, that was pretty cool. So when does this person arrive? And what's my supposed bride to be's name?"
"Lady Jasmine Potter-Black. The sole living heir to the Ancient and Most Noble Houses of Black and Potter. She should be arriving any minute."
As soon as Ragnok said that, the flames in the fireplace behind Tony turned green and the most beautiful woman Tony had ever seen stepped out. She was a petite woman with big breasts, long black hair, and the most stunning emerald green eyes Tony had ever seen. She smiled at Ragnok and walked towards the goblin, "Bank Manager Ragnok, it's good to see you. May your enemies fall bloodied and cleaved at your feet."
"It is good to see you as well, Lady Potter-Black, may your vault overflow with gold."
"So, where is my supposed betrothed?" Jasmine asked.
Ragnok motioned towards Tony, "Jasmine Anne Potter, may I introduce you to Anthony Edward Stark."
Jasmine gave Tony a dazzling smile, "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Stark."
"It's nice to meet you as well, Lady Potter-Black," Tony said, giving her a roguish grin.
"Shall we get down to business," Ragnok said.
Ragnok once again went over the stipulations of the marriage contract and what was expected of them. Tony listened intently then asked a question, "What if we don't want to get married?"
"Then whoever breaks the contract loses their magic," Ragnok said.
Jasmine gasped, Tony shrugged, "Fine with me, I never used it any-"
Suddenly the door was flung open, and a pompous platinum blonde-haired man came storming into Ragnok's office, "I object to his contract, Ms. Potter already has one with my son!"
"Mr. Malfoy! You have no business here, kindly leave, or I shall have you escorted out." Ragnok said, trying not to lose his temper.
"I will not. I refuse to let this farce of a marriage take place."
Jasmine stood up, "I've already told you, Lucius, you are not getting your hands on my fortune; I'd rather die than let you get your grubby hand on the Black vaults, and I will not be a broodmare for you. And I refuse to marry my cousin!"
Tony grimaced at hearing that. Lucius suddenly grabbed Jasmine by the arm, "You have no choice, you harlot, I will not let the Potter-Black fortune slip through my fingers and to finally have you under my thumb."
Jasmine jerked her arm out of Lucius's hold. Finally, having enough, Tony stood up. "I don't know who you think you are, Lucy, but I don't appreciate you manhandling my fiancee like that."
Lucius looked Tony up and down, "And who is this pathetic Muggle?"
"This, Mr. Malfoy, is Lord Anthony Carbonelle-Stark of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Carbonelle. He is Lady Potter-Black's betrothed."
Lucius's eyes widen. He had heard of the Carbonelle family of Italy. They were a powerful Wizarding family that was naturally gifted at wandless and wordless magic. They also had a great deal of influence in the ICW and the Italian Ministry. Lucius put on a fake smile and put his hand out to shake Tony's hand, "Lord Carbonelle, it's so nice to meet you."
Tony looked at his hand then back at the blonde asshole, "The feeling is not mutual," Tony said, looking at Lucius with disgust, "Now, if you don't mind, my fiancee and I were about to make wedding plans. I'm sure you can show yourself out."
Lucius cleared his throat, "Yes, of course, forgive my intrusion."
"Just get out."
The minute Lucius stormed out of Ragnok's office Tony turned to Jasmine and smirked, "So, when do you want to get married?"
