Chapter 60: Lord Abbott's Fall from Grace

Gringott's Wizarding Bank, Diagon Alley, London, England

July 16, 1987

Hannah smiled as she was led up the steps of Gringott's, the Wizarding Bank that was run by the Goblins. She had been to the bank many times with her mother and so she was frightened when she saw the stern faces of the Goblin Guards who stood to the side of the doors. Leonis said that they acted as Sentries to protect the Bank and the bank's many customers from unknown dangers and so they should be treated with kindness and respect.

Hannah wasn't sure she understood what Leonis had meant by respect, but she knew how to be nice and so she figured that respect was something like being nice. Leonis was a really smart boy. She liked spending time with him and his father, Sirius.

She glanced shyly at the hand that held her own. Sirius Black was escorting her and her mother to Gringott's because some sort of test was going to be performed on her. She hadn't really understood all that mother had explained to her. It had to do with proving herself and taking her rightful place in the world. Hannah really didn't understand what that meant. Wasn't she already in her rightful place? She lived with her mother, visited her cousin Romilda and her Auntie Miranda. She was being tutored along with Romilda and sometimes received tutoring in music by her Great-Gran. Sirius was becoming part of her everyday life and sometimes she got to see Leonis too. Leonis was nice, protective of her and he had introduced her to all his friends. She liked her life and she thought that she was right where she belonged. So, what could her mother have meant?

It puzzled her, but she didn't dare ask. She had a feeling that she would find out all about it today, once the testing was done. She wondered what the test would be about? Was it on the music scales? She knew those thanks to her Great-Gran. Would it be about Wizarding History? She didn't know much about that and rarely paid any attention to her tutor when he droned on about it. She didn't really find it interesting to listen to him talk about things that had happened hundreds of years before she was born before her mother was even born.

She squeezed Sirius's hand slightly as anxiety bit at her. They stopped at the top of the steps and Sirius bent down to look at her. A small smile played on his lips, making him look even more handsome. Sirius was like some sort of Prince from a fairytale. He was handsome, charming, and never said a cross word to her or her mother. He was so sweet and kind to them. She hoped that he would stay with them.

"There is nothing to be nervous about, little-love," he assured her. His voice was soothing, and she couldn't resist shuffling a little closer to him, wanting comfort.

"What if I fail the test?" Hannah asked softly. "Mother made it seem important," she trailed off.

"Oh Hannah, darling," her mother said from the other side of her and she felt her mother's hand gently run through her blonde hair, soothing her.

Sirius chuckled at that. "Hannah, you will not fail this test. All you must do is be Hannah and I think that you are the best Hannah there is," he praised.

She blushed at this, reveling in his affection. She had often wondered if this was what having a father felt like.

"Come along now," he said gently. "The witnesses will be inside waiting. Just remember that there is no wrong or right way to act here. Just be yourself," he told her.

She nodded and then he stood up straight and tall once more and once more took her hand. He led both her and her mother to the bank, giving Hannah no more time than the nod and smile sweetly to the Goblins that stood guard. They weren't very nice looking. In fact, they looked quite scary, but Leo said that they wouldn't hurt her unless she did something dreadful to them or anyone in the bank. She was relieved to know that. She wasn't the sort of girl that liked to hurt anyone, so she knew she was safe from the Goblin's wrath.

"Mr. Black, Ms. Vaisey," a Goblin rushed forward and bowed to Sirius and her mother. Hannah noted that the Goblin was not much taller than herself and Sirius was far taller than the creature before her. "The others of your party have already arrived and are awaiting you."

"Thank you," Sirius and Alicia said at once and then they smiled at each other. Hannah liked it when they did things like that. They showed a happy and easy affection that she found wonderful.

"Please, if you would lead us to them," Sirius continued.

"Of course," the Goblin said. "This way," he said and then turned away from them and led them away from the main lobby of the bank.

As they were led deeper into the bank, Hannah began to look around in excitement. The dark stone walls seemed to glitter faintly, and she wondered if they were little dark diamonds trapped in the rocks. So, interested in the pretty glittering rocks, she didn't pay much attention to the way in which they were going. Sirius kept a firm hold on her hand, not hard enough to hurt, but enough that he could lead her along while she continued to look around in wonder.

Then they were led into a large room where there were many people. There was a table at the end of the room, situated in the center of the back wall. A Goblin stood behind it. He wore an expensive looking dark blue suit with a sapphire blue tie. He looked cute in his suit, or he would have, were it not for the severe expression he was sporting.

She glanced around the room at the many faces, feeling anxious once again. She recognized her grandfather at once and she shrank away from him and against Sirius, trying to use him as a shield between herself and Warring Abbott. Her grandfather hated her, and her mother had tried to explain why. Her mother had said that her Grandfather didn't believe that she was his grandchild. It made her sad to think that he didn't believe her his granddaughter and even sadder when she saw him in public and he was mean to her and her mother. If Hannah had her wish, she'd never again have anything at all to do with Warring Abbott.

She recognized the older Grandfatherly-looking Wizard who stood beside Warring Abbott. She had seen him many times in pictures in the Daily Prophet. He was Albus Dumbledore the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and the Headmaster for Hogwart's School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. She wondered why he was there. Maybe he was going to administer her test since he was the head of a school? She noticed that Minister Bagnold stood on the other side of her Grandfather. She was smiling at the man and her eyes seemed to cool when they looked at her.

Hannah shrank back further until she had placed herself beside her mother. She was relieved when her mother placed a hand on her hair, gently stroking her hair to soothe her. She looked to the opposite side of the room and noticed a few more adults that she recognized. Auntie Miranda was present, and she was standing beside Lord Prince. Lord Malfoy along with Lord Spinks. She had met these men at her birthday party. She had liked Lord Malfoy because he had shown her a bit of magic and told her and the other children some stories as the evening had settled in. Lord Spinks was Aleksei's father. He had been nice to her and had bought her the nice gift of a pink princess dress. She loved the dress, but mother hadn't let her wear it yet. Her mother had a special event in mind for when she could wear it, but Hannah had no idea what the event was just yet. She also recognized Lord and Lady Macmillan standing beside Mr. Pollux Black. Lord and Lady Macmillan were Ernie's parents. Hannah had liked Ernie best of all out of her new friends. He was smart, kind, and not as loud as some of the other kids she had met at her birthday party. They had been sending letters to each other since her birthday and had even had a few playdates.

"Shall we get started?" her grandfather asked in a bored tone of voice that made her jerk slightly and take a step even closer to her mother. One more step and she'd practically be standing on her mother. She took a deep breath to try to regain some control of herself. He already hated her. She couldn't imagine how much viler the man would get if she burst into tears now. She had done that before in public when he had been particularly mean to her mother. He had just sneered at her and then had called her a nasty little upstart. She still didn't know what he meant by that.

"Yes," Minister Bagnold spoke up. Her voice was firm. "Some of us do not have all day to waist on nonsense," she said.

Hannah bit her lip to keep it from trembling. The Minister thought that she was nonsense. It made her heart hurt that the person who was the elected Head of their community thought so little of her. She had never met the woman before, so she wasn't sure why the Minister thought such of her. Maybe the woman didn't like children? She shook her head. It didn't matter what the woman thought. She took a deep breath and then looked up at her mother. "I'd like to take the test now, Mother," she said softly, but her voice carried in the room. "I don't want to be a waste of time," she added. From the corner of her eye she saw Madam Bagnold flinch and then her expression looked strange. Was she sorry for what she had said? Hannah didn't know and decided not to try to guess.

"If you are ready, young Miss then come here and we shall begin," the Goblin at the table spoke.

Hannah nodded and then she glanced from her mother and Sirius and back to her mother once more. She saw only encouragement there and so she squared her shoulders and took the few steps away from her mother and to the table. A stepping stool was there for her to use and she smiled in gratitude at the Goblin before she stepped up on the stool. "Hello Sir Goblin," she said sweetly to the Goblin who would be conducting her test. "My name is Hannah Abbott, what is your name?" she asked, and she ignored the hiss that came from behind her when she claimed the name Abbott for her own. She knew that the hiss came from her Grandfather. He hated it when she was acknowledged as an Abbott because he had thrown her and her mother from his family.

"I am Gringold," the Goblin said, and he nodded his head to her and showed her his incredibly sharp teeth. They were truly impressively sharp teeth.

She gave him a nod and continued to smile before she let her eyes scan the table. She was confused to see a bit of parchment but no inkwell and quill. She noted that there was a silver knife on the table and nothing more. How was she to take a test without quill and ink?

"If you will give me your hand, Miss Hannah, we shall complete your test," Gringold said.

Hannah nodded slowly, still puzzled by the lack of quill and ink. She slowly put out her hand, reaching across the table and across the parchment toward Gringold. The Goblin took a firm hold of her hand at the wrist and then turned her hand over. With his other hand he felt along her wrist and then he picked up the knife. Hannah tensed as he pressed the knife to her skin. She shook with fright and heard her mother shift from the few paces behind her, but her mother didn't come forward to comfort her.

The press of the knife in her skin should have hurt, but it didn't. She frowned in confusion as she watched Gringold cut a small line into her flesh and watched the crimson liquid begin to flow. He turned her hand then so that the wound faced the parchment. She watched in fascination as droplets fell onto the parchment seemingly being absorbed within the parchment. When seven droplets had been spilled onto the parchment, Gringold turned her wrist away from the parchment and released her.

"Her wound may be healed now," Gringold said without looking away from the parchment.

Her mother rushed forward then and gathered her close. "Let me see," Alicia murmured in her ear and Hannah sighed in relief that her mother was there and comforting her. She watched as Alicia waved her wand over the cut and it slowly sealed closed. She held her wrist up in amazement when she realized that she couldn't even see where she had been cut.

"Well?" her Grandfather's voice was grating, and Hannah burrowed deeper into her mother's comforting embrace.

Gringold looked up at her Grandfather then. "It seems that you were wrong Lord Abbott," the Goblin sneered.

Hannah stole a glance at her grandfather. He looked pale and shocked as he stared at the Goblin. "What?" he asked. "What do you mean?"

The Goblin sighed and then he held up the parchment for all to see. Hannah stared at it with great curiosity. She swiftly found her own name and then she noted that the line that held her name led up to two people. One was her mother's name, Alicia Lorraine Abbott nee Vaisey. Then on the other side with a line joining their names was the name Johnathon Preston Abbott II. She didn't understand why this seemed to shock so many in the room. She had always known the names of her parents.

"I.." Warring Abbott seemed to be at a loss for words.

Minister Bagnold looked equally at a loss.

"It seems a grave error was made regarding young Hannah," Albus Dumbledore said then. "She is clearly the daughter of the late Heir Abbott," he stated.

Minister Bagnold cleared her throat. "Yes, you are correct," she said. "The laws are clear then. Young Hannah is the proper Heir Abbott, as her father was before her," she said and gave a stern look to Warring Abbott.

Hannah watched her Grandfather as he wrestled with his emotions. She couldn't tell what he was thinking but soon enough he was nodding along with what Dumbledore and Bagnold had told him. "Yes, of course," he said slowly. "Hannah, child, I didn't realize," he said then. He seemed apologetic, but his tone didn't match the expression within his eyes. He was furious, and Hannah didn't want anything to do with him. "Of course, Hannah will be invested as the Heir Abbott. I'll make a public apology to Alicia and Hannah for my cruelty toward them. Hannah shall come and live at the Manor. Henrietta will enjoy having Hannah there to dote upon," he said referring to his wife. "Clarissa and her husband live with us. They have a little girl that is Hannah's age, so she shall not want for companionship."

"That seems settled then," Albus said cheerfully.

Hannah looked at her mother with a horrified expression. She didn't want to live with her Grandfather. She clung to her mother, desperate to stay in the woman's arms where it was safe.

"Except for the part about Hannah going to live with you, your plans are quite agreeable," Sirius proclaimed.

Hannah watched as Dumbledore frowned at Sirius. "My dear boy, surely you do not mean to keep Warring from getting to know his granddaughter," he said pleasantly.

She watched as Sirius smiled pleasantly at the Headmaster of Hogwart's. "Warring Abbott swore a vow that he would never take in Hannah and that she would not live under the roof of any of the Abbott residences until he was dead," he explained.

Hannah felt relief at Sirius's words and she fought the urge to giggle at the bewildered look that the Headmaster was sporting.

"It is true," Lord Macmillan spoke up then. "I was a witness to the oath that Lord Abbott spoke. It was just two days ago in the Leaky Cauldron. He cannot take in Miss Hannah without breaking his vow and thus destroy his magical core."

Madam Bagnold sucked in a deep breath. "Well then, it seems that Hannah shall remain with her mother. She'll still be invested as Heir Abbott and Lord Abbott shall make a public apology for the besmirching of his daughter-in-law's name as well as his granddaughter's name."

"Yes, Madame Minister," Lord Abbott agreed without hesitation.

"Good," she stated firmly. "Now with this business finished, I bid you all a good afternoon," the Minister said and then she departed the room with two men in Auror robes flanking her.

"Mum," Hannah said softly, gaining her mother's attention. "Can we please go home now?" she asked tentatively.

Her mother smiled down at her and nodded her head. "Yes," she said gently. "We have accomplished all that we came to do here," she told her.

"I'll escort you home," she heard Sirius say and Hannah smiled at him.

Hannah stood still as her mother carefully arranged her clothing, smoothing out non-existent wrinkles. Then her mother was petting her hair, carefully moving some of her golden-blond curls off her shoulders. Hannah remained still for all of it, well used to her mother's nervous rituals. From the corner of her eye, she watched as Sirius spoke with Mr. Pollux Black. The older man was nodding his head in agreement and then was whispering something back to Sirius. She wondered what they were talking about, but of course, she couldn't just walk over and insert herself into the conversation. Her mother would stop her after her first step in Sirius's direction.

A moment later Sirius's laughter could be heard as he nodded his head to the older man. He then turned away from the man and made his way back to her mother's side. "Come along, I'll see you safely home now," he said.

"Hold your head high, Hannah," Alicia whispered to her before kissing her cheek. Then her mother straightened and took the arm that Sirius Black offered her.

Hannah held her mother's other hand as they left the room and headed once more down the hallway with the pretty sparkling stones in the walls. They walked at a slightly faster pace than the first time around, so Hannah barely had time to take in the sparkling stones. She would ask Sirius later if they were real diamonds embedded in the walls or some other type of stone.

They slowed their pace when they entered the foyer of the bank. Hannah swiftly realized that the more strolling pace was to allow the other men and women in the bank to see them and for them to then wonder what their business must have been with Gringotts. Hannah supposed she could understand why people gossiped about her, as much as she hated it. Her Grandfather had clearly wronged her all these years and soon enough people would know it. She quite liked the idea of people finally knowing the truth about her. No more sneering looks or harsh words spoken at her mother.

She'd think about forgiving those people. She supposed that she probably should forgive them. It would be the nice thing to do. Was it really their fault that they had bought into the word of her Grandfather? Surely a Lord of House was someone to be respected and revered. Her Great-Grandmother Caisonia was certainly someone she revered. She imagined she would always believe Grandma Caisonia's word. Surely, she shouldn't fault others for believing her Grandfather Abbott then. It was not their fault that the man was wrong about her. She would think about it. She'd talk with Romilda about it. Maybe she would write Ernie about it. He was always so insightful. He might know just what she should do about it.

She left Gringott's still clinging to her mother's hand and she kept her head held high, but she longed to duck behind her mother and hide. It seemed like everyone was looking at her and she heard them whispering. Word had already spread into Diagon Alley that she was not some upstart illegitimate child that Alicia Vaisey had tried to pass off as the child of the late Heir Abbott. Now everyone knew her father was Johnathon Abbott, or at least everyone would know soon enough due to the way the rumors were spreading. They'd know for sure when Lord Abbott placed the true story into the papers. They'd know then that this rumor was fact and not yet another fiction about herself and her mother. They'd know her much-maligned mother had been faithful to her spouse. They'd know that Hannah was the honorable child of Johnathon Abbott. They'd know that she would be the Heir Abbott, as she always should have been.

Hannah still didn't know how she felt about that. She had never really thought about being the Heir Abbott and one day Head of House Abbott, Lady Abbott. She'd have to give herself some time to figure out what she thought about that. For now, she was just happy that her testing was over, and she was going home.


Next Chapter: Wedding Plans