Chapter 10
"Letters are being sent to the representatives, if any, of the people who couldn't attend. We can do the inheritance and magical ability test now, if you want," Steelgrip suggested, "and then Mr. Potter can take up the heir rings".
Remus looked at Harry and nodded so did his parents, he nodded back. Remus replied for him, "We would like that."
Steelgrip slid a parchment towards Harry and retrieved a short, sharp-pointed blade from a drawer in his desk and instructed Harry, "Just prick your finger with the blade and put one drop of blood on the parchment, it will show all your inheritances and magical abilities; your cut will heal instantly after you have done so".
Harry gave a short nod of understanding, picked up the blade and made a small incision on his right index finger and let a drop of blood fall on the parchment. His finger was healed before he could turn it towards himself and look at it and words were starting to form on the parchment.
NAME: HARRY JAMES POTTER
FATHER: JAMES FLEAMONT POTTER
MOTHER: LILY POTTER (nee EVANS)
GRANDFATHER: FLEAMONT POTTER
GRANDMOTHER: EUPHEMIA POTTER
INHERITANCES:
Harry Potter Trust Vault- Vault 687
5000 Galleons (To be reimbursed bi-annually to this amount)
Heir to 'The Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter'- Vault 595
10,600,500 Galleons
50,084 Sickles
6,009 Knuts
Heir to 'The Most Ancient and Noble House of Peverell'- Vault 388
1,000,655 Galleons
500,899 Sickles
799,850 Knuts
Heir to 'The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black'- Vault 543
10,844,633 Galleons
588,754 Sickles
54,005 Knuts
Heir to 'The Most Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin'- Vault 1
12,000,225 Galleons
50,777 Sickles
76,404 Knuts
Heir to 'The Most Ancient and Noble House of Gryffindor'- Vault 2
11,876,456 Galleons
657,989 Sickles
895,735 Knuts
(Aside from books, jewelry, furniture, ornaments and other possessions)
"How is he the Heir to the Black Family?", James asked, "Sirius was disowned, wasn't he?"
"No, officially, he was never disowned," Steelgrip answered.
"Oh" was the only reply James could come up with. He knew that Sirius, too, wasn't aware of this, he thought that he must have been disowned the moment he ran away from his home.
Everyone turned their attention back to the parchment which was now, also showing Harry's magical abilities.
MAGICAL ABILITIES:
Parselmouth
Natural Legilimens (Blocked- Albus Dumbledore)
Occlumens (Blocked- Albus Dumbledore)
Metamorphmagus (Blocked- Albus Dumbledore)
IQ- 140 (40% blocked- Albus Dumbledore)
Everyone was pleasantly surprised at the numerous abilities Harry had, and were fuming at the sheer number of blocks placed on the boy. Dumbledore really wanted Harry to depend entirely on him. He would also have had trouble in his studies with his IQ blocked to less than average.
Steelgrip was disgusted at the old wizard's behaviour, he couldn't understand how could someone try to stop the progress of such a brilliant child, and spoke up before anyone else could, "My assistant, the one who came in while you all were talking, informed me that Mr. Potter's health examination can be done tomorrow, all these blocks can also be removed then. Looking at all these blocks I don't have a doubt that there is a block on his magical core too."
"Then get them removed tomorrow, Steelgrip", Lily didn't waste a second in accepting the offer, "take the fee required from the Potter Vault". Steelgrip nodded his acceptance and wrote something down on a parchment and sent it to his assistant.
Harry who had been reading the information asked, "What do all these things mean?"
His mother took up the explanation, "A parselmouth, Harry, is a person who can talk to snakes. Many people think that this a dark, so an evil ability but it's a wrong assumption. It is just a rare ability that passed through the dark families. This belief has become even more pronounced since people learned that Voldemort is a parselmouth but I'm sure you will change this." she winked at Harry who smiled and nodded, "Legilimency is the act of magically navigating through the many layers of a person's mind and correctly interpreting one's findings. A person who practises this art is known as a Legilimens. It's what muggles call 'mind-reading'.
Occlumency is the act of magically closing one's mind against Legilimency. It is ancient, and has existed since medieval times. It can prevent a Legilimens from accessing one's thoughts and feelings, or influencing them. A person who practises this art is known as an Occlumens."
Harry nodded storing all the information and asked, "And what's a Meta…Metamorphmagus?"
Lily smiled at his sheepish expression, "Don't worry Harry, it is a little hard to remember and pronounce on the first try and you are just a child," everyone nodded at this, "now, a Metamorphmagus is a witch or wizard with the rare magical ability to change their physical appearance through sheer will alone."
"Wow!", Harry exclaimed.
"Yes, it is amazing. Imagine all the pranks you can pull on people," James said with a dreamy expression. Lily smacked her forehead and everyone laughed, except for Remus, he had the same look on his face. Both friends shared a look and grinned mischievously, it made no one comfortable.
"Now, Mr. Potter can take the Heir rings to the houses," Steelgrip brought the attention back to important matters knowing, or at least hoping, that whatever the look meant it had nothing to do with him. He touched the part where the inheritance information was presented and said a spell in gobblegook. Five rings appeared on the table.
"Start with the Potter ring and put it on your right ring finger", Steelgrip instructed, "then put the Slytherin ring on your middle finger and Gryffindor ring on your index finger, the other two, you can put on as per your preference; just put them on the same hand, that way it will be more convenient to merge them".
Harry raised a questioning eyebrow at the mention of merging them but the look on Steelgrip's face assured him that he'll get an explanation after he puts them on.
He reached towards the silver one that displayed the Potter Crest in golden, on it and opened it. Inside was a thick golden band with a big diamond imbedded in it. Harry stroked the gem and the ring seemed to hum pleasantly and the familiar crest seemed to shine from inside the gemstone.
He looked up at his father who explained, "The ring seems to recognise you that's why it hummed; as for the crest every family ring has the family's essence stored in it, as the families are represented by the crests it is what shines through sometimes in situations like this. Every ring has various protective enchantments on it."
"I'll tell you about them as you put the rings on", Steelgrip said.
Harry took the ring, looked at everyone's faces, they smiled at him encouragingly, and slipped the ring on his right hand ring finger. He was surrounded by a golden light and felt the family magic surround him protectively, the knowledge about the nature of the family magic, the values of the family and expectations and responsibilities seeped inside him and the light faded. He opened his eyes and saw the proud look on the face of his parents faces.
"It felt amazing," he couldn't help gushing. His father smiled knowingly at him, "I know son, it's the family magic accepting you, she liked you. Also, you are a really powerful wizard if that glow that surrounded you is anything to go by."
Remus and Severus nodded enthusiastically; they had never seen anything like that before. Severus felt the faintest bit of resentment that was left fade away, the boy practically oozed purity, hope and love when he was surrounded by the golden glow.
Encouraged by this, he picked the Gryffindor ring, it was golden with a circular ruby in the centre and slipped it on his middle finger. The same thing happened, as did with the silver and emerald Slytherin ring, silver and onyx Black ring which he put on his little finger and the golden and carnelian Peverell ring which he put on his thumb. The rings had enchantments like protecting him from small hexes and jinxes, legilimency, distractions and no one could remove them if he didn't want.
After this was done Steelgrip instructed him, "Put your other hand on all the rings wish for them to merge together, close your eyes if you want, it will make doing this for the first time easier."
Harry closed his eyes and did as he was told to. He felt something like a swirls on his fingers and then his ring finger felt heavier than the rest. He opened his eyes and looked down to see a bigger ring on his ring finger. It was a thick band which looked like a braid of three bands of gold and two of silver. The gem looked both, like a mixture of all the stones and a different stone each time one looked at it.
"I love magic", he said, grinning.
"You can, similarly, touch the ring and will it to separate again and it will do that," Steelgrip informed him.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. A guard came inside after being given the permission. He informed them that a crowd had gathered outside the bank, there were journalists, some people from the Ministry, some common people and Albus Dumbledore. The news that Harry Potter was in the bank had spread and everyone wanted to see him and Dumbledore wanted to know how the boy was at the bank, he should be with his relatives. Even if they had told him about the wizarding world, they wouldn't know about how to get here. He hadn't been told what the boy was doing, neither had he been allowed to contact him or go where he was. Some nonsense about not accepting him as his Magical Gurdian.
James grinned and addressed his son, "Son, let me congratulate you for being invited to your first prank as a Junior Marauder. Today you will prank Albus Dumbledore himself."
Together, he and Remus explained him what he had to do with some suggestions from the others. Both grinned at each other, the Marauders were back in business.
Lily asked Severus what he wanted to do, he said that he would like to act as if nothing had changed, he could collect information in that way which could help them. The Potters asked Steelgrip to get a document of declaring Severus as the Personal Potions Master of the Potters ready. That way, if any problem occurred, he would be under the protection of the Potters.
McGonagall also, decided to act the same but she would accept to going to the will reading as she was one to the guardians named. Thus, everything decided, they all got up and thanked Steelgrip, Harry bowed to the goblin properly which he returned, the said their until-next-times, Harry shrunk the portrait and put it in his pocket and went out of the door with Remus and McGonagall. Snape would sneak into the apparition room and apparate from there under the cover of people paying attention only to Harry.
The noise of the crowd could be heard in the entrance hall of the bank. Harry was nervous and his hands were clammy, Remus noticed this and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. Harry smiled at him, he could do this, he had someone to help him, who was there for him. He put a hand in his pocket and gently squeezed the portrait. The door was in front of him and he could see the people outside. He took a deep breath and released it and stepped out of the door with confidence and his head held high, like his father had told him.
All the sound stopped as the people stared at him for 10 seconds and them resumed at a louder noise level. Dumbledore stepped forward and so did the journalists but Remus had put up a shield which prevent anyone from getting within five feet of them.
A journalist said, "You cannot stop us from interviewing him, we too, want to know where our young hero was all this time."
Remus casted a Sonorous spell on himself before Dumbledore could say something and said, "Harry Potter was living at a supposedly safe location where he was placed by Headmaster Dumbledore here, but he was not treated very nicely by them. I was named as the Potter steward and therefore the goblins informed me of the will reading and I collected Mr. Potter from the place and now as per the will he will be living at the Potter Manor, which as you know is at a secure, secluded location, which will not be revealed. Now, the only questions you are allowed to ask him is about the present and the future and nothing about the past."
He cancelled the spell. One of the reporters asked Dumbledore, "Why did you place him somewhere like that?
"Did you know he was not treated well?" another reporter asked.
Dumbledore knew he was cornered when Remus told the reporters that Harry was not treated well. He decided to answer truthfully, "I placed him there because it seemed to be the best option then and no, I wasn't aware that he wasn't treated properly."
One of the reporters then, asked Harry, "Harry Potter, what are you going to do now?"
"It was mentioned in the will that my Godfather, Sirius Black was not the secret keeper, Peter Pettigrew was. He never received a trial, and is wrongfully imprisoned. I am going to the Ministry to request a trial for him," Harry said.
There were numerous gasps, and the people who had quietened down to listen to the interview started talking with more fervour. One man shouted over the din, "But what about the street he blew up?"
"I have reasons to believe that he is innocent of that too. Of course, the Chief Warlock will help me in arranging the trial", Harry smiled at Dumbledore who could do nothing but agree in front of all the people and also to keep his grandfatherly impression in front of Harry and said, "Of course, my boy, of course".
Then without a word to anyone else, Remus apparated them to the Ministry in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (DMLE), closely followed by Dumbledore. Amelia Bones, the head of the dept, was being informed by her people who were in the crowd about the proceedings.
She invited them inside her office. Harry bowed to her and kissed the back of her hand and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you Madam Bones", finding the gestures come to him quite easily now and he actually liked them. She was pleased at the proper etiquettes displayed by such a young child and asked them about the authenticity of the information she had received. They informed her about everything.
She immediately agreed to the trial once she had seen and verified a copy of the will, she wanted to rectify the grave wrong done by the ministry. She ordered the Aurors to bring Sirius for the trial and went on to inform everyone about it before Fudge could do anything to stop or hinder it.
Sirius wasn't told anything, just that he was going to get his, much awaited, trial. He didn't ask why; he was just glad that he was getting a trial and he would be able to prove his innocence.
The Wizengamot was filled with people, no one wanted to miss this trial, some, because they believed what Harry said, some because they didn't and wanted to see Sirius punished and some just wanted to see the trial and then decide.
Harry greeted Augusta Longbottom who held the proxy of the Longbottom seat till her grandson, Neville Longbottom came of age. As was decided, he asked her to take up the proxy of Potter seat, too, which had been empty for the few years, till he took up the lordship. She had received the letter from Gringotts and the Longbottoms and the Potters had been friends since as long as anyone could remember, so she agreed.
Everyone took their seats; Harry took his place in the area for heirs and was greeted formally by the other two heirs of his age there, Neville Longbottom and Draco Malfoy but soon they gave up all the formality and started talking like friends. Neville knew about the friendship between their families and Draco's father had asked him to talk to Harry and befriend him if he got a chance, he genuinely regretted his past decisions and wanted out, moreover, both of them actually liked the well-mannered good-natured boy more and more as they talked to him. For Harry, he just liked making friends, something he hadn't been able to do because of Dudley, and was happy doing that now that people actually wanted to talk to him.
After some time, Dumbledore banged his gavel and ordered people to be silent. He could have asked for a trial for Sirius but he didn't even try, happy that his plan for the boy would work, but now he was going to see to it that justice be served. He still wanted to keep the child under his influence but some things could change.
The hall was silent, Sirius was brought in, cuffed, and was made to sit on the chair in the centre of the room with magic supressing handcuffs. He looked around the room, he saw Remus and instead of the hate he expected to see on his face, there was belief and love. Remus gestured towards the heir enclosure and looked at the face of the person he loved like a son, he had to blink away the tears to see clearly and the tears came back when he saw the same emotions as Remus' reflected in his eyes.
In front of the eyes of the entire Wizengamot, almost all the effects of Azkaban seemed to fade away, Remus and Harry believed him, maybe Harry asked for the trial as he was sitting in the Heir Enclosure. He raised his head and got ready for the trial.
/hp/
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