Author's Note: Here is the awaited chapter ya'll. Forgive me for not posting on Monday, I was not feeling to well and I was tired, but I am better now. I am trying to get some more writing done, so I have a few chapters backed up, so I can miss less days like this past Monday even if I am not feeling up to writing. I hope ya'll are doing well, especially after what happened last week in the U.S. capitol and the continued fluctuating COVID-19 rates all over the world. Thank you again for all your wonderful comments! Now that I am a writer, I now understand how much a comment means to writers, so I have tried to comment on most, if not every fic that I read from now on. Happy reading! Toodles! 😊
Harry woke up with a jolt. Harry wondered where he was, but then it all came back to him about meeting Madame Florence and falling asleep in his room. Harry realized that the clock he failed to notice on the night stand next to the bed, was a magical clock.
The clock was currently yelling "Dinner, Dinner time for Dinner, Dinner is from 5 to 9 every night. Dinner."
Harry reached over and hit the button on top of the clock, like he would do with the muggle clock he had in his cupboard at the Dursleys, and it became quite once more. Harry stretched and felt a few of his bones pop. He felt much better after the amazing nap he just had. It was only a few hours and no matter how well he slept it would not touch the bone deep tiredness he felt from the work at the Dursley's and the sleepless nights at the Dursleys and during his school years. Harry was quite surprised he slept so well, if only for a few hours because ever since he came back from the maze with Cedric's body, his nightmare was worse than ever. Before he left the Dursley's Harry could not sleep a full night without at least one or two nightmares and those nights were good nights based on Harry's standards. Harry always dealt with nightmares before Hogwarts and they normally consisted of him seeing a green light and hearing his mother screech his name, or they were nightmares of the Dursley's hurting him. Going to Hogwarts, finding out his wizarding heritage, and all the near death experiences each year, just made his nightmares worse and more frequent.
Harry then got up and goes to the bathroom and does his business and then he showers in the small, but not horribly tiny shower that could also be used as a tub, since the bottom was a claw foot tub. It had a light grey marble for the floor and sink, and the toilet was a type of white porcelain.
Now that he was not completely exhausted Harry, got out of the shower and went into the room he fell asleep in and he realized that it too, was a mix of warm browns and blacks to give the same cozy feeling as the pub downstairs. Harry reached into his trunk and found the set of clothes that were the least baggy on his form, and he put on the same old sweatshirt to cover his identity once again and to get rid of the chill in the air. Harry tried to dry his hair with a towel and tried to finger comb hair, but as usual it could not be tamed. Then there was a nock on the door and Harry walked over and unlocked the door and poked his head out. There stood Madame Florence with an apron on, holding out Harry's meal he requested earlier.
"Hello Harry. Here is your food. I hope you got some rest; you seem more alert now," she said with a smile.
Harry took the tray from her hands and said, "Thank you Madame Florence. I had a nice rest; I hoe you have had a good night so far."
"It's been fine honey, it is not that busy, but do not worry about that, go eat your food you must be hungry after such a rest," Madame Florence said with a small smile.
"Thank you, Madame have a good night," said Harry.
"Same to you dear, enjoy your dinner and get some more rest tonight," said Madame Florence and she turned around and went back down the stairs to look over the pub for the night.
Harry shut the door and brought the food over to the coffee table that was in his room by two chairs by the fireplace. The room was small but was open and had a fireplace on the wall to the right of the bed. In front of the fireplace was a coffee table the color of cherry wood and there were two chairs, to the left of the table, covered in a soft suede material that was light brown, and to the right of the table was a small sofa, or what some would call a love seat of the same color and material. The fire was already blazing and had been on since Harry first came into the room, he was just too tired to notice it.
Harry decided to sit on the small sofa and found it to be comfortable and soft. He dug into the soup, it was a light brown colored beef soup which also had potatoes and vegetables in it, but not too much that it crowded the bowl, or left no room for the meat and broth, like some soups did. Harry was able to eat half of the bowl, before he started to get full and he decided to dip the white bread that came on his dinner plate to dip in the broth. Harry wanted to finish all the meat and everything else that was in the soup, but he knew he could not push a large amount of food into his stomach, or he would get sick. While savoring the white bread mixed with the flavorful broth, harry cursed the Dursley's for his maltreatment and especially how it made eating hard for him. Harry would love to eat at least half what Ron ate in a sitting, but he never could do that. Heck, Harry never could eat a regular sized portion that Hermione had in the great hall either. Once he was done with his bread, Harry gratefully drank all the milk he asked for. It was fresh and creamy, Harry had a hard time not gulping too fast, but he learned his threshold as a young child, for how fast he could drink milk without sicking up because of the times Aunt Petunia decided to give him milk instead of tap water. After a particular time, he drank to much when he was young and threw up on the floor and Aunt Petunia made Harry clean it up, where if Dudley got sick, she would simper all of him and make sure he was ok. Harry remembered after that incident he had not gotten fresh milk from Aunt Petunia until a few months later. The next time Harry remembered getting milk, he still drank fast, but learned how fast he could drink it without sicking up.
Harry took the glass of milk and set it back down on the dinner platter and picked up the water glass, Madame Florence gave him. Harry took a miniscule sip from it and then he walked over to the bedside table by the still sleep rumpled bed and put the water glass on it, to save for later. He then remade the bed, because when the Dursley's did allow Harry to sleep in Dudley's second bedroom, Harry learned that despite the continuous nightmares, he slept better in a made bed and Harry was used to it after making all the Dursley's beds every day, including his own measly bed in Dudley's second bedroom, and even when he slept in the cupboard. In his cupboard he just had an old, baby cot, and raggedy blanket from his mother that was no sitting in his trunk, and an old pillow that Dudley tore in half in a tantrum and Harry was able to snag from the bin before it got stained and when his relatives were sleeping, he sewed it back together. One of the other chores that Aunt Petunia made him do that he enjoyed, other than cooking and gardening, was sewing and mending all of the Dursley's and his clothes. This also included tablecloths, blankets, and even a hole in curtains that Petunia bought from the local antique store once, but mostly he mended and sewed clothes. Aunt Petunia did not care to pay a seamstress, or do it herself, she could just hand it off to Harry. It was not hard for Harry to nick some extra sewing supplies to fix the pillow. Anyway, Harry made the measly excuse for a bed in his cupboard because as a child and even before he left the Dursleys this past summer, the cupboard that was one place that was his. He kept it as clean as possible, this was the same for the short times he was permitted to use Dudley's second bedroom.
Despite them being hard at times, especially when he was in pain, exhausted, and starving from the Dursley's abuse, Harry quite enjoyed cooking, gardening, and sewing. All three were skills useful to know in the wizarding and muggle world, and all three of these skills were relaxing to Harry.
Before Harry went back to bed, he decided that now he was free from the Dursleys, for the foreseeable future, he could work on his coursework and no longer hold back in school. Hopefully, Harry believes he can stay away from the Dursleys forever, but he is realistic, so Harry is settling for as long as he possibly can stay away. Harry was tired of not performing to the best of his ability in worry that Hermione would get jealous of his high grades that he knew he could get if he tried more when in school and if he was able to do his homework outside of school. For the next three hours before bed, Harry worked on his potions essay, and scoured his textbooks and properly cited all his sources. If it were not for his atrocious handwriting- which he could not help due to Vernon and Dudley's continuous beating of his body, which caused numerous, wrongly healed broken fingers and other bones in his body, and the fact that he never was taught how to use a quill- Professor Snape could give him an O, or at minimum an Exceeding Expectations. With his essay completed, Harry went to the bathroom, peed, washed his hands, then he went back and put all his course books and supplies back into his trunk. This is because his homework should have had time to dry now; once his books were away, he went to the bed and drank most of the water from his meal earlier. He left some water in the glass, incase he woke up from a nightmare, which was highly likely, and he went to bed for once full, warm, and comfortable.
Harry woke up at 6:30 am, from a nightmare of the death of Cedric and his parents and Amos Diggory were blaming him, for Cedric's death. They were saying, "Why couldn't you save him?", continuously, except for Cedric, who kept saying, "Why did you let me die?", repeatedly. A small part of Harry knew he was not responsible, but his savior complex, survivor's guilt, and the abuse at the Dursley's overrode that logic and he believed he was responsible for Cedric's death. Harry took a deep breath, drank the left-over water on his bedside table, and he decided until breakfast was put out at 7:30, he would work on his Charms Essay for an hour, or so. Around 7:30, Harry packed up all his homework and supplies, he showered, and dressed once again in the clothes from the day before. He needed to find a charm to clean, or at least freshen up his clothes, but he could not do that anyway due to the underage tracking charm on his wand and due to him not being in school yet, where practicing magic underage was a must. How could they learn magic efficiently, by only understanding the theory, it was impossible, not to have a balanced mix of theory and practical in every class?
Harry went downstairs and found Madame Florence at the bar and only a few other customers were up this early.
"Good morning Madame Florence," said Harry. "Could I possibly have some toast with some milk and fruit for breakfast please, if you have it?"
"I can certainly do that young man," said Madame Florence with a smile, "are you sure you do not want something else to eat as well, for a growing boy such as yourself?"
"No thank you ma'am, it would be lovely to do that, but I am not used to eating big, or heavy breakfasts," explained Harry.
"Ahh that is understandable, coming right up Harry," said Madame Florence. Thinking to herself Madame Florence suddenly remembered what her good friend Tom had told her about the boy, he grew to care about more then most of his customers. Not that Tom did not care about all of his customers because he certainly did, but there were only a few people each year, or every few years who Tom took under his wing other than Harry. Tom had told her that all he could say without breaking the boy's trust was that he did not have a good home life and he needed people in his corner. Some of the other things he told her in confidence as friends and semi-competitive business owners was that Harry was most likely starved or used to eating very little at the place, he grew up in. He also hinted at abuse and starvation from Harry's supposed relatives. Like most in the wizarding world, children of all type's human, or creature were sacred and abuse was a high crime and unthinkable to the magical societies.
Harry was given his food and with quick nod of his head and a quiet "thanks," from his lips, he dug into his breakfast. Harry was planning to make his first stop after breakfast Gringotts. He wondered how Griphook was doing. To Harry, since he was taken to the goblin bank with Hagrid in his first year, Goblin culture and language fascinated him. Due to his stressful school years and hazardous summers with the Dursley's, Harry had little time to research Goblin culture, other then in Professor Binns class. Unknown to Ron, or Hermione, Harry had been using Professor Binns, class to catch up on his other class work and to do some self-study on goblin culture and language each year. Learning was slow, especially with the need to hide his studying from his so-called friends, and all of the catch-up work he needed to do in the class, for his other subjects, so he did not fall behind each year when he was fighting for his life. Who had time for much homework, when he was worrying about the tournament, or an escaped convict, or even a giant snake under the school? From his self-study, Harry could shakily say a traditional goblin greeting without offending any Goblin, since even at the beginning of Harry's self-teaching he quickly learned that the Goblins were not a creature, you wanted piss off. Also, Harry believed that the way most of the wizards in Britain treated creatures, which included the goblin nation and Gringotts, was disgusting and downright ignorant and rude.
Harry finished his food, paid Madame Florence for his meal and told her, "I should have my next room payment by tonight and if something comes up by tomorrow at the latest." She told Harry not to worry and shooed him on his way.
Before exiting the pub Harry readjusted Dudley's hood over his head, as he had it on all of breakfast, except for when he pushed it half way off his face when talking to Madame Florence as not to be rude. Then, Harry existed the pub, had no time bypassing the vendors in the alley, and made his way into Diagon Alley, and directly to the bank. Harry nodded to both guards standing outside of Gringotts and they looked at him in shock for his respect, but he could not see their surprised looks since he was already halfway in the bank and to a teller.
Once he accessed a teller, Harry shakily said in Gobbledygook, "May your enemies fall at your feet and your coin flow freely master Goblin", with a small bow at the end. The teller shocked at the wizard's knowledge of their language and proper culture, took a few seconds, but responded with, "And may your enemies fall at your feet and your coin flow freely Master Potter." Then he continued in Gobbleydygook and said, "Do not worry master Potter we goblins can tell most of our customers from their magical signature. What can we do for you today sir?"
"Thank you, Master Goblin," Harry said back in English. "Could I please have a meet with my account manager Goblin Griphook if he is available? I would also like to pull some money from my vault, and I would like to ask him a few other questions about my account as well."
"That can be done Mr. Potter. Griphook and the Goblin nation has been messaging you since you started Hogwarts, but all of our letters have returned unopened, so we have been trying to get in touch with you and have been waiting for a time we can talk to you in private as well. Please follow me to Griphook's office," the teller said in slow Gobbledygook. Normally, the teller would not bother to slow down speaking, but the teller acknowledged Mr. Potter's age and his surprising respect for the Goblins, and thus spoke slowly.
Harry was followed the teller into a minecart and after a quick ride in the insides of Gringott's the cart stopped and the Teller lead him to Griphook's office. The ride was so quick because most, if not all account manager's offices were below the lobby of the bank, but not as low as their customer's vaults, or the goblin home's, city, and mines even deeper below the bank. The teller quickly led Harry down a maze of hallways he would never be able to remember and then nocked on a dark oak door. The Teller said something in Gobbledygook too fast, so Harry couldn't understand him and then bowed to Harry, gestured to go into the open door, and then left as soon as Harry stepped in.
Harry looked around for a second and he spotted Griphook behind an ancient looking oak desk inside the room. Harry walked into Griphook's office more and once he stood in front of Griphook;'s desk, he repeated the goblin greeting in Gobbledygook, but just substituted the words Master Goblin with Account Manager Griphook. Again, like when he addresses the teller after speaking Harry bowed.
Griphook smiled in a way that only, Goblins could with teeth and all and said to Harry, "And may your enemies fall at your feet and your coin flow freely Master Potter. I and the other goblins have been trying to contact you, for a meeting over your assets and inheritances since you reentered the wizarding world when you were eleven Master Potter, and all of your letters were sent back unopened. I would ask you why that is, but Goblin Bognot who brought you here, told me you looked surprised once we told you we had been trying to contact you for some time. Normally, a goblin would still ask why you have not received letters, even if you seemed surprised, but the fact that you greeted not only Teller Bognot and me with a traditional greeting in Gobbledygook and remembered my name, we think more highly of you as wizards go Mr. Potter," Griphook said in Gobbledygook.
Griphook then switched back to English so Mr. Potter could keep up, with what they needed to discuss quicker and more efficiently. Griphook said, "Now, as I told you we also have some other matters like inheritance tests and other business to go over while you are here. If you do not mind Mr. Potter, can we wait to go ti your vault, until more of the important matters are discussed?"
"That would be ok Griphook. Thank you for switching back to English, as I know you do not need to do that for yourself," said Harry. "I guess you should start in the order, that is most important to least important, as you were kind of already explaining to me," Harry said with a hand over the back of his neck. Harry was surprised and a lost, but he did not want to look stupid, or be rude to Griphook in any way.
"Well, the first order of business for you Mr. Potter is to take an Inheritance test and a healing test, which will show your bloodline, your magical abilities, any spells, potions, and magical blocks on you, and a history of all of your injuries magical and non-magical since you were born. This is important for you to do first, to check on your accounts, any lordships you might be eligible to inherit, and any inconsistencies with your bloodline and anything that looks suspicious in regard to your magic and health tests, and anything being wrongfully withdrawn from your vaults. I have been contacted by another wizarding families' manager that there might be some ill tampering with yourself and your magic, since one of that Goblin's customers has just been found again and manipulations to his memory and magic by spells, and potions were found on his person. They have been all since removed, but this being said we need to get your results as soon as possible," said Griphook."
"So, if I understand what you are saying Griphook, is that I might find something wrong with my tests, and this goblin you mentioned that is the account manager of that being you said was manipulated, found something that believes that I might be under spells and potions too? How is that possible," asked Harry? "The only way that would be possible is if, they were related to me in some way, or had some connection with my parents, if I am correct. If I am correct please tell me what to do so we can get started on the tests Griphook," Harry said with a pale face, but with a soft, yet unwavering voice.
Griphook respected the young wizard's strength, while being dumped with disconcerting information he stayed focused and did not become over emotional. "You are correct Master Potter, please come over here and sit down. Forgive me for not asking you to sit sooner. Once you sit, please take this dagger, and cut the back of your hand. There are too many nerve endings on the palm of one's hand and blood from the palm, is only needed in more extensive rituals. Not that this ritual is not extensive, but just know it is not need for this. This is a goblin dagger and you only need to put 13 drops of blood on the parchment and the goblin magic in the dagger will automatically heal your cut, once the need blood is finished collecting on this piece of paper right here," said Griphook. He handed Harry a emerald encrusted dagger, the dagger itself was made from silver, and the rest of the handle was a mix of black dragon hide and obsidian. He also motioned with his other hand a piece of old, weather parchment, on top of his desk.
Harry nodded and said, "Do not worry Griphook, it is ok, it seems we both have a lot to discuss with each other. That is a very cool piece of magic imbued into the dagger." Harry moved over and sat in a gray, some would say stone colored, leather love seat that was behind Griphook,s desk. Harry sat on the loveseat that was in between two other leather chairs of the same gray color on both sides and he then took the dagger from Gripook, cut his hand, and placed the 13 drops of blood on the parchment Like Griphook said, his hand healed almost instantly after all 13 drops had touched the paper. Harry handed Griphook back the beautiful dagger, gingerly and realized that as soon as the first of his blood touched the parchment it started self-inking the information on it (with no visible quill, or enchanted inkwell) and it looked like it was not even close to being done. Harry gulped and waited a nervous, yet somewhat excited tension rising withing himself. He and Griphook sat in quite wait for the details of the tests to be completed.