A/N: ohhh yeah…. horcruxes….!
Chapter 21 - The Smell 'Em Coming Potion
Lucius gave Harry's shoulders a quick squeeze before dropping his arm as they stepped out of the hearth at the Leaky Cauldron, with Remus right on their heels. Harry stuck close to the adult wizards as they made their way through the crowded tables at the popular wizarding eatery and inn, not bothering to acknowledge the turning heads. He was paying far closer attention to the scents in the air. So far, so good.
"Your visit with the goblin Roarshirak will likely overlap with the reading of the will, and with my taking guardianship," Lucius advised Harry, once they had reached the cobblestone street, and were away from prying ears. "We will be told the order of the procedures once we arrive, as the goblins will have taken great strides to maximize, and utilize, our time most efficiently. I should ask you now how much you would like me to be present to hear, in the event that the reading of the will, or your personal financial review session, begins while I'm in the room. I may be of assistance to you, in that I would know questions to ask, such as, how your wealth is being managed and if it's invested in properties, etc, for both your Potter and Black vaults. Or, if indeed there are actually other vaults, of which you are not yet aware, which require oversight established."
Harry actually stopped in his tracks at this. He flashed a look at Remus, and bit his lip as the others stopped as well. The alternate reality feeling had set back in. It's like I've been kept in a cupboard-shaped box all this time! "It never occurred to me that there could be more to my estate than my vault."
"I'm not aware that there is, Harry," Remus informed him, "but then, your dad was not one to brag of his family's wealth. It may or may not have been substantially larger than you've yet seen. He does come from a long pureblood line, however, and those families have tended to hold most of the wealth in the wizarding world."
Harry scowled, that's not fair….
"And as such, Harry, it may not be so much that you have more money, but that what you do have is held in a complicated manner, such as in jointly held property that is in trust, or is in probate," Lucius added. "I've no idea that you do, in all honesty, but I wanted to be properly prepared to act on your behalf if you need assistance. If not, I'll wait in the lobby."
Harry nodded, "Alright. Thank you, sir….," but then decided, "I'm going to ask Roarshirak to advise me on whether to have anyone else be present."
"That sounds best, Harry," Remus said. He squeezed Harry's shoulder and they resumed walking. "I'm happy to stay as well, but it's entirely up to you." He grinned, "I'm expecting to receive the last of Sirius' firewhiskey, and the few muggle record albums he owned, so my visit will be quite simple."
"Come, we'll be late," Lucius warned, turning as he jerked his head toward the bank, but his eyes were on Harry. "Follow your instincts, lad."
"Yes, sir," Harry said as they crossed the threshold of the wizarding financial institution. He had been looking forward to some aspects of this visit, namely a real breakdown of his own finances. It hadn't occurred to him that whatever Sirius had left him might be quite complicated, and he was even more grateful that he already had professional help lined up. Actually, he owed this newfound relationship with his goblin solicitor to Lucius, who'd been the one to solicit the representation on Harry's behalf, just before they'd been ambushed on the Night Bus. As usual, he wondered why no one had ever recommended he get a legal advisor until now. Somehow, the answer to that question very likely circled back to Albus Dumbledore.
"Lucius?" Harry blurted out on impulse. The pompous older wizard had slowed his pace as they approached the bank's concierge, and he looked over at Harry with an inquiringly raised eyebrow, without breaking stride. "I never thanked you for helping me get my own solicitor. It's made a world of difference, and I'm grateful."
Now Lucius stopped and gave Harry his full attention. "You should have had a professional representing your interests all this time, young man," he said solemnly. "That was yet another oversight of the adults around you. Perhaps this is because many of them do not have large vaults of family wealth, but frankly, it's quite inexcusable."
"Yeah," Harry agreed softly. This was a good reminder that this whole "oversight" aspect of his childhood, thus far, was the reason he felt so disadvantaged. As in, isolated and uninformed. He drew another vial of his potion out of his pocket and kept it in his hand, just in case. He doubted he needed another dose of it, and had no sense that he was in danger, but… I did get hoodwinked by the fake Hagrid, didn't I?
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It turned out that Harry's solicitor, the goblin Roarshirak, first wanted to have a brief session with Harry alone, and then would want both Lucius and Remus in attendance for the guardianship process, and then the reading of the will, where unless Harry objected, Lucius would attend as his guardian, all before he concluded the session with the overview of Harry's finances. Aside from a brief whiff of a skunk-like odor in the grand lobby, Harry had no suspicion that he might not be safe, as he proceeded down a long corridor with Roarshirak to a large suite of offices.
"The others will be along momentarily, Mr. Potter," Roarshirak informed him as he pointed at a group of comfortable chairs for Harry to choose a seat from, while he continued around to the other side of a very large table, behind which three specially designed, goblin-sized chairs were waiting. He climbed the cleverly camouflaged set of steps built into one chair's base and sat upon the upholstered seat that was slightly higher than Harry's, and now they were at roughly the same eye level. "I want to affirm with you that you are in no way obligated to agree to, and that your involvement is completely voluntary, in anything that transpires in this office." He waited a beat until Harry nodded. "You are confident that temporary guardianship with Lucius Malfoy is the best option, for example?"
"Yes," Harry said, but then he frowned at Roarshirak. "I've only just come to be on better terms with him, mind you. He's been a menace to me up until the last few weeks. But he supports my plans for emancipation. I believe that he's turned a page... Do you agree? or am I being an idiot?"
"I agree wholeheartedly, Mr. Potter, but I am a goblin, and I most value organization and strategy. Mr. Malfoy is a master class in these respects. He is very well versed in utilizing the wizarding legal process for his own gain. But rest assured, I have built in protections over your finances - which Mr. Malfoy himself demanded, as well - so your personal wealth will not be accessible to anyone but you. On the other hand, I have no idea whether he's a proper father figure for you. You will need to determine that for yourself."
Harry gawked at that comment. Father figure! He laughed briefly. "I've got nineteen more days of being a minor. I'm just looking to be protected from the Ministry of Magic butting into my affairs, and from Albus Dumbledore, for that matter."
Roarshirak nodded, "Wise of you."
The office doors swung open and Remus and Lucius were preceded into the room by their solicitors, who took seats beside Roarshirak and nodded at Harry, while the older wizards were seated beside Harry.
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Lucius wasn't kidding when he said the goblins would be most efficient. The next forty minutes flew by in a blur for Harry. He was signing his acceptance of the temporary guardianship next to Lucius' flamboyant scrawl, and Remus' more refined witnessing signature, in a matter of minutes. It was a specialized legal tactic, which circumvented the necessity for Madam Malfoy to be present, as this was not a typical guardianship. It was set up as a mentorship, under which Harry was represented as being under Lucius' tutelage.
Then the will was revealed, which immediately began with the appearance of a holographic, ghost-like apparition of Sirius, wagging his finger at Remus to hurry up, already, and make a move on his klutzy cousin. "I've set you up with a small vault, Remus, so there's no reason for you to shy away from marriage to Dora!" Apparition Sirius declared this with mock scorn. "Furthermore, I've left you the very best of my firewhiskey and of course the records. Play them for Harry, will you?"
While a shocked Remus was shown the documents detailing the contents of his new vault, the transparent form of Harry's godfather turned to address Harry. "I've given the Order permission to use the House, Harry, but with the understanding that it's entirely up to you who actually has access. The house and its contents are yours. Sorry about the contents part." This was added with a smirk. "One hundred points to Gryffindor if you can detach that bloody portrait of my mother and put it out of its misery with some Fiendfyre." Holographic Sirius folded his arms and sighed. "If you're watching this, then I likely made a fool of myself somehow, and got killed. I'm sorry about that too, godson. But to make up for it, I'm leaving you everything that the Blacks had left. My parents had a huge vault at Gringotts that I'd thought was empty, but alas it had some volume left to it, and that volume grew with interest while it sat unused, so you'll receive a nice pile of gold. There will be some interesting jewels and pieces of art, as well, all of which, you are welcome to sell, if you can find a buyer." He winked at Harry. "Live a good life, Harry. I'll keep an eye on you, rest assured."
Harry gulped and struggled for a moment, thinking he might lose control as sadness surged upward to overtake him, but damned if Roarshirak wasn't already moving on to his personal finances. Needless to say, Harry was quite glad to have Lucius and Remus there, as additional ears, to take in the massive amount of information relayed over the next few minutes. By the time Roarshirak was finished, Harry realized the only part that he'd retained was that the current contents of the vault he normally accessed had enough funds to keep him sustained through the rest of his education, and likely an additional ten years without having to work, if he chose. Beyond that, there were snippets about the Godric's Hollow parcel of land still being Potter-owned, and worth a tidy sum. He also had two additional vaults, but he didn't recognize the family names of the relatives who'd left them, nor did he understand what it meant that the contents were tied to investments which had sustained a substantial amount of growth over the course of decades.
"And that concludes our business for today, gentlemen," Roarshirak declared. "We will see you later in the week at the Ministry of Magic, for the sessions before the Wizengamot."
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The three wizards left the bank in varying states of shock. Harry was just plain overwhelmed, Remus was gobsmacked, and Lucius seemed to be close to a state of giddiness.
"We definitely need to process all of this," Lucius said emphatically, "I can't think of a better spot than Florean Fortescue's."
"Where am I?" Harry muttered to himself. This was just. too. strange. Not that he was complaining about an ice cream brunch! He was already imagining the triple scoops of strawberry ice cream he would order, with a heavy dose of hot fudge and extra nuts.
It was Remus who made the sensible, chiding, adult observation. "Lucius, it's not even eleven o'clock yet," he said, but he clearly was already committed because he gestured for them to make a hard left, to head up the street towards the ice cream parlour.
Harry laughed as he hustled to keep up with the longer strides of the adults. But then he caught a whiff of a skunky smell. He shot a look around, but couldn't single out anyone suspicious among the moderate collection of shoppers in Diagon Alley. He jogged a couple of steps ahead of Remus and Lucius, and turned to face them, while walking backwards. "I'm using a protection potion from Severus," he said, and knew his eyes were a little bit wild. "An enemy is nearby, but I can't spot who." At least my scar doesn't hurt…
"What are your indicators?" Lucius asked sharply, coming to a halt and palming his wand.
"Smell of skunk," Harry said. He didn't miss the returning smirk, and wanted to be cocky about this, but the grip in his stomach told him to watch himself. He knew, better than any of them, how far Voldemort's loyalists would go for payback, and to further whatever plans they had with those horcruxes.
Harry found himself standing in a triangular formation, back to back with the others, in the center of the cobbled street. They each surveyed their surroundings. "I still smell it," Harry advised them, "but I can't tell where it's coming from." He passed a vial of potion to each of them.
Seconds later, Remus announced he smelled it too. "Look, just there, you two, inside the The Second Hand Book Shop-" he stopped himself when the wizard he was watching stepped outside onto the street and waved their way.
Harry's scar suddenly started to prickle. "My scar!" he warned the others in a whisper. He centered himself, focused on palms and soles, and immediately brought up the tingling in his hands. He looked around, but could not see anyone else who seemed to be paying attention to them, which frankly was odd, because they were making a spectacle of themselves.
"Hah hahahahahahahah!" And there it was, the obligatory Bellatrix LeStrange cackle of laughter, guaranteed to set everyone's teeth on edge. Harry's heart raced as he frantically searched for her.
"She used a voice projection spell," Remus surmised. "She's long gone now."
"Why is she out and about?" Harry griped angrily. "Doesn't anybody ever get in trouble for this shite any longer?"
"She's wealthy, Harry," Lucius returned, as if that explained everything. Well, actually, it did.
"And where did that bloke go that was waving just now?" Harry asked.
"Disapparated," Remus replied.
The three of them kept their surveillance focused, but there was no further outburst from Madam LeStrange, and the mild scar pain had reduced to a thready flicker, and none of them could smell skunk any longer. Harry turned to look behind him and found his companions turning towards him.
"Well, gentlemen, Florean Fortescue's awaits," Lucius said. He pushed his fingertips gently between Harry's shoulder blades. "The Law of Averages says that we've had all of the trouble we're due for the day."
Harry's stomach relaxed as they walked and by the time they were seated at Florean Fortescue's, he was calm again and ready for a treat. The only other odd thing to occur was a message on the coin from Severus to the three of them demanding to know when they would return. But the even odder thing was when Lucius responded on their behalves, we'll be back,… when we're back, Severus.
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Lucius was squeezing Harry hard around the shoulders as they floo'd back to Dumbledore's office, and it made Harry laugh at the utter irony of how he was suddenly popular with the most openly imperious wizard he had ever encountered. But Lucius was genuinely happy about being Harry's temporary guardian, and it was clear to Harry that this was because he saw this as another opportunity to atone for prior misdeeds. Fine with me, Harry thought, no one's going to mess with Lucius Malfoy's efforts to help me. And that actually made him feel much safer than he'd been feeling, as he'd hoped and prayed that Aunt Petunia wouldn't lose patience. Lucius was incredibly resourceful when it came to legalities and wealth management. As long as he doesn't revert back to his old ways, Harry now knew he could learn a lot from his newfound mentor.
"Gentlemen," Headmaster Dumbledore greeted them from behind his desk, "I understand you've accomplished quite a lot today."
"Albus," Lucius greeted the elderly wizard, still slightly effusive with his enthusiasm, but he did not miss the way that Harry checked his step at the sound of Albus' voice. "It's very nice to see you back behind that desk."
Lucius kept his arm around Harry as they moved closer to speak to Dumbledore. Albus' eyes were twinkling as he watched Remus come through the floo and around to stand on Harry's other side. Harry realized he could acknowledge Dumbledore's comment, but he decided to let Remus and Lucius take the lead.
"We've had our session with the goblins, and Harry and I have received what we each were bequeathed by Sirius," Remus told the Headmaster.
Albus tilted his head downward as he appraised each of them over the wire rims of his spectacles. "I'm of a mind to infer that you are pleasantly surprised, Remus."
"I was indeed," Remus admitted reluctantly. "Touched is a better term. Sirius had more to share than I'd realized."
"And Harry? I've assumed the house had gone to you, is this the case?"
"Yes, sir," Harry said. "My solicitor is handling everything for me, but he's good about making it clear he understands he works for me." How's that for a non-answer? He flashed back on Severus advising him to think about holding onto his power. Harry felt like he'd just drawn a frame around his power so that it was properly showcased for the Headmaster. Harry looked up and caught the quirk of a smile tugging at Lucius' profile. He knew he'd impressed the Slytherin. At this moment, he definitely had power over Lucius Malfoy as well. If I had seen into the future from just two weeks ago, I'd never have believed these turns of events.
"I took the initiative to guide Harry to look into some methods for maintaining his assets, and I think that after a few more sessions with the goblin Roarshirak, he'll have his finances on a steady track to keep him quite comfortable for years to come," Lucius informed Albus in another non-detailed manner. He squeezed Harry's shoulders again, and then released him.
Harry looked at Remus and noticed the way his older friend was assessing Dumbledore while Dumbledore assessed the vibe between Harry and Lucius. Harry's coin vibrated and warmed. He could tell the message was only for him, since no one else reacted as if they'd received one. He pulled it out and read it, and decided he currently had power over Severus as well, because Severus was asking again where he was. On a whim, he put his right palm over the coin as he held it in his left, and said his response in his head, to see if he could message without his wand. And yes, yes he could!
"I'd like to spend some time with you three, and Severus-" Albus started as Severus entered the office, looking agitated, as if he needed to see for himself that Harry was fine. Dumbledore's eyes reflected his fondness for the potions master as he watched Severus visually assess first Harry, then Lucius, then Remus, "-today, if possible, to share some research I've done, and some thoughts I've had about the existence of the remaining horcruxes."
"Good," Harry said, flashing a smirk at Severus because he didn't understand the tension that his potions professor had brought into the room, "because we were near one earlier, for a short time."
"You had pain in your scar?" Severus asked Harry, his head tilting and his thoughts still unreadable and unshared.
"Just slightly," Harry said. "Like it was pretty far away. I'm betting it was an object, not the snake."
"Madam LeStrange made some sort of appearance," Remus supplied. "We didn't actually see her."
"I smelled the presence of an enemy for a flicker of a moment at Gringotts," Harry added, "but then it was gone. I bet someone saw me and went off to tell ol' Bellatrix." There, that seemed to settle whatever inner controversy Severus was battling, Harry surmised, because his professor's expression shifted.
"I used the potion myself this morning," Severus informed them, "and paid a visit to the Room of Requirement just now. There was a faint odeur d'ennemi in there for the entire time. I'd asked for the storage room, thinking there's a fair likelihood that another horcrux resides within this school."
"Yes," Dumbledore said approvingly. "We are on the same train of thought, my boy."
