Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, any of the canon characters, places, spells, or anything else. All I own is this plot.
I'm so sorry that this is such a short chapter but I felt it was a good place to end this part. The next chapters will be longer! I promise.
Reviews, favourites, and follows help me keep motivated. Reviews are my crack. So please RR!
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Chapter Two: Lightning
"That's too much gold," Harry said, staring at the contents of the Slytherin Trust Vault in shock.
"That is only the trust vault," Gornuk claimed proudly. "Vaults One through seven are all devoted to the Slytherin fortune." He informed cheerfully. "This is vault three, the Heir Apparent Trust Vault, for ages eleven to seventeen. At age seventeen you will be able to claim the Lordship and thus use of all the vaults."
"To claim the Heir Apparent, you must wear this ring."
Harry put on the ring he was given, staring down at the silver band that twisted around his finger, a snakehead devouring its own tail. As he touched the head, a surge of power hit him, and memories flashed through his mind.
Hogwarts, a basilisk, a child killed, pain. So much pain, in his eyes. They were on fire, his eyes were on fire...
All the sensations stopped at once and Harry collapsed rather dramatically to the ground. Gornuk clapped his hands with childlike excitement. He called for one of their little messenger creatures and sent a memo ordering Weasley to come to help him collect the Potter child. They would retrieve his other rings, put them on him, and Mr Weasley could take him to the Leaky Cauldron and pay for a night's rest. From Gornuk's money, of course, he couldn't use Harry's.
There were no human beds or rooms there, let alone healers, so he couldn't well stay at Gringotts unless he wished to sleep in the Vault. That might be safer...
No, William would handle it.
When Bill did arrive, he was clearly in shock as he was asked to pick up Harry, internally noting how light he was, and carried him obediently to the cart, holding him to a seat as they were taken much deeper into the bank to the Avalonian Vaults. They stopped at a large Vault, without a number, and a beautifully polished silver door. Gornuk pulled Bill, still carrying Harry, to the door, and ripped off the bandage still on his arm, easily cutting through the weak scabbing that had formed and pressing his bloodied arm against the door, listening intently as several clicks issued in series, before the vault swung open slowly, revealing a mountain of gold unlike any in the rest of Gringotts.
Bill's eyes widened in pure shock.
"Weasley, stay," Gornuk ordered sharply, the stout goblin walking into the mass of gold, ignoring it all and heading for a set of bookcases in clear crystal, looking through the boxes lined there, most filled with seeds, eggs, and expensive potions ingredients, before selecting a beautiful box with a family crest on the front, that he brought out of the Vault. He used another bit of Harry's blood to open the lock, revealing three rings. One he recognised as belonging to the old Pendragon family of Legend, the other two he didn't recognise at all. Gornuk left the Pendragon ring, only taking the other two before he went to put the box back.
As soon as the goblin had left the vault for the final time, the door closed and several clicks sounded as the door sealed itself.
Gornuk carefully lifted Harry's hand, putting one ring on the hand with the Slytherin ring already on, the Le Fay ring, and the other on his other hand, tapping a claw on the surface of the Avalon ring before stepping away from the pair as there were another two surges of magical power, undetectable so deep and covered by so many other spells happening around them as Harry's magic altered and increased in size and power, undoubtedly giving the boy a few extra powers.
Bill stood in shock, feeling his own magic recharge from the bursts of magical power, amazed by the power.
"Weasley, take him to the Leaky Cauldron. Get him an overnight room. Get one for yourself too, keep an eye on him. Charge it to the Gringotts tab." Gornuk ordered, startling Bill slightly.
"But, Esteemed Sir, I still have -"
"You are relieved of your other duties. This is the priority. Protect him." The goblin interrupted. "If he wakes tonight, inform him he will be meeting Ragnok come morning. Educate him on what he needs to know for that. Bring him back for a nine thirty appointment."
"Yes, Esteemed Sir," Bill managed, in shock. Ragnok was a very high up Goblin, he was the closest thing the Goblin Nation had to a King and treated as such by his people, even if by Ministry Law they weren't allowed a king.
"Dismissed."
~
Bill stared down at the child that had caused so much fascination in one day. He left a written note on the bedside table, explaining what had happened and his meeting with Ragnok in the morning, leaving a book on basic Goblin manner before he left the Leaky Cauldron, causally asking Tom to send him a message should Harry leave him room, claiming the boy was a Muggleborn that had some important business at the bank.
He bought a pinch of Floo Powder off the friendly barkeep and quickly Floo'd to Dumbledore's office. It wasn't too late, though he had spent almost the whole day at Gringotts and then helping the Goblins arrange what was necessary for Harry, drawing up forms that only needed a signature and a drop of blood to be made official, some he didn't know if they ought to have brought up, like a formal emancipation from the Potter family.
"Headmaster?" He called, uncertain, not seeing the man in the room.
"William, my boy, what a pleasant surprise! Lemon drop?" The old headmaster appeared from behind a bookcase, grinning, picking up the bowl of his favourite sweets as he went.
"No thank you, Headmaster. I wanted to talk to you about Harry, Harry Potter," He began, not noticing at first the darkening glint in the old man's eyes.
"About what?" Dumbledore asked lightly, a frown of carefully faked concern on his face.
"Well, sir, the goblins found some interesting things about him and I, well I believe he might be mistreated by the Potters," Bill said, unsure as he watched the Headmaster's face for any clue of his feelings. A look of irritation flitted across his eyes that he quickly masked, and Bill made sure to tighten his mental shields to prevent the Headmaster from going into his mind.
"Mistreated? Dear boy, why would you think that?" The old man asked calmly, his wand dropping not too discreetly into his hand.
"He always has cuts and bruises,"
"William, surely you know how boys his age are, so rough-"
"The type you don't get from roughhousing, Headmaster, handprints too large to be from a child and cuts made with the intention to harm. And the scars..." He shivered slightly, remembering the sheer amount of scars he'd seen when he'd changed the boy into a pair of his own shrunken pyjamas so he wouldn't be sleeping in what appeared to be hand-me-downs from Charlie, he definitely recognised the top as being the other twin's.
"Scars?" Dumbledore frowned.
"And he's so light, Ginny weighs more than him! And he would flinch whenever I touched him - not when one of the goblins would, only when I did. James and Lily weren't with him and haven't checked on him all day and they let him out to Diagon with no money, no Gringotts key, nothing. Harry had to get a new one!"
"William, dear child, calm down." The Headmaster said, tapping one of the objects on his desk to call for Madame Pomfrey. He only hoped his potions professor, Astrid Starkey, had finished her batch of calming draught.
"They even named Charlie their heir, when Harry's the elder twin. Even the Goblins found it irregular..."
"Petrificus Totalus," The Headmaster finally cast, surprised when William automatically threw up a shield, wild eyes fixing onto the Headmaster's wand.
"You must calm down, William, you're scaring Fawkes."
Bill looked around, seeing the room had been pulled apart by his magic and Fawkes had, indeed, vacated his perch for one of the high ceiling beams of the tower, watching Bill with his head peeking out from under his wing.
"I'm sorry, Headmaster. But it really was quite distressing." He murmured, looking the man in the eye, too worried to notice the man whisper "Legilimens," and slip into his mind...