A/N: Hey guys! Another new chapter! 2 in one daay, aren't you guys lucky :P

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Flames will be used to barbeque pineapple.

Chapter Twenty-One: Opening the Vault

Mid July 2001

Gringotts London Branch

This year would have been the tenth anniversary of Harry Potter's arrival at Hogwarts. Today, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, entered the lobby of Gringotts on a task that for him was one of the saddest that he had ever undertaken.

By coming to Gringotts with the Wizengamot's latest order in his hand, he was admitting that Harry Potter was irretrievably lost and most likely dead.

He had refused to believe the goblin's declaration back in 1994 that Harry Potter was dead. The prophecy was more powerful than even the magic of the goblins – and destiny would not, indeed could not be denied.

He had visited and revisited his decisions over the past: leaving Harry at the Dursleys even though nine years later he had received an eye opening glimpse into their attitudes and actions towards their young nephew; using the blood magic ritual to force Harry to Hogwarts at the Tri Wizard Ceremony although it had been unsuccessful; allowing Sirius Black to be Kissed and only discovering a year later that he had been innocent all along.

Would he have changed anything? He thought placing Harry with the Dursleys would be the only decision that he would change. Everything else were decisions that he had made in light of either pressing needs or information he had had at the time.

Where did young Harry go, he asked himself for the thousandth time. The instruments that had measured Harry's life had died after the blood ritual and his name no longer showed among the living in the Hogwarts' register. Perhaps, he truly was dead and if he was, Albus feared for the future of the British magical world.

Making his way across the lobby, he approached the service counter and asked for Director Ragnok. At some subtle signs from the goblin behind the counter, one obviously junior clerk exited and returned moments later, nodding his head.

"Chief Warlock, Director Ragnok will see you in the conference room now," the chief teller said, indicating the clerk.

The room to which Dumbledore was led was familiar to him: he had had several meetings over the past decades with Ragnok although this would be one of the saddest.

No sooner had he entered than a door at the opposite wall opened to allow the bank director to enter. Bowing in a ritual form of respect, the old wizard waited until Ragnok had seated himself first before taking his seat.

"Albus Dumbledore, it has been too long," Ragnok began. "What brings you to Gringotts and to me today?"

Typical of the director and the goblins in general: straight to the point with little of the wizarding community's game of polite dancing, Dumbledore thought to himself. He withdrew two parchments from his robes and extended them to Ragnok.

"Today is a sad day. Yesterday we agreed with your declaration of seven years ago - we declared Harry Potter dead and today we move to declare the Potter vaults closed and expropriated for the wizarding world," Dumbledore replied.

Ragnok looked at the old man carefully. He had anticipated this conversation for some time and again noted his appreciation for the discretion and foresight of the young Delacour witch in New York. That plus the recent memo from Snagtooth in New York had whetted his anticipation for this conversation to a keen edge. In his mind's eye, he could see the battle axe ready to descend upon the old fool's neck.

"Are these the declarations?"

Dumbledore nodded and indicated the seal of the Ministry on the parchments. The director opened them, appeared to read them quickly and then returned them to the old man.

"The papers are in order from your side: however, not in ours," he said. "Harry Potter has been declared dead, but magic told us at Gringotts that there still were Potter heirs and, as such, the Potter vaults would not have been turned over to the ministry."

Ragnok knew that he had to tread carefully here and not reveal what he had learned only two months previously. This, plus the request to time the release of any information that had been made by Gringotts New York, ensured his lips were sealed until the press release would be made.

Dumbledore was shocked. He was finally convinced that Harry was now dead and with Harry dead, the Potter line would now be extinct.

"I fail to understand, Director."

"Harry Potter died, Chief Warlock, declared in 1994," Ragnok replied. He felt comfortable saying that because, under the old rules of magic, once the heart stopped beating, a person was declared dead. "But when we examined the magical seals on the Potter vaults, their magic was still in force.

"As well, your so-called authorization over Harry Potter as his magical guardian died in 1994 when he died. There is still a Potter heir present closer than twelve generations removed from the main Potter line."

"What of Mr. Potter's trust vault?"

"That has been returned to the main Potter vault some time ago."

Dumbledore was still shaking his head. There was another Potter heir. Would the Potter magic and perhaps even the prophecy flow to this heir? Then he remembered: he had another task here today.

"I am here as well to discuss the Black estate and its disposition," he began. "With the death of Sirius Black, the Wizengamot would like to know if the estate could now be declared open to the Ministry."

He had anticipated that Sirius had died without an heir and as such, the estate would have fallen to the Black's nearest relative – in this case Draco Malfoy of the Malfoy family. Yet despite careful questioning by himself and Snape, there was no sign that the Black estate had been awarded to the Malfoys.

"It is not our custom to discuss a living estate," Ragnok replied, a tone of impatience now clearly evident. "You had not asked us about the estate when Lord Black was unfortunately killed."

This was another of Dumbledore's regrets. Only a year after Sirius had been Kissed hard evidence had emerged that he had not been the secret keeper for the Potters after all. Cedric Diggory who had barely survived the events of the TriWizard Tournament had confirmed Peter Pettigrew had been by Voldemort's side when he had been resurrected that night.

He, Albus Dumbledore, leader of the light, had sentenced an innocent man to the Dementor's Kiss.

Still he had been tasked to find out what had happened to the Black estate and so he persisted.

"The estate of Sirius Black has never been awarded or claimed by those who were closest in blood to claim it," he said. "There is no record of anyone else claiming the estate."

"We followed Lord Black's instructions to the letter and his designated heir has filed the appropriate documents and claimed the estate to our satisfaction," the director replied. There was smugness in his manner that Dumbledore who had many years of experience in dealing with the goblins could easily detect.

"Estates of the size of Sirius Black must be probated by the Wizengamot," he replied. "Surely you can tell us – in fact, I insist…"

"Dumbledore, do not try your manipulations here. If the heir is from another magical nation, then we at Gringotts are not required to report anything to you."

"The heir is from outside Britain? But Sirius had no relations or family abroad."

"We only execute the will. We do not question the provisions. If Lord Voldemort were to present himself here on a question of a will and the will provisions allowed him to appear then he would be allowed to attend a will reading."

"May I know the heir's name?"

"No! You may not know it. The will has been executed and the heir has requested to remain anonymous."

So there was a Potter heir and now an unknown Black heir. At least the Malfoys would not receive anything to give Voldemort.

Everything had come up empty for him and for his role at the Wizengamot.

He rose; frustration barely concealed, and exited the bank. Blast the goblins and their secrets upon secrets. Ragnok knew something, knew several somethings. Something about the Potter estate, something about Black.

However, Ragnok had clearly confirmed Harry's death in 1994. His heart sank within him. It had to have been in connection with the blood ritual. Harry had not been in a position to respond and the Goblet's magic would have required his magic and his life. But it had seemed like the only option left and it had been critical that Harry be found.

He remembered well the pulse that night when Harry's name had emerged from the Goblet. He had felt the pulse leave the castle and speed out although there had been no indication in which direction it had gone.

And now the Potter estate was in lockdown because the Potter magic recognized there was still an heir. Somewhere in Britain was someone who had enough of the Potter blood to be able to claim the Potter estate.

As well, who was the Black heir? If Sirius had had any choice as to who he would have left his estate, the only name would have been his godson, Harry Potter. Yet Harry died only a few weeks before his godfather.

Who indeed was the person who had received the Black millions?

August 4, 2001

Hogwarts Great Hall

It was the headline on the Daily Prophet's front page three weeks later that grabbed Dumbledore's attention:

Potter Heir Found in America

Witch, formerly thought to be Muggleborn, Turns Out to Be Potter Heir

Hermione Granger, former Hogwarts' student who left Britain and Beauxbatons shortly after the end of the second task of the TriWizard Tournament, was announced yesterday at the New York City branch of Gringotts as the last Potter heir.

"Ms. Granger came into our office in New York and requested a blood inheritance test. While not encouraged in Britain due to issues of blood magic, it is allowed in the United States," Snagtooth assistant director of Gringotts, New York City, told the American Magical Courier.

Dumbledore was in shock reading the Prophet. He was well aware of the goblins' blood ceremony and had understood why so many among the Pureblood faction in the Wizengamot were opposed to it. Forcing wizards who believed in the purity of blood to accept that muggleborns were not magic stealers, but in many cases were simply the reemergence of magic in a family after the spark had gone dormant for many generations were unwelcome truths and if followed through to their logical conclusion would result in a rethinking of many tenets of pureblood doctrine.

That the United States was more liberal in their approaches to this ritual, Dumbledore also knew. Yet what would have possessed Miss Granger to go to Gringotts in San Francisco to be tested was an interesting question.

He remembered the young Ravenclaw witch well. From her near fatal encounter with a troll in her first year on Halloween 1991 to being petrified by Slytherin's monster in her second year, young Miss Granger had encountered more than her fair share of dangers at Hogwarts: enough that her parents had withdrawn her from Hogwarts and sent her to Beauxbatons in France.

Even now Dumbledore regretted having obliviated the young witch after the troll incident in her first year, but he knew that she should not have to face the fear and terror of an unfortunate incident and was glad that the minds of young children were so flexible and able to readjust to shock and trauma.

Then Miss Granger had returned with the school contingent for the TriWizard Tournament and her participation, without her parents' approval, in the second task had been the final straw to her parents remaining in Britain at all. The British magical world had lost a promising and powerful witch that day and Great Lakes Academy in the U.S. had gained.

It had been cases like hers' that had pushed Dumbledore to have the Wizengamot pass the law that required that witches and wizards who started their magical education in Britain should complete their education at the institutions where they had started their training. This would ensure consistent well-rounded British magical young adults.

Yet the Grangers had left Britain and appeared to have moved to a magical school that tried to mix magical and muggle studies, a step that Dumbledore felt was a slippery slope to leaving the magical world altogether.

So why would she engage in the blood ritual now? And what would be the implications of her being named the Potter Heir?

It took several calls and inquiries before Albus determined that Miss Granger's participation appeared to be the result of a campaign by Gringotts to revive long dormant accounts. Forbidden to do anything in Britain, Gringotts International was working with wizarding families outside of the island to establish links between modern wizards and historically extinct lines.

Miss Granger had obviously participated in this campaign and the result was front page news.

However, it was the front page picture the next day which aroused Albus Dumbledore's curiosity all over again.

Potter Heir and Friends transfer Contents of Potter Vault to Her Own

Hermione Jane Granger, recently discovered heir of the Potter Estate and House, here shown with Gringotts' employee Fleur Delacour and friend H Wells of New York City, opens her new vaults at the New York Brank of Gringotts.

Dumbledore could clearly make out Miss Delacour, but what caught his eye was the third person in the photo. As the picture moved, for a brief second, he thought he saw a ghost: the ghost of a man long dead.

The ghost of James Potter.

It only appeared for a second and then the angle of the camera changed. Dumbledore cursed the lack of color in the photo: was the young man's hair brown or black. Stills, after searching so long, after beating every corner of the globe, did he dare believe that Harry Potter, by some miracle, was alive?

It was time to call Remus…

A/N: As promised, we will begin to see both Harry and our old 'friend' begin to move closer to meeting one another and then moving to resolution of the Harry Potter prophecy and struggle with both Dumbledore and Voldemort.

Next chapter, Remus hits New York, but discovers he is no longer the Alpha Male.