So, I've bought Star Wars Battlefront. The game is great, there is no doubt about that, but I'm a bit disappointed at the lack of variety in terms of weapons and the fact that there isn't any sign of clones vs droids coming up. But I suppose that's wait and see for now.

Anyway, my thanks to everyone who reviewed and decided to favorite and/or follow this story. Now let's get on with the chapter.

Enjoy while I nurse a cold in my bed.

Edit : Fixed a few mistakes and details

"Talking"

Thinking/reading/inscriptions

Spells

"Telepathy"

"Spirit Talking"


After the fuss about him shrugging off the fact that he was the Heir to two Most Ancient and Noble Houses, whatever that meant, had died down, Harry was finally given the key to his family vault. That, and an invitation from Ragnok asking him to come directly to him for any matter regarding his money (something which had baffled Amelia and Susan to no end).

A wild cart ride later (much to his and Sylph's enjoyment), Harry and his two companions plus Sharpclaw were standing in front of a huge set of doors with a crest emblazoned on it. The Potter crest, Harry realized as his eyes studied it intensely. Two roaring lions at each side of a black and white shield with intricate designs inside it and a helmet on top. And above, written in bolt elegant letter, Virtutis Fortuna Adiuvat.

"Fortune favors the virtuous..." Harry translated softly as he laid a hand on the doors. He turned to Amelia with a smile. "Gryffindor all the way, huh?"

She chuckled. "I would say the brashness runs in the family." she replied as she gazed at the crest. "Even though your grandfather married a Slytherin, your father was a Gryffindor through and through."

Harry's eyes widened slightly. "Really?" she nodded. "Well, and here I thought Gryffindor and Slytherin weren't supposed to mix." he mused.

Amelia shook her head fondly. "That never stopped your father from going after some of the Slyhterin girls while at Hogwarts."

"While I don't want to be impolite, Mr Potter, would you please open your vault so that you can conclude your business? Time is money, after all." Sharpclaw interjected.

Harry blinked at the goblin before he presented his key to him. "Well, I was kind of waiting for you to request the key to open it." he said.

Sharpclaw shook his head. "No one beside you can open the vault. There are wards tied to your bloodline," he explained. "so that only a true Potter can open the vault. If I, or anyone else tried, we would be dead before you could say 'Gringotts'."

Harry glanced warily at the doors. "That's promising." he mumbled dryly before thrusting the key inside the keyhole and turned it.

The doors glowed red for a moment and Harry felt something prick at his hand. Then, the glow became a soft blue before it faded to leave an inscription above the Potter crest.

Recognized as Hadrian James Potter, Heir to the Potter family.

And the doors opened.

"Now that's a lot of gold." Gnome murmured, impressed.

If Harry was rich based on his trust vault, then he was filthy rich, and more, based on what his family vault contained. He didn't have to assume how much galleons were stored to know that he probably could live a life of luxury without having to work at all. Hell, he could probably live several lives without needing anything with that amount!

"Well," Susan said after a moment. "at least you won't have to worry about the price of your clothes when we go shopping." she half-joked.

Harry only nodded as he stepped inside the vault. Although he was pretty surprised by the amount of money he owned, it wasn't what he had come here for. The room (more a hall, really) was filled with other things such as books, jewelry, even weapons and armors. However, what caught his attention was the desk that was positioned at the very end of the room, with stacks of parchment piled upon and beside it.

Harry swiftly made his way to it. Perhaps...

Then, he froze, his breath caught in his throat as he gazed upon a single envelop that was laying at the center of the desk, surrounded by parchment. On it was written in elegant script To Harry, from James and Lily.

Hands trembling, Harry gently took the envelop as if it was the most precious and fragile thing he had ever touched. Slowly, he turned it in his hands, and opened it. Once he did, the letter that was folded inside floated out to hover in front of him as it took a, somewhat, mouth like appearance, except you could only see the lips.

Then, it started to talk.

"Harry," a feminine voice said, making him jump slightly, "if you hear this, sweetheart, then I'm sad to say that we weren't there to raise you as we should have. Although we took every precaution and safety measure to ensure that this wouldn't happen, Voldemort must have found us. It is my -our- hope that you grew up with either of your godparents or, if for some reason they couldn't take you in, in a place where you are just as loved as we love you. I..." Harry heard a choked sob, though he partially wondered if that wasn't him. "I'm so sorry, Harry. I'm sorry that we left you alone, even if it wasn't our choice. I love you, my baby. I just love you so, so much!"

His mom was truly sobbing right now. Harry felt his own tears rolling down his cheeks before the sound grew more distant and another voice spoke.

"Hey, champ, Dad here. Your mom's gone to calm down a bit, so I'll do my part until she returns." James Potter's voice paused for a moment. "I'll start by seconding with what Lily said so far. We love you very much, Harry, never doubt that. I regret that we won't see you grow up, making friends, doing pranks, playing Quidditch, getting a girlfriend..." another pause. "I'm sure we fought the dark tosser and his death munchers to the very end, maybe even took him with us, but this war has cost us too much as it is." there, he sighed. "So much death because of a madman preaching pureblood dogma... I hope that the war's over by the time you hear this, Harry, and that either Padfoot or Alice have been taking care of you. If not, then I urge you to leave Britain at the first opportunity, if you haven't already. But enough about this. Son, if there is one thing your mother and I want for you more than anything, it's to be happy. To enjoy your life without dwelling on what-ifs."

"That's perhaps the most sensitive thing you've ever said." Lily's voice pipped back.

"H-hey! How many times must I admit that I was a bit of a prat until our fifth year before you stop saying things like that?"

"Do you really want me to answer that question?"

"Um... no, thank you very much my darling wife."

Harry chuckled sadly at the banter between his parents. He could just picture the scene in his mind.

"Harry," his mother called softly, "do not let our deaths burden you. Living in the past, is not living at all. Live your life in the way you want to and enjoy it to the fullest. There will be moments where you won't know what to do, but that's part of living. Besides, your friends and important people will be there for you."

"Listen to your mother, son, she's the smartest witch I've ever met." James' voice added. "You will do us proud, I know it."

"We love you, Harry. Goodbye."

And with that last line, the letter refolded itself and slipped back into the envelop.


"How about this one, then? It goes really great with your eyes!"

"Susan... that's at least the twentieth time you said that."

"Twenty-sixth, to be exact."

"Not the point, Sylph!"

"What can I say? Your eyes are just that mesmerizing now that you aren't wearing those big glasses."

Harry blushed again and sighed. They had been at this for what seemed like an eternity. Susan would randomly (to him, at least) pick clothes and ask him to try them on. It wouldn't have bothered him... much... if Susan hadn't wanted to buy an entire wardrobe and then some. The Four were very content in simply watching the young witch 'torment' their summoner.

Amelia had said she had a couple of things to buy herself and had left them in Madam Malkin's a while ago.

Harry already had half a dozen new sets of everyday clothes, two sets of formal and traditional wear, along with three Lord robes (he was an Heir, after all, and there were times it would be necessary to dress like one). Truth be told, he kind of felt that it was too much already, and that wasn't counting all the underwear and other articles of clothing.

As Susan went to grab yet ANOTHER vest, Harry raised a hand to stop her. "Look, Susan. I appreciate your dedication, I really do. But I think that's enough for today. I remind you that I must fit it all in my trunk."

She gave him a deadpan look. "Harry, do you really think space is going to be a problem? There are expansion charms for that, you know. And I think you can easily afford a multi-compartmental trunk if you need it."

Harry didn't react for a few seconds, then proceeded to hit his head on the nearest wall muttering what sounded like 'magic, you idiot" repeatedly, making Susan giggle and the Four laugh.

"Sorry, I guess I'm still not completely used to magic defying logic like that." he sheepishly said.

She shook her head. "It's not your fault, I forget you were muggle-raised, sometimes." then she clapped her hands with a huge smile. "Now, let's continue, shall we?"

Harry barely refrained to groan as she went back to rummage in another pile of clothes.

Thankfully, Amelia came back at some point to take them for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron and Harry was freed of having to try every single article of clothing in the shop... at least for an hour.

It was during that time that he asked the question that had been gnawing at him for a few hours.

"Amelia, in the letter my parents left me, they talked about my godparents. Who are they? Why did I never meet them?"

Amelia sighed. "This is not an easy subject to talk about, Harry." she replied before taking her wand and muttering a few incantations under her breath. Moments later, they were inside a privacy bubble that would ensure no one would hear them. "First, do you know their names?"

"Dad talked about someone called Padfoot and another person, Alice." he replied.

Amelia nodded before she turned to her niece. "Susan, you are to tell no one about this, understood?" seeing her nodding, she continued. "To answer your question, I must go back to your parents' years at Hogwarts. Each of them made friends here, though while James' were composed solely of Gryffindors, your mother had friends in each House, even Slytherin. Among those were two people that stood by them all the way through school: Alice Crossdale, later Alice Longbottom, for your mother, and... Sirius Black for your father."

There, Harry heard Susan gasp and he frowned. There was something he was missing.

"Your father and Sirius were part of a group that called themselves 'The Marauders'. They had made it their goal to become the most famous pranksters at Hogwarts. Of course, each of them had a codename so to remain anonymous. Your father's was Prongs, and Sirus' was Padfoot." Amelia went on. "Sirius was your father's brother in all but blood. They did everything together and you could never see one without the other. Even after Sirius was cast out of his family, James' welcomed him with open arms. You have to understand," she added after seeing both Harry and Susan's surprised looks. "that as far as we know, the Blacks have always been Slytherins. For Sirius to be a Gryffindor, it caused waves in his family. Ultimately, it ended in his mother blasting his from the Family Tree and banishing him from his home.

As for Alice, she was your mother's dorm mate and though I don't know exactly what made them become best friends, you could always see them together. My guess is that Alice took Lily under her wing to protect her from being harassed by other purebloods like most muggleborns are. From there, their relationship became that of sisters rather than friends. I did not interact much with Alice until she joined the Auror Corps with her husband but if there's one thing that I can tell you about her, it's that she was very protective of those around her, especially your mother. Just like Lily showed a lot of Ravenclaw traits, Alice showed just as much Hufflepuff qualities.

Both Sirius and Alice were present at your parents' wedding as the best man and maid of honor, and at your birth, where they were named your godfather and godmother." then, her face took a grim look. "However, things took a turn for the worse during the war. Your parents were hiding under a powerful spell called the Fidelius Charm. It is used to keep a secret inside a wizard or witch's soul, making them what is called a Secret Keeper. Only him or her can tell someone who is not privy to the secret its contents. However, You-Know-Who still found out your parents' location."

"So, they were betrayed..." Harry quietly said, anger coursing through him.

Amelia sadly nodded. "They had chosen Sirius to be the Secret Keeper. The fact that he betrayed your parents to You-Know-Who shocked everyone. Later, he was found by Aurors and arrested after having killed another of your father's friends alongside twelve muggles. Now, he's in Azkaban, where he will stay until he dies."

Harry took a deep breath. He felt angry that his father's best friend, his brother in all but blood as Amelia had said, had ended up bringing their death. But he knew that it was no use to get angry, as the man had already been punished for his crimes.

"What about Alice?"

Amelia closed her eyes in sorrow. "A few days after you vanquished You-Know-Who, the Longbottoms were attacked by Death Eaters inside their home. Frank and Alice were tortured into insanity before the Aurors managed to take down their aggressors. They are currently in St Mungo's Permanent Spell Damage Ward and have shown no signs of ever recovering."

For a moment, Harry said nothing as he simply looked down at his hands. "Did my parents leave a will? Or anything that said I wasn't to go to the Dursleys?"

The head of the DMLE grimaced at that. "There WAS a will. However, the Wizengamot, the High Court of Law, sealed it."

Harry's face was livid. "What?" he blurted.

Amelia sighed. "Even though Dumbledore was Chief Warlock, everyone wanted to gain custody of you and would have overruled him should he have made any suggestion. He tried to have the will read to know if your parents had said anything about you being placed anywhere but certain people objected, saying that if the Potters' closest friend couldn't be trusted with their safety, then who could be trusted with yours? Thus, the will was sealed and Dumbledore, using his authority and, in accordance with the law, placed you with your next of kin." she looked at him with sorrow. "A lot of people, me included, tried to object at the will being sealed but the majority was against us. After that, Dumbledore wouldn't reveal your location to anyone and any owl that was sent with a letter to you was either redirected or came back with the letter unopened."

Harry deflated. It sounded like some sort of huge conspiracy. He didn't know what to think and, truth be told, he preferred not to think about it at all. On one hand, he could have had a normal childhood in the wizarding world being raised by someone like Amelia, and on the other he could have been delivered to one of Voldemort's followers on a silver platter.

Choosing to let the matter drop, he went to ask another question. "You said the will was sealed. Is there any way I can undo that?"

Again, Amelia grimaced. "Not until you are either emancipated or seventeen and take the mantle of Lord Potter, I'm afraid. Unless the Minister of Magic demands it to be unsealed, there is very little we can do about it."

Harry sighed as he leaned back into his chair. "I'm never going to have a normal life, will I? Haven't had one since I was born, at least."

Susan chuckled a bit. "Normal by whose standards, Harry? Lots of people expect unusual things to happen to you just because you are Harry Potter."

The young wizard laid his head on the table. "Right... like in those books written about me? It's not as if I'm Merlin's descendant or reincarnation." then, he blinked. "How did they get written anyway? Don't they have to ask me before doing something like that?"

Amelia frowned slightly. "Ah, yes. About those, it would only be logical that a percentage of the sales is given to you. Your magical guardian, that is to say Dumbledore, must have drawn up the conditions in regard to the usage of your name."

Harry's eyebrow twitched. "I wouldn't mind much if people didn't take those fictional stories as real things that I did. Really, fighting a dragon at eight? How does that even make sense?"

The two witches chuckled. "It does sound extravagant." Amelia agreed.

It didn't take long after that for them to finish their meal and get back to shopping, much to Susan's joy and Harry's annoyance.

He resolved to never go shopping with a girl again after that. It was just too exhausting. Why they found it funny, he had no idea.

Then again, he was a boy. What did he know about girls?


"That is all for today, Harry." Undine told the young wizard. "I must say you have progressed admirably." she praised as he let his arms fall to his side.

Harry smiled at her. "Thanks to you and the others' guidance. I still have a long way to go, but Efreet said I might be able to start learning some minor combat Arts soon." he replied.

A week had passed since Harry's arrival at Bones Manor. It had been busy, to say the least. Between the studying, learning about wizarding etiquette and customs, and finally his training, both physically and magically, he had his days quite full. Of course, he hadn't done just this all day long. As Amelia was at work for the better part of the day, he and Susan would have fun together playing games outside or inside the manor when they were bored. Harry also took the time to write to Hermione and Ron, though neither had wrote back to him, for some reason.

Susan had even invited a couple of her friends, Hannah Habbot and Megan Jones, both Hufflepuffs, for one afternoon and Harry had graciously (read: under duress and after a fifteen minutes chase through the manor until they managed to back him into a corner) agreed to let the three girls dress him up with various outfit and make up to their hearts' content.

Needless to say, that it was agreed by everyone present that nothing happened that day.

Undine smiled back at her summoner. "Indeed." she said as she looked around the basement. "It was quite fortunate that Amelia took you here after she saw you training inside your room. It allowed us to move onward with your training faster than we had planned." she turned back to him. "And now you can see us when we take Astral form. Yes, I do believe it will soon be time for you to learn a few basic combat-oriented Arts."

Harry beamed at her. Of the Four, Undine was probably the one he was the closest to. In the short time he had got to know her, he had come to view her as a mother figure. She was kind, caring, and yet could be stern and even intimidating when needed. She had always found the words to soothe him when he was feeling down and had often offered him advice when he struggled with something.

Efreet was kind of like the ever-serious uncle that was tough outside but very soft inside. Though his attitude was, more often than not, one of a mentor and/or a bodyguard to Harry, there were moments where he would show a gentler side that told Harry that he cared about him.

Sylph was the exuberant older sister, always with a grin on her face and addicted to adrenaline. He always had fun whenever he did something with her, even though it was at his own expanse sometimes. The fact that both loved flying only made things better.

As for Gnome, he was the intelligent little brother. He could be playful and childish at times, and yet displayed a vast amount of knowledge when necessary. At the same time, he would often become quiet and simply let things happen without interfering unless he felt necessary to. Harry supposed it made sense that he was down to earth (and he wanted to facepalm so hard for such a stupid pun).

All in all, the Four had become the family he never had.

"Harry!" Susan's voice called from upstairs. "Auntie's back! So, you'd better finish whatever you're doing quickly!"

Harry cast a quick Tempus. "That late already?!" he exclaimed, seeing that he had spent close to three hours in the basement. "Time sure flies when you're having fun." he mused.

A quick shower later, Harry joined the head of the DMLE in her study, where he found her slowly going to a stack of paperwork with one hand as she massaged her forehead with the other. Beside her was a single cup of tea.

"Busy day?" he asked as he sat down in front of her.

"You don't know half of it, Harry." she sighed tiredly. "I hope for you to never have to deal with politicians on a daily basis, it is simply nerve-wracking." she said before rubbing her eyes. "The more time passes, the less do people change. This," she gestured to the parchment in her hand "is yet another bill Malfoy Senior tried to pass to reduce Auror budget under the same refrain that we're in a time of peace and there's no need to maintain a hit wizard force on standby. I've managed to stall it by using an ancient law that was written by the Wizengamot centuries ago, but it's only a matter of time before Lucius manages to circumvent it, or worse, revoke it." she looked at him. "Do you think he knows about You-Know-Who's wraith?"

Amelia had given him a crash-course about the war and its aftermath, including the trials of convicted Death Eaters and the fact that a good number of others had escaped a life sentence at Azkaban by claiming the Imperius Curse. One of those included Lucius Malfoy, who was, by 'coincidence', the one that had started to say he and others Death Eaters were subjected under the Imperius. The man had, in the ten years since the end of the war, consolidated his position as one of the pureblood elite and now had a hand in more or less everything that happened at the Ministry. Somehow, he had even managed to become a member of Hogwarts' Board of Governors.

Through bribery and blackmail, most likely.

Harry shrugged. "Dumbledore told me he had only heard rumors, and that was by keeping his hear to the ground for any sign. So, it's possible, I suppose, that Malfoy did the same hoping Voldemort would return someday." then, he tilted his head. "But wouldn't he have done something about the stone if he had known?"

Amelia smiled at him. "You are right. Though it's just as possible that he prefers to further his own agenda instead of helping You-Know-Who rise again." she said before leaning back into her chair. "The fact that the Minister is basically in his pocket just makes things worse. I don't know how many years it will take Lucius, but I'm pretty sure he aims to make the Auror Corps disappear. Why exactly? Who knows." she shook her head. "But enough about this. Today we're going to brush another part of your wizarding education."

Harry gave an eager smile. "What is it?"

The smile she gave him made he quickly loose his eagerness. "Dancing. Parties and social gathering often include dances and it would poorly reflect upon your family were you to step on your partner's toes."

Harry repressed a groan. This was NOT going to be fun.

Thankfully, Sylph helped. She guided the flow of his movement ever so subtly, just to make sure he wasn't making a total fool of himself. Susan had joined in at some point and Harry had to admit, much to his shame, that he preferred dancing with her than with her Aunt. She was still a very intimidating woman, after all.

Dinner followed the dancing session, and Harry voiced his concerns at the fact that none of his friends had replied to his letters.

"Could the mail ward be still active?" he asked Amelia.

She shook her head. "No. The goblins certified me that they had disabled and replaced it by filtrating wards." she said before frowning slightly. "And as far as I know, Dumbledore hasn't put another one."

Harry returned the frown. "Do you think they may have been sent to my relatives? I DID live here for the past ten years, after all."

Amelia nodded slowly. "It's possible. I'll check as soon as I can."

"Harry," Susan interjected. "I know I always saw you hanging with Ron and Hermione, but do you have any other friends?"

He shrugged. "Well, aside from you," which made her smile, to his satisfaction. "I guess there would be Neville and Seamus. Oh, and probably the Gryffindor Quidditch team." he answered. "Why do you ask?"

Susan smiled sheepishly at him. "Well, like I said, you've never been seen with anyone but Hermione and Ron, however they are plenty of people who said they were your friends. Of course, I suppose a lot of them just want to be associated with the Boy-Who-Lived."

Harry let out an exasperated sigh. "You'd think I'd have to give a speech in the great all to make them realize that I'm not the savior they portray me to be. And even then, I'm pretty sure they'd be able to twist my words to make me appear more heroic."

Susan blinked. "That's... quite mature of you, Harry."

He smirked at her. "Those lessons you and your Aunt gave me paid off, I'd say."

"About that, Harry." Amelia cut in. "I think it's time we started it."

Harry raised an eyebrow at her. "Start what?"

"Why, your magical training, of course. Ragnok did suggest that you should be trained to defend yourself." she replied.

He grinned. "When do we start?"

"Right now."


Yeah, it's a bit shorter than the other chapters I've posted so far, but I figured I made plenty of progress in relation to what Harry knows.

Next chapter will see Harry leave Bones Manor to join Ron at the Burrow. What kind of strange things will happen there, I wonder.

This is MidnightFenrir, author of "Harry Potter and the Four Elemental Spirits", signing out.