Chapter Eighteen: Song Lyrics are Hard to Find...

"Come on, Harry, wake up!"

Harry woke to Daphne Greengrass dragging him out of bed. He was extremely confused, considering these days he was normally awakened by the sound of Draco in the shower, but then he remembered where exactly he was.

He somehow got his feet under him and pushed himself upright, grumbling. That had been the most comfortable bed he had ever slept on, and this girl had drug him out of some of his deepest sleep and out of said bed and he was not happy.

He made it known.

"Daphne, that was the single most comfortable bed I have ever slept on and the best I've slept in months. Whyyyyyyy?" he whined, allowing her to shove clothes in his arms.

"Mum wanted to visit Gringott's first, and if you don't want to wait in a queue forever, you have to get there early. Now hurry up, sleepyhead, breakfast's starting in a few!" Daphne exited the room with a slam of the –admittedly quite heavy- door. Harry shot a longing look at the bed, but decided he best not risk Daphne's wrath. He managed to get showered, dried, dressed, and ready just before Daphne started pounding on the door again.

"Okay, okay, I'm ready," Harry said, covering his mouth with his hand as he yawned. Daphne led him down to the small dining chamber again while detailing her plans for shopping.

"We're going to stop by Gringott's first, of course, then head over to the Allaraian shop in Horizont Alley. After wands, we'll head to Fein Alley for clothes. We'll save dress robes for when you go shopping with the Malfoys, so you don't have to worry about those… yet. After clothes, we'll head on over to Origin Alley for lunch- or late afternoon snack- then head back to Horizont Alley for a better trunk for you. We can then head to Lofte Alley, because you should have a broom. We can find a way to smuggle it into Hogwarts, quite a few first years do that, actually. And then we'll finally hit up Vertic Alley to look at books," Daphne said.

"Busy day," Harry muttered, and Daphne cuffed the back of his head.

"Of course it will be busy, you need those things," Daphne replied. "I know you know I know that you like reading."

"Yeah," Harry replied, sighing.

"Come on, cheer up, we can work on catching you up tomorrow," Daphne said as they entered the dining chamber. Astoria, Lady Greengrass, and Lord Greengrass were already seated at the table.

"Good morning, you two," Lady Greengrass said. "How did you sleep?"

"The bed was amazing," Harry replied, and Daphne giggled.

"I had to drag him out of it," she said, and Harry blushed.

"Well, I'm glad you liked the bed," Lady Greengrass said. "After breakfast the five of us will Floo to the Leaky Cauldron."

Harry shuddered.

"You don't like the Floo very much, do you?" Astoria asked, and Harry nodded. Breakfast appeared- Pancakes! - and conversation resumed.

"So, Daphne, if I read right, a few first years made the Quidditch team?" Lord Greengrass asked, and Daphne nodded.

"Harry actually plays Seeker, and Tracey and Draco made Chasers," she replied.

"Is that so?" Lord Greengrass asked, and looked at Harry. Harry nodded.

"Wonderful," Lady Greengrass said, smiling. "It will do them good."

Breakfast continued- the pancakes were heavenly- and finally they five were ready to Floo.

Lord and Lady Greengrass went first, then Daphne, Harry, and Astoria. They came out in the Leaky Cauldron, where they spotted Megan, Hermione, and Mandy sitting at a table eating breakfast. Megan waved at the Greengrasses as they headed out into the Alley.

Upon entering Gringott's for the second time in his life, he noticed there were very few people in there. They headed right over to a teller.

"We need to make some withdrawals," Lord Greengrass said.

"Key?" the Goblin said.

"We actually need to visit two separate accounts," he said, motioning for Harry to put his key on the counter as he retrieved his own.

"Ah, so you finally decided to answer our summons, Mr. Potter," the Goblin said, sneering. It was a kind of freaky sneer…

"With due respect, I haven't received any summons," Harry replied, and the Goblin looked slightly offended.

"We've been sending owls to you twice weekly to have you visit the bank," the teller replied. "The only time you visited was when you came to get your blocks removed and we couldn't exactly take care of business then."

"That explains it," Harry replied. "We have surmised that I have a mail redirection charm tied to me."

"That would indeed explain things," the Goblin said. "When would it be possible for you to meet with your account manager?"

Harry glanced at Lord and Lady Greengrass. "I could meet now, if Lord and Lady Greengrass were agreeable."

"We can be visiting our vault while you are meeting with your manager," Lord Greengrass replied, and the teller motioned for a Goblin (was that Griphook?) to take them down.

"Mr. Potter, if you will follow me," the Goblin said. "Your account manager, Goldforger, is free right now and will be meeting with you."

Harry followed the Goblin through a few twisting halls to an office. The Goblin sitting at the desk was covered in gold piercings. The teller said a few words to the Goblin at the desk, and then motioned for Harry to take a seat. Harry did as told. The teller left.

"I am account manager Goldforger," the pierced Goblin said. "It has been brought to my attention that you are not getting our mail."

"I am not getting any mail unless I get it through someone else," Harry replied.

"That is most troubling. However, we are here to discuss your inheritances. You need to take a bloodline test in order to confirm which accounts you will receive. You have two accounts in your name already, your Trust account and the Collections account, and you are slated to receive the Potter vault when you come of age, but we need to know which other vaults you have a legitimate claim to," Goldforger said. "We can set up a box so that you can receive our mail, but let's worry about the test first. Sharpfang!"

Another Goblin entered the room, and Goldforger spoke with him in Gobbledygook. The other Goblin left and then later returned with a piece of parchment. He set it on the table in front of Harry and then left. Goldforger pulled a knife out of a drawer and handed it to Harry.

"You need to cut your finger with this knife and let the blood fall on the parchment," Goldforger said, and Harry did as told. From where the blood dropped, script curled out. It was a family tree from what Harry could see. Goldforger picked up the parchment, and his eyes widened a fraction. He passed the parchment back to Harry, who began to read the bottom of it.

Harrison James Potter

Born 31 July, 1980

Parents: Lily Marie Evans Potter and James Charlus Potter

Maternal Grandparents: Alan Theodore Evans and Elizabeth Bell Jones Evans

Paternal Grandparents: Charlus Edwin Potter and Dorea Adhara Black Potter

Heir to:

The Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter

The House of Gryffindor

The Ancient House of Peverell

The Germanic Ancient and Most Noble House of Wolf

Blood of:

The Ancient and Most Noble House of Dracona

The Ancient and Most Noble House of Domini

The Germanic Noble House of Jaeger

The House of Slytherin

The Ancient and Most Noble House of Black

Vaults:

Vault 687 (Potter Trust Vault)

Vault 903 (Collections Vault)

Vault 231 (Potter Family Vault)

Vault 56 (Gryffindor Vault)

Vault 13 (Peverell Family Vault)

Vault 14 (Peverell Literature Vault)

Vault 54 at Gringott's, Berlin (Wolf Family Vault)

Vault 495 at Gringott's Berlin (Wolf Trust Vault)

Possible Vaults:

Vault 7 (Domini Family Vault)

Vault 234 (Dracona Family Vault)

Vault 354 at Gringott's Berlin (Jaeger Family Vault)

Vault 42 (Slytherin Vault)

Vault 98 (Black Family Vault)

Properties Owned:

Potter Manor, Unplottable

Lion's Den, Unplottable

Vacation Home, Italy

Estate, Germany

Wolf Manor, Unplottable

Hunter House, America

The Eagle's Wing, America

Harry sat back in his chair, and exhaled.

"What does 'blood of' mean?" Harry asked, looking up.

"It means that when you come of age, or are emancipated, you could claim ownership of those vaults by right of blood. You could also claim the Lordships of those families," the Goblin replied. "The only vaults you can access currently are Vault 687, Vault 903, and Vault 14. Would you like to visit those vaults?"

"Sure," Harry said. "But what is the Collections Vault?"

"It was set up for gifts people would send you. They could send gifts to Gringott's and they would be held in the vault until you came to claim them. We have had Curse Breakers check them for dangers to you, and those gifts within the vault are all clean," Goldforger replied.

"Okay," Harry said, and followed him to the carts where they headed to the Collections vault first.

Harry was simply astounded at the amount of gifts that people had sent him. There was candy, books, broomsticks, money, and many different things.

"Do you have a list of everyone who sent me something?" Harry asked, walking over to where there was a legitimate dragonskin coat hanging with other coats.

"Yes, and each gift has the name of the person who sent it, along with any message sent with it, and the date of when it was sent," Goldforger replied.

"Wow," Harry said. The vault was even sorted, but Harry couldn't decide which to look at first.

"We also offer bags that have extra dimensional interiors and featherlight charms for a small price," Goldforger said.

"How much?" Harry asked.

"Two Galleons," Goldforger replied. Harry found a couple of Galleons in the pile, and handed them to Goldforger, who pulled a small black bag from his belt. Harry tested it by sticking his arm in it.

It went in. Harry would bet his entire chocolate frog card collection (surprisingly impressive) that he could fit the entire contents of the vault in the bag. So he got to work.

The dragonskin coat (a recent gift from one Charlie Weasley… plus various assorted dragon handlers in Romania, apparently) would have to wait, as it was much too big for him yet, but the black jacket next to it appeared to have resizing charms, because when he tried it on it changed to fit him. He took it, and moved from the jackets and coats to the cloaks.

Apparently some people thought Harry needed an invisibility cloak, as several different people sent him one. Harry chose the two best cloaks and slipped them into his bag, as well as a nice, thick cloak for winter and a couple fine, most definitely formal, cloaks. Then he moved on to the broomsticks.

The most recent was a Nimbus 2000- best racing broom on the market!- sent by one Jordan 'I played Quidditch with your father' Quince. Harry shrugged, remembered he was heading to look at broomsticks later with Daphne, and left the brooms.

Then he got to the books. There were quite a few novels and fairytales, and not much else; he skipped looking through them entirely to look at the jewelry.

There were protection charms and many different things. Harry decided to leave them, for now, to continue to his Trust vault.

Once there he scooped money into his bag, and then they continued to the Peverell Literary Vault.

The books in it were mostly very old, but there were a few newer additions, including one written by 'Mssrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs' with a foreword from them presenting the 'Marauders Book of Knowledge to Future Prongslets'. Harry took it, and quite a few of the older books had exact copies that he took with him.

Finally, they made their way back up to the surface, where Goldforger passed Harry a box that he put in his bag. He then exited the bank to see Lady Greengrass and Daphne waiting for him.

"It took you long enough," Daphne said. "Come on- let's get to Allaraian's!"

She took Harry's hand and led him down the street, followed by Lady Greengrass. They headed down a side street and came out in a street full of craftsmen.

Wandmakers, wardmakers, charmers, animal breeders, potioneers, carpenters, and many more… The alley had them all. There was a small stand advertising charms that let someone see through walls, that let someone see heat signatures… They were all ridiculously expensive, of course. There were a few seamstresses, a few leatherworkers. There was a potion shop akin to some sort of pharmacy. And there were wizards and witches of many nationalities hurrying about, buying and trading and selling. Daphne led him to a clean, tidy little shop in the middle advertising Allaraian Wands. Daphne and Harry entered, followed by Lady Greengrass. A woman looking very similar to Desdemona greeted them.

"Morning, Daphne, Lady Greengrass, what do you need?" she asked, polishing a wand.

"Harry's wand blew up," Daphne said. The woman raised her eyes.

"Well, you came to the right place for a replacement," she said. "Clairvoyana Allaraian. My little sister is a seventh year Slytherin at Hogwarts, do you know her?"

"Yeah," Harry replied. "I'm in Slytherin, too."

"Great!" Clairvoyana replied. "I myself was a Hufflepuff. Now, what was your last wand?"

"Holly and Phoenix feather, eleven inches," Harry replied, watching as the stood up and headed over to a large book.

"Well, since it blew up, I'm going to guess it wasn't strong enough to channel your core… And people wonder why witches and wizards are getting weaker…" Clairvoyana muttered. "Here, try this one, Hemlock and a core of dittany, twelve and three eighth inches, springy."

Harry waved the wand, and its tip lit up. Clairvoyana took the wand.

"A more powerful wood, and harder. I don't think plants will make good cores for you… Try this one, Alder with a core of Nightmare and Unicorn hair, willingly given, eleven and a half inches, inflexible."

Clairvoyana hummed. Harry tried wands until he finally ended up with the right wand- ivy and Nightmare hair, thirteen and a half inches, rigid. The rigidity was unusual for ivy wands, but had been obtained through a few rituals. She explained the leanings of the wand- powerful with a slight lean to the Dark Arts, a little inadequate at healing arts, but quite subtle yet powerful. She had, however, one more suggestion.

"Maybe we find you a second wand with a greater leaning to lighter arts and healing, so that you don't come up short in those areas," she said. Harry glanced at Lady Greengrass and Daphne, who both nodded.

"I think that would be fine," he replied, and she nodded. She came back with a few more wands, until Harry ended up with a secondary wand of birch and unicorn hair, eleven inches.

"That will be twenty-five galleons for one, twenty-two for the other, so all together forty-seven," Clairvoyana said, and Harry paid her and allowed himself to be lead away by the Greengrasses to Fein Alley and clothes.

"You'll need muggle clothes as well as robes, so we'll look at those too," Daphne said. "What types of clothes do you think are cool?" Harry shrugged. "Come on, you must have seen someone and thought 'wow, I like what they're wearing'!" Harry shrugged again. "Well, then I'll pick out your style. Mother will help of course; she knows fashion better than I do."

"I think he's the type of person to wear button-ups," Lady Greengrass said. "And I see leather in his future, but for now we'll just make him stick with jeans."

Contrary to what everyone had told him, Harry actually rather enjoyed shopping with the Greengrasses. He got to actually try on clothes that fit and would look good on him, and Daphne and her mother had superb taste. He got robes first- there were so many different types of robes, and they were actually being tailored to fit him, along with a couple formal-but-not-quite-dress-robes for him.

Then they exchanged Galleons for a debit card, and made their way into muggle London.

The sheer volume of clothes that the ladies made him buy was impressive. They made him overhaul his entire wardrobe, which he was actually rather glad about. Eventually they returned to the Alleys, and had lunch. They returned to Horizont Alley, where they visited a trunk maker. Harry finally got to splurge on a trunk, buying a four-compartment one that had a wardrobe, a library, a potions storage cabinet, and a place for everything else. All the compartments had extra-dimensional storage, but not as much as the bag. Harry also got a better book bag that would prevent his ink from spilling and quills from breaking. He got an extra charm on it that would prevent it from ripping and tearing, as well.

All in all, Harry was happy with his purchases, and then they went to Lofte Alley to look at brooms.

Harry was in Heaven.

The ladies were sharing knowing smirks as Harry looked at all the different broom models. But brooms weren't all the alley had- it also sold a very eclectic variety of potion ingredients and potions.

When he asked Daphne what type of broom she would recommend, she shrugged. So Harry asked one of the teens working in a shop.

"You're looking for a good Seeking broom? At Hogwarts? All the best Seeker brooms are Jacked from other brooms, so I'd look for a good Jacking place. You could start with a standard racing broom and learn how to Jack yourself- I mean, I hear horror stories about the brooms at Hogwarts, so even if you screwed up royally in your Jacking attempts, you would still probably end up with a better broom," the teen said.

"What's Jacking?" Harry asked, frowning.

"Short for Hijacking Enchanted Brooms," the teen replied. "The poor sap who first started Jacking tried to call it HEBbing, but it didn't really pan out. There are books about it in some of the better Jacking places. Just find a broom store that looks a little less than light, walk in, and ask for Jack's books."

"Thanks. May I ask what your name is?" Harry replied, smiling.

"Jordan Kingston," the teen replied.

"Thanks," Harry reiterated, and left. He ended up with a book on the origins of Jacking and what exactly it was and a broom that was the best standard Seeking broom, even if it wasn't the fastest. When they returned to Greengrass Manor, he was more than ready to try his new Rainier Two-oh-Nine, an import from the American Northwest. Astoria wanted to help him out, so she grabbed her broom- a Nimbus 1999- and they headed out to a field that was used as a Quidditch pitch whenever kids were around. Daphne followed them out with a book and sat down to read while Harry and Astoria threw a Quaffle back and forth. The Rainier was a very agile broom, very quick but a little speed had been sacrificed for its extreme responsiveness.

Eventually Astoria and Harry came down to where Daphne was sitting.

"Hey, Daph, what are you reading?" Astoria asked.

"Broomsticks," Daphne replied, hiding a smile behind her book.

"I thought you didn't like flying," Harry replied, frowning and putting his hands on his hips.

"I thought I'd study up the best broomsticks so I'd know what to get someone if I decided to get them a broomstick," Daphne replied. "Apparently the 90s series of Nimbus were some of the best racing brooms, with the Nimbus 2000 the final high-quality broom before Nimbus sold out to a mainland company that actually lowered the quality of the brooms."

"What about Rainier?" Harry asked, curious.

"Undoubtedly one of the best American companies, it is very competitive in the American market but isn't as well known elsewhere like the Comets," Daphne replied.

"Okay, cool, have fun with your reading!" Astoria replied. "Come on, we have some more Quaffle throwing to do!" Harry followed Astoria back into the air, and they continued playing until Daphne called them down to get ready for dinner.

"Dress a little nice tonight," Lady Greengrass said when they saw her near the dining room. "We're having company." The three kids nodded, and headed to change. Harry chose a dark grey button-up, a pair of jeans, and nicer shoes. The next day they'd be returning to Diagon Alley to pick up his robes and see about his eyes, and they would maybe be going with the Davis family.

Harry headed to dinner with the girls, who had also decided on some of their nicer muggle clothes- Astoria wore a blouse and a skirt, and Daphne wore a blue long-sleeved dress that fell to her knees.

When they walked into the main dining hall, they were surprised to see Blaise and his family already there. Blaise walked over, and after a moment's consideration, hugged Harry. Harry stiffened for a moment and then returned the hug. They pulled apart and Harry noticed how many other people were there.

"You said you wanted to meet my step-siblings," Blaise said, and smiled. Harry smiled back.

The first three Harry was introduced to were Koryn, Anastasia, and Zachariah. Koryn was apparently the hair expert Blaise had talked about, and Harry remembered he needed to get his hair checked, too.

Finally they sat down to dinner, and Harry sat between Blaise and Astoria, and across from Daphne who sat in between Kory and Stacey.

"We'll probably be returning to the Alleys tomorrow to pick up my robes, and maybe spend the day with Tracey and our friends who are staying at the Leaky Cauldron," Harry said.

"Cool," Blaise said. "Wish I could go, but mum told me I had to study tomorrow."

"Got to teach little Blaisey how to do magic," Kory said. "I get to tutor him in runes. I make charms and curses and wards, so I'm kind of good at this stuff. I work through Gringott's mostly."

"Cool," Astoria said. "Harry, tell them about your broom." Kory, Stacey, and Blaise looked interested.

"Oh, yeah, I got a broom today," Harry said and then lowered his voice. "Daphne said we're going to try and sneak it into Hogwarts."

"I could help," Kory said. "The right runes on a charm tied to the broom and hide it in the right spot, and you got yourself a broom at Hogwarts. You can then pass it off as an older year's, so long as you trust them."

"You'd help?" Harry asked, looking a little surprised as he bit his lip. He had just met the guy, why would he want to help?

"A friend of Blaise's is a friend of mine," Kory said, and Stacey nodded.

"So what type of broom is it?" Stacey asked. "My cousin is a bit of a broomstick nerd, so he's taught me a bit."

"A Rainier Two-oh-Nine," Harry replied.

"An American import," Koryn said, nodding.

"I hear that Rainiers are good," Stacey said. "Haven't heard much about that particular broom, but then again I'm not the expert."

"It's a broom specifically for Seeking," Astoria said. "Not quite as good as a Jacked broom, but until we can get one it's the best on the market."

The conversation held between the six was ignored by the rest of the table- Lord and Lady Greengrass were deep in conversation with Madame Zabini and her older kids while the two youngest entertained themselves.

Conversation turned to schooling.

"I went to Durmstrang," Stacey said. "We didn't have a House system or points, and the older students practically ran the school."

"I was in Gryffindor," Kory said. "Some of the Slytherins in my time were right bastards, but then again so were some of the Gryffindors. I was there while tales of the Marauders were still big and there were still wannabees."

Harry frowned, remembering that he had heard of the Marauders. "What were their names?"

"Didn't have any names, but they had pseudonyms- Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," Koryn replied.

"I have a book by them," Harry realized, and Kory looked a little awestruck.

"Wow," he said. "They were really well-known; I'm surprised you haven't heard tales of their exploits against Slytherin like I did."

"We have the Weasley twins," Blaise replied, shrugging.

Food then appeared on the table, and people began serving. Harry served Astoria her dinner (Daphne glared at him from across the table) and Koryn served Daphne and Stacey.

"So, other than picking up robes, what else will you be doing in the alleys tomorrow?" Blaise asked.

"Well, since Tracey will be there I'm hoping we can pick up some actual Seeker gear, and we'll be getting my eyes checked and maybe see what's up with my hair," Harry replied. "And maybe spend some time with some of our friends staying at the Leaky Cauldron."

"That's cool. Say hi to them for me," Blaise replied.

"Sure thing," Harry said.

Dinner continued, the six still rather ignored, until it was time to go. Blaise hugged Harry again before they left, and Harry again reacted rather haltingly to the physical contact. Koryn and Stacey told him to stay in contact, and he said he'd try.

That night, Harry sat at the desk under the window in the chair that was so, so comfortable. The light blue curtains had been pulled open so he could see onto the grounds under the moonlight- grounds tended so carefully by Astoria with help from her father when he had free time, Harry had learned.

With a last glance at the moonlit grounds, Harry settled back to read the book by the Marauders under the gentle candlelight.

I think I'm just going to change the update day to Saturday since Wednesdays seem to be very, very busy for me lately. In other words, winter break!

Question: What winter holiday do you celebrate?

Next Time: Harry reads some stuff about some certain Gryffindor boys.