Chapter 3
Harry left Tidwell's Wizarding Tents and Trunks in a daze. What he had seen inside was overwhelming, and ideas and plans sped through his mind faster than he could process them.
Remus stood up from the bench he'd been sitting on when he saw Harry leave the shop. "Are you all right?" he asked, questioning the look of amazement on his face.
Harry looked up at Remus and grinned. "Yeah," he said, as if he couldn't believe it. "I am."
Remus smiled in amusement. "We'd better hurry, Harry. We don't want to be late."
Harry nodded and walked with Remus the two blocks to Gringotts. "I've got so much to tell you," he said, still shocked by all the things the trunk was capable of. "But it'll have to wait until we're alone."
Remus looked intrigued. It had been so long since he had seen Harry this excited. "I can't wait to find out," he said, grinning. "Can you give me a hint?"
Harry smiled mysteriously. "You'll see. Let's do this first, then I'll tell you."
When they arrived at Gringotts, they were ushered into a room where they found Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Tonks and her parents Andromeda and Ted, and, surprisingly, Severus Snape already waiting.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sat on one side of the long table, and Tonks and her parents sat on the opposite side, facing them. Snape sat at the end of the table. Harry took a seat beside Mrs. Weasley, who smiled sadly and patted his hand. Remus sat beside him, between Snape and Harry.
Ragnok, Head of the Goblin Nation and Chief Goblin of Gringotts, came into the room with another Goblin, whom Harry recognized as Griphook, the one who had escorted him and Hagrid on his first trip to Gringotts. Ragnok, who was carrying several pieces of parchment, sat down at the head of the table. Griphook stood just in front of the closed door.
Ragnok cleared his throat. "We are here for the reading of the will of Sirius Orion Black. Mr. Black requested a private reading, allowing only you eight to attend." He opened one of the parchments and began to read:
I, Sirius Orion Black, being of sound mind and body, do hereby attest that this is my last Will and Testament. I have left each of you a private letter, so I will be brief.
To Arthur and Molly Weasley, I leave the amount of 1,000,000 galleons.
To Ted and Andromeda Tonks, I leave the amount of 1,000,000 galleons. I also leave to Andromeda Black Tonks the entire contents of Vault 127, which contains the Black Family heirlooms, including the family jewelry, paintings, furnishings, and antiques.
To Nymphadora Tonks, I leave the amount of 1,000,000 galleons.
As godfather and legal magical guardian of Harry James Potter, I leave to Remus John Lupin the responsibility for the legal magical guardianship of Harry James Potter.
To Harry James Potter, I leave my motorcycle, which is located in the garden shed at 112 Grimmauld Place in London.
To Remus Lupin and Harry Potter, I leave the house at 112 Grimmauld Place in London and all it's contents, to be lived in or to be sold at their pleasure. I also leave them (Harry Potter and Remus Lupin) the entire contents of Vault 128, to be divided equally between them, which are the remainder of my assets. It has been liquidated and is, at present, in the amount of 28,000,000 galleons.
To Severus Snape, I leave my house elf, Kreacher, to be used as he sees fit.
Signed: Sirius Orion Black
Witness: Minister Ragnok, Chief Goblin of Gringotts Bank
Harry looked at the other inhabitants of the room. All were staring into space in a daze, including Andromeda. They were obviously as shocked as he was. He knew that the Black family had been wealthy, but he had no idea that it was so much. Snape, on the other hand, had a look of horror. Harry coughed to cover a laugh. So this was Sirius's last prank on the greasy git.
Ragnok interrupted his thoughts. "If there are no questions, I will pass around the personal letters he left for each of you and the documents for you to sign. Your inheritances will be added to your personal vaults by tomorrow morning. Mrs. Andromeda Tonks, please stay after the meeting so that you can receive the key to Vault 127."
Harry was glad that his letter from Sirius was sealed. He didn't want to read it until he was in the privacy of his bedroom back in Surrey. He stuffed the letter into his pocket, and then signed the form accepting his inheritance. He spoke quietly for a few moments with the Tonks family and the Weasleys, then he said his goodbyes and went to his vault to fill two bags with galleons. He had one bag converted to muggle money, then he and Remus left the bank.
Outside Gringotts, Harry sighed. "I've never been so glad to be out of a place in my life," he said to Remus. "Well, except for number 4 Privet Drive."
Remus grinned. "And maybe the Chamber of Secrets?" he added.
"Yeah, that, too. And the chamber with the Philosopher's Stone."
"And the Department of Mysteries."
"Yeah, and the Riddle graveyard and all of the Triwizard tasks."
Remus laughed and put his arm around Harry's shoulders. "So, what is it that you wanted to tell me?"
"Let's go to the Leaky Cauldron and have dinner. I'll tell you when we get to your house."
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Remus cottage was located in an isolated area surrounded by trees. It was a small house with three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, a lounge and a large kitchen-dining area downstairs, and a basement. It had been Remus's childhood home. He had moved back there after he stopped teaching at Hogwarts and again since Sirius had fallen through the veil.
"I've only been back here a week," Remus said apologetically. "So I haven't had much time to clean, but there's food, so I think we can manage for the night." He invited Harry to sit in the living room in front of the fire while he made tea.
"So," Remus said, giving Harry a cup then sitting in the chair across from him. "What is it that you wanted to tell me?"
Harry hardly knew where to begin. He took a sip of tea, and then set the cup down on the table beside his chair. "I think it's better if I show you," he said. Harry took off his pendant and laid it on the floor. 'Restore,' he thought, and the pendant transformed into a trunk.
Remus set his cup down, leaned over, and ran his fingers over the gold letters that formed the name Potter. "What a beautiful trunk, Harry. This is why you wanted to go to Tidwell's, to pick up your new trunk."
Harry grinned. "Watch this, Remus." He turned the dial to 004 and showed Remus the circular staircase.
Remus gazed at him in surprise. "A multi-dimensional trunk? I've never actually seen one before, but I've heard that Alaster Moody has one."
He followed Harry down the stairs and was given a tour of levels 4 through 8. During the tour, Harry told Remus about the prophecy and how, after hearing it, his grandfather had commissioned the trunk for the safety of his family, but that all except Harry had been killed before its completion. He took him back up to level 4 and opened the control room door.
As Remus looked around in amazement, Harry seated himself at the control panel and took out the book of instructions. After a few moments of flipping through pages and reading, he asked Remus to give him a hair from his head. Remus plucked one out for him and stood behind Harry, watching him.
Harry placed the hair on the control panel over a recessed light and then covered it with his hand. "Remus John Lupin," he said. "Levels 4 through 8 accesses. Control Room access. Transporting access. Safe Haven access. Owl access. Confirm." The panel light glowed red, and Harry moved his hand. In place of the hair was a gold chain with a gold letter P medallion. He lifted it up and placed it around Remus's neck. "Now, you will be able to enter all 4 levels of living space of my trunk. You'll be able to transport in and out, and have access to the control room."
He showed him the instruction book, which looked to be about 100 pages of parchment. "Of course, we're going to have to read all of this so we'll know what it's capable of doing."
Remus dropped into the chair beside him and let out a breath of amazement. "What else does this thing do?" he asked, flipping through the instruction book.
Harry explained everything that Mr. Tidwell had told him. He showed him how the screen could show what was happening on the outside of the trunk. As he turned the knobs on the panel, he was able to get a 180-degree visual.
"Mr. Tidwell told me that my grandfather got the idea for the panel and screen from muggle computers. And look at this, Remus," he said, hitting another knob on the panel. The outside visual disappeared, and a map of the world appeared in its place. Harry turned the knob until it was pointing over England. He zoomed in to London, then Grimmauld Place, and finally number 12. It was visible even through the fidelus charm.
"Now, watch this." The visual went through the roof of the house, and they were able to see the rooms inside. Harry navigated it down the stairs to Sirius's bedroom, then marked a point at the foot of the bed. "Program number 12 Grimmauld Place," he said aloud. "Confirm." The screen flashed red for a moment. "Travel to number 12 Grimmauld Place." He waited a moment, and then said, "Confirm." The screen again flashed red for a moment, and Harry turned off the map and turned on the visual. Turning the visual 180-degrees, they saw that the trunk was, in fact, inside Sirius's bedroom at the foot of his bed.
"We're actually at Grimmauld Place now?" Remus asked, surprised.
Harry grinned. "Yep. You didn't feel a thing, did you?"
"No, I didn't," he answered in amazement.
Harry turned to him. "Remus, you don't want to live at Grimmauld Place, and neither do I. This trunk is the safest place we can be. Why don't you pack your things and move in here with me? The trunk will be at Privet Drive, so the wards will renew, and my aunt and uncle will never know you're there. You'll be able to transport in and out whenever you need to. We'll buy food, and I'll ask Dobby to come stay with us and be our house elf. Inside this trunk, I can use magic, and no one will know. I can study and practice. You can read and research. We can even learn to make the wolfsbane potion, and you can use the Room of Requirement when you transform. You can do everything from here in safety."
He waited for Remus's reaction, but the werewolf seemed to be thinking about it, so Harry continued. "When we want to go somewhere, we'll just travel in the trunk. We can go anywhere in the world, Remus. We can disguise ourselves when we go out into the magical communities. Even at Hogwarts, we'll be able to move around anytime we need to. No one will know where you are, but you'll be able to send and receive owls. I just need to read how to do that. If you go on a mission for Dumbledore and you get injured or captured, all you have to do is think the word 'safe haven,' and it'll bring you back safely inside the trunk. It would be perfect, Remus. And neither one of us would be alone. We'd be a family. Please?"
Remus searched Harry's face for a moment, and then smiled. "I would love to," he said.
"Then, let's get out of the trunk and pack up Sirius's stuff. Can we get the motor cycle while we're here?"
Remus nodded, thoughtfully. "Yes, I can shrink the motorcycle, but are you sure about packing Sirius's things? It might be difficult going through . . . "
"No, I can do it. I'm fine. Besides, when we get everything packed, I need to talk to you about something else – an idea I've been working on."
"All right," he said, standing. "Then I guess we'd better get to work."