Chapter 2: 12 Grimmauld Place
Alea iacta est
(The Die Is Cast)
12 Grimmauld Place, Sunday
Taking the Floo back to Grimmauld Place, Harry followed the instructions Sirius had left behind in his rooms to lock down the wards and Floo connection. As much as he hated this sitting around he had to do this for Teddy.
Thinking about what he had learned, Harry worried about what he'd find out at weeks end. Already feelings he'd felt for Order members he'd thought of as friends had faded to the point of non-existent. The rage, hatred and every other myriad of emotions he'd felt for Voldemort and Tom Riddle seemed to have shifted. He now felt a connection and great respect for Tom Riddle, and a weary indifference to Voldemort.
…separate?
He knew they were different names for the same man, but for some reason his mind was separating the two personas now. To be honest his feelings for the entire Hogwarts population had shifted from camaraderie to a dull hatred. Thinking of his Godson, when he thought of Teddy he felt… a sense of duty? He knew he loved Hedwig as he felt the strongest emotions for her. They hadn't dulled since the potion at Gringotts…
Harry decided he needed to keep his mind occupied before he made himself crazy. His mind would sort itself without him needing to analyse it. He just needed to hold out until the end of the week. Leaning against the doorframe, Harry surveyed Grimmauld Place with a critical eye. His eyes trailing along furniture and the base room alike.
It just needs a paint job. Harry finally decided. Black was hardly a cheerful colour. Now should he send Kreacher or Dobby for supplies?
"Dobby"
"What can Dobby be doing for Harry Potter sir?"
"Hello Dobby. Can you please fetch me a large number of a muggle cleaning product called sugar-soap and a muggle cleaning product known as fabric softener. I'll also need buckets, brooms and lots of scrubbing brushes." First of all he needed to clean the place up and remove the old peeling wallpaper. Hopefully the hardwood floors only needed a wash and sealing, not sanding. "Oh! And I need some putty knifes to take the wallpaper off."
"Can Dobby help?"
"Sure. But sadly we have to do it the muggle way." The extra help couldn't hurt. Hopefully.
"Yes Sir!" Watching the little elf salute him before popping away, Harry smiled softly at the spot Dobby had been. At least he knew his feelings for the elf hadn't dulled. Deciding to make himself useful while he waited, Harry went from room to room with parchment and ink in hand. Making a list of everything he could see that needed fixing. He wasn't confident enough to go opening any of the cabinets -anything really- without backup just yet.
"HARRY POTTER SIR! DOBBY IS BEING BACK WITH WHAT YOU WANTED!"
Hurrying down the stairs to the lounge room, when he rounded the corner he couldn't help blinking owlishly at the large crates of cleaning supplies. For once he was happy Dobby had gone overboard.
"Thank you Dobby. This is great!"
Dobby positively beamed at his praise, puffing his chest out with pride. Harry just smiled down at his friend. "Do you want to help me shrink and move the furniture from the third floor and attic?" Harry frowned, "or should we start with the ground floor?"
Dobby frowned as he thought about it himself. "Dobby thinks…Dobby thinks Mister Harry Potter Sir should start with basement, ground floor and bedroom floor."
Harry nodded "Sounds good Dobby. We'll put everything in the attic until we can sort it later."
As they got to work shrinking everything, working late into the night, truth be told Harry found he was rather useless. Most of the stuff they needed to move was either too dangerous for him to touch thanks to curses, or only elf magic had been able to shrink. Even the old bloody mouldy couch had a bloody anti-shrinking charm on it.
Returning to the room he had claimed for himself, Harry grabbed his PJs
Showering before crashing on a mouldy bed. Harry wondered what direction his life was heading in now.
Monday
The next morning when Harry awoke, it took him a moment to realise he wasn't dreaming. He wondered how long it would take for the others to realise he was missing, and how long it would take them to realise he wasn't planning to fight their war for them. Knowing them it'd be a while.
Raising from the bed with a sigh, Harry rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he thought about what he needed to do today.
Take the wallpaper off and clean the bricks.
He would need to get some muggles in to put fresh wallpaper up, but he could at least take it down himself. Though there was also the option of putting boarding up too.
Dressing before heading downstairs, Harry made a note to send one of the elves for food later. Grabbing a bucket from the pile Dobby had dropped off yesterday, Harry squirted a bit of fabric softener into the bucket before taking it to the kitchen and filling it up. Leaving the bucket, Harry returned upstairs to grab a roller and putty knife. Thinking back, he could have just hung them from his belt loops or pocket.
"Harry Potter Sir?"
Turning to the open doorway, Harry spotted Dobby looking perplexed.
"Good morning Dobby"
"Harry Potter Sir eaten?"
"Not yet-"
Pop
Harry blinked slowly. Still not quite awake. He was still standing there when Dobby returned carrying a bowl of porridge.
"Harry Potter Sir be eating first!"
Smiling fondly at Dobby's attempt at a stern look, Harry held up his hands in surrender. Following Dobby to the dining room. A thought occurred as he was sitting down. Namely that he thought they'd already moved the table yesterday. Looking to Dobby, Harry's head tilted in curiosity. "Has Dobby eaten yet?" he'd try to work out the table later. As he suspected either Dobby or Kreacher.
"No Harry Potter Sir"
"Would Dobby like to join me?"
"Yes Harry Potter Sir!"
Eating breakfast with Dobby, the two discussed what work needed to be done and their plans for the day. Namely focussing on cleaning and painting the exterior while their concoction took care of the wallpaper glue.
Bellies now pleasantly full, Harry and Dobby retired down to the kitchen. Using a roller brush, Harry and Dobby rolled a layer of water and fabric softener mixture over the old wallpaper. Moving steadily from the basement to the ground floor, Harry was happy that they had a good rhythm going, though the walls were so filthy it was grossing even him out.
"HALF-BLOODED DEFILER OF HOUSE BLACK!"
Sighing heavily, Harry walked down the hall and opened the portrait curtains. Exposing the angry harpy of a women.
"Let me make myself clear." Harry smiled pleasantly. "I am the current Lord Black, and you have two choices. Either tell me how to remove the charm so your portrait can be moved to another room, or say your goodbyes as I'll damage your portrait beyond repair. Either works perfectly fine for me." No matter how beautiful the women once was, he didn't understand how any man could have bred with the women. The man must have been deaf.
Walburga Black sniffed. "You still wouldn't be able to remove my frame."
Harry grinned darkly. Mind racing with the possibilities. "You're right. But I don't need to know how to remove the charm or frame. you're so uncouth the effort if would take to simply remove the wall itself would be no trouble at all. Perhaps dropping you off among muggle children with a silencing charm would be a good plan."
Walburga paled. Dark pleasure coursed through his veins at the fear he instilled in the women. She had made Sirius's life miserable in both life and death after all. "I'll give you till the end of the day to decide."
Closing the blinds before returning to the point he was at before, Harry picked up the roller and continued his work. Thinking of his time before Hogwarts, of the plans he had envisioned in his cupboard. After a moment Harry realised once he'd met Hagrid, all those plans had fallen away. His escape plans had simply vanished from his mind as well as his plans of revenge.
Finishing the last bedroom of the first floor, Harry backtracked to the kitchen. Grimacing at the state of the walls, Harry wondered how they were even standing with the amount of grime.
"Harry Potter Sir start outside?"
"Okay Dobby. Thank you." anything to get out of this. Returning to the ground floor, Harry grabbed what he needed before summoning his broom.
Mounting his broom, Harry levitated the supplies to the roof. Dipping the brushes into the bucket before hooking the bucket to his broom. Remounting his broom before hovering, Harry directed a small army of brushes coated in sugar-soap and water to scrub the grime and moss from the old slate tiles.
Careful to remain within the small confines of the wards at all times. He could only control three brushes at once, nowhere near Mrs Weasley's small army of twenty, but every little bit helped.
Old slate as clean as they were going to get, Harry racked his brain for the perfect spell. Concentrating hard on the water tank from number 3, Harry focused on what he wanted. "Summoneaquam" while more draining and more difficult to cast and control than Aguamenti, Summoneaquam summoned actual water.
Hosing the roof, Harry worked his way down the townhouse. Rinsing the soap from stone walls and slate tiles alike.
A quarter of the way down, the well ran dry.
Tapping his wand to his lips, Harry racked his brain for a source of clean water. But for the life of him he couldn't think of any.
"Dobby help?"
Looking down to Dobby standing on the stoop, "Dobby can help if he wants." Harry was suspicious at how quickly Dobby had finished, but if it was genuine it'd be awesome. "Would Dobby like to start cleaning the back walls?"
Lowering to below the eves, Harry began the laborious task of removing the old rotten boards with Accio and a hammer. If not for magic he suspected the old wood would have dropped off ages ago. He didn't know how long it would take him to get the old townhouse fixed, but he knew he didn't want Teddy to experience this oppressive magic. No wonder all the Black's were insane if they grew up like this.
"Harry Potter Sir come see garden?"
Blinking owlishly for a moment, Harry lowered himself to where Dobby was without much thought. Following Dobby through the house Dobby led him to a door he had never noticed before. and what did Dobby mean about a garden?
Stepping into the backyard, at the sight of the wild overgrown weeds and trees, reminding him eerily of the Forbidden Forest on a full moon and Slytherin's chamber combined, a chill slithered up his spine.
"Kreature"
"What foul Master wishing of Kreature?"
"Please prune the plants in the backyard of 12 Grimmauld Place. But do not remove or kill any of the plants. We wish for the garden to become the pride of House Black."
Watching Kreature's face, Harry watched as his desire to defy him wared with his loyalty to House Black. Easily spotting the moment his pride won out. Knowing he had won, Harry smiled.
"Yes foul half-blood Master"
"Thank you Kreature." Looking up at the wall Dobby had been attempting to clean, Harry was surprise to find it was in better shape than the front wall. Patting Dobby's head fondly, Harry thanked him before returning to the task at hand.
Even with the help of what little magic they could use, it still took the rest of the day to strip the wallpaper and clean the old stones that were revealed. Entering the house as night fell covered in grime and mould, Harry was one highly disgruntled wizard. He didn't know what was worse at this point: Walburga or all the grime. Bloody women didn't know when to shut up!
Retiring to his room to take a long hot shower, Harry scrubbed himself raw before he finally felt somewhat clean. Resigned, Harry knew it was the house's magic clinging to him, but he just didn't know how to fix it. Physically at least the exterior of the townhouse was now clean, but he needed a way to clean the magic clinging to everything.
"What can Dobby be doing Harry Potter sir?"
Harry smiled tiredly, "Hello Dobby. Can you please fetch me white exterior and black exterior paint? Enough of the white paint to paint the outside of Grimmauld Place three times?" funnily enough while he had finished the day like something Hedwig had brought home, Dobby looked like he'd just had a day at the spa… maybe it was a House-Elf thing? Dobby simply agreed and popped out. Happy to be useful and wanted.
When Dobby returned, Harry had just finished floating the last of the mouldy wallpaper from the dining room into a plastic bag.
Accepting the book Dobby handed him along with a bowl of soup gratefully before popping out, Harry read the title. 'Remodelling For The Handy Wizard by May Merigold'. It wouldn't hurt to know some spells to make his life easier. Taking the two items to his room, Harry easily ate the soup. Only having realized how hungry he was when he had smelt the hearty meal.
Stomach now full, Harry sat the bowl aside before grabbing the book. Flipping the book open to the first page, Harry read until he fell asleep. Making not of anything useful as he went.
Tuesday
"Clooghrafaail taluun a thaifeadadh" spinning on his heel with his wand out in front of him, Harry watched curiously as his wand sent out an orange light that spread out from where he stood. Covering every surface as it did so. Waiting as the book instructed, Harry stood there for what felt like forever before it flashed purple.
Placing the parchment paper on the floor at his feet. Harry stood, spinning on his heel with his wand out in front of him, instead of spreading his magic out he drew the spell in. like he was the loom and the magic thread, directing his 'thread' to the parchment at his feet. As the spell passed through him knowledge of the floor layout passed through his mind as well. Alerting him to passageways he hadn't known about and a hidden bookshelf.
Repeating this for each floor, Harry ended up with seven highly detailed drawings detailing the layout of each floor. Much like the Marauders Map it showed the entrance to secret passageways and alcoves, though not what was inside, of which there seemed to be at least one on each floor.
Following the template in the book, Harry wrote a letter to an architect detailing what he wanted. Though as he came to the end of the missive he hesitated. Sighing. But not really having a choice in the matter. Harry wrote the address of 12 Grimmauld Place, London. With his letter now written, Harry bit his lip before he wove compulsion upon compulsion over the parchment.
"Dobby"
"Harry Potter Sir?"
"Hello Dobby." Smiling softly, Harry patted his head. "I hope I'm not a bother?"
"Harry Potter Sir not bother Dobby!" Dobby beamed, "What be Dobby doing for Harry Potter Sir?"
"I need help locating a muggle or squib architect."
Quickly making copies of the plans, Harry handed them to Dobby along with the cursed letter.
Yawning, Harry took the originals back to his room. Copying the layout onto another scrape of parchment. Laying the parchment across his bed Harry studied the plans. Tapping his pencil against the page, Harry realised if he took out a ton of walls he could turn 24 small, dark and gloomy rooms into 6 or 4 large open rooms. Judging by how small the rooms were and how… odd the configuration was, maybe one of the past Black's had decided liberal use of expansion charms were needed and just hasn't cast the charms properly?
"Harry Potter Sir's Archie being in dining room."
"Thank you Dobby"
Taking his plans into the dining room curiously, Harry found the muggle Dobby had dropped off still under his compliance curse. From what he could understand it was a curse used by the Black's to force their children to perform nonharmful tasks such as their homework. The curse was easy to throw off even for squibs, but muggles had no magic in which to fight the curse off with. Walking behind the muggle before pulling his wand from his pocket, Harry concentrated hard and gathered his magic.
"Imperio"
Implanting what he wanted done into the muggles mind like the fake Moody would do during class. Harry hoped he didn't need to obliviate the man so soon.
"Convert to open floor plan."
Keeping an eye on the man as he set to work
"You need to keep these walls as they are load supporting."
"Mark them so I know" handing the man a red self-inking quill. Harry paid particular attention to these walls. While he knew he could use magic to support the upper floors instead, like the Weasley family have done, he still desired the building to be structurally sound by muggle standards.
"Close your eyes."
Locating Moody's firewhisky stash, Harry put half a glass in a spray bottle with a bit of water and left the rest in the glass.
"Drink"
Watching him drink the spiked firewhisky, while he was doing that Harry set to spraying him with the whisky.
He doubted his obliviate would work so he needed a backup. Harry had seriously considered having Dobby or Kreacher drop the muggle off in a high magical location, but suspected the muggle would be traced back to him. Watching curiously as the calming draught caused the muggle to fall asleep. Harry wondered what effects other potions would have on muggles.
"Dobby"
"Harry Potter Sir!"
Harry smiled tiredly. Patting Dobby's head gently. "Hello Dobby. Can you please place Mr Archie in his own bed please?"
"Dobby will be doing!"
Watching the spot Dobby and the muggle had been in a moment longer, Harry sighed heavily. Returning to his room and sitting down, Harry made a list of tradesmen he would need. First of all he would need qualified builders to remove the walls he no longer wanted. He would hire six teams of builders to do the structural work and repair the water-damage to the first three floors. Once the builders were mostly finished he'd get the Water-proofer's in to waterproof the walls and floor of each level. Followed by the Plumbers and Electricians. Electricity may not work with magic but the wiring was capable of conducting magic, and according to the book Dobby had given him last night, there were runes that would control the magic and make it act somewhat like electricity would in a muggle home. Simple things like making an oven work and turning lights on.
"Harry Potter Sir needs eating"
Jumping in surprise, Harry swivelled to the open doorway. At Dobby's stern look Harry smiled sheepishly. "Sorry Dobby. There just isn't anything in the kitchen I can use to make anything. And I can hardly stock the kitchen when I'm going to have work done in there." Watching Harry's face a moment, Dobby made a face of his own before he popped out.
Returning to his work, he was finishing his plan an hour later when Dobby popped back in with the biggest pot of soup he had ever seen.
"Dobby put no-off magic on soup. Harry Potter Sir make warm when hungie."
Eyes widening in surprise, Harry smiled. "Thank you Dobby" this really helped him out. He was lucky to have Dobby as a friend. "What have you been up to today?"
Dobby beamed. "Dobby clean rust metal outside"
Racking his brain for what on earth Dobby was talking about, Harry faintly remembered the metal fencing out front and on some of the windows. Dobby must have cleaned them of the rust and grime he didn't have time to yesterday. "Thank you Dobby. I'm sorry to trouble you."
"Harry Potter Sir no trouble!"
Accepting the bowl Dobby handed him, Harry watched in amusement as Dobby climbed onto the bed to join him for lunch. Discussing how to get the tradies they needed to renovate between taking bites. Surprisingly Dobby knew a bit about renovating from his dame.
Sending the cursed letters with Dobby, they spent the rest of the afternoon organising the tradesmen through their bosses. Letting the men and women bypass the wards through a simple scrap of paper. It was during the middle of this organisation planning that a letter arrive from Gringotts.
Lord Black,
In preparation for the custody transfer of Edward Remus Lupin into your care I have included a magical emittance crystal.
In order for the crystal to work you will need to wear it at all times. It will allow a smoother transition for Edward Lupin into your care, as the crystal will transmit your magical signature to a matching crystal he will be wearing. This will result in your magical signature being familiar to him prior to the custody transfer on Friday.
Sincerely,
Master Goblin Oorlog Digs
Account Manager of House Black, Account Manager of House Rose, Account Manager of House Potter
Harry hired a large number of muggle tradies to do the jobs he didn't know how to do. In total each floor was assigned 20 tradesmen of the same trade, including a Forman.
As the days passed Harry developed a routine with his tradies.
When his tradies changed shift, in the hour his house was muggle free Harry would pass through each worksite to clean the area of debris and tidy the tools and materials. Taking this time to make sure the work areas were clean meant he got an extra hour of productive work rather than the teams spending it cleaning up after each other.
In addition to the tea and coffee he kept in constant supply, Harry also provided a platter of sandwiches and sweets at lunch for his day workers and midnight for his night tradies. When he found out one of his tradies were diabetic, he added a jar of cookies to the selection of tea's. Between cleaning the worksite and fetching supplies, Harry dedicated the rest of his time to wrangling the upper floors and reading his Hogwarts textbooks.
When it came time for him to leave for Gringotts Monday morning, Grimmauld Place was unrecognizable.
Three floors of it at least.
Catching the Knight Bus to Diagon Alley, Arriving at Gringotts a little worse for wear, Harry followed the same procedure as last time to meet with the same Goblin. It had taken a considerable amount of skill and Slytherin cunning as well as money, but he had been able to get a decent apartment trunk they could live in for a while until he found somewhere safe the Order didn't know about. Entering the Goblin's office, Harry smiled at the Goblin. Hoping to make a good impression now that his head was clear.
"Good afternoon sir"
"Good Evening, Lord Black. Since our last meeting we have identified discrepancies in your accounts as well as business dealings. The investigation the law wizards you hired have found a number of illegal contracts in your name here and at the ministry they are currently working to undo. Thankfully Dumbledore only got access to your trust vault once you started attending Hogwarts. Based on what we have been able to track so far, a set amount was deposited into accounts under the names of 'Weasley', 'H. Granger', and 'Phoenix Order' each year. By our calculations, your account would have been drained in the next four years with these transfers alone."
Mouth gaping as his mind processed the information overload the Goblin just spewed, Harry grasped onto the only topic that he understood enough to care. "Can the funds and items be recovered."
"What Items?"
"Items were stolen, destroyed and thrown out of the Black Ancestral Townhouse. Can these items be recovered or replaced?"
"When did this happen?"
"This all happened before I found out it belonged to me. Between Siriu's death and me taking up the Lord Black title. I don't know if it happened while Sirius was alive." Through he hated to even think it, he knew Molly was a lot like Aunt Petunia, with how overbearing she could be in her own self-importance. He had notice the similarity before, but had tried not to with how kind she was to him.
"Did you participate?"
"Not with the items. I just got rid of some Doxy's and helped clean the dust from everything."
Master Digs growled so lowly Harry wondered if it was the Goblin version of a hum. "Provide pensive memories of what was thrown out that you know of and a vow stating what you say is the truth as you know it."
Doing as told with the oath, as it didn't affect him one way or the other and he needed the Goblin's help, Harry then informed the Goblin that he would need help extracting the memories.
Closing his eyes, Harry prayed this would work before steeling his resolve "I require the aid and discretion of Gringotts bank to remove and recast the Fidelius charm over 21 Grimmauld Place with myself as secret keeper."
"There will be fees for this service Lord Black."
Agreeing to the fee easily, they moved onto how he was going to get his money back. But sadly because he had been aware Molly had his vault key and hadn't protested her using it in his presence, there was nothing to be done for what had been stolen by the Weasley family, but the same could not be said for the rest of the Order members.
"Press forward with the charges."
"Very well." Digs wrote a note on his parchment before continuing with the meeting. "On another note, I've arranged a contract between House Potter and House Naga. If you agree to the terms and sign the contract in agreement, Lord and Lady Naga will apprentice you until you are at the level of a Sleeping Forest Academy M4 graduate. At which time further education will be your responsibility."
Reading the contract, Harry didn't understand most if it, but from what he did understand House Naga had to educate him to the best of their abilities and were not allowed to harm him, while he had to obey them in regards to educational, welfare and health matters. Not spotting anything that stood out, Harry signed. Hoping he wouldn't come to regret it. Harry made a mental note to look up different types of magical agreements.
"Where's Teddy?"
"Who?"
"My Godson, Edward Lupin."
Digs blinked slowly a moment. Harry wondered if he'd caught him by surprise. "The boy is currently being cared for in an office down the hall for the duration of this meeting. As soon as you sign the custody transfer he will be brought here."
"I'd like to sign now so I can see my Godson." Signing the parchment paper presented to him, they didn't have to wait long before a women arrived with a little blue bundle. Accepting the tiny bundle along with the trunk containing all his little possessions, Harry had to admit to being terrified.
Ugly little thing
The portions were so odd. Looking more like an ingredient for potions than a little human. Were all babies meant to be this ugly?
"Lord Black. Please be here tomorrow afternoon at 6pm for your portkey. I suggest you pick up infant supplies."
Looking back up at the Goblin, Harry nodded. "Yeah" infant supplies. Right. That was nappies and wipes right?
AN: These are the answers to question asked that probably won't be touched on a great deal in the story, if at all.
Why did Harry drink an unknown Potion?
It was a combination of things.
Muscle memory from all the times Madame Pomphrey gave him potions in the medical wing and a small compulsion to consume potions linked to the phrase "Drink this Mr Potter" when linked to an 'authority' figure. Lord Rose is a Healer while Madame Pomphrey is a Nurse. He has higher authority then her and Harry knows it, which activated the compulsion.
Why did neither Harry nor Hadrian realise the other existed?
It was a combination of factors between Dumbledore, James and the British Ministry that allowed this to occur.
Hadrian is the Eldest Firstborn Son of Fleamont Potter and Abby Rose. He was born to his secret second wife Abby, not his first wife, James's Mother Euphemia. Despite being born to his second wife Hadrian was born before James and was therefore the Heir by Blood and Magic.
Polygamy is not illegal in the Magical world so long as the dominate is able to support the submissive and all parties enter the bond willingly. It is rarely practiced in modern times by Magus as the finances required exceed most magicals ability and it complicates inheritances, but it is regularly practiced by other magical species such as Demons and Spirits.
For Fleamont, Euphemia was the love of his life, but after years of trying for a child and his advanced age, he needed to secure a legitimate heir for his line before he died.
Fleamont went to France and got his fertility tested to make sure he wasn't infertile. The results came back normal so he assumed Euphemia was the one who was infertile instead. He didn't get her tested because he didn't want to hurt her.
Fleamont knew many Noble Houses moved to the colonies to expand their Families wealth. House Rose was one of them.
Fleamont used his connections to track down an unbound Pureblood submissive until he found one he could use but didn't pose a threat. Abby Rose was the only child of the previous Lord Rose. Rose's are like Weasley's in that they are fertile and carry children easily. Perfect for what he needed.
Once Euphemia found out she was pregnant, Fleamont forgot all about Abby and Hadrian now that he had the Heir he wanted.
An Heir cannot be given the Heirship rings until the child is at least seventeen years old, because the connection to Family Magic can harm a child's developing magical core by overloading it. The Heirship ring is set to magically appear to the Heir on their birthday.
When Fleamont died, because he didn't stipulate which son the Lordship would go to, only stating 'My Son' on his Will. Magical Inheritance Laws came into play and the tittle and vaults went to his 'Eldest Firstborn Son'. Because of this James was considered the 'Spear' Heir.
Hadrian Potter-Rose was born in Australia. Not Britain. So St Mungo's doesn't have a record of him. But Gringotts does as it is an International Wizarding Bank.
Hadrian attended Sleeping Forest Academy of Magic. Not Hogwarts. After he graduated and gained his required Masteries, much like Tom Riddle, Hadrian travelled the world in pursuit of knowledge ad to build his business empire. Harry was born during this time period. When Harry was born James didn't inform Hadrian, the Head of House Potter, out of spite and a desire to simply forget his brother existed. James hated Hadrian with a passion that outclassed his hatred of Snape.
While Hadrian is an official member of the Wizengamot and claimed his British Lordship, he hasn't lived in Britain more than the required amount of time needed to conduct his business. As such Hadrian does not subscribe to the Prophet, a Britain only newspaper. Only international Mastery Magazines and a few international news magazines. All of which have no interest in Britain's Boy Hero or Britain in general outside of trade or magical advancements.
As Hadrian didn't live in Britain at the time or subscribe to their papers, when the Dark Lord was vanquished he didn't read about it until a month later. By which time Harry was only referred to as 'The-Boy-Who-Lived'.
And Dumbledore, knowing of Hadrian's existence thanks to all the gold he lost when James didn't get the Lordship, kept Harry's adventures out of the paper the best he could and made dam sure it didn't make it out of Britain.
With the Death of Harry's parents and no Will, once Harry was placed in a blood family members custody the Ministry had no obligation to look further for any other family members. They simply assume the family themselves will make all necessary notifications.
As Petunia was a squib with knowledge of the magical world, a magical guardian was only required once Harry began Hogwarts. The Headmaster of Hogwarts is the magical guardian for Muggle-Raised children until they are sorted or transfer schools. Then their guardianship falls to their Head of House.
Dumbledore was able to retain Harry's guardianship because no one realised Hadrian should have been contacted about his nephews existence, and those who knew about him assumed he had knowingly left his guardianship in Dumbledore's care.
McGonigal didn't realise Dumbledore hadn't passed on Harry's guardianship because she works three jobs; Transfiguration Professor, Head of Gryffindor, and Deputy Headmistress. By keeping his competent professors overworked he keeps them from paying too much attention to the students or his business. Justifying it all as funding shortages.
In essence, Dumbledore took advantage of House Potter discord to ensure Harry and Hadrian were just ships passing through the night. Overworked staff and isolation to ensure Harry only had Dumbledore to rely on as the only 'reliable', 'trustworthy' adult helped prevent Harry from actively looking for family.
Why didn't Harry's trust vault come up on Hadrian's bank statement?
Dumbledore convinced James to finance the Order when he left school. When Hadrian noticed the large withdrawals and where it was going, he gave James a trust vault and allowed him to live in Godric's Hallow before cutting him off completely from the main vault. James had to learn to manage his funds fast and find a job when funds got low.
When Harry was born James opened a trust vault because it was Pureblood tradition. But the vault was an extension of James private vault, not his Potter one.
Because a Head of House has access to all House Vaults it is common practice for Branch Family Members to open private single owner vaults where the money they earn themselves goes. So long as they don't transfer the gold from their House vault to their private vault their Head of House can't access their private vault. Because Harry's vault is 'Trust Vault of Harry James Potter' and not 'Trust Vault of Harry James Potter, of House Potter' it wasn't considered a House Vault so doesn't show up on Hadrian's accounts.
When James and Lily died, the contents of their private vault was transferred to Harry's trust vault. Which is where most of the gold came from.
Why didn't Hadrian recognise Harry?
Basically, he didn't know to look.
Potter is a common Surname in the muggle world. Hadrian has treated many 'Potter's' in his lifetime without having any blood relation to them. He simply thought this was another case of a half-blood or squib born child.
The Goblin
Account Manager Oorlog Digs is the Potter-Rose account manager. Because the Goblin's were aware of Hadrian's existence and his connection to Harry, when Harry came to the bank unaccompanied for the first time and requested an audience, he was directed to the Potter-Rose Account Manager.
When Account Manager Oorlog Digs noticed discrepancies in Harry's account statement and suspected tampering, he contacted his client, Lord Hadrian Potter-Rose for four reasons. One; he's a Master Healer. Two; To introduce the two Potter's without revealing client information. Three; Lord Rose cannot be bought. Four; he is Harry's Paternal Head of House.
Gringotts couldn't come right out and say anything to the pair without one of them asking directly because one, Ministry law prevents them from getting involved in Wizarding matters that don't relate directly to finances. Two, because Harry doesn't have a House Vault, Harry and Hadrian were legally considered two separate clients. Gringotts is not allowed to release client information to anyone other than the client.
12 Grimmauld Place
Because of all the magic and wards present in Grimmauld Place, it can only be cleaned and repaired through muggle means as the already present magic will prevent the new magic from taking hold. Like trying to clean an oil spill with water.
To clean the exterior bricks and inside walls Harry used muggle sugar-soap, water and scrub brushes. Harry enchanted the handle, not the bristles themselves, to scrub the bricks clean. So no magic actually aided in the cleaning even if it caused the tools to move.
Why Harry Isn't Lord Potter
I always found it odd how Harry was supposed to be the Heir to House Potter and Black but was always treated like a peasant even by the other Heirs. Even after the war we don't hear him addressed as 'Lord'.
From this I assumed he either didn't qualify, being a Half-Blood, James came from a disowned line, which seems unlikely, or there was another, still living, Lord Potter.
Why Gringotts Is Moving Slowly
It didn't bother me when I was in High School or TAFE, but now that I'm in University I find I get irritated when an Author simply lists all of a characters abilities, medical history, ect. The same for when Harry goes to Gringotts and finds everything out at once.
Because it irritates me when others do it, I don't want to do it to my own readers.
Sure it saves time and effort for the Author, but that's it. For example, finding out Harry's medical history thanks to a potion at the bank saves the writer from writing a hospital scene.
Investigations take time. Accounting for every knut for an account the size of the Black's takes time. Legal issues take even more time.
I know my scene wasn't much better but I thought it more important to introduce Lord Potter-Rose in a believable fashion; a third party introducing them.
Why Harry just signed the Naga contract
Lack of knowledge and common sense. Harry assumed contracts in the magical world are the same as in the muggle; no lasting consequences. He doesn't realise they are simply the written form of a magical oath and just as binding.
On the other hand the thought processes and habits Dumbledore's manipulations have caused won't be corrected overnight just because the compulsions are gone. They have been a part of him for years after all.