Hello again,

I just want to take a second to say thanks for all the support on this, the reaction this has gotten honestly astounds me.

I also wanted to clear up a couple of things I have been asked about the previous chapter.

In terms of the Slytherin Vault i am saying that the Gaunts squandered their inheritance from the Slytherin line however that vault is only available for use by someone who is recognised as Lord Slytherin. Therefore since none of the Gaunts actually claimed the Lordship through their own stupidity none were even aware of the vault and in turn its contents. Voldemort was able to access the vault and did use the Majority to fund his war effort however some was left over and since then more has been inputted through commision on the students tuition fees.

As well as this the use of a Patriarchal blood test to see what Lordships are inherited from the Male side of the Family are a hint to how backwards the magical community is with women especially in pureblood society where people like Narcissa Malfoy are trophy wives and people like Molly Weasley are forced to be stay at home mothers.

Dobby is also not just a throwaway character and will pop up now and again but until such a time as he is free of the Malfoys he cannot be in the story as much as some may wish him to be.

Anyway thanks again for the Support, and without further ado i give you the third installment of mine own fanfiction.

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III - Trial by Combat

From behind him Harry heard several sharp intakes of breath, but apart from that the collection of Goblins was silent. Ragnok just stared at the young wizard, whose eyes hadn't left the elder Goblin's since his declaration. Neither one made any move to back down from their silent staring contest. Several minutes passed before a low chucking began to echo throughout the room, Ragnok gestured towards a small passageway to the right of his stage, and nodded his head to the wizard with a death wish.

Harry took a step forwards and bowed towards the Monarch. Then without so much as a look behind him he took off towards the darkened passage. Within seconds Harry was plunged into pitch darkness and had to rely solely on touch as he fumbled his way through the tunnel. Using his hands to trace the walls either side of him. After walking for about 10 minutes a distant orange glow was seen by Harry signifying the end of his passage and the entrance to the arena and by extension, the beast he'd have to face. As he got closer to the exit the air around him got noticeably warmer and the walls to either side of him emanated heat.

As he stepped through the exit he saw the arena he would be fighting in. "I assume you know the rules of combat?" a decrepit looking Goblin asked having appeared in front of him the second he stepped through the archway. Harry nodded but it either didn't take notice or just believed he was too stupid to know. "You must undertake the task like any of our own would having reached adulthood. That means no wand, however wandless magic is allowed. You will receive no outside help and you can only escape having lasted your time or slain your foe." Again, the raven-haired wizard nodded before passing the short being his wand and stepping into a small red circle that showed his starting position.

Another voice roared from above him, a Goblin stood next to Ragnok in one of the many spectator stands above the arena. "Release the dragon" he shouted and instantly the sound of huge iron chains being pulled rang out and a black iron portcullis began to raise on the other side of the arena. "Your time begins now." The Goblin continued before flipping a giant hourglass and sitting on the step before the King.

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'10 minutes' Harry thought to himself, silently working over his plans in his head. The Goblins had several different trials that a younger Goblin that could take to be declared an adult and gain his name. However, none were designed for Humans, the only one that he had any real chance with was combat. Of which he could've chosen to fight an Elder goblin, a XXXX creature or a XXXXX creature. Harry knew that although he could beat either of the first two they were unlikely to gain him any real respect with the Goblins which was why he chose dragons. Knowing full well that the Goblins would force him to fight either a Ukrainian Ironbelly or a Peruvian Vipertooth, which one was yet to be seen though.

It was at this point that a shot of fire interrupted Harry's musing and for the first time he saw the creature he had to survive against for the next 10 minutes. It was small for a dragon, but this was due to breed not age and he knew that this would be a fully grown adult. The Peruvian Vipertooth, the Most Venomous Dragon species known to Wizards. It was probably just less than 5 meters from head to tail, and covered with large scales gleaming like newly polished copper. Along its back small black spikes traced its spine with smaller darker copper scales surrounding them. Its eyes were an endless pit of darkness, looking into them was like witnessing an endless abyss of death and despair. Harry shuddered, momentarily unable to move as he stared at the awesome creature that stood before him. This paralysis wasn't to last however as he found himself having to dodge a stream of green flames shooting out at him, flying faster than he thought possible. A jet of pure energy capable of reducing his fragile body to ash within seconds.

Quickly Harry hid behind a large rock and attempted to calm his breathing, freaking out would do nothing to help him after all. He heard the unmistakable sound of air being forced downwards as the beast took flight, the sheer volume of air being displaced shot dirt and small stones flying out from here the Dragon hovered. A loud roar accompanied another stream of fire leaving the beasts maw, the flames heating the boulder he was behind till he was forced to move. Remembering his many lessons with the Potter House Elves he apparated to another side of the arena before wandlessly banishing a number of football sized stones towards the monster's head. He apparated to the opposite side of the arena and did the same to confuse the beast before apparating back to his original spot behind the boulder. His scent, now spread across the arena as well as the few attacks from opposite sides of the Dragon succeeded in confusing the animal.

Not good news though as in frustration it began to shoot flames in every direction creating a vortex of fire around it's body. The temperature within the arena was akin to being inside a furnace and with every second it increased nearly unbearable after only several seconds. Ignoring this, Harry began enacting the first steps in his plan for facing it. He channelled his magical power into his hands as he was taught and visualised exactly what he wanted, a mounted crossbow and several large iron crossbow bolts. He transfigured a nearby rock into a goat and sent it running towards the beast, which had finally got over its confusion and began honing in on the scent of the young wizard. The previous attempts at spreading his scent having dispersed leaving only one very concentrated smell of sweat and grime. The Dragon, too intent getting to the upstart wizard ignored the goat not even noticing it much to Harry's dismay. He transfigured several other rocks into other animals; another goat, a chicken, a cow and a horse. Before sending them all at once at it. Again, to Harry's dismay none caught the attentions of the Dragon which roared again much louder than before, sending flames towards Harry's conjured crossbow.

Harry was beginning to worry at this point. The Dragon was obviously a very intelligent creature and it was falling for none of his tricks, he'd previously wanted to send the crossbow bolts through the creature's mouth as it spat out the rock animals when it figured out they weren't living creatures. However, it was disinterested in the animals and had destroyed his crossbow. The beast shot more flames towards him and he began running, trying desperately to remember Plan B but being faced with the creature had caused his mind to blank of anything but the constant thought that he needed to survive. After all his plans never turned out well anyway, usually they just ended in more beatings or they just didn't work.

The dragon pounced towards Harry enjoying the thought of live prey and enjoying the chase. Harry glanced up towards the huge hourglass above him, it was barely halfway down at this point, depressingly affirming the need to survive for another 5 minutes. But he knew he couldn't keep this up, the conjuration and transfigurations had taken a lot out of him. All magic seemed to take more out of him when done wandlessly and he only had so much magic he could expend at once. His focus was shot so apparition at this point could prove deadly, the more unfocussed and tired you were the more likely you were to splinch a vital organ or apparate into a wall.

He felt the air around him heat up and swiftly ducked, just as flames shot over his head singeing his hair and causing his skin to crack under the scorching heat that passed perhaps a foot above his head.

Then he suddenly found himself flying through the air, slamming into the wall of the arena with an audible crack as one of his legs broke due to the impact of the collision. He tried to stand only to fall straight back over, black spots clouding his vision as pain shot through him. He attempted to conjure a splint for his leg but before he could a large looming shadow fell over him as the Vipertooth closed in ready to taste its prey finally. Harry was afraid. More afraid than he'd ever been before as realisation dawned on him at how stupid he'd been. His anger at himself bubbling under the surface of his skin the anger drawing from his magical core causing a flow of pure magical energy. The air around him cracked and sparked as tendrils of electricity shot out scorching the ground beneath him, the wall behind him and hitting the dragon's underbelly. Without any warning the green flames shot directly at Harry, not able to dodge or do anything he closed his eyes and accepted his demise.

Much to his surprise the flames didn't roast him. He opened his eyes and saw the ethereal green parting in front of him as if kept from touching him by some invisible shield. The flames stopped and a very disgruntled dragon cocked it's head, obviously not expecting him to be alive let alone unharmed. Harry's aura flared, his eyes widened and he flung his arms out towards the Dragon. His magic reacted and a wave of pure power hit the creature sending it spiralling backwards into a wall on the other side of the arena. Harry apparated to where it landed and punched he dazed dragon in the stomach. His magic channelled into his hand increasing the strength of the punch and Harry felt a bone crack where he hit.

Then it hit him. The tail that is, impaling one of its spikes into his right shoulder and beating him into the ground. His magic reacted again flinging the dragon like it was nothing into the wall with so much force it's skull caved in. Killing the great beast instantly. Harry, tired and hurting all over, just laid there for a second, shut his eyes and waited for the adrenaline rush to wear off.

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As the seconds passed he began to feel the extents of his magical outbursts, he was weak, weak and damn near broken too after being thrown around and hammered into the ground. Not only that but the spike lodged in his shoulder wasn't exactly comfortable either. A set of Goblin healers, made their way over towards him and began pouring potions down his throat. Without any kind of warning one of the Goblins yanked the spike out of his body and began patching up the wound before too much blood escaped, blatantly ignoring the screams the act elicited from Harry.

After around 15 minutes of attention by the healers, Harry began to hobble towards the exit on his newly fashioned crutches. He made his way out of the gate and stopped before the throne of Ragnok. "I survived" Harry grunted towards the Monarch.

"Yes, I suppose you did" the Goblin replied obviously disappointed by this small fact. "And for that reason I find myself naming you Scarspike, Honorary Goblin of Clan Gringotts."

"I'd also like to claim the Dragon; I believe that is my right having bested it in combat?" Harry smirked at the face the Goblin king made at Harry's words.

"It will be done Scarspike, but for now you should head back with Bloodfist to finalise the details of your accounts and impending Lordships" Harry got the message and followed the smaller Goblin back towards the street level of Gringotts Bank.

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It was 5pm by the time Harry had escaped Bloodfist and the tediousness that was claiming his Vaults, Lordships and figuring out what he wanted the Goblins to do with his claimed Dragon. And so, it was an incredibly tired, and incredibly dishevelled looking Harry Potter that left Gringotts. But all in all the day couldn't have gone better for him, granted he probably would have preferred less broken bones but getting out of a fight with a dragon with minimal damage, better than death.

That and he now had three gleaming rings decorating his fingers. On his left ring finger sat the Potter Head of House ring, a gold band with an ornate ruby inlaid at the top, a small griffin on the band followed by the words Aut Conciliu, Aut Gladius (By Council or by the Sword). On his left middle finger, he had the Slytherin ring; two snakes entwined around a flawless emerald, the silver snakes one with little blood rubies for eyes, the other with dark onyx gems. The effect was intimidating to say the least. And lastly on his index finger he wore the Gryffindor ring; A plain platinum and with only the words Unitatis Facit Fortitudinem (Unity Makes Strength). All of the rings could be made visible and invisible at will and only really served a purpose when in formal settings but Harry found himself inspecting them nonetheless. Contemplating exactly what the new jewellery meant for him.

Having spent almost the entire day within Gringotts Harry had little time left to pick up his school supplies, which happened to be by far the easiest task of the day so far. His books had all been pre-ordered and so all that was needed there was the handover of a few Galleons. His potions equipment he upgraded now that he had the money to invest in a much more advanced set, which he had been assured multiple times would not blow up nearly as much as his basic set. He bought a new trunk to pack his school stuff into knowing now that a new trunk with featherweight charms and extension charms would prove incredibly valuable and made life much easier for him in the long run.

As for clothes shopping, that was possibly the easiest of the lot. Madame Arachne, an incredibly skilled seamstress was putting together all his new school robes, dress robes and business robes all made from either Acromantula silk or Unicorn hairs. Having taken his request of anything that looks good and fits to heart the seamstress would be sending his new robes directly to Potter Manor by the next evening ready for him to head off to Hogwarts the next day.

As for informal wear Harry just spent an hour with the women in Harrods in muggle London who took great delight in bringing him endless outfits to model and try on for them. Seeing as how his mobility was somewhat hindered by his earlier feats. This lead to the purchase of an entire new wardrobes worth of clothes, as well as a couple of gifts for his friends back at Hogwarts. He left the shop laden with bags which at his call were whisked away by Dixie whilst he himself was brought back to Potter Manor by Tipsy.

It was taking all his energy at this point to stay stood up. This meant that when Tipsy dropped him on his bed he fell asleep instantaneously, as if a switch had been flicked the second his head hit the mattress. Dropped into a dreamless sleep, that soothed his broken body and finally allowed him to recuperate from the day's activities.

I own nothing.

Yet ;)