Disclaimer: As much as I wish it, I do not own Harry Potter, nor any and all of it's subsidiaries as owned by J.K Rowling, Warner Bros etc. All characters, and so far all places, belong to J.K Rowling. Only the ongoing plot of this story is mine, and I do not make, nor wish to make, any money from this story.
AN: 'Italics' = Ali's private thoughts.
The Goblin looked up and she inwardly rejoiced as she saw the flash of a surprise cross the Goblin's face, and mentally thanked Hermione for lecturing Ron and her on how to be polite. 'But I mean really, how stupid do you have to be to rude to the ones that handle your gold? That's just asking for trouble. Stupid arrogant Pure-Bloods.' Her mental rant on the deficiencies of Pure-Bloods was quite quickly interrupted however.
"Greetings Lady Potter. May your gold flow and your enemies tremble at your feet. I shall arrange for you to make a withdrawal and subsequent conversion. However, first I must insist that you speak with your account manager. Ragnok has been attempting communication for years with no response from yourself. I shall escort you to him now."
Riptooth jumped off his stool and was standing in front of her in almost the blink of an eye. "Come along please Lady Potter, there is no time to waste." Stunned silent as she was, it was really rather difficult for Ali to ascertain whether the Goblin was angry with her or not, but he didn't seem pleased either, she followed obediently lest he become more irritated.
'What the fuck? I haven't received any communication from the Bank ever, and what's this about an account manager. What on earth is going on?! And why does he keep calling me Lady Potter?'
They walked for what seemed like miles through marble hallways, decorated with rich tapestries depicting the Goblins victories as a warrior race. 'They're really quite beautiful actually, a little bloodthirsty perhaps, but to each their own.' They eventually reached a non-descript wooden door with the name 'Ragnok – Potter Account Manager' written on a gold nameplate. Riptooth knocked upon the door and a few seconds later the responding 'Enter' was heard. Riptooth opened the door and announced her presence.
"Greetings Ragnok. I have the Lady Potter to see you."
"Do you now? Thank you Riptooth, you may leave."
Ali took in the sight before her, again the walls were marble, though it was a deep green rather than the blinding white of the Entrance Hall and hallways, a tapestry hung on the wall opposite the door. Ragnok sat behind a large dark wooden desk, with two bookcases behind him to either side. In front of the desk were two chairs. She was broken out of her observations by Ragnok addressing her.
"Greetings Lady Potter. May your gold flow and your enemies fall by your axe."
Ali promptly responded with the required greeting, "Greetings Ragnok. May your gold flow and your enemies fall by your axe."
"Well, we meet at last Lady Potter. Please, take a seat. I must say it has been most vexing trying to speak to you. For four years, ever since your reintroduction to the wizarding world I have been trying to get in touch with you. Would you care to explain why you have ignored the repeated requests of Gringotts?"
Ali sat there stunned, her mind whirring with confusion. "Ragnok, I apologise, but I have never received a single piece of correspondence from you or Gringotts, ever." Something within Ali was telling her she had to be firm with the Goblin sitting across from her, he seemed a most dangerous sort, a snake prepared to strike at any weakness.
"Really. That is most interesting." Ragnok gave her a quizzical gaze and Ali met that gaze head on and refused to break eye contact. "Yes, most interesting, particularly as it is illegal to intercept Gringotts post, confidential documents after all."
"Yes, I can quite understand why it would be illegal, but an action being illegal really doesn't prevent those determined to carry out said action does it?"
Ragnok gave a short bark of what Ali could only assume was laughter, "Quite true Lady Potter, quite true. Now may I ask have any other areas of your mail been disrupted? Letters from the Ministry, from the Wizengamot, fan mail etc?"
Ali shot Ragnok a rather blank look, 'Why would any of those people be contacting me anyway?' "Um, no, I received a notice from the Ministry in the Summer before my Second Year warning me against the underage use of magic. A house elf had performed a hover charm in my kitchen, but aside from that, nothing."
A look of supreme irritation crossed Ragnok's face and he muttered under his breath in Gobbledygook, whilst rummaging about in the bookcase for a potion, quill and parchment. Returning to his desk he said, "Before we go any further Lady Potter, I need to verify your identity, usually this would not be necessary, with a record of your magical signature and your vault key, but as we have never met, I have no record of said signature. So if you would please place 7 drops of blood in the vial." He handed her a knife for her to slice her palm with and watched as the potion changed with each drop added. The contents swirled, going from a deep black to a midnight blue to a bright white to a brilliant gold to an amber orange, to a verdant green to a sunny yellow before it finally settled on a blood red. Ragnok placed the quill in the vial and it absorbed all of whatever potion was in it. When it was finished Ragnok placed it on the parchment and it began to write.
Lady Alexandria Lilian Potter
Date of Birth: 31st July 1980
Legal Status: Emancipated Minor
Father: James Charlus Potter
Date of Birth: 27th March 1960
Date of Death: 31st October 1981
Mother: Lily Anne Potter (née Evans)
Date of Birth: 30th January 1960
Date of Death: 31st October 1981
Godfather and Blood-Adopted Father: Sirius Orion Black
Date of Birth: 3rd November 1959
Date of Death: 18th June 1996
Date of Blood-Adoption: 3rd November 1980
Godmother: Alice Marie Longbottom (née Smith)
Date of Birth: 24th May 1960
(See overleaf for continued family history)
Titles and Estates:-
Heir Apparent of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter (by blood)
Galleons: 5,500,000
Sickles: 260,000
Knuts: 43,000
Heir Apparent of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black (by blood and blood-adoption)
Galleons: 3,700,650
Sickles: 1,350
Knuts: 2,765
Heir Presumptive of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Gryffindor (by blood)
Galleons: 1,235,700
Sickles: 27,735
Knuts: 234
Heir Apparent of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Slytherin (Heir Presumptive by blood, Heir Apparent through Right of Conquest)
Galleons: 2,347,760
Sickles: 2,376
Knuts: 745
Total Monetary Assets of Lady Alexandria Lilian Potter:-
Galleons: 12,784,110
Sickles: 582,922
Knuts: 46,744
N.B. At a conversion of £4.93 per Galleon, £0.29 per Sickle and £0.01 per Knut, the current rate of conversion provides an estimated Muggle fortune of £64,005,615.63.
(See overleaf for active investments, vault breakdown, assets, and property)
'What the fuck is this? Sirius blood-adopted me? Why didn't he tell me? I'm rich? I mean I knew I had my vault, but there's no way that sort of money is in my vault. Heir Apparent of the Noble and Most Ancient House? What the hell is this? I've never heard of such a thing. Property, what the fuck! Merlin, what do I do?!'
Breathing deeply, Ali tried to find an inner calm, she had a thousand questions and if she lost the plot now there was no way she was going to get them answered.
"Ragnok, could you please explain to me what on earth it means to be Heir Apparent of a House, secondly how am I possibly Heir to all these houses, and finally what in Merlin's name all of this means? Is this why you keep referring to me as Lady Potter? Oh, and fourthly, Blood-Adoption, what is that? What on earth is going on?"
"You mean to say that you don't know of this, do not know of your entitlements as the last Potter? How could you not? Surely you have read your parent's Will? You're Magical Guardian was obligated to provide it upon your 11th birthday."
"Of course I don't bloody know!" 'Damn, losing it. Alexandria, stop! You won't find out anything if you lose it.' Taking a deep breath, Ali continued, "I apologise for my outburst Ragnok. I've been completely taken by surprise and I've had an immensely stressful day on top of that. What I meant to say is that no, I do not know or understand any of what is written on this parchment. I haven't read my parents Will nor do I know what a Magical Guardian is, let alone that I had one, and if, as you say I do have one, I've no idea who it is."
Ragnok shot her a look of pure disbelief, before letting out a string of what she assumed to be curses in Gobbledygook. "King be with me; this is worse than I thought. Right. Allow me to first go back to our original problem before we forget all about it. I believe you have had a mail ward placed upon you, presumably against your will, given your lack of knowledge on the subject. Gringotts can remove this for a fee, but I suggest that you wait and try to find out who placed the ward and whether they would notice it's removal before commencing. We can work around it for your Gringotts documents." Ali nodded to show she understood, waiting seemed sensible at this juncture. Ragnok continued, "Good. Now, onto your Inheritance Test. Firstly, it shows all Titles that you are eligible to inherit, and the monetary and physical assets you may inherit as a result of them. You are Heir Apparent to the Houses of Potter, Black, and Slytherin. You are Heir Presumptive to the House of Gryffindor." At the blank look Ali was giving him, Ragnok continued to explain. "The difference between being Heir Apparent and Heir Presumptive is thus; An heir apparent is a person who is first in a line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. An heir presumptive is someone who is first in line to inherit a title but who can be displaced by the birth of a more eligible heir. In the case of the Gryffindor and Slytherin lines, in order to be granted the Headship, one had to be of a certain power level and be accepted by the Family Ring. It is for this reason that these two lines have not had a Head for so long, and it is for this reason that you were listed as Heir Presumptive for both, originally anyway. In the case of the Slytherin line, at your birth you were Heir Presumptive to Tom Marvolo Riddle aka Lord Voldemort. I believe this was due to your common ancestors of the Peverell brothers. Mr. Riddle was descended from Antioch Peverell, whilst you are descended from Ignotus Peverell. Mr. Riddle, while immensely powerful, was not accepted by the Family Ring, and thus could not hold the title Lord Slytherin and so remained Heir Apparent. Should he have had children, and they were powerful enough, the title of Heir Apparent would have gone to them, whilst you remained Heir Presumptive. At his death, should he have been childless, you would have remained Heir Presumptive until you reached the age of 17 or became emancipated. At that point you could have taken the Headship, if no Heir Apparent had been born by that time, and of course, if you were judged worthy. That is what would have happened, however due to the events of Halloween '81, things are a little different. As you defeated the Heir Apparent of the Slytherin line and were already Heir Presumptive of that line, Magic deemed you worthy of the Right of Conquest, and thus you became Heir Apparent. Do you understand?"
Taking a moment to sort through what she had been told, Ali confirmed, "Yes, I believe I do, in relation to the Potter, Gryffindor and Slytherin lines at least, I remain slightly confused in regards to the Black line. I am not a Black."
Ragnok had called for some tea whilst Ali replied and handed her a cup with a wry grin she said, "Thank you Ragnok, I hadn't appreciated how in need of a cup of tea I was."
"You're welcome my Lady, now let me continue. In regards to the Black Line you are both correct, and incorrect. You were not born a Black, though through your Paternal Grandmother you are related to the line. As you know, your Parents named Sirius Orion Black as your Godfather. Now, I did not personally know Heir Black nor did your Parents speak to me in regards to him blood-adopting you; However, I think it's safe to say that my following hypothesis is correct. Now, as I've no doubt you're aware, there was a war being fought at the time of your birth and both your Parents and Godparents were active participants. At that time, Sirius Orion Black was Heir Apparent to the Black family, he had no children and his younger brother Regulus, who was second in the line of succession, had already been killed. Being your Godfather, and with you related to the Black Family he could have named you Heir Presumptive in his Will, however Draco Lucius Malfoy had already been born on the 5th June 1980 to Lucius Abraxas Malfoy and Narcissa Cedrella Malfoy (née Black). Thus should Sirius Orion Black have died, regardless of what he wrote in his Will as to his desire for you to Head the Family, Draco Malfoy would have been named Heir Apparent as he had the closer blood ties to the Family. I think you can see why Sirius would have wanted to avoid that at all costs given the allegiances of the Malfoy Family at the time?"
Ali gave an emphatic nod as understanding dawned upon her. "Yes, I can understand completely as to why that situation needed to be avoided. The last thing that family needs is more money, power and influence."
Ragnok chuckled at Ali's vehemence. "Quite my Lady. So, assuming I am correct in what I've stated so far, I think it's quite simple to understand why your Parents and Godfather took such an extreme and permanent move to preventing that situation from occurring. Do you understand the nature and result of a blood-adoption?"
"I can't say that I have ever come across the term, but judging by your implications it seems to me that it would be the adoption of an infant that, rather than being simply legal, would provide the infant with some sort of third parent that they would be biologically related to…" Ali trailed off, wondering if she was correct.
"Yes, my Lady, that is it exactly. For all intents and purposes Sirius Orion Black was your Father and you were his daughter."
Upon hearing those words, the events of the day and the weeks previous caught up to Ali and she couldn't repress the tears that flowed. All these weeks she thought she had only lost her Godfather, and whilst it was still an enormous loss to her, especially given the lack of loving adults in her life; to hear that Sirius was her Father just somehow seemed to make that loss so much worse. Her chest ached and she was struggling to breathe, it was just all too much and she had no idea of how to process such astonishing news.
Ragnok looked at the haunted young woman opposite him as she lost all composure and felt the stirrings of sympathy. Never before had he cared for a Human, after all they had never done anything to engender positive feelings within him, but now…well he could see a broken young woman, who held a scent of blood and sickliness around her, completely overwhelmed by all she had lost. Yet regardless of her own struggles she had treated him with respect, as equals. She really was quite unique, and so Ragnok found himself doing that which he had never done for another Witch or Wizard. He got up from his desk, summoned a calming drought and a handkerchief and made his way over to the shattered woman. He took her hand and placed the vial within it and brought it up to her lips.
Ali felt something placed within her hand and looked up to find Ragnok standing just before her with a look of concern etched upon his face.
"Please my Lady, drink, it's a calming draught and I think you need it."
Gratefully, Ali swallowed the whole vial and accepted the handkerchief offered to her. As she felt the calming draught work, a wave of embarrassment crashed down upon her and she quickly tidied herself up as she tried to being her emotions back under control. "Thank you Ragnok, your kindness is most appreciated. I apologise for that display, I usually have a better control of my emotions but well, that was a rather momentous piece of news."
"It's quite alright Lady Potter. I take it you were rather close with Heir Black; I am sorry for your loss."
"Thank you Ragnok."
"Now, do you feel ready to continue Lady Potter?"
"I…" Ali trailed off as she considered the question. That previous emotional upheaval had drained any remaining energy she had and she was absolutely exhausted. Looking at the clock she noticed it was past four o'clock in the morning. She'd been up since five o'clock the previous morning. 'Well, no wonder I'm so bloody tired and emotionally wrung out. I need to rest, anything else he says is going to go in one ear and out the other, and I've a feeling that despite how kind he's been, he won't appreciate having his time wasted. No, much better to get some rest now and come back somewhat refreshed and capable of concentrating.' "I apologise Ragnok, but I don't think I'm capable of continuing tonight. I've been awake for almost twenty-four hours and I fear anything you tell me now will go in one ear and out the other, the last thing I want to do is waste your time. Would it be possible for me to come back tomorrow afternoon?"
Ragnok considered the woman in front of him and had to agree; she looked absolutely exhausted and completely overwhelmed. "That would be fine Lady Potter. Shall we say two o'clock this afternoon?"
"Yes, that would be wonderful, thank you. However, before I leave, I require some Muggle money, enough for a few nights stay in a hotel. I'm afraid I don't know how much they are though."
"I can't say I know either, however, I should think five thousand pounds would be sufficient, probably more than sufficient but it's always better to be safe than sorry. I'll arrange for Riptooth to have it ready as you leave. He'll find you in the Entrance Hall." As he was saying that, he filled out a form and placed it in a box upon his desk, as soon as he did the box flashed blue and the form disappeared and Ali stood up to leave.
"Thank you Ragnok, I cannot overstate how much I appreciate your assistance tonight. I look forward to seeing you later this afternoon. May your gold always flow and your enemies tremble before you."
Ragnok made his way round the desk and extended his hand, as Ali shook it, after a moment of extreme surprise he said, "You're most welcome Lady Potter. It has been a pleasure meeting you. You are quite different from your brethren; it is most refreshing. There will be a Goblin outside to escort you. May your gold always flow and your enemies tremble before you."
With a final nod towards her, Ragnok opened the door and gestured her through it. Ali returned his nod and accepted the escort of the Goblin waiting. As they walked through the halls, Ali couldn't help but continue to look at the Goblin accompanying her, finally she couldn't take it anymore and moved to speak. "Greetings Goblin. May your gold always flow and your enemies tremble before you. I hope you don't mind my asking, but are you Griphook by any chance?"
The Goblin startled at her respectful address and responded, "Greetings Lady Potter. May your gold always flow and your enemies tremble before you. In answer to your question, yes I am Griphook."
Ali smiled at him and said, "I thought so, it's been quite some time but you were the Goblin that escorted me to my vault for the first time. It's lovely to see you again. I hope you have been well."
Griphook looked at her with an unconcealed level of curiosity. "You are correct Lady Potter. I am quite surprised you remembered me by name. Never have I met a Witch or Wizard that would remember the name of a Goblin that merely escorted them to their vaults. Riptooth was right, you are most unusual."
Ali gave a peal of exhausted laughter. "Well, I suppose he's right, never have I been considered usual. Though I would've hoped my fellow Witches and Wizards were capable of common courtesy, though considering those I've met, that seems a rather foolish hope."
Griphook gave a bark of harsh and raspy laughter, but remained silent. Eventually they found themselves back in the Entrance Hall where Griphook led her to Riptooth. Turning to Griphook she said, "Thank you for your escort Griphook. Good day. May your gold always flow and your enemies tremble before you." Griphook returned her sentiments and left.
"Greetings Lady Potter. May your gold flow and your enemies fall before you."
"Greetings Riptooth. May your gold flow and your enemies fall before you."
"I have the funds you requested Lady Potter. Please sign here to confirm your receipt of them."
Ali signed where asked and accepted the envelope full of money.
"Thank you Riptooth. Good day. May your gold flow and your enemies fall before you."
"Good day Lady Potter. May your gold flow and your enemies fall before you."
And with that, Ali turned around, took a bracing breath and exited the bank. She briskly walked up the Alley, through the Leaky Cauldron and found herself once again on Charing Cross Road.
'Right, I've no idea where I might find a hotel, there's no one to ask so I suppose I'll just pick a direction and hope for the best.' Turning left she walked down the road and eventually found a respectable looking hotel. Entering she went straight to the reception. Ringing a bell she waited. A few moments later the receptionist emerged.
"Good Morning Ma'am, how may I help you?"
With an exhausted chuckle, Ali muttered, "Yes I suppose it is isn't it." Clearing her throat, she continued, "Good Morning. I'd like to book a room for the rest of what's left of tonight and probably for tomorrow night as well please."
"You mean to check in now and stay for tonight as well?" At Ali's nod of confirmation, the receptionist looked at the available rooms and said, "I'm afraid I only have our Deluxe Suite available ma'am. It would come to a total cost of two thousand and eighty pounds."
Ali was quite startled at the cost, but at this point she really couldn't care less. "If I can be in it in the next five minutes, then that it fine. I am absolutely exhausted."
The receptionist gave a sympathetic nod, took Ali's details, and showed her to her room. Ali entered the room, put her backpack down and made straight for the bed, stripping her clothes off as she went. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.