This is a story inspired by Life as a snake, published on by FairyTails13.

I thank my new beta Marwana for her wonderful work!

"Parseltoungue"
"thoughts"

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling

Now the first two chapters are revised, and the third one is in writing, so be patient! ;-)

An Ancient Tale:

Chapter 2:

The next morning Harry awoke to a sense of a new beginning, as cliché as it sounded. Of course, his good mood could be attributed to the complete silence in his room, with no Dursleys to wake him up by pounding on the door and no teenage snoring boys. Indeed, while Hogwarts was almost a home to him, he had always been a solitary person due to the Dursley's treatment both in the house and at school. Being alone all the time – because either he had been rejected or had learned very quickly that avoiding his relatives was beneficial for his health – had not taught him how to bear the presence of others constantly in his vicinity. Therefore, it was always a relief when he had managed to find some time on his own, and probably the only good thing about his summers as people avoided him like the plague all around Privet Drive thanks to his relatives' rumors on his account.

Harry decided to take his breakfast in his room, as he didn't want to be gawked at; breakfast which arrived shortly after giving his orders to a house-elf. By the way, he would never admit it to Hermione – she could be exceptionally scary when angry and indignant – but it certainly felt good to give orders instead of receiving them. Not that he would give ill-treatment to any House-elf he would come to own, but he rather liked the idea of someone else doing all the chores for once; an idea to pursue for his future home.

Speaking of home, acquiring or rehabilitating a property bought or already in his family's possession in order to make a real home for himself was among the imperative projects for his summer, both out of necessity and desire. As he was yearning for building his life the way he wanted to, the first step was undoubtedly to make sure he had a safe haven at his disposition. In fact, it was probably one of the most important things he wanted in his life, that and someone to love him, just Harry, even if he was really doubting that he could find that person in the wizarding world, so obsessed as they were with him. At the same time, he didn't think someone outside of that community would ever be able to embrace him as a whole, so his situation did not look promising…

After his breakfast of which he had shared a part of with his beloved Hedwig, he prepared for the day while making his to-do list in his head. Trying to find some clothes for the day that were not too much dilapidated he decided a whole new wardrobe would be an absolute must. He wanted to buy some new books even if he had received those he had ordered during the night, they were not enough. Hermione and others would never believe it but he was a real addict to books, well in reality more to knowledge as a general rule but it was the most common material. He also had to restock his potions ingredients, and had the plan to order a custom wand from Ollivander although without certainty as Harry was quite sure he would need some dark materials and there was a possibility that owning a second wand would be illegal… He also wanted to peruse among the different menageries, both in Diagon Alley and in Knockurn Alley; he loved Hedwig dearly but the appeal of a real familiar, compatible only to him and who would live as long as himself, had been growing rapidly since he had first read about the notion in one of his study session at the beginning of 5th year. But his first destination was Gringotts.

Half an hour later saw harry strolling through Diagon Alley toward the massive white building, face down, a cap on his head to try to hide his scar and untamable hair, his most recognizable characteristics. He passed the two goblins guarding the door making sure to give them a little bow, which apparently surprised them. Indeed, if he had learned one thing during his busy life, it was to never reject a potential ally on misconceptions; he had already made the mistake with the whole Malfoy-Weasley fiasco because he thought at the time this world would be different and his old set of rules would not apply, but he was not about to live with these disillusions any longer.

Upon his arrival in the lobby of the bank, he went to a counter deep in the hall, where there were less people likely to recognize him. He approached a goblin teller while trying to appear confident yet respectful at the same time.
"Greetings Master Goblin, I would like to meet my account manager as soon as possible" he asked even as he lifted his cap to show his telltale scar. The goblin in question observed him a moment, then replied:
"If you do not mind for a more… common method to verify your identity it may be possible. Use this Blood Quill to write what your full name is to your knowledge, if you are not who you claim to be it will be impossible for you to write that name."
Harry did as bid with of course no problem.
"Very well Mister Potter, Griphook will bring you to your account manager. Have a good day"
Harry then followed said goblin while pondering on the strange habit wizards had of being disdainful towards goblins whereas they are in charge of their fortune, it didn't make much sense. However this line of thoughts was soon interrupted when he realized Griphook was guiding him through a complete maze, making every hard learned survival instinct go haywire, which was apparently quite visible on his face.
"Do not worry Mister Potter hurting you would not be in our interests, therefore you have nothing to fear among these walls." Well at least he was honest…

They arrived after almost 5 minutes of walking in this sort of labyrinth in front of a massive double door with a plaque marked by the name Shadowaxe, doors that were practically humming with magic. He so wanted to know what kind of wards were placed on them (he had been extremely interested in wards since he had learned of Bill Weasley's job but hadn't found the time to study them yet).

Griphook opened the door for him only to arrive in front of a fierce looking goblin, not that goblins could appear any other way but this one was obviously a trained warrior. "Mister Harry Potter, Sir" then Griphook left them both after a short nod to Harry.

Harry stayed standing rather uneasily as he didn't know the correct protocol to follow. After a moment in silence, Shadowaxe finished what he was doing and lifted his head to regard Harry with a profoundly penetrating gaze.
"You may sit Mister Potter"
"Thank you …hem… I do not know how to address you…" added harry sheepishly.
"Shadowaxe will suffice Mister Potter." the goblin replied with a faint smirk.
Harry then steeled his nerves and after a deep breath began: "Very well Shadowaxe. Firstly I would like to apologize in advance for any… insults I could produce toward you and your race, I'm afraid to admit being completely ignorant in the ways of your society, seeing as I was raised among Muggles and Hogwarts doesn't teach anything about the customs of other races, in fact not even about wizards' customs" he finished grumbling.
"Indeed. Rest assured Mister Potter I will not resent you for any mishaps in the close future, though I'm sure you'll find a way to learn our ways quite soon…" was added with a definite scary smirk.
Harry deadpanned "Thank you so much"
"Hum… this young wizard seems interesting" thought the goblin. "What may I do to be of service today Mister Potter?"
"Very well. I would like to go over the state of affairs of my Family. As you know I only recently managed to receive information about the old families and their ways and while I'm still far from being proficient in pureblood customs, I realized it was high time to see what exactly happened to my family fortune and properties. I also would like to read my parents' wills." "Well, that is said at least…"
The goblin regarded him a moment. "It seems to me Mister Potter that you have never read anything about your accounts in this establishment, is that true?"
"Indeed"
"Then there is an irregularity as Bank statements have been sent regularly to you over the years." was the tense reply.

Shadowaxe mused a moment before coming to a decision.
"Mister Potter, I propose to you to submit to a Heritage Ritual. While normally a Blood Heritage Potion would be enough, I have a feeling that with your unpredictability it will not be sufficient. This ritual consists of taking some of your blood to mark the runes of a ritual circle around you, then with the correct incantations the ritual would be activated and makes the different symbols of the families you might be the heir of appear inside the circle. Of course a Blood Heritage Potion would also give us a recap of your abilities and other noticeable characteristics, but we could still use a variant of it to analyze your mind and magic at a later time. During this I could search for your parents' will and bring the history of bank statements you should have received."

After a moment of reflection, Harry agreed for this course of action. Shadowaxe showed him to a ritual chamber close to his office, summoned a goblin Master in Runes and Rituals who took enough blood to draw the runes on the floor, intricate with a ritual circle set in the ground's stones. Finally it was time to activate the circle thanks to a long incantation in Goblin Language. As the incantation was coming to its peak, Harry could feel his magic respond to the call, from every part of his being, even from his blood which was somehow humming in reaction, making him feel as if he had some untapped power running through his veins.

Little did he know that the results of the ritual would change his life, without any possible return…

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