Posted: 1/11/09

A.N. Sorry about the delay in updates, guys, writer's block again. -sighs- But I got over it...sorta... :P
After reading someone's review, I've gone back and redid some of the early chapters of The Beginning so that they should be a bit better. :) And to take off the edge of the infrequent updates of this story, I should be putting up some side stories/omakes/extras related to several incidents that were briefly mentioned but not elaborated on during the series so far or just a few things I couldn't really fit into the story at the time...it might end up leading into some rather weird things, but hey, this story is weird as is, so who cares?!

Joker: "I'm mad though..."
-sigh- "What's wrong now?"
Joker: "I'm not going to be in the story for a long time, you'll lose so many readers without my wit and personality!"
-sweatdrops-
Joker: "One more thing, vote for us on the Quibbler Awards or I'll skin you alive!"
"JOKER!"


Harry had a rough landing coming out of the fireplace; he collided with a table and several plates that were on it crashed to the floor, he lay on the ground for a moment before groaning, "Okay, that sucked big time."

Remus, disguised underneath both spells and a few facial prosthetics, grinned as he helped Harry up, "It'll take some getting used to, I suppose."

"You could've told be about all the spinning, I thought I was going to puke!" Harry retorted, idly patting Jin on the head as he attempted to clean up his owner's face, "How'd Jin do? I wasn't really paying attention because I had my eyes closed and was blocking out the noise."

"Other than trying to chew my hand off, he did rather well," Remus answered, holding up a hand which sported several bite marks.

"Be glad he wasn't right out terrified, he'd have done some serious damage," Harry remarked.

"What do you mean?" Remus responded.

"A while back I got really bored, I think that was the week I got grounded after creating Jokerz without telling mum or dad, and I decided to see what Jin could bite through…he can easily bite though sticks, which made me wonder about Bud and Lou so I tried similar stuff with them…they could bite through bone!" Harry explained.

"Oh…wait, how do you know they bite through bone?" Remus responded, quickly making sure to keep his hands away from Jin's mouth.

"Um…I'd rather not say in public," Harry responded before adding, "and you don't have to worry, Jin can't bite through bone yet, he's still a baby."

"Wouldn't hurt to be cautious," Remus reasoned.

"Scaredy cat," Harry teased, smiling.

Remus gently cuffed Harry behind the head before cleaning him up with a quick spell, "Let's get going already."

"Alright, keep your pants on," Harry muttered as he followed Remus, clicking his tongue to catch Jin's attention and to get the animal to follow him.

"Hopefully I still remember how to get in," Remus joked as they exited the pub and entered a small dead-end alley; he pulled out his wand and tapped several bricks on the wall in front of him, causing the bricks to shift and move until an archway was in its place, framing the entrance to a crowded store lined street filled with people, "Welcome to Diagon Alley, Harry."

Harry let out a low whistle at the sight, "This place is seriously crowded compared to Visigoth Ave, is it because there's less space to hide it?"

"I believe so," Remus remarked, leading Harry into the crowd, "There aren't as many abandoned places in London as there are in Gotham, so it makes sense that there are more shops in one place."

"Makes sense…sort of," Harry responded, making sure Jin was next to him, "What's our first stop?"

"Gringotts," Remus answered, "We need to get check how your account is here before doing any shopping."

"…are you paying or am I?" Harry asked.

"We'll see," Remus commented as the two walked through the large doors.

"Whoa, and I thought the bank back home was excessive," Harry commented before noticing the bank tellers, "What're those?"

"Goblins, they protect any money that's stored here," Remus informed.

"Why weren't there any at the one back home?" Harry asked, grabbing a hold of Jin's collar to make sure the curious animal did not wander off.

"There wasn't as much money stored there compared to this place, I suppose," Remus answered, "So only humans are really needed."

"That's interesting," Harry commented as they walked up to a teller.

"We're here to withdraw some money," Remus spoke.

The goblin stared at Remus, glanced down at Harry before looking back to the man, "Do you have your key?"

"It's his vault," Remus corrected before sheepishly informing, "And complicated circumstances have put his key in the care of someone other than his guardian."

The goblin frowned deeply and stared at Harry, "What is his name?"

Remus looked around quickly before speaking in a low voice, "Harry Potter."

Harry felt instantly uncomfortable when the goblin stared at him with wide eyes, mainly when they focused on where his scar was hidden by his hair, "Mind not doing that, it's creepy."

"I will inform the Head Goblin so we can confirm your identity and issue you a new key, if you are who you say you are," the goblin stated before leaving them.

"I hate when someone does that," Harry muttered, making sure that his hair was still covering the scar.

"I'm surprised no one else has noticed yet," Remus remarked.

"Hopefully that'll keep up," Harry responded as the original goblin came back.

"If the two of you will follow me," the goblin spoke, leading them to a back office.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen, I am Ragnarok, the Head Goblin," he introduced, motioning for Harry and Remus to sit down and casting a critical eye over Harry.

"Mind not doing that?" Harry asked, fidgeting in his seat, "It makes me uncomfortable."

"…I apologize," Ragrarok responded, "You understand that we have to perform a few tests to make sure you're not faking who you are."

"Gringotts wouldn't be safe without precautions," Remus mused.

"So, how do we going to do this test?" Harry asked.

"We just need some of your blood on this parchment," Ragnarok informed.

"That's all?" Harry commented, idly cutting open his finger and letting a few drops of blood land on the parchment. He watched as the blood seeped into paper and red lines crept across the page, eventually the lines formed into words.

Ragnarok picked up the parchment and read off what was now written on it, "Harry Potter, son of James Potter and Lily Evans…that's strange…"

"What is?" Remus asked.

"There's something unusual with his blood," Ragnarok commented, "It's not consistent with Polyjuice or any disguising potions."

"That's normal," Harry informed, "I have this thing in my blood that counteracts most poisons…long story, don't ask."

Ragnarok stared at Harry for a moment before speaking, "I'll get someone to change the lock on your vault and make a key for you, incase the one who currently has it tries anything…although the odds of that happening are doubtful."

After Ragnarok left the room, Harry turned to Remus and asked, "What was he talking about someone else using my key?"

"No one steals anything from Gringotts unless you want to be in serious pain," Remus enlightened.

"I guess it'd be a bad idea to ever try a heist here," Harry remarked, with tone of false disappointment in his voice.

"Here is your key," Ragnarok spoke, entering the room with another goblin behind him. He handed the key to Harry before indicating the goblin next to him, "This is Griphook, he'll take you down to your vault."

"Cool…wait, what about Jin?" Harry remarked, glancing down at where the animal was idly chewing on one leg of the chair.

"It can't go down," Ragnarok informed.

"Stay here, Jin, and don't kill anything," Harry ordered to which the animal responded by giving him a bored look.

HJH—

"That was great!" Harry exclaimed, falling out of the mining cart.

"Glad you enjoyed it," Remus groused.

"You need to ride roller coasters more, it's practically the same thing," Harry remarked, grinning ridiculously wide from the adrenaline still rushing though him, "Who knew that doing 'normal' business at a bank could be so much fun?!"

"Key please," Griphook spoke up.

Harry handed over the object and watched at the door to his vault opened up, jaw dropping when he saw what it contained.

"Pick up your jaw, Harry," Remus spoke, amused at astonished look on the boy's face.

"Holy Hermes! This all mine?!" Harry exclaimed.

"This is only your trust fund vault," Griphook informed, "You only have access to the money in this vault until you're of age, at which you would gain access to the Potter family vaults."

"Wow…how much would this be if it was exchanged to American Muggle money?" Harry asked.

Griphook inquired, "Just this vault or the total fortune?"

"Um, total?" Harry responded.

Griphook thought for a moment before answering, "Somewhere in the neighborhood of at least a billion American dollars, maybe two or three even."

"B-billion?" Harry spoke before passing out from a combination of shock and disbelief.

"…that's the first time, outside of sleeping or eating, that he's been so quiet," Remus mused.