A/N: I have had a few questions about the finances and the Lordships of both the Longbottom and Potter families (waves at Mikee. "Hi Mikee!"). Simply put, they both retain the Lordships and family vaults, but Neville also inherits the Figg line, which is a Muggle Lordship. He will retain the hereditary seat for Parliament, and all such rot. (Remember, Figg is Arabella's married name. She retained the right to pass on the Figg hereditary seat to her children, but since her oldest child passed on without children, and her youngest is going to be offed in a later chapter, behind the scenes, Neville gets the seat.) And sorry about all the confusion with the formatting on the budget table. I am trying to get used to Wordpad, when I used to have a computer with Word on it.
On a side note, in case anyone was wondering, Harry is in a nursery down the hall, being cooed over by a Goblin nanny, while the adults talk money and rituals. He will be making an apperance this chapter, along with Neville and Dumb-Old-Dork.
Chapter Three
Adoptions
After eating the lunch provided by the goblin cooks, Ragnok and Arabella got back down to business.
"All right. Now that we have the finances figured out for the time being, we have a few other items to discuss. While you were down in the vaults, I have been reviewing the Longbottom and Potter wills. Essentially, both boys will be eligible to assume Lordship at eight years old. They will need to have proxies for the Wizengamot and Hogwarts Board of Governors until they obtain their majorities, but everything else will be accessible to them at eight. Their schooling will be paid for out of the trust funds set aside for them regardless of the school they go to. Lastly, Young Master Potter is not only the Potter Lord, but he is Lord Gryffindor. He is THE richest person in the Wizarding world. Most likely the Muggle world as well, but with all the pitfalls of Muggle accounting, I cannot be certain."
"And with us moving abroad, how will that affect the Lordships?"
"They will still retain them, but the status will be inactive until such time that they move back to the UK. However, the Lordships are a non-issue at this moment, because they are locked in until the boys are eight. I have taken the liberty, Madam, to request Mme Longbottom bring Young Master Longbottom here at quarter of one, and she should be here momentarily. As such, we will move ahead with the legal adoption of Young Master Potter while we wait. We can also work on the paperwork for the Longbottom adoption as well."
"I'll do whatever necessary for my boys."
"All right then. I have just a few questions for you. Do you want the boys to both take the name Figg, or would you prefer them to retain their birth surnames?" asked Ragnok.
"I would like to hypenate them for the legal paperwork, but they will be casually known as Figgs," Arabella replied.
"Very well. That is common with adoption these days, especially with the blood adoptions, where the children have the genetic traits of the birth parents and the adoptive parents," Ragnok remarked as he made notations on both sets of paperwork. "Second question: since you have dual citizenship, once you adopt the boys, how do you choose to declare their citizenships?"
"I would like them to have American citizenship, as we will be living there. That wouldn't affect their family lordships or anything, will it?" Arabella asked fearfully.
"No, Madam. The citizenship declaration is merely for Muggle paperwork. In the wizarding world, we allow immigration freely between countries without requiring a change in citizenship status. It is treated as a union much like America, where there are many states that make up one whole. Where do you think the bloody americans stole the phrase e. pluribus unum from?"
"Alright, I will declare them American." A sharp knock sounded on the door.
"Majesty, the Longbottoms are here," Griphook announced.
"Let them in. We were just finishing up the paperwork here."
Nora Longbottom shuffled into the room holding baby Neville in her arms akwardly as she did so. "Majesty, it is an honour to meet you. Good afternoon, Arabella."
"Good afternoon, Nora. I hope you are feeling better. And I am sorry for your loss."
"About the same as usual. Old, cranky, and ornery. I will miss Frank and Alice, but I find a great deal of comfort knowing that they died war heroes. Arabella, I love my grandbaby with all of my heart, but I know I am not long for this world. This old body can't handle it. I thank you for choosing to adopt Neville, and to raise him as your own. I would ask though, please educate him in the old pureblood rituals and customs. Harry too. They, being children of fate, need to know them the most."
"That will be one of the first things I will teach them when they are old enough to understand. I will also find them tutors for Occlumency and other mind magicks that they show propensity for as they grow up. Given who they are, Occlumency is a necessity."
"Yes, it is, and the Glorious Goblin Nation will provide all the necessary tutors for the magical side of things, provided you choose not to enrol them in a wizarding day school or side-by-side them in both Muggle and Wizarding primary schools. The American authorities have a way of finding out when a child is starting to show signs of accidental magic, which is usually around the time of their first year of primary school (5-6 years old), and will pay your home a visit to work out what you will do then. For now, though, we need to move on to the adoption rituals, if Mme Longbottom is finished with her paperwork?" King Ragnok finished up.
"I have," Nora stated.
"Let's move on to the ritual room then, shall we? Griphook! Please get Young Master Potter from the nursery, and meet us in the ritual room."
"Yes, Majesty. As you wish, so mote it be," Griphook said. "As if I would object to being little more than a gruntgoblin for the King, no matter how belittled I am treated," he muttered as he walked out of the room bowing.
"Forgive us that little outburst, madams. Griphook has been suffering moodswings since the loss of his mate a few weeks ago. She was killed, in fact, by the same Death Eaters that led the attack on your son and his wife last evening, Mme Longbottom."
"Oh, my," Nora and Arabella gasped at the same time.
"Time draws short, madams, as we need to finish this before Dumbledore comes by to poke his long crooked nose into matters that are none of his business. If you would be so kind to please follow me, we will go down the hall to the ritual room."
Arabella rose and followed Ragnok out of his office. Nora followed them, carrying a wide-eyed Neville in her arms. They walked a short distance down the hall and entered a room that had a solid gold door with ruby lettering on it that read "Rituals". When they entered, they found that Griphook was already there with Harry, and had started to set up the materials needed for the ritual.
"Ah, good. Thank you, Griphook, for your assistance. Now, there are three parts to this ritual. The first is that we bathe the adoptees in pure water to cleanse them of all dirt and grime. The second is that we spell a potion into their stomachs. The potion will contain a drop of blood from Mme Figg and a drop of blood from each of the boys, so they look both like you, Mme Figg, as well as looking more like fraternal twins. So far as the muggles will know by looking, you just had a couple of late-born children. The third part will be a spell that activates the potion. They will not feel any pain from the transformation, as they have not taken on many familial traits as of yet. Griphook will take care of bathing the boys, I am sure, while I will prep the potion."
Griphook had quickly bathed the boys and wrapped in warm blankets by the time Ragnok had finished his (long-winded) explanation of the ritual.
"Ah, very good. Thank you, Griphook. If you could lay the boys down here on the alter" (a long, stone table in the centre of the room, not the kind in a church or a pagan sacrifice) "and Mme Figg, could you step here next to me so we can get your donation?"
Arabella stepped up to the alter and held out her arm. Ragnok drew a small knife out of his clothing and e'er so carefully stuck the point of it into the tip of Arabella's index finger. He let a single drop of it fall into each of the vials that he had before waving his hand over the wound and healing it. Then, he drew a single drop of blood from each of the boys.
Flip-flopping the potions, he waved his hand and the potions disappeared, magicked straight into the children's stomachs.
"It is now time for the final step in the ritual. This is your last chance to back out before the adoption becomes magically binding. Do either of you wish to change your minds?" Ragnok asked.
"No, sir," Arabella and Nora choroused.
"Alright then. Le Seigneur a donné, et le Seigneur a emporté ; peuvent par la puissance de l'amour, ces enfants peuvent devenir les enfants de la femme dont le sang réside dans des leurs estomacs ; comme est dit, ainsi grain il soit."
As soon as Ragnok finished chanting, a bright golden light flashed and enveloped both boys and phoenix song sounded throughout the room. When the older occupents' eyesight cleared, they saw the boys laying on the table, looking like copies of the other, and there were five scrolls laying on the table.
Upon reading the scrolls, it was discovered that Neville was the Heir of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, while Harry was the Heir of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. The fifth scroll revealed that Merlin was a common ancester of all four founders, making Harry and Neville joint Heirs of Merlin.
"Well, that is shocking, to say the least. Yet another reason I am so glad that you be raising them in America, Arabella. Over there, they could care less about the Hogwarts founders. Yes, the boys are important, as is their histories, but at least you won't have people fawning over them because of their 'famous' ancestors," Nora said.
"Yes. There will be several changes, however, made to the boys' ancestral vaults, but all that will be explained at a later time. For now, I have a portkey set up in my office for your transport to America, Arabella. It is a voice-activated portkey, passcode 'Take me home'. I took the liberty of having some of our worker goblins pack and move your personal belongings to your new home, as well as Young Master Longbottom's. They also set up a nursery for you, and everything will be waiting for you when you get there. Let's head back to my office," Ragnok suggested.
As they stepped into the hall, they were met with a frantic looking Albus Dumbledore. "Ragnok, I have been looking for you. We need to put a freeze on the Potter will, as the legal guardian of Harry is a criminal and we need to stop it before it falls into the wrong hands!"
"M Dumbledore, step into my office with me and the kind Mmes Longbottom and Figg. Let's have a little chat, shall we?"
The group of 3 adults, a goblin, and a pair of toddlers went into the Goblin King's office, where, with a wave of Ragnok's hand, four chairs, two highchairs, and a table popped into existance.
"M Dumbledore, the Potter will has already been executed. Arabella Figg, in accordance to the deceased's wishes, has adopted both Harry Potter as well as Neville Longbottom. It is done and over with," Ragnok said, glancing over at Arabella, who casually picked up the boys to hold them.
"NO! Harry will not be safe unless he is with the Dursleys! There were blood wards erected for his safety!"
"There were no blood wards erected! Lily Potter had been adopted! She was in no way blood related to that giraffe-necked banshee Petunia Dursley! Now get off of your high horse and accept the fact that you will not be controlling either of my children and that is final!" Arabella screeched.
"Now see here! I am the Chief Warlock, and what I say goes!" Dumbledore starts to rant, before being cut off by Ragnok, who called out, "Mme Figg, catch!"
He tossed an American-style football towards Arabella, who caught it, called out "Take me home" and was whisked away to her family's new home in Stoneybrook, Connecticut.
TBC...
A/N2: Next chapter will be a three-year jump to 1984, where we will see Harry and Neville playing in their yard and meeting the neighbour children, Karen and Andrew Brewer.