Chapter 4: The will reading
It's was ten minutes before the reading, Harry was contemplating the people in the conference room. The Weasleys were all present except for Percy and Charlie. Tonks was with Remus and a woman that looks a lot like Bellatrix Lestrange he guessed was her mother. Then there was the Malfoys minus Lucius, Hermione and Dumbledore.
The minutes passed silently until Ranook entered the room carrying a portrait. Harry was ecstatic, never taking his eyes from his godfather's image.
"Welcome everyone, we are here for the last will and testament of Lord Sirius Black" said the goblin and activated the portrait. Sirius chortled "Finally, at least i didn't pay all that money for nothing", he looked around the room and asked "where is Harry?"
Harry was frustrated, he wanted to yell that he was here until Sirius winked at his direction. He had to smile at the mischief in his godfather's eyes, he certainly was up to something; therefore he returned to observe the scene.
Dumbledore was the one who replied "i'm sorry Sirius, you probably can guess our current situation, it's too dangerous for Harry to come here", Harry noticed only the Malfoys snorted, the others accepted his words without complaint.
Sirius growled "i see but i will be given to Harry after the reading"
Dumbledore was thinking hard 'no it's too dangerous to let Harry have Sirius portrait, he will access a lot of significant information that will create issues. I have to buy some time', "i apologise again Sirius but i would prefer to wait for a bit. Harry is a lot troubled by your death and i'm afraid that having your portrait will only give him a pretext to live in the past. When he get over your death, i will personally hand you over to him until then i propose that you stay with me" he said in his best grandfatherly tone.
Harry was seething with anger, he knew that Dumbledore was going to interfere but hiding his godfather's portrait was a lot to take. He looked around and noticed that no one protested; they were either agreeing or having blank expressions. Sirius looked at him unconvinced and said "i understand".
He continued "I have all the memories of Sirius up to a month before he died; Ranook here has already briefed me of the recent events and especially my death. The amounts inherited have already been transferred to the correspondent vaults. Now on to business i will commence with friends then family" He then looked at the Weasleys.
"Arthur and Molly, thank you for taking Harry in when he had nowhere to go and for that i'm leaving you 30.000 galleons", Arthur was genuinely happy but Molly wasn't, she was expecting more.
"Ron and Ginny, i give each of you 2500 galleons to use at your leisure", Harry was watching them intently, he could tell they were upset but the greed was still present in their eyes especially Ron's.
Sirius kept going as if nothing was wrong, inwardly he was laughing at their expressions. He turned to the twins and smiled
"Fred and George Weasley, i leave you guys 10.000 galleons. I visited your shop only once but i can say you are the best, revolutionize the joke market and fellow your dreams guys" The twins were very happy and thanked Sirius heartily while Molly looked daggers at them.
"Hermione, thank you for being there for Harry. I'm leaving you 5.000 galleons, use it wisely and don't spend it all in books" joked Sirius, Hermione thanked him shyly but was happy.
Sirius smiled at her then glared at Dumbledore "Albus i give 250.000 galleons to the order even if i disagree with your methods. I'm still very angry at you because of the jail you forced onto me at Grimmauld. You certainly noticed that you can't anymore enter the headquarters, the wards have been initialised upon my death and only the new Lord Black could give permissions to access it." he stopped a moment then added "Oh i forgot, the goblins already brought down the Fidelius for the Lord Black if he wants to use the house", Harry could see that Dumbledore was fuming with rage even if he appears collected. He then asked Sirius "and who is this Lord Black?" Everyone's attention was peaked but Sirius just smirked "who knows what magic will pick", his expression then softened and turned to Remus.
"Remus my dearest friend, you were always like a brother to me Moony. I leave you 1.000.000 galleons at the condition that you buy a wardrobe the moment you exit this bank" Remus smiled and thanked him "please Moony, you're the only one that remains to look after the pup" Remus nodded solemnly. Harry knows that Remus would do anything to protect him but he was too loyal to Dumbledore, he has to find a way to bring him to his side.
After a long silence, Sirius said "we finished the first part, now i ask everyone that has been called to leave". The Weasley looked like they wanted to disagree but nodded reluctantly and quited the room only Dumbledore stayed.
Sirius eyed him scornfully and asked "Do you want me to reiterate? everyone not family out Dumbledore. No exceptions"
Dumbledore was very angry but managed to argue in his grandfatherly manner "Sirius you know you can trust me with anything and Harry's inheritance hasn't been stated so i have to stay as his representative"
Sirius smirked "do you have a written authorisation from Harry?" Dumbledore tried to explain that Harry asked him to take care of everything but Sirius stopped him and said "Don't worry, the goblins will take care of Harry's inheritance" Dumbledore wasn't happy at all, he looked at Tonks and nodded then stormed from the room.
When the door closed, Sirius groaned "bloody wanker". He looked at the rest and said "well, now that we are among family i will start up with a trivial matter. I Lord Black reinstate Andromeda Tonks née Black and her descendants into the Black family" Andromeda nodded, eyes shiny with tears "Thanks Sirius, it means a lot to me"
"You're welcome Andy"
His face afterwards became grave "It's time to pass to the serious business. As Lord Black I call for a Family Secrecy Act". A bright light enwrapped each person in the room. Narcissa and Andromeda were looking extremely shocked, Sirius ignored them and continued "First Dora, you have to understand that it will be impossible for you to report anything that will happen here to Dumbledore or his order of flaming chicken"
Tonks was confused "i don't understand Sirius why would you trust people like them" she pointed the Malfoys "with things the order isn't allowed to know"
Sirius sighed "Andy please, will you explain to your daughter?"
Andromeda turned to her daughter "belonging to a noble house render you incapable to betray that house, that means you are unable to divulge the house secrets or choose a path that will intentionally harm your house. Sirius even as a portrait is still recognised head of house by the family magic until the next Lord take his place. The Family Secrecy Act ensure that everything will only be discussed between family and the secret will be protected by the family magic, not even the best legilimens could find it out. Furthermore, you are compelled to not say a word even if that secret would endanger the whole wizarding world" to say Tonks was shocked was an understatement.
"The next problem concern your son Cissy, unlike Dora he is loyal to house Malfoy first, he can either take his inheritance and leave the room or stay and swear fealty to house Black until he take his house Lordship"
Narcissa eyed Draco who was fuming then yelled "you have no right to ask that, i'm the next Lord Black"
Narcissa sighed heavily and Sirius blew up laughing "listen here young man, if you weren't Cissy's kid you would never be here. I will let you know that you are not the only male from house Black and the hell would freeze before i allow my house to fall into the hands of Lucius Malfoy and Voldemort"
Draco was about to retort when Narcissa shut him off "Sorry Siri, he is immature and his father has a strong influence on him; but he is still my son and i love him"
Sirius just nodded "Cissy, your marriage was arranged by your parents and i have the power to annul it. If you choose this path, i promise that you will be protected and will live your life well off; your son can join you if he forgets about death eater's activities and swear fealty to house Black until he take the Lordship of house Malfoy"
Narcissa looked conflicted as if she wanted to accept the offer but was afraid, Sirius also noticed "Cissy what's the matter, we can discuss it"
"Siri, all i want is safety but you know that the Dark Lord and Lucius would hunt us if i take this way" she glanced at her son and added "and without him i'm not going anywhere"
Harry was surprised, she was putting her son before her well-being even though he was an insufferable git then again his mother gave her life for him.
"I guessed Cissy that your decision will depend of your son's it was mostly the reason i wanted him to stay, would you try to put some sense in his thick head?"
Draco Malfoy wasn't spending his best day, he thought that he would be the next Lord Black but apparently it's not the case then his mother is considering to betray his father and the Dark Lord.
"Draco please answer me honestly, what do you think about Sirius offer?" pleaded his mother
Draco was furious at her "i will never betray father or the Dark Lord"
"Draco, i'm fearing for your life. Now that your father is in Azkaban, the Dark Lord will wreak vengeance on you" continued Narcissa with the same tone.
"He would never do that" replied Draco although he seemed unconvinced.
Narcissa just shook her head "you can stop lying to yourself, i know him well and i know how he punishes those who fails him. I stayed with your father for you and now we have the chance to escape this life. At least consider it"
"I'll restore our family's name and honor for the Dark Lord and i'll protect you" responded Draco stubbornly.
"Please Draco, for my sake; i'm not asking you to join the light, just to stay away from the fight"
Draco Malfoy was conflicted, he respected his father and his ideals but loved his mother; she was the only person who treated him with kindness and love. He wasn't an idiot, he was fully aware that the Dark Lord would punish him or his mother for his father's failure. He eventually decided to consider Black's offer if it means to protect his mother.
"I will do it" he finally conceded.
She smiled at him then turned to Sirius.
"So Cissy?" asked Sirius then looked at Draco waiting for a response; Draco asked him uneasily "can you assure me they won't find us? and what about Hogwarts? i still go there with death eater's children, i will be in grave danger"
Those questions threw Harry into the cruel reality, the death eater's children carried heavy pressures, it was impossible for them to switch sides or even stay neutral.
"I'm a marauder, of course i already thought about it" Sirius huffed indignantly "the house is implottable and has the best goblin made wards money can buy. As for Hogwarts, the head of house Black can demand a private room for you if the situation with your peers becomes unbearable"
Draco thought for a moment "i will swear fealty to house Black until i take the Malfoy Lordship but what if i'm forced to join the Dark Lord"
Sirius pondered for a while then said "I will be satisfied with an oath that any resource from house Black will never be used to help the Dark Tosser. Resource means books, money, artifacts or anything else. Is that acceptable?" Draco agreed.
"Cissy?" She also nodded. Draco then took his oaths albeit still reluctant.
"Now that's finished, what to do with Bella?" Sirius said dramatically
Tonks glared furiously at him "she killed you, she deserves to die not just to be cast from the family"
Sirius chuckled "ah you are not aware of that Dora!"
"Aware of what" asked a puzzled Tonks
"You can't voluntarily kill your Lord. It would cause an instantaneous death and we all know that Bella is still alive so i assume it was an accident"
Harry finally understood Bellatrix and Sirius dual, each wanted to just incapacitate the other. Sirius knew she won't try to kill him so he wasn't taking the fight seriously and she only wanted him stunned and out of the way.
Sirius continued " However, i was talking about her being a death eater and one of the most loyal to Voldy nonetheless. Is she in love with him?" he asked mocking
"Stop it Sirius" Narcissa glared at him.
"As i was saying, she belongs to house Lestrange so as Lord Black i cast Bellatrix Lestrange from house Black" he glanced at Narcissa and added "you are lucky Cissy that you didn't take the dark mark. I may be habituated to the blood purist of our family but i don't give a damn about those who support Voldy" both Narcissa and Draco gulped.
Sirius eyed his family's members for a while "as you know house Black is the richest house in wizarding Britain. At the last counting, the amount was approximately 21 billion galleons. Our ancestral home at Grimmauld place -even if i hate to admit it- is currently the most secure building in Britain even more than Gringotts or Hogwarts"
Sirius chuckled at their stunned expressions and continued "I guess it's time to speak about Dumbles especially for you Dora. You tend to accept his word without complaint. You know that you have a brain that you shall use, he's still a human who can make mistakes"
"You know Dora he placed Harry in an abusive environment, for him to be brought up in hardship. So he could withstand the weight of the war and would view him as a saviour and stay loyal to him. Every year he let him face dangers so that he could test him." Sirius goes into the details of Harry's Hogwarts years and how Dumbledore probably was aware of each situation especially if students figured it out.
"He also tried to conceal his heritage from him, first he tossed him with muggles then brought him to the wizarding word without any background then pushed him toward the Weasleys who are a well known Dumbledore supporters and would never goes against his wishes. After i escaped Azkaban he made me swear an oath to not inform him about his duties as a heir for a most ancient and noble house and i quote 'he isn't ready for such a burden'. At that time, i took the oath to not make Dumbledore suspicious because i could recognise Harry's training"
Sirius stopped and looked at their faces, they all have shocked expressions especially Tonks, he let them a few minutes to collect themselves and added "Harry led on Dumbledore better than the best of Slytherins. He knew all along about Dumbledore's manipulations but let himself viewed as a pathetic untrained weapon and saviour of the wizarding world" Sirius laughed hard, he was enjoying watching them "It takes a well trained person to observe him for a long period to detect that something was off. I was shocked when i discovered him but decided to let it go even though i wasn't aware of the identity of the person helping him until last year" Sirius smirked at Harry who was gaping at Sirius words.
"She is very hot pup, don't let her go" Harry's face reddened and everyone in the room looked around. Harry decided to join them.
He entered the conference room smirking "Hello"
Tonks was taken by surprise and forgot everything she has been told so she yelled "What the hell are you doing here Harry?"
Harry merely shrugged and replied "the same as you"
Then, he looked at Sirius "how did you know about her, i never told anyone"
Sirius smirked but answered cheerfully "when i wanted to borrow your cloak from your trunk, i spotted a hidden bag magically concealed. Blood magic i suppose" Harry nodded then remembered "it should be impossible for you to see it unless you were a direct blood relative of mine which means parents, siblings or children. So how?"
"I was also curious, certainly magic has something to do with it. Maybe the fact that i'm your magical godfather and you're my heir was enough for me to see through the blood magic" stated Sirius not really interested.
"Anyway you can imagine my surprise when i saw the letters" Sirius grinned at him with extremely amused eyes.
"Stop teasing me Sirius" He said embarrassed.
"Just to let you know pup that i'm very proud of you. You pulled a prank worthy of a marauder even if it was a Slytherinesque prank"
Harry smirked "i had to beg the sorting hat to not put me in Slytherin because i didn't wish to be in the house of that git" he pointed to Malfoy. Everyone in the room was stunned then Sirius started to laugh "wow James is turning in his grave, the Gryffindor golden boy isn't even supposed to be a Gryffindor"
Harry grinned at him "it's useful to hide among the lion, who would suspect a brainless and rush Gryffindor to be cunning"
The people in the room were too astonished to react exept Sirius who exploded "you truly are a Slytherin pup"
Then Sirius face suddenly hardened "Harry, you're probably wondering why Dumbles won't train you?"
"yes this question always puzzled me but i never found the answer"
"I may have it, as you know our library is filled with dark magic books but can't be accessed without having a Black blood. Dumbledore asked me to give him all the books about Horcruxes" everyone frowned not knowing exactly what it was.
Sirius just continued "i suspected that it was something to do with Harry or Voldy so i read all the books about the subject before handing them to Dumbledore. It explains how Voldemort survived the first time" everyone in the room was listening attentively
"A Horcrux is an object created to attain immortality, it contains a fragment of the person's soul. Creating a Horcrux gives one the ability to resurrect oneself if the body is destroyed for part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged" everyone started paling at this.
"It's created by an act of evil, the supreme act of evil. By committing murder. Killing rips the soul apart. The wizard intent upon creating a Horcrux would use the damage to his advantage. He would encase the torn portion into a chosen object. Harry you have already encountered one of those foul objects"
They looked at Harry and comprehension drew at him "the diary"
Sirius nodded "you destroyed it but Voldemort is still alive. It means he made more than one of them"
Harry wanted to throw up but then remembered "what is the connexion between that and me being trained?"
Sirius sighed "He thinks that your scar is one of the Horcruxes and you have to die before Voldemort could be killed"
"What?" screamed an extremely pale Harry. 'So he wanted him to be a martyr' he asked Sirius in a shaken voice "so, am i going to die?"
"Of course not pup. We have yet to check if your scar is really a Horcrux. I asked the goblins to give you a complete check up after the reading" answered an angry Sirius. The mere idea of Harry dying can't even reach his mind.
Harry smiled for the first time since the Horcruxes were mentioned "Thanks Sirius"
"Now let's continue with the will, i shall begin with Dora. I leave you 5 million galleons, enjoy your life cousin" Tonks already too stunned by the revelation of the evening just smiled weakly at him.
"Draco, you belong to house Malfoy and not house Black but i leave you 200.000 galleons" Draco simply nodded, he too was still shocked by the revelations.
"For each of my cousins Cissy and Andy, i leave you 10 million galleons. Cissy, i annulled your marriage. From now, you will live at Grimmauld with Draco and probably Harry" Harry nodded confirming it.
"Andy if the war become too dangerous, ask the Lord Black to move there with your family" Andromeda thanked him dearly.
"Now my favorite godson Harry Potter, i emancipated you pup and left you everything else including titles and estate. For those who ignore it, Harry's grandmother was Dorea Black the sister of the previous Lord Arcturus Black" everyone nodded at this.
Ranook who was silent all along the reading spoke "All of you can leave except Harry Potter"
Sirius added "Cissy you can go pack then return here" she nodded and left.
After everybody left, the goblin asked Harry to place three drops of his blood on the parchment "it will call all your houses rings"
A minute later six ring boxes appeared on the table, Harry, Sirius and Ranook went pale.
"Well i certainly wasn't expecting that" stated Ranook after collecting himself.
"Let start with the Black ring" Harry put it on and a bright light surrounded him then the ring resized itself.
"It deemed you worthy. The Potter ring" it got the same reaction as the Black ring.
"It also accepted you. Now the Rosier ring" At that Sirius yelled "what? i never knew the Potters were connected to the Rosier. I thought Draco would be the heir since his grandmother was the last Rosier" Harry merely shrugged, he wasn't going to refuse the Lordship of a noble house. Next, he put the Peverell, Gryffindor and Slytherin rings.
After a stunned silence Sirius started to chuckle "it explains your cunning Lord Slytherin"
Harry was about to reply when a goblin interrupted them saying "Lord Potter if you would fellow me for your medical exam"
A.N: Sorry i was very busy and couldn't update sooner.
In the next chapter, Harry's heritage will be revealed.
Winged Seer Wolf: Sorry to disappoint but Harry will never be a Lestrange but i'll consider the name ;)
Tha Golden Boy: Yep English isn't my first language, i would love to get a beta but it's not my main concern. I just want to write for fun and it helps to improve my English even for a little. If i wanted a better story i would have wrote it in French. LOL