Thanks everyone for the response to the last chapter, as always it is very appreciated! I should have (and planned to have) this chapter up weeks ago, but life just doesn't seem to work out that way, and it looks like my writing time might be even more limited for the forseeable future. I'll still be working whenever I can, and I give you my promise that this story won't be left to rot like so many others are, but I can't tell you exactly when to expect updates, just that they will be coming at some point. Previously I had set times in the day when I could and would attempt to get some writing done, but that just isn't likely to happen at the minute; I'm writing this in a few minutes I've got off but that could stop at any minute!

This chapter is dedicated to my beautiful second-born daughter, Tara Rosalyn-Louise, who made her appearance three weeks early on 16th May 2013, weighing a healthy 6lb 7.6oz. Welcome to the world little girlie! It's also for my Dad, Kevin R Gibbons, who's birthday is on the 4th June, the day I managed to finally (after weeks of work) bring this chapter to its conclusion. Happy Birthday Old Man, I Miss you and Love you every single day.

Disclaimer: I started writing this the same as Rowling did, as a single mum feeding a small child, but I'm not a millionaire yet so I'm clearly not her.

Chapter five:

He was transported back into his room in Privet Drive from the foyer of Gringotts, and instantly collapsed on his bed, thoughts running riot through his mind. Even though they hadn't covered much in his meeting it had given him a lot to think about, a lot of things to run through his mind and try and make sense of.

First and foremost, he knew that in the near future he would be forced to deal with the fallback from his actions within the bank. It was only a matter of time before the Dursleys noticed that they no longer had access to his accounts, and then there was almost sure to be some type of kick off. On top of that there was going to be some reaction from Dumbledore, because he doubted he would be able to hide his knowledge from the man for very long; while he might not have put a stop to the mans payouts as yet it was only a matter of time before he did that, because he wasn't letting anyone keep wiping out his inheritance if he could help it. Even though it was still early, Harry felt like he had ran a marathon, and rather than deal with his family that night he instead pulled the blankets over his head, curled up and let sleep take him. His thoughts would be better left to the morning when he had the chance to clear his head.

Harry awoke next morning and lay silently for a few minutes gathering his thoughts and thinking about all the changes that appeared to be coming way too fast. He hadn't even had time over the past week or so to think much about Sirius, and he felt a slight amount of guilt for this. It was quickly disipated however, when he forced himself to realize that he was doing just what Sirius would have wanted by taking control of his own life and putting his things in order. Thinking of Sirius, however, made him wonder if his godfather had ever made a Will. He hadn't been made aware of his parents Wills, and so it stood to reason that someone would also try to withhold any benifits from his godfathers last wishes he was likely to gain. Making a mental note to ask the goblins about it at the next chance he got, he dragged himself out of bed and dressed slowly before making his way downstairs.

His morning passed quietly as he found himself some breakfast then retired to his room and began to tackle some of his summer homework. He knew there were other things he should have been focusing on, things he should really have been thinking about and trying to make sense of, but at that time it was just too much to deal with. He was better off, he decided, focusing on menial tasks which while stimulating didn't require him to think about his predicament, than to spend the next few days struggling through endless thoughts and emotions he had no way of releasing. While he didn't doubt that there would be some protections in place should he have a breakdown and create accidental magic he didn't see it as worth the risk. Instead of fussing around over it and letting it get to him too badly, he instead settled down to write a few letters to his friends. While he doubted greatly that he could even trust them after the manipulations he had found in his accounts, he didn't want to believe that they would have done that to him, and moreso he knew that it would look suspicious if he didn't try and contact them, that it would raise questions he didn't feel he wanted to answer just yet. Instead, he decided, it was better to focus on more neutral areas; he hadn't given the prophesy much thought since he came home and homework was always a safe thing to talk about to his friends. They wouldn't question much if he wrote to them about topics they believed would be worrying him, and that would leave him more space to focus personally on the things that really were giving him problems. Sitting down at his desk he pulled a quill and parchment towards him, and began to write.

Hermione,

I hope this letter finds you well and that you are recovering well after what happened in the Ministry. I know you suffered a lot there and there are no words I can use to appologise for what I put you through; I should have known better and should have listened to you when you said not to go, but my emotions got the better of me. As you well know I couldn't bare to leave Sirius suffer on his own, and it's my fault now that he died. I think that is a situation that will haunt me for the rest of my life, that a mans death is on my hands is one of the hardest things I think I will ever have to deal with, let alone that he was my godfather and the closest thing to a parent I had. I miss him terribly every day and wish he was here with me, there are so many things I still wanted to ask him, so many stories I know he had about my parents I know I will never learn now. I wish I had taken the time I had with him to talk to him more about these things, actually asked him questions instead of being caught up in my own world and my own thoughts. What type of person am I that I couldn't even do that much for him, that I couldn't even give him the time to ask him the questions I know he was dying to answer? Clearly not a good one, because I should have wanted to know more about my biological parents and who they were rather than focusing on my own problems.

How is your homework coming along? I know by now you have probably finished everything we were set, but I also know that you're probably doing even more research to pad out your essays and add that extra edge to them. Have you found out anything interesting about any of the topics? I've started some of the essays but the information in our books seems to lack somewhat, so I was wondering if you could possibly share with me anything else you've learned? Doing my work away from school has made me realize just how valuable a recourse the Hogwarts library actually is, and how little is contained within our school books. I would assume, though I might be wrong, that this is because as students we are expected to do some personal study on top of our course material, but due to my lack of access to Diagon Alley I can't exactly get hold of any more books. How did you get past this, or do your parents take you regularly?

I'm trying not to think too much about the prophesy; I know if I think too much about what it said I'll start to go insane, and with noone here to bounce my thoughts off and around that's probably not a good idea. I know you will have given it some thought though, so care to share what your conclusions are? The Dursleys are treating me as well as to be expected, although I'm mainly trying to keep out of their way as much as possible to avoid agrivating them any more. Not that its hard to do that, my very presense seems to send them into a mood which I just don't feel up for dealing with right now. It's a lot easier just to hide in my room and work on my homework and reading our school books over than face the inevitable fights if I dare to enter the rest of the house. At least it's given me the chance to reread a lot of our books, and I think I am finally making some sense out of the history course... it's so much easier to understand when you're not trying to learn from an old ghost who only speaks in one tone!

Please write back to me soon, I look forward to hearing from you.

Your friend,

Harry.

He put the finished letter to one side, hoping that it would keep his friend distracted enough that she wouldn't ask any questions about how he was dealing, and what he was doing with himself throughout the summer. His comments had been vague enough that they should cover anything she might ask, but also detailed enough that she wouldn't pick up on the deceit.

He had written a lot about Sirius, but although he hated to admit it much of it was lies. He did think of his godfather at times, but since the mans death he had realized that he'd never really had that much time to know him, and that horrible as it might have sounded the only reason he was as special to him as he had started to become was because he was a connection to his parents, and also a sign of hope that he might be able to escape from his relatives. He hadn't know the man long or well enough to form any real emotional bond, and had instead rushed to his aide as he would to anyone else he knew who was in that position. It might have not have been the best way to be, but it was inbuilt into his personality that he would have to help people, mainly, he assumed, because noone had ever been there to help him before. To some this might have been a reason to reject everyone else, but in his mind it just seemed more of a reason to help others, so that they wouldn't have to go through nearly as much pain and suffering as he had in his childhood, and if he was honest since attending Hogwarts too.

The more he thought about it the more he began to realize just how much worse his life had been since attending the school. No, he hadn't had friends or felt he belonged before, but at least his life hadn't been in danger, and it seemed that since entering the magical world there had constantly been someone trying to kill him. His upbringing before discovering his heritage might have been nothing special, but he had never suffered any real physical abuse apart from where he was forced to sleep, and the more he thought about it the more he realized he would take that over genocidal maniacs trying to kill him at every turn any day. Sure, magic was fun and useful in a lot of ways, but it also blocked a lot of his options off from him and made a lot of things he had always wondered about near impossible. As far as he knew there were very few options of employment in the wizarding world outside those directly relating to magic, and it made him wonder yet again how the Wizards got by in their day to day lives. It was clear that somewhere along the line a lot of Muggles were employed to help with a lot of services, or that a lot of Muggle produce was slipped into the market and then enchanted. He knew it would take a lot of research, but this realization was sure to turn the pureblood world on their head if he ever made his suspicions public. After all, how could anyone claim that they were a better race and didn't need the non magical community if a lot of their items were created within said community, if they had no way of getting by without it. Ron might be able to help him with this given his fathers job, he mused, and it would be something menial and irrelivent to fill a letter with. Anything to keep the truth from his friends until he knew who had done what, plus writing his letters was serving to be a welcome distraction.

"Hey mate

How's the summer treating you? I hope the twins aren't getting into too much trouble or giving your mum even more reason to go on major rants. Things here are the same as ever, I'm going mad stuck in the same house as the Dursleys but I know that's what's best even if I don't like it, so I'm putting up with it. Staying out of their way seems to work okay, even if it's boring as hell stuck in my room all the time. I'm actually doing my homework, not that you'd ever believe life could get that boring! I guess anything to keep me distracted from the boredom though, I just wish I could get out and fly again! I'm really starting to understand why Sirius got so frustrated stuck in Grimmauld Place all the time, its horrible not being able to get out and get as much fresh air as you want. I guess I just get too used to Hogwarts and having the grounds to explore, my families garden just isn't big enough and I get really bored of planting and looking after the same plants all the time. Did you know Muggle flowers aren't even dangerous or can't bite back? Where's the fun in that! At least if they could bite I could feed Dudley to them; I might ask Professor Sprout if she has anything I could grow here when we get back to school. Are you getting to play much Quidditch? I'd love to be able to just get on a broom and distract myself but instead all I'm really doing it sat here thinking about Sirius and that god damn prophesy... I just wish there was more I could be doing but obviously we can't do magic outside of school so I'm stuck, I can't even do any research because I don't know what books to order and can't go to Diagon Alley. Could you possibly have a look next time you get out and see what you can find for me if Molly even lets you out? I'll pay you back of course!

Have fun and I'll see you soon hopefully, If I ever escape this place at least!

Harry."

Sealing both letters, he put them aside to wait for Hedwig to return from wherever it was she had gone, and started again on his homework. Despite being aware he was ahead in many senses on his charms work (his patronus was proof of that) he found a lot of the theory quite difficult to comprehend at times. The basic principals he could understand without much problem, it was when things got more in depth that he had difficulties. The basic premise of charms seemed to be simple; wave your wand with the correct intent and things would happen, but it was when he looked more into the details that he got bogged down. His school books just didn't seem to explain enough, he knew there must be more to it than just swish and flick. After all, charms could be used for so many different things, there had to be a reason why they had been developed in such a way. In fact, the more he read through his school texts the more he realized just how much what they were taught was lacking in information. It seemed that it was just assumed that students would know the principals, but coming from a Muggle background by upbringing if not birth many of the assumptions seemed alien to him. How could someone with no knowledge of the world be expected to know all the things that were second nature to those brought up around magic? Groaning at the thought of who the obvious person to ask about information available to muggles would be, he pulled the letter he had written to Hermione back to him and added a quick postscript.

"Do you happen to have any books about the magical world from a Muggle perspective, and if you do could I borrow them? I'm realizing more and more how little we are told about what to expect, and how much information our books are lacking just 'cause they're written for people already accustom to magic."

A few days later Harry had slowly slipped into a pattern with his days. In the mornings he focused on his homework before heading downstairs to prepare lunch for himself and the Dursleys. After lunch he normally spent the time trying to focus his mind and organize the information he had gained from the Goblins as well as writing endless lists about what he wanted to ask and what he needed to find out. He had taken the initiative and ordered several books from Diagon Alley and was finding them a lot more informative and interesting than the ones set by his school. It hadn't taken long for Hermione to get back to him, and while she was unable to provide him with books herself (her reasoning being that she still needed them) she was able to recommend a few, which he added to the list he sent backwards and forwards with Hedwig.

It was just past lunch time and he was sat at his desk reading through some of the books about Wizarding culture and the Wizarding court system when he heard the voices he had been waiting for since he had closed the Dursley's access to his accounts.

"I can't access the bloody accounts! That boy must have done something" the angry sounds of his uncles voice could be heard reaching through the whole house, and Harry lifted his head from where he had been organizing his notes, a slight smile on his face. Here came the drama he had been waiting for, the question was just how big a deal Vernon would be able to make it into and how much of the well deserved blame would be placed on his head. After all, there wasn't much they could reasonably do to him given that as far as they were aware he hadn't left the house all summer, but his family weren't exactly known for being reasonable.

"What do you mean sweetie? Did you ask the bank? Did they say anything to you about what had happened?" That was his aunt, calm for now but building her information to use against him when the time came. His uncle might have been the louder of the two, the more likely to use his body or a weapon as punishment, but his aunt was just as bad in her own way. Collected and vindictive, she would gather information and then use it against him later, as an excuse to add other chores to his lists or to throw back in his face when he was low. His uncles ways might have hurt physically, but it was his aunts psychological warfare which caused the more painful and long lasting damage.

"We were closed out of the accounts!" came the angry reply "That little shit must have done something to them, because the bank said the accounts had been moved to another bank and wouldn't tell me anything else!"

"Did you tell them that we were his guardians and financial controllers?" Still calm, Harry could sense his aunts anger building as she thought hard about what could have happened and what she could do about it. Harry had long suspected she knew more about the magical world than she let on, and this would really be the test of just how much she knew or how much she was willing to learn if it benefitted her. Closing their access to his accounts was a weight off his shoulders as it meant that they couldn't steal more of his money, but it was also a test to see just how devious his family could be; how much they were willing to blame on him and how much of their unwillingness to deal with the magical world could be diminished when money was involved.

"Of course I did! Hours I spent in there and even the manager wouldn't do what I told him to! All I could get off him was that the funds were based in another bank and redirected through B.O.E, but they'd lost the control to another bank now! They wouldn't give me anything after that, the mad bastard actually had the cheek to say that it was against bank policy to give out confidential information about other customers. As if we haven't been their best customers for the past fifteen years because of the money in the boys accounts. You know full well I wouldn't have kept him here if it wasn't for all his money!"

Harry heard a bang as if a fist had hit something hard and couldn't help but smile to himself... With those few words his uncle had dropped himself in a situation that could be manipulated. Standing up, he left his room and made his way quickly down the stairs. Yes the actions he was going to take might aggravate the situation in the short term, but he had to think of long term benefits too and getting admission from his family about what they were doing and instigating a large fight would give him ample reason to leave. The fact the fight was about his money would give him a good reason to visit Gringotts again, and if Dumbledore was to stand in the way he would have reasonable standing to speak to the Ministry of Magic about the situation and force through even more of what he wanted.

"What money?" he asked, entering the kitchen where his aunt was stood by the sink filling the kettle and his Uncle was, as he had previously suspected, sat at the breakfast bar, his fist clenched as if he had just thumped it. "What accounts have been closed?"

"Non of your buisness." came the terse reply, but that wasn't acceptable in Harrys eyes. After all, he had heard enough to cause a real argument and find out a lot, and he wasn't going to let this chance go to waste.

"I heard you talking about accounts being closed, and blaming me. And talking about my money. What money? I thought I was an orphan with nothing."

"There is no money. We were talking about Dudley's accounts." his aunt replied, just as his uncle spoke himself

"Don't poke your nose in where it's not wanted boy, that's what got your parents killed!"

That was it; the last nail in the coffin as far as his "family" were concerned. All thoughts of playing things nicely were thrown out of the window as Harry let his instincts take over, saying all the things he had always wanted to say but hadn't dared, telling more than he had ever planned but at the same time letting loose for the first time in his life.

"Don't you dare talk about my parents, you fat scumbag!" He yelled, all composture lost. "They were better people than you could ever be and died to save me, not that you would know anything about that level of parental love! I don't think you'd even care if something happened to Dudley so long as your pockets were filled with the insurance money afterwards!"

He heard his aunt gasp in horror at his words, but continued anyway knowing that if he stopped now he would never say what he wanted and that his punishment wouldn't even nearly be worth it. He needed to work himself up to the point of no return or he wouldn't be able to leave, wouldn't have enough evidence against his aunt and uncle to walk away without being forced back. Turning his attention back to his Uncle, he continued his tirade.

"Just because you're uncaring unless your wallet is fat that doesn't mean everyone is the same. I know about my money, I found out about it last week no thanks to you, and I know how much you've stolen from me over the years! Say what you like, I know what type of arguments you'll come out with to defend yourself, and I also know that the amount you've taken from my accounts over the years is no-where near how much you actually spent on me. I'm not blind to reality, even if you think I am. I know most of my money went on Dudley, and that you only spent the bare minimum needed to keep me living, if that! Ever since going to school I've struggled against your lack of teaching, against things you should have told me all along but didn't feel the need to! How you didn't expect me to find out about this is foolish at best, if not bordering on absolute stupidity, you're just lucky that it took me this long. I can promise you one thing at least, and that is that you will never see another penny out of my accounts. I don't care what Dumbledore told you about having as much rights to them as you wanted, about there being nothing that I could do to stop it, he clearly chose not to tell you some very important information there! If he had cared at all about you, about anything other than keeping you sweet, then he would have told you that he had broken the law when he gave me into your care. I've seen my parents Will, I've seen that you had no rights to me and that you were the last people who were meant to have me!"

"There was a letter." his aunt again, trying to justify their actions somehow, though Harry doubted there was anything she could say that would ever help them save face after his treatment at their hands. "Dumbledore left us a letter saying that Lilly's Will had been read and that we were to look after you until they came to get you."

"And you believed him?" He was furious, and he let it show. "You believed the word of a man who would leave a child on a doorstep in the middle of winter with nothing but a blanket and a letter to cover his presence there?! I know you're not the best parents but anyone would have known that was a bad idea! Surely there must have been some tiny part of you who thought it was wrong, that you couldn't trust what he said! I want to see this supposed letter, find out for myself what bullshit he's been spreading to justify his actions, but for now you need to know that by placing me here he failed both me and you horribly. By leaving me here all those years ago he made me legally an adult in the eyes of the law meaning that all the abuse you put me through since I got left with you can be tried as against an adult; by keeping me here against my Will for all this time I could get you tried for kidnap and imprisonment, and that's not even taking into consideration everything else! The money you've taken from me is fraud, and while I don't know the exact figures as yet I can assure you my bankers are on the case and will soon find out just how much you've fleeced from me! You're just very lucky I didn't demand your arrest as soon as I found out what you'd done; I thought I'd give you a chance to explain why you did what you did but based on your reactions you're never going to tell me the truth."

There were splutters of protest at his words but he continued through it, ignoring the filthy looks thrown in his direction. He had started, and he would finish, voicing all the thoughts that had been stuck in his head for way too long!

"I'm a lot more intelligent than anyone else living in this mistake of a house, and before you even think about saying it that has nothing to do with being magical. Petunia could have been clever, she was when she was growing up, but thanks to your attitude and your treatment she's lost all that. How can you expect anyone to have any type of intellect in a house which condones any form of reading and intelligent discussion in favor of staring at that box of mindless rubbish you call a tv! And you wonder why Dudley is failing so horribly at everything he attempts in school?! When have either of you ever sat down with him to do his homework, or encouraged him to turn the telly off for even 20minutes to read a book or play a board game? Unless things are very different when I'm at Hogwarts then it's been never! You might have abused me physically and through neglect, but it is nothing compaired to what you have done to that poor boy and one day you'll come to realize it. Not now, probably not for many years, but one day you'll look back on these years and wonder where you go wrong, and then but only then you will realize just what damage you did to someone who could have one day grown up to do well. You've succeeded in one way, you've raised two polar opposites, but I'm not stupid enough to believe that either of us are nice or well balanced people. Your son is fat, and a bully. He relies purely on his weight and strength to gain what he wants from life without a thought for the consequences. I've seen slugs with more intellect and subtlety than Dudley, and that's saying something! He will never amount to anything but a bully, and thanks to your actions he won't even have money to back him. My parents had left you both some money, but thanks to your actions and the amount you've taken from me you can be sure you won't see any of that, and anything you have seen of it will be taken back threefold. I may be taking your inheritance back from you, and I'm sure that you will attempt to cause a fuss over this, even take me to court over it, but unlucky for you that won't do anything. Since visiting with my bankers last week I've discovered a lot of things about my life which should have been clear from the beginning. Not least that I am legally an adult and don't exist within your world; all records of my existence here failed to exist the day I started at Hogwarts, meaning you would be opening a case about a nobody, a non existence. Do your worst, because my world doesn't look well on people like you, for your lack of magic let alone the abuse you put me through as a child! I'm leaving, now, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. You can say what you want to Dumbledore, try your hardest to make him get me back and get you my money back, but it won't work. I'm legally an adult, there's nothing anyone can do to keep me in this hell hole any more, and if nothing else my fame allows me certain leeways to get away with doing magic on you if you even try to stop me. You can expect a letter from my bankers in the next few weeks about returning the stolen funds from me, and I think it would be best if you tried to get it sorted out before then. After all, no-one wants to mess with a goblin!"

Finishing his tirade Harry didn't wait for a reply, instead just turned his back on his so called family and made his way up the stairs to his room. Throwing all his belongings into his trunk and shrinking it down to size he grabbed his broom and swung his invisibility cloak around him. Jumping out the window, he swung his broom under him and took off into the afternoon sky. Statute of secrecy be damned, a few obliviated muggles were nothing compared to what the Ministry would have to deal with when he went public about his childhood.

A/N

Wow wow wow, this is my longest chapter to date! Not much of this was originally planned, but things just seemed to run away from me and it ended up over 5000 words! Non of Harrys rant at the Dursleys was planned, neither was the way he left their home, but this chapter just took on a life of its own and I'll admit I chose just to run with it rather than try and force things to go my way... when a plot bunny strikes you really have no choice but to follow it down the rabbithole! Originally I had planned to leave Harry with the Dursleys until the end of the summer and use his knowledge of their messing with his money as blackmail, but Harry in my story just decided to take a more assertive role and head off in his own direction... I guess we'll just have to wait and see where that leads him; by going off this way it has changed a lot of my plans for the next few chapters! Keep reading, keep reviewing, and I'll try to update again soon!