Chapter Two
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Hermione had to take a deep breath when they pulled up to number 4 Private Drive, they hadn't told Harry they were coming as a hope to not draw the wrong attention. In fact they had decided to arrive early enough that it was still dark outside, the sun beginning to rise. Hermione looked down at her lap and grimaced when she caught a glimpse of the rough scar on her left arm. Thankfully most other damage inflicted was able to be reversed, only leaving two scars. The word Mudblood carved into her left arm and a large gash on her inner thigh. Both courtesy of Bellatrix Lestrange, both done with a cursed blade and would take longer to heal, thankfully the wounds were closed and no longer bleeding, though they were still sensitive to touch. She was currently wearing a black tee-shirt as a long sleeve would irritate it, she paired this with blue faded jeans, her inner thigh was wrapped as the pants were rubbing against her scar painfully, and black sneakers. Next to her sat her sister Piper and in the front sat Leo as a passenger and Amelia as the driver. After picking up Harry they were going to drop the rental off and apparate to her house. Amelia had had the home warded against all magical beings that were not approved in the ward stone by Hermione, and a slight muggle repelling charm. The charm would allow the muggles to see the house but lose any interest or curiosity in it quickly. She had also assured Hermione that all evidence of the attack had been removed. Because of that Hermione felt comfortable enough to return to her home and collect any and all belongings she wished to keep with her in America and preserve the ones she didn't want to move yet. Afterwards they would be heading to Gringotts Via the Muggle entrance so Harry can get money converted to purchase what he may need in America, and then leave to pick up supplies in Diagon Alley. The car stopped in the driveway and she followed behind Amelia, Piper and Leo at the rear. Amelia knocked on the door and after a few minutes a large, beefy man with thick, dark hair and a bushy mustache opened the door. He wore a business suit, more than likely getting ready for work, and had on dark polished black loafers. He gave the four of them a curious look before speaking.
"May I help you?" He asked.
"Good evening , My name is Amelia and I am here regarding Young Mister Potter, I am from the board of Social Workers." Hermione watched as his face flushed purple before he registered what Amelia had said about being a social worker. Looking slightly concerned he led them into an incredibly clean and white living area.
" Please take a seat and let me get my wife so we can discuss your reason for visiting." He left them and stepped into what Hermione believed was a kitchen. She heard hushed voices before he returned with a woman with a long neck and equally long face and blonde hair. She had her hands clenched in front of her, a sign of nervousness. 'Good,' Hermione thought. 'Serves them right.' Mr. Dursley sat across from Amelia and nodded to her.
"How can we help you M'am?" He asked.
"I am here regarding your nephew Harry Potter, is he home today?" Amelia asked.
"He is in his room at the moment, He decided to have a lay in today." Mrs. Dursley said. "Should I wake him?" She looked extremely uncomfortable and nervous, making Hermione's hackles rise.
"Not at the moment. I am actually reaching out because it has come to my attention that there have been certain discrepancies in the Potter files, one being a statement in their will to not have custody of Harry given to Mrs. Dursley. Can you please explain how you gained custody of your nephew?" Mrs. Dursley twisted her hands nervously in her lap. Amelia, sensing her hesitation, sighed deeply. "No one is in any type of trouble at the moment, we just need clarification on how you received a child that should have never been placed in your care, and instead in the care of someone on the fathers side of the family with others like him." She spoke softly, but gave the woman a pinning look, one meant to convey that they knew Harry was a wizard. Mrs. Dursley looked towards her husband who looked more concerned now, and nodded before speaking. No one had noticed a young boy with glasses and black hair come down the stairs and upon seeing Hermione, quickly hide behind the door frame out of view.
"My sister and her husband had died… murdered in their home… No one told me though, at least not in person. When I opened our door in the morning to get the paper, Harry was in front of our door. His little nose and hands were blue from the cold, it was November you see and he had on him this tiny thin blue blanket. Pinned on the outside of the basket was a letter. After my husband and I were able to warm him up we opened the letter. It was written by the Headmaster of that school all you fre- Wizards go to. He had told me in a letter that not only was my sister, the only family I still had left, murdered, but that Harry was her son and needed to stay with us as my blood would protect him and us from the ones that killed my sister." Hermione was shocked when the woman started to cry, Mr. Dursley quickly wrapped her in his beefy arms. "He didn't even have the decency to tell me in person! My sister and I hadn't spoken in years, but that didn't mean I wanted her dead! I was in shock, I had just been diagnosed with Postpartum Depression and the news of her death in such a callous manner caused me to have to be sent to a mental facility for several months." Hermione felt a spike of sympathy for her, and looking around she could tell she wasn't the only one. "Vernon had to quit his high paying job to care for the two babies while I was away. Never once did anyone check on Harry, not to fill out guardianship papers or anything. When I came back we tried so hard to make it work, but Harry had his frea- Magic show early, at least I think it was early as he was only a year old, and we didn't know what to do. At one point it became so difficult that Vernon and I tried to return him to your world. We went to the Leaky Cauldron, I remembered it from when Lily was young, and we entered with other wizards to Diagon Alley, we went to the first wizard we found and tried to ask him to contact a police officer, told him we found a baby by itself, unfortunately he recognised Harry and called the Headmaster, apparently he worked in the school. Mr. Dumbledore brought us home and threatened us, told us these death eaters would find us and told us if we couldn't handle him that he would need to take Dudley and place him wherever Harry was because he shared Lily's blood too. I wasn't willing to lose my son, so we kept him and cared for him since." She took a deep breath and put her face in her hands. "We have not been the kindest towards him, it's not right, but we've taken out our hatred of your world on him, our fear and anger at being threatened constantly, was misdirected at an innocent child, maybe two as the fear and paranoia have led us to completely babying our own child, leading to him having a heart attack last year because of his weight. The people we've become, it's not right! It's freakish and-and wrong, we're monsters!" Mrs. Dursley then in a fit of strong emotion began to howl in despair, her tears flooding over her husband's shirt. Hermione jumped up when a blur sped in front of her, stopping in front of the elder Dursley's. Mr. Dursley turned towards his nephew that came running into the room, his expression showed the internal debate he was facing before he nodded and loosened his grip on Mrs. Dursley so the young man could pull her into his arms. Hermione watched in surprise as his aunt froze slightly before crying even more deeply at the obvious show of affection from her nephew.
"Please Aunt Petunia, Please don't cry. I'm so sorry that happened to you, Please, I didn't know he did that to you, I didn't know." Hermione's heart broke at the personal scene before her. Mrs. Dursley slowly pulled herself back together and stopped crying, she sat back and in a clearly unexpected motion, moved Harry's hair from his face and gave a broken smile.
"You have nothing to apologize for, we failed you, and we failed Dudley," Mr. Dursley looked to interrupt before being quelled by her sharp glare. "No Vernon, we were meant to raise both boys and we did a bloody shit poor job of it. Dudley is an overweight bully and Harry is emotionally damaged because of us." She faced Harry once more and sighed sadly as she looked into his eyes. "You have your mothers eyes, I always loved her eyes, they're our Grandmothers, you're Great Grandmothers, eyes." She pulled fully from Harry and placed her hands in her lap. "We have spent 14 years hating you because of what you are and what your world has forced on us. That is not going to go away overnight, the damage done to us and the damage we did to you, I highly doubt you'll ever truly be able to forgive us, and I don't expect you to." She faced Amelia then, tears in her eyes. "I will be facing Lily's wrath in the afterlife for what I have done and allowed to happen to her son in the past. I know why you're here, I know who that young lady is, her parent's have been to see us before." Hermione jerked at that, she hadn't known her parents met the Dursleys before. "They came to visit while you were both at school, about 4 months ago. They gave us a good telling off for the way we treated Harry, they were the ones to help us open our eyes to how wrong we were. Knowing that this wasn't the best environment for him, we were going to sign over custody of Harry, permanently to them when you both came back. They were supposed to call us two weeks ago but never did." Harry sat down quickly in bewilderment, facing Hermione and then his Aunt. "Are they working? Is that Why you came with their daughter instead?" She asked.
"Unfortunately they were attacked, and killed by the followers of the man that murdered your sister and brother-in-law." Mr.s Dursley gasped and reached for Mr. Dursley whose coloring changed to ghostly white. Harry leaned forward as if to hug Hermione but then backed away at the last minute and gave her a sad look of understanding and sympathy. " I am here because Miss Granger's parents had adopted her and when they passed her custody was given to her Biological sister. I had been aware that the Grangers were applying for temporary guardianship, but had not been aware that they had already started the paperwork for full custody. Do you still have the papers?" Mr.s Dursley nodded as she wiped her tears with her sleeve, nodded to Mr Dursley who then stood, presumably to get the papers. "This is Piper Halliwell, she is Miss Granger's Guardian, along with her husband, they have also gained custody of her newly discovered twin sister." Harry's eyes widened as he faced his friend, she gave him a look he knew well. 'Keep your mouth shut and we'll talk later.' "We were originally going to place temporary custody of Harry with her until we could find a more permanent arrangement, but that depends on the documents your husband shows me." She turned and faced first Hermione and then Piper. "If they already signed the adoption papers and they were notarized, that makes what I need to do both easier and more complicated depending on you. If they did sign a formal legal agreement then I would be able to follow the same wishes in their will for Harry as I did for Hermione, no courts, magical or non-magical could fight it. But that would mean accepting a formal adoption of another child instead of the temporary custody we discussed. If you chose not to then I would still be able to grant temporary custody but it would take longer to find a permanent residence than what we discussed earlier." She allowed the two Halliwells to discuss what they wanted to do as she went through the paperwork that Mr. Dursley handed her. Harry and Hermione stayed quiet the entire time but kept sneaking concerned glances at each other. Harry was confused and Hermione couldn't explain anything in front of the Dursleys. Amelia looked up and nodded to the Dursleys. "Everything is in order, this document looks to be in the final stages so it would just be up to the Halliwells if they want to have custody transferred to them. Piper and Leo shared a look before Piper nodded to Amelia. It was a lot to take on but, in for a penny, in for a pound. She wasn't going to let this poor child end up in another unsafe place to live if she could help it. If Prue was alive she wouldn't have hesitated either. Taking a deep breath and facing the child in question she smiled reassuringly.
"If Hermiones parent's were going to take him in permanently, what right do I have to say no, of course we'll take him in. Plus with four women in the house, Leo's going to need another guy around anyway." Harry smiled at her but his nervousness was clear to everyone. "Hermione dear, why don't you help him pack up while we finish our discussion." Hermione nodded and practically dragged Harry out of the kitchen, stopping at the stairs so he could direct her to his room. His room had an ugly peach color and was completely bare. There was a desk, a lamp, a bed, a trunk and a small wardrobe, that was it for furniture. This is not how she pictured a young boys room, there were no posters on the walls, no decorations of any kind to show Harry's personality. When she saw the bars on his windows she froze, her fists clenched so tightly her palms bled from where her nails cut skin.
"When Ron told me you had bars on your windows I thought he was exaggerating. When he told me that you were fed through a cat flap, I didn't believe him. Who could put a child through this. If my sister didn't agree to take you I would have killed your Aunt and Uncle for doing this to you… I still might." Harry jumped in surprise when he saw the bars on the window disintegrate and yelped when he went to grab Hermione's hands and burned himself. Her anger fizzled out to concern when she heard his cry of pain. "Oh Harry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. Are you ok?"
"Yeah I'm good, but what the bloody hell was that Hermione?" Harry waved his hand back and forth as he sat down on his bed. He patted the spot next to him, telling her to sit and sighed when the initial sting on his hand went away. "C'mon, what's going on?" Hermione sighed and laid back into the bed, her arms covering her face.
"I've always known I was adopted and never thought anything of it until I got my Hogwarts letter and thought I was related to a wizard. After coming to the wizarding world and seeing all the bigotry I just never said anything, what if I was related to a death-eater? Turns out I'm not even meant to be in the wizarding world, I'm not a Muggle-born, a Half-blood or a Pure-blood."
"What do you mean of course you are, you have magic and are better than everyone else in our school, probably some of the teachers." Hermione gave him a small smile before sighing.
"My biological parents were a different type of magical being, see, the witches and wizards such as yourself are known as mages, a subspecies of an endangered race of Wizards. My bio mum was a Wiccan witch and my father a Whitelighter."
"White-lighter you mean like an immortal guardian angel of wiccan witches? They can have kids?" Hermione gave him an odd look before bursting out laughing at her friend's dumbfounded face.
"Yes Harry they can, just because they don't age doesn't mean they can't procreate, I think the reason for them being banned from having kids probably has to do with being able to focus solely on their charges. The greater good and all that. Another reason could be that since they won't age they'll have to watch as their children age and eventually pass away." She sat up and scooted back on the bed until her back hit the wall, Harry soon following.
"So how are you able to do the same type of magic as mages?"
"Apparently one of my powers is the power of Projection, it's rare and only those with great destinies, have ever had this power. Basically I have the ability to manipulate reality. Because I thought I was a witch err-mage, I was able to project or force my power to mimic yours, it's probably the reason it came easier to me, because my will power and focus was all that was needed. I also have a type of thermokinesis, like when I burned you earlier, that is from my whitelighter side. I have no clue what other powers I have and I won't until I meet all my sisters and reform the Charmed ones"
"What are the Charmed ones?"
"With each generation, the Warren witches will grow stronger and stronger—until, at last, three sisters will arrive, one with the power to stop time, one with the power to see the future and one with the power to move things with their mind. Together, these three sisters will be the most powerful witches the world has ever known, they will defeat all kinds of evil. They will be known as The Charmed Ones. That was a prophecy made by my ancestor about me and my sisters, only it wasn't fully accurate. Paige and I share a soul as we are twins like the Weasleys, so the power of three is actually three sister souls. Piper started with only the power to freeze time, Phoebe started with the power to see time, and Prue started with the power of telekinesis. Now Piper has a second power and is able to blow things up, Phoebe can Levitate and Prue before she died had astral Projection." Harry started to laugh, what started as a slight chuckle was soon a full bellied laugh. This caused Hermione to cross her arms and glare at him in vexation. Before soon cracking a small smile.
"I'm sorry but I can't help but find it ironic how much you hate divination and yet come from a family of divination."
"Yes well I still believe prophecies are a wooly thing but now having a sister that has Premonitions kinda makes it hard to discount the entire subject. Plus a lot of what I thought I knew was completely wrong. Maybe if I knew the truth then maybe my parents would still be alive." Harry straightened and faced his friend.
"What happened, Hermione?"
"We were in the living room when the doors burst open, death-eaters swarmed in and I didn't have my wand, they tortured my parents in front of me while they made me watch, then they moved on to me. They held me under the Imperius as they hurt my mum and dad. My wiccan/hybrid powers must have kicked in because when one of them tried to finish me off I burned her with my hands. They left me for dead but somehow I lived. I don't really want to get into the details." Harry pulled her into a hug as she cried, eventually she rested her head in his lap and cried. He ran his hands through her hair as he thought about what was going on downstairs. A few minutes later she pulled away from him and took a deep breath to compose herself. "So it looks like we're going to be adoptive siblings huh? I always thought of you as an annoying little brother."
"Yeah well you've got the bossy big sister act mastered…HEY!" he yelled out as she slapped his arm good naturedly. "So there isn't much to pack, just my school stuff and Hedwig. If I'm not living with the Dursleys I don't have to hide that I have money, I can convert some galleons to pounds and get some new clothes."
"Well we were planning to head to Gringotts, The Halliwells live in America so we need to transfer everything over to the Branch in California." She waited a minute for what she said to process before laughing at his expression and continuing. "Yup, we're moving across the bloody world. It's probably a good idea to see if the goblins have a way of transporting furniture, if not we'll have to shrink anything we want to bring with us. We're stopping at my house before heading to Gringotts so I can pack anything I want to bring."
"Hermione, I am so sorry for what you had to go through."
"Thank you, hmm anyway we should probably head down, I'm sure my sister will be done filling out any paperwork that was needed." Harry nodded and grabbed his trunk as Hermione grabbed Hedwig's cage and walked out the door and down stairs. They dropped everything off at the door and moved back into the living room where they saw the adults giving their farewells. Mrs dursley went to hug Harry, albeit a little stiffly before she handed him a he held it up she saw that it was a thick silver chain with a locket, on each side of the locket was a lily and petunia. She couldn't see what was inside the locket when he opened it but she could tell it mattered to Harry as he threw his arms around his Aunt before putting it around his neck. The chain was thick enough that it didn't look to feminine and you couldn't see the charms as it slipped under his shirt.
"Your Grandparents gave us each one when we were young. That picture was the four of us before Lily left for hogwarts. That one was mine, Lily always wore hers so I can only imagine that it is buried with her. I am sorry for the way we treated you, hopefully in a few years we can move past what has happened. Take care of yourself Harry." She gave him a small hug before stepping back next to Mr Dursley. Mr Dursley stepped forward and shook Harry's hand before standing once more next to his wife.
"Look no matter what happened in the past, I don't want anything to happen to you guys, you're the only family I have left. Please move as far away as you can as soon as possible. The man that killed my parents is back, he will try to attack you to get to me. Please, protect yourselves." Harry pleaded looking first to his Aunt, then his Uncle. Mr. Dursley gave him a stiff nod before walking everyone out of the house and to the car. Harry sat in the back seat with Hermione and his new Guardian Piper and gave Hermione the biggest smile he could. Soon they were driving down the street and away from the Dursleys. About 10 minutes later they pulled into a car rental shop and were told to exit the vehicle. Amelia ushered everyone to a back alley and took hold of the Halliwell sisters, Piper held Leo and Hermione held Harry as she apparated them all away to the Grangers house. Hermione had her eyes closed tightly, too afraid to see what happened to her home. She began shaking slightly and her heart was beating very fast, she began to feel warm and slightly dizzy.
"Hermione? Hermione sweetie you're safe, focus on my voice, follow my voice." The words from her sister registered in her mind and she was soon able to breathe normally again. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked at her sister's face until she was calm enough to speak.
"Thank you." She whispered before looking around the room. Amelia had kindly apparated them into her fathers study. Amelia stepped forward and placed her hand on her shoulder.
"Are there any rooms you don't need to go through or would like us to go through for you?" Hermione took a moment to think and nodded.
"I can't go downstairs, I'm not ready for that. If you could pack away all the pictures in the living room and kitchen. My father has several books on his desk in the living room I want, as well as the crocheted blanket on the back of the couch. My mother has several recipe books in the kitchen drawers as well. Any non-perishable foods can be packed as well and all spoiled foods can be thrown out. My father has a small trophy room with their degrees and pictures from when they graduated dental school. Everything else can be sent to Gringotts." Harry went down stairs with Leo and Amelia to grab what she wanted. Piper stayed with her to help her go through the rooms upstairs. Hermione started opening the Cabinet doors to reveal her fathers beloved gun hunting collection. "I don't want to leave these here but I'm not big on hunting like my dad was. I'm going to ask the goblins if they can hold all but two of them for me. Can I take the two with me to your house? They are unloaded and I would keep them in a locked display case. One is my dad's first hunting rifle and the other is my first rifle that he trained me with." She held her breath as Piper looked from her to the two guns and sighed.
"Ok but they stay locked up, and in your room at all times." Hermione smiled and thanked her. She soon took her wand out and although she knew she technically didn't need it, old habits die hard. She shrunk the entirety of her fathers collection minus the two and placed them in a box she conjured. She grabbed a sharpie and wrote Gringotts on it before conjuring another one that she labeled keep. She shrunk her fathers desk and chair as well as all the pictures he had hanging of her family, she sent them to the keep box before moving on to her room. She sent all her furniture, books, pictures and clothes to the keep box, leaving her room bare. From their library she moved half her books to the keep box and from the bathroom she removed all the toiletries she may need as well as her mothers make up. Soon she found herself outside her parents rooms, Piper grabbed her hand to offer support as Hermione opened the door. Taking a calming breath, Hermione quickly packed her parents' entire room, sending the majority into the box marked gringotts that she would go through at a later date. What remained was most of her mothers wardrobe and shoes, some of her fathers shirts and jackets, her mothers perfumes, pictures and two pillows. She was going to have Amelia place a permanent stasis on the pillows and each of their jackets, so they always smelled like her mum and dad. When she was done she and Piper waited in the study for the others. Seeing Amelia had Hermione asking about the two pillows which she quickly agreed to. Amelia took the boxes gathered and shrunk them down.
"Guess what Mione? Amelia removed the trace from my wand, she said that since we're going to live in America, legally they have to remove it for those with dual citizenship." Hermione smiled at her friend's excitement before facing Amelia who nodded.
"Even if it wasn't, I would have removed his trace, hard to keep someone under the radar if they can be followed when training. As you know your own wand has no trace as you aren't using it the way that mages do, technically you could use any wand or none at all to access your powers. Now we must head to Gringotts. I have arranged a portkey to a private chamber to help keep you guys protected instead of using their muggle entrance as originally planned, so if you will all grab onto this, and do not let go." She held up a white rope and yelled. "Gringotts room A29." Hermione gave her sister and brother-in-law a tight smile as the uncomfortable feeling of a hook pulling at her navel took over and they swirled around before landing harshley on the stone flooring of gringotts. Piper looked pale but kept herself upright and Leo leaned over to throw up.
"I didn't know angels could get sick." Harry stated as he watched his guardian empty his stomach on the floor. When he was done Amelia banished the mess and scourgified his mouth.
"Neither did I." Leo said unhappily as Piper giggled at his expense. A short Goblin with sharp teeth and deep scars on his face cleared his throat.
"No wands past this point Madame Bones. My name is Tugnar, I will lead you to the Potter Account Manager and the Granger Account Manager, their offices are through here. Who will attend the meetings? As they are minors they will each need an Adult with them." Piper moved next to Hermione as Leo sidled up next to Harry.
"I will need to be with Harry as well if that is alright with Leo? I have a few questions for the Account Manager that may help with the adoption process." Leo looked to Harry first and then nodded in Amelia's direction. Tugnar led them down a dark hallway and opened a door on the left.
"This is the office for the Potter account." Leo, Harry and Amelia went in and Tugnar closed the door behind them before leading Hermione and Piper to a door on the right that was slightly further in. Hermione walked in and was led with her sister to the chairs across from a goblin with one large pointed ear and one that appeared to have a chunk missing; he wore a black suit and three emerald rings on each hand. The nameplate on the desk told her that he was named Odbert. He faced them as they sat and tapped his long fingers on the table.
"Good evening, My name is Odbert, how may I assist you?" He asked.
"Hello, I will be moving to America and need to see about transferring my banking to the California branch." He nodded and grabbed a few sheets of paper from his drawer.
"We would need to open a new Vault for you, I was notified of your parents death, you have my condolences, we are able to transfer your funds to another bank for a small fee of 13 Galleon's, if you have any non-monetary items that need to be transferred an additional fee of 20 Galleon's will be charged. All properties and land will be accessible by you but you will be unable to sell or change anything with the properties until you are of age, for all wizarding properties that will be 17 and for all non wizarding properties that will be when you are 18. Do you have questions?"
"Yes, is it possible to add a few more items to be transferred over?" She asked.
"Yes. anything else?"
"No, that is all."
"I will need to take a sample of your blood to authorize the transfer." She nodded and he handed her a golden knife. She pricked her finger and watched as the blood was absorbed into the paper. The goblin took the knife back and pressed the flat part against her cut as he murmured something in his native tongue. When he pulled the knife away the cut was healed. "Your transfer will be completed by tomorrow. Anything you would like to have sent over please leave here and I will deposit it for you. Check in with the California Branch after you are settled in to go over your banking statement's" She nodded and removed the shrunken boxes and handed them to him. "Have a good day." He ushered them out of his office where they met the Goblin that greeted them earlier. They were led to the hall they portrayed in and waited for Harry, Amelia and Leo to arrive. There were a few chairs in the room so they decided to sit down as they waited.
"How are you taking everything?" Piper asked. Hermione gave her a smile and gave a bitter laugh.
"Honestly I don't think it's fully settled in. Everything is moving so quickly and I'm kind of just grabbing different things to focus on at the moment." She started to fiddle with the hem of her shirt, her anxiety having kicked in.
"That's understandable, I'm still struggling after Prue's death and that was a month ago. In fact shortly after getting custody of Paige I ended up turning into a creature called a fury." She laughed at her sister's face. "I'm good now obviously, but I was looking for a distraction so badly I was demon hunting every day from sun up to sun down and put myself at risk. I got scratched by one of them and slowly transformed. Had your twin not gotten through to me before I killed I would have been stuck as one."
"What is a Fury?" Hermione asked.
"Furies are creatures, all women who act as judge, jury, and executioner to those doing wrong. They would punish a schoolyard boy tugging on your pigtails, as severely as they would a murderer and take great pleasure in the kill."
"Wow, does that happen often? Where you're turned into something else?"
"Well, a few times. I was turned into a wendigo, switched powers with Leo to save his life and became a Whitelighter; became a Warlock; became part of a cursed painting and even a movie. Prue's been turned into a darklighter; a man; a teenager; an Empath; a Warlock; and a Dog. Phoebe's been transformed into her evil past self; became a Warlock; became a Banshee and became a part of a painting and part of a movie as well." Hermione stared in shock as Piper ticked off all their magical transformations with her fingers. They were pulled from their conversation when the Goblin came in with the rest of their group. Hermione became concerned when she saw how upset Harry was. Leo's hand was on his shoulder directing him to the group and Amelia looked as though she was going to blow her top.
"Harry, what's wrong?" Piper asked, before getting up and leading him to the visitor chairs.
"The Potter's put in their will that not only was Harry not to be placed with the Dursleys, but they had an extensive listing of guardians should the worst happen. I as well as four others who are very much alive and capable of caring for him are listed. They also included who the real secret keeper was and that Sirius was Harry's Oath-sworn Godfather, making it impossible for him to attempt to harm Harry. His magic would have killed him if he even attempted to do so. It also stated that the one who cast Fidelius with Peter Petigrew was Albus Dumbledore." Amelia was disgusted with the breach of conduct and her voice gave it away clearly. "There has been money taken without his prior knowledge or consent since being placed with muggles from Mister Potter's trust vault and deposited into several accounts. One being Dumbledore's and the other being Molly Weasley, also found was a marriage contract between Mister Potter and Miss Ginerva Weasley, signed by Molly and Arthur Weasley and Albus Dumbledore on behalf of the two minors." Hermione gasped and ran to Harry to pull him into a hug.
"Wait Marriage contract, isn't that medieval, who still does that?" Piper asked as she stood up to join the group.
"Unfortunately the Magical World is stuck in the Victorian era. But if Sirius is Harry's Oath-sworn Godfather, how could the Contract be valid without his signature?" Hermione asked.
"It isn't, the Goblins will not recognize the contract until Sirius signs it, if he doesn't before Harry is 17 then it is automatically destroyed. The Goblins have given me copies of all the documents provided and I will be able to use them to further my investigation. I wish someone could tell Sirius to lay low, possibly in the America's until he is cleared, it would be much much safer for him there. " Amelia hid a smile as Hermione and Harry shared a telling look.
"Does this change where Harry is placed?" Piper asked, concerned for the young boy. Amelia shook her head no.
"He would still be safer with you and with all the information I just received, well I'm not even sure he should attend Hogwarts next year." Harry looked slightly disappointed but said nothing. "I will know more in August and let you know if he should transfer elsewhere or hire tutors by the second week of the month." Amelia turned towards Harry. "I know you want to go to Hogwarts, but if Albus is still headmaster by the time school starts, I do not believe it will be safe for you." He nodded in understanding.
"Whatever keeps the children safest will be our top priority." Leo said. She nodded and ushered the children towards a plain looking door.
"We are going to go shopping in the muggle world first, it would seem unwise with what we've learned to travel around Diagon Alley. I will instead give you directions to the Alley in San Francisco where you can shop without issue. Though I would suggest maybe using contacts for his eyes and makeup on his scar, just in case someone who is traveling recognizes him."
"That works for me, I believe these two need something to eat anyway." Piper suggested. They walked through the door and came out of a nondescript room in a library. Amelia led them towards a small cafe. Hermione ordered Harry and herself two scones and two coffee's. Harry's had a lot of sugar and cream and hers was closer to black Piper ordered a cappuccino, Leo ordered a Latte and Amelia ordered an Earl Grey tea. They grabbed two tables, Hermione and Harry at one and the adults at another.
"Are you ok Harry?" She asked him as she dipped her scone in her coffee.
"That's gross Mione." He scowled as he watched her dunking the scone once more in her coffee, a piece breaking off into the drink. She shrugged and took another bite of her food, she used the last of her scone to scoop out the fallen piece and eat it. "I feel betrayed, this whole time I thought of the Weasleys as a second family, to find out they've been stealing from me. I don't know what to believe. Were they really my friends or did they just want my money?"
"I think the twins were genuine, I'd like to think Ron was too but, honestly, he turned his back on you so fast I'm not sure. I don't know Ginny well enough, but I do know she's in love with the boy-who-lived and has been for years before meeting you."
"I guess we'll have to wait and see." He finished his scone and sat back. "So how are you feeling about America?"
"I always knew I was adopted so I knew I had family out there. I won't have to go to school like Paige as I'm almost done, having been homeschooled during the summers, so I'll be able to focus on my magical training more. It will also give me more time to figure out what type of college or university I want to attend. I won't find work in the Magical World so that means I should see what kind of career I want in the Non-Magical World." Harry looked thoughtful.
"Do you think I'd be able to go to school in the Non-Magical World too? I kept up with school reading during the summer, the only time I could leave the Dursleys is if I went to the Library. I didn't do a summer school program. I just read the stuff the other kids did for school." Hermione looked at her friend closely, he had bags under his eyes and worry lines etched into his young face from constant stress and she felt a surge of Anger at the magical world for what he went through year after year.
"Is that what you want, Harry, to come back to the Non-Magical World?" She asked, neither child noticed that the adults had stopped their conversation and were listening to them.
"I'm always going to be Magical Hermione, that won't change. But if there is some way for me to do a self study for my owls, then yes I want to go back. The Magical World has nothing to offer me. Aside from what my parents left me that is. It was a magical that killed my family, a magical that dropped me off like milk outside my Aunt and Uncles, a magical that threatened them so much they became scared and abusive. A magical that stole from me, a magical that attacked me every year since I stepped foot into Hogwarts and a magical that hurt my best friend and killed her parents. So please, tell me why I shouldn't leave." There was a moment of silence where everyone just digested what he had said. Amelia shared a look with Piper and Leo, letting them know she would figure something out for them. Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and squeezed.
"I'll help you Harry, we can study this summer to catch you up and if you really want to, maybe you can go to school with Paige, or homeschool like me." Harry smiled and nodded towards the adults who were getting up and coming towards their group. Amelia stood in front of them, dusting the crumbs off her fingers.
"I'm going to take my leave from here, Piper, Leo, all the documentation you'll need for anything is in the two folders I gave you. Hermione, Harry, I wish we met under more pleasurable conditions. I will be in touch but until then I wish you much luck in your training." She hugged the two teenagers. "Don't forget to take time to enjoy yourselves too though. You've both been through so much, have days where you focus on just being kids ok." They nodded and waved as she walked away.
"OK we'll do most of the shopping once we get home, but for now let's just get a few outfits for the two of you to last for a few days. Everything else we can get later." Piper said as she and Leo ushered them out of the Cafe. They walked down the street until they came across a clothing store and were ushered in by Piper. They spent about an hour shopping and by the end Harry and Hermione each had about a week's worth of shirts, pants, and underwear. Hermione had one pair of flats, one pair of trainers and a pair of heels that were too cute to turn away. Harry had two pairs of trainers. There were a few jackets that Hermione liked, but Piper told her to hold off since it was the end of spring and start of summer back home. She told her that by the time they needed coats they would probably have grown out of the ones she was looking at. When they were done they had gone back to the hotel. They got an adjourning room for the teenagers and decided to go home the following morning as everyone was tired, and Piper and Leo already paid for the night for their own room. Hemrione was currently watching a movie on the tv in the room she shared with Harry when overheard Harry talking to Piper who had just dropped some pizza off for them.
"When I have a chance to stop at Gringotts I'll pay you back for the clothes." He informed Piper. Hermione didn't notice, but both she and her sister shared the same expression at this moment.
"Harry, part of our role as your guardians is to take care of you, that includes buying you clothes when you need or want them." Piper told him.
"I just don't want to be a burden." he said softly.
"You'll never be a burden, Leo and I agreed to take you in, you were not forced on us in any way, and even if you were we would still be tasked with taking proper care of you, your relatives, whatever their reasoning, were wrong for how they treated you." She pulled him into a hug. "If it makes you feel better, each of your parent's set aside a fund to pay for monthly expenses as well as schooling. Like Hermione you have funding for both Magical and Non-Magical schooling, apparently your mother wanted you to attend university in the Non-Magical World after Hogwarts. It was in the paperwork Leo and I had to sign, and even though the Dursley's were not in the will, their transfer of Custody was official enough for Gringotts. That's what Leo and I were filling out at the cafe with Amelia. If you want, when we go home you can look over the documents.. You will never be a burden Harry, even if your parents hadn't set that aside, Leo and I would still have taken you in." Hermione smiled as she watched them share a hug. She was still smiling when she laid down and fell asleep.