A/N: Hey everyone! Welcome to what is what I'm officially calling the last chapter of "Prisoner of Azkaban" next time we're together, we'll be starting "Goblet of Fire" and I couldn't be happier! There will be a really short hiatus (a month) between this chapter and the next, for me to finish the pre-writing on Year 4, as well as get a couple chapters written as a buffer. Moving on from that, enjoy the chapter!
Harry's birthday had gone well again. Once more, he and Neville had shared a party, and invited all of the Sphinx Club members, as well as a few other friends they had made. Following the party though, Harry and Neville were working some push-brooms to clear up some of the confetti they had set off.
"So, Neville. Have you been thinking about what you'll do when you become head of your house?" Harry asked, trying to be casual about it.
"I guess I have. I've known I'll have to do it my whole life, short of Dad miraculously coming back. I was hoping age would give me some more perspective on it, but if anything all I've gotten is more confused. What about you? I know it's only been dropped in your lap recently that such a thing is going to be your responsibility." Neville said, glancing over at his best friend.
Harry had been thinking about it, and it weighed heavily on him. Thoughts of ever being 'Just Harry' were far flung dreams now. At the very least he would need to be 'Mr. Potter, Head of the House of Potter' even if the 'Boy-Who-Lived' moniker would ever escape him. That had been a tough pill to swallow, but he'd managed it. "It's all I've been thinking about for a while really. Sirius told me sometime in August we'd be heading into Gringotts to make everything official, which is driving me a bit mad." Harry said, sighing a little. "It's a lot of responsibility all of a sudden. I want to help do good, and make a difference, but I'm just one bloke. One who still doesn't know as much as he should about the wizarding world. I just didn't grow up in it like you, so some things are still so foreign to me about it." Harry glanced around, before motioning to a candelabra in the room they were cleaning. "In the muggle world, that kind of thing would be a halloween decoration, or part of an historical exhibit. Here, it's just a light fixture. That's a small thing sure, but it's indicative of a larger problem."
"I understand. I get the same feeling when you've taken us to the muggle world. Everything is so alien. You guys can do things we never thought possible with magic, and it changes how you look at things. When you told us that man had gone to the moon? I thought you were crazy. But having both you and Hermione say it was true, and then us going to that museum and getting to see it. That was wicked. That adjustment, suddenly being made aware of things that seemed literally impossible, and having them be commonplace is bizarre. I'm here for you though, whatever you need. Although Parvati might be able to help a bit more on the actual politics side." Neville said, chuckling a bit.
"Thanks Nev." Harry said, rocking his shoulder into his best friend. "So, what have you thought you'd like to see happen?"
"Muggleborns being treated better." Neville said. "Hermione's probably the strongest witch I know, although the other girls in the club can give her a run for her money. It makes no sense that she should be seen as anything less than that. You haven't been around it much, but there is a very big anti-muggleborn sentiment. Even Gran, who is fairly progressive as far as a lot of the Wizengamot is concerned, still occasionally slips and thinks Muggleborns are lesser. As a Half-Blood, you're theoretically just slightly better, but you're the best in our year by a wide margin, and probably going to just keep getting stronger and stronger. Why should you be seen as any less than what you are?"
"Wow Nev. Thanks." Harry said, a bit flustered at the praise. Taking compliments for Harry was still a tad difficult. "Yeah, Ted had told me the kind of things that he had to go through when he was younger, and what he still has to deal with. Hermione and I had met a muggleborn shopkeep in Hogsmeade who said a lot of the same things. Making everyone feel equal? That's a cause I can get behind."
"Glad we agree on that. I'd have Hermione tear you a new one if you said anything else." Neville said, sticking his tongue out.
A few days later, Harry had been slightly unceremoniously dressed in some dress robes and brought to Diagon Alley alongside Sirius, where they made their way into the slightly askew centerpiece of the area, Gringotts bank. Goblin tellers were busy with various customers, shuffling around papers, coins, and other monetary ephemera as Harry walked by. He hadn't been here since his first year really, he had entrusted his trust vault key to Andromeda whenever shopping for school had been needed, as she always felt somewhat strange about using that money. While it had been set aside for Harry to use for school, the Tonks family was far from requiring the help to buy Harry's school supplies for the year. Andy was an excellent charms mistress, who brought in a hefty salary, and Ted's work at St. Mungos was equally as lucrative. Add in Nymphadora, who while not making quite as much as her parents as an auror, still could afford a comfortable life on her own had she chosen to. As such, while the Tonks weren't wealthy, they were certainly well off.
Making their way to one of the teller desks, Harry felt a number of eyes on him, goblin and wizard alike. He was getting better at handling this kind of attention, but still didn't enjoy it very much. Sirius thankfully noticed, and moved along quickly. "Hello. We have an appointment with one Hookclaw today?" Sirius said.
"Yes, I see, one Mr. Black and a Mr. Potter? Come along, I'll guide you to one of our meeting rooms." The goblin at the desk said. His nametag identified him as being named Scratchbit, which Harry secretly found somewhat amusing. Everything Parvati had told him about Goblins made them seem actually rather threatening, they were a race of warriors who had somehow made their way into the world of banking through their ability to provide excellent security. Their names were meant to represent power and danger, but Harry occasionally found them to be somewhat tryhard. He was smart enough to not let those thoughts show, since he wasn't one to talk, given his name was equally as ridiculous if one thought about it for too long.
The meeting room they were brought to was sparse, merely a short table with a few padded chairs nestled around it. "Hookclaw will be here in just a moment, he may need to grab a few files. Feel free to take a seat." Scratchbit said, as he walked off down the hallway.
Harry and Sirius sat down, Sirius taking out some files that he had brought with him. Harry had little idea what they were, but attempts to look over them caused the ink on the page to ripple into unfamiliar shapes. "What's that?" Harry asked.
"Oh, these are simply some financial records from when I was incarcerated. Trying to keep track of who has and hasn't been making payments for rent and the like has been a bit of a hassle, but I'm managing. You can't see these though I imagine. Goblin security spell from what I understand. They tie the ability to read the documents to the wizard and goblin who work on it, although an unenchanted copy exists somewhere in deep storage. You'll probably get some of these too, although I'll ask that you have me included in the ability to see them, so I can help you manage some of this stuff. That's your decision though. If you'd rather it be Ted or Andy, that works too." Sirius said. "Because of agreements made between the Goblins and the older Blacks, until I have you recognized as my heir, you won't be allowed to see any of these documents. Another reason I'll need to do it." Sirius said, shuffling through them a bit before placing them back into the folder he had gotten them out of.
"Are you certain about doing that? Shouldn't you wait a bit and see if you have a kid of your own first?" Harry asked.
"I'm very certain. Harry, I know you'll tell me that it's not the case, and you might even be correct, but I do still feel horribly responsible for what happened to James and Lily. Beyond that though, I'd give everything I can for you to live a good life, because I know that James and Lily would have done the same for my child if the situation was reversed. You being my heir won't make a big deal out of anything until I'm either dead or infirm, at that point I'd want you to have it all anyway. If I manage to actually have a kid, we'll have a talk about getting everything moved over to them, but until that point, I'd want it to be yours." Sirius said, a smile on his face. "Besides, since Andy's the oldest black sister, and you're her son, there's already a decent case for you to be able to claim the inheritance anyway, given you have the blood in you, as well as a direct family connection. You and that Malfoy boy are the ones with the highest ability to claim it, and all I'm doing is making sure you are at the top of the list for certain."
Harry smiled a bit. A lot of this was over his head, and he'd certainly have to have Parvati and Daphne give him a crash course in all of this. Hopefully they'd be able to make it easy to understand for him. A project for when school starts perhaps.
"Oh! Almost forgot. I got those tickets you wanted for the Quidditch World Cup. I didn't think you were that into the sport though." Sirius said.
"I'm not really, but Nymphadora is, and she desperately wanted to go. Several other of my Sphinx Club friends will be there as well. I like Quidditch, just not as much as those guys do. It'll be cool to see the finals in person." Harry said, smiling.
"Fair enough then. I was going to skip out on it, but I'm glad I don't have to! It'll be great to see a game in person again." Sirius said, as the doors to the conference room opened.
A goblin walked through the door, identified by his name tag as Hookclaw. He was tall for a goblin, making his way to be nearly five feet tall, which was a head over most goblins. He made his way over to the table, where he set his briefcase down and climbed into the chair. "Good evening Mr. Black, I take it this is Mr. Potter?"
"Yes it is, Harry, please allow me to introduce you to Hookclaw, he is the primary account manager for the Black family, as well as our goto Goblin for anything we need with Gringotts." Sirius said.
"A pleasure to meet you then Mr. Hookclaw." Harry said, reaching out to shake the goblin's hand. Hookclaw looked at the outstretched hand oddly for a moment, but then took it into his own and shook it. The goblin's skin was rough, though not calloused. It reminded Harry of old shoe leather.
"A pleasure to meet you then as well Mr. Potter. As it stands, I believe we should get down to business, as you humans tend to say: 'Time is Money'." Hookclaw said, as he opened his briefcase. "It is to my understanding that you wish to add Mr. Potter as the primary Black heir, is this correct Mr. Black?"
"That is the case, Harry is my godson, and should something happen to me, I would prefer that he receive the family estate, rather than it falling into someone else's hands." Sirius said, his tone more formal than Harry had heard him before. It seems even Sirius could be serious when the need arose.
"As I'm sure you are aware, the Black family heir must be of Black descent. Does Mr. Potter fulfill these conditions?" Hookclaw asked, bringing forth a small quillpen and a piece of paper.
"His grandmother was Dorea Black, one would imagine that should be sufficient." Sirius said, nodding to Harry.
"One would, I will require a small blood sample to validate this claim however. Mr. Potter, would you please provide a small blood sample? Here is a blade, as well as an alcohol cloth. A small drop will do, and then we can heal it back up quickly." Hookclaw said.
Harry looked over to Sirius who nodded, before taking up the knife and rubbing it down with the alcohol cloth. Harry also took a moment to rub the cloth on his finger, before poking it a small amount. A drop of sanguine liquid began to form on the tip of Harry's finger, as Hookclaw directed it towards the parchment he had brought out.
"Mr. Potter's lineage is proven satisfactory. I will finish the paperwork required for his heirship as soon as possible. I would expect to receive confirmation with the ministry within the month, assuming there is not some backlog." Hookclaw said, as he took Harry's hand in his and mumbled a short incantation, closing the small wound.
"That's wonderful. You have also received the message about Harry taking on the role of head of the house of Potter?" Sirius asked, as Hookclaw nodded.
"Yes, I have those documents with me as well. I am, of course, not the manager of the Potter accounts, and as such cannot provide any insights into their activities. I have however received permission from the current account manager Nagnok to begin the process today. Mr. Potter, I would expect you to receive some correspondence from him shortly in regards to the state of the Potter accounts." Hookclaw said, as he pulled out another sheet of paper. "I'll need your signature here. This form states that you are requesting to be acknowledged as the new Head of House Potter, in lieu of a previous head appointing you due to death or other outstanding circumstances. This also states that you agree to the necessary blood testing that may or may not be required by the ministry or Gringotts to validate that claim, and that knowingly attempting to claim said status without proper reason will result in punishment according to Ministry and Gringotts standards. You thankfully have no reason to worry about that last part, though you still need to sign it. Having done the test on you just now, I can confirm your Potter heritage, which means that even if for some reason you wouldn't qualify to be the Head of House Potter, you would suffer no penalty for requesting the position."
Harry read through the document to confirm what Hookclaw had said. While he was not the expert in legalese that Parvati, Hermione, Padma, and Luna had become in the past year, he had helped enough in the research to decipher that Hookclaw was not being deceitful about anything within the document. The language was clear, at least as clear as a legal document can be, about what was expected and what the ramifications of this were. Harry signed in the designated places, and nodded to Hookclaw. "Is there anything else required of me for this process?" Harry asked.
"It is possible that there may be the need for you to come in again for a second blood test, although that will be at the discretion of the ministry and your account manager. If your parents had come to Gringotts and had your blood test already completed, as many families do, then that may not be necessary. Would you like to have anyone else included in communications between yourself and Gringotts? Since you are aged 14, you are not required to have anyone else on your account although we do highly recommend it." Hookclaw said.
"Yes, I would like Sirius Black, Edward Tonks, and Andromeda Tonks neé Black on my communications, at least for the time being. They are my guardians, and I would like their input on decisions I may make." Harry said, nodding at Hookclaw.
"This will be done, as I do handle all of those accounts personally, I imagine I will be getting to know the Potter account manager very well over the coming years." Hookclaw said.
"You handle the Tonks accounts as well?" Sirius asked.
"Yes, since Andromeda was a Black, before being cast out, I was still in charge of her financial holdings. When she and her husband opened their joint accounts, it fell under my purview as well." Hookclaw said.
"Well, that is good to know. Thank you Mr. Hookclaw." Harry said.
"You are quite welcome. Is there any other business you would like to discuss today?" Hookclaw asked, looking to Sirius.
"A few minor concerns about some accounts, and checking on the reinstatement status of Andromeda and her daughter Nymphadora into the Black family." Sirius said, pulling out his files from before.
"Yes, I have filed the necessary paperwork with the ministry to have them reinstated into the Black family proper. I imagine there should not be many issues given that the order to do so came directly from the head of the Black family. They of course have been reduced in their role from before, so even though Andromeda is the oldest, she would be the last choice option for line continuation should something happen to you. Given your appointment of Mr. Potter as your heir however, I imagine that should not be an issue." Hookclaw said.
"Good, now about this 3% we own in Botski's Broom Tonic Company…" Sirius said, as he and Hookclaw began discussing business and investment things that Harry had little idea about. He paid attention, and made note of things he wanted to learn more about, but at the moment such information was beyond him. In time though, it seems things like this would be Harry's life. Discussions over interest rates and investments with the Goblins seemed to be an important part of a Head of a House, and as Harry was soon to be Head of House Potter, it is something he would need to familiarize himself with.
Hopefully not too soon though.