Harry and Holly Potter were relieved to get into London. At this time of night, the London Underground was getting busier as more and more people were heading home, going to bars and clubs, and so on. Harry tightened his grip slightly on Holly's arm, not enough to hurt her, but to keep her close; he had cast a notice-me-not charm on them both, and he'd taken the precaution of putting their trunks into his backpack for extra protection, but it was slightly redundant since they were both largely unseen, but Harry was not going to let anything go to chance, here.
The siblings had largely cheated on the way to London, wondering what their new family was going to be like, but while Harry hoped the MACUSA Potters were nicer than their British relatives, he was going to take a 'wait and see' approach.
The Potter siblings also chatted quietly even though largely the train was empty, about their new school, Ilvermorny. They debated on which of the Houses they'd both go into; Harry already hoped he went into either Thunderbird or Horned Serpent; Thunderbird because he had enjoyed the few adventures he'd had before Holly arrived at Privet Drive, and Horned Serpent because he loved learning, and discovering new things. But he wouldn't say no to Wampus, the house of Warriors.
Harry had never seen himself as a warrior; he preferred outthinking people, and he had prided himself on using his brain, which he honed by reading dozens of books, to get different ideas, rather than blundering in, but there was something attractive about the House.
For Holly, Harry was uncertain which House she'd go into, although he had a feeling it might be a choice between Horned Serpent, given how he had encouraged her to learn and to enjoy creative hobbies as the Dursleys would think them too stupid, and Pukwudgie because of her peaceful and sweet demeanour. Deep down, though he genuinely did not care which House they went into, Harry just wanted them to have good lives.
It didn't take the Potter siblings long to get to Charing's Cross and make their way down the street to where the Leaky Cauldron was, but as they walked down the street, they were surrounded by a band. Harry instantly tensed, instinctively wrapping an arm protectively around Holly.
"You lookin' at me?" One of them snarled.
Holly cuddled into her brother, making herself as small as possible. Harry hated the reaction instantly, and he instantly prepared for a fight. He winced inwardly with a sigh, seeing that they were going to spoil for one, no matter what. And he was annoyed because they were going to slow them down when they could be leaving this country tonight. Slowly and carefully, as they were spoiling for a fight, Harry studied all of them and he saw for himself they were teenagers.
"No, we're not," Harry said.
"What are two kids doing here then?" Another one of them said.
Harry glanced between all of them. There were four of them and they were only slightly older than himself, and a great deal older than his sister. "Nothing to do with you," he sneered.
He knew however this looked, there was going to be a fight and a half. He prepared himself, going through all the spells he had picked up from those books on the Dark Arts and everything he had learnt beforehand.
One of them waved their hand, and a knife appeared there. Holly whimpered as she saw it.
Harry's temper flared. The thugs fell to the ground and they began screaming in agony.
"W-What's going on?" One of them got out in between his screams.
"Whazz happening?" Another choked out.
The guy with the knife had rolled over on his back and found himself looking into Harry's coldly satisfied eyes, while Holly turned and looked down at him, staring dispassionately. "I-It's them! These two freaks!"
Harry's eyes flared green, and Holly's weren't that far off. With a wave of their hands, the gang's heads flew to an unnatural angle and there were sickening cracks.
"We can't leave them like this," Harry said as if he had just given out a free book.
"What are you going to do?" Holly asked, pleased she was no longer scared although she was angry with herself for freezing up the way she had and leaving her brother to do everything.
Harry waved his hands again, mentally envisaging the vanishing spell. Quickly the teens just vanished.
Calmly, Harry led his sister along the pavement. Holly relaxed quickly, no longer bothered or scared by the fact they'd just committed murder. Nor did either of the siblings care about the teenagers who just attacked them. They didn't care if the teenagers had friends or family, who would be looking for them. They would never find them, not ever.
To Harry and Holly Potter, the teenagers had just tried to attack them and had gotten in the way. Nothing more.
Xxxx
The Potter siblings got to the Leaky Cauldron. Just before they were about to enter, Harry placed his hand gently on Holly's shoulder, to stop her from walking inside.
"What is it?" Holly said.
"I don't want us to be seen," Harry said, "think about it, two kids off the streets. I want this to be done as quietly as possible."
Holly blinked at him, but she followed her brother's example and applied the notice-me-not charms to themselves; now they had a better degree of knowledge and control over that spell, it had become even easier to use.
To their surprise, the place was still open and there were still patrons inside it. They saw one of them reading a book, absently spinning his index finger over a spoon in a steaming mug. Harry chuckled and pointed to the patron, and Holly giggled slightly, recognising the same trick her brother used from time to time, to mix their teas.
It didn't take long for the Potter siblings to make their way down to Gringotts. After giving their details to a teller, they were quickly escorted to Bloodbringer's office.
"Ah, Mr and Miss Potter," the goblin said, unconcerned by the fact the two children had made it here to the bank without anyone escorting them, "welcome back."
"Hello, Senior Account Manager Bloodbringer," Harry said as he sat down with Holly. "May your enemies have their nipples and genitals chopped off and stewed in their own pee," he added. The goblin blinked at him for a moment, before he chuckled.
"Indeed," Bloodbringer nodded appreciatively, noting that Holly giggled at her brother's words and wondered if the girl understood what he meant or not, but he guessed she did as she had shown her intelligence before. "Your American relatives will be here soon."
"Do you know when?"
"They will be arriving tomorrow morning."
"Wow," Holly said, smiling at her brother, "great timing."
Harry smiled back before he turned to Bloodbringer, and his smile faded and his expression became all business, "Will our parents be present?"
Bloodbringer leaned back in his chair and sighed, "I'm afraid so, Mr Potter. However, since your parents abandoned you, they are required to….sign you over."
Harry frowned, not liking the sound of this at all. From a certain perspective, he could understand the point and the reasoning behind it all, because in a way his parents were still his parents and in a way they were supposed to be responsible for himself and Holly.
Speaking of Holly, his little sister had worked out the bad news, and was now clinging onto her brother desperately.
"I don't want to go back to the Dursleys, Harry!" Bloodbringer and Harry could both hear the fear in the little girl's voice.
"Can they stop this?" The last thing he wanted was for the Potters to meddle, to stop them from leaving; or worse, send them back to the Dursleys, and ruining their lives.
"It's too late for that, Mr Potter," Bloodbringer had and would never realise how much that affected both Harry and Holly, but he guessed, "Your American relatives have received the memories, and they've already made the arrangements needed to take you in. By the time your parents find out and see the memories, and how your muggle aunt signed you away, they will have lost their say."
Harry wondered if that was true.
Bloodbringer's tone became more annoyed as he recognised the scepticism on the boy's face. "Mr Potter, when you and your sister were left to the Dursleys, you were given away, they essentially signed you away. This is purely a formality. Yes, they will likely try to regain guardianship over you, when they realise what's happening, but the chances of that happening are low when they see the memories and that they have no say over this matter."
Harry and Holly shared a look.
While Harry had managed to mitigate the worst of the abuse when Holly came along, sometimes the Dursleys had lashed out when their anger had taken away their common sense. Holly had learnt quickly to never be alone with them and to never ask them for anything. And Harry had encouraged her to not only learn about her powers but to practice them to protect herself. He had made it clear to never, ever be afraid to use her powers against the Dursleys.
But she had been slapped a few times. Harry had been beaten many times before.
The siblings had given the goblins and their American relatives and their solicitor hundreds of memories; Harry had included a copy of the Potter's letter, and a rock-hard account that made it clear the Potters had never bothered to visit them to check on them.
Harry didn't know, didn't care why the Potters hadn't bothered to visit but there was no excuse for their actions. A part of him was hopeful the Potters were knocked off their pedestal when they arrived, but he was frightened of what could happen.
Both Harry and Holly had given memories of their worst moments at the Dursleys; Holly had given several involving Marge and her dogs and how Dudley, Petunia and Vernon had done nothing; Harry had given memories of being starved, beaten at the house and at school, how the neighbours treated him, how the Dursleys lied about him, forced him to work and to feed them.
"Have the American Potters seen the memories, Senior Account Manager?" Harry asked.
"They have. By all accounts, they were not impressed."
Harry had a feeling the goblin was being diplomatic since he stressed the word impressed.
