Chapter 14 burning the shadows
Harry pulled himself from sleep once his pillow started vibrating. It wasn't that it was particularly early, more that he had had a very late night. After the feast and the drawing of the champions, when their names had come out of the goblet and they had their meeting with Director Bones, he and Hermione then had to have another one with Fleur, the French witch he was somehow betrothed to, and who would be their partner in the tasks of the Triwizard Tournament. That meeting had quickly devolved into a shouting match between Hermione and Fleur with Hermione calling Fleur a 'French hussy', a 'boyfriend-stealing tart' and a liar.
Fleur had started their talk by telling Harry and Hermione how she and Harry had ended up betrothed. The Potters had a property in a small magical district just north of Nice, France, that they mostly used as a holiday home. Harry had apparently been born there, his parents choosing to be outside of Britain for his birth because of the dangers the war put them in. Fleur's family lived close to the Potters' holiday home and would often look after the place when no-one was using it. Not that that meant much as the place mostly looked after itself.
When Harry had been born, Lily, a new mother, had leaned on Fleur's mother Apolline a lot for advice on looking after a baby. Through this, Harry and Fleur had been introduced pretty young. When Harry's family was due to return to England, Fleur (being a little girl) had given Harry a peck on the cheek to say goodbye. That would have been the end of it but both he and Fleur had started to glow. According to Fleur, Veela all had a perfect partner somewhere. Most never found theirs, and some only found them later in life. Fleur, however, had gotten extremely lucky and had found Harry almost straight away and when she had kissed him they had bonded.
Because of this bond, Harry's father had drawn up the betrothal contract and her mother had signed it. After that, however, Fleur had never seen Harry again, but her mother had told her everything she knew about Harry. It had been at that point in the story that Hermione had started to call Fleur a liar. Harry could see where Hermione was coming from, the story sounded far-fetched. Yet a part of him didn't think she was being untruthful. Harry couldn't explain it, but he could just tell she was being honest.
Hermione was awake as well so Harry took the opportunity to kiss her, so that they could one moment before they got caught up in their plans for the day. They got dressed, left the Room of Requirement, and returned to Gryffindor Tower. They didn't even bother to sneak in; now that they knew Professor McGonagall already knew the two of them were sneaking out, they just didn't see the point. There was no way that their dorm mates didn't know already, and given that Hermione's roommates included Parvati and Lavender, two of the school's biggest gossips, Harry and Hermione's out-of-tower dates were probably the worst kept secret in the history of Gryffindor. Harry split off from Hermione to go up to the boys dorm so he could change his clothes and grab a few things from his trunk before returning to the common room to wait on Hermione.
"Hey Harry, you and Hermione missed one hell of a party last night." One of the Weasley twins said, and Harry turned to find them both behind him.
"Though I suppose the two of you had a party of your own." The other twin, Fred or George, added. He never could tell them apart, but Harry suspected that was in part because they switched who had what name so often not even the two of them knew which one had each name originally.
"You need to be careful mate, if McGonagall catches you staying out all night." The twins' speech was like watching a game of tennis.
"She will have your heads mounted in her office, as a warning to the rest of us." They finished.
"So how many think I entered myself into the tournament?" If there was anyone who knew how Gryffindor was reacting, it was Fred and George. Well, them and lavender and Parvati, but those two gossips weren't here right now.
"About a third," the left twin spoke.
"They are saying you needed to sign something with a blood quill to enter -" Right twin.
"So you must have had something to do with it -" Left twin.
"The rest don't think you would ever dare to call Hermione a half breed -" Right twin. Harry thought he should find a way to put the numbers one and two on them in invisible ink only he could see.
"Because your witch would probably castrate you if you did."
Harry laughed at that. While he doubted that Hermione would do him any lasting harm, she probably would make his life unpleasant if he referred to her in such a way. "I didn't. You know that, right?"
"Corse. We are a little sad our names didn't come out -"
"But we never thought you entered your name -"
"No way you would enter a competition knowing the drawing is on Halloween -"
"That day is definitely jinxed for you."
"And the anniversary of your big hero moment. Thanks again for that, by the way," Harry added.
That made a smile spread over each of the twins' faces. "It was our pleasure -"
"Yeah mum was right chuffed with us this summer -"
"Letter from McGonagall saying how we saved you and Hermione from not just some random madwoman but Bellatrix LeStrange -"
"Not that mum was happy LeStrange was able to get into the school -"
"She was cursing Dumbledore's name for weeks for not keeping and we quote -"
" 'That crazy murdering bitch, out of the school and away from my babies' -"
"It was annoying being referred to as a baby so much -"
"At least she dropped it when our exam results arrived -"
"Still don't know how we did so well -"
"I keep telling you it's because McGonagall caught us every time we tried anything for the month before the exams and made us study in detention -"
"But 5 O.W.L.s each, how will we ever live down the shame? -"
The twins continued to ramble, but Harry tuned them out because Hermione had just come down the stairs. Hermione didn't look happy, but Harry didn't exactly expect her to be, not after last night and finding out about Fleur. Hermione looked determined, like she was getting ready for a confrontation.
"You ready, Harry?" She asked.
He nodded, and she slipped her arm inside his and started to basically pull him to the great hall and breakfast. They sat down, with Hermione grabbing Harry's plate and starting to fill it with his favourites. Harry wasn't dense, at least not completely; he knew Hermione was clinging to him more to show the world (and more specifically Fleur) that Harry was taken, he was hers. Her selecting his favourite breakfast was a way to say that she was the one who knew him, she was the one who stood by him for three years now, and she wasn't going to give him up. Harry picked up Hermione's plate and filled it with her preferred breakfast, trying to reciprocate with his actions that he had no plans to give up on her either.
Harry was just pouring them each a cup of tea when Alison and Fleur sat at the table across from them. He offered to pour Ali a cup but she turned it down instead opting for coffee. He considered snubbing Fleur as a further message to Hermione that he intended to stay with her, but his manners won out and he offered to pour the French witch a cup. Fleur accepted, and he poured her a cup that she added honey to and started to drink without milk.
"So how do we be getting to London? That is where Gringotts is, right?" Fleur asked between her sips of tea. When Hermione had called Fleur a liar the night before, she had offered to send an owl to ask her father for a copy now of the betrothal contract. Hermione, however, had argued that a copy from the Delacour family was suspect, so Fleur had suggested they go to Gringotts. Apparently, Harry's parents had said that they would store a copy in a safety deposit box at the bank, and as the Delacour family couldn't have touched a copy in the Goblins bank there was no way Hermione could claim that that copy wasn't legitimate. Professor McGonagall, who had been with them during the argument, had agreed to take Harry, Hermione and Fleur to the bank today.
"We are floo'ing from Professor McGonagall's office." Hermione's response was abrupt and lacking her normal warmth. The four of them sat and ate in an awkward silence after that, and only Ali tried to break the silence. She was caught in the middle of it all, Fleur was a friend but Hermione was more like family, and yet she was now bound to compete against both in this tournament. In all, it made for an awkward meal.
-ϟϟϟ-
Harry came tumbling out of the floo and straight into professor McGonagall causing the two of them to tumble to the ground. Harry quickly got to his feet and helped the professor to her feet, apologising the whole time.
"Really, Mr. Potter, floo travel is not that difficult. You really need to learn to keep your feet."
"I am trying professor, but it's not like I get a lot of practice; that was only my fourth time using floo travel."
Hermione, who had gone through before him, pulled him away from the fire to make room for Fleur coming behind him and said, "Really, Harry, I was fine and I have used it less than you."
"That's just more proof that you are brilliant, Mione." Harry grinned at his girlfriend.
Hermione scowled at his obvious flattery, but she couldn't keep the small smile from tugging at the corner of her mouth.
Fleur floated out of the fireplace looking as if she had just walked through a doorway, a stark contrast with Harry's clumsy attempt. Fleur pulled out her wand and vanished the soot and smoke from her robes before asking, "So, where is the bank?" Her accent slurred her words slightly.
"This way." Professor McGonagall led them to the back of the pub and through the stone archway that led to Diagon Alley. The Wizarding shopping sector was just how Harry remembered it: colourful, bustling, and noisy. The only real difference was the complete lack of teenagers, which made sense as they were mostly all at Hogwarts. At the end of the alley stood a looming white marble building that was their destination.
They followed the stern Scottish professor into the bank, past a set of guards with disturbingly real looking weapons. Harry had expected that Professor McGonagall would lead them right up to the counter, but instead she just stood to one side near the door.
"Good luck Mr. Potter. As this is about family business, I can't help you any further so it's up to you. A word of advice: goblins don't like to be kept waiting. Be as clear and concise as possible when talking to them."
The three of them joined a queue of people waiting to talk to a goblin, and after a short time it was their turn. "What business do you have with Gringotts today?" The goblin sounded like he was already bored with the customers today and it was only a little past 10:00am.
"My name is Harry Potter. I recently learned that my late parents might have stored some important documents in a safety deposit box here at the bank. I need to find out if they did and I need to look at those documents if they did."
"Do you have a key or a box number?"
"I don't. Is that going to be a problem?"
"We have ways to check your identity and issue new keys, but there is a charge for the service."
"How much?"
"45 gallons for the identity check, and 30 for every new key that needs to be issued."
"30 Galleons just for a key!?" Hermione asked next to him.
The goblin looks down his nose at her. "30 galleons for a new lock and a new key. We can't exactly leave the old lock on a vault or deposit Box, can we? Not with the old keys floating around in Magic-knows-whose hands."
"I'll pay it if you need it." Fleur offered.
"No, I got it,'' Harry insisted. He didn't want to accept money from someone he barely knew, even if they were (as was starting to seem likely as the French witch hadn't lost any confidence since walking into the bank) betrothed. Harry was currently hoping that this was just all a genuine mistake. He loved Hermione, his bushy-haired, book-loving, cuddle monster that had stood with him through everything for three years. She had picked him up and helped him put himself back together after the Dursleys, she had given him a home, hell she had given him her family. The only thing that was keeping him from moving his relationship with her to a higher level was that 14 was way too young to consider marriage. It didn't matter what the parchment work said, Harry wasn't going to give up on his Mione so easily. "I'll take the identification test, and depending on how that turns out I will probably need at least one key. Do I need to pay in advance? If so, I will need to visit my vault first."
"You can just place your vault key in that bowl there and Gringotts can take the fee from your account directly." The goblin banker indicated a small metal bowl set into the customer side of the desk.
Harry dropped the key to vault 687 in the bowl. "Convenient." A trip to his vault wasn't exactly fast.
"Time is galleons." The goblin agreed and sent for a goblin to take them to an office where another goblin would perform the test.
Harry recognised the runner that was leading them deeper into the bank. "Morning Griphook."
Griphook eyed him as they walked. "I'm surprised you remember my name, Mr. Potter. Most wizards don't."
"The day I met you was kind of a big one for me. I learnt that I was a wizard that day. The whole day is burned into my memory, including the first goblin I ever talked to."
Griphook nodded and led them to a door, which he knocked open and then spoke to the goblin that was inside. However, Harry didn't understand a word of it, as they spoke in goblin. The goblin behind the desk in the room nodded and griphook left, saying "Good luck Mr. Potter, may your fortunes grow."
Harry was a little confused at the Goblins phrase. "Thank you…oh and yours too?" Harry added to the end trying to be polite.
GripHook didn't look impressed at all, and Fleur muttered something in French before saying in English, "Remind me when we get time to teach you how to be speaking politely with Goblins. I mean both of you." The second sentence delivered after Fleur saw Hermione was glaring at her.
"Don't keep me waiting." the goblin in the office snapped, so the three of them filed into the office and sat in the uncomfortable stools that were on the customer side of the desk.
"So which of you is looking for an identity check?"
"I am." Harry answered. "How do we do this?"
"Gringotts uses a mix of Goblin magic with blood magic to track who can rightfully claim access to a vault. You will need to give a small sample of blood and the magic will do the rest." He indicated a strangely-shaped clear crystal (probably quartz) on his desk when he mentioned a blood sample.
"What will happen to the blood after?" Hermione asked. "I know Gringotts has an excellent reputation, but Harry and I each just had a document signed with blood stolen and used against us. I don't want to risk something similar in the future."
"The blood is destroyed in the process so it's perfectly safe." The goblin replied.
Harry could tell Hermione was nervous. Normally when Hermione was nervous she would ask lots of questions, but right now she was holding herself back, knowing that the questions would only slow them from finding if there was indeed a contract. The crystal had an oval base and a depression in the middle, with a large, sharp-looking silver-tipped spike that came up in the center. The whole crystal had been carved in flowing curves, rather than the hard lines that were more typical of carved crystals.
Harry stood up and went over to the crystal, and after getting a nod from the goblin and hesitating for a second or two, he pressed the thumb of his left hand onto the silver spike. Blood flowed freely from the freshly opened wound as Harry winced slightly at the pain. A part of him wondered how he could be stoic when his uncle got out a belt, but still wince at the tiny stab to his thumb, but somehow it was different. The blood pooled in the depression and formed a small crimson moat at the base of a crystal tower. After a few seconds of bleeding, the crystal started to glow, and Harry felt a little magic heal his thumb and push his hand away.
The goblin rose from his (far more comfortable-looking) chair and collected the crystal, then opened a cabinet that was behind his desk, which was revealed to contain an intricate array of metal rods, bars, and pipes made of a variety of metals. Whatever the goblin device was, it was too complicated for Harry to understand it, at least not without studying it for a long time. The only part that looked understandable to him was a large brass plate that had thousands of squares carved into its surface, each containing a number. The goblin placed the crystal into a recess that fit it perfectly. Harry had expected the rods and bars to start moving or vibrating or something, but nothing seemed to be happening. He was wondering if something was wrong when a few squares on the brass panel started to glow.
One square glowed orange, but four more glowed green. The goblin took a quill and a bit of parchment and took a note of the five numbers in the glowing boxes before he returned the now-clean crystal to its place on his desk and closed the cabinet. Then he pulled a heavy tome from somewhere under his desk and began to search through it while referring back to the parchment he had just taken notes on, muttering in goblin as he continued taking more notes. The three teenagers waited for him to finish; it took ten minutes and the goblin had taken out another slip of parchment and written something on it, but eventually, he was done.
"Well, Mr. Potter, these results are quite interesting. I don't know why you have access to some of these accounts, but you clearly do. However, it's not my job to work out the hows and whys, I just verify accounts. You own three vaults outright and one safety deposit box, and you also have access to a vault you don't own. Take this and give it to Griphook, the goblin who showed you here. He will take you to one of the goblins who manage accounts; they will be able to issue you keys and sort everything out for you."
Harry stood and accepted the parchment that was being held out to him. "Thank you Mr uh… I'm sorry I never asked for your name."
"It's Bogknife, Mr. Potter."
"Well thank you Bogknife."
Harry was just turning to leave when Fleur spoke up, "May your family's horde continue to grow and may your vaults always flow. And sorry about my...company? I don't think they were ever taught goblin manners."
"None in Britain are taught the forms of courtesy anymore. Some," he looked at Harry and Hermione, "don't even seem to know they exist."
Hermione ĺocked on to the possibility of new knowledge. " I have never heard of them, maybe it's because Harry and I weren't raised in the magical world? Is there a book on the subject? Where can I get one?" Hermione fired off her questions in rapid succession.
"It's not my place to educate you, child. Try a bookstore. " Bogknife snapped at Hermione, but there was no real heat to it.
They left the office, and Harry (with Hermione looking over his shoulder) tried to see what the goblin had written on the parchment, only to find it was in a language that neither of them could read (but likely goblin).
Griphook, seeing that they were finished with Bogknife, came over to them and, after a quick exchange, took the parchment from Harry. After reading it the Goblin's eyebrow rose, and he started to hurry them up some stairs and deeper into the bank and through a twisting array of corridors that seemed unnecessarily complicated to Harry. So complicated, in fact, that Harry wasn't sure he could find his way back to the stairs.
Soon, though, Griphook was knocking on a door and walking in. "Gleamshard, I have one of your clients for you," he announced, and handed the parchment to a goblin that Harry guessed was Gleamshard.
Gleamshard looked at the parchment and nodded. "Very well. Mr. Potter, come on in and take a seat, and we will see about sorting this out."
They filed in and once again found the same uncomfortable stools that had been in Bogknife's office and sat down. The goblin went to a filing cabinet behind him and, after rummaging about for a second, pulled out a folder and opened it on his desk. As it opened, Harry saw the name Potter on the cover of the file. Gleamshard started to search through the numerous pieces of parchment, and the more he looked the more Harry got nervous, as Gleamshard's expression kept getting more and more annoyed the more he read.
Eventually, he looked up at Harry. "Well, this seriously is a mess to sort through. Let's start with why haven't we met before? Why have you forfeited your obligation to the bank as the head of the House Potter? We have sent you seven requests for a meeting, and not only have you not responded to those, you haven't responded to any mail we have sent you since 31st of July 1991. Why shouldn't I fine your accounts for wasting our time?"
Harry gulped, he had never received any mail from the bank; if he had, he most definitely would have responded because he needed to keep the gold in his vault if he was going to keep paying for Hogwarts. Yes, the Grangers would probably help, but a thousand Galleons a year was a lot of money, he couldn't ask Dan and Emma to pay that. "I haven't ever received any mail from Gringotts. I promise you, if I had I would have responded immediately. I don't have a huge pile of gold once I finish paying for school, I wouldn't risk upsetting the people who have control over it. I need that education."
Gleamshard looked at him disbelievingly. "Don't lie to me, wizard, that will just make me more likely to fine you for every Knut you own."
"I'm not lying. I have never received any mail from the bank."
"If I may," Fleur interjected clearly but not harshly. "I am Fleur Delacour, eldest daughter of Sebastian Delacour. We have been trying to contact Warlock Potter as long as you have, but we never received a response either. When I talked to him over the last few days he seemed genuinely surprised, he didn't recognise my house nor did show any indication that he was aware of the business between our two houses. The reason we came today was to try and find the Potter copy of the contract to prove my claims. I believe that he has a mail redirect on him, that he is not in control of, but also not knowing about until now."
"And why would someone put a redirect on his mail?" Gleamshard asked dubiously.
"You are aware of his history right? How many of the followers of the idiot who messed up his French nom de plume, were able to escape the authorities? Maybe whoever did it was trying to protect him from hex post?"
"That would make sense, but why wouldn't his guardians inform him of the ward."
"Because they wouldn't have known. I grew up with muggles." Harry explained, and Fleur gave a slight hiss at the word muggle.
"I meant your magical guardian," Gleamshard clarified. "They would have to approve the ward, so they must know about it."
"I don't even know who my magical guardian is."
There was silence when Harry said that. Hermione already knew, of course, but the other two were stunned into silence.
"Do you mean to tell me you have had no contact at all with your magical guardian?"
"Not that I know of, it could be a witch or wizard I know or have met, but no one ever said or acted like a guardian to me. I didn't even know magic existed until I got my Hogwarts letter on my eleventh birthday. My magical guardian, if I have one, never checked on me, never told or taught me anything, and I knew nothing about a mail ward until a few moments ago." Harry explained then added as an afterthought. "Thanks for the heads up on your suspicions, Miss Delacour."
"I didn't think of it until you mentioned not receiving any mail from the bank, Harry." Fleur replied stiffly.
"I will have the mail ward investigated, it is a crime to interfere with Gringotts mail. It's one of the few laws your ministry actually got right. The ward will need to be removed, but until then you will need to come to the bank regularly to check if anything is needed. Once every six months should cover it." Gleamshard explained, now seeming less hostile than he did after reading the parchment. "So you said you were looking for a stored contract?"
Harry nodded. "Yes, we were wondering if my parents had a safety deposit box at the bank?"
"They did. I can have a runner retrieve the box for you. Do you have the key? If not, we have already confirmed the deposit box is yours so we can issue a new key but it will cost you thirty galleons." He indicated the parchment that had the list of Harry's vaults in the bank.
"I will need a new key. I never received the old one."
"We still need to charge you. A new key means a new lock and it's not Gringotts' responsibility to shoulder the cost."
"That's fine. I'll pay it." Harry agreed.
Gleamshard excused himself from the office for a moment before he returned and took his seat. "I have sent a runner to retrieve the deposit box, it should be here in about twenty minutes. In the meantime, we can discuss what Gringotts was sending you letters about. You have to state whether you wish one or both of your companions to be present for this discussion."
Harry considered his options. Hermione wasn't even a question, he would trust her with everything. No one had earned his trust more than her, and she had his absolute trust. Fleur, on the other hand, he wanted to leave. He didn't know the French witch, trust wasn't even on the cards. Yet, a small voice whispered in his head that Fleur had something neither he nor Hermione had. "I trust Hermione, but neither of us were raised in the magical world...we may need Fleur's advice. I would request they both stay."
"Very well. Gringotts would like to know why you haven't accessed your family vault yet. We need to ensure you receive something that was entrusted to us. We need to discuss your business arrangement with Ollivander's, and you have been named in two wills that have been executed and we need to complete the transfer of access to you. This is why the identification process said you own three vaults."
Harry didn't know where to begin. He assumed the wills were his parents' wills, but what about him never having accessed his vault? "I have been to my vault before every school year to buy what I need for Hogwarts."
"Not according to our records. Can I ask the number of the vault you have been using?" Gleamshard asked politely.
Harry pulled his vault key from the little pocket in his wand holster where he also kept the key to his school trunk and held it up. "Vault 687. Hagrid gave me my key on my eleventh birthday."
Gleamshard looked at the key to analyze it. "I will have to check to know what it is for sure, but vault 687 is not the Potter family vault. It's not a vault for any family. All the 600 vaults are Ministry vaults."
A/N
hey everyone. i hope you are all still enjoying the fic. I was looking this morning at the fics stats and between FF and AO3 it looks like I have over a thousand readers O_O
so a few new things going on first I'll give you all a heads up even with all the new accounts harry is learning about don't expect me to make him rich my vision for harry is distinctly middle class. enough money that he can be picky and do a job he wants but he will still need a job.
please don't forget to leave a comment I love reading what everyone thinks and if you have any questions I usually reply (sometimes i forget.) and in answer to the main question I have had for this fic 'were is Sirrus' he wont be long now