When Harry crawled under his bed to get his cloak, and a few other prized things from under the loose floorboard, the first thing he saw was his glasses. He stopped moving for a moment and just blinked, then reached up to touch his face to be sure that his mind wasn't playing tricks on him after all the revelations of the morning. But no, he really hadn't been wearing his glasses this whole time, and yet he could see perfectly clearly. Deciding he just wasn't going to worry about it, he added them to the small pile of his belongings and crawled back out from under the bed.
"My trunk is downstairs in the cupboard under the stairs. Once we get it, we can go to Gringotts. But can you shrink it for me? I'm not allowed to do magic outside of school."
"Easily, but why are your things downstairs? Shouldn't you keep them in your room? Though considering what happened last night, I will admit that it was just as well they weren't here. Is that why your trunk is down there?"
Not wanting to get into his life with the Dursley's, at all ever, and especially not when his life had literally been turned on end, Harry just shrugged a little. "Yeah, something like that."
"Well, we could do this the normal way and walk...but it will be much more fun to travel by way of Air. And that way, you'll get a small taste of what it will be like to go as far as Gringotts. So come here Harry, this won't be quite like anything you've experienced before and you'll travel easier if you're close."
As Harry approached Ash, he was a little worried. After all, he had never quite gotten the hang of Floo travel, and he absolutely hated Portkeys after his experiences in the graveyard. Side-along apparition was not what he would call fun either. So he could hardly help but be nervous about Ash's comment about it being 'fun'. Especially considering that Ash's definition of 'fun' wasn't what he would consider fun for most normal people.
The moment he was close enough, Ash reached out one hand and pulled him closer, so close his small bundle of mementos were pressed between their bodies. And then she brought her wings forward and folded them around him like he was in a cocoon. It made him feel surprisingly safe. As though no harm would come to him as long as he was with her. Was this part of being a Guide? Or was it because they were both Demons? Harry didn't know, and wasn't really sure he cared as long as the feeling was a true one. In the next instant after that thought, he felt Ash bounce a little on her toes, and raise her right arm above their heads. With a snap of her fingers, a great wind blew up around them as though they were in the eye of a storm, and in the next second, they were suddenly standing downstairs right in front of the door of the cupboard under the stairs. The wind died away and Harry was surprised at how easy travel by Air was compared to any of the Wizarding ways of travel.
Shaking his head, he stepped back away from Ash and opened the door to pull out his trunk. The house was silent and he wondered briefly where the Dursley's had gone, but it didn't really matter as long as they weren't there to bother him or show Ash that he wasn't treated well here. Once his trunk was out of the cupboard, and the items from under the floorboard were added to it, Ash rapped the top of it with one knuckle and it shrank down to the size of a deck of cards. Harry pocketed it and then resumed his position for their trip to Gringotts. Traveling by Air was something he felt he could easily get used to!
This time when the wind storm died away, Harry saw a white marble room with no windows. It was on the small side, and didn't look like anywhere he had seen so far in Gringotts.
"Ash... I thought we were going to Gringotts next?"
"We are at Gringotts Harry. This is one of the receiving rooms for non-Wizards, the goblins will have been alerted to our arrival and someone should be here soon to take us to... wherever it is that you wanted to go here."
Ash released him and stepped back with a shrug. Truth be told, she was starting to get a little bored already and they hadn't even done all that much so far. It was most likely all the hours she had spent waiting for Harry to wake up, but that still didn't bode well for the immediate future as she was likely to find her own entertainment soon. Shortly after Ash finished speaking, the lone door in the room opened and a goblin walked in. He took one look at Ash and Harry and his eyebrows rose.
"We don't usually get your kind here, what business brings you to the Wizarding Gringotts instead of the one in the Realm?"
"There's a Gringotts in the Realm?" Harry's jaw dropped in surprise, maybe it wouldn't be such a hassle dealing with money in the Realm then. If of course, he was able to use his current Vault there as well as here.
"Well of course there's a Gringotts in the Realm! Who else has enough experience to do it?" The goblin crossed his arms and somehow managed to appear to look down his nose while actually looking up at Harry. "Now what do you want?"
Reading rightly that he was very close to offending the goblin, if he hadn't managed to do so already, Harry dropped his eyes and tried to get his mind back on track. Ash was examining her claws and not about to get into the middle of things.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you couldn't do the job or anything. I just came into my inheritance last night and as Ash keeps pointing out, I don't know anything much about Demons or the Realm or any of that yet. I wanted to check on my account, see how much money I have, and make a withdrawal. But if there is a branch of Gringotts in the Realm, is there a way to link my vault here with one in the Realm so I can use it in either place?"
"Who is your account manager?"
"I don't know sir. The few times I've been here, I just went up to one of the tellers and presented my key. Then they sent me down with someone in a cart, it never seemed to be the same goblins, and I didn't know my account had a manager..."
"Name?"
"Harry Potter."
That seemed to surprise the goblin once again, he just nodded and turned around heading for the door. "Follow me." Harry and Ash followed the goblin through a few twisting corridors until they finally came to a stop at a heavy-looking bronze door with a silver plaque that had Ragnok stamped into it. Knocking twice on the door, the goblin then opened it and waved them through, before leaving them alone with the goblin in the room.
"Yes? What is it? I am not in charge of any Demon accounts." The goblin who spoke was sitting behind a large, heavy looking desk made out of some rich dark wood that had been polished to a warm sheen. It was obviously old and had been in use by many goblins over the years. The goblin himself looked older, with greying hair and more wrinkles than most of the goblins Harry had yet seen. But his eyes were still sharp, and his hands never wavered as he put the quill he had been using back into the pot of ink in front of him.
"Excuse me sir. My name is Harry Potter, and the goblin who led us here asked who my account manager was. I didn't know I had an account manager, but when I told him my name he brought us here."
"Harry Potter is a wizard, not a Demon."
"I came into my inheritance last night sir, and woke up this way. I'm sure you have ways of proving I am who I say I am."
Ragnok considered Harry for a moment, then opened one of his desk drawers and sorted through the parchment it contained. Pulling out one sheet, he put it down in the middle of the desk and added a very sharp looking dagger.
"Three drops of blood on the parchment, and we shall see if you are indeed who you say."
A flash of Wormtail and the dagger in the graveyard flickered across Harry's mind, but he shoved it back and carefully picked up the dagger. It was heavier than it looked, but beautifully made. Carefully cutting the pad of one finger, he allowed three drops to fall on the parchment before putting the dagger back on the desk and taking a single step back. Ragnok cleaned the dagger with a handkerchief, and waited as the parchment glowed briefly and writing started to appear. Once it stopped, Harry was just able to see that it had his full name, and Demon status before Ragnok picked it up and hmmm'd as he read it, then put it back in the desk drawer.
"All right Mr. Potter. What can I help you with today?"
"I wanted to know if it was possible to make my vault accessible both here and in the Realm. As well as find out exactly how much is in my vault as I've never received any statements."
"We can give you a card that will allow you to draw on your account from anywhere, including muggle areas. But what do you mean you've never received your statements? We have sent them to you every month since you turned 11 and started accessing your accounts."
"I never got any statements. And what do you mean accounts? I only have the one vault that I've been using to buy my school supplies with."
Ragnok scowled, which looked particularly fearsome on goblin features. "You have your trust vault which was set up by your parents and is the one you've been accessing for your school supplies. It also automatically pays your tuition to Hogwarts every year. You also have the main Potter vault which has most of your parents money and heirlooms, as well as two vaults that were bequeathed to you by your godfather Sirius Black. They contain the Black fortune and heirlooms as well as anything else of value the Blacks decided to leave in the vaults instead of in their homes. You should have been getting statements every month telling you not only how much money you have, but what investments you have and all transactions going into or out of those accounts."
As Ragnok spoke, Harry's temper was flaring. He had four vaults? And no one had bothered to tell him that he had more than just the one, not to mention that he had never gotten a statement about them in his life. Just thinking about being able to go through the main Potter Vault and see what his parents had thought important enough to keep in there... he had so little that belonged to them, and all this time there was an entire vault of things his parents and other relatives had owned! There could even be a portrait of them in there. He might actually be able to talk to his parents, get to know them a little. At this last thought, the torches in the room flared higher with a muted roar, looking like nothing so much as miniature volcanoes of flame on the walls.
"Harry! Control it, do not let it control you. Calm yourself child, we will find out what has been going on I promise you. But right now you must get a hold of your Fire before it does any harm!" Ash grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him to he could see what he was doing to the torches. The sight shocked him enough that his temper died down momentarily and the torches gave one last fiery roar before settling back down to normal size and strength. Unfortunately, there were now black scorch marks on the white marble walls from his loss of control.
"Mr. Potter, I understand your anger. I do not know why you have not been getting your statements, or why you were not informed about your vaults, but I assure you I will get to the bottom of this matter. Do I have your permission to freeze your accounts while I look into this? They will still be accessible using this card," here Ragnok held out a flat metal card that looked remarkably like a muggle credit card that he must have gotten while Harry was lost in temper. "but no one else will be able to access your accounts until you choose to unfreeze them. Money can still be deposited, but nothing can be taken out unless by this card."
Ash still had one arm wrapped around his shoulders, and had brought her wings up partially around him as well trying to keep Harry grounded for the rest of the conversation. So he was able to take a deep breath and nod to Ragnok without a repeat of the loss of control.
"Yes please sir. Is there a way to forward my mail to the Realm? Ash wishes to take me there today and start my Demon training, but I don't want to lose contact with my friends or miss any more notices about my accounts."
"That is easily done Mr. Potter. We can have your mail routed to Gringotts and checked for anything malicious before having it sent to our branch in the Realm. Once there, someone will notify you and you can come pick it up. You can also send letters the same way, just take them to the Gringotts in the Realm and tell them you need them sent to this branch and once they're here, we will make sure to send them out for you."
"Thank you sir. That would be wonderful. Can I send a few letters today? There are a few people who need to know I'll be out of touch for a while."
"Of course Mr. Potter. Just address the outside to the recipient, and I will make sure they go out immediately." Ragnok passed Harry parchment, a quill, and the bottle of ink and waited while Harry wrote out three quick notes.
One to the twins telling them that he might be out of touch for a while, but messages could get to him via Gringotts. And to send Hedwig to Hermione so she had a way of getting a hold of people if she needed to. He had sent Hedwig off to the twins last night with a note, and as she hadn't returned yet, he was hoping they still had her. He didn't know if it was safe to take her to the Realm and wanted to be sure she was somewhere she'd be safe. One note went to Ron letting him know he was safe, but would be out of touch for a little while and not to worry. And the last went to Hermione, saying the same thing as Ron's but with an additional note asking her to keep Hedwig for him until he returned. Then he addressed them and handed them over to Ragnok.
"Thank you very much sir for all your help."
"Not at all Mr. Potter. I will get in touch the moment I learn anything about what has been going on with your accounts."
Ash stepped up behind Harry, and before he could say another word, she had enveloped him with her wings and snapped her fingers calling up Air to travel to the Realm.