Arriving at privet drive feeling a little nauseous after the horror that is the night bus, Harry made his way to number four and knocked. After a minute the door opened to reveal his uncle red faced and scowling. "It's about time boy! Your freaky friends are keeping you out past normal times." Harry just ignored the fact that Dudley wasn't home yet and it was still light out.
"Sorry uncle Vernon." Harry was surprised how easily he melted back into being the Dursleys' freak nephew. Harry wanted to be left alone this summer so he decided to try something he worked out while on the run. Imbuing your voice with magic will make the person agreeable to what you are saying. It's not as strong as a compulsion nor does it take away free will. It basically makes you very convincing. "Uncle Vernon, why do you keep me in the house? I'm taking up Dudley's second bedroom. wouldn't you like to be a family of three. If you could keep me somewhere that wasn't in the house you could have that. No freak around to ruin it." Harry gave a pointed look to the large shed in the back garden that he knew was practically empty. They bought it to look good to the neighbors. Vernon followed his eye line and while he was looking away Harry went to the stairs. Without using magic he spoke.
"I'll just go to the room and stay there." Vernon's head whipped round and Harry got one foot on the stairs before he was roughly grabbed and pulled towards the back door.
"You will do no such thing boy! I am done having you and your freakishness in my house. You are not permitted to step one foot in this house again. Considering you managed to get yourself here you can get yourself back in september. Until then." he opened the door to the shed. "You stay in there. I don't want to be reminded of your existence." he shoved Harry in the shed and shut the door. Well that worked. Hopefully this should prevent some of the beatings and the chore list. However he could have done without the manhandling. he slid the shed window open and whistled. A second later Hedwig flew in, perched on his arm and nuzzled his cheek. Harry got her cage out and she hooted in displeasure. He put a hand up to stroke her breast. "It's just for you to perch on, you don't have to go in it." she gave a hoot of approval, and glided over to sit on top of it. Putting his trunk against the far wall he opened it and went inside.
A few hours later he was exhausted. Harry had been putting the books away and didn't realize just how many he had until he was having to sort them by magic type. Half way through he pulled out a piece of parchment and began writing what categories were in what compartments hoping that it would make things easier. Deciding he was done for the day he went into the bathroom to have a shower before going to bed.
In the weeks that followed Harry got used to living in the trunk; he went back to the shed every now and then to see Hedwig but otherwise stayed where he was. On the fourth he made sure to stick a mandrake leaf to the roof of his mouth. He had ventured to Diagon a few times since and now had all the ingredients for the rest of the animagus potion. He would have the transformation before going back to Hogwarts. During the rest of his time he had slowly been making his way through his books. He felt like he was learning very little, the fog was still present.
Soon enough it was the 31st of July and Harry was walking up the steps of Gringotts. He nodded to the goblin guards who gave a deep bow of their heads. Harry as well as a few others who saw went wide eyed but continued into the bank. immediately he was approached by the same runner goblin as last time. "Heir Potter you will follow me to Gold Tooth." Once at the doors to the office he turned to leave but before he could go Harry spoke.
"Thank you Iron Fang." Harry walked into the office and was waved to the chair.
"Heir potter, do you understand why I asked you here today specifically?" Harry just shook his head. " Are you aware of the last of line clause?" Another shake of his head. "You are the heir apparent to the noble and most ancient house of Potter. Normally you would claim your Lordship at 17, however you are the last living Potter which inact's the last of line clause allowing you to claim your Lordship at 13. A lord can not be a child so in magic and law you will be seen as an adult." Harry had many questions. first being; Lordship? the Second, if he was considered an adult that would mean no guardian and that means no one can sign a contract on his behalf. right?
"Does that mean I would be my own guardian and Dumbledore wouldn't be able to sign anything on my behalf like say a marriage contract?"
"Yes, if he signed something as your guardian, magic would reject it as fraudulent and mark it as such."
"And this means i can have access to my accounts without alerting Dumbledore?"
"Yes. I am fairly certain this will be the case, however if the last of line clause is not active meaning there is another potter out there it will be a problem, and the only way to find out if it is active, is if you take a heritage test, but if its not active you would have already taken the test and we would have to inform your guardian." He bit his lip. it was a bit of a risk but Harry thought it was worth it.
"I would like to take the test.? Gold Tooth nodded and started pulling things out of his desk drawer. Pushing a small ink pot, and a golden quill carved with runes over the desk towards Harry, Gold Tooth spoke.
"Prick your finger with the tip of the quill, and put seven drops of blood into the ink." Harry did as told and waited. A thick piece of parchment was slid across the table. "Now place the quill in the ink. You see the rune in the top right corner of the parchment." Harry looked to the corner. It was very subtle but Harry saw it so he nodded. "Now pick up the quill and let one drop of ink fall on to the rune and put the quill back in the ink." Harry did as asked and watched as the runes on the quill turned red and in an instant the quill was writing across the parchment.
Gold Tooth leaned over and nodded once. "Good. Now that we know you are who you say you are we can proceed. There are two other tests I believe we should perform. One is very simple, it's just matching your name against any bequeathments. being the boy who lived, I believe there must be a few things." Harry nodded and Gold Tooth pulled out an ice blue crystal tablet and wrote Harry's name on it. After he placed a piece of parchment into a groove in his desk and placed the tablet on top then pressed his hand to the center and said a few words in gobbledygook. He set the parchment to the side and spoke. "The last test is to test your magic. This will tell us the level of your magic, the amount you possess as well as whether there is any magic on you that is not yours and what that magic is." Harry thought about the fog clouding his mind and quickly nodded.
"I am aware that there are spells on me and I would like them off. Would Gringotts be willing to remove anything that may be found." Gold tooth nodded slowly.
"Most would want their own kind to treat them for such delicate matters."
"I don't trust them," Harry shook his head and looked at his hands in his lap. Were he looking up he would have seen genuine shock and appreciation on the goblin face. However it was quickly masked and Gold Tooth caught his attention again by placing a large red crystal ball in front of harry.
"I need you to place your hand on top of the crystal. This may feel uncomfortable, but it shouldn't hurt. It will be scanning your magic, which can feel very invasive." Harry nodded and placed his hand on the crystal. Gold Tooth wasn't wrong. It was invasive. It felt like someone had stripped him down and was running hands all over him. When it was over he pushed the crystal away from him. Gold Tooth smiled at the action and transferred the information from the crystal ball onto parchment, the same way he did with the tablet. The quill that had been writing this whole time stopped writing and fell on to the table. "I suggest we start with the heritage test."