A Witch, A Wizard, a Dog, and a Wolf walk into a Bank.
"I'm Sorry, but we can't allow you to bring that Beast into the Bank." A Silk Vested Goblin imposed himself in their path, pointing at the Wrysa.
Harry looked at Toto, at the Goblin, and grinned evilly. "Summon Barchoke, or We Make a Scene."
"Harry Potter!" Hermione dusted the back of his head. "No! It's bad enough that You just put one wizard in the Ground… We Don't need to pick a fight with some suit-wanna be."
"Wanna Be?" the Goblin drew himself up. "I Happen to be Throat-Slitter… Manager of House Malfoy Accounts."
"Well now." Harry squatted to be more on the Goblin's level. "That's unfortunate… I just bled Luci out like a common hog. The Main reason I am here is to name your Successor."
"Yeah Right!" the Goblin sneered. "I hold this position for Life!"
Harry Stood, and gripping the staff over his shoulder, "Exactly."
The Goblin never saw the Caged Ruby end of the Weapon that caved in his head.
Dead Silence.
Then a Wool Suited Goblin walked up. Harry recognized him as the Head Teller when Hagrid first brought him to Gringotts. "Boy, Do you know the Work you just made for us?"
"No Sir. But I did warn him. I asked him to send for Barchoke or I would make a scene. Now I was going to make a bigger scene, but my Aunty said no."
"You know our Customs?" the Goblin stepped back.
"Just what my Aunty has told me." Harry looked at a frowning Hermione.
"And I only know what was written by Obscurious Grey in his handbook 'How to Survive a Goblin Rebellion'." Hermione snorted. "Mostly it was a Propaganda Pamphlet on the Superiority of Wizards over Goblins littered with observations on how to get the most out of Goblin-Wizard interactions."
"I thought we got all of those." The Goblin snarled to himself.
"Sorry Sir." Barchoke arrived in a vest and ascot, having bolted from his Office once he heard that the Boy was in the Bank. He pulled up as he saw the mess on the floor, before glaring at Harry. "Both Ashraq and myself had requested certain books to be sent to the Boy… but Throatslitter himself objected. Had He allowed the young Lord… and his Aunty to have them, Lord Black would not be standing over the Former House Malfoy Account Manager."
"He used…" the Suit sneered.
"Should I have used my knife?" Harry asked. "I already know that you don't like Us throwing spells in the Bank."
Barchoke sighed. "Lord Potter, Please." He huffed, before straightening his vest and Ascot. "What brings you here… today?"
"Lord Malfoy challenged me for House Black." Harry wiped the head of his staff on the vest of the dead goblin. "He lost. I thought Gutripper would have…"
The Wool suited floor manager nodded. "That's why Throatslitter was here, to have you removed from the Bank before you could file the paperwork… Lord Black." He grinned, showing all his teeth. "Please… Just Not in the Lobby."
"Just glad that I know that Gringotts has my financial matters covered." Harry grinned back. "Barchoke, You…"
"We have a short list." Barchoke nodded. "The Books should be waiting for you when you get Home… as well as the bill for cleaning up the Lobby."
Harry sighed. "Fine… take it out of House Malfoy Accounts. Stop all outgoing payments, pending review. Send Grindstone all the relevant files for my stewards. Narcissa is holding the Malfoy Proxy. Should the Ministry try to take possession of Any of my Accounts… Warn them, alert Director Bones, and contact my Aunties. They should Know Who and What I am…" He turned and strode out the door.
On the Steps, he spun the staff, and opening a Gate, was shouldered aside as Toto shouldered past him to see his favourite toy.
:Kitten!:
"Just be glad that Trogg needed to give Chapa a foot massage." Hermione huffed as she crossed into the Caribbean Sands.
:Because He just got her pregnant...: Tish smirked as she pranced in the Witch's wake.
"What!" Hermione snapped about.
:Did I stutter?: The Kyree perked up.
"No…" Harry stepped through, allowing the portal snap closed behind him. "We just didn't know you could…"
:Smell her? Please… Even She probably doesn't really know.:
"What do you get a Mother to be, in the Grunn World?" Harry asked as he opened the Gate to the Stairs so Toto could run up ahead. Everyone else walked up the stairs.
: Things to ease the Gestation, They are similar to Humans… minus the carnivorous tendencies.:
"So… chocolate, dill pickles… fruits that are out of season, exotic, or just hard to come by." Harry snarked as he followed the two females up the stairs. "Things for the baby… "
He was interrupted by a panicking Toto… :Kitten! Gone!:
Harry jogged to the level of the House… it was quiet… empty.
"Winky?" Harry called out.
"Master Call?" Winky was standing on a bench across the yard from the group.
"Where is everyone?"
"Little Miss need new clothes. Mistress Em and Mistress Tah-tah took to Market. Mister Dan took 'flea-bag' 'Hunting'."
Hermione blinked twice as she translated the words.
"We will need to hit the market as well." Harry shrugged. He closed his eyes and pictured a corner that was empty in the Lobby of Gringotts Rio. A portal swirled open.
As the four of them crossed over, they were met by six trolls and four goblin guards.
Harry grinned as he worked his neck as if he was gearing up for a fight.
Tish snagged Toto by his collar, and pulled him to the side, where she sat to watch the show.
: Want to [play/hunt: Toto whined.
:No, Alpha is expressing dominion.: Tish pushed the Wrysa to the floor.
"Harry! No!" Hermione stepped in front of the Boy. She turned to the nearest Goblin. "Please have Grindstone summoned. Lord Potter and Aunty…"
"Something told me you would be coming today." Grindstone pushed through the trolls as he glared at the humans. "How can I get you to go away quicker?"
"Three hundred Euro, five hundred Dollars, and six hundred Real." Harry folded his arms, as he smiled at his Manager. "Pull the total from Potter."
"Six hundred fifty Galleons, pulled and exchanged. Wait Here." He pushed back out of the group of armed guards.
"Why do I get the feeling that if your Aunty was not here… most of us would be on the Floor while the Bank Burned?" the goblin with a crossbow asked.
"Allow me to introduce myself." Harry swept his tricorn conical hat off as he bowed to the Goblin. "Harkon James Potter, Lord of Potter, Lord of Black, Regent of Malfoy, and the answer to your question… War Wizard-mage… gauged close to Sorcerer Adept." He returned the hat to his head, before offering his hand to the Goblin, "My Friends call me Harry.
The Goblin swallowed as he stared at the hand in his face. "You are the crazy wizard that is in a Feud with the Director of London. Taking your hand could mean that I am aligned with you… refusing your hand…" He licked his lips.
"Taking his Hand, as he is recognised as a Friend of the Nation, would mean that you are the Goblin that we will be looking for should we be needed to help the Branch." Hermione sighed. "Unless you pick a fight with Black, Malfoy, Potter, he will back you, personally, versus any Wizard."
The Goblin swallowed, and shook his hand. "Spleenshot."
Grindstone was back, and he handed a bill wallet-pouch to Hermione and left. The four goblins hissed at the slight.
Harry raised an eyebrow at Spleenshot.
"He snubbed you." The Crossbow-Goblin sneered. "By giving it to her, he said that you were not responsible enough to hold on to the money. Proper procedure is to give it to you, and you pass it to the Aunty."
"Other than killing him… what are my options?"
"Depends on how insulted you are?"
"I want to… return the snub."
"The Female he is courting has expressed a desire for a feather fan." An axe wielding goblin leered
"So if I set her a Fan made of Coatl feathers…"
"Don't joke…" Spleenshot sneered.
Hermione facepalmed. "He is not joking." She looked up. "He should have something by next weekend."
"Can you also prevent that kind of travel?" A spear Goblin asked.
"Only my Adept rating allows me to open a Gate anywhere I have been before." Harry smiled at the guys. "It took about three Gates before I got the hang of it. As I understand the workings, a simple barrier matrix will stop anyone below an Adapt Mage." Harry turned and walked out the front doors, Toto at his hip, as the girls followed him into Rio's Magic District.
SPRB
Toto tracked 'Kitten' across the Market, while Harry and Hermione haggled over the cost of local chocolates, fruits, nuts, including a create of Pomegranates. They got a mix of fabrics from wraps and sashes to a full bolt of silk that Hermione said matched her eyes.
They made an appointment with a magical leather worker for some custom work next weekend…
Suddenly Toto froze, pointing at a group of females. Harry saw that two of the five were witches as another was a squib/muggle. The other two Harry did not recognize…
:Kitten!: The black lizard-dog bolted through the crowd, snagged the child by her harness, and ran off across the street. Once he was safe, he proceeded to lay down with her under his foreleg and began to give her a tongue bath.
Tasha, warned by the Mind Speech 'shout' gasped as a black blur snagged her daughter from her hand, and carried her off. Only because she knew that things connected to her Head of House would never hurt Daphne, and would not only kill to protect her, but slaughter anything that even spit in their direction. "Milord, what brings you by, today?"
Her deadpan delivery brought a smile to Harry's face as he stepped up and kissed her check. "I needed to talk to the old dog. The Goat is dead and buried. I put him in the ground myself. I put Cissi's Husband to the Cross." He kissed Emma's check. "When we found out that no one was home, we decided to shop for Trogg's second wife. Tish says that she is preggers. Being a Gorilla-shaman… we were collecting things that a pregnant human would like, minus the meat."
"What about her Protein intake?" Emma asked.
"If she wants meat… Trogg can kill a few of the more annoying Classmates." Harry shrugged as he watched Daphne try to push Toto's face away from hers.
"I don't know what scares me more. What you just said, or how you said it." Emma frowned at Him.
"What scares me is that all three of you are okay with a school that killing your classmates is a normal occurrence." Tasha never took her eyes off her daughter.
"It's not Normal like an everyday thing." Hermione, having exchanged kisses with Emma and Tasha, was examining the wares of the stall beside them. "Everyone knows who can do what, and only the most brain damaged would try anything with us girls. Because even the Headmistress cannot bring Him to Heel." Her thumb was thrust over her shoulder… straight at Harry.
"So… are you sleeping together?" Tasha smirked at Emma.
"Yes." Harry answered blankly, as he watched Daphne push Toto over… only to jump on him, trying to get him in a headlock. "Everynight. They had to write up a…" Hermione bounced a wooden bowl off his head.
"Unless during that time, the three of us use him as a big pillow. During that time, he hides with his elf after throwing chocolate at us." Hermione inspected the bowl she winged at him. "Nice. I'll take ten." She then began to haggle with the stall-keeper.
Emma frowned at him, "So… no sex?"
"Something about New Years… and I will need to brew a few stamina potions…" Harry grinned as Daphne locked her Headlock in place on the 'Dog'. He gave a sharp whistle, and Toto stood and trotted to his side… the child hanging off his neck… giggling, as he carried her to his Alpha.
As the Black Dog sat, Daphne released him to jump at Harry! "Kitty!"
Harry pulled her into his arms. "Are You being a good girl?"
"Yes!" the Child chirped.
"She has been a handful." Emma smiled as she tucked a bit of hair behind Daphne's ear. "But she has minded her manners. The Dog on the other hand… but Dan has taken him 'Hunting'. The Mutt seems to enjoy the K-9 Corp training."
Harry nodded, as he looked at Toto. "When We get back, I think I will have you run Knight and Toto through it too."
"I will tell Dan." Emma smirked.
"No Pack?" Tasha asked, tapping her chest where the saddle bag hung.
"Left it at Snow Point." Harry sighed, as he shifted Daphne to his shoulders. "It is too heavy for a duel. Besides, I didn't want to risk Tom hitting it and causing a reaction of nuclear proportions."
Hermione punched his shoulder. "Don't use the N-word." She hissed. "They will believe you."
"So… are we finished shopping?" Harry ignored Hermione hitting him.
"Considering that we are only buying her clothes so that she has something to wear out of the House, Yes. She spends half the time at home as a cat, and with the privacy offered… She often runs naked through the halls." Tasha smiled at her daughter.
"Okay." Harry turned to Hermione. "Do we have everything for Chapa?"
"We have enough for now." She patted the pouch on her hip. "If more is needed, we can always make another trip."
"Should we get something special for the Headmistress?" Harry turned to look at his Queen.
"Like What?" the Witch asked.
"Okay, Now hand over any money and valuables on your person, or the Granny gets it?" A thug grabbed Emma, a knife at her throat.
Out of the crowd behind them, six others also appeared, all with butterfly knives.
"Ask and you shall receive." Emma smiled before sipping from the coconut in her hand.
"Toto… they live…" Hermione smiled evilly.
: Take the knives only. [Image of the Headmistress] needs fresh Prey.: Harry sent to the Wrysa.
Emma snapped her fingers… and seven thugs of mixed magical heritage were on the ground, holding bleeding stumps that once held hands holding knives. Hermione drew her Vine wand and sealed the wounds, as Harry opened a gate behind them, only to banish them through it, and allowed it to collapse.
"Ah… Harry?" Tasha watched the black 'dog' unhand seven humans faster then her eye could follow, and then Harry just 'disposed' of them with the intent of feeding them to a monster of legend. "Just what did you do?"
"The Headmistress has had a slow year… and she has been very accommodating to my jumping back and forth. I decided to bring her some free-range livestock… unless you think I should have just killed them here?" Harry picked up the knives, before vanishing the hands to the void.
"No… Daphne does not need to witness that kind of violence just yet." She sighed. "Speaking of the Headmistress… don't you need to get back?"
"Yes." Hermione pulled out the wallet-pouch and handed it to her mother. "This should take care of everything else."
"Yes, next week, We are coming back. Hermione has been sharing her Chocolate stash, with five hormonal females. And I don't have room for more than me, Dobby, Toto and Star in our Hiding Den."
"Yes. Every three weeks, a ward goes up that prevents all females from accessing the lower floors." Hermione glared at Harry.
"And on that Note…" Harry set Daphne on the ground, kissing her crown on the way down. A Gate opened, and HArry stepped through. "Be a good girl… all of you!" He grinned.
Toto licked Daphne's face, as she laughed, before joining Harry. Tish sniffed the girl, licked her as well, and followed her ke'a'charDhorisha through the hole in space.
Hermione sighed. "More Magic than Brains. We should be back by Yule." She kissed her mom's check, "If not before, and odds are that we will be bringing his whole entourage." She kissed Tasha's cheek. "Make sure that they all know their Rights and Responsibilities. Sirius is the eccentric Uncle, Remus is the stuffy professor, Mom is the Grand Matron, While you are our Hostess. Harry put you in Charge of the House, but Mom is in charge of the Family." She ruffled Daphne's hair as she stepped back…
And the portal snapped closed.
SPRB
"Mister Potter." There was no warmth in the voice behind him, as he watched the seven one handed men crowding the edge of the pier. "What are they doing here?"
"Ah Headmistress." Harry smiled, but didn't turn away from them. "I wanted to get you something for all the slack you have been allowing me and my … following. No sooner than I give voice to this plight, these individuals tried to extort money and valuables from us, by knife point. One of them even grabbed my…" He looked at Hermione with a cocky grin. "Mother-in-Law."
Hermione hissed at him, her ears were out and plastered to her skull.
"So…" Adriana stepped around to look at the males. "You thought that you would feed them to me?"
"I thought I would offer you the option… most of the students have behaved … those who didn't are more blood splatter rather than blood bag. I thought you could do with some free range …" He waved his hand at the thugs. "Either way… they are not going home. Either you eat them… or I drop them in the middle of the Pond."
"You are getting a little … kill happy." The Headmistress frowned at the Lad.
"They threatened my Family." Harry sneered. "Only Because Kitten was on my shoulders, that I allowed Toto to unhand them, instead of just slaughtering them and vanishing the evidence." He Swung the staff off his shoulder. "Answer Headmistress, are you feeling a bit peckish?"
"Mister Potter." She paused for a minute. "Return to your Eleke, you have a worried Grunn looking to go on a rampage and something is wrong with one of his…"
"Chapa might be pregnant, and that is the one thing males have no handle on. We can help with getting females into that condition, and deal with the after issues… but these nine months… we are helpless." Harry Sighed. "And Trogg does not know how to deal with something he can't smash."
"Just what I need. A hormonal Grunn, and her Male."
Harry opened his mouth to say something… Hermione clocked him one across his jaw.
"Keep your tongue behind your teeth, and your lips shut." She snarled. "Speak those thoughts and …"
"Yes, My Queen." Harry bowed his head.
:What were you going to say?: Tish asked.
"Tell you in six months." Harry grinned at the 'Wolf'.
TBC