A/N- I am over whelmed with your support, guys. This chapter is perhaps the longest yet but I did not have the heart to shorten its length anyhow.

This chapter has been updated and very little changes which were necessary have been made.

Disclaimer- I do not own the raven haired wizard or any of his exploits. JKR holds her rights over him. I am trying to have some fun.

Gringotts Bank

Harry and Harsh Vardhana appeared in Diagon Alley in an empty side-street. From there, they strolled quickly to the bank. This was Harry's third visit to the Bank in 4 years and he was still amazed with the money he had seen in his trust vault and to know that he owned perhaps more than this was unbelievable for him. Though now that he thought about it, he should have inquired about his family more deeply. But then, he was just a malnourished kid who was feeling overwhelmed with everything that had happened to him, knowing that magic was real, knowing that his parents were heroes and that he was a celebrity to thousands of people he did not even know. All of this had a cumulative effect on him making him feel so overwhelmed that he chose not to ask questions. And even though Hagrid was friendly enough, he still felt intimidated by the half-giant at the time.

As they approached Gringotts, he heard alarms blaring in the bank and all the goblins in a frenzy of activity. Harry did not know what was going on. To him it looked like they were preparing to defend against some sort of attack.

Harsh grabbed his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Put on your heir ring, Mr. Potter. If the things go bad with goblins, at least you will not be harmed considering you are one of their most rich clients."

Flummoxed and wanting to ask questions but choosing not to, he fished his ring out of his robes and put it on his ring finger. As soon as they neared the Bank, an entire battalion of Goblins armed to the teeth with swords, hauberk and axes, clad in mail blocked their way. The leader of the battalion was dressed in golden armour, an armoured helmet clamped firmly on his head, approached them while the other goblin soldiers stood guard at the gates of the bank. Harry could see that they were scared. What they were scared of, Harry could not guess.

The leader approached them and in a high pitched but commanding voice said, "you are not allowed in the bank, wizard."

Harry was surprised. The goblins had never stopped him from entering the bank before but then he realised that the leader was addressing Harsh Vardhana. Harsh was frowning at the goblin, "May I ask why am I being restricted access to your halls?"

"By the order of Lord Ragnok, you are barred from these premises. Any attempt to enter contrary to that order will be considered an act of war", he snarled.

"I would never resort to killing anyone, noble goblin", Harsh replied, amused at the bravado of the goblin, "however if it does not assure you then you can go fetch this Rug Nut (Harry snorted) so that I may talk to him."

The goblin was seething in anger at the apparent disrespect shown to their leader which showed in his tone, "You shall not insult our king. You say one more word and I will cut you down where you stand.". To underline his threat, the goblin raised his sword showing that he would be happy to put his words into action but Harsh was not deterred. He simply smiled, "You think you can stop me, Goblin? Do you have an idea of who I am and why your nation is in a tizzy seeing me here?"

The goblin frowned at him as if this was something new to him. He was a soldier who followed orders and did not question them. He sneered at Harsh, "It is not my duty to ask questions but to follow orders and my orders are to stop you by any means necessary."

Harry, who had had enough of this talk, snapped at the goblin, "I am Harry Potter, heir to the Houses of Potter, Peverell and Black. This wizard here is accompanying me and I have urgent business at the bank. If you delay me any further, I will make sure that your head rolls for all the loss that you are causing me with your posturing."

While the goblin looked at him suspiciously, Harsh prodded Harry to show his heir ring which Harry promptly shoved into the goblin's face. When the goblin saw the ring, his eyes went wide and his face went pale for a moment. Then, barking an order at the other soldiers in Gobbledegook, he went inside. He returned a few minutes later accompanied by another regal looking goblin clad in goblin silver armour, a gleaming sword at his side and a shield studded with gems on his arm.

As the goblin approached, Harsh stepped up to the new goblin addressing him, "Rugnut, how good to see you."

Ragnok who was visibly annoyed, barked, "what do you want wizard? Have you not got enough of your fill? I still remember the last of your visits to the bank, though I was a wee lad like this one", (he pointed to Harry).

Harsh smiled genially at him, "it was not my fault. You goblins had chosen to stop from entering the bank. What could I do?"

Harry was getting really intrigued now. The mystic was turning into a mystery for him. He had heard so much of his exploits by now that he could not wait to ask him about it but the man was not telling.

"The problem is that you have been banned from entering the bank in perpetuity for the havoc you caused in the second goblin rebellion. You had turned the tide of the war in favour of wizard-kind", he scowled.

"That is ancient history Rug Nut", he chided him, "besides today I am accompanying Mr. Potter here whose family was one of the original members of the bank. You have so much of his family's money scattered into your investments that if he pulled the rug from beneath your feet, you won't get a knut, Rug Nut."

The goblin then noticed Harry standing there and shuddered, "I believe that Mr. Potter will not choose to bankrupt the bank."

Harry who had at last caught on to some of the conversation, chimed in, "I will take all my money and artefacts out of your bank and...", Harry did not know where he would go with that kind of money and so many artefacts.

But Harsh provided that answer, "and he will go to the Gnomes in Switzerland who would be delighted to have such a prospective client. The Potter account alone will make sure that they treat him like kings and if you count in other houses he is a heir of, they will perhaps open another branch for him solely."

Ragnok shuddered visibly at the thought of one of his clients moving out of his bank. While it would cause a heavy financial burden to the bank and would literally ruin the economy of the wizarding world, what caused him the most worry was the anger of the elders of the Goblin council. The Goblin Nation had a king who was the head of them but the King himself was supervised by the Goblin Council which consisted of 7 elders of the council and these seven were ancient by goblin standards known for their skills, or reputation in battle or their shrewd mind in business. To go to them telling that House Potter and other houses connected with it had withdrawn from Gringotts was a catastrophe which he could not afford. This presented a real challenge to him- whether to allow Harsh Vardhana in the Bank and risk the wrath of the elders or anger him and definitely face the elders.

There were only two things which motivated a goblin- gold and war. This was a situation where they would have war, perhaps the bloodiest but it would end in extinction of the goblins. He knew the real identity of Harsh Vardhana and knew that he was never alone in any situation. Just because he could be seen alone did not mean that there were not a band of followers tailing him. He was a Lord like Dumbledore or Voldemort but he did not show it and that made him even more dangerous. Only a few people knew about the mystics and perhaps the Goblins knew the most but only because their entire existence was threatened by them.

Finally, business prevailed over any other concerns. Turning to Harry, he addressed him in an official manner, "Are you Harold James of House Potter?"

Harry did not notice the change in his demeanour and certainly did not know that name but when Harsh stepped on his foot, he straightened and looking in the goblins eye's, firmly replied, "Yes, I am Harold James of House Potter."

"Do you Harold James take responsibility for the actions of your companion while you are on the territory of Gringotts for the purpose of this visit?", asked Ragnok.

"I do.", Harry replied.

Ragnok turned to Harsh, "You are allowed entrance into the halls of Gringotts on the guarantee of Harold James of House Potter for your behaviour and full liability for any consequences resulting from your actions."

Harsh smirked at him, "After you, Rug nut."

As they entered the bank, Harry noticed that the goblins had erected wards to prevent anyone from coming in or going out and the lobby was empty with armed goblins scattered throughout the bank looking grim and clutching their weapons anxiously. They looked fearfully upon Harsh who smirked in satisfaction. Harry felt uneasy for himself. If the goblins offended him in anyway, who knows what the mystic may do?

Going through many tunnels, they finally reached a cabin which had a door of goblin silver with a big galleon drawn in the middle of the door. Ragnok scratched the door with his elaborately carved nail and the door melted. The inside of the cabin was rather pedestrian in comparison to the grandeur that Harry was expecting. The walls were golden colored with drawings showing goblin battles or other occasions which Harry thought were important in their history.

Ragnok took his seat behind a large ornate table, the top having been done in platinum, and the rest of the table made of gold with gems studded throughout it. As he sat, he pressed a button on the table. A young goblin entered the room and Ragnok gave him orders in their own tongue. Following which they were alone.

Then he turned to Harry, "Mr. Potter, we have been waiting for you to come and claim your inheritance since you turned eleven. At the age of eleven, heirs of houses are given the heir ring. But, you did not come. The manager who looked after the Potter accounts for 80 years died a few years ago. We were unable to contact you, therefore; we waited for you to come to us. You came to the bank with Rubeus Hagrid and you just made a withdrawal and left. Since there was no account manager, there was no one who could ask for you to be brought to us. The first thing to do today is to appoint a manager for your accounts and then we will perform inheritance tests for you which will tell us what families you are heir to."

Harry had no idea of what to do and turned to Harsh who looked at him. After sometime he started, "Rug Nut, you need to call for the best possible candidates for the job. We will make our choice after we have seen what they are capable of."

Harry found the suggestion to be logical and nodded his head in agreement.

Ragnok called another goblin and barked some instructions to him. While they were waiting, the door suddenly opened and a very ancient goblin entered the room. Seeing him, Ragnok jumped down from his chair, bowing to him. Harsh merely snorted at the ancient goblin, "Hello there, Iron Fist. You are still alive? All bones still intact?"

Harry was amused at his audacity but the ancient goblin just sighed, "Who granted you entrance wizard?"

Ragnok hesitantly raised his hand causing Iron Fist to glare at him. Quickly Ragnok recited everything that had happened at the gates of the Bank. Iron Fist glared at harsh, "You have guts coming here, wizard considering you had to face a battalion of goblins last time you tried to gain entrance."

"As I recall, all of them were trapped in your vaults and I had hung you as an egg for the Norwegian Ridgeback. I never hoped to see you alive", said Harsh, grinning at him.

Harry was equally amused and scared. The mystic was an intriguing person. Sometimes he appeared jovial and sometimes, he was equally scary. As far as he knew, the goblins were pretty vicious and great warriors. All the history lessons with Binns where he could managed to stay awake, Binns had harped on and on about the goblin bravery, courage and shrewdness. For someone to trap them in their own vaults and to hang one as an egg was really awe-inspiring and equally stupid. Iron Fist turned to Ragnok, indicating to him to continue his proceedings while he assumed the chair behind the desk, leaving Ragnok standing.

Ragnok, pulled a chair to him and taking a seat, started addressing Harry, "Mr. Potter, after the inheritance tests are done, you need to make decisions with respect to your finances. While you have a large amount of gold just lying around, it would be good to invest it. I have lined up several portfolios for you."

Harry nodded in agreement.

Moments later, the first Goblin returned with several journals which he placed on the table and left quickly. A minute later, three goblins entered the room standing before them.

Ragnok addressed Harry, "The one on your left is Bluntaxe, the middle one is Ripthroat and the last one is Griphook. They are some of the goblins who are available and have sufficient training to handle accounts as vast as yours, Mr. Potter."

Harry turned to each of them, surveying them closely. When he reached the third goblin, he stared for a moment more before addressing him, "I know you. You are the goblin who showed me my trust vault, Griphook."

Griphook nodded his head but said nothing.

Before Harry could say anything, Ragnok picked up a bowl and a knife from his table, handing them to Harry while he picked up a parchment, "Please cut your palm a little and let your blood flow into the bowl. The results of the test will be shown up here."

Bracing himself, Harry slashed the dagger on his palm and dropped some of his blood into the bowl. Ragnok poured it on the parchment which glowed golden and then letters started appearing.

Name- Harold James Potter

Father's Name- James Charlus Potter

Parents: Charlus Felamont Potter & Dorea Potter nee Black

Mother's name- Lily Amaryllis Potter nee Rosier

Parents: Vincent Rosier & Emilia Rosier nee Weber

Heir to Houses:

Potter

Peverell

Rosier

Prospective heir to: House of Black and House of Weber.

Harry was staring at the results open mouthed. His mind was reeling from what he had read. With an effort, he opened his mouth and said, "But this is not true. My mother was muggle-born not a pureblood."

Ragnok gave him a feral grin, "no, Mr. Potter. Your mother was not a muggle-born. This test never lies. Your mother was not a muggle-born but a pureblood."

"But what is the House of Weber?", he asked confused, "I have never heard of such a house in Wizarding Britain."

This time Harsh answered him, "the House of Weber, Mr. Potter, was an old and influential house in Germany before Grindelwald's campaign. Like your family, they took sides against Grindelwald and fought against him. Before the war, there were at least 30 members of the house but in the war and succeeding years, they were all killed except a daughter of the house who had escaped to France. We were interested in her whereabouts since at one time, they had been our allies. Vincent Rosier who had just graduated from Hogwarts was on a tour of the world and met Emilia in France where they fell in love and married. They moved to wizarding Britain living away from Vincent's family who were considered Dark and Vincent did not want his children to grow up in a dark family. One of the former knights of Grindelwald, had found her in Wizarding Britain and killed her with Vincent Rosier. Shortly before they were killed, Ellia had given birth to a baby girl who was delivered to an orphanage from where she was adopted by a rich muggle Harrison Evans who had a daughter already and being able to sire no more children adopted Lily so that Petunia would have a sibling. Lily grew up thinking that she was a muggle born. This was just before the rise of Voldemort and Vincent's brother Felix who did not know anything about his sister-in-law or his niece joined the death eaters and was killed in the first wizarding war at the hands of Alastor Moody."

Harry had been listening to him with rapt attention and when Harsh was done, he asked, "So this means that I am not a half-blood?"

Harsh frowned, "Why would you call yourself a half-blood?"

"I thought my mother was a muggle-born and my father was a pure-blood so that would make me a half-blood. In fact, everyone says so.", Harry replied.

"Mr. Potter, a half-blood is one who has one magical parent and one muggle parent", Harsh gently replied, "Your mother, even if she was a muggle-born was magical and that will make you a full blood. I swear Wizarding Britain is going backwards these days", he scoffed further.

"Much as I would like to hear this illuminating conversation further we have work to do and for us goblins, time is money", barked Ragnok.

"Oh right, we digressing. Mr. Potter you really need to put a cap on your questions. We are on a tight schedule and have no time to dally around. I will sate all your curiosity but for the time being, please make a list", Harsh said, smiling at him.

Harry nodded and turned to the three goblins, "So, I have a job for one of you which I am told will require shrewdness, intelligence and will thoroughly test my skills. As Lord Ragnok told me, the previous Account Manager for the Potter family has been dead for some time now and the position is vacant. So, whichever of you can offer me the best choice for my finances will have this position for 1 year after which we will review our position and if satisfied, I will make it permanent. Is that acceptable?"

The three Goblins nodded in agreement and Ragnok was watching this curiously. The young Potter was showing some business acumen like his forefathers. May be it won't be that bad after all.

The first goblin, Bluntaxe started, "I can double your money in a year, four folds in two years and I will make sure that your estate is well cared for."

The second, Ripthroat said, "I can triple your money with heavy investing and find other ways to increase your income. And I can help you expand your estates further making sure your influence grows."

The third Goblin Griphook said, "Mr. Potter, your accounts are not in very fine condition right now considering there was no one to manage your finances for last 6 years. Seeing that you are inheriting other estates and accounts and they will require to be set straight before any decision can be made for them. Your estates are entirely different matter. Some of them have not had their rent increased, some are in need of serious repairs, and many are under stasis charms. They will need to be made functional or can be kept the way they are, as per your preference. However, within a year, your accounts can be settled and they will start earning. I have a list of prospective businesses which would turn to be a real goldmine with cautious investing."

Of all the three, only Griphook had bothered to do any homework prior to the meeting. His was not an empty promise or a boast, but; a neat, brief and realistic report on the state of Harry's holdings. There was only one clear choice. He turned to Griphook and said, "Congratulations Account Manager Griphook. The job is yours. You are now the account manager for my holdings and estates. We will have an annual review of your work and if you prove to be satisfactory after two years, I will make the appointment permanent."

"Now that you have an account manager, we must move on to other business. Your status has recently changed Mr. Potter. This tournament that you were forced into was designed for adult wizards only, therefore, you are now considered adult in the magical world meaning you can take up Lordship of all of your houses and become heir to other houses where you are in line of succession", said Ragnok to Harry. Ragnok then turned to Griphook and barked in their language, who then led the other two account managers out of the chamber.

Griphook returned a few minutes later carrying an ornate wooden box. He gave the box to Ragnok, who opened it and Harry saw it contained rings. Ragnok passed the first ring to Harry, "This is the ring of House Potter, Mr. Potter. Put it on your ring finger."

Harry examined the ornate ring. It was an amethyst mounted on a band of goblin silver. There was a griffin, the Potter house animal engraved into the top of the gem. When he placed it on his finger, he felt immense pressure coursing through his body, his magic flaring, welcoming the pressure and embracing it. The pressure eased after a moment. He looked questioningly at Harsh.

Harsh replied, "That was your family magic testing you before it accepted you as Lord of the House. The Potter family magic has accepted you."

The same happened with the Peverell ring which was a golden band with an obsidian stone atop it bearing a strange creature on it, however, the pressure of the Peverell family magic was so intense that it caused him to almost pass out. After what seemed like a long time, he could breathe again. He felt such power coursing through his veins as he had never felt before. It was like some part of him had been missing all along and had just come back to him. In his short life of 15 years, Harry had never felt so much at peace as he did now.

The Rosier Ring was a Platinum band with a ruby atop it bearing a dragon on it. The Rosier magic felt incredibly powerful but not so much as Peverell magic. It scanned him for a long time, then finding him worthy, it melded with other magics in him.

The last ring was one Harry did not recognize. Ragnok presented it to him saying, "This is the ring of the House of Weber of Germany. If there were any other members available, you would not be the primary heir, but; since there are none and the family is all but gone, it is for you to claim. The family does not carry a hereditary seat like your other lordships, but; carries large vaults which add significant gold to your already considerable accounts. The grimoire is in the family vault and you can claim it when you enter. The estates are under stasis charms like the estates of your other houses. I would like it if you would lift the stasis charms off them but it depends on you solely. The house animal is a unicorn."

Harry took the ring which was a golden band with a Lapis Lazuli atop it bearing a Unicorn, and put it on his ring finger where other rings had melded together. The Weber magic was fierce but gentle and within a matter of seconds had accepted him.

"Accept our congratulations, Harold James, Lord of Houses of Potter, Peverell, Rosier and Weber", chanted Iron Fist nodding his head to Harry who returned the gesture.

As the ceremony was going on, two goblins entered the room carrying in armful of documents which they dumped upon the desk. Harsh shrank them with just a touch and handed them to Harry, leaving him gaping in wonder at this fancy display of magic.

"Is there any more business, Mr. Potter?", asked Ragnok.

"As a matter of fact, there is. I would like to visit my family vaults and collect the Grimoires that you have mentioned.", Harry had heard mention of the word a couple of times and out of curiosity had researched them and was fascinated with it. Since the time he had come to know that his family was Ancient and Most Noble, he wished that he could access his family Grimoire. Now that the chance was here, he wanted to claim all of them before he went off traipsing all over the world.

"Mr. Potter, I know you are excited about Grimoires but it would not be wise to take them with you to where you are going. What you will learn is important for you before you try anything from those Grimoires, besides I am sure I can help you with the magic of Potter and Peverell", Harsh said gently and Harry reluctantly nodded.

"Now that we are done here, perhaps we should take our leave of these charming fellows, who cannot wait to see us off of their property", Said Harsh, smirking at Iron Fist who was scowling. As they were about to leave, Griphook returned with a money bag and a card for Harry telling him that the bag would not run empty till his account was full of money and the card would work anywhere in the Muggle world. Instructing Griphook to put his affairs in order and informing him that he would take up the heirship of Black at his next visit, he followed Harsh out of the Bank. It was about 11:00 in the morning.

"Blimey! We spent two hours in there, Mr. Potter.", he said to Harry, "I do not know of you but I am feeling hungry."

Harry didn't say anything but his stomach growled, making Harsh chuckle. They went to the Leaky Cauldron and through it into Muggle London where they took lunch in an Indian cafe.

When Harry raised his eyes over this, Harsh did not reply but only smiled at him. When they were done with their food, it was almost noon. Harry took out the letter which was sent to him by Augusta and both of them held it. As the clock struck noon, they felt a tug behind their navels and disappeared into thin air.

LONGBOTTOM CASTLE, SOMEWHERE IN THE WILDERNESS

They appeared out of thin air in a clearing surrounded by heavy woods. Harry fell to the ground and landed in a heap while Harsh floated gently down to the ground smirking at Harry who rolled his eyes.

"Where are we?", Harry asked him, looking around.

As if in answer to his question, an elf appeared near them. This elf was dressed in a robe with the Longbottom crest, was tall and had a pencil nose with amber eyes. It squeaked at them, "I is Squeaky. Sirs follow me."

They followed the elf who was bobbing up and down all the way to the castle which was just a few hundred yards away. Like Bones Manor, it's circumference was ringed by tall trees which hid the castle from sight and the grounds spread around the property were very vast.

"Is it just whimsey or is there a good reason to plant trees in a circle around the property in Pureblood families?", Harry asked.

Harsh smirked at the question, "Mr. Potter, it would be easy to answer the question if I know what electives have you taken for your OWLs?", he asked Harry curiously.

"Divination and Care of Magical Creatures.", he said sheepishly, knowing no one ever approved of those subjects as electives knowing them to be easy OWLs. It was just that when they were making their choices for OWLs, he had conferred with Ron who had told him that these were easy subjects. Just to have another person in those subjects with him, Harry had opted for both of those subjects.

"Divination, hmmm I wonder what made you do so?", he mused, "Divination is not a bad subject actually. It is rather a science and there have been prophecies which have come true all these ages but what the British Wizards call Divination is a sham. You have had true seers here but their numbers have been dwindling. I believe the last true in Avalon was Cassandra Trelawney, who left Wizarding Britain shortly after Voldemort fell at your hands. In India, there are many branches of Divination and most of them are also used by muggles, however; they do not use those arts like wizards do."

Harry was listening to him with rapt attention. Nobody he had ever met had said a positive word about Divination and perhaps with Sybill Trelawney, the subject had nothing positive to offer. But hadn't she made a prophecy and Peter Pettigrew had escaped that night making the prophecy come true? Why had Harsh Vardhana said that she was not a true seer?

When he raised the question to Harsh, he replied, "Sybill is not a true seer, Mr. Potter. While most of what she says is rather nothing but there are so many things she say off-handedly which turn out to be true. She can see only scattered glimpses of future which means she can see something will happen but nothing that happened before it or will happen after it. A true seer can actually look on the future or the past like I am looking at you. They can control and alter the future by a single decision of theirs and that is why they are most feared. They are always conscious of the future and the past while they live in the present but the sight is not fully present in Sybill nor she can control it. When it overwhelms her, she gives a prophecy. I believe her last true prediction, courtesy of the inner eye, was in your third year. There are a few students in your school who have the gift of the sight, though. One is a Ravenclaw girl whose inner eye is rather very strong and there are only a few secrets which can evade her. Other is a pair of Indian twins in your year but out of them, only one has interest in the subject. Have you ever wondered why Ms. Padma Patil is so smart, Mr. Potter?"

Harry was fascinated by all the answers given to him. Now that he thought about it, he recalled Hermione telling him how Padma could always guess everything beforehand and was scarily smart. Padma was magically more powerful than Hermione and was good in theory and often fought for the top spot with Hermione and the witch from Slytherin. Parvati was smart but she was a gossip girl and perhaps this was the reason that she was often quoted as the source of all the rumours which were on the grapevine of the Hogwarts Rumour mill. Inwardly, Harry resolved to be wary of the twins who were probably scarier than the Weasley twins.

"Here we be, sirs", said the elf pointing to the massive gates of the castle. The castle was a huge, three floored structure with four towers, one at each corner, but not exactly in the directions of the compass. It was spread over a large area and there were stables in the distance where Harry could see some Hippogriffs milling about.

Augusta and Neville Longbottom were standing outside the front doors, looking anxious. As they approached, Neville came forward and embraced Harry in a brotherly hug, "Welcome to the Longbottom castle, Heir Potter."

"Neville, to you, I am always Harry", Harry said, smiling.

"Actually Heir Longbottom, it is Lord Potter-Peverell-Rosier-Weber", said Harsh, mock bowing to Harry who rolled his eyes while Neville was staring at him, wide-eyed.

"Are you really Lord of four Houses?", asked Neville still surprised.

"A story for another time, Mr. Longbottom, which I know Mr. Potter will be happy to tell you in all its glory.", said Harsh smiling at the duo, "but for now, we have some rather urgent matters to tend to."

Harsh stepped up to Augusta who had been fondly looking upon the duo of Neville and Harry and smiling, remembering another Potter and Longbottom, who had walked around this place like brothers. However unlike these, those boys were never just the two of them. James never came alone but with his posse of friends like the heir of Black, Remus Lupin who was always a kind boy and Peter Pettigrew whom she had seen as a hero for nigh on 14 years before Neville returned from Hogwarts at the end of his fourth year.

"Augusta, it's a pleasure to see you again.", Harsh said bowing to her, taking her hand and pretending to kiss her knuckles, "is everything ready?"

Augusta nodded her head, "My elf squeaky will show you the chambers. Frank and Alice will be portkeyed here soon."

Harry stepped up to her and she embraced him, "Harry, you are like Neville to me. You do not need to bow to me and call me Augusta or Gran, if you want."

Harry was touched by the gesture and returned her embrace with equal affection. The muggles may not have been his true relatives but he was making his own family now.

The elf accompanied Harsh to the chamber while Neville took Harry with him to show him around the property until Harsh called for the pair of them. They were supposed to help him in the process. They were not sure how they could help him but they were willing to find out.

Neville showed him the woods where many magical creatures lived and the greenhouses which were maintained by him. Harry was astonished to see that Neville was looking after and maintaining plants that were not taught in the curriculum at Hogwarts. Some were so rare that they were not even available there.

Lastly, he brought him to the stables where a number of Hippogriffs and many flying horses were tethered.

"Do you ride them, Neville?", Harry asked.

Neville shook his head ruefully, "Never when Gran is watching. She's afraid I might fall off and break my leg or something. But, I have been out a couple of times when she wasn't around. The elves showed me how to work the tack and bridle and showed me how to ride. I would like to think that I'm pretty good at it. When Hagrid showed us the Hippogriffs, I was hoping I would get to ride. But, Malfoy had to be a stupid git and it never happened. Damn Malfoy and his ancestry anyway!"

Harry laughed at his indignation. It was hard to imagine Neville as the shy clumsy Gryffindor he had been a week earlier. Ever since he got his wand, he had been improving. Harry had seen his power first-hand and was sure that Neville would be turning heads very soon.

"Harry, what are you doing for the summer?", Neville asked him hesitating, "I was thinking that you could stay here with me if you want. We can use magic without anyone knowing and practice a lot of what we have learned."

"Neville, sorry to have to turn you down mate. I have some travel plans. I am going to Magical India with Harsh Vardhan who has promised to teach me some things which will help me to survive in the coming war", he replied, "he has also promised to teach me a little about my family magics."

"I understand, Harry.", Neville said, patting his arm.

"Hang on. You can do magic here?", Harry asked confused, "But won't that get you into trouble with the ministry? I mean I was served with a notice for a hovering charm Dobby had used at the Muggles."

Neville noticed the venom with which he mentioned the muggles and did not raise the issue but chose to answer his question, "The tracking charm of the ministry only works in houses of muggle born students. The ministry can only detect if magic is cast but not who cast it. The children of pureblood families practice magic all summer long without any problems", Neville replied sheepishly.

"But that's unfair to the muggle born students", protested Harry, "how can they expect to compete with the pure blood students when they do not get the same treatment as them?"

"I know, Harry but we cannot change it right now. Later when we are on our family seats, maybe we can advocate for changes in the system.", said Neville trying to pacify Harry before he exploded.

Harry knew that Neville was speaking the truth so, he dropped the subject. Instead, he switched to small-talk with Neville and started asking him for details about his life up to this point, such as his family and what it was like growing up on the estate. The time passed quickly and before they knew it, the elf appeared to inform them that they were wanted in the ritual chamber.

Ritual Chamber, Longbottom Castle

The ritual chamber was a large, underground room with a duelling arena in the middle of it. There was also a practice range off in one corner, where target dummies were set up for them. In another part of the room, Harsh had inscribed some runes on the ground. Having never studied Runes, Harry could not make heads or tails of them but Harsh explained that those runes were to prevent the magical outburst from, from either Frank or Alice, escaping and causing any damage to the chamber or the castle.

"These symbols have been drawn with the runes from the Brahmi script, a language from the vast family of the magical Sanskrit language. These runes together make a containment ward, which will help contain the magical outbursts", he said, explaining gently to them.

He pointed out a large rune in the centre of the circular ward scheme to them, "This is Om. The primordial sound. The symbol of infinity and nothingness beyond which there is nothing. This is the sound of the Universe. It is the start and it is the end of everything and there is no sound greater than this. Now I need you Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom, to put your wands on this and push your magic into this rune. This will power the ward scheme. Keep pouring the magic into it till it is glowing golden."

"I do not have a wand, Mr. Harsh Vardhana.", Harry said to him, frowning.

"My apologies, Mr. Potter, I had promised to give you a wand which would help you", Harsh said, "since I do not have a wand to present to you as your own, why don't you use one of these?"

He pulled two wands out of his pockets and offered them to Harry. The first wand felt like dead wood to Harry's senses. But, the second wand felt warm to his touch.

"Umm... how are we supposed to do this?", asked Neville.

"Just put your wand to the symbols and will you magic to flow and keep pouring till the runes glow gold.", Harsh replied encouragingly, "It will start charging the rune but do not exhaust yourself."

Harry and Neville started following his instructions simultaneously, however, Harry noticed that he had to concentrate more to make the wand work. He understood how Neville would have felt, working with a wand that had never chosen him. After a few minutes but what felt like hours, Harry saw the symbol glowing golden.

"Why are they charging the runes and not you?", asked Healer Lynn, coming in the room with Frank and Alice Longbottom hovering behind her, strapped on two stretchers and being carried into the chambers by two trainee healers.

"Simply because they are more powerful than me or anyone else in this room", Harsh answered amusedly, "these boys are pretty powerful, Healer Lynn and by the time their magical core would stop growing, they would be the most powerful wizards in Magical Britain."

Healer Lynn looked skeptical, "May I?", she asked brandishing her wand at Neville who dumbly nodded. She cast some diagnostic spells at him and her eyes widened. She repeated the same with Harry and her eye brows reached so high into her forehead it looked like they would just vanish.

She gulped, "Indeed they are incredibly powerful. There cores are already bigger than most average wizards in Britain. I believe that by the age of Seventeen, Mr. Potter will easily be a highly accomplished Grand Sorcerer with Mr. Longbottom not far behind. In fact, there have not been such powerful wizards in recent history."

"This ritual will require me to spend a lot of my strength to try and revive them and I cannot risk my strength by using to charge the runes, so I decided to use these power houses here", he said, winking at the duo.

Harsh ushered the trainee healers out of the room and asked Augusta to take Alice to another room since he would be treating only one of them at a time. He laid Frank in the centre of the circle on a very intricately drawn design.

"This will keep him from moving too much during the ritual.", he announced, "while I am doing the ritual, please do not come inside the circle and if Frank starts to stir without me waking up, please stun him to immobilise him. If he is awakened during the ritual, it can be fatal for him or me."

He turned to the duo, "Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom, if the energy in the rune starts to fade, please feel free to pour energy into the rune. It shall always remain golden."

Harry and Neville nodded in grim determination.

Harsh sat in meditating position, his legs folded beneath him, his wand in his right hand and both of the arms on the knees, palms facing upwards. He started chanting some incantations in a strange language and while they could not understand the words, the power in the words could be felt by them giving goosebumps to everyone present in the chamber., Harsh closed his eyes and went still. Then a moment later, Frank stirred for a second before going still.

Frank's mindscape

Harsh found himself in Frank's mindscape. He had entered into his mind by going into a trance leaving his body behind. The entrance of the mindscape resembled the real Longbottom castle. There were elves milling about however they looked emaciated as if someone had been keeping them hungry and torturing them. The grass around the castle was withered and the trees were uprooted. The walls had cracks in them and the doors were ajar with no one guarding them. The stables he had noticed were destroyed with bodies of dead beasts littered on the ground. The woods around the castle were utterly destroyed with trees uprooted, burned or blasted into smithereens. He walked up the stairs where he knew the Lord's study was. The entrance to the bedroom was guarded by a legion of armoured suits which were barring all entry to the room.

"Stand aside", Harsh commanded them, "your lord is not in danger anymore. He needs to be set free.". The suits did not respond and when he made one step forward, one of the suits slashed at him with its sword, menacing him. Harsh easily side stepped the blow. He did not want to cause any harm to the suits which were basically protections against mind intrusion, but; they had become a problem for Frank. The suits had kept him here not allowing him to escape and thus, he could not be cured. Unless these were disabled, he could not access the room. He was choosing not to be violent since he knew it would risk Frank stirring and waking leaving Harsh trapped within.

As he stepped again, two of the suits attacked him simultaneously and he rolled to the ground and they missed him by an inch. If the suits continued to be so violent, he would need to disable them since he did not want to destroy them.

He got up again and tried to turn invisible but to his horror, none of his magic worked. This was new. In other cases of a similar nature, he had been able to use magic. Looking for the cause, he spotted a litany of runes drawn along the walls and there were runes for all purposes. Following the trail of runes, he noticed a rune drawn on the ceiling of the corridor he was in. It was a magic suppressing rune. Really ingenious! Unless he deactivated the rune himself, he could not gain entrance to the room even if he destroyed the suits.

The only way he had was to go through the suits and then gain access to the Lord's study. The suits were not able to feel pain, but; he could dismantle them and hope they remain dismantled. The problem with this was that this would cause distress to Frank Longbottom and he hoped the others would quickly stun him before he was trapped here.

One of the suits came at him menacingly, brandishing its sword and Harsh ducked as soon as the suit swung the sword, saving himself by a hair's breadth.

He sprung to his feet in the next instant and trapped the blade between his palms. With a sudden jerk, he tore the blade from the suit's grasp. Spinning the blade in the air, he caught it again with the hilt in his right hand. The blade was a broad-sword, one of the heaviest one-handed weapons, not intended for the swift and subtle type of combat Harsh preferred, but; he would make do.

In the next moment, with a flash of steel and the sound of a tin can ripping apart, the helmet of the first suit parted company with the rest of the armor. Then with the crash of hardened steel on hardened steel, he parried the blow and disarmed the next suit. As the blade spun singing through the air, Harsh caught the pommel in his left hand.

Seeing one of their fellows incapacitated, the remaining suits formed a ring around Harsh and began to circle him and wait for his next move. Harsh had to admire Frank Longbottom in that moment. That man was simply a genius with maneuvers since the suits only mimicked what Frank knew and Frank was apparently a master of tactics.

The suits circled him and kept moving around him, not giving him a chance to escape while Harsh simply kept his swords ready to parry any blow or take advantage of any opening to strike. After sometime, the suits became tired of all the waiting and 4 of them pounced on him at once. Harsh, who had been a warrior for ages, simply jumped in the air and somersaulting, was out of the circle. The suits scrambled to turn around and fight him when he went into action slashing, stabbing or simply swiping his swords through the swathe of the suits. In a matter of seconds, Harsh stood alone with a rather large pile of dismantled armor in front of him. He knew that he had to move quickly because the suits soon started moving, re-assembling themselves.

Seeing no other way out and not able to use magic, he stabbed both swords through the middle of the doors of the Lord's study and the castle shook like there was an earth quake. Working fast, he was able to wrestle the doors open before the suits could finish re-assembling and attack him again. He bolted the door from the inside. He knew that the suits would not break the door open of the Lord's study but was wary of the dangers which may be lurking within. When he turned his attention to the inside of the room, to his surprise, Frank Longbottom was sitting behind the ornate desk made of Cedar wood and polished to shine, the Longbottom crest atop it. He looked like Neville Longbottom but a little older. He was tall, brown hair down to his shoulders, strong broad shoulders, electric blue eyes and an angular face. Overall he looked like one of the chivalric heros from the stories of old. He was engrossed in studying a book and did not even notice when Harsh had entered the room.

"Lord Longbottom.", he addressed him causing him to stir and look towards him, "It is time to return to consciousness."

"Who are you and how did you get in?", Frank asked him, surprised written on his face, "How did you defeat the suits? I have tried to get out many times but they never open the door," Frank said morosely and pouted.

Harsh chuckled briefly, then sobered up, "Locked from outside? You mean to say the door was not locked by you?"

"Yes. They locked the door from outside. I seem to have lost my wand and I can no longer command them nor can I unlock the door by magic", Frank said, frowning.

"But there is a magic suppressing rune on the ceiling of the corridor outside", Harsh said, "Does that not stop you from using magic here?"

"My dear fellow. This is my castle. Why would I engrave a magic suppressing rune on my castle?", he asked scowling.

"We need to go now, Lord Longbottom.", said Harsh gently, "People outside are getting anxious. They have not heard from you for 15 years."

"What do you mean?", asked Frank, confused, Just yesterday, Voldemort was defeated. How can it be 15 years?"

"It has been 15 years. You will be explained everything. This is not the real world but your mind scape where all your protections died with the overexposure of Cruciatus curse and you were ensconced here by your magic.", Harsh said explaining, "once you are full in health, you will need to remake your mindscape or perhaps choose a new one if you cannot bring it into its previous state."

"Do you know what has happened during all these years? If it has been 15 years then Mother would have grown old, her face creased with lines of worry and little Neville would be a fine young man by now. He was just a little toddler then. And my love Alice, I can't imagine that I didn't even ask about her or about my other friends. The Potters had died a day ago and we all were grieving', he said, looking distant and gloomy, 'Sirius had been sitting at dinner with us that evening when he suddenly left saying he was going to check on James and Lily. That night we received the news that James and Lily had died but little Harry survived. Alice wanted to take Harry in with Sirius's consent knowing he was his godfather. We had returned to Green Hues when we were attacked. Mother was not at the mansion, having gone to live at Uncle Algie's place for the duration. I remember attacking the Lestrange brothers, but; someone knocked me out with a curse from behind. I felt the pain of the Cruciatus curse and my mind defences immediately brought my consciousness here to the safety of the Lord's study while activating other defences."

"Lord Longbottom, you will know everything when you wake up but my time here is short. I have reached here with a lot difficulty and I am not sure I can do it again. Only I can bring you back. Let us not tarry.", he said, urging him.

Frank sighed and nodded. When they tried to pull the doors open, they would not budge but Harsh again stabbed the doors in the middle with the swords and wrestled them open. As soon as the doors opened, he saw that the suits had lined up in Phalanx formation, ready to begin their assault again. Before they could, a regal voice cut through the air, "Stand down!" Frank Longbottom came through the doors, standing tall, looking regal and his eyes blazing with power.

The suits immediately went on their knees before him and he addressed them, "You have served me well but your services are not required as of now. I shall call upon you when I need you again."

The suits stood up and started moving throughout the castle, placing themselves in their usual niches. Harsh and Frank exited the castle and immediately Harsh grabbed his hand and disappeared.

Longbottom castle, Ritual chamber

Everyone present in the chamber was getting anxious. It had been nearly two hours and yet there was no sign of Frank waking up or any movement from Harsh's body. There had been moments when Frank stirred violently and the healers had to stun him. There was a period where he had some sort of seizure and Neville had been worried but the Healer had stunned Frank calmly and looked upon Neville hopefully telling him that it was a good sign since this was the first time in 15 years that Frank's mind was responding to some of her diagnostic spells. That had been 1 hour ago.

Suddenly, Frank's body jerked before going still but the Healer was calm. Harsh opened his eyes and cast an 'Ennervate' at Frank who woke up, looking all groggy and dazed and grinned stupidly, "It feels good to be back."

Augusta who was present in the chamber was hugging Neville so fiercely that he feared his ribs would break. She was shaking and sobbing while Neville felt his shoulders getting wet. He realised that his Gran was crying and unwillingly, tears started to fall from his eyes but Neville did not care to wipe them. He had his father back.

He noticed Harry looking longingly at the scene and he could imagine his pain. Gently extricating himself from his Gran's embrace, he pulled Harry towards him and hugged him fiercely while Augusta embraced both of them tightly.

After 5 minutes, Harsh approached Augusta, "It is my pleasure to announce Augusta that your son has been returned to you, however, I must caution you against breaking any bad news to him about the wizarding world at least for a month. His mind and body are frail and would need to be strengthened before he is ready to hear anything. I would advise you to keep him isolated from others for the time being."

Neville who had a large smile plastered upon his face said hoarsely, "What about my mother?"

Harsh smiled at him, "Mr. Longbottom, the treatment take a lot out of a wizard and the power you both voluntarily poured in the ward gave me a great boost but this still caused me exhaustion. So, after a rather heavy lunch, which I think you both would prefer to partake, we can remedy her ailments after an hour."

Neville was reluctant but nodded. He himself could feel the drain on his magic the powering of the runes had caused him. He and Harry had to re-energize the runes twice, which only took a few seconds, but; felt like hours and took a lot from them.

"Mr. Harsh, the house of Longbottom is eternally indebted to you.", said Augusta, her voice still hoarse from crying, "Whenever you need the assistance of House Longbottom, the house of Longbottom will answer your call."

"I appreciate the gesture, Augusta. Now Lord Longbottom is sleeping after being given a dose of dreamless sleep potion and by my calculation, he will sleep soundly for 6 hours before he wakes up but then he will be famished of hunger and will require a feast to feast on. The same with Lady Longbottom, but please make sure that they are not taxing their strengths and getting proper sleep. I will be leaving the rest of their recuperation in the able hands of Healer Lynn', he smiled genially at the Healer, 'I remember my promise Healer Lynn. I will eventually detail you about the ritual but I would rather that you never reveal this secret."

"I can take a magical oath, if it is satisfactory", she replied eagerly.

The group then retired to the dining room for lunch and ate like they had been famished for ages. After they were done, Harsh signalled that it was time for them to go and raise Alice Longbottom. Harsh was curious to see what her mindscape would be like.

Alice's Mindscape

After Harry and Neville had charged up the runes again and all else was made ready, Harsh entered into a meditative state. When he entered her mindscape he was surprised. Her mindscape was a forest but the forest was dying. The grass was wilted and dead. The trees in the forest were either uprooted or burned as if thunderbolts had struck them. Several of the trees were magical and could be found only in the Forbidden Forest surrounding Hogwarts. There were a lot of creatures in the forest but most of them were dead, the air was full of smoke and decay. He noticed a hippogriff lying on the ground, dying, it's wings ripped off and apparently it had fallen from flight because its tack was still on its back. There was a Unicorn which was dead in a pool of silver blood, a manticore dead as if blasted by a blasting hex from the inside, a demiguise almost dead, bowtruckles running around looking for trees to inhabit, a niffler digging in the ground perhaps looking for gold.

"So this is where young Neville got his love for Herbology", he mused. What worried him now, was trying to determine, in all this forest and with the number and types of creatures unknown, where Alice Longbottom might be.

Suddenly the roar of an enraged dragon echoed through the forest. It sounded like the dragon was engaged in battle. Under normal circumstances, it would be a good idea to run, not walk away from an enraged dragon, but; Harsh thought that this may be a clue as to where Alice could be found, so he followed the sound. Making his way through the remains of the shattered and uprooted trees, it din't take Harsh long before he came upon the scene.

A fully grown Romanian longhorn was fighting with a Wyvern and it looked like it was protecting a little hut in the clearing. Quickly disillusioning himself and using a scent masking charm, he proceeded to the hut and entered it stealthily. Like all other wizarding spaces, the hut was larger inside and was almost the size of a two floor building. In the middle of the entrance hall, stood Alice Longbottom, who had a lithe figure, good height, auburn haired and round faced with brown eyes.

She pointed her wand at him, "Identify yourself or die."

He raised his hands in surrender, "I come in peace, Lady Longbottom. I have come to take you out of here."

She frowned, "There is nothing out of here. I have been searching for too long. Sometimes I feel like I am out of here and I see a young Frank before me but at other times, I feel like I am in the void. I have been fighting against this menace which is destroying the forest, killing the creatures. I had adopted the Romanian Longhorn and it has been protecting me from other beasts for a long time now."

"This, Lady Longbottom," he said, "is your mindscape where you conscious was whisked away when you and Frank were assaulted with the over exposure of torture curse at the hands of..."

She cut in before he could finnish, "The Lestranges and Barty Crouch Jr.', she snarled."

"Yes and it is the effects of the over-exposure that has been destroying your mindscape for last 15 years.", he said sombrely.

"It has been 15 years?", she asked, unable to believe him.

"Yes, Lady Longbottom and a lot have changed in the world. Lord Longbottom and you have been dallying for enough. It's time to wake up.", he said gently.

"But how?", she asked.

"First we help the Romanian Longhorn kill the Wyvern and then I will take you out of here.", he said.

Nodding her head, she gripped her wand firmly marching outside. Together, they cast the bombarda jinx at the Wyvern diverting its attention and in that moment, the Dragon swooped down and with a swipe of his claw, the Wyvern's head rolled to the forest floor.

The dragon lowered her head to him and she patted its snout before turning away, tears in her eyes. Harsh grabbed her hand and disappeared.

In the ritual chamber, Alice Longbottom stirred once before going still again. Harsh opened his eyes. Signalling the healer to enervate her and administer the dream less sleep potion, he retired to the parlour he was taken to after waking up Frank and was followed by Augusta, Neville and Harry.

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