Chapter Three

Gringotts Reception Room

Still Nov 1st

"Oof!" Well, that hurt. Harry had landed on his bottom in what looked like a high-end, richly decorated office in what he assumed was Gringotts.

Looking around the room while still on the floor, Harry noticed that while the walls and ceiling seemed to be carved into the stone, the floor he had landed on was a dark wood that was highly polished, just like the ornately gilded desk at the end of the room.

At least he hadn't dropped the sword anywhere along the way. He glanced down at it and wondered when it had started glowing.

Just then, Harry heard the heavy wooden door opening with a creak, and quickly rushed to his feet, trying to subtly dust himself off before anyone saw him.

Looking up, he saw that a goblin was entering the room, so he bowed, a little clumsily, just like he'd seen the guards at the entrance of the bank do when he last saw them.

When he looked up after a minute, he saw the goblin who entered and noticed that this goblin was dressed in what looked like an even more expensive three-piece suit than those of the tellers', and that he (was it a he?) wore a tie with a diamond pin instead of a cravat.

The goblin also had an unmistakeable but fleeting look of shock upon his face, even though it was hard to tell with goblins.

Snaptooth POV

Upon entering his office, Snaptooth lost the snarl that was gracing his face at the repeated slights he believed the young Potter heir had inflicted upon himself and the Goblin Nation. The reason his face had then fallen was indeed shock, shock at the amount of, albeit clumsy, respect that the Potter scion – a wizard still – was showing another magical being.

Being bowed to by a witch or wizard was something that no goblin in recent memory had ever experienced. This was reason enough for him to get away with losing his composure for longer than was considered respectable within his rank of account manager for a Most Ancient and Noble family.

Seeing Potter stand up and begin fidgeting, Snaptooth mentally shook off his shock and put his scowl back in place.

Sitting behind his desk, Snaptooth levelled Potter with his second-best glare, and barked "Sit!" at the wizard. Potter sat, looking very unsure and fidgeting with the ornate sword that he held.

Ignoring the slightly glowing weapon, as Potter wasn't acting aggressive even though his actions were somewhat baffling, Snaptooth set down the documents he had been holding onto his desk and started to speak.

"Master Potter, as our letter indicated, Gringotts has became very irritated with the continued disrespect you have been seemingly showing us, with your repeated ignoring of our letters and notices. This is your last chance to explain yourself before we lock down your vaults and block all access to your inheritance."

Pausing, he could see the Potter heir was becoming increasingly confused the more he spoke, so Snaptooth asked what the confusion was about.

"Uh, Sir?" Harry's mind was racing, "when did you send those letters?"

Snaptooth's anger had abated somewhat, now giving way to frustration and uncertainty about the boy in front of him.

Harry continued, trying to explain his question. "I only ask because I live with my muggle aunt, and the only letters I've ever received and been able to read freely myself were from my friends that my owl Hedwig has brought me. I didn't even get to open my first hundred Hogwarts acceptance letters, because my aunt and uncle got rid of them all and tried to escape the rest. I've never received any letters from the bank, not even while at Hogwarts or the Burrow, my mates house."

This had Snaptooth shocked again, then growling slightly in frustration as this information changed the situation.

The goblin thought this was a simple case of an heir disregarding the Goblin Nation and generally being rude, but finally talking to Potter had him second guessing all the information he had been given.

Snaptooth apologised to Harry, "I apologise young Master Potter, but as I have not been able to contact you, we were unaware of your circumstances. While we discuss other pressing matters, I shall have an underling fetch your account files." Pressing a rune on the edge of his desk, he waited and soon enough another goblin opened the door to the office.

"Griphook?" asked Harry. "Is that you?" This startled both the goblins in the room, as it was incredibly rare for a wizard to remember a goblin's name, let alone talk to one as an equal.

"Ye-yes, Master Potter, it is. Thank you for remembering." With that, he placed the – numerous - files onto Snaptooth's desk with a bow, and then with another bow directed at Harry, he turned to leave, but stopped in surprise as Harry stood and bowed to him as well, Harry telling Griphook that "It was nice to see you again Griphook, I hope you have a good day."

This left Griphook baffled, but he nodded his head and left the room, knowing he would be writing up a report for Chief Ragnock about this civility from a client, although, Griphook had a feeling that his wouldn't be the only one hitting the Director's desk by the end of the day.

Harry P.O.V.

After he left, Harry sat back down and turned back to Snaptooth, waiting for the information tidal wave to hit him, especially regarding how thick the files on the desk were, and just how many there were.

After, once again, closing his mouth after his jaw dropped open, Snaptooth cleared his throat, before the sparkle of the weapon that Harry was now holding again caught his eye. When he glanced at it before he didn't really pay attention to it, considering Master Potter didn't seem like he was going to use it aggressively, but now that the young man was holding it up, Snaptooth finally saw the engraving down the top length of the blade.

"EXCALIBUR?" His shout of disbelief startled Harry, making him jump up and out of his seat, almost instinctively holding the weapon in front of him. His nerves were already shot due to the whole debacle with the tournament and his anger over receiving no mail, so when the shout came at him, he had immediately moved into a defensive position with the sword held in both hands, blade up and level and knees slightly bent, before he realised what he was doing. It was like the knowledge on how to wield the weapon had been ingrained in his mind since birth, but that couldn't be possible, as he had never had training before. This is so confusing…

Snaptooth immediately apologised after he saw Harry's movements, he hadn't meant to startle the boy, he was just amazed that the most powerful weapon in the history of magical Britian had been inside his office for the last twenty minutes and he hadn't even realised! Merlin, he hoped his boss didn't hear about his lack of awareness.

"Please Master Potter, I am so sorry, please have a seat," harry sat, trying to apologise too but Snaptooth waved his "Sorry's" away with a hand. "Master Potter, please tell me how you came to possess this Sword? It was last thought to have been stuck in the Stone for all eternity, the stories say that Merlin himself returned to Sword after King Arthur fell, and the Stone was said to have disappeared not long after"

Once Snaptooth explained why he was so incredibly enthused about the story of why Harry had it, Harry was asked to recount the incident in the Chamber. First, he explained the original Chamber of Secrets incident, which Snaptooth wrote down a series of questions during the retelling, to clarify some points afterwards. Getting to the basilisk and Tom Riddle coming out of the diary, Harry could see that Snaptooth wanted to interrupt more than once, but Harry pressed on with the story. After recounting his second year, Harry went on and explained what had happened the previous night with the Goblet and everyone hating him and that leading to him finding refuge in the Chamber, and what happened while he was down there.

Snaptooth had called for refreshments during his tale, so when he was done Harry sat back with his cup of hot English Breakfast tea and waited for Snaptooth to respond, the goblin hadn't spoken since about halfway through the story.

Snaptooth P.O.V.

For the first time in his very long career as an account manager, Snaptooth didn't know how to proceed with a client. The story that Potter had told him, coupled with the Sword now leaning against the armchair in front of his desk, said that the entire future of the British magical world had now changed, hopefully for the better.

If the thoughts currently racing through his head were proved right, then the young Master Potter sitting in front of him, with everything that had happened to him and everything that he believed had been conspired against him, was the most important figure in Magical Britian.

Harry Potter was the next King Pendragon, alongside a numerous amount of other titles, if the folders, files and scrolls on the desk proved to be accurate.