Amelia went shopping and then hurried back to St Mungo’s Secure Ward.
“Good morning, Harry.”
“Good morning, Director.”
Harry was polite but still seemed to be suspicious.
Amelia looked at Harry. She felt he was afraid that the attention he had been getting would end at any moment. He seemed to be waiting to be told that he would be sent back to Azkaban.
“The healers have reported that your magic is under control. There is no threat of an uncontrolled outburst of magic from you. Therefore, you will not be returned to Azkaban.”
Harry turned his gaze to the window.
“Thank you for telling me, Director. What is going to happen now.”
“I want you to change into these robes I have for you. Then, I am going to take you to Diagon Alley. When we get to Gringotts, you will meet with your account manager.”
“I’m ten years old, Director. Shouldn’t I be sent to my guardian?”
“Not yet, Harry. I haven’t told the Minister about you yet. I informed your Magical Guardian about you, but he did not accept the news that you have been in Azkaban instead of in the home he put you in.”
“Who is my Magical Guardian? What is he supposed to be doing about me?”
“Your Magical Guardian is Albus Dumbledore, the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and the Headmaster of Hogwarts.
Try not to think about him, Harry.
I want you to be tested by the Gringotts goblins. Then, nobody can dispute their opinion of your identity.
Get changed! I shall adjust your robes and boots to fit you. You are much smaller than you should be.”
Harry undressed and put on the robes.
Amelia had to quickly turn around as Harry stripped off his hospital gown without caring about being naked in front of her. Living in Azkaban had removed any sense of modesty from him.
“Director, I can’t get these boots on. They are too small.”
“Let me see, Harry. These clothes and boots are all made to change sizes easily.”
Amelia looked at the clothing left on the bed. The socks and shorts were still on the bed.
“Harry, you should put those shorts on under your robes. That is what is normally done. Most people don’t like to be naked if they have to take their robes off for any reason. Also, the socks should go on before you put the boots on.”
“Oh! We weren’t given things like shorts in Azkaban. The socks will make the boots even tighter.”
Amelia cast the charm to enlarge the boots.
“Please put the shorts on, then the socks and boots. Everything will be too big for you. Once you are fully dressed, I will shrink it all to fit you comfortably.”
Harry was ready to go out. Amelia examined him again. There were deep red and black scars across his face. What looked like scars from claws parted his hair at an odd angle. No hair grew on the wounds. His hair had been trimmed but grew into the same untidy patchy mess overnight. Harry liked to have his hair held in a ponytail.
Amelia gave Harry a traditional broad-brimmed pointy black hat.
“This may stop some of the rude stares your scars will get when we go to Diagon Alley.”
“Did the healers say anything about my scars? Can they be removed?”
“They said the scars were all caused by the original magical outburst. They cannot be removed by magical means. The one scar that was not caused then was the lightning-shaped one you acquired days before. They want to do more work on that one. Let them look at it later. Let’s go to Gringotts.”
Amelia led Harry out to an apparition point. She took Harry’s hand and apparated to The Leaky Cauldron. Harry did not like apparating.
-ooOOoo-
Harry picked himself up off the floor, and Amelia retook his hand. She nodded to the bartender as she hurried through the bar.
“We won’t talk to anyone until we see the goblins. So, hang on to me, Harry. I am going to go as quickly as I can.”
Harry was not strong. He was still suffering from the effects of malnutrition and had only had three light meals since his rescue from Azkaban. As a result, he was puffing and wheezing when they climbed the stairs to Gringotts.
Once they were through the doors, Amelia stopped.
“Sorry about the rush. Over the next weeks, I will ensure that you get proper food and some exercise so you can at least walk about without collapsing.”
“Are you going to be helping me? I thought that you would be too busy.”
“I am the regent of House Bones. House Bones is in a formal alliance with House Potter, and you are the last living member of that house. That means I am duty-bound to do everything I can to help you when your family can’t. This comes before my job in the Ministry. House Longbottom is also in a formal alliance with House Potter, and Regent Augusta Longbottom will also help you. She doesn’t know that you are here yet. If she did, she would be meeting with us as well. Then she would storm the Ministry and the Wizengamot to tear them apart for what they had done to you.”
Harry looked at Amelia. “I killed three people. Why should they do anything differently?”
“Don’t say that again, Harry. I don’t know exactly what happened, but it was not your fault. You were not even two years old.”
Amelia sighed. “I am going to make things different for you. One of the things I am changing is this. Instead of saying that “They” did this to you, I will say “We” did. I was a junior auror when you were put with the Dursleys. I should have acted on my duty to you to claim you. Instead, I let Dumbledore take over, and he made you disappear from the magical world.”
Amelia grimaced.
“We thought that you were Dudley Dursley, a muggle-born wizard. No magical family was trying to claim you. So, we put you away and forgot about you. It was assumed that you would quickly die in Azkaban. We should have followed up on your case. When there were no more magical outbursts, you should have been taken into care.”
A uniformed goblin approached them.
“Madam Director, how may Gringotts assist you today?”
“We have an appointment with Account Manager Sharpclaw.”
“Certainly, Madam Director, please follow me.”
The goblin hurried off.
Amelia and Harry followed. Eventually, the halls and passages ended at a large set of double doors. The goblin opened the door and ushered Amelia and Harry into a waiting room. Another set of closed double doors was on the room’s other side.
“Please be seated. Account Manager Sharpclaw will be available shortly.”
Harry sat on a padded bench. Amelia sat in a chair opposite him.
“Goblins are game players, Harry. They will do everything they can to hinder me because I represent the Ministry. They may have guessed who you are. They have many sources of information. Making us wait is a part of their game. They want us to acknowledge that they are in charge inside the bank.”
“Are they in charge?”
“They most certainly are. They control all money flowing in and out of every wizard’s vault. The Wizengamot agrees because only the goblins can be trusted with other people’s money.”
Amelia looked at Harry.
“Do you know about vaults and wizard money?”
“Yes, my companions in Azkaban gave me a comprehensive education on the wizarding world. But, strangely, one of them also knew a lot about the muggle world.”
“Did they teach you to read and write?”
“They did. I smoothed a patch of dust on the floor and used a twig to write on it. Then, they got me to write out what they said to me to make it easier for me to remember.”
The inner doors opened, and another uniformed goblin entered.
“Account Manager Sharpclaw will see you now.”
Amelia led the way into the office. An older goblin dressed in an old-fashioned dark suit stood beside a magnificent desk.
“Account Manager Sharpclaw, may your enemies tremble when they hear your name.”
“Likewise, Director Bones! Please introduce me to your young companion.”
“This is Harry James Potter, heir to the Ancient House of Potter.”
Harry nodded his head to the goblin.
“Greetings, Master Potter! May I ask why you brought Master Potter to see me, Director? Naturally, I would have expected his Magical Guardian to take that responsibility.”
Amelia huffed.
“His Magical Guardian is occupied with his political concerns. Please allow me some time to explain the situation.”
The goblin gestured to the seats in front of his desk. He stayed standing in front of them and waited.
Amelia gave a complete account of how Harry was discovered languishing in Azkaban. Harry’s uncontrolled outburst of magic that had killed three muggles was discussed. Sharpclaw asked if any more incidents had occurred. Amelia replied that none had been seen. She acknowledged that her department had failed to follow up on the case, leaving Harry to wait in Azkaban until his Hogwarts letter arrived.
Sharpclaw stared at Harry, who returned the stare with his own unblinking gaze.
Sharpclaw turned his gaze to Amelia. “Director, I presume that you wish to act on behalf of Master Potter in the absence of his Magical Guardian?”
“I do. I am claiming that right as Regent Bones. I am fulfilling the obligations placed on me by the formal alliance between House Bones and House Potter.”
“Good! What shall we do first?”
Amelia smiled. Sharpclaw was going to be her ally.
“I am asking for a blood inheritance test for Master Potter. The charges are to be taken from my vault. I also want a Trust Vault created for Master Potter with ten thousand galleons to be transferred from my personal vault. I presume that Master Potter already has a Trust Vault. I am also presuming that Albus Dumbledore has the key to that vault. I am not expecting him to surrender it to Harry.”
Sharpclaw paused, then asked. “Dumbledore has not acknowledged that this young man is the real Harry James Potter?”
Amelia huffed. “He claims that the real Harry Potter is safe and well and living in the home where Dumbledore placed him. He claims that Harry is an imposter. He has not acknowledged that the tests we have performed are correct. He can’t dispute the Gringotts test, so I want it done now.”
Sharpclaw turned and growled out a stream of his own language at the office’s back wall. He climbed onto a large chair behind his desk and laid out parchments before him.
A hidden door opened in the wall, and a goblin entered carrying a stone bowl and a roll of green-coloured parchment.
The parchment was unrolled on the desk, and the bowl was placed at one end.
Sharpclaw beckoned Harry to come to the desk.
“You have had blood tests before, so you know what to expect. Of course, this will sting, but I will heal you immediately.”
Harry held both hands out over the bowl. Sharpclaw produced a silver knife.
“Only your left hand, Master Potter.” Sharpclaw drew the knife’s point across Harry’s hand’s palm, and the blood flowed. Several drops fell into the bowl, and the cut closed and healed.
“You healed yourself, Master Potter. That was very good. Was that by your intent alone?”
Harry nodded. Sharpclaw responded. “Very good!”
A delicate pattern of lines and names appeared on the parchment.
The names started with Harry James Potter and progressed up the scroll.
The names that Harry was interested in were:
James Potter (Father), Lily Potter, n ée Evans (Mother)
Fleamont Potter (Paternal Grandfather), Euphemia Potter, n ée Smith (Paternal Grandmother)
Henry Potter (Paternal Great-Grandfather), Elizabeth Potter, n ée Grey (Paternal Great-Grandmother)
Charlus Potter (Paternal Greatuncle), Dorea Potter, n ée Black (Paternal Greataunt)
Many other lines were traced out. Harry followed the lines from his Great-Grandmother Elizabeth and Greataunt Dorea as they went deep into the Black family lines. Harry almost smiled with satisfaction.
Sharpclaw and Amelia studied the parchment.
Amelia said. “Well, Harry, there can be no argument now. You are Harry Potter, Heir of the Ancient House of Potter.”
Sharpclaw nodded. “Very good!”
The parchments were filled in and approved by the touch of the House Bones Regent’s Ring that Amelia wore.
“You now have your own vault with ten thousand galleons in it. That is your spending money for this year. It will be replenished each year until you are seventeen when you inherit the Potter family vaults, property and other assets.”
Sharpclaw called out another string of commands.
A small box was carried in from the hidden room.
“This, Master Potter, is the House Potter Heir’s Ring. It is the symbol of your place in the wizarding world. You are the heir of one of the greatest fortunes that Gringotts has on its books. You are richer than the Malfoys and probably richer than the Black family. When you turn eleven in a few days, it will activate and allow you to authorise payment from your Bones vault. It also gives confirmation of your identity. Once you learn to listen to it, it will warn you of potions and magic with unfriendly intent toward yourself. You can wear it now, but it will only become active when you turn eleven. Now, you may put it on.”
Harry took the ring and placed it on his right-hand ring finger. It flashed with blue light and shrunk to fit his finger.
Sharpclaw laughed. “Very good! The ring has accepted you as Heir Potter. If it had not accepted you, the reaction would be hostile. It would probably burn you until you took it off.”
“Can I get access to my House Potter Trust Vault?”
“That is still controlled by Albus Dumbledore. You will have to get him to surrender the key to you.”
Harry turned to Sharpclaw. “There is something that I would like to know. Can you check through the Potter accounts and find anyone who owes money to the Potter family? I would also like to know if any debtors have an active vault.”
“Certainly, Heir Potter. Is there a reason for this question?”
“Yes, I want to get some history about what has been happening with the Potter vaults. Unhappily, other families have reported significant losses when they cannot check up on things.”
Sharpclaw glanced at Amelia, who nodded. “I will investigate, Heir Potter.”
Harry nodded. Amelia sighed and shook her head.
Amelia stood up. “Is there anything else, Account Manager Sharpclaw?”
Sharpclaw shook his head, “No, for the moment. This is only the beginning of interesting times for us all.”
“We shall say goodbye then. May gold come to your hands.”
“Thank you, Director! I wish you well. Heir Potter, be strong!”
“Thank you, Account Manager. May your family shout your name in victory.”
Sharpclaw laughed. “Well done, Heir Potter!”
-ooOOoo-
Amelia led Harry back down Diagon Alley.
“I think we need some lunch. You must eat small regular meals, Harry. A little café near here will serve something that will not be too challenging for you. The Leaky Cauldron doesn’t know what a light meal is.”
Lunch was served. Harry had vegetable soup with a small white roll.
He examined the ring. “This symbol on the ring is a gryphon. It has a lion’s body with an eagle’s head and wings.”
Amelia nodded. “The gryphon is one of the symbols used by the Potter family. It is probably because so many Potters were sorted into Gryffindor at Hogwarts. Are you happy about going to Hogwarts, Harry?”
Harry looked at Amelia. “I have to go. There will be problems if I don’t turn up.”
Amelia sat up and looked at Harry. “I need to make some arrangements for you. I would like you to stay with me from now on. There is only me and my niece Susan living at the house. Susan is living with me while her parents are working overseas. If you are happy, I would like to make it a permanent arrangement. You don’t have to agree to that now. For the time being, I want you to stay with me until the Hogwarts term starts. Susan will be thrilled to have someone else there. It is a bit boring with only me for company.”
Harry stared at the people moving up and down the alley.
Amelia moved and fidgeted.
“Harry, I am concerned that Dumbledore will do something silly when he returns from Rome. The people have made him a hero, but I have seen the results of too many of his mistakes.
I will put you under protective custody and declare that you are being detained in a safe place due to threats being made against you. However, I will not reveal that the safe place is the third bedroom at The Ossuary, the Bones manor house.”
Harry nodded.
Amelia smiled. “I will introduce you to Susan and the Bones house elves. They will take care of you. Then I must get back to the Ministry.”
-ooOOoo-
Harry had gone to the washroom. Amelia quietly called her senior house elf.
“Galdin!”
An older house elf popped into the space next to Amelia.
“Yes, Mistress!”
“Pop home and tell Susan and her friends to put some decent clothes on. I am bringing a male guest. We will be arriving in a few minutes. Hurry!’
“Yes, Mistress!”
-ooOOoo-
Harry had a few minutes to consider the day’s events.
His advisors had prepared Harry for the concern generated by his reappearance in the wizarding world.
He had been claimed by Amelia Bones. There were many opinions on whether this was a desirable event.
Bella was adamant that Amelia would take Harry straight to the Department of Mysteries. They would dissect Harry to find out how he had so much magical power after nine years of dementors.
Rod agreed with Bella, as usual.
Rab declared that Amelia would gain influence by delivering Harry to Fudge for him to use in the continual political scheming that Fudge indulged in.
Gus didn’t have much to say. He simply said that Amelia would ensure that Harry was Harry Potter, “The Boy Who Lived”. She would then hide him away so the various political animals who inhabited the wizarding world would not tear him apart. Amelia would then seek to add Harry to her own supporters. Gus thought that the old Potter-Longbottom-Bones alliance still mattered to Amelia.
Siri declared that Dumbledore would swoop in and grab Harry. He would take Harry back to Hogwarts and set him up as the new Gryffindor hero. Siri hated Dumbledore. Dumbledore could have investigated the case against Siri and discovered that Pettigrew was the Potter’s secret keeper, not Siri. It was Pettigrew who betrayed the Potters to the Dark Lord.
Bella, Rod, Rab, and Gus sneered at Siri when he voiced his disgust with Dumbledore.
Bella sneered the most at her cousin. “You worshipped Dumbledore and fought his little war for him. Then, when you needed his help, he didn’t lift a finger and sent you straight to Azkaban. You gullible dolt.”
Siri would bite back. “I’m not the only one. You had everything going your way, the traditional support was growing, and the light side was losing. Then your Dark Lord decided to go off on his weird sideshow. He got all psychotic and obsessed with little Harry and Neville Longbottom. Then he somehow got himself destroyed when he attacked the Potters. Then you lost everything. You must continue spouting about your loyalty to him, but I can see that you hate him for flushing everything down the drain. You have sold yourself to him and made yourselves his slaves. You can’t escape, and you hate him for the ruin he has pulled down on you.”
The Death Eaters sat and glared at Siri. But they didn’t shout back. They knew that Siri was right, but those words would never come out of their mouths.
The next phase was always fascinating. Bella would start talking to Harry.
“Don’t get discouraged by the way we bicker, Harry. You have to prepare to defeat two dark lords. One is obvious, my master, the Dark Lord, and the other is not so obvious. He is Albus Dumbledore. Back to your lessons. Charms are the subject for this hour.”
Harry had his own wand. It was magnificent. Birds made nests in the high parts of the prison above the cells. They dropped twigs from pine trees while making those nests. The inmates all contributed long strands of hair. The hairs were plaited, and the twigs were intertwined into a stable wand. Gus knew the runes needed to make the wand work and cut them into a series of twigs in the wand using a tiny sliver of flint, which flaked off a stone in the wall. One day, two years ago, the wand accepted Harry as its owner. Gus guided Harry through the steps to bond the twigs and human hair core. The wand was now as strong as any Ollivander wand and probably more so. When the guards inspected the cells, the wand looked like a bunch of twigs. If they saw that it was a wand or Harry tried to use it on them, they would have had no hesitation in killing him.
Gus started making another one. Collecting the materials took a long time, but the motivation was not great. The others tried to use the wand, but the magic suppression charms prevented anything from happening. Finally, Harry was the only one with enough brutal magical power to get the wand to work.
Gus knew the incantations needed to bond an invisible holster to Harry’s left arm. He could use his wand in either hand but preferred to flick the wand out from the holster to his right hand.
Harry had practised all the standard Transfiguration and Charms incantations using his wand. He also became skilled with the spells taught in Defence classes. However, he kept the power levels of every spell to the minimum to avoid alerting the guards.
In the washroom, Harry flicked his wand into his hand. He whispered, ‘Expecto Patronum’, and his gryphon Patronus appeared.
Harry spoke to it.
“Sirius! Amelia has put me into protective custody. I will be living at The Ossuary. I collected my heir’s ring from Sharpclaw this morning. Dumbledore hasn’t appeared yet.”
Harry flicked the wand, and the Patronus raced away.
It was 1 pm, and the dementors would have finished their midday visit. Sirius had asked for daily bulletins to be timed around the dementor visits.
-ooOOoo-
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore arrived at his Hogwarts office. The ICW session had concluded in a satisfactory state of confusion. None of the reformist proposals had been accepted. Dumbledore managed to sound supportive and encouraged the reformers while maintaining a neutral stance as he presided over the sessions. The proposals were all defeated. The traditional conservative representatives had the numbers. Dumbledore knew this and let none of the reformers in on the secret that they were wasting their breath. They may have succeeded but needed to put up different arguments and pay a few outrageous bribes to get a result.
A list of acknowledgements from new students was on his desk. Dumbledore scanned the list and saw that Harry Potter’s name was not there. So, Harry would have to get a visit from a friendly supporter to bring him back into the wizarding world.
A note was sent to Hagrid. Hagrid would love to do the job, and no one was more supportive.
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