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Chapter 27 - The Last Will And Testament Of James And Lily Potter

Dimension: 563 - Earth
Date: 2nd August 2001 AD
Country: France - Pic Du Thaume
Location: Beauxbatons Academy Of Magic
Time: Afternoon

Harry only had three lessons on his first day, but already he felt exhausted, the last flying lesson had taken a lot out of him as the first years were worse at flying than Neville and Hermione put together.

He collapsed into the chair in his office, quite content just to stay there all evening and night.

He mentally thanked himself that he had only had one lesson with each class as it meant no homework to mark.

He began to doze off in the comfy chair, ignoring the fact that it was not yet even five.

He was awakened several hours later by the sensation of warm lips on his own.

He did not need to open his eyes to see who it was; he would recognise those lips anywhere....and the link that flared when ever he came in contact with them.

He kissed her back, bringing his arms around her back he pulled her closer, feeling her back through the silk of her dress.

She pulled back slowly and he felt her slight weight shift off his lap.

He opened his eyes slowly to see Fleur sitting on the edge of his desk, wearing one of her silver silk dresses that only just past her knees.

She was sitting with her hands on her knees, leaning towards him with her head slightly dipped giving that seductive and incredibly sexy look that women get when they look through they're eye lashes.

"Did the Professor enjoy that?" she asked in her sexiest voice, he hated it when she did this because it meant he had no chance of resisting her, it was almost as bad as her Veela powers, not that she had used them on him since they had mated.

"Greatly," he replied playing along "Do it again before I give you a demerit."

She giggled which Harry thought made her look even prettier, if that was even possible.

"Yes Sir." she replied, purring out the title as she climbed off the desk, sat across his lap before turning to kiss him.

After several minutes they came up for air and she snuggled closer to him.

"How was your first day?"

"Tiring," he replied "Who ever though flying could be so exhausting, I'm not looking forward to Monday, I have two double DAA lessons with the 7th years and 6th years."

Fleur giggled as he groaned "If they are too hard on you, tell them to come and see me."

"Thank you....actually, while I think of it, at some point would you mind coming in for a demonstration duel?"

"Of course not," she smiled "Just tell me when you want me."

He wiggled an eyebrow and walked his fingers up her left leg.

"What if I said now?"

She giggled again and gave him a light swat before resting her head on his shoulder.

He picked her up, letting her lock her arms around his neck, it still surprised Harry that she weighed so little.

He carried her up the stairs, through his rooms (that he hadn't actually looked at yet) and up onto the roof.

"Wow." she exclaimed as he laid her down on the light blue carpet covering the floor, her clothes almost blending in with the floor "Arry this is amazing, I can't believe this place existed and I never found out about it."

Harry just sat there and watched as she stared in awe at the grounds below them, the breeze from the open dome window causing her hair to curl its way around her face, creating an image worthy of any Hollywood movie.

She looked at him, sensing his emotions and saw the happy expression on his face.

"What?"

"It's nothing."

"Seriously, what?"

"I was just....I was just reminded of how beautiful you are."

He brought the image of her sitting there to the front of his mind and sent it down the link (a handy little technique they had picked up since the mating).

She blushed as she received the image.

Harry topped it of by bringing his emotions for her to the surface and letting her see that part of his mind.

She took in a gasp and his Soul Ring glowed bright silver swirled together with green (the colours of love and happiness).

The sensations made her take his hand and pull him down to the floor and into a loving embrace.

"Oh Arry, it always surprises me just how strongly you feel for me."

"I will always feel that way." he whispered in her ear as he stroked her beautiful hair.

After several minutes they separated and laid down on the comfortable carpet, staring up at the stars.
________________________________________________________________________

When Harry awoke the next morning he saw Fleur lying beside him sleeping soundly.

He rolled over so that he could watch her sleep, one of his favourite pastimes.

He was always surprised by the fact that she always smiled while she slept, it always made him happy to see.

She awoke a few minutes after him and kissed him tenderly before the pair headed down the stairs into Harry's apartments.

Before they reached the flight of stairs that entered Harry's office, Fleur withdrew the Time Turner and transported them back twenty four hours.

As soon as the world settled they heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Quickly!" he whispered, pulling her into one of his rooms that turned out to be the bedroom.

They heard the other Harry and Madam Maxine pass the room before heading up to the roof; Harry carefully leaned around the corner to check that they had gone before directing Fleur back down the stairs to his office.

"That was too close." she breathed in relief.

"Sorry, I had forgotten that I had been shown the tower this morning."

"At least you are getting your tenses right." she smiled as they continued down the stairs.

They took the fireplace back to Chateau Delacour where Dimitri and Delphine were standing exactly where they had been when he had left the repeat before, of course for them less than five minutes had past, its was not an easy think to get used to.

"How was your first day of teaching?" asked Dimitri.

"Tiring," he replied as he yet again climbed back to his feet "I only had three classes but that was enough." he turned to Fleur "When did you teach your sister how to duel?"

"She helped me train actually, she helped me improve my reflexes for the Under Eighteens Duelling Championship at Beauxbatons; she is quite good with a fireball." she grinned.

Harry nodded before turning to Dimitri.

"Do I need to bring anything?"

"I would bring your key and your moneybag other than that I would just suggest removing those appearance spells, you still look a lot like William."

"That's something I have been meaning to ask," said Harry turning back to Fleur "Was it pure coincidence or did you deliberately make me look like Bill?"

Fleur looked at him closely, studying his features.

"I never actually noticed the similarity; I actually made you look that way because it looked good on you. You didn't....You didn't think I was trying to make you into a substitute did you?" she asked, her face looking slightly hurt at the thought that he might not trust her feelings for him.

"Before the bonding I did....slightly....but not since." he reassured her.

She breathed a sigh of relief as Harry drew his wand and cancelled the spells, though his scar had become visible during the night, he loved being able to do magic outside of school.

Harry disappeared quickly to go and get the items Dimitri had suggested as well as to quickly wash and change out of his work robes.

As he re-entered the Sitting Room he kissed a quick goodbye to Fleur before he and Dimitri entered the Fireplace.
________________________________________________________________________

Dimension: 563 - Earth
Date: 3rd August 2001 AD
Country: France - Mont Blanc
Location: The Goblin Caves
Time: Morning

Harry, as usual, got thrown out of the fireplace and ended up sprawled on the floor.

"You really don't have much luck with Fireplaces do you Harry?" chuckled Dimitri.

"What could have possibly given you that idea?" he replied sarcastically while climbing to his feet, while Dimitri cast a quick cleaning charm on his robes.

They were in what appeared to be a cave of sorts, the walls around them were dark grey stone which had been carved into the shape of a hall, intricate designs were cut into the rock face.

The fireplace was very large, very grand and had been carved straight out of the solid rock; it, like the walls, was covered in ornate designs, the rooms only sources of light were the fireplace and the lamps.

"This way Harry." indicated Dimitri as he directed him out of the hall and down a wide corridor, on either side of the doorway was a Goblin dressed in light armour and carrying a spear, they stood to attention as they passed.

The continued down the corridor until it widened and was joining by several other converging passages. On the way they were passed by several goblins, some wearing suits like the ones at Gringott's, others wearing armour and a few carrying spades or pickaxes or pushing wheel barrows full of twinkling rocks. Harry noted that the Goblins in light armour or carrying digging equipment were all larger and more heavily built than those in suits; presumably all Goblins were split that way.

As well as the Goblins, quiet a few humans could be seen in the corridors, most wearing Wizarding robes while a few wore what could best be described as digging outfits, but what surprised Harry most was the strange creatures which seemed to be halfway between a human and a Goblin, they were at least a foot taller at around one meter twenty, very heavily built wearing heavy armour or carrying heavy digging equipment with vast amounts of hair on their heads and chins and what appeared to be human faces, though it was hard to tell under all that hair.

"This is the Central Goblin Mining Complex in Europe Harry," explained Dimitri "Here they mine most of the Gold that the Wizarding world uses for its galleons, other than mining they also operate the Central Banking Office from here as well as the Goblin Parliament."

They took a left and ended up in a smaller corridor that appeared to be more ornately designed.

"Dimitri," asked Harry "What were those strange bearded creatures....they don't look like Professor Flitwick so they can't be Human Goblin hybrids....can they?"

Dimitri chuckled "No Harry, they are Dwarves; they are believed to be distant relatives of Goblins though no one is really sure, but regardless they both share a love for gold, most of the world doesn't care about Dwarves in the slightest, there is not a single government with an office dedicated to their welfare, but that is irrelevant to them as they rarely venture above ground, not because they can't, but because they live in caves and that is where they feel most comfortable. The Dwarf and Goblin societies long ago joined together to the benefit of both species, Dwarves are the best miners in the world and the Goblins are the best bankers and businessmen creating the perfect partnership. Dwarves get the gold from the ground while the Goblins get it from above. Dwarves are also excellent warriors and are the reason that the Magical World fears another Goblin war so strongly."

"Why?" asked Harry.

"Think about it Harry, would you rather have a smart but only eighty centimetre tall Goblin in light armour running at you or a slightly less intelligent but an extremely heavily built one metre twenty heavily armoured Dwarf come running at you with an appropriately sized weapon in hand being directed by Goblin commanders, added to the fact that Dwarf's can take a lot more punishment before they give up."

"I see, does that mean that Dwarves are not very intelligent?"

"Oh no, they are intelligent, but if you start trying to talk about inflation rates they will be completely lost, on the other hand if you talk to him about different types of volcanic geology he will explain it better than any human scientist that the world has ever scene?"

"Do the Dwarves have a separate Parliament or are they controlled by the Goblins."

"Oh no Harry, the Goblins and Dwarf's have a completely equal and very good partnership, despite the Goblins being more intelligent both sides know that it is better for them to work together, not that they would want to split. Year's back the Dwarves were ruled by the Dwarven Lords but they got incorporated into the Goblin Parliament centuries ago."

The corridor they were in opened out into what appeared to be a large office waiting room, this room was different from the others he has seen, the walls themselves seemed to be made out of black marble and the carvings were a lot more detailed and intricate, with white marble highlighting the details. There was a desk at one end of the room with a Goblin sitting at it, just like the Goblins and Gringott's the desks and chairs were a lot higher than necessary, at least six foot high.

They approached the desk and Dimitri spoke.

"Comte Dimitri Delacour and Mr Harry Potter to see the Goblin Parliament."

The Goblin looked at a sheet of parchment beside him and made a ticking motion over it, before standing and bowing to them.

"I shall inform the Parliament immediately, please take a seat, the Parliament will see you shortly Comte."

They nodded and moved to the seats on the other side of the room while the Goblin climbed down from his desk.

"Why was that Goblin so polite?" asked Harry quietly "Normally they seem more....more....blunt."

Dimitri smiled and leaned in to whisper his answer.

"Goblin politeness depends entirely on how much you are favoured by the Parliament, whether it be because of you wealth or for other reasons. In this case it refers to my bank balance and the fact that I treat goblins with respect....as well as owning a lot of very valuable Gringotts shares."

Harry nodded his understanding as a large pair of double doors at the other end of the room which were guarded by a pair of Dwarves swung open and the Goblin returned.

"Comte Delacour, Mr Potter, The Goblin Parliament will see you know."

The pair stood and walked through the doors which closed behind them.

The room they entered was perfectly circular, at least twenty meters in diameter with a very large domed roof made out of white marble which must have been at least the same distance in height, there was a light source of some kind in the roof, it may have bean a hole to the world above but Harry couldn't tell.

Around the edge of the room ran a very high raised desk of black marble, at which sat Goblins interspersed with Dwarves, at least thirty of them in total at least two thirds of them were Goblins, all looking extremely old (as far as Harry could tell), the Dwarf contingent of the Parliament had long grey and white beards, while the Goblins were extremely wrinkled and had very stern faces.

At the far end of the room was an area where two extremely white haired Dwarves and an impossibly aged looking Goblin sat on a slightly higher platform to the others, presumably they were more important than the rest and the Goblins, they looked even more wrinkled than all the others put together, thought their cold hard eyes could still be seen staring out from under their heavy eyelids, Harry could tell just by looking at them that they were not the sort of eyes that you wanted to try to mess with.

Dimitri bowed once they reached the centre of the room and Harry followed his lead.

"Comte Delacour," began the Dwarf on the left of the raised platform in a particularly gruff voice "We know why you have come."

"That will save me having to explain then." replied Dimitri comically.

"What we want to know is why we should follow you in the war." said the Goblins in the centre, his voice was low, croaky and strained.

"I understand Lord Rangok," nodded Dimitri before turning to the rest of the hall "Honourable Lords, we all know that a war is coming and we must all decide which side we plan to take, as I see it this Parliament has several choices....You could join Dumbledore's side, but we all know that Dumbledore, as great a man as he is, does not include those he does not completely trust in his plans....You could join Voldemort, but we know that he hates your kinds and you would therefore be hunted down and killed, you could side with one of the European governments but to date none of them have done anything to prepare for the upcoming war....You could strike out on you own, but you do not have the numbers to fight that way....You could remain hidden in your mountains, but what would then happen if we lost....Voldemort would come for you and he would be prepared to face an army of Goblins and Dwarves, that leaves you one choice....join us, we would include you at all stages of planning and discussion, you would be a key core member of our force, we would jointly decide when to act, when to intervene and when to strike at our enemies....and thusly you would share in the glory, credit and....Profits!....of victory."

There was a mumbling around the hall as the Goblins and Dwarves exchanged views.

Harry was almost surprised by the speech, he was expecting an emotional motivational number and instead he received a very logical argument.

"Wise council Comte." continued Lord Rangok "But tell the Parliament why we should follow a sixteen year old boy."

"Because this boy has faced more than most of Dumbledore's side put together," replied Dimitri hotly "Because he has faced Voldemort five times and lived, because he is the only person other than Dumbledore that Voldemort fears....and because he is the only person able to defeat him."

There it is, there's the motivational bit.

"You have always been very persuasive Comte Delacour," smiled the Dwarf on the left, at least it looked like a smile, it was hard to tell through the beard "But we are interested to here what Mr Potter has to say."

Harry gulped and stepped forward, Dimitri had said to leave the talking to him and now he was in the spot light, sending Dimitri a glance of reassurance, even though he was the one needing reassurance he took a breath before speaking, praying that he wasn't setting them up for a repeat performance of the Veela Colony.

"I am sure you are aware of all the legends surrounding my life," he began "First I defeat Voldemort when I am still a baby, then I face him numerous times and I still manage to survive, not to mention the Tournament, basilisks and other assorted evil creatures....but I didn't survive a single one of the confrontations due to skill or some special magical power that I possess, I survived because I was lucky, but now that is changing. The Delacour's have hired some of the best duellists, trainers, martial arts experts and master Occlumens in the world to train me, I am using a Time Turner and spending seven days to every one, this is my sixth run through of today, by the time I return to Hogwarts I plan to be able to take down any duellist that would care to challenge me....In every confrontation with Voldemort so far I have always been running, I have never actually openly gone to face him. Next time will be different, next time I intend to fight and what's more....I intend to win."

The hall remained silent for a few moments until the Dwarf spoke.

"We will notify you of our decision before the end of the day."

Both bowed before walking out of the room.

As they walked through the doors and they closed Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nice speech Harry," complimented Dimitri placing a hand on his shoulder as they began walking back towards the corridor "Right to the point, always wise with Goblins."

"Mr Potter." addressed the Goblin at the desk.

"Yes." Harry replied politely.

"The Head of our Accounts Department would like a word with you Sir."

"Thanks." replied Harry curiously as he and Dimitri left the room before taking the turning of towards said department.

They reached the Accounts Department after several minutes of wandering through passages and a few open halls that appeared to be as busy as platform 9 and ¾ on the first day of school; luckily Dimitri knew where he was going as they all looked the same to Harry.

The Accounts Department looked like an enlarged version of the Gringotts in Diagon Alley.

They made their way to the Head Goblins desk. Dimitri cleared his throat causing the Goblin to look slowly in their direction, wearing that sneer that they had a habit of wearing when disturbed.

As soon as the Goblin laid eyes on the pair his face changed immediately as he sat up and straightened his jacket.

"Comte Delacour, Mr Potter, what can I do for you Sirs?"

"The Goblin outside the Parliament Room said you wanted to see me." explained Harry.

"Indeed yes Mr Potter," smiled the Goblin climbing down the steps behind his desk "My name is Gristleback, I am the Head of the Accounts Department, would you please follow me."

They followed him into an office, inside where two chairs in front of a desk (which was actually normal sized), in the back wall was what appeared to be a panel of some kind, though it had no handle or visible method of opening it, other than that the room was almost completely bare except for the wall carvings and large fireplace.

Gristleback walked behind the desk and opened the safe by running his finger down the sides; he withdrew a sheet of parchment before closing it and moved to the desk as the pair sat down opposite him.

"You are Harry James Potter."

"Yes." Harry answered confused.

"Son of James and Lily Potter of Godrics Hollow."

"Yes." he repeated.

"Formalities," explained Gristleback "I have to follow procedure before revealing the contents of a persons Will."

Dimitri glanced as Harry, his eyes had visibly darkened, Dimitri prayed that what they were about to hear did not send him catatonic again.

"As you are technically a minor it is customary for your guardians to be present but as you are currently in the process of taking your guardians to court for their miss treatment of you and as you are staying with the Comte that technicality can be overlooked."

Harry nodded his understanding, though he was visibly stiffer.

"This is the last will and testament of Lily and James Potter."

"My parents!" exclaimed Harry "But....but I thought this would be the will of Sirius Black."

"Oh no Mr Potter, his will is being investigated by the British branch of our bank, apparently there are complications due to his criminal record, your parents will was handed over to us at central office as it regards a major Wizarding family, a large inheritance and it could not be read out until you turned sixteen."

Harry leaned back in his chair, he had never even thought about his parents Will before, he just assumed they had left him the money in his bank vault and that was it.

"Would you prefer to hear the entire will or just the summary Mr Potter?" asked Gristleback.

"Just the summary please." replied Harry quietly.

"Speaking simply the will states that you are the only beneficiary of the will and that you will receive your inheritance as soon as you are legally declared an adult by Wizarding and Muggle law, there are more details regarding that but I will return to that in a minute if I may. In the case of your parents untimely death your inheritance and your guardianship would be passed over to your godfather Sirius Black for safe keeping....Unfortunately due to his criminal record he was disqualified as a suitable guardian, as was Remus Lupin because of his Werewolf status and Peter Pettigrew because he was believed at the time to have passed on."

Harry half hissed, half sneered as the last name was read out, it angered him that had Sirius been locked up without supposedly killing Wormtail's, then he would have been raised by the treacherous little rat.

"As a result," continued Gristleback, who Harry had just realised did not automatically assume that Peter was dead "You're inheritance was placed in a trust fund and another vault was set up for your usage that always contained a certain amount of currency to allow you to buy your school books etcetera, until you could take control of you main vault. Now we come to the matter of you being declared an adult. Your parents considered the possibility that you might be placed with your aunt and uncle so they included a clause in their will."

Harry leaned forward in his chair, what had his parents planned.

"If there was even a single report that you were being mistreated or abused by them then you were to be declared an emancipated minor immediately and if you were under the age of sixteen given to Albus Dumbledore to look after, but of course that does not apply and more."

"I think congratulations are in order Harry." smiled Dimitri.

"Indeed," agreed Gristleback "But we have done some research and we have discovered something troubling."

"What?" asked Harry, he knew it wouldn't last long.

"We have discovered that there were reports of suspected child abuse being filed against the Dursley's by several of the occupants of their street going all the way back to when you were five years of age."

"What!" roared Dimitri, jumping to his feet "Why were they not acted upon?"

"It appears that the English Ministry of Magic went to great lengths to ensure that they were hushed up, though as of yet we do not know exactly why."

Dimitri looked thoughtful attempting to find a reason for the cover up, it was at this time that something occurred to Harry.

"As Sirius and the others couldn't take care of my inheritance and I know that the Dursley's know nothing about my Gringotts vault....who has been taking care of my parent's money all these years?"

Dimitri and Gristleback both looked up, Dimitri snapping his fingers in understanding as Gristleback reaching for a piece of parchment, scribbled something quickly before opening what looked like a shoot in the wall and placing it inside sending it whistling down a hidden pipe in a gust of wind.

"Harry I think you have just hit the nail on the head there," said Dimitri, he turned to Gristleback "Am I correct in thinking that unless prior arrangements have been made, the government becomes the care taker of the estate until adulthood?"

"Yes Comte." nodded Gristleback.

"Please tell me you aren't saying that Fudge is in control of my inheritance." groaned Harry leaning back in his chair.

"Yes Mr Potter," replied Gristleback "For at least part of the time, Minister Fudge has held his position since you were eight years of age but before that he was first the Advisor to the Ministry and before that the Head of the Accounts Department. If you are correct then I would guess that having possession of your account would make him look like a very successful member of the Ministry. Technically they are not aloud to use any of it without prior agreement from the bank with written permission defining exactly how the money is to be used and any monetary units withdrawn must be returned to the account with appropriate interest within a set time frame."

Dimitri nodded his agreement.

"And as your inheritance is quiet large I am not surprised he did not want to let you have it back, that note I just sent down was a request for a full investigation of your account and the entire history of transactions going back sixteen years, I have also frozen the account so no more money can be extracted except by you or the bank until the enquiry is completed ....if it turns out that they have been using the money from your account for any reason other than its maintenance and in your direct interest, firstly the bank will sue them for the work hours they would have wasted with the transactions and then I recommend you sue them to get every single knut including the interest that you should have earned on the account back."

Harry smiled evilly "That would definitely be a fun way to get back at Fudge and the Ministry."

Dimitri smiled at Harry's expression, from what he had heard from his daughter about Hogwarts houses Harry definitely has some Slytherin in him.

"There is definitely some snake in you Harry."

"Why do you say that?" Harry asked innocently.

"No Gryffindor could ever wear that look."

Harry grinned before returning to face the Goblin.

"What were you saying about being legally declared an adult?"

Gristleback turned to Dimitri.

"Comte, as a member of The Council of Power you have the authority to declare Mr Potter an emancipated minor here and now."

Dimitri nodded before turning to Harry drawing his wand.

"Please stand Harry,"

He did as Dimitri aimed his wand "Harry James Potter, I Comte Dimitri Delacour, Head of Delacour House and it's Estate, member of The Council of Power hereby declare that in the eyes of Wizarding and Muggle Law that you are legally declared emancipated, with all the rights and responsibilities that Wizarding Law entitles you to." there was a short flash of white before the room returned to normal "Congratulations Harry."

"Thanks....I think....err, can I ask a question?"

"Of course Harry." replied Dimitri.

"What did all that mean?"

Dimitri looked at him for a moment before bursting out laughing.

"I do apologise Harry, let me explain, basically I have just made you into a legal adult as far as Wizarding and Muggle law in concerned, which means 1. You will have access to your family vaults, 2. You can buy alcohol and cigarettes, which you can not in the Muggle world, not that you would anyway, 3. You can get married and engage in legal physical relationships; actually you can do both of those last two now that you're sixteen anyway," said Dimitri with a knowing smile "And 4. That you can do anything that by law an adult can do, for example....magic."

Dimitri finished with a smile.

"Oh, ok then." smiled Harry "That might not be so bad."

Dimitri turned back to Gristleback.

"What exactly does the inheritance consist of?"

Gristleback examined the parchment and raised an eyebrow.

"Firstly there is the content of the Potter Family Vault consisting of a rather large sum of currency along with many shares in companies and many personnel effects, there is also the ownership of several properties; firstly in Wales there is Godrics Hollow, your parents house on the site of the ancestral home of Godric Gryffindor, I recommend that you turn down any offers to buy the site Mr Potter as any offer will be far too low for such a historically valuable piece of land, there is also a medium sized mansion in Scotland and the surrounding lands known as The Potter Estate, the ancestral home of the Potter family."

Harry smiled slightly, he now owned both his parent's house and his families ancestral home so even if Dumbledore did find out where he was he could no longer send him back to Little Winging as he could no longer call Pivet Drive home.

"Other than that there is just the matter of your titles." finished Gristleback.

"Titles?" Dimitri and Harry asked simultaneously.

"Yes Sirs, each of the two properties has attached land and as a result you have titles to accompany them, both properties including villages, the residents of whom all pay you rent, your land equates to around two thousand acres over both estates, Godrics Hollows is on the edge of a valley backed by mountains with three small villages in the valley with around fifty tenants overall, while The Potter Estate is set on a hill in a mountainous area with the land consisting of a couple of hundred acres immediately around the house and another seven hundred or so around a larger village further down the mountain with at least seventy five tenants, all of whom are Muggles but they are all aware of magic, they are very isolated communities."

"What are the accompanying titles?" asked Dimitri curiously.

"The Potter Estate grants you the title of Thane Potter as well as formally acknowledging you as the head of the Potter family."

"What is a Thane?" asked Harry confused.

"If my memory serves me correctly Harry, a Thane is the Scottish version of a Baron which is a low rank of peerage in the United Kingdom."

"That is correct Comte Delacour, though the title of Thane is rarely used nowadays."

"What was the other title?" asked Dimitri.

"There are actually two others for Mr Potter to inherit; from your mother's family you receive the rank of Knight, earning you the title of Sir Harry James Evans."

"I didn't think knighthoods could be passed down?" said Harry confused.

"Not in the Muggle world Mr Potter but the knighthood came from your Great Grandfather Evans who was a Pure-Blood wizard and in the Wizarding World knighthoods can be made hereditary, unlike the other titles this one has no base so to speak as it is merely passed down through the blood and is not dependant on property."

"Wait a minute; you just said that one of my mother's relatives was a Pure-Blood wizard?"

"Yes Sir, he and his wife were both Pure-Bloods, both their offspring turned out to be Squibs, then your mother became the first member of the family in over a generation to be a witch."

"Wait....that means that....Petunia....is a Squib." calculated Harry.

"Yes Sir, which makes you a Pure-Blood instead of a Half-Blood as although there has been no magic in her family for a generation all the family members were merely Pure-Blood Squibs."

Harry nodded, that was why Petunia hated his mother so much, she got the brake and became the witch, the special one in the family.

He also chuckled at the fact that had Voldemort realised that he was not a Half-Blood, he may not have chosen Harry to be his 'equal' and therefore he may not have been defeated the first time.

"Dare I ask what the last title is?" said Harry nervously returning to the subject at hand.

Gristleback smiled and read of the papers in front of him.

"The last title relates to the ownership of Godrics Hollow and earns you the prestigious title of Viscount Gryffindor."

"I'm sorry can you repeat that?" asked Dimitri stunned.

"The title of Viscount Gryffindor, although Mr Potter or rather Viscount Gryffindor is no blood relation to the original bearer, one of his ancestors married a descendant of Gryffindor and so he holds the rights to the title."

"What is a Viscount?" asked Harry turning to Dimitri.

Dimitri turned to Harry, his expression positively beaming.

"Basically Harry it means you are only one level or peerage lower than I am, I can now safely say that any reservations I may had had about allowing my daughter to court out of the peerage to a, and please forgive the term, a commoner are now completely groundless."

Harry turned back to Gristleback, still not quite believing what he was hearing.

"So let me get this straight I now have the titles of Viscount Gryffindor, Thane Harry James Potter and Sir Harry James Evans."

Gristleback nodded "Yes Viscount, though you can also be addressed as Lord Viscount, Your Excellency, Lord Thane, your Lordship, Laird and Lord Knight and all these titles can be used in both the Muggle and Wizarding World, the titles of Viscount and Baron also gives you hereditary seats in both the Muggle House of Lords and the British Wizengamot and the right to demand a sitting of the British Wizengamot or a private meeting with either the British Muggle Monarch or Britain's Minister of Magic."

A huge grin spread on Harry's face at the prospect of being able to force Fudge to meet with him.

"Why do I get the feeling that you will make Fudge very aware of those privileges of yours Harry." grinned Dimitri.

"The thought had occurred to me," he smiled before something occurred to him "The rent and shares that I own aren't in Fudge's hand's are they?" asked Harry.

"No Viscount, only fixed holdings and monetary units are handed over to the Government, Gringotts keeps control of anything that can alter like incoming or outgoing monies, the shares you own in several companies have been managed by us and have been bringing in a steady rate for many years now and the rents have been kept at a fixed and reasonable level since we took control, but once the money is collected it is placed in your vaults and handed to the Government."

"I bet Fudge loved that," said Harry "All that money going straight to his control."

"Rest assured Viscount that when we have both sued your Government they will be considerably poorer than they are now." smiled Gristleback.

"Please, call me Harry."

"As you wish....Harry." replied the Goblin surprised, obviously not expecting to receive such an offer of friendship from a human.

"Is there anything else?" asked Dimitri.

"There is one matter that we are looking into, but we should be able to get back to you on that point shortly, so apart from that there is only giving the Vis....giving Harry the keys to his estates; the Ministry should have taken care of them too but I get the feeling from our previous dealings with your Ministry that they will have just left them to rot these last fifteen years, here are your new keys."

The Goblin withdrew three keys from the inside of a desk draw, he handed them to Harry, one was small and gold like his Gringotts key with the number 339 printed on it, while the others were larger gold door keys with small red shields on them.

Examining closer Harry could see that on the shields were a pair of crossed wands with a forward facing stags head in front, the shields flashed and changed to show (still on a red background) a crossed sword and what appeared to be a wooden stick (that wasn't a wand), behind which was a pair of dragon like wings with a pair of sapphire reptilian eyes at the very front.

"What just happened to this crest?" asked Harry.

"The original crest Harry was that of your parents and the one you see now is your own crest, important Wizarding family's normally posses a crest to give them a position of greater power, the crest is generated from a variety of things ranging from your likes and dislikes, your accomplishments and achievements and you strengths and specialities, some of the items on the crest might be unfamiliar as the events which affect them have not occurred yet, rest assured you will come to realise why each item is on your shield." smiled Gristleback.

"There are two types of crest," continued Dimitri "One such as yours where each Head of House has his or her own and the other where there is just one crest for the entire family line, the Black's and Malfoy's have this sort of crest, this type will only occasionally change when the bloodline changes."

There was a knock at the door and a Goblin entered carrying a black leather bound folder at least three inches thick, he handed it to Gristleback before exiting.

"This is a ledger of your parents account, including details on their holdings, shares, monetary worth and vault contents." explained the Goblin handing Harry the folder which he eyed cautiously.

"Do not worry Harry, only the top thirty pages at the most will be of interest, the rest is transaction history, including monthly credits and debits, when you hire a lawyer to sue the British Ministry he will wish to see that. That concludes our business Harry, we will contact you with the results of the enquiry, if you want you could leave now or alternatively you could go to your new vault if you wish."

Harry thought for a second before answering.

"Let's go to the vault."
________________________________________________________________________

What followed was the most interesting Gringotts cart ride either of the humans had ever experienced, it started perfectly normally with the three of them getting into a cart (albeit a slightly more luxurious one) and trundling of down the tracks.

After at least five minutes of travel Dimitri leaned forward so that his head was nearer Gristleback, they were passing down a steep slope so the wind was making it harder to hear.

"How far from here?"

"Nearly there Sir, we are approaching the gateway now Sir."

Before either of the humans had the chance to ask what the gateway was they both felt the sharp pull behind their navel signifying that a portkey had been activated, but unlike a portkey it last for no more than a split second, looking around neither could see anything different, the Goblin hit the breaks rapidly as the rails returned to running horizontally, bringing the cart came screeching to a halt just beside the vault.

"Vault 339."

"What was that?" asked Harry getting out of the cart slightly dizzily after the rapid stop.

"A gateway, it works similarly to your portkeys, except ours work by moving through them and are instant, the gateways link all the Gringotts banks all over the world allowing you to access your vault wherever you are on the planet."

"Ingenious." commented Dimitri as he regained his equilibrium, earning a toothy smile from Gristleback, an expression that still send chills down most humans spines.

The Goblin moved to the vault and placed Harry's key in the hole (he had taken it back before they began the journey; Harry later learned that he used the key to ensure they went to the correct branch of Gringotts).

The key clicked in the lock before the Goblin gave it back to Harry and stood back.

The door swung open to reveal, not one of the normal walk in vaults where you could reach the back in five strides, but a large room at least the size of any of the Hogwarts classrooms, there were stacks of galleons, but far from that being all, there was also more impressively huge stacks of twenty centimetre gold ingots, along with absolute masses of personnel artefacts, Harry had never seen so much money in all his life.

"I must say Harry I'm impressed," smiled Dimitri "Whatever your parents did for a living certainly made them rich people, this looks to be around a twentieth of the size of my family vault, but ours has been building for at least ten generations, to earn all this in only a few generations is very impressive."

Gristleback made what they thought was a disapproving sound, turning Dimitri glared at him, while Harry looked confused.

"My apologize," bowed Gristleback when he saw their expressions "I was not disapproving of your parents bank balance I was merely doing a mental valuation of this vault and it is at a guess only a tenth of what should be here."

Both the men raised their eyebrows in shock.

"It appears that the Ministry has taken a lot more than we thought," admitted Gristleback "And in doing so has made a mockery of Gringotts bank, with your permission I would like to request that you allow the bank itself to get your money back for you along with some compensation for misusing the guardianship of the vault."

Harry accepted immediately, one think that he had learned from Fleur during their conversations was that when Goblins agreed to do something....they do it, and what's more they do it very quickly and very efficiently, and even more so when their reputation is at stake, she had quoted a story that Bill had once told her:

'If you steel from a customer of Gringotts, not only will they sue the world to get your money back, they will also take the same amount of the thief's own money as compensation and then cut the thief's hands of to make sure that they can not re-offend.'

Fleur had told Harry that she didn't believe the last part but the first two lines were probably accurate.

Harry walked into the vault and looked around, further in he could see tables covered in books, wooden chests covered in ornate designs, wardrobes with fine robes hanging from the doors and enough furniture to fill a small house.

In the centre of the room was a round table with four small boxes on them. Two were labelled LP, one labelled JP and the last just had a P on the top.

Curiosity overcame Harry and he picked up the box with only a P on it.

Inside was a signet ring made out of gold, with his parents crest upon it; the details were highlighted in white gold on black onyx with a pair of tiny diamonds for the eyes.

The ring flashed and the crest changed to display his own; the shield edge turned into white gold while the back of the shield turned (if Harry hadn't known the substance didn't exist) into what looked like red onyx, the wooden stick and the sword turned into white gold while the wings appeared as black onyx, finally on top of all that was set a pair of oval shaped sapphires arranged to look like eyes positioned in the centre of each wing.

"I must say Harry that is a most interesting crest you have." commented Dimitri as he looked over Harry's shoulder before examining the table "That appears to be your house ring Harry, as the heads of a major Wizarding family that ring is yours to bare."

Dimitri revealed his own left hand; on his ring finger was a similar ring to Harry's own except the crest was that of a pair of bird wings with a flame positioned in front of it.

"You can tell I'm married to a Veela can't you." he smiled.

Harry removed the ring from the box and went to slip it onto the same finger that Dimitri wore his ring on, he paused when he realised that Fleur's Soul Ring was already there, he paused for a moment, considering moving the ring to his other hand before dropping the signet ring into his left hand then slipping it on to the middle finger of his right.

Watching Harry's choice, Dimitri smiled at his decision, leaving his daughters ring on his ring finger made the prospect of one day having a son arise in his mind.

Harry turned to Dimitri.

"There isn't a specific finger the ring is supposed to be worn on is there?"

"In Muggle society they use the ring or the little finger, wizards generally use the middle or ring finger, the hand does not matter....do you mind if I ask a question Harry?"

Harry shook his head.

"If you had to wear a ring but not either of the rings that you now have, which finger would you wear it on?"

Harry, although confused by the question though about his answering before tapping his middle finger on his right hand.

"I though so," smiled Dimitri before explaining his interest "Most family rings are magical, they are bound to the blood line, I was wondering because if that was your most comfortable finger it proves that your family ring belongs to you as it made you place Fleur's ring on the next most suitable finger, in this case your ring finger, that is why my wedding ring," he said revealing his right hand "Is on the wrong hand."

Looking at Dimitri's hand, his wedding ring was indeed there, slipped on to his ring finger.

Harry noted how Dimitri smiled at this point; he wondered if (just as a hypothetical and purely theoretical situation) if he were to ask Fleur to marry him....would Dimitri allow it?

He sent a glance at the other boxes on the table; opening them he discovered two gold band wedding rings with writing on the side and a silver engagement ring with a ruby set in the middle, surrounded by tiny pearls.

Harry smiled as he picked up a wedding ring, the writing around the edge Harry couldn't read but Dimitri could as he read off of the other.

"It's Latin....'May this band represent the love of the future of the Potter family'."

Harry placed his parents rings back inside the boxes and closed them, before wandering around the vault more.

They stayed in the vault for almost an hour finding all sorts of weird and wonderful things, varying from photo albums (which Harry took with him) to what appeared to be a simple Wizarding set of armour which by the look of them hadn't been touched in centuries, the armour including a pair of dragon hide boots, matching dragon hide gloves and a thick brown animal skin vest with a bright red dragons head embroidered on the chest, Harry thought how well they would go with his dragon hide cloak.

They finally left the vault, Harry toping up his money pouch before he went, the coins chinking as he walked, as he passed the Goblin he paused and turned to him.

"Is there an easier way to access my money than this?" he said tapping his money pouch.

"Indeed there is Harry, just yesterday we started testing a Money Bag scheme," he withdrew a small black pouch from his pocket and showed it to Harry "It is experimental so we do not know how well it will work yet. You simply reach into the pouch and the correct amount of money will be there for you, there is also another system we have just introduced for those wizards and witches that have frequent communication with the Muggle world, it is called a Debit Card."

He withdrew a card from his other pocket "That will work in any Muggle shop, the four digit Pin number is irrelevant as the card responds to your will, so as long as you have given someone else permission then they will be able to use it in your place, the card will also disguise itself in the eyes of Muggle's as one of its non-magic counterparts to avoid people asking questions and both are relatively low priced."

"Can I order one of each please?"

Gristleback immediately walked to the nearest table in the vault and withdrew a quill, form and ink from his robes; he scribbled something quickly before indicating where Harry should sign.

Gristleback then handed Harry the card, it was black displaying his crest, he slipped it into his pocket, while the Goblin placed Harry's vault key onto the front of the money bag were it embroidered itself into it, leaving only a pattern of the key and a matching crest.

"Only you or a Gringotts Goblin can remove that key."

The Goblin then handed the bag over while Harry emptied his gold from his pouch back into one of the piles which instantly neatened.

They headed out of the vault and back along the tracks, back in France they said goodbye to Gristleback before entering the Fireplace back to the Chateau.




AUTHOR NOTE: Sorry this chapter is so late, I have been suffering from writers block so I was spending some time catching up on my own reading. Thats one problem with writing it means you get a chance to read, but I don't, so here is the next chapter.

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