FicWad

Chapter 7
A/N: Editor: The Resident

Mr. and Mrs. Brown, Lavender, Mr. and Mrs. Abbott and Métier, Mr. and Mrs. Delacour had left the conference room, and Harry sat alone with Pansy, Ginny and Hannah.

Hannah looked at Harry with a thoughtful expression on her face, while Pansy and Ginny were looking at him with contempt.

Hannah looked briefly at the girls, then back at Harry.

"What are your plans for Pansy and Ginny?" asked Hannah.

"Keep them with me," Harry answered immediately. Harry suspected what would come, and was surprised at Hannah's answer.

"They want to become pregnant," Hannah stated simply.

Harry looked at Hannah in awe, and Hannah laughed at the expression on his face.

"If I were going to be a slave, that is something I would do," she said. "The old dream of love is exactly that... a dream. With arranged marriages there is no love, and love on sight is nonsense and only for stories. We are talking about business here. When your slaves get pregnant, and you decide to accept the children as your own and give them freedom, that would mean that the position of your slaves in the hierarchy of wives becomes almost primary," Hannah said. "There is nothing I can do about that... than only fighting for my rightful position," she said determinedly, looking fiercely at the two girls.

"If they are not pregnant at the time we marry, then I want to have them sent away," Hannah said. "Somewhere very far."

She stood up from the table, and approached Harry, who was almost wincing. She lowered her face slowly to Harry and kissed him softly on his lips. She smiled warmly at him, looked briefly at the girls and left the conference room.

When the door had closed behind Hannah, Harry let out his breath he held.

"That is your alpha wife," Pansy said, and she smirked. She turned to Ginny. "Do you believe me now?"

Ginny nodded and stared at Harry. "Let's start tonight," she smirked. "Where do we sleep?"

Harry gulped and hesitated. That was a very good question.

"Master Hiphook," he yelled.

The door opened and Hiphook entered the room. "You called, good sir?" he smirked.

Harry laughed. "Do you watch Muggle television," Master Hiphook?"

"No, my Lord, how can I help you?"

"We need a place to stay," Harry said.

"Might the Gryffindor castle suit you, my Lord?" asked Hiphook.

Harry nodded. "That would be perfect, Master Hiphook," Harry said, satisfied.

"I will be right back to collect the Portkeys and some necessary items," he said and left the room.

Hiphook came back with the Portkeys, and a pile of papers. He looked at Harry and the two girls, and smiled.

"Lord Potter-Black-Gryffindor, it was truly a pleasure to do business with you," he said, pleased. "It was an honour to work with you on the Gryffindor file, and I'm very pleased that you kept yourself so well. They way how you handled the sisters Black was admirable, and the way how you negotiated with the parents of your future wives were more than satisfying," he said.

Hiphook handed Harry a wooden plate in the form of a crest. "This is the Portkey to Gryffindor castle," he said. "This Portkey will transport you to the entrance hall. " He pointed to the big pile of papers. "These papers contain all the details about your three inheritances. We need to set an appointment later this week, when you have time, to visit all your vaults, my Lord."

Harry smiled at Hiphook.

"Master Hiphook, you have helped me multiple times today, that I will never forget," he said.

"Well, my Lord, it is not for free, because you paid for our services," he smirked.

"Oh? I paid for those services, Master Hiphook?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Yes, of course you paid for the services of Gringotts. The default fee for an inheritance like the Black's and Potter's costs one thousand Galleons, and the Gryffindor inheritance costs two thousand and five hundred Galleons, the use of the conference rooms are hundred and fifty Galleons per hour. As you know, my Lord, time is money, and we are in the business of making money."

"What about Dumbledore?" Harry asked.

"What about him, my Lord?" Hiphook asked.

"Did he finish his business with Mr. and Mrs. Bulstrode, Master Hiphook?"

Hiphook grinned. "Not as well as you did, my Lord. He paid the default fee with some thousands above that. I could tell that Dumbledore was not happy, and neither were Mr. and Mrs. Bulstrode."

"What about Bellatrix and Narcissa Black?" Harry asked.

"They are already in their castle," Hiphook said. "They received their Portkey from us ten minutes after they left this room. They were also not happy, but at the end they went."

"How are they contained at that castle? They can easily Apparate away, can't they?" Harry asked.

"No, my Lord, that is not possible. First of all, they don't know where they are exactly, so they can't Apparate somewhere else, and secondly, the distance of Apparition is simply too far to reach England. The maximum range of Apparition is about 150 kilometres. Owls can't reach them, because the castle is Unplottable, has anti-Apparition and anti-Porting wards. The only Portkeys that can be used are the ones we use," said Hiphook, satisfied.

"How is the protection arranged for the Gryffindor castle, Master Hiphook?" Harry asked.

"The security of Gryffindor castle is the best ever," Hiphook said in awe. "We at Gringotts are always interested in protection for obvious reasons, but we've never seen anything comparable as the protection around, at and in the castle. Don't worry about that, my Lord, because the nothing can go through its defences, not even a hundred dragons," he said.

"I have a question for you, Master Hiphook. I am in need of several persons for various functions. One of the people I am looking for is one who will manage my accounts on a daily basis. Can you refer me to anyone?"

Hiphook looked thoughtful. "Normally, ancient families like yours have special accounting companies doing their business for them. The Potters had an accounting firm, which was located in London; the Blacks did the accounting themselves and the Gryffindors, I don't know, but I can find out when you wish. "

"Are you willingly to manage my accounts, Master Hiphook?" Harry asked with a smile.

For the first time he saw the goblin dumbstruck.

"Master Hiphook? Are you alright?" smiled Harry.

"My Lord, are you saying that you want me to do your accounting?" Hiphook asked shocked.

"Yes, Master Hiphook. I trust you entirely, because you charged me for your services, and you don't have any opinionated ambition that I need to worry about."

"There was never a Head of House who trusted the goblins and Gringotts fully with their accounting and their gold together," Hiphook said carefully. "Are you sure you want this?"

"Yes, Master Hiphook. I am very sure," Harry said.

"In that case I need to get a form and we sign both," Hiphook said happily. "One moment, my Lord." He turned and hurried out of the room.

"Potter, I started to think that there was hope for you, but now I have my doubts again," Pansy said behind his back.

Harry laughed and turned. "I thought I was the Gryffindor and you were the Slytherin," Harry said.

Pansy looked confused.

"I have a good and trustworthy partner at Gringotts, and they for sure don't want to lose all the millions of Galleons they can earn from me on a yearly basis. And just think how my fortunes will grow, because the more they grow, they more they will earn. Hiphook will be the richest goblin of all goblins in a record time. When he becomes richer, he also becomes more powerful. And when he is, he is bound to me." How richer, how more powerful he becomes, and he will be bound to me."

Pansy looked thoughtful.

"Do you need an assistant who will be able to do your secretarial work?" she asked.

"Are you volunteering?" Harry asked.

"Yes, why not?" she asked.

"Who will do your work when you are pregnant?" asked Harry.

"Being pregnant does not mean handicapped," Pansy said shortly.

Harry laughed, but before he could continue, Hiphook returned with a new pile of papers.

"Lord Potter-Black-Gryffindor, here are the papers which give Gringotts the permission to manage your accounts, and here is the paper which defines me as your account manager," Hiphook said.

Harry nodded and looked at the papers. They were not the standard forms which he signed before, but hand written forms. The first set of forms was for confirmation that Gringotts would be managing his accounts for fifty years. The second set of forms was for his permission that Gringotts could invest thirty percent of the total cash value he had, and the third set of forms was to grant permission for Hiphook to be his manager with his son, Bersak, as assistant account manager.

Harry nodded and signed the forms, followed by Hiphook. At the moment Hiphook finished signing the forms, they flashed and duplicated them selves. This set is yours," Hiphook breathed, "and the other set is for Gringotts."

"My Lord," began Hiphook when he had finished submitting the contracts, "I took the liberty of contacting our head of security at Gringotts. Gringotts has an interest in your protection," he said. "Our head of security will contact you this evening. "

Harry bowed to Hiphook. "Master Hiphook, may you earn a lot of money and become stinking rich," he said.

Hiphook smirked. "You too, my Lord."

He turned and left the conference room.

Pansy snorted. "The world is turning around," she said. "A Gryffindor who becomes a Slytherin."

Ginny laughed. "Master and Lord Potter-Black-Gryffindor, you have your duty to fulfil tonight," she said with a smile. "You will make me a woman tonight. Let's go, I want to see that castle."

"I hope that the castle has owls, because I want to have my Hedwig back, and I don't know where the Order is keeping her," said Harry anxiously.

He took the portkey and held it out. "Touch the shield," he said. Pansy and Ginny held the shield and Harry tapped the shield twice with his wand. They disappeared with a swirl, and they arrived in a large hall, full of warm colours, tables, many chairs, tapestries, chandeliers, blazing fireplaces and a lot of paintings. They were home at last.

Harry, Ginny and Pansy looked around, impressed. In front of Harry and the girls was a large oak table surrounded by many chairs carrying what Harry assumed to be the Gryffindor coat of arms.

Before Harry could see more details, a soft plopping sound came from Harry's right. A small house elf appeared and bowed immediately.

"Master Gryffindor," it squealed. "Welcome to Gryffindor castle."

Harry and the girls studied the small elf for a moment.

"Thank you. What is your name?" asked Harry.

"My name is Gidi, Master," Gidi answered with her shrill voice.

"Are you the only elf in the castle, Gidi?"

"No Master, there are many elves in the castle," Gidi said.

Harry looked at the girls, who looked weary and worn out. Truthfully, he was quite exhausted him self.

"Gidi, could you be so kind as to show us to our bedrooms, please. We are very tired and would like to sleep. Tomorrow is another day; we will see the castle then," Harry said.

Gidi bowed deeply.

"Is that alright with you, Gidi?" Harry asked.

Gidi looked surprised at Harry. "Of course it is alright, Master. The bedrooms are in order and ready for you and your slaves," Gidi said. Gidi did not look to the girls, and Harry raised his eyebrow.

"Gidi, these lovely girls are Ginny Weasley and Pansy Parkinson," he said to the little elf.

"No Potter," Pansy corrected him with a smirk. "We are Ginny and Pansy Potter-Black-Gryffindor, slaves by profession."

Gidi's eyes did not move, and she did not react to Pansy's statement.

"What is wrong, Gidi? These are my girls," Harry said a bit irritated.

"They are slaves, Master. Slaves have no jurisdiction anywhere, including the castle," the little elf answered in a dignified voice.

"No, Gidi," sighed Harry. "That is not true. I treat you as a real creature like I would any other human; you are as important to me as my best friend, and I want you to treat my girls as you would treat me. Do you understand?"

Suddenly, Harry remembered that he would be having visitors in the evening and sighed again.

"Let's see what our bedrooms are like, and then we can make plans for this evening. I just remembered that we are going to have visitors tonight. Gidi, please lead the way," Harry said a bit more forcefully.

Gidi bowed again and started to waggle and wiggle with the help of her little legs through one of the many beautifully crafted wooden doors of the entrance hall. They walked through several fantastic looking corridors, full of light coming from the roofs, large Victorian windows with colourful curtains in gold, yellow and several shades of scarlet. Some of the corridors had many magical paintings, statues, sculptures, and others carried rich tapestries and draperies with scenes and panoramas of long-past events. Harry thought he saw a corridor full with draperies with maps and drawings of far away countries. One corridor had only paintings about unbelievable-looking sailing ships at sea. Some of the paintings were enormous, standing at least three meters high and two meters wide.

At least they arrived in a large foyer. The first thing Harry and the girls noticed was the glass sealing. The glass was painted in all kind of colours and the sunlight was filtering through the glass, creating all kinds of colour variations all the way through the foyer. Everywhere were plants in many shades green and blue, strange looking flowers and... lilies!

Harry was spellbound by the sight of the beautiful white and pink lilies, and he moved immediately closer to touch them. His fingers touched the flowers tenderly, and he sighed. If he could only imagine his mother... she was named after these beautiful flowers. Harry sighed again and he turned to Gidi.

"Who is responsible for this garden?"

"That is our garden elf Naif, Master," Gidi said nervously.

"Call him," Harry commanded, now admiring the beautiful garden.

With a plop, an old house elf appeared next to Gidi and bowed deeply.

"Naif?" Harry asked.

"Yes Master?" Naif squealed, unsure what was happening, nor why he was called.

"This garden is a masterpiece; it is a piece of art. I have never seen such a beautiful garden in my life before; I'm deeply impressed," Harry said.

Naif looked surprised, and then shocked, but Harry could also see the look of pride on his face.

"It is a pleasure, Master. Not many creatures in the world can appreciate beauty," he said.

"Who is responsible for those beautiful paintings, Naif?" Pansy asked.

Naif looked briefly at Pansy, then quickly at Harry. Naif's ears went up and he looked dubious.

Harry smiled. "You are right, not many creatures do appreciate such beauty, especially when it is right under their noses. Naif, may I introduce you to two beauties? This gorgeousness here who asked you the question is Pansy, and the other gorgeousness with the beautiful red hair is Ginny."

Ginny beamed at Harry, and Pansy could not help herself and smiled pleasantly at Harry's words. She knew that she was very unattractive, but the words from Potter did her good. She was curious as to what the elf was going to do. She knew that elves would never accept any commands from her or Ginny because they were slaves. She knew that house elves saw slaves as low an insects.

Naif looked hesitantly at the girls, then back at Harry.

"Master?"

"They belong to me, Naif. They can't help their rank, as you couldn't help being born as a house elf, and I as human and Hedwig as an owl. These two beauties are carrying my voice, like you will carry my voice. Please address them as you address me," Harry ended, and looked expectantly at Naif.

Naif looked hesitantly at Gidi, then at the girls. He studied them for a while and turned to Harry.

"One of them does not look like a beauty," Naif said.

"She is beautiful and wise inside," Harry said. "You will learn to see that beauty inside her as well," Harry answered gently.

Naif nodded.

"I am responsible for the paintings, Mis-mis-mis Mistress," he stammered.

Pansy looked with astonishment at the house elf. "What did you do with him, Potter? A house elf would never call us Mistress because we are slaves. This is impossible," she exclaimed.

She looked at Harry for a few moments, then at Naif.

"The paintings are beautiful and the way you have presented them throughout the corridors is tasteful, stylish, refined and fitting. Thank you," she said and bowed her head slightly.

Now it was Naif turn to look astonished. Never had a human said something like this to him... or to any other elf he knew about... except that crazy house elf Dobby in the Hogwarts castle. He knew that Dobby was bound to his new Master here, but he was not aware that another human could say something like that to him.

Ginny fell on her knees, so she could look him straight into the eyes. "Could you be so sweet to escort us tomorrow to show us this beautiful castle, please?"

Naif nodded brightly, not interested anymore if the females were slaves or not. The Master had said that they carried the Master's voice, and who was he to disrespect his Master? Wait a minute... the Master said that he would carry the Master voice as well? What did that mean?

'Gidi," Harry said. "Where are our bedrooms?"

Gidi bowed low, and wiggled to the largest entrance in the foyer. It was obvious to Harry that the large door was made from a strange kind of wood; the colour of the wood was almost black. The special thing about this door was that it was entrenched in small iron frames in the form of little white and yellow flowers. The effect was astonishing, and Harry and the girls were studying the door in appreciation of its beauty.

"This door is the oldest door in the castle," said Gidi. "Naif knows more about this door," she said, looking at Naif.

"This door was crafted by Merlin," Naif replied. "An anecdote from that time said that this is the door of an entrance to the Tower of Eden," the old elf said.

"Tower of Eden?" Harry asked fascinated.

"Before any human came into this world," Naif said, "there was a place which was called the Garden of Eden. That garden was protected by great and powerful magic, and guarded by large walls and powerful towers. This is the door to one of those towers, and also the only remaining piece which survived. The Great Merlin himself implanted the metal frames in the door. It is impossible to damage or destroy this door, and it took Merlin a great strength to complete this task."

Harry smiled at the elf. "Thank you. I look forward to tomorrow," he said.

Naif bowed and disappeared with a soft popping sound.

Harry opened the heavy door and entered the bedroom, closely followed by the girls.

"Wow," an overwhelmed Ginny said. "This is amazing!"

Even Pansy was impressed.

In the middle of the bedroom there was a double king-sized bed, surrounded by bluish translucent blinds. The blankets on the bed were cherry coloured with white sheets. The bedroom itself was huge, at least twenty meters long and ten meters wide, the ceiling was high, at least five meters and painted with beautiful sceneries.

Above the bed, a mirror was implanted in the ceiling; a classical, Victorian styled heavy frame surrounded the mirror. At one side of the bedroom, there were high Victorian-styled windows, which was the overall style of this castle, as they had seen walking thought the corridors and hallways. At one corner they could see a large desk, much larger than the desk Hiphook had used in Gringotts, with two easy chairs on one side, and a comfortable looking office chair on the other side. In the other corner they could see a classical coffee table surrounded by five red cushions.

On the table was a vase full of white roses. On the walls opposite the windows, they could see many plants which were growing over whole the wall, paintings of landscapes and the sea, paintings of the same classical sailing ships they had seen earlier.

Harry saw the vague outlines of doors next to the bed, and opened the first door. This was a walk-in closet full with clothes... clothes for men. He closed the door and opened the next door, and saw a large room, which was obviously the toilet. He closed that door as well, and opened the last door, which turned out to be the bathroom with two showers, a large bathtub and a swimming pool! He had no other words for it... it was nothing else than a small sized swimming pool of two meters wide and five meters long, already filled with steaming water.

He could hear the girls squealing when they saw the swimming pool. Harry left the bathroom and looked at Gidi.

"Who are all those clothes for, Gidi?" asked Harry.

"They are for you, Master," Gidi said with a small voice. "Don't you like them, Master?"

Harry smiled at the small elf. "I like them, Gidi. Where are the rooms for the girls?"

"They stay here of course, Master," Gidi squealed.

Harry looked sternly at the small elf, but before he could say anything, Ginny was already talking.

"Of course we'll stay here, Gidi. Thank you so much. I'm going to take a bath," she said happily.

Harry turned around and watched Ginny walking quickly to the bathroom, and Pansy was looking at him with a smirk.

"What?" he asked her confused.

"Harry, we are staying here in this bedroom," she said. "You have nothing to say about that. So, be a good boy, amuse yourself, because I am going to take a bath as well."

She grinned, and entered the bathroom. She closed the door behind her, and Harry could hear her laughter through the closed door.

He turned back to look at Gidi, but Gidi seemed to be amused as well.

"Master, is there anything else?" she asked innocently.

Harry sighed resignedly.

"Could you be so sweet and arrange clothes for the girls as well?" Harry asked politely.

Gidi ears stood straight up and she was surprised of her Master's wording and tone.

"Of course, Master. What kind of clothing did you have in mind?" Gidi asked.

"Clothing which is suitable for a queen," he said smiling. "They've lost so much already, and we are in the position to make their lives a little bit more bearable," he said.

Gidi looked surprised. "Of course, Master."

"Is it common for women to have house elves that assist them in dressing and make up and other things like that?" Harry asked thoughtfully.

"Yes, Master. They are called maids," she said.

"So we have someone who is willing to take care for the girls, Gidi?"

"Yes, we have, Master," Gidi said and snapped her fingers.

Two small house elves popped into existence in front of Harry.

"This is Noosa, and this is Blaar, Master, both of them are house maids and they can take care of your women," Gidi said.

Harry smiled and knelt on the floor. Noosa's and Blaar's eyes widened when they saw that their Master was kneeling in front of them.

"Noosa and Blaar, would you be willing to be Ginny and Pansy's personal elves?" he asked gently.

Both elves nodded.

He turned with a smile and pointed at the bathroom. "They are taking a bath at the moment, help yourself."

Noosa and Blaar beamed and with a plop they disappeared. As Harry was expecting, he heard the screams of the girls and he smirked. "Payback time," he murmured.

Harry smiled at Gidi, who bowed briefly and plopped away.

Harry started to explore the clothes in his dressing room. Amazing clothes.