Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Fire and Ice

Gringotts

by Fireflashphoenix 6 reviews

When her parents become Death Eaters, Blaise Zabini (femaleblaise) runs away from home to avoid that fate, running to her headmaster for help, she is sent to the one place that is better protected ...

Category: Harry Potter - Rating: PG-13 - Genres: Action/Adventure, Romance - Characters: Harry - Warnings: [!!!] - Published: 2005-05-10 - Updated: 2005-05-10 - 2858 words

1Moving
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters attached.

Chapter 4: Gringotts.

After getting off the knight bus feeling ill, they headed through the Leaky Cauldron, saying a quick hello to Tom the bar keeper, to Diagon alley.

"First stop Harry?" Tonks said.

"Gringotts." He said leading the way.

Stepping inside he started looking for a free goblin, spotting one he headed for it, getting closer he realised it looked somewhat familiar, reaching the goblin he finally recognised it.

"Hello Griphook, I'd like to withdraw some money please." He asked as he showed Griphook his key.

"Yes Mr. Potter." Griphook answered with shock obvious on his face. "Everything is in order, follow me please." He finished as he stepped down from the desk to lead the group to the carts that will take them down to the vaults.

Once in a cart, Harry turned to Griphook. "Why did you seam so shocked when I recognised you?"

"Wizards as rich as you normally don't take the time or effort to remember different goblins, those that would normally bother to learn a goblins name, aren't rich enough to spend much time here." answered Griphook.

"Oh, another stupid prejudice." He would have continued, but the cart stopped at that moment.

"Key please." Griphook said as he climbed out of the cart.

"Erm...Griphook, is there a way to find out how much money I have?"

"In this vault, your family vault, or both combined?"

"Er. Family vault? I have a family vault?" He asked confused.

"Your telling me that you don't know about your family vault?" Tonks said in shock.

"Yes, how am I supposed to know?" he asked guessing the answer.

"Headmaster Dumbledore was supposed to tell you on your return to the wizarding world."

"Well that explains that!" Harry said viciously as his suspicions were confirmed. "What else is that meddling fool hiding from me?"

"I don't know." Tonks said. "Why are you so angry at Dumbledore anyway?"

"I'll explain later." He said stuffing a hand full of Galleons in his money pouch. "Griphook, can I see my family vault?"

"Yes you can see it, I'm afraid you can't take any money out till you are of age, but you can take out the items that are in there for safe-keeping."

"What items?"

"Family vaults often have heirlooms in them, like weapons, books, furniture, portraits and jewellery." Blaise said in a factual voice that sounded as if she was reading from a textbook.

"Okay, can you take us to see it please?" he asked Griphook.

"Yes, certainly." Griphook answered as he got in the cart to take them down to the family vault.

"Even if Dumbledore didn't tell you, I'm surprised that you haven't heard of it, it's the only one that hasn't changed owners since it was opened, the family has changed name of course, but you're still related to her. I'm surprised that you haven't heard that you're related to her, you certainly have at least some of the brains, although you ended up in the wrong house..." Blaise was saying so quickly and knowledgably that it made her sound like Hermione.

"Who are you talking about? Who am I related to?"

"Oh, sorry," she said sheepishly. "You're related to Rowena Ravenclaw."

"What?" he half shouted as they shot round a corner.

"You're related to Rowena Ravenclaw."

"How?" he asked incredulously.

"Well she had a child, a daughter, no-one knows who the father was as it was out of wedlock, but she had a daughter called Selina Ravenclaw, she married a Richard Potter, you're one of his descendants." She explained.

"Then why am I a Gryffindor? Shouldn't I be a Ravenclaw?"

"Yes, in theory, but for some reason most of the Potters have been Gryffindors."

"Well why am I the only one that doesn't know?"

"Well its not the sort of thing that pops up in conversation, is it?"

"I suppose not, but what about second year, when every one thought that I was the heir of Slytherin? Someone could have told me then."

"It is possible to be two peoples heir." Blaise replied tartly.

"I suppose."

"Vault number two, the Potter family vault." Griphook said as they ground to a halt.

As Harry numbly got out of the cart he stood staring at the doors, they were huge! The two arched doors were easily the height of a 2-storey building.

They were royal blue with the bronze Ravenclaw eagle, wings spread in flight, spanning the width and three quarters of the height of the doors, above them was the word 'POTTER' in gold, above that was a golden number '2'.

A large shield that was around 6' high by 6' across obscured the eagle's body. The top half of the shield showed a unicorn stood in a field, the bottom left section showed the bronze eagle and royal blue background that was on the doors, the last section in the shield, the bottom right, showed the Gryffindor symbol of a golden lion rampant, on a crimson background.

In the centre, about 3' off the ground was a small golden circle.

"Oh...my...god." Were the first words spoken in the group.

"You can say that again Tonks."

"Oh, my, god, its beautiful"

"He didn't mean it literally, but yeah, it is beautiful." Blaise said.

"Erm, when you two have stopped admiring the doors, can someone tell me how to get in, I haven't got a key." he said as he recovered from his shock.

"You don't need a key Mr. Potter, you simply place your palm up to the golden plate and say your name." Griphook answered. "You may want to step back though as the doors open outwards."

"Okay." He said stepping up to the doors that seemed even bigger this close, putting the palm of his hand to the plate he spoke clearly. "Harry James Potter."

He was forced to step back quickly, as the doors swung outwards, what he saw inside was amazing, he couldn't believe his eyes!"

The vault was twice the size of the great hall at Hogwarts in height, length and width!

Three quarters of the vault was filled with a whole mountain range of Galleons reaching to the top of the vault, the rest of the hall was filled with racks of weapons and armour, paintings, piles of books, trunks overflowing with jewels and jewellery, but directly in front of the doors were four, four foot high stone pillars, Harry decided to start with the pillars first, stating with the left.

On the first pillar was a golden ring in the shape of an eagle, wings curved under to form the band, and Sapphires for its eyes, bellow it was a small piece of parchment describing it;

Ravens ring:
This ring was made by Godric Gryffindor for Rowena Ravenclaw so that she wouldn't need to read as much in her quest for knowledge. This ring works by placing it in contact with a book cover or piece of text; it absorbs the knowledge and transfers it to the wearer.


'Cool, this could come in handy.' He thought as he picked up the ring and placed it on his right index finger.

Stepping up to the second podium he saw a golden necklace with a golden lion rampant on it, with rubies for eyes. It also had a piece of parchment to describe it;

The Lionheart:
This necklace was made by Rowena Ravenclaw, for Godric Gryffindor to help protect him from harm; the necklace provides a permanent shield charm against minor spells.


'Okay, that is definitely going to help.' He thought as he put it around his neck.

As Harry stepped up to the next pillar, he saw that it was a family tapestry like the one at Grimmauld Place, but the label confused him somewhat.

The ancestors of Harry James Potter and Rose Lily Potter (self updating).

'Who the hell is "Rose Lily Potter".' he thought, but deciding to leave it till later he looked at the tapestry. At the top was 'Rowena Ravenclaw' connected to 'Godric Gryffindor' by a double silver line, coming from that was a single gold line going down to 'Selina Ravenclaw', she was connected to 'Richard Potter' by a double gold line with an 'M' in the middle, after that was a direct line of father to son going down to 'James Potter', who was connected to 'Lily Potter (Evans)' by a double gold line with an 'M' in the middle, the line coming from that split into two, one leading to 'Harry James Potter', the second lead to 'Rose Lily Potter'. All of the names except for 'Harry James Potter' and 'Rose Lily Potter' had the word 'Deceased' next to them.

Harry's first thought was, 'Oh my god, I'm the heir of Gryffindor!!' But his second thought managed to escape his lips. "I'VE GOT A SISTER!"

Turning to Tonks his anger spiralling out of control. "Why didn't anyone tell me that I have a sister?"

"I don't know, I didn't know." She answered, scared at the sudden change she saw in Harry.

"How does the order communicate with each other?" he asked viciously.

"Erm, 2-way mirrors, why?"

"Pass it here." As Tonks passed it over he stared speaking into it. "Remus Lupin."

"Hello." Came the reply, as Remus Lupin's face appeared in the mirror.

"Professor Lupin, why hasn't anyone ever told me I have a sister?"

"Well as you were too young to remember her, we decided not to open old wounds and tell you about her because she died that night." Came his solemn response.

"She's alive, I've got a self updating tapestry of the Potters in front of me, and it says she's alive!"

"But that's impossible, Dumbledore said she died that night."

"Don't tell Dumbledore about this, I want a little chat with him first."

"Okay, well?"

"Well what?"

"Where is she? What does she look like? What are -" Remus was saying before he was cut off by Harry.

"How am I supposed to know that?" He said irritation obvious in his voice.

"Like this." Blaise said as she put her finger to the name, saying. "Information."

Immediately a roll of parchment came out of a 12" long, 1" deep slit he hadn't noticed before. Picking it up he read it out loud.

"Name: Rose Lily Potter (Kelly Phillipson).
Born: September 5th 1981 (14).
Died: -----------------------------
Address: 7 Phoenix Crescent, Godric's Hollow.
School: Jezebel's all girl boarding school.
Parents: James Potter (deceased), Lily Potter (deceased).
Guardians; Wizarding: Sirius Black (deceased).
Muggle: John and Cynthia Phillipson.
N.B. Rose was adopted by the Phillipsons at six months old; she doesn't know that she's adopted.
Siblings: Harry James Potter.
First sign of magic: 11months, 3days - electrocuted a dog that attacked her pet cat.
Reason for not attending wizarding school: unknown.
N.B. Rose's enrolment records were deleted from ministry archives, a copy of enrolment papers is included with this sheet.
Favourite subject: Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Maths (muggle subjects).
Current appearance: Eyes; Green.
Hair; Long (small of back), Straight, Red.
Face; Oval, button nose, full lips.
Height; 5'
Weight; 8 stone."


As Harry spoke the description, Tonks changed to match it, as Harry looked up to see what was going on he saw that Tonks looked like the 15-year old Lily Evans that he had seen in Snape's memory.

"You look just like my mum like that." he said, before continuing.

"Active magical abilities: none.
Inactive magical abilities: Animagus - owl and Gryffin.
Metamorphmagus - full.
Hobbies: studying, reading fantasy novels, dreaming for more in her life.
Friends: none.
Relationships: none.
Pets: Cat - Black, yellow eyes - Minxy."


"Tonks, I'd like to go there when you're next on guard duty."

"Tomorrow then."

"I would like to come to." came a voice from Harry's hand.

"Oh, Remus sorry, forgot you were there, sure thing, come with Tonks tomorrow." He said heading for the last pillar.

"Why don't we see what abilities you have first." Blaise said, touching 'Harry James Potter' and saying. "Magical abilities."

Another roll of parchment rolled out of the hole, picking it up he read;

Name: Harry James Potter.
Active magical abilities: Parseltongue.
Telepathy - Empathy.
Inactive magical abilities: Animagus - Gryffin, Phoenix.
Metamorphmagus - Hair, eyes, height and weight.
Telepathy - Mindspeech.


"I was going to save it for McGonagall, but its too confusing, why have me and my sister both got two animagi forms?"

"Not a clue Harry, better ask McGonagall."

"Oh well, Tonks can you teach me how to use my morphing abilities?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks." He said as he remembered the mirror and turned it of with a quick "bye" to Remus.

"Better get some books on your other abilities though."

"Good idea." he said as he handed the mirror back and walking over to the books and began to look through them for useful ones.

Arithmancy - a complete guide to spell crafting. By Rowena Ravenclaw.
Mindspeech - the guide to the gift. By unknown twins.
Empathy - honing the emotions. By Helga Hufflepuff.
Muggle fighting techniques - self-updating version. By Godric Gryffindor.
The ultimate guide to beginning, intermediate, and advanced Occlumency. By Merlin.
Legilimancy - seeing the mind. By Rowena Ravenclaw.
Wandless magic. By Merlin.
Animagi - the inner beast. By Godric Gryffindor.


"Got some." he said as he returned to Tonks.

"Good, but you may want to read that before we go." Tonks said, pointing to the fourth pillar.

As Harry stepped up to the pillar he saw a letter addressed to 'Harry and Rose.' He handed the books to Blaise before picking the letter up. Opening it a small golden key like his vault key, with the numbers 734 on it fell out; putting the key in his pocket he picked up the letter and read:

Dear Harry and Rose,
I suppose that there is no easy way of saying this, but if you're reading this then we are dead.

Its also your 11th birthday Harry, so from me and your dad, Happy Birthday. We have asked that you be put under the care of Sirius, no doubt you more mature than him already, unless he's grown up a lot over the last ten years.

If something happens, or has happened to Sirius, then you were to be placed in the care of a good wizarding family, like the Weasleys - with financial support of course - a family that will look after and protect you like their own flesh and blood.

Today Harry, you get access to vault 733, that's yours, and on your 11th birthday Rose you get access to vault 734, do what you want with the money, both vaults have 300,000 Galleons in them, that should cover being a teenager and until you get married.

You both get access to the Potter family vault on your 17th birthday, unless something happens to Sirius, then you get automatically emancipated at 15.

Just for the record that 'something' that may happen to Sirius includes imprisonment for any reason - illegal animagi, illegal charmed motorbike, etc.

So it's pretty much guaranteed that you'll be emancipated at 15 then.

Anyway, your father is trying to teach Peter the Fidelus charm, trying being the operative word, I'd better go help.

Goodbye, and I pray that you never have to read this letter.

Your loving mother always.

Lily Potter. 20th October 1981.

P.S. ask Albus why we are on the run when you are 15.


When he looked up from the letter the tears were already falling and he couldn't stop them, tears of happiness at getting something off his mum, sadness at the prediction of Sirius's fate, and anger at Dumbledore for interfering yet again.

"Does this vault have an account manager?" he asked Griphook as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Yes."

"Who appointed them?" he asked as he took his books back and put them in a bag that Tonks had just conjured.

"Professor Dumbledore, why?"

"How much are they being paid?"

"10 percent of the money made from investments. Why?"

"This letter says that I should be emancipated, does that mean that I can appoint an account manager?"

"Yes Mr. Potter."

"How would you like to be my account manager?"

"Mr. Potter, it would be an honour, sir." Griphook said, eyes wide with shock.

"Good, at 15 percent."

"Th...thank you Mr. Potter." Griphook stuttered out at the generosity.

"Not a problem, as long as the paper work is dealt with, correct?"

"We should have all the paperwork complete already sir, for the emancipation at least, the account manager is simple enough." he said as he snapped his fingers, conjuring the correct papers and a quill. "Sign here please."

Once Harry had signed on the line they set off for the surface, the doors thudding shut behind them.

After a brief visit to Blaise's vault - 809 - they left to go back to #4 Privet Drive, the books Harry needed to get, no longer necessary.
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