An Effective Abstraction
By Muirnin Cocan
Chapter 4 - More Galleons, More Grief
The darkness swept over him, blanketing him from the world around him. When his mind stopped ingesting all that it had up to that moment, he vaguely heard his own voice say "Mum"…
A torrent of emotions, numerous images floated around in his mind… but for how long were he unconscious? His eyes still shut he tried to explain to himself what he knew he would have to tell the others who were in the Attestation Chamber awaiting the disclosure of the Potter Estate. His internal clock had figured it was just about an hour that he had been gone… but to where…
"Harry?" He heard his Aunt Petunia's voice calling to him.
His eyes still closed to the light in the room he answered, "I'm fine… sorry to have been out so long."
"Harry" He heard Hermione say in a voice that held a bemusement he had rarely heard from her. "You were out for only a couple of seconds."
Emerald green eyes snapped open at this pronouncement. "What?" Harry's mind was in a whirlwind again. "It felt like I was out for an hour… I do not underst… Owww!" He cried out clutching his scar in pain. "He's overjoyed…" he gasped, "happy that something is going along with his plans…" Tears leaked from his eyes as he relayed this information.
Petunia stared in disbelief at the assault that was happening on her nephew right before her eyes. She looked over at Hermione and asked, "Does this happen often?"
"Often enough." Hermione responded quietly moving over closer to where Harry lay.
"Harry, do you know what his plans are?" Remus quietly asked.
Harry shook his head no, muttering, "Damn it, why can't the bastard leave me alone."
Hermione took her hand and laid it gently upon Harry's forehead, its coolness penetrating the heat of his skin. "You're burning up, do we need to call…" she hesitated then said, "a healer?" Harry felt certain that she was about to say Dumbledore or at the very least Madam Pomfrey.
Again he shook his head no, "What ever you did stopped the pain… Thanks Hermione." He carefully rose from the floor and moved back into his chair. Looking up at the portrait he saw along with his godfather's image, James and Lily Potter. "Mum? Dad? How… I don't understand…"
"Hello son" the image of James Potter said in a deep authoritative "It's good to finally see you. I'm sure you are wondering why we did not seek you out before now."
"Ah, yeah that thought did cross my mind… It would have been nice talking to you over the years." Harry said slightly irritable that his parents painting had not been visible to him all these years.
"Sweetheart, we weren't able to… not until the disclosure of the Potter Estate. Had Sirius not died, you would not have seen us for another two years until you graduated from Hogwarts." His mother Lily said softly, looking as beautiful as Harry had always imagined her to look. "Hello Peta… I'm so glad to see you as well." Lily said addressing Petunia, who was weeping at the sight of her long lost sister. Hermione had placed an arm around Harry's aunt and tried to calm her down.
"I'm s-so s-sorry about h-how we r-raised H-Harry… L-Lily…" Petunia sobbed.
Lily looked down at the teary eyed woman and said quietly, "If Harry has forgiven you… so have James and I." Both the images of James and Sirius were standing behind her nodding in confirmation of Lily's statement.
After a couple more moments, Petunia was calm again. James looked at Remus "Hey Moony… bite anyone lately?" His smirk and Sirius's bark of laughter caused Lily to swat both of them on the arm, leaving the majority of the room in laughter.
Harry watched the playful antics of the Marauders and his mother and felt his eyes water, swallowing hard, he fought back the tears that threatened to come forth. He noticed a small Goblin begin making her way up the aisle. He looked surprised, as he had never seen a female Goblin before.
"My name is Banhabarlic and I am the Liaison with Gringott's handling the Prestigious Potter Estate." She was very petite, but her voice was strong. She extended her hand in greeting as muggles would upon introduction.
"Umm, it's a pleasure to meet you… I've never seen a female Goblin before." Harry said honestly, taking note of the firm handshake that she gave. "Nice grip…" he muttered to himself.
"It is true, there are far too few females of my race that work in the public. Most are kept at home tending to the male and rearing their children. However, your mother was an extremely liberated woman for her species and felt it unjust that only men allowed handling this type of affairs… Gringott's feared they may lose the Potter accounts to Muggle institutions so they hired me and I have handled your family's affairs ever since." Banhabarlic said. Harry noted that she held herself much more regally than any other Goblin's he had seen. She showed pride in the position she held.
Harry turned and noted a large grin spread over Hermione's face as she had heard what Lily had done for the 'advancement' of the Goblins. He rolled his eyes slightly imagining a new campaign to go along with S.P.E.W. Hermione turned and looked at Harry and flushed slightly as she realized that he probably knew what she was thinking.
It did not help matters that Sirius let out a bark of laughter once again and said, "Hermione you have years ahead of you before you start thinking about new foundations!" This only caused Hermione to blush with embarrassment even redder.
"That's alright dear… you will do marvellously with the foundations." Lily proclaimed, "I for one can't wait to see what you do with them… Sirius has been telling us what you have done for the House-elves…" she gave a grin and added, "None of the Potter elves are owned… they are all paid!"
This caused James, Sirius and Remus to laugh at the proud statement and James added, "Yeah they're all paid only because Lily threatened to clothe them if they didn't take pay… although they haven't had much to do for quite a long time…"
Banhabarlic turned to the portrait "I do believe we have business to attend to… then you can finish with your reunion." She tersely arranged some documents upon the marble desk as she waited for the disclosure to begin.
"Of course you are so right Banhab… we should get on with this…" James said using a shortened form of the Goblin's name causing her to glare at him.
"James, be good." Lily reprimanded to which James meekly lowered his head.
"The reason we are all here," began James "is to disclose the entire Estate to you, our only heir Harry James Potter." Harry nodded unconsciously not letting his mind wander to the few minutes before when he had blacked out with what he determined had been Voldemort's assistance.
"Over the next two months you will learn more about the Potter bloodline than you ever thought you would know. There is a great and proud history that goes along with the Potter heritage…" He turned and saw Banhabarlic giving him another glare and he added, "but that amount of detail would be too much for this SHORT visit… so Banhabarlic if you will hand Harry the condensed document."
TO: Harry James Potter
Dear Son,
Your mother and I are so very sorry that you are receiving this at this time. We knew that with Lord Voldemort after our family, we needed to prepare. Obviously, if you are reading this particular letter now it means that we have died sometime before you graduate Hogwarts and that Sirius Black, your godfather has also died.
As most likely Sirius has explained to you regarding the different accounts that have been set up, I am sure you are somewhat surprised at the amount of capital we had amassed. It is true that most of the money came from your Grandfather Edward Potter and passed down to him through generations of Potters before him. You have a great legacy Harry, in time you will learn the full details.
First off, if you have not notified about the Caretaker's Trust, please contact Banhabarlic at Gringott's Bank to arrange the transfer of funds from the Bank of London account to whomever your Caretaker after Sirius passed has been.
Your Hogwarts Trust fund has been in place since before you were born. I do hope that it will be enough, however I have made Banhabarlic aware that she is to check the levels from time to time and keep them monetarily sound until you take over account.
The liquid assets involved as of 3 July 1996
Caretaker's Trust account - Bank of London £ 5,834,632.53
HJP Hogwarts Trust account - Gringott's Wizarding Bank of London 831,273 Galleons
Potter Corp Investments - Bank of London £ 22,232,726.61
Prestigious Potter Estate Vault - Gringott's Wizarding Bank of London 9,315,579 GalleonsInvestment Properties -
Carreg Cylcho Hudlath, Godric's Hollow, Wales
Colon Carreg Pant Pentre Sinema, Godric's Hollow, Wales
Dewiniaidd Llaid, Godric's Hollow, Wales
Budrllew Tafarn, Godric's Hollow, Wales
Buarth Llestr Gwneuthuriad, Godric's Hollow, Wales
The land beneath entire Village of Godric's Hollow, Wales (Owned originally by Godric Gryffindor and Haramond y Llestr Gwneuthurwr (Haramond the Dish Maker later anglicise to Haramond the Potter or Haramond Potter) which was to be passed on to his heirs only.)Personal Real Estate -
Potter Plasty, Godric's Hollow, Wales
(Building destroyed October 31, 1981 - Land still owned by Potter Corp Investments)The following properties are all within the boundaries of the Calon Carreg Cylcho; all magically warded in the manner laid down by Haramond the Potter and Godric Gryffindor.
Potter Calon Carreg Mansiwn, Godric's Hollow, Wales (Potter Ancestral Home)
HJP Bwthyn (Carwr's yn Canlyn Castell), Godric's Hollow, Wales
(The Cottage - Built in 1980, for Harry James Potter; for use as his own personal home upon his graduation from Hogwarts.)
Haramond's Buarth, Godric's Hollow, WalesAs you can see son, we owned a considerable amount of property and businesses, besides partial ownership in many others in Wales, Scotland, Ireland and England. The full list of assorted properties will be in the portfolio that you will receive after we are done here today.
Your total property worth from just the Potter Estate is £ 28,664,831.43. As you can see, we had more muggle investments than wizarding investments... not all of the Muggle properties you see are fully muggle however. Carreg Cylcho Hudlath is actually a Wand maker shop and Apothecary (full stocks for all potion needs) Budrllew Tafarn is not just a Pub, but also carries Wizarding drinks and foods as well.
There will be a great deal you will learn about Godric's Hollow, as it is the only fully integrated Muggle and Wizarding Village in Britain. As Hogsmeade is fully a Wizarding community, Godric's Hollow has found a way to be open in both Muggle and Wizard standards. The only property in the area that exudes any magical qualities is the Calon Carreg Cylcho and that area is repellent from study as so many archaeologists are prone to look deep into the Mysterious Stone Circles that abound in Great Britain.
I know that this is very overwhelming my young Buck, but understand that if we had been able to raise you; none of this would have been a shock. You will have the opportunity to study in full any subject that you need once you arrive at the Potter Calon Carreg Mansiwn.
Your mother and I love you very much and we will talk to you in more detail when you arrive at the Mansiwn.
Love always your father,
James Edward Potter
Harry stared at the words upon the parchment. This all seemed like a huge dream that he could not believe. Nevertheless, there it was in blue and cream the full monetary wealth of the boy who lived… He felt nauseous; he just knew that it would be another reason for people to idolize him. He felt a hand on his arm and looked over to see Hermione sitting where Ron had been previously that morning.
"Are you alright Harry?" she asked in a quiet tone.
"It's just too much…" he said handing her the sheet of parchment. He looked up at his mum and dad in the portrait. "Why was I never told about this?"
"I believe dear that is mostly my fault." His mother answered looking apologetically at both Harry and Petunia. "You see, I was somewhat overwhelmed at the prospect of so much wealth that I never told mama, papa or even my sister about how much James' family was worth. I didn't think they would believe me, especially since we lived as practically muggle and always lived rather meagrely."
"Son, your mum and I had planned to make things easier on you growing up after Lord Voldemort was vanquished. From what Sirius has recently told me, I understand that you are the one the Prophecy spoke of… who will do the vanquishing." James said with sadness in his eyes. "We will need to get you trained up a bit."
"But how? I don't really have any place I can go to do any magical training and studying, I mean I live in a muggle neighbourhood." Harry said as Banhabarlic handed him a large sheaf of parchments that was nearly an inch think. Harry couldn't even begin to think about looking at the documents yet.
"Peta, I understand that you and Harry are by yourselves for the next 3 weeks… might I suggest you both take a holiday to Potter Calon Carreg Mansiwn and enjoy yourselves. You may even invite some friends if you wish Harry…" she started to say. Petunia looked up at her sister's portrait, nodded then smiled.
"That's if the old man will let Pup go…" Sirius grumbled.
"Well, why shouldn't they be able to go? The mansion is fully warded, Peta will be there for the blood protection and Harry WILL be able to learn more about his Potter heritage and start his training." Lily snapped.
"Why don't we send a message with your 'Gramps' Padfoot and see what Albus has to say… I mean we have to let him know about the Emancipation Order anyway…" James suggested as he watched Sirius nod to him and scurry off the side of the painting.
"Excuse me Mr. Potter… why did Sirius have the Emancipation Order if Harry has to stay with his Aunt and Uncle anyway?" Hermione asked politely.
"First, I'm not Mister Potter… that was my father. You can call me James or Prongs… or even Hey You…" he chuckled softly and gave a very mischievous grin, "secondly, the only reason for the Emancipation was so Buck could USE magic without interference from the Ministry. As I understand it they are keeping such a close eye on Buck in regards to underage magic use, they couldn't even tell the difference between his doing magic and a house-elf using a hovering charm… yeah, I heard about that one."
"That makes sense, I mean before I went to Hogwarts, I had tried a bunch of charms and I never once got a notice regarding under-age magic use… nor reprimands for using magic in front of Muggles, which my parents definitely are. I always wondered why… now it's making sense to me." Hermione said.
"So is that it then?" Harry questioned. "Do we need to do anything else now?"
"What's the hurry Buck?" James asked, as he was about to start teasing his son about his impatience when he saw the look of dread upon Harry's features.
"Er… it's that attack that I had earlier… you know with my scar… I guess I am just paranoid about what could have made Voldemort so happy."
"Did you see anything when you were unconscious?" Hermione asked, "You did think you had been out for about an hour."
Harry rubbed his scar in frustration, "I was starting to remember and then I got that burst of emotion from Voldemort. I just remember seeing lots of people and rocks and slight rolling hills." He said quietly to Hermione. He really didn't want to discuss this with his parents and Sirius just yet; talking it over with Hermione seemed to be the smartest thing for him since she always had the answers for everything."
"But those images that you saw were in no relation to what was going on with Voldemort. Is that correct?"
"Yeah… it's like I know this place and as I said I spent about an hour there, yet you only said I was out for a second or two…" bemused Harry.
"That is very strange indeed." Hermione said perplexed then noticed that Sirius had returned to the painting. "Oh look there's Sirius."
Harry looked up and saw that Sirius was whispering something to both Lily and James, Lily gasped and stared down at her sister. Petunia got a confused look upon her face as she tried to figure out what was going on.
"Harry, Professor Dumbledore will be joining us momentarily." Sirius said cautiously.
"What didn't he give an answer to Phineas?" Harry asked, not really in the mood to have a confrontation with the old Headmaster.
"Actually he did, but he needs to have a word with you." Sirius said bluntly.
Harry rolled his eyes. Not known for his patience, he wanted to leave and not be around too many people. It was the same feeling he had while his friends were still in hospital and he would go visit them. He would just get there and then feel the urge to leave. His impatience must have been showing because Hermione laid a hand on Harry's arm again and he began to calm down.
"We won't have to stay around the Headmaster too long Harry. I know how little you think of him just now." Hermione's voice was calm and pleasing to him.
"I cant' shake this feeling that I have inside… something is wrong… very wrong" Harry said with conviction.
Just then Albus Dumbledore stepped in the Attestation Chamber. He strode masterfully over towards where Petunia, Hermione and Harry were seated. He waived his hand as he levitated one of the chairs around to face them and sat down.
"What happened now Professor" Harry said with a biting edge to his voice.
"At shortly after 11 this morning, there were several Muggle related bombings that occurred…" he started, but Harry cut him off.
"What do muggle bombings have to do with us?" Harry said sharply.
"There were several muggle deaths…." Albus' voice said gravely, he turned to Petunia and Hermione first. "Your sister-in-laws home was destroyed killing all inside… as was your parent's dental practice… again there were no survivors."
Hermione paled at the news and began to shake. Harry snaked an arm around her, held her tight, and then glanced over at his aunt who had gone quite rigid and pale. He reached out with his other hand and held onto her hand tightly.
"Professor, what I don't understand is why are saying Muggle related bombings and yet these particular people were umm… killed…" He tried not to think of the deaths… of his Uncle Vernon and Dudley as dead yet… it was too hard to believe and yet Hermione's parents were dead as well.
"Eyewitnesses at the location of your parent's Dental Practice gave excellent descriptions of the company name on the side of the delivery lorry and the carrier that had delivered the packages… There are several squibs that work within the Muggle law enforcement and they were able to relay the information to us... they contacted the shipping company and showed that there were actually four packages that had been delivered at the same time… with the same return address..."
"And whose was the return address?" Harry asked.
"It was Tom Riddle - Little Hangleton"
Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I at any time own any of the Harry Potter characters. This is an original plot, based on characters created by J K Rowling. In no way is any money being made, nor copyright or trademark infringement intended. J K Rowling owns all rights as well as various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, with additional rights belonging to Warner Bros., Inc. Some parts may be of an adult nature that may not be suitable for all readers. Reader discretion is strongly advised.
A/N: This version of Godric's Hollow is not Canon… I have created my own based upon the events in my story. I am not trying to keep to canon on everything, as that would make me JKR… I am not she… Just as some believe that Hogwarts is in Scotland, I am under the belief that Godric's Hollow is in Wales… To the best of my creative mind, I would tend to place it on the west side of the Combrion Mountains just south of Devil's Bridge. My Welsh is very poor (as in non existent!), but here are the translations as they respond to the wonderful real estate that Harry has just inherited.
Carreg Cylcho Hudlath = Heart Stone Magic Wand
Colon Carreg Pant Pentre Sinema = Heart Stone Hollow Village Cinema
Dewiniaidd Llaid = Magical Mud
Budrllew Tafarn = Dirty Lion Pub
Buarth Llestr Gwneuthuriad = Farmyard Dish Making
Haramond y Llestr Gwneuthurwr = Haramond the Dish Maker (later anglicise to Haramond the Potter or Haramond Potter)
which was to be passed on to his heirs only.)
Potter Plasty = Potter Mansion
Calon Carreg Cylcho = Heart Stone Circle
Potter Calon Carreg Mansiwn = Heart Stone Mansion
HJP Bwthyn = HJP Cottage
Carwr's yn Canlyn Castell = Lover's Courting Castle
Haramond's Buarth = Haramond's Farmyard
If anyone can see errors with my translations, please let me know. I am using a Freelang Dictionary (I have Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Latin and American/English Word lists). I do not profess myself a linguist as I can barely hold my own with Potter, Computer, Trek and American. I do however, love languages and endeavour to integrate them into my writing when needed. Also, any brit pickers out there… Have at me… I know my spelling is off on a few words. No matter how many times I put Word 2000 on UK Dictionary for Spell-check, it still comes up with the US spellings. Nevertheless, I am attempting to make sure that I am using the correct words. Half the time the words I spell are the UK and not the US such as Dialogue (that is how I NORMALLY spell it and that is UK - the US spell it dialog)
I am humbly just an American writer…but I have family from the UK and Canada… and my brilliant beautiful babes do NOT say Merry Christmas, to them it is Happy Christmas… Therefore, I am trying to train them properly!
Thanks for taking the time to read this story, and I hope that you will take a few moments to feed my review addiction…it is healthier than drugs and does not cost you a dime. J
Take care and have a good week!
Peace - As Always,