If I did own Harry Potter then Remus, Tonks, Fred and Sirius would all be alive, Hermione would have gotten with Harry, Ginny would have been sent to South Africa or something, and Luna would have become the minister of magic. Since none of this happened, I obviously don't own Harry Potter. I also didn't think up the challenge, blame reptilia28 for it
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No matter how tired Harry was after the training he and the twins went through, it wasn't enough to keep his mind off of Wednesday, the day he would see Hermione again. Finally the anticipated day came and he found it incredibly difficult to listen to Mrs. Weasley's useless instructions but the twins had warned him not to give himself away by knowing too much. Hermione could get away with it and possibly the twins but he had not added `bookworm' to the list of things to describe himself with.
He watched as the twins and Ron disappeared through the emerald green flames before he calmly took a pinch of the powder himself and threw it into the flames.
"Diagon Alley!" he shouted clearly as he entered and while he spun through the system he wondered how on earth he could have been mistaken for knockturn alley the first time.
But before he could dwell on that question for very long, Harry found himself tumbling out the fireplace and into the Leaky Cauldron.
"Thought we lost you for a moment there Harry." Fred laughed as Harry picked himself off the floor and began to dust himself off.
"Don't bother." George flicked his wand and Harry found that all the ash and soot had disappeared.
"Why didn't you do that for me?" Ron whined as Harry scanned the entrances for any owl from the ministry. When there were none to be seen he turned to George,
"How did you do that without the ministry catching you for underage magic?" Harry demanded and the twins shared a mischievous grin.
"Well young Potter, in a place as filled with magic as Diagon Alley," George began as he slung an arm around Harry's shoulders.
"There's absolutely no way for the Ministry to tell who is casting the spell." Fred finished as he slung his arm around Harry's shoulders from the other side and they began to march away with the boy-who-lived with Ron trailing sullenly after then and Mrs. Weasley glaring disapprovingly while Ginny hid behind her skirts.
"Boys, go towards Gringotts!" Mrs. Weasley shouted after them and the twins waved an arm in acknowledgement and began to lead Harry towards the marble bank.
"So I can cast all the magic I want in Diagon Alley?" Harry asked to clarify matters. The twins nodded,
"And we can cast spells at home because mum, dad, Bill and Charlie live there, on and off for our brothers of course, but the Ministry has them listed as living with us." George explained and Harry frowned,
"So, anyone with a wizard of age living with them won't get penalized for underage magic?" He temporarily ignored the fact that the Ministry probably had every witch and wizard registered.
"Now you're getting it!" Fred grinned, "Of course, we haven't exactly clued in mum that we know so we'd appreciate it if you didn't mention it."
"Of course not, but this means that muggleborns fall way behind on the practical portion because they can't practice. That's not fair!"
"Well of course it's not fair; a bloody Malfoy wrote the law. Dad's been trying to get it fixed for ages but he's got enough on his plate without getting on Malfoy's really bad side."
"Not that he has any other side." Fred muttered darkly.
"Yes he does, he has the really bad side and the slimy yellow bellied side." Harry replied while he tucked an idea in the back of his mind and the twins grinned.
"Truly a son of a Marauder this one is." George declared proudly.
"And by the way, I hope you don't mind us borrowing the map every once in awhile." Fred glanced at Harry who looked at him with innocent eyes.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." The twins laughed and they continued walking through Diagon Alley when suddenly a brown blur hurled itself at Harry and had it not been for the twins he would probably have fallen over.
"Harry!" the blur squealed and Harry smiled as he returned the hug of his best friend, Hermione Granger. Hermione had stopped hugging him as much as they grew older and had almost forgotten how good this felt. As he hugged her, he did not notice when his bracelet managed to touch the back of Hermione's neck and, just like with the twins, a small thread of light jumped from the gift and into Hermione.
"It's good to see you too Hermione." She released him from the hug and a stern look appeared on her twelve year old face.
"Harry Potter! You never answered any letter and I know I sent you several at the Burrow! How have you bee? Did the Dursleys treat you alright?" Harry laughed,
"I'm sorry Hermione, I meant to write but something came up. I'll tell you more about it later. The Dursleys treated me better than they ever have before." He chuckled again, "It's probably because I never got around to telling them that I can't use magic outside of school."
"Hey, I'm here too!" Ron snapped and Hermione looked around the twins and saw their third friend.
"Sorry Ron, I didn't see you." Hermione replied and she began to walk along side Fred as they made their way into Gringotts.
The instant they entered, two armed goblins took Harry from the Weasley twins grasp and began to lead him away.
"Hey!" Harry called out and he tried to struggle but it was no use. Despite them being smaller they were significantly stronger than him.
"Harry!" Hermione called out and then she barked a strange phrase and the two goblins stopped to stare at her. One of them replied in the same gravelly language and Hermione hesitated and then replied though this time Harry understood that Hermione was saying her name. They let him go.
"We apologize for our rough treatment Mr. Potter but Bank Manager Ragnok was most insistent that you are to be brought to him immediately." One of the goblin guards explain.
"If you had asked I would have come without putting up a fight." Harry mentioned as Mrs. Weasley came bustling up to them.
"You get your filthy hands off of him right now!" she shrieked and tried to take Harry from the two goblins but they were adamant in keeping their charge.
"Mrs. Weasley, it's okay, I've apparently been invited to see the Bank Manager. I'll be right back." At this the Weasley matriarch seemed to settle down a bit.
"Well alright then Harry dear, just give me your key and I'll start taking care of getting your school things while you're in the meeting. Ginny, this is a valuable opportunity; you can go and see the meeting." Harry noticed the goblins' eyes narrow at Mrs. Weasley's declaration.
"Mrs. Weasley, Ginny wasn't invited to the meeting so I think its best she stays with you and I'll keep my key thanks. I don't want to trouble you and I'm sure this won't take long." Harry said quickly, partially because he didn't want the goblins to get angry and partially because he didn't want to get too close to Ginny this time around. He realized now that he practically put a target on her back by dating her and even if she hadn't been his girlfriend, she was still Ron's sister, he had a duty to keep her safe. Before Mrs. Weasley could protest one of the goblins said,
"Mr. Potter is correct; your female spawn is not invited to this meeting." He turned slightly towards Hermione,
"However, Mr. Potter is allowed to bring one trusted person with him." This caused Mrs. Weasley to smile,
"Well then, I'm sure we wouldn't want to keep Mr. Ragnok waiting, come along Harry, Ginny." Again the goblins narrowed their eyes.
"An invitation is required Madame before you can be allowed to accompany Mr. Potter." The goblin on Harry's left drawled and Mrs. Weasley turned slightly red.
"Well then, Harry, dear, I suppose I need your invitation." Harry looked at her carefully. There was something strange in her eyes and he then looked at the goblins who stared at Mrs. Weasley with disapproval and open dislike.
"Hermione, would you like to accompany me?" asked Harry impulsively. Hermione brightened with pleasure,
"I would be honored." They were quickly escorted away as Mrs. Weasley stared after them with a gob smacked expression on her face and scowls appeared on Ron and Ginny's faces.
"Be careful Harry." George called out as they left.
"We'll see you later!" Fred added cheerfully and he and his brother began to pull their shocked mother and siblings away so they could go down to the Weasley vault.
As they walked with the goblins on either side of them Harry suddenly realized something.
"How long have you known gobblygook?" he asked and Hermione blushed slightly.
"Well, after my parents and I found out about Gringotts, I wanted to find out a bit more about the Goblin nation. Professor Binns doesn't really cover much besides the wars and all the best books about their culture were written in gobbledygook. I'm not very good yet." One of the goblins coughed to get their attention. They looked and realized they were apparently at their destination.
"Sorry," he looked at the door, "So we just go in then?" The goblins both nodded and Harry sighed and opened the door.
The office was much lighter than Harry expected it to be and as soon as Hermione slipped in behind him the two goblin guards shut the door.
Sitting at a huge desk was a pale looking goblin who began to shake when he caught sight of Harry's bracelet.
"Take a seat." Ragnok said and both of the young Hogwarts students did as he said.
"Mr. Potter, it has been brought to my attention that there has been a great amount of severe mishandling with your family's fortune. If you would allow it, I would like to offer that we perform a special ritual so we may see the extent of the damage. Harry glanced over at Hermione who seemed incredibly eager.
"Well, alright but please call me Harry." The goblin raised a brow before he took an ornate golden dagger, a pot of ink and a beautiful white quill out of a drawer in his desk.
"Please add a few drops of blood to the ink and the ritual can begin. Ms. Granger, I believe your assistance would be useful. When I nod please use the Goblin word for truth. It is," he began but Hermione interrupted,
"Thank you sir, but I know the word already." The goblin leader looked vaguely skeptical but nodded.
"If you would begin then?" Harry and Hermione both nodded and Harry took the knife. Quickly he pricked his thumb and squeezed it until three drops of blood fell into the ink. While he was doing this, Ragnok was chanting something that Harry could not understand. When the goblin looked at Hermione she quickly barked a strange word and the quill began to glow. It suddenly jumped up and dipped itself into the ink and began to write on the parchment that Ragnok had set out. Harry and Hermione both watched with interest as the names appeared. Finally the quill set itself back down and Ragnok picked up the parchment and began to read aloud,
"Potter, Gryffindor, Treves, Hernalth, Navarre, Ballard, Cooper, Trebond, Fletcher, Huntington, Vimes, Knight, and Peverell, all very good names and most of them have not been touched for a very long time. You are lucky you've claimed them now. Another year and all but the Gryffindor and the Potter vaults would have belonged to us." He put the paper down, "I suppose this goes without saying but you are now extremely wealthy and, unlike the Potter vaults, you do not have to be of age to gain full access to them." He took a box from one of his drawers and tapped the box with the list of names three times while mumbling something that Harry couldn't catch. When he opened the box there was a rather elaborate looking gold ring with a crest made of a silvery bird on a clear crystal.
"Put this on your right hand and just rub it when you need to use it for a different family. Right now the Treves family crest is the default setting." He took a deep breath and then continued in an almost pained voice,
"I have also been reminded by an interested party of a particular law declaring all vaults belonging to any prisoner of Azkaban who has been declared guilty by a trial of their peers is to be transferred to the ownership of the nearest relative who comes forth to claim it. Mr. Potter, you are related to the Lestrange family, all of whom reside in Azkaban. If you wish, you may take their vaults and all their contents and the aforementioned party very much desires you take advantage of this."
"Who is this interested party? And who exactly are the Lestranges?" Hermione asked suddenly before Harry could answer about the Lestrange vault. A guarded look appeared on Ragnok's face before he answered,
"The interested party wishes to remain anonymous though they do wish that I emphasize that they do not desire to harm Mr. Potter or his associates and they wish for me to notify you that one of their representatives will be visiting you soon. Now, will you take the vault?" He looked just a hair away from being desperate for Harry to agree. Harry wondered briefly why the goblin seemed so anxious as he tried to quell the familiar rage against Bellatrix that was building in his chest. He grinned and agreed to take the vault before Hermione could say anything else. Ragnok smiled slightly,
"Please put another drop of your blood onto the list Mr. Potter and I will take care of the rest." Harry took the offered dagger and once again allowed a few drops of his blood to be spilt. Ragnok made a few gestures over the list and his blood flashed for a moment before it formed the Lestrange name at the end of the list.
"Very good Mr. Potter and if you will follow your escorts, they will bring you to your accountant. Ms. Granger-"
"I'd like to stay with Harry, if that's alright with you of course Harry." Hermione cut in quickly. Harry smiled,
"Of course, just tell your parents where you'll be and Ragnok, please, just call me Harry." Ragnok again raised a brow before he said,
"I will have Ms. Granger's parents notified." With that the two left and were again led through the twisting passages by the two goblin guards. Hermione finally decided to ask,
"So, what are your names?" Neither goblins' expression changed but the one on Harry's side did answer,
"I am Draklon." The other goblin refused to speak and Draklon would say no more no matter what Hermione tried.
Finally they reached the second office and the goblin in there, Fanghook, seemed positively to inform Harry everything about his holdings, something that rather disconcerted the time traveling wizard.
"…19 journals, 85 moonstones, 39 opals, 50 beryls and a pile of cloth of undetermined origin. In the Lestrange vault one golden goblet valued at 50 million galleons for having once belonged to the founder Helga Hufflepuff, 23 cursed necklaces,"
"What did you say about a goblet?" Harry broke in before Fanghook could go any further.
"In the Lestrange vault which you now own there is one golden goblet that is valued at 50 million galleons because it once belonged to one Helga Hufflepuff." Harry sat up straight,
"Can it be brought here please?" he asked, completely forgetting that Hermione was there. His best friend narrowed her eyes but said nothing.
"Ye-es," the goblin agreed rather reluctantly, "Would there be anything else you need Mr. Potter?"
"First, please call me Harry. Second, is there anyway for me to access my money without carrying around a heavy bag? And is there anyway that I could use in the muggle world as well?"
"We can set up a debit card for you right now, which will work in the muggle and magic world and you will be owled monthly bank statements." He pulled out a small piece of plastic from his desk.
"Two drops of blood on this please and the goblet will be brought up momentarily." Harry sighed slightly and once again allowed his blood to be spilt. It sank into the card and spread, changing colors as it went until it looked like a real credit card. There was a knock at the door and then another goblin carrying a black box came into the room.
"The goblet Mr. Potter."
"Thank you, and it's just Harry." Harry replied and he opened the box and there it was the very same goblet as the one he had seen in the pensieve with Dumbledore. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the box that Mina had given him, ignoring the questioning look that Hermione shot him. Then he took the goblet and put it into the box and that was that. He finished up with Fanghook and left with Hermione. A small bag of money was jingling at his side, the card was in his pocket with the box and Hermione carried a small pile of journals that Fanghook insisted he take. He had glanced through one after agreeing to take them and discovered they were in a completely different language and frowned. Then Hermione caught site of them and her eyes widened.
"I've never seen a language like that before!" she gasped and tried to look at the journal over Harry's shoulder. Harry grinned slightly and handed the book to her. Hermione eagerly began to flip through the pages.
"This is fascinating!" Hermione declared as she looked at the journals, "Harry, do you think that I could take a look at these? I want to take a crack at translating them, but only if you don't mind."
"If course you can try to translate them Hermione." Harry agreed and he took her hand and they left the goblins, the books in tow.
Once they reached the main room they found yet another goblin waiting with what he claimed were his parents' school trunks, complete with robes, books and other odds and ends. Before Harry could get the chance to look through them properly, Mrs. Weasley appeared and began to drag them off.
"I don't know what those goblins were thinking!" Mrs. Weasley growled as she pulled the two towards the bookstore. The twins looked apologetic while Ron was still grumpy and Ginny couldn't look at him without turning red. Hermione was strangely silent as Mrs. Weasley continued to rant about the goblins and how Harry had not thought to bring a responsible adult with him to see them since they were such "devious and trick creatures who couldn't be trusted any more than a Slytherin could be trusted".
Harry had ignored her as they went closer and closer to the bookshop. He had a hard time not wrenching himself from Mrs. Weasley's grasp so he could run ahead and get that cursed diary from Malfoy Sr. before it could do any harm but Mrs. Weasley had a firm grasp on him and he could not see Malfoy or his father.
Finally they reached the bookstore, still crowded with witches and a few wizards who all wanted the autograph of Gilderoy Lockhart. Harry barely suppressed a groan. He had completely forgotten about the fake.
Now he actually did try to get out of Mrs. Weasley's grasp as she pushed her way to the front of the line to get at the books and presumably to get Lockhart's autograph and he almost managed it but then the fake caught sight of him.
"Harry Potter!" the fake called out and everyone froze and began to look around for him and Harry wished he had brought a baseball cap or something. The fake grabbed his arm and pulled him up to the front.
"Nice big smile Harry," Lockhart muttered through his smile, "Together, you and I are worth the front page!" The photographer continued to take their picture and after a few more shots the fake cleared his throat and began to make a speech.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he said loudly, his hand heavy on Harry's shoulder. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for quite some time!" Everyone became silent and Harry tried to slip away but Lockhart's grasp was as strong as Mrs. Weasley's.
"When young Harry here stepped into this fine establishment to day, he only wanted to but my autobiography-"
"I'm only getting them because the book list requires it. I wouldn't touch any of them otherwise." Harry hissed but Lockhart went on as if he had not heard though his fingers did seem to dig into his shoulders a bit more.
"Which I shall now present to him free of charge," the crowd applauded as Harry was handed the heavy stack of books. "He had no idea," Lockhart shook him slightly and Harry's glasses fell. Had it not been for his exceptional reflexes they would probably have been broken. Harry made a mental note to look into getting contacts.
"He had no idea," Lockhart repeated again, "that he would shortly be getting much more than my book Magical Me. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at the esteemed Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
Finally Harry managed to get out of the way and he tipped the books into Ginny's cauldron.
"Here, I can get my own." Harry muttered though he had no intention of doing so.
"Bet you loved that, didn't you Potter?" came a sadly familiar and very irritating voice. Harry turned wearily and answered before the pale boy could go on,
"I liked being up there about as much as you'd like living in a muggle house. I don't want to hear it right now Malfoy, just go away." The Slytherin looked almost surprised at the lack of hostility in Harry's voice. Harry himself was almost surprised as well but then again when he thought of Voldemort and Bellatrix and Peter and all they had done, Malfoy and his insults just weren't enough to get angry over. Harry looked around casually but he didn't see Malfoy's father. He mentally sighed and decided to ask,
"So where's your father then Malfoy? I would have thought that he'd take any opportunity to reaffirm that he's not a death eater." Malfoy turned pink but before he could say anything, Ron and Hermione came up, both carrying their own copies of the Lockhart books.
"Harry, aren't you going to get your books?" Hermione asked, ignoring Malfoy completely and the Malfoy heir's face became a brighter pink with anger.
"Don't worry about it Hermione." Harry grinned at her and Malfoy stalked away once he saw that no one was going to pay attention to him. Inwardly Harry frowned, where had Malfoy's father been? He had been so sure that the elder Malfoy had given Ginny the diary here.
He ignored Mrs. Weasley's chattering and purchased two carry all bags- leather messenger style bags both with the extension and feather light enchantment so they could carry whatever was necessary. He gave one to Hermione, despite her protests, and then shrunk his parents' trunks and put them inside his own bag. Hermione reluctantly put her books into the bag as well but by the end of the shopping trip, when they were all laden with the necessary items, plus a few other things that Harry thought he would need, she was quite relieved to have the bag. All the while Harry's mind spun as he tried to figure out where the diary was. Dobby wouldn't have warned him about the danger coming to the school if Malfoy Sr. had not planned to give the diary to Ginny, unless there was something even worse on the way. Harry shuddered at the thought and then continued to try to figure out what he was going to do now.
Before they left, Hermione pulled him aside.
"Harry, what was all that with the goblins? Why were you so desperate to get your hands on that goblet? And what was that box that you put it into?" she demanded while her parents were being bombarded with questions from Mr. Weasley. Harry gulped and then replied,
"I'll tell you Hermione, I promise, but not until we get to school. I don't want anyone to overhear this." Hermione looked skeptical but she accepted it with a sigh.
"I'll see you at school Harry and I should have at least part of this code of language of the journals cracked by then." She hugged him and then left to rescue her parents from the curiosity of the Weasleys, leaving Harry to wonder why her hugs made him feel so warm.
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