Saturday, November 7, 1994 - Morning
Gringotts did not normally do business on Saturday. For a customer like Lord Greengrass though, Gringotts was always open. Harry used the floo from Professor Dawes office to go to the Gringotts lobby. Lord and Lady Greengrass followed him out of the floo. Harry picked himself up off the floor and cleaned the soot and dust off his clothes.
“Lord Potter! Harry! I know it has only been a few hours, but it is good to see you again.” Lord Greengrass shook Harry’s hand.
Lady Greengrass stepped forward and embraced Harry in a gentle hug. “I’m sorry about our last meeting Harry. I should have known that Lily’s son would never have done what I accused you of. I have got some photos of your mother and copies of letters from her for you to take with you. They are in here.” Lady Greengrass gave Harry a package tied with ribbon. “You must come and stay with us over the Christmas. Daphne and Astoria will be delighted to have you stay.”
“Thanks, I will. I would like to stay with you. Usually I stay at Hogwarts, my aunt and uncle don’t want to see me.” Harry realised that he was letting out some of his personal life to these strangers. Lady Greengrass might have been friends with his mother, but Harry suddenly felt uncomfortable that they knew anything about him.
Cyrus and Olivia Greengrass exchanged knowing looks. Miriam Dawes’ investigations into Harry’s life at the Dursleys had been shared with them.
Lord Greengrass spoke, “Ah! Harry, my wife and I would like to invite you to stay with us over every break from Hogwarts. We want you to move in with us. I’m sure that Lily never intended you to live with the Dursleys.”
“Headmaster Dumbledore has said that the protections over the Dursley house would keep me safe. He insists that I stay there.” Harry felt like a little child again, being afraid of disappointing the headmaster.
“Harry, remember you are an adult now. The Gods of Olympus decreed it. Wards over blood relatives’ homes will not work for you anymore. I can assure you that Greengrass Manor has better protection than Hogwarts itself.” Lord Greengrass smiled reassuringly.
Harry nodded. “OK, I would love to stay with you.” Harry used the ‘L’ word. That was not something he did very often.
A goblin approached, “Lord and Lady Greengrass, Lord Potter, Account Manager Sharphook is ready for you. Please follow me.”
Harry trailed the procession through the main hall and into a series of wide corridors. The long walk ended at tall double doors which opened as they approached. Account Keep Sharphook was standing before a huge desk.
Lord Greengrass spoke first. “Account Manager Sharphook, may your gold fill your hands while your enemies weep.” Sharphook smiled without showing his teeth, it still made him look even more threatening.
Having been primed by Lord Greengrass on the correct Goblin greetings, Harry said, “Account Manager Sharphook, may your vaults overflow, and your axe destroy your foes.”
“Please be seated, my lords and lady. I understand that the main business today is the witnessing, sealing, and registration of a family alliance.” Sharphook smiled again, causing involuntary shudders in the watching humans.
Cyrus and Harry murmured agreement.
“Very well, I have the agreement here, it is a standard agreement with each party able to claim protection and assistance from the other, extended to all family members and persons under family protection.”
“First, I shall need the Lords representing each house to confirm their identities with the blood identification ritual.”
Sharphook placed two parchments on the desk. He then presented an athame for the ritual participants to use.
“Pardon me, Sharphook, but I wish to use my own Sgian Dubh. Harry, I have one here for you to use. You may keep this and use it for any blood rituals that you are required to participate in.” Lord Greengrass gave Harry a small dagger in a scabbard. “Watch me, this is the least messy way to do this.”
Lord Greengrass took the dagger in his left hand and made a tiny cut in the end of his right-hand middle finger. He then let three drops of blood fall onto the middle of the parchment presented to him by the goblin. Sharphook gestured at the bleeding finger, and it immediately healed.
The parchment absorbed the blood, and the parchment was filled with neat antique script.
Sharphook read the parchment and grunted his approval.
Harry repeated the process. His parchment spelled out Harry’s name and the names of his parents, grandparents, and great-grand parents. His finger was quickly healed.
“Very good, now you may sign the agreement. I and my assistant Griphook will witness your signatures and then I shall seal and register the agreement.” Sharphook presented a blood quill for the Lords to use.
“This is a blood quill, Harry. It will take a small amount of your own blood to use instead of ink. This will provide proof of your identity and your approval of the agreement.” Lord Greengrass spoke as he signed.
As Harry signed, he felt a sharp scratch on the top of his right hand. The quill wrote his name in his own blood.
Sharphook rolled the parchment and sealed it with a Gringotts seal. “This is now registered with the Ministry as well as Gringotts.”
“There is another matter concerning you, Lord Potter. Your parents will must be read and executed now that you are of age. I have attempted to contact the two other persons mentioned in the will, but I have not been able to get answers from them. They are Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Do you know where they are and how we can contact them.”
“I do not know where either of them is. If they don’t answer an owl, it is because they don’t want to answer. Sirius obviously because he is on the run, being an escapee from Azkaban. Remus because he doesn’t want to answer.” Harry was depressed at being reminded of his father’s friend’s situations.
“We can read the will without them, that will allow us to move forward with work on your estate. They will still get their bequests; it won’t make any difference in the end.” Sharphook smiled again, showing his incisors.
“Very well, we will read the wills. I will try to get the news to them myself.” Harry grumped.
The wills were as expected. Everything was left to Harry except for one million galleons per year to be taken from one investment fund in order to establish ’The Marauder’s Fund’. This fund was to be jointly administered by Remus and Sirius. Its purpose was to pay for research into a cure for Lycanthropy and to care for the families of werewolves and the werewolves’ victims. Remus was to be paid 20000 per year from the fund to support himself.
“Lord Potter, now that your parents will has been read, I can give you this folder which contains the details of your vaults, properties, and investments. Until now you only had access to your Trust Vault. The Potter Family Vault is considerably bigger and contains many interesting magical artifacts. Please read this folder and let me know of any changes you wish to make. I recommend that you let Lord Greengrass advise you on how you should manage your investments. I believe that concludes our business for the day. Good-day Lord Greengrass, Lady Greengrass, Lord Potter.” After bows all round, the allies were guided the main entrance by Griphook.
“Thank you Griphook. Please let Sharphook know that I will return soon to look at the Potter vaults.” Harry and Lord and Lady Greengrass walked out into Diagon alley. They went to a small café favoured by the Lord and Lady for a late lunch.
“You can take a look at your folder Harry. We won’t think that it is rude for you to read while we wait for lunch.” Lord and Lady Greengrass smiled at each other.
The folder was astounding. Seven major properties, investments in magical and muggle companies, several vaults with their contents valued at one hundred and twenty million galleons. The properties were a townhouse in Knightsbridge, London, Potter Hall in Derbyshire, Potter Lodge near Hogsmeade, a villa on the Mediterranean coast near Nice, Potter Cay in the Bahamas, a cottage on the coast of Cornwall and a villa in a remote part of the Azores.
“What do you think, Harry?” Lady Greengrass smiled gently at Harry.
“It is just as well that the Dursley’s never knew about this. They would have done everything they could think of to claim it.” Harry was only just responding. It would be years before he accepted how rich he really was.
Lord Greengrass placed privacy wards around their table. “Harry, please call me Cyrus when we are just us together.”
Lady Greengrass laughed; “You can call me, Olivia. It may seem odd to you when Daphne is in the same year as you, but you are a lord of equal rank to us, and we are now in a family alliance. It is not the same as blood or marriage ties but as close as it can be. The Lord and Lady titles are for public use only.”
Lord Greengrass smiled at Harry. “If you are ready for this Harry, I have found a small dragon reserve in Spain which will allow you to try talking to one or two of their dragons.”
“Dragons! Yeah! Great! Um! I suppose I should get started. How will I get there? Is there someone who will go with me?” Harry felt his mouth go dry and palms start to sweat. He wasn’t frightened. No! Not at all.
“This is where I should introduce you to one of my business associates. After lunch we should do some clothes shopping for you, and then we can meet Henry and Jane Abbott, Hannah’s father and mother. They wish to make peace with you and start working on your side in all your business. Henry is a very useful person to know, he runs a mercenary army. Death Eaters and magical war lords fear him, but he wants to be your friend.” Lord Greengrass was no longer smiling.
Lunch was finished. A whirlwind tour of the best gentleman’s outfitters followed, during which Lady Greengrass seemed to buy one of everything for Harry. She made him promise to burn all his old stuff on his return to Hogwarts. The last stop was the Leaky Cauldron where Henry and Jane Abbott waited for them in a private dining room.
Offers of friendship and forgiveness were made and accepted.
Henry Abbott was a surprisingly talkative and genial host.
“It might seem a bit strange to you Harry, that I should be a soldier of fortune, operating mercenary armies in Africa and the Americas, and my daughter Hannah is best friends with Susan Bones, niece of the Director of Magical Law Enforcement. Such a thing can happen, when I keep myself on the official side of the law in this country so that my family can live safely here. Unofficially, the Ministry of Magic does not have a problem with me. All of my business activity takes place in parts of the world where the rule of magical law is rarely enforced, if at all. Businessmen such as Lord Greengrass have profitable businesses in these parts of the world and are happy to pay for more security than they would otherwise get.”
Jane Abbott was keen to speak.
“Hannah has told us of how you have helped all the young ladies to deal with their new situation. You are so different from what I was expecting. You were eager to release all of them from the vassalages and you seem to have some special relationship with the Gods of Mount Olympus. Hannah is confident that nothing like that is going to happen again, and all the Merlin House people are supporting you. We heard about Daphne and Tracey and that cowardly attack on them. We know that Cyrus won’t let the Malfoy brat get away with it. Don’t get involved Harry. Nothing public will happen, privately they will be made to suffer.”
“Now let’s look at your task. Dragons! How exiting. Well, it is for somebody, obviously. I will have two of my best Spanish people here at the Leaky Cauldron next Saturday at 8 in the morning. They will know who you are. They will give you the matching piece of this.” Henry Abbott gave Harry one part of a photographic postcard that had been torn in half. “Match the pieces and that will confirm that they are my people. They will have a port key which will take you all to the reserve. They will stay with you for the day and then return you here. You can then floo back to Merlin House. How does that sound?”
“Er! OK! I guess. I suppose.” Harry was just hanging on.
The adults looked at Harry and hoped that he would hang on. Having the Gods of Olympus taking any kind of interest in you was not easy.
On Sunday, a news item appeared in the Daily Prophet. An escaped criminal had been arrested in Hogsmeade. He was being questioned by DMLE officers before being sent to Azkaban to complete his sentence. The article did mention that his name was Crouch but not that he had previously escaped from Azkaban or that he was related to Bartemius Crouch Senior, the ministry official.
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