Harry was nervous. It was early in the morning of the day he had the meeting with Gringotts. There was a lot depending on this meeting going according to plan. So yes, he had made a list again. Mentally at least this time. A short one but he needed to remember this. He needed to ask his account managers about his parents potential will, claim the Lordship of House Black, ask about the dark items the wards kept warning him about and perhaps it would be possible to do a bloodtest. Just to see if there were anymore surprises in his bloodline he should know about.
He walked downstairs in his PJ's so that he could eat his breakfast and get ready for the day. When he got downstairs he saw Othello and Hedwig getting cosy on the owl stand. She had apparently decided that she liked the other owl. Harry really wondered how his owl got more game than he did.
Harry was newly sixteen years old and he only had his failed romance with Cho. Sometimes he felt so different from his year mates. He couldn't even date properly. But he really didn't want anything like that cringeworthy relationship with Cho again. If it even could be called a relationship. They had gotten closer while he taught them DA but by now he realised that that short relationship had only been superficial. Not that's so strange for a fifteen year old. Harry was sure that many people only dated others for superficial reasons.
He had liked Cho because she was pretty and good at Quidditch but that really hadn't been enough. Harry, looking back, thought that she had liked him because she needed a distraction and because he had a connection with Cedric, her boyfried who had died in Harry's fourth year of Hogwarts. He had been there in his last moments and Cho needed something, anything that reminded her of Cedric. She had been grieving still. That really hadn't been a good reason or time for them to start something.
But even if that first date had gone well, Harry knew now that Cho truly wasn't a good fit for him.
Thanks to that experience he knew better than before what he wanted in a relationship, namely a partner. Someone he could share his life with and who would not be afraid of the life he lived. Someone who would fight at his side in war and in peace times. Someone who could deal with his unwanted fame yet not see him as the Boy-Who-Lived. He hated that. He hated it when people looked at his scar, or talked about that night. As if Harry had done something. He had been a toddler for Merlin's sake.
If anything, it had been his parents. Harry couldn't imagine that he himself had done something. He didn't know what they had done to protect him but he was sure that it had been them. Lily and James Potter had saved them that night at the cost of their own lives.
But he had gotten off track. He didn't want to date around like some of his peers. He wanted what his parents had.
If he was honest with himself, he could admit that he had already found that girl. Hermione was that partner, someone who didn't care about the Boy-Whe-Lived thing. He couldn't imagine not having her in his life.
Which also meant that he would never tell her how he felt. She was his best friend and he wouldn't do anything to risk that. Hermione did not like him like that and so Harry would keep his mouth shut about it. He also didn't want to paint a bigger target on her back. People already hated her for being a muggleborn and that she was his best friend. If she became more than that...
Being her friend was good enough.
After breakfast he went upstairs again to get a shower and to get dressed in one of the fancy suits that were laying around in the closet. He wanted to make a good impression on the goblins. He tried brushing his hair and to his surprise it looked better then ever. Apparently the Black genes made his messy hair an artful mess instead of just a plain mess.
Alphard whistled approvingly when the man saw him when he went for a quick chat with his portrait before he went back to the living room. That man was certainly related to Sirius, Harry thought with a blush.
Since it was still a hour until the meeting was scheduled he went to the living room to read in the Animagus book. It really was interesting and it was hilarious to read to notes on the sides that his father and Sirius had written.
Apparently Sirius had a lot of difficulty with turning into his animal for a while and when that finally improved he had a very obvious problem with getting rid of the dog tail when he got to the transformating back part. Eventually he had to ask Madam Pomphrey to get rid of the tail. But first he walked with around with it for two days, hidden in his robes. It had made sitting down in classes very difficult for Sirius.
Meanwhile his father had the problem with that couldn't keep his head upright when he got the heavy antlers transformed on top his head. He had to do some serious neck and back exercises before he could do the complete transformation into Prongs. His father also had the slight issue with stomping his feet like an angry deer or toddler when he got angry, like how Sirius had gotten the bark-like laugh. The animal tended to bleed through.
It was all hilarious to read about. Harry wished he could talk with Sirius about it. Get the full story. The time flew by and soon Dobby stood in front of him, "Master Harry Sir, it be time for meeting now."
Harry looked up, startled at the time going by so quickly and stood up, straighted out his clothes and took Dobby's hand. Harry felt a tiny squeeze and suddenly he was in Gringotts.
The room he appeared in was small but beautifully decorated walls. There was a big desk on one side of the room with two richly dressed goblins seated behind it.
One of the goblins stood up and said, "Ah Mr. Potter, right on time I see. Good. Take a seat and then we will begin. Will your Elf stay here with you for the meeting?"
Harry looked at Dobby and asked what he wanted. Dobby said, "Master Harry be fine here. Dobby going to finish cleaning the house. It be done when yous be back. Call Dobby to pick you up when Master is done. Dobby will come." And Dobby popped away.
Harry nervously took a seat at the desk and looked at the two goblins. He assumed that these were the two account managers of the Potter and Black Families but he shouldn't assume.
The goblin to the left said, "Welcome, Mr. Potter to Gringotts. I am the account manager of the Potter family and to my right is the account manager of the Black family. I can see that you have undergone some changes in your appearance since the last time you were in the Bank. Your blood-adopted father did tell us he was planning for your adoption in his family. It seemed to have settled well. Good, that will make things easier. Now you asked for a meeting with us."
Harry took a deep breath and said, "Thank you, sir. Yes, my godfather Sirius Black has left me with the option to become his blood-adopted son and I took it. In the letter he left me he asked that I take up the Lordship of House Black, claim both of the Family Vaults and get my parents Will read, if they made one before their death."
He continued after a small pause with the rest of his mental list, "I also wanted to take an inheritance test to see if there are any surprises I should know about. Also, I am now living in an old Black house and there are a few very dark objects there that I'm not sure what to do about. Could Gringotts help me with those?" Harry rushed out.
The account manager form the Black Family, Bloodaxe, locked his long fingers together under his chin and said, "We will need some blood for the inheritance test, it will cost 12 galleons for the extensive search going back at least twelve generations. It should also show you as a Black which will indeed make you eligible for the Black Lordship. If the ring accepts you. Gringotts can also help you with cleaning your house of the dark artifacts for a small fee." He grabbed a piece of pearlescent looking parchment out of a drawer and put it closer to where Harry was sitting with a snap of his long fingers.
The Potter account manager continued where Bloodaxe left of, "As for the late Potters, their last Will and Testament was put in the Main Vault after their death. It can only be taken out by an adult Potter or their legal guardian. Which interlocks with what we wanted to talk to you about today, Mr. Potter."
Harry was fine with them taking some blood but was curious what Bogrod meant about that last thing. So he said, "How much blood do you need for the inheritance test? And what did you want to talk to me about, sir?"
Bloodaxe grabbed a big and scary looking dagger and smirked, "Oh just a little bit of blood. Don't you worry about it and just give me your hand for a moment, Mr. Potter."
Harry gulped but gave Bloodaxe his hand. The goblin turned his hand and put the very big dagger to the point of his finger and pressed softly. Three drops of blood fell from his hand on pearlescent paper and spread out to form a tree.
Harry laughed in relief and asked Bloodaxe, "Why use the big scary dagger if you need so little blood, sir?" The goblins looked at each other and smirked back at Harry.
"We need to get some amusement from dealing with all those whiny little wizards. Althought it has been some time since a Wizard laughed about it instead of getting angry at us for their own cowerdice."
Meanwhile the parchment had spread out to form a triptych with on each panel a tree. A family tree. For each of Harry's parents was one part of the parchment.
He could see that James Potter his parents, his grandparents, were named Fleamont and Euphemia Potter. A lot further back he could see an Iolanthe Peverell connected to a Hardwin Potter. There were a few other interesting names married into the Potter family. He also saw that his name was indeed, Hadrian James Potter-Black.
On the Black side he could see that Sirius younger brother and Kreacher's Master, Regulus Black, died at only eighteen years old. Only two years older than him and already gone forever. Further back he saw a few famous people from his history books. For good things like inventing spellcraft and potions or bad things like being one of the worst Headmasters ever to be recorded in history.
But the real surprise came from his mother's part of the inheritance test. His mothers great-grandfather surname was Gaunt before he took his wife's name. But when Harry traced that name further back on his mother's tree and suddenly the name Gaunt became Slytherin! His mother might have been a heir if not the Heir of Slytherin!
…Harry might actually be the Heir of Slytherin! Oh Merlin, Harry is related to Voldemort. Justin Fich-Fletchley was right in their second year of Hogwarts! Harry felt a bit sick. This was horrible! Why did he have to be related to that monster? Had Voldemort known this when he decided to attackt that Halloween? Is that why he asked his mother to step aside at first instead of just killing her?
He had to kill Harry regardless of the their relation with the Prophecy in play but maybe that was why he tried to spare Lily Potter at first. Harry always foud it weird that Voldemort asked his mother to step aside. Multiple times even.
Wait, did that mean he was a Parselmouth by blood? Had his mother been one too?
Bloodaxe and Bogrod looked at the parchment and stated dryly, "Well now, that is a surprise. Lily Potter wasn't quite a muggleborn after all."
"Indeed, this makes it possible for you, Mr. Potter-Black, to claim the Black family Lordship and if you the ring accepts you, the Slytherin Lordship."
Harry was confused and asked, "Does that mean that Voldemort never claimed the Lordship of House Slytherin?"
Had he even known about it?
Bogrod responded with, "No, the Slytherin Lordship has been unclaimed for the last few centuries. The Gaunt family went slowly insane due to heavy inbreeding and lost their trust in our bank and everything really. The Lord ring returned here after the last Lords death and there hasn't been one since. Do you want to claim both of the Lordships?"
Harry thought about it for a moment before he nodded, "Yes, I will claim them both. If only so that Voldemort can't. What do I need to do?"
Bloodaxe took a box from a drawer and put it in front of Harry, "Put your hand on the box and think of your magic. Push it into the box. The box will provide the rings you have the right to claim."
Harry did as he was told and put his hand on the box. After a moment the box vibrated and Harry was told he could open the box.
He looked into the box where two beautiful rings were laying on the velvet insde of the box. One was made from a silver looking metal and had a big gleaming onyx in the middle surrounded by a few small star-like diamonds on both sides. The other ring was gold with a big smooth emerald in the middel and a few small darker ones stuck on it in the shape of a snake.
Harry put on the Black one first. When he put it on he felt a pulse of magic going inside of him and the ring re-sized to fit on his hand.
Bloodaxe looked almost happy for a goblin after he said solumnly, "Welcome, Lord Black."
Then Harry put on the Slytherin ring above the other ring on his finger. He felt the magic hiss around him and it almost sounded like parseltongue. This ring also re-sized to fit his finger and then it melted into the other ring.
This time it was Bogrod who solumnly said, "Welcome, Lord Slytherin."
Bogrod continued with, "The rings will both appear if you will them to. If you only want the Black ring to be visible then that will happen. Since you want to hide the Slytherin Lordship, the ring disappeard with in the Black ring. Now, you have official access to both the Black and Slytherin Vaults. Would you like to go to visit themthis day? You should know that the rings will also protect the wearer from mind attacks and harmful potions."
The goblin in charge of the Potter family continued with, "Since you are now here I can tell you that you have been declared an adult by the Ministry of Magic since they approved your participatation in the Triwizarding Tournament. That means that you can access the Potter Vault now and that we can start the process to get the Last Will and Testament of the late James and Lily Potter read."
Harry was shocked. He had actually been declared an adult when he was forced to compete in the Tournament? He could have had access to his Family Vault all this time? Dumbledore.
Dumbledore would have known this. Yet, once again he didn't tell Harry. No one did. Harry couldn't imagine that no one other then Dumbledore knew about this. They all seemed to have done what all the adults in Harry's life did, ignore him. Let him figure things out by himself. No help at all.
Why were they all like that?
Who knew what waited for him in his family vault. What if there had been something there that could have helped him? Helped Cedric?
Bogrod and Bloodaxe waited for him to regain his composure before they asked if he wanted to visit his Vaults. And Harry really wanted to do that. Now.
Since they were account managers and not simple bank employees it was time to conclude the meeting with the two goblins. Harry was grateful for their help and said so as he shook their hands. They had helped him tremendously.
Another goblin knocked on the door to escort him to his Family Vaults. But before he left Bloodaxe said, "You may sent your Elf to me to make a appointment for the dark magic cleansing of the Black Town House." Harry nodded gratefully before he was escorted out of the meeting room by the new goblin who would take him to the new Vaults.
Harry and the unknown goblin walked through the long halls of Gringotts in silence. He had gotten quite a lot of new information he needed to work through. He had never expected that his mother was related to the Slytherin line. That he was actually related to the Slytherin line. It hadn't been Voldemorts power transferring over to him after all. He was already a Parselmouth. He shook his head and concentrated on following the goblin, who had stepped into one of the carts leading to the Vaults.
After a delightfully wild ride in the carts, Harry finally stood in front of the Potter Family Vault. He was gruffly told to put his hand on the door so it could open.
As Harry put his hand on the massive door he could feel a strange warmth surrounding him. Almost like a hug. Like love. This magic, the magic of his family loved him. Harry had never before felt this kind of all encompassing love. His family. It was breathtaking.
Then Harry heard a click and with a mighty creak the Potter Family Vault started to open their doors.