# # #
After training the next morning, the Monday before the great Harry Potter 'reveal' in Diagon Alley, Harry brought Hermione and Dan back to the Pottery. Harry told Dan, Hermione was perfectly safe at the Pottery. But Dan just said his orders were to protect the Countess until she left for Hogwarts. And he was serious about his duties and his responsibilities.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Okay. You can come and watch, if you like."
Harry took Hermione outside where he'd had a platform conjured with different levels. The first was about two feet off the ground, the second was four feet, and the third was six feet. They were angled so she could launch from the edge of one and take a straight line glide down towards the back of the yard, where the vegetables and chickens were located.
He had Hermione stand on the first platform and assume her crow form.
"Okay, 'Mione," he instructed. "I want you to just lean forward with your wings spread and push off from the edge of the platform. Get a feel for how the wind flows over your wings. As you near the ground, flip the bottom of your wings forward with your elbows as drag, and bring both feet right forward to cushion your landing. Try that."
Hermione, executed a flawless take off, but was a little rough on the landing. She changed back into her normal form and was jumping up and down.
"I did it!" she cried. "I did it! I flew!"
Amused, Harry said, "Of course, you did."
Hermione came running back and climbed back up onto the first landing.
"'Mione, wait!" ordered Harry. "You're going to exhaust your magical core if you keep changing back and forth all time. Let me provide you the magical power to do it. Or you're going to exhaust yourself before we get very far in your training."
Nodding, Hermione waited with excitement almost quivering off herself.
"Next level up, please," instructed Harry.
Hermione climbed up to the next level and stood near the edge. Harry pumped magic into her and she changed again.
"Okay, same thing, this time practice your landing."
Hermione, not as hesitant this time, launched herself forward. This time her landing was pretty good. She spun about, took a couple of steps back towards Harry and flapped her wings. She lifted off the ground a little and glided back a fair bit, before trying it again.
Grinning, Harry said, "This isn't going to take you long at all."
Hermione shifted back and was giggling away.
"Okay, this time we're going to try banking off the top level," he said. "We're both going to change. I'll go first and I want you to follow me. Watch what I do with my wings and my tail. Watch how they move and see if you can emulate it."
"Okay!" she said.
After both climbed up onto the top level, Harry helped change her into her form before changing himself. Harry walked up to the edge of the platform and made sure Hermione, a larger bird than he, was right beside him. He nodded once and launched in a glide.
About ten feet away he quickly looked back to see Hermione launch off after him.
He banked slightly to the left, before straightening back up. Then he angled himself towards the back left corner of the property. Hermione followed as best she could.
Near the back he banked a lot sharper and held the bank as he slowly wheeled about above the vegetable garden before he'd turned almost completely around and was heading back towards the platform. During his bank he was careful to keep stealing glances back to make sure Hermione wasn't getting into trouble.
He held his glide as long as possible before braking and landing about half way back up the yard. Hermione had landed about ten feet behind him.
Shifting back he said, "That was pretty good."
Hermione shifted and exclaimed, "That wasn't good. That was... cool!"
Chuckling, he asked, "Still feeling afraid of heights?"
"Not when I'm in my crow form, no," she replied. "I mean, I can't actually fall, can I?"
Harry knew the truth but said, "No."
Of course a bird could fall. Gravity was gravity. But a bird, once mastering flight, didn't need to worry about falling unless they injured a wing, or unless they didn't reach enough speed to get air passing under their wings. Even then their landing would be significantly cushioned.
"This time, though you've already tried it, we're going to try powering the flight with wing beats," explained Harry. I'll shift into my form and, while just standing there, move my wings slowly as if I was flying. You'll see how I move my wings. Watch carefully."
Both of them climbed back onto the top level of the platform. Harry helped Hermione to change and said, "Remember to watch my wing movements." Then changed.
While standing there on his clawed feet, Harry moved his wings slowly up and down, demonstrating the wing beat movement of powered flight. Then he changed back.
"Okay, your turn," he instructed.
Hermione copied his movements and it wasn't long before she got the rhythm of it. So, Harry said, "Try to go faster. As you do, you'll start to be propelled forward. Let it happen. And Fly!"
Hermione's wing beats quickly built in pace. Soon he could see her trying to dig in with the claws on his feet. But it wasn't long before she couldn't hold back and, quite suddenly, she shot forward. Launching off the platform she quickly gained altitude heading for the back of the property.
Harry stood and threw himself forward changing as he went. He quickly headed off after her.
Hermione was beating her wings at a furious pace. He didn't even know if she'd realised how much height she'd gained.
Harry knew he couldn't catch her at that rate so he phoenix-flashed forward to be just behind her and off to one side. When she finally stopped flapping they were quite some distance in the air. This allowed Harry to come up alongside and just in front and below her, about five feet away.
He was worried she'd finally stop flapping, look around to see where she was, and panic. By taking position just ahead and off to one side he hoped she'd focus on him and not suddenly drop out of her animagus form in fright.
He was right, he heard Hermione suddenly give a shrill sounding 'caw' before locking her eyes on him. He saw her try to cover the distance between them as if she was trying to grab him. He simply banked away keeping the distance between them close, but not too close.
He allowed himself to drift down and banked slightly. Hermione followed. She might have been as stiff as a child's kite, but she held her form and flight.
Seeing her follow him he steepened his bank while also using his wings to brake. She, at first, flew past him a little, but soon she was copying his moves, braking the same way.
Harry nodded to her as he saw her look at him. He finally had them headed back towards the Pottery and was steepening their descent. The last few hundred feet he was approaching at an almost forty-five degree descent and heading for the rear yard near where he could see Dan.
Dan, having watched Hermione speed off and Harry in hot pursuit, had risen from his chair.
Harry swooped in and landed about ten feet short of Dan. Hermione, not quite as graceful, hit a bit harder next to him and just in front. She popped out of her animagus for at almost the same time as Harry.
She ran the couple of step to him and embraced him in a big hug. "Oh, my god, Harry!" she exclaimed, nearly in tears. "I was so scared! I didn't realise I'd climbed so high, so fast!"
"Why were you scared? You're a bird, remember? You can fly!" replied Harry, trying to call her down and holding her out at arms length. "You no longer need to fear that sort of thing anymore."
Dan came over and gave her a hug. "That was amazing, Pumpkin! You flew so fast... and you're doing so well!"
Harry nodded and smiled at Dan. He knew Dan could see the same thing. She had to get back into the air or would fear it forever.
"You can fly, Pumpkin!" said Dan. "And you don't need a plane to do it."
Steeling himself, Harry said, "We'll go just once more, 'Mione. And you can have a rest."
"But... but I it really scared me," she sobbed.
"I know," said Harry, soothingly. "And that's why we're not going to try and fly so high. I want you to fly on the straight and level from this end of the yard to the other, and back again."
After a few more moments he managed to coax Hermione back onto the second level, four feet.
He said, "Okay, you don't need to flap anywhere near as hard as you did the last time. Keep your eyes open and you'll be able to see how high you are at all times. That will guide you in how much you need to beat your wings, okay?"
Hermione nodded. Harry pumped magic into her and said, "Shift!" And she did.
"Okay, 'Mione; just to the end of the yard and back again. Try and stay below six feet off the ground," he instructed.
She gave her head a bit of shake, waddled up to the edge of the platform and launched. She glided down and bit and then started lazily flapping her wings. Up to the end of the yard and she banked around losing a bit of height, but gained it again with a few beats. She drifted back to where Dan and Harry were standing and landed a lot more gracefully than the last time.
Shifting back she stood up straight and smiled.
Harry said, "That was perfect, 'Mione. As I said before, you've got this.'
"That felt easy," she said. "That took very little effort, at all."
"It's not supposed to," he replied. "You should be able to stay up in the air for hours at a time. By the time you've come close to mastering how to fly, you're going to be able to fly from your home in northern London, all the way down to here.
"You'll learn about thermals and other forms of updrafts that'll help you gain plenty of altitude with little effort on your behalf, and how to find them to use them. There's no great trick to it. It's just what birds do."
"So, when I really flapped my wings hard that last time..." she began.
"... You shot off that platform like a jet taking off from the Ark Royal," Dan finished.
Harry said, "In my animagus form I had no hope in catching up to you. I had to use my phoenix ability to flash forward all the time just to keep up."
"So, I'm faster than you?" she asked Harry.
"Well, you sure fly faster than I do in a straight line already. But, I think I'll have the edge on you in turning and manoeuvring. And that's without using my phoenix abilities," he replied. "You have long glider's wings, longer than I'd expect for a crow; while I have an aeronautical acrobatic style of wing."
In his animagus form, Sirius came bounding around the corner from the front of the manor. He gave one mighty 'woof' as he passed, and headed for the other corner. Behind him came the dark grey wolf of Susan in a dead run. While Sirius looked like he was bounding away, Susan looked more like she was in a determined race of ground-eating speed.
"Well," said Dan. "It looks like Susan's getting the hang of four-foot running. She'll catch Lord Black easily at that rate."
Harry just grinned. "C'mon!" he said. "Let's head inside to get something to eat and recharge our magical cores."
Inside, Pixie was in the process of putting the last touches to an early lunch. They went into the parlour and were just starting to talk when Neville walked in the front door, laughing. The lad, still laughing hard, walked into the parlour and collapsed on one of the couches still giggling away.
"Nev?" asked Harry.
Gasping for breath and trying not to laugh, Neville replied, "Su... Susan was having trouble... getting the galloping motion down... Then she refused to run... because she said... it made her look... look silly... Sirius wouldn't hear of it... He made us... reassume our forms. Then he... then he... bit her on the bum and ran off!" That started Neville roaring with laughter again. "I think she's still... still chasing him!"
Chuckling, Harry said, "Well, I suppose that's one way to... motivate... a student."
"Excuse me?" said Dan, a bit shocked. "He bit her on the bum?"
"Oh, my!" said Hermione. "That wasn't very nice."
Still laughing, Neville nodded. "She leapt straight up in the air about six feet and 'yipped'!" He laughed again. "I don't think... she's very happy with him... at the moment!"
"If she was in her animagus form, it would be 'rump', rather than 'bum'. And I'd say he probably nipped her, rather than bit," said Harry. "But, if what we just witnessed out the back was any indication, I'd say it worked."
Sirius, in human form and clearly out of breath, burst in through the front door, slammed it behind himself, and bolted up the stairs.
A few seconds later, Susan, in her human form, burst in, also breathing heavily, and glared around. In a loud screeching voice she demanded, "Where is he?"
Harry called back, "He has fled the field of battle, My Lady. You are victorious!"
She came stomping into the parlour with her left hand flat on an area just below her left hip, still breathing hard. "Do you know what he did?" she growled.
Dan replied, with as straight a face as he could manage, "We heard."
Hermione rose from her chair and, taking Susan by the other hand, said, "Come on. Let's go see what damage he did." And led her from the room.
Dan looked at Harry with a curious look and asked, "He has fled the field of battle?"
Harry, still chuckling, shrugged and replied, "I didn't know what else to say that might stop her long enough to calm down."
While the girls were gone, Neville had managed to get control of himself long enough to stop laughing, and Pixie laid out a lunch for them all.
Hermione returned with Susan, who was still quite annoyed, and said, "No damage, but it left a bit of a mark."
Grinning, Harry rose and went to the foot of the stairs. Calling up he said, "You better come down here, Padfoot, and apologise! Lunch has been served!"
Returning to his seat, Harry decided to dig in while the others were doing the same.
A few moments later, Sirius stuck his head in around the door and said very contritely, "Sorry, Susan."
She just 'hurrumphed' at him; then decided to ignore him.
Sirius came in and took a seat as far away from her as he could and, while still watching her warily, started to load his own plate.
After lunch they had a few more practice sessions with their animagus forms before Susan and Neville departed via the floo. Harry and Sirius side-along apparated Dan and Hermione back to their home before returning.
Finally alone, Harry asked, "What possessed you to bite her on the rump?"
"She needed to stop over-thinking about how to move in her form and just let nature do the rest. I needed to get her to stop thinking and just acting," replied Sirius. "But it worked, didn't it?"
Smiling, Harry replied, "Yes, but if she tells Madam Bones what you did..."
Sighing, Sirius replied, "I know. But, that's my problem. I'll deal with it if it arises. I'll just explain the same way I just did to you."
Sirius reported that Susan was now ready to just exercise her form, as she had it almost all down pat. She just needed to practice. Neville was the same. However, he also said that, though Neville was not as long-running as he or Susan, over shorter distances he was much faster than the other two. And he could leap pretty high, too.
And Harry reported how he was progressing with Hermione, and what happened on their third flight. And he was talking about how he was getting her over her acrophobia.
# # #
The rest of Monday passed without incident. It even looked like, either Susan hadn't told Amelia what happened, or Amelia didn't need an explanation, as there was no irate floo call from the Ossuary.
After they left or were returned to their homes, Harry tried to get back to writing his book. But he was feeling 'antsy'. Tomorrow was the day he could finally pull Dobby out of the Dursley home and free him of the abuse he was suffering. Tomorrow was the day 'Harry Potter' came out of hiding. And, tomorrow was the day Albus Dumbledore was going to begin to learn what it meant to annoy Harry Potter.
He finally managed to get some more work done on his book. But there was the whole section that covered the amount of abuse he received that was giving him problems. Eventually, he just listed everything he witnessed through Myrrdin's time viewer of the timeline from which Myrrdin pulled him.
He listed the beatings, the times he was locked in his cupboard and for how long, the injuries he suffered and the periods of starvation. He listed when and where his abuse was reported and to whom. And what he thought happened as a result. He also questioned why nothing was done about it.
Then he removed a lot of the minor events, but still covered the major ones. And began to write it all out in as dispassionate a manner as could. He also mentioned he had left a lot of it out for 'brevity' as the book would become too overburdening on the reader if he hadn't.
He didn't notice when Pixie brought him tea and sandwiches. He didn't notice when Sirius came into the room and looked over his shoulder and was reading a lot of what he wrote, only noticing that his godfather had come in 'for a moment' and left. He didn't notice it starting to get dark and Pixie lighting the candles on his desk or elsewhere in the room. He was simply very focussed.
When he finally finished he sat back with a groan. He noticed it was quite dark outside. And he noticed he desperately needed to go to the toilet.
After his ablutions he went into the only other downstairs room he noticed was still lit; the kitchen. In there he found Sirius drinking tea and looking worried.
"Sirius?" he asked. "Are you okay?"
Spinning around to look at him a relieved Sirius said, "God, Pup! I thought you were never going to come up for air!"
Abashed, Harry said, "You should have come and talked to me if you were worried."
He came forward and sat on a chair at the table next to his godfather.
"No, Harry," said Sirius. "I had a look at what you were writing and I knew how much you were hating doing it. I knew it was going to be cathartic for you, and knew you needed to just get through it. But, God, Pup!"
Sighing, Harry said, "Yeah, I understand. I had to get it down on paper. And I had to trim it right back. People would never believe one boy could endure so much if I left it all in. But, they'd also never believe how bad it was if I didn't list a lot of it down."
"Do you feel better for doing it?"
Thinking about it, Harry replied, "Yeah. I do. But... I also feel a little... embarrassed about it all, still."
"Harry," said Sirius. "Don't!"
Sighing again, Harry said, "I know. I know it was not my fault. I know I was not to blame for any of it. I know I have nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about. But those feelings are still there. I'm slowly getting over it all. And Myrrdin helped one hell of a lot. But..."
"Pup" said Sirius quietly. "It's my fault. If I hadn't gone..."
"No!" interrupted Harry. "Stop it right there, Sirius. If you're not going to let me blame me, then I'm not going to let you blame you. If Mum and Dad hadn't trusted Pettigrew. If people, my parents included, hadn't automatically assumed it was Remus who was the traitor. If they hadn't joined Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix. If whatever.
"Harry," said Sirius quietly again.
"No!" interrupted Harry again. "We both know that people made their own choices based on what they knew. No one would have made the choices they did, except possibly Pettigrew, if they knew how things were going to turn out. The only one who had a pretty fair idea about what was going to happen, and yet still let things run their course, was Albus fucking Dumbledore."
"Then stop feeling embarrassed, ashamed, guilty or whatever!" said Sirius firmly. "We both know the real fault lies with that old coot. And tomorrow is going to be a really dark day for him with what you... we... have planned for him. Focus on that!"
Harry sighed again and dropped his head to the tabletop. "None of this should have happened. I know what the original future held. I was supposed to be a very happy little boy who went to Hogwarts and, with his friends, made magical Britain a far better place to live."
Putting his hand on his godson's shoulder, Sirius said, "And you're still going to have those friends and make the country a better place to live. You and Myrrdin have seen to that. You and Myrrdin have set in motion events which will set things to rights."
"But," he said more firmly, "you need to remember you're not in this alone. You have eight of us directly in this with you. Plus, you have Her Majesty... whom you still haven't introduced me to, you know... and all her people right behind you to provide you the support you need from the mundane world.
"Pup," he sighed, "you need to let your friends and their families help you. If there are things that need to be done, we can do a lot of that for you. I know you have what you call a mission. But it's our mission now, too."
Harry lifted his head from the table and ran his fingers through his hair. "I feel responsible, at least, for pulling 'Mione, Susan and Neville... and their families... into this. They could have lived their lives without knowing any of this. At least until they were seventeen, at least."
"Again, no," replied Sirius. "Because of Dumbledore they had to brought in early. Besides, I've already heard from the others that it was Her Majesty who forced the rings on the other three, not you. You don't have any blame there."
Harry nodded.
"Now," said Sirius, sitting up straighter. "We both need to get some sleep in order to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for tomorrow. And, because I pretty much expected you to be like this tonight..."
Harry watched him pull a couple of small vials out of one of his pockets.
"...you need to drink one of these when you go to bed. Which, should be right about now," finished Sirius, handing one off to him. "And, as your godfather, I'm ordering you to take it."
Harry checked the time and then stood up. "Well, it looks like it's that time already," he said, grabbing the vial and heading off.
About twenty minutes later Sirius knocked on his door and checked in on him. Harry was fast asleep and the empty vial was on the bedside table. He quietly shut the door on his way back out.
# # #
The next morning Harry ate a continental style breakfast, but couldn't remember what he ate when he thought about it later. He was prowling around the downstairs of the manor waiting for Dobby to arrive.
Harry watched the clock as it wound inexorably towards the appointed time. Each second like a minute, each minute like an hour, each hour like an eternity.
Sirius had also had an early breakfast and was sitting on one of the couches in the parlour just watching his godson. He had already asked the boy to sit down on a couple of occasions and was ignored. Now he just sat and waited.
At just after 8.00am Dobby popped into existence alongside Harry, still in his Polyjuiced form. Though he'd been expecting him, Harry was still quite startled.
Sirius just sat up straighter.
"Hello, Master Harry!" said 'Harry' excitedly, offering Harry his Hogwarts letter. "Can I drink the potion antidote now?"
"In a minute, Dobby," said Harry, giving the Polyjuiced elf a hug. "But first, I'm changing clothes with you."
Harry had Dobby stand alongside him. Then he went through the carefully remembered and practiced ritual that transferred all Dobby's scars, external and internal, to Harry. It was very old magic; best forgotten.
The flash of magic indicated to Sirius something major had just happened. Then Harry bent forward and groaned.
Sirius leapt forward and demanded, "What the Hell was that, Pup?"
"I just transferred all the scars and injuries from Dobby's body to mine. They are mine to bear, not his."
"You what?!" bellowed Sirius.
"For what is to come, and for what I will probably need to prove, I need to have the scars and remains of the injuries Dobby has had to bear in my stead. I just need a few seconds to get used to it," replied Harry.
"Bloody Hell, Pup! That was completely unnecessary," growled Sirius.
Harry straightened up and stared his godfather in the eyes and said, "It was necessary. If I'm even injured at Hogwarts, I need to have the effects of the Dursleys'... discipline... upon my body, or the whole concept falls apart." Then he took a few deep breaths and stepped back from his godfather, and let his magic heal the last of the still healing damage.
"Damn, it, Pup!" growled Sirius again. "You should have discussed it with me first."
Harry just ignored him.
Once he was finished, Harry then cast the spell to switch clothes with Dobby. He said his temporary goodbye's to them both and apparated directly into the entry hall of the Dursleys' residence. The Dursleys were talking in the kitchen and it was clear they had not yet noticed that 'Harry' had been missing for about two minutes.
Harry opened the door and walked outside. He looked at his letter and then ran off. Now to go and see Mrs Figg.
About fifteen minutes later he'd managed to work himself up into appearing upset and flustered and ran up to the door of Arabella Figg. He banged on it calling, "Mrs Figg! Mrs Figg!"
A few moments later Arabella Figg opened the door and Harry walked past her. Acting all upset he showed the lady his letter and sobbed, "Do you know anything about this? I'm supposed to be a wizard! I'm a freak! Nothing but a freak!"
Arabella, quite taken back about Harry's actions, said, "Harry? What's going..." and she noticed his Hogwarts letter in his hand. "Oh, I see you have your Hogwarts letter."
Harry looked shocked and stunned. "You knew?!" he blurted. "You knew about this? You knew I'm a wizard?"
"Well," she stammered, "I suspected you were..."
"What's this about stuff I have to buy?" demanded Harry with tears in his eyes. "I don't have any money! The Dursleys won't give me a penny! What am I supposed to do?"
"Harry," she tried again. "You need to calm down..."
Riding over her, Harry cried, "How am I supposed to buy any of this stuff?"
"Harry," she tried again. "I can get..."
"No! How am I supposed to get any of this stuff?" he cried shaking his letter in Arabella's face.
"Gringotts, Harry..." she tried again.
"Gringotts? What's Gringotts?" Harry demanded acting even more agitated.
"It's the wizarding bank, Harry," she said, trying to calm the clearly distressed boy down. "Wait. There's someone I can..."
Again, riding over her he cried, "I need money to buy this stuff! How am I supposed to find a wizarding bank? I wouldn't even know where to go?"
"It's in Diagon Alley, Harry; just off Charing Cross Road in London," she said.
"There's no such thing!" said Harry "You're lying!"
"No, Harry, I'm not. You get to it through the pub called the Leaky Cauldron," she explained. "Just let me contact..."
"No!" cried Harry again. "It's all lies! I'm not a freak! The Dursleys, and now you, are always just mean to me! I'm running away! Number Four, Privet Drive is not my home!"
Suddenly, there was a mighty flash. Harry, the real Harry, was even dumbfounded by it. He didn't realise just how much magic was involved in the blood wards on the Dursley home. Well, one thing was for sure, that had to have made alarm bells ring.
He had to give himself a few seconds to try and absorb what had happened. It was lucky that even Arabella Figg had felt the effects of the wards coming down. She, too, was quite stunned.
Harry took the opportunity to bolt out the door, out onto the road, and run for the alley between Wisteria Walk and Magnolia Crescent. Once in the alley and out of sight he quickly apparated back to the Pottery.
Back in his own home, Harry bent forward and took a couple of deep breaths.
Coming in from the parlour, Sirius asked, "How'd it go?"
Standing up and looking at his godfather, Harry said, "Even easier than I thought. The idea of a very upset little boy, especially Harry Potter, made her answer the questions I asked just to try and calm me down. Once I had them, I bolted out of there for a spot I knew where I'd not be seen, and apparated back here. But... Damn!... the feedback from the wards coming down was one hell of a shock!"
Sirius nodded and said, "Very good. We'll let the others know. Now we just wait for just before 12.30pm..."
# # #
Dumbledore stomped back into his office in a furious mood. That damned Bones woman accusing him of bribing members of the Wizengamot was intolerable! He didn't care one whit that it was true. He was Albus Dumbledore, Leader of the Light, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Supreme Mugwump of the ICW. He was not some common wizard who could be pushed around. How dare she!
It took him a few moments to notice his little trinkets indicating the wards on the Potter boy and his home were either dead or going nuts.
In shock he quickly grabbed some floo powder and threw it into the fireplace. "Arabella Figg!" he yelled.
Before the floo even properly connected he was bellowing, "Arabella? Arabella!"
Very quickly he heard back.
"Albus? Oh, thank God!" he heard the woman reply. "It's Harry, sir! He's run off!"
"Arabella, I'm stepping through!" he declared.
With the flash of green flame Dumbledore was gone from his office.
# # #
Stepping through into the Wisteria Walk home of Arabella Figg, Dumbledore didn't even wait for the usual pleasantries.
"What happened?" he demanded.
"Harry received his Hogwarts letter today," began the upset woman. "He came here with it... It must have been straight after he received it... He was all upset.
"He was yelling and crying. He demanded to know if I knew anything about it and I must've let slip I knew about Hogwarts.
"Stupid woman!" he bellowed. "Get on with it!"
"Next thing I know, Albus, he's demanding to know how to get his school supplies. He didn't give me any time at all to call you. He was yelling and demanding and I was trying to calm him down.
"Then he said something about the Dursleys' home no longer being his and there was a great flash of magic. I think it scared him a lot and he ran off. I haven't seen him since."
"He knows about Diagon Alley?" demanded the old man.
"Yes, and about how to get to it," she replied. She'd never seen Dumbledore so angry.
"How bloody long ago was this?" he roared.
"A... about an hour and a half ago, Albus."
Dumbledore just grabbed some floo powder off the mantelpiece, threw it in the fireplace, and called, "Headmaster's Office!"
He was gone in another flash of green flame.
Arabella Figg had never been so scared of someone in her life. Even the threat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named didn't scare her as much as Albus Dumbledore did that day.
# # #
Dumbledore apparated from his office out to the muggle world in an effort to try and head the boy off before he could make the Charing Cross Road entrance to Diagon Alley. He was wearing the invisibility cloak he had 'borrowed' from James Potter and was apparating as quickly as he could from one point to another.
He checked bus stops, train stations, the footpath between them, the path from Charing Cross Station to the Leaky Cauldron. He couldn't find the boy.
Eventually, he entered the Alley and went directly to the bank. He demanded the Potter Account Keeper, Block-something, tell him if and when Harry Potter showed up. He told the goblin the boy had run away and, as his magical guardian, it was his right to take the boy home again. He demanded the goblins not interfere in his guardian duties.
After half an hour the goblins had had enough and evicted him from the building.
Knowing what school supplies the boy would be needing, if he did come to get his supplies, Dumbledore went from shop to shop. Where he could, he pleaded he be informed as soon as the boy arrived. Where he couldn't, he bribed.
Yet more galleons flowing from his hands because of that boy.
He said he believed the boy had run away from home because he was throwing a tantrum. He said the boy had run off because he was impatient to gather his school supplies. He conned, he wheedled, he lied.
Eventually, he left. He'd set in place watchers for the boy and had other places he could look for him. He'd try to move around the Little Whinging neighbourhood under cover of the invisibility cloak and see if the boy had not even left the area.
Even after that he'd given up, realising the boy was no longer in the area, and returned back to Hogwarts to see if his lookouts spotted him.
# # #
At 12.20pm Harry, for the first time as Harry, left the floo at the top end of Diagon Alley. He was wearing an old tatty baseball style cap he, supposedly, found. The only things of any value on him where the copy of his parent's Will he had folded in a back pocket, the letter from Hogwarts in his other back pocket, and his hidden rings.
Earlier, Harry was able to spend some time with Dobby and make sure he was alright. After Dobby took the Polyjuice antidote he was laid up for a couple hours, but was okay well before Harry had to leave for the Alley. Once he'd recovered, he asked if he had done everything right. Harry hugged him and said they'd talk about it soon. Pixie tended to him while they were gone.
In the Alley and glancing around to make sure he couldn't spot Dumbledore, Harry hurried down the Alley towards Gringotts. He noticed Sirius near the top of the Alley follow him for a bit before peeling off and away into one of the shops. Sirius was busying himself visiting shops and asking if anyone had seen his godson. But, he was doing it more to see if Dumbledore had been in earlier asking the same questions.
Dumbledore had been through the Alley about an hour before. He'd visited those shops he was sure Harry would visit if he was there for his school supplies. Otherwise, he tried to get into the bank to search it. The goblins rebuffed him.
Augusta and Neville had been there and ensured they were in a couple of the same shops as Dumbledore to check if the old man had, indeed, paid a few folks off to contact him if Harry turned up. Harry now knew at least a couple where he'd make sure he'd make his identity clear.
Harry hurried up the stairs of the bank. Inside he found the Grangers anxiously waiting for him. He went to lead them over to a teller but, before he could approach one, a goblin approached him first, *Greetings, Lord Potter; I am Wheelock. I trust your enemies lay dying and their gold now fills your vaults?*
Taken aback, Harry only replied, *For the moment I'm having more fun tormenting my enemies, Wheelock. Why did you approach me?*
*Director Ragnock is expecting you and has asked me to convey you directly to his office,* said Wheelock. *Account Keeper Blockrig will also be there.*
Hesitating for just a moment, Harry said, *We will be honoured to meet with the Director; may his enemies meet with an early and bloody death. Please, escort us.*
The goblin bobbed its head once, spun on its heel and marched across the main floor of the bank expecting his charges to follow him.
Harry said to the Grangers, "Come on. We're invited upstairs by the Director." Harry then followed after the goblin. The Grangers hurried just a little to catch up.
Hermione came up alongside Harry and said, "Harry, I understood everything you and he said."
Nodding, Harry said, "The goblin language, gobbledegook, was on the last cube, remember?"
Frowning, Hermione said, "Oh, yeah."
Wheelock led them directly to the doors of Director's main office. He knocked once, waited for the command to enter, pushed the door open and held it for the humans to enter.
Inside, Ragnock was sitting at his desk. He looked at his guests before turning to Wheelock and saying in English, "Thank you, Wheelock; you may go."
Turning away, the Director climbed down from his chair and walked around his desk. He said, "I am informed it is your intent to allow the magics of the Potter and Black rings to be set free. And for Harry Potter to come out of hiding today."
He indicated a small business discussion table with a few chairs around it. "Please, be seated."
The Director ordered one of his guards to summon Account Keeper Blockrig, plus two other Account Keepers. After their group was seated, a tea service was brought in.
While they waited, he said, "Albus Dumbledore came into Gringotts almost two hours ago and demanded he be informed if you came in. We, politely of course, refused him. He left quite upset."
Harry just snorted and said, "Do you know if he left the Alley?"
"He left after paying a visit to a couple of the retail outlets in the Alley. He departed over an hour ago."
Blockrig appeared only moments later with the Potter account books. And less than a minute later the, supposedly, other two Account Keepers entered. Harry recognised one as, Cavepick, the Account Keeper for the Slytherin account. He'd not met the other one.
"Lord Potter," said the Director, "Account Keeper Blockrig has matters to discuss with you ere you depart this day. However, he is ready to provide any assistance you may need now."
Turning to Hermione, he said, "Lady Ravenclaw, this..." he said, indicating the goblin Harry didn't know, "... is Stoneaxe. He is the Account Keeper for the Ravenclaw account. He has been awaiting your arrival."
"Ah!" said Harry, turning to the Grangers and starting to rise. "I'll wait outside while you... get acquainted with your Account Keeper."
"No," said Hermione. "Please stay, Harry."
Harry hesitated and looked at the Grangers. They all seemed to want him to stay.
He sighed and, retaking his seat, said, "Very well."
Stoneaxe, checking to ensure he was to continue said, "My Lady, it is an honour to finally meet you. I have with me the account ledger of the Ravenclaw account. You will be pleased to know the balance of the account currently holds approximately 9.5 million galleons.
"There are no current investments other than one quarter ownership of the Hogwarts castle and the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, plus the same for the lands on which it, and the village of Hogsmeade sits. You receive one eighth of one percent of the net takings of the school, and one quarter of the takings of the net rent from the Hogsmeade properties."
"The account is growing. However, I believe I can greatly improve on the return from investments by making further investments elsewhere with the liquid assets now available to you. I seek your approval to begin those."
Hermione looked back at the goblin. Hesitated a little and said, "I'll need to discuss this with my parents. Does it need to be done now?"
"No, My Lady," he said. "I stand ready to provide you service at any time you may need me."
Harry said to Hermione, "I take it, then, you have not enquired yet into the creation of a magical house account?"
"No, not yet," said Dan. "There's plenty of time for that when we have enough money to make it worthwhile."
"I need it done, Dan," said Harry firmly. "I need the Magical House of Granger set up for when we take our seats on the Wizengamot to block any attempts by members of that body to block Hermione taking her seat."
Turning to the Director, he said, "Director Ragnock, we need to create a Magical House. We will need the paperwork for that commenced immediately."
"Lord Potter," the Director replied, "it will require, at minimum, the purchase of a vault, and the deposit of at least fifty thousand galleons into it, for the paperwork to have any chance of successfully being accepted."
Nodding, Harry said, "Open a vault in the family name of Granger. Transfer one hundred thousand galleons from the Potter vaults into it..."
"Harry, no!" exclaimed Dan, beating Emma to the punch by a heartbeat. She said, "We will not accept such an extravagant gift!"
Turning to them both, Harry said, "It isn't a gift. It's one of the methods by which I'm going to... redesign... the wizarding world community. It's one of the steps through which I'm going to cut the legs out from under collective rich pureblood families. Please let me do this."
Thinking, Dan said, "Then it'll be a loan, only."
Harry nodded and grumbled, "Fine." Turning to the Director he said, "Please draw up the loan papers at half a per cent per annum. I'll also pay for the vault out of the Potter accounts, as it's my idea."
While he was talking, Stoneaxe was madly writing away on a parchment. Once he was finished, he handed it to the Director, who read it before summoning one of the guards. Handing it to the goblin he said, "See to this immediately."
StoneAxe then commenced writing on a second parchment.
The goblin guard left with the original parchment but returned moments later without it.
Blockrig had also been madly writing away since Harry said it would be a loan. He handed the parchment to the Director who read it before handing the document to Harry to sign. Harry signed it and then handed it to Hermione. "This is the loan document for the one hundred thousand galleons at one half of one percent interest calculated per annum."
She read it and handed it to her father, who also read it. He then handed it back to Hermione and nodded. Hermione signed it and handed it back to the Director, who said to her, "Copies will be made for both parties and available to you when next you visit us." He handed it to Blockrig.
Blockrig handed his third parchment to the Director, who checked it and handed it to Harry. Reading quickly through it, Harry signed it and offered it to Dan, saying, "This creates the vault in the name of Granger. I've signed the section relating to payment of the vault."
Dan read it, nodded, and handed it to Hermione. She quickly read it, signed it and handed it back to the Director, who said to her, "The vault will be created for you by the time you next visit us. The keys will also be ready by that time. Is there someone whom you want to hold the second key for you?"
Hermione thought for only a moment before replying, "Harry."
A little startled, Harry replied, "Thank you; but, no. Your father should hold your spare key. For a start, you may need someone to access it for you while you're at Hogwarts."
Nodding, she turned to the Director and asked, "Can it be my father?"
The Director, thinking furiously, replied, "A non-magical having a key for a vault. It's never been done before, that I can recall... But, there's no reason I can see against it. A key holder does not need to have magic in order to use the key."
"Then, I choose my father," said Hermione firmly.
The Director nodded and wrote a small note on the bottom of the vault creation document. Then he handed it off to Stoneaxe.
While they were talking a goblin entered and handed a small sheaf of parchments to the Director. He read them and passed them to StoneAxe who, glancing through them, began to write furiously upon them.
The Director then turned to Harry and said, "Now, Lord Potter; shall I remove those blocks on the Potter and Black rings?"
Harry nodded and held forth his right hand. He had it display his Head of House Potter ring, first.
Director Ragnock drew his small wand from his vest and waved it over the ring muttering a small incantation. The ring flashed once.
Harry then switched to the Heir of House Black ring and the Director made the same wand movements and incantation. It then flashed once.
Harry withdrew his hand and said, "We'll leave the Slytherin ring for now. The other Heirs agree with me and do not want the founders rings recognised as yet."
"Right now," said the Director. "The ring notification will have gone to the Wizengamot and your magical guardian, Lord Black, that the rings have been taken up. As we know Dumbledore was never the guardian he will, of course, only be notified via the offices of the Wizengamot. I suspect it won't be long before he finds out."
To the Director, Harry said, "Let him." Then turning to Blockrig, he said, "Okay, Account Keeper Blockrig; you're now free to begin the recovery process of the assets removed from my trust fund vault."
Grinning, Blockrig said with a small bow, "Thank you, My Lord. I have eagerly awaited this day for almost a decade."
Director Ragnock said to Harry, "Is there anything else you need of Account Keeper Blockrig at this time?"
"No," replied Harry. "I believe he now has quite a bit of work on his plate this day."
Turning to Blockrig, the Director said, "You may go. May your enemies rue this day, and fortune favour your endeavours."
Blockrig quickly left with Cavepick. StoneAxe left moments later.
To Harry, the Director said with a smile, "You have just made him a very happy goblin."
Harry replied with a frown, "He unjustly believed his honour had been ruined and he had brought shame to his clan with what had been happening."
"It was only he who believed that, Lord Potter," replied the Director. "If I felt he had caused such, I would have taken his head long ago."
That last shocked the Grangers. To Dan that seemed, a tad excessive.
Turning to the Grangers, Harry asked, "Well? Shall we go and have some fun?"
Nodding, they all rose.
Turning to the Director, Harry said, *May our business here this day bring us great wealth and leave our enemies nothing but dust in history's pages.*
Smiling and with a small bow, the Director responded in English, "And may our enemies be left quivering and begging for our mercy before this day is past."
# # #
After leaving the office and visiting his vault to pick up some more galleons. Though, truth be told, Harry wanted to show the Grangers just how much was in the main Potter vault. They made their way back out onto the Alley. Harry made sure his Potter House ring was always displayed on his finger.
As they were leaving Dan made a mirror call Harry suspected was to Sirius. Dan had said into the mirror, "Show time!" Before immediately disconnecting the call without a response.
As they left the bank, Harry immediately led them down to the bottom of the Alley to visit Ollivanders and the trunk shop, next door.
Entering Ollivanders, Harry approached the counter and rang the little bell. A moment later, Ollivander came walking forward from between the high shelves of wands.
"Back again, Mister Potter? Finally here to purchase your first wand?" he asked. "And with Miss Granger, I see. Vine wood with a dragon heartstring core."
"Yes, sir," replied Harry.
"Hmmm," said Mr Ollivander, giving Harry a piercing look. "Well, now - Mister Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"
"I'm right-handed," said Harry.
"Hold out your arm. That's it. Oh? I see it's Lord Potter now. My apologies." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Lord Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."
Harry realised that the tape measure was now measuring on its own, but he expected it. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.
"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor.
"Right then, Lord Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."
Harry took the wand and waved it around a bit, but Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.
"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try -"
Harry tried - but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Ollivander.
"No, no - here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."
Harry tried. And tried. He knew what Ollivander was waiting for, but wouldn't provide the hints lest it give him away. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the front counter, but the more wands Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.
"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere - I wonder, now - yes, why not - unusual combination - holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."
'There it is,' thought Harry. He took the wand and felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls.
Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well... how curious... how very curious..." He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious... curious..."
Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.
"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Lord Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather - just one other. It is very curious, indeed, that you should be destined for this wand when its brother - why, its brother gave you that scar."
Harry, of course, already knew that. But he still gave the impression of being shocked at the news.
"Yes, thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember... I think we must expect great things from you, Lord Potter... After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things... terrible, yes, but great."
Harry paid the seven Galleons for his wand and Ollivander bowed them from his shop.
Outside the shop, Emma said, "That man gives me the creeps!"
Harry snorted and said, "He does that to everyone. I think he enjoys the sensation he causes within people. It makes him come across all mysterious."
Harry then led them into the furniture shop next door where he'd buy a trunk.
The shopkeeper was at the front, this time, so no need to ring the bell.
Walking up to the man, Harry said, "Hello, I'm here about buying a trunk. Well, two, actually."
The shopkeeper said, "Certainly. I take it you're attending first year at Hogwarts?"
"Yes, we both are," said Harry indicating Hermione. "This is my new best friend, Hermione."
"Hello, my dear," said the older man, bowing to Hermione. But I seem to recall you being in here not that long ago to purchase a trunk."
Hermione replied, "Yes. So Harry only needs the one."
"Very well," the shopkeeper said before turning to Harry, "Standard trunk, as well, Mister..."
"Potter," said Harry promptly. "But the goblins told me it's Lord Potter, now," he said, holding up his hand with the ring displayed with a big smile.
"Oh, my!" said the old shop keeper, clearly taken aback. "My... apologies, My Lord."
"Oh, don't worry about it," said Harry with an even bigger grin. "I only just found out today!"
"Oh... err... thank you, My Lord," the man stammered.
Taking pity on the man, Harry said, "Now, I've heard you have special types of trunks. You know, like Doctor Who's Tardis. Bigger on the inside than on the outside?"
Not knowing who Doctor Who was, or what a tardis was, the old man mentally latched onto the 'bigger on the inside than the outside' part.
"Yes, trunks fitted with wizarding space similar to a mokeskin bag. Actually, our special trunks are lined with mokeskin for just that purpose," he said, now warming to the sale. "Come this way, please." And led them off to the rear of the shop.
In a more restricted area at the rear, the shopkeeper indicated a shelf full of trunks near identical in appearance. "Now," he said. "Is there anything special you want within your trunk?"
Looking like he was thinking furiously, Harry asked, "Ummm... What sort of things can I have?"
Expecting the question, the shopkeeper replied, "Well, depending on what you want, we can compartmentalise the interior with everything from living quarters to simple storage space. You can have a bedroom, a library, a study, a combined library study, a walk in wardrobe, cool storage, a potions lab, masses of shelving, an entertaining area, et cetera."
"Umm..." said Harry. "What about locks?"
"Ahhh..." replied the shopkeeper. "You can have anything from a normal keyed lock through to a lock keyed to your magical core, or even multiple magical cores. Plus, there's ones linked to blood, a password or three, or combinations thereof."
Nodding, and pretending to think for a while, Harry said, "Okay, can I have two that have space for a walk in wardrobe, a combined study and library, a potions lab, and extra shelving? And I want both linked to an individual's magical core; and can you make it that family house elves can get into them? Actually, better make it four."
"Errr... yes, M-My Lord," the now, quite stunned, shopkeeper replied. "You want... four... trunks?"
"Umm... Harry?" asked Emma from slightly behind.
"Yes, four identical trunks," replied Harry. "Oh, and I trust I can rely on your discretion in this?"
Looking a little affronted, enough to pull him out of his shock, the shopkeeper said, "Of course, My Lord!"
"Excellent!" stated Harry, "I want three of them with house coats of arms on them. One each with the House of Potter, the House of Bones and the House of Longbottom. Leave the fourth blank, for now. I'll have a crest for that one later."
"Harry!" called Emma, louder this time.
Turning to look at her, Harry asked, "Yes, Ma'am?"
"Harry James Potter," she glared at him. "What do you think you're doing?"
As if it was a mere bagatelle, Harry replied, "I'm making sure... us four... are going to have what we need for our time at Hogwarts. Nothing more; nothing less."
"Harry," said Emma a little ominously. "We talked about this."
"Yes, I know," he replied quite calmly. "I'm not allowed to buy you any more than one gift. Don't worry, I won't."
Turning back to the shopkeeper, he asked, "How long will that take?"
"Errr... I can have them ready for you inside a week," he replied.
"Good," replied Harry. "They'll be for myself, Hermione Granger here, Neville Longbottom and Susan Bones. I'll make sure everyone comes in and picks theirs up. You can explain to each how to configure them, then. Okay?"
"Y-Yes, My Lord," replied the rather confounded shopkeeper.
"Excellent!" said Harry. "I take it I can pay directly from my account via this ring?" He said, holding up his hand.
"Errr... Yes, My Lord," said the old shopkeeper. Leading the way back out to the front of the store.
Harry left the imprint of the ring and his signature as authorisation for the old shopkeeper to deduct the funds from the main Potter vault. And they left the store.