After Harry was popped back home by Dobby, the first thing he did was fall face first in the couch. He got so much information in the meeting with the goblins and there was so much to see in the three, THREE, family vaults he had. So much money, books, jewelry, trunks filled with who knows what and most important of all, a letter from his parents.
An actual letter. His parents did leave him something in their vault. Something just for him.
His head was spinning. All three of the Family Grimoires were amazing! So much history, spells and even blackmail was written on the pages in the books. Althought some of the blackmail was little more like scandalous gossip by now. It seemed that one Cassiopeia Black had lived a very interesting life, collecting a lot of blackmail as if it was her job. Maybe it was.
Harry was kind of afraid to read the letter. What if it said something he didn't like? What if he did? Harry could never unread the only letter his parents had written to him yet he couldn't not read it. It was from his parents. He groaned.
Harry sat upright again so that he could look at the letter laying innocently on the side table. He took a deep breath, opened the letter and started reading.
To our dearest Harry,
As we are writing this letter, you are sleeping peacefully in your crib after playtime with your favorite toys. I hope that it will never be necessary for you to read this letter, my darling boy. But even it must be so, it is a comforting thought to have something written up for you. Just to be sure.
Your father and I are busy with setting up the Runic ritual that we have created to ensure your survival. It will require the willing sacrifice of an adult. I hope we won't ever need it. But if we do, that you will have at least one of us with you if the worst will happen.
But if the worst happens, know we won't ever regret it, my love. You are the best of us and your father and I love you so much.
If you are reading this then our worst fear actually has happend and the both of us are not there for you anymore. We dearly hope you have been happily raised by Sirius but if not, that you are still happy with whomever you live. That is the most important thing to us, Hadrian, that you have grown up to be happy.
Happy, healthy and safe are our greatest hopes for you. We know that Sirius will make sure you will be so for us. Don't feel guilty for thinking of him as your dad, Hadrian. It's what your father and I would have wanted for you if we couldn't be there for you.
This war filled country is a scary time to live in and even a worse time to be trying to raise a family but know that we never regretted having you, Harry. You are the best thing to ever happen to your father and me. We love you so very much.
Know that while we were willing to die for you, we also wanted to live for you. We wanted to see you grow up so bad, Harry, and it breaks our hearts to know we might not be able to do that.
Do what makes you happy and know that we are with you, always.
Your loving mother,
Lily
PS. Your father wants me to tell you to play a prank or two for him when you've gone to Hogwarts.
PPS. Just don't get caught.
Harry was tired of crying after reading emotional letters that were left for him but he didn't think anyone would blame him for this one.
He finally had actual proof that his parents had loved and wanted him. He had finally more of them than just the memory of his parents dying for him. Thought he had to laugh when he read the post script parts. It sounded just like what he heard they were like together.
He could still smell his mothers perfume clinging to the parchment. It was a wonderful thing to know, his mothers scent. Harry kinda recognised the scent. It felt like a long forgotten memory that had returned to him.
Also, the letter was the proof of what he always thought, he didn't do anything special that Halloween night. His parents invented or found a ritual that had saved him from the killing curse Voldemort had cast. He wondered if he could find out what ritual they used.
Maybe it was possible to recreate it. It would a wonderful thing if people couldn't use the killing curse anymore. If people had a protection against it.
To work off the emotions of this truly exhausting day, Harry decided it might be a good idea to get some exercise of the magical and physical variety. He went upstairs to his chambers and changed out of the fancy suit that he wore to the the meeting with the goblins. Kreacher wouldn't be happy with him if he ruined the thing.
He quickly changed in his workout clothes and went to the training room to practice his new spells for a while. He had some emotions to work out of his system.
It was dinner time by the time he stopped casting and Harry finally felt better, kinda relieved strangely enough. He was very hungry but decided to take a shower first since he was a bit sweaty from the workout. It had felt good to go all out for a while. His new wand really responded perfectly to him and his wishes. He had also gotten a lot better with some of the curses he learned.
Sirius really had chosen the right books for him to learn from. Even though he didn't have someone to teach him, he was still able to do these spells by himself. Harry really thought that these spells were going to come in handy soon.
After the shower he went to the dining room where Kreacher and Dobby were already sitting at the table. Both the Elves were looking at him expectantly. They had let him work through his troubles when he arrived back from Gringotts but now they wanted to know.
Harry sat down and said, "Well, there were a few surprises at Gringotts but I am now the official Lord Black. The most surprising thing was something that I learnt from the inheritance test was that my mother was decended from the main Slytherin line. I am now both Lord Slytherin and Lord Black."
Dobby and Kreacher looked at him with big eyes before Kreacher said, "Kreacher is happy to have a Lord Black again as Master. But Master also being Lord Slytherin? Kreacher be very happy to serve such a proper master."
Dobby just said, "Dobby be happy that Master Harry succeeded in meeting with goblins. Does Master Harry want some potatoes?" Harry had to laugh at that. Here he is, sharing what was for him groundbreaking news and Dobby just asked if he wanted some potatoes.
He loved that elf.
"Yes, thank you, Dobby. Also, Kreacher? I asked the goblins if they could come for a visit so they can inspect the locket and look at some other stuff that the wards warn me are dangerously dark. What do you think would be a good day to arrange a meeting?" Harry asked Kreacher while he spooned some mashed potatoes on his plate.
"Kreacher be thinking tomorrow be good day for goblins. Does Master agree with old Kreacher?" Kreacher asked Harry.
Harry answered, "Yes that would be fine, thank you Kreacher. I will write Bloodaxe a letter this evening. Could you deliver the letter to Bloodaxe again, Dobby?"
"Dobby be happy to!"
After dinner Harry went to the living room to write the letter for Bloodaxe. Hedwig hooted in greeting and flew from the owl stand where Othello was still sitting to land on Harry's shoulder. She gently preened his hair and settled down on his shoulder.
Harry decided it was time for a serious talk between Hedwig and him as he walked to the kitchen for some privacy. He was pretty sure she wouldn't want her gentleman friend to hear this.
So he asked his very smart owl as soon as they were alone, "Hedwig? Do you like Othello?" He asked her carefully, "It's alright if you like him, but could you warn me if you decide to go further and have chicks with him? I really don't want to walk in on anything and disturb you guys..." Harry said with a blush and a grimace.
He couldn't believe he had to have this talk with Hedwig. It felt wrong to be this much in her business and yet, he also felt very protective of his first friend. He wouldn't want some scroundel to take advantage of her. He still didn't know much about this 'Othello'. Who knew how many other owls Othello had knocked up and then just left?
Hedwig deserved the best.
Hedwig looked at him with laughing golden eyes and hooted at him. Harry nodded and said, "Alright so you guys aren't in that place yet but you would like for me to make the owlery habitable again so you would have some privacy if you decide otherwise? And you would like to see what it's like living in an owlery."
Hedwig hooted again and rubbed her head against Harry's cheek, "Okay girl, I will ask Dobby or Kreacher if they can do that for you alright?" Hedwig hooted softly in thanks and went to sleep while still sitting on his shoulder. Harry walked back to the living room so he could write the letter for Bloodaxe.
Harry carefully went to grab some parchment for the letter without disturbing Hedwig and sat down so he could start writing.
Dear Account manager Bloodaxe,
If you are agreeable I would like to make a appointment for tomorrow so that the Black Town House can be made safe again from the dark artifacts inside the house the wards keep warning me about.
Would it perhaps be possible that for whoever comes, that Dobby will pop them in? I would like to keep the location as secret as possible since Dumbledore and his Order don't know that I am living here.
Sincerely,
Hadrian James Potter
Lord Black
Lord Slytherin
He called for Dobby and gave the letter to him so Dobby could deliver it to Bloodaxe. Dobby popped away and popped back in again a few minutes later. He had a letter in his hand that he floated over to Harry. Harry thanked his friend and opened the letter to read,
Lord Black,
There will be a small team available for tomorrow on 15:00 in the afternoon. They will be waiting to be picked up by your Elf in the meeting room we first met in.
Do make sure the items are easily approachable for our curse breakers.
Sincerely,
Account manager Bloodaxe
Harry was relieved that there was a team able to come help him with the cursed objects tomorrow. While the wards weren't truly annoying, they did keep warning him whenever he got close to the cursed items. Which was a bit irritating when one of those items was hanging in the hallway. He went to the kitchen to tell Kreacher the good news. Kreacher was happy to hear that tomorrow could be the day that his Master Regulus last order would finally be fulfilled.
Harry decided it would be better not to tell theElf that he had also asked the goblins to look at Walburga's portrait.
After thinking about that one of the cursed items, Harry was reminded of a promise he had made. Now that Harry was the Lord Black he could also fulfill another wish. He went downstairs to the basement so that he could bring Alphard's portrait upstairs. He decided that Alphard could hang with the other members of House Black in the hallway. Otherwise he would have no one to talk to if Harry was away. Alphard's portait could be kept awake now he was surrounded by other awake portraits.
Portraits liked going from one to the other, but for them to be able to do that they had to be close to each other.
He put him in a nice and empty spot next to a few other portraits. He hoped Alphard would like the surprise when Harry woke him up. He put his finger on the 'wake' Rune next to the portrait and watched as Alphard quickly woke up and looked around himself.
Alphard looked happy as he said, "Hadrian, thank you for moving my portrait upstairs from the basement and congratulations on becoming our new Lord Black!"
The paintings that pretended to be asleep 'suddenly' woke up and started muttering to each other.
With a very Black looking smirk Harry stated, "Thank you, uncle Alphard. The meeting with the goblins went well but there were a few surprises waiting for me. But first I read something in the book Sirius left me that I have to do first."
Harry had read that even portraits could spill his secrets if he didn't command them to keep their mouths shut. Most of the born Black portraits didn't have another portrait outside the family properties but there were also quite a few people whom had married into the family in the portraits hanging in this house. Not that the people who were still members of the Black family were trustworthy. Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy came to mind.
He should probably do something about that too now that he could do so.
Harry turned so that he could see all the portraits hanging there and said commandingly, "As the new Lord Black I order all portraits connected to the House of Black, in and outside this manor to obey me, keep my secrets and never betray anything they see or hear in this or any other house belonging to the Lord of House Black to anyone living or not without my permission."
Some of the paintings looked a bit put out by that order but they all nodded their agreement.
Alphard laughed and said, "Good job, my Lord. Now we are all bound to keep your secrets. That will hopefully stop some of them being up to no good. Now you said something about a surprise at Gringotts?"
Harry looked at Alphard and said, "I did the inheritance test as you and Sirius adviced me to and I found out that my mother was not quite the muggleborn we all thought she was. Her great-grandfather had the name of Gaunt before he married his wife and took on her name."
Harry paused for a moment to let his words to sink in. "Since he was born as the older brother of the man who later become the Head of that family. And since I had the bloodline I was able to claim the Lordship. I am now both Lord Black and Lord Slytherin."
It was quiet for a moment before the portraits exploded with noice. Alphard Black looked at him for a moment before he started laughing so hard that he felt out of his comfortable looking chair. He rolled over the floor for a few moments before he sat up, took a deep breath to calm himself and said, "Merlin, Hadrian! You don't come with small surprises!"
Harry smirked back at him and said, "Well, I wouldn't want you to bored now would I?"
"No, indeed you do not. Bored Blacks are never a good thing." Alphard said, looking comically afraid as he shivered. "Now, do you know what this means? It means that you have more than one vote for the Wizengamot! Three even! We need to get you up to speed so that you can takes your seats for when you are done with Hogwarts."
"You do remember I have a Dark Lord after my life that I need to take care of first, right?" Harry asked dryly.
"And you do remember that you have allies now, right? You have the Black family as yours to command and you said in our last meeting that you were thinking about asking Amelia Bones and Augusta Longbottom for help, remember?" Alphard sounded very serious now.
He continued with, "You now have the recources that you never had before, Hadrian. Take advantage of them and the Dark Lord will have a very big problem when he comes after you." Alphard looked very serious indeed when saying that and Harry suddenly felt some hope that he could actually survive this war.
He decided he would start writing the letters for Amelia Bones and Augusta Longbottom first thing tomorrow morning. He would ask Dobby if he could deliver the letters. That seemed the safest way for sending mail right now. Oh and he still had to answer Hermione to confirm their meeting on the 24th of August. He still was a bit put out that she would be going on such a long vacation but he was also glad that she got some quality time with her parents.
Still, he missed her. That their vacation would also get Othello out of his house for a while and away from Hedwig was barely worth mentioning.
Harry thanked Alphard for his advice and left to grab his Runes and Culture books so that he could read some more for when he lay in bed. It was a tiresome day but he got a lot done and he finally had something of his parents that was actually adressed to him! He could remember his mothers scent again.
It had been a good day even if he had a few shocks. Tomorrow he would make some of the first steps to making allies. Tonight he would continue reading in his culture book for some tips on how to do that correctly. He couldn't mess this up.
Harry knew that Augusta Longbottom was very much a traditional lady so he had to be perfectly polite to both her and Amelia Bones. He could do this.
Soon the Houses of Potter, Longbottom and Bones would hopefully stand united once again.