Here We Go

Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Here We Go Again

I had the urge to dabble in the Harryverse again. This will be a AU time travel version.
A

nyone who likes the Dursleys, Dumbledore, Molly, Ron, Ginny, Percy, Snape, Filch, the Malfoys, Death Eaters, the Abbots or the Macmillans won't like this because they are not portrayed favourably. There will be a plural marriage in the story, please note that this is not a 'harem', it is a plural marriage in accordance with the medieval laws (Brehon law and the like). Another thing which should be remembered is that Harry and Hermione are mentally eighteen and nineteen at the beginning and have been through all the horrors of the war and other abuse so no, they don't think or act like innocent eleven year olds.
If people have issues with any of this, as I said you won't like this story so please do yourself and others a favour and just pass it by. Going through it purely so that you can pick out specific points to complain about out of context is just aggravating for everyone else.
The first paragraph's a little gory but I often thought that that would be a fitting end for them so I decided to get it out of the way before I got into the story.
Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale. There will provably be changes in the first hour or so as I find things that didn't come out the way I wanted.
As everything faded to black as Uncle Vernon had his ruddy great meat hooks wrapped around his throat and was squeezing the life out of him, all Harry could think about was that none of it hurt any more and he was going to the nice lady and man, the ones who made him feel good. He was unconscious by the time two other beings popped into existence in the room and they were so enraged by the sight of that big fat oath hurting their Master Harry that the simultaneous blasts that hit him painted the entire room red with all of him but the hands that were still latched onto Master Harry's throat, and the two other humans who had been standing there watching eagerly with stupid, vicious smiles on their faces were caught in the blast and spread across the walls as well.
When the two beings popped into existence in St Mungo's with an almost dead wizard child who had a fat man's hands locked onto his throat, the healers didn't worry about the details, they just jumped to it, desperate to save this child. They removed those hands and brought him back from very the brink of death, aghast at the number of broken bones and other damage he had, and even more so by the extent of older damage to his frail little body, bones, organs, there was hardly and inch of him that wasn't damaged. The healers were furious when they discovered that the reason that the boy's body couldn't heal itself was because his magic and intellect had been so severely bound that it was a marvel that he could operate at all, but something about the malevolent presence they felt in that festering scar on his forehead stopped them from trying to remove all those layers of bindings while it was there.
The healers instinctively knew that that presence was beyond the ken of wizard kind, but one of them was from a family who kept to the old ways, so she convinced the female of the two beings who were refusing to leave his side (she wasn't quite sure what they were, as they weren't human or like any goblins or elves she recognised but it was obvious that the smaller one was female) that they needed goblin assistance if the boy was to survive. The goblin healer that she brought back with her was enraged that anyone could do this to a child, because children came hard to the goblins so they were very precious to them. The goblin healer's grim satisfaction when they showed him the hands was a little disturbing to the other healers, but they could understand to a degree as they'd been glad to see that the bastard who did this to him had gotten his just desserts too.
They quickly pointed out that the child was obviously a wizard, because he had his Hogwarts letter clutched tightly in his hand but they'd given up trying to get it off him for fear of hurting him further. The fact that he had so much damage to his little body that it was a wonder that he was alive, that his intellect and core had been bound to criminal levels and that malevolent presence hardly needed to be pointed out, but they did, and the goblin healer nodded grimly. "Yes, you were wise not to release the bindings with that abomination there, as it would most probably have taken him over if you had. I cannot do anything about that here, will you allow me to take him with me, to try to heal him?"
The human healers looked at each other and nodded, and the one who'd sent for the goblins answered him. "Yes, we cannot help him with that, I'm not even sure that we have anyone here who is capable of getting rid of all those bindings on him, that was why I sent for you."
The goblin healer nodded as he sent a call for assistance to move the boy. "If you give me your names, I will ensure that you are told how the child fares if you wish?….."
The woman nodded. "Yes please! I am Healer Florence Nightingale…." She smiled quickly at the look he gave her "Yes, I was named after my famous squib great, great, great, great, great, great aunt…. and this is Healer Mark Johnson. Please save him Healer, between that thing and those hideous bindings on his magic, there was really nothing we could do for him beyond what we already have."
Other goblins were bustling around, preparing the boy to be moved but the goblin healer shook his head. "No, it is the two of you who have saved the child with what you have done Healer Nightingale, but with the gods' help we will rid him of the rest of this." With that, he bowed and vanished. The two beings thanked them for saving Master Harry and then vanished as well.
Only when they were all gone did the healers note that the hands had disappeared as well. Mark held Florence as she cried over the fact that anyone could do that to a child, and when she was done they wrote up their findings on the abuse and damage to the child, noting that his magic had been repeatedly bound to such an extent that his body wasn't able to heal itself so they couldn't save him and that he was gone. Making it appear that they were using 'gone' as a euphemism for 'dead' was as far as they were willing to go to cover up the truth of what happened to him…. they'd almost certainly be thrown out of St Mungo's and barred as healers (and probably stripped of their magic) if anyone ever found out that they'd handed a wizard child over to the goblins, but they couldn't bring themselves to outright lie about it.
The next week was not at all pleasant for Harry Potter, having that thing ripped out of his head hurt more than anything Uncle Vernon had ever done to him, and it felt as though every bone in his body was being broken over and over again and he was being pulled and stretched in every direction all the time. Most those strange creatures around him were scary as well, and he was sure that they were responsible for all the pain he was experiencing, though those two who were at the hospital were different from the others, they were much taller (she was nearly five feet tall and he was about five or six inches taller), more slender with more attractive, human features, and they called him 'Master Harry' with feeling.
After removing the presence in the scar on his forehead and the criminal bindings on his intellect and magic, the goblin healers kept Harry asleep for most of the following week, waking him only to feed him the potions and the like that he needed to help his body regrow the way it was meant to be, because he was over six inches shorter than average and grossly underweight, not to mention all the damage done to him that his magic was bound too tightly to heal. By the time he'd finished growing, he was at least a foot taller and had filled out quite a bit.
The goblin who came to see him then was nothing like the beings that Harry had seen the other times he woke, this one was about five and a half feet tall, so he towered over all the hobgoblins, he had a thick mane of hair and his hands, ears and face were rather more human than their's, though when he opened his mouth he still had the same sharp pointed teeth. He studied Harry for a while and then nodded approvingly.
"You take after your mother Duke Potter, by human standards she was regarded as quite attractive, but more important to the people, you show every sign of having gotten her fine intelligence as well, and your father's better qualities to boot…. your parents have done well by you."
Harry was confused. "Excuse me sir, not to be rude, but what are you?"
The goblin threw his head back and laughed heartily. "So you have gotten your father's lack of tact as well! Thank you Duke Potter, I have not laughed like that since your parents were killed. As to what I am... I am what is called a Thane, essentially a goblin noble, we were left by the aes sídhe to rule and husband the goblin people who remained in the human realm when the rest of our people retreated from it. Who I am is Gringott the Eighth, Head Goblin of Gringotts Wizarding Bank and Grand Chief of the Clans of the Goblin Nation of Britain…. I have also retained the role of Account Manager for the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter due to the special relationship your family has had with the Goblin Nation for well over two thousand years now."
Harry just looked more confused now, which made Gringott shake his head. "I am sorry Harry, I realise that all this must be rather overwhelming. Do you remember how you came to be here?"
He kicked himself when the boy's face clouded. "Yes, Uncle Vernon was punishing me again and I thought that I was finally going to the nice lady and man who I remembered holding me, but when I woke up I was hurting again, there was a nice lady and man there but it wasn't them…." He pointed to the two beings who were always there when he woke. "They were there too, and I could tell that they were worried about me. Then I woke up again here, it was terribly painful when something was being ripped out of my head, and I spent ages hurting and aching. They were there whenever I woke up and they kept calling me Master Harry, but I don't know why."
Gringott nodded. "I believe that it's time you were properly introduced to them..." he waved the elves over and when they arrived, he placed his hand on the smaller one's shoulder. "Duke Henry James Potter, I would like you to meet two of your most loyal retainers. This is Efa, she was meant to be your nanny. And this…" he reached out to clasp the other's shoulder. "Is Emyr, he was to share the duties of looking after you with Efa, but your parents were apparently put under some compulsion to move out of the Potters' ancestral home and they left them behind. Efa and Emyr are Reeves, the elves' equivalents of the Thanes, but they are only found at Potter Manor now because one of the founders of Hogwarts created something terrible when he descended into madness just before he died. He had become totally paranoid and believed that those families who had aes sídhe blood because they'd been part of the original Druid Council, the Thanes and the Reeves were going to turn the hobgoblins and common elves against him and the other human druids, so he created a curse to corrupt the loyalty to the higher elves and goblins that was part of the common elves and hobgoblins' make-up and twist it into an unfailing obedience to and dependence on the druids. The worst thing about this abomination was that it was somehow passed on to other elves, including their children when they were born... we were just thanking the gods that the hobgoblins, or goblins as the wizards know them as now, were too wilful and independent for the compulsion to work on them, otherwise they would have all become slaves of the druids. Some of the common elves are able to break these bonds but for the most part it harms or even kills them if the druids' bonds are broken, so as this affliction spread across Britain and beyond and ever increasing numbers of the common elves bonded to the druids, the Reeves retreated to Potter Manor to serve the last true Druid Lords because they could no longer carry out the duties they had been left here for... The important thing to remember here Duke Potter is that elves are very protective of their charges, so your parents being forced to take you away from them like that has been very hard on Efa and Emyr..."
Harry cut him off there. "I'm sorry Sir, but why do you keep calling me 'Duke'? I'm no Duke, I'm just…. Harry."
Gringott looked angry then, though he realised that he should have expected this from the state he was in when Healer Nightingale called them. "Were you never told who your parents were…. Harry?"
"Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon said that my father was a bum, though Uncle Vernon said once that he must have been high on the drugs he sold when he crashed the car and killed them, and Aunt Petunia said that my mother was her sister, but she'd left me with her without any money to pay for everything I cost them, even though she was paid quite enough for spending time with men, that was why I had to work to earn my keep…."
He broke off then because Gringott was obviously enraged at what he was hearing, but he controlled himself and turned to Emyr, clasping his shoulder in a warrior's accolade with a rather frightening expression of satisfaction and respect. Gringott turned back and explained. "Your Aunt, Uncle and cousin are all dead Harry. Emyr and Efa were called to you when your Uncle was killing you and they…. well they exploded him, all that was left of him were the hands that Healers Nightingale and Johnson had to prise off of your throat, the rest of him was vaporised and sprayed around the room. Your Aunt and cousin were also caught in the blast and spread across the walls. Emyr and Efa said that they didn't kill them intentionally, but I wouldn't have blamed them if they had because the joy they were showing at what your Uncle was doing to you was truly disgusting. When you got here with your Hogwarts letter clutched in your hand, I sent some of my warriors to the house to see what happened, so we know that they're all dead. My people collected whatever was in that box under the stairs they made you live in, and anything else in the house that related to you or your parents and then destroyed the house. I particularly enjoyed seeing the images of that old bastard's face when he realised that he'd lost you and whatever he wanted to use you for…."
He stopped and looked Harry in the face. "With the exception of the fact that Petunia Dursley was somehow your mother's sister, everything they told you about your parents was a lie! The Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter was one of the original ruling families of Magical Britain…."
Harry cut him off. "But magic isn't real sir..."
Gringott shook his head. "No Harry, that was another lie. Magic is very real, and from knowing your parents and what we've seen in the past week, you are a very powerful wizard, incredibly powerful!….. While we're at it, goblins don't use titles like sir Harry, and after being your family's account manager and working closely with your family for over a hundred years, I feel that you are family to me, so please call me Gringott." He gave a scary goblin smile "Or Uncle Gringott if you prefer."
"So magic is very real, and very much a part of you Harry. You are descended from the lines of two of the original three Druid Lords, the Potters and the Peverells. Your forefathers' original titles were Earl, because they were granted hundreds of years before they first used the titles of Marquis or Duke in Britain. In the fourteenth century however, the original three Druid Lords had their titles transmuted to Duke to bring them in line with the titles of other nobles of equivalent power and stature, and thereafter your houses were known as Most Noble, rather than Noble, because Duke is the highest possible rank in Magical Britain. The third original Druid Lord family was the Blacks, though most of their family has forgotten their heritage in the last four or five hundred years…. So that is why I call you Duke Harry, it will not be official until you formally accept your titles, but you are Duke Potter, and Duke Peverell too for that matter….."
He stopped and looked at Harry for about a minute. "Do you trust me Harry?"
"Yes S… Yes Uncle Gringott."
He flashed a goblin smile again. "Good, because I believe that it would be of great benefit to you to accept your titles, because when you do you will receive the family magic for each House, and the knowledge that comes with it. For some reason that old bastard has gone to a great deal of effort to try and ensure that you are kept broken, weak and ignorant, so you would be much safer if you were strong, powerful and knowledgeable when you have to face him. This will be very disorienting, and it will probably bring more changes to you, but I do not believe that they will be anything like the painful regrowing of your body that you've been going through for the past week…. What's wrong Harry?"
Harry shook his head, still looking confused. "I don't know Uncle Gringott, but I keep seeing a girl, Mione, and I remember dying with her while a red headed woman and a red headed boy and girl are standing over us, mocking us and laughing about what fools an Arthur and his sons had been…. but it doesn't make any sense…. But what do you mean about regrowing my body?"
"I don't need to tell you how many times you had broken arms and legs and other ailments from being beaten…." Harry shook his head grimly "Well I think you know you almost died this time. The human healers that Emyr and Efa took you to managed to save your life, but you had an abomination in you and your magic had been repeatedly bound so severely that your body couldn't heal itself when it was damaged that way, you had also been kept in a state of severe malnutrition so you were much smaller than you were supposed to be and could hardly see, so after we removed the abomination and the bindings on your intellect and magic, our healers fed you potions and whatever else your body needed to regrow itself for a week, that process has just finished. You will see quite a difference when you look at yourself in a mirror..."
Harry started looking around for a mirror but Gringott stopped him. "You will see yourself, I promise Harry, but accepting your titles and family magic will also change you, so if you're prepared to accept them?" Harry nodded, and so did Gringott "I think you're better off accepting them first, and then see what you look like now, do you agree?" Harry nodded again and after Gringott concentrated, six rings appeared in his hand. "Your father went through the rituals to formally accept you as his heir for all of the Houses that you inherited through him at your birth, so you have been destined for this from birth."
Gringott picked up the first ring and handed it to Harry. "This is the ring of the Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, when it accepts you, it will shrink to fit your finger, put it onto your left ring finger…" he tapped the appropriate finger when Harry looked confused.
As soon as he slid the ring onto his finger, Harry was rocked back by the surge of energy that went through him and it was as if he were speed reading through an entire library….. When he shook his head and looked at Gringott, Gringott could see that he had assimilated the family magic and knowledge and gave a goblin smile. "Good, now this is the ring of the Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Peverell, put this one onto your right ring finger."
The impact was less this time, but his power and knowledge grew again, and he grew a little more as well, Gringott nodded. "This is the ring of the Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Gryffindor, put this one onto your right ring finger as well."
The Gryffindor ring had almost as much effect as the Peverell ring, and Gringott's smile was feral as he handed the next ring to him. "As well as being the Head of two of the original Druid Lords' family's, you are also the Heir to the third one, the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, put this one onto your left ring finger. I doubt you will get as much from this one as Sirius has not formally accepted his title as Duke Black as yet, but he formally accepted you as his heir when he was heir to the title and you have Black blood, so you should get something."
As Gringott said, he got less from the Black ring than he had the others, but his head still felt as though it was bursting from what was in it, but Gringott wasn't finished yet, handing him another ring "This is the ring of the Head of the Most Ancient Druid House of Le Fay, it goes on your left ring finger too."
Before he had a chance to ask anything, Gringott handed him the last ring. "And this is the ring of the Head of the Most Ancient Druid House of Emrys, it goes on your right ring finger."
Harry was shaking his head, as if trying to shake everything swirling about in there into whatever crevasse or hole that could hold it. Gringott nodded. "Yes Harry, you are descended from two of the three original Druid Lords, Godric Gryffindor, Merlin and Morgana, and you are also the full heir to the house of the last original Druid Lord because with your parents' permission your Godfather, Sirius Black, went through the formal blood adoption process when you were a babe when he made you his official heir. I don't believe that the old bastard actually knows about any of that other than the House of Potter."
"I'm sorry Uncle Gringott, but who is this 'old bastard' that you keep referring to?"
"Oh I am sorry Harry, I've only referred to him as the old bastard for so long that I forget that others refer to him as anything else…. The old bastard is Albus Dumbledore, Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Headmaster at Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot of Magical Britain, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, the self styled Leader of the Light and the man who orchestrated your parents' murders and you being hidden away with those bastards who Emyr and Efa just did the world a favour by eliminating. I must apologise, if I'd worked out that he'd sent you to them I promise that I would have had you recovered before they had a chance to harm you this way, but I didn't realise that he even knew about them. I should have realised when he had your parents' wills sealed and had himself made your magical guardian, because Lily, your mother, was adamant that you were never to go anywhere near them, but I thought that he was just trying stop the ones who were supposed to be your guardians from finding out….. So, do you want to see what you look like now?"
Harry nodded eagerly and hopped off the bed, but he would have collapsed if Gringott hadn't caught him. "Careful Harry, you haven't used these legs yet."
When he was drawn up to his full height, Harry was confused, because he was looking Uncle Gringott in the eye, but Uncle Gringott should have been at least a foot taller than him. Gringott chuckled. "I told you that you've gone through a lot of changes."
By the time he'd walked Harry over to the full length mirror, Harry was able to stand on his own two feet, so Gringott let him go and stepped back, smiling as Harry looked at his reflection and shook his head, because he hardly recognised himself in the figure he saw. He was well over a foot taller than he'd been the last time he saw himself, and had filled out quite a bit as well so that he looked at least four or five years older. He also hadn't realised until he saw himself that he was seeing fine without glasses now, seeing much better than he had before with glasses before in fact, and his eyes were a vivid emerald now. His hair fell down around his shoulders in silky waves and the black was shot through with dark copper highlights. When he went to look closer at that, Gringott said. "Yes, those and your green eyes came from Lily, your mother."
Harry jumped when he realised that Gringott had spoken in Goblin and he understood him. Gringott grinned when he saw that Harry had caught it. "Yes, that was why I wanted you to accept your titles, because the knowledge that came with your family magic will rectify what the old bastard did to try and keep you ignorant of your family heritage and the world that you are being put into, and your family magic will help protect you from him and the others who are out to get you."
It was Harry's turn to give a feral grin, because being beaten, abused and treated like a slave for ten years when all of this was rightfully his brought out a desire for retribution. "I believe that I am ready to see my parents' wills now Uncle Gringott, I know that you have the originals even if the old bastard has tried to seal the ones that went to the Wizarding world."
Gringott nodded approvingly, drawing his dagger and continuing in Goblin. "Harry, in addition to the other measures…. as I said, I regard you as family, so with your permission I would like to also adopt you into my family. This will allow me to give you the protection of the Goblin nation in the dangers that you will face."
Harry looked him in the eye and nodded. "It would be my honour to be considered a part of the Gringott family Uncle Gringott."
Gringott nodded approvingly again, cutting his palm and handing Harry the dagger, Harry cut his palm and joined hands with Gringott, reciting the words that his great grandfather Henry Potter (whom he was named after) spoke when he went through this same ceremony with Gringott's father. He knew that Gringott had been testing him with this because the Potter family had remained under the Goblin Nation's protection since then, but he didn't mind, and could feel that he'd acquired some goblin magic through the blood adoption ritual as well. When the ritual was done, Gringott pointed to a room off to the side.
"There are clothes in there for you, get yourself cleaned up and dressed and then come to my office, your parents requested that the other named parties attend as well, so it will take a little while to get the people who are available together." With that, he clapped Harry on the shoulder and left.
Harry didn't rush, as Gringott had said that it would take time to get the others together and he was enjoying the luxury of being able to take a long, hot shower. Once he was dressed, Efa fussed over his hair, setting it into a neat soldier's queue, and Emyr talked him through the process of making his house rings disappear and appear, either all together or individually, and how to do the same for the house symbols on the robes he wore over the suit that was waiting for him.
When he came out to be escorted to Gringott's office, the two Thane warriors waiting to escort him nodded approvingly at the fact that he was only showing the symbol of the Gringott family on his robes, as they had put them in there and watched as he accepted his titles, so they knew that there were actually seven house symbols there. They gave him a goblin salute and a toothy grin, saying "Hail cousin, I am Ulfr." and "Hail cousin, I am Snorri."
Harry returned the salute. "Hail cousins, I am Harry."
Ulfr, Snorri, Efa and Emyr were the only ones who accompanied Harry into Gringott's office. There were nine women, eight men and a little girl waiting there, so apparently it hadn't taken that long to get everyone together after all. Harry looked a question at Gringott and he nodded, everyone who was coming was there, but Gringott asked Efa if she could look after Luna while they covered things that may not be suitable for her. Efa looked at Harry, and at his nod took Luna by the hand and led her out of the room.
One of the older women took in Lily's eyes and features and the Gringott family symbol on his robes and rounded angrily on Gringott. "What's going on here Gringott? Have you had Harry all this time without telling us?"
Gringott just shook his head at her. "No Minerva, we only discovered Harry a bit over a week ago, looking like this!"
He projected the image of the goblin healer's first sight of Harry at St Mungo's and they all gasped in horror, even the grizzled old human warrior with the scarred face, strange fake eye and peg leg.
Minerva cried out in anguish. "Who did this to him?"
That was answered with. "This human." as he displayed the image that Emyr saw when Harry's imminent death called them to him, a purple faced Vernon wringing the neck of a rag doll like Harry while Petunia and Dudley watched with eager smiles.
The haggard looking man in rough clothes growled and leapt to his feet and the grizzled old warrior swore and started stomping to the door but Gringott stopped them, barking. "Don't bother, they've been dealt with!" with a goblin grin as he showed the image from just after Emyr and Efa blasted them, Efa was holding Harry, with Vernon's hands still clamped around his throat but finishing at the wrists, aloft with her magic and the entire room was painted red with his blood, while Petunia and Dudley were smeared across one wall.
The anger radiating off Emyr made it obvious who'd done that, and the youngest woman rushed to hug him for rescuing Harry.
Gringott cut off the next question from the older woman. "It will all be explained in time Minerva, for now, I believe that young Harry deserves to know who everyone is and he wishes to have his parents' wills read."
She nodded with a look of apology to Harry, and took a seat at the table. Once Harry and the others were seated as well, Gringott began. "You all know Harry, so this is to introduce you to him. Harry, this young lady is Miss Angela Fawley, your Godmother and a Senior Auror, she was your father's partner and your mother's best friend. The gentleman who looks like he's been living on the streets is Mister Remus Lupin, there are other things which must be discussed later but for now, what is important is that Remus was one of your fathers' closest friends, and your mother's too. Then we have Edward and Andromeda Tonks, Andromeda is your Godfather, Sirius Black's first cousin and Edward is your parents' solicitor, they were also close friends of your parents Harry, their daughter Nymphadora has just finished at Hogwarts and started as a trainee Auror. Next we have Earl Cyrus Greengrass, Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Greengrass and his wife Countess Edessa Greengrass, Head of the Most Ancient Druid House of Yowann, Edessa was a good friend of your mother's. Their daughter Daphne will be the next Countess Greengrass and Head of the House of Greengrass and their other daughter Astoria will be the next Head of the House of Yowann. This colourful gentleman is Baron Xenophilias Lovegood, Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Lovegood, Xeno's wife Pandora was the Head of the Most Ancient Druid House of Cathbad and a very good friend of your mother's who worked with her in the Unspeakables Harry, but we tragically lost her earlier this year. The young lady who was here when you arrived is Xeno's daughter Luna, she will be the next Head of the House of Lovegood and she is Head of the House of Cathbad. The next lady is Countess Minerva McGonagall, Head of the Noble and Ancient Houses of Ross and Urquhart and Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…. she was also your parents' House Mistress and favourite professor at Hogwarts….. and beside her are Professor Pomona Sprout, Professor Filius Flitwick and Professor Septima Vector, who were your parents' other favourite professors, and Pomona is also Head of the Ancient Druid Houses of Biróg and Bran. Next comes Madam Poppy Pomfrey, Head of the Ancient Druid House of Priddy and the Healer at Hogwarts, your father spent more time in her infirmary than he did in his own dorm room and both of your parents were very fond of her."
He looked at Harry to see if he was keeping up and Harry nodded with a smile.
"This gentleman is Baron Saul Croaker, Head of the Noble and Ancient House of Croaker and Head Unspeakable in the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries, Saul was your mother and Pandora's mentor and friend in the Unspeakables. The gentleman with a temper is Baron Alastor Moody, Head of the Noble and Ancient House of Moody and retired Senior Auror, he was your father's mentor and friend when he was an Auror. Next comes Madam Amelia Bones, Regent for the Noble and Most Ancient House of Bones and Most Ancient Druid House of Owain and guardian for her niece, Susan Bones, who will be the next Countess Bones and Head of the Houses of Bones and Owain, Amelia was also close to your parents through the Aurors. The dusky gentleman beside Amelia is Mister Kingsley Shacklebolt, a Senior Auror who was a good friend to your parents. Next is the Dowager Countess Augusta Longbottom, Regent for the Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom and Most Ancient Druid House of Llywelyn and guardian for her grandson, Neville Longbottom, who will be the next Earl Longbottom and Head of the Houses of Longbottom and Llywelyn, Augusta's son Frank and daughter-in-law Alice were both Aurors until Alice left to have Neville and they were close to your parents, however they were attacked just after your family was and were cursed almost into oblivion, so they have been in Saint Mungo's since then..….. Now while I'm sure you all have questions, it would be appreciated if you could wait until after the reading of the wills, because I am sure that Harry would like to hear his parents' voices again."
He didn't wait for a response, just waved his hand to remove the cloth draped over the framed picture at the head of the table. It was a magical portrait of Harry's parents and Lily looked around the table anxiously until she saw him at the other end of the table, and when she did she put her hand to her mouth. James put his arm around her and smiled "I'm so glad he took after you Lils."
He was looking around the table too, and once he'd confirmed who was there, started speaking.
"Well, in view of what Gringott has told us about where Harry ended up, we'll get what we actually put into our wills in regard to our choices for the Guardians of Henry James Potter out of the way first. Our first choice was Frank and Alice Longbottom, because their Neville is only a day older than Harry and we all agreed that it would be good for the boys to grow up together if anything happened to either family, Frank and Alice nominated Lily and I as Neville's guardians for the same reason. Our second choice was Harry's Godparents, Angela Susan Fawley and Sirius Orion Black, Lily had doubts about Sirius being a good influence on Harry but we agreed that Angela would keep him in line. Our third choice was Edward and Andromeda Tonks because we trust you, and if you can control your Dora you can control any child." That got a bit of a laugh from those around the table who knew Nymphadora Tonks.
"Fourth was Cyrus and Edessa Greengrass, as they would raise our boy right, and it might have helped correct the gender imbalance in the Greengrass home too. Fifth was Pandora and Xeno Lovegood, I was so sorry to hear about Pandora Xeno, but I expect she's there helping Lily keep me in line now. Sixth was Augusta Longbottom, because if something had happened to both us and Frank and Alice, the boys could still be raised together. Seventh was Remus John Lupin, Lily and I don't care what the bloody Ministry says about your furry little problem Remus, we knew that our boy will be safe with you and you would be a good father to him. After Remus came Poppy Pomfey, Minerva McGonagall, Pomona Sprout and Septima Vector, because you're all career women and we knew how important that was to you. Lily says that she discussed this with you Professor Flitwick, so you know that you were only left off because we all knew that others would try and use your status to take Harry off you…. and Amelia, Alastor and Kingsley, we felt that your jobs as Aurors were just too dangerous, that and the fact that Lily was afraid you might teach Harry Alastor…."
Alastor joined in that laughter at that, but the laughter died off when James went on seriously.
"Lily proved that she was smarter than me yet again when she held out against Dumbledore's pressure to nominate the Weasleys first as Harry's guardians and in fact refused to have them on the list at all…. I wasn't the only one who failed to see what a vile creature Molly Weasley is... was I?..."
He looked relieved when most of the table looked confused and indicated 'no', then he went on.
"Most importantly! as Lily stated quite emphatically and I agreed entirely, under no circumstances was our son to ever go anywhere near her sister Petunia Dursley or Vernon Dursley! Given the fact that Albus Bloody Dumbledore witnessed both our wills, and we were told he sealed the wills and then deliberately dumped our boy with the very people we were afraid of getting their hands on him, there will be a reckoning for Albus Dumbledore when he gets to this side of the veil!"
Lily broke in then. "Ang, with Frank and Alice in Saint Mungo's, you're first on the list, but Sirius is still in Azkaban and Gringott has told us that you're a successful Senior Auror now…. I hate to force you to make a choice like this but I must, would you rather stay on as an Auror or become Harry's guardian at Hogwarts?"
Amelia broke in then. "If it makes the choice easier Angela, you won't have to give up your job, I will keep you on the rolls as a Senior Auror on detached duty. To be honest... I would be happier knowing that you're up there keeping an eye on the children, and especially Susan, because she's the only family I have left. And as soon as we clear Sirius, he can join you up there…." She looked at Alastor. "If you will agree Alastor, I'd like to reinstate you and have you up there on the same basis too?" He just nodded.
Angela threw Amelia a grateful look before turning back to smile at the portrait. "It looks like I'm going back to Hogwarts Lils."
James took it up again. "Thank you Ang, and that brings up something else, while we're the covering information in our wills that Albus Dumbledore is trying to bury, he was quite insistent that we make Peter Pettigrew our secret keeper when he cast the fidelius charm on our cottage, rather than Sirius Black as I wanted. Sirius agreed that his reasoning was valid, but now I hear that he's been in Azkaban for the last ten years because of that! Amelia, you will find sworn testimonies from both Lily and myself in our wills that at no point was Sirius Black the secret keeper for our cottage in Godric's Hollow. It was always Peter Pettigrew! For god sake Amelia, get Sirius out of that hell hole, please! Sirius and Angela also completed the full formal godparent rituals for Harry and Sirius completed a formal blood adoption ritual with him to formally make him his heir as well, so he would have lost his magic if he did anything to willfully harm Harry, he could not have done this! For that matter, Pettigrew is an illegal animagus, a rat, so that's probably how he disappeared after he staged that scene to frame Sirius."
That made Amelia grab the notepad and ballpoint pen in front of her and start scribbling notes.
When she had written down what she was thinking, Harry spoke up, because things had been coming to him as his father's portrait was talking. "That's exactly what he did! Pettigrew became Percy Weasley's pet rat Scabbers, which is missing a toe on one of its front paws by the way, and he's now being passed on to Ron Weasley because his mother bought Percy an owl for being made prefect. And for that matter, Sirius never got a trial or even an investigation! Barty Crouch, Dumbledore and Minister Bagnold just had him thrown straight into Azkaban, you need to be careful though because Fudge was mixed up in this as well, and his reports about what happened were very fishy."
Amelia stared at him. "We'll go back to Sirius' trial later Harry, but are you telling me that Peter Pettigrew has been living as the Weasley boys' pet rat all this time? That we will find him at the Weasleys' house?"
He nodded grimly, but added. "I don't know about all this time but yes, don't forget that the little bastard's slippery though, you'll have to be careful that you don't give him any chance to escape. Of course, if he's already been passed on to Ron, I can tell you exactly where to find him if you visit the Burrow at meal time, because he'll be at the table with the walking stomach."
Amelia smiled grimly as she made another note to check on whether Molly Weasley had bought an owl yet.
James looked proudly at his son before he continued. "As per the normal will business, there is fifty thousand galleons allocated to each of you and others, and Madam Longbottom, you are to take the amounts for Frank and Alice as well, and please talk to Gringott about getting the goblin healers to see what they can do for them. I don't believe that St Mungo's couldn't have done anything for them in ten years if they'd really tried, so it looks to me like someone has been trying to make sure they don't recover. Obviously, Dumbledore and Pettigrew are not to be paid a knut, in fact I want Gringotts to recover every knut that Dumbledore's stolen from Harry, and the Weasleys' payment is dependent on what Harry told Gringott about, though that bloody marriage contract that Molly Weasley signed is enough to cut them off in Lily and my opinion. You are the exception Remus, we know you can't get a decent job because of your furry little problem so you're getting three hundred thousand. I'm ashamed to say that Lily thought of that before me Remus, and don't even think of not taking it! The remainder of the Potter wealth and holdings is bequeathed to our son and heir, Duke Henry James Potter-Peverell. We miss you all, please look after our boy for us."
A/N: The Houses of Magical Britain are explained in the next Chapter, and that there are ways of gaining and losing the family magic and knowledge of the Houses through the various rituals.
The Tuath Dé are the high elves and the Fomoiri are the high goblins, they are related and together they make up the aes sídhe (people of the mounds)