Better Potter

Eerie Education

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What name did appear on the parchment wasn't what he wanted ...

'Oliver Pepperton'

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There it was. Harry couldn't tear his one uncovered eye away from the name scrawled out on the parchment. The name that should have been his own.

RazorBlood frowned as he saw the confusion in the teen's face, "Your confusion is perfectly understandable." He started to explain, but the teen clearly wasn't listening.

"Why ... how is that... I can't be him." Harry murmured softly to himself. His body unconsciously crawled backwards as if to get away from the parchment, but his eye never left the scrawled name. "It can't be."

Bill saw that the teen was about to back right into the bedframe. He immediately stepped in the way and suppressed a wince when the teen inevitably collided with his legs. Once the teen jolted to a halt he came out of his panic stricken daze. However, that's when his eyes broke away from the name and he saw the article still on the floor.

Tears came to Harry's unwanted brown eyes, "It's all gone ... I have no family ... I can't go to school ... all gone." He sobbed as he stared at the picture of the person who stole his green eyes.

"That's not entirely true." RazorBlood remarked softly. "Sadly there's no way to bring your family back, but you still have us at Gringotts. We can assist you in many ways including getting you a place to live, a job and a ghost tutor. To start, why don't you pick a new name." The goblin said calmly and the young patient seemed to calm down at the news.

At the same time it was a little bittersweet. When the teen was first expelled at 14 RazorBlood tried to get him to use Gringotts for continuing his education. Sadly, but not surprisingly, the teen didn't seem to remember it at all. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if he, or the assigned tutor, will have to explain why the young wizard will have a locked mind from now on. Cursed fire was part of Durmstrang's curriculum so it will depend on how much he remembered from the few years of school he had. Of course, the goblin knew now was not the time to bring this up. It can wait until the young wizard is ready to understand his injuries.

Bill saw that the teen was lost in thought and took this chance to carefully move out from behind the teen so he could crouch next to the teen. Right after the healer also kneeled down on the floor and subtly looked for any new wounds on the teen that may have reopened while also quietly scanning Bill to see if the earlier collision hurt him. Thankfully, Bill was only slightly bruised from where his legs hit the bed frame.

As for Harry, his mind was reeling. He didn't want a new name! He wanted his old name back. Unfortunately, he had no clue how to prove anything. All he could do is accept the help that these people were offering. After all, he did want to learn and he really didn't want to be called Oliver. Maybe he can find a way to fix this at some point too.

"Ghosts ... teach?" Harry asked in a daze.

Bill smiled softly, "Ghosts do a lot of things for Gringotts. Any money they earn for the job goes to a person or charity of their choice." He tried to not mention that the money usually goes to a living relative. It may be too soon to say something like that in front of the teen. "They make great teachers that can work completely to your schedule." Bill explained cheerfully giving the healer a chance to take the oddly offensive article out of the teen's line of sight.

RazorBlood felt a bit relieved when the teen calmed down even if it was only a little, "This can be discussed after you've rec-"

"No!" Harry exclaimed suddenly. The thought that the fake Harry was already in the public eye and probably did something to his relatives. Yes, his aunt and uncle hate him, but he was terrified that they were going through something like he did. "Please ... I have to learn ... I have to do something." He murmured helplessly.