It was nice meeting Mr. Tonks the next morning. He seemed to complement his wife and he definitely liked the nude beach just like Harry. They even had a friendly swimming competition, ending in a tie, although Harry suspected that the older man went easy on him.
Soon enough they were back at the bank. It was just a short visit this time, as reading the Potter will didn't take too long, and doing the ancestry test only took a few minutes. The bank kept the original tests, but they could take certified copies with them. Andromeda asked for a certified copy of the will as well, to help her with Lord Black's case.
"When you go back to London, you should check your vaults. I'd suggest you consider merging most of them, as it just costs you some additional fees to keep so many vaults, and your main vault is more than good enough to keep the contents of the rest, unless you have some additional concerns," the goblin told Harry.
"Isn't your advice going against Gringotts' interests?" Harry wondered.
The goblin smiled with closed lips. "Not really. Each branch is autonomous, so this is not against the interests of my branch. Besides, giving our clients good advice is also in the interest of Gringotts. I assume your account manager would have given you the same advice, had you not been in such a hurry at the time. After all, our clients' trust is our main asset, I believe."
Harry thanked him, and Andromeda urged them to return to the villa, as she considered the new information very important.
"Well, Lady Potter, you seem to have a very distinguished ancestry, and quite a surprising one," she said after scanning Hermione's results. "It looks like Rowena Ravenclaw had another child, a squib, who was forgotten by the magical community, but did quite well in the muggle one. You may certainly claim your prestigious seat in the Wizengamot and none of the bigots can prevent you from taking it and using the influence that comes with it. There may also be some money waiting for you in the vault, although it probably stayed unused for about a millennium."
She then turned to Harry. "It looks like your mother also had some unexpected ancestry. She can be traced back to Slytherin's daughter. That line squibbed out a few generations later, yet stayed alive, while other branches of the Slytherin line died out. As her only child, you're entitled to be Lord Slytherin, regardless of your conquest over the Gaunt scion."
She checked the parchment some more. "It looks like the Potter line has also absorbed some minor lines. They don't give you much prestige, nor much money, I assume. You'll have to check it when you're back."
She stopped for a moment before changing the subject. "Now, I believe you want to put a stop to the propaganda against you. Based on what we currently know, I can contact both Longbottom and Bones to support you at the shareholders' meeting. That is not enough, though. Can you contact Lord Black? With his support, we can get the majority, as neither family is susceptible to Malfoy's threats."
"I'll ask Sirius to nominate you as his solicitor, or have his solicitor contact you, if he has one," Harry agreed.
"Well, once we have his agreement, we can take over in a matter of days. With the media at our side, we shall move to give Sirius his trial. You should take your Wizengamot seats just before the trial to ensure the results. I'll send you some books, so you know what's expected and act wisely."
Harry felt a bit overwhelmed by the speed things were changing, yet he welcomed the changes. Andy had him sign a few documents before she left, promising to update him as soon as she had any new information.
–..–
Things seemed to calm down after that. Harry got three books by owl the next day, which Hermione was eager to study along with him, making it a very pleasant experience, although the books were quite boring, as Harry found out. Learning Etiquette, as important as it was, didn't grab his interest, nor did the other books that dealt with history and law. Just reading these books made him sure that he wouldn't try to make a career as a lawyer.
A few days later, he was informed of having gained control of the wizarding media. Andy made sure that The Prophet published several apologies for being misled by the Ministry in badmouthing Lord Potter, all on the front page in large letters. Similar texts were transmitted over the WWN during peak hours.
–..–
Just as Harry had thought, the news about him not staying with his relatives reached Dumbledore within a few hours. He'd not been seen leaving the train and his relatives left the train station without him, seeming quite content. Dumbledore feared that Harry fell victim to some Death Eater attack, but then he got word about Harry's trunk spilling on the floor and his intention to return home by himself. Well, he would need to give the boy some credit, he thought.
Dumbledore turned even more worried the next morning, when Harry had evidently not reached the Dursley home, yet there was a report of him seen at Diagon Alley. What could have made the boy act so weirdly? Hadn't it been made clear enough to him that he could only be safe with his relatives? Dumbledore refused to panic, and yet, Harry was not seen or heard from since leaving the Hogwarts Express.
His worries were only slightly diminished when Sirius informed him that Harry was somewhere safe, enjoying his life. Sirius was even willing to show him Harry's letter. It was Harry's handwriting, alright, and he could even discern his magical signature, yet there was no indication where this letter had come from, being sent through Gringotts.
Throughout July, it was becoming evident that Harry was nowhere in Britain. Dumbledore would have liked to search on the continent as well, yet most of his contacts were on vacation and could not be bothered with looking for a boy who took his own vacation. It was also evident that Harry didn't want to be found. Although staying in touch with Ron and with Sirius, all his mail seemed to be handled by Gringotts, keeping his whereabouts secret. Dumbledore wondered where he got that cunning from. Wasn't Harry supposed to be a model Gryffindor? Just like others, Dumbledore fell into the trap of thinking in stereotypes, forgetting that each person had more than one defining trait.
–..–
"Why do I need to bother with this whole nonsense?" Harry asked, waving at the etiquette books, ancestry books and Wizengamot history.
Hermione shook her head disapprovingly but smiled reassuringly as well. "You shall soon need to make your position public, to act as a Lord of four houses. You cannot afford to act like an ignorant teen, as it would jeopardize your position and be detrimental to achieving your goals. The more you learn now, even if some of it you find anachronistic and requiring change, the easier it would become later."
Harry smiled. "All I really need to succeed is a really smart wife, and I already have you. I could never get anyone better than you."
Hermione blushed at his compliment. As they were both nude, Harry could see the red tinge going down to her breasts. She looked so enticing that way! He just had to kiss her.
It was no surprise that the kiss turned into much more. Luckily, the door was closed and Hermione was already casting the contraceptive charm twice a day, just to be on the safe side.
–..–
Despite having to study all those boring books (although he understood how important it was for him to know them well) Harry still considered this a wonderful vacation, as did Hermione. While she had some previous experience to compare to, Harry had none, but even comparing his current time with the first week of vacation, before Hermione joined him, made him smile contentedly. "I think that just having you near me makes me happy," he told her.
"And having you near me makes me happy," she replied. "Then you make me even happier in bed, every time we unite. I only must make sure to never forget the contraceptive charm, since with your magic, I fear you may impregnate me even if I forget it only once."
"But I'm not that powerful!" he protested. "You usually manage to cast each spell way before I can do it."
"That's only because I pay more attention to the instructions, but your casting is always more powerful."
"Is there a way to know how powerful one is?"
Hermione stopped to consider his question. "I'm sure there is, but nobody taught us at school. I suspect they don't want us to become aware of the fact that many pureblood children are much less powerful than the muggle-born or half-blood ones."
"Maybe Claude knows such a spell?"
When asked, Claude indeed knew several spells. "The standard spell is used to measure the magical power, what some call magical core, for most children and young adults. It gives very precise measurement, although I don't think that's very important. You see, magical ability is more than mere power. It's also the way one uses it. For example, one may have a large water reservoir and another a much smaller one. Now, if they connect similar hoses to their reservoirs, they get roughly the same water flow out of those hoses, only the larger one would still give water by the time the smaller one gets empty. If one hose is wider, the flow through it would be larger, even if the reservoir is smaller."
Both Potters smiled understandingly.
"The spells can only measure the size of your magic, the 'reservoir' in my analogy. The way you concentrate, the way you force your will on your magic and, to a lesser degree, the way your wand is attuned to you, affect the power of the magic in use, but there's no way to measure that. Still, knowing your own potential, as I see it, is quite important and not letting you know about it is neither wise nor beneficial for anybody."
Claude then wrote down several spells, adding a wand movement diagram at each and a short explanation. "I found each in a different book, although the regular one is taught in most magical schools during the second year. Now, all these spells use a common scale, usually divided to one hundred. It's a logarithmic scale, although not precisely, since they don't use muggle science to calibrate it. What it means in practice is that a difference of ten indicates a ten times increase in magical power. A difference of three means roughly double the power."
He waited for the teens to nod in understanding. "Do you want me to check your powers or would you prefer to do that in private?"
Hermione had something else nagging in her mind. "Before we decide, can you explain why there are different spells?"
Claude smiled. He'd already noticed how driven Hermione was to learn and understand everything. "The normal spell is only reliable at low to medium levels — roughly up to fifty. That's more than good enough for all children and most adults. The other spells are designed for measuring higher power, but not as precisely. One measures up to seventy and another up to ninety. Another one is supposed to measure up to one hundred, but since nobody ever reached that level, although some think Merlin did, there's no way to know how good it is at that end."
Hermione gave it a thought. "Maybe we should check this in private. I have a feeling that Harry is much more powerful than he believes."
Claude smiled. "Are you sure you only want to measure his magical power?" he asked teasingly.
Hermione shrugged. "We only do what comes naturally."
Claude laughed and waved them away.
Back in their room, Hermione made Harry study the spells with her and then asked him to check her powers.
The first spell didn't seem to work. While it was supposed to give a number between zero and fifty, the foggy forms above Hermione's head didn't seem to make up their minds. The second spell gave a reading, although not a numeric one. It produced six foggy balls, five green ones and one that looked transparent and only half full of green. "That should be about fifty-five, I believe," Harry said, feeling quite confused. "You are really powerful, as I always knew, but I'm not sure I understand what this means."
"Try the other one too," Hermione requested.
Harry tried. This one formed a row of six bright blue circles at Hermione's feet, the last one cut in half. "I think the two measurements agree."
Hermione smiled, her confidence getting a boost from the measurement. "Let me now check your power," she said.
The regular spell didn't give a result on Harry, as expected. The next one produced seven balls, the last only slightly filled. "I think that should count as sixty-one, or maybe sixty-two. That means you're four times as powerful as I am."
She then tried the last spell. It produced six cylinders and a small part of the seventh. The colour, though, was a kind of muddy blue, unlike Hermione's.
"The measurements agree, but I'm not sure about the colour. Should we ask Claude?"
Harry shook his head. "No. I don't want to stress the trust we have by making him know he's much weaker than me. I don't really feel that powerful, you know."
She smiled. "Of course, dear. We can check this some other time, maybe after we help Sirius get free."