Chapter 14
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29th, 1995 – NINTH TIME COMPRESSION.
Harry and Neville had no clue who the next and last girls might be. Their best guess was Gryffindors, but neither of them believed it. They already had the best ones and the only others even close, in Harry's opinion, were his other two teammates, both of whom were rumored to be dating the Weasley Twins.
Two girls entered the Sunroom dressed in the light blue robes of Beauxbatons. The taller one had dark hair and eyes and almost olive skin. The shorter one was a stunningly beautiful blonde, not that her companion was not beautiful in her own right.
"Okay," Harry said.
"This is unexpected," Neville added.
The tall, dark haired girl was Michelle Marcella. She had been born Maria Tracci in a village in Italy located somewhere between Rome and Naples. Her birth parents were Muggles, she said. Before she was two years old she began expressing accidental magic and apparently her birth parents feared she was possessed by evil spirits. They took her to her parish priest and demanded and exorcism. The priest was not trained in such matters and forwarded the request to Rome.
Some months later, the terrified couple was visited by a man from Rome who they thought was from the Church. In fact, the man was from the Italian Magical Ministry. It was the policy of that government to remove children from homes where they might be at risk as in situations where the parents were Muggles and could not be taught not to fear magic. The man left the village with the little girl and she was soon adopted by the Marcellas, a magical couple who lived up north near the Italian Alps and who had been unable to have children of their own.
Michelle had been told this when she was young, although it did not really matter to her. Her adoptive parents loved her very much. Although she was raised in a magical home and within the magical world, her parents did not completely shun the Muggle World. She had been to the cinema and theaters and enjoyed skiing near her home and trips to the coast in the summer. While her parents were Italian, they had gone to Beauxbatons, which was actually closer to where they lived than the Italian magical school and that was where Michelle was sent. She was now in her Fourth Year.
She said that while she lived in Italy, her family was closest with a family in France. They were not related, but had known each other for a long time and often visited and vacationed together. The other girl, despite being a year behind her in school, was Michelle's best friend and had been for as long as she could remember. She was the reason Michelle agreed to this, for this way they could remain friends and see each other often for the rest of their lives.
"I am Gabrielle Delacour," the other girl said.
"But …," Harry protested, "but you can't be! Only a few months ago you were - what? - eight or nine."
"I am fourteen," she said. "I was thirteen when I was in ze lake. I only looked younger."
"I don't understand."
Like her sister, Garbeille was Veela. It was a common and unfortunate misconception that Veela were some sort of magical being akin to goblins and elves. They were not. They were fully human. Veela was a form of magic that passed from mother to daughter. Unlike other magicals, while Veela's could be "Half Bloods," they never were Muggle Born.
Veela girls were born with a natural affinity for two of the four elements: air and fire. They also expressed their natural (as in accidental) magic based upon two emotions: love and anger. Their love magic was based upon the air element while their anger magic was based upon fire.
Veela magic was very powerful. While Veela would and could use wands, they had a natural ability for at least limited forms of wandless magic, specifically those forms associated with the air and fire elements. They also were natural occlumens, which might also explain some of the prejudices as the only other humans with a common natural occlumency were werewolves. The difference was Veela were born with it where as it was part of the Were affliction within werewolves.
She explained that because the magic can be so powerful, young Veela instinctively suppress it. Like all magical children, they still have their outbursts, but it would be much worse if the magic was not naturally suppressed. It does not release until the Veela was magically and emotionally mature enough to be able to learn to handle it. This usually occurs between the ages of fourteen and sixteen. Until then, the Veela girl remains a girl. She does not mature sexually at all. When the suppression lifts, the girl goes through a rapid growth spurt that usually lasts about two weeks. During that time, her body catches up with her age.
Until then, the little Veela is just a magical girl. When she goes through "the change" which she said was basically a very rapid puberty, the final Veela traits can become manifest. One was the anger and fire based trait that Harry had seen at the World Cup - the winged being. Gabrielle told them that the Winged Veela was little more than a natural form of animagus transformation although unlike others who develop the skill, Veela could not control when the transformation occurred. It could only occur when they were very angry or threatened.
The other uniquely Veela trait was called the Allure. This was love and air based magic and a major source of annoyance for Veela and other witches. This was what made many men act very silly around Veela and seem to fall for the witch immediately. It also made other witches very jealous of the ability to attract men and it did not help that Veela were always very pretty to begin with. Gabrielle told them that the Allure was a means with which the Veela could tell a potentially desirable man from the vast majority who would be incompatible. Veela were not attracted to men affected by their Allure. They were naturally attracted to men who were not. This also caused problems and explained some of the prejudices because if a man was truly in love with another woman, the Allure would not affect him and that might attract the Veela to him.
The Allure was something like a magical test, Gabrielle said. It was their way of finding the best possible mate. Their magic sought the man who would be a suitable life partner for them. Fortunately, while the Veela may be confused by a man's lack of interest because he was already bonded to another and she did not know that, her magic could not be. When her magic found that man, a bond would begin to form. She would know it almost immediately. In addition to otherwise unexplainable feelings for the man, her Allure would begin to fade away. Once the Allure was gone completely, the Veela would be bonded to that man. The problem was the man could reject her. Usually, the Veela knows this will happen before it is too late, before the bond forms and she can move on.
"But zere are occasions when zis does not happen," Gabrielle said. "Sometimes, ze bond forms before ze Veela can know if ze man will be hers or not."
"What happens then?" Harry asked.
"It is not too 'orrible, I suppose," Gabrielle said. "I would remain a witch, but I would lose my Veela powers and while I could marry another and have children, zey would not be Veela. My Veela line would come to an end. Zere are so few of us, however, zat zis is not a desired outcome."
"I take it you're here because of this bond?"
Gabrielle nodded and began to cry. "I did not mean for zis," she said. "None of zis should 'ave 'appened. I should not 'ave been able to bond with you so soon if ever."
"What happened?"
"Ze Second Task," Gabrielle began after she calmed down a little. "I was thirteen zen. My birthday was not until March four. I should not 'ave changed for several more months, maybe even a year. But it 'appened. Maman thinks it was ze task. It was ze water! We can swim. But ze magic put upon me as 'ostage and ze water … water and air do not mix and water kills fire. My magic was fading and 'ad it faded, I would 'ave drowned! You saved my life quite literally, 'Arry. Maman thinks I 'ad but minutes left when I came to ze surface. My change began almost immediately an' I think the first thing was I bonded to you."
"After ze task, I could not stop thinking about you. We only met for a moment and I would dream about you every night and need to see you and hoped you would like me. Zat is a sign of ze bonding! I never even 'eard about you before aside from a newspaper saying you were in ze Tournament with my sister under suspicious circumstances."
"The Boy Who Lived is a English fascination," Michelle said. "You're not nearly as famous in France. That was an English war and so long as it remained an English war, France paid little attention to it. Had it crossed the Channel, it would have been very different but your terrorists were unable to do so because we kept them out. Here, you are famous. There, you are a trivia question."
Harry chuckled. "Maybe I should move to France. So," he said looking at Gabrielle, "you're bonded to me?"
Gabrielle nodded.
"Hermione convinced me it was important to accept every girl who came through that door - at least the ones who came through for me. They could refuse, but I agreed not to if they chose to do this. If this is what you want, Gabrielle, then this is the way it will be."
"Merci!" she exclaimed and hugged herself to him.
"So," Neville said, "does this mean Harry has to deal with one of those bird things if she gets angry with him?"
"No," Michelle answered for her friend who seemed to relieved to speak. "Like the Allure, if she had that ability it fades upon bonding at least when it comes to her Bondmate. When they make love for the first time, the Allure and Avian form will be gone from her forever. She will retain all her other Veela gifts so he does have to be concerned about her affinity for fire magic. She will be able to conjure it with ease."
"Anything else I should know?" Harry asked.
Gabrielle nodded into his chest. "As I will remain Veela, I can only bear you daughters. It is one of ze reasons we do get rejected. I can never bear you a son."
"Given my circumstances, I don't see that as much of a problem," Harry said.
"Hold on," Neville said. "If water was so dangerous to you, why were you there?"
Gabrielle began by explaining she and Michelle were part of the group that had come over for the Tournament. Beauxbatons had brought four Seventh Years who submitted their names, but their Headmistress felt others should attend as well as it would be a good experience, she thought. Two students were selected from Third through Sixth Year based upon their skills in English and class standings. Gabrielle was one of the two Third Years and Michelle was one of the two Fourth Years.
Apparently, while Dumbledore had selected the hostages for Harry and Cedric, it was Karkaroff who selected Krum's hostage. Madam Maxine had selected Roger Davies for Fleur. What happened after that selection was still under investigation. It seemed the British Ministry had final say over the selections thus, it appeared, the Ministry representative changed Fleur's hostage selection and while Dumbledore was aware of the change, Madam Maxine was not. She should have been as it now involved a Beauxbatons student, but for reasons still unknown she was not informed until after the task began and she noticed Davies was not in the water.
Apparently, she was livid and an angry Madam Maxine was a scary sight to behold. Dumbledore claimed he had not been advised that she had not been informed. The Ministry representative had said it would be taken care of. Apparently, Dumbledore was not aware of the risk this task posed to Gabrielle. Madam Maxine had not objected to this task before because Fleur had sufficient training to deal with the water risks. Gabrielle did not and even if she did, she had to be conscious to do so.
Thus far, the investigation had revealed that Percy Weasley made the switch, although that had been decided at a much higher level within the British Ministry. He had a letter from the Department of International Cooperation directing him to make the switch. The problem was, while it appeared to have been signed by Bartimius Crouch, the Head of Department who supposedly had Percy doing all of the ground work for the tournament while he continued to work back in London, no one had been able to find him to confirm the letter. Added to it was there was suspicion that the letter was a forgery. Percy had voluntarily agreed to veritiserum and it was clear he knew nothing more than what he had been maintaining all along. He was told to inform Dumbledore of the switch and that the Ministry would inform the French.
It was all very suspicious and the French believed someone at the Ministry - maybe Crouch - was attempting murder. They had no proof beyond the suspicious circumstances, but given the Ministry's notorious position on Werewolves and the general British attitude that suggested Veela were considered to be of a similar nature, it looked sinister. Unlike Werevolves, the Ministry did not regulate Veela. Then again, there were no Veela in Britain.
"Now, why don't we head upstairs and talk in private?" Harry said as things began to become a little too somber for the first day.
Gabrielle nodded and took his hand.
Despite Harry's reassurances, Gabrielle was still worried he would reject her in the end. She was very scared about that prospect and nothing Harry said seemed to reassure her completely, that is until after dinner. He asked her what it would take to make the bond permanent and prove he accepted her and she told him. She was very nervous about it, but despite that she allowed him to make love to her that night. (Katie still could claim she was the "first"). Gabrielle was very relaxed and happy for the most part from then on. She still could become upset or frustrated about something and this usually showed when she started rattling on in French - although that would also happen if she was very excited about something. Harry found it endearing in a way.
One of the unwritten rules of the Clubhouse was that if the young witch had her own elf there, that elf cooked the meals - at least the ones Harry did not insist on cooking himself. Gabrielle loved his breakfast omelets, then again they all had. Dinner was usually the two couples together in the main dining room on the main floor at a table overlooking the lake. With a French and Italian witch and their elves, the dinners were French and Italian and both boys considered themselves in food heaven. (It had been similar when the Patil twins were there. They had introduced the boys to Indian food - or as they called it faux Indian as some ingredients were not in their stocks, something the Patil sisters wanted to remedy as soon as possible. Those two also were into certain East Asian cuisines including four Chinese styles and certain Japanese dishes. Again, there was an issue about ingredients, but the boys had come to appreciate all of the variety even if it seemed weird at first and even if they had to learn to eat with sticks.)
Training resumed as usual on Day 6. Their dueling training continued, although now they were actually teaching their girls as well. The Caldwell Book had become their primary source material as it seemed to cover everything and even more, although neither of them were yet ready for the final parts which looked really interesting. They had skills to master before they got that far. The girls were teaching them Healing or to be more precise magical first aide. It was part of the Beauxbatons courses of study from First through Fifth Years and those who mastered it could go on to real Healing studies after that point if they wanted to. The French believed it important. Harry and Neville soon saw why. Most of the visits to Madam Pomfrey could be avoided if students knew this. While there were certainly exceptions in Harry's past experiences, a lot of minor injuries could and should have been dealt with at the scene if only the students knew how. It was also a good review of Charms, Potions, and some Herbology and Transfiguration as well.
The girls were also teaching them their languages. It had begun practically the first day for them. Gabrielle was teaching them French and Michelle Italian. They were not expected to master either by the end of the month, just get started. Harry was surprisingly motivated (as was Neville). He really wanted to know what Gabrielle was saying when she reverted into her native tongue.
The girls were taught the Patronus Charm as had all the others. When she finally managed hers, Gabrielle's was "some kind of bird," as Harry observed. She told him that if she was right, it was a Fire Bird. It was not a Phoenix, but it was an ancient magical bird which was said to have been the form of the first Veela transformation some thousands of years ago. For some reason, the mythical bird had never been seen since then. Michelle's was a buffalo (and not the North American kind) which she promptly named Mozzarella after the Italian cheese made from buffalo milk.
By Day 24, both girls had confirmed they were pregnant and with some ceremony and a fancy dinner their contracts were now signed. While Michelle was clearly happy about this, Gabrielle was ecstatic. She was now truly bonded to Harry and he had truly accepted her. She told Harry that Fleur would probably be green with envy over this. Then again, Gabrielle thought Fleur was a bit full of herself.
Their final day was the longest to date. Each period of time compression had lasted exactly 30 days and one hour for the groups in the Clubhouse allowing their time to correspond to real time outside when it lifted. In this case, Time Compression would lift at 7:20 in the evening both inside and outside of the South Wing. This allowed Neville and Harry to have one last private dinner with their newest "wives." Harry would later learn that the other girls had dinner in the Great Hall. This time, while the girls received their letters and roses, they would not be leaving. This time, following dinner the two couples retired to their private apartments to await the arrival of the others.
Harry led Gabrielle to her Sitting Room. Ever since Harry first saw this last apartment he felt it was very French for some reason. In their own way, each of his girls apartments seemed to him to be a reflection of who they were in some way. Harry led her to the fireplace. There, upon the mantel, was a crystal vase that had not been there before.
"As you may know," Harry said, "your rose has been magically charmed to remain fresh for several weeks. Neville's done that with all the roses. When we were doing Charms, I came across another one. If you place your rose in the vase which I have charmed, so long as what you feel for me never fades, neither shall your rose."
Gabrielle put her rose in the vase and there was a brief and faint magical glow. She turned to Harry and gave him a deep and meaningful kiss. "And ze others?" she asked. Her English had improved significantly over the past month, but she kept at least some of her accent because Harry liked it.
"They have a vase as well, although they don't know about it yet. There's a sign in the Front Entrance Salon asking them to go to their apartments first and put their roses in the vase. There's a note by the vase which tells them what I told you."
"You are a very thoughtful 'usband, 'Arry," she smiled.
The bell sounded indicating the end of the final Time Compression and Harry led Gabrielle to the main Sitting Room for House Potter.
"You look nervous," Gabriella noted.
Harry nodded. "I've missed them. Hermione especially, but I've missed all of them.
Several minutes later, he heard the bell sound again and wondered what that was about. Soon he heard several voices from down the corridor that led to each of the girls' private suites and knew they had arrived, although it was a few more minutes before the first of them entered the Sitting Room. Naturally, it was Hermione. She walked up to him, thanked him for the lovely letter, the rose and the vase and kissed him.
"I've missed you," Harry said when it broke.
Hermione nodded. "So have I, although I doubt as much 'cause it hasn't been nearly as long. You've grown."
"Oh?"
"Harry, when I left you were only slightly taller than me. Now I barely come up to your nose, if that. You're a good six inches taller. It looks good on you."
"Thanks."
"Although it could be a problem."
"Oh?"
"Harry, you were six inches shorter this morning as far as the rest of the school is concerned. It wouldn't be a problem at all, really, if we hadn't agreed to attend Fred and George's party later on. I'll have to think about this," she said as Hannah arrived.
Once Harry greeted all of the girls, they took seats. When it was just two people living here, the Sitting Room and Dining Room had seemed almost excessively spacious to Harry. They still were, but with ten people it seemed to be a more comfortable size.
"Right then," Hermione said, "here's the plan. We're back under Time Compression and will be for ten days including this evening."
"What's this about?" Harry asked.
Hermione chuckled. "That's what you get for missing staff meetings. We decided to do this during one of the last two Time Compressions. We're going to use these days to get used to being together as a family I suppose. We all agree we need to establish some kind of routine. While we all expect you to give us all hugs and kisses every day…"
"Preferably lots," Katie added.
"… expecting you to - um - make love to us everyday is probably impractical. And it goes without saying you can't possible sleep with all of us every night. So, each day one of us will be your Witch of the Day."
"The one who gets all the fun," Luna added.
"We change witches after breakfast and she's your primary wife for that day."
"Full boyfriend privileges," Katie said.
"She'll sit with you at meals - at least when we eat here for now, and she'll sleep with you that night."
"I guess that makes sense," Harry nodded.
"Until we come up with a better idea," Padma said.
"We agreed that Gabrielle will be your witch until tomorrow morning," Hermione said. "Then each of the rest of us in turn."
What Hermione did not explain immediately was that there was more to this than met the eye. Several minutes later, Harry was asked to go to his room and he did, wondering what was going on. Several minutes later, Gabrielle entered. She was naked which Harry didn't mind at all. She kissed him and undressed him and led him to the bed. Then, to Harry's surprise, the other eight witches entered, also naked. While he considered it a sight to behold and one he had not even imagined, he was confused. Gabrielle explained that at least for this Time Compression, when he took his witch to bed the others would be there to watch, at least until he and his witch were finished. She explained that they all had to get used to the idea of him being intimate with the others and they all agreed this would be the easiest way.
It was disconcerting at first, especially when he realized right off that he was not just going to make love to Gabrielle. They were going to have oral sex first, not that he minded that at all. But he never thought about an audience. Still, within a few moments with Gabrielle, the thought of the other witches no longer mattered. When the two of them began to make love, Harry heard some moans and they were not from Gabrielle, although she was moaning as well. He looked and saw that some … no most … no all of the others were playing with themselves as they watched. Okay, he thought, this is hot.
Moments after he and Gabrielle were finished he noticed Daphne and Rosie were kissing each other as were Padma and Luna. They were soon in bed with him and Gabrielle and clearly were about to have sex with each other. He looked at Hermione.
"It's either the Fertility Potion we used or the pregnancy or both," she said. "But the lot of us are incredibly randy, more so than any of us can remember. We need physical intimacy and to wait eight days to get it we'd probably go mad. Well, maybe not literally, but it would be difficult. We don't know how long we'll be this way, but until we're not… Each day you'll have your witch and we'll have ours. Each day it will be a different witch for you and a different one for us. Each night you'll sleep with your witch and we'll sleep with ours. At least for this Time Compression, each night we'll watch you with your witch and you'll watch us with ours. It's only fair, right?"
Perhaps, Harry thought watching the witches on either side of him, but it was also incredibly hot. When Katie and Hermione joined him on one side of the bed and Marcia and Hannah on the other, Harry could no longer sit there and just watch. Fortunately Gabrielle was not opposed to another round.
It was not all sex and randy witches. In fact, as it turned out that was pretty much a nighttime activity. During the day, it was less intimate all around although Harry did make sure to kiss each of his girls quite thoroughly at least a few times each day. In the mornings, Harry and his girls were in the Training Wing doing physical training or dueling. The afternoons were mostly spent relaxing together as a family on the Main Floor while House Longbottom used the training facilities. Dinner was always on the Main Floor with House Longbottom and each night save the last featured a different cuisine. The last night's dinner was arguably a feast, although the portions were small. It began with a fancy salad. Then there was a Chinese soup. Japanese sushi followed as an appetizer. The next "main course" was French in style. It was chicken in a white sauce with asparagus. This was followed by a delicious ravioli dish in red sauce with Indian Curry as a side. Finally, there was an English bread pudding for desert, which was always Luna's favorite.
When the meal ended, Hermione stood.
"Okay," she said to all of them, "time compression lifts at seven fifty. Those of us in Gryffindor are expected at the birthday party for the Weasley twins which we all know tends to last well beyond curfew so we most likely will be stuck in Gryffindor tower for the night. I'm sure we can survive one night away from each other, although I won't say it'll be easy. Gabrielle and Michelle have to return to the Beauzbatons carriage and probably will have to spend Thursday and Friday night there. It's up to the rest of you to decide where you'll spend tonight. As we all know, this is a Holiday and so long as you're not violating curfew or serving detention - and none of us are, you are not required to be in the Castle so if you're not in your dorms, no one's really the wiser. After tomorrow, after our marriages are official, we'll move in here. The only reason Gabrielle and Michelle have to wait until Saturday is to keep the staff from figuring it out until after we start Time Compression again on Saturday morning."
"What about Harry?" Ginny asked. "How do we explain his growth spurt?"
"I've been thinking about that," Hermione replied. "So long as none of the staff notice, we just tell the others he got a growth potion because he seemed to be stunted, which is true. I doubt the others know how long such a potion usually takes to work."
"That could work," Neville said. "'Bout the only Gryffs not in this room who can do a decent potion are Fred and George, and they only do decent ones for pranks."
"Tomorrow morning," Hermione continued, "as much as a pain it will be, we should all have an early breakfast in the Great Hall. We want to be back here in the South Wing by eight to go to London."
"How are we getting there?" Harry asked.
"Floo. The main fireplace in the Entrance Salon has a floo connection, or at least I hope it does."
"But that means people could floo here!"
"They have to either be keyed into our wards or have a pass from us to use it to get in or out. Remember, we are under a Fidelius Ward and there are even more wards on top of that. For example, the only elves you'll find here are ours. They are keyed in by virtue of their bonds with us. None of the other Hogwarts elves can get in."
"Same's true for the ghosts," Lucinda said. "And you may have noticed there's not a single magical painting or picture in this place - aside from the ones of us."
"Why is that?" Neville asked.
"We believe Dumbledore uses the Elves, ghosts and paintings to keep and eye on things. We don't want him finding out about this until it's too late."
"Hopefully we got the floo connection right," Hermione said. "That's the reason we should be here early just in case. If it doesn't work, we'll need to go to Hogsmeade.
"We'll floo to the Leaky Cauldron and then head to Gringotts first to deal with the marriage contracts and to review the House Potter and House Longbottom estates. Hopefully that won't take more than two or three hours."
"Then we shop until we drop!" Daphne said.
Hermione nodded. "Harry? You can take Neville to Ollivander's for his wand, can't you?"
Harry nodded. "Sure," he said.
They spent several minutes going over the general shopping plan. It now included a shop in Knockturn Alley that belonged to a reputable wandmaker. They agreed that having a second wand would be useful and Ollivander rarely sold a person two wands unless the older wand had been lost or broken and assuming that the loss was not related to a criminal conviction. The other shop sold mainly to professional duelists, Aurors and Hit Wizards; but would also sell to anyone provided they were not Death Eaters or criminals and provided they had the money. With the end of time compression, eight of the people left. All the Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws and Slytherins remained behind.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29th, 1995 - GRYFFINDOR COMMON ROOM.
They decided to keep things as quiet as possible. Neville and Ginny were dating and everyone in Gryffindor who was not a Fifth Year boy pretty much knew that. They had kept that secret with the help of Fred and George who agreed with their sister that Ron's behavior that year meant he was not predictable and they liked Neville. Since Ron was away at the Burrow, Neville and Ginny could act like a couple. It would be harder to explain the added complications, namely that Neville and Parvati were together as well. As for Harry and his Gryffindor girls, it was another matter. Everyone believed Harry and Hermione were a couple, even if they had not yet openly admitted it. Harry and Katie were another matter altogether. Harry decided it was best to act as if little had changed, if that was possible.
They entered the Gyrffindor common room to find the party in full swing. Every Gryffindor who had stayed behind for the Holidays was there, which included Hermione's other two roommates Lavender Brown and Sally-Anne Perks. Two of Ginny's roommates were there as well as were two of Katie's including her friend Leanne. Lee Jordan was the Sixth Year Prefect and the only one present. Lee had made Prefect because of his marks and because that while he was typically a co-conspirator with the Weasley Twins, everyone thought he'd have made a great Slytherin were it not for the fact he was a Muggle Born. Of the three, he never roused any suspicion.
Katie made her way over to her other teammates Alicia Spinet and Angelina Johnson. She figured that unlike Leanne, they would not ask too many questions about her day. Neville and Ginny headed off for a private corner, something that would go unnoticed provided the twins could see Neville's hands most of the time. Parvati had little choice but to head over to Lavender the gossip queen. She hoped Lavender had found a few new broom closets that day with whoever her current boyfriend was for if Lavender had, she's spend the bulk of the time telling about it in livid detail, thus avoiding any complicated questions.
Harry's added height was immediately noticed as he tried to make his way to a couch to sit down with Hermione, something that would not even earn a comment.
"Damn Harry!" Fred said looking at the now taller boy, "what have you been eating? This is a joke, right?"
Harry shrugged. "They gave me a growth potion. They felt I was stunted somehow."
"Let's hope it doesn't ruin you for Quidditch next year," Fred said. "Seekers are usually short and light."
"Given the competition, do you really think it will matter?"
"Probably not, but it can."
"Guess we'll see next year."
"Guess so."
"Hands Longbottom!" Fred called over to the corner.
"And we'd better see your's as well Gin," George added.
"You guys are no fun!" Ginny shot back, but made sure they could see hands.
"Where were you all day?" Lavender asked Parvati.
"Hermione and I and some others were in an unused classroom studying," Parvati said. It was actually a fairly true statement, excluding 1230 to 1330 when she was under Time Compression with Harry.
"Oh, you're no fun," Lavender giggled. "Danny and I were in the Library for a bit." Danny was a Fifth Year Gryffindor and Lavender's current boy toy after three months shagging Seamus Finnegan.
"You were in the Library?" Parvati asked. Lavender was rarely in the Library.
"Don't get you're knickers in a twist, it's not like we were studying."
"Oh?"
"We were looking for a new place to shag," Lavender said. "Always thought if I could find a decent shag place in there I could tell Hermione and she'd stop being such a prude about things."
One thing Parvati had learned was that Hermione was no prude at all. She had issues about doing it in broom closets or any other place where someone uninvited might intrude. Parvati had the same issues, although she never voiced them as vehemently as Hermione had. But the Hermione of the South Wing was no prude and neither was Parvati, at least not when they were in the Potter or Longbottom Apartments. She knew from Padma that Hermione had taken up nude sunbathing, among other things. It was also quite common on the floor above in House Longbottom. None of the wives in either House could be considered a "prude." However, unlike Lavender, neither could they be called promiscuous.
"Somehow, I don't think she'd be into doing it there, Lav," Parvati said.
"You're probably right," Lav said. "She'll probably wait until she's been married a year or two … if that ever happens."
Actually, she didn't even wait to be married, Parvati thought. She was with Harry only eight days and that was mostly Harry's fault it went even that long. "So, did you find it?"
"Nah! There were a couple of promising nooks here and there, but I really couldn't see the kink factor. The Library is so not me."
"So you didn't…"
"I most certainly did! Got laid good and proper! We went up to the Fifth Year dorms and there was Sally-Anne entertaining Cormac McLaggen and Darrel Stebbins, as in both at the same time. We took the bed next to them and did it too and then switch partners. It's a lot easier to compare guys when you're with three of them at once and that Sally-Anne is one kinky little witch!"
"Hey Parvati," Neville called out, "you said you wanted some help with Herbology?"
"Oh! Thanks Neville."
"You want to study?" Lavender asked.
"If I wanted to party all this Holiday I'd have gone home. Neville's brilliant at Herbology and I'm not." Parvati turned and left her friend wondering when the girl had become so immature and then realizing it was more her than Lavender. She flopped down next to Neville with Ginny on his other side.
"It looked like you needed and escape," Neville said.
Parvati was so tempted to kiss him. "You're the perfect Husband, Nev," she whispered. Louder she added, "Lav was about to give me a blow by blow description of her orgy this afternoon and I really didn't need that!"
"Blow by blow?" Ginny asked. "As in…?"
"Probably," Parvati said. "Oooh look! She's going towards Harry and Hermione! This should be interesting!"
"Hey Harry," Lavender said all but ignoring Hermione.
Harry looked up but said nothing.
"You've sprouted," Lavender said.
"Oh? I really hadn't noticed," Harry replied.
"Yes definitely," Lavender said, "a right proper hunk."
"Ah," Harry replied, "I see. You still believe I entered this bloody tournament on purpose?"
"Of course," Lavender said. "Everyone knows that, but you're really doing well and … and …"
"If you expect to take me upstairs and have your way with me, you blew it," Harry said loudly. "First off, I'm not desperate enough for the class shag. Second, I will not shag any girl who believes I ever gave a rat's fart about this bloody Tournament. Find someone else who's into that!"
"Bet you're gay!" Lavender retorted.
"I can assure you, Lavender, he most certainly is not," Alicia said. She, Katie and Angelina had all walked over. "He's most definitely into girls."
"Yeah," Angelina said. "Hard not to notice in the Locker Room."
"It's not like there's a lot of privacy in there," Katie added for Hermione's benefit. "We've seen him naked and he's seen us and he reacts to us, not the blokes, ergo not gay."
"He just doesn't want someone else's left behinds," Alicia added. "You have to admit, Brown, you're up there on the 'easy girl' list!"
"Fine! You're loss Potter!" Lavender said and headed over to her current "boyfriend."
"Doubt it," Harry said. "I'd probably catch something from her. Thanks," he said to his teammates.
"Got to have you at Seeker next year, Harry," Angelina said. "Even if you are bigger, no one flies like you! Being a 'boy-toy' is not in the Team's best interest."
"You needn't worry about that," Harry chuckled. "I wouldn't shag her with Malfoy's dick."
"Neither would Fred or George," Alicia said, "and Lavender has asked. Good boyfriends they are. You take care of him, Hermione."
"I … I will," she said softly.
The rest of the party was a typical George and Fred production with loads of food nicked from the kitchens, pranks, music, noise, fireworks and Butterbeer and even Fire Whiskey they had managed to smuggle in somehow. And as usual, it lasted well past midnight before Professor McGonagall had to come in and shut it down. By then, Harry and the others from the South Wing had already retired for the night given the early start they planned for the next morning. No one noticed the four girls who spent the night with their husbands' in the Fourth Year Gryffindor boys' dorm.
chapter 15
Where did this Spring Holiday come from? In Deathly Hallows, Ginny went home for "Easter" which was why she was not at Hogwarts or in Malfoy Manor for that matter (like Luna. She was a "Blood Traitor" after all). (So did Draco, which was why he was there.) In this fic, I doubt the magicals (especially the Purebloods) celebrate that particular holiday. Christmas, on the other hand, has several pre-Christian roots. It occurred around the Winter Solstice, which had significance in pre-Christian cultures such as the Druids and the specific date was said to be the birth date of Mithra, who was a messianic, god like figure in their primary competing faith early on. It is less surprising that magicals would follow that tradition. Did you know that the celebration of Christmas was actually banned for a time in England (and in at least some of the American Colonies)? It used to be a time for … overindulgence (Food, Booze and sex). It was officially banned in the 17th Century or so and did not reappear until the 19th as a general practice - aside from being a Holy Day in the "High Church" Christian sects. Christmas trees also have a non or pre-Christian origin and were mostly unknown in England and the Americas before the nineteenth century. They were a German custom and became popular when Queen Victoria's husband (Prince Albert Sachs-Colburn (SP?)) brought the tradition to Buckingham Palace when they married.
For those who wonder about the pace…
I have Gringotts and Diagon Alley to deal with (I thought of a chance encounter with Ron than decided NAH), and meeting the parents and guests and weddings, school, training, births and such over 450 days in Time Compression. But don't worry too much. We'll see Dumbledore and such not later than Chapter 27 and the Third Task will begin not later than Chapter 30 (although it, the Graveyard and aftermath will be three or four chapters, and Harry kicks serious…) … most likely…
THURSDAY, MARCH 30th, 1995 – GRINGOTTS BANK, LONDON.
The floo worked just fine, although it took several minutes for the twenty of them to pass through the system and arrive at the Leaky Cauldron. Fortunately, a lot of school age children in the Alley during a Holiday hardly raised an eyebrow. In small groups they made their way to Gringotts and split into two groups, one was House Potter and the other House Longbottom.
Harry walked up to an open teller. He did not recognize the Goblin and waited until the Goblin noticed him.
"Yes Sir?" the Goblin asked. "You wish to make a withdrawal."
"Possibly," Harry said. "Actually, I wonder if it would be possible to speak with the manager of my accounts."
"Name?"
"Harry Potter."
"Do you have your key?"
"Um - no Sir, I don't. I don't know who has it really."
"Someone stole your key?"
"No Sir, not so far as I'm aware. I let someone use it to buy my school supplies and so far as I know she still has it."
The Goblin glowered at him. "That was unwise. Without the key, I will need a drop of your blood to verify you are who you say you are and not a thief using some damnable potion or other trick."
Harry nodded. A few moments later his identity was verified. "Do you have an appointment with your Account Manager, Mr. Potter?"
"Um - no. I guess I could come back?"
"Of course you don't," the Goblin grumbled. "You all figure we Goblins have nothing better to do…"
"That was not my intent Sir," Harry said. "If he's not free I can come back at a time when he is available."
The Goblin gave him a surprised look. "I'll see if he can find the time to see you now, Mr. Potter."
Some minutes after the Teller left, he returned but not to his window. He was on the bank floor looking up at Harry. "You're in luck," he said. "Account Manager Tarlok has a few hours to spare. Hopefully your business can be concluded by then."
"Thank you," Harry replied.
"This way," the Goblin said. Harry and his girls followed.
"They're with me," Harry explained when he received questioning looks. They soon entered a large, ornate office where there was an older Goblin behind a huge desk.
"Mr. Harry Potter, Account Manager Tarlock," the Goblin Teller said.
"Thank you," the seated Goblin said without looking up. "That will be all, Teller." As the Teller left the office and closed the door behind him. "Mr. Potter, I presume?"
"Yes Sir," Harry replied.
"As this is your first visit, I can understand if you don't know our protocol. These meetings are closed to anyone other than the account holder and his family."
"That is one of the things I'm here to discuss, Account Manager," Harry said as Hermione pulled their contracts from her book bag and handed them to Harry who handed them to the Goblin.
The goblin seemed to push a button. "Slakrik," he called, "I need nine Ministry Form 97-E's, eight Gringott Form 111's and one Form 58."
"Yes Sir!" a voice called back.
The Account Manager turned to the students. "These appear to be valid Marriage Contracts. Are you telling me you managed to impregnate all of these young women?"
"Yes Sir," Harry replied.
"I find it not worth my while to question the ways of witches and wizards, unless it comes to money," the Goblin said. "I will need verification of the blood signatures and pregnancies. A drop of blood from each of the witches will suffice for them, but I'll need nine from you Mr. Potter." A few minutes later and the blood letting was over. "It would seem these contracts are valid. I take it you would like Gringotts to process the paperwork?"
"If that's not too much of an inconvenience, Sir," Harry replied.
A goblin came in and handed the Account Manager a stack of forms and a box. "Remain Slakrik," the Account Manager said. "I'll need you to run over to the Ministry in a few moments to record some of these." He then noticed the box. "And thank you for this, I had forgotten." Slakrik nodded. The Account Manager then turned back to his guests. "I need all of you to fill out a copy of this form," he said indicating one of the three new forms. "In the blanks at the top and with a regular quill, print your full name. Ladies, that means first name, middle name (if any), maiden name in brackets and married name. Then include your age, date of birth, blood status, the name of the magical school you're attending, parents or custodial guardians, relation of your custodial guardian to you and their blood status, magical guardian and your residence outside of school. When you're done, sign the bottom with the blood quill."
"What name to we sign?" Hermione asked.
"You may use either your maiden or married name, Mrs. Potter."
"Granger, please," Hermione replied. "When we're altogether like this 'Mrs. Potter' might be confusing."
"Indeed."
As they filled out the forms, which fortunately explained all the information it required, the Account Manager began stamping the contracts with a couple of large stamps. As they finished, they placed their forms before the Goblin and he stamped them as well. Once the last of the forms were stamped, Slakrik took all the forms and left.
"The paperwork you just filled out was your Emancipation Verification Form," the Goblin explained. "Slakrik is taking those documents to the Ministry for recording. Although as of now you are legally married and emancipated in this world, no one will recognize it until all the forms are properly filed and you receive your Marriage Certificates and Emancipation Decrees from the Ministry Records Office. Slakrik should have this all completed by the time we're through here as I assume you want to review your accounts?"
Harry nodded.
"Now, when Slakrik returns, he will bring with him two copies of the Contract, Verification, Marriage Certificate and Emancipation Decree. One set will be given to you for your records and we will retain the other for our files. We will also make the necessary copies and distribute them as required."
"Distribute?" Harry asked.
"The Ministry Records Office is supposed to do that, but we have found they are less than efficient at it considering how infrequent a situation like this is. It'll probably take a month or so for them to dust off the appropriate regulations at least once they get around to figuring out they have to. Even then, I would suspect certain Ministry Officials might be interested in having this situation - er - ignored?
"That is why it is our policy not to trust the Ministry to do its job. Copies of the Certificate and Decree will be sent to the appropriate Ministry Office, specifically: the Department of Magical Transportation, as you can now take your Apparition Test whenever you're ready; the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, so you can avoid any problems with the underage magic laws; the Department of Economic Affairs, the Department of Revenue and St. Mungos."
"Why the last three?" Harry asked.
"Economic Affairs in case you wish to personally get your food from Distribution and if you want to start a business. Revenue because you need to be an adult to by or sell any business, real estate or other property valued at more than 500 Galleons as they are all exceptions from the standard Sales Tax and subject to another transfer tax. St. Mungo's because you need to be an adult to approve healing treatments for yourself or your spouse or children and for their records. Copies of those documents will also be sent to the British Muggle Government - unless any of you are from the Republic of Ireland in which case they'll be sent there as well. And before you ask, it's because this is legal in both worlds."
"So I'm an adult in the Muggle World?" Harry asked.
"Yes Mr. Potter. But where their law places a specific age restriction on a privilege, you don't get around that restriction just by virtue of being a legal adult, such as driving one of their cars, for example."
"As long as it means I'll have nothing to do with the Dursley's that's fine by me."
"In addition, copies of all four documents will be sent to each of your parents, custodial guardians, magical guardians, and Headmaster or Head Mistress. In Ms. Delacour's case, we shall also send copies to Gringotts Paris and the French Ministry of Magic. Finally, for those of you at Hogwarts, copies will also be sent to your Heads of House and school Healer."
"That's required?" Harry asked nervously.
"It is."
"When?"
"The mailings will be sent out by owl on the last business day of this week which is Sunday."
"That's fine."
"Your accounts then. Vault 687 is your Trust Vault and was funded before your parents died. Between initial principal and interest, you would have had a total of 120,200 Galleons in there had there been no withdrawals to date. As it is, your account stands at 31,995 Galleons and change."
"Why so little?"
"Let's see… Okay, you've personally withdrawn 1,758 Galleons over two summers, most of it second summer when you were living in Diagon Alley."
"That's a lot of money, Harry!" Hermione said.
"Considering Fudge never told me I had to pay for my room over the Leaky Cauldron and I found out that cheery news my last day there and how much Lockhart's bloody book collection cost, it wasn't that much! I still got about 200 in my pouch!"
"There was an authorization to Professor McGonagall in the amount of 890 Galleons for the purchase of a Nimbus 2000 in September 1991."
"I'm okay with that. But what else?"
"7,000 paid in 1981 for tuition to Hogwarts."
"Is that a lot?"
"I think my parents are paying more," Hermione said.
"10,000 to Mr. Arthur Weasley for his daughter's hand in marriage."
"I'm aware of that one," Harry nodded. "Not that it will happen."
"Mrs. Weasley accessed your vault twice. In August she withdrew 157 Galleons."
"School supplied and my dress robes, that was authorized."
"And she withdrew and additional 5,000 in March of this year."
"What the bloody hell for?"
"You were unaware of that withdrawal?"
Harry nodded.
"Do you wish us to investigate?"
Harry thought for a moment. "No. Not yet. I'll get her to explain that to me and if it is not to my satisfaction and she can't repay it, then we'll go that route."
"As you wish. Finally, drafts have been issued to one Vernon Dursley in the amount of 1,000 Muggle Pounds per month every month since November 1991. It was authorized by you magical guardian Albus Dumbledore for your care, education and maintenance."
"HA! If that man spent a hundred pounds a month on that, I'd be surprised! All this time he and my Aunt complain about money being tight. Well it wouldn't be if they had spent the money the right way instead of buying my lazy fat cousin whatever he wanted!"
"Are you saying the monies were misused?"
"That's what it looks like!"
The Goblin pushed a button. "Accounts Payable, Rirlok speaking."
"On the Potter Account, stop payment on all un-deposited drafts issued to Vernon Dursley of Little Whinging, Surry. Also, contact our Muggle Solicitors about bringing a claim of Conversion against the aforesaid Muggle for misuse of monies issued for the care of his Ward Harry James Potter of the same address."
"At once, Account Manager!"
"Mr. Potter, I recommend you close that account and transfer those funds to a new account."
Harry nodded.
"Here's the form," the Account Manager said. "Fill it out and the funds will be transferred to a new discretionary spending account. And additional amount will be transferred to it up to a total of 50,000 Galleons. Each year hereafter, the account will be refilled up to that amount. You can spend as much of that as you need or desire without penalty. It you need to spend more, there will be a three percent surcharge on additions to your account beyond the authorized 50,000 Galleons per annum."
"I have that much?"
"And more, Mr. Potter," the Goblin grinned.
More was an understatement. As they went over his holdings, everyone in the room was stunned. He owned loads of real estate, both within the magical world and the Muggle one, although most were "investment" properties. He owned several such properties in Diagon Alley, most notably in his opinion, the building which housed the Daily Prophet. He owned five personal residences, six if you included a vacation villa near Nice on the French Mediterranean coast. One was the house in Godric's Hollow, which was listed as under Ministry jurisdiction as a Historic Site, which he could change if he wanted to hire a solicitor and bring suit. One was a home in Hogsmeade which his Grandfather had loaned to Hogwarts for use for a "student with special needs" in 1971. It turned out it was the Shrieking Shack where Professor Lupin underwent his monthly transformations as a child. It was listed as abandoned and in disrepair. There was a large house in what Hermione said was a really upper class section of London and a smaller house in Devon on the coast. Finally, there was Potter Manor in East Anglia, listed as sited on 257 acres, heavily warded and having over 100 rooms.
The Potter portfolio was laden with investments in both the magical and Muggle World. To Harry, the most interesting one was a controlling interest in the Cleansweep Broom Company which was the largest flying broom maker in Britain for certain. True, they had nothing that could truly compete with his old Nimbus 2000 or his current Firebolt, but they were good brooms. To Daphne, it was his controlling interest in a publishing company; the one which printed many of their school books which caught Hermione's attention. But it also owned the Daily Prophet, which meant that indirectly Harry owned the very paper that had been slandering him and his friends all year. Obviously, that was going to change. The jaw dropping moment for everyone (except Luna, who nothing seemed to surprise) was when Harry was told that his annual income on investments and interest was over eight million galleons a year!
Potter House had five primary vaults for their gold alone and two others for other valuables. The total amount of money in the vaults as of that morning was 246,325,126.67 Galleons, not quite a billion Pounds. The Account Manager recommended that Harry authorize discretionary spending accounts for each of his wives under the same conditions as his own. Hermione could not fathom spending the equivalent of a quarter million Pounds a year, but said nothing as she and the others filled out the remaining forms.
"Finally," the Account Manager said as Slakrik returned with the papers. He handed the papers over to Harry, who handed them to Hermione who returned them to her book bag. "Two final things," the Goblin continued.
The first was the box that had been delivered earlier. In it were ten rings. The Goblin explained they were "House" rings that would tell any who saw it they were emancipated. Every witch or wizard could receive one when they came of age and if they asked, but most never bothered. For them, however, as they clearly looked too young, the rings were important. Some shops might not cater to them without the rings to show they could shop as they pleased. The rings would only be visible to others when need be.
"Two more rings," the Goblin said. "One for Mr. Potter - or should I say Lord Potter, and the other for his wife and consort Lady Abbott. As you are the last of your Ancient and Noble Lines and are now legally adults, you are entitled to wear your Head of House Rings. Like the other rings, they are only visible to others when you desire them to be. They are to be worn on your right middle finger. Lady Abbott will wear her ring until her son - should she have one - turns twenty-five."
Harry and Hannah put their rings on. "Thank you Harry," Hannah said.
He then presented each of them with a special money bag. It magically accessed their discretionary spending accounts. They just had to reach in and pull out the Galleons, Sickles or Knuts they needed. The best part was, if the bag was lost or stolen it would not work for anyone but the original owner. Then there was a …
"Credit card?" Hermione asked.
"Works like one," the Account Manager said. "It will access your discretionary account directly just like the bag and will only work for you. It's accepted at all the shops in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade - not to mention similar places world wide. There are a few places in Knockturn Alley that won't accept it, but they don't want a paper trail. The best part it, this works in the Muggle World."
"Thank goodness!" Hermione exclaimed. "A few of us are planning on shopping in Muggle London and I really didn't want to think about how many Pounds I needed and all that exchange stuff and I certainly don't want to walk around London with wads and wads of Pounds in my bag!"
"One final thing, you will need to summon the Head Potter Elf Tom at your convenience as there are Elves in the House in need of assignment. I would prefer you did not do it here. Unless there's any more questions for me, our time together is over," the Goblin said.
"Did my parents have a will?" Harry asked after Hermione nudged him.
"It is possible," the Account Manager replied. "But if there were one it was never submitted to us for execution or to the Wizengamot for Probate."
"Is that unusual?"
"Given your parents' age and the fact your Grandfather lived for a few more years, not necessarily. Given the times, one could say it was. Most people of means, even as young as your father would have had one."
"Then why isn't there one?"
The Goblin shrugged. "I do not try an fathom the minds of witches and wizards. Perhaps it was an oversight on their part? I don't know. It is also possible there was one but it's never been submitted. As there was a minor involved - being you - there should have been at least two or three copies, even four in your case. There would be one each to your Godparents as they would have been most likely designated as either your custodian - you're care giver for lack of a better word - or your magical guardian by custom. That those two copies have not appeared is unsurprising given the circumstances. Your Godfather Sirius Black was, as I'm sure you're aware, sentenced to Azkaban. He escaped and is now a fugitive. While he is not accused of any crimes against my people, he could enter this bank freely and not fear arrest from his own. But he has to get here first. That, and to submit this Will to probate he must present it in person to Wizengamot Administration at the Ministry itself, something I doubt he could do without being arrested. Your Godmother, Alice Longbottom is legally incompetent and resides in - what's the Muggle expression? - ah yes: the magical loony bin. The others who may have had a copy were your Grandfather Charles who died a few years later. Although he was Head of House, the law did not require that he had one and perhaps if there was one he did not. The final person was the Executor who might well have been one of the afore named. If it was someone else and that person is still alive, there are serious issues here. But without the Will to prove it, this is just speculation.
"Your parents' Estate passed by laws of intestacy - as in those situations where there was no Will. By law, as an orphan, you became a Ward of the Wizengamot and specifically the Chief Warlock who had authority to oversee your upbringing, although he could appoint another to be your physical custodian. What little there was of your parents' estate passed to you just now as did the entire estate of your Grandfather who left it to his surviving heir."
"Is it possible my Godparents still have copies?"
"They were from old families and should have known the custom. If they have copies and they were responsible, it would be in their vaults. Might well be in a dustbin if they were not. That being said, at this time neither can access their vaults. And while I am your Account Manager, I cannot grant you access to the Black or Longbottom Vaults and neither will their Account Managers unless they want their heads on the block for accessory to attempted vault theft, which is what they would be doing."
"What if my Godmother's son were to become Head of House?"
The Goblin nodded. "That would work. He would have access."
Harry glanced at Hermione and nodded. He then turned to the Goblin. "Thank you, Account Manager Tarlock, you have been most generous and gracious with your time considering the lack of notice of this visit on my part."
"As odd as it seems, this has been a most enjoyable day for me. You have been most respectful which is an uncommon interaction between our races. But there is one thing I think you should all consider doing before leaving our fine establishment."
"And what's that?" Harry asked.
"An inheritance test," he replied. "Just a drop of blood and we can trace any inheritance you may have back to the opening of the first vaults here in 787. Now for Ms. Patil and Ms. Delacour, it may not matter as we only check on our Vaults, not Gringotts Paris or Mumbai. But for the rest of you…"
"Why?"
"Most of you either figure you know all there is to know about your past or figure that you have no one in this world. But you never know, do you? There are scores of vaults here from families that are believed to have died out or that have been unclaimed. It might be worth it."
"Even us Muggle Borns?" Hermione asked.
"There is always the possibility you have a witch or wizard in your family. Although unlikely, there is also the possibility you are an heir to a line long thought to have died out. Besides, it's always good to know your family history."
"What's involved?" Harry asked.
"Couple drops of blood is all," the Account Manager said.
"Which gives new meaning to a banker bleeding us dry," Harry quipped.
The Goblin actually smiled at that. "I'll have to remember that one. Maybe there's a Goblin in your line? You never know. So, unless there're any questions, I'll have my assistant take you to the inheritance office for your tests."
"I'm sure I have loads," Harry said, "just can't think of any more right now."
"Then we are done here," the Account Manager said. "I do request you try and make an appointment in the future."
"I'll do that Sir."
"May your gold never diminish!"
"And may your enemies drown in rivers of their own blood," Harry replied actually remembering something from his drop dead boring History of Magic class.
They bowed to each other but did not shake hands. You did not shake hands with a Goblin. First off, they considered it demeaning. But more critically, you did not want to deal with their claws.
Slakrik escorted them from the office and to another floor of the bank and another large office, this one with a counter and not a desk. House Longbottom was already present.
"Inheritance tests too?" Neville asked when he saw Harry.
"Yeah. My account manager recommended it. Like I need for them to draw more blood."
Neville chuckled. "It was annoying, but at least now we're legal."
"Think they'll find anything?"
"No idea. I'm pretty certain nothing new for me. Got this stuff pounded into my head by Gran. But you never know. Some of the girls might be in for a surprise or this could be
a waste of time, but I'm told it doesn't take too long. I hope
not. At least a few of my girls are itching to hit the stores."
"Queue up you lot," a Goblin called, "this won't take long! Purebloods first - save Lord Longbottom - 'alf Bloods next - save Lord Potter an' Ladies Abbott an' Bones. Rest of you lot next, then them Lords an' Ladies. Right then! Drop 'o blood each an' we begin!"
There were no major surprises for the Purebloods and no unclaimed vaults for them. Some found some interesting connections that had been forgotten or that they were more recently Muggle than they had thought, but aside from that, nothing too shocking. They each received a copy of their personal family histories. Each of them considered it a treasure in a way, even if there was no real one behind it. It was said to be accurate all the way back to the founding of Gringotts, which meant their children would truly know where they came from over that time. The Half-Bloods had some surprises. Some of their Muggle lines actually had magical roots if you went back a few hundred years which meant they too would treasure their results. But again, there were no unclaimed vaults for them either. When each of the Muggle Borns also proved to be from distant and now defunct magical lines, whatever doubts anyone had about Blood Purity vanished. Anyone with magic, it seemed, came from magic at some point. That they were "Muggle Born" was an accident of magic fading for a time, even if that time was ten or more generations.
"Next," the Goblin called.
She had seen the drill. "Hermione Jane Granger - er - Potter now, I guess," she said knowing they wanted her name as they pricked her finger to allow the blood to fall. She watched with curiosity as it dropped onto an apparently blank piece of parchment and suddenly lines and some kind of letters began to appear branching off like a tree in all directions. She couldn't read it as they were runes and most likely Goblin runes. Slowly, however, a line leading to her glowed blue. The Goblins got all excited about this development and began jabbering away in their language and soon one of their number ran off to a door.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked knowing this had not happened before.
"Wait!" another Goblin said.
A few minutes later, they all saw their first female Goblin. She did not look as vicious as the males, but she seemed clearly old. She held a huge and seemingly ancient book and looked at the parchment that had caused all the excitement and opened the book. Hermione truly wanted to know what all was in the book, but held herself back. That would be rude.
"Congratulations, Lady Ravenclaw," the Goblin female said looking at Hermione.
"Wh-what?" she said.
"You are the direct and uninterrupted female descendant of a matriarchal inheritance. That means you are the daughter of a daughter and so forth all the way back, uninterrupted, to Rowena Ravenclaw and the only one. You are her heir in magic and in law."
"B-b-but I'm Muggle Born!"
"The inheritance is mother to daughter without regard to magic. It can only be claimed by a witch, but it must pass from female to female. It was the nature of her magic to do this. Her daughter line went magically dormant over 600 years ago and passed to you from your mother and awakened when you proved magical."
"Wh-what does this mean?" Hermione asked.
"It means you now can claim her vaults," the Goblin female said. "She has two. One has her possession - most of them at least - and the other her gold which has been sitting their growing on interest for centuries. I can't tell you what is in them without authorization to conduct an inventory which can be reported to you in two weeks. My guess is it will be quite impressive. Here's the form," she added as she passed Hermione a form. The mere fact of that action probably kept the girl from passing out altogether.
Hannah's line was of little note at least as far as she knew. There was a distant magical connection on her Muggle Born mother's side which she thought her Mum would love to learn about, but no unclaimed vaults. Susan, on the other hand, through her own Muggle Born mother's line, proved to be the legal and magical heir to the matriarchal line of Helga Hufflepuff. She too was floored by this news.
"Like Lady Ravenclaw," the female Goblin said, "the magic in your line on your mother's side died out centuries ago only to revive with you mother and yourself. "Again, as it has been centuries, the contents of the two vaults is unknown and an inventory will be required."
Susan could only nod.
"The revelation that two magical and legal heirs of the Founders came not only from a long and unbroken line of mothers and daughters but also a line that apparently lost its magic so long ago and disappeared into the Muggle world for so long should give those Pureblood Elitist bastards pause," Daphne said with a grin.
"And it also explains why their vaults remain," the female Goblin said. "Matriarchal lines lost their property rights not long after the Norman Invasion of England. If a Matriarch had vaults she had two choices. She could turn it over to her husband or son, destroying the magical succession forever or she could let it sit hoping, in time, law and society would change to allow a distant daughter to claim her birthright. Those changes did occur some centuries ago, but it was generations after these two lines disappeared into the Muggle World. Like so many others, Miss Susan's mother never took this test assuming probably there was no reason to.
"The same cannot be said for the lines of Gryffindor and Slytherin. Their monies and possessions were lost, stolen or squandered centuries ago. All that truly remains is their title and birthright for the lines remain as well."
"Tom Riddle," Harry said, "who later called himself Voldemort claims he's the heir of Slytherin."
"In life, he was," the Goblin female said. "But contrary to whatever he or you wizards believe, Tom Riddle is dead. His blood no longer flows through his veins and he failed to sire an heir. Whether a manifestation of him manages to return to this plane - as some of your kind believe - his line died forever that night in 1981. Whatever abomination returns, it will not be the Heir of Slytherin. The inheritance follows the blood, not the mind or soul."
"So there is no Heir of Slytherin anymore?" Neville asked.
"That remains to be seen," the female Goblin said. "His was the primary line. The last Slytherin by name was a daughter who married one Augustus Peverell and bore him three sons. The oldest died without issue. The second had two sons before his only wife passed away. The third had many children. Tom Riddle was descended from the oldest of the two grandsons of Augustus and the last Slytherin. That young man's line became the Gaunts and that line led to Tom Riddle. If the second Grandson of Augustus Peverell by his second son's line remains and has a male heir, that male - assuming he is a wizard - is now the Heir of Slytherin. Otherwise, it may come from the descendants of the third son and the senior heir of that line is now standing before me."
"What?" several voices asked.
"Harry James Potter," the female Goblins said. "You are the magical and legal heir of Ignotus Peverell, not that it truly entitles you to anything unless your family retained his invisibility cloak for that would be all that is known to be left. His oldest son married into the last of the Gryffindor Line and their only daughter married into the Potter line. The Potters have known of their heritage for generations."
"So I could be the…" Harry began.
"Provided the line of Augustus's second son Cadmus has passed from this world forever."
"I speak Parseltongue," Harry gasped.
"Which merely proves you are descended from Salazar Slytherin, not necessarily his heir. That talent was not uncommon in your family, although for obvious reasons they never made that fact public. It has been known to skip a generation or two, but it shows up like a bad knut again and again."
"I'd rather not, to be honest," Harry began.
"You either are or you are not," the female Goblin said. "The test will show if that inheritance has passed from the family of Cadmus to that of Ignotus. Shall we begin?"
Harry nodded. Once a drop of his blood touched the parchment he watched as lines and runes appeared. Unlike Hermione and Susan, there was no blue line. The female Goblin then touched the parchment and one did appear leading to a name in the distant past.
"That would be the Gryffindor line," the female Goblin said. "It would seem the line of Ignotus remains a cadet line of House Slytherin as there lives somewhere a male descendent of Cadmus's younger son. Lord Longbottom?"
Neville nervously approached. The process was repeated and a single blue line shone on the parchment.
"You, Lord Longbottom, are the direct descendant of the second son of Cadmus Peverell. With the death of the senior line in 1981, the line of Slytherin passed to your family. As you are now head of such family, you are also now the Heir of Salazar Slytherin."
Neville stood there in stunned silence.
"That ought to really mess with Malfoy's head," Tracy chuckled.
"What does this mean?"
"Neither House Gryffindor nor House Slytherin have any vaults remaining," the female Goblin said. "All they retain is the possibility of claiming their birthright."
"What birthright?"
"It's complicated," the Goblin continued. "We begin by saying the Founders owned Hogwarts at the time it was established. The four of them owned it together. We also should note that Lady Ravenclaw was the wife of Lord Gryffindor and Lady Hufflepuff the wife of Lord Slytherin. The two couples owned the Castle and lands as equals, none having a greater share or interest than the others. They knew that it would be impossible to pass their legacy on to their children. There would inevitably be dissent and strife, maybe not with that generation but in time. The school to them was far more important than property rights or inheritances. The children would receive their gold and personal property, but not the school or any rights to it.
"Thus, they placed the school in trust to be overseen by what is now the Board of Governors and managed day to day by the Headmaster and faculty. But they knew that this solution was by no means ideal. There might come a time when the school lost its way, as it were, and change would be needed but they doubted those vested in the school would seek such change, as wizards even then loathed change.
"They set it up so that if at least five generations passed since their deaths, it would be possible for the Founders Heirs to reclaim their birthright, but it would only be for a single generation meaning the children of those heirs would not have a claim just as the Founders children could have no claim. If another five generations passed, the sixth could claim again if certain conditions were met. Those conditions have never happened except, perhaps, now."
"What are those conditions?" Hermione asked.
"The Four Heirs must all be born within five years of each other which is the case here. The Lords must willingly marry one of the Ladies and the ladies willingly accept their hand in marriage. Again, that is the case here - even as between Lord Slytherin and Lady Hufflepuff as the Founders did not distinguish between Line Continuations and Plural Marriages. Finally, the four founders' heirs must consider each other friends. It need not be of the best friend nature, but friends nonetheless. Is that the case here?"
They honestly could say it was, although for Harry, Susan was a recent addition to his list of those he considered a trusted friend.
"Then the conditions are met."
"What's that mean?"
"If you claim your birthright, the four of you would own the Castle and the Grounds including what is now known as the Black Lake, the Forbidden Forest and much of Hogsmeade Valley. Under the bequest, the Board of Governors remains, but it becomes more of an administrative and advisory body. Policy would be the right of the Founders. You can remove members of that body and replace them as you see fit. As for the Headmaster and staff, you cannot remove them. But you retain final authority as to their removal and as to their replacement. Most significantly as far as the school is concerned, you have sole authority to amend or completely alter the School Charter which indirectly allows you to supervise what is taught there and the rules that apply to students. It would also give you several more votes on the Wizengamot currently held in proxy by the Chief Warlock thus giving you the political capital to advocate for change beyond Hogwarts itself."
"What about the defenses?" Harry asked.
"As Founders Heirs, you control them and probably to a greater degree than any Headmaster. No one and nothing can enter the school or its grounds or your other lands without your leave. Although from what we understand the Founders banished or banned people and creatures rather than waste their time approving all the others."
"This could be useful," Harry nodded. "How do we claim this birthright?"
"First, you must all promise that you will devote your lives and effort to improve magical education and society."
"We can do that," Neville said.
"Swear to it then."
They did and there was a faint glow in the room.
"Next, you must swear to oppose oppression in any form and the Dark Forces of any nature."
They swore to that as well.
"Finally you must promise that you will reside at Hogwarts for at least six months out of each year from this day forward."
They swore to that as well.
"Sometime after you return to Hogwarts, you can claim your birthrights. This is done by declaring yourself as the magical and legal heir of your distant ancestor Founder as shown by blood inheritance rights and stating that you claim your birthright. It needs to be done in front of at least three members of the current staff and some of the other students, at least one from each House, and at least some others from the magical public not affiliated with the school as student or staff."
"We can do that on Saturday," Hermione said and the others agree.
"You will know that you were successful when the Founders' Rings appear on your left forefingers. I believe that concludes our business," the Goblin female said. "May your enemies flee upon hearing your names!"
"May your riches be more plentiful than the stars in the night sky," Hermione replied. With that, the teens left for their day of shopping.