Chapter 1784 - Ch: 4 (cont.)(good)

Chapter 4: Diagon Alley

Leaky Cauldron: London

A few hours after Harry and Gabrielle had gone to bed, Hagrid and Dumbledore were the only ones of the group still at the Leaky Cauldron, as Hagrid had been given a letter by Gabrielle's parents that he promised to give them before he and Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts.

Shortly before midnight, Dumbledore stopped mid sentence in his conversation with Hagrid and looked up in shock.

Dumbledore felt several waves of magic, quickly building in strength, and threatening to overwhelm his senses.

Hagrid looked worried as Dumbledore dashed up the stairs; with an agile grace that a wizard of his age should never have, and threw open the door to Harry and Gabrielle's room, wand at the ready. Before he realized that whatever Dumbledore saw had stopped him dead in his tracks, Hagrid had swept up the stairs and pushed past Dumbledore into the room before gaping at the sight before him.

Though no torches were lit in the hallway or the room, the room was as bright as daylight. On the bed, they saw two figures. The one laying on his back was Harry, or so Dumbledore assumed. What was strange was the fact that his body was glowing with an intense green and golden light and Dumbledore felt, before he saw, the magic cackling like bluish lightning all over his body, periodically shooting outward to strike out at the walls and furniture. The room was already in shambles, and Dumbledore quickly cast several powerful shield spells to contain the destruction to the room. Almost as soon as Dumbledore completed his final spell, Harry and Gabrielle's bodies both began to slowly rise, levitating in the air about three feet above the bed. Somehow, it seemed that Harry's magic was protecting her as well. As they watched, both bodies were cocooned in the magic, and they could see it rippling across Harry's body, stabbing into him at various points.

Dumbledore had seen the powers of wizards mature several times in his long life, but although the signs were the same, he could feel that this was different. Harry's magic appeared to be healing several years of abuse and malnourishment, and his body seemed to be changing to accommodate the massive amounts of raw magic that Dumbledore sensed. In addition, there was no possible way that his powers were fully maturing, seeing as Harry was only physically eleven. Still, Dumbledore, and indeed Hagrid, could not help but to feel awed and overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of Harry's powers, which were already easily rivaling Dumbledore's own.

About half an hour after it began, their the glow of magic turned pure white, and Dumbledore heard phoenix song as magic shot out from every pore in Harry's body and turned into a blazing whirlwind that tore around the room, burning everything in site, before an final outburst of magic blew from Harry's body outward, causing Hagrid and Dumbledore both to shield their eyes to keep from being blinded.

When he looked again, Dumbledore's mage sight allowed him to see traces of the magic in the air around the room, and though they were lying back on the bed, Harry's body was still softly radiating power that came in ever weakening waves that warmed the room and Dumbledore as well. Surprisingly, the room looked as it did before, as if the magical wildfire and whirlwind hadn't swept through the room. There wasn't even the slightest burn from the magical lightning that had been striking out at every surface in the room. In fact, the only change that he could see, besides Harry glowing of course, was the phoenix perched on the top of the coat rack. Dumbledore smiled to himself as Hagrid stared in awe before setting Gabrielle's parents' letter on the desk and walking out of the room. 'Fawkes will be proud tonight. His daughter has chosen a fine master.' Indeed, Dumbledore had only seen Fawkes' daughter once. She was a magnificent bird, but even more prideful than Fawkes.

Dumbledore's face was serene as he turned and vanished. This was a sure sign that Harry's heart was pure, otherwise, Selene would never have come to him. Many things about the boy confused and worried him, especially the display he had just seen, but he would back off the boy for now. His main worry was that Harry would turn dark, but his fears had just been swept away by Selene. Albus had been almost seventy years old when he met Fawkes, but even then, Selene had glared at him and deemed him impure and unworthy of her.

Room 12, Diagon Alley, London

Harry awoke the next morning to a soft purring from the head on his chest. For some reason, Harry could feel traces of powerful magic tingling in the air, all around the room. 'Probably from Dumbledore, but what would he come in here for?' he thought to himself. Harry couldn't believe that her parents had let her stay the night with him, especially since they had just met him. Harry really didn't want to get up, but he also had to use the loo. He couldn't remember when he had ever slept so well. Perhaps that had to do a bit with the beautiful witch currently passed out across his chest. After a while, he couldn't hold it anymore and stroked his hand gently through Gabby's hair, earning a cute purr from her and causing her to tighten her grip on him and cuddle her head harder to his chest.

"Gabby, please, I need to get up," he pleaded with her, making her groan before smiling.

"Uh uh, too early."

"Well, I was planning on making Ollivander's our first stop today," Harry said mischievously. He knew the thought of having her own first wand would get her up in a heartbeat. Come to think of it, it'd work on just about any witch or wizard.

Sure enough, Gabby's head came up with a snap. "Really? Are you really going to get me a wand today, Mon chéri?" she asked just before her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened, staring at him in shock.

"What is it Gabby?" Harry asked. He was concerned. She had looked at him as if she didn't even know him before she had looked into his eyes. At that point she had seemed to relax, but the moment passed so quickly that Harry barely caught the passing emotions behind her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Harry, go look at yourself in the mirror, do you remember what Ragnok said about your body changing to adjust to the influx of magic?"

Harry got up and walked to the mirror that was on the back of the desk. He was stunned by what he saw. Harry blushed beet red as he realized that he was only wearing boxers, and Gabby had seen him half naked.

Though he didn't recall ever changing out of his clothes, he could plainly see that all the scars he had from the years of beatings by his uncle had disappeared. He had bulked up a bit and the muscles of his arms, legs, and torso were rippled powerfully under his skin. He wasn't muscle bound, but his body was rock hard, and he could tell from the look on Gabby's face that she definitely approved of his new abs. Harry had also grown a couple inches, not much, but he was now of average height for wizards his age. His unruly hair had also grown. Now, it came down in silky, jet black waves to just below his shoulder blades and had white tips. What was weird though, was that the front of his hair wasn't as long as the rest. It was a couple inches long and now spiked backwards, tipped in dazzling white. Harry also noticed that his scar was faintly traced in emerald green. Harry nearly sang for joy when he realized that he could see without his glasses. In fact, his vision was beyond perfect, and sounds and smells from all around him were assaulting his senses. He would have to get used to this.

"Wow," Gabrielle said. Harry could only nod in reply, before noticing that she had her eyes on a beautiful phoenix that was now sitting on the bed beside her. Harry jumped in surprise at the flash of fire that linked them when Gabby reached out to touch it.

Quickly crossing the room, Harry reached Gabrielle and inspected her. Finding nothing, he saw the broad grin on her face.

"Why are you grinning? What's so funny and what just happened Gabby?" he asked.

Gabrielle was surprised when she saw the phoenix beside her. They were supposed to be really rare, and hardly ever showed themselves to humans. Still, Gabrielle felt a connection to the one beside her, which really confused her. Phoenixes were creatures of purity, and while veela weren't necessarily dark creatures, as was widely believed, they were far from pure.

Veela were sexual creatures, creatures of desire, and when angered, could transform into their avian form. As cousins of the sirens, full blooded veela could very well live off the life force of another. While the voices of sirens were their allure and fed solely off the life force of their victims, full blooded veela however, had a pheramonal allure and could choose whether or not to feed off the sexual energies of theirs.

Pushing her doubts to the side, Gabrielle allowed her curiosity to get the best of her and reached forward. The phoenix seemed to understand her hesitancy as her hand stopped a couple inches from it, and looked her in the eye. For some reason that she could not describe, Gabrielle felt that it was right, and reached her hand the rest of the way to stroke the phoenix and just as her hand touched it there was a flash of fire that wrapped itself around her hand, linking her to it. Before she could react, however, she heard a voice in her mind.

~Greetings, young one. ~

~What's going on? Who are you? ~ She thought back to the voice. It seemed weird to her at first, but looking at the phoenix beside her, she understood. It was communicating to her through her mind. But what did that mean?

~I am Selene, daughter of Fawkes. I believe that my father's master was here shortly before I arrived. I have long sought to meet you, young one. The weight of the world is laid upon the shoulders of your mate, yet you shall also require a great deal of help. I came here to be joined with you. For as long as you live, I shall be your partner, your familiar. I can sense the doubt in you. Though the blood of your heritage indeed runs true, your heart is pure. In the years of darkness that are to come, you shall be the light in the shadows. Though your mate shall stand before the wizarding world and lead them from the darkness, you shall be his light, his reason for living, his reason to fight. His destiny is great, but it can also be terrible, the choice is his to make. But know this, without the connections of the heart, his power can never truly be unleashed. It is the heart that binds and holds the key to a terrible power.~

~What do you mean by all that? How is any of that possible?~ she thought back furiously. Selene spoke to her in careful riddles, and obviously knew much of what was going on. Sighing to herself, Gabrielle realized that it might just be true that phoenixes could see the future. Though they had their burning days, they were technically immortal, and it was rumored that they basically stood outside time itself, and could gaze upon the past, present, and future.

~In time you will understand, but not now. You are still young for a human, and have much to learn. But be prepared, when the war comes again, the armies must be gathered once more, and magic must cleanse itself of the darkness brought to it by the very nature of humanity. Such as been divined.~

"Gabby."

Harry's voice seemed to bring her out of it. Gabrielle had just sat there for a few minutes, grinning before her face grew solemn. At first, Harry thought that something good had happened to her, but now he didn't know. Even as she came out of it, she looked upset.

"Are you alright, Gabby," he asked her softly, while stroking her hair with his hand? Harry didn't understand. Merlin had stressed a great deal about changing the past too much.

'Time is like water in a pond' he said. 'When one meddles with time, each action sets the present onto a different path into the future. Each action causes a ripple effect in time, just as a ripple in the middle of a pond, caused by a rock. The future, like the water, does not remain the same. Instead, small ripples occur and things are changed. Now imagine if someone were to throw several rocks at different spots in the pond. The ripples would not flow freely. Instead, the ripples would spread out and clash against each other. Time is also like this, the more your actions change the future, the more time itself is unbalanced. Strive ahead in your goals with caution Harry. If things change too much, the effects could throw off the very scales that Fate herself has carefully balanced in order to banish the darkness that is the Dark Lord. Remember one final thing, Harry. As things change, your knowledge of the future becomes increasingly useless.'

Indeed, things had changed a great deal already. For one, Harry was no longer welcome at the Dursley's, as if he would agree to go back there anyways. He had more than enough money to provide for himself, and he was very capable of defending himself, even though the latter fact must remain as secret as possible. Also, Harry had not expected having Gabby this time around. He was secretly pleased, of course. He found himself enjoying her company very much, even in the short time that they had together so far. She was very shy around people she didn't know, but also really sweet and strong-willed when the need arose. Harry didn't at all envy the person who got on the receiving end of her temper. He had seen Gabby go off on a drunk that seemed to think that even underage veela were sex toys. Harry and Gabby were both outraged, as were several other patrons of the Leaky Cauldron. After a few minutes however, all who watched were shocked as the cute, petite girl gave the drunk a tongue lashing that all but sobered up several of the listeners, including the pervert, who was by this point in tears with magic restraining cuffs placed on him by two aurors that were angrily packing up their dinner to go. Lucius Malfoy was not having a good night.

Another thing was his letter to Dumbledore. There were certain things that he could not allow to happen, and he was going to take care of it straight away, but when he had awoke the next morning, the letter was missing. Having a lot to do already, Harry had dismissed the fact, determining that he might have misplaced it, and decided to look for it later. After all, he still had to figure out a way to get the letter to Dumbledore in the first place, he didn't have Hedwig yet. What he hadn't expected however, was that when he asked Dumbledore if he had received his letter, the headmaster said yes. Harry was still confused at Dumbledore's question as he and Gabby walked to their room the night before. If Harry had heard him correctly, Dumbledore assumed that he had sent him the letter, when Harry had assumed, due to Dumbledore's affirmative answer earlier, that Hagrid had given Dumbledore the letter, after seeing who it was for. Harry had, of course, written the letter. But by no means had he sent it. Whether for good or evil, someone was watching Harry carefully, and Harry had to get to the bottom of it before he made a fatal error. Last thing was the phoenix that had just appeared. Things were changing too fast, and Harry wasn't so certain that it would end up being for the best.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Harry," Gabrielle replied, looking up at Harry, confusion showing in her eyes.

Harry didn't miss the look in her eyes, but he let it go. If she wanted to tell him, then she would. "Gabby, if you don't feel comfortable talking about it, then that's fine. I'll be here if you change your mind. No matter what you say, it won't change my opinion of you."

"It's not that, Harry. This phoenix, her name is Selene. She spoke to me, Harry. I don't know. Some of the things she told me are confusing, but I don't want to talk about it just now."

Harry met her eyes, and she noticed the concern showing in his. Gabrielle didn't know whether she should tell Harry about what Selene had said or not. The way Selene had spoken, it was meant for Gabrielle only, but couldn't she trust Harry? She felt, no knew that she could, but for now she wanted to try to figure out these things on her own.

Changing the subject, she giggled. Oh, today was going to be so much fun! "Harry, can we just forget about this for now and go shopping? Please?"

Harry noticed the change of subject, but let it go as soon as he saw the evil grin on Gabby's face, right before she started giggling and mentioned shopping. Harry gulped. He was in for a long day, and he knew it. "Let's go then. We still have to drop by Gringotts first though. Get dressed so we can leave. I'm going to go to the loo first and after I get changed I'll be right out."

Harry was still dreading the long day he was bound to have and if he wasn't terrified enough already, the moment he left the bathroom, Gabby squealed and grabbed his hand, nearly dragging him all the way to Gringotts.

Gringotts, Diagon Alley, London

When they finally stopped, Harry stood panting. Gabby was a right terror when she was this excited. He could barely stay on his feet long enough to keep up with her. She had a tight grip on his hand the whole way.

Grinning at Harry, Gabrielle got a mischievous look on her face before she broke down laughing. "I'm sorry, Harry. I guess I'm a little excited."

"A little?" Harry glared at her in mock anger. If he was honest with himself, he'd have to admit that if he was in her shoes, he would think it highly amusing to have just dragged someone that far, making them trip over their own feet, along with several other things, several times.

"Well, a lot," Gabrielle answered sweetly, giggling to herself. "I have never been to any of the stores here in England, and I'm very anxious to see what they have,"

A few goblins stared at the two as Harry and Gabrielle turned and walked up to one of the podiums, where a goblin sat counting various gems. Neither one noticed the ancient looking goblin that was hidden from sight, just behind the podium and to the left. At the elder goblin's nod, the younger goblin in front of Harry and Gabrielle gave a glance to Harry and Gabrielle before continuing his task.

"365…67… and 491 rubies"

"923 rubies," Harry said, catching the goblin's eye. The goblin gave a curt nod and continued.

"94…218... and 207 emeralds…," the goblin trailed off and eyed Harry expectantly.

Without missing a beat Harry answered, "519 emeralds," causing the goblin to show his teeth in a smile.

Again, the goblin continued, matching Harry's pace. "Finally we have 412…119… and 378 diamonds."

"You have 909 diamonds in that purse," Harry replied, while giving a short, respectful nod to the goblin.

"Thank you Lord Potter. Before I help you today, I would like to thank you. For far too long, wizards have treated goblins as inferior. Most, when ignored as I did to you, would have became furious with pompous rage, and demanded to be served, yet not only did you show respect by allowing me to complete my task, you even lowered yourself and put your mind towards helping me. Not many wizards have treated goblins as equals in the past, Lord Potter. I have been given the honor and authority, given that you passed this unknown test of character, to extend a hand in allegiance to you."

"The goblin nation has been treated very poorly in the past, and has chosen to stay out of the wizarding wars between the Dark and the Light. However, we feel that by allying ourselves with you, the goblin nation will, in the end, come out for the better. We wish to regain our rights, which wizards have constantly stripped over the years. Indeed, there has been bloodshed, and misunderstandings caused by both sides, but it is most often caused by wizards' lack of respect for our customs. The best prime example I can give for this is ownership laws. Unlike wizards, when we sell our artisanship, it is to that person only, and can not be passed as heirlooms. A fine way of explaining this would be to say that the buyer rents the ownership from the goblin artisan, until his or her death. Upon the buyer's death, the item is returned, and if not, it is considered stolen. Many on both sides have wronged us, but you have not. If you wish, Lord Potter, the whole of the Goblin Nation shall stand behind you. In you, the world shall find unity once more, and we believe that the prejudices of old will be banished forever."

Harry was dumbstruck. He had somehow known before that he was being tested for some reason, but this was huge! The goblins were well known to be cunning and greedy, and cared only for their wealth and crafts. They had always stayed out of wizarding wars, but they were now offering to stand behind him in a war that many believed was long over. What would they have to gain? Of course they would want to be out from under the boot of wizarding rule, but what else? Something else had to be up, but for now, he would go along with it. Cunning or not, goblins were also infamous to holding their word, especially if they came out better for it.

"Why would you make this offer to me? I'm only eleven years old, and I haven't even started school yet. Surely, there must be many, more knowledgeable wizards and witches that can fight for your rights," Harry stated. He had thought his words over carefully, and carefully gauged the goblin's reaction, which was again, not what he had expected.

The goblin in question broke out into a broad grin as the ancient goblin made himself known. "Lord Potter, if you and your Lady would please follow me, we can speak in private.

'How could I have been so foolish? That goblin must have been standing there the whole time, and if he had been a death eater, I'd be dead. Even if it's still a few years off, I must maintain CONSTANT VIGILANCE! ' Harry thought to himself, carefully hiding his thoughts behind an emotionless mask on his face, using his Occlumency. As Harry's mental barriers went up to full strength, he nodded towards the goblin and he and Gabrielle quickly followed the ancient goblin to a small room, just off the right hand side of the lobby. It was essentially, a normal room, normally reserved for those making private transactions, and only held a small table in the middle, surrounded by chairs, and it had a shield, bearing the Gringotts seal, on the wall opposite of the door.

Although the goblin gestured to two chairs that had appeared for Harry and Gabrielle to sit in on one side of the table, they both waited until the ancient goblin had taken his seat, before nodding respectfully and taking their own.

"Very well," the goblin said, looking to make sure that the two children were paying close attention to him. "Before we begin, I would like to introduce myself to you Lord Potter. And before you say it, please allow me to use your title, as it shows a respect for your position. In time, you will have to get used to this in order to use your political might and influence to change the wizarding world for the better. I am the Chief Elder Wolfclaw. I am the chief elder of the goblin council, and head of the three Goblin Nations. At the request of my younger brother, Ragnok, who is head of the tribe you are most accustomed to dealing with, I took the liberty to call a meeting to council, and upon passing the test of character, we decided to stand behind you. Now, I believe I must still answer your question from earlier. We goblins know of you, Lord Potter. We have our own time chamber, which vastly exceeds what your ministry is capable of, so we are well aware of the signs of time travel. Fear not, warrior, for through the rituals, we have seen the future through your eyes and have come to realize that we have long assumed correctly that the Dark Lord will soon return and we will not betray your secret. For this, you will have the full strength of the goblins behind you. Call and we will answer. Our blades shall flood the battlefield with your enemies' blood."

"And your gold shall run rivers forevermore," Harry finished, causing Wolfclaw to lean forward in a bow. "When that day comes, I will be proud to stand beside the goblins, as warriors and equals. But let us hope that day never comes. Too many lives have been lost to and because of Voldemort already."

With this, Harry reached his hand across the table and shook the hand of Wolfclaw. Surprisingly, the ancient goblin was still strong, and his handshake was firm.

"Well said, Lord Potter. Now, before we can finish, I must ask you to look this over and sign it. It is your parents' will, and since you are the sole Heir and Beneficiary, as long as you are here, there need be no reading of the will, with your approval of course." Wolfclaw handed the will over to Harry, who took it and read it over.

Sure enough, it was actually quite short and simple. His parents had stated that they were of sound mind and body and had left their son, one Harry James Potter, everything. All their gold, properties, titles, and other assets were now officially his.

Harry signed his parents' will and handed it back to Wolfclaw, who took it and smiled. "Lord Potter, now how can I help you today? I apologize for the delay, and keeping you, so I will personally take care of all of your needs today."

Gabrielle, who had been quietly listening and thinking things over until now, replied before Harry could. "Chief Elder Wolfclaw, we came only to gain access to Harry's vault, seeing as all of his vaults have been connected to vault one, and to get some gold for shopping. However, we do appreciate what you have done for us today. As a part veela, I understand the impact that this will have, seeing as veela are as unjustly treated as goblins are, even if not as openly. Very few veela, if any, choose to live in Britain because of its' laws labeling us as dark creatures with very few rights, most of the laws aimed at keeping us as sex slaves."

Harry gave Gabby a reassuring smile as the young girl blushed shyly and lowered her head. He gave her leg a light squeeze to try to comfort her. The young part veela seemed very shy at times, but also very observant and headstrong in her beliefs. "Chief Elder Wolfclaw, I believe that she has spoken for us both. She is shy, but the convictions she stated are the same as my own, and I will stand beside her for it."

"Very well, please follow me."

"Before we go, I do have some questions about the marriage contracts, as to how many of them, being hundreds of years old, have not yet been fulfilled, I already know the answer to that question when it comes to the founders, but as to the other families, I fail to realize how this is possible," Harry said.

"That is a very good question, Lord Potter. Before I answer it, would you enlighten me to what you already know?" Wolfclaw peered intently at Harry, giving him his full attention, and giving Harry the feeling that the goblin could catch anything he said, and everything he didn't.

"Well then," said Harry. "I guess I will start with the most ancient house that had marriage contracts. This of course, would be the House of Peverell, which though very few know it, is more ancient than even the Houses of the founders, although it did not become famous until the story of the Deathly Hallows. The father of the three brothers, Cadmus, Antioch, and Ignotus entered into two marriage contracts for his two eldest sons Cadmus and Antioch. One of these was with Christopher Spinnet, his old childhood friend. The other, was made to Li Chen, a powerful wizarding general in the Chinese armies at the time. Cadmus Peverell, the eldest brother, had an illegitimate heir. Cadmus Peverell was the receiver of the Resurrection stone, which was passed along through his line by his only known son, and was last known to be worn on a ring by the Gaunts. The son was not held to the contracts because his name had been changed to Gaunt, and he, although unknowingly, was the younger of two half-brothers. The Potters, though being the descendents of Ignotus Peverell, were not held to the contracts because they were not from the elder line. Now being the Potter and Slytherin heir, I am the heir of both lines, which in turn, makes me again the direct descendent of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, who married. The fact is scarcely known that the daughter and only child of Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw married the heir of the Peverell line. For this reason alone, the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw names disappeared, and it was thought that their lines had died out. Next, I will go the House of Drakul. All I know of the origins of the contract is that the very first Lord Black, a Lucifer Black, saved the life of the current Lord Drakul, a one Octavius Drakul, from a pack of werewolves that had attacked the village. Even though the House of Drakul is more ancient than the founders, this occurred about one hundred years after the last of the founders died. By the time a daughter was born to the House of Black however, the House of Drakul had been cursed and became the part human race of vampires. Thus, the contract couldn't be fulfilled because it's not legal for vampires, who were their only known descendents and no longer fully human, to marry human witches. The contract remained, contrary to the many efforts of the ministry. Even the ministry could not cancel out a magically binding marriage contract of an ancient and noble house, let alone two."

Harry coughed and took a drink of pumpkin juice that had appeared on the table in front of him. Clearing his throat, he looked at Gabby, who was sitting beside him and apparently very interesting in the history lesson that Harry was giving.

"Enjoying yourself, Gabby?" he asked.

"Very much so, Harry," she answered quickly. Smiling sweetly she said, "Please continue with the story."

Harry chuckled quietly, but nonetheless cleared his throat and continued.

"Now we get to the contract of the House of Gryffindor, which was made between Godric Gryffindor and the politically powerful House of Bones. Emir Bones entered into the contract with Godric Gryffindor, giving his house protection, as the House of Bones had, back then, never been truly powerful in combat magic. This also gave Godric a foothold in the wizengamot. Before Helga Hufflepuff cast a spell on her own bloodline, so that they would all be born as muggles until my mother, she entered into a contract with Lord Alexander Bell. The contract was made because they had cared for each other for several years, although Lord Bell had himself been forced into a marriage contract, and they wanted their lines to merge and always be allied. The spell Helga Hufflepuff cast on her line, as her daughter was in her womb, was only half of the reason that the contract was never fulfilled, since muggles could not legally be held to the contract. Now, Rowena Ravenclaw herself was a famous seer. But near the end of her life, she met a Lord Caradoc Lovegood, who was also a seer, but possessed more heavily the ability to not only sense magical signatures, but also the ability to hide them. Each wanting their lines to have the powerful divination abilities of the other, they agreed to enter into the contract, hoping that their families would remain allied forever. Finally, the last one I can answer for is the contract entered into by Salazar Slytherin himself. His reasons were actually quite simple, and of course prejudiced. Salazar had always openly despised any who were not purebloods and Lord Vincent Davis was a powerful ally who had always supported his views in the wizengamot. From his viewpoint, Salazar was more a master than a friend to Lord Davis, and he gladly accepted a merging of his own line with the prestigious House of Slytherin. I'll assume that being such an ancient race with magnificent records, the goblins know of the Founder's Prophecy? After all, it would explain a great deal of why the goblins have been treating me this way."

Wolfclaw's jaw dropped and he had a look of utmost shock on his face. Trying to speak, it took him several minutes of stammering before he could finally get the words from his mouth. Finally, nodding, he replied, "Indeed we do, Lord Potter. And you are the first wizard in over a thousand years, the only one besides Merlin and the founders themselves, to know of it. It seems that we goblins have assumed correctly, and for this I have never been gladder in my two hundred thirty long years of life. However, what does that particular prophecy have to do with your explanations?"

Harry smiled mischievously at Wolfclaw, and sat quietly for a few minutes, letting the elder goblin sweat a bit. "That's quite simple, really. As you just said, the founders knew of Merlin's Prophecy. They also knew that the child would need many allies and they laid spells upon the contracts, so that they would not be known or able to be fulfilled until the all of their own lines merged."

Gabby looked at Harry in awe. "Harry, I've heard about spells that could do that, but it would take someone of Dumbledore's power to cast any of them," she said.

"That is true, Miss Delacour," Wolfclaw interjected. "Each of the founders easily had the amount of power that Dumbledore himself possesses. I believe that it is my turn to explain the rest of the contracts, which fortunately, are far more recent and easier to explain."

Glancing briefly at Harry and Gabby in order to make sure that he had their full and undivided attention, Wolfclaw began his own story.

"I believe that since they were made by your parents, I will begin with the contracts for the House of Potter. Your father, Lord James Potter, along with Arthur Weasley, the head of the House of Weasley, were both good friends and members of a secret order called the Order of the Phoenix, which was created during the reign of Grindelwald, and worked to bring down Dark Lords, and prevent their rise. Your father saw no benefit from this, except the union between his own house and the house of a dear friend. Arthur Weasley, however, has long endured poverty and a low social status. He saw this as a chance to give his newborn daughter, a Ginevra Molly Weasley, who is a year younger than you are, a future outside of those troubles, also allying his house to the powerful Ancient and Noble House of Potter. Your mother Lily, however, did not know of this and entered into contract with her friend Jaimin Patil from the Indian embassy. The double contract was made between you and his twin daughters Padma Patil and Parvati Patil, both who are your age. They both agreed that the union would be a buffer for the alliance between your two families. The only reason your mother agreed to the double contract is that magical identical twins almost always share a powerful bond to each other. They are able to share thoughts and feelings with each other, and your mother, Lily, and their father Jaimin, agreed that separating them would be cruel. As for the House of Black, Lord Arcturus Black entered into a double contract with a powerful neutral dark family headed by Lord Aiden Greengrass. The contract was to be between his own heir, and the first pair of unwed sisters born to the House of Greengrass. I believe a pair exists now and their names are Daphne Greengrass, who is your age, and her younger sister Astoria Greengrass, who is two years younger than you are. Unlike many of his ancestors, Arcturus Black did not consider himself openly hostile against muggles and muggleborns. For this, he constantly argued with your godfather Sirius' parents, Orion and Walburga Black, and refused to give them the Head and Lady rings. When he noted that Sirius despised his parents and their beliefs as much, if not more than he did, Lord Arcturus was delighted, and named Sirius the heir to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black. At age sixteen, however, young Sirius Black despised most of his family, save for his grandfather, and his cousin Andromeda, who had been disowned by the family for marrying a muggle. He was also good friends with his young cousin Nymphadora. The problems came to a peak when Sirius and his mother had an argument and she blasted him off the family tapestry, but Arcturus, the current head of house refused to agree with her and formally disown him. When Sirius turned 17, Lord Arcturus Black made him the Head of House in order to bypass the problems with Walburga. Since Sirius was the only one named heir, Regulus could not fulfill the contract, and Sirius ran off and landed himself in Azkaban before he could do so. Normally, Regulus could have sued for the Head of House position, being Sirius' younger brother, but not only was Sirius Black never convicted, Regulus Black had died two years previous. Shortly before Lord Sirius was sent to Azkaban, he entered into a contract with Lord Richard Abbott, the head of a prominent, but dying ancient and noble family. In his own words, Sirius did this so that his parents would be turning in their graves."

"Wow," was all either Harry or Gabby could say.

"Indeed. That is all for the contracts that you already know of. There is, however, another one."

At this, Gabrielle looked just as confused as Harry, but Wolfclaw continued, undaunted. "Just this morning, it came to my attention that Lord Albus Wulfric Brian Dumbledore entered you into an unbreakable marriage contract with the muggleborn Hermione Jane Granger. This was done sometime last week, and upon questioning Richard and Jane Granger, her parents, they stated that being new to our world, Dumbledore had explained her social and political standing to them. In short, by the time the meeting concluded, their views were thus. They knowingly entered their daughter into the contract in order to help her through the stigmatism of being muggleborn. Also, being muggles themselves, they thought it wise to ally themselves to such an ancient and powerful pureblood house."

If Harry had been expecting anything, this was definitely not it. "Dumbledore did what?" he roared, jumping to his feet.

"That's not possible! I am an emancipated Head of House!"

"Lord Potter, at the time the contract was signed, you were not. Being an orphan, you were the magical ward of Albus Dumbledore," Wolfclaw replied quietly. Secretly, he was enjoying the rage that young Harry was showing towards the manipulative headmaster.

"That bastard! That manipulative old coot thinks he can get away with this? He has controlled my life for far too long, greater good my arse. I understand his views very well, and know that he has only good intentions, but he is meddling with peoples' lives. I'm not a pawn to be used in his schemes! I can't believe this! Hermione of all people. Before I came back, she was one of my best friends," Harry finished softly, sitting down as he said Hermione's name. He couldn't think of anything to say. With all of his occlumency skill, his fury had still overwhelmed him. He did love Hermione as a sister, but this was too much. "Wolfclaw, can we please continue to my vault now?"

Wolfclaw didn't answer. Instead, he simply got up and opened the door. Taking Gabby's hand softly, careful not to hurt her in his anger, Harry helped her up and wrapped his arm around her waist, squeezing her before they turned to follow Wolfclaw.

Strangely enough, Wolfclaw led them back towards the main lobby, where Harry and Gabrielle heard alarms going off. Harry began to rush forward, but Wolfclaw grinned evilly and blocked Harry's path with his arm. "Do not worry about the alarms. It is a fail safe measure used to evacuate the building. We had to do that in order to access your vault."

As he spoke, Harry and Gabrielle saw three massive stone circles rise from the emblem in the middle of the main lobby, and they rose into the air spinning fast before one became the bottom, supporting the portal, which formed between the three stone circles. Harry walked forward and inspected the runes covering the sides of the portal that the circles had formed, and gently shook his head in awe of the ancient and powerful magic. Thieves beware, indeed. Harry highly doubted that Merlin himself could access this vault without permission. The wards that the runes created alone would spell a very painful and excruciatingly long drawn out death for whoever tried and by the looks of it; the magic would force them to remain sane the entire time. Harry smiled at the ingenuity of the goblins.

"This is the first and only time we will be required to do this in order to key you to the ancient wards on your vault. From here on out, you and anyone with your permission, will be able to apparate or floo directly into your vault. Any unauthorized visitors, however unlikely it is that the very existence of the vault becomes known, will be in for a very nasty surprise." Harry and Wolfclaw both grinned evilly at this statement.

'Would it be too much for Voldemort to just prance into my vault? Nahh, that would make it too easy.' Harry thought to himself. Even if Voldemort still had his horcruxes and survived the wards as a spirit, his new body would still be destroyed and his master piece of his soul, and the vast majority of his power, would be trapped in Harry's vault.

"Follow me, please. Only I am able to do this until you are keyed into the wards, Lord Potter. This is the very first and our most ancient vault, entrusted to us by Merlin himself. In this vault, all of his worldly possessions have been left, and as such, it is the most heavily guarded vault in the world. Only the current Chief Elder is able to do this, not even Ragnok would survive," Wolfclaw told the firmly as he stepped into the portal, followed closely be Harry and Gabrielle.

Darkness seemed to consume them all as they stepped into the portal, that is, until Wolfclaw lit a torch from seemingly nowhere. "No magic in this corridor please, only goblin magic works here."

Nodding, Harry and Gabrielle continued following Wolfclaw. The corridor was dark, warm, and dry. Although it hadn't been opened in over a thousand years, the air was surprisingly fresh. Torches ran the length of the walls, and lit up as they passed, and in between them, several suits of armor stood guard. After several twists and turns, they finally came to the vault door. Along the way they had passed by several other small corridors, leading off from the path they followed, and not surprisingly, glowing eyes and growls came from many of them. Still, Harry doubted that many would get past the pair of black onyx gargoyles that guarded each corner of the corridors. Wolfclaw was correct to have them follow so closely, because if anyone had fallen off the correct path, they likely would have never been seen again, and only Wolfclaw was able to bypass the suits of armor and gargoyles along the way. He also disabled several traps that Harry, at full alert, hadn't noticed. The traps went from vanishing floors, to several stepping stones that made the only safe path in one corridor, 'less one would like to end up impaled by several poisoned spears and arrows, followed by a burst of fiendfyre', Wolfclaw grinningly announced.

Harry watched as Wolfclaw put his palm on the emblem in the center of the door, causing a panel on each side of the door to appear. Taking a knife from inside his vest, Wolfclaw cut his palm and dripped some of his blood onto the panel in front of him, before handing Harry the knife and motioning for him to do the same.

"As the guardian of the vault, only my blood can unseal it, and your blood must also be spilled on the other panel in front of you in order to key you to the vault's wards and traps. After you do this, all the traps and creatures guarding your vault will no longer hurt you and if you come this way again the path to get here will reveal itself. Also, as an added benefit, this will enable anyone with your permission to also bypass these protections. You must give this permission of your own free will, no potions or spells can force it from you, at least not without dire consequences once the thief gets here."

The moment Harry's blood hit the panel in front of him, his hand healed over instantly, and the door to his vault, which had been a bright silver material that Harry recognized as mythril, glowed blue, and Harry felt the weight of the wards from his vault, and all of his properties on him. Talk about heavy warding.

By the feel of it, Harry had a castle, no a palace, that was easily twice the size of Hogwarts, probably larger. And it had the most powerful wards Harry had ever felt. Muggle-repelling, unplottable, notice-me-nots, invisibility wards, shock wards, flame wards, asphyxiation wards, stun wards, blindness and deafness wards, anti-apparition, anti-portkey, obliviation wards, and several layers of powerful death wards on the inside of the wards. The wards covered what appeared to be a large island, far to the north, hidden by layers of deep cold mists and many ancient and powerful spells. The outer layer was covered heavily with intent-based and identification and death wards. Basically, any who had ill intent would die instantly as soon as they touched the first ward, and any and all magical concealment, or imperious-like effects would be removed. Any intruders that continued onwards from there would be instantly paralyzed by the shock wards, and stunned before the wards apparated the intruder directly into a holding cell, deep underground. What was more brilliant is that so very few people knew of it, and Harry could choose whom to allow to bypass his wards, and anyone who visited would forget the existence of the island unless Harry decided otherwise. Over all, the Isle of Avalon was impenetrable, and most now believed it to be a myth, even though it was once one of the two most famous places in the world, known to both the muggle and wizarding worlds.

The trick, as Merlin had told him, was bringing Avalon back to the mortal realm. Merlin had told him how to do that, of course, but it was going to be extremely difficult. At this point only Harry could see or get to Avalon since it was held in a powerful stasis spell that held it in a pocket of space and time created by Merlin in the darkness of Chaos itself. Chaos, as Merlin had explained it was nothing more or less than a deep impenetrable darkness that simply existed. Time and space were merely tools used to control the realms, which were created within the Chaos. On the outside of these realms, lived the divines, one of which had been Merlin himself once. In retrospect, Avalon was outside existence itself awaiting Harry's call, as only one with the blood of a divine had the power to transcend existence and summon it from the ether.

When Harry came out of it, he noticed Gabby's eyes were wide and she had a stunned look on her face. "Did you feel it too Gabby?"

Gabby could only nod in reply, as she didn't seem to be able to speak at the moment.

Wolfclaw looked at Harry and Gabby happily. "Well, that settles it. Only the true heir of Emrys would be able to take control of the wards that no doubt, you have both just felt. It is extremely rare that wards are tied to two people, although I believe the bond between the both of you is so close, and powerful, that she has indeed become the Lady Emrys. As such, she wields the same power over the wards that you do, Lord Emrys."

Harry frowned. As much as he hated formal titles, he would much rather be called Lord Potter, instead of Emrys. Harry was proud of his heritage, but he was born a Potter. It was his way of honoring his parents, and they, along with Merlin, had been proud of him for his choice when Merlin asked what title he would prefer to be called. "Please, sir, just Lord Potter if you must be formal."

"Very well. Now, in you go," Wolfclaw replied, gesturing for Harry and Gabby to enter the vault, which the door had suddenly disappeared from. "I will wait here for you both. For now, you two are the only ones able to enter the vault without suffering instant madness.

'Wow' was all Harry and Gabby could both think, as they soon found themselves gaping at the piles of gold and jewelry.

When Harry took a step forward, a parchment appeared in his hand, and looking it over, he and Gabby found that it detailed the layout and full contents of his vaults. Currently, he was standing in the main Emrys vault, and there were numerous doors leading to his other vaults, along with a massive library, that held well over 300,000 unique tomes and several others, an armory, a potions supply storage, which held several ingredients and potions under powerful stasis charms, many of which were created by Merlin himself.

Gabrielle, it seemed, was in love with a brilliant gold necklace. The chain itself was inlaid with truesilver and diamonds and interwove like three small ropes and it held a pendent. The pendent itself was of a weird jet black metal, as dark as the starless night. In the center of it was a large emerald, surrounded by seven small sapphires, each the precise shade of Gabby's eyes.

Harry noticed this, and smiled and nodded at Gabby, "If you want it, you have to let me put it on you."

Gabby squealed in delight and hurriedly grabbed the necklace and ran over to Harry, who put it on her. Blushing, she kissed Harry's cheek, causing it to burn before shying away quickly, her face turning a shade of red that would have made any Weasley proud. Harry was momentarily speechless.

"Oh, thank you, Harry! It's so wonderful. Thank you so much!"

"You are very welcome, Gabby. I'm just glad to have someone that I can spoil for once," Harry said before he walked up to the fountain in the center of the vault and removed the item there.

What Harry had come here for, besides gold, was the pulsating red and golden stone that he now held in his hand, which had emerald green inlay patterns of light, verifying the authenticity of the only true Sorcerer's Stone ever to be created. True, as Merlin had told him, Nicolas Flamel and Dumbledore did stumble onto the actual first of seven stages to the sorcerer's stone, which while it gave strength and produced the elixir of life, and of course turned any metal into gold, it was not the true elixir. The elixir that Flamel's stone produced had to be consumed constantly, in order to maintain your strength and immortality, but that was pretty much the limit for that first stage. Also the first stage only protected you from death caused by aging. The stone in Harry's hand, however, was the final and true stage of the Sorcerer's Stone. Unlike Flamel's stone, you merely had to consume its elixir once, and you would never die from natural causes and would be immune from any disease. It also gave you powerful protections against spells, including the unforgivibles themselves. Luckily, being created by Merlin, who knew so many of the mysteries of magic, having brought it to the mortals himself, Merlin understood the way that each and every spell worked and imbued the stone with the power to shield it's user from them. Also, if you chose to counter its effects, all you had to do was will it to happen, and it would be nullified. It was a veritable fountain of youth. Unlike Flamel's stone, this one would also give you eternal youth if you wished it. It could freeze and unfreeze your body at whatever age you were concentrating on when you consumed the elixir, and also purified your magic, and magnified its intensity. One had to be very careful with that final aspect though. You didn't want to have more magic than you could safely control.

Gathering up several galleons, Harry placed them in a bottomless bag that he then charmed so that when needed, he could just pull the exact amount of galleons from the bag, drawing directly from his vault. Harry also noticed the Emrys Head of House ring. True, the ring that was currently on his finger worked, as it was given to him by Merlin, it did not have the true coat of arms on it and was only the heir ring.

The ring that Harry was now placing upon his finger had an emblem of a great black shield. It had a silver sword, burning with blue and white fire, stabbing down through the middle of it and the sword had a crown on top. On the left side of the sword, a royal phoenix spread its wings as if to fan the fire and a lion sat regally on the right side of the sword, with one paw reaching out towards it, claws extended. The basilisk at the bottom held the tip of the sword in its fangs, and the basilisk was in mid transformation.

The great drake. None had ever seen the species of royal dragon since the time of Merlin himself. The few that still existed lived far to the west, protecting the very essence of fire. Their hides were impenetrable to even the strongest of curses, and only a very powerful and well placed killing curse would stand a chance of taking it down. They lived for thousands of years, and breathed white hot flame, but could also breathe air thousands of degrees below freezing.

Placing it on his finger, Harry noticed the Lady of the House ring appear on Gabby's finger, and she looked admiringly at it before she smiled at him and ran up to him, giving him a hug that threatened to break his back.

Gabrielle looked up at Harry sweetly and gave him another kiss on the cheek, though this time, instead of moving away from him; she sighed contentedly and leaned into his chest. "It's beautiful, Harry. And it will show everyone that I will always be yours."

Looking down at Gabby, Harry kissed the top of her head before replying. "We are still young, Gabby. But we are going to have seven long years at Hogwarts to get to know each other. Now let's go shopping."

Seeing the look in Gabby's eyes, Harry took her hand and apparated them both directly to the front of Ollivander's, before she could react.

Ollivanders, Diagon Alley, London

Harry and Gabrielle were now standing in front of a narrow and shabby shop. Over the door, peeling gold letters read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. There was a single wand that lay on a faded purple cushion in the window and as they steeped inside, a tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop. It was a tiny little place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Gabby sat on to wait her turn.

Harry felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library, and swallowed a couple questions that had just occurred to him, being in the wand maker's shop again. Instead, Harry turned to look at the thousands of narrow boxes that were piled neatly right up to the ceiling. He wondered if Mr. Ollivander had made all those himself, or if his ancestors had. Mr. Ollivander's age alone was a mystery. Harry enjoyed the feeling of the back of his neck prickling from the magic that the very dust and silence in the shop seemed to tingle with. It was at once comforting, but also unnerving to those not used to the feeling.

"Good afternoon," said a soft voice.

Harry jumped. He had been preoccupied with his plan on what he wanted to do here. Gabrielle must have jumped, too, because there was a slight crunching noise and she got quickly off the spindly chair.

Mr. Ollivander was standing before them. The old man's wide, pale eyes were shining like moons through the shop.

"Hello," said Harry firmly.

"Ah yes," said Mr. Ollivander. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon, Harry Potter." It didn't sound like a question to Harry. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday that she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. It was a very nice wand for charm work."

Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink, because those silvery eyes always did creep him out a bit.

"Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches, pliable, with a little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it, although it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."

Mr. Ollivander was by so close to Harry by this point that he and Harry were nearly nose to nose with each other. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes. "And that's where…"

Harry fought back a scowl as Mr. Ollivander touched his scar with a long, white finger.

"I'm sorry to say that I sold the wand that did that to you, Mr. Potter," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches, yew, powerful. It was a very powerful wand, and in the wrong hands… well, if I had known before then what it was going out into the world to do…" He shook his head as he trailed off.

Harry had, of course, already known all of this. But that didn't make going through it again any more enjoyable.

Just then, Mr. Ollivander finally seemed to notice the other occupant of his little shop. "And who might you be, my dear? I don't believe that I have seen you or your family around here before."

"I'm Gabrielle Delacour. I'll be starting Hogwarts with Harry this year, though my family is from France," she answered the old wand maker.

"Well now, Miss Delacour, shall we? I believe we should take care of you first. I daresay Mr. Potter here might be quite the tricky customer. Let me see." Mr. Ollivander said while pulling a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm, dear?"

"Well…I'm right handed," said Gabrielle slowly, looking unsure of herself. Harry caught her eye and gave her a reassuring smile. She visibly relaxed and mouthed "thank you" at Harry.

"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measure Gabby from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, and round her head.

As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a powerful core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter and Miss Delacour. I normally use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. Although there have been a few rare occurrences over the years, where I was forced to make new wands for customers, as I did not have any that were compatible with them. If either of you should require this, I will be most delighted, and you will find that I have every conceivable wand making material in my private workshop. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. I am proud of it and will work to continue that way. Of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

Harry smirked as the measuring tape, which was by now working on its own, was measuring between Gabby's nostrils, causing the young girl's eyes to go wide, and Harry could plainly see the goose bumps on her arm. If it was anyone else, Harry would have been snickering at this, but he softly patted Gabby's shoulder to try to make her feel better.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down several boxes. "That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into the floor. "Right then Miss Delacour. Try this one. Eight and a half inches. Maple and phoenix feather. Go ahead, just take it and give it a wave."

Gabrielle took the wand and waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of her hand almost at once. After several minutes, the pile of tried and failed wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, and Mr. Ollivander and Harry both seemed to become happier with each failure.

"Well now. Tricky customers today, eh? Not to worry I can have you each a wand crafted by the end of the day. Of course you will both have to follow me to my workshop if you please. We will have to find out what materials suit each of you." Mr. Ollivander seemed positively delighted at the aspect of creating a couple specially made wands. Even Harry was letting his happiness show. He had intended for Gabby and himself to have custom wands made in the first place, and now he didn't even have to figure out how to broach the subject with Mr. Ollivander.

Harry and Gabrielle followed Mr. Ollivander through a hidden door in the back of his shop to a dark, musky room. Along the walls were materials of every conceivable kind, many of them Harry recognized to be exceedingly rare and very expensive.

"Now then, Miss Delacour, you will be first. First, place your hand on each of these woods, and pick out any that you can feel a warm tingling to your touch. That will be the wood that your wand is crafted from. Then, I would like you to close your eyes and feel out any material along these walls that feels right. After putting them into one of the three cauldrons that hold the Sanctimonia quod vox Magnification potion, they will become the liquid core to your wand. Normally, I would use a solid core, but liquid cores, especially made by using this exceedingly powerful and potent potion, that if I may add, is near impossible to brew and disastrous if you get it wrong, are far more potent and powerful than solid cores."

Gabby quickly obeyed Mr. Ollivander, hope and anxiousness shining in her face. Shortly after, she had two separate blanks of wood, and two different materials to form the core.

"Interesting. Yes, very interesting. This wood here is white birch and symbolizes love and desire. The secondary wood that you have chosen is blackthorn and symbolizes the power to overcome and influence others through the darkest of times. Now your first core material is not surprising. It is a single veela hair from the current veela matriarch, which symbolizes lust, fierce protection, and healing. Your secondary core material, however, is far more rare and powerful. These, young lady, are a pair of feathers, one from each wing of the Pegasus itself. It symbolizes purity and fiery independence. I daresay that your wand will be the most powerful wand that I myself have ever made, and it will be very difficult. It will be worth it though, and it will most likely be very suitable to every branch of magic, save for blood magic and dark magic. It will make casting even the most difficult of light magic spells a breeze for you, however."

Gabby's eyes shown with unshed tears of joy and she grinned happily at both Harry and Mr. Ollivander. Harry laughed. He was very happy for her.

"It does my old heart good to see that you are so happy, Miss Delacour," continued Mr. Ollivander. "I hope that you will be satisfied with your wand once my work is complete. It will be a masterpiece; I am sure. Now, please put your core materials in the cauldron nearest to you while I work on your wand."

Gabby did so. After nearly two hours, the wand was finally completed and it had a hole in the top for the core to be poured in. Harry noticed that Mr. Ollivander had also drawn several intricate runes for power, healing, purity, and knowledge onto the handle of her wand. Showing it to Gabby, she squealed and said, "Oh, it's beautiful!"

Silently, Harry agreed. Gabby's wand was ten and a quarter inches long, pure white with a comfortable black dragonhide grip that Mr. Ollivander had attached to the wand handle.

"Wonderful. It is coming along nicely," Mr. Ollivander muttered to himself, peering into the cauldron that Gabby had placed her core materials into. The potion, which had been blood red at first, was now silvery and clear. Mr. Ollivander raised his own wand and began a long stream of incantations that took him nearly another half hour to complete.

"Wow, it's a good thing we started so early, eh Gabby?" Harry said, and Gabby smiled in happy agreement. "What spell did you just cast, Mr. Ollivander?" he asked.

Mr. Ollivander peered at Harry closely, making Harry a bit uncomfortable again. "It is an ancient spell called the ritus de animus indulgeo. If you will notice, the potion is now gone, and the amount of liquid left should be just enough to fill the core of the wand. In addition, this spell makes it impossible for the wand core to ever run out of magic, seeing as once the wand is bound, it replenishes its magic by drawing from the wizard or witch it is bound to, and from the ambient magic around the witch or wizard, so that the witch or wizard will not grow magically fatigued. It can also replenish the witch or wizard's own magical core through the same process."

"Amazing," Harry said. If what Mr. Ollivander had said was true, then he and Gabby would each have a near endless supply of magic to use without tiring themselves out, not counting Harry's own abilities of course.

Sure enough, it was just as Mr. Ollivander had said as Harry saw him pour the silver clear liquid into the end of Gabby's wand and seal off the end. As soon as the core of the wand was filled, the entire potion had been used.

"Mr. Ollivander, why did you already have those three potions brewed? Have you been expecting somebody? I thought you said that you hadn't done this in years?" Harry asked quickly. Constant vigilance had taught Harry to always be observant, even of the things that didn't always seem so obvious, except that in this case it was very obvious.

"A fair question, Mr. Potter," Mr. Ollivander answered. He seemed happy that Harry had pointed this out. "The potion in question can be held under stasis charm for over a hundred and thirty years. That is one thing that makes it so valuable. These three batches are the first and only three that I ever made and I made them when I was just a little older than you both are. I have held them in stasis ever since, hoping that one day I might be able to use them. What you are witnessing, Mr. Potter is my life's work. Today I will make my two masterpieces and forever cement myself as the greatest wand maker that ever lived. For this reason, your wands will be only one hundred galleons each, even though the materials alone will probably be worth millions of galleons a piece."

"Okay, thanks for explaining it to me. I was beginning to get concerned. After all, the dark times aren't that far behind us," Harry replied.

"Indeed, Mr. Potter," Mr. Ollivander said while looking apprehensively at Harry, as if sizing up the real reason for his query. "Now, if you would please repeat what Miss Delacour did to choose your wand materials, I can proceed to make the finest piece of craftsmanship the world has ever seen."

Harry laughed and Gabby giggled at Mr. Ollivander's apparent anxiousness. The old man had an unhealthy gleam in his eye that spoke clearly of his obsession with his craft and all at once convinced Harry of his honesty.

Not long after, Harry had two blanks of wood in his hands, along with three separate core materials. Checking what Harry had chosen, Mr. Ollivander looked close to having a heart attack as his broad smile seemed to stretch right off his face, and his breathing quickened up to a very unhealthy pace for such an old wizard.

"Are you alright, Mr. Ollivander?" Harry asked with a concerned look on his face.

Mr. Ollivander looked at Harry with a mad look in his eye, still grinning broadly and taking great huffs of breath. "Oh yes, Mr. Potter. The materials you have chosen are each unique and the only one's of their kind ever to be freely given. They have each been passed down through my family for hundreds, and a couple of them, almost fifteen hundred years," he finally managed to get out without stammering.

Harry was in awe. He could barely imagine what the materials in his hands really were.

"Well, Mr. Potter," Mr. Ollivander began. "The primary wood that you have chosen is a branch from the ancient ashen tree called the Yggrasil. It symbolizes the burden of the world that you carry, Harry. It stands for all those that depend on you, even as you would keep the darkness trapped forever. The secondary wood that you have chosen is a branch from the central trunk of Thor's Oak. As legend goes, when the god fell, he fused all of his powers into the tree. It symbolizes the inner turmoil that storms within each of us. It also symbolizes the fierce strength within you, waiting to be unleashed. The primary, balancing core material that you have chosen is a wing feather of one of the four Cherubim, which stand guard at the throne of the heavenly realm. This celestial being symbolizes the might of the four creature Lords that dwell at the four corners of the earth, and not once has ever come to this plane of existence. My ancestor once saved a mysterious stranger one day, and it is said that when he woke up the next morning, he found this feather upon him before remembering the dream that told him what it was. This vial here contains freely given phoenix tears that was given to another of my ancestors by a very rare royal phoenix, the Phoenix Lord Rapheal, if I remember correctly. To this day, the reason remains as much a mystery as the creatures themselves. It symbolizes life, regeneration, and resurrection. It is the symbol of fire and divinity. Finally, this vial contains the venomous blood of Samael, Demon Lord of Death and Chaos himself. This was given to my ancestor, Antioch Peverell, along with the Elder wand, by death. Death had been given the blood freely by his master and told to meet Antioch and his brothers at a certain bridge, and to give this to him. It symbolizes power over death, and the maddening descent into death and chaos. Your wand will easily be far more powerful than the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand to ever exist. I will be proud to be the crafter of such a masterpiece. If my assumptions are correct, this wand will be powerful in every branch of magic known to us. The core materials themselves contradict each other, yet are balanced by a force that stands guard over all of magic. Brilliant!"

Mr. Ollivander was nearly skipping with glee as Harry placed the core materials in the next cauldron, and Mr. Ollivander repeated the process to create Harry's wand.

Nearly three hours later, Harry and Gabby were paying for their wands. Harry's wand was also pure white but had a black and gold hue to it, which was strangely beautiful. It was thirteen and a half inches and had a black dragonhide grip. His wand had the same runes that Gabby's did, except that Mr. Ollivander had also added in the runes for love, pain, and courage to Harry's wand.

As Harry and Gabby took their wands, a golden glow filled the room, and an invisible wind blew strongly around them, ruffling their robes and hair.

"Very good. Now then, I don't know whether you two realized it or not, but when you placed your core materials in the potions, your blood was added. I can sense the bond between you, so I can safely say that the potion and spell that I cast made it impossible for any except you two to use these two wands. Anyone else that attempts to do so will find that they are mere sticks in their hands. Again, anyone that touches them with ill intent will be temporary drained of their magic, and the spells on the wands make them unbreakable," Mr. Ollivander said.

Gabby and Harry thanked him profusely for the wands, before Mr. Ollivander held up his hands to silence them.

"I have one more thing to give each of you," he said, handing them both a wand holster. "These wrist wand holsters are spelled so that only you can remove them from you wrist and they are keyed to your blood so that only you can see them and remove your wands from them. To access your wand, you merely have to flick your wrist, and your wand will appear in your hands. Now, I believe we can expect great things from you both. After all, He-who-must-not-be-named did great things. Terrible, yes, but great."

Taking the wand holsters and attaching them to their wrists, Harry and Gabby placed their new wands in the holsters before leaving the shop.

Room 12, Leaky Cauldron, London

Several hours later, Harry and Gabrielle collapsed on their bed after a long day of shopping. Fortunately, Harry had managed to get the essentials of what he would need before Gabby dragged him through nearly every shop in Diagon Alley, kissing him sweetly each time he got her another book or piece of clothes or jewelry. Before they came back though, they had a nice dinner at a small Italian restaurant in muggle London, after dropping off their purchases, of course.

They had both gotten a set of battle robes that were made of Hungarian Horntail dragonhide, interwoven and laced together with acromantula silk that itself was heavily enchanted with spells to give strength, speed, and extra protection to the wearer. There were also invisibility and disillusionment, and many other concealment charms that could be activated with a wave of the wand, making them invisible and silent. They each had a set of gloves and boots made of the same material. The gloves had specially made pads that had the additional effect of gripping charms and charms that prevented the wearer from being disarmed in a duel. Their boots had charms applied to the specially made soles that included cushioning, agility, and silencing charms, so that he wearer could move quickly and silently. The entire works had been bathed in basilisk venom so that its' magic also imbued each item and lined with mythril at the seams, allowing each piece to absorb an almost infinite amount of magic. Harry and Gabby had both grinned when the shopkeeper told them of the anti-summoning and weather charms on all of their items, so that they could not be summoned and they would remain comfortable, no matter how hot, cold, or wet it was. Moreover, of course, they were fireproof, tried and true in blasts of dragon fire.

Harry himself had gotten magical contacts, even though he no longer needed them to see. They had every charm possible on them, and were impossible for someone looking at him to even notice. Before each contact was placed in his eye, Harry had three drops of veritaserum placed in each eye. It hurt a hellova lot, and Gabby burst into tears at Harry's cries of pain, even as he squeezed her hand to comfort her. The effect though was quite brilliant. Each contact alone was the equivalent, actually better, of Mad-Eye's magical eye, and had attached themselves to Harry's own eyes, bonding with them. The contacts could never be removed, but Harry could activate their effects and deactivate them at will. Otherwise, it was as if they were never there. By placing the veritaserum in his eyes, he could see the truth of anyone that looked directly into his eyes, depending on what he saw them as. They were truly windows to the soul, and even though Harry was already a master legilimens, not even a master occlumens could look into his eyes and lie to him.

Finally, Harry had gotten himself and Gabby a trunk. Only one trunk was needed because it had twenty-one different compartments and the main compartment was huge. The trunk had powerful wards that were keyed only to Harry and Gabby and could only be opened by them, or someone with their direct permission. The main compartment had a large workout area and weight gym in it. It also had a pool, a kitchen, a library, a large dungeon, several bedrooms and living areas, a potions lab, and even a dueling ring, and several storage areas, one of which was packed with portal stones. The stones, the shopkeeper had told them, were used to transport whoever held them to the portal room in the main compartment. Harry could give a stone to a person he trusted; and by using a password they could activate the stone. Harry and Gabby themselves would each use a stone when needed. What was more was that Harry brought out a small cube that he had taken from his vault. It was a room of requirement, the only other one ever created, and it was tied to the one that was hidden somewhere in Hogwarts. Harry found an empty stretch of wall at the end of the hallway and bound the room to it. At once, a door appeared in the wall, before quickly disappearing.

Following Gabby into the room, Harry sat in the chair at the desk, while Gabby sat on the edge of the bed before leaning back and sighing. Funnily enough, when she sat up, Gabby had an odd look on her face, as she looked Harry in the eyes, before resting her eyes on her lap. Suddenly, a spot on her shoe seemed awfully interesting, and it worried Harry.

"Gabby, are you okay? I mean, I know that this is all so new, and…" Harry trailed off as Gabby grabbed his hand and pulled him to sit beside her, while putting a finger to his lips. Harry waited patiently, and fortunately didn't have to wait long for Gabby to answer his unspoken pleas.

"Harry, I want you to know something. I had a really wonderful day today," Gabby began, motioning for Harry to remain quiet as his mouth opened. "Even as prepared as I was, when we first bonded I was scared. I knew that being a veela, my family would entrust me to you. I'm sorry I had my doubts, but I don't regret anything. I'm happy with you, and I want you to know that."

Harry looked at her, and even their short time together was enough to show Harry the love in her eyes as she looked up at him. "I know that Gabby, and I feel the same way. I didn't expect any of this, but I'm happy with you, and I have no regrets. I have always wanted someone to love and protect, and you've given that to me. I never had a family, save for the Weasley's of course, but that was a different time. And this, me and you, it's different, special."

"Oh Harry!" Gabby squealed and tackled him backwards before he had a chance to react. Now Harry was lying on his back and Gabby was lying flat on top of him, both of their feet hanging off the edge of the bed.

Harry chuckled, "You know, you're really cute when you giggle like that."

This caused the Gabby, who was currently in a fit of very unladylike giggles, to blush madly and give him a peck on the cheek, before rolling halfway off him and leaning against him, with her head on his chest and one leg draped over him. Sighing contentedly she whispered, "Harry, I'll never leave your side, so please don't ever ask me to, not even to keep me safe. Please promise me this."

Harry looked down at her, as her head was tilted up at his, and frowned. "I don't intend to ever do that, Gabby. Call me selfish, but I'm quite happy to have you by my side, and I'd be jealous if you ever relied on someone else to protect you. But if it makes you feel any better, you have my word."

"Thank you, Harry. It does," Gabby said as she closed her eyes.

"Go ahead and get some rest, Gabby," Harry said. "I'm going to lay here until you fall asleep, but then I have to write a letter to Gringotts before I can go back to sleep with you."

"Goodnight, Mon chéri," Gabby answered tiredly.

Later that night, after Gabby had fallen asleep, Harry got up and wrote a letter to Gringotts. He sent a stone to Griphook and requested that everything in all of his vaults, except for the gold, be placed and arranged in the mansion that was the main compartment of his trunk. Smiling, Harry gave an owl treat to Hedwig, who he had also bought earlier, and tied the letter to her leg before stroking her head affectionately and sending her off. Finally, Harry was ready for bed, and curled up behind Gabby and held her, smiling at the contented sigh she let out as she cuddled closer to him.

With one last yawn, he bade goodnight to Selene, who was currently perched on a magnificent golden stand that was made especially for a phoenix. Harry thought, as he had watched Gabby coax Selene onto her new perch, that the proud phoenix looked especially majestic, in contrast to the elegant stand.

Author's Notes: 

Sorry about the long update people. I've been a bit busy the past couple weeks during final exams. Well, I don't have much to say at the end of this one, except that thank you for all your reviews, if it wasn't for you all, honestly, I'd have stopped and just kept the story in my head. Anyways please feel free to fire any and all questions at me. 

How'd everyone like the twist I put on Ollivander's ancestry? Pay attention to the ring that Harry is only JUST NOW getting. Does it ring a bell anyone? Enjoy the clues that this chapter laid out to answer a question several have been asking me. It will be the last clue for a long time, and there will only be slight mysterious occurrences in the future, that bring Harry and Dumbledore back to thinking about it. I know that I never went into the details of Harry's training; I plan on giving this information out little by little as I go. As I am sure many of you know the story of the Grey Lady and the Bloody Baron, for my story it will be simply put that the marriage between the Grey Lady, Gryffindor's and Ravenclaw's daughter, and the Lord Peverell was kept secret from the arrogant and bloodthirsty baron. And for my own purposes… the wizengamot was created in the time of the founders.

So far many have guessed correctly that the royal phoenixes hold the center. They are by far the only creatures pure and powerful enough to wield that power in until Merlin's own heir returns. However, I'm not surprised that nobody has guessed that power yet. Yall are going to have to think deep to figure out the answer to that one. Remember, as I've given one clue to a few people. Love is the key, but it is not the power. 

Why is it, that in every inspiring speech, the power of love is called upon in many forms. Hope. Courage. Honor. It causes many other emotions to be strengthened, but what is the connection? What is so uplifting that it gives strength to the feeble-hearted, and causes the weak to be filled with power beyond our understanding in times of need? Well, I'll shut up for now, as I have made it plainly obvious, but probably also confused several people. Enjoy my newest riddle folks! 

BTW, rest assured, this terrible power is far more effect, and isn't at all as corny as my riddle makes it seem. In essence, it's what each and every one of us, who can view ourselves standing proud in that final battle, would see ourselves fighting for, it binds the rest together, and when unleashed, is terrifying and awesome to behold.