(unedited)
Harry had retired to his room after reading all of Sirius's most recent journal. The journals couldn't leave the room, so he had to put it back on its shelf, next to all of Sirius's other journals and Regulus's journals.
There were only two good parts of the journal. One: he had gotten to know his godfather better and hear about the Marauders's pranks first hand. Two: the look he imagined on Andromeda's face as her daughter introduces her boyfriend, Remus Lupin, while Andromeda has flashbacks of Sirius doing the same thing, over two decades ago.
He wanted to let off some steam after reading about his mother, though. His mum had been expecting a child when she had been murdered. More than just the futures of James and Lily Potter had been snuffed that night. It hurt to think about.
So Harry set off toward the ballroom. Until the war was over and Harry and Hermione were free to host Black parties, Harry used it as a stress-relief room. Kreacher wasn't too pleased, but he did try to make sure all of the scorch marks were gone by the end of the week. Since the end of the week hadn't arrived yet, there was a large, smoky stain on the tiled floor. Harry used that as his target.
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"Master, the goblins be arriving in the sitting room just now."
Harry jolted up from where he was resting in the ballroom. The goblins?! Why are there goblins in my house?
He calmed down after a moment when he remembered the meeting he was scheduled to have with the goblins. He guessed Kreacher had directed them to the sitting room so that they wouldn't see anything Harry didn't want them to see. Smart elf.
"Kreacher, go alert Hermione of the goblins presence, please." The House-Elf nodded his head and Apparated away.
After taking a few moments to prepare himself, Harry made his way out of the ballroom and to the sitting room. Right as he was about to enter the room, Kreacher appeared in front of hima and glared and Harry's clothes.
Harry was covered in soot from spell practice and his clothes were muggle. Kreacher, apparently, didn't think this would suffice for a meeting with the goblins. The elf snapped his fingers and a refreshing wind surrounded Harry. When it died down, Harry was clean and his clothes had transformed into wizarding robes in Gryffindor colors.
The House-Elf nodded to himself and opened the door for Harry. Inside, the sitting room had been slightly transformed. In front of the fireplace was a high, wing backed chair where a goblin was sitting. There was a large oak desk with piles of parchment stacked on it in front of the goblin. There were two chairs in front of it, one of which was occupied by Hermione.
Harry did a double take when he noticed Hermione. It appeared as though Kreacher had decided her clothes, which Harry was sure were in much better condition than his own, were also inappropriate for the occasion. She had been put dark gray dress with knee-high boots. The dress only went to her knees. It looked like a one-piece ensemble with the dress and boots so close together. With the fingerless gloves she had on as well, Harry thought she looked like a detective who was getting ready to go solve a crime.
The goblin at the desk cleared it's throat and only then did Harry recognize him. "Griphook?"
A smile full of sharp teeth stretched across his face. "Indeed, Mr. Potter," he said. "I am the Potter account manager. Since you are now in control of both the Potter and Black vaults, I am the manager of both."
Well, at least Harry knew his account manager. "So, Griphook, what do we do now?"
The goblin slid a small piece of parchment across the desk, along with a quill, as Harry sat in the other open seat. When Harry noticed Kreacher standing by the door, he took out his wand and conjured a smaller chair in-between Hermione and himself. Griphook looked like he wanted to ask what the chair was for, but Kreacher smiled and bounded over.
"Master Harry is the kindest wizard, thank you, thank you."
Considering what Sirius had written about Kreacher and how often he was tricked into thinking he was getting nice things, Harry was happy to see that the elf wasn't afraid that they would do that to him anymore.
Griphook gave Harry an approving glance as he said, "This is a blood-quill. All you two need to do is write your name for verification and we can begin."
Harry and Hermione both shuddered at the thought. Despite the painful memories of fifth year, Harry picked up the quill and went to write his name.
"Wait," came the goblin's voice. Both of them looked up to see Griphook's brow furrowed. "Let me see your hand."
He did as the goblin said and sat down the quill before stretching out his hand to meet Griphook's own. The goblin sneered as he took in the sight of Harry's hand.
"These are the same precise marks of a blood-quill. They are not to be used excessively or multiple times closely together. Lord Potter, you were kind the first time we met so I do not think you purposely misused a cursed item. Who forced you to use a blood-quill?"
Harry hadn't been expecting the goblin to care about his scar. He also hadn't expected it to be so important. "Um, Dolores Umbridge did- back when she was a Hogwarts professor."
This seemed to enrage Griphook. "That slimy woman." It took the goblin a few moments to cool down, but he then locked eyes with each of them and said, "I will making sure that, after this war, she is properly dealt with to the extent of goblin law. Misusing a goblin created artifact, which is what blood-quills are, is a heavily punishable crime."
Hermione glanced at Harry and gave him a small smile. When it looked like he might cry from joy, she reached over and grasped his hand tightly in her own.
This seemed to shake Griphook from his rage, as he cleared his throat. "I apologize for making you use a blood-quill again, but it is usually used for the signing of all important documents. In this case, however, I think Gringotts can make an exception for all future signings. You will still need to use it this once for verification." The goblin truly did look regretful.
Harry picked the quill back up and quickly signed his name. The familiar burn was there, as it was cutting over a feel scar, but it quickly faded away as his name disappeared from his hand. Where the letters of his name had over-crossed with I must not tell lies the lines looked a bit more red, but nothing Harry couldn't handle.
Griphook grabbed the parchment and will and tucked them away in a drawer if the desk. A few seconds later, the Floor roared to life being him. Harry and Hermione both had their wands out in a flash, prepared to protect themselves, but they calmed down when they noticed Griphook's lack of reaction.
A second goblin had just entered the room. He was carrying a medium sized wooden crate, which he sat on the floor near Griphook. Since it was on the other side of the desk, Harry and Hermione couldn't see it. A scraping sound echoed around the room as the new goblin opened the crate.
"This is my assistant, Viperfang," Griphook said.
The goblin stood up with a much smaller, ornate box in his hands. It was a wooden box with a golden flower painted on the top. Bronze lined the edges and formed the feet of the beautiful box. Viperfang walked around to their side of the desk and opened it at Harry's side. Inside of the box sat three stunning rings.
"The one of the left," said Griphook, "is the Potter Lord ring. The one on the far right is the Potter Heir ring."
He motioned for Harry to put the Lord ring on, but Harry stopped before he could lift it from it's velvety cushion. "What's the ring in the middle?"
Griphook looked sad for a moment as he gazed at the ring. "That, was your mother's engagement ring. It has gems from old Potter artifacts that had fallen apart centuries ago, but your father had the rest of the ring designed special for your mother."
Now that Harry knew that, he swallowed heavily. That ring had been his mother's. He leaned to look closely at it and realized that it was a lily, but the seeds in the center were beautiful, multi-colored jewels.
With the realization that a ring belonging to his mother sat in that box, Harry was startled when he realized that the Lord ring had been work by his father. Instead of putting on the Lord ring, as Harry was sure he was supposed to, he reached for his mother's engagement ring.
He assumed that when he touched it, he would feel like urge to give it to Ginny. But no, that wouldn't feel right. This ring held his mother's love- familial love. So Harry knew he was doing to right thing when he turned and held the ring out to Hermione.
Her eyes were welling up with tears as she said, "Harry, I can't possibly, that was your mother's-"
"And it belongs with my family. It speaks to my magic, 'Mione. It's meant to be yours."
A few tears did escape as he slid in onto the ring finger of her right hand. Even Kreacher looked like he wanted to cry. The House-Elf had been around magic for way longer than Harry and Hermione had, he understand just how much this meant.
They shared a hug and Hermione wiped her tears with sleeves of her dress. "Thank you," she whispered.
Harry gave her hand one last squeeze before he took the Lord ring from the box. He took a deep breath as he slid it onto his middle finger. A tingle of energy flowed from the ring and throughout his body. He was smiling brightly by the time it dissipated.
"The ring accepted you, Mr Potter. Congratulations." Griphook was giving another frightening grin.
Viperfang closed the box with a gentle snap and shuffled around to the crate again. This time, he appeared with a heavy onyx box. The edges were lined in silver and Harry could clearly see the Black crest on top. Kreacher gasped and bounced in his seat in delight.
When the goblin opened the box this time, there were four rings. The first one was clearly the Lord ring, but the one next to it didn't look like an engagement ring.
"As I'm sure you've guessed, the first ring is the Lord ring, " said Griphook, while Harry preened at having been right. "The ring next to it is the Lady ring. It is usually worn by the wife of the Lord instead of a ring. However, that was not it's original purpose.
Harry and Hermione sat up straighter at this.
"Before some only child decided to give it to their wife, it was intended for the younger sibling. In many Pure-blood families, the marriages are for alliances and power, so the couple does not truly love each other. But they must still have children so their family line has an Heir. Often times, this means the couple will have two children- the heir and the spare. The Lady ring was originally given to the younger child, the spare."
This made both of them a bit uneasy, but Kreacher seemed delighted. Harry grabbed the Lord ring and held it out for Kreacher to look at, as he knew the House-Elf was dying to see it. His large eyes roved over it many times before he gave a nod. Harry then placed the Black ring above the Potter ring.
The magic from the Black ring felt similar to the Potter ring, but sharper, somehow. It felt like it was probing, trying to find a place where it belonged inside of Harry's magical core- since the Potter magic was already there. Eventually, he felt then magic settle. Hermione and Kreacher both gasped from beside him.
"Harry, you look-"
"Master looks like a proper Black now."
After seeing Harry's confused look, Hermione took out her wand and conjured a mirror. Harry looked at his reflection and noticed that his cheekbones were sharper, like Hermione's. His eyebrows weren't bushy anymore and his nose shortened just a bit. He'd completely forgot about the part where his looks would change. Thankfully, he still looked more like a Potter- just like Hermione still looked more like a Granger.
A moment after taking in his new look, Harry dropped the mirror and pulled down the corner of his shirt. There, on his left shoulder, was a birthmark to match Hermione. A smile bloomed on his face even as he felt tiredness seep into his bones. Hermione had said she'd gotten super tired after being adopted and slept the rest of the day. He only needed to get through a bit more paperwork with Griphook and then he could sleep.
That plan was derailed when Viper fang pulled out a third box; this one with the Deathly Hallows on top. Boy did Harry hope Griphook could explain this one.
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Sleep was definitely welcome. In fact, Harry would be happy if the only he ever did again was sleep. Hermione had other plans.
His mid-day nap after the goblins' visit was cut short when Hermione yanked him off of the sofa.
"Harry! Harry James Potter, this is important!"
Even though he was now on the floor, Harry curled up on the plush carpet and mumbled, "Five more minutes, 'Mione."
Hermione havye a huff and stomped from the room. Harry thought he had finally won when a loud banging filled the room. Harry scrambled up off of the floor and pointed his wand in the direction of the noise. Standing in the doorway of the living room were Hermione and Kreacher, both holding pots and pans. He leveled a glare at both of them. Kreacher had enough sense to Apparate away. Hermione, however, did not.
She set the kitchenware down, where it quickly disappeared with a pop, and walked over to Harry.
"I understand that you're tired, you've done a lot today-" Yeah, becoming Lord Potter, Black, Peverell, and Slytherin. Oh, don't forget to mention magically changing heredities and magically adopting you. "-but Bill just sent a letter. I've already read it, sorry, but it explains why you were so tired after claiming your Lordships."
Intrigued, Harry decided to discuss the importance of beauty sleep with Hermione at a later time. They both hurried down to the kitchen. When they entered, the smell of Mexican food filled their senses. Hermione wasn't fazed by the smell and continued to the table.
"Uh, Kreacher," said Harry. "are you making tacos right now?"
The House-Elf hummed and gave Harry a thumbs up as he ran around the kitchen. Hermione gave an exasperated sigh from her seat. "Harry, the letter?"
Harry rolled his eyes, but sat down next to the witch. The parchment was signed with Bill's usual signature was on the outside of the letter, so Harry knew Hermione wasn't just waking him up for fun. She handed the letter over and Harry began to read.
Sorry this isn't very formal this time, but I think this is important. Hermione told me you claimed a Lordship today and that it left you way more exhausted than it should have. I did a little digging at Gringotts and found something on Lordships. Apparently, claiming more than one Heir or Lordship in a day can expel darkness. A couple of centuries back, there was a super powerful obscurus (a wixen who's magic is so repressed that it explodes lethally) with some really loving friends and family.
They begged the goblins for help because the Ministry wanted to kill him and have it over with. The goblins did a lot of research and figured out that claiming more than one Heir or Lordship in a day could help with really dark magic. For example, someone who had a really dark curse on them could claim two Heirships and the dark curse would dissipate. Even people born without the ability to love (children conceived under the influence of Amortentia) could suddenly have that ability.
So this obscurus's friends named him the Heir to two of their families and had him claim the Heirships. He was no longer an obscurus. He was just a normal wizard. It took away the darkest part of him, but he was exhausted afterward.
When Hermione told me about how tired you were, it reminded me of when I came across those files. I'm thinking you may no longer be a horcrux because the claiming took the soul piece away.
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You're welcome for stopping there. There's not too much for me to explain about this chapter. I will say this tho bc I like explaining my take of goblin culture. When two Lordships go to one person, the goblins are meant to become one bloodline. Since Griphook and the currently nameless old Black goblin already have kids, their kids would be married to combine the lines. Then the combined line's child would be the new account manager. Also, in case I forget to mention in next chapter, Harry gave Hermione one of the other Black rings and magically adopted her into the Potter family.
That's all for now. Leave a comment if you'd like, until next time!
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Words: 2903
Last Updated: June 27, 2023