What the Family ?

The twelfth of July saw Harry putting on a cloak over his t-shirt and jeans and Apparating to Diagon Alley.

It was a Saturday and Harry had just finished his morning regimen. He had grown bored with hanging around the same streets and shops around his neighbourhood and was looking for a change of scene.

Having appeared in Diagon Alley, he immediately activated his necklace before setting off. As he was walking the streets, he noticed a slight difference in the alley. From what Harry could gather from the Prophet, Voldemort had yet to attack ever since his return was announced by the Ministry and this had put everybody on edge.

Adding to that unease was Fudge's desperate attempts at staying in power. Harry figured that Fudge would be out soon if the stories were anything to go by. The public was baying for the incompetent minister's blood and a vote of no-confidence was imminent. The only thing keeping Fudge in office right now was that his replacement had yet to be elected. So far it was a tie between Amelia Bones and Rufus Scrimgeour, though that was speculated to change very shortly. This, Harry supposed, was the reason for the underlying tension that he could sense in the crowd of shoppers in the alley.

He picked up a few introductory texts on Runes and Arithmancy at Flourish and Blotts to see if it caught his fancy. Perhaps if he was any good at it, or found it interesting enough, he could think about taking the OWL course when he returned back to school. He knew that he probably would end up sitting with third years, but that didn't really bother him.

Harry also bought a book on some household spells. Recently he had found that his clothes were beginning to get a little small as he had filled out some. While his elves were more than happy to fix that problem, he was still intrigued at what a clothes altering charm could do. It might come in handy in a duel to have his opponent stumbling around in oversized robes. Who knew; there might be other spells worth using there too.

As he exited the bookstore, he noticed a figure. The man's face was nondescript and you normally wouldn't be able to spot him in a crowd, but something in his demeanour caught Harry's attention. Ensuring that the charms on his necklace were active, he followed the man, careful to keep his distance.

Seeing his mark slip into Knockturn Alley, Harry flipped up the hood of his cloak hoping that he did not seem too suspicious and silently vowing to carry his Invisibility cloak everywhere he went. He did not know how he knew that person or why he was following him, but something about his posture and the way he walked seemed oddly familiar to Harry.

The man stopped at a small seedy looking pub with the head of a raven in its sign. Harry quickly and silently hit the man with an Eavesdropping Charm just as he was about to slip in. He knew that following the man into the pub might not be a good idea as one slip could reveal the Muggle clothing underneath his cloak and that was bound to be noticed as all the patrons would be looking at him the minute he opened that door.

Harry slipped out of the main street and casually leant against the wall of the pub to listen to the impending conversation, concentrating on holding the charm.

'What news do you have for me Worm?' growled a deep gravelly voice.

'T-the Master has a task for you, Mr. Greyback' replied the first man in a high squeaky voice trying and failing to sound confident. Harry nearly lost concentration upon recognising that voice; it was Wormtail! The snivelling bastard that had betrayed his parents framed his godfather and finally used Harry to resurrect Voldemort. With great difficulty Harry managed to control his first instinct to rush in to capture the traitor. Now was not the time to go rushing headlong into things. He turned his attention back to maintaining the charm and listening to the conversation.

'-get the old wand maker for Our Lord, you are to attack the Bones' Residence and kill all the inhabitants and their body guards. Auror Roberts will be assisting you in circumventing the wards. You are to leave him behind alive. Make it look like he was the lone survivor,' said Wormtail.

His menacing companion, now identified as Greyback chuckled darkly, 'I hear that her niece is going to be there as well. Delicious! I will enjoy feasting on her virgin flesh!'

Harry heard Wormtail squeak at that line in what he thought was a lot of fear and a tiny hint of revulsion.

Greyback chuckled menacingly, 'Run back to The Master and tell him that the Bones family will finally be extinct before the full moon sets. I will personally see to it.' there was a short pause, 'what are you doing, you stupid rat? Stop staring at me like a twit and move it before I decide to have you as an appetizer!' The man growled.

Wormtail squeaked and scrambled to his feet. Harry could tell that the man had been staring at his companion for a whole minute before being galvanised into action. The charm was suddenly cut off indicating that Pettigrew had gone out of range of the charm.

Bringing himself back to reality, Harry made his way towards Diagon Alley as fast as possible. He had to find a way to warn Susan and her aunt about the impeding attack on their home. As he passed by Ollivander's shop he remembered a part of the conversation. Realising that the "old wand-maker" being referred to could only be Ollivander, Harry hurried into the store.

'Mr. Ollivander?' he called out as soon as he entered inside looking frantically for the man.

'Ah Mr. Potter, I hope that everything is all right with your wand?' came the ethereal voice of Ollivander as he suddenly appeared from the depths of his shop.

Harry hastily stopped the man from saying anything more, 'My wand's fine Mr. Ollivander. Aside from the fact that I won't be able to use it to fight against Voldemort properly, it's in perfect condition. But forget about that, I came here to warn you. I just heard that Voldemort had ordered your capture. They might even come for you tonight!'

Ollivander gave Harry a piercing look 'Indeed?' He said, 'then I owe you a debt of gratitude Mr. Potter, I shall take the necessary precautions.'

'So will you be leaving the country?' asked Harry curiously.

'Oh no Mr. Potter, I fully intend to stay at my shop, just as my ancestors have ever since the beginning of my family's business. We have weathered many Dark Lords in our time, and this one is not going to be shutting the business down. No, I intend to raise the family wards back up again for the first time in four hundred years. A regrettable decision, but we must do what we must in these times. Nobody with ill intent will ever be able to set foot into my shop.' Ollivander paused to take a breath, 'If there is nothing else Mr. Potter, perhaps I can take your leave? Raising the wards will take time that I do not have to waste.'

'Er, no Mr. Ollivander. I think I shall be on my way now,' Said Harry slightly unsettled at the calm tone Ollivander was using. He turned around, but before he could step outside, he was stopped with a sharp 'Just what do you think you are doing, young man?'

'Sorry?' asked Harry nonplussed as he turned around to see a crazed look on the wand-maker's face.

'This!' Said Ollivander, as he strode forward and plucked out Harry's wand from the back pocket of his trousers. Holding it under Harry's nose, he continued with a quiet fury, 'Are you thick or something boy! You do not stick a wand in your back pocket! Especially with the handle pointing outwards! You are lucky you haven't blown your scrawny arse off yet!'

Harry quailed under the shorter man's sudden fury. 'I didn't know that,' he said haltingly. 'They never told me that at school! Besides, where am I supposed to carry it and be able to draw it at a moment's notice?' he added in his voice slowly taking an indignant tone.

'Do not take that tone with me young man.' Said Ollivander dangerously, he took Harry's ear and twisted it painfully, bringing it close to him causing the taller teen to stoop with a yelp 'Just because nobody told you does not mean that you don't take the initiative yourself. The books for wand safety and care are readily available at Flourish and Blotts, if you had cared to look.' He whispered waspishly into the ear in his hand as he gave it another twist.

'Ow! All right, all right, let go!' said Harry as he winced at the pain in his ear. The last time his ear was twisted so painfully was when he and Ron had been caught out of bed by McGonagall in the Christmas holidays in their Second Year the night after the Polyjuice Potion incident. She had proceeded to drag them up three floors by their ears giving them a tongue lashing all the way to her office. But even that did not compare to what he was feeling now.

Ollivander suddenly let go of Harry's ear and with a sharp 'Stay here!' moved to the back of his shop muttering underneath his breath about "kids these days" and how disrespectful and lazy they were becoming off late.

Harry stood there at the front of the shop rubbing his smarting ear and muttering about crazy old men. He abruptly stopped as he heard Ollivander call out from the back, 'I heard that!'

Ollivander then came out carrying a bundle. Banging it onto the table, he beckoned Harry over impatiently and said, 'This is a wand holster generally used by duellists. You place it on the underside of your forearm where it attaches itself by a sticking charm and put your wand inside it. You can draw your wand out quickly just by willing it into your hand. How quick is up to you. You will, naturally need to practise with it to decrease your draw time. I have calibrated it to your wand and forearm size. Now put it on this instant and if I ever find out that you have stuck your wand in your back pocket again, you will wish that the wand had blown your buttocks off after I'm through with them! Am I clear?'

Harry nodded rapidly, his face flushed in embarrassment at the implications of Ollivander's statement as he put on the holster and placed his wand inside.

'This one is a premium holster made of Basilisk hide imported from the continent lined with Demiguise hair and Acromantula silk and sewn together with Unicorn hair. As long as the holster is on your wrist, it will stay invisible and intangible and can only be removed by you.' said Ollivander. He then proceeded to show Harry how to draw his wand out from his holster till he was satisfied Harry had it down pat. After charging Harry 100 Galleons for the holster and a further 10 Galleons for a book on wand care, he sent Harry off with another warning and a well placed stinging hex that had Harry flying out of the shop rubbing his bum.

Harry stood outside the shop rubbing his ear with one hand and his rear with another. He was sure that the old man had raised a welt with that stinging hex.

Looking around he suddenly spotted Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot walking into Florean Fortescue's.

His pain momentarily forgotten, Harry followed the two girls in. Spotting them at a table, he made his way down and plopped himself down at the table only to be painfully reminded of his encounter with Ollivander.

The girls looked up in surprise at the sudden intrusion. It took them a few minutes before recognising the person in front of them, 'Harry?' exclaimed Susan, 'Is that really you?'

'Yeah,' said Harry barely suppressing a grimace upon sitting down so hard

'Wow, you've grown!' Said Hannah, looking openly at him, 'And you have gotten rid of your glasses too!' she said appreciatively, eyeing him with a peculiar look on her face.

Susan elbowed Hannah in the ribs and turned to Harry, 'Fancy seeing you here Mr. Potter. What can the two of us do for the Chosen One?' she said saucily.

Harry rolled his eyes at her reference to the latest title the Daily Prophet had come up with when they weren't occupied with who was going to be Minister. Before he could open his mouth however, Hannah interjected with a question, 'what happened to your ear?'

Blushing, Harry fingered his still red ear and quickly said, 'Never you mind,' turning to Susan he said urgently, 'Susan, I have something I need to tell you; I have just heard that Death Eaters plan on attacking your house tomorrow night. You and your aunt need to get the hell out of there!'

Susan's playful expression immediately vanished. 'Are you sure?' she asked with a seriousness that was alien on her normally cheerful and optimistic face. Harry just nodded in reply.

'Well, there really is nothing much to worry about' said Hannah after a small pause, 'Your Aunt's bodyguards and your family wards will be able to keep them at bay till help arrives.'

'Actually that is another problem.' Said Harry gravely, 'Susan, you have a traitor within your guard. A man called Roberts I think. He is going to help them get around the wards.'

At this new piece of information, Susan paled dramatically. 'No' she whispered.

'Yes,' replied Harry, 'a man called Greyback or something is going to be leading the team.'

'Greyback? You don't mean Fenrir Greyback!' squeaked both the girls in horror.

'I wouldn't know,' said Harry warily, 'I only heard his last name. Why, does it matter?'

'Because Fenrir Greyback is the most feared werewolf in the whole of Britain,' said Susan in a small voice. 'All pureblood children have grown up hearing horror stories about Greyback. He was supposed to have disappeared around sixteen years ago.'

'Well, judging by his remarks about eating your virgin flesh Susan, I think it may be that person.' Said Harry dryly, remembering what he had heard the man say.

Susan looked mildly disgusted at this piece of news, 'I have to tell aunty as soon as possible.' Looking around she said to herself with a hint of frustration colouring her voice, 'Where the hell is that Tonks when you need her!'

Harry perked up at the name, 'Tonks? Why would you be meeting Tonks?' he asked warily.

'Oh she's a part of the detail protecting us. She's supposed to be escorting us actually and told us she'd meet us here. Why, do you know her?' asked Susan.

'Bugger,' Harry cursed looking around in panic. 'Listen, when Tonks gets here, tell her everything and tell her to alert the Order-' Seeing the look of confusion on her face he carried on, 'Don't worry about that, she'll know what you will be talking about. Just tell her that and get to your house as fast as possible. Oh and don't tell Tonks that I was here. In fact don't tell anybody that I gave that information to you. Now I gotta go.' With that he bolted out of the parlour and into the street leaving two very confused witches spluttering after him.

Harry was out just in time for he saw Tonks enter at just that moment, her bright pink hair rather distinguishable. Harry quickly Disapparated to his room and collapsed onto his bed exhaling in relief. That had been close he thought. He winced as his backside throbbed again. Getting up, he stood in front of the mirror to examine the damage letting his trousers and pants pool at his feet. Crazy old man he thought as he saw the livid red welt there. He drew his wand out into his hand with a flick of his wrist and a thrust of his arm marvelling at the action. Stepping out of his pants, he searched his books for some healing spells.

Finding a bruise healing spell he tried casting it on himself and was satisfied at the results. Harry smiled in smug satisfaction at the results and thanked his lucky stars that he had the foresight to buy that book on household charms.

Harry was ready at around half past nine for his appointment with Gornuk on the Twentieth. Not wasting any time, he pocketed his invisibility cloak and Apparated to Diagon Alley where he quickly made his way towards Gringotts.

He was around ten minutes early for his appointment as he was ushered into Gornuk's office.

'Ah Mr. Potter-Black, you are early. Please, sit down. We will have to wait for Grimjaw.'

Grimjaw chose that moment to enter. He took one look at Harry and said, 'It seems that our suspicions were right. The ritual took less time than usual to reach its full completion.'

'That's good right?' said Harry nervously.

'It doesn't matter,' said Gornuk dismissively. 'What matters is the end result, and it definitely looks like it has been successful as you can see from the change in your appearance.'

Harry just nodded silently, unwilling to admit out loud that he hadn't had any time to look at his face in the mirror. Sure the first three days after the ritual he had spent a long time studying his reflection trying to see if he had changed any, but after being compared by a grinning Seamus to Parvati and Lavender, he had stopped.

Though Harry no longer had any grudge with his Irish dorm-mate; he had gotten his revenge in the end after all. The story of Seamus' bedwetting incident had spread like wildfire through Gryffindor house. Harry supposed that was why people didn't recognise him much at first glance in the alley as he remembered with a jolt that he had forgotten to activate the necklace.

'We'll need to verify the results of the ritual of course,' Said Grimjaw bringing Harry back to reality, he gave Harry a dagger, 'Some of your blood should do it nicely.'

Nodding, Harry drew the dagger over his left palm wincing slightly. Handing the bloodstained dagger to Grimjaw, he took his wand out to heal the wound, thankful that he had already learnt that spell. After his encounter with Ollivander, he had made it a point to learn all the healing spells he could find in his books. So far, he could mend minor cuts and bruises with ease and was hoping to graduate to learning how to mend broken bones and dislocated joints, after getting the right books of course. Dudley had been a rather "willing" participant in Harry's endeavours to learn those spells (in addition to the spells that called for the need to use those healing spells in the first place) after all...

His wound healed, Harry turned his attention back to an amused Grimjaw. 'You know, Mr. Potter-Black, a drop would have been more than enough.'

'Oh,' said Harry turning red, 'then why give me such a huge dagger?'

'Because,' the goblin said indifferently, 'that happened to be the only sharp instrument in my possession. It's not like I carry needles on my person.' He said sarcastically.

Gornuk cleared his throat interrupting Harry before he could open his mouth to argue further. Taking the dagger, he wiped it on a special sheet of parchment that was fairly shimmering with magic causing it to glow white and slowly start to expand.

'We use this to trace the heritage of a person Mr. Potter-Black.' He said at Harry's inquiring gaze. 'If the ritual has been successful, it will show the late Sirius Black as your magically adoptive father. And it may indicate any claims you can make to any other families should they appear.'

At this Gornuk looked back down at the roll of parchment that had stopped glowing. He studied it for a long moment, saying nothing with a blank expression on his face, looking remarkably like a particularly ugly wax statue Harry had once seen in a shop. Only when he was interrupted by an impatient Grimjaw, Harry realised that it was a look of frank disbelief on Gornuk's face.

'Interesting' said Gornuk looking up he said something to Grimjaw in Gobbledegook that sparked off a heated conversation between the two goblins who had crowded together behind Gornuk's desk looking at the document in front of them in fascination (and if Harry wasn't imagining it) disbelief.

Harry couldn't take the suspense anymore, 'What is it?'

'Well, Mr. Potter-Black, when a person undergoes magical adoption, their family tree just shows the adoptive parent and the blood relatives of the person, if they are magical-the parchment cannot detect Muggle ancestors.' Gornuk paused to take a breath. 'So basically, it should be showing only the dearly departed Lord Black's name in blue just below your parents' name.'

'So what happened here? Did the name not come? I thought that the ritual was successful ...' said Harry after a short uncomfortable pause

'The name appeared,' said Grimjaw, 'but not in the way we were expecting.' With that he handed the roll of parchment to Harry.

Harry took a deep breath and slowly opened the now six feet long roll of parchment and spread it across Gornuk's expansive desk. Squinting at the tiny writing filled to the brim with names and lines detailing his family history, he looked at the end of it and sure enough, saw his godfather's name just below James Potter.

Then he saw what had the goblins worried. Sirius' name wasn't in blue, it was in red. The same colour as that of his parents.

Just as Harry slowly comprehended this fact, he noticed something else that promptly threw him for another loop; just next to and above Sirius' name were the names of his brother, cousin sisters, and their families. Add to that were the names of Sirius' ancestors as well. Some of which Harry remembered to have seen on the tapestry in Number 12.

'What does this mean?' said Harry tentatively, mesmerised by the names of the Black Family written there.

A short pause later, Gornuk said slowly, 'We think that this means that somehow, in some inexplicable way, you are now truly as much a Black as well as a Potter.'

'Huh?' said Harry eloquently, looking up from the name Alphard Black to stare at the goblins in confusion, 'What do you mean?'

'Well, as far as your family tree is concerned, you are not adopted but born a Black. How this happened I do not know, but the results are better than expected.'

Well, thought Harry, looks like Sirius is actually my father in all sense of the word. Pulling himself together quicker than before, Harry said, 'So does this change anything besides the obvious?'

'Yes, normally if the head of an Ancient and Noble House was adopted, then he would only have authority over members of the house who are in his generation and after and additionally cannot claim to be related to any siblings of his adopted sire unless acknowledged by them first. For example, if the ritual had gone as expected, you would only have authority over Draco Malfoy, and that would be limited since he is a scion of the House of Malfoy. However, taking in the, ah, enhanced nature of the results of this ritual, you have full authority over all the members of your house. Also, you can claim full relationship over any of his siblings. Of whom the only surviving ones are-'

'-Narcissa Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange and Andromeda Tonks' interrupted Harry in a faint voice.

'Yes, though they would be Aunt Narcissa and Aunt Bellatrix to you.' said Grimjaw with amusement colouring his voice. 'As for Andromeda Tonks nee Black, well, she would only be Aunt Andromeda to you if you were to overturn her banishment and restore her status in the Black Family. Right now she and her family are persona non grata in the family.' He said after giving it some thought.

In his excitement and happiness over being considered Sirius' son, Harry really hadn't given much thought over the family he was going to be getting as well. Now, the full ramifications of his choice hit him. Not that he would change anything, but still ... he looked at the family tree again, 'this cannot be right. According to the tree Andromeda, Narcissa and Bellatrix are cousins of Sirius'. So they would be my second cousins, not my aunts,' he said hopefully.

'Unfortunately Mr. Potter-Black, in wizarding culture your parents' first cousins are considered your aunts and uncles just like any of your parents' siblings. Thus they are still Aunt Narcissa and Aunt Bellatrix to you.' Harry sighed in resignation at that, it looked like he had no choice, for better or worse Bellatrix was now his aunt.

Pulling himself together and promising to deal with the whole thing later, Harry said, 'What kind of authority would I have over them?'

'That can only be explained to you once you become the head,' said Grimjaw.

'And how would I go about doing that?' Harry inquired.

'According to the instructions left by previous heads of both the families, after eleven months and two weeks of being declared an adult, the heir gains partial headship. This basically means that they can make decisions concerning the family. We have gone through your records and have found that you have been all but declared an adult as far as the Ministry is concerned last year on the Second of August when the Wizengamot was forced by the former minister to try you as an adult on the Twelfth of the same month. Thus you should be able to claim partial headship of both your houses. We apologise for the delay, but we were only able to obtain your records yesterday with great difficulty. It seemed that the former minister was quite bent on hiding any and all records of that trial.'

Harry took some time to digest this piece of information. Fudge's failed plan to expel him had been advantageous for Harry after all! He only wished he knew of that fact earlier. Then he could have forced the Ministry to treat him as an adult.

Oh well, no use crying over spilled potion. And it wasn't as if that twit could do anything about it as he had just recently been replaced (much to Harry's immense satisfaction) by Amelia Bones who had won the office by a landslide. The main reason for her new found popularity being that apparently upon receiving the tip from the "anonymous source" she had proceeded to set an ambush using some of her most trusted Aurors. In the resulting conflict, five Werewolves had been killed and it was rumoured that their leader, the notorious Fenrir Greyback had been defeated personally by Amelia herself.

With a shake of his head, Harry brought his mind back to the matter at hand, 'So what does partial headship entail, and when will I be able to get full headship?'

'As I mentioned earlier, partial headship means that you can make decisions pertaining only to the family itself. For example, you can now make major decisions regarding your finances. Full headship is obtained only three years from the date of claiming partial headship. In your case that will be today in the year Two thousand and five if you so choose to claim partial headship now. On that date, you will be able to claim your titles of Earl of Potter and Baron Black and will be able to claim your seats in the Wizengamot.'

Grimjaw and Gornuk then placed two ornate wooden boxes in front of Harry embroidered with the crests of the Potter and the Black families. As Harry reached his hand out towards the boxes, the lids melted away to reveal the rings within. Harry gazed upon the ornate rings of both the houses he would soon be head of.

Harry picked up the Potter Ring; it was large, made of Platinum with the Potter crest engraved into a large clear blue diamond seamlessly set into the ring by what could only be a serious piece of magic, 'I, Harry James Potter-Black, heir of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter do solemnly swear to uphold the values and traditions of my family. With this ring I acknowledge my responsibilities to the family and its members. As its head this family will flourish and grow under my hand; this I swear, so mote it be.' Maybe it was the ring or some other mysterious force, for instinct guided Harry to utter those words as he put the ring on his right ring finger. The ring flashed a bright gold before resizing to fit Harry's finger, leaving Harry with a sense of belonging and an influx of knowledge of his family properties.

Recovering from that quickly, Harry took the Black Ring; it was just as large as the Potter Ring but made of white gold with the Black Crest engraved in white into a large, clear Black Diamond set into the ring. Harry followed the same strange instinct and roughly repeated the oath before placing that ring on his right pointer finger.

The ring flashed bright silver before resizing as well. This time however, Harry also got an influx of knowledge of the state of health of the other recognised members of the Black Family; namely his three aunts and one cousin, with a distant echo of his uncles by marriage.

'Now, to answer your previous question,' said Grimjaw, 'since you are the full heir, and now the Head of your house, you will be responsible for all the female members of your family. Even though they are married and grown, they still owe their fealty and allegiance to you. Should you choose to disown them, they and their offspring will no longer be considered Blacks and will be known as Blood traitors, and as such will lose all prestige and honour. Understandably this is a very serious decision to take and should not be made lightly. In fact the last time a person was disowned was around a century back. Heads of houses normally banish family members, allowing them to at least keep their names while not being acknowledged by the family.'

Immediately Harry's mind went to Narcissa and Draco. Harry imagined the look on Draco's face should he be told that he and his mother were no longer considered Blacks but Blood traitors. Unbidden a voice in Harry's head asked him if it was something Narcissa deserved. Was it right to make a woman suffer just because of a grudge held against her son? She hadn't done anything to Harry after all. Any and all interactions with the Slytherin were nothing but petty arguments. No, Harry decided, there would be no point in disowning Narcissa just because Draco was an arse. However-

'What do I need to do to disown somebody in the family for their betrayal, and can I reinstate a previously disowned person back into the family? If so, how do I do that?'

'Who would you want to disown and why?' asked Grimjaw while fixing Harry an unreadable look.

'Bellatrix Lestrange,' spat Harry, taking a deep breath he continued in a normal voice, 'as to the why, well, I think killing the previous head of house is reason enough.'

Grimjaw seemed to nod in satisfaction, 'Very well, Mr. Potter-Black, to do that you will have to press the Black family ring on a piece of parchment and say ego exheres, followed by her name while thinking of the reason.' He handed a blank piece of ordinary parchment.

Harry pressed the ring into the parchment and said, 'ego exheres Bellatrix Lestrange.' Immediately a long paragraph in Latin appeared on the blank piece of parchment. Harry could make out his signature at the bottom. Grimjaw took the parchment and said, 'Very well, it has been done. From now on, the woman formerly known as Bellatrix Lestrange is considered a blood traitor for the murder of Sirius Black, the previous head of her house. All possessions in her name shall be moved to the Black Family vault.' Looking at Harry he said, 'As of now, her location is unknown, so Gringotts is unable to notify her of her change in status. Rest assured, Mr. Potter-Black, we shall notify her and her husband as soon as we find her. It will be up to her husband if she is to still be considered a Lestrange by marriage or not.'

Harry could also confirm that fact since he suddenly felt a loss of connection with one aunt and one uncle. He figured that they would be Bellatrix and her husband.

'What about-'

'-Andromeda Tonks? Well, we have with us a formal application submitted to the previous Lord Black to be reintegrated within the family as well as have her daughter recognised as a Black in accordance to custom. However, Lord Black lamentably passed away unable to sign the document giving his consent. As the current head, it is within your power to complete your father's wishes. Unfortunately, I cannot locate the documents right now as we did not anticipate the ritual giving out these impressive results.'

'Does it change anything else?' Asked Harry

'Well, now that you are the full heir, it also means that any marriage contracts made by your, er, new ancestors will be still active and applicable to you,'

'Marriage contracts?' Harry's voice came out as a squeak to his embarrassment.

'Yes Mr. Potter-Black, marriage contracts,' said a very amused Gornuk.

'So far the Potter family has no outstanding marriage contracts. However, we do not know if there are any in the Blacks. The file had been closed upon your father's passing. Unfortunately considering recent events, we will have to reopen that file. We shall know for certain in three days at the most,' continued Grimjaw with a hint of frustration.

Harry soon got over his shock and said, 'very well, then shall we meet in, say, two days time?' he said, tiredly rubbing his nose.

'It would be for the best,' said Gornuk.

'Then it's settled then.' Said Harry rising, followed by the goblins.

'One other thing, Mr. Potter-Black, said Gornuk, 'Since your mother is a Muggleborn, there is a chance she could have had a squib ancestor. If you wish, we could carry out a full heritage test to see if you can lay claim to any other family.'

'Isn't all that information shown in that parchment?' Harry said, nodding at the document in front of them.

'Not really, this parchment shows your magical ancestry. The limitation of this test is that it cannot detect Muggle or squib ancestors, as they do not have enough magic in them for the test. You could be a direct descendant of Merlin for all you know, but it wouldn't show up here. The test we are suggesting will examine your magic. It is a bit more in-depth and will take about a day. It will also cost you a thousand Galleons and we cannot guarantee satisfaction,' said Grimjaw.

Harry pondered on it for a moment before giving his assent. Gornuk then called for another goblin who rushed out of the office after receiving instructions in Gobbledegook only to return with a strange looking instrument. Gornuk then used this instrument to draw a litre of Harry's blood. He then sent the slightly dizzy wizard off on his way after giving him a blood replenishing potion.

Harry walked down Diagon Alley in daze. Quickly Apparating to his room, he collapsed on his bed, thinking about all the information that he had just learnt. Especially in regards to who he was related to.

This is just great he thought sarcastically as the full irony of the situation hit him. I have one aunt, one uncle and one cousin who are magic hating bigots on my mother's side, and one uncle, aunt and cousin on my new father's side who are Muggle hating bigots. Come to think of it, both the families are blond. Family reunions will be so much fun! He snorted; suddenly feeling tired and drained even though it was the middle of the afternoon, yet too restless to sleep. Suddenly coming to a decision, he removed his cloak and Apparated out. He really needed to unwind and badly.

Two days later, he found himself badly wanting a drink or ten. It turned out that the Black family had one still active contract with the Greengrass family. So it looked like he would have to shortly marry Daphne Greengrass. Joy. She was the Ice Queen of Slytherin and rumour had it that her gaze was enough to literally freeze anybody in their tracks. Harry had no idea if it was an actual family trait or just rumours. Oh well, might as well get to know her, with that thought, he made a note to start writing letters to her.

And speaking of Slytherin, it turned out that he had a claim to the Slytherin family as well. Somehow, he was related to a family called the Gaunts. Fortunately, he did not see Tom's name there, or he really would be having some issues. The only Gaunt he had a magical connection of sorts to was a Morag Gaunt who had lived roughly five centuries ago. Harry supposed that he was the last magical Gaunt and had subsequently sired a squib which then mixed with Muggles before the magic resurfaced in his mother.

At any rate, he didn't know what had happened to the Slytherin family fortune, properties or titles, though he had a good idea. According to the goblins, the Slytherins were a paranoid bunch, and had stowed all their valuables in a secret chamber. Harry had a really good idea where that was. It looked like he would have to pay another visit to a certain Chamber when he went back to school.

And speaking of the founders, he also had fulfilled another condition to becoming the Earl of Gryffindor. The Potters were the only remaining descendants of Gryffindor by marriage. The last Earl had given his Potter grandson the task of finding Godric's legendary sword which he had hidden. The reward being that if he found it, the title would be passed on to the lad on his twenty-sixth birthday. Well, long story short, that hadn't happened. Until Harry's second year that is. Now all Harry had to do was claim the sword and on the day he turned twenty six, the title would be his. The only thing he would be gaining there would be the seat and title. Everything else had been annexed into the Potter family.

Another less earth shattering yet weird revelation that had left Harry unsettled was when he had gone to look at the Black Family vaults. He had seen a cup which Gornuk claimed was Hufflepuff's Cup and was formerly in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault. The weird thing was that the reaction Harry had when clapping eyes on it:

He was standing over an obese woman wearing a ginger wig with overly powdered cheeks. He savoured the look of disbelief, betrayal and fear in the woman's face before raising his wand. A jet of green light then lanced from his wand into her chest, causing her to crumple to the ground. He then pointed his wand to the cup and felt an excruciating pain in his chest.

The Vision had stopped there, bringing Harry back to reality clutching his chest where he could still feel a phantom pain near his heart. He didn't know what to make of that vision or the Cup and so decided to shelve it for the moment. He did have other things to take care of at the moment.

He had decided to leave both Gornuk and Grimjaw in charge of the Potter and Black investments respectively. It would be easier to maintain and the goblins didn't mind sharing.

Another thing was giving his staff of house-elves work. Of the Potter elves, only four were remaining and they were just barely managing to keep the Potter ancestral home and the townhouses in a liveable condition. The plantations were being looked after by small magical families that owed the Potters their fealty while the holiday homes were under stasis charms. In the end, after talking to the head of the Potter elves, a dignified and cultured elf by the name of (to Harry's eternal gratitude) Randolph, it was decided that an addition of two of Harry's newly employed elves was more than enough to take care of things.

The Black family elves were worse off. The only elf remaining there was Kreacher, and the thing had gone round the bend. A few sharp orders from Harry had straightened out the sulky elf (though he still gave his new master filthy looks every now and then). So while the elf was still cursing Harry's name and muttering (loudly) to himself incredulously about how Harry was a Black, he was now functioning normally.

The elf had been effectively shut up when Harry had managed to insert his name in the Black Family Tapestry along with his new cousin, Nymphadora Tonks when he had gone to visit Grimmauld Place to do so in accordance to custom along with a surprised and somewhat shocked Andromeda and Nymphadora Tonks (he had sworn them to secrecy after that of course). What had fully convinced the elf (much to its chagrin) was that Harry had also managed to restore Sirius', Alphard's and Andromeda's names back onto the tapestry. Only the head and a true Black could do that.

Harry had enlisted the remaining five elves to cleaning Grimmauld Place, Black Castle and the Manor in Fairy's Glen with them also reporting to Randolph who was the senior most (not to mention the most sane) house-elf. The house-elves really had their work cut out for them and couldn't be happier.

All in all, Harry was really looking forward to going back to his room and then heading out for the day. He had finally gotten tired of hanging around Little Whinging quite some time back and didn't want to risk Diagon Alley again. So, he had taken to going out to different cities.

So far he had been to Leeds in Yorkshire, where he had enjoyed the nightlife there, using his Legilimency based abilities to get inside the myriad of nightclubs in the city. He really was looking forward to going back there to meet this twenty one year old girl he had met in this club called The Subculture and had subsequently gone club hopping with. He had somehow managed to convince her that he was a twenty something year old hotshot executive in a large company. If he played his cards right, she definitely would be his first one! After that, he might think of going to London, Edinburgh or Newcastle.

So it really did kill his mood when he saw the letter addressed to him in Dumbledore's handwriting stating that the old man would be coming over to pick him up in five days.