5 Potter Money

"A Pheonix?"

"Hoot"

"No, ok how about a thunderbird. Majestic and with the power of lightning at your command?"

"Hoot"

Exasperated, Harry closed his notes on magical birds and glared at Hedwig, "Come on Hedwig, I know you wanted to fly again. Healing you is difficult but I could transfigure you into any magical species, see what benefits it will have, flame travel, lightning, and whatnot. And it is only temporary."

Hedwig glared at him and gave a long hoot, and Harry bristled up at what she said.

"Hedwig! it is unbecoming of a lady to curse. And what do you mean your Pride as Owl? At least just the wings? Why not even just that?"

Hedwig jumped on his shoulder and nipped at his ear, sharply.

"Owowow, ok ok sorry your Owless, I relent, I relent", Harry said, raising his hands in surrender. At the other corner of the store, Kyle watched the interaction with amusement. It was getting more and more common for Hedwig and Harry to argue about healing her.

When he activated his Cosmic Awareness, he was able to gain an instinctive understanding and control of magic but it did not mean he became a reality manipulator, he cannot create an effect in reality by simply desiring for it. That is why he could not simply heal her just by desiring for it.

No matter how loose magic is with its rules, they are still there, just not what wizards believe them to be.

He can not heal Hedwig with general healing spells, her injury is too old and set in her magic. So the only way he could think of was to carefully transfigure her bones and atrophied muscles but for that, he needed in-depth knowledge of owl physiology.

Another way is to completely transfigure her into another magical species, given his understanding of magic, it is much easier but Hedwig completely refused to do that, not wanting to change her body. He could see her point but given that he is a shapeshifting Metamorphmagi, he could not understand it.

So for few weeks, he had been scouring for books that have detail models and explanations of Owl physiology but so far no luck. There is only so much he can find on owls in a recreational bookstore.

Sighing he put down the Hedwig and made his way to the receptionist desk towards Kyle. It was late December night and snow was slowly piling up outside. In this weather, no customer was present in the store. Harry made his way to Kyle, frustration clearly showing in his face.

The lack of progress was getting to him. To tell the truth, there is a good chance he could correctly transfigure Hedwig's wing but there was still a large chance wor error, the chance he was not willing to take. Moreover, by her own admission, she was far older than any other owl, and correspondingly her magic was also stronger. It just made correctly transfiguring her wing more difficult.

Frustration on his face must have been very clear, as Kyle asked, "What's bringing you so down?"

Harry looked abashed for a second, before asking, "Do you know somewhere I can find in-detail knowledge on Owl Physiology?"

Kyle raised an eyebrow at that, "As a matter of fact, I do.", Kyle said, pointing at the Desktop computer in front of him.

Harry just shook his head, "That won't do. What I want is only in research papers and a subscription of one is more than I earn in a month."

Kyle just smiled, "Worry not, you are talking to an Oxford Alumni. I got a free subscription from the university."

Harry looked at Kyle up and down, finding it very odd that an Oxford Graduate was working in a bookstore for pay below minimum wages. Kyle chuckled at his disbelieving expression, "Believe it or not, I graduated in Genetics from Oxford, even interned under Dr. Moira MacTaggart, but...", Kyle drifted off, before shaking his head.

"Let's just forget about it. The good thing is most universities give their students subscriptions to Research journals and keep paying for them even after they graduate. Oxford is no different so I should be able to find something."

"Hmmm...here you go." Kyle got up, waving towards the seat, "Search whatever you want to know, there is most likely going to be some research paper about it. Believe me, I know," Kyle shuddered a little while saying the last line.

Harry did not notice what he was saying, too excited. This was exactly what he needed. Just as Kyle turned, Harry conjured a notebook and pencil and started taking notes.

_____________________________________________________

In a Luxury Apartment Complex in London, Emma took another pill to ward off her headache and used a tissue to wipe blood flowing out of her nose.

The past few months have not been kind to her, the wild goose chase in London for a ghost group and billions of Dollars that lead to where. She had met, negotiated, and read the minds of hundreds of people, broken more morals than she cared to admit, anything to save her brother.

But even with all that, she got nothing to show for it. Whoever she was searching, were professional in what they did and how they did it. But everyone slips up at least once, she just had to find it.

And she did. A recent transaction, an investment involving a lot of gold and old money by some noble house through something called Gringotts. It was a common word among all the transactions she was tracking but she was nowhere near to figuring out what it meant. She had given up pursuing that lead a long time ago.

No his time she was able to get the name of family investing, the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter. Not just that, she got many other keywords; Lily Potter nee Evans, James Potter, and Harry Potter.

It did not take long to find other leads from there. Lily and James Potter had died in a car accident under mysterious circumstances, with no record being present of the said accident. Other information she could find about James was just his birth certificate while Lily disappeared from the face of earth around the age of eleven. Their son, on the other hand, is missing for months.

Just then the door to the apartment opened and her 'bodyguard' entered.

"Dursleys were a dead end. They have no idea how rich Potters were or where their nephew might be."

"Are you sure?"

He just grinned and raised his still bloody knuckles, "I am pretty sure."

Emma's stomach revolted thinking the fate that must have befallen the Dursleys, but over the months she was more and more getting used to the violence. Slowly, she could see herself changing into the ideal daughter her father envisioned, cold, ruthless, and efficient.

"Now I think we only one way left. To find this Harry Potter and he will lead us to whoever controls the Potter money." Kent Smith, a private investigator that worked for her father, said. Just because he is preset here and not there in America looking for dirty secrets of everyone remotely useful to the White King implies how much importance he placed on this task.

"But to search for a boy no one had been able to find, we need something extra, perhaps a powerful telepathic.", he continued, handing her a helmet-like contraption with bundles of wires coming out of it attached to computers throughout the room.

Emma wanted to refuse but she knew better. She held the helmet for and focused on the words written on it, 'Essex clinic', the same place his father was going to ship her if not for this mission.

Kent cleared his throat and Emma put on the helmet and expanded her powers, increasing their range to cover half the London.

Emma barely stopped herself from screaming, biting her lips to focus on searching for Harry Potter. In this state she could only read surface thoughts along with intent behind them, so she started to scout for someone who might speak or think of Harry Potter with familiarity.

Not even a few seconds into it, her head started to hurt and blood started to flow down her nose but she did not relent. Stoping now just meant starting again sooner.

Just then she got a ping.

Immediately removing the helmet, she grabbed a marker and started searching through the London metropolitan map.

"There," She circled a small area with the marker, "I got a mind intimately familiar with the name Harry Potter here."

Kent nodded, not questioning her, and turned to the technician sitting behind the computer, "What is at this address."

Technician searched for a few seconds before answering back, "It is a book store boss."

Kent raised his voice addressing everyone in the room, "It is just ten minutes out. Everyone get in the cars and move out."

Everyone hurried and orderly got out of the door. Kent then turned to barely cognizant Emma and yanked her up, "You are coming with us."