Chapter 10: A Trip to Gringotts

The three pranksters made their way to Diagon Alley. The normal mobs of well-wishers, and a few disbelievers who thought Sirius got off light, were dealt with by Harry. He just waved his hand and they all found other things to do. It wasn't anything spectacular, much to the dismay of Sirius, but they were pressed for time. Which meant they probably should have disguised themselves, but alas, they didn't think about it until it was too late.

They made it to Gringotts just as the hour struck noon. Sirius went to a teller to announce they were there. "Greetings, teller, can you tell the Black and Potter managers that we are here," he said as cordially as he could. He didn't like pissing off the goblins. His mother did that enough when he was a kid.

"I will let them know. Go stand over there," the goblins said, pointing to a set of doors off to the left side.

Sirius and the others nodded and stepped to the side. They made their way to the doors and sat on the bench there. It wasn't long before another goblin came and got them. They were led through some long stone corridors. They came to a door. The goblin knocked on the door and was bid to enter. So, they opened the door and went in.

Sitting behind the desk was two older goblins. They were shuffling around pieces of parchment like they were important. "Come in, sit down," the one on the right said, gesturing to the three chairs in front of the desk.

"We'd like to see to the reading of the Potter wills," said Sirius as he took a seat. Harry and Remus followed suit. The two goblins glared at them.

"Yes, we can do that," the goblin on the left said. "These should have been read when Mr. Potter came to the bank on his first trip three years ago." He sniffed as if Harry had done the faux pas.

"Well, no one told me," Harry said indignantly. Which was true, he hadn't been informed of anything to do with his parents until Sirius had told him this summer. Sirius informed him that he could have had the wills read at any time since he turned eleven, and that he had another vault that he was to inherit when he turned seventeen. The Potters were very well-to-do, but they were not an Ancient and Noble house like the Blacks. However, Sirius was naming Harry his heir, so he could make them such when Sirius passed away if he combined the houses.

"That's because Hagrid took you," Sirius said, putting his hand on his godson's arm. Having been told that story already. He was still miffed about that. Harry was seriously undereducated in what he needed to know. He had done his best to reeducate him, but there was still so much he needed to go over and so little time. That was one of the reasons he wanted Remus to take the teaching position.

"Then why is this guy all bent out of shape?" the teen said, waving to the goblin, who was probably his manager. It was rude that they still hadn't introduced themselves.

"Because goblins are grumpy by nature," ventured Remus, who was trying to stifle a chuckle. Harry was just such an adorable kid when he was all petulant.

"Well, he needs to stop," Harry said, then realized he was probably falling for his own prank and giving the goblin the return treatment. He made the effort to stop. He giggled to himself at getting caught like that.

"The wills," Sirius said, patting Harry's arm in an effort to calm the boy, then he noted that the kid had calmed himself down.

The wills were read, naming Harry the main benefactor, with some bequeaths to others. It named Peter as the Secret Keeper, and Sirius and the Longbottoms as the main caretakers of the baby Harry.

"Wait, who are the Longbottoms? As in Neville's parents? Where are they?" a confused Harry asked, looking to Sirius.

Sirius looked to Remus. "Where are they?" he asked, trying not to get angry. It would be just one more thing that had been denied Harry a good life.

"St. Mungo's," was the answer. Then the ex-werewolf got a thought. "I'll tell you when we don't have company." He glanced meaningfully to the goblins, who still had not introduced themselves. Sirius knew who they were, so the other two trusted him.

Sirius raised an eyebrow but let it go. Harry was confused, but he decided to hear Remus out later. Remus was just glad they trusted him to not question it right now.

"If that is all, we'll go to our vaults," Sirius said, getting up and leaving the room without saying anything else.

They took some money out of their vaults. Well, Sirius did. Harry still had plenty stashed in his wrist's secret pocketspace. They left Gringotts and left Diagon Alley without picking up anything. Remus led them back to Grimmuald Place and sat them down in the living room.

"Okay, this is kind of hard to talk about, so bear with me. The Longbottoms were attacked a few days after the Potters were killed, bar you, Harry. Bellatrix and her husband and brother-in-law, along with Barty Crouch Jr. attack them thinking they knew what happened to You-Know-Who," he said, only to be interrupted by Harry.

"His name is Tom Riddle. Call him that, if you won't call him Voldemort, or Voldy," the teen said, thinking that the You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named were stupid. He did agree with Dumbledore that fear of the name created fear of the thing itself. He didn't fear Voldemort. He'd faced him twice and won. Sure, he might fear the real man, but the wraith that he was right now, not so much.

"How…never mind, I remember, the diary. Anyway, they attacked them under the torture curse, which is called the Cruciatus Curse, which is one of the Unforgivables. You will learn about them in school, Harry. They were tortured until they lost themselves in their own mind. They are in the Janus Thicket ward in St. Mungo's. They have been there all these years. I was thinking maybe Harry could…" he trailed off leadingly. He was really hopeful that Harry could revive them. It was a shame what happened to two such wonderful people. And unlike everyone else from that time, these two were still alive.

"I could try, but it would hurt them. That might do more harm than good," Harry said, thinking that it was pain that put them there.

"It might bring them back," Sirius said, knowing that he had been put under the Cruciatus Curse as a child by his mother, and now all that suffering was gone. Sure, it wasn't near as bad as the Longbottoms' suffering, but even the residue from his childhood was gone. Surely, it could only help, right?

"Okay, but it will have to be undercover. I don't want any fame by doing this. Should we tell Neville or his grandmother?" he asked, not sure if he wanted to or not. If it went horribly wrong, then yeah, he'd cop to it, but if it went right, then they might not ever let him live it down. He liked Neville, but he didn't want a hero-worshipping friend. He'd rather earn it the hard way.

"That's a good question, and quite a moral dilemma. I think they are the only two that should know, if anyone at all," Remus said, being the moral compass for the group. He was tempted to tell Dumbledore, then he remembered the conversation they had this morning and decided that the old man could stuff it.

"Or you could try and see if the Longbottoms are fixed. I think you should let Alice and Frank know, and only them," Sirius said, not quite as morally obligated as Remus.

"I would prefer no one, not even the Longbottoms know," Harry said, hoping they backed him on his wants. "I really don't want anyone to know about my powers." He used a small voice to make them understand that it was a real concern for him.

"You have my backing whatever you want," Sirius said, knowing that Harry wanted no more fame than he already had. He didn't agree, but it was the teen's choice. He put a hand on the boy's shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"You cured me, you have my backing too," Remus said, reluctantly. He wouldn't go against the teen that have given him his lifelong dream. He would never fear the moon again, and that was thanks to this child.

"Then let's do this. I want Neville to have his parents back. How do we get into St. Mungo's?" Harry said, thinking that one didn't just walk into a hospital.

"Magic me into my female form and give me a broken arm or something. Or an extra arm, people do stuff like that all the time. Or splinch my leg off or something," Sirius said, really getting into it. He started pacing and coming up with different injuries and accidents he could go with.

"What is splinching?" Harry asked, wanting to know what he was supposed to be doing. It didn't sound like anything pleasant.

"Splinching is when someone leaves a part of themselves behind when they apparate, which is what we did to get to Diagon Alley," Remus explained, trying to calm the rambling Sirius down as he got further explicit in his descriptions. Why did there need to be blood on his boobs? This man was just too graphic sometimes.

"Oh, so if I turn him into a woman and leave off a foot, he can walk into hospital carrying it?" Harry said, trying to picture it in his head.

"Can you do that without hurting him?" Remus asked, finally getting the dogman to shut up and pay attention.

"Sure," Harry said, waving his hand and doing just that, only making it so Serena was carrying her hand not her foot.

"Wicked," Sirius said, waving his detached hand about.

"That's gross," Remus said, hitting his friend over the head, only to have the favor returned with the detached hand.

"Come on, do Remus and yourself, and we'll go," Sirius said, waving his other hand and tapping his foot.

Harry became Harriet, and Remus became the unnamed man and they left for St. Mungo's. They came to the abandoned department store and told the mannequin that Serena needed to have her hand attached. They were let in and when Sirius went to the Greeting Desk, Harry and Remus snuck upstairs to the Janus Thicket ward.

Harry made them invisible, since he left his cloak at home, and they found the Longbottoms. Sneaking to the room, Harry shot them with his lightning, and they waited. There was no screaming since the patients were comatose, but they did arch off their beds. Then the screaming started, but it was screams of surprise.

"Where is my baby?" Alice was yelling, trying to get out of her bed, but she was belted down.

Harry and Remus flatten themselves against the wall as healers were running to the room. The whole ward was in chaos as everyone was trying to get into that room.

"Where is my Neville?" the woman kept screaming frantically. "Where is Neville?" over and over.

"Why are we here?" was her husband's question. "What happened to us?" was his other confused question.

"We'd better leave," Harry said, fear at being discovered in his voice.

"Yeah," Remus said, relief in his as he led them out of the ward.

They caught up with Sirius who was still in the waiting room. Harry waved his hand inconspicuously and Sirius's hand was fixed.

"Let's go," the teen said, wanting to leave right now.

"Did it work?" Sirius asked once they were away.

"Yup," Remus answered with a grin.

"Good," was all that was said as they went home.

Hphphp

Dumbledore was eating lunch unaffected by all of his staff looking at the space above his head. Which was just a flashing light since he wasn't talking.

"Headmaster," Madam Hooch said, looking at the man, "will there be room in the budget for new brooms this year?" she asked as she did every year.

"Of course, there will," the man said, not seeing the sign turn pink and saying 'truth'. Then he added, "I will not be using the funds for brooms though." Which made the sign still say truth.

"Whyever not?" the indignant woman said, getting angry.

"There are many much more important things needed," the old man said, making the sign say 'manipulation' and turn green.

"Oh, and pray tell what is more important than new brooms for the children?" she said with a bite in her tone.

"Why books for myself," he said, cheerfully and with a wave of his hand like it was a given. The sign said it was the truth as he knew it.

This time McGonagall got mad. She threw down her napkin and stated, "Don't worry, Rolanda, you will have your brooms." She grabbed Albus by the ear and dragged him out of his chair and up to his office. "You had better tell me that you have not been spending all of the broom money on books," she demanded, pointing for him to sit like he was a student about to get detention.

"Of course not," he said, like he was mortified that she would think so. "I sometimes buy robes," he added, sitting as he had not a care in the world.

"Albus Dumbledor, what has gotten into you?" she asked, looking at her longtime friend, and wondering what spell he was under.

"I fear that there is something sinister going on," he said with a sigh. "I have a task I must attend," he said, his sign showing he spoke the truth as he knew it. "Can you hold the fort down for a little while?" he asked, knowing she would.

"Very well," she said, knowing without looking that she was being manipulated. But she knew the man was very important and needed to do things that other people couldn't.

"Thank you, my dear. I will not be long," he said, shooing her away.

"Rolanda will be getting her brooms," Minerva stated firmly, not budging. She would get her way.

"Very well," the old man said, his sign showing that he spoke the truth.

"I know you are manipulating me, but I will let it go, if you start using the funds for what they are intended for. And I will know if you do not. Don't test me on this, Albus," she said stiffly, going to the door.

"Very well," he said again, this time his sign said, 'partly true' in deep purple.

"You will," she said firmly and left.

"They just don't understand," he said with a sigh as he looked over some notes he made on the horcruxes. He knew there was one in Little Hangleton. He was going to take a few days to look for it. He was sure he was going to find it. "Fawkes, let's go," he said, gathering up his belongings for his trip.

The phoenix came and landed on him and in the next minute they burst into flames and disappeared.