Ch99: Party at Potter Manor P1

Gringotts Bank was the sole wizarding bank of magical Britain. It was also a neutral territory where the goblins of the Goblin Nation and wizards of the wizarding nation interacted freely. Goblins were natural hoarders of wealth, weapons, artefacts and anything of substantial value. They also controlled the wizarding economy, at least in Britain.

But the Goblins also provided their vaults as holding lockers for objects of no particular value with no questions asked for a fee. Such vaults could hold projects of questionable origin and magic, facilitating wizards to circumvent Ministry regulations.

That was why Bellatrix and Voldemort had confidently tucked away Hufflepuff's cup in Gringotts.

Unfortunately for the Dark Lord, getting past Gringotts' security was peanuts so long as Bellatrix cooperated with Harry.

Harry eyed Bellatrix Lestrange, walking side by side with Sirius as they entered the bank. He erased decades of her memories after he extracted all the information he wanted from the witch. Right now, Bellatrix had no recollection of what happened in her life. She didn't even see herself as an adult, which made it easier for Harry to keep her on a tight leash.

For all intents and purposes, Bellatrix was a child ignorant of most things in the wizarding world.

But he wasn't confident the memory charm would hold for too long. A witch as powerful as Bellatrix could overcome the charm's hold on her mind given enough time. That was why Harry brought Bellatrix straight to Gringotts with Sirius as a backup after he was confident the memory charm had taken effect.

"Walk fast, Bella. Once we're finished here, I'll buy you two more chocolate ice cream." Harry said, urging the witch towards a teller.

"I want three." Bella said with a pout.

"All right. You'll have three." Harry said with exasperation, eyeing the older witch blindly enjoying a vanilla ice cream inside the bank, ignorant of her surroundings.  

"Good day, master Goblin. She needs to access her vault." Sirius said, facing the teller while Harry closely watched his surroundings.

"Does 'she' have a name, Lord Black?" the Goblin grinned down at them, showing off a row of pointed teeth.

"She's my cousin Bellatrix. For her safety, she is under a glamour charm. I hope Gringotts will respect the privacy of one of its most valued clients." Sirius said.

The Goblin teller eyed them keenly for a moment.

"Of course." The Goblin teller said softly. "Key, please." 

"She doesn't have her key, but her blood should suffice, no?" Sirius asked.

"Very well." The Goblin teller sighed.

Thankfully, Bellatrix cooperated and did not make a fuss when the Goblin teller pricked her finger and drew a drop of blood. The Goblin smeared the blood on a long sheet of parchment and stared intently into the parchment as if it held all the secrets of the universe.

"Everything seems to be in order." The Goblin teller looked up from the parchment. "Bogord will take you to your vault."

A scrawny Goblin came around the teller's desk with a constipated look on his face.

"Follow me." Bogord growled before walking into the interior of the bank.

Harry exchanged a look with Sirius, and they followed Bogord, taking Bellatrix along with them. The cart ride through the intricate tunnels was fun, as usual. After nearly ten minutes of going through many tunnels deep into the earth, the cart stopped before a large stone cave.

Bogord looked closely at Bellatrix and then at the two of them before huffing.

Harry smirked at the Goblin once its back was turned. He had scrapped together a rune bracelet to make Bellatrix immune to any screening of Goblin magic that could undo the memory charm. Thanks to his extended stay in the branch reality, he had a deep understanding of Goblin magic, which facilitated the creation of some cloaking magic that allowed him to withstand the usual scrutiny inside Gringotts. Goblins could temporarily break all wizarding spells within their bank, which would've interfered with the memory charm he placed on Bellatrix. But that was no longer possible, and he wasn't waiting around to see how long that shield would last.

"Stay close to me." Bogord muttered as he pressed his hands against the wall.

Harry felt a rush of magic pass through the cave ahead. Before his eyes, lamps lit up with yellow flames.

Once they crossed the dark cave, they came across a huge hall where a gigantic pale dragon guarded five vaults on the other end.

"Dear Merlin. That's a huge dragon." Sirius breathed out upon seeing the giant dragon wrapped in chains.

"Come," Bogord said, picking up a pair of clankers from the side of the cave. "This is the most secured area in Gringotts. The dragon is a savage even if it's half blind."

"How are we to get around the dragon?" Sirius asked with a slight shiver.

"These Clankers will help us, Lord Black." said Bogord.

The dragon suddenly roared and looked in their direction with a snarl.

"It might be partially blind, but its ears function exceptionally." Harry muttered.

The dragon reared his head to breathe fire at them, but Bogord used the Clankers. The small instrument in the goblin's hand began to make loud ringing noises when he started shaking it in his hands. The dragon let out a painful howl as it moved to a corner as if in fear and pain.

Harry, Sirius, and a fearful Bellatrix closely followed Bogord. Harry kept his lit wand ahead, but his eyes were pinned on the dragon. He felt pity for the majestic creature bound in servitude to the Goblins. Perhaps his bond to the Red Queen made him more sympathetic to the pale dragon bound in chains. He could also see the long red scars on the dragon's body. It was as if someone had used a flame whip on the dragon.

Once they reached the other end of the hall, Bogord pressed his palm against the dark wooden door of the vault. The door melted away, and Harry saw the large treasure inside when he directed his lit wand inside the vault. There was silver and gold aplenty inside. Suits of armour, shields and swords lined the walls, and so did skins of different animals, bones, and stuffed heads.

He suspected the vault was not just the safe haven for Bellatrix's wealth and the Horcrux. It was most likely the war chest of Voldemort or perhaps a portion of loot from the last war.

Harry conjured a long metal stick in his hand and stepped into the vault. He was careful not to touch anything inside the vault because of the Gemino and Flagrante curses. Harry placed a hovering charm on his boots, lifting him a few feet from the ground. He immediately directed the light from his wand into the top shelves of the vault as he carefully searched for the cup.

He searched shelf after shelf for the cup until finally he found it. The intricate patterns on the cup matched the images he saw in Bellatrix's memory. Besides that, he could feel the cup starting to assume a dark aura now that it had been found. The Horcrux could already feel the danger Harry posed to its continued existence and was trying to assert itself with its dark nature.

'Your mind tricks are not going to work here.' Harry thought with a snort.

He plucked the cup by locking its handle with the stick in his hand. Carefully, he held out the cup towards Sirius, who let it fall into a wooden box. Once the box was sealed, runes flared to life, and the dark aura of the Horcrux suddenly disappeared.

Harry cancelled the hovering charm and exchanged a look with Sirius.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Sirius asked with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"I suspect that's the case. Let's take the swag out of the vault and put it to some good use." said Harry.

"Oh yeah. I've always thought Hogwarts could use some new brooms and a nice scholarship program for the children." Sirius mused aloud.

Harry looked at Bellatrix once he found merit in Sirius' suggestion.

"Bella, what'd you think? If you take all this into this little pouch, you can have as much ice cream as you want."

Safe to say, Harry and Sirius managed to walk out of Gringotts with a sizeable portion of wealth in Bellatrix's vault. The exciting part was all they had to do was buy a couple more ice creams for Bellatrix.

****

"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Sirius asked, watching from a corner of the cell.

"This is for the best." said Harry, finishing the transference process.

Harry removed the runestone glowing with Egyptian hieroglyphs from the forearm of Bellatrix.

"It looks like you succeeded. She no longer bears the Dark Mark on her arm." Sirius said with a look of contemplation.

"She'll not need it any longer." Harry said succinctly.

 "If she escapes Azkaban again, Voldemort will be cross with her. Once he sees the mark is absent, he'll tear apart her mind and find what we've done." Sirius warned.

"I agree." Harry nodded absently.

"You agree?" Sirius blinked in surprise. "Then why are you sending her to the Ministry? She'll only warn Voldemort of our plans in advance."

"Oh no, she won't." Harry said.

Harry pressed the tip of his wand against Bellatrix's wrist and began murmuring a spell in Parseltongue while calling forth Old Magic to bind the spell into the core of Bellatrix's soul. The cell was bathed in the heavy presence of Old Magic until Harry stopped the spell.

Glowing red runes began appearing on Bellatrix's wrist until they finally burned onto her skin in the form of three rings.

"There, that'll do to keep her quiet."

"What did you do?" Sirius asked warily.

"Let's just say she'll be a nasty surprise and another painful lesson for our resident dark lord. But I doubt his thick skull will allow the message to sink in properly." said Harry, holstering his wand and walking away from the cell with Sirius following closely behind.

"What's the message?"

"To never cross a Potter."

"That's a good message as any, I suppose." Sirius snorted with laughter.

Harry and Sirius went further down the tunnels until they finally reached a chamber.

"You asked me why I'm not powering the wards before the party. You'll have your answer today." Harry said before closing his eyes and clearing his mind of all distractions.

Harry placed his hands horizontally on the floor while standing on his feet, connecting his ring fingers with his thumbs. On his left hand, the runestone containing the dark mark started emitting a faint pulse of magic, while on his right hand, the wand started humming with the song of a phoenix.

He could hear the gasp of surprise from Sirius as the magic deep in the earth responded to his will.

When Harry opened his eyes, the room was filled with several concentric circles of runes. Harry stood at the dead centre of the runic circles and unceremoniously dropped the runestone in his hand. The runestone struck the ground at his feet and was swallowed up promptly.   

"What was that?" Sirius asked awestruck.

"You wanted wards, did you not? Let's see Voldemort and his cronies try their best to breach my wards."

"Harry," Sirius said with trepidation. "When you were gone last month, what exactly were you doing?"

"Conquering and ruling as the king of Scotland." He answered truthfully.

"Oh." Sirius said faintly, suppressing the urge to pry. "I was just mostly drinking firewhisky and occasionally trying to blow up Dumbledore's head."

"Both are worthy endeavours." Harry said after a moment of consideration.

"Are you all right? I mean, are you happy being here?" Sirius asked softly.

Harry fell silent and observed his godfather, who had nothing but concern in his eyes.

"Why do you ask?" Harry asked.

"Dumbledore and Croaker warned us that you might've started a life of your own in the other dimension. They were right, weren't they?"

Harry nodded.

"I'm so sorry Harry. You might've been…"

"There is no point in dwelling on the past. I'm teaching myself to stay in the present and look towards the future."

"That's good." Sirius patted him on his shoulder. "I won't ask of what you lost. I have enough experience to know that there is nothing that could equal wasted time. But someday, when you're ready, I hope you regain something of greater value than you lost."

Harry frowned thoughtfully into the distance before sighing.

"Come. There is much work to be done."

****

"We've pulled off a good enough party…" Daphne said, looking around the crowded garden with a thoughtful frown. "…I think."

"There is decent food, fine wine and an atmosphere that's making everyone around here jumpy. This is a good party as any, Daphs." Harry whispered, strolling through the garden arm in arm with Daphne by his side.

"Hmm… I couldn't help but notice that you had a long chat with my father and mother today. What was that about?" she suddenly asked, but Harry was hardly surprised.

He wondered why she hadn't brought up that question so far. Damien and Evelyn hadn't bothered covering up their sense of victory.

"Do you really want to know?" Harry asked.

Daphne blinked at the undertone in Harry's voice, but she was curious.

"Yes." she said succinctly.

"Your parents wanted to know what my intentions towards you are. They're under the impression that you're smitten by the Potter charm, and they want to protect you."

"What did they do?" Daphne asked with some wariness.

"They proposed a betrothal contract to be drawn up."

Daphne was stunned into silence.

"What did you…?"

Harry took a long look at her before pressing his lips near her ear.

"I agreed. I couldn't let go of the chance to make you mine."

Daphne glared at him, making him chuckle.

"But I told them I'd agree to any contract only after you consent." Harry said with a minute twitch of his lips.

"Honestly, I don't like the idea of a contract between us. It's an old tradition, and I'm surprised you even entertained the thought." Daphne said with pursed lips.

"Well, it's not a marriage contract. This is merely a betrothal contract with no penalty for voiding the contract."

"Is that supposed to make me happy?" Daphne asked in annoyance as they stopped near a sakura tree.

"Aren't you?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know what I should feel." Daphne looked searchingly into his eyes.

"You're not the only one. I quite like our current dynamic, but I understand the concerns of Damien and Evelyn. Discarding their concerns seemed inappropriate, so I said I'll consent if you agree to it."

"I suppose I knew this day was coming at some point. So, there's that…" Daphne said, trying to channel aloofness, but he could read her like a book with one look into her eyes.

"Oh, it can't be all that bad. I'm charming, funny, wealthy, powerful and whimsical. What more do you need?" Harry asked with a faux pout.

"Modesty and an absence of reckless behaviour for a start." Daphne said blandly.

"Where is the fun in that?" Harry shrugged.

"I suppose I could be persuaded to marry a rapscallion like you provided the right incentives." she said snobbishly, turning her nose up.

"What might these incentives entail? I only ask because there is a shortage of blonde-haired, blue-eyed witches who'd never think of marrying the last Potter," Harry said sardonically.

"I'll owl you a detailed list." Daphne smirked.

"You two are worse than mum and dad. Get a room, you two." Astoria came out of nowhere to deliver a sledgehammer that broke their conversation.

"Why're you here? Go bother someone else." Daphne huffed.

"Everyone in the ballroom is asking for the host inside to start the dance. Hogging the 'Prophesied One' all for yourself at this crucial juncture would be discourteous." Astoria said with a straight face.

"We just came here from the ballroom. They were talking our ears off." Daphne rolled her eyes.  

"Maybe you should go find someone else to bother and let me escort Harry back to his wonderful guests. After all, he was the one to decide on an open invite was a fantastic idea. He should get to meet and greet the wonderful fellows of our little squalor." said Astoria with a wicked glint in her eyes.

"What a fantastic idea. He's all yours." Daphne skipped away happily from his arm, leaving him with Astoria.

Harry watched his girlfriend go with a tinkling laugh in her wake, her green dress glittering under the light.

"Let's go. My father has gathered several foreign dignitaries and eminent personalities to meet you. I'm sure you'll enjoy every moment of it." Astoria said with a wicked smirk.

"How cruel of you, Astoria."  

"Cruel is my middle name." she said with a chuckle while leading him to the ballroom without remorse.

As Astoria led him towards her father, he had to meet and greet a whole lot of people along the way. Lady Longbottom and Marchbanks were the first he met on his second arrival. Neville's grandmother was distant but polite as well. She was distracted the whole time they conversed and looked ready for a fight.

On the other hand, Madam Marchbanks was talking entirely about his OWL results. He derived some sick pleasure in watching the woman tear into Astoria, warning her not to waste her time on parties and glittery things and to focus on studies like him. She was all praises for Harry, and being the vain little rascal he was, he ate it all up the entire time.

He supposed scoring straight Os in every subject except History of Magic would impress the governor of the Wizarding Examinations Authority.

Astoria was understandably all too eager to escort him away from the good woman who only spoke so highly of him. They met some Hogwarts students and their families along the way.

Finally, they arrived at a round table where Damien and Evelyn Greengrass were sitting with some of their acquaintances.

"Father. I've brought our gracious host as requested." Astoria said, executing a perfect curtsey.

"Thank you, dear." A familiar voice said from their back.

Harry didn't need to turn around to know that it was his grandmother.

"We've been most eager to speak with our host. There are many important matters that we ought to discuss. Isn't that so, dear Harry?"

Harry had been expecting a visit from his grandmother. He was surprised it had taken this long. He expected her to visit him immediately after returning from the branch reality.

After all, she wanted access to Slytherin's Chamber before the school opened.

"Yes. We have a lot of things to discuss." Harry said with a nod.

"Good." Perenelle smiled. "Now take a seat, young man."

****

An excerpt from The Grand Alliance: Goblin-Wizard Pact that Transformed the Century by Madam Selene Smith.

While some see King Hadrian as a sorcerer of great battle powers and magical skill, he was also renowned for his diplomacy. His single-handed effort bound the Goblins to pledge their fealty to House Targaryen in perpetuity. He had proven his strength to the Goblin kings when he decimated their army that tried to attack Hogwarts.

It's mentioned in the journals of Queen Rowena the First that the Goblin kingdoms were wary of Hogwarts and what it meant for the future. The consolidation of wizards and witches in any form was recognised as a threat by all the Gobling kings of the time. They feared the unity among wizards rather than the rapid expansion of muggle kingdoms and empires. Though great in number, the Gobling kingdoms did not consider muggle kingdoms a threat.

This belief would later be the undoing of goblins across the rest of continental Europe.

But in Scotland, before the consolidation of wizards happened, Goblins suffered defeat at the hands of the four Founders of Hogwarts. The Goblin King Sabretooth broke an uneasy peace between the Goblin kingdoms and the Founders. It was the internal politics within the nearby Goblin kingdom that led King Sabretooth to put Hogwarts under siege. But his luck ran short as the siege attracted a traveller from the faraway land of Valyria to Hogwarts.

The story of the battle is carved in great detail on the front doors of Hogwarts. To this day, it serves as a warning for those who dare to challenge Hogwarts and the authority of House Targaryen.

However, the decisive victory over the goblin army led the way to an alliance when King Hadrian began his conquest. The Targaryen king swayed the Goblin King Snipshank to forge an alliance in return for expanding the land holdings of the Goblin kingdom. During the three-year reign of King Hadrian, the land holdings of Scotland increased fivefold. This, coupled with the assimilation of other Goblin kingdoms into the new Scottish kingdom, slowly but surely integrated the Goblins into the common army and then accepted the authority of the crown of Scotland.

It is told, however, that House Targaryen's unique gift of bonding with the dragons was one of the main factors that led to their acquiescence before the Scottish crown. Not only was the Goblin army now sworn to a Targaryen king on the throne, but they were also the royal smiths of the kingdom. Each Targaryen king from Hadrian the First commissioned their blades upon their ascension to the throne. The old sword of the monarch was returned to the Goblins as per goblin traditions.

All such swords of past Targaryen monarchs were later moved to a Goblin-run museum at the request of Queen Esteria the Second during her reign in 1775, adjacent to the Goblin Bank of Gringotts.

To this day, Goblins of Scotland holds a special status among the Goblins of the world. The entire economy of the Eurozone was run by Scottish Goblins after Titus Targaryen's Continental War in 1670. While many Goblin kingdoms outside Scotland view Scottish Goblins as the lesser for swearing oaths to a wizard, the Scottish Goblins considered it the single most brilliant decision in their recorded history.

As an old saying among the Scottish Goblins goes,

'We traded a crown of steel for an entire continent.'

 AN:

For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf