46

CHAPTER FORTY SIX:

When the Gringotts doors opened, there was one man waiting there and attracting a fair amount of attention on the awakening street of Diagon Alley. Storekeepers and early shoppers, Aurors and civilians all stared as they passed the closed bank, for the man standing in front of the white marble building was one the likes of which none of them had seen in their lives.

They're all staring, Harry sighed inwardly, his thoughts carefully kept from his face. It wasn't as though he hadn't expected the stares, after all – on the contrary, he had spent a long time deciding on what to wear this day. As with his first Order meeting, the proper image had to be conveyed: That of a warrior, a peacekeeper, a leader, a Light figure, the head of a Pureblood line, competence, status and intelligence had to be conveyed clearly. There was no room for modesty in today's outfit.

The rings of both the Potter and Black Head of family were openly displayed today, but they were the least noticeable part of his appearance. His hair had been carefully brushed but still hung wildly around his face, his green eyes focused not only on the building he was waiting in front of but also on the passersby, the other shops and the activity in the street. Most others would have ignored the other people, but a lifetime of watching others had led Harry to always be aware of his surroundings.

He wore cream-colored pants tucked into high black dragonhide boots, a ruby-red shirt under dark red robes, and a cream-colored cape slung over one shoulder. A sturdy sword was buckled to his waist, and one passerby swore that it was the sword of Gryffindor the stranger wore, startling when Harry turned his head slightly to smile at him, his very aura screaming of mystery and intrigue. Then the doors of Gringotts opened, and the stranger turned and walked purposefully into the bank, disappearing into goblin territory and leaving behind a slew of questions and rumors.

OoOoO

"I have come to claim the vaults and properties of Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort, and those of all his followers by right of conquest."

It was the first, and most likely the only time Harry would witness a dumbfounded goblin. Harry let the silence stretch, waiting to see if the goblin would ask for an explanation or simply hand over the keys. Eventually the goblin pulled himself together and used that sharp glance on Harry that he had come to expect from all goblins.

"I will require proof," the goblin said, and Harry nodded.

"Would you prefer an oath, a look at the dead body of Voldemort, or confirmation from an eyewitness that I did indeed kill Voldemort?"

The goblin blinked, seeming surprised at the options Harry had given him. "An oath on your life would be sufficient," the goblin replied, and Harry had to keep from either rolling his eyes or laughing. Sufficient, indeed.

"I, Harry James Potter-Black, swear on my life that I did kill Voldemort just yesterday, with the help of Severus Snape who took out Voldemort's last Horcrux." Better not to risk his life on a technicality, after all.

A pregnant pause, then the goblin grudgingly said, "You do not appear to have died." Harry couldn't hold in his snort that time.

"Indeed. So, the vaults?"

"Gringotts will require some time to replace the locks and fashion the keys," the goblin ground out, seeming rather displeased that one man would now own all that wealth.

"Inform me when the changes have been made," Harry nodded, then added, "When you replace the lock on the Snape vault, make two keys and ensure that the second one goes to Severus Snape. He is also to receive a key to the Potter vaults."

"It will be done," the goblin acknowledged, seeming skeptical at the order. It could understand giving the Death Eater a key to his own vault, as he had apparently assisted Lord Potter-Black in defeating the latest human megalomaniac, but giving him a key to the Potter vaults? Pursing its lips, the goblin returned the goblin salute the human gave him and watched the strange man leave their bank. Only as the human was leaving did Grorksnark notice the sword resting on the man's right hip and bared his teeth in a silent snarl. Had the human truly dared to enter Gringotts with the sword of Hrolkvert displayed so openly?

Mood thoroughly ruined, the goblin left to report to his superior, who went so far as to get the director of Gringotts involved – who, luckily for Harry, decided that a human who could defeat a Dark Lord in so little time and wasn't afraid to wear a stolen goblin artefact so openly in goblin territory was dangerous enough to avoid antagonizing him. None of the goblins would like it, but they would serve the Lord Potter-Black with as much civility as they ever showed a human and do their best to stay on the man's good side – for a man who would soon have the backing of much of wizarding Britain, the money of dozens of Pureblood houses in his vaults, the power of a Light Lord and the ruthlessness of a goblin was an enemy they couldn't hope to defeat.

Harry himself would never realize why the goblins treated him so politely from that day on, eventually chalking it up to owning the majority of old vaults in Gringotts and never considering that it might be because he was considered too dangerous to provoke. Severus however did discern the true reason behind the civility when he, too, found himself on the receiving end of goblin courtesy. He chose not to share his thoughts with Harry.

OoOoO

Harry stifled another sigh when his arrival at the Ministry of Magic garnered the same kind of attention he had been the receiver of in Diagon Alley – just on a bigger scale. Walking directly to the visitors' desk, he smiled genially at the man behind the desk, already laying his wand on the smooth surface.

"I have a ten o'clock meeting with Amelia Bones, head of the DMLE," he said, and the balding man straightened abruptly.

"Of course, of course," he said nervously, picking up the stranger's wand to be weighed. "Your name?"

"Harry Potter-Black."

Dean Purtley froze, staring at the stranger. The hair and eyes fit the name, but the age, the aura – his eyes flicked to the young man's forehead, where hair covered any possible scar. Then the man sighed, and Purtley's eyes flicked back to the green ones.

Reaching for his wand, Harry easily plucked it from the man's loose grasp and quietly repeated an oath he had sworn once before. "I, Harry James Potter-Black, swear on my life that that is my name." With that he handed the wand back to the older man. "And I'll miss my appointment if I don't head out soon, so if you could weigh my wand and issue a badge…"

"Ah, yes!" the man scrambled to complete those tasks as quickly as possible, unsure how this man could be who he professed to be but knowing that if he wasn't then there would have been a dead body to be taken care of. "Have a good day, Mister Potter-Black."

"Thank you, Mister Purtley," Harry smiled, preferring not to correct the man – he was a Lord twice over, after all – and ignoring the man's start as he walked away. The man did wear a name tag, after all, and Harry knew that people responded well to being called by name. Yet another thing he had learned from Hermione and her books.

OoOoO

"Ah, Lord Potter-Black," Amelia greeted as the door to her office opened, unsurprised to see Kingsley personally seeing in her guest. Then she got a proper look at the young man she had met the previous night and her jaw dropped in shock – if she had thought last night that the man looked older than he was, today that was doubly true.

"I'll take that as high praise for my outfit," Harry smiled, knowing that it took a lot to impress Amelia. "And please, call me Harry; I'd rather there wasn't any formality between us."

"Harry, then," Amelia acknowledged, knowing that titles would just get in the way if they ended up working together as much as he seemed to expect. "That is actually a good trick," she said as he took a seat, Kingsley closing the door to give them privacy. "You can call anyone by their first name, claiming to have known them in the future, while they are forced to use your formal title until asked to do otherwise."

Harry hummed, giving her an amused look. "It might be fun to call some of the stuffier members of the Wizengamot by their first name just to get a reaction, but I think it may lead to unwelcome complications. I'd rather call the people I actually knew by name," he winked, and she couldn't help but smile.

"Alright, Harry. I asked several newspapers to send reporters by at 2 PM – I would prefer to go into the interview knowing exactly what we want to say, what spin to give it, what impressions we want to give and what information about British society needs to be touched on. There are international newspapers taking part, and we certainly want to give the impression that Britain is getting its act together and improving enough to be on an international standard again. I am of course especially interested in your thoughts about the Ministry, but Hogwarts, too, needs to be discussed. Some tea?"

"Please." Harry removed a few sheets of parchment from a robe pocket – he had anticipated this and brought the notes he had made in the past few days. "Let's just start with Hogwarts, since it won't take long to discuss…" Sliding a sheet of parchment over to Amelia before nodding his thanks for the cup of tea she set before him, he began outlining his thoughts for improvement on the school. "Hogwarts staff, alumni, and British residents in general like to profess that Hogwarts is the premier wizarding school. As you may have noticed, that is far from the truth. There are several extremely competent and talented instructors at Hogwarts, but the school in general has declined to the extent that the rest of the world considers it to be behind most other schools, and British OWLS count for little in the international arena." Boy, had Hermione been furious when she had realized that her education was almost useless internationally.

"These are thoughts that Severus, Harry, Hermione, Ron and I came up with a few days ago, including necessary classes and material, better teachers, and general changes that need to be made. I was even tempted to do away with the Houses, but that's such a fundamental part of Hogwarts that such a change seems impossible. What IS possible, and absolutely necessary, is a change in mentality. Slytherins aren't evil, Hufflepuffs aren't duffers, Gryffindors aren't brainless brawn, and Ravenclaws aren't antisocial nerds. It will perhaps take a lot of work, but we can begin with the new first years – their schoolmates may say things, but at least the staff has to show impartiality and fairness, and several of the older students will be able to set a good example, starting with Harry and his Defense Association. The DA already includes students from three of the Houses, with only Slytherin lacking representation, but it won't be hard to change that. What DOES need to be changed, as soon as possible, is Umbridge's power over the school."

Harry's grim look convinced Amelia that this was a true issue as he continued, "The best course of action would be to get her to trial; the results are sure to cast aspersions on Fudge's character and capabilities, hopefully resulting in a vote of No Confidence."

"On what charges?" Amelia leaned forward, intent on Harry's answer. This was not just her responsibility as Head of the DMLE, but her responsibility as Susan's guardian. If the Defense professor was a person Harry thought needed a trial, then she feared for Susan's safety.

"Several, but the most important is torture."

Amelia's heart stopped. "Torture?"

"Umbridge uses a blood quill in her detentions."

Amelia sucked in a breath. "Each individual unlawful use of a blood quill is a year in Azkaban. How many detentions has she given?"

"I don't know how many in total," Harry shrugged, but the movement was definitely not indifferent. "I myself attended at least 30 detentions with her, but that was throughout the school year, so Harry hasn't lived through so many yet. I know that the Weasley twins also had enough detentions with her for their hands to continue bleeding for several days after a detention, but most others learned fairly quickly to keep their heads down."

"And why didn't you?" Amelia asked, confused. Who wouldn't shut up if the punishment was to repeatedly cut themselves?

"She gave me detention for insisting that Voldemort was back," Harry replied drily, and she grimaced. No wonder the boy hadn't stopped, when to shut up meant to admit that he was wrong – which he absolutely hadn't been.

"Alright, that is certainly a priority," Amelia confirmed, making a note of it on a piece of parchment. "The ideal outcome would also be what you said: Bring Umbridge to trial, have her shown as absolutely guilty, question Fudge's competence when he was the one who gave her so much power over Hogwarts, and call for a vote of No Confidence. I would suggest that you yourself call for that vote, with quick backing from your friends. If you can get Madam Longbottom to back you on that vote, then all the Neutrals will side with you."

Harry's eyes suddenly widened, and Amelia shot him a curious look. "I'll have to ask at Gringotts whether I'm now the head of all those Pureblood lines!" he exclaimed, looking a bit pale at the thought. "This morning I claimed the vaults of all of Voldemort's followers as my rights of conquest," he explained, and though Amelia looked shocked she managed to set his doubts to rest.

"No, you may have gained their funds but not their names. Many of them will attempt to reclaim their vaults in court, but as that will mean openly admitting to being Death Eaters it's likely to simply worsen their situation." She paused, then, "The goblins actually let you claim all that money?"

"Oh, yes," Harry nodded, "They only needed an oath that I did indeed kill Voldemort, and they should be working on changing the locks on the vaults right now." Then he grinned wryly, "Severus was actually somewhat amused that it took me so long to realize that I would be assuming control of his vault as well. I told the goblins to give him a key to both his vault and the Potter vaults; it just seems like such a huge commitment when he hasn't even known me for a month yet…"

Amelia could see his point, and found it somewhat strange herself, but this really wasn't the time to discuss the man's relationship. "He named you as his life partner under Veritaserum – I daresay it'll work out fine." Leaning forward and pointedly pushing at Harry's notes, she said, "Now then, what are you thinking of doing about the Wizengamot?"

Smiling lopsidedly at Amelia's reassurance and quick return to business Harry shuffled his papers to find the one concerning the legal body.