Chp 22: Unexpected Realisations

Date: July 31st 1991

Location: The Tonks Residence

----

Adam had been introduced to Ted the night before and enjoyed a nice dinner, followed by the joys of a bed for the second time in his life.

It was midday now and Adam was sitting in the library struggling to read The History of the World by Frank Welsh.

Kaldor had taught him to read through a mix of scratching words into the dirt, partially destroyed books they had come across and by talking his ear off. As a consequence Adam had become pretty proficient in reading in low and high gothic, but as Adam was finding out though spoken similarly, reading English was like trying to understand Italian as a Latin-only speaker.

Snapping the book shut, he sighed.

'This is going to take ages' he said out loud to no one in particular.

Knock, Knock.

'Who is it'.

Knock, Knock.

Looking around he didn't see anyone.

"In the window," said Calcifer.

Standing up from the armchair Adam, slowly edged towards the window only to see a wide-eyed bird-like creature standing on a ledge outside the window with a letter clutched in its beak.

Hoooooooooott

'Okay, okay give me a second'.

Adam opened the tall and thin, swivel window, only for the bird to push the letter through the small gap before it was even fully opened flying off prissily without another hoot.

"A strange way to receive communications", thought Adam "But I guess it's how they do it on this planet. I better give it to Andromeda it seems to be addressed to a Mr. H Potter, The Guest Room, Tonks Residence, mmmm must have been a guest who stayed here before".

Adam walked down the stairs to where Andromeda was preparing lunch, chopping up courgette to steam.

'Hi, Andromeda a bird dropped a letter through the window, addressed to someone'.

'Ahhh thanks, it's an owl by the way, let's go see who's it for' replied Andromeda.

'Oh it's a Hogwarts letter .. and it's addressed to P-potter ... that's strange I thought they were all dead' she said.

Reading the address, 'The Guest Room, Tonks Residence' she dropped the letter to the kitchen island, looking back between the letter and Adams face.

'No' she said mouth agape.

'No, what' replied Adam confused.

She simply stared at him for a second, looking into his green eyes and at his heavily scarred face, searching for something.

'No ... You need to get your shoes on and come downstairs, we need to check on something if this letter means what I think it means, come it's important'.

Grabbing his hand she pulled him out the front door of the house before apparating with a pop and reappearing outside the higgledy-piggledy marble facade of Gringotts bank.

----

Adam looked up at the ornate furnished entrance to the bank struggling to read a sentence cut into the stone above.

Pointing to the words above his head, 'Andromeda could you read those words to me I'm struggling with a couple'.

'Oh, I guess it will only take a second, it says, let's see here, enter ... stranger, but take heed. Of what awaits the sin of greed .... For those who take, but do not earn, Must pay most dearly in their turn ...I've always thought it a bit dramatic, but, well the goblins have a negative relationship with thievery.

Two goblins were stood at the door disrespectfully directing Wizards in. One turned to scowl at Adam.

'Annoying wand wavers it said under its breath' which unfortunately for it Adam heard who was already not liking them with their close similarities to gretchen. In particular, Adam remembered waking up one night to find one gretchen with a knife to his throat whilst the other one was attempting to steal his shoe. 

"Calcifer".

"Oh, you don't have to tell me twice".

Adam's eyes blazed red for a split second the madness of the warp spilling out.

The goblin's heart skipped a beat, as he felt a primaeval dread in those eyes, one of its legs collapsing beneath it. 

Adam quickly walked through the door and past the goblin without a second look following after Andromeda who had entered ahead of him.

'Rodkoff what's got into you' said the other goblin to the one on the ground'.

'I thought I saw something in the boy's eyes but my mind must be playing tricks on me, he couldn't have even entered Hogwarts yet' said the fallen goblin not quite believing or too embarrassed to elaborate further on what it had witnessed. 

----

Adam and Andromeda queued for a few minutes before finally reaching the front of the line in front of the teller.

'I would like this young man to take a blood inheritance' said Andromeda to the diminutive goblin on the high plinth above them. 

'Aaaaargh' leaning over, 'another muggle-born with high-up aspirations, that'll be ten galleons'. Andromeda handed over the money which quickly disappeared. The goblin walked down the few steps behind the teller's plinth and motioned for them to follow him down one of the back corridors of Gringotts. 

'This way' it said unpleasantly.

The polished marbled corridors cast flickering flames of candless around corners, as they came upon the entrance of a great rotunda.

Opening the dark oaken door with a twist of its gnarled fingernail it made a sweeping motion, to show them they should enter.

In the centre of the room stood a basin, lit by a thin beam of sunlight greyed almost to colour of moonlight by the glass lens above.

Having reached the center of the room, the goblin drew out a dagger from under the basin, reminiscent of an Arabic Jambiya, though clearly goblin in make.

'Hand' it almost spat out.

'Do as he says' said Andromeda seeing Adam wasn't moving.

Adam, held out his hand.

Slash

" I swear that stung more than it should of Calcifer" said Adam to Calcifer in his head his facial expressions locked cosplaying Kaldors usual stoney demeanour.

A splatter of blood fell across the basin in a crude line.

For a moment nothing happenee but as the seconds past sanguine goblin ruins lit up around the rim of the basin, Adams blood began to bubbe on its surface, subliming into a red cloudy mistz which coalesced into a crest rising above their heads the almost transparent gases outlined by the light falling from overhead.

Out of the swirling mist, appeared the symbol of the deathly hallows set within a great heraldic shield cradled by griffins.

The goblin draw his arms apart dissipating the mist into nothingness.

'It seems we have a result, as there are no family members assumed alive this side of the Atlantic, I will have to consult our records, please return to the banks entrances, I will meet you there once a conclusion is reached'.

----

Adam and Andromeda sat on a bench at the back of the tellers hall not saying a word to each other.

Andromeda's hand was tapping the coarse stone, beating a nervous tune.

They had been sat there for three hours by now.

"You know they're wasting your time on purpose right" said Calcifer offended on Adams behalf.

'Don't worry about me I'm actually enjoying nothing happening for once".

----

Ten minutes later the goblin in question climbed his way back up his plinth hefting a heavy ledger of documents onto the top of it.

Adam and Andromeda stood up and came before the goblin who was adjusting it's half moon spectacles with a long half atrophied claw.

'I will read the conclusion reached... Having requested a inheritance test, it has been identified in accordance with the treaty, that the applicant who has undergone said test is of the ancient line of Peverell of the assuming family Potter and is therefore in the view of the nation more likely than not one Harry James Potter of James and Lily Potter, whose birth record matches the observable age of the applicant .. - Questions'.

'I have a family' said Adam beaming.

'Has he any vaults to his name' asked Andromeda, worriedly looking at Adam.

Leafing through several pages of thick vellum the bespectacled goblin responded, 'Three vaults are legally the property of Mr Harry James Potter, however only the trust vault is accessible until he comes of age'.

'Thank you, can he have his key' replied Andromeda.

'I .. had a family' whispered Adam his mind closing on on him like two great tectonic plates as the pieces clicked. Eyes turning wide and shellshocked.

The goblin produced an aged and tarnished key and handed it over with a bundle of other documents.

The goblin dipped the quill in an ink well before writing in a large records book as it spoke.

'On the 31st of July 1991, Harry James Potter received his vault key and is hereby liable for its replacement if stolen or lost'.

Dotting the sentence it slammed the book shut.

'That is all, goodbye, next'. It called for the next client, dismissing them curtly.