c12

Harry had not slept all that well. Yesterday had turned out to be half a disaster and today they had to go see the goblins about the Horcruxes… if they accuse Bellatrix only to find out that there isn't a Horcrux in her vault… oh they would be so fucked.

The meeting was set right after breakfast. Harry hadn't eaten much, neither had Vanessa for that matter. She had a distinct feeling that today was going to go three ways of south and perhaps just a quarter to the west. Law or now law, if one of the Goblins decided to get a little too smart, spells would fly.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Weaver, are you ready to go?" Dumbledore asked as she approached the two at the Ravenclaw table

"Of course, Headmaster" both replied as they stood and followed the elderly headmaster out of the great hall.

On their way to Dumbledore's office, he informed his two young companions that he had already cleared it with Filius about their absence and any homework they might receive will be there for them when they return.

"Have either of you dealt with Goblins before?" asked Dumbledore before they stepped through the floo

"I have, Albus. It was rather important after I become Lord Potter" Harry replied with a little grin before stepping into the floo

A quick shout of "Gringotts, London" and Harry was one his way, leaving Vanessa and Dumbledore standing the office.

"Miss Weaver, if you please. Perhaps it is best if you just observe today, there are many small ways one can insult a goblin and today might not be the best of days to begin. Now just do as Harry did with the floo" Dumbledore said as he gave a small bow and gestured towards the floo with a smile.

Vanessa too stepped into the floo and called out the location, a small grin on her face. Albus then gathered himself a little; he was not that young anymore and could tell his years were running out. Sometime within the next twenty years if his guess was right.

When Dumbledore came through the floo, he saw a snickering Vanessa and an amused looking goblin looking at something on the floor. It turned out to be Harry sitting there, he was grumbling and cursing in the goblin tongue, making it sound all the more colorful.

"It hates me… no matter when and where… the floo hates me" Harry growled from the floor, now speaking English again

"Mr. Potter, I shall refrain from asking how you know our language. Much less how you know about that part of Goblin tradition, but for now I am to guide you to Bank Manager Ragnok" the Goblin said as he gave a yellow toothed grin

"Yeah, yeah…" Harry grunted

Dumbledore restrained a chuckle as they followed the goblin through the halls of Gringotts. They were brought through to a large stone door, or large in comparison to a goblin. The door seemed to have been carved from the rock itself, and then decorated with what seemed like shards of obsidian.

The goblin leading them knocked thrice on the door, each knock echoed through the halls, truly revealing just how deep the paths of Gringotts ran through the earth.

The large doors opened to reveal the office of the bank manager Ragnok. It was carved into the rock itself much like the door. The key difference from the rest of Gringotts was perhaps the walls, they were perfectly smooth and along their length was carved intricate depictions of what must of have been important moments in Goblin history. The Goblin rebellion easy found among them.

"Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and Vanessa Weaver are here for their appointment, Bank Manager Ragnok" the goblin said with a bow.

The Bank Manager waved his hand at the other goblin in a dismissive way. Soon it was just the four of them standing in the office and the three guests were waiting for an invitation to sit. Ragnok was finishing up some paperwork before he would meet with his guests, a new treaty with the gnomes were being written up as of late, the old one was getting a bit dated.

"Have a seat" Ragnok grumbled after a while.

After his guests had gotten comfortable, Ragnok finished up his own work before putting the paper into a small opening on his desk, sending the paperwork to be filed, copied and then sent to the gnomes down in Switzerland.

"Mr. Dumbledore, I am personally overseeing this meeting because of the favor I owe you. However, time is gold and I have precious little of the former. State your business and make it quick," Ragnok ordered as he leveled his gaze at his three guests.

"Ahem yes, thank you Bank Manager Ragnok. Young Mr. Potter here has brought it to my attention that there might be an artifact of a dark nature in one of your vaults. We merely sought to warn you of the item," Dumbledore stated, hoping that it was enough information for the goblin.

"What kind of item do you speak of, and how did Mr. Potter come to such information?" Ragnok asked after a moment of silence.

"The item in question is the cup of Helga Hufflepuff, currently located in the vault of Bellatrix Lestrange. The Cup is a Horcrux for Bellatrix's master, Voldemort. As for how I know this… I was informed by my queen of its location" Harry replied. Though it was a lie that Amorpha told him of the location, he knew that his queen would not mind him using her name to smooth things over with the goblins.

Ragnok looked skeptical at the answer. The very though that Gringotts might have allowed such a dark item into their vaults was preposterous, not to add insulting. But more so he was curious about how young Mr. Potter had gotten the information.

"Mr. Potter, who is this "Queen" you speak of that could inform you of things within Gringotts?" Ragnok asked, it was after all a sensitive subject and if anyone has the power to look within the vaults of Gringotts and that got publically known their reputation would be ruined.

Harry took a deep breath and gave himself a second to prepare. This was one of the larger steps to be taken in the dangerous game he was playing. The revelations that a Wizard served the Dark Elf Queen to the goblins. It could be disastrous or it could sway the goblins in their favor.

"I am a resident of the Ashwoods and a subject of the Dark Queen Amorpha. My Queen revealed to me the location of such an offending object. You, Battlemaster Ragnok, should know better than most the view my Queen has on the misuse of Soul Magic" Harry replied, using the title Ragnok was known by with the Dark Elves for added effect.

And indeed Amorpha did not look kindly upon those that would misuse the branch of magic that the Dark Elves had created. Amorpha's great-grandmother had been the one to accept the knowledge of Soul Magic from their Goddess and then passed the knowledge on to the rest of the Dark Elven people.

Of course with time the knowledge of the magic went further than just the Ashwoods, and though it did not sit well with the Dark Elves at the time, they recognized that the only way to erase the knowledge of Soul Magic from the minds of the lesser races would be to wipe them out. An action that was forbidden by their Goddess long ago.

Ragnok knew all of this. He had been to the Ashwoods in his youth and met with their Queen. It had been on business for Gringotts but the goblin would never forget his time in the ancient place. Safe to say he still had nightmares about some of the things he saw when he passed through their prison camp.

"I see, very well then. If Queen Amorpha informed you of its presence then we shall of course comply and have it checked out immediately. Shortfang!" Ragnok said before yelling for the goblin.

Moments later a smaller goblin came through the doors and bowed down to his leader. He was informed to go down to the Lestrange vault and inspect it, upon the discovery of any item considered against Gringotts law, the vault was to be closed down and the items destroyed.

"If I may, Battlemaster Ragnok. I would see it was a personal favor if you were to not destroy the Hufflepuff Cup. If you could simply extract the soul piece and then hand over the Cup to us, I would be most grateful. Of course the house of Potter would pay the full price for the procedure" Harry interjected before Shortfang managed to leave the room.

Ragnok agreed and changed the order, then sent the smaller goblin scurrying down to the tunnels to perform his order.

"Now while we wait, I have a piece of business I would like to discuss with you Mr. Dumbledore and you Mr. Potter. It is the matter of Mr. Potter's magical guardian." Ragnok stated as he began pulling out papers.

"Is something the matter?" Dumbledore asked, a tinge of worry sprouting in his mind.

"Perhaps. Though the Ministry might not consider it valid, here at Gringotts we honor the wills we hold. The will of James and Lily Potter states that Sirius Black is to be the Magical Guardian in case of their demise. Since Mr. Black is in Azkaban and thus not able to attend meetings, we are forced to either change Mr. Potter's magical guardian or declare him and Emancipated minor by Gringotts law. As you are the only available witness to the will, Mr. Dumbledore, this decision may be influenced by your input."

This caught both Dumbledore and Harry by surprise. Sure, Harry had planned to become emancipated at some point during his time at Hogwarts, but was it really smart to do it while he was still a first year? It would mean that he would have to take up his mantle as Lord Potter, and with that title came much work that he wouldn't be able to properly attend while at Hogwarts.

"Albus, perhaps it would simply be better for the guardianship to pass to you until such a time that we can get Sirius out of Azkaban" Harry suggested.

"A favorable idea, Harry. But if I may make a suggestion. If you are emancipated and take up your mantel as Lord Potter, you could then appoint a proxy almost immediately until such a time that you have finished your schooling at Hogwarts. This would ensure that the votes House Potter holds within the Wizengamot could once more see use. Of course that would require a suitable proxy" Dumbledore countered.

"And as you are the current Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, you cannot act as my proxy. I have no allies in the Wizengamot yet, so it isn't like I could pass the proxy to anyone either. I think letting you be my guardian until Sirius is free is the best choice. Then when he is out I could get emancipated and Sirius could be my proxy" Harry countered with his own idea.

"That could also work. Though that would require Sirius Black to be Lord Black" said Dumbledore.

"Mr. Sirius Orion Black is currently the head of House Black" Ragnok announced as he entered the conversation.

"How is that possible?" Dumbledore asked "Prisoners in Azkaban cannot be the Head of their House"

"Perhaps by Ministry Law, but by Gringotts law the current Head of house Black is Sirius Orion Black, by the will of his late father, Orion Black. The Will never stipulated that Mr. Black had been thrown out of his family or disowned. It in fact stated that Sirius was to become Lord Black should he be alive at the time of Orion's demise" Ragnok informed his guests.

"So it would seem your plan could work, Harry. I guess that means we should make haste with our other business so we can free Sirius as soon as possible" Dumbledore summarized with a content smile.

"Well that's good, now we just need to wait for an answer down from the vaults" Harry added.

As if summoned, Shortfang came through the doors. An angry scowl marring his features and a letter in his hands.

"Bank Manager Ragnok, the information proved correct and we retrieved the Cup of Helga Hufflepuff from Bellatrix Lestrange's vault. After testing it was indeed revealed to be a Horcrux and the ritual for purging the object is currently underway. We found this letter inside the vault, beneath the cup. It is addressed to Sirius Black" Shortfang informed his leader.

"Leave the letter and come back with the Cup once the ritual is finished" Ragnok ordered before turning towards his guests once again. "It would seem you were correct. The price for the Ritual will be withdrawn from the Potter Vaults and the object returned to Albus Dumbledore upon completion. The letter is addressed to Sirius but since he is unable to receive it, it will pass to his next of kin" Ragnok said as he passed the letter to Harry.

Harry looked at the letter for almost a solid minute before opening it. He feared what he might find inside, his past experience with Bellatrix before her death was not good. He figured that this version of her couldn't be much different.

Slowly he pulled out the letter and began to read.

To Sirius Black, my beloved brother.

I'm so sorry Sirius. We tired our best to protect you and little Harry, but the damned rat managed to get by us and tell the Dark Lord where the Potters were hiding. We managed to take a bit of subtle revenge for it though.

Regulus managed to slip away one of the Dark Lord's Horcruxes, the locket of Salazar Slytherin. The real locket should be back at Black Manor, a fake is in place to fool the Dark Lord, I hope you find a way to destroy it. With a little luck the Dark Lord will have killed me, thus opening my Will. This should have passed everything in my vault to you, which is how I assumed you have gotten this letter.

I'm sorry we couldn't tell you. When you were sorted into Gryffindor, we were ecstatic; you could finally escape the Black Curse and perhaps build a better life than the one we had been thrust into. Mom and Dad might have seemed harsh on you, but driving you away was the hardest thing they had ever done. I can't even count how many nights I had to cry myself asleep to ensure I didn't break in front of you.

If everything goes well then the Cup is now in your possession. It's another one of those cursed Horcruxes, if you managed to destroy the Locket, the please destroy this as well and bring us one step closer to taking down the Dark Lord. I wish I could help more than this, but I'm in too deep with the Dark Lord now. The Mark burns upon my arm and I have performed horrible acts in hope of maintaining my cover. His voice whispers in my ear even as I write this and I don't think my mind has long to go. I just hope I can see death before my mind becomes his completely.

Live a long and good life, Sirius. Always remember that we love you and will die to protect you.

Your loving sister,

Bellatrix Black

Harry sat paralyzed, his hand shaking and mind racing. He couldn't believe what he was reading. The change would be too great, though the location of some of the Horcruxes might have changed this was simply too much for his mind to comprehend.

As the letter fell from his hand, Vanessa picked it up and read through it. A gasp escaped her as she finished and her gaze fell upon Harry's shaking form. She didn't know much about Harry's past, but he had covered the death of his godfather and what it had done to him back then.

Dumbledore took the letter from Vanessa and read it himself. The aged Headmaster felt as if someone had punched him in the gut. Could it be true? Had the Blacks really worked to undermine Voldemort all these years and he hadn't noticed? If that was true… then perhaps there was hope. When he turned to look at Harry he realized a moment too late what was happening.

"Ace!" Vanessa yelled just as the air around Harry cracked with emerald lightning and Harry forcefully broke his way through Gringotts wards, apparating towards his target.

The Island of Azkaban

No one heard the thunderous roar as Harry Potter descended upon the Wizarding Prison in a bolt of emerald lightning.

Bellatrix had been sitting inside her cell, attempting to catch even a moments rest as the Dementor's were not within range to torment her already collapsing mind. A bolt of emerald lightning lit up the entire room and her eyes widened as she looked towards the cause.

When the emerald fire in Harry's eyes broke through the smoke, Bellatrix felt as if her heart stopped. His entire body was shaking, emerald lightning cracking off him and into the walls. Magic swirled around him like a tornado, and his gaze finally locked with her own.

Her mouth parted and for the first time in a long while her voice sounded, horse and raspy, as it echoed off the walls in her cell one could hear the hope, regret and… love… in her voice.

"Harry?"