Harry Potter and Lord of House Black

Author's Note:

Support this Fanfiction on Pa.treon! 🚀

Love the story? Read 23 chapters ahead (up to Chapter - 35) of the public release on Pa.treon!

🔗 https://www.pa.treon.com/c/NovaChronus

.

.

.

Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Diagon Alley,

Appearing before the imposing snow-white, multistoried marble building that towered over the neighbouring shops, partway down Diagon Alley, Andromeda glanced at her daughter standing beside her. "Let's first withdraw the sickles and knuts, yeah? Then we'll get your supplies sorted…"

Nymphadora nodded quietly. "Hmm…"

…

Approaching the goblin at the counter, Andromeda spoke up, "Andromeda Tonks. I'd like to withdraw money from the Tonks family vault."

The goblin looked up at her, then glanced at the teenage girl beside her before nodding. "I take it you've brought the key, Mrs. Andromeda Tonks?"

Andromeda pulled the key from her robe pocket and showed it. "Here it is."

"Very well," the goblin said, scribbling something on a piece of parchment. He passed it to her, saying, "This will be your waiting number. Please take a seat in the waiting area. When it's your turn, someone will come to escort you to your vault."

Andromeda took the slip with a surprised, confused look. "We have to wait?" she asked. She'd never faced a situation like this before.

Normally, they're straightaway escorted to their vaults, so having to wait was something new and quite unexpected.

The goblin offered a brief apology. "I apologize for the inconvenience, but yes, you'll have to wait a while. There was an accidental cave-in while opening some new tunnels. Most of the staff have been sent there, so there's a temporary shortage."

"Ah… I see," Andromeda murmured, nodding in understanding. "Alright then… We'll wait." She slipped the ticket into her robe pocket alongside the key, then turned to her daughter. "Looks like we've come at a bad time… we'll have to hang about for a bit."

Nymphadora shrugged. "Seems like it…"

The two of them headed to the waiting area and took a seat as they started to wait.

As they settled into the polished wooden benches of the waiting area, the low murmur of impatient voices that had been distant until now became closer. Wizards and witches glanced impatiently at the ornate clock mounted high on the wall, its golden hands ticking slowly as they waited and waited for their turn.

Every few minutes, a goblin would arrive and call out a number, prompting a wizard or witch to stand and follow them away while wearing a look of impatience and a bit of relief that their number had finally come after all the waiting.

"It could easily be another hour," Nymphadora murmured, noting the last number called and glancing at their own.

Andromeda nodded. "Yeah…" She was also starting to get a bit restless herself, constantly checking her wristwatch, knowing they'd been waiting for nearly half an hour already, and still had more to go before their turn.

As time went on, the crowd only grew larger, and slowly, a few familiar faces showed up. But Andromeda didn't bother to approach or chat with any of them, she had too many thoughts swirling in her head to feel like talking.

Of course, just 'cause she wasn't interested didn't mean others felt the same, especially a few meddlesome types from House Gryffindor who weren't exactly on good terms with the second lady of House Black during their Hogwarts days because she was part of House Slytherin.

Everyone knew how they were, the busybodies and meedlesome folks with no tact and a proper grudge against Slytherin folk.

The moment a troll-faced woman with her troll-faced daughter showed up in the waiting area and spotted Andromeda with her daughter, she snorted coldly. "Well… just our bloody luck. Not only do we have to wait ages to get our galleons from the vault, but we've gotta do it in the company of these annoying, slimy snakes…"

Andromeda, already fed up with having to wait so long, shot a cold glare at the woman who'd remarked. "If it annoys you that much, why don't you take that fat troll-like arse of yours and do us all a favour and scarper? At least then we'd have some room to breathe… I just can't stand the stink. Ooof… who'd have thought we'd be stuck waiting here with a bloody troll! If I had known better, I would have brought a troll repellent spray…"

Nymphadora tried to stifle a giggle when her mum called the woman a literal troll, but couldn't hold it in. Especially since the woman did look a lot like a troll, what with that bulky frame of hers. If anyone told Nymphadora the woman didn't have troll blood in her, she'd be right sceptical.

Andromeda's jab seemed to hit a nerve; the woman and her daughter looked like they'd just bitten into a rotten apple, their faces turning a sickly shade of green… only proving Nymphadora's suspicions about their troll ancestry.

The two glanced around, spotting several wizards nearby with amused smiles, eyeing them like they were trying to spot the troll resemblance, which only made her even more furious. Naturally, she wasn't about to back down and fired back with a sneer, "Talk about yourself, wench…"

She reached out, grabbing the collar of Andromeda's robe with her thick hands. "Still haven't lost that arrogance of yours, even though you've got nothing to back it up, huh? And look at those filthy rags… not much of a princess now, are you? Did Papa kick you out?"

"Mind your own business, troll," Andromeda snapped and swatted her hands away.

The woman backed a step, but she wasn't done. "Heard Tonks kicked the bucket not long ago… you sure you didn't poison him with your venom, Snake? Wouldn't put it past you. Even if disowned, the blood of Black's gotta run strong. And with all your brothers and sisters rotting in Azkaban, maybe they ought to open a cell for you too… bring the whole family back together, eh?"

The room instantly fell quiet, the air thick with tension, and the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees as Andromeda's cold eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched tight.

Nymphadora's smile vanished too, replaced by a fierce glare.

Even insults have their limits, and that troll of a woman had clearly crossed the line the moment she mocked Edward's death like that.

But she showed no fear; rather, catching the icy look on Andromeda's face, she smiled brightly, as if she'd got the upper hand, and laughed, "What? Did I hit a mark?"

Angered, Andromeda drew her wand and aimed it coldly at the troll of a woman. "If you say something of that sort again… I'll literally turn you into a troll."

Nymphadora followed suit, drawing her wand and pointing it at the woman's daughter. "Troll…"

The woman scoffed, unfazed. She drew her own wand and leveled it at Andromeda. "Unlike your dead husband, mine's an Auror. If you want to settle this here and now… I'm more than game. Besides, nothing's gonna happen to me."

Her daughter mirrored her, pointing her wand at Nymphadora. "Pauper…"

Seeing things were about to get serious, the wizards nearby quickly backed off, not wanting to get caught up in the scrap.

Even the goblin tellers all turned their attention to the two pairs of mothers and daughters.

Just then, sharp voices pierced the charged silence as a group of goblins in scarlet and gold rushed over, their sharp voices slicing through the tension like a knife. "Enough! This isn't the place for childish squabbles. All four of you, put away your wands this instant!"

"She's the one who started it," Andromeda said, not lowering her wand. "Tell her to apologize to me and put her wand down first… I'll do the same once she does."

"Ha… don't make me laugh, Snake. You really think I'd apologise to a pauper like you?" the woman snapped, wand still raised. She then turned to the goblin, her tone dripping with arrogance. "Unlike her family's vault, which I believe runs into the five digits, ours is only in the four. So… I want you to kick her out and empty her vault. If you don't, I'll have no choice but to take every last galleon from mine, seeing as I'm a bit iffy about Gringotts' security."

Hearing the fat woman's threat, everyone, Andromeda and the goblin included, looked taken aback.

"You want me to give up my family vault over this petty spat?" Andromeda asked, eyeing the troll-faced woman as if she were daft.

"Well, why bother keeping that vault occupied when no money's ever going to go in there?" the troll-faced woman shrugged with a chuckle.

The goblin, recovering from his surprise, tried to reason with her. "Now listen, Mrs. Delia… the thing is—"

But the troll-faced Mrs. Delia wasn't having any of it, cutting him off with a sharp warning. "Are you going to do it, or aren't you, goblin? Just so you know, my husband's an Auror… and his little brother works at the Daily Prophet. You understand what that means, don't you, goblin?"

Andromeda glanced at the goblin, her face betraying a hint of nerves. She hadn't expected the argument to escalate this far and felt a pang of regret for losing her temper. If she'd kept quiet and ignored that troll, none of this would've happened.

As the tension thickened, an older, more senior goblin appeared. He leaned in and whispered to the goblin who was trying to resolve the conflict, "Drindle… go and—"

Hearing the order, Drindle nodded. "Very well, Ragwurt. I'll do as you've ordered, empty her vault." With that, he promptly set off to carry out the task.

Ragwurt then turned to Andromeda, "Now then, Mrs. Tonks, as requested by our dear guest, please follow me…"

Andromeda, stunned, asked, "You lot are seriously going along with her demands? You're really going to make me give up our family vault?"

"Why wouldn't they? They know what's good for them," the troll-faced woman laughed, clearly not expecting things to actually go her way, but she was certainly pleased.

The wizards nearby began murmuring in disbelief. This was the first time they'd seen something like this happen, and they looked at Andromeda with pity.

But Ragwurt shook his head. "I apologize for the misunderstanding I may have caused because of my unclear words, Mrs. Tonks… no one's forcing you to give up your family vault." He added, "I was just about to escort a VIP customer to their family vault. That person noticed a troll-faced woman causing trouble for you. Since you seem to be a family member of his, and he didn't want to see you in any trouble, he requested that you be brought along in the same VIP cart. Thus, I request you to please follow me… I shall take you to the cart that is ready to go down… You won't have to wait for your turn here…"

At the elder goblin's words, everyone's expressions shifted in surprise.

"A relative of mine… a VIP customer, no less…" Andromeda murmured, trying to figure out who it might be who'd let her come with her. Of course, the face of a child came to her mind, 'Is he also here?' she thought, but before she could ask about that, she recalled something else as a frown crept over her face. "What about that person named Drindle, who left earlier to empty the vault? Is he not emptying my vault?"

Ragwurt replied, "Drindle left to empty Mrs. Delia's family vault, of course."

"What? Mine?" the troll-faced woman exclaimed in disbelief as she pointed at herself.

Ragwurt nodded in a cold but respectful tone, "Since you are not confident about Gringotts' security, you should move your family's wealth somewhere you trust more. Besides, Gringotts wouldn't tolerate a wizard threatening them, no matter who they are… an auror, an employee at the Daily Prophet, or someone with connections to them…"

Hearing Ragwurt's response, everyone in the vicinity realized that the tables had turned for the troll-faced Mrs. Delia…

And Mrs. Delia, who didn't expect such an outcome, said, "You… you are going to regret it… you damn goblin… my family has almost a thousand galleons in that vault… and you…"

But Ragwurt cut her off calmly. "A vault with a mere thousand galleons isn't worth our time. Besides, the VIP customer Mrs. Andromeda Tonks is related to is very important to Gringotts… so, you see…"

He left the rest unsaid, but the message was clear as day.

'You're simply not important enough for us…'

After explaining, he turned to the security and a few other goblins. "Now, while Drindle finishes emptying Mrs. Delia's family vault, I expect she'll be looked after to make sure she doesn't cause any trouble for the other customers."

Then he faced Andromeda. "Right then, Mrs. Tonks… if you'd come with us…"

"Ah… yes… alright," Andromeda said, glancing at the troll-faced woman who was glaring daggers at her. Feeling amused now that the tables had turned, she smirked and called out, "Well, then, troll… see ya…"

Before leading her daughter away, "Come on, Dora… let's get going. It's best if we distance ourselves from this stench… it could cause us mental illness…"

"Yeah, Mum," Nymphadora nodded, looking back and sticking out her tongue before following her mother.

Angered, the troll woman tried to raise her wand and fire a spell at Andromeda and Nymphadora, but she was stopped before she could, and swiftly escorted out of the main hall.

As Andromeda and Nymphadora followed Griphook and Ragwurt, she couldn't help but ask, "Who's this family member?"

In truth, she had a good guess deep down but wasn't entirely sure.

Ragwurt replied casually, "Well… the child seems to call you Aunt, Mrs. Tonks… I'd say that makes the connection pretty clear."

"Right…" Andromeda sighed, certain now. "Is it Rigel Black… the son of my younger cousin?"

"Spot on, Mrs. Tonks," Ragwurt nodded.

"I see… It would appear that I am in his debt now," Andromeda murmured with a conflicted expression.

In truth, she felt a bit reluctant to go with the goblin and join Rigel Black.

After all, she was torn over the choice he'd laid before her.

She wanted nothing more than to give her daughter a better future, but not at the cost of sullying her late husband's name. If it were just her, she'd sacrifice herself for the sake of her daughter. But to tarnish the love she shared with Ted, that just didn't sit right.

She also doubted Nymphadora would forgive her if she made that kind of decision. Yet, the looming threats, poverty, and lack of opportunity were driving her further into desperation.

If the boy isn't around, she believes that she can find ways to calm herself and ponder her options. But with him right there, she was lost for words, and her mind would stop working.

Still, now that she'd agreed to come along, especially since he'd stepped in to help, she had no choice but to go.

'Sigh… why… why does it have to be this way…'

.

.

.

That's it for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed reading this one!

If you want to read advanced Chapters, be sure to check out my P-atreon: https://www.pa.treon.com/c/NovaChronus

And guys... guys... guys... GImme da Powehhstone... 200 is the Goaaaaaal, please make this wet dream of mine a reality.

Also, don't forget to drop your comments and reviews as per your views (+ve ones, hopefully) on the story so far.

If you're enjoying the story so far, be sure to add it to your library so you won't miss any updates!