HP : THE TRAUMA AND CHOICE

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The goblin hesitated a moment then nodded and moved to knock at the appropriate office. He disappeared inside for several moments then came out and waved Harry into the office. If Harry had thought his account supervisor, Bogfoot, was old then Splitaxe was positively ancient. There was also an ancient axe, perfectly proportioned for a goblin, mounted on the wall behind his desk. Bogfoot stood at attention behind the even older goblin's chair.

"Mr. Potter." The ancient goblin glared at him. "What do you want?"

Harry decided to pretend that the old goblin had said something pleasant and keep going. In terms of his previous dealings with goblins, it was positively friendly. Maybe that was as nice as goblins got?

"I was emancipated yesterday. Today I'm an adult. I want whatever blood verifications you normally do. I want to tighten security on my vault so that random people who steal my keys 'for my own good' can't get into them. I want to be able to get into my vaults with or without my keys and I want a full investigation into Albus Dumbledore's expenditures and removals of assets when I was a minor. I want my cloak returned to me. I want every single one of my parents letters returned to me. I want to trace every asset use he authorized during that time. And I want someone to make sure the old man didn't help himself to anything else of mine. I want a copy of my parents' wills." Harry narrowed his eyes in thought. "And if there are any hereditary positions or responsibilities within the Potter name, title, or clan I want to know about them as well as what's expected of me and what actions were last taken regarding them, especially if I was a minor when they were taken." Harry thought a moment then snapped his fingers. "Oh, and my estate affairs will no longer be handled by Mr. March. He seems more interested in Dumbledore's best interests than my own. I would like a complete accounting of my assets and I would like a copy sent to my new solicitor, Ms. Helena Bones."

The two old goblins squinted at Harry suspiciously.

"These actions will put you squarely opposite Albus Dumbledore" Bogfoot said cautiously.

"Good." Harry said firmly. "It's about time someone stood up to him."

Because after a lot of reflection, Harry had decided that Hogwarts was at least partially responsible for how he and Tom Riddle had turned out. Maybe he would tell this Tom that before he killed him.

The goblins exchanged a long look.

"Voldemort doesn't count." Harry immediately protested. "He dragged everyone into his disagreement with the old man. I just want to be free and own what's mine."

Both goblins snorted. They looked at him as if he were a silly little fool. Considering their relative ages and the entirety of goblin history, they may have had a point.

"Before we continue" Splitaxe said, "are you satisfied with your account manager?"

Harry blinked. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be? He's honest and blunt which is good because I'm a bit thick."

Splitaxe and Bogfoot exchanged hard looks.

"You had some concerns regarding the management of your account the last time we spoke" Bogfoot said carefully.

Harry blinked. His accusations of theft and mismanagement rang in his ears. Harry hunched his shoulders guiltily. Even he could tell from his one glance at his vault's ledger with Narcissa Malfoy that he was wealthier now than when his parents had first put that money aside for him despite Dumbledore's questionable withdrawals.

"I apologize" Harry said carefully as he focused the entirety of his attention on Bogfoot. "I was in shock. It never occurred to me that Dumbledore would help himself to my person, property, or assets. Despite that you have somehow made my assets grow. I'm sorry that I blamed the wrong person."

Bogfoot bared his teeth at Harry in a sneer worthy of Snape. Harry's brief acquaintance with Griphook allowed Harry to interpret it as a good sign.

"You are a young and stupid wizard. It was inevitable."

Harry smiled. "Thank you."

So the goblins had him nick his finger and dribble his blood onto a piece of special parchment while they snarled at younger goblins in gobbledegook. While the younger goblins scampered in and out of the office, Harry watched his blood swirl around on the parchment until his blood began to form letters then words.

Evans Vault – Heir

Potter Estate – Heir

Gryffindor Estate – Heir

Ravenclaw Estate – Heir

Hufflepuff Estate – Heir

Riddle Vault – Heir

Gaunt Estate – Heir

Slytherin Estate – Heir

Harry blinked. He stabbed a finger at the last six estates he was heir to.

"How did I become heir to those? I don't think I'm related to those families."

"We will pull the appropriate wills" Splitaxe assured Harry with a much put upon look.

While they pulled the paperwork Harry went with Bogfoot to explore his new vaults and key all of his vaults – new and old – to his blood. The Riddle vault was on the same level as the Evans vault which was the one that he had always visited. The Potter and Gaunt Estates were much lower, well past the dragon. The two founders' estates, however, had vaults down in the very depths of the bank. They were so low down they even had single digit vault numbers. Harry peeked into each vault – there was no way that he was going to touch anything until he had several months to get past any traps and to seriously consider anything that he found – but only helped himself to more gold from his original vault.

When they returned to Splitaxe's office, the elderly goblin had five giant stacks of parchment in front of him. He tapped one clawed finger gently against the first stack.

"The Potter Estate." Then he tapped that same finger against each stack in turn. "The Gaunt Estate and Will. The Gryffindor Estate and Will. The Riddle Will. The Slytherin Estate and Will. The Ravenclaw Estate and Will. The Hufflepuff Estate and Will."

The ancient goblin leveled a piercing look at Harry across the desk as Bogfoot stuffed both sets of papers into a leather satchel.

"The remaining matters that you have commissioned us to undertake for you will require time. We will keep you appraised of our findings."

Harry nodded, thanked the goblins, and headed into muggle London for lunch. After lunch Harry bought two dozen white roses and called for the Knight Bus. Luckily the conductor was a blond girl only a few years older than Harry rather than Stan. Her driver was a young brunette girl who was somehow even more terrifying behind the wheel that Ernie was.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" Harry asked the blond girl since they seemed to be the only ones on the bus at the moment.

She laughed. "I didn't get a Hogwarts letter. I didn't get any letter to anywhere."

"So where did you go to school?"

She waved a hand at him. "Me mum and dad taught me everything I know."

"Did they go to Hogwarts?"

"No. No one in me family ever got a letter."

Harry frowned. "But you have a wand and magic. I thought Hogwarts was open to everyone."

A slightly bitter expression flittered across her features. "Hogwarts is open to everyone who has the means or the talent to earn a scholarship maybe. It's not open to average people like my people."

"It's supposed to be open to everyone! That was the whole point of building Hogwarts!"

She smiled at him as the Knight Bus skidded to a halt. "Godric's Hollow's cemetery sir."

"Th- Thanks. For everything, I mean."

Harry hopped off the bus. When the lurid bus careened around a corner and out of sight, Harry let himself into the cemetery. His feet remembered where his parents lay. In short order Harry found himself standing in front of their graves. For a long time he simply stood there and stared.

"I brought you flowers this time" Harry murmured at last as he knelt to place them on front of the marker. "I know that this wasn't what I was supposed to do but… it seems like the right thing to do. I thought it was the right thing to do. I'm going to do my best to make this work. And don't worry about Sirius or Remus or Professor Snape. This time around I'll look after them. I promise."

He knelt there for a long time. When he stood, he made his way out of the cemetery and into the village. He visited the monument that was once his home then haled the Knight Bus again.

It was time to go back to Hogwarts.

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Want to know what happens next? 100+ advanced chapters await you on Patreon! Be the first to read what others will have to wait for. Join the community and read ahead today!

(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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