Harry spent an extra hour before breakfast the next morning slotting his new memories of Wizarding social customs into place. Many of them seemed extremely out of date compared to his muggle upbringing, but the Wizarding world seemed to be running between one and two hundred years behind the rest of the world in most areas. It made a kind of sense when you considered that many wizards would live to around one hundred and ten, if not longer.
Breakfast was nice, with his grandparents sharing anecdotes about his father growing up. Harry noted down a few more things that he needed to learn as they discussed his father’s training before he took over the family seats. Under-age heirs were allowed to attend court sessions and trials at the side of the current Head of House, but few did so anymore. Harry made a mental note to ask Neville if he would be attending during the holiday breaks or next summer.
“Mathis?”
“Yes, Master Harry?” The elf said, popping into the dining room.
“Are the elves ready for me to review them?”
“Yes, Master Harry. They are waiting outside," he said, gesturing for Harry to follow.
“Let’s go meet them. They’re aware that we don’t have the usual bond in our family, correct?”
“Yes, this is why so many have come.”
“Are there any that you wouldn’t approve of bonding?”
“Three are from former dark houses, but if the Master unbinds them from their House bonds, they should do well here.” Mathis said, pausing at the front doors, “There are two others that you must speak to once the others are done. They have been forcefully bound to their masters in the past and have many spells preventing them from certain actions. These spells have twisted their natures, and they will need much healing if you choose to free them. They almost killed themselves by disobeying orders to come here.”
“It’s Dobby and Winky, isn’t it?” Harry said with a sigh.
“Yes, Master Harry.”
“Alright, make sure they’re comfortable, and I’ll deal with their bonds after we bind the rest of the elves.”
Harry stepped outside and took in the crowd of waiting elves with a sigh. He quickly thanked them all for coming and asked that they form a line, each one coming when called. He took a seat on the steps and gestured for Mathis to bring the first elf forward.
“Thank you, Mathis.” Harry said with a smile, “What is your name, elf?”
“I is called Nippy, Lord.” The house elf whimpered, clearly fighting with himself to even approach the steps.
“Why do you wish to bind yourself to the House of Potter, Nippy?”
“My last master died, and his children cast us out. I want’s to work, Lord.”
“Are the others from your House here?”
“Yes, Lord.” Five other house elves stepped slowly forward.
“Do you wish to be unbound from your old family and bound to House Potter?”
“Yes, Lord, we wish to work.”
“What is the name of your old house?”
“Simmons, Lord.”
“Come take my hand, Nippy, and let me welcome you to House Potter.”
“Oh, thank you, Lord.” Nippy whimpered as Harry performed the binding, he didn’t let go until the blackened, painful bindings had been burned away as well.
The rest of the morning went much the same; each elf was welcomed to House Potter, and Harry carefully removed any bindings that pained the elf. Mathis then guided the elf to another waiting elf for them to be assigned beds, tasks, and healing as needed. Several of the elves had been badly scarred by their masters and would need extra time and care.
When the final elf was released and assigned to the gardeners for training, Harry leaned back with a sigh, tugging a shrunken pepper up from the potions pouch he’d added to his daily effects. The pouch allowed him to carry a variety of shrunken potion vials for basic things. Truly volatile potions couldn’t be shrunken, but low-level healing potions and antidotes were easily done.
Two more elves waited for him in the shade of a nearby tree, and Harry made his way over, taking in how thin and exhausted the elves looked. Mathis may have been right in thinking that coming here had nearly killed the pair. Winky watched him from a pallet, head resting listlessly on Dobby’s lap.
“Harry Potter, sir,” Dobby said, his skin grey and ears drooping.
“Dobby, Winky, Mathis said that you were forcefully bound.”
“Yes, the Headmaster Dumbliedoor bound us, forced us to be bound to him when the students left, ordered us to stay at the castle, and to not answer if you called for us. We did not want to serve him; Dobby has only wanted to serve his Harry since he was freed.”
“He will know if I free you, Dobby. You can never go near him again if we do this. He will think you both died.”
“We is not wanting to be near nasty Headmaster, Master Harry. Dobby will go where you send him.”
“What about you, Winky? Will you serve my House if I unbind you?”
“Winky is done with masters. Masters are bad.”
“What if I gave you a house to keep, would you want that?”
“Winky misses her Barty. Winky needs a family to care for.”
“And If I found a family for you? Would you serve them?” Harry pressed, wanting to do something for the worn-down being.
“You would do this for Winky?" she asked, perking up slightly.
“If that is what you need, Winky, then I will do my best to make it happen for you.” Harry said with a small smile, “Will you let me unbind you?”
“Yes, take away the darkness, Master Harry. I will bind to your House if you gives Winky a family.”
Harry took Winky’s hands carefully, afraid of causing the frail elf more pain. Black bonds crisscrossed her form, wrapping around her chest and neck like ropes choking the life out of her small form. These ropes were hard to unravel; they fought against his attempts to untangle them, twisting tighter. Finally, it was his utter rage at the pain they were causing that allowed him to cast them away from her form, strands of golden flame eating away the black bonds.
Dobby carefully gave Winky over to the healers once the binding to House Potter was in place. Harry took his hands and winced to see the black and red chains that bound his friend. His bindings were much harder to break, leaving Harry gasping when the chains finally shattered. He cast the House binding in a daze, Mathis popping him to his bed afterward.
Harry woke up sometime in the afternoon and took the headache and pepper-up potions waiting next to his bed before he went to the kitchens to find something to eat. He felt utterly drained still, but there was too much to be done.
“You look pale, Harry. Mathis told me that you bound new elves today.” His grandmother said from a nearby painting as he tucked into a turkey sandwich and crisps.
“We can use them with the reopened properties,” Harry said, taking a sip of cranberry juice. “I need to get some more studying in today as well; I have to interview the defense and fencing instructors tomorrow.”
“Don’t push yourself too hard, dear. You won’t make any progress if you don’t take care of yourself.”
“Don’t worry, Grandmother. I won’t push too hard. I just need to make some kind of progress today.”
“I would say you have done quite a bit of progress, young man. The estates have never run smoother, and you are bettering your situation and learning every day. No grandmother could ask for more in a grandson.”
“Thank you, Grandmother. Was there anything you needed? Where has Grandfather Charlus gotten to today?”
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“Charlus is in your study. I believe he wanted to go over the paperwork for the docks, and he has an idea for how you can start meeting with other Houses and getting things rolling with House business.”
“I thought we needed to wait until we had a representative?” Harry asked with a frown.
“I think you will like his idea, crazy as it is. Go talk to him in a bit, dear.”
“I’ll speak to him before dinner then, I do want to finish up my potions study today.”
“Very well, Harry, I will not keep you," she said with a smile.
“Thank you, Grandmother. Have a good day.” Harry said, getting up and gathering up his things.
“You as well, Harry.”
Harry spent the rest of the afternoon in the potions labs, working his way through several dozen recipes. He almost filled the vials he had in stock already and would need to pick up more. Most of the potions would be perfectly fine if placed in status in his trunk until needed. Many of the harder potions he would be working with this year, however, had a very limited shelf life and could turn poisonous if not used within a few weeks of brewing.
It was surprising how easy potions were without the constant strain of fighting to protect his potion from the various Slytherins in class and his nerves from having Snape berating his every move. Now that he perfected his techniques, it was just a matter of timing and memorizing the effects of the ingredients and how they reacted. He’d already noted down several small improvements that could be made to some of the basic recipes in his textbooks but wanted to do some more reading before he started experimenting.
Cleaning up, he headed to his study to see what Grandfather Charlus had come up with. The man had a mind like a maze and often would mention some random person or item that wound up being vital to the problem they were working on. He was the one who had suggested binding more elves originally so that they could restart production on all the lands that the Potter House now held. If they timed things right, it could triple the House income and influence in the next ten years.
“Good evening, Grandfather Charlus. Grandmother Dorea said that you have an idea for our House representative?” Harry said as he walked into the study, giving the portrait of his grandfather a smile.
“Well, a possible solution. Tell me, have you reviewed the vaults underneath Thorburn Castle, it’s an old Potter property?”
“I haven’t had time to visit it yet.”
“Then tomorrow, that’s where you need to go. The vaults there hold the House’s most prized possessions and accomplishments.”
“And you think there is something that will help?”
“Quite a few things, I imagine. The item I was considering is a necklace which lets you anchor an illusion spell. It prevents it from being removed by spells or House wards.”
“Sounds illegal,” Harry pointed out, frowning as he thought through the pros and cons of such an item.
“It probably would have been if it had been created by anyone other than a Potter. It was used for a few generations of Aurors, but mostly, it’s sat in the vaults untouched. Combine an illusion spell with an aging potion, and you will be able to go to the needed meetings this summer as Master Thorburn.”
“That would work for this summer, but what about when I go back to school? When Master Thorburn is unable to attend any of the required dinners or meetings, things would quickly fall through.”
“Let’s deal with that when it arrives, lad. For now, go get the necklace, and let’s see if this plan will even work. Maybe by then, we will have something better for when you’re off at school.”
“Very well,” Harry said with a laugh, “I’ll head out tomorrow after I interview the dueling instructors.”
“No, leave it for when you have a full day, Harry. The vaults are massive, and there will be more than just the necklace that you might want to take a look at.”
“Alright, do you mind if we head to dinner? It’s been a long day.”
“Of course, you head on down. Growing young men need all the strength they can get.” Charlus said, watching as Harry left the room. Dorea slid into the portrait and leaned against her husband.
“Are you sure he’s ready for the vaults? You know how they like to challenge the heirs.”
“He needs all the strength he can muster if he’s going to defeat both the Dark Lord and Dumbledore and not get tossed into Azkaban in the process. This might just give him an edge.”
“Or break him. How will the Potter magic react to the Black blood in his veins? You know James rejected that side of himself, I don’t think Harry sees things as black and white as that. If it calls his darker nature, he might reject something that could hurt him. Unbalanced magic is as bad as weak magic.”
“Harry is made of sterner stuff than James ever was. James was a follower. Harry has the temperament to lead if he can find the right path. We just need to help him on it.”
“And you think the vaults will do that?”
“He needs to have a weapon that matches his enemies; the vaults will give him that.”
“But at what price?" she asked, letting him gather her into a tight hold.
“Come, clean yourself up, Dorea. We need to make an appearance at dinner before the boy wonders what happened to us.”
“Yes, I just don’t want to see him hurt. The boy has gone through far too much for someone so young.”
“Then we must be there to support him.”
*****
Severus Snape made his way into Gringotts with a snarl fixed on his face. He hated fighting the crowds in the alley but had used the excuse to run several errands and place a few more orders for potion ingredients that he wanted to experiment with. The notice had arrived yesterday at breakfast with his paper asking him to come at his earliest convenience to discuss the contents of his vault.
He didn’t like having Dumbledore aware of his business and had taken to staying away from the kitchens and great hall as much as possible during the summers. Most of the teachers left to spend time with their families, with only Sprout coming every few days to tend to her plants. He enjoyed the quiet and endless hours of experimenting on his potions without having to worry about unruly students or interruptions.
“I’m here to see, Account Master Gold Kris," he told the goblin teller, handing over the notice for the goblin’s inspection.
“Grimhook will show you the way, Potions Master Snape," he said, gesturing to a goblin hugging the wall to one side.
Severus nodded his thanks and quickly followed the indicated goblin. He was shown to an opulent office by goblin standards, much nicer than his normal account manager’s office, and left to wait. He hadn’t waited long when two goblins entered, one carrying a large stack of ledgers and the other a chest. The one carrying the books took a seat while the other goblin left the office, closing the door behind him with a slam.
“Thank you for coming at such short notice, Potions Master Snape. I am Accounts Manager Gold Kris.” The goblin said, offering him a sharp-toothed smile.
“The notice I received stated that something was wrong with my accounts. Can you explain the issue?”
“Of course,” Gold Kris said with a grunt, pulling one of the ledgers closer and flipping to a marked page. “Recent events have led to a full review of all active accounts. In this review, several items were found in your vault to have been spelled to affect the user negatively. For those that own these items, we are offering to purge the items of spells and have our healers scan the account holder for any additional interference."
“Have you found any account holders bespelled?” Severus asked, not expecting an honest answer, gold was everything to goblins, and this might just be a way to wring a few more coins from his accounts.
“That information is confidential, but quite a few account holders have agreed to the scans.” Gold Kris said with a sharp-toothed grin.
“What is the charge for these services?”
“One Galleon for all scans and medical care needed to treat any aliments found in the scan.”
“That’s cheaper than most treatments from Saint Mungo’s.” Severus pointed out, wanting to see if the older goblin would reveal why the scans were so cheap.
“An account holder was en-spelled in an attempt to defraud his accounts, Master Snape and goblins do not take theft lightly, especially from our bank. We have performed a full audit of the affected accounts, but the bank managers have agreed that a full review is required. As for the items in your vault and the scans, I will need a decision before you leave. Here is the list of items." he said, handing over a roll of parchment.
“This makes no sense, why would my books from school…” Severus muttered, pieces of the puzzle clicking into place, students that suddenly had violent changes in personality, friendships destroyed by sudden rages that he never could understand once the anger finally drained away.
“Many of the items we have discovered were spelled in the last two decades. Most seem to be objects from the account holder’s Hogwarts years.”
“Can the scans be done now?” Severus said, his mind made up, he did not want to abandon his snakes, but if he had to sever all ties with the school and its manipulative headmaster to gain his freedom, he would. “Will all findings from the scans be held in strict confidence?”
“They will be, and considering your… legal history, Master Snape, certain findings will be ignored unless you wish to pursue the removal of… certain spells.”
“You are able to remove… everything?” Severus asked haltingly, was it even possible? Every method he researched resulted in the death of the marked person.
“Goblin methods have been proven to kill the victims of certain bindings however, a new method has come to light that could remove any binding created by magic. If you wish, I can contact our representative and see if he is willing to proceed?”
“Yes, please,” Severus said, barely daring to breathe. If the binding tethering his magic to the Dark Lord was severed, he would be useless to Dumbledore and could step back from the war, at least in some ways. He would never be able to completely abandon his Slytherins, but maybe he could offer them more than a bad example of why you didn’t want to join the Dark Lord.
“It will take a few days to receive word. I will contact you when he is available. Are you ready for the scans?”
“Yes, I’d like for the scans to be done. The items can stay locked in the truck and warded. I would like to keep the spells intact in case I wish to press charges at a later date.”
“We are keeping a log of all such victims who might wish to be part of a larger lawsuit at a later date. Would you be willing to add your name to this list?”
“Yes, but for now, I would like to remain anonymous should any of the documents come to light before we are in a position of strength,” Severus said, glancing away as the door opened to admit the curse breaker and healers.
“Of course, Master Snape,” Gold Kris said, gesturing the others forward. “If you will divest yourself of all magical items, the curse breaker will start the scans.”
Two hours later, Severus had been scanned, and the results noted that the spells that could be removed had been done so. He would undertake his purging regimen later in the week once he was able to guarantee that he had non-Hogwarts food available since he did not trust the headmaster not to use the elves at the school to dose his meals.
“The full spell removal will need to wait until your bindings are removed. I have already sent a letter to the spell caster and hope to receive a reply shortly. If you do not wish to return to Hogwarts, Gringotts is willing to offer you housing at a local property that is warded against all entry except those with a Gringotts portkey.”
“Yes, that might be for the best,” Severus said from where he was slumped in his chair, the healing and curse breaking left him drained. “I don’t trust myself right now not to curse the beard off that old coot if I see him before everything is arranged. Might it be possible to rent such a property? I have a feeling that returning to Hogwarts might become impossible with the events that have come to light.”
“Gringotts does not have an available property currently, but our spell caster has several available that he just re-warded from an inheritance. I will see if he is amenable to allowing one to be rented.”
“Please ask if others could be offered the same, I know of several students who would be willing to go into hiding if a safe house was offered to them.” Severus pressed; he would only leave Hogwarts if there was still a chance to help his snakes. He would not leave them without at least a small glimmer of hope.