The Crux of the Matter

Chapter Five

Harry was both excited and dreading Thursday. After a rather restless night, he didn't really want to get out of bed, but realized that putting off his tasks for the morning wouldn't make anything easier. He read the now crumpled note, from the goblin at Bill's wedding, for the tenth time that morning. So he dragged himself out of bed at half past seven, as he usually did, and made his way to the kitchen for breakfast. Remus was sitting at the table, with a cup of coffee in one hand and the Prophet in the other.

"'Morning, Harry. Arthur just stepped out, he said he'll be back in half an hour or so. We want to get to Gringott's by nine."

Harry nodded as he poured himself a cup of coffee and grabbed a pastry off the plate on the counter. He ate in silence, grabbing a section of the paper as Remus finished it.

Ginny and Hermione, both rubbing the sleep from their eyes soon entered the room. Hermione made her way to the coffee pot and poured out two cups, while Ginny grabbed a skillet and started making a more substantial breakfast. Molly soon entered from the yard carrying a basket of eggs, which Ginny promptly started to scramble. At eight, Arthur returned, along with Tonks and Moody. Ron stumbled into the room shortly after.

"Do you want any of us to be with you, Harry?" asked Remus.

"I don't know. Maybe you and Mr. Weasley."

"Arthur, Harry. You are of age today, so you can call me Arthur."

Harry nodded, and filled a plate with the food that was set on the table.

"I don't know what to expect today. Do you have any ideas, Remus?"

"I expect that you will be given a new key to the family vault and the deeds to any properties you now own. If there is anything else, we'll find out when we get there."

"You will also have some paperwork to fill out. The goblins aren't quite as bad as the Ministry with that, but still there will be some," added Arthur, handing Harry a small, rectangular box. "Happy birthday."

Harry unwrapped the package. Inside was a pen, very similar to Charlie's.

"It has a never out feature, you'll only have to fill it after writing about five thousand pages. It also doubles as a wax seal, no heating charm needed."

Harry looked carefully at the end of the cap, it had a vaguely familiar looking symbol on it along with a highly stylized "P".

"The Potter crest," said Remus.

Harry nodded, remembering where he had seen the design before. "That makes sense. Thank-you."

"It was either the pen or a watch, I know you have a nice watch now. This is a bit of a family tradition, too."

"So Ron, what did you get?" asked Ginny. "You never showed me."

Ron blushed a little and mumbled around his eggs, "Watch."

"Why aren't you using it?" asked Molly.

"Umm..." Ron said, swallowing, "It's too fancy, Mum. I kind of feel like I'm showing off when I use it."

After breakfast, Remus, Harry and Arthur Apparated to Diagon Alley.

"You need to get your license today, also," said Arthur as the entered the bank.

A goblin led them to a small office, where another goblin was waiting for Harry.

"Good morning, Mr. Potter. I didn't expect you this early. I'm Grodfork. I have some papers you need to sign and then we can discuss your vaults."

He handed over the deed to a five acre parcel of land in a small village not too far from Cardiff, Wales.

"This was were your parent's house was located. You need to sign it to show the transfer of ownership. This is to satisfy the Muggle authorities, as the land was originally purchased from a Muggle farmer in the area."

Harry drew out his pen and signed the papers.

"The rest of these are purely Wizarding transactions, so you will acknowledge them with a drop of blood. The first is to a rather large country estate near Carmarthen. It is listed as a country estate and a producer of produce. There is also a piece of property else where in England, that was the ancestral Potter home, but as the house there was destroyed it too is just land. There is a partial ownership of a property in Hogsmeade. Additionally there is a small estate in Wales that comes to you through your mother. Her family, unknown to most is not as Muggle as has been believed, but she was the first witch in about three generations to an old family that had been reduced to a pair of Squib brothers. As the first Wizard in that line in four generations you inherit the entire remaining Jevons estate."

Harry was dumbfounded, he just mechanically added his signature and a drop of blood to the indicated documents. Grodfork continued.

"There is also the matter of the Pettigrew estate."

Harry turned to Remus.

"Harry, all four of us made complimentary wills. We left everything to each other and their descendants. Since James was the only one to have a child that means you."

"So when the Ministry declared him dead, I inherited Wormtail's possessions?"

"Yes, basically."

"Of course that was before the Ministry declared him alive and Mr. Black innocent, last year. His being a wanted criminal has also muddied the waters. His will was executed in trust, but now a hold has been placed on the final resolution of it. At this time there is nothing to be done, but that situation may change in the future. I will keep in contact with you over this matter. Which brings us to Mr. Black."

Harry stiffened slightly.

"As you know, you were his sole heir. Most of the estate was turned over to your control last summer. What you probably don't know, is that all that was transferred to you then was his personal assets. The family estate, which includes two more properties and a vault could not be disbursed until you came of age."

"So where are the other two properties?"

"The first is a small keep near Blackpool. The other is a two hundred acre vineyard in the Bordeaux region of France."

Harry nodded then asked, "Is it possible to receive a full accounting of my assets."

Arthur looked at him and smiled.

"Yes, you currently have among your three vaults 8,230,584 Galleons, 204,087 sickles and 120,912 Knuts. Your properties are valued at a little over 4,000,000 Galleons and there is another million Galleons in artwork, gemstones and jewelry in your vaults. This does not include the value of any furnishings or other items, including antiquities, many of which would be of rather limited value due to the nature of them being family heirlooms and only allowed to be utilized by a member of the family. This is a complete listing, as of Friday, past. Of course, this does not include any such items contained or stored on or at the properties in question." Grodfork slid a slim, black leather portfolio across the desk to Harry.

"Now on to the disposition of the vaults."

"Would it be possible to combine the Black and Potter vaults and convert my vault to a current account?"

"Yes, that is entirely possible, if that is you wish."

"One thing, I noticed that there is an account listed at the Bank of England. Do you know anything about that?"

"Ahh...yes, I had almost forgotten that. It was your mother's share of her parents estate, which became yours upon her death. I believe that all the documentation is provided."

Harry continued to look through the portfolio. "I see there is ownership in several businesses listed. How does that work?"

"Much like the Muggle stockmarket. But for most Wizarding enterprises, the investment is for the long term and the prestige, not monetary gain, sadly."

Harry had the impression that Grodfork was finished with him, so he stood to leave.

"Mr. Potter, before you go, you should visit your family vault. You may pick up your new key at the desk."

Harry nodded and headed back to the main part of the bank. Remus and Arthur both decided to accompany Harry to the vault. On entering the vault Harry was not interested in the piles of gems, money or anything else. He went straight to the stacks of books and filled a couple of trunks. The trunks were much like the ones Dumbledore had saved for him. Harry tapped them and they shrank to about the size of a deck of cards. Remus took out some parchment and cast a quick spell, all the books glowed blue for a few seconds.

"We'll look through these back at the Burrow," said Harry.

After leaving the bank the three of them, with Remus providing directions, Apparated to a small copse of trees on a quiet country lane.

"We are at the property line. There was a fence here at one time, but it seems to be down," said Remus pointing through the trees toward the lane.

There were a few fence posts still standing, so Harry could make out where the fence had been. They walked along the lane until they came to where the gate had been. Harry noticed that the east end of the property was bounded by a hedgerow, grown wild. The north side, behind where the house had stood was wooded. The south side, the side that bordered the lane, was open and the west side, besides the copse they had Apparated to, was also mostly open, with a few scattered trees defining the border.

"There is about one hundred and forty-five yards along the road. The property goes back from the road about one hundred and sixty-seven yards, about half of that being in the woods. The house sat back from the road about fifty yards, roughly in the center of the property. It was a nice little cottage, thatch roof and everything. It had been part of the farm for a long time. Your parents bought it shortly after they were married. Your mother liked this area, said her family was originally from around here. There is a small village a few miles east of here by the name of Evanstown or Evanston...I bet the Jevons property is somewhere near there."

Harry looked through the portfolio until he found the deed for that property. "You're right, it is listed as being near there. A fifty acre parcel, with a small house."

"Is there anything you wanted to see here?"

"No, not really. I want to come back and look around, sometime, but today I just wanted to know where it was. There doesn't seem to be much left."

"No, the Muggle authorities demanded that the site be cleaned up rather quickly. Anything salvageable was in those trunks, I'd wager. Do you want to know where your parents are buried?"

"That is one of the things I wanted to find out, yes."

"They are buried at Applegate, that is the property near Carmarthen."

"Why?"

"That is one of the ancestral Potter estates and there is a family crypt there, heavily warded by ancient blood wards. I imagine that was one of the reasons Dumbledore waited one day to take you to the Dursleys."

"I was at their funeral?"

"Yes. You were crying the entire time."

"Where is the other property?"

"The old manor?" asked Remus.

Harry nodded.

"In North Yorkshire. Near Goathland, to be exact. It is now nothing but a thousand acres of moorland. In fact, anything that survived the destruction of the manor house was moved to Applegate. That is where Godric Gryffindor was from. Your family is one of many related to him."

"Why so many. It seems that most of the other founders have only a few descendants still living."

"None of them had twelve children, with seven of them having children. Godric had seven daughters and five sons. Four of his daughters and three of his sons married and had children. Two of his daughters entered a nunnery and the other daughter and two sons died childless," said Arthur.

"So I'm not the 'Heir of Gryffindor' or anything like that?"

"No, just a descendant, like Minerva and Dumbledore, yes, but heir no."

"They are or were related to me?"

"Yes, distantly. Something like fifth cousins, a couple times removed," said Arthur, "Just like we are. I think I am your sixth cousin, once removed."

"That's almost like not being related."

Arthur laughed, "Yes, I suppose it is."

"That is a relief," said Harry.

Puzzled, Arthur asked, "Why?"

"Umm...well, I think I'm in love with Ginny. I would really hate to have to break it off because we are related."

"No worries there, my boy. In the Wizarding world, there is no prohibition against even first cousins marrying."

"That sounds a little gross, but I guess that is how they keep the lines pure. It also tends to explain Crabbe and Goyle."

Remus laughed, "It does, doesn't it. But not any worse than the Muggle nobility, though. Little do they know, that if it weren't for the Muggleborns and Halfbloods they would have bred themselves into oblivion a few generations ago."

"What is my father's connection to Wales?"

"This is where the Potters are from. The rumor is that the Potter family is somehow descended from Merlin," said Arthur.

"So let me guess, a male Potter married one of Gryffindor's daughters."

"Right in one, or that is what your dad always said. Also the Jevons were from here and reputed to be connected to Merlin," said Remus.

"Did you know my mum was a Jevons?"

Remus shook his head.

"No, but Molly and I suspected. That line was officially declared defunct in 1880, when the last member that was officially a wizard died. After that it was just a couple of Squibs. One moved to Surrey and Anglicized the name to Evans. Your great-grandfather was ten years old when his grandfather, the last Jevons wizard died. His father was one of the Squib brothers," answered Arthur.

"Where did you learn all this?"

"I'm not only interested in Muggles, Harry, but share a passion for genealogy, especially trying to find those lost wizarding families, that had been reduced to only a few Squibs."

"Why didn't you ever tell me any of this?"

"Because all the pieces never fit together, until today," said Arthur, uncomfortably. " It is getting on near noon, we should go back to the Burrow. I know Molly has something planned for lunch and then you can come with me this afternoon for your test."

The small 'affair' turned out to be a veritable feast. Harry had a stack of presents to open. Arthur, patiently waited for him to finish eating and open the presents before walking out the door. Harry excused himself, saying that he still needed to take his Apparation test and followed Arthur out the door.

At the Ministry, Harry was asked several questions before he was given a location to Apparate to. Once there is was sent to another place and then on to a third location before being told to Apparate back to the Ministry.

"Have you ever Apparated long distance?" asked the examiner, upon his return.

"Yes."

"Was it solo or Side-along?"

"Side-along."

"Did you initiate the Apparation or did your partner?"

"I initiated it."

"How far and who with?"

"From near Dover to Hogsmeade and it was with and under the direction of Albus Dumbledore."

"That is about four hundred and fifty miles. Did you feel tired or exhausted after doing it?"

"A little, but not very, kind of like I just ran a hundred yard dash."

"Was this your first time going that far initiating the Apparation?"

"Yes, it was."

"Then, that was normal. In fact, if you were going solo I would guess you could do another hundred miles without tiring. You have passed and are licensed to Apparate up to five hundred miles. That should cover most of England and Scotland in one hop. Also, since a British license is recognized by most Continental Ministries you can Apparate to parts of Europe, including most of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Germany, northern Italy and anywhere in between. Come in sometime after your next birthday and you can test again for distance. I am willing to bet that after you have more experience at it you can become one of the privileged few that will be allowed to Apparate for one thousand miles. That would be from London to Gibraltar."

Harry looked stunned, "I didn't think I was that good. I'm usually rubbish at all this, except for flying."

"Well, Mr. Potter, I don't think you are really rubbish at anything you do. This is just a case of practicing. I would say that if you tried hard enough you could beat the record of 3500 miles in a single hop. Apparation is a skill that improves with age and practice."

Upon returning to the Burrow, Harry was immediately accosted by Hermione.

"How did you do?" she asked.

"I'm approved for five hundred miles, with an invitation to retest for greater distance in a year."

"Really?" asked Ginny.

"That's great, mate. I'm approved for five hundred also."

"Hermione?"

"Six fifty, but no invite for a retest."

"Just because you weren't invited doesn't mean you can't, you know," said Harry.

"I know. I was going to do it anyway."

Harry also told them about the rest of his inheritance, including the estate of Applegate.

"Remus said that it has some very powerful wards on it, so I think I will be moving there. You all are welcome. He also said the house was huge, so it wouldn't be a problem."

"When?" asked Ginny.

"This weekend. Hermione, he said there was a huge library there and there are a few thousand more books in my vault."

"Oi, Potter, what are you trying to do to me? I hardly get to spend any time with her now." Hermione swatted Ron on the back of the head. "What did I say?"

The rest of the day was spent swimming and flying. Molly planned another large meal for dinner.

Saturday morning Harry, Remus, Tonks, Hermione and the Weasleys Apparated to the lane leading to the gate of Applegate. After a small ritual, where everyone that Harry wanted to allow permanent access to the property provided a drop of blood, they all walked up the long lane to the house. There was a low, dry-stacked stone wall around the property. The lane leading from the gate wandered through the woods for about two hundred yards before opening into meadows. There was a large stone house, with a thatched roof off to the side. A large barnyard was on the opposite side of the lane and several other buildings could be seen behind the house. The house was a three story building with a tower on the one end, attached by an ell.

"The ell is where the library is located," said Remus as the entered the walled garden at the front of the house.

Harry recognized the garden from several photos he had found in the various trunks. A number of them had been from his first birthday party, which had been held in this garden. There were several house elves on the property. Moppy, who was in charge of the kitchens gave them a tour of the house and grounds. Harry was pleased to notice that the tower was already set up as work space. There was a room to practice dueling and spell casting, a full potions room, including a pair very large storage cupboards, one for ingredients and the other for finished potions. The library was extensive, it held nearly ten thousand books and could easily hold another ten thousand if not fifteen. The ground floor held the kitchens, formal dining room, ballroom, conservatory, a study, set up as an office and several parlors. The first floor six had en suite bedrooms. They each had their own bathroom, a sitting room and the sleeping chamber. The second floor held nine more bedrooms, set up in groups of three sharing a bathroom and a sitting room. There was also a study on each floor and a small room that was set up for breakfast or afternoon tea. The attic was set aside for storage, while the cellars were divided into food storage areas, an extensive wine cellar, loaded with cider, wine, mead and all sorts of other beverages and finally a large room that resembled a tropic beach, complete with an enchanted ceiling that reflected the actual tropical sky and a pool that mimicked a lagoon.

The outbuildings, not including the barn, were several storage buildings for the grain grown on the property, sheds and coops for poultry and other small animals, like sheep, ducks, geese, pheasants and other birds. There was an extensive orchard, devoted mostly to apples. A workshop devoted to woodworking, including wand making. A large vegetable garden took up most of an acre, the herb garden for potions ingredients was nearly as large. There were also several smaller specialized gardens scattered around. A couple of small ponds and a stream were located near the house.

Looking over the grounds, Harry said, "I like it here. It is peaceful. I think Witherwings would enjoy it here. He'd be able to roam free."

"After you set up wards to prevent him from flying off," said Remus.

"Charlie can help with that," added Ginny.

"Well, why don't we go back inside and choose rooms. I will end up in the master suite, I'm sure. Ron, Hermione and Ginny, why don't you three take the other rooms on that floor?"

They nodded. Remus said that he'd take his old room, on the second floor. Tonks took the other one, that had been Peter's. Sirius's room had been the third room in that block. After choosing the rooms, everyone Apparated back to the Burrow. Harry and the others packed up their belongings, including the tent. Everyone Apparated back to Applegate and spent the afternoon unpacking. Remus spent several hours in the library organizing it, including having the house elves bring most of the books from the Potter vault. Harry had also moved most of the books from the tent to the library. In all there were nearly twenty thousand books. Remus showed the four of them the library specific spells he knew, which made the task almost child's play.

The trunks of his parent's papers and journals, Harry moved to the office on the ground floor. The furniture and other belongings were moved to the attic. As they were unpacking, with the help of the elves, Moppy was telling Harry all about the house. He found that a room he took to be a closet off the entrance hall was, in fact, an arrival room. It contained the only fireplace in the house that could be connected to the Floo network. It was also set up to be a location that anyone who was allowed past the wards could Apparate to. There was a door, with a dial covered with Runes in each corner, that was actually a Portal that could be set to many different locations.

After dinner, Remus took Harry to the family crypt. It was located in a clearing in the woods, about a hundred yards from the house. It was a white marble building that in many ways resembled Dumbledore's tomb, only larger. Inside the building was a bench and a small fountain.

"The fountain is a very special object. By touching the surface of it, you can call up an image of any of the deceased who are entombed here. The image will behave as a magical painting and you can speak to it and it will speak to you. Remember, these are just images, not the real person." Harry looked around, with tears in his eyes.

After leaving the building Harry and Remus wandered the grounds for a while.

"I need to start searching for other Horcruxes. I just don't know where to begin. and Greyback and Wormtail are still at large. There are giants running around the country and the damn Dementors are still everywhere! What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"First, everything isn't up to you and you don't have to do it all by yourself. The Order is here to help you."

"I understand that. I should have said we."

"Yes, maybe you should have, but I understand you. How about we call a meeting and decide what to do?"

"Who has been handling meetings since...well, since it happened?"

"Mad-eye and myself. I'm not going back to Greyback and Slughorn is now brewing the potion for me, so I have no reason to go back."

"I know I haven't been paying much attention lately but is there any idea what Tom is up to?"

"Not really, other than doing things like the other night, there hasn't been much activity on that front. Although, Snape has been sighted once and he was limping, so we know that Witherwings didn't eat him."

"Probably would have upset his digestion if he did. Hermione and I were working on the Wolvesbane Potion. We should be able to brew it soon. Hermione wrote to Belby for advice on how to brew it."

"You don't have to. Horace is quite happy to do it. I think he has Belby showing him how."

"What about Belby, I'd think Greyback would be out to kill him or turn him or something."

"There is that, but Greyback hasn't been able to find him. He lives under the Fidelius, so no one can find him and he doesn't make public appearances."

"At least someone has some sense."

"Back to your question. Secondly, since you don't have any leads on where to look you should probably spend some time on intensive training. We still have no word whether Hogwarts will be open this year or not, so you should probably work through your N.E.W.T. materials. You could always schedule independent tests. There are a number of Wizarding families that either entirely homeschool their children or hire private tutors. I have done some of that before I was forced from teaching. With the four of you, I think we can have you all ready for the tests in about four months. You should also work with Bill and Tonks on more advanced studies."

"I was planning on that. I was also thinking, well it was Hermione's idea, that maybe we should follow my dad's footsteps."

"Yes, I can see where that might come in useful. There are other things that we did that you would find useful too. If you find a small, dark blue, leather journal, with a wolf, a stag, a dog and a rat on the cover it would make that task quite a bit easier."

"I think I saw it in one of the trunks I took from the vault."

"Good. We can make a copy of it for each of you."

"Fred and George would probably want one too," mused Harry. "What did my dad do after school?"

"He tried out for the English team. He made the team, but got injured in practice and had to sit out the qualifier for the Cup. After that he worked for a year at Zonko's while trying to manage this place. He turned it over to a caretaker, a Squib named Joe Pringle and his wife. They live in the cottage at the end of the lane. And then, for the year before you were born he was in Auror training."

"Did my mum do anything?"

"She did some private Potions brewing, along with your grandmother. I think she also did spell research. She was always fascinated with finding old, lost spells."

"What position did he play? I saw a plaque at school that said he was a Seeker, but everyone else seems to think he was a Chaser. "

"Well, his first year on the team, our third year, he was the Seeker. Our Seeker had graduated the year before we were Third years. James had tried out for the position in his second year, but didn't make it, so that Seeker took him under his wing and groomed him as his replacement. We won the House cup that year, but James was bored senseless. He flew like a maniac, but being Seeker wasn't exciting enough for him, not enough action. In our fourth year, he moved over to Chaser and played that position until we graduated. He made starting Chaser for the English team and Reserve Seeker."

"I saw him playing with a Snitch in Snape's memory."

"That Snitch was from the match that he won the Cup for Gryffindor in his Third year."

"Did Sirius play?"

"He was a Beater from Fourth year on. He was disappointed that he and you dad didn't play together in our Third year, but we had two seasoned Beaters that year. He did make it as a reserve. We played a full reserve team then, all four Houses did."

"How, there aren't that many who try out for the team now."

"There were more students then. While there were only the four of us boys there were about twelve girls in our year in Gryffindor. Fifteen to twenty students per house per year was the norm."

"About twice of what was in my class. I have noticed that the numbers are going up a little in the classes after Ginny's."

"A hundred years ago there were as many as thirty students per year. But after Grindlewald and Voldemort you can see why the numbers are down."

"But Grindlewald was mostly on the Continent, wasn't he?"

"Yes, but he worked with the Nazis and often provided the targets for the German air raids. He had them bomb a number of his opponents. It is pretty hard to protect against a bomb when you don't know it is coming. That is how your Manor was destroyed. There was a Muggle base in the area and it was said that the Germans had just missed it and hit the manor by mistake, but the manor was the actual target. Most of the Continental Ministries were in shambles and it was up to the British to lead the attack against Grindlewald. Your family was prominent in the opposition."

"So my family has always stood against Dark Wizards?"

"More or less, yes. There should be numerous spells to help combat Dark wizards in your family Grimoires. Which is something else you should study. I know Lily added many of the things she found to them."

"You know where they are, the Grimoires?"

"Yes, they were in one of the trunks you dropped off in the library. I think the elves have already shelved them. You have one of the best libraries I've ever seen. The books from the Jevons estate and what Dumbledore left for you are the gems of your collection. And that text book of Snape's is right up there with them. If we had known what he had done, Sirius would have tried to swipe it from him years ago. Does he know you still have it?"

"I don't know. He probably suspects I do."

"Then we should make a copy of it and get rid of the original. It is probably charmed against magical methods of copying. I can probably get one of the elves to write it out."

"What about a Muggle photocopy machine?"

"That might work. I don't know. At least we don't have to worry about him ever getting in here. James set the wards to drop him off, naked, in the middle of Trafalgar Square."

"Can we do the same for Wormtail?"

"I think so. I'll have Bill help me with them on Monday."