Battle of the Heirs

Harry stepped out of the fireplace into the Leaky Cauldron. Everything about the bar was different from the first time he had been here; there were no customers hanging around, and Tom the barkeeper was busy wiping dust off the glasses, not even bothering to look up when they entered. Harry was the last one through, and then they quickly made their way to the back exit and out onto Diagon Ally.

Fred and George had told them that business in the wizarding community was slow at the moment; only the businesses with mail-order services were making any money. Harry could see why - in the street, there were barely more than ten other people, and they were huddled in tight pairs or groups, not even acknowledging one another.

McGonagall was the first to speak. "It reminds me too much of the last war," she said somberly.

The made their way to Gringotts in silence, and Bill Weasley met them at the door. "Nice cloak, Harry," he said, noticing the traveling cloak that McGonagall had given him just that morning.

"Thanks, Bill! Are you my personal banker now?" Harry asked with a grin.

"It was one of the first things I did when I got transferred over here; I took over the accounts that had barely been touched in a decade or more. Just so happened that the Potter and Black vaults both fell into that category. Now come over here to my desk and let's get down to business." He led them over to a desk in a far corner of the great hall.

"Minerva told me you were coming today, so I found all the information I could on what you now own. I'll start with the Potter family: you own 100,000 shares of the Nimbus Racing Broom Company, making you the majority shareholder; you also have 136,425 Galleons and 11 Sickles in the Potter vault; there are a couple of heirlooms, and other smaller items, too. If you have time today, I'd recommend that you go and have a look around in there. You have the deeds for two houses - one in Godric's Hollow, and a terraced house here in London.

"The Black vaults are loaded with heirlooms as well. You have 1,000 shares of Zonkos Joke Shop-" Harry heard Lupin let out a small chuckle before he caught himself. "You also have 1000 shares of Malfoy Incorporated. I'm afraid that that's not worth as much as it used to be," Bill said with a slight smile. "In the Black vault, there are 13,642 Galleons, 9 Sickles, and 17 Knuts - and of course, you already know that you inherited Grimmauld Place.

"Aberforth has already removed everything that he inherited from Dumbledore; everything left in his vault now is yours. I have not yet had chance to see exactly what is in there, but I requested the financial records from Griphook: 68,212 Galleons, and 14 Sickles. I believe Aberforth also left you with the ownership of the Dumbledore Mansion, but I will have to check that. Do you have any questions? If not, I'll take you down to the vaults - unless you have other plans, that is?"

Harry's head was reeling: four houses? Majority shareholder in Nimbus? He did some quick math... 100- no, that wasn't right, he'd have to ask Hermione later, she was bound to have been keeping count; either way, a hell of a lot of Galleons! He'd been expecting his total inheritance to be a lot, but this was unbelievable!

"No," he said faintly. "I was planning on spending most of the time until lunch here. It - ah - seems like I have a lot of things to go through."

"Don't forget that you don't have to keep everything here; you can take some of it back to Hogwarts with you, or even move it to one of your houses. The Dumbledore mansion, provided you did inherit it, will be in immaculate condition, though I know that Godric's Hollow has fallen into disrepair, and anything I could tell you concerning the condition of the London property would be pure speculation..." He trailed off, frowning at a piece of parchment he had picked up. "That's strange... there's another house on here, but there are no details; all there is, is a vault number and a property, somehow connected to the Potter inheritance... Hang on a minute; let me pull up the files." Bill quickly stood and went into a room adjacent to the one where Harry was sitting. Several minutes later, he returned.

"Well Harry, looks like you inherited more than I thought. I pulled the rest of that paperwork from the files. This was buried in the back - strangely enough, with the McGonagall family information." He glanced at Professor McGonagall. "... You have inherited the Gryffindor Clan Chiefship. I'm not really certain what that means; I expect that Professor McGonagall would be able to give you more information than I could. There are a few properties mentioned - though the locations are not given - including one that they are calling a 'Manor House'. I'm really not too sure about all of this - I will have to do a fair bit of research before I can give you any further details.

In the meantime, I think we should go and have that look at the vaults; here are the four keys." He glanced around at the group. "Not everyone's going to fit into the cart; you'll need to pick just one person to come with us; two at a push."

Harry thought for a moment. Hermione will have to come, she's probably come across anything I might find down there in a book at some time or another! Who else? McGonagall or Lupin? "Hermione, Professor McGonagall, would you mind coming with me? And Tonks, I don't suppose you could run over to Madam Malkin's while we go down, and pick me out some new dress robes?" God forbid I let Ron or Lupin dress me! He waved goodbye to the other three. "Okay, Bill - lead the way!"

The journey to the first vault lasted a little less than five minutes. "Alright Harry, this is the Black vault. I'm not really sure how much there will be in here that will interest you; I have a feeling that a lot of their belongings would have been kept in the house, rather than here." Griphook unlocked the vault and Harry stepped inside.

"Well, this is a load of junk," Hermione whispered as soon as she walked through the door.

Bill handed her a list of the contents of the vault, which she scanned quickly. "Harry, most of this is stuff is dark - if it had been kept anywhere other than here, it would have been confiscated by the Ministry long before now." She looked around. "I guess some of these portraits could be helpful..." she said dubiously. "Oh! Hi, Sirius!"

Harry turned around just in time to see a portrait reply, "Hello Hermione. How have you been?" There, looking incredibly young and handsome was Sirius, attired in Gryffindor robes. There was another boy in the painting, this one wearing Slytherin dress.

"Everyone, meet my brother Regulus." Sirius beamed down at them. "Did you know that this portrait was only done about a month before my mother disowned me?"

"Bill, can I have this portrait sent to Hogwarts?"

"Yeah, Harry. I've got a bottomless trunk with me, so you can take as much as you want."

"Well, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said, taking the list from Hermione, "I think that most of the items in here would be of more interest to Voldemort than to yourself. I very much doubt that you'll want to be taking anything else from here."

"Okay Bill, take us to the next one on the list. Sirius, Regulus, I'll speak to you later," Harry said, taking the list from McGonagall and storing it inside his cloak.

Another five minutes in the cart brought them to Dumbledore's vault, where Bill reached into his robes and handed another itinerary to Harry. He glanced over the list and then handed it to Hermione, who looked at it much more carefully.

"Ready to go in?" Bill asked, having given Harry a few minutes to gather his thoughts.

The younger man sighed. "Yeah. Time to really accept that he's not coming back. Let's see what he's left for me." He lowered his head and led the way into the vault.

"Ah, Harry - I wondered when you would be coming in here." The voice made Harry's blood run cold. Harry knew that voice. It was the voice of the Headmaster. He looked up to see a life-sized portrait of Albus Dumbledore propped up against the wall.

"Hello, Professor," Harry said, before turning to Bill. "I want him moved to my rooms at Hogwarts." He faced the portrait again. "I'll talk to you later, when I actually have time to stop and have a long conversation with you."

"Very good, my dear boy. I will see you then."

Dumbledore walked out of the portrait, presumably to return to his portrait in the Headmistress's office.

"Harry, I think you should have a look at this," Hermione's voice cut in, sounding awed. "I've read about these; it's called a Dazs Device, and it can be used to detect a person's magical signature. I researched them after you told me about what happened in the cave the night Dumbledore died."

"I'm surprised Albus had one of those; he was capable of identifying magical traces himself," commented McGonagall.

"Professor, can I leave you here to gather the things that you think will be needed in the battle with Voldemort? You'll have more of an idea than me about what would be helpful and what wouldn't."

"I can, Potter, but I would like to go to the Gryffindor vault with you if possible."

"Sure - Bill, how can she get to the Gryffindor vault on her own?"

"She can't. If you leave her here, she would have to stay here until you come back to pick her up. Extra security measures the goblins brought in after Quirrell nearly stole the Stone," he explained apologetically.

Harry went outside to sit in the cart while he waited for McGonagall to load up anything she thought would be useful. Hermione joined him a few minutes later. "Are you okay, Harry?" she asked.

"Yeah, just a little emotional - I didn't expect to see Sirius and Dumbledore again; I guess I should have been prepared for the possibility..." He trailed off, shrugging.

"You've got to be prepared to see your parents too; there's a good chance that they'll have family portraits in their vault, too." She smiled fondly. "You know, I'm surprised that Sirius was allowed to wear his Gryffindor robes for his portrait - I bet he had to work hard to get them to agree to that!"

"I think that that's everything for now," McGonagall said, emerging from the vault with the bottomless trunk. She and Bill clambered back into the cart and they were off again.

"Here's the Potter vault, Harry," Bill said.

"Before I go in - is there likely to be another portrait in there?"

"Actually, there are almost sixty portraits in this vault; some of them may give you a bit of a shock. Are you sure you're up to this?"

"Not really, but I'd better get it over with," Harry said reluctantly. Griphook unlocked the vault and ushered Harry in. He immediately heard whispered voices.

"James, do you think could be him?"

"I'm not sure, Lily..."

"It's me. Harry. I don't know if I can handle this conversation right now; do you mind if I just take you back to Hogwarts, so that I can talk to you when I'm ready?"

"Of course; I would advise you to take my mother's portrait, also," his father said, and Harry quickly handed the painting to Bill to place in the trunk. He looked at the next portrait.

"Hello, Harry dear."

"So, I guess you're my grandmother, then?"

"That I am, dear. I am Athena Malfoy Potter."

"Malfoy? Not kin to Lucius Malfoy, are you?"

"My second cousin? What does he have to do with anything?"

"He's a Death Eater."

"The supporters of You-Know-Who?" Harry nodded affirmatively. "Well, if it might be of any help at some point, I do have a portrait in the Malfoy Manor - I haven't visited it for many years though, and I'm not sure if the current inhabitants even know of me."

"Would you like to come back to Hogwarts with me?" Harry asked.

"Yes, please; I haven't been there since I was a student! I still remember all of the drama when I started dating your grandfather. Many of my housemates didn't agree with me dating a Gryffindor."

"You were a Slytherin?"

"How could a Malfoy have been anything else?"

"Did you not mind that my father married a muggle-born?"

"Why would I? Lily was a lovely person. Personally, I've never placed much importance in the 'purity' of blood."

Harry was distracted from the conversation by Hermione calling him. "Harry, over here!" Leaning against the wall next to her was a plaque with two empty hooks and a bronze plate with the ornately carved words, 'Sword of Godric Gryffindor.'

"Do you think this is where it was kept before it went into the Sorting Hat?" Harry asked, looking back to McGonagall.

"That plaque has been empty for centuries," Grandmother Potter said. "We kept it to remind ourselves that we were the heirs of Gryffindor. It was passed down from generation to generation because it was said that somewhere down the line an heir would need it to defeat evil."

Harry looked at Bill. "I think I'm going to need everything in here - it all seems to be important in one way or another." Bill waved his wand and everything in the vault flew into the trunk, before they left the vault.

"Harry, where are you going to put all of this stuff?" Hermione asked as they stopped once again, this time outside the Gryffindor vault. "There's not enough space in Dumbledore's quarters, never mind the Head Boy's accommodation!"

"We haven't even seen the Head Boy's rooms yet, Hermione. Besides, I'm not sure if I'll need to keep all of this stuff at Hogwarts - I did just inherit a few houses, after all; I'm not exactly short on space!" He gave a crooked grin.

"May I ask who is entering my vault?" a gruff voice said as they walked into the vault. Harry looked up to see a man, who he estimated to be in his forties, with long brown hair, standing before him. His arms were crossed and he didn't look at all pleased to see them. "No one has entered my vault in over a thousand years, what makes you think you can just stroll in here like this?" he demanded.

Harry wasn't sure how to react; he hadn't expected to come up against anything like this. At his side, he felt Hermione move a little closer to him.

"Godric Gryffindor, you will start acting like the noble founder you are right this moment," McGonagall scolded, fixing her sternest scowl on her face. "Acting like Salazar Slytherin, I don't know..." she tutted.

"Oh, Minerva, you always ruin my fun," Gryffindor said with a grin.

"Harry, please meet Godric Gryffindor. I'd be willing to bet that he could give your father, Sirius and the Weasley twins combined a run for their money. Don't take anything he says seriously," McGonagall said, turning her attention away from the portrait.

"You mean the founder of our great house was a prankster?" Hermione asked with a scandalized expression.

"Life is no fun if you do not take the time to smell the roses, young lady," Gryffindor said bluntly. "Anyway, since you managed to get into the vault, I assume one of you is the heir. Which one is it?"

"That would be me," Harry said.

"Then you should be given the keys to Gryffindor Manor. If you look over there-" he indicated with his hand, "- you will see the remaining items, the ones that have not already been claimed by heirs in the past. Am I to take it that the war with Slytherin's descendant has come at last?" Harry nodded. "Merlin said that it would be centuries before this time came. Now, there are certain things you need to do to prepare for this war. Dumbledore tells me that you already have my sword?"

"I pulled it out of the Sorting Hat in my second year at Hogwarts," Harry said.

He hummed with approval. "Ah, yes. Only a true Gryffindor would have been able to. Now, if you look just over there, on that wall, you will see my shield; go ahead, take it - it's yours." Hermione walked over and removed the shield from the wall. "Minerva, the sheath for the sword is in that chest, if you could retrieve it? There should be some other swords in there, too. They're the ones I had made for the Knights of the Griffin."

"Excuse me," Harry cut in, "who were the Knights of the Griffin?"

"They were the ones trained to fight Salazar with me. You'll know about the Order of the Phoenix, of course? Well, in my day, the Knights of the Griffin were a select few members of the Order - the inner circle, if you like; there were ten of them, and they were my most trusted confidants in the war.

"There are other things that I will need to give you at some point in the future; for now, though, take that book - it is my diary, and documents my defeat of Slytherin, amongst other things; it will be able to answer many questions that you may have, including some that portraits may not be allowed to answer. Finally, that egg: it is a phoenix egg, and it has yet to hatch-"

"Why would I need a phoenix?"

"My dear boy, you do not need a phoenix. A phoenix is given to those of the magical community who bear the weight of the world on their shoulders. It is a great gift, as a phoenix is the most loyal of familiars. That's not to say that any of my familiars were not great and loyal beasts - but the phoenix was the one that was there, even when the others were not. He even helped save me when Salazar stabbed me with a poisoned blade, as he was leaving Hogwarts..."

"We had best be leaving, we've been too long as it is," Harry interrupted. "We can talk properly when we're back at Hogwarts." He picked up the portrait and added it to the trunk. McGonagall added the chest, while Hermione put in the shield. "I think I've had enough of this place for one day."

"I should have warned you about Godric, Harry," McGonagall said.

"Gryffindor was the least of the emotional problems today, Professor. I wasn't expecting to see Sirius, Dumbledore or my parents, and to see them all practically at once like that... I've wanted nothing more than just to speak to them, and when I got the chance, I just froze." He paused, running his hand through his hair in an agitated manner. "I put them away, without even speaking to them."

"There will be plenty of other opportunities to speak to them; you have their portraits now," Hermione said comfortingly.

"Come on, we'd best get to lunch - everyone's probably waiting at the Leaky Cauldron by now," McGonagall said.

Harry had completely forgotten: "Professor, who was that owl from this morning? Who's going to be having lunch with us?"

"The new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor will be joining us, along with her son."

"She accepted the job?" Hermione asked, grinning.

"She did. I'm very pleased that she will be joining us, though she does have worries about her son, and I must admit that Hogwarts has not had accepted a transfer student in many years; I will have to research the rules for the sorting of a student when the student is not in first year."