"What can we do about Dumbledore messing with my life? I want it to stop, I want to live how I want to do, not like whatever crazy plan he has for me." Harry exclaimed angrily.
"We will see what we know after the tests are done. Perhaps we find out something more. At the moment I only know Dumbledore has a plan that needs you under his thumb. But the details are escaping my knowledge. Probably he has some insane ideas how to stop Voldemort and you play the key role." Sirius mentioned.
"Well, I think we will be wiser after the tests are done. Let's head over to the department." Snowcack told them and got nods.
Snowcack lead the two wizards out of his office and took some long floors deeper into Gringotts. It took them ten minutes to arrive at their destination.
"This is healer Thornfinger's room. He is waiting for you." Snowcack opened the door and let the two in.
"I see, my patient for today has arrived. Let's see." The old goblin said without giving a greeting.
He circled Harry, mumbled some words in gobbledygook, moved his hands in patterns around Harry's body and mumbled more words. The he seemingly began swearing.
"Snowcack, this is outrageous. The boy has more blocks than prisoners get when they are sent to Azkaban. Give him the most potent identification potion we have in our stocks. I have spotted several magical blocks, some concentrating on his brain, some on his body, then I could trace at least four different Potions and two curses. But the worst is his scar. Has nobody ever bothered to check the vile thing?" Thornfinger ranted on.
"What is the matter with my scar, Healer Thornfinger?" Harry asked worried.
"It's a horcrux, that's the problem. Now I know for certain how that damned wizard was able to cheat death. This would be exactly his style. Create the foulest thing known to magical beings to have anchors to the world of living even if his body was destroyed."
Seeing the puzzled looks on the wizard's faces, while Snowcack shared his own disgusted face he began explaining.
"A horcrux is the name for an object or being that carries part of the soul of the one who created it. The first ones I think were created by ancient Egyptian wizards and hidden in the pyramids. Our curse-breakers sometimes come upon one of those things and bring them here so we can take care to destroy them. What many dark wizards who have used them don't understand is that they are not a means to gain immortality.
"While they prevent you from dying if you are killed before it is your time, they have no power to prolong your life endlessly. Every being only has a certain amount of life power they can use. Why do you think there aren't any ancient wizards around if horcruxes were the solution to find immortality? A wizard who creates a horcrux can survive even being hit with a killing curse but he only lives longer than he would normally if he took good care of the body he has. In ancient times the life span of a wizard with a horcrux approximately increased from the normal 70 years they had to live to perhaps one hundred. It was still a lot of time then. Magic allows us to take better care of our bodies so that our life energy isn't depleted as fast as that of muggles. The wizard is still bound by the restrictions of natural aging.
"There was only one witch who found a way to increase her lifespan and had a horcrux but she had to steal life force from other wizards and witches. She even tried muggles which led to her downfall. The muggles one day caught her and burned everything she owned together with her on the stake. Normally fire can't destroy a horcrux, but another witch that lived in the same village, turned the fire into fiendfire, which the muggles just saw as more evidence that the woman was an evil witch and the forms the fire took a sign of her rotten soul. The knowledge how to steal life force has been destroyed immediately. Nobody wanted to risk another Dark Lord or Lady who stole life force again.
"You create a horcrux by committing the most horrible crime; killing an innocent. This allows you to split your soul and place part of it in an object of your choice. You have to ward this object with powerful protections, because if the object is destroyed the soul part in it is too. There is only the difficulty to destroy a horcrux. Only a few things are able to do so, like basilisk venom, fiendfire or if the horcrux is a living being the Avada Kedavra curse." Thornfinger explained.
Harry and Sirius had gone pale.
"The diary, Sirius." Harry said suddenly. "It was a horcrux too. The thing in it wasn't a mere memory of Voldemort, it was part of his soul and therefore able to possess Ginny. And through possession it tried to steal her life force. Hopefully Voldemort didn't find more ways to do so."
"You are probably right. God knows how many he created. But I don't understand why you are one too. He wanted to kill you as a baby. Why would he place part of his soul into you?"
"It must have been an accident, Sirius." Snowcack interrupted. "If he wanted to make one by killing Harry his soul would have been prepared to do so and latched onto the closest living thing when the curse backfired; this being Harry."
"But how can we free Harry from the horcrux? I refuse for him to be killed because of this. Oh god, if Dumbledore knows or has a guess that Harry is a horcrux, this could be the reason for his behavior. He prepares him to fight Voldemort without thinking for his own safety. Only because he loves the magical world and would do anything to safe it, even dying." Sirius realized.
"Well, as you know, we goblins regard treasures as our natural responsibility. Dark wizards tend to make valuable objects into horcruxes as it is their valuable soul that is put into them. There is an old ritual that was invented hundreds of years ago to transfer the soul part from one object to another. This way the goblins were able to prevent the destruction of treasures. As the practice to make horcruxes became more and more frowned upon, the ritual became forgotten by the wizards but is still given from one generation of goblins to the other to stop the destruction of treasure should a dark wizard stoop so low to walk this way." Thornfinger explained.
Harry looked very relieved to hear this. He didn't want to die just because two old men couldn't keep from meddling with his life.
"When can we do this? I want to get rid of Voldemort's soul piece as soon as possible." Harry declared.
"After we have taken the other test to find all magical blocks and the like that have been placed on you. The ritual to transfer the horcrux into another object will leave you unconscious for at least two days. The undoing of blocks, curses and the neutralizing of potions will not, it will probably only make you feel extremely tired." Thornfinger said.
Harry nodded. Another goblin arrived with a yellow potion.
"Master Thornfinger, the potion you demanded." the younger goblin said respectful.
"Thank you, Rockleg. Now, Mr. Potter, this will be similar to the inheritance test. We need some blood from you. Thirteen drops to be precise." 'Thornfinger instructed.
Harry walked over and took the agame Thornfinger produced out of his clothes. He cut his middle finger this time and let the blood drop into the potion which began hissing with each drop added to it.
The goblin took Harry's hand and healed it after the thirteenth drop was in the potion. He took the potion and poured it into a basin filled with a black liquid. The potion immediately split in three groups. The first group split into seven smaller parts, the second in six parts and the third in two parts.
"Somebody really feared your powers, Mr. Potter. Seven of your abilities have been blocked, six potions or poisons have been detected and two curses, one of them is the horcrux." Thornfinger explained.
"Now we will see what exactly you should be able to do." He swung his hand over the basin and the potion parts stopped swirling and attached themselves to certain areas on a scale. Then Harry heard a whistling noise and a piece of parchment flew from the ceiling into Thornfinger's hands. He inspected the information.
"Well, it's the easiest way if you just read it," he said and gave the parchment to Harry and Sirius. They began reading.
Interference test of Harry James Potter
Abilities test
Natural ability / Status
Parseltongue / Partially blocked / Passive abilities active / Active abilities blocked
Wandless magic / Blocked
Animagus ability / Blocked
Photographic memory / Blocked
IQ 180 / Partially blocked / remaining IQ 100
Analytical abilities / Blocked
Metamorphmagus / Partially blocked
...
Potions and Poisons test
Confirmed Potions / Poisons
- magic depriving potion, long lasting, last confirmed taken 1 month ago
- phoenix tears, long lasting antidote taken 1 month ago
- basilisk venom, neutralized, acting as antidote to all other known poisons, long lasting, taken 1 month ago
- concentration disrupting potion, long lasting, last confirmed taken 1 ½ month ago
- confounding potion, type loyalty confusion, long lasting, last confirmed taken 4 months ago
- bone growing potion, last confirmed taken six months ago
...
Curse test
Confirmed placed curses
Horcrux
Muggle enraging curse
Sirius was fuming. What the hell thought Dumbledore who he was? The blocks on Harry's magic were severe and if that wasn't enough there were two potions that made it even more difficult for Harry to show his worth at Hogwarts. Worse, they would prevent him from properly defending himself against whoever would try to harm him. Then the potion to confuse his loyalties. It was clear that it was meant to make sure Harry never questioned Dumbledore and his motives. And from what Harry had told him about his last two years Voldemort was doing his best to come back, it was just a question of time until he succeeded.
If Harry was really meant to be the one who could defeat Voldemort for good, why did Dumbledore block his abilities like that? Did he fear a powerful Harry could not be controlled by him? It was a possibility. That man was a control freak. Well it would stop. He would make sure of this. Nobody messed with a Black and Harry was his heir. It was time to train the boy marauder style. Well first the blocks had to go.
And then the most despicable thing. A muggle enraging curse. Petunia and Vernon already hated magic, to combine that with this curse was just asking for making Harry's life a living hell. He would get the rat and prove his innocence and then nobody would be able to keep his godson from him. Nobody, especially not the old manipulating coot. He must have gotten brain dead from all the lemon drops he ate.
"Sirius?" Harry asked forlornly.
Sirius looked in the troubled eyes of his godson. He knelt down and pulled the boy in a fierce hug. Harry leaned in and grabbed him tightly. He was afraid, very afraid. He had just found out how a man, he had trusted with his life had made his live the hell it was. That he had been severely hindered in his magical abilities. The only thing Sirius could do now was giving Harry the security he needed to go on.
It took Harry good fifteen minutes to calm down, but he still looked afraid.
"What will we do now?" He asked with a hoarse voice.
Harry's body was still shaking. Only pure will let him stand, Sirius realized.
"Thornfinger, how long will you need to prepare the rituals?" Snowcack asked.
"The ritual for the undoing of any blocks is ready, the one to transfer the horcrux will need two and a half hours of preparation as I have to call the three sages for it."
"Alright, Harry, Sirius, if you agree we will start with the uplifting of everything that constricts Harry right now."
"Of course, Snowcack." Sirius said, giving Harry an assuring smile.
They were led to another part of the room where a circle of runes were carved into the floor. Five crystals were located on the points of a figure, Harry thought was called a pentagram.
"This part is easy but it will take some time until it is finished. Harry, you have to lie down in the center of the pentagram. I would advise you to take off your clothes except your underwear. They could be damaged when the ritual gets to its highest point. It doesn't harm the human body but sometimes there can appear cuts on clothes. So most that use this ritual prefer to undress for it." Snowcack explained.
Harry looked at Sirius who nodded assuringly.
"Is there a place where I can undress, Snowcack?" Harry asked.
"Of course, Harry. You see the door over there?" He asked pointing on a dark brown door. Harry nodded. "That is a changing room. You can put your clothes into a basket there until the ritual is done."
Harry went to the door and entered the room. It was simple, just a bench to sit upon, and a low shelf with the mentioned basket for his clothes. Harry took of his robes, shoes, socks, and his shirt until he just had his boxers on. He was a bit unsure to show himself like this. He had always been, due to everybody mocking him for being a midget and very thin. But what could he do? He didn't get that much to eat at Privet Drive. Collecting all of his Gryffindor courage he exited the room and walked back to Sirius and Snowcack.
Seeing Harry's body for the first time without the ridiculously large clothes and later some old robes from the time he was a kid was a shock for Sirius. He hadn't thought that he would be this thin. The robes definitely hid a lot of Harry's health issues. He would have to do something about this. Didn't one of his old friends in France study to be a healer before his imprisonment? He would have to contact him to check Harry's health. He couldn't trust any British healers, they would just turn him in to the dementors before he had a chance to prove his innocence.
A foreign healer would at least listen and look at whatever evidence he provided. And with his memories it would be easy to prove everything. Just the British Ministry didn't want to listen. They were so full of themselves that they would never voluntarily admit that there could have been a mistake. Especially not with Dumbledore pulling the strings. As if fighting Voldemort wouldn't cause enough problems.
Harry reached them.
"Will it hurt?" He asked Snowcack.
"From what I know it will be uncomfortable and perhaps a bit stinging, but the ritual shouldn't cause any kind of real pain, Harry." The goblin explained.
Harry took a deep breath. If he wanted to get his life back, the life that he was meant to have, he had to do this. He was very grateful that he finally wasn't alone with this. That Sirius was there for him. In the few days he had known the man he had done more for him than anybody else before him. It was a nice feeling to be wanted by someone. To not be seen as a or a freak or a tool.
"Let's get this over with." Harry said and walked to the center of the pentagram.
He lay down as Snowcack had told him and tried unsuccessfully to relax. He was told to close his eyes and did so. Then he heard chanting in the goblin language. Gobbledygook Sirius had told him it was called. It was lulling and he began to dose away. Then he felt a certain heat spreading throughout his whole body. It was not really nice but it didn't hurt him. He could feel he began sweating but nothing more.
For nearly ten minutes this was the state Harry was in, and then a tickling was added to the heat. He tried hard not to squirm. After another ten minutes the tickling sensation was replaced by a light stinging sensation. Well he had been warned of this; he had endured more severe pain to not be able to endure it. And it would be worth it. He would get his abilities back.
After a total of forty minutes the ritual was finished. Harry was exhausted. Even after an hours long match of Quidditch he hadn't felt this spent. And he felt weird. As if a veil had been lifted from his senses. He tried to stand up, but realized he was too weak to even move his limbs. Then he felt the sensation of being gently lifted up. He opened his tired eyes and looked into the gray eyes of his godfather.
"You alright, Harry, well except for being tired?" He asked concerned.
It took Harry all his willpower and strength to just nod. Sirius looked at Snowcack.
"Do you have a room where Harry can rest for the next two hours until healer Thornfinger is ready for the ritual to transfer the horcrux?" He asked.
"Yes. Please follow me, Sirius." Snowcack said.
Sirius carefully balanced Harry in his arms. He realized just how much too light Harry was. No thirteen years old should weigh as much as perhaps a ten year old. The Dursleys would pay for this. He would hire the best lawyer there was to get for money and then justice would be served. Nobody messed with his family and Harry was family. True family unlike most of his blood relatives. He really could only call Andromeda family at the moment he thought. Sirius followed Snowcack through the main door of the room and down the floor until they stopped in front of another door.
"This is a guest room for those who have undergone the unblocking ritual. Use it to your needs. I will come and get you two when it is time for the transfer ritual." Snowcack said.
"Thank you very much, Snowcack." Sirius said with a bow.
"It is no problem, Sirius. You are a friend of the goblins so were his parents. And if what we have seen so far from him is any indication of his character he might become one as well." Snowcack replied.
With that Snowcack took his leave. Sirius opened the door and saw a normal sized bed. He walked over and pulled away the blanket while still holding Harry. It was a bit difficult but he managed it. Then he laid Harry down and put the blanket over him. The boy looked awfully tired. Sirius wanted to leave him so he could rest properly but when he stood up he could hear Harry's small voice.
"Please don't leave." He whispered.
Sirius sat down again.
"I will stay with you, Harry, if you want me to." He assured him.
Harry's face relaxed. Soon Sirius found the boy asleep. He wondered about the behavior of the boy. He had had the impression that Harry wanted to show that he was already independent and he had tried to respect his wishes. Now he figured that a good part of that was a mask to protect himself. Harry had never had anybody to turn to with his problems and had been forced to stand up for himself. But deep inside he had craved for somebody to lean on like a parent. Well this would be his job now, Sirius realized. And he wanted to do the best job possible for Harry. He deserved so much more than he had been allowed to have. He looked over the parchment with the test results. Parseltongue he had known about but not that he should have been able to do more than speak with snakes. What the hell included the active part? He was a natural animagus, well he could help Harry to develop this ability, being an animagus himself. Wandless magic was a rare gift but not as rare as the other two. It appeared in one of a thousand wizards and witches if he remembered right.
While he could use some wandless magic, it drained him immensely and was limited to easy spells like the screening charm that he had used on Hedwig. Perhaps he should send Harry to Professor Flitwick with this. The old Charms Master would probably know best how to help Harry develop this gift. He was also one of the few that were up to time with his teaching at Hogwarts. Some of the other subjects were massively outdated compared to what had been developed outside of Britain.
Few knew that Sirius had always been interested in the magical developments of the other countries. He had only told James and he had shared Sirius' thirst for knowledge. After all, the more knowledge they gained outside their normal studies, the better their pranks would be they figured. They had been shocked how far Britain was behind other countries in magic in some areas. Damn conservative bastards at the ministry who stopped developments to enter Britain they found inappropriate. Even the muggles were farther than the wizards.
What really infuriated Sirius was that Harry was really intelligent, an IQ of 180 would classify him as a genius. And he had been robbed of this, just because an old fool feared to lose control if Harry was smart enough to figure out he was manipulated. A photographic memory and high analytical abilities were perfect tools to ensure school success. Harry should easily be able to get O's in his exams to get top jobs. Hell, it was possible with these abilities and his heritage that Harry would have been sorted into Ravenclaw. Filius Flitwick would have been a great head of house for Harry. Especially with Lily's talent for Charms.
The other teachers, besides Flitwick, that knew their subject's stuff were Minerva McGonagall, a really gifted Transfiguration mistress and to learn all the basics of the subject the best possible source of knowledge, Professor Vector the Arithmancy witch and Professor Babbling the Ancient Runes teacher. Well Runes was not a subject that needed constant updating so a knowledgeable teacher would be sufficient there.
But the other core subjects were criminally neglected. History of Magic, a subject especially important for muggleborns or halfbloods raised in the muggle society was taught by a ghost of all things. A ghost who managed to put the whole class asleep in five minutes. Defense against the Dark Arts hadn't had a constant or even competent teacher in years. And they only lasted a year from what Harry had told him. Quirrell was possessed by Voldemort and Lockhart was a fraud who only advertised his books and taught them nothing. Two wasted years of education in a core subject. And with Voldemort lurking in the shadows a subject every witch or wizard should be proficient in.
Herbology while not nearly as bad as the other two subjects could use some fresh wind in the teaching plans. Pomona Sprout was competent in the field but she could inform herself about recent discoveries and involve them in her teachings. It would take a more intensive course for those who were interested in the subject after school to catch up to other who had learned outside of Britain. But it wasn't as bad as other areas. One year normally did the job to have the British wizards or witches catch up to their international colleagues.
Divination, he could only laugh that the subject was still taught at Hogwarts. It was an extremely unreliable branch of magic. And true seers were rare. Either you had the gift or you didn't. That was all there was to know about the subject. Muggle Studies, he would love to take the content of the course and rip it into pieces. It was totally outdated. He had, while traveling to find Harry, taken his time to investigate what literature was used in which subject. The books for Muggle Studies were from the 1940's. A time before the most recent developments the muggles did. A time where the 2nd muggle world war was still in action or in the later years finally calming down in its effects on the population.
There had been so many buildings and industries to be rebuild after the falling bombs. Hitler might not have reached his goal but he did a good number of damage to Britain and the other European countries. And coincidentally the wizards had been busy with Grindelwald at the same time. They couldn't help their muggle brothers in their war. They were busy with their own one until Dumbledore finally graced them with his help and put down Grindelwald. Why did he wait so long? This question would be worth investigating Sirius thought.
Next was Astronomy; it was slightly important to know when ingredients for Potions would be best gathered as some had their highest potency during certain star constellations. It also held importance for rituals. But hose weren't taught at Hogwarts and with the backwards attitude of the ministry a lot of them had been banned. Otherwise it wasn't an important subject. Except for orientation in the wild he added mentally. If you were forced to hide your magic and needed to find directions the firmament could lead you if you knew how to use it. But in this category muggles were more proficient than wizards. It was somewhat interesting and his own family had been very interested in it even going as far as naming all the male members of the family after stars or constellations.
Care of Magical Creatures, well there were things interesting about this subject but Hogwarts only showed so much of the creatures to the students. And the teacher was old, Sirius wondered when Professor Kettleburn would finally retire. And finally Potions. It was laughable to let Severus Snape of all people teach. Admittedly the greasy git was a Master at Potions but completely unsuited to teach students, especially with his biased ways to favor his Slytherins over all the other students. How many students had given up on Potions just because they couldn't stand that man any longer? Sirius would have to make sure Harry got additional tutoring in the subject to be able to avoid Snape's bullying.
Sirius stroke Harry's hair absentmindedly. He cared deeply for the boy. He had from the moment he had held Harry after he was born. And to prevent that anything happened to his godson he would have to make sure that Harry got a better education than until now. If it wouldn't isolate Harry from his friends and society he would think about home schooling but he knew how important friends were. He wouldn't want to miss his years at Hogwarts for anything.
Thankfully relearning what Harry should have learned in the last two years if he hadn't been blocked would be easy with Harry having a photographic memory. And he would have to add knowledge in the areas of subjects Hogwarts didn't offer but would be invaluable in the world like dueling, healing, foreign languages, warding and curse-breaking, and technomagic.
He would have to look into the subject to help Harry. Perhaps there were methods to learn theory without having to rely on the Hogwarts teachers outside of Britain, after all he would have a lot of time to kill when Harry returned to Hogwarts. He just hoped they wouldn't do anything stupid to 'protect Harry' from him. The last thing Hogwarts needed was an overprotective ministry that did more harm than good. And they were good at this. If they had just given him a trial all this mess would never have happened.
In this the muggles were far more conscious than the wizards. They had a saying in their law enforcement: 'Innocent until proven guilty.' And everybody had a right to get a fair trial. Sometimes in wartimes it was a short military trial but the accused had the right to get a lawyer to defend himself. But how could they get the ministry to hear a lawyer? Well perhaps if Harry used his influence. This would need some planning when Harry was free of the soul piece of Voldemort. Just some days and they could begin to train him properly and to catch up on what he had missed the last two years. He would prepare him to get out of this mess alive. He owed it to Lily and James, but mostly to Harry for whom he hadn't been there the past twelve years.