Tuesday, 30 July 1991
The following years passed quickly, faster than any of them would like, and soon it was the eve of Harry's 11thbirthday.
He remained the fiercely intelligent, surprisingly tactical young man that had planned one of the only successful Azkaban escapes at the ripe age of five but, more importantly, he remained the ray of actual sunshine he'd always been. He loved every creature he ever met, took to training and books like a fish to water, mastered the art of pranking, and made sure that none of the adults who'd dedicated themselves to his care went more than half a day without laughing themselves breathless. He was everything both a young heir and a carefree child was meant to be and today they'd be sneaking him into Gringotts to officially claim his heirships before Merlin polyjuiced himself as Vernon Dursley and took Harry to a shack in the middle of the sea off the eastern coast and put on a solid act of preventing Harry from heading to Hogwarts in a month's time.
Merlin thought, rather hysterically, that it might not be all that difficult of an act to put on because he really, reallydidn't want to let Harry leave on the 1st of September. He wanted to keep this sunshiney little boy safe in Camelot forever. Sending him off to Hogwarts unsupervised, unprotected, and at the whim of wizarding society was actually the last thing he wanted.
This was also, if he were being entirely honest, one of the more insane plans they'd come up with over the years.
He was starting to wonder why, exactly, they were keeping this entire plot from Dumbledore when they had the name of Camelot behind them and he had only a school and maybe 40% of the Wizengamot. He was also starting to wonder if Dumbledore was plotting himself or if he was genuinely doing the best he could with a rather shitty situation, only time would tell.
He'd spent a solid two days following Dumbledore around as a butterfly and the information he'd gathered then, combined with everything that the portrait of Phineas Nigellus was more than happy to share, told them that Merlin's transferring the tracking charms to Dudley Dursley and Number 4 Privet Drive itself all those years ago had worked a bit too well resulting in Harry's Hogwarts letter being delivered to Privet Drive and, obviously, being left unanswered.
Sirius and Remus ended up having to take a trip to Surrey to vanish the hundreds of letters that the school had sent, shoo away the flock of owls hanging about, and obliviate the family of three before deciding to steal some of Vernon's hair and transferring the charm back to Harry until after someone from the school paid him a visit.
They'd then started an impromptu trip up the Eastern coast, maybe enjoying the increasingly disgruntled owls dropping off letters with ever changing addresses just a little too much.
Merlin had met them in Ipswich with the news that Dumbledore was panicking (not at all helped by the fact that Minerva McGonagall had spent the better part of the last several days chewing him out every single time a letter was sent with no answer) and had decided to send one of his kindest, most trustworthy, yet still physically intimidating employees to deal with the Dursleys on Harry's birthday.
They were all looking forward to the 1st of August when this entire spectacle would be over and they could spend the last month of summer together before Harry ventured off into parts unknown (which was Sirius' rather dramatic way of referencing Harry leaving for his first year at Hogwarts).
* * *
Remus waved his wand in a complicated pattern, effectively anchoring the ever changing tracking charm to a throw pillow in a rundown cabin outside of Norwich before holding his hand out toward Harry and letting a grin spread across his face, "ready for this cub?"
"Ready," Harry confirmed with a nod, taking Remus' offered hand and then tucking himself against his uncle's side.
Remus looked down at his Harry, his sweet little boy, the best parts of two of his dearest friends, and thanked the gods once again that someone had stepped in and allowed this kid to have a childhood full of joy, and then thanked them once more for the fact that Merlin had allowed him to be a part of it.
Harry, unlike either James or Lily had been, was quite tall for his age, his hair was almost blonde, his skin was tanned bronze, and freckles danced across his nose and cheeks from endless summers spent playing in the sun. His eyes were Remus' favourite feature, they were mostly Lily's green but had a ring of dark blue along the outside and flecks of gold near his pupils, the right more than the left. The lightning bolt scar ran from his hairline down his right cheek, cutting through his eyebrow and highlighting the slight difference in colour between his two eyes. His smile warmed Remus' heart and lit up every room he entered. He was the most beautiful child Remus had ever seen and he was growing up far too quickly.
"Then off we go," Remus said softly, tugging Harry closer to his side before turning on his heel and disapparating with a distinct crack, they reappeared in a private room off the employee entrance to Gringotts where they found Arcturus, Merlin, and Ragnok waiting for them.
"Where's Padfoot?" Harry asked as soon after he'd greeted Ragnok in perfect Ghukliak.
"Working," Arcturus said, an indulgent smile on his lips. "You know he's not like the rest of us who're more than happy lazing about Camelot day in and day out."
Harry put on an only half serious pout before happily following his grandfather down the empty hall and into Ragnok's office.
"You've done this once before, Heir Potter, but you were far too young to really remember it," Ragnok explained as he pulled out a fine silver dagger and an empty sheet of parchment that glowed faintly with residual magic, "please prick your finger and allow seven drops of blood to fall to be sure you are who you say you are and that nothing has changed regarding your inheritance."
Harry allowed the blood to fall and watched as familiar information spread across the parchment, he was somewhat expecting the change on the Potter line (now, instead of stating that the Lordship was available at 11, it simply stated that the Lordship was available, at which point Ragnok mentioned he might've pushed the inheritance magic to allow this to happen today instead of tomorrow so it would be taken care of before Harry arrived with Hagrid).
What he wasn't expecting was the change on the Black line.
Up until a week ago it would've read 'Second Heir,' now, though, it read 'Heir Apparent.'
Also up until a week ago, his Common Name would've read 'Harrison James Potter.' It now read 'Harrison James Regulus Potter-Black.'
"Grandfather?" Harry asked quietly, tilting the parchment toward him and indicating the lines in question.
"Happy birthday, Harrison," Arcturus said softly, running a slightly shaky hand through Harry's perpetually messy curls. "I passed the Lordship on to our dear Archer last week but asked him to keep it a secret so this would be a surprise. I'm endlessly proud that you are my heir, you will do incredible things in this life and I am beyond grateful to be even a small part of it. I also wanted you to have our name. You've always carried our blood through your Grandmother Dorea. Now, though, you carry our blood, our title, and our name. Your father chose the middle name, said you were his little lion and that it was only right you'd share a name with his first favourite person."
Harry abandoned all decorum and wrapped his arms tightly around his grandfather's waist, burying his head against his chest and breathing in the familiar scent of pipe smoke, strong tea, and parchment, "thank you," he whispered, "I'll make our family proud."
"You already have, mon soleil," Arcturus said, holding Harry tight, "just by being you. Have you read the whole page closely?" he asked, looking over to where Remus was standing, now joined by Sirius, near the door, they were both looking almost nervous.
Harry watched the exchange in confusion before picking the paper up once more. Right at the top, under his new common name, was a list of his parents.
James Charlus Potter, Lily Jane Potter nee. Evans, Arcturus Ares Black (adopted), Remus John Lupin (adopted).
He stared at the paper for another second before dropping it onto the desk and ran full tilt across the room, crashing into Remus' chest as Sirius immediately wrapped the pair in a hug. Harry stayed pressed between the two men he'd long viewed as his fathers and realized it was real. Legally!
"You okay with that, cub?" Remus asked, his smile almost audible in his voice.
"Yes!" Harry all but shouted.
Sirius let out a bright laugh, squeezing them a little tighter, "good. Je t'aime, mon fils."
"Je t'aime, papa," Harry responded, "ac rwy'n dy garu di, dad"
"Rwy'n dy garu di hefyd, fy mab," Remus whispered back.
Harry soaked up the warmth for a moment longer before disentangling himself and turning back toward Ragnok, putting on his best professional mask, "what's next, your majesty?"
"Well, your majesty," Ragnok teased lightly, "now you put on your rings and get out of my hair."
Harry let his usual grin spread back across his face as he accepted a simple box made of a dark polished wood from Ragnok's outstretched hand, when he opened it he found four rings, each made of gold but with rather unique designs. The Black Heir ring, depicting a hand holding a wand underneath three stars etched into an onyx stone went on his left pinky. The Peverell Heir ring had the same onyx inlay but depicted the Deathly Hollows at its centre; he slid it onto his left middle finger. On his right middle finger went the Gryffindor ring; a golden band with a shined ruby that had a finely scripted 'G' etched in the stone. Finally, the Potter Lord ring, a simple golden signet with a script 'P' carved between two antlers, went on his right pinky.
"I have two more for you, ghrian," Merlin said, kneeling in front of Harry's chair and taking his attention away from the rings already adorning his fingers. "There's never been an Heir Emrys so a ring was never commissioned until now, you're the first one to wear this. It's slightly different than your other rings, each of them has some rudimentary protections, as we've explained, as well as built in portkeys to the family seat, but there is no Emrys family seat so I've charmed this to be a portkey to me, wherever you are and wherever I am, if you are in danger and need to find me quickly simply push your magic into this ring and think the word 'Wyllt' and it'll bring you to me, alright?"
"Thank you," Harry whispered reverently, taking the beautiful golden ring from his guardian's open palm before sliding it onto his left forefinger. The ring had a pale blue inlay surrounded by a ring of darker blue stone and featured a Triskelion carved at the centre.
"One more, rí beag," Merlin said, matching Harry's soft tone as he pulled a wooden box out of his expanded pocket.
Harry looked up at him in question, not seeing how a ring needed this large of a box, and then immediately lost all train of thought when he opened the latch to reveal the Crown of Camelot.
"While you may be my little king, you're not King yet, so I've charmed this to shrink and act like an heir ring so long as it's on your finger," Merlin explained. "Just don't wear it as a crown until you're ready to ascend to the throne. For as much as every one of your predecessors was Muggle, this throne and the laws that govern our kingdom are truly magical and putting on this crown is as good as accepting your role. If you ever need to get home, push your magic into the crown and think the word 'Avalon' and it'll carry you to the throne room in the castle, alright?"
Harry let the crown rest on his knees as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He'd spent nearly his entire life living in Camelot, in the very castle that'd one day be considered his seat of power, but it'd never felt as real as it did right now. This was the crown he'd one day wear, the crown that'd be atop his head when he became the rightful King of Camelot and fulfilled the second half of one of history's most epic prophecies. King Arthur was the Once and he was the Future.
"How do I make it into a ring?" he asked, doing a rather good job of keeping his voice even.
Merlin reached up and ran his thumb along Harry's cheek before tapping a finger against the crown and catching it as it rapidly shrunk. Harry slid it onto his right pointer finger and pushed all thoughts of being a part of legend to the back of his mind.
"Before you leave," Ragnok said, mercifully pulling the room's attention away from Harry, "we've been keeping track of the Potter Trust Vault and it hasn't been touched since it was created. Dumbledore hasn't so much as asked about accessing it."
"Well that's another point in the 'trying his best' column," Merlin muttered.
"I'd almost prefer if he were plotting," Arcturus mused, "it'd somehow be less dangerous than a leader who's just uninformed and far too secure in his own power."
"I think he'd be willing to learn," Remus said. "He likes knowing things and I just don't think he's ever had to deal with nobility before. He's on the Wizengamot in an elected capacity and his family doesn't hold title. He has no reason to understand what he would've deprived Harry of by having him raised in the Muggle world."
"So what does this mean for me?" Harry asked as he twisted his Potter ring around his pinky, finding comfort in the strangely familiar magic emanating from the metal.
The office went quiet for a moment while everyone thought it over.
"I think…" Merlin started before trailing off, eyes darting around the room as if calculating the probabilities of success for a dozen different paths, "I think that after Hagrid picks you up and brings you here we stop hiding, at least to some extent. It's going to become clear rather quickly that you weren't raised by Muggles and I don't want you to have to hide your heritage by glamouring your rings, you deserve to be proud of who you are and the legends you come from but I think we should maybe keep the whole Pendragon situation under wraps."
"So who do I say raised me?" Harry asked, eyebrows pinched in confusion, "I mean, presumably Dad and Pa but how do I say they got me? The legendary Merlin Emrys kidnapped me from Surrey in the dead of night?"
"Fair point," Merlin admitted.
"Say it was me," Arcturus shrugged. "Once you're back at school we'll be holding a Black Family meeting anyway and I'll say that the reason I've been so withdrawn is that I was assisting in the raising of our heir. We can release the tracking charm and just move to the summer house that's technically within the bounds of Camelot around the time Hogwarts book lists come out each summer and no one will know that he's been raised in a mythical castle until we want everyone to know."
"How are we going to explain how you knew to get him though?"
"And how do we explain the me of it all?" Sirius asked.
"I'll say that Sirius contacted me before naming him heir and that once I'd learned that Lily and James were killed I used some vaguely legal blood magic to track him down. Then we can say that I contacted Remus, knowing he'd been a close friend of James and Lily and ended up introducing him to my youngest son and they hit it off. Your relationship wasn't ever public when you were still Sirius and the only people who know differently can't exactly hop across the veil to expose you, nor do I think they'd want to."
"You've been thinking about this haven't you?" Harry asked, a rather cheeky grin on his face as he looked up at his grandfather.
"Of course I have, mon soleil," Arcturus said, lightly tapping Harry's nose, "I wouldn't be a Black if I weren't seven steps ahead."
"Are we still pretending I'm with the Dursleys until tomorrow?"
"Yes but let's just stay at the cabin we found instead of fleeing to the sea," Merlin decided. "Make it easier on Hagrid. Odds are he'll show up on Sirius' bike if he doesn't need to pick you up from an island so that'll at least be fun."
"Can we go get some lunch and make a list of everything I need to get tomorrow?"
"Good idea, rí beag," Merlin said, running his fingers through Harry's curls. "But we can visit another shopping centre where you'll draw less attention if we discover you need anything else."
"It would make sense for him to be seen with Archer or me at Place Cachée," Arcturus pointed out. "We'll get it sorted Harrison, you just focus on having fun. I think you'll like Hagrid quite a bit, he might just be as fond of creatures as you are."
"Thank you, King Ragnok," Harry said, nodding respectfully as he followed his guardians out of the room. "May your gold ever flow."
"And may your enemies cower in fear of your power and fall quickly by your blade."
* * *
Wednesday, 31 July 1991
"Happy birthday, mo chroí," Merlin whispered, running his thumb along Harry's cheek as he slept. It'd just turned midnight and the (mostly legal) tracking charm he'd placed on Hagrid before leaving Hogwarts had just dinged, letting him know he had about five minutes before the man arrived.
Stepping out of the bedroom, he pulled the Polyjuice from his pocket and downed it, still not used to the horrific taste even after centuries of taking the potion in several odd situations. He quickly transfigured his clothes and settled at the rickety table in the kitchen to await Hagrid's arrival. At 12:04 on the nose, the sound of a large fist knocking on the front door echoed through the cabin and Merlin took a deep breath before getting up to answer it.
"What're you doing here?" he asked in his best Vernon Dursley impression which mostly consisted of heavy breathing and poorly concealed rage.
"I'm here to fetch 'Arry," Hagrid explained, not looking even sort of put off by the sight of the irate man in front of him. "He hasn't responded to any of his letters and we're getting rather worried."
"He hasn't responded because he won't be going."
"I'd like to see you stop me," Hagrid said, puffing up his chest and getting ready for a fight before he visibly softened.
Merlin only spent half a second wondering what had changed his demeanour when he heard Harry's sleepy voice from behind him asking, "who's there Uncle Vernon?"
"Arry," Hagrid breathed out, warmth clear in his eyes as he looked over the young man in front of him. He didn't look like a copy of James like they'd all expected, but it was still clear he was James' son, especially with his curls mussed from sleep. His eyes blinked all the way open and Hagrid's breath caught. They were Lily's eyes, to be sure, maybe not in their exact colour but in the way the emotions swam just below the surface. Those eyes were full of curiosity and unbridled kindness toward a stranger, just as Lily's had been. He was taller than Hagrid had expected he'd be and he looked well taken care of. He couldn't wait to report that he'd found a healthy, seemingly happy Harry despite the fact that he hadn't answered their letters, everyone would be happy to hear the young man was doing well.
"Hello, sir," Harry greeted, a crooked smile on his face as he took in the giant man in the door, "did you say you were here to collect me?"
"I'm here to take you shopping for Hogwarts, that is if you'd like to go?"
Harry's eyes darted toward Merlin, looking for some sort of direction.
"I suppose I can't stop you, can I?" Merlin said with a sigh, stepping away from the door and conceding far faster than Vernon Dursley ever would have. "Why don't you come in and explain all this to Harry? My wife and I don't know much about it but we've tried our best."
Based on the few hours he'd spent observing the Dursleys and the stories he'd heard from Sirius and Remus, Merlin was well aware that they never would've mentioned magic to Harry and that this whole situation would've looked a lot different if the real Vernon were here, but, quite honestly, he preferred a smooth transition for his charge over making this look realistic.
Hagrid grinned and pulled a slightly crushed box out of one of his pockets, "I baked you a cake, Harry, happy birthday, by the way."
"Thank you!" Harry said, eyes lighting up, always happy for the chance to have any sort of sweets. "And thank you for coming to fetch me, the owls were becoming a bit of a nuisance and we didn't know what to do with them."
"Not a problem," Hagrid said, patting Harry on the shoulder and nearly sending him crashing to the ground.
* * *
Harry was having an incredible day. After Merlin had invited Hagrid inside, they'd had tea and birthday cake as a midnight snack and then Hagrid had spent the night on the couch before they left for London and 'Vernon' left for 'Surrey'.
Hagrid thankfully didn't notice the distinct lack of a car.
Harry got to ride on Sirius' motorbike for the first time he could actually remember and now they were finally in Diagon Alley. Harry had never been to the alley before, he'd only seen the inside of Gringotts, and for someone who was used to being surrounded entirely by natural magic, this place was certainly a new experience. Everything, down to the cobblestones themselves, sang with magic. He could feel the generations upon generations of charm work that was woven through this pocket of wizarding space amongst muggle London.
Hagrid was awesome. He knew so much about magical creatures and he talked about them the same way Harry did; as if they were actual beings with personalities and backstories. They'd gone to Gringotts first thing and, after heading down to his trust vault, Hagrid had passed over his key without even being asked, saying, "yer a smart lad, you can certainly be trusted with your own gold."
After that, they spent the morning wandering from shop to shop until they finally had everything on his list except for robes and a wand.
"I've got a quick errand to run, are you alright getting your robes by yerself? I'll meet you just outside the shop when yer done and we'll go find a wand, alright?"
"Sounds good," Harry said, a bright grin on his face both at being trusted with this little bit of independence and at the prospect of a wand. He headed toward Madame Malkins going through his mental checklist of everything his guardians had mentioned, temporarily struck anything he could find at Place Cachée with his grandfather, and decided he only needed to get his school robes, jumpers, and winter cloak from this shop and that he'd wait to buy his shirts and trousers in Paris.
"Hogwarts, dear?" a kind older woman asked once he'd walked through the door.
"Yes ma'am," Harry responded, putting on his best smile, the one that Remus always said made him look just a little too innocent for anyone's good, "I'll need the robes, jumpers, and a winter cloak please."
"Oh aren't you just adorable," the witch said, looking about three seconds away from reaching out to pinch his cheek as she led him further into the shop and directed him to a small stand next to another boy. It took Harry all of half a minute to realize who he was standing next to. If the platinum blonde hair didn't tell him, that specific shade of silver grey eyes would've clued him in pretty quickly. He absent-mindedly spun his Black ring around his pinky as he tried to figure out what to do next.
"Hello," the kid he was about 93% certain was the Malfoy Heir said, "Hogwarts, too?"
"Yeah," Harry said, wondering briefly how he would've handled this interaction if he'd actually been raised in some strange corner of the Muggle world without any sort of proper socialization, "I'm really looking forward to it."
"My father's next door buying my books and Mother's up the street looking at wands," Malfoy drawled and Harry was starting to find him oddly unlikeable. He sounded like the sort of person who believed they knew everything or, worse, believed they were better than everyone just because of their name. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully Father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it somehow."
Alright, Harry needed to put a stop to this soon or he was going to create his first enemy when he'd much rather be making friends, "say, I don't think I caught your name. Harrison Potter-Black, Lord Potter, Heir Black well met."
Draco's eyes widened as he darted his gaze toward Harry's hands where he found five signet rings (and a sixth ring that looked intricate enough to be an heirloom) one of which was the ring for his mother's family, "Heir Draco Malfoy, well met," he echoed, quite obviously reeling from the shock of this new discovery. He looked back up to Harry's face, eyes quickly locking on the stark white lightning scar jutting down his forehead and across his right cheek and likely wondering to himself how he possibly could've missed that rather distinguishing feature.
"I'm quite glad to finally meet you," Harry said, a rather disarming smile on his face. "Grandfather speaks so highly of your mother and he's mentioned hoping we'd become friends once we were both at Hogwarts."
"Grandfather?" Draco echoed, sounding almost distressed.
"Grandfather Arcturus," Harry confirmed, giving no further information.
Before Draco had a chance to respond, the tailor was done with his robes and his mother was calling his name from the front of the shop. He said a quiet goodbye to Harry and made his way toward the door, not even considering the fact that he should probably introduce his mother to this person who somehow knew the elusive Arcturus Black well enough to be calling him grandfather.
* * *
"Tricky customer, eh?" Ollivander murmured as he wandered back down the aisles full of wand boxes. Harry wasn't sure how many wands he'd tried so far and he was starting to wonder if he'd have a better chance begging Merlin to teach him to make his own. "Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere – I wonder, now … yes, why not … unusual combination – holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."
Harry had never met a phoenix before but it was certainly on his bucket list and the feeling that overcame him when he picked up this wand only solidified that wish. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers that soon washed over his entire being, he could actually hear the phoenix song trilling in his ears and when he brought the wand swishing down through the dusty air, a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework as his Gryffindor signet ring seemed to vibrate with joy.
And then Ollivander explained what, exactly, was curiousabout the wand.
Harry knew enough about wand lore to know that brother wands would make for rather interesting results if they ever met in a duel and, with this revelation, his newfound commitment to begging Merlin to help him make his own wand grew.
"I've got a present for you," Hagrid said as they moved back into the alley, pulling Harry out of his thoughts on the meanings behind wood and wand cores as he reached into one of his enlarged pockets. A moment later, he pulled out an owl cage holding the most beautiful snowy owl Harry had ever seen. The moment he saw her the name 'Hedwig' sprung into his mind unbidden. He'd read about Saint Hedwig of Selesia in one of the many books in Merlin's library and her story had stuck with him.
He knew he was lucky, as far as orphans went. He had adults who cared for him and who'd put their lives on hold to raise him, but he still didn't have his parents. His only memory of them was a woman's scream followed by a green light he now knew to be the killing curse. Everything else he knew was from pictures and stories and while he was grateful he had that connection, he still missed them dearly.
He had Sirius and Remus, his Papa and Dad, but there was still a corner of his heart they couldn't fill.
"Thank you," Harry said softly, reaching out to stroke Hedwig's beak through the cage with a reverent finger. "Truly."
"Of course," Hagrid said with a kind smile, placing a gentle hand on Harry's shoulder. "Every young wizard should have a pet and owls are quite useful. I know you'll take great care of her."