So before you all get annoyed at me posted a new story instead of updating my other stories...well, I'm not. This has been posted on ao3 for quite a while and I just keep forgetting to move it to as well. Oops. So do to some requests from people who saw it was there and not here, I'm posting it here as well.

I'm warning you now that this was a side project that I was working on a while back and I don't have that many plans for it drawn out yet so updates are going to be scarce, which is one of the reasons I was hesitant in posting it anywhere at all. Frankly the only reason I ended up posting it on ao3 was because I was playing around with the pseuds settings when I got bored one day during English when we were in the computer labs. I also have another Naruto story over there for the same reason and I might post that over here if I get enough people requesting it as well.

Disclaimer: I think it's pretty obvious that I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction, would I?

Chapter One

Harry was tired. No, he was more than tired. He was tired, he hurt, and he was pissed. Thoroughly and utterly pissed off and he wasn't completely sure why.

No, wait, he knew why. It was because even dead Dumbledore was still meddling in his life. Honestly, the man was dead, as in, no longer alive and should no longer be able to influence the living and yet, even with that, Harry was still back at the Dursley's because Dumbledore said it was safe.

The freaking Order couldn't think for itself no matter what Harry said! Even his friends said that maybe going back to his abusive relatives would be safer than staying at Grimmauld Place with the entire fucking Order living there. All because the magnificent and very dead Albus Dumbledore had said so! Well fucking Dumbledore had said Snape wasn't really a Death Eater and was on their side and look how that had turned out! The Potions Master had killed the man!

Only Remus and Moody seemed to remember this, though, and they were out voted by the rest of the Order. McGonagall, the new Headmistress and leader of the Order, seemed to be incapable of doing anything but parroting what precious Dumbledore had said.

Harry wasn't sure if he should be grateful that someone realized the stupidity of this action or mournful that his friends weren't the ones standing up for him. Really, Ron and Hermione should know him. They should have realized that he would have a reason for not wanting to return to the Dursley's and they should realize exactly what leaving him alone for an entire summer again would do to him!

So much for best friends that knew him better than anyone in the world, Harry thought bitterly to himself. Ron and Hermione had finally shown their true colors; they'd never pick his side over the precious 'Greater Good' and it was about time that he accepted that.

Harry was beginning to doubt that learning magic was worth all the betrayals and death threats. The Wizarding World was supposed to be his refuge and home and yet Harry had nearly died every year he spent in the Wizarding World, from when he was a baby to his Hogwarts years. So much for being safe, Harry snorted silently.

Maybe, Harry thought, he should find another school; one that wasn't filled with backstabbing liars, manipulative headmasters, and deranged psychopaths around every corner. Surely Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang couldn't be the only other schools in existence besides Hogwarts.

Green eyes gleamed as a plan started formulating. One thing was for certain: Harry was not staying at the Dursley's.

Harry had been stunned, at first, to find out that there was a magical library connected to every muggle library. It seemed, similar to Gringotts, the entire library was located underground the muggle library. Harry wondered how he could have missed this before sighing and entering the library via the entrance labeled Exit that had a small wand carved into the side and a muggle repellent charm on it.

The library was huge and Harry would say that it easily dwarfed the Great Hall in size.

"Hello, welcome to the Surrey Magical Library," a female librarian greeted him. "Is there anything that I can help you find?"

Harry thought for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, could you help me find some books on the Magical Schools of the World?"

"Would you be looking for Primary Magical Schools or Secondary?" the woman asked, nodding to herself.

"Magical schools have Primary and Secondary?" Harry hadn't known this. "Would Hogwarts be a Primary?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh yes, the finest Primary in Europe," the woman (Harry couldn't locate a name tag) nodded. "You'll want Secondary Schools then. Those are located just back here."

Harry followed the small woman (she was only an inch taller than him, and though he hated to admit it, he was small for his age) past nearly a dozen bookcases before she veered to the right and stopped in front of a small books case on the wall with a world map above it. "If you want to know the location of the school, just tap the map and state the name," she told him before walking away.

Harry looked at the amount of books before groaning. Great, just great! This was going to take forever. Sighing, he picked one off the shelf before making himself comfortable on the floor.

Hogwarts, Harry found out, was not the greatest school out there. In fact, it was one of the worst considering it was trying to pass itself off as both a secondary and primary school. Most magical schools began at the ages of seven, when the core began to stabilize, while Hogwarts waited four more years before admitting children. It seemed that since Hogwarts was the first magical school that it considered itself the best but looking at the slew of other schools and their academic ratings worldwide, Harry was easily learning that, that was not the case.

Harry had found that he didn't much like the qualifications for the other schools in, or around, Europe either. The criteria for European schools had diminished over the decades and Harry learned that those in Asia, the Americas, and Japan were much harder and offered more subjects than Hogwarts ever had.

"So, do I want Salem's Academy for Magical Beings or Magia Academy for the Magical?" he mumbled to himself. Salem sounded interesting but it was located in an easy to attack spot. Voldemort would have no trouble tracking him there, no matter how he disguised himself, because the Headmistress or 'Principal' refused to allow students to enroll with an alias. Magia, on the other hand, encouraged such things if they were needed.

Harry turned to the map and tapped it. "Magia Academy for the Magical," he stated clearly. Instantly the map zoomed in on a mountain range in Alaska, one that was listed as 'uninhabitable' by the muggles. "Muggle repellent charms," Harry realized and smirked. So, Magia was located in the St. Elias mountain range on the border of Canada and Alaska.

"I think I know where I'm going next year," Harry decided, grinning. He grabbed a book on the school and made his way back to the front desk to check it out.

His plans were coming together already.

Harry didn't bother making his way back to Privet Drive. He'd already told Hedwig to find him after he settled some place and his trunk was still shrunken in his pocket from when he'd gotten off the Express. No, Harry hailed the Knight Bus and made his way to the Leaky Cauldron where he would head to Gringotts.

Being a tad past seven, Harry would get there in time for the night shift and miss the five o'clock crowd by a half hour. That meant that very little people would witness him coming or going from the bank except for the goblins. Tugging his hat, something that he gained since it no longer fit Dudley, Harry's scar was hidden from sight and sunglasses over his real glasses completely disguised him from the crowd of people still shopping.

He cursed himself for not thinking of this sooner.

"State your business at Gringotts today," a goblin teller drawled in what Harry thought was a bored tone as he approached the desk.

"Harry Potter to talk to his account manager," he stated quietly, not wanting someone to overhear him. The goblin perked before nodding.

"Follow me," he ordered and led Harry behind the teller desks and into the back offices of the main building.

They stopped at an office labeled 'Griphook'. Harry blinked, vaguely recalling that name from his first Gringotts visit. He hadn't realized the goblin had been his account manager. It certainly explained why he'd been fine answering Harry's questions.

"Mr. Harry Potter is here to talk about his account," the teller announced before turning around and leaving. Harry stepped into the now open office and fought the urge to flinch as the door slammed behind him.

"What can I help you with today, Mr. Potter?" Griphook drawled from behind a large mahogany desk. The office was empty but for the desk and two chairs in front of it. Harry took a seat.

"I need to know about the Potter Family account as well as what I inherited from my godfather, Sirius Black. I have a feeling that not everything has been told to me about the accounts." Green eyes flashed in anger at the thought of even more withheld information.

"Very well," the goblin opened a draw and pulled up two bulging files. "The Potter family are an Ancient and Noble House just as the Black family were. You, being sixteen and underage, are the declared Heir of both Houses due to your father having Black blood and your godfather performing the Adoptio ritual on you with your parents' permission, making you his legal heir in the event that he did not have children. You are therefore Heir Harry James Potter-Black of the Ancient and Noble Houses of Potter and Black."

"Okay," he had thought it was something like this. "What does being the Heir of both Houses require me to do?"

"First off, you must claim the Potter and Black Heir Rings," Griphook stated as he pulled out two ring cases. "Place the Potter Heir Ring on your left index finger."

Harry picked up the ring. Made of gold with the Potter Family crest carved into it, Harry slipped it on the correct finger and watched as it resized to fit him. "Now place the Black Heir Ring on your right index finger."

The Black ring was done in the same style of the Potter ring, though it was done in white gold instead of regular gold. It, too, resized once placed on his hand.

"Good, you are now legally the Heir and future Lord of both Houses." The goblin seemed more than pleased. "I am now in charge of making sure that the money of both Houses grows while under my care. It is your job, however, to visit each vault and make sure everything is in order. As Heir, you cannot withdraw money, but heirlooms of both families are yours to do with as you please."

"And my Trust Account?" asked Harry. It was better to know of any changes sooner rather than later.

"Before your claiming of the Heir Rings you received 5,000 Galleons a year. That has now been increased to 10,000 a year with an addition 10,000 from the Black Vault as you are now Heir of that House as well." Harry stared. That, he thought in stunned silence, was a lot of money.

"You have a total of 110735Galleons, 33 knuts, and 5 sickles in your Trust Vault as of this moment," the goblin's eyes glinted at the amount. Harry felt his mouth fall open. In five years he had on barely dented the amount in his Trust and Harry wondered what would happen if Ron ever knew how much money Harry had just in his Trust Vault. He doubted it would be pretty.

"Wow," he mumbled. "Wait a minute, I should only have roughly around 97,000 if I go by what I spent over the last five years and the amount of money deposited into my account from the Main Vaults!" Harry exclaimed after he did the math in his head.

"Ah but over the past two years you have received an additional 6,666 galleons and 66 knuts from the Weasley Wizarding Wheezes since you are listed as third partner and benefactor," the goblin explained.

"The Twins," Harry realized, blinking. He was gaining that much money from only being a third partner?! Fred and George were doing well for themselves with their business. Harry smiled fondly. It would be impossible to convince them to keep the money too. Maybe he could invest more in them? Surely that would help them with inventing new products…

"Can you actively invest a sum of 4,000 galleons in the Weasley Wizarding Wheezes?" Harry asked after a moment. "The business is obviously doing wonderful for itself and would probably do even better if they had more money to finance their inventions."

"I will do so," Griphook nodded. "Is that all?"

"I would like to check on the Vaults now and, if possible, get a money pouch connected to my Trust Vault," he remembered that Malfoy had one and knew that it would be useful to gain one as well.

"It costs 4 galleons for a regular pouch and 10 for a pouch keyed to you. They will be taken out of your account monthly," Griphook informed.

"One that's keyed to me, please." It would be useful and Harry wouldn't need to worry about accessing his money in his new school. "Can I access my Vault in any Gringotts bank?"

"Yes," the goblin answered as he dug through a drawer. "All Gringotts Banks are connected through goblin magic that connect every Vault to each and every building around the world."

Harry nodded, thankful that he would still have access to his parents' things when he went to Magia. "Alright then, I think that all I have left to do is to visit each vault."

"I will call an attendant to take you down," Griphook nodded.

One attendant and terribly fun (not that Harry would tell anyone that but it sort of reminded him of a muggle roller coaster) cart ride later and Harry was in front of the Main Potter Family Vault. Holding up his ring, the vault glowed and peeled open, revealing a large cavern filled with money and items.

Griphook had explained while they waited for an attendant that Harry no longer need a vault key to access any of his vaults as he now wore the Heir Rings of Black and Potter. As soon as Harry had put them on his vault key and any copies had self destructed, leaving only the rings as a way of getting in his vault.

"I will wait for you here, Heir Potter-Black," the goblin stated as it bowed. Harry frowned before bowing back (seriously, it was only courteous to bow back if someone bowed to you!) only to get the most shocked looked he had ever seen on a goblin's face before. He hadn't even been aware that you could shock a goblin.

What did it say about Wizards and Witches if being courteous to goblins was rare enough to visibly shock them? Harry didn't know and he decided not to dwell on it and continued his way into the vault as if nothing had happened.

Not caring much about the money (he had enough in his Trust to take care of his needs) Harry headed over to the large area filled with items. Bookcases took up one fourth of the Vault with an index placed on a pedestal in front of the miniature library. He figured that there was a trick to it but decided to figure that out at a later date and focused on the other area of the vault.

This part was filled with knickknacks, jewelry, wands, and what looked like armor. Harry decided that he would start with the wands and headed over to the giant display that encased them. There was glass covering them but Harry found that his hand was able to easily pass through it. He figured the glass was there to keep out those without Potter Blood from getting into what were obviously Potter Family Heirlooms. Wands from hundreds of generations of Potters sat in the case, he discovered as he found that the large displayed had endless amount of room and by pressing his hand against the ridge of the right side of it, the display would rotate wands.

"I love magic," Harry grinned as dozens upon dozens of wands stood clearly before him. Done with exploring, Harry was about to leave when his own wands warmed his arm where he had it holstered (a gift from Moody so he didn't "Blow his buttocks off") and he felt something reach out and prod his core. Harry stopped and turned to look at the display case.

He had been told before that he should get a secondary wand, one that wasn't tracked by the Ministry but he had also been told that finding a wand that matched with both his core and his primary wand was difficult and sometimes impossible depending on the Wizard. This conflict of information (how could he go get a second wand when doing so could end up being impossible and was highly improbable at the same time was beyond him and was one of the few times he seriously considered hurting someone for the inconsistency) had given Harry pause in going out to find said wand.

Moody, however, had gotten such a wand and had been sure to tell them how to know when they'd found their match. If Harry remembered correctly Moody had described exactly how he was feeling right now. Grinning like mad (he could do magic in the summer now!) Harry walked over to the case and searched out with his magic for the wand that was calling him.

It was near the middle, labeled thirteen inches, Birch wood with Thunderbird Feather core. Harry gently picked up the beautifully polished wand before grabbing the holster it sat with and strapping it to his thigh.

Waving the wand, lightning thundered from the tip and he heard the singing of his Holly wand join in with the loud caw of the Birch wand. To a bystander it would sound horrible, loud and a headache inducing jumble of noise. To Harry it was as if he was listening to the most beautiful duet in the world and for the first time in what seemed like forever, Harry felt complete. The bonding of his new wand filled a void he hadn't even known he'd had.

Harry placed the Birch wand in its holster happily, glad that one worry (being disarmed) had been solved without him actively trying to solve it.

"Okay, so now what," he mumbled to himself as he glanced around him. The bonding of the Birch wand had distracted him from his previous plans to explore… "Guess I'll just head over to the jewelry," he decided eventually, unable to recall what his next goal had been.

Most males of any age saw jewelry as something 'girly' but Harry had always been fascinated by some of the different necklaces, earrings, and bracelets he had seen. Maybe he just liked things that were shiny? Most jewelry was rather shiny and it wouldn't be that surprising to the teen if that was the reason behind his fascination.

The glinting red earring that immediately caught his eyes suggested that this was so and he began studying the rather shiny earring in detail. It was obviously a ruby of some sort though Harry had never seen a ruby that was a dark a red as this one. The stone was large and sat in a silver base that looped around the ear. It would probably dangle a bit below the ear lobe, Harry thought to himself as he palmed the small piece of jewelry. There was another plain hoop also sitting in the box and it was obviously the second part of the set as another ruby of the same color hung from the hoop.

There was a folded paper sitting beneath the two earrings in the box. Harry picked it up after carefully picking up both earring and replacing them in the box once he had freed the page.

I do not know who reads this page or how long these have sat here but greetings, descendant, I am Warren Potter and the year is 1821. I am nearing eighty years of age, not old for a wizard, if not for the Dragon Pox that have taken their toll on me. Maybe there is a cure in your time; maybe it has died out, however I am told by Healers that I have a week left to live. Therefore I leave these priceless earrings, made of Blood Ruby and Faerie Silver, in the Vault of our ancestors.

Blood Rubies are rare and nearly impossible to find. They are rubies that formed from the blood of an Ouroboros. The Ouroboros is a serpent that eats its own tail. They symbolize unending energy and eternal life. The Blood Rubies provide protection to whoever wears them and they can neutralize even death itself, if need be. It is my hope that none of our blood will ever require these but I am old, too old to delude myself to the truths of the world.

So descendant, you who find yourself in danger of death wear these upon your ears and harm shall never befall you.

Warren Potter

"Blood Rubies," he murmured as he studied the small objects again. "I doubt that they can beat death but it wouldn't surprise me if he met the beat poisons. It would be common knowledge if they threw off the Killing Curse."

He folded the paper and placed it back into the box, moving the earrings out of the way and then replacing them on top of it before snapping the box closed and placing it in his pocket. Any extra protection would be more than appreciated. He'd get his ears pierced in the Alley when he was done since most businesses like that would still be opened during the night (it catered to those that worked long hours and could only come at night or to creatures that were adverse to sunlight).

"Alright," Harry looked around the table one more time to make sure there wasn't anything else that he wanted over here. Two shimmering gold rings caught his eye and he made his way over to them. They were made of gold and were obviously made for bonding, one being a large male right and the other being a smaller female ring. The male ring had a stag carved into the metal and it pranced around proudly. "Prongs," realized Harry with not only a tad of grief. The woman's ring had a doe, his mother's animagus form, sleeping on the metal with its chest rising and falling. Harry looked around the table and found a sleek, rather long, silver chain which it reached for and unclasped, slipping the two rings around it and hanging it around his neck. These had belonged to his parents and Harry would be damned if he didn't have something of theirs with him to remember them.

The cloak and album helped but Harry couldn't really carry those around with him so he was left with nothing of theirs before he'd found their bonding rings. He smiled at the slight weight around his neck and nodded. He was done here for now.

He glanced around the room once more before deciding that he was done exploring the vault. He exited, the entrance melting back into stone, and nodded to the goblin. On to the Black Vault.

The Black Vault was a tad bit bigger that the Potter Vault and Harry attributed that to the fact that there was a small armory on one side of the room. Harry had left the bookcases alone, as he had in the Potter Vault, and was glancing over the jewelry.

His eyes locked onto a charm bracelet and he picked it up. It was brimming with magic and after a long study, Harry knew why. Each charm different and there were only seven of them. One was a trunk; another was a small cabinet, followed by a bookshelf and then wardrobe. The last two were runes. Harry recognized them both and the gem they were made out of. Ihwaz, the rune of defense, was made out of shining blue topaz and Algiz, the rune of protection, was made from amethyst.

Harry frowned; the magic he was feeling wasn't coming just form the runes. Pocketing the bracelet, Harry decided that he would study it more when he found a place to settle for the night. The bracelet clinked against his new money pouch as he let go of it but nothing painful or menacing seemed to happen so he relaxed.

He left the jewelry to visit the armory. While fighting with a wand was useful, Harry couldn't afford to limit himself to it. He needed to be able to protect himself with and without magic and that meant finding a weapon he could use that was as easy to carry as a wand.

The Black Family seemed to have a sea of weapons at his disposal and Harry spent a good half hour digging through them before he found a set of throwing knives that were clipped to a belt with runes that he didn't recognize carved into them. Harry lifted his shirt (still far too big for him) and clipped the belt around his waist. There were two books lying underneath them and Harry picked those up before nodding.

Turning, the teenager exited the vault and stepped into the cart after giving the goblin a brief nod.

Next stop: house hunting.

Once again, just because I know people will have ignored the first A/N: THIS IS NOT A MAIN PROJECT OF MINE AND UPDATES WON'T HAPPEN OFTEN! This is a side project and updates will only happen when I get sudden inspiration. I have very few plans for this story compared to my main HP projects and was something I wrote when I got bored and have added onto whenever a new idea strikes me since.

So no pestering me for quick updates. I only posted this here because some of you really wanted it on both ao3 and . Critiques are welcome and in fact, I urge you to. I love hearing your opinions on how I can make my stories better! Also, let me know if you see some glaringly obvious mistakes so I can fix them. I don't have a beta and there's only so much self editing can do for you.

~MisteryMaiden~