Chapter Text
…
Voldemort was not dead, and he had obtained the Philosopher's Stone. But Harry was pretty sure that his trolling on the stone would buy him and the rest of the wizarding world some time, before dear Voldy really returned.
And when that happened, he would be perfectly prepared.
*
To say Harry was ready for summer was an understatement. He was well prepared, with plans made in advance and soon got into gear. So even after all those shenanigans at Hogwarts, he still felt fine, really.
As a result of the sudden fight with Voldy, part of the main hall was damaged, but it was not a major problem and was repaired quickly. There was no one killed, and Harry was satisfied with that.
On the morning of the last day of school, Harry sat with his Ravenclaw friends in the main hall, waiting for the results of The House Cup to be announced.
And of course, Dumbledore ruined it again, when he shamelessly gave the three Weasley brothers and Neville Longbottom fifty points each for their "bravery". It was so absurd that even the people who received points felt embarrassed. Ron's face turned red and he lowered his head to the table, not daring to look up. While Neville directly stood up and left the main hall.
It wasn't their fault, but it happened. With two hundred points at the last minute, Gryffindor jumped from last place to second place, much to the discomfort of the students from the remaining houses. However, the Ravenclaw still maintained its leading position, due to the incredibly high number of points that Harry Potter brought in throughout the school year because of his excellent academic performance.
The Ravenclaw won The House Cup, so Harry didn't have time to care about Dumboodore. Maybe it would have been different, if Gryffindor had won, but it hadn't and Harry let it slide this time.
So after all that cheering from the Ravenclaw students, Harry boarded the train in the afternoon, making his way back to the normal world. He and his friends agreed that they wouldn't do any of the sloppy goodbyes like the others, since they would meet again soon.
When Harry arrived at the train station, he was surprised to see Lord Black waiting for him. The boy smiled, feeling very good. It had been a school year with quite a few incidents, but overall, it had a good ending, and Harry was at peace.
Harry waved to his friends, once again promising to see them again soon, then walked towards the old man.
It was time for summer.
*
“So what you're saying is...” Lord Black spoke as he sat in the living room of his holiday home, sipping his premium tea. “…You have pranked the dark lord and ruined his plans.”
“I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree huh? Apparently I can make some cruel jokes to make other people miserable.”
The old man smiled, remembering the few rare times he met James Potters. For some reason, little Harry looked nothing like his father, and neither did his personality. But to be honest, Lord Black assumed that the strange person was Harry's father, not the boy himself. Lord Black did not know what kind of person Harry's mother was, but he had met and worked with previous generations of the House of Potter, and he confirmed that they were all quite mature and serious, like Harry. Hell, there were some quite capable people, like Fleamont Potter who quadrupled the Potter family's wealth with just that stupid hair potion.
So when he heard that James Potter was a troublemaker and had drawn Sirius into rebellion, he was surprised. He had expected the new generation of Potter family to be a genius, like the previous generations, but it was not to be.
Perhaps that the boy didn't even have the chance to grow up and do something brilliant. Compared to the long lives of wizards, twenty-one years old is still too young.
With that, he looked towards Harry, feeling amused with the boy's story, but at the same time, worried.
“I met him once.”
Harry, who was busy with his papers on the other side looked towards Lord Black, and raised an eyebrow.
“Who?”
“Voldemort.”
Immediately, Harry put his quill down on the table, interest clear in his eyes. As far as Harry knew, the Black family had not been involved in any conflicts in the wizarding world. Staying neutral, and profiting from other people's conflicts is their motto. Well, it didn't work very well, considering their current situation. But Harry did feel interested in the information about Voldy, after all, he needed to prepare first.
“He was a generation behind me, though I didn't know his age, but he was probably not much older than Orion. At the time, it was amazing that someone would dare come to me to ask for funding for his war.” Lord Black smiled, seemingly remembering something interesting. “He looked quite rough, though. Tried to hide it, but didn't work. Probably deep into some kind of dark magic.”
“Oh, do you know what kind of dark magic that is?”
“Not sure, but probably something stupid.”
Well, Lord Black could recognize stupidity if he saw it, especially when it involved dark magic. The Black family could be seen as a leader of the "black" or "dark" side, and they certainly had extensive research into dark magic. But even so, there were always limits that each family member had to remember when it came to that type of magic. Some of them failed - the old man thought of Bellatrix and the madness in her eyes. But there really was a saying that was passed down by their ancestors a long time ago: Try, but not to dive.
Dark magic was something that was very... addictive. And if they were just a little bit careless, dark magic users could get bogged down and face many disasters. There had been many such cases, and Lord Black had assumed that Voldemort was no different. It may have even played a major role in his downfall later.
Harry knew that, the dangers of dark magic, or magic in general. That was the reason he always kept himself calm and approached things slowly, no matter how curious he was. But then he felt a little regretful. Maybe he should do a little more research. Any input about dear Voldy was a plus.
“Maybe I should learn more about that dark magic.”
“Well.” Lord Black smiled when he heard Harry say that. He raised his teacup and took a sip, his expression seemingly thinking of something interesting. “You should go to Grimmauld Place. The library there has quite a large number of books about dark magic.”
The Potter boy stopped for a second, searching his memories for some information about that name. Oh, yes, that place. Although Lord Black had never told Harry anything about that house, Harry had learned about it when looking through the Black family's real estate listing. He remembered that its condition was not very good, having been abandoned for many years. According to the goblins at the bank, the only person left alive in that place was a house elf, and it didn't seem to be doing its job well.
“The library there could not possibly be larger than the library at the Black mansion?”
“It's not. But Orion did bring many books about dark magic there.” There was a gloom in Lord Black's eyes as he mentioned the name of his deceased son. “He and his wife have a similar interest in dark magic, something I should have done something about sooner to stop...”
“Let's leave it for another day.”
Harry spoke up, interrupting Lord Black. Yep, he was uncomfortable when the direction of the conversation started to move into that direction. The old man was... old, and Harry didn't think it was healthy to talk about unpleasant things from the past. And talking about Grimmauld Place made Harry remember Sirius and all the shitty things he said to the poor man. He knew that he shouldn't pretend like it didn't happen and avoid it, and that he should do something or face it like an adult. But it was hard, and Harry felt he wasn't ready for it yet.
Again, relationships were hard, and so were emotions.
He would take one step at a time.
“Have you checked out the new suit I bought for you?”
Harry changed the subject of the conversation, and Lord Black immediately narrowed his eyes.
“Yes. Although I feel like my suits are still usable.”
“We will see about that.”
The dark haired boy rolled his eyes, returning to his work while feeling happy that he did the right thing in buying new clothes for the old man. Sure, most of the old man's clothes were still usable, but were no longer suitable in Harry's estimation. So naturally, as someone who took care of the Black family's finances, Harry gave himself the right to buy new clothes or anything he deemed necessary for his almost-great-grandpa.
Plus, it was probably a good idea to prepare for those times when the old man had to go out in public as Lord of the house of Black. Harry did a good job managing the Black family's assets, but that wasn't something he could tell the others.
Harry promised the old man that he would help the Black family regain their former glory. He did have plans to do that, hell, most of them were already in motion. And most of those plans require someone to represent the Black family in front of the public. Sirius Black was originally the person Harry chose to do it, but well, things happened, so he couldn't. Harry was more than capable, but he felt like he was just a child, it would be strange if an eleven year old who wasn't even part of the Black family stood up and said something. So for the time being, Lord Black still had to be the one to do it. It wasn't like it was hard, despite his age, the old man was pretty much healthy.
Harry stopped writing, looked up at the wall clock, and said:
“It's late, you should go to sleep. Don't forget we have plans for tomorrow.”
Arcturus Black shook his head, but did not object. He stood up, and before returning to his bedroom said to Harry:
“You should also go to bed early. I heard that staying up late makes you short.”
“What?” Harry opened his mouth, looking offended. “Who said that?”
Lord Black smirked, just shrugged and turned away, leaving Harry sitting alone still unable to believe what had just happened.
The boy looked at the documents on the table, then looked at his body. After a moment of struggling with thoughts, Harry closed his eyes, put the quill down on the table and took a deep breath.
“Fine!”
*
The news of the House of Black opening a new fund to support poor children studying at Hogwarts quickly became a huge storm that swept the wizarding world. And right after that, came the news of Harry fucking Potter opening a free library in Diagon Alley.
Yep, that was Harry's plan for the Black family to regain their glory.
“Everything has changed. We also need to change to suit the current social situation. Being from an arrogant aristocratic family that doesn't interact with anyone from the working class is no longer a good image, grandfather.”
That was what Harry said when he and the old man discussed his plan. Lord Black, although hesitant at first, quickly decided to trust Harry and let him take charge of everything.
The concept was - do more good things, receive good fame. Although it was clear that life wasn't that simple, Harry was willing to believe in it.
In the name of the house of Black, he opened a new fund, the purpose of which was to help people in difficult circumstances in the wizarding world. This fund will provide interest-free loans to students studying at Hogwarts. In addition, there were grants or rewards for students with good academic performance.
Harry did some research. Although students at Hogwarts did not have to pay school fees, the necessary expenses were already significant burdens. School robes, books, school supplies, etc. Together, they create a large amount of money that large families can hardly manage to pay. Harry wouldn't say he learned that through observing a few notable cases of, ahem, the Weasleys.
To be honest, Harry had no sympathy for them at all. It was just very simple - no money, no children. To keep giving birth even though circumstances did not allow it, was a terrible idea. But then it was none of his business, so he didn't act like a bitch and judge those people to their faces. And at least he was able to exploit those people's situation for profit, in this case, reputational gain.
Muggle-borns made up almost half of the wizarding world's population, and most of them were not wealthy. The fund certainly would be a help to them, and would bring the Black a good reputation. There was some conversation between Harry and Lord Black about whether they should focus on the Muggle-born and Half-blood community like that. But at the end of the day, Harry had pretty much convinced the old man.
“Let's be real here.” Harry said. “Who cares about the nobles? We all know what will happen in the future. Either they choose to assimilate, or they will slowly die from inbreeding. When you think about it, suddenly what to choose becomes easy, right?”
So yeah, they opened the fund. It wasn't a very big deal, considering how huge the Black family's fortune was.
Harry did hire a few people to manage this fund, all goblins. Anyway, it was convenient. The banks were more than excited to help, largely because they also planned to develop a money lending system, and this system was mainly aimed at adults and had interest.
The Goblins were extra friendly and helpful, since they realized that control of both the Black and the Potter fortunes lay in Harry's hands. There were also some shady deals between Harry and them, but no one needed to know about those.
They were also a big help when Harry decided to open a new public library. Come to think of it, Harry did trust these short goblins more than human wizards. He had a few friends, but that didn't mean his opinion of humanity in general had changed much.
But anyway, Harry did open a library. It started with his dissatisfaction with the library at Howgarts, where the books were fairly common and the ones Harry wanted to read he couldn't because he didn't have permission. As someone who liked to read, that offended him quite a bit. Like, why put those books in the library if you don't want other people to read them?
And he guessed that many other people had the same thought as him. Plus it was also a way to make the name Potter more meaningful, instead of being associated with a silly war or the hero of light bullshit.
So he bought a store in a nice location in Diagon Alley - which cost him a ton of money, and turned it into a huge ass library. The inside has been expanded a hundred times, and decorated in a luxurious style with deep blue colors. Luxurious glass chandeliers shine brightly, and rows of bookshelves close together make any bookworm feel like they have entered some kind of paradise. The number of books in this library was truly enormous, and anyone could borrow them, as long as they have a library card.
The fee to apply for a library card was 1 galleon, and the fee to maintain that card was 2 galleons a year. That was dirty cheap for what one would get. Harry could have made it free, but he chose not to.
After a day of wearing a fake smile and attending a party to celebrate the launch of a charity fund with the old man, Harry finally had time to throw a party of his own, with his friends. It wasn't a big party, in fact, the opening of his library wasn't even announced in any way other than a short note in the newspaper. Harry figured it wasn't a big deal, it was just a library, he didn't need to announce it to everyone or anything.
“Harry, this place is amazing!”
Of course, as someone who loved books, that was the first thing Hermione said when she set foot in the library. And Harry agreed, this place was fucking amazing.
The others, while not as book-obsessed as Hermione, also looked impressed. Well, except for Anthony, when the boy immediately ran to Harry's side and grabbed Harry's hand, shaking it back and forth, expressing his longing for Harry.
“Oh Harry, I miss you so much!”
“Calm down Goldstein.” Terry Boot immediately glanced at his blonde friend, while taking down a book from a nearby bookshelf. “It's only been a week.”
“And it was a long ass boring week.”
Anthony sighed and let go of Harry's hand, as he was quickly attracted to the book Terry was holding. The boy approached his taller friend and looked at the first pages of that book, while complaining:
“Apparently losing to Malfoy is not something my mother likes, and that applies to me too. That brat was no.4 while I was no.5? Unacceptable. So this summer I will focus on preparing for the new school year, to make sure that doesn't happen again.”
Harry guessed that Anthony must be talking about the first-year performance rankings. He knew about it, and had glanced at it, but he wasn't very interested. He already knew the top 5, which he was in first place, followed by Hermione. Third and fourth place were taken by Theodore Nott and Draco Malfoy respectively, then Anthony Goldstein was in fifth place. Other than that, Harry didn't know much, but at least two of his friends were in the top five, so he didn't have any problems.
“Although this is not something I want to admit.” Hermione frowned. “But the Slytherins... They were good. Six of them made it into the top 10, that was quite impressive.”
“There were only two Ravenclaw students in the top ten, that, was scandalous!”
“But then again, both Ravenclaw students were in the top five.” Terry raised his eyebrows at Anthony, who had just spoken, and reached out to rub his head vigorously. “Don't be so pessimistic. It will be better next year.”
Anthony grinned, not only not feeling comforted by Terry, but even more annoyed. He pushed Terry's hand away, then jumped up and pinched the boy's ear - a bit difficult since Terry was a head taller than him. The two of them quickly fought, well, as usual, and Michael Corner stood to the side silently smiling and cheering for them.
Meanwhile, Harry and Hermione sat down at a table set with expensive tea and cakes, and helped themselves to something. To be fair, Harry also missed his friends, even though they had only not seen each other for a week. It was good to see them again, his friends were indeed very lively, and full of joy. But that was not something he would admit.
“But seriously, I'm a bit worried, in the top 20, I'm the only one who's a Gryffindor student.”
Hermione looked worried, but well, to be fair, Gryffindor wasn't exactly known as a studious house. Harry supposed he saw them most at the quidditch pitch, rather than in the library. They were more worried about becoming popular, which was valid, but then their academic achievements were also something they should foresee.
Harry couldn't say he felt the same, on the contrary, he didn't care. But as someone who was trying to grow and become a good friend, he just had to say something.
“Most of the top 10 were born in the wizarding world. They grew up in that environment, and most were prepared by private lessons. Of course they will have good results. It's not that bad, Hermione, as Terry said, next year will be different.”
Well, damn, that was just a weak excuse. What could Harry say? If a person wants to have good results, they need to work hard, if they do not have natural talent. Merlin knew that he, Hermione and Anthony tried their hardest, even though Harry felt they were all bright and intelligent children. Everyone else needed to try harder if they wanted to do well, and it was pointless for Hermione to worry about that when those people didn't even care about their own grades.
“Cedric did his best, right? He’s the best of his year.”
“I guess so.”
Harry picked up the cup of tea and brought it to his mouth, hiding his smile. Oh, the boy was brilliant. He had the best performance of his year, and was then participating in an international competition with Professor Flitwick. It was a bit disappointing that he couldn't come to this party, but fine. Even though Cedric was abroad, he still managed to bother Harry with his letters. The young Lord Potter did feel interested in what Cedric told him about the competition, or the new things he encountered in America. So he couldn't say he hated Cedric's letters. It was kinda annoying, but good kind of annoying.
“Hermione, what have you been doing these past few days?”
“Reading?” Hermione answered Harry, then quickly raised her hand. “I know, I know, just some light reading. I rested very well. Even my mother thought I was more comfortable than usual.”
She then told Harry about what she had done, along with her plans for the coming days. Hermione's family was quite wealthy, and like every year, they would take her on a trip somewhere in the summer. Terry, Michael and Anthony also stopped and joined them. They also have their own plans.
Harry enjoyed hearing them talk about those things, it made him feel like his life was less monotonous. He did feel like he should do something interesting, instead of burying himself in the financial plans of both the Potter family and the Black family. But hey, someone gotta handle that. Maybe he would take a vacation abroad after things are more stable, but until then, he still had a lot of work to do.
Being a young Lord was not as fun as it sounded, but he had chosen this path, and he had no regrets. There were meetings to attend, parties to show up for, and papers to sign. Being in a position of wealth was a blessing for Harry, but it didn't mean he could do nothing and enjoy the rest of his life. Harry's personality didn't allow him to do that. The good thing was that the Potters had been excluded from the Sacred Twenty-Eight, so Harry didn't need to worry about getting involved in political matters for the time being. It may be different in the future, but well... So for now, all he needed to care about was multiplying the Potter family's fortune a hundredfold. Fleamont Potter was able to triple it with just one hair potion, Harry thought he could do better than that with all the thing he have in his brain.
“Hey, we'll still go school shopping together, right?”
Anthony asked, and the others turned to look at him.
“Of course.”
“I'm free that day.”
“We promised before, right?”
Then, they all turned to look at Harry, and in return he reluctantly shook his head:
“Of course I will go with you.”
School shopping sounded fun, Harry didn't hate it. Even though he didn't have anything special to buy, browsing the shops didn't seem like such a bad thing. Maybe he would spend a few coins to buy some things for his friends. And by the time, perhaps on Diagon Alley there will be a few more stores named "Potter".
But also, Harry wanted to experience. Before that he had never thought about needing friends, but there he was, with his precious friends. He never thought about how having friends would change his life, but it did, and Harry liked it.
Go shopping with his friends to prepare for the new school year. Harry was willing to do it.
Harry once again looked at his friends, and smiled.