Chapter 10

The next evening - again, at precisely 6.00pm - the fireplace flashed to light with green flames. Stumbling out and again landing on his butt in the parlour of Bones Manor was Harry Potter. Again he wore formal robes without crest. The colour this time was plain black. His under-robe shirt was of a light green. Susan Bones awaited him just as Neville had done the previous day.

A quick run through the same greetings and responses - after she'd stopped giggling at him - and she was escorting him through to a formal lounge to meet her aunt, Madam Amelia Bones, current Regent for House Bones.

Harry found Madam Bones to be a no-nonsense kind of woman, very similar to Madam Longbottom. However, where Madam Longbottom was more a regal grand lady, Madam Bones was more down to earth; more of a 'beer and pretzels' rather than 'tea and scones' kind of woman.

Harry was surprised just how similar the two meetings were. Though, what he had read did not go into too great a detail about the intricacies of such meetings, he felt he shouldn't have been surprised.

The biggest difference, though, was the penetrating questions Madam Bones asked him about his past. Whenever he was reticent to reveal too much, he knew the older witch, the Head of the DMLE, knew he was withholding the information. At such times, she approached the matter from a slightly different angle; a slightly different perspective. By the end of the meeting Harry was surprised about just how much he had divulged.

He could also tell the older witch was trying not to give off the impression of great anger. Clearly, she was not happy with what she had learned from what Harry told her. However, on such occasions, she kept her own counsel.

As he did with Madam Longbottom, Harry offered the letter from his father to the witch and asked her for advice on how to proceed with his meeting with the Greengrasses. Her advice matched Madam Longbottom's.

As with the Longbottoms, at the end of the night he was pleased to have re-established the second of the alliances with which his father had charged him. And, also agreed to meet with young Susan on the train to Hogwarts. He also mentioned sitting with Neville and likely Daphne and her friend, Tracey. And Susan mentioned her friend Hannah would also likely join them.

Harry's meeting with the Greengrasses was scheduled for 5.00pm on the Thursday night prior to departure on the Hogwarts Express. This time he wore a set of formal robes in iridescent dark green with a white undershirt. He took special care with his appearance with the only 'slight' to his appearance being his untameable messy black hair. He also wore his rimless glasses as they enhanced his eyes.

Stepping into the fireplace at The Leaky Cauldron he stepped out into the marble-floored parlour at Greengrass Estate - and promptly fell onto his butt, yet again.

Muttering to himself about his innate clumsiness, and forcing back his anger, he rose to his feet to be greeted by a stunningly dressed middle-aged witch who was gently smiling at him.

"Sorry," he muttered louder, brushing himself off. "I hate floo travel."

Smiling more openly at his remarks, the witch waited for him to brush himself down a bit before stepping forward and saying, "Allow me."

She brought forth her wand and, with a few quick gestures and a murmured incantation banished all the remaining soot from his robes. Then she stepped back, resheathed her wand and said, "Welcome to Greengrass Manor, Mister Potter. I am Lady Isabel Greengrass. On behalf of my husband and myself I offer you welcome and our hospitality this evening."

Straightening himself up, Harry thought, 'Huh. A slightly less than formal welcome. I guess I wing it.' He replied, "Thank you for your invitation and welcome, Lady Greengrass."

He reached into his robes and drew forth a small wrapped gift. Offering it to her, he said, "Please accept this small token in response to your generosity."

Smiling, she stepped forward and accepted the gift before dropping it into a pocket of her robes. She turned around slightly and took his elbow before saying, "Nicely done, Mister Potter. Perhaps you can now do me the honour of escorting me to the lounge? My Lord Greengrass awaits us there."

With a slight bow, Harry replied, "Of course, Ma'am," and allowed her to steer him out of the room and through to the lounge.

As they were walking, she leaned down and whispered to him, "Have no fear, Harry. We're all family here."

On hearing her words, Harry visibly relaxed and let out the breath he didn't realise he was holding with a sigh.

Entering the formal lounge he saw a tall man rise from an armchair and turn towards him.

Lady Greengrass said, "My Lord, I present Mister Harry Potter, Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter." Turning to Harry and stepping away a little, she said, "Mister Potter, I present Lord Cygnus Greengrass, Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Greengrass."

Harry, recognising his cue, walked forward and offered his hand to Lord Greengrass, "Thank you for your invitation for this evening, Lord Greengrass."

With a small smile the older man said, "And thank you for accepting our invitation, Mister Potter." He then indicated an armchair across from where he was sitting and said, "Please, sit."

Harry moved around and sat on the offered armchair and sat back, hoping he looked quite relaxed as he did so - even though he wasn't. He waited for the Greengrasses to find their own seats across from him. He hesitated before saying, "I must apologise for not being in contact with you sooner. However, I have been - kept - from my heritage and the wizarding world in general these past ten years.

"I only - rediscovered - the wizarding world at the end of July and have been working hard to learn everything I need to gain a better understanding of this world. That led me to discover a letter from my father awaiting me in a vault in Gringotts."

He reached into his robes and withdrew the letter from his father. He offered it across to the man opposite.

"It is a personal letter," he continued. "But I hope it goes some way to allow you to understand my delay in contacting you."

Frowning, Lord Greengrass glanced back at Harry for a moment before opening the letter and reading.

When he was finished he offered the letter back and said, "Thank you for allowing me to read such a personal letter, Mister Potter. It does explain some matters.

"However, we have attempted to contact you on numerous occasions over the past ten years; to, at the very least, ensure ourselves you're still alright. But, every owl has been unable to track you down; and the mail has returned to us unopened."

Having heard the unasked question Harry sighed a bit and said, "For whatever reason I do not yet understand, Albus Dumbledore saw fit to - place me - in the home of my muggle relatives immediately after the events of 31st October 1981.

"Until I received my letter informing me I had been accepted into the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on 24th July, I was unaware of my heritage. The Hogwarts letter was the first time I had received any contact from the wizarding world. I have no idea why any correspondence, other than my Hogwarts letter, sent to me by people in the wizarding world has not found me. I am as upset with the situation - if not more so - than you are.

"Since the day I received my Hogwarts letter I have been - scrambling, for wont of a better word - to learn everything I can about both my heritage and my place in this world. As you would understand, it's been a bit of a shock."

Clearly surprised, Lady Greengrass asked, "No other mail? What about your bank statements from Gringotts?"

"Nothing, I'm afraid," replied Harry. "I can only surmise Dumbledore did not want me aware of the wizarding world until I was of age to enter Hogwarts. I think it's because he didn't want me to grow up being famous. Maybe he thought if I did I'd grow up to be arrogant, or something. It will be the leading issue I raise with him when I meet him."

"It's illegal to intercept Gringotts mail!" exclaimed Lady Greengrass.

"So they've informed me," replied Harry with a frown. "However, as he's claimed he's my magical guardian through your parliament, the Wizengamot, he's used that position to stop me getting my mail. And there's little I can do about it.

"What I have done is, with the help of the goblins, created an alias under the name Harrison Smith for purposes of receiving mail. It's not so much a fake identity as a way to bypass whatever Dumbledore's done to block my mail for a select few."

"And explains why you asked us to write to Harrison Smith with our response to your letter," mused Lord Greengrass. "And also explains why no one's seen hide nor hair of you since that night ten years ago."

"Yes, Sir," said Harry.

"And people wonder why we don't ally ourselves with the 'Light'," mused the older man.

Turning to his wife he said, "Perhaps you should go and speak of this with our oldest before bringing her in here to meet her betrothed. It may - placate her somewhat."

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