Chapter 11

"You know Professor," Harry said, calling the man by his title even though he had been given leave to call Snape by his first name. "This is all rather surreal don't you think? We go from being no good conmen to honored guests in the span of hours." the man proceeded to pick up a scone and bite into it. "I mean, have you ever thought you'd be offered scones by the goblins?"

"Potter, I have come to terms with the fact that the impossible happens around you," Snape stated. "So yes, in fact, I have thought about the goblins offering scones at some point during any plausible scenario planning,"

"Really?" Harry asked surprised.

"No, you dolt. Who could have foreseen this?!" Snape retorted.

"More tea gentlemen?" Ricbert, the Chief Teller, and the goblin that had initially accused them of fraud held a porcelain tea kettle with trembling hands. Both Snape and Harry however shook their heads. The hospitality they received after showing the goblins that blasted key Death had given Snape was mind-boggling.

"Judging by your change in attitude you seem to know what this means," Snape addressed Ricbert while pointing to the key on the table.

"Only myths," the Teller uttered. "Just myths. Never in my years did I think I would see it,"

"And as such we will keep it," an authoritative voice stated as the double doors to the opulent reception room Snape and Harry had been situated in opened. "Greetings gentlemen. I am Ragnuk the 12th, King of the Goblin Nation. I'm sure you have already met my son," Both Harry and Snape saw Laggof standing behind his father minus a beard. "There seems to be a lot that needs to be discussed today, both matters are quite mind-boggling,"

The Goblin King took a seat opposite Harry and Severus while his son stood stoically behind him, pointedly not looking at the wizarding duo.

"Let's start with the least complicated part." The King stated and then looked at Harry. "Harry Potter, for all intent and purpose, is considered deceased by Gringotts. The Potter vaults have been sealed and all transactions stopped. There have already been several attempts to gain access to the Potter vaults which has put our bank on high alert."

"What do you mean attempts to gain access to the vaults?" Harry questioned.

"I can tell you this since you are in fact Harry Potter," Ragnuk stated "Several wizards have made attempts to have Gringotts continue payments authorized by James Potter to an organization called 'The Order'. Lord Potter had set up the payments to continue after his death with the stipulation that they would only stop if his heir was deceased.

"Were the Weasleys among those people?" Harry asked and Snape could feel the tremble in his voice.

"No," The King stated as he produced a document. "Mundungus Fletcher, Elphias Doge, and Albus Dumbledore were the ones making the inquiries."

"Potter, I know what you are thinking but just because they weren't named does not mean they weren't involved," Snape stated upon noticing Harry's relieved sigh.

"You just like to throw mud in the water don't you," Harry retorted back.

"I am simply being practical," the Potion Master sighed. "The Weasleys not being involved in trying to get a hold of your vaults does not mean that they may not be involved in any of the other Headmaster's plans."

When Harry was still looking at Snape as if the man had grown two heads the Potion Master explained further "Considering what the Headmaster has put you through up 'till now I would be loath to completely trust someone unless they have proven it. The Headmaster has his fingers in a lot of pies Potter. Considering who you will be going up against in the future I do wish to advise you to have your allies state their intentions under veritaserum lest you and I find knives in our backs."

"Perhaps the both of you should continue that line of discussion later," The Goblin King advised. "As I was explaining to Mr. Potter, the vaults he wishes to access are sealed by Magic as this reality's last Potter heir died."

"So I can't get any funds?" Harry asked while already thinking that they may have a harder time facing the Headmaster and Voldemort if they were destitute.

"I did not say that Mr. Potter," the King stated. "The name Harry Potter cannot be used again however if you were to magically change your last name to one of your ancestors then you would be within your rights to inherit the Potter vaults."

"I'm assuming this name change can be done at Gringotts?" Harry questioned.

"For a small fee of course," The Ragnuk nodded while giving the wizards a toothy grin.

"Of course," Harry muttered.

"Now onto the more difficult matter," Ragnuk stated while gesturing to the Platinum key on the table. Snape had placed it there when they were escorted to the opulent room and thus far no goblin had deigned to even touch it.

"We Goblins only ever made one Platinum key," King Ragnuk continued. "For our first Goblin friend. The Pendragon key,"

"As in Arthur Pendragon?" Harry questioned with shock in his voice.

"No, Mr. Potter. Neither Arthur Pendragon nor his father Uther were considered Goblin friends." Ragnuk spoke. "It was the era before a unified Goblin Nation. Tensions were high between Uther and magical beings as he abhorred them. Never did we think a Pendragon would ever be our friend."

"Then who?" Harry questioned.

"Well, Heir Prince already seems to have a good idea of who I am referring to," The Goblin king stated as Harry looked at Snape.

"If it is neither Uther nor Arthur then there is only one other well-known Pendragon. Mordred," The Potion Master answered. "And why do you call me Heir Prince? My mother was disowned."

"We will get to that in a bit but you are right. The first Goblin friend was none other than Mordred Pendragon, King Arthur's offspring," Ragnuk declared.

"Mordred Pendragon, much to his father's denial was a powerful wizard. Not classically trained mind you as Merlin was forbidden to train the boy. Mordred spent most of his time in the Pendragon court hiding his powers as he knew such displays would displease his father and earn him unwanted attention from both the throne's loyalists and those seeking to put their own families in positions of power." Ragnuk growled. "What the court wanted was an heir they could control and sway to their needs. A powerful wizard was none of these things."

"This was the time before the Goblin Nation unified and it was one late evening when the Pendragon heir was practicing his magic in a dense forest away from Camelot. It was here that he encountered a wounded goblin warrior and his charge, a goblin princess, heavily pregnant. Mordred fought off several goblin assassins sent to stop the birth of an heir to two of the strongest Goblin factions at the time." The King spoke with admiration. "While being untrained he expanded more magic than he should have and as his reserves dwindled Lady Magic took pity on him and crafted him a wand made with the tear she shed for his bravery. The Princess and her guard survived and she delivered a healthy baby boy who would later go on to unify the Goblin Nation and reign as its very first King."

"While Gringotts was founded in 1474 we Goblins have always had vaults to keep our most prized possessions and this we offered our newly made friend one as a gesture of gratitude. The bank was later built around this very vault and the key had been passed down to Mordred's eldest son Melehan before being lost to history."

"This is all way too much info," Harry muttered while frowning as he tried to digest it all. "Wait you still haven't answered the Professor's previous question though. Why have you been addressing him as Heir Prince?"

"Because Mr. Potter, Master Snape is in fact the Heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Prince despite his mother's disownment. She was never formally banished from the family tree which puts him in the running to be the next Lord Prince along with a distant cousin. It is a rather messy affair though as said distant cousin was proclaimed heir while the current Lord Prince was starting to show signs of dementia. There have been several petitions made by the family elders to remove Master Snape from the running due to his blood status however, the final say lies with Lord Prince who is now incapable of performing his duties but also never designated a proxy due to pride should such an event ever occur,"

"Wow, Snape and I thought my family drama was bad," Harry muttered.

"I honestly don't give a damn about that," Severus hissed as his eye twitched. "They can all go rot in my opinion,"

AN: HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL MY READERS!!!!!