915I am a few chapters in with this one, and will be posting every couple of weeks to stay ahead.
This story does not have a Beta.
Harry Potter, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, sat in his office gazing wearily at his desk. Or rather the small golden object on his desk. The same object, he had told his best friend, and current Minister for Magic, that he had destroyed.
This tiny object had already caused a lot of trouble and if not destroyed it would likely cause more. But it could also change the world. More specifically it could change Harry's world. He wasn't a 14 year old who was going to make a few random changes and hope for the best. He was Harry James Potter, Head of the DMLE, the slayer-of- you-know-who and the boy- who-lived. He had lived through the war and then agonized over every decision afterwards.
24 years after the war, he now understood the consequences of every decision he had made, the people around him had made, and more importantly their motivations. Those motivations at times had been hard to swallow.
Until last month, Harry had made peace with his life and the decisions that had led him onto the path he was now stuck on. Yes, stuck on. Because despite what his family thought, Harry had not accepted the betrayal and death that had occurred in his childhood nor was he now a happy family man.
He was resentful of all the adults that had put the weight of the war on his shoulders only to turn around and force their expectation of what his life should be like after it. He resented Ginny for pressuring him into restarting their relationship right after the smoke cleared. He resented Molly for pressuring him and Ginny into marriage not even a year later. He resented Ron for dragging him into the Auror academy because he didn't want to go alone instead of going back to Hogwarts with Hermione for their last year. He resented that he was now 41 and stuck in a job he didn't want, with a wife he wasn't in love with, and 3 kids that made leaving said wife and job impossible. But mostly he was mad at himself for allowing all of this to happen.
He had needed time after the war to process everything and figure out who he was and what he wanted now that he had a future without a mass murder after him, but when had the world ever allowed him such luxuriates. He should have known enough to find a safe place to hide until he had his head on straight.. Instead he allowed himself to be led by the nose in an effort to please everyone.
He had promised himself that if he survived, he would start to truly live. He would stop trying to please everyone and do what made him happy.
That was why the Head of the DMLE Harry J. Potter was sitting at his desk at 2 am, staring at the small time-turner that could change his life, and he had finally made up his mind. He may be 24 years late but he was going to finally keep that promise to himself. He was going to live his life and do what he wanted. Even if that meant fucking up the timeline.
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Harry landed in the side alley next to the Leaky Cauldron. If he did everything right the date should be August 5 1993. The day before he blew up his Aunt Marge in a fit of accidental magic. He hoped the consequences of his actions today would be less accidental and would somewhat follow his plans. However, he was quite aware that his "Potter Luck" could derail the best of plans.
Walking into the pub, Harry confirmed that the first part of his plan was on course. It was indeed August 5 1993 according to The Prophet left on a nearby table. The man who stopped to gaze at said paper was a 5'8 male, mid 20's, with brunette hair, and brown eyes, wearing a simple black robe. Harry had nabbed a few hairs off a drunk muggle a few nights ago in preparation.
Striding confidently threw the pub, Harry entered the Diagon Alley of his teens. Not wanting to get side tracked and waste time, he quickly made his way to the marble steps of Gringotts Bank. Entering the bank without the sneers and scrutiny of the guards was a welcome experience. The goblins might have "forgiven" him for the break in, but they had not forgotten.
After a quick wait in line, Harry was called up to the teller's desk. "What do you need?" the goblin asked in a board tone. Harry slid a pre-written note across the desk that he had signed with magic.
"I need to speak to the Potter Family account manager."
The goblin gave him a suspicious look, then wrote his own note and called over one of the cart goblins. "Take this to Master Goldfeather". Then turning back to Harry, "You may wait in the lounge until Master Goldfeather is ready for you" he said with an air of dismissal.
After a 20 minute wait, the cart goblin walked up to Harry, "Master Goldfeather will see you now. Please follow me." The goblin led Harry down a semi-familiar path to an office he had not been to before. It was a grand office with ornate moldings, gold torch holders, a large mahogany desk, and a posh black leather chair that held Master Goldfeather.
Harry had not met this goblin in his original time. He could guess it had something to do with losing three quarters of the Potter gold in his quest for forgiveness from the Goblin Nation. Now the Potter account was managed by Grimshaw who shared his office with two other goblins.
After allowing him to be seated in an unusually comfortable chair, Goldfeather spoke in a tense voice. "After analyzing your note, the magic has been verified as belonging to Harry James Potter. However, when you passed through the doors of Gringotts you tripped the alarm for polyjuice. You will need to take the counter potion and do a blood verification before we can continue." With that said, Goldfeather slid over an emerald potion.
With a simple sniff to verify the potion, Harry knocked it back without a wince. He may have been pants at potions in school but, auror training had brought him up to a more than acceptable level. Especially when it came to poisons, their counters, and physically altering potions.
After a moment the potion kicked in and Harry transformed into his 41 year old body. Goldfeather then slid over a blank piece of parchment and pulled out a silver knife. "Hand" he barked out at Harry.
Harry held out his left hand to be nicked. After three drops had fallen onto the parchment he pulled back his hand and healed the cut. As the blood started to seep into the parchment little waves started to form out from the droplets spreading the blood over the rest of the page. The waves continued until the parchment was no longer white but had a pink hue. .
With a tap of Goldfeather's finger, writing started to appear. At the very top was the name Harry James Potter. At the sight of the name, Goldfeather switched from goblin warrior to curious account manager.
Pointing to the parchment Goldfeathr said "Well it seems that you are Harry James Potter, heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Potter. How can I help you today?" It wasn't obvious but Harry could tell that he had piqued his account manager's interests.
Harry took a deep breath, finally he could start on the second part of his plan.
"Master Goldfeather, as you can see, I am not 13 years old. I have traveled back to this time to correct the wrongs that will occur during the second rise of the Dark Lord Voldemort. I know the Goblin Nation's official stance is neutral when it comes to wizarding matters. However, I hope that you will hear out my proposal and if you deem it profitable, take it before the Council."
Well, this was a first, Harry could honestly say he had never seen a goblin look confused before, or maybe it was shock. Either way it was a strange deviation from the normal look of tolerance. Goldfeather pulled himself together quickly.
"I assure you Mr. Potter that despite the substantial wealth your family holds, it is nowhere near enough to buy the Goblin Nation's assistance in your war" the goblin sneered. Oh look, Harry thought, we are back to sneering again. I'm sure the suspicion will soon follow.
"You misunderstand me Master Goldfeather, I do not intend to sway the Council with the contents of my vault. As I stated, I have come from the future and I have brought with me information about profitable investments in both the magical and muggle world. In exchange for this information I only ask the Goblin Nation's help in monitoring key players in the war, delivering specific information that I will leave with you depending on certain events, and to help my younger self gain independence."
Goldfeather had one eyebrow raised and was staring so hard at Harry, he wondered if the goblin was trying to use legilimency on him. Then quick as a snitch, the goblin's face returned to normal or what Harry assumed was his normal face, and waved his hand over a glass sphere embedded into his desk.
A moment later the door opened and two guards swept in looking fierce. As his wand flew into his hand Harry berated himself. He never should have come here. Trying to tap into his inner Slytherin and involve the goblins was stupid. He should have just sent out all of his information to the relevant people and let the cards fall where they may. His younger self would have made it work, after all they thrived under pressure.
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Despite his initial reaction to the guards, Harry soon found himself being marched at sword point into the depths of Gringotts. As weary as he was at the new turn of events, he had come here for a reason and he was going to see it through. He wasn't quite sure where the guards were leading him but he knew from past experience that if they were going to kill him they would have already done it. The Goblin Nation had complete sovereignty within the halls of Gringotts.
Turning one last corner, the group entered a long hallway lined with portraits of goblins of varying ages, all holding a gold staff with a black orb sitting at the top. At the end of the hallway were two ten foot gold doors being guarded by six guards. Each of the guards wore a silver helmet with short red spikes that ran down the middle of them. Harry had only seen guards dressed like this once during the decennial parley between the Goblin Nation and the Ministry. Those helmets were worn by The Council guards.
"Halt! State your business"! One of the court guards growled. Goldfeather pushed his way to the front. "I am account manager Goldfeather. I have a time sensitive matter to bring before the council. I know this is completely outside of procedure but I believe the council and the bank manager need to be made aware of the matter."
The guard who had spoken motioned to one of the guards closer to the door. That guard then pulled the gold door open a fraction and slipped inside. A few minutes later he returned "The council and bank manager will see you account manager Goldfeather"
Goldfeather then hurried to the gold doors clutching a briefcase to his chest. After another lengthy wait, the gold doors opened fully to a council guard with a jagged scar going over his eye. "The Council and the Bank Manager will see you now Mr. Potter."
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Harry couldn't help but feel intimidated standing before the Goblin Council and the Bank Manager. The six goblins sat behind a table on a raised dais allowing them to look down at him. Pulling himself together Harry gathered his thoughts and prepared to persuade the goblins to help him change the future.
"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice. As I'm sure Goldfeather has explained, I am a future version of Harry Potter. In two years the dark lord Voldemort will return and cause havoc in the wizarding world. I understand that the Goblin Nation does not interfere in the affairs of wizards and I am not asking it to go to war. I am asking for a goblin to be made available to keep watch over events and help make sure letters reach certain individuals that can help change the future. In exchange, I will give you knowledge on future profitable investments both magical and muggle." Harry finished his pitch hoping he sounded confident and persuasive.
Although, from the impassive looks on the goblin's faces maybe he didn't do as well as he had hoped. He wanted to rush on to the next part of his pitch but forced his mouth shut and waited for the goblins to respond in some way.
"Between your blood test and initial proposal the council is willing to consider your plea. However, they must have proof that you can deliver on your promise. They want to see the list of investments so we may investigate these businesses, and see if the current ones are sound before we accept your word that the distant future ones will be profitable." The bank manager explained.
Oh, Harry was on to them. The goblins were testing him to see if he truly had a plan for the future and how easy he would be to manipulate. After jumping through hoops to deal with his own goblins that hated him, Harry was prepared to deal with this council that only had a passing distrust for him.
"I understand the Council's need to verify that my end of the deal will be held up and I hope the Council understands I need the same assurance. It is not so much the matter that I doubt the Goblin Nation's word for I will concede that wizards are more likely to break their word when it suits them. However, the very nature of our deal makes all future information hard to pin down for both of our needs. So I have come up with a solution."
Harry paused a moment to judge his audience's reaction. The six goblins' faces had gone through a range of emotions starting from irritation to shock and now seemed to settle on intrigue. Well they hadn't kicked him out yet so he had better get on with it. "If I may?" Harry asked gesturing to his robe pocket. The central council member took a moment but nodded his head. As Harry reached for his pocket he noticed the guards getting into a defensive position.
Harry pulled out first a small black square and then his wand. "May I enlarge my package?" Harry asked to once again receive a nod from the center goblin. With a wave of his wand the package grew to be four foot both ways. Looking back at the council Harry started to explain.
"The council and I both share similar concerns about the accuracy of information in the future. My own concerns stem from the fact that as I change the future my information will not be as accurate. This is more of a concern for me then it would be for you since my interference will change certain individual's behavior and not so much the overall economy. However, with these changes certain events might happen sooner or later and that will affect the timing of economic events not so much if they will happen at all. So I have come up with a solution. I can not stay in this time period but I can leave the next best thing. I had a portrait of myself commissioned, and with your permission I would like to leave this portrait as an advisor for the goblin you put in charge of my case." Harry hoped he had pulled that off. He was trying to channel Hermione and the way she dealt with the stuffy heads of departments. She had a way of suggesting new procedures while making it clear that they had better hop on board with it, polite but firm.
The center goblin leaned back into his chair and waved his hand. From the iridescent glow that surrounded them Harry guessed he had enacted a privacy shield. From behind the shield Harry could see the six goblins leaning towards the center and talking. Now that he had a moment to himself he could feel his heart pounding. This was it, this was his big plan for changing the world and if the goblins rejected it, he wasn't sure what he would do. Well that wasn't completely true. He did have a really sucky plan b. Well plan would be a bit of a stretch for what he would do. A better definition would be chaos. Yes, he would sow chaos into the world and let the chips fall where they may. It would definitely change the future but he would have no control over what the new changes would be.
Thankfully the Council lowered the shield before Harry could get too far. The center goblin took control "The Council has decided to grant your request of a goblin to look after your case with the help of your portrait as long as your case remains profitable."
Harry saw an opening and took it. "Excuse the interruption, but how much gold does the Council consider profitable and what is an acceptable time frame for that gold to be accumulated in?"
The goblins looked mildly impressed. Wizards didn't usually think about the details like that. In fact he would bet they had purposely left the terms out so it would benefit them when they needed it to.
"Since you hold all of the information, what do you think is acceptable Mr. Potter?" The center goblin asked with a pointy smile. Harry knew this was another test. With his answer the goblins would be able to judge how profitable this deal would be. If the time frame was too long or the amount too small they might pull out of the deal.
"I would suggest that the deal be renewed yearly and that the minimum amount be 10,000 Galleons a year. That should at least cover the salary of the goblin you put on the case. Of course I expect to bring in more than that but I think that is an acceptable minimum for our deal to be based on." The center goblin leaned back into his chair again but this time only made eye contact with his other members before nodding.
"Yes Mr. Potter, those are acceptable terms for this agreement. If that is all…" He didn't seem to think Harry would have anything else to add but he did.
"Actually, I would like to add a few more things. If for some reason the year did not meet the minimum amount, I ask for one year of leniency and allow Harry to pay the difference so the contract may renew. If the following year still does not meet the minimum amount then the deal may be broken." Again the center goblin made eye contact with his other members and nodded.
"The Council will agree to one year of leniency if the difference is paid off." Raining his eyebrow he asked "Is that all you would like to add?" Well if they were going to be accommodating then Harry wouldn't stop them.
"I like to ask that Harry be tested at the yearly meeting to verify that he is me and that he is not under the influence of any spells or potions." This time the center goblin agreed without even conferring with the other members.
"I would also ask for a boon," Harry continued feeling bold. "On Harry's first meeting with his account manager he be given a full inheritance test and be checked over by a goblin healer." That last bit seemed to send a jolt through all of the goblins in the room as he thought it would. It was unheard of for a wizard to go to the goblins for healing.
"Why would you not ask us to send for a wizard healer to look at your younger self?" The goblin at the far right asked this time.
Harry decided in for a knot in for a galleon and told them the truth. "I do not trust the wizards to have his best interest in mind or not to be more loyal to another and spread his health information around to be used against him. I trust the Goblin Nation to heal him to the best of their ability and keep their oath of patient confidentiality." He hoped his show of trust would smooth the way for them to agree. This request seemed to require more than eye contact and the privacy shield went up again. When the shield came down the center goblin nodded. "Is that all?" he asked Harry.
Harry couldn't think of anything else to add.
"Then we will have the contract drawn up while we find an appropriate goblin to handle your case. I assume you would like to introduce your portrait to this goblin before you leave."
At that he leaned back and enacted the privacy shield again while Goldfeather hurried out of the room. Harry guessed he was on his way to write the contract. After about 5 minutes the center goblin beckoned for a guard to come up. Given his instructions the guard left the room. Harry decided now would be a good time to activate his portrait if they had already sent for the goblin who would take on his case.
Harry removed the protective cloth from around the frame. Then made a small cut on his index finger. Smearing the blood into the four corners of the frame he started the chant the artist had given him when he delivered the package. At the end of the chant Harry felt a small draw on his magic. He assumed it was the portrait taking what it needed to animate the drawing and connect the knowledge that flowed in his blood with the Harry in the picture. After a second the portrait gave a slight blue glow and the Harry in the frame sucked in a deep breath. With only a cursory glance around his frame, picture Harry turned his focus onto the outside world.
"I'm fine. I know why I am here and I remember the deal we just made with the Goblins. Don't worry mate. I got this." Yep, this was definitely the weirdest thing he had done today. Having himself reassure himself that everything would be ok was weirdly comforting. At least he had somebody here he could trust to make sure things didn't go off the rails.
Later, as Harry read through the final contract he couldn't help but feel relieved. He had accomplished what he came here for. Now he would leave the future in the hands of his portrait and his younger self.
Reminder: This story does not have a Beta. If it was hard to read, I understand and you are free to stop reading now.
Here is a great story to keep you busy while you wait for the next chapter.
Me Without My TARDIS By: potterlad81
During the battle in the Department of Mysteries things go very wrong. An errant spell changes things far more than anyone could have imagined. Despite the title, this is NOT a Dr. Who crossover fic. Harry/Hermione