Save Yourself

Reading of the Wills

When Remus and Sirius arrived at Gringotts they were immediately ushered into Irongrip's office. "Good of you two to turn up. We are only waiting on Severus Snape." Irongrip called when they entered. Seconds after they sat down, Severus was portkeyed into the office. The others in the room included Alice and Frank Longbottom, a sleeping Neville, and Professor Minerva McGonagall. "What is the meaning of this?" Snape snarled. "You are here today for the reading of the wills  pertaining to one, James Fleamont Potter and one, Lily Aster Potter neé Evans." Irongrip stated. Everyone in the room froze, well except for Sirius. "Shouldn't the boys be here, and my mother?" Irongrip shook his head. "Harry was here earlier. He did exactly as James and Lily instructed him and then he returned home to Henry. You will not be able to see him until after everything has settled down. Lady Black is only mentioned in the wills once, but that matter has already been settled. Any other questions before we proceed?" No one so much as blinked, until Minerva stepped forward. "I have quite a few actually, but I think the most prominent is why the reading of the wills is taking place so soon." Irongrip nodded and glanced at the clock on his desk. "The Potters final wish was that their wills were read within the first 24 hours after their death. In order to honor that wish I have summoned you all here now. Just before midnight on October 31, approximately six hours ago, the Potters were murdered in their cottage. Now it is my job to read their wills so that everything is left with whom they intended. As James was the first to go I will begin with his." Irongrip stated before unsealing James will. Meanwhile Albus Dumbledore was stumped. He had already notified the Ministry and Daily Prophet of his version of Voldemort's defeat. All that was left was to tract the boy down. He had sent Hagrid to collect the  boy when he felt the wards around the cottage shatter, but the man returned empty handed. So Dumbledore had to go get the boy himself. By the time he had arrived aurors were already crawling all over the place. He got in touch with someone he knew in the auror department to ask who had been at the cottage before Hagrid. He was informed that Sirius Black had been arrested not to far from the cottage. Following this lead he arrived at the Ministry's holding cells, only to discover that Sirius had been released moments before his arrival. In the hopes that the aurors had left, Albus returned to Godric's Hollow. Albus was happy to discover they had left by the time he arrived. Entering the cottage Albus, froze. There was nothing there. Absolutely nothing. Even the bodies had been removed. The aurors had taken everything that could be considered evidence to the Ministry. Albus walked up stairs to see if anything remained. The whole place had been cleared out. What Albus didn't know is that hours previous, when Harry returned home he had Dobby finish the last task his parents had given him. By the time the aurors had arrived the only things left in the house were dust filled robes and the bodies of Lily and James Potter. Magical scans preformed by the lead auror revealed that Potter house elves had packed up the place leaving only the bodies they found. Many believed the elves had also collected the Potter heir, while others believe he was in the custody of Albus Dumbledore. Knowing he would find nothing to help him here, Albus again went in search of Sirius Black. Three hours later Albus returned to his office empty handed. Albus looked over at  Fawkes. The phoenix had once been a great friend and companion. Now the bird only remained by his side because of a dark binding spell Albus had found. "You'll be of use." Albus mumbled to the phoenix before turning to his extensive book collection. Smirking, Albus spent the next few hours searching for a tracking spell that would only need the persons name. After a while he found exactly what he needed, their was only one problem. The spell didn't work. No matter how many times he tried, the name Harry Potter didn't work. He had even tried adding the boys middle name. This could only me one of two things. Harry James Potter wasn't the boy's full name or he was behind some heavy duty wards. Groaning, Albus resigned himself to hunt down the child later. Casting a quick tempus Albus realized it was already 7:50 in the morning and breakfast would start in ten minutes. Thankful it was a saturday, Albus went to bed. He would have to visit the Ministry when he woke up to prevent the Potter's wills from being read. He was glad he had the entire two week grieving period to prevent it or else he didn't think he'd ever get his hands on that Potter brat.  At Gringotts, the reading of the wills had just ended. All the paperwork was already finalized and everything was already divided. All the remained was to send all the proper documentation to the Ministry. Once copies of everything were sent to the Ministry and the rest was filed away, Irongrip spoke to the last remaining people in his office. "Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom, I understand you are hesitant to return home after your wards were breached, so I feel it is in your best interest if you have a house elf gather all your belongings and you move back into your family manor." Frank nodded. "I quite agree with you Irongrip. May we use your floo here to go to Longbottom Manor?" Once the Longbottoms had disappeared though the floo the only people remaining were Sirius and Remus. "I'm not going home until I see them, Irongrip." Irongrip nodded sending a letter off to Harry. He knew there was no possible way that boy was asleep. "So since everyone else is gone, are you going to explain to me, just who exactly 'them' are?" Remus asked. Sirius only shook his head. "Not yet Moony. Let's just hope we are allowed to visit." Remus frowned, but he nodded. "I'll wait."