"Cursebreaker Weasley was contracted to include that item. None of the mail will have anything beyond words or gifts. Any dangerous artifacts, compulsion charms, potions or portkeys will have been removed," Snapfist said with a nod. That concession had been difficult to swallow as it was normally a service they could charge quite extensively for. However his own rash proclamation of taking care of the issue had forced their hand.
"If the mail was redirected away from Harry then how did you find it to send it back to him?" Shiva asked. "I had expected you to just get rid of the redirection charm."
"It was a simple charm," the goblin said waved a claw in disinterest. "No elegance, merely powerful. All letters and parcels were being kept in a large storeroom."
"And was it Dumbledore who placed it?" Harry asked back to scowling.
Snapfist gave a throaty chuckle. "Indeed. Your assumption had proven correct, Warrior Potter. Headmaster Dumbledore has been charged…a very hefty fine. In fact I believe it may have relieved him of nearly half his vault," Snapfist tapped his finger on the desk. "Quite a shame he had enough to avoid dragon cleanup duty. Ah well, perhaps next time we can be so lucky?"
Harry and Shiva both gawked at him for a moment before laughing. "Okay, that works. Thanks, Snapfist. It's much appreciated." The goblin nodded. "Anything else you needed us for?"
"Three things," he pushed some papers across the desk to the humans. "This is the status report for Potter Manor. The restoration work has been nearly completed. The escape tunnel is the largest remaining item. We expect the project to be complete early September."
"Cool," Shiva said nodding. Harry was looking at the plans and trying to pretend like they meant something to him though it was exceedingly obvious in his perplexed grunts that the blueprints were gibberish.
"The second item pertains to your new status as Heir Black," Snapfist continued. "After you assume the Lordship for both House Potter and House Black, you should endeavor to be careful with which name you sign documents under. Both will of course be binding, but they would carry down the lines separately. Gringotts has been authorized by Lord Sirius Black to allow you access to the Black Family vault. Here is your key."
Harry frowned. "What do you mean, carry down the lines separately? Will I have to give my second kid the surname Black?"
Shiva turned to him with wide eyes. "Shite, I keep forgetting you weren't raised a Pureblood," she muttered.
Snapfist raised his eyebrows at the boy. "I mean your second wife, Warrior Potter."
"My second…wife…" Harry said in shock. Then he groaned and turned to Shiva. "He's serious isn't he?"
"Yeah," she shrugged and gave a sheepish grin. "I'm afraid he is; sorry, kid. I assumed you understood that part when Sirius brought it up at the end of the term."
Harry's groan grew louder and he covered his face in his hands. "Hermione's going to kill me…Bloody hell, I wish Daphne had stuck around to explain this shite. Wait," he sat up straight with wide eyes, "that's what she meant on the steps about avoiding a contract. Shite! Snapfist, can we prevent a marriage contract with me in House Black like we did with Potter?"
"As there is no current contract for a member of House Black no, that legal loophole is not available," Snapfist said with a shrug. "The point is moot though as Lord Black would have to sign for it regardless of your official magical guardian." The goblin gave another toothless grin and twined his fingers. "Though from my limited dealings with Lord Black, you may have even more to worry about from his direction than from Dumbledore's."
"Yeah, don't worry, Harry," Shiva said with a chuckle. "I'll neuter the dog if he tries to set anything up for you."
"Thanks." Harry sighed again and slumped into his chair. "I need to talk to Hermione. And figure out how to bring this up without her tossing out spells…there's no way around this?"
"Well you could certainly combine the two families," Snapfist said unconcerned. "However you'd likely end up with worse relations amongst your people than my own have with them."
"Wow…I really hate this world sometimes. It seriously needs a kick in the pants to drag it into the 20th Century."
"Now, Warrior Potter, the final issue relates to that of your magic guardian," Snapfist grimaced and pushed some papers around his desk. "Unfortunately the Wizengamot was very careful with their wording. Sirius Black is not eligible to take the guardianship nor to designate a responsible proxy. As of this time, we see nothing short of emancipation or being declared an adult by your Ministry to get you away from Dumbledore's hand."
"Shite. Well I can't say I'm surprised, but it does still suck," Harry shook his head. "Well thanks for checking."
"We'll just have to see if there is a way to get you declared an adult at some point, Harry," Shiva said. "Maybe we can slip an addendum onto some new law or something. People use riders to bypass all sorts of things in the Muggle world, might as well try to steal a page out of their book."
"That is a potential solution, Professor Babbling," Snapfist said nodding to the female. It was both conniving and elegant. It would never work, but he saluted her effort at least. It was nice to see that at least some humans had a bit of cunning in them. Though from the whispers he'd heard from Halfclaw about Warrior Greengrass, she was quite impressive on that front as well. "I believe this concludes our business for the day. May your enemies fall before you." The humans exchanged parting words and walked off.
Sirius Black waltzed into Shiva's apartment shouting, "I'm rich!" He threw his hands up in the air and expected some congratulations yet was only rewarded by a slap on the back of his head by Amelia who came in behind him.
"Stop grandstanding, Siri," the woman said.
"What happened to the fun loving, prank playing Amy?" Sirius whined, rubbing his head.
"She grew up. And she got annoyed after your Great Hufflepuff Panty Raid in Seventh Year," Amelia replied deadpan.
"Hufflepuff Panty Raid?" Shiva asked sticking her head around the corner. "I thought that was just a myth. The girls treated it like an urban legend. That was you guys? That's really impressive. You actually got around the charms on the stairs?"
"Third Year!" Sirius said puffing up his chest.
Tonks snorted behind him. "Let me guess, you had someone levitate you to the landings."
"Well, it doesn't sound nearly that awesome when you put it that way…" Sirius mumbled. "And how come nobody cares I'm rich?"
"Weren't the Blacks already rich?" Shiva asked heading back into the main rooms.
"Well we were pretty well off though Mother was apparently rather free with the spending while I was on my island. I'm talking about back pay and wrongful imprisonment compensation now though. I got 12 years of Auror payment all in one lump sum! And the compensation stuff is coming directly from the accounts of Crouch and Bagnold!" He rubbed his hand on the back of his head and grimaced a bit. "I do feel a bit bad that I'm basically bankrupting both but…well they did toss me on that tropical paradise without a trial so…"
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