In shock, she looked back at a smirking Harry and said, "You... you..."
"Kissed you, yes," he grinned.
A moment later he added, "Don't worry about it, Tonksie! I kissed you to get you to stop with the empty threats. And I called you Nymphie, back in the Alley, to help you with your secret mission and me with keeping my true identity a secret." She thought about that for a moment before her hair relaxed back to her standard baby pink and said, "So long as that was all it was..."
He nodded and said, "I kind of like the idea Dumbledore thinks my name is Hardwin Peverell. That's why I used that name with Skeeter."
"Skeeter?" asked Remus, not being there for when Harry and Luna explained the interview for Sirius.
Harry gave a firm nod back and said, "Unlike the rest of you, Skeeter... very soon after what happened in the Alley... found me in Madam Malkin's getting fitted for new robes. As soon as I stepped out, she grabbed me and... asked... for an interview. I gave her one."
While Tonks frowned, Remus also frowned and carefully asked, "Was that wise?"
"Yes," he firmly replied. "From now on everyone will believe my name is Hardwin Peverell. After all, if it was in the Prophet, it must be true... right?"
Remus gave a snort of amusement. "Nice prank."
"It's not a prank," Harry returned. "It's... camouflage. Having been outed as Hardwin Peverell people will no longer, or not start to wonder, who I am. They'll now 'know' who I am."
"They'll also think you're dark," he shot back.
Harry grinned and replied, "Good. All the better to have them think I'm not Harry Potter returned from the dead, I'm not one of Dumbledore's minions and it's best not to annoy me."
Tonks scoffed and said, "I think word of you taking us down, especially Dumbledore and Longbottom, in the Alley will quickly spread and see to that." "As will the interview," said Luna, speaking up. "Which was part of the whole point."
"So, from this point on," said Sirius, smoothly cutting in, "Harry is now to be known as 'Hardwin Peverell', Lord of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Peverell."
"And rightful Heir... now Lord... of the Noble and Ancient House of Potter by right of primogenitor," grinned Harry.
"How do you slip that in?" asked a confused Tonks.
"Simple," said Sirius. "It is not well known, but Hardwin Potter married Iolanthe Peverell back centuries ago. Iolanthe was Ignotus Peverell's granddaughter. That's how Harry ended up with the invisibility cloak.
"The Potter line, as far as anyone knows, is now dead. As Harry didn't leave a Will, the goblins traced the line backwards until they hit a Peverell. Then they traced the line down that line."
"And that leads down to Hardwin Peverell," said Remus, nodding. "It makes perfect sense and, as you said, is a simple explanation."
Sirius added, "And I'll let it be known tomorrow that, while I'm not happy about it, the goblins have proven to me that Hardwin Peverell is the rightful inheritor of the Potter fortune. I've then, reluctantly, handed over control of it to him."
Tonks snickered and said, "Dumbledore's going to go spare!"
Grinning, Sirius firmly replied, "Good!"
To Sirius, Remus asked, "You do know he's going to demand a conversation with you, don't you?"
"Of course," nodded a still grinning Sirius. "It should be fun!" "Don't talk to him," said Luna. "Send him an owl when he tries to contact you. In that letter, let him know that your hands were tied and there's nothing you can do. Also write that he has no right to interfere in, or even question, rightful inheritances."
Sirius looked eager to do so.
"Now that that's out of the way," said Tonks, staring with intensity at Harry, "I want to know how it is you got so bloody fast and capable."
"One moment, Tonks," said Harry. "Dumbledore turned up and already knew a couple of things. One, that I was 'Lord Peverell'; and two, that I had access to the Potter fortune.
"That means one of those nasty little goblin buggers alerted the old man I was there. That also means I'm going to have to go into Gringotts, tomorrow, to demand an investigation." "No you're not, Harry," said Luna. "Axe Lord Ragnok's alreadystarted that. He was inside the doors, paying attention to what was going on between you and Dumbledore.
"He's furious! Not with you, though; with whichever goblin or goblins have been slipping Dumbledore information.
"When next you go in he's going to be all-apologetic. Just you wait. Try to be a little magnanimous, but also firm in your threats to take your wealth out of his bank and have the gnomes of Zürich look after it all if it happens again.
"That way, it won't."
Harry grinned back and said, "That's a damned fine idea. I'll do that." Before turning back to Tonks.
"Sorry, Tonks," he apologised. "You wanted to know how I got, as you put it, 'so bloody fast and capable', right?" She nodded.
He turned to Sirius and asked, "You have a duelling room in here, right?"
"Oh, yes," replied his godfather. "It's down in the basement. Come on!" Then led the way.
Down in the Townhouse's magically expanded and severely warded duelling room, thankfully without an International level standard duelling platform, Harry had Sirius set up all the duelling mannequins he had available. There were only four.
"Well, it's nowhere near enough," sighed Harry. "But, it'll have to do."
After Sirius instructed him on how to use them Harry stood twenty five feet from them, drew his wand and barked "Level Five! Activate!"
The others, except Luna, all gave a start in shock. They were standing outside the warded area in which Harry and the mannequins stood. Level 5 was the highest setting and included the mannequins casting lethal curses.
However, before Sirius or either of the other two could call out the 'stop' command to stop things - Deactivate! - the mannequins were already casting.
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