xiii. what happened to potter manor?

And just like that, Cynthia Sarah Lily Peverell was born, while a glass orb in the Department of Mysteries shattered into a million tiny little pieces.

The rest of what happened in Gringotts wasn't that important, but Cynthia did have a question for Griphook.

"Uh…Griphook? When I was…well, dead…I noticed something weird. When I first got to that place, I met Tom Riddle. While talking to him I hated Dumbledore and continued insulting him and laughing. But when talking to Línnea — Death's daughter — a few minutes later, I was so defensive of him again. Do you know why that is? I had all those potions and spells on me, why would I hate Dumbledore in there? But why would I defend him only a few minutes later?"

Griphook was caught off guard by that question, Stella was confused and Dudley had a blank look on his face, probably trying to decipher what his cousin just said.

"Well…", Griphook said. "I cannot really answer that question, but I have a theory as to what might have happened. It may just be that the spells and potions don't work while you are dead, so while talking to Mr. Riddle, they thought you were dead. But when Death's daughter appeared, they might have noticed that you weren't dead, but just somewhere in-between, so they started working properly again."

Cynthia looked disbelieving. "Really? That's it? The spells and potions just had to figure out if they worked where I was?"

"I am not sure, but it may be that, Heiress Peverell."

Cynthia nodded. "Now about the vaults and rings…?", she asked.

"Ah, yes. You can access your trust vault. But all the others, you will have to wait until you turn 11."

Suddenly, Cynthia had a new question. "Why isn't there a Potter vault?"

Griphook looked at her. "Because the contents were all put into your trust vault."

"So, I know from my previous life that there was only money in it. So where's the other stuff from the Potter vault?"

Griphook raised an eyebrow. "On the right side there is a large door. If you go through it, you will face the contents of the Potter Family vault. The money currently in your trust vault is just that, your trust fund. If you want or need anymore, you will have to go through that door."

"Ok, thank you. And what about Potter Manor? Why isn't it listed with the accessible properties?"

"That is because it was destroyed in a Death Eater attack. Your grandparents died a few weeks previously of Dragon Pox, but the Death Eater's didn't know that, so they set the Manor on fire. That's why it isn't on the list. It doesn't exist anymore, along with any other Potter properties. The cottage in Godric's Hollow is still accessible, but the Ministry claimed it as a memorial."

Cynthia sighed and laid back in the chair. "Alright. But why can I access all the other properties? Don't people live in there anymore?"

"Of course. Some, like Gryffindor Castle or the Gaunt Shack are completely abandoned, but the others just mean that you can enter them without the wards alerting anyone. It would be family entering the wards, thus not alerting the wards."

"That is good to know. Now, I have something else to tell you."

Griphook leaned forward. "My scar wasn't the only horcrux there currently is."

Griphook leaned back as his eyes grew wide. "What do you mean, Heiress Peverell?"

"I mean to tell you that there are currently six more horcruxes out there. I know the location of each, and I know that one of them currently resides in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault here at Gringotts."

"So you mean to tell me that Bellatrix Lestrange has put one of Tom Riddle's horcruxes into her Gringotts vault? Tell me what it is, Heiress Peverell."

Griphook's hard and cold voice didn't faze Cynthia not one bit, as she wouldn't have reacted any different, had she been in Griphook's shoes right now.

"It is Helga Hufflepuff's Cup. But Bellatrix enchanted everything with the Gemini Curse, causing everything you touch to multiply."

"Thank you." He turned to the door and yelled something in Gobbledygook to one of the goblins guarding it. The goblin in question's eyes grew wide as saucers as he scurried out the room as fast as possible. Griphook turned back to them.

"Now, anything else I can assist you with, Heiress Peverell? Mrs. Dursley, Mr. Dursley?"

Cynthia nodded, while Stella and Dudley shook their heads.

"No questions anymore, Griphook. But I would like to visit my Trust Vault if it's no trouble."

Griphook grinned and nodded. "It is no trouble, Heiress Peverell. Just follow me out."

So Cynthia, Stella and Dudley followed Griphook out of the office, the latter two wondering how they'd get to the vaults. Because as far as they had seen while coming in, there were many office doors and another big one at the end of the main hall, probably leading to the Goblin Nation.

But that wasn't exactly true. The Goblin Nation being in that direction wasn't too far off, but as they were walking through that exact door, Stella and Dudley knew that it wasn't it.

They came to a small cart barely able to hold three people, not to mention the four that they had to fit right now. But with Dudley, Cynthia and Griphook being as small as they were, it worked out quite well. And Cynthia also remembered her trip to Gringotts with Hagrid when she was living her old life.

They sat in the cart and waited for Griphook to join them. Stella clutched the cart and Dudley's hand as if her life depended on it — which it did if you thought about it — but Cynthia put a hand on Stella's shoulder.

"It'll be okay, Aunt Petuni- uh, Stella. I did that before, it's like riding on a rollercoaster. And besides, I think it's warded to prevent people from falling out."

"That is correct, Heiress Peverell", Griphook grunted as he entered the cart as well.

Cynthia thought about how much her life had already changed as the cart started forwards at a very fast pace. Dudley was screaming, in fear at first, but now in pure joy, while Petu- Stella, Cynthia reminded herself, held onto the cart for dear life.

Cynthia honestly would never have expected that her life would've turned out like this. If anyone in her old time had told her that she would die, go back in time, change her name and find out the things she did, she'd send them straight to St. Mungos for brain damage.

She still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that Dudley and Petunia- Stella, she told herself again, weren't actually opposed to magic, but that is was all Dumbledore's doing. She never would've thought. She did have her doubts about Dumbledore every now and then in her life as Harriet, but not too long after she told the others about it, she already forgot about it, ranting about his achievements and how much he did for her.

And honestly, it was still really hard to adapt to Stella's and Dudley's new style and apparent hobby of hugging her. Stella was a bit easier to get used to, because she never really hit her or anything, but it was still an unknown sensation that would take a while to get used to. Dudley would take longer because he actually beat her. She didn't flinch when he moved to hug her, mostly because she knew that the spells were down, but every time he did, there was some tiny voice telling her to move away, to protect herself.

And the names…her own new name wouldn't take too long to adapt to. Maybe Dudley and Pe- Stella would have some problems getting used to it, but she was already kinda used to it. But Stella would be harder, as all she knew was Aunt Petunia, the sister of her mother and the cruel person that married Uncle Vernon.

But now she knew better. Now she knew that she wasn't actually Petunia Evans-Dursley, but more like Stella Black-Dursley, though that would soon change as well, if Vernon's behaviour was anything to go by.

When that point came up, Cynthia started. This was interesting, too. How would Vernon react to the 'Ungrateful Little Freak' finally being gone? Or would he even notice Harriet's disappearance when he saw Cynthia? She looked completely different now, which would also take a bit to get used to whenever she looked in the mirror. However she'd probably start at seeing herself anyway, since she was in her six-year-old body.

And all the blocks and spells were somewhat expected, but the things it blocked and did to her…she never even would've expected that, even from someone like Albus Dumbledore. She wondered if other people had spells on them as well. In her life as Harriet, Remus had rarely contacted her. Did he have spells to make him ignore her on himself? And were spells the reason for Sirius' recklessness? Sure, the man was a Gryffindor through and through, but after Azkaban, you would expect someone to be just a tab more careful.

She also wondered why she'd never seen the door in her trust vault leading to the Potter Family fortune, if it had always been there. She really had to look into that part. And she also had to look into a way to get her Invisibility Cloak back.

"Hey Griphook? Is there any way to get my Invisibility Cloak? Dumbledore currently has it, and it's probably full of tracking charms and compulsions."

Griphook nodded. "There is, Heiress Peverell. You are the Mistress of Death. Oh don't look at me like that, did that girl, whatever her name was, not tell you that? Goblins can sense that. We were alive when the Peverell brothers were, and they trusted us with more information that one would believe."

"So…how do I get it back?"

"You just have to think of the Hallow you want to have at the moment and it shall appear."

Shouldn't be too hard, Cynthia thought as she concentrated on willing the Cloak into her hands. And not a second later she was able to feel the silky watery material of the Invisibility Cloak. She grinned and turned to Griphook.

"If the Resurrection Stone happened to be hefted together with a ring, would the ring appear as well, or just the stone?"

Griphook raised an eyebrow. "That depends on what kind of ring we are talking about, Heiress Peverell."

"The Gaunt Lordship Ring", Cynthia said and Griphook's eyes grew wide at the implied message that Voldemort currently held that ring.

"In that case, it will come to you as well, seeing as you are the rightful Heiress. It won't accept you just yet, as it is the Lordship ring and you are still just the Heiress, but it will know that you are the future Lady."

Cynthia nodded, but didn't think of the ring just yet. As much as she wanted the horcrux destroyed, sacrificing her hands in the process wouldn't do good for her future plans.

Where she was with future plans, there was much they still had to do. They had to figure out what to do with Harriet Potter and what to tell Vernon about Cynthia. They had to enrol her into school as Cynthia Peverell and figure out what to do about Sirius and Remus. She couldn't just let Sirius rot in Azkaban for a long seven more years, or afford Remus living that horrible life without a proper job until her third year. She had to do something, but she didn't know how to do it without arousing suspicion.

And then there was still Potter Manor. Privet Drive belonged to Vernon, so if there was anything he'd do, it was throwing them out if he got wind of Stella's and Dudley's changes. And in case he got suspicious of Cynthia, they had somewhere to go if Vernon lashed out. And the last thing was that Stella wanted to divorce Vernon anyway, knowing exactly was he's done, and made her do. And knowing him, he wasn't going to just let her continue living in his house while not even being married anymore. She may just have to visit Potter Manor and see in what state it's in and how they could build it up again so it's inhabitable again.

Cynthia sighed as the wind blew her hair back while the cart continued going downwards. They had so much to do before Hogwarts, but how would they do it, and how hard would it be?