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Madam Pomfrey woke Harry at a ridiculously early hour and, her lips tight with her disapproval, sent him back to his tower to change for his court date. Washed, dressed, and snacking on a piece of toast in the entry way, Harry's mind was still foggy with exhaustion. When his solicitor showed up to escort him to the Three Broomsticks from which they would then floo to the hearing in London, she watched him with worried eyes.
"I'm fine" Harry said to preempt doubts or mothering. Ms. Bones had never seemed the mothering type but one could never be too careful. "There was a troll in the school last night."
Understanding eased across her features. "And everyone stayed up late worrying about it."
"No. Well, yes, probably. I beat the troll into unconsciousness when he attacked the group I was with."
There was not much to say after that.
Harry's two greatest accomplishments of the day were his ability to stay awake and his ability to sound mostly coherent on the stand. It certainly helped that his barrister managed to turn his magical exhaustion into a positive thing. Rather than showing weakness or a lack of caution, he spun it so that it showed Harry's quick thinking, maturity, and dedication to protecting those weaker than himself. The fact that the weaker party consisted of all of Slytherin House was apparently neither here nor there.
When Professor Dumbledore's representation argued that the law was antiquated and Harry was a child who needed the guidance of his guardian, the venerable Albus Dumbledore, Harry's barrister argued back that Professor Dumbledore was not Harry Potter's legal guardian. He was never chosen by James and Lily Potter to have any power over their child. And furthermore, Harry's barrister argued, recent events had shown that Professor Dumbledore had a hard enough time protecting the hallways of his school without adding to his workload by insisting on an illegal guardianship over a young man who was more than mature enough to take responsibility for himself and his actions. Harry's maturity was apparently proven by the fact that the trace refused to settle on him or react to his magic.
Throughout the day, Harry was uncomfortably aware of everyone in the galleries staring at him. He was especially aware of a pair of calculating blue eyes. Harry found, as the day wore on, that he was grudgingly touched by the continuous presence of Narcissa Malfoy in the viewers' gallery. At least she was a familiar face.
By the end of the day Harry was declared a legal adult with all the right, privileges, and responsibilities thereof. His first act of legal adulthood was to thank his legal representation profusely and schedule another appointment with his solicitor. His second act was to thank Narcissa Malfoy for her support but beg off of dinner with her due to magical exhaustion.
"That's right" Mrs. Malfoy said as if she just suddenly remembered. "Draco said that you fought off the troll that attacked Slytherin House."
She had probably been sitting in the courtroom all day to speak to him about that. The woman was ruthless and relentless where Draco was concerned.
"I just happened to be in the right place at the right time." Harry grinned. "Slytherin House has the best desserts."
One elegantly shaped eyebrow arched. "You chose to live in Gryffindor Tower, Harry. The only way you happened to be in the dungeons at the right time was because you chose to be there."
Harry yawned as he shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Narcissa Malfoy smiled. "Perhaps you are not so ill-suited for Gryffindor."
Harry grinned. "I warned you that I'd do well in either Gryffindor or Slytherin." He yawned again. "I'm sorry but –"
"Yes yes" Narcissa Malfoy waved his apologies off. "We'll sup together another time, cousin."
Then she kissed Harry's cheek and helped him sneak out of the courtroom without running into any of the reporters outside of the courtroom's main entrance.
His third act was to buy himself a dinner and room at the Three Broomsticks. A few quick warning and concealing charms like he, Ron, and Hermione used to set up around their campsites, and Harry James Potter was unconscious for the rest of the night.
Harry awoke the next afternoon and dragged himself out of bed and into the communal bathroom. Thirty minutes later he was dressed, full of a late lunch, and on his way to Gringotts. At this point in the timeline there were very few pictures of him in public circulation so Harry felt safe simply charming his hair from black to red, charming his eyes blue, and putting on a hat. The reporters camped in the Leaky Cauldron's main room ignored him completely. Harry bought breakfast from one of the stands in Diagon Alley and made his way to Gringotts.
This time he ignored the tellers like Narcissa Malfoy did and made his way along the side of the bank to the offices. A goblin moved to greet him. Harry bowed his head respectfully.
"My name is Harry Potter. I reached my majority yesterday. I would like to speak with my accounts manager."
The goblin bared his teeth in an unpleasant grin. "I will speak with Splitaxe for you."
Harry decided to take it as a positive omen that his vault manager had such a fierce name. He could fiercely split apart Dumbledore's lies for Harry, after all.
"Thank you."
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Want to know what happens next? 100+ advanced chapters await you on Patreon! Be the first to read what others will have to wait for. Join the community and read ahead today!
(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)
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