Taking the letter from Hedwig, he opened it eagerly.Mr. Potter,
I will be available to meet with you on July 25, 1997 at 11am.
Per your request, the best solicitor we at Gringotts could recommend would be Mr Alexander Boet. He is familiar with all aspects of wizard law. If you would like for me to I can try and arrange for him to meet you at Gringotts on the twenty-fifth.
If you were to meet in one of our private meeting rooms, not even the Head of the Wizengamot could interrupt the meeting, given that once you enter the room and until you are done, the room is sealed and not even Gringotts can violate this seal. Please do let me know if you wish for me to arrange this meeting.
Also please do let me know if there is any further assistance that we at Gringotts can render to you.
Sincerely,
Ironknife Greeva
Since Greeva didn't know that he had already muddied up his magical signature so it couldn't be tracked, Harry was touched by the offer of using Gringotts' secure facilities for his meeting. Pleased that he might be able to get his legal business done without Dumbledore finding out or trying to interfere, Harry wrote back asking Greeva to arrange the meeting.
...
Harry spent most of the next week taking day trips to places that interested him in Great Britain. He had several reasons for doing so.
The first reason was because he wanted to spend as little time around the Dursleys as he had to.
He also wanted see some of the country he had lived in most of his life. The Dursleys had never taken him anywhere unless they had no choice, so the only parts of Britain he had ever seen, aside from that rather frantic trip Vernon taken them all on in a vain attempt to out run the Hogwarts letters, had been London, and Hogwarts.
The last reason was he wanted to find a new place to live. His time in Azkaban had left him with an intense desire not to be cooped up, but first he had to find an area he thought he would be comfortable living in. Then he would contact estate agents to see what they had available in that area.
His goal was to be living in his new home before he had to return to Hogwarts, or at the very least by the Christmas break. He didn't know what kind of home he wanted, but he did know what he didn't want. He definitely wasn't going to live in one of those cookie cutter neighbourhoods, like the Dursleys did, where all the houses looked like they were cut out of the same mould. He wanted a house with personality, just not in the wizarding world.
He also got a passport made under his alter ego identity so he could travel to other countries after his birthday and well as using a travel agent to book a couple of trips for him to take in August. One was going to be a weeklong tour of the French countryside and the other was to Las Vegas in America. The pamphlets on them had looked interesting, especially the one on the hotel/casino he had chosen in Las Vegas: The Venetian. It was supposed to be a little like Venice.
....
Friday July 25th
Harry sat at the desk in his room, going over the notes he had written to make sure he hadn't missed anything. He was fairly certain with all of this information the solicitor was going to be very busy for at least the next year. He added another note to remind himself to ask this Mr. Boet if he handled muggle law as well. It would save him having to search for another solicitor, if he chose to retain the man's services.
At 9 am, Harry walked from Privet Drive to the bus stop to catch a bus to the train station. He was getting used to using non-magical mass transportation and in fact found it quite enjoyable when he wasn't forced to share it with the Dursleys.
In the past week, he had learned the trick to travelling by train into London. Unless you were in a real hurry, it was always best to catch the train after nine, because it was less crowded and the ticket could be used as an all day pass on the buses and the underground.
He got into Charing Cross Station around ten and then went out to grab a bus heading in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron. He got off the bus a few blocks from his final destination and stepped into a muggle cafe to put on his alter ego, before heading to the Leaky Cauldron.
As he stepped inside the Leaky Cauldron, Harry saw that it was back to normal. He only hoped it was the same in Diagon Alley.
When the Archway into Diagon Alley opened, Harry was relieved to see that it was also back to normal. No huge mass of people crowded into the Alley, just the normal every day traffic.
Before heading to Gringotts, Harry stopped by Eyelops Owl Emporium to pick up some owl treats for Hedwig. Once he had the treats he headed slowly toward the bank, timing his arrival so that he entered the doors of the bank just as the clock in the tower was striking eleven.
Not seeing a goblin he recognized on the main floor, Harry walked up the nearest free goblin, handed over a note and quietly asked, "Would you please give that note to Branch Manager Greeva and tell him that I am here for our eleven o'clock appointment?"
The goblin stunned by the polite tone of the wizard, since most of them usually just snapped out orders to the goblins when they wanted something, nodded and said, "Please wait here while I see if he is available."
He returned a few minutes later and said, "Please follow me, sir."
Harry followed the goblin back to the same office he'd been led to before. The goblin knocked then opened the door, and gestured for him to step inside.
Harry dropped the glamour once he heard the door close behind him.
"Good morning, Mr. Potter." Greeva got to his feet to greet him but he wasn't alone in the room. There was another wizard with him.
"Manager Greeva, it is a pleasure to see you again." Harry nodded toward the goblin, but most of his attention was fixed on the other wizard in the room. "Did I interrupt another meeting? If so, my business can wait a little while."
Seeing the young wizard's attention was on him, the other wizard introduced himself. "I am Alexander Boet. Master Greeva contacted me saying that one of his clients needed the help of a discreet solicitor, who wasn't afraid to go against those in powerful positions. He however didn't tell me it would be you, Mr. Potter. I am pleased to meet you at last and thank you for dealing with Voldemort."
"You know you are the first wizard, I've ever met besides Dumbledore, who didn't cringe at the mention of the Voldemort's name?" Harry was pleased by how the man was reacting to his identity. He was calm and wasn't reacting the way most witches and wizards did, glancing at the scar on his forehead, before staring at him awe and allowing their brains to dribble out their ears as they said stupid and inane things.
The older wizard shrugged. "In that one matter and that one matter only, Albus Dumbledore and I are in agreement. Fear of the name, increases fear of the thing or person."
....
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