Chapter 32 – Pardon the Interruption

Disclaimer: Is this really necessary? If anyone really thinks these characters belong to me, then I've got some *great* real estate investments I'd like to discuss with you. All of the Buffy characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc., and the Harry Potter characters belong to J. K. Rowling. I'm just borrowing them for a while. There is no intent to profit from this. Only the story is mine, and if anyone waves enough money in front of me, even that is negotiable.

~~~

Gringotts Bank
Diagon Alley


"Greetings, My Lord Zar'khandash and Lady Zar'khandash, how might Gringotts be of service to you?"

Harry blinked in bewilderment while his parents stared in surprise at both the respectful appellation and manner the diminutive bank's manager had just used when addressing them.

The robes that Aunt Willow had conjured up for them back in their rooms in The Three Broomsticks had allowed them all to blend easily enough into the scattered crowds that normally filled Diagon Alley and they hadn't encountered any sort of problem prior to entering the bank, but they had all basically been stopped short in their tracks when they had been met in the center of the vast marble hall by a goblin flanked by a small coterie of assistants and greeted with a formal bow and the extremely effusive (for a goblin) greeting.

"It was bad enough hearing that from Ra'arth'guov's old troops," Harry heard his Aunt Dawn muttering under her breath and glanced over to see her roll her eyes in what appeared to be semi-aggravation and Uncle Jon allowing one of his usual smirks to cross his lips. "Now we're gonna have to put up with hearing it from a bunch of refugee munchkins from the cast of 'The Wizard of Oz,' too?"

"Uh, Mom, Dad, why are they calling you 'My Lord' and 'My Lady'? Did you guys get awarded some sort of title or something since I got kidnapped?" Harry asked his parents, his recent studies making him aware of at least some of the significance of the titles he'd heard the bank manager use when speaking to his parents.

"Well, I guess that's one way you could put it, Harry," Aunt Dawn half-giggled as she answered his question before either his Mom or Dad could, while Uncle Jon actually laughed out loud and his parents both gave the two of them semi-annoyed glances.

"There's been a lot of stuff that's happened since you got kidnapped, sport," Dad told him in an aside with a semi-grimace, "and we'll tell you all about it as soon as we can, okay?

"But first, it's looking like we need to sort some things out with the people in charge here, and I'm thinking that that's gonna take a little bit of time," he added before turning to address the goblin who had greeted them.

"Uh, sorry to be seem impolite, Mr. – , uh, sorry, but I don't know your name," Xander began speaking to the person who seemed to be the head-goblin-in-charge before pausing uncertainly.

"I am Vergaskempt, the manager of this branch of Gringotts bank, My Lord," the bank officer replied with another small bow, "and again, let me offer you Gringotts appreciation to you and your most beautiful wife for the honor and privilege you have bestowed on us by personally visiting this office.

"If you would follow me, we can continue our talk in a more private setting, since I am certain that there will be a great many subjects which you would not wish to discuss in such a public forum," the goblin continued, indicating the various small groups of wizards and witches who were staring at their group in open curiosity.

With a nod of agreement, the Scoobies followed the diminutive figure as he led the way through one of the many sets of doors lining the walls.

~~~

10 Downing Street
City of Westminster
London, England (Wizarding World)


"Uh, pardon the interruption, sir, but there is a gentleman in my office who arrived earlier this morning, who I think you will want to see as soon as feasible."

"Who, exactly, might this mysterious gentleman you're referring to be, Alex?" the Prime Minister smiled at his aide with a bit of humor.

"He gave his name as Anthony Blair, sir, and he has presented credentials identifying him as the Prime Minister of England and an envoy of Queen Elizabeth II," was the answer he received.

"And before you ask, Sir, all of the credentials and documentation Mr. Blair has provided us has been verified, to the best of our ability to determine, as being both proper and authentic, sir," Alex continued, the lack of even a hint of a smile on his face testifying to the seriousness of the situation about which he was speaking.

"Even the agents from Branch 13 agree that all of the methods of verification available to them indicate that all the gentleman's documentation is correct, Prime Minister," Prime Minister Gregory Callahan heard his aide inform him.

"Including those documents identifying this 'Elizabeth' as the putative Queen of England, sir."

"That's very interesting, Alex. You say that even Cornelius' people have verified the authenticity of Mr. Blair's credentials, eh?"

"Yes, sir. The expressions on their faces when their – equipment – declared the documents to be genuine were quite interesting to see, sir."

"Yes, I would imagine they would be. Hmm. Very well, then. Could you please escort Mr. Blair to the Blue Room, and then see what you can do about rescheduling the remainder of this morning's appointments, Alex?" Anything that would get him away from Nation Health’s latest disaster was a delightful change of scene.

"Certainly, sir. I've taken the liberty of having an escort composed of both several of our own security people and two of Minster Fudge's personnel accompany Mr. Blair on a guided tour of the building that will culminate there, sir."

"You know me too well, Alex."

"I live but to serve, sir."

"And you watch far too much American television, too."

"As you say, sir."

~~~

Gringotts Bank
Diagon Alley

One of the secure conference rooms


"Before we proceed any further, Manager Vergaskempt, I think we should introduce the rest of our group," Xander said, once they'd closed and locked the conference room door behind them, so as not to be interrupted

"The young lady here is my incredibly gorgeous wife's equally beautiful sister, Dawn Summers," Xander said, drawing somewhat wry, but nonetheless pleased smiles from the two women at his words, "and the not-nearly-as-charming-as-I-am guy standing next to her is her fiancé, Jonathan Carter.

"And I am certain that they are just as interested as I am in learning how is it that your people recognized us when we entered your bank," Xander said, his eyebrows narrowing in a small frown indicating his both concern and keen interest in the answer he was seeking, "since, to the best of our knowledge, no one in the Wizarding World here has any idea of who we are."

Vergaskempt had already taken note of the matching expressions mirrored on the faces of the Lady Zar'khandash and their two companions, and he quickly acted to dispel the bank's potential future clients' concerns. Considering even the rather sparse information the bank been provided regarding this group, Gringotts most certainly did NOT want to be at cross purposes with them on any issue of major importance, and it had been made exceedingly clear that these people considered the safety and wellbeing of their family and loved ones to be their primary concern.

"Please, be at ease, My Lord," he said, the least bit proud that his voice remained steady, while he also attempted to look as innocuous and non-threatening as possible.

"Counselor Rondash, one of the primary advisors of your consultant law firm, Dewey, Cheetem and Howe, contacted one of his counterparts at our primary headquarters the day before yesterday and notified us as to the possibility of your availing us with the honor of serving you," the goblin explained.

"He stated that you were visiting this dimension on some personal business and he wished to ensure that Gringotts would be aware of your presence and able to provide any services you might find need of while staying here in as expeditious a manner as possible," he elaborated.

"Counselor Rondash also indicated that you and your companions desired that your presence here remain as discreet and unobtrusive as possible, and that his firm would appreciate any assistance Gringotts might offer in accomplishing this, and we are more than happy to do so, My Lord," the goblin added, giving the group watching him a restrained smile.

"I see," Xander nodded his understanding, then glanced over to Buffy, Dawn and Jon to see them also nodding their approval of their counselor's actions. "Remind me to thank Rondash for his foresight once we get back, guys," he said, before asking, "Anyone got any other questions they want to ask before we get to what we originally came here for?"

"Yeah, Xand, I do," Jon spoke up as he turned to look directly at Vergaskempt.

"What's the word on the street about what happened yesterday at Hogwarts, Manager Vergaskempt?" he asked. "What's the Ministry's take on what happened with Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and how does it differ, if it does, from what the average witch and wizard at home are talking about in their homes?"

The Goblin gave him an approving look – few wizards would guess that the Bank had excellent sources for information gathering at its disposal. "According to Minster Fudge's report given on the Wizarding Wireless last night, an elite group of Aurors, personally handpicked by him, managed to infiltrate the school and take all of the attackers into custody without suffering any casualties among either the students and staff of the school or among the aurors performing the assault," Vergaskempt immediately answered. "The Minster did note, however, that there had been several casualties and fatalities among the Death Eaters captured, and that it appeared that Lord Voldemort somehow managed to escape during the confusion occurred while the Ministry's forces were 'ensuring the hostages' safety,' as he put it.

"While not specifically or directly attributing credit for the students' and staff's rescue to Ministry personnel, his statements have definitely led the citizenry to believe that it was the actions they took yesterday at his direction which were responsible for liberating the school.

"And as best as we can determine at this time, based on all of the information we have received from various sources both within and outside of the Ministry, no one has as yet connected your arrival here with any of the events which occurred at Hogwarts, My Lord," the goblin respectfully continued.

"First off, Manager Vergaskempt, don't call me 'My Lord,' okay?" Jon replied as he nodded approval of the information they'd just received. "I'm just plain Jon Carter.

"You can call me Jon or Carter or Mister Carter, but I really don't want to hear any of that 'My Lord' stuff, all right?" he instructed the goblin in a reasonable voice. "I had to put up with more than enough of that garbage years back, and I wasn't all that fond of any of the people who wanted to be called that, so I'd rather not be reminded of any of it, all right?"

"As you wish, Mister Carter," Vergaskempt nodded his agreement.

"And the same goes with us, Manager Vergaskempt," Buffy chimed in as soon as Jon finished speaking. "All of this Lord and Lady Zar'khandash stuff is the result of some business we had to clear up with the guy who was using the name previously. If you really knew anything about us, you'd know that this Lord and Lady Zar'khandash stuff is *so* not the real us.

"I'm Buffy Harris, and my husband is Xander Harris, and this is our son, Harry," she said as she unleashed one of her megawatt smiles on the goblin, "and we actually were coming here to deal with some other unfinished family business that has to do with Harry's birth parents, who were murdered by some psycho about ten years ago.

“As you wish, Lady Slayer,” the goblin said with a small smile.

Buffy just smirked back before continuing, "You see, their names were James and Lily Potter and…"

~~~

No. 12 Grimmauld Place
London, England
The Wizarding World

Several hours following the hostage rescue operation at Hogwarts


Sirius and Remus both looked up from their somewhat dour brooding over their unsuccessful, but still-not-really-a-failure attempt to rescue Harry and his fellow students from Voldemort and his Death Eaters' capture of Hogwarts as the refrain from Rare Earth's version of 'The Letter' began echoing through the quiet of the study, indicating that an owl carrying mail had arrived.

Discovering that Voldemort and his minions had been neutralized (in several cases, quite permanently, to their carefully-hidden-from-Dumbledore glee) by a mixed group which appeared to be composed of both witches and muggles and led by people who had identified themselves as Harry's parents had been a shock on several levels and had led to their current presence in the study of the Black's satellite home, large glasses of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey in their hands while they contemplated what the future might hold.

The realization that Harry's family had somehow managed to track him across the vast dimensional space separating them, apparently completely ignoring Dumbledore's assurances as to the impossibility of anyone's being able to accomplish anything like that, was both a bombshell of a revelation and a disquieting indication regarding the magnitude of the abilities of the people involved in such an undertaking.

Adding in the fact that their participation in the assault upon these people's home and Harry's subsequent abduction had pretty much guaranteed that said family would NOT be looking favorably upon them when they finally met – and they would meet with Harry's family, one way or another, each of them also realized – meant that their relief and happiness that Harry was safe was tempered by the fact that they would most likely never see him again, given the fact that his family would undoubtedly be ferrying back to the home he'd been raised in at the earliest opportunity, far from any possible threat that Voldemort and his flunkies might pose, as well as any efforts Dumbledore might exert to gain control over Harry.

After a quick but thorough examination of the letter for curses, hexes, charms or possible portkeys indicated no recognizable threats, Sirius removed it from its envelope (which, they noted in passing, was addressed to both of them) and a glance at the letter informed them that Gringotts was requesting their attendance, as some of the possible beneficiaries, at a reading of James' and Lily Potter's wills, to be held in one of the bank's conference rooms at one o'clock in the afternoon two days hence.

"Hmm. Guess we're going to be meeting Harry's family even sooner than we thought we might, old friend," Sirius commented after reading the letter.

"Yep. Definitely looks that way," Remus nodded his agreement before taking a large sip from his glass.

"Could you pass that bottle, please, Mooney?"

"Sure thing, Padfoot."

"Looks like it's going to be an interesting meeting."

"It certainly does."

"I guess I should have Neezie make our favorites dinners for us tomorrow night, eh?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. It's traditional that the condemned man always get a last meal, isn't it?"

~~~

Albus Dumbledore's private office
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Wizarding World


Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore (of various awards and salutations) sat at his desk and stared at the notification requesting his presence at the reading of the Potters' wills two days hence, his eyes narrowed with a mixture of surprise, concern and more than a little bit of anger.

Without either a request by a blood relative or an official request from either the Ministry or the Wizengamot (in those cases involving any of the Noble houses), the goblins would not have either the inclination or the authority to schedule a time for the reading, which meant that someone with some connection to Harry's muggle family had learned about at least the minimum of the legal technicalities and details involved with getting the wills opened and read.

Which meant that they also were quite likely have quite a number of questions and, quite possibly, some suspicions regarding the circumstances surrounding James' and Lily's deaths.

And that, in turn, meant that he needed to make sure that he was in control of everything having to do with the reading.

And that anyone who didn't cooperate in his efforts to ensure that would have to dealt with in the most severe manner possible.

It was for the Greater Good, after all.

With a small nod of satisfaction, he turned his attention to his desk and began composing the letters he'd need to send out.

~~~