(Harry Potter) Worthy of you: Chapter 15 - Getting clean

Chapter 15 - Getting clean

Summary: Harry undergoes a painful ritual—and uncovers a terrifying truth hidden deep within his mind.

When Harry opened his eyes he was surprised to see he was in his sleeping clothes rather than his casual ones like he remembered falling asleep in last night.

Speaking of waking up, Harry didn't feel this good waking up in a long time. The last time he felt so refreshed was in the beginning of the year at Hogwarts before the entire Heir of Slytherin fiasco that made him feel like he had to watch his back even in his own dorm.

The heir of Slytherin issue seems kind of ironic now that he really was him.

Harry shook his head and headed toward the bathroom with a change of clothes under his arm.

Soon enough he was sitting in the dining hall with Remus who was drinking a cup of coffee while looking around with a nostalgic look in his eyes.

As soon as Harry sat down a plate full of eggs and toast appeared on the table, another moment and a glass of pumpkin juice appeared beside the plate.

Harry looked around and called out, "Thank you Dobby."

The elf appeared next to Harry with tears in his eyes as he began speaking rapidly, "The Great Harry Potter sir thanks Dobby, Dobby has never been thanked before, Harry Potter is indeed a great wizard."

Harry was bewildered for a moment before he shook his head and instead asked, "Have you eaten yet Dobby? Because if you didn't feel free to join us."

This time the house elf began outright sobbing, "The great Harry Potter sir is the greatest wizard to treat a house-elf like an equal."

Harry felt a little awkward with all that so he cut the elf off and said casually, "Well, the offer stands whenever Dobby, and I thought we talked about the Harry thing."

Dobby nodded, "Yes Harry sir." The elf seemed to remember something and turned back to Harry, "Dobby almost forgot. The portraits of Lord and Lady Potter asked Harry sir to visit them in the portrait room."

Harry was shocked, his chest tightening as he asked in a whisper, "They have portraits? In the manor?"

Dobby only nodded in return.

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to stop himself from rushing upstairs and looking for those portraits. There was nothing he wanted more than to see his dad's smile and hear his mom's voice, but he had a place to be and a promise to keep.

So with another deep breath he made a promise to himself to head straight there after his visit at Gringotts.

He opened his eyes and focused back on his food.

As soon as he finished he and Remus began to head toward the exit with Remus commenting, "We should really make a subscription to the Prophet while we're in the alley too."

Harry just shrugged not really caring about it. Instead he focused on something else as they walked down the path toward the gate, "Do we have to use that damn bus again?"

Remus chuckled, "Do you have another idea?"

"Can't we use my broom?" Harry looked pleadingly at the older man.

His guardian laughed again and said, without a hint of apology in his voice, "Sorry. Illegal."

Harry grumbled all the rest of the way.

Harry would like to think today would be a lucky day for him, he could really use that luck if he was being honest.

The first sign for it was the timing of their arrival to the bank. They just walked into the main hall and began heading toward the counter where Goldpaw should be waiting for them.

That was when it all began.

A tall woman with regal form and noble vibe stepped forward toward the teller's podium. She had blonde hair done in what could only be called a noble style. Her facial features were familiar to Harry but it was hard to place them for some reason.

When her turn finally came she approached the podium with her nose raised up high, which didn't mean a lot as the podium was still taller than her.

The teller didn't even look up from his writings as he asked flatly, "Yes?"

The woman huffed in anger, "I demand to receive a proper service here goblin! Why hasn't my account manager come to meet me?"

The goblin rolled his eyes and looked at the woman with a deadpan look, "Name."

The woman glared at the teller and hissed, "What do you mean name? I'm one of your bank's biggest clients. I demand you show me proper respect and fetch my account manager this instant."

The goblin let out an irritated sigh and explained slowly, as if he was talking with a child, "If you want to see your account manager I need to know your name."

The woman's cheeks flushed in anger, but she remained calm as she responded dryly, "Narcissa Malfoy née Black."

Maybe Harry imagined it, but for a moment he thought he saw a sharp smile twitching on the goblin's lips when he heard the name. His voice suddenly was more alive as he fished out a letter from behind his podium and handed it to the woman, "Apologies. You have arrived before we could send you this letter to inform you of the change in your status."

Harry had to bite his lip. He suddenly remembered the director's look when he read about their plan for the Black's previous heir. He couldn't wait to see how this would play out.

Narcissa smiled in satisfaction at finally being recognized and with the dignity of a noble woman she opened the parchment and began reading it.

Her face grew redder the more she read until eventually her head snapped upward toward the goblin and she screeched, "What is the meaning of this?"

The goblin shrugged and responded casually, "As you read madam. The heir to the house of Black signed on the instruction to cancel all allowances of any other Black house member."

The blonde glared at the goblin and growled, "It's not possible! My son is the heir and he signed no such thing."

The goblin was now baring his sharp teeth with his smile and took great delight in informing the uptight pureblood, "Your son was the acting heir. But as now the appointed heir of the current lord claimed his title, all such decisions now lie with him."

Narcissa's face was gaining a purple hue as she snarled at the goblin, "How could my cousin nominate a pretender to be heir. It's illegal! I demand for my son to be returned his rightful title."

The goblin didn't even try to hide his glee when he retorted to the woman, "I assure you madam the heir is of Black blood, as was confirmed by an inheritance test witnessed by the director himself. Completely legal even within our ministerial treaty."

All color drained from Narcissa's face as she realized that if the director confirmed it himself there would be no way to legally dispute it. Her face grew even paler when she noticed the people around the lobby were looking at her and mumbling to each other.

She turned to the goblin and hissed quietly, "I demand to see my account manager."

The goblin leaned forward on his podium, but his voice was loud and clear as he answered calmly, "As you know madam, the Malfoy wealth alone does not justify an account manager, and as the current heir holds other vaults within our bank he has his own manager. The goblin you are referring to has retired and therefore cannot see you."

The murmurs around the lobby got louder, with a couple of snickers that could be obviously heard.

Realizing that the scene would make the news soon enough the blonde woman turned on her heel and fled the bank with as much dignity as the last revelations would allow. As she passed through them her eyes widened when she noticed Harry but she didn't stop.

Harry was so focused on the show he didn't even notice Goldpaw was standing next to him until he spoke, "I hope you enjoyed the show Mr. Potter."

Harry smiled down at his account manager, "Well met Manager Goldpaw. And thank you, it was very entertaining."

The goblin chuckled before he motioned for them to follow him, "Let us get to the business we gathered here for today."

Harry and Remus could only nod.

Soon they found themselves walking down the stairs of a new hallway they had never seen before. At the end of it was a large room they entered.

The room was dimly lit and looked a little more like a cave than a polished room Harry imagined it to be. Then again the only reference he had was Goldpaw's office.

In the middle was what looked like a hospital bed that was bolted to the floor rather than being on wheels. All around the room there were many tables, with a lot of different equipment on them.

Some had open books, others had half written papers, and a few had things like knives, vials and so on.

Around those tables two goblins were working tirelessly. They wore the same robes as the female healer from yesterday.

"Ah there you are boy." A familiar voice called him.

Harry turned to see the female healer that checked him before heading toward them. Harry bowed a little and greeted her politely, "Well met healer Glinteye."

The female paused for a moment, eyeing Harry with a small smile that faded away as quickly as it came and she replied sternly, "Yes, yes. Now take off your shirt and lie on the bed Mr. Potter."

Harry didn't question it and did as told. He handed his shirt to Remus who was ordered to stand near the entrance alongside Goldpaw.

Once he was on the bed Glinteye was at his side with a bowl full of ink in one hand and a brush in the other, saying firmly, "Now try not to move, I have to draw runes on your body."

Harry stayed still as the female healer drew the same rune over Harry's heart and then over the center of his forehead. Then she muttered something under her breath as she drew another set of runes on his scar, a few centimeters to the left of the previous rune.

The healer then made sure to look Harry in the eye and inform him, "I will apologize now, the ritual was not meant for living beings so extreme pain is a likely outcome during the ritual. Will you be able to lay still?"

Harry was about to nod when he remembered the ink on his forehead and instead answered verbally, "Anything to get the bastard out of my head."

She gave him a nod of approval and a moment later Harry could feel two more goblins standing at his sides.

One of them left his hands hovering over his head, while the other hovered hers over his heart. The old healer herself was focused on the scar.

Harry closed his eyes just as the three began muttering in their native language. At first it was the first two goblins who did the chanting and Harry was startled a little when he could feel something like chains covering his head and heart, tying them tightly and heavily.

After that feeling settled down the third goblin, which was the old female healer, began her own chant which was different from the one the first two were still using.

Harry could feel a sting of pain straight away. Like when you try to pull out an annoying wood chip stuck under your skin.

The pain though was quickly growing, and Harry had to bite his lip when it began feeling more like somebody was trying to tear his arm off with brute strength.

His body tensed so it wouldn't start to shake, when the pain was becoming too strong for Harry to keep quiet. And then came the panicked voice of the healer, "The fragment is resisting! If we continue the boy may lose his mind, but if we stop the fragment will be able to take over his body."

Harry could feel it. He could feel something digging deeper into his mind, as if claws began sinking their way into the soft tissue of his brain.

"What can we do?" The voices began to grow distant, but he knew it was Remus's angry voice.

The female goblin actually sounded desperate when she sadly replied, "All we can do is ensure a young dark lord won't start going around in a body with a high magical core."

From there he thought he could hear more shouts, but they were too distant for him to hear.

Harry himself agreed. He would rather die here and now than let Voldemort take control over his body. But suddenly he could feel a surge of magic flare inside of him.

Something pure and warm. He knew he had felt it before, but where was a mystery now.

It felt like there was a fire under his skin, though it wasn't burning him. Instead it was purging him, warming him. That was until the magic reached his scar.

In that moment it felt like his scar was set on fire. The burning however had the good outcome of drawing the claws in his mind slowly out of there. With each pull of the claws a new image filled Harry's mind.

In the end there were a total of five images, mostly objects and Harry instinctively knew what they were. Tom's horcruxes.

With one last pull the claws were completely gone from inside his mind. And not only that but his head felt lighter. There was one last flicker of burning sensation that caused Harry to finally give up and let the darkness swallow him.

The last thing he thought he heard was a loud shriek filling the air around him.

He didn't know how long he was passed out, but when he opened his eyes he saw the worried faces of the healer, Goldpaw, Remus and... the director? When did he get here?

The healer immediately began questioning him, "Mr. Potter are you okay?"

Harry ignored it, he had more urgent information to share. He wasn't sure why his throat was hurting but still he made the effort to rasp out, "I... Saw... them. Write."