They took a few of the portraits into the tent and did the ritual Sirius knew. Neither Harry's parents nor his grandparents had left surviving portraits. So Harry spoke with distant great great uncles and aunts and the like. There were many people happy to share stories of Godric's Hall. More than one asked what had happened to the Book of Family Magic.
The task at present was bringing up cases of books and searching them. Many of the tomes were quite valuable. Harry noted down the books and the lessons they taught, sometimes a spell, sometimes a design for a ritual or a rune, sometimes a potion. They were all things Harry had seen mentioned elsewhere and he had done a decent amount of surveying through the Hogwarts library – and compared notes with Hermione who had done even more.
"Do you know how to remake the wards?" Harry asked.
Sirius shook his head. "Had I not run away, I might have eventually been told about the Black wards. But I don't know. I'm sorry."
Harry shrugged. He was used to finding out useful things on his own.
He might learn the lesson better if it was harder for him to complete the task. Plus, he was wary now. Someone had gotten inside these protections in order to attack Godric's Hall. Someone trusted by the Potters. So just reusing the same runes didn't hold much appeal now.
Harry was learning more than he expected from his non-adventure this summer. Especially of dark concerns.
Harry put on a smile he didn't quite feel. "School's in a week. What will you do until Yule break, Sirius?"
"Remember, it's Padfoot."
"Padfoot."
"I thought I'd help secure all of this, keep the elements out. Then, perhaps, I'll look into some of the other Potter lands. I can remember a few."
"Farm lands?"
"Supposedly. But I suspect there may be more vaults. You have enough gold here to think this is where they kept it. But the family secrets... They exist. They're not here. They were hidden elsewhere. I won't necessarily be able to get at them for you. Hopefully they're better protected than just a vault door with failed spells. But I could point you to the right place. Someone should have written down how the runes worked and how they powered the wards."
"Thank you," Harry said.
"Your family was just as paranoid as my own. But they were far nicer. I'll have to dust off a bit of my deviousness if I'm going to be of any use."
"Where will you stay? The tent?"
"Well, I could rehabilitate some of the Black properties." His face scrunched in disgust. "Maybe I'll wait until you can help."
"You should get them protected at least."
"Yes." He frowned. "I think I'll buy my own tent. Something big and garish..."
"Four fountains and an aviary for pretty little birds?" Harry asked, grinning.
"At a minimum." Sirius did his best impression of a snob. It was remarkably similar to a few people Harry knew of at Hogwarts.
Harry nodded toward the excavation. "I'm going to rebuild this. Perhaps not as large, not as many floors, but I am going to rebuild it. With the stones I brought up."
"It's a good plan, Harry."
He nodded back to the excavation. "What about the gold? Should I put it in Gringotts?"
He asked because he didn't know. He also wanted to understand Sirius better. Why not ask his advice about things?
"If your family kept it here, and it's many multiples of what you still have in Gringotts, there was a reason. Let's find a spell to hide it. I've come to believe you about people not being able to get on the land. But let's not depend only on that..."
Harry liked it. He had a better idea about his godfather, too. The man could think.
He tore himself away from the portraits and the new/old books. Harry had letters to write and return. He had taken Madam Spurl's advice and begun writing to several of the people she seemed to loathe the least. He also wrote to Madam Spurl in Mexico. She was apparently causing seven kinds of havoc and enjoying herself immensely. Harry didn't think he'd enjoy working closely with her, but she was a prize as a storyteller, especially when thousands of miles distant.
He would need to spend more time trying to make the Patronus Charm work. Not luck as yet. It really was as hard as advertised.
When Harry made dinner that night, he gave Sirius a triple portion. And Sirius made a genuine effort to eat all of his stew.
.....
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