On his way to the shop the clerk had recommended, Harry passed a small café.
The sign promising “Hot Food” made his stomach growl loudly.
He decided to stop for lunch first.
Besides, he wanted a quiet place to read the two letters he had retrieved from his trust vault.
After placing his order, he slid into an inside booth, pulled out the two envelopes, and hesitated for only a moment.
With a mental shrug, he opened the top one.
The letter was written in the same elegant, flowing script as the address on the envelope.
My Dearest Harry,
I hope that by the time you read this you have grown into a wonderful young man, raised either by your godmother, Lady Alice Longbottom, and her husband, Lord Franklin Longbottom, or by your godfather, Sirius Black, should dear Alice and Frank have been unable to take you in.
If you grew up with the Longbottoms, you would have had young Neville — a boy only a few hours older than yourself — as a constant companion.
If Sirius raised you (you used to call him ‘Pa-foo’), I hope you haven’t been getting into too much mischief with pranks.
No matter who raised you, I pray your life up to this moment has been a happy one, and that it continues to be so.
Know that your father and I love you deeply and will continue to love you from the Great Beyond.
You are my darling baby boy.
Your Mum,
Lady Lily Potter
After reading the letter, Harry sat torn between happiness at finally hearing from his mother and a sharp surge of anger that he had never been given the chance to grow up with his godparents.
He carefully folded the letter, slipped it back into its envelope, and set it aside.
Hey Prongslet (yes, that’s you, Harry),
If you’re reading this letter, it means I wasn’t there to help you grow up, and I’m truly sorry about that.
Still, I hope you had a happy childhood with the Longbottoms or whichever magical guardian we named in our wills.
For your reference, here is the order of guardians your mother and I specified in our wills:
Lady Alice Longbottom and her husband Lord Francis ‘Frank’ Longbottom — Lady Longbottom is your sworn godmother, just as your mother is godmother to their son Neville.
Sirius Black and his wife (if he ever settles down and marries) — Sirius is your sworn godfather.
Lord Cygnus and Lady Isabel Greengrass — dear friends, and you are betrothed to their daughter, Daphne (see below).
Amelia Bones and her husband (if she marries) — a dear friend from the DMLE.
Now, about Daphne… your mother says I need to apologise.
When you were born I was so overjoyed that I invited some friends over to the Manor.
Your mother was still in hospital, otherwise she would have stopped things before they got out of hand.
Sirius, Remus, Frank, Cygnus, and a few trusted chaps from the DMLE decided we needed to celebrate your birth while the ladies were with your mum.
It was also a brief escape from the horrors of the war.
As you can guess, we got rather carried away.
The next morning, Cygnus and I discovered we had signed a betrothal contract between you and his newborn daughter, Daphne.
Neither your mother nor your ‘Auntie’ Isabel were pleased when we finally confessed.
They were even less pleased when they learned we had used a blood quill and that the contract is unbreakable.
If Daphne grows up to look anything like her mother, I hope you won’t be too angry with me.
A copy of the betrothal contract is in the Potter heirloom vault, in the filing cabinet.
Ask Bloodfang, the Potter Account Keeper (or his successor), for a copy.
And please forgive your dear old departed dad for being an idiot (even if your mother hasn’t yet).
You will also assume your Lordship when you come of age or are legally emancipated, whichever comes first.
The Potter line is ancient, tracing back many centuries.
It is something to be very proud of — as I am.
I don’t know when you will read this, but I hope it is well before your eleventh birthday so you have time to adjust.
You will need training to understand what it means to lead such an Ancient House.
Your guardians and Bloodfang (or his replacement) can help you with that.
You should also know that the Potters are openly allied with the Houses of Longbottom and Bones, and secretly allied with the Houses of Black and Greengrass.
Once you assume the Headship of House Potter after your eleventh birthday, contact the Heads of those families at the earliest opportunity.
This is very important — failing to do so could be seen as a snub.
Approach the Black and Greengrass families with care and in secret if you are not already in contact with them.
Now that the scary official stuff is out of the way, I want you to know that I love you with all my heart.
I want you to live a long, happy life filled with sons and daughters of your own so you can understand just how much we love you.
You are also the son of a Marauder, so I expect to watch you pull plenty of pranks.
I’ll be laughing right along with you.
Your loving father,
James ‘Dad’ Potter
(Still sleeping on the couch because of that marriage contract)
Harry carefully returned the letter to its envelope and wiped the tears from his eyes.