Harry looked at Barchoke.
"A really really really really really really really big thing to do," the goblin explained.
"And since this guardian signs everything magically-," Harry said, catching on to where he was going.
"Then none of his orders will be any good," Lichfield finished for him. "There'll be silence from our end so they'll have to come here to figure out why it's not being followed."
"Any currently ongoing contracts should already be put on hold while our Audit is underway," Barchoke explained. "Only those made before Gropegold will be honored, but even those will be scrutinized. Anyone with a genuine lease with you should be covered though."
"What about the people he forced off-," Harry eyed Lichfield warily, "-the land? Can they come back?" he asked, the lack of a poke saying he had picked an appropriate article.
"Nothing formal can be set up with them," the Litigator explained, putting his poking finger away. "Not until we resolve the guardianship issue and you can stand on your own. But once the Account's been Sealed whoever it is won't be able to force them off again. Even if they get the Ministry involved we can object and mire the whole thing down until the whole issue is resolved. We won't be able to collect rents or anything like that, but what's a few Canutes compared to the good it'll do us?"
"Canutes? I thought it was called a knut," Harry said, wondering if he'd been saying it wrong.
"It is called a knut," the goblin said. "This nut's the only nut I know to call a knut Canute."
"Good one," Lichfield nodded appreciatively.
"He's not wrong," Barchoke explained. "He only seems wrong because everyone else stopped pronouncing it that way around the turn of the last millennium ."
"It rhymes better," the old wizard said with a shrug. "Few Canutes, few Canutes, few Canutes."
"He's a few Can-idiot," Barchoke said to Harry.
"Better," Lichfield pointed at his little friend. "I like that."
He turned to Harry.
"Putting the people back on the land is a good move, it shows that you have your own ideas about what to do with it, and it shows the people are willing to accept you, no matter how old you are. It's what Charlus would've done," Lichfield said thoughtfully. "And it should help get the Wizengamot to see you as something other than a little kid. If we could follow that up with a rental agreement-"
Suddenly Lichfield shot Barchoke a look.
"You've gotten me distracted," he said gruffly. "Don't you go blaming me if this conversation keeps bouncing around. We were talking about the Seal."
"Yes, yes," the goblin said, rooting through his desk again before taking out a rather thick type of paper Harry had never seen before.
Harry felt the texture of it. It certainly felt different. He didn't know if it was because of the magic it must contain or because-
"It's vellum," Lichfield said. "It holds the blood better, and it makes the magical signature easier to differentiate."
Barchoke slid the ink and quill set away from Harry.
"Won't I need that?" he asked.
"First you'll need this," the goblin said as he handed over a rather sharp looking black quill.
"What is it?" Harry asked cautiously.
"It's a Blood Quill," the old warlock said. "And it's just what it sounds like. It writes with your own blood rather than any ink. Watch out though, it's painful."
"It should be painful," the Overseer pronounced. "It makes people think. And you shouldn't be complaining, in the old days we used to make you write the whole thing in blood."
"So how much do I have to write?" Harry asked.
"Some people use an X, though most people use a small slash," the Litigator explained. "That fool Lockhart signed his full name, complete with curlicues, with it for his last book deal," he told the Overseer.
"Did he cry for his mommy afterwards?" Barchoke smirked.
"Pretty much."
Harry steeled himself before making a small diagonal slash that looked more like a check mark. An instant after he was done the back of his right hand stung. Looking at it he saw the quill had somehow cut into his skin like a scalpel - yet even as he stared at the shining cut, the skin healed over again, leaving the place where it had been slightly redder than before but quite smooth.
"Now you see why people should think before signing anything," the Overseer grinned.
"I'll take that," Lichfield said, plucking the Blood Quill out of his hands before it could touch anything else. He then conjured a glass of water and stuck the quill inside it. "It makes sure there are no traces," he said, noting the look on Harry's face. "Never hurts to be vigilant."
"Now," the goblin said, scooting the ink and quill set back to him. "You can use this. All you have to do is write, 'I, Harold James Potter-,' or you can use 'Harry' if that's how you'd like to think of yourself, it doesn't make a difference.'-Do hereby Seal my Account with blood and magic.'"
'Seems simple enough,' Harry thought to himself as he took up the quill and started to write. 'I,-' Simple or not, that one letter was as far as he got before he had to stop. 'Am I a Harry or a Harold?' he wondered.
He had always been a Harry. Everyone called him Harry. He liked being Harry, Harry thought to himself; making a list of for both sides. His mother had named him Harold though, had insisted on it. 'But it didn't matter to her, ' he reminded himself. 'Her dad was a Harry too. ' They had used both, he was forced to conclude, so how was he to decide?
'Harry sounds too young, ' a part of him thought.
'But Harold sounds so old, ' the other side said.
'If age is an issue,' he told them both, 'then it's better for them to think that I'm older. '
That part of him had a very good point.
'Your friends won't want to hang out with stuffy old Harold,' the Harry part of him said.
'Your friends will like you either way, ' the Harold part countered. 'Hermione might actually think Harold is more mature. '
No other part of him had thought of that at all. The Harry side of him actually seemed to blush.
'Harold gets his work done. Harold thinks for the future. Harold handles his own Account and wins against the guardian, ' the Harold side pushed.
'Harry likes Quidditch. Harry likes chess with Ron. Harry likes sneaking out at night and running around the castle,' the Harry side reminded him.
How does he decide? 'I like them both!'
"What's wrong?" the Overseer asked, noting he hadn't moved in a while. "Did you make a spot?" Barchoke peered over his desk at the vellum.
Lichfield seemed to catch on to the dilemma.
"You might want to consider the goblin approach," he said.
The Overseer looked at him wondering if he should be offended.
"In public, goblins have the utmost professionalism,-" Lichfield explained as an approving smile started on the Overseer's lips. "-But once you're in private,-" he said as the goblin scrutinized him again, "-and once a suitable rapport develops," he clarified, "then the professional wall can come down and you can relate to them like normal human beings."
Barchoke seemed to ponder that last bit.
"So you're saying I can be Harry to my friends and Harold to everyone else."
"It's about the same as saying Harry Potter or Mr. Potter," Lichfield said. "It all depends on mood and context, and how you want them to think of you."
"I gathered that part," he said.
.....
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