Nevertheless, Harry was polite to his sibling and his mother, the latter of whom looked distinctly worried upon meeting her son. And the look that passed between Lily and Petunia! Harry would have been amused if he didn't dislike both women so much. Together, the Potters moved out to a rather fancy limo parked in front of 4 Privet Drive (complete with a driver – Harry knew the Potters were quite wealthy, but he was a bit surprised at how eager they were to show it) with James carrying Harry's trunk and owl cage. As per the advice of the owl salesman, Harry had sent his owl on ahead that morning. She would be waiting at Hogwarts in the owlery. After toying with "Nemesis," "Avenger," and "Death Talon," he had finally named the owl "Hedwig." He told James he had found in a book and thought it "sounded cool." Hedwig was, in fact, the patron saint of orphans.
In the limo, Lily looked over at Harry and started to speak, but the boy interrupted her. "Look, the last time I met with ... Dad, I was upset, and I said some things that probably upset him, and you if he repeated them. But ... I want to go to Hogwarts and learn magic. I want to look forward to the day I never set foot on Privet Drive again. And if that means letting bygones be bygones and trying to be a part of the Potter family, then that's just what I'll do." And with those words, Harry smiled as earnestly as he possibly could, so much so that a slight soreness crept into his cheek muscles. He felt certain that the Potters would recoil from such insincerity, but they all smiled back at him warmly. Apparently, they were that desperate to believe that he could forgive them so easily. Or perhaps, they were just thick.
Jim reached over and punched Harry in the arm playfully. "That's great, Har. And listen, Dad told us that the Dursley's may not have treated you very well. But I promise, it was no picnic for me either. I've had to go through special training since I was eight to get me ready for Hogwarts in case any Death Eaters came after me. And I've had to deal with obnoxious fans always after my autograph. We've all had our problems to deal with."
The ache generated by Harry's smile became almost excruciating at that, but he took a deep breath and exhaled. "That's a very good point... Jim. It must have been ... very rough for you." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lily look suspiciously towards her husband, who swallowed nervously. Harry assumed he'd underplayed the extent of the Dursley's abuse to Jim, and maybe to Lily as well. "Anyway," continued Jim. "Once we get to Hogwarts and get sorted into Gryffindor, I'll be there to look out for you and help you fit in. Everyone will love you once they find out you're the brother of the Boy-Who-Lived." He actually puffed out his chest at that.
"Jim!" sighed Lily. Apparently she had tried to keep Jim's ego in check, but unsuccessfully. James, of course, was delighted at the thought of his twin sons following in his footsteps.
"Ha ha! Two Potters in Gryffindor at once! Filch will have a coronary!"
Harry chuckled but then turned serious. "Well, I sure hope so. But ... like it or not, Jim and I have led very different lives even though we're twins. I hope you won't be upset with me if I don't make it into Gryffindor."
"Not at all, Harry," said Lily firmly. "All the houses have their good points. Right, James?"
"Alright, alright. Harry, I promise you that no matter what house you get into, we will still love you, and Jim will still look after you."
Harry sighed as if relaxing. "I'm glad. And for what it's worth, Jim. I'll do my best to look after you as well." The other three chuckled warmly, while Harry readied the knife. "After all, I am the Heir."
Jim blinked a few times. "Sorry? What?"
Harry looked around as if afraid he'd made a faux pas. Lily seemed surprised, while James looked like he'd just swallowed a lemon. "I'm sorry," said Harry uncertainly. "I've been cramming books on wizarding culture so I'll fit in better – don't want to make a fool of myself in front of someone from an important family, you know – and there was a chapter that discussed the Wizengamot. It said that because I was the firstborn wizarding child, I was automatically the Heir Presumptive for House Potter. Did I get that bit wrong?"
He hadn't, of course. His copy of Hutchinson's devoted almost 300 pages to discussing the Wizengamot, the families who ruled it, and the thousand-year-old laws governing succession to a seat in it, particularly to an Ancient and Noble Seat like that of the Potters. Harry was first born, and indisputably a wizard. Ergo, he was automatically the Heir Presumptive for House Potter and would be elevated to Heir Apparent once he'd come of age and passed enough OWLs. Before then, James could theoretically disinherit him personally from any assets that were his and not entailed to the family and maybe deprive him of spending money during his Hogwarts years. But his education and living expenses were paid for through graduation plus a mastery if he wanted it, and at seventeen, he was guaranteed a sizeable monthly stipend from the family trust for life. And, he was guaranteed the Potter Seat and all the entailed properties and assets someday provided he outlived James and avoided a surprisingly short list of sins that legally justified disinheriting an Heir. Even a felony conviction couldn't deprive him of protected status unless the sentence exceeded five years.
Lily and Jim, neither of whom seemed to know about such things, just looked back and forth between James and Harry inquisitively, as James hesitantly admitted the truth. "Yes, Harry. You are the oldest so technically that makes you the Heir Presumptive. Honestly, I hadn't give it much thought. I hope to live to a ripe old age before I have to worry about turning things over to an heir, after all."
"Oh, I do too, Dad," said Harry cheerfully. Then, he turned to his brother. "From what I read, it seems like the Wizengamot is kinda boring. I bet your happy that you have an older brother who can take care of all it – business management, estate planning, and other legal stuff like that – while you go do ... Boy-Who-Lived things."
Jim laughed. "Ha, ha. Fair enough, Harry. You handle all the boring family business stuff and I'll go out and fight the bad guys."
Lily clucked her tongue and admonished Jim for such foolish ideas, while James just stared at Harry quietly with a strange look on his face, an odd mixture of embarrassment, guilt and ... anger? And then, Harry realized. He simply knew somehow that James had actually tried to disinherit Harry in favor of Jim and then found out he lacked the legal power to do so. Harry broke his eye contact with his father and turned to look out the car window as the London streets flew by. He couldn't show anger, not now. And he wouldn't cry!
After regaining control of his emotions, Harry turned back to his family, his mask firmly back in place. The rest of the trip was spent making idle chitchat with his parents, especially his mother. What was it like as a muggleborn student? Should Harry expect the same treatment as a half-blood who was muggle-raised? Where do muggleborns get their magic from anyway? Harry already had a few ideas on that last question, and he'd spent some of his time between his birthday and today wheedling family history out of Petunia, but he was curious as to what a Muggle Studies professor might think. Her response – which boiled down to "nobody likes to talk very much about that" was not reassuring, particularly in light of the mild condescension his father seemed to have for what his mother went through as a brilliant but prickly Muggleborn. Oh, and he had a lot of bad things to say about someone named "Snivellus" about whom Lily would say nothing, though the mention of his name seemed to make her sad.
"Oh well," thought Harry. "If someone like James Potter has gone to all the trouble of giving this 'Snivellus' an insulting nickname, he can't be too bad."