Disclaimer: I own nothing, I own no-one, I have borrowed these characters, bands, etc.from their rightful owners.
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"Harry, your owl is coming" said Ron with a mouth stuffed full of cream bun, sitting in the dining hall.
The owl swooped between the hovering ghosts, and the free floating candles, and after completing a double barrel roll, dropped the message from her beak onto the outstretched palm of Harry Potter who had stood from his seat, thus depositing a small pile of crumbs from his robe, all over the unpolished toecaps of his dress shoes.
Harry ripped the letter open, frowned, and turned to Ron, "It's from Gringotts Bank, and they need me to fill out some documents in the bank, and I need to do it before tomorrow afternoon or my funds will be frozen" Harry exclaimed.
Harry, knowing he would not only need permission to leave, but also required someone to arrange transport for him. This would not normally be needed, as Harry could Floo himself, or go by portkey, but after a small crash high above the quidditch field, had no use of his left arm and didn't want to injure it further with his unco-ordinated landings.
Harry made his way to Professor Dumbledore's office, passworded himself past the sentinel, and knocked on the headmaster's door.
"Come in" was all he heard through the heavy timber door.
Harry entered the headmaster's office, and hesitated as he saw the professor depositing some memories into the pensieve.
"Well my boy, to what do I owe this pleasure" asked Dumbledore, and Harry explained his needs.
"That shouldn't be a problem Harry" Dumbledore said. "I will arrange for you to take the train this afternoon, just be ready to leave at 12:30, and to help keep you safe, you can take young Hermione with you. Accommodation for tonight will be arranged at the hotel just down the street from the bank, two single rooms, you mind".
Harry went back to the dining room, found Hermione, and told her the news.
"This is simply not good enough Harry, I will miss the lesson this afternoon from that American witch, Samantha, who is here to teach us spell casting by wriggling our nose. No wands required. Then tomorrow morning, her husband Darren and daughter Tabatha are talking in an open forum about living with a muggle, something I have had to do for years" Hermione stated with a humph.
Just before 12:30, Harry and Hermione got a coach ride down to the station from Hagrid, and were surprised to see a much smaller train than the normal Hogwarts Express. This train was a small blue engine with two carriages.
As the two students walked towards the train, they were surprised when the train engine spoke to them in a heavy accent "Hello, my name is Thomas, and these are my two friends Annie and Clarabelle, and we will be taking you to London"
Harry stopped so suddenly, that Hermione crashed into his back, jarring his injured arm. "Bloody hell Hermione, watch it will you", Harry said.
"You just watch yourself" Hermione retorted, "You stopped so suddenly, I had no chance to avoid you"
There was no engine driver, so Harry asked the little engine " Where is the Express?"
Thomas replied " The bridge over the last river has some timbers being replaced, and the structure can't handle the heavy trains, so we've been doing all the food transport for the last two weeks. When we pass over the bridge, you will see what I mean" Thomas replied.
Harry and Hermione sat in Annie's front seats, and relaxed as Thomas and his two friends left the station as a gentle puff , puff, puff of steam from Thomas' boilers drifted into the air.
As they neared the bridge undergoing structural repairs, they saw a team of workers and a large pile of baulks of timber to reinforce the bridge, and heard Thomas call out "Hello again Bob, hows the gang going with the work?"
Bob, standing beside his gang Scoop, Dizzy and Roley, was looking at a set of plans, and when Bob the Builder called to Thomas "Really good Thomas, we should be finished in about ten days if we can get a new set of tracks for Muck. This work is just not suited for him" Bob said.
The train was passing over the bridge carefully, with the sound of timber squealing under the minimal pressure exerted by Thomas, Annie and Clarabelle, caused Thomas to break out in a sweat, "Help" yelled Thomas, "The bridge is collapsing"
Just a second or so later, Thomas was snatched into the air, and deposited on the tracks at the end of the bridge.
"What was that?" Hermione said, not really expecting an answer, when a male voice said to her " Don't worry Hermione, it's only me, Clark Kent. I was on my way to visit Jack and Daniel, they are here excavating another Stargate wormhole, and I wanted to document the work for the Torch."
Thomas was relieved to once again be safe, set back to work transporting his new friends to London, happily chugging along to the mediocre singing of Ringo Starr.
Upon arrival at platform 9 ¾, Harry and Hermione bid farewell to Thomas and the two carriages, and started walking to the bank, when they were caught up in a street rally of some type, almost a stampede.
Hermione attracted the attention of a member of the crowd, and asked what was happening, and was told " The Spice Girls are taking on the Wiggles in a live karaoke competition, and we're all trying to escape before they start" the girl replied.
Harry and Hermione continued to the bank, and upon entering, were escorted to see the Head Bank Goblin.
"So Mr Potter, we need to attend to this paperwork and complete it, or as from tomorrow afternoon, you will be penniless" the goblin said.
"But what has happened, I thought this was all safe?" Harry asked.
"Well normally it is" replied the Head Bank Goblin, "But it appears as though a Professor Severus Snape has appealed to the Ministry of Magic, and has had an injunction placed on your account because he claims that you have tried to kill him on a number of occasions, and this has been verified by a number of his acquaintances" the teller said, "and the Ministry of Magic is coming here tomorrow to remove all your funds. If the case is proven to be false and Snape cannot prove his claims, your money by law, will be returned, however in the past, this has proven difficult to achieve because of theft in transport" the Head Bank Goblin responded.
Hermione expressed her outrage, and interjected with "This is ridiculous, it's Harry's money, Snape cannot just claim he has been threatened and have Harry's money taken from him".
"Well, normally that is true" said the Head Goblin" However, Snape has employed one of the best legal minds in the country, our well known Rumpole of the Bailey, and nobody could oppose him in a drawn out legal fight".
"Well" said Hermione, "What does Harry need to do?"
"Harry could appoint someone he trusts to transfer his funds into their account, and no one but we need to know who has access to the money" said the Head Bank Goblin, with a glint in his eye.
"Hermione, you open an account in your name, and neither Snape nor the Ministry of Magic, would have no way of knowing where the money has gone. It would be safe, and I can recover it when all this mess is over" Harry stated.
The Head Bank Goblin opened an account for Hermione, and transferred all the money, quite a significant amount which pleased Hermione, into her new account.
All was achieved. Harry was pleased, the Head Bank Goblin considered his duty completed, and Hermione joked that she was rich.
Harry and Hermione found the Hotel, and went to the rooms that Professor Dumbledore had booked for them, and Harry decided to take Hermione out for dinner as a method of showing his thanks for what she did for him.
After the soup, and before the main meal, Harry decided to call Professor Dumbledore to see what time they had to return the following day, but the Professor was unavailable, and Harry decided to try again later.
After the meal, Harry retired to his room after starting to feel a bit queasy, and drifted into a deep but troubled sleep.
Hermione called a number, and quietly, in case Harry could overhear her through the interconnecting hotel door, said "Uncle Severus, it is done, Harry didn't even taste the difference in his meal. He is in bed, and should be unconscious by now, and we can get the money whenever we want to. What colour should I wear to the funeral?
FIN.