Goblin Friend
A/N – Harry Potter and the world, locations and characters his story is set in belong to JKR.
This story is AU and begins at the end of The Chamber of Secrets. The goblins in this story are most definitely NOT the goblins of the canon world. The case can be made either way for whether or not the canon Dumbledore can be related to this one, or to what degree. The same can be said for most of the other characters in this story.
Chapter 2
Harry sat in the small bare looking waiting room as he struggled to work out what was happening.
When he had entered the bank, his aunt and uncle had immediately been led off, while he had been led down a long corridor into what was obviously a medical area. He had been shown into a room and a Healer had shown up and proceeded to cast a number of diagnostic spells on him while taking extensive notes. The Healer had then told him to stay there and left, only to reappear about fifteen minutes later with another much older looking Healer who had cast another series of spells.
Neither of them had explained anything to him, they hadn't even spoken to him beyond giving him instructions. Eventually however, the first one had led him to another room where a meal was waiting for him. After he had eaten, he had been brought here and told to wait until he was called.
Just then the door on the far way opened and someone who he was guessing was a goblin guard from the looks of his armour and weapons stepped into view.
'Mr. Potter.' the goblin gestured for him to go through the door.
On stepping through the door, Harry found himself in a large office with a mixture of what looked like framed certificates and weapons adorning the walls which had two other doors visible. Facing the door he had entered by, was a large, ornate wooden desk, with an important goblin, if the quality of his clothes was anything to go by, sitting behind it. Also in the room were a number of other people and goblins. There were two guards standing at each of the two doors into the office. Finally, there were two people and a goblin he didn't recognise sitting to the right. The only empty seat in the room was directly in front of the desk.
The goblin to the right stepped forward.
'Good evening Mr. Potter, I apologise for the delay. My name is Ironfist and I have the honour of being your Account Manager.
'May I introduce you to Ragnock, Chairman of the Board and Leader of the Goblin Nation within Britain.' he indicated the goblin behind the desk with a wave of his hand.
Harry didn't know how he was supposed to respond to this, so he decided to go with what he did know.
'Good evening sir, it is a pleasure to meet you.' he gave a small bow as he said this.
'The pleasure is mine Mr. Potter, I assure you.' replied Ragnock.
Ironfist continued the introductions.
'This is Madame Amelia Bones, Regent of House Bones and the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and this is Remus Lupin who is currently unemployed, although I believe he has recently received an offer of employment. Both Madame Bones and Mr. Lupin were friends with your parents.'
Harry's eyes widened at hearing that. Friend's of his parents? He hoped he would have the chance to talk to these two people at some point. Although given that most of the adults he had met in the magical world claimed to have known his parents but were never available to talk to him about them, he wasn't going to get overly optimistic about it.
Giving himself a mental shake, he collected his thoughts and murmured.
'Madame Bones, Mr. Lupin.'
'If you would take a seat Mr. Potter, we have a great deal of business to get through tonight.' Ironfist said.
Harry quickly made his way to the seat in front of the desk and sat down facing the desk and Ragnock.
Ragnock looked at each of the people present before speaking.
'As Ironfist has said, we have a great deal of business to do this evening. Please do not interrupt unless you do not understand what has been said.
'The first order of business is the Will of James and Lily Potter. This Will was lodged with both Gringotts and the Ministry of Magic on the 30th of October 1981.
'It was sealed by order of the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot on the morning of the 1st November 1981 and remains sealed and unexecuted to this day.
'There are currently only two people who can order the Will to be unsealed and read. The Chief Warlock, and the eldest and only remaining member of House Potter.
He paused and looked at Harry from across his desk.
'Mr. Potter, do you wish your parents Will unsealed and read this evening?'
Harry sat there, shocked, his thoughts racing. His parents Will! He hadn't ever given such a thing a thought. Finding out that it had been sealed and their last wishes hadn't been carried out had him reeling. After a minute or two, he realised that everyone was waiting for him to respond.
'Yes.' he said. 'Yes sir, I would like the Will to unsealed and read.'
Ragnock picked up an envelope from the desk and broke the seal. A brief pulse of magic was felt by everyone in the room.
'Do you wish me to read the Will in its entirety Mr. Potter, or would you prefer me to summarise the contents for you? We will, of course, be providing a Certified Copy of the full will to each of the Beneficiaries.' Ragnock asked.
Harry considered the question, considering the little he knew about legal procedures and Wills in general.
'A summary will be sufficient for now please.' he decided.
'Very well Mr. Potter. To summarise:
'Sirius Black is to receive 100,000 galleons and the deeds to the flat he shared with James Potter and Remus Lupin after Hogwarts.
'Remus Lupin is to receive 100,000 galleons and the deeds to a cottage in Sutherland. There is a note to indicate that you should be familiar with the cottage in question.
'Peter Pettigrew is to receive 100,000 galleons and the deeds to a cottage in Wiltshire. Unless he has betrayed them by revealing their location to the Dark Lord known as Voldemort or his Death Eaters.'
Both Amelia Bones and Remus Lupin looked startled at that.
'Frank and Alice Longbottom are to receive 100,000 galleons and custody and guardianship of our son, Harry James Potter until such time as he takes his position as Head of House Potter.
'If Frank and Alice Longbottom are unable to take custody of Harry, custody is to be granted to one of the following people in order of preference:
'Amelia Bones, Sirius Black, Minerva McGonagall.
'Remus Lupin is to be kept involved in Harry's life, and should be considered for a position as his tutor when he reaches a suitable age, if he is not otherwise employed.
'A Stipend of 1000 Galleons per year is to be made available to the guardian of our son, Harry James Potter, for his upkeep and maintenance until he takes his position as Head of House Potter.
'Under no circumstances is Harry James Potter to be placed in the care of Vernon and Petunia Dursley, if none of the above people are available, he is to be placed in an orphanage.
'All other possessions, belongings, monies and titles are passed to their son, Harry James Potter who is to take his place as the Head of House Potter no later than his 14th birthday.
'It also states that Peter Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper for the Fidelius Charm on the house in Godric's Hollow that they were living in.'
Harry had been sitting in stunned surprise at the sums of money involved in the Will, and shock at the list of people who he should have been placed with.
Picking up a piece of parchment from his desk, he looked towards Remus Lupin.
'Mr. Lupin, if you would sign here, your bequest will be transferred to your vault. The keys to the property will be with the deeds.'
Remus stood up and with a glance at Harry he stepped up to the desk and signed his name after reading it thoroughly.
Once Remus had sat back down Ragnock continued.
'As Sirius Black is currently in Azkaban, his bequest will be transferred to a holding vault until he is able to sign for it.'
Amelia Bones looked as if she was about to say something, but Ragnock continued speaking.
'As Peter Pettigrew betrayed the Potters by revealing their location to Voldemort, his bequest is nullified.'
Amelia Bones finally did speak.
'Excuse me, but Sirius Black was convicted of betraying the Potters and killing Peter Pettigrew along with 13 muggles.'
'I am afraid your information is incorrect Madame Bones.' replied Ragnock.
'As you know, Gringotts Vaults are tied to the Vault owner and are sealed automatically on the owner's death. Peter Pettigrew's vault remains open in his name to this day.
'Also, a check of your departments records will show that while Sirius Black was indeed arrested and sent to Azkaban, he was not however charged with committing any crimes, much less given a trial and convicted.
'In addition, Sirius Black took a Magical Oath when he took his place as Harry Potter's godfather. Betraying the Potter's would have broken that Oath, in which case he would have died immediately. Given that he remains alive...'
Amelia Bones has a thoughtful look on her face as she replied.
'It would appear that I will have a fair amount of work to do tomorrow.' she appeared to gather her thoughts. 'Mr. Potter, I believe that my name was next on the list of people to take custody of you. I would be honoured if you would agree to come and live with my niece and myself. I believe you are at least acquainted with Susan.'
Harry was startled. He hadn't even given that a thought. He had thought that he would continue living with the Dursley's for at least the time being. The offer was attractive however.
'I am afraid that Mr. Potter will hopefully be remaining in Gringotts for at least the next two weeks Madame Bones.' Ragnock sent his brief hopes crashing to the ground. He continued on before anyone could interrupt.
'This is due to our next order of business, which is Mr. Potter's Medical Report which I have here.
'Mr. Potter has suffered repeated and prolonged periods of malnutrition over the last decade, with the associated effects on his growth and development.
Harry hung his head and refused to look at anyone in the room, much preferring to examine the floor.
'He has also had several broken bones which have not healed properly, his glasses are not the correct prescription and he should not require glasses anyway as the problems with his eyesight are easily fixed with a short potions regime.
'In addition, the scar on his forehead has obviously never been examined properly by a competent Healer, as it contains some sort of Dark Magic residue which will have to be dealt with under controlled conditions. The Senior Healer who examined Mr. Potter has his suspicions as to what this Dark Magic is, but until a more detailed examination has been done by an expert in the field he prefers to withhold them.
'There is also the matter of the injury he sustained at Hogwarts recently, which has not been fully healed and for which he should have been transferred to St. Mongo's by the school nurse who does not have the training to deal with such a serious injury.
'I personally find myself to be quite interested in how you, Mr. Potter, came to have been bitten by a basilisk not to mention how you manage to survive such an injury.
'The Healer's found evidence that Mr. Potter's Magical Core has been bound. By whom and to what extent we do not yet know. Further examination will be necessary to determine the exact nature and extent of the binding and how best to go about releasing it without causing damage to Mr. Potter.
'Now, given that much of the damage to Mr. Potter was done while he was in the care of Mr. and Mrs. Dursley or while he was at Hogwarts, and that it was either not noticed or ignored while he was at Hogwarts, it has been decided that Gringotts will offer to provide the medical care that Mr. Potter needs at this time. We will also provide accommodation for Mr. Potter until his treatment has been completed. Mr. Potter will not be billed for this. The bill will be paid by those who should have been providing for his welfare up until now. This means Mr. and Mrs. Dursley and Hogwarts will be billed for the services of our Healers.
'Alternatively, Mr. Potter may turn down our offer and make other arrangements for the treatment he requires.' Ragnock looked at Harry, obviously wanting a response.
Harry stared back at Ragnock, his mind racing. The Dursley's had never taken him to a doctor for the injuries they had inflicted on him and Madame Pomfrey for all her insistence on not letting him out of the Hospital Wing until his current injury had healed, hadn't done anything about any of his old injuries. Madame Bones had offered to take him into her home, but would she do anything about what Ragnock had just said?
He was brought back to reality by the sound of Remus Lupin's voice.
'Harry, I think you should take Ragnock's offer.'
He looked across at Remus.
'The Healers at St. Mongo's are good.' Remus continued. 'But Gringotts only hires the best.'
Madame Bones grimaced as he said that, but then she nodded in agreement.
'I agree Harry, this is a very generous offer, as Remus said, Gringotts only hires the best.'
Harry turned back to face Ragnock.
'I believe that I will take you up on your offer Ragnock.' he said as formally as he could.
Ragnock nodded and reached for yet another piece of paper on desk. After signing it he pushed it across the desk to Harry.
'Please sign this then Mr. Potter. It is a consent form for the treatment which will be carried out here within Gringotts, with the bill to be paid for by the Dursley Family and Hogwarts.'
Harry quickly read the form which was as Ragnock had said, although in much more flowery language and then signed it with the quill Ragnock offered him.
'We have two more items of business to take care of tonight, after which you will be shown to your accommodation where your Healer will meet with you to discuss and begin your treatment.
'Our penultimate item of business is Mr. and Mrs. Dursley.
'They were questioned earlier this evening, while you were being examined by our Healers. In conjunction with the evidence we had already acquired and the results of the questioning they have been subjected to, it has been decided that the evidence we have gathered against them will be presented to the muggle authorities where they will face a number of charges. It is likely that they will both receive a long prison sentence.
'Once this meeting ends, they will be removed to a holding cell, where they will be held pending further questioning and their eventual trial.
'The relevant muggle authorities will be informed of their arrest so that their son will be cared for by the appropriate people once he leaves the school he is currently attending..
Amelia Bones spoke up once more.
'May I enquire as to what muggle crimes they may have committed?' She asked.
Ragnock glanced down at the parchment in front of him before answering her.
'Fraud, embezzlement, tax evasion, bribing of public officials, conspiring to pervert the course of justice and child abuse amongst others.' Was his succinct reply.
'I see...' she said while glancing briefly at Harry.
'I believe that in my capacity as the Head of the DMLE, I would like to be provided with a copy of the evidence as well.' was all she said though.
A short nod from Ragnock was his only response.
Ragnock broke the uncomfortable silence which had broken out in the office following her words by reaching forward and picking up the two small wooden boxes which were sitting on his desk, one in each hand.
'Our final item of business for this evening, are these.
'These are the Rings for the Houses of Potter and Black.
'Mr. Potter, as the only son and heir of the last Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter, you are the only person eligible to become the next Head of your House.
'Within this box,' he tapped the box on the right. 'Are the Head of House and the Heir of House rings for House Potter. You are currently eligible to wear the Head of House ring.
'You are also the designated Heir of Sirius Black, who is the current Heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Black following the death of the previous Head of House, Acturus Black, in 1991.
'Within this box,' he tapped the box on the left. 'Are the Head of House and the Heir of House rings for House Black. You are currently eligible to wear the Heir ring as your godfather will wear the Head of House ring should he be freed from Azkaban.
'Originally, my intention was to present these rings to you tonight and ask you to put them on and claim your position as Head of House Potter and Heir of House Black.
'The results of your Medical have changed this however. These particular rings date back to long before the Ministry of Magic and the Wizengamot. They predate even the Council of Wizards which ruled this land before them. As such, they have a great many enchantments on them, which even we here in Gringotts are unable to determine.
'What we do know, is that when you put one of these rings on, you are tested to find out if you are considered worthy of the position.
'Given your current physical and magical condition, the Healers have advised that we should wait until they have completed your treatment, removed the remnant of Dark Magic which resides in the scar on your forehead, and removed the bindings on your magic before you put the rings on and formally claim your place as Head of House Potter and Heir of House Black.'