"Messers Weasley thank you for coming." Grimstooth smiled showing all his teeth. It never failed to rattle a wizard yet.
"Thank you for inviting us Grimstooth." Fred was the one to speak, they didn't ever try to twin speak to the goblins.
"We need to speak to you about your investor." The goblin watched for their reactions.
"Harry? What about him." George was perplexed they had never asked about him before. True that they hadn't had a business account for long but the Goblins had helped them write an agreement that included Harry.
"What do you know of his home life?" Grimstooth asked.
"It's not very good. During his second year we had to pull bars off his window so he could escape. They weren't going to allow him to go back to school." Fred frowned at the memory.
"We even had to break out his trunk. They'd locked his trunk, wand and broom away so he couldn't even touch them." George added.
"Then there were all the locks on the doors." Fred added.
"I don't think they ever hit him, but they certainly didn't treat him well." George finished, "We were forever fighting Dumbledore to let him come to the Burrow so he wouldn't have to stay with them so long. No one believed us about his situation."
"Did Mr. Potter ever give any specifics?" Grimstooth was quite interested.
"Not really. When we tried to get him to talk about it he said it didn't matter." Fred sighed, "Have they hurt him? Does he need us to save him because the shop has an upstairs apartment, he can stay with us."
"No he has already been removed from his relatives." Grimstooth nodded the twins seemed to be on Potter's side, "He was severely beaten."
"Wow, he's never said anything about that." George said, "I don't remember seeing any bruises before either."
"Mr. Dursley seems to think he had the permission of the wizarding world to kill Mr. Potter." Grimstooth laid out his last card, "Seeing as we didn't have a need for him any longer."
"What!" The twins yelled in tandem, their distress was clear and true, "What gave him that idea."
"Not so much a what as a who." The goblin let them do the figuring after that.
"Who could have led them to believe that?" George asked.
"Dumbledore said he was going to straighten them out on Harry's treatment." Fred turned to the goblin, "Surely Dursley isn't saying Dumbledore told him to kill Harry."
"He did, we have proof, Harry's memory of that event which was followed by the beating." Grimstooth watched as their shocked disbelief turned to anger.
"He was the one always sending him back. I bet he knew how bad they were." George hissed.
"No wonder all our complaints fell on deaf ears." Fred added in anger, "What can we do for Harry?"
"Keep quiet for now." Grimstooth instructed, "We are marshaling our forces and we will be taking Dumbledore down and any who support his handling of this affair. Speak to no one, not even family until we are sure they all back Potter."
"If there is anything at all that Harry needs we'll do our best to provide it." George offered, "Thank you for bringing us in."
"If Dumbledore comes into your shop don't look him in the eye. He has no compunction about entering your mind without your knowledge or permission." Grimstooth warned, "But he has to look you in the eye."
The Goblin smiled to himself as he watched the twins leave the bank. Dumbledore supporters were falling left and right. Only one Weasley was choosing Dumbledore's side and it was the same one who opposed Potter before so it wasn't a complete surprise. Fudge of course sanctioned anything opposing Potter but as his days as Minister were limited he was not a concern either. Still neither of those two knew the full extent of what Dumbledore was doing to oppose Potter. The man had even started rumors amongst his followers that Harry didn't do anything. He was saying that a clever spell of his own design ejected and killed Voldemort. He was slowly spreading the lie one at a time so it would take hold. It made Grimstooth wonder who really defeated Grindlewald.
*******Point of View change**********
When the group landed at the next stop Dudley fell over but Harry was able to keep his feet, "Yes I stuck the landing, first time ever!"
"I'm more interested in where we are." Dudley groaned from the ground.
"Welcome to South Padre Island, Texas." Mark grinned, "Second best beaches in the world, don't mind our biased opinions."
The teens chuckled as they looked around. They could see nothing but sand, sand dunes and water. Harry began to wonder just where they would be staying. He didn't even see a wizard's tent anywhere close. Looking at Dudley he knew they were both thinking along similar lines, although Dudley wouldn't know about the wizard tents.
"Umm… are we sleeping on the sand?" Harry asked skeptically.
"No we're going to catch a ride to the condo from here." Mike threw out his wand arm in a manner very like how Harry caught the Knight bus. Harry's stomach immediately clinched.
Harry was relieved a moment later when a black vehicle came to a stop in front of them. A nicely dressed blond man hopped out of the vehicle, he looked to be in his mid-twenties to Harry, "Hello, welcome to Beach Trans, I'm Brad. Where can I take you and is anyone muggle?"
"Two muggles, two wizards and we're staying at Suntide II." Mike answered.
"Right load up and we'll head that way." Brad said as he opened the door, "You are currently about two miles from the main road that muggles use it ends in a sand dune. We're going to drive that way and you'll be able to see the town shortly."
Mike enlarged their bags and helped Brad put them in the back while the teens climbed in. Harry noticed right off that the steering wheel was on the wrong side of the car. Brad was the last one in and he climbed into the driver's seat.
"Excuse me." Dudley interrupted before Brad could start off, "But is it a magic thing that the steering wheel is on the wrong side?"
"It's an American thing." Mark answered then teased, "We drive on the right side of the road. You drive on the wrong side."
It wasn't long before the two boys began to see something in the distance, "What's that?"
"That is the town." Brad said, "Basically there are a few houses, a few condos and resorts and the rest is restaurants and shops. Anything you need for the beach can be found in the shops, plus a ton of other stuff. We also have this cool little place up here on the right you may want to visit, it's a sea turtle preserve. They help out injured animals and you can see them in the tanks. If you are around for a while you may be able to watch a hatching. That happens off and on during the summer."
After they were settled in their condo Harry asked, "Why here?"
"There is no wizarding area here. Beach Trans is the only magical thing on the island. The rest is purely muggle." Mike informed them, "We'll see a few magical folk here but by far it will be mostly muggles. Now if it was still Spring Break that would be something else entirely."
"Any news from Grimstooth?" Harry asked nervously.
"Actually yes." Mike pulled a report from a folder on the table, "It says that a Percy Weasley agrees with Dumbledore but the rest of the family supports you."
Harry sighed with relief as he felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders. He didn't know what he would have done had the Weasley's thought he was worthless now, "No real surprise there. Percy has never liked me."
Mike smiled before continuing, "Your Professors haven't been approached yet. Grim thought it was best to get your closest supporters first. He says next will be the aurors Tonks and Shacklbolt, they're still debating about Moody. They will be giving Lupin a few days before they approach him."
Harry looked confused for a moment then snapped his fingers, "The full moon was this week."
"Lupin must be a werewolf." Mike nodded, "Friend of yours?
"Yes sort of, he was one of my Dad's best friends, in third year my defense Professor and has always been nice to me." Harry shrugged, "He kind of keeps tabs on me when he can but Dumbdork has always kept him busy with Order stuff. I'm beginning to wonder if he did that on purpose so we couldn't get closer."
"Who knows?" Mike shrugged, "If he's done anything wrong I think the Goblins will be finding it."
"What about my friends at school?" Harry asked.
"Let me see I think they had a few other names." Mike looked the list over, "Oh here, Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnegan and a Dean Thomas all support you. They questioned a Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown but they seemed too flighty to keep a secret so they only asked what they thought of you. The two of them went on about how wonderful you are, but hadn't heard Dumbbell's rumor yet. I got this report this morning but it's a day old. I should be getting daily reports now that we've gone muggle."
"Who wants to go to the beach?" Mark asked.
"I don't have a swim suit." Dudley answered, "Do we have money for that?"
"Money isn't really an issue." Mike grinned, "If you run out we'll just get you more. But I don't think you'll run out, Gringotts is being very generous."
"Aren't they just taking money from my vault?" Harry asked.
"No yours are frozen." Mike reminded him.
"Oh, I thought he meant mine were frozen except for a small allowance that we could get." Harry said, "I don't want to spend the Goblin's money."
"They are your guardians." Mark informed him, "It is a guardian's responsibility to oversee the health and happiness of their charges. To them this is a minor cost to get rid of the great Dumb one."
"I like all the nicknames we're giving him." Dudley snickered.
"I wonder how many we can give him." Harry snorted.
"I currently have a list with ten names on it." Mike waved his wand, "Dumbo, Dumbdork, Dumbbell, the great Dumb one, Dumby, Dumber than me, Dumb as a rock, Dumb as a door, Dumb and Dumber and last but not least, and my personal favorite…"
"You can't say that one." Mark interrupted, "They're just kids."
"Yes you can, tell us." Harry tried.
"No, absolutely not, you can't hear that one it's bad." Mark disagreed.
"Oh come on you've got me curious now." Harry whined.
"Maybe when you're older." Mike grinned and changed the subject, "Aren't we going to the beach?"
*******Point of View change**********
Albus sat in his seat as he surveyed his domain. The Wizengamot was preparing to leave, via portkey, to the offices of the International Confederation of Wizards, which was just another part of his domain. There they were to be part of a ceremony to celebrate the demise of Voldemort. He was sure he could convince everyone that he played the major role in the defeat of the dark wizard. With Harry permanently out of the picture no one would be able to contradict him. Dursley was a stupid whale but he had his uses, even if he didn't understand what was making him do it. When they arrived Albus stepped away from the group and went to his customary seat as the Supreme Mugwump.
"I'm sorry Sir." He was rebuffed from his seat, "For today you need to sit with the British contingent. This isn't a normal meeting."
"Fine." He wasn't pleased he much preferred the place of honor rather than being mixed in with the others. He returned to the seat and they began. The ICW host droned on about the evil of Voldemort and how the British wizards finally were able to stop him for good, before he reached out for the rest of the world. Then they invited Albus to tell them how they did it. He went on with a slightly embellished tail of how they got to the point where they could kill Voldemort, "Then with a spell I designed I forced him out of young Harry's body before he was ready and that caused him to have a seizure and die."
"The Goblin Nation begs to differ." The head of the contingent stood.
"What?" Albus glared at the beast, he hated the fact that he hadn't been able to kick them out of the ICW. Some nations actually thought they were near human enough to be there. He felt it was disgusting.
"The Goblin Nation begs to differ with your account of the event." He repeated, "We have evidence that you did nothing at all except sit there and watch Mr. Potter fight for his life."
"That's preposterous." Fudge yelled from their box, "That obnoxious, publicity seeking brat isn't capable of stopping a hippogriff let alone a powerful dark wizard. He makes all that stuff up for the attention."
"Stuff like Voldemort has a body back?" the Goblin asked sarcastically, "I think we've just found out he was right about that."
"I thought this wasn't a formal meeting." Albus stated from the podium.
"We are requesting a change." The Goblin stated, "We wish to formally charge the British with many things, is the ICW agreeable with the change?"
"I am assuming you have proof?" the American representative asked, he was one of the few aware of what was really going to happen today.
"Yes we have proof." The Goblin answered, "Who will chair the proceedings?"
"I will as always." Albus declared.
"You can't." the Goblin gave the wizard a toothy smile, "You are one of those being brought up on charges."
"The second is the French delegation, Jacque Delacour." The leader of the Germen delegation stated.
"Of course." Albus nearly growled as he stepped off the podium wondering what proof the Goblins could have possible gotten that would give them the guts to try and pull this.
Jacque took the seat of the Mugwump and indicated he was ready to begin. The announcer stood, "Here ye, this session in the six hundredth and seventy fourth year of the International Confederation of Wizards is now in session. This is meeting twenty six for this year, todays date is June thirtieth."
"Chair recognizes the complaint from the Goblin Nation and asks for charges and evidence." Jacque stated turning to the delegation of Goblins.
"Gladly." The goblin stepped from his box, "I am Ragnok chief of the Goblin Nation. Albus Dumbledore specifically is being charged with abuse and neglect of a minor in his charge, stealing from a minor, attempted murder of a minor and lying to receive awards and notoriety that do not belong to him. The rest of the British Ministry for Magic is being charged as accessories on those charges. Delores Umbridge is being charged with using a dark artifact to torture students in her care. Albus Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge are being charged as accomplices to the crime. The British Ministry for Magic is being charged as accessories. Cornelius Fudge is being charged with slander. The British Ministry for Magic is being charged as accessories. Dumbledore is not part of that charge since he was also being slandered. More charges may be leveled as the investigation continues."
"That is quite a lot." Jacque stated, "Evidence?"
Ragnok stepped back to his delegation's station and was handed a box. He stepped back to the podium and stated firmly, "I request the use of a pensieve and a committee to accompany me into the memories. We wish to view two now and the rest can be taken by the committee as there are several hours of memories."
"A summary of the two memories to be viewed please." Jacque ordered.
"The first shows Albus Dumbledore snapping a minor's wand and ordering a relative to do them harm, the memory belongs to the minor. The second shows the minor coming to Gringotts for money so that they could escape the abuse and, if Dumbledore is to be believed, the disdain of the entire British Magical society." Ragnok knew he had their attention now and Dumbledore was looking very angry.
"I demand to see this falsified evidence for myself." Albus yelled.
"It will be viewed by the committee and then it can be viewed by the British Delegation." Jacque stated, "That is standard procedure Dumbledore and you know it."
"Yes of course forgive me. The very idea that anyone would do something like that to a child sickens me. Manufactured evidence that makes it look like it was me made me lose my temper." He tried to bring back his grandfatherly mask.
"Try to keep it in check." Jacque glared at him, "We all feel the same way. If the evidence is manufactured the perpetrator will be prosecuted."
While the committee was preparing itself to enter the pensieve Dumbledore was busy sending patronus messages. The American delegation was watching him avidly. Once Dumbledore settled back to argue with his delegation one of the Americans notified the nearest ICW guard.
*******Point of View change**********
Kingsley Shacklebolt jumped from his desk and started to run from the Ministry, "Tonks, come on!"
Tonks jumped and followed him only tripping once. She caught up to him soon enough and asked, "What's going on?"
"Albus thinks Harry is in trouble we have to check on him." Kingsley grabbed her and apparated away. When they landed he continued as if they hadn't just jumped several dozen miles, "He's at that ICW conference and a seer told him to check."
"Let's hurry." Tonks had wanted to check up on Harry since her talk with the Goblins but they wouldn't allow her to. They were afraid it would hurt their investigation. They promised her he was safe.
In a matter of moments they were knocking on the door to number four Privet Drive. Petunia answered the door looking like she had been crying, "Did Dumbledore send you?"
"Yes." Kingsley answered, "Can we come in?"
"Yes I'm sure you'll need to see the scene of the crime." She sniffled, "Of course we aren't sure where the scene is ourselves."
"Can you tell me what happened?" Tonks asked gently.
"The freak kidnapped Dudders." She wailed.
