Chapter 7

The first week had flown by without much incident; Ron had tried to make Harry feel bad again but Dean had cut him off before Ron could get close enough. Harry and Bella spent most of their free time together and with their friends; they had amassed quite a group including the twins, Susan, Hannah, Dean, Seamus, Ginny and Justin Finch-Fletchley.

It was the morning after the welcoming feast when the woman in the pink cardigan showed up and gave her speech about the declining standards at Hogwarts and how the Minister had seen it fit for her to be the new defence professor which caused Harry to chuckle.

So far she hadn't said anything inflammatory to Harry but he found the coursework terribly boring and useless. Hermione and Ron had gotten themselves detentions when they asked about practical applications of spells and started an argument with the woman. Harry shook his head; Sirius had managed to help Harry curb his tendency to flare up in a rage, instead he ran. Every morning for an hour and thought about his next move or how he would react in certain scenarios.

It was the last class on Friday where he sat watching Hermione go toe to toe with a Professor for the second time that week and wondered why she couldn't do it against Dumbledore. He missed her as his friend but she had neglected him this summer and he still hurt from it.

"Sit down Ms Granger!" the woman shouted for what seemed like the fourth time for the class

"A war is coming!" Hermione shouted back "Tell her Harry" she looked to him for help

"I have nothing to say Professor" he said raising his hands in a calming and non-aggressive manner

"Harry! Voldemort is back and he is after you" Hermione shouted

"The Aurors are more than capable Ms Granger. Now sit down and that'll be another 50 points from Gryffindor!" she smirked when Hermione seemed defeated

"Well done Granger you've lost Gryffindor 500 points in one week" Malfoy laughed

The class continued reading their books but Harry had put his occlumency book on the inside and continued reading that instead. Practicing his breathing had become second nature to him and focusing had become easy. It clicked then, the piece of Voldemort's soul had been affecting him more than he remembered or suspected. He pulled out a new piece of parchment and wrote down everything that had changed for him

Focusing easier

Sleeping better

No headaches

Much less angry

No nightmares

No visions

No scar pains

Folding the note and slipping it in his pocket once class ended he decided to find Bella before their next classes to give her the note.

"Harry wait up" Dean called

"What's the matter Dean?" he asked

"Nothing, we have Herbology next with the Puffs I thought we could sit together?" he asked

"Sure I forgot Herbology was next. I wanted to find Bella first" he smiled

"Okay, so why didn't you help Hermione out? She is right" he asked

"Dean does Professor Umbridge seem like a reasonable person to you?" he asked in return

"Not particularly. You'd have a better chance with Snape" Dean scoffed

"Exactly, so why would I try and help Hermione when she is choosing a losing battle?" he asked the taller boy

"So you mean we need to come up with an indirect plan?" Dean asked

"Exactly, tact is all we need Dean" he said walking into the greenhouse and found Bellatrix

"Hi you" he smiled

"Hey" she smiled back at him

He passed her the note that he had made and then class had started. Neville had been tutoring the group in Herbology so everything had been going much smoother this year for Professor Sprout in her Gryffindor/Hufflepuff class.

Sirius had finally gone to the Gringotts to sort out the Potter and Black estates on the last day of September. He walked into the bank and asked to see both the Potter and Black account managers; the teller was reluctant to have this request fulfilled but once Sirius showed the Goblin the keys he rushed off and set the meeting room.

"Mr Black, welcome. I've been waiting for your visit" Shortsaw grinned

"I, however, did not expect to be summoned" Griphook scoffed

"The Potter and Black families provide Gringotts a lot of business, so I will summon my account managers when I see fit" he said sitting straighter in his seat

"Apologies Mr Black I did not intend to cause friction" Griphook smiled now

"That's fine. I would like full statements for both accounts, all payments to be stopped immediately, all access to both accounts to be restricted to myself and Harry James Potter, access to the black account to be given to Bellatrix Black" he said and watched the Goblins get to work

An hour later he emerged from the bank having finished his business and thoroughly irritated Griphook with his superior demeanour. He sat down at his favourite table at Florean's and had some ice cream and read through the statements; the Black statements were dormant for 12 years only bank fees being withdrawn every month, recently he saw all his purchases to fix up Grimmauld place and treat the two teens. It was a straight forward account unlike the Potter account which was split into three separate accounts; a trust account for Harry, a jewels account and the main account. Sirius looked at the Jewels account and saw that it was basically a listing of jewels the Potter's had collected over the years but no movement had happened for the last 50 years. The main account had a management fee for the trust account and the jewel account added on to the main account which was charged every month on the last day and a payment to the trust account at the beginning of every year.

Then came the trust account which simply made Sirius mad, almost as mad as the night he went after Peter. Every year the entire vault was cleaned out, which was impossible because Sirius had known how much James had spent at Hogwarts and they had lived quite lavishly as a group of four off half of the amount Harry was receiving.

He finished his ice cream and went over to the book store

"Good afternoon Mr Black how can I help you?" the attendant smiled sweetly at him

"I'd like to know how my godson spends so much on books every year?" he demanded

"Uhm let me open the Potter account history" she said clearly intimidated by his anger "It seems that this year he purchased significantly decreased and last year he purchased 2 sets of fourth year Hogwarts curriculum books, 2 fifth year and 1 third year." She said and handed him a copy of the purchases

"Thank you and I apologise for the anger" he said and stormed to the next shop. Every shop was the same story and as the evidence mounted so did Sirius' anger. He checked the last line of the statement for every year and went back to the bank.

"I need to see Griphook" he demanded

Once he was led through to the office of the account manager and the door was shut he started shouting at the Goblin who shrunk lower and lower into his seat

"Whose account does the balance of the trust fund go into?" he demanded hoarsely

"Chief Warlock Dumbledore" the Goblin answered without checking anything. Sirius got up and made to leave but he turned back

"He was a child! Is a child! And you done nothing to protect him or advise him" Sirius shouted and then stormed out. He arrived at the Burrow a few minutes later and found Molly and Arthur at home.

"Ahh Sirius welcome" Arthur smiled

"I am disgusted in your family!" he started "Harry needed protection and loved, if you felt it necessary that he pay for it then you could have asked Dumbledore" Sirius quickly realised that Arthur was completely lost but one look at Molly answered all Sirius' question

"Stay away from him, I cannot believe it. I really can't" he said and apparated home