A/N – Harry Potter and the world, locations and characters his story is set in belong to JKR.

Thanks for all the reviews.

I'm looking for some cover art for this story, if any artists, budding or otherwise, are interested, please contact me via PM.

Chapter 8

Albus Dumbledore was sitting in the Great Hall eating his breakfast and having a last minute discussion with his Deputy before he left on his annual break from the school.

They had already covered the scheduled minor repairs to various parts of the school buildings and grounds, as well as the various supplies and equipment that would need replaced for the next term and it was now time to talk about the staff.

'As I am sure you are aware Minerva, Silvanus has finally decided to carry through with his threat to retire this year.' he stated.

'Oh dear, that means we have to find two new staff members this summer.' Minerva McGonagall said.

'Quite.' Dumbledore replied. 'I have already spoken to Hagrid about this, and he is prepared to take the Magical Creatures class if we are unable to procure a qualified replacement.'

'Are you sure Albus?' Minerva questioned him. 'You know what Hagrid is like. He just doesn't realise that what is safe for him, simply isn't safe for others, particularly not children.'

'I agree Minerva, hopefully we will be able to attract a suitable replacement. If we do not however, be assured that I shall speak to him about what is suitable for each year group to study.' Dumbledore reassured her.

'As for the Defence post, I believe I have that position filled already.'

'Really?' Minerva exclaimed. 'Already? That was quick. It normally takes you a while to fill the post.'

'Quite.' Dumbledore replied wryly. 'It was quite the lucky coincidence actually.

'I was already in correspondence with young Remus Lupin when Gilderoy was incapacitated. I mentioned what had happened in my next letter and that I was once again going to have to find a replacement. Remus responded by offering himself for the position if I could not find a better candidate.'

'Remus Lupin...' Minerva mused. 'That's a name I haven't heard in years.

'If I recall correctly, he pushed Lily hard for the top spot all the way through their years here. And he was truly talented at Defence. I don't think I've seen anyone else with his natural aptitude for the subject since.

'Yes Albus, I think young Remus might be just the person for the job if he is interested in taking it.'

'I am glad you agree with me Minerva.' Dumbledore said. 'However, we would need to gain the agreement of the rest of the staff before the position can be definitely offered to him.'

Minerva looked at him blankly for a minute before a look of understanding crossed her face.

'Oh, of course. His condition. I had forgotten all about that.

'Damn those bigots in the Ministry and Wizengamot for passing those anti-werewolf laws.

'Well, you leave the rest of the staff to me Albus. I'll talk to them and get their agreement. And I'll speak with Poppy about making sure we have suitable arrangements in place for the nights in question.

'I will also speak to Severus about making the Wolfsbane Potion for him.'

'Very well then Minerva.' Dumbledore said. 'I shall leave the search for suitable candidates for the Creatures class up to you. As well as the finalisation of Remus's employment as the Defence Professor once you have the agreement of the rest of the staff.

'But now I believe it is time for me to leave on my break.'

As he finished speaking, a large, black owl entered the Great Hall and headed directly towards him. Landing on the table in front of him, it held out one of its legs for him to remove the envelope which was attached to it.

Seeing the Gringotts seal on the letter, Dumbledore decided he should read the letter immediately, rather than put it off till later. He quickly opened and read it there at the table.

'Anything important Albus?' asked Minerva, having noticed the Gringotts seal on the envelope.

'No, no, my dear. Nothing too important.' Dumbledore quickly answered. 'Just a request for clarification on a minor matter. I will drop by Gringotts this morning and clear it up before I leave.'


Leaving the apparition point in Diagon Alley Dumbledore started making his way towards Gringotts, stopping every now and again to take a closer look at something in a shop window or to exchange pleasantries with someone.

He wasn't in a very good mood, but his long, flowing beard served well to conceal his annoyance at being summoned by a mere goblin. The fact that this particular goblin did in fact have the authority to summon him, Albus Dumbledore, due to being the Potter Account Manager, only served to increase his irritation.

Perhaps it was time to remind this goblin of just who he was dealing with. A subtle reminder of the difficulties he could create for the goblins in general might suffice. Along with making the point that would not be averse to making it known that those difficulties were due to his annoyance with a particular goblin.

Yes, he smirked as he started up the steps into the bank. That should be enough to bring this Ironfist to heal.

Entering the bank, he stepped up to an unoccupied teller.

'I have an appointment with Account Manager Ironfist.' he stated while keeping a genial expression on his face. 'Please advise him that I am here.'


He had to work hard to keep the sneer off his face as he followed the goblin down the hallway. Really, the goblins had fallen a long way. Wandless and having allowed their warrior heritage to fall by the wayside, they were going to be easy to deal with when the time came.

Why they ever allowed themselves to become businessmen and gave up their wand rights he just couldn't understand.

Still, it would make things easier in the long term for himself, so he wasn't going to complain.

Entering the office as he was announced, he plastered an insincere smile on his face.

'Account Manager Ironfist.' he said. 'It is a pleasure to see you.'

'As it is to see you Mr. Dumbledore.' Ironfist replied. 'Please be seated.

'Would you care for some refreshments before we begin.'

'No thank you,' Dumbledore answered. 'I am not long finished breakfast and I am anxious to be on my way for my annual break. If we could settle our business here quickly I would appreciate it.'

'Very well Mr. Dumbledore.' Ironfist began. 'As you are aware, I was appointed to take over the Potter Accounts in January when my predecessor Shatterstone died.

'Since then, I have been going over the Potter Accounts in order to familiarise myself with them.

'I have also conducted a full Audit of the Accounts during this time.'

I knew it, thought Dumbledore to himself. The little shit is looking for a bigger bribe.

He's known since our first conversation that I was playing around with the Account, so now he think he's found something that he can use to push for a bigger slice of the pie.

'As we are both aware, Mr. Dumbledore,' Ironfist continued. 'Since our first conversation, I have been receiving a modest sum in my account each month. With the implicit expectation that I would remain silent about the activity on the Potter Account.'

Dumbledore sat and said nothing, the smile on his face however was fading away and his anger began to get the better of him.

'Since then however,' Ironfist said. 'I have discovered that you have been removing sums of money from Mr. Potter's Trust Vault each month. And that you have also removed a number of items of value from his Vault.'

Yes, thought Dumbledore, he's definitely looking for a bigger bribe.

'I am sure we can come to some sort of an agreement over this.' Dumbledore began.

'I am not sure that we can Mr. Dumbledore.' Ironfist interrupted him.

'You may currently hold the position of Mr. Potter's Guardian. But Mr. Potter is the Account Holder, and I do not believe he will be happy at discovering what has been happening with his Account.'

'And Mr. Potter will not be discovering what has been happening.' Dumbledore broke in as his anger got the better of him and subtlety deserted him. 'After all, you wouldn't want your own activities to be uncovered. Or your own personal Account to be audited, now would you.

'Now, why don't you state what exactly you want. Or will I simply remove both the Dumbledore and Potter Accounts from Gringotts and allow the bank to fail as the rest of the Wizarding World follows suit.'

Ironfist started at him for a minute before giving a short barking laugh.

'Is that supposed to be a threat Mr. Dumbledore?' he asked. 'Because if it is, it is a singularly unimpressive one.

'You may of course, close your own personal Account here at Gringotts at any time you wish.

'You may not close someone else's Account for them however. Nor may you close a Family Account unless you are that Families Head of House.

'As you are not the Head of House for either the Dumbledore Family or the Potter Family, you do not have the authority to close either of those Accounts.

'And only Mr. Potter may close his personal Trust Vault, which he would be required to do in person, here at Gringotts, if he chose to do so.

'Your threat, therefore, is an empty one.'

Dumbledore forced himself to restrain his temper. It was obvious now, that this goblin knew far too much that could hurt him if it became public. He would never have spoken to him in this way if he didn't. He obviously thought he had him, Albus Dumbledore, on the rack and could gouge him for as much as he wanted.

But he'd been on the rack before and was an expert at twisting words to convince people to believe what he said and ignore the actual evidence. He just had to play along with this goblin for now and he could see about getting rid of him later.

'Very well,' Dumbledore said. 'I repeat, what exactly do you want?'

'Your head on a pike at the entrance to the bank.' snarled Ironfist, suddenly looking every inch the warrior.

'Although I doubt that will happen.' He continued. 'I expect I shall have to be satisfied with your incarceration and service within the dragon pens.'

Dumbledore blinked at the sudden change in tone in the meeting as Ironfist reached out and touched an ornament on his desk.

Realisation came just as the door to the office opened and Ragnock himself entered along with a number of armed guards. The shock was compounded as he saw Amelia Bones and Remus Lupin enter the office behind the guards.

'What is the meaning of this?' he blustered as he rose to his feet and turned to face them.

Ragnock stepped forward.

'Albus Dumbledore, you are under arrest for breaking Goblin Law within Gringotts.

'You are charged with bribing a Goblin Account Manager, attempting to bribe a Goblin Account Manager, illegally removing items from a Vault which is not your own, illegally removing money from an Account which is not your own and tampering with official Gringotts mail. You are to be held and questioned by the Goblin Nation until such time as your trial takes place.'

Dumbledore paled even as his mind raced.

'You can't do this. I am the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and the Supreme Mugwump of the ICW. You can't arrest me like this.'

He looked at Amelia, surely she wouldn't let this stand.

Amelia Bones stepped forward to stand beside Ragnock.

'Albus Dumbledore, you are under arrest for breaking Wizarding Law.

'You are charged with subverting the Will of an Ancient and Noble House, false imprisonment of the Heir of an Ancient and Noble House, conspiracy to commit child abuse and attempted Line Theft.'

As he heard the charges he almost collapsed. They knew! How did they find out? How was he going to get out of this? Wait! Amelia was charging him under Wizarding Law, that meant she would take him to the Ministry for questioning. That meant he could still talk his way out of this.

Then he heard her next words.

'As you are already in the custody of the Goblin Nation, you will remain in their custody while you are questioned and until such time as your trial.

'Do you have anything you wish to say at this time?'

Dumbledore stared at her while he thought quickly.

Ironfist and Ragnock, six armed guards plus Amelia and Remus. The goblins wouldn't be a problem he was sure. Amelia and Remus might put up a bit of a fight but he was confident he could overcome them. The problem was how many guards might be waiting outside the door. Given how this had been arranged he was almost certain there would be too many for even him to overcome.

He slowly straightened to his full height, his thoughts flying.

Once he got out of here, he would have to go to Privet Drive immediately and retrieve the boy before the goblins or the Ministry got to him. They had obviously only left him there to avoid raising his suspicions.

Then they would both have to go into hiding until the proper time came.

'I am afraid that I am going to have to spoil your delusions Amelia.' he said as he reached out along the link to Fawkes.

'I have no intention of spending time in prison. I could break out of course. But, quite frankly, it would be a waste of my time. Time that I could spend doing much more important things.'

'I guess that means that resisting arrest will be added to the charges then.' said Amelia with a smirk just as Fawkes flamed into view.

Dumbledore saw the smirk as he reached up and grasped Fawkes leg.

Wait? Why was she smirking when he was about to escape her. Then he felt the usual flare of heat of Phoenix travel but when it cleared he was still in the office.

'I guess that means that the Phoenix Wards are back up then.' remarked Remus.

The smirk on Ragnock's face was all the confirmation Dumbledore needed. Dam those goblins for inventing magic that Wizards didn't have.

Ok, he was going to have to do this the hard way then. He reached for his wand. Only to hesitate before his hand got halfway there as the point of a blade pressed against his spine. Before he could decide what to do, a second, then a third blade came to rest against his sides. Two more guards then stepped in front of him with the tip of their swords coming to rest against his chest.

Ragnock stepped around the guards, carefully not interfering with them and their swords. He reached into a pocket and removed Dumbledore's wand.

'I think that I'll just remove this temptation from you for now Dumbledore.

'I believe that it just remains for you to be handcuffed before you can be taken to the cells for processing.'

Dumbledore's heart sank as he spotted another goblin stepping forward with rune covered handcuffs in his hands and an ominous looking smile on its face.


'Well, that went better than I expected it to.' said Remus as he took a seat in Ragnock's office.

'Much better.' replied Ragnock. 'You are to be commended Ironfist. Your suggestion of allowing you to speak with him first, and for you to anger him before we made our entry proved to be appropriate.

'You had him sufficiently off balance that the arrest was made significantly easier.

'I shall arrange for a suitable bonus to made to you for the risk that you took in doing so.'

'Thank you my Chief.' replied Ironfist. 'It was my honour to serve.'

'Now,' Ragnock continued. 'We can begin to act slightly more openly.

'The guards at the Dursley house can be recalled and the boy placed in the hands of the appropriate muggle authorities.

'We can also track down where the mail redirection on Mr. Potter is taking his mail and take possession of any that remains there, before we remove the redirection and replace it with one which delivers his mail to Ironfist for sorting.

'We can also begin our investigation of the Chamber at Hogwarts.'

'And I'll be able to see about getting Sirius out of Azkaban and into a cell at the Ministry while I complete my investigation of how he ended up there.' added Amelia.

'But we have more important things to discuss right now.' she continued. 'How's Harry doing?'

Remus perked up at that.

'Quite well actually.' he said. 'He's not exactly comfortable right now I'm afraid. While the Healer's are happy with his progress in general, they've decided that three of his bones need to be vanished and re-grown. They've decided to do them individually and they vanished the first one this morning.'

'Ouch.' said Amelia. 'That's not a pleasant process. And I can say that from experience.'

'No, it's not.' replied Remus. 'But he's been through it before when that idiot Lockhart managed to vanish the bones in his arm after a Quidditch match. So at least he knows what he's facing.

'At least this time it's through choice. The Healer's told him he could leave things as they were, which would leave a weak point in his bones where they had been broken before. Or they could re-break the bones again and set them properly. Or they could vanish them and re-grow them fully.

'He chose the last option.'

'Good.' Amelia said. 'I'm sure the Healers were happy he took that option as well.

'Did you manage to have that discussion about his schoolwork with him?' she asked.

'I did.' Remus replied. 'And it was pretty much as we had expected.

'Held back at the Dursley's to try and keep out of trouble.

'Held back at Hogwarts partly out of habit and partly because he was afraid of losing his new friends.

'I think I managed to get through to him about doing his best, I'm certain that I've at least got him thinking about it. But it'll probably need a few more conversations to make sure.

'I told him how I got his Dad to put the effort in at school and it seemed to catch his interest.'

'Oh...' Amelia inquired with a raised eyebrow. Remus grinned back at her.

'I bet James, Sirius and Peter that I would beat them in each subject.' he said. 'And put down a galleon a subject on it.'

Amelia laughed.

'Good one. That pair would bet on whether the sun would come up in the morning, and whether it would rise in the east or the west for that matter. And of course, Peter wouldn't want to be left out of it either.'

'Exactly. Now, we'd have to modify the idea a bit for Harry to use it.' Remus said.

'The Granger girl, Hermione, I seem to recall that her parents are fairly affluent. Not in the Potter's league of course, but with both parents being Dentists they should have a reasonable income.' he glanced over at Ragnock, who just nodded without giving any specifics.

'I would assume that means that she could easily afford to make a bet with Harry along the same lines as I did with his Dad.

'And although I haven't met the girl myself, from what Harry has said about her I think she would take it as a challenge and wouldn't be upset with him if he did beat her in some of the subjects.'

'That's pretty much my impression of her as well.' said Amelia. 'She's been top of her year both years, but she hasn't been number one in every subject.

'Harry is top of the year in Defence, Neville Longbottom in Herbology and Draco Malfoy in Potions. Although I'm not certain that the Potions result can be trusted.'

'True.' said Remus. 'Given what Harry's said about Potions and Snape there's a pretty major bias going on there, although whether it's affecting the actual grades given I don't know.

'However, to get back on subject. While I don't see Hermione being an issue to convincing Harry to study properly, the Weasley boy, Ron, is another matter.

'Right now, Ron is probably one of the worst people Harry could be friends with.'

Amelia looked surprised and opened her mouth to speak. But Remus spoke before she could.

'Let me finish please Amelia.' he said.

'I know Arthur and Molly Weasley. Not particularly well I must admit. But I do know them. They are good people, hard workers, always willing to lend a hand to anyone who needs it.

'Ron on the other hand. Well, there's been a few flashes of the man Ron will grow into. The chess set when they went to confront Quirrell and when his sister was taken last month.

'But right now, from reading between the lines of what Harry has told me this last week, Ron is an immature, jealous, lazy prat.'

Amelia stared at him in amazement.

'I'm not trying to be cruel here Amelia.' Remus continued. 'I think Ron will likely grow up to be a decent man, but he's not done that yet.

'He's jealous of Harry's fame although he manages to keep it under control most of the time. He's jealous of Harry's money, even though he had a better idea of how wealthy Harry is than Harry did until he arrived here last week.

'He's also wants to be known as more than just the youngest Weasley boy, but isn't interested in putting in the effort to make that happen. Harry told me that Ron saw himself in that Mirror, standing on his own, Head Boy, Quidditch Captain, holding the Quidditch Trophy and House Cup, yet he makes no effort with his schoolwork which means he has no chance of being Head Boy, and didn't bother even putting his name down for the team Trials so has no chance of even getting on the team, never mind being Captain.'

'I see what you mean.' Amelia mused.

'The problem is that he's Weasley. He simply doesn't have the money to be able to make the same kind of bet with Harry that Hermione can. And you can be sure that the Weasley pride would stop him accepting anything that looks like charity which would give him the funds to enable it.'

'Yes, that could be a problem.' Amelia said.

'Actually,' Ragnock interjected. 'I may have a possible solution, at least in the short term.'

The others looked at him with the question open on their faces.

'As you may recall, the Weasley girl, Ginevra, requires treatment which Dumbledore failed to provide.

'On contacting her eldest brother, William, who is currently employed at our Egyptian branch, it was discovered that the entire family, minus the second oldest who is currently working in Romania, will be going to Egypt on holiday for several weeks.

'William will be raising the subject of Miss Weasley's treatment while they are there.

'I see no reason why the other brother's, who are all still attending Hogwarts, could not be given the opportunity to earn themselves some funds while they are there.

'This would have the added benefit of assuring the Weasley parents that their younger sons were being adequately supervised, while they themselves would be able to attend to their daughter.'

'That sounds like an excellent idea Ragnock.' Amelia said. 'And it deals with two separate issue's in a single move.

'Although I'm not sure that giving the Weasley twins access to funds is perhaps the best move we could make for the staff at Hogwarts, if even half the stories Susan has told me about them are true.

'You'll have to warn whoever is picked to supervise those two that they are probably the best pranksters Hogwarts has seen, with the possible exception of the Mauraders themselves.'

'I will be sure to pass that message on.' Ragnock said dryly.

'However, We all have business to getting on with. Is there anything we need to cover just now.'

'Actually Ragnock, there's a potential problem with Hogwarts that we haven't discussed as yet.' Remus said.

Ragnock, Amelia and Ironfist all looked at him, puzzled.

'I meant to mention it earlier, but we got side tracked when Amelia asked about Harry.

'It's been nagging at the back of my mind for the last few days, but didn't really get my attention until my talk with Harry yesterday about his schoolwork.'

The others continued to look at him.

'The other teachers I can understand I suppose. Not all of them have had much if any contact with Harry, but the four Heads of House? Each of them is responsible for the students in their House. They are expected to keep an eye on them and spot any trouble they are having or get into and help them out.

'The four of them also receive training before they take on the position, and refresher training every few years on how to spot and deal with child abuse.'

Sudden understanding was etched on the faces of the other three.

'Then there's Poppy Pomfrey. She's a trained Healer, specialising in children. Again, she is trained in how to spot and deal with child abuse. And it's not as if Harry hasn't spent time in her care. She has to have notice the old injuries and the malnutrition.

'So why hasn't one of them done something about Harry before now?

'I mean, if it was only one of them, I could understand that they simply didn't see the signs.

'But five of them?

'That suggests that they are either in on whatever it is Dumbledore is up to. Or he has some sort of control over what they see or do. Or both.'

'Damn.' was all Amelia had to say.