This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy.

For different reasons, Professor Sprout and Director Bones visit Gringotts and both of them meet Harry Potter.

Chapter 9: Sprout and Bones in Gringotts

The summer sun lingered in the sky over Diagon Ally as most visitors fled the hot cobblestones. Folks would return for supper at different establishments in ally in several hours but for the next part of the day, the ally would be deserted. From the Leaky Cauldron entrance, Pomona Sprout made her way quickly across the paved street – the sunshine hurt the new skin of her scars and the hat she wore didn't provide enough shade.

At the apparition spot, Amelia Bones and her guard appeared; they were returned to London from Hogwarts and she'd decided to venture into Gringotts first. As they stepped off the pad, she called Hesta Jones to her side.

"Auror Jones, does your magic mean so little to you?"

"My magic? What do you mean, Director?"

Amelia raised a single eyebrow and explained, "I saw the private conference you had with Dumbledore in the hall before he asked me to investigate the disappearance of the half-giant."

The young woman blushed but didn't comment on the director's words.

"Now I doubt he asked you on a date or inquired after your sick mother – he has little consideration for the people he uses for his own purposes."

"Director, the headmaster is a great man…"

Amelia nodded, "And he understands the power of oaths, don't you think?"

The woman nodded but still didn't understand the director's train of thought.

"Consider what would happen if you revealed confidential information from an investigation to the headmaster? Would your oath as an Auror forgive you for breaching the confidentiality of a victim?"

Hesta Jones did argue against Director Bones comment this time, saying, "But he is the head of the Wizengamot, he's your boss!"

Amelia laughed and motioned the other members of her guard to her side, "Dumbledore in the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. He is a bureaucrat and he is NOT in your chain of command. If you – or any other Auror – tell him information about an investigation after this moment, I declare you in violation of your oath. Please make certain every Auror hears that news."

"Yes Director," replied each member of the team.

"And Jones," Amelia concluded, "tomorrow, report to the duty desk for two weeks of patrol assignments before you'll be in my duty team again."

"Yes, Director," the chastened Auror replied. "Thank you, Director."

Meeting in the lobby, Amelia Bones greeted Pomona Sprout and inquired after her injuries. The two women joined the queues but were quickly invited back to a private office where Sprout's request to meet with Felicity Grossman was granted easily and Bones remained to speak with Ironstream.

*(+++++)*

Ironstream's Conversation with Director Bones

"The Cerberus caused a great deal of damage to the staff and the Aurors who finally killed it," Ironstream observed.

"Yes, it did,"

"And yet the mastermind behind the creature's presence in a school remains in his position – Gringotts has lowered our estimation of the average level of intelligence of the witches and wizards in Magical Britain again."

The director looked away for a moment but made no other comment.

"And what brings you to my office today, Director Bones?"

"The mastermind declines to come and make an inquiry as to the location of a missing employee. Since it is a missing person's request, the DMLE is involved."

"The director herself is handling missing persons case?"

Amelia smiled, "I wanted to deflate the notion that Dumbledore could make use of any Auror for any personal mission…"

Ironstream nodded his head to acknowledge her tactic but then asked, "Which of the persons sent to Gringotts by Dumbledore this week are you concerned about?"

"My formal request is to determine the location of the half-giant Rubeus Hagrid. He is the groundskeeper at Hogwarts."

"On 31 July, Mr. Hagrid escorted the young Harry Potter into the lobby and inquired about making a withdrawal from the Potter Trust Vault to purchase Mr. Potter's school uniforms, trunk, books, and other items."

"And?"

While he was here, I sent him to the dragon pens…"

The director of the DMLE sat upright, a dark expression appearing on her face, "Hagrid does not have an ounce of malice in his body? Why did you feed him to the dragons?"

The goblin laughed, "Director Bones, Rubeus Hagrid met our dragons and they fell in love with the half-giant. He is now the official dragon handler in our dungeons. Only yesterday, he assisted with the hatching of several new dragons, and talked us into retiring our old dragons to the preserve in Rumania rather that slaughtering them for potion ingredients."

"How did he do that?"

"Hagrid demonstrated several techniques that transform the dragon droppings into even more potent fertilizer. We will sell the old dragons to the preserve for several tonnes of fresh dragon droppings. The improved fertilizer will increase sales by a factor of five and make Mr. Hagrid one of our most profitable employees this year."

Amelia Bones laughed aloud for the first time in several days. The first week of August had been very difficult with the fires and the damage to Hogwarts. She'd been one of the officials to demand the delay of the opening of the school until the repairs were complete – otherwise Dumbledore would never have completed the repairs.

"Now, do you have any questions about Harry Potter?"

The unexpected question from Ironstream caught Amelia Bones off guard.

She carefully asked, "Why should the DMLE be interested in Harry Potter at this point in time? Did his guardian make any requests for assistance you can't provide?"

"His guardian?" the goblin asked with a disgusted tone evident in his voice. "The young wizard has never met his magical guardian and his muggle guardian neglected and abused him somewhat."

"Abused? Who the Merlin…" Amelia paused and then asked, "Who is his magical guardian?"

"Albus Percival Brian Wulfric Dumbledore is the cantankerous wizard's name," the goblin replied.

Standing to pace back and forth, Amelia found herself cursing the Headmaster soundly. She finally returned to the chair and bowed her head, "I beg your indulgence for losing my temper, Ironstream."

"I believe you were very restrained – nothing was damaged by uncontrollable magic."

"How bad is it? Is the boy well?"

"A witch working as a healer for Gringotts performed an examination of the boy and she filed the necessary papers with the correct departments at the ministry to sever the previous, neglectful magical guardian's rights. She also severed the rights of the muggle guardians. Since these motions occurred within the confines of Gringotts…"

"There's nothing the ministry can do to counteract them," Director Bones said to affirm the goblin's position. "May I see the medical report? I can signoff on the motion and that will weaken any later moves by the minster or the headmaster to change the guardianship."

"Gringotts welcomes your review but we intend to remain responsible for Heir Potter until he reaches his majority," Ironstream said as he handed the parchment that listed the wounds, broken bones and corrections required to make the child healthy to the Director of the DMLE.

He added, "I understand the delay in the opening of Hogwarts will allow Healer Grossman to complete almost every procedure she wanted to heal Heir Potter and spur his growth to norms for eleven-year-old wizards."

Amelia finished reading the report and asked, "A diamond chip embedded in his forehead made the famous scar?"

The goblin nodded. "We believe it was from the ring that Lady Lily Potter was wearing when she was killed. The ring was recovered from Lady Potter's body ten years ago with the stone was damaged in a blast."

"From where the Dark Lord's spell reflected back on himself," Amelia mused and Ironstream did not correct her assumption. "Now, may I meet Heir Potter?"

Ironstream's face brightened and he said, "That is an excellent idea Director Bones. You can witness his taking up his ring as heir to the Potter name, vaults and estate. Then there can be no question in the ministry."

The healer wrote her report and per Ministry mandates, severed all claims of the previous muggle guardians and the absent magical guardian.

*(+++++)*

Sprout and Grossman Talk

In another part of Gringotts, Pomona Sprout sat with Felicity Grossman after the healer examined her wounds and scars.

"This salve and face cream will reduce the scars to fine lines within two weeks, Professor. You will need to complete the physical therapy proscribed by the healers at St. Mungo's to rebuild the muscle in your hands, arms, and back, but by the first of the year, you will have the full range of motion once again."

"Thank you! Thank you so much. I hated the idea of not being able to do the work I enjoy so much or facing these scars every morning for the rest of my life. I will pay full value for the potions but how else can I repay you for your kindness?"

Felicity paused for a moment and then asked, "Thank you, and there is a favour I would ask but it requires your discretion and confidence."

"Whatever you need," Pomona assured her healer.

"There is a young patient of mine here who will need someone to take him to get his robes for Hogwarts around 15 October; I don't want him measured for robes before then."

"Certainly, I will be glad to help. What about his wand? Or his books?"

"We took care of the books the other day and I will take him to get his wand before then. His magical core must settle before he visits with Mr. Ollivander for a wand."

"Who is this patient?"

"Harry Potter…" Felicity replied when a rune began flashing on her desk. She tapped the rune with her wand and appeared to listen to a message that Professor Sprout could not hear. Once finished, Healer Grossman smile and rose from her chair.

"Come along with me and meet Harry. We've been summoned to Ironstream's office to introduce Harry to Director Bones of the DMLE.

*(+++++)*

Harry Potter was in heaven though from the books he'd been reading this week, witches and wizards believe in some place called 'Avalon' rather than heaven. He grinned thinking about all the things he had seen and read this week – he'd met lots of goblins, smart wizard and powerful witches who healed his old wounds and removed his scars. Best of all, he'd seen baby dragons hatching in the deepest chambers under Gringotts where Hagrid worked now.

Hurrying through the corridors between his apartment and Ironstream's office, Harry dodged goblins with loads of gold, bolts of expensive cloth and a few baskets filled with heirlooms and charmed items – the contents of someone's vault were being moved manually – the goblins were able to charge the wizard who used the vault when they performed the move with manual labour rather than a simple magical spell.

Outside the door, Harry paused and knocked.

"Enter," Ironstream called and Harry turned the door knob and entered the room. As soon as he saw the two unknown witches, he put his new training and formal language that Felicity was drilling into him.

"Account Manager Ironstream, you requested my presence?"

"I did indeed Heir Potter," the goblin replied. "I must introduce you to these two witches."

Motioning toward the first witch, Ironstream said, "This is Amelia Bones, Director of the DMLE and the head of House Bones. Her niece will begin her first year at Hogwarts with you."

"I am very glad to meet you, Director Bones," Harry replied with a polite bow of his head.

Motioning at the other woman, Ironstream said, "And this witch is Pomona Sprout, Mistress of Herbology and Professor of Herbology at Hogwarts."

"Again, I am very glad to meet you, Professor Sprout," Harry repeated and added the bow of his head.

"It is nice to meet you Harry," Professor Sprout said. "And I must say, you have the look of your father with your mother's eyes."

Harry smiled politely but did not comment on the resemblance everyone thought they saw to James and Lily Potter. Director Bones was silent at first but then said, "Ironstream, I believe you wished for Pomona and me to witness Heir Potter's investiture with the Heir's ring."

"Yes, Director. When your niece took up her ring two months ago, Professor McGonagall and Minister Fudge were the witnesses here in the bank."

Now Ironstream tapped his desk again and the large wall behind them brightened with the Potter crest and an ornate box appeared on the desktop. The goblin opened the box and offered it to both Bones and Sprout to examine.

"Yes, this is the Potter heir ring and the family magics do confirm they are active," Bones reported, and Sprout agreed. They would be able to testify truthfully at any inquest by anyone challenging the boy's inheritance.

Now Ironstream handed the box to Felicity who smiled at her patient. "Harry James Potter, your family magics call for you to wear this ring and learn about your history, your magic and your place in the magical world."

She took the ring from the box and placed on her charge's ring finger. Harry stared at the ring as the stone grew bright for a moment and then resized the ring to fit on his smaller finger.

"Congratulations, Heir Potter!" called everyone in the room.

*(+++++)*

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