Chapter 51

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Not wanting to obliviate his friend himself, Hadrian contacted Robbards.

"What do you want to do?" Robbards asked. "I'm willing to obliviate all knowledge of you being in England from her but that would spell the total end of your friendship if she ever finds out. You, Ron and Hermione used to be best friends, isn't it worth trying to save some of that.

"I'd like to but I want to be able to sleep at night and move around muggle London without worrying about my safety and Tim's safety while we're here. Hermione might be willing to promise not to tell anyone but one question from Ron and she'll spill everything. We can't get around her marriage vows" Hadrian explained.

"How much longer are you going to be here?" Robbards asked.

"We have meetings through until Friday" Tim replied. He was attending all meetings with Hadrian, the one's with magical people he attended under Hadrian's invisibility cloak.

"Well what about you set up a meeting with Ron and Hermione for Friday, they can come to my office at six and pick up the portkey for wherever you want to set the meeting and I'll have them checked for tracking charms and escorted to the portkey area so that nobody can tag along?" Robbards suggested. "Then we can obliviate Hermione of this meeting so the only thing she remembers is to come and collect the portkey on Friday."

"It sounds like a good idea. I would like to get the opportunity to meet your childhood friends other than Neville" Tim encouraged.

"I want you to disarm both of them before you give them the portkey" Hadrian said.

"They aren't going to like it" Robbards commented.

"And I'm not going to let an armed man near Tim or the kids until I know he isn't going to try to hurt him" Hadrian said uncompromisingly. "And you know leaving Hermione armed is the same thing as leaving Ron his wand. So either they need to be disarmed or they need to swear a magical vow not to harm me or anyone else with me when they arrive."

"Are you going to have the kids there?" Tim asked.

"Maybe not at first, but nearby with Tollie so if things go well we can introduce them" Hadrian said.

"That sounds like a plan" Tim agreed.

"Ask her to bring her daughter too" Hadrian said.

"They're definitely not going to be willing to come unarmed if their baby is with them" Tim said.

"Hadrian sighed. "Yeah you're right" he agreed. "Tell her not to bring the baby."

Robbards side-along apparated Hermione to the ministry and obliviated her planting in her head the compulsion for her to arrange overnight babysitting for her baby and then bring her husband to the ministry to see Robbards at six o'clock on Friday.

Hermione looked at him furiously. "I was looking for Harry. Why am I here?" she demanded.

"Because Harry is working a case and I can't have civilians getting in the way. If you return on Friday and the case is over, then you'll be able to visit him" Robbards said firmly. "And Mrs Weasley, your family is the main reason I chose Potter for the overseas assignment. He couldn't work efficiently with all their interference so if you show up and interfere with the case again I will have you and any other Weasley involved arrested and you'll spend the rest of the week in Azkaban. Don't push me on this."

"But you promise I can see him on Friday" Hermione demanded.

"I promise that you'll see him when this investigation is completed. If it's not finished by Friday I may have to delay your visit a few days. I'll let you know" Robbards replied. "You may bring your husband and only your husband. Otherwise you won't see him at all."

"Thank you Chief Auror Robbards" Hermione said politely, resolving to keep her upcoming meeting with Harry secret until the last minute.

-o0o-

"From what I can see, these deductions have always occurred but they quadrupled in size on the beginning of August which is when the goblins noticed the drop in income" Tim said after looking back over the accounts.

"Were the original payments legitimate?" Hadrian asked.

"I'm searching for that now. They started occurring before the account records were computerised" Tim said. "They go to what looks like a dummy corporation, so I'm chasing where the money goes after that."

After some time, he sighed. "I can trace the account number where the money was sent. Most of it has been taken out in person after this but there's no name on the accounts" Tim said. "We'll have to try to get a warrant and take it to the branch."

"Which branch?" Hadrian asked.

"Metro Bank, Greater Whinging, Surrey" Tim replied.

Hadrian sighed. "The Dursleys" he replied.

"Your relatives?" Tim asked.

"The aunt and uncle who brought me up. They live in Little Whinging. If you check the old account books you'll find that the payments start sometime after the first of November 1981" Hadrian replied his anger growing.

Tim walked over and hugged his husband. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm beyond being able to be hurt by their actions" Hadrian replied. "Stealing my money is a very small betrayal compared to the abuse I suffered growing up with them. What does piss me off is remembering all the times they insulted my parents for leaving me penniless. All the times they complained of how much I cost them. I knew they were exaggerating. They never bought me anything and begrudged me the scraps from their table, and all this time they were stealing my money."

"Are you going to prosecute them?" Tim asked.

"Yeah I am" Hadrian said. "I let the way they treated me go because I just wanted to put it behind me and I didn't want to deal with the publicity that prosecuting them would cause. But the goblins found this money going missing. I'll lose their respect if I let them get away with it and goblins have long memories. Teddy and Rosie's grandchildren could still be penalised if my actions lead to them no longer respecting the house of Potter. They've tied my hands."

"I wonder why the sudden increase?" Tim asked. "If they were content with a consistent amount for so long why change now."

"Perhaps they found out I was no longer living in England and felt safe taking more, or perhaps Dudley found out what his Dad was doing and demanded a share of the action. He always was a greedy little bugger" Hadrian suggested.

They left the office thanking the staff for their time and attention and complimenting them again on the efficiency and feeling of teamwork and camaraderie in the office. Hadrian stopped at Harrods and sent them a huge gift basket of biscuits, snacks and specialist teas with a thankyou card signed as Lord Potter.

"You know you would have paid half as much for that anywhere else" Tim said amused by the extravagance from his usual practical husband.

"Yeah but the staff will get a bigger thrill out of this one from Harrods" Hadrian said grinning. "Beside we put them out quite a bit by just showing up and they were really polite about the hassle. I'm thinking that if we can prove that the South London office is involved with the thefts we'll close that branch and give the area to East London to manage. Their office could use an upgrade anyway.

Tim was able to call in at New Scotland Yard and present the results of their searches, having the owner of the company present to confirm they had his full permission and co-operation made obtaining the warrants for the PGC South London office and the account the money was being paid into easy and they were ready to move first thing next morning.

In the meantime, Hadrian had met with Quincy and organised the move of the East London Office to new larger more modern premises. The new office was only a couple of blocks from the old one and came with its own underground parking so nobody should be inconvenienced by the move. Tim hearing the plans also arranged to meet with the IT company that serviced the offices to make sure that there wouldn't be any technical glitches and any hardware upgrades that the office had been asking for were included in the fit out of the new office space.

-o0o-

Quincy also took them to see the site where Potter Manor had stood, now a pile of ruins. "The curses be all broken nows. It be safes to rebuild if youse wanteds Master Hadrians" he said.

"How much land is there?" Hadrian asked.

"20 acres, but it be completely surrounded by houses now" Quincy said showing them. "The views not be pretty anymore."

"I have enough homes Quincy. Is there a market for rental housing in this area if we developed the land?"

"Yes Master Hadrians!" Quincy nodded enthusiastically. "This be less than 30 mile from London. Coulds makes lots of profit with expensive houses."

"No nice family homes and a safe park for children to play" Hadrian decided. Draw up plans for about 100 houses on the estate. Is the nearby school able to handle the increase?"

"Its be small and old" Quincy said nervously.

"Well lets go take a look at it" Hadrian replied.

"Quincy was right the school looked dilapidated and the play area was tiny, surrounded by relocatable classrooms. They met with the principle who didn't look at all keen to welcome extra children.

"How many children attend school here?" Tim asked.

"Seven hundred and eight. What levels are your children? I have places available in grades two three and five. The other grades are at capacity for this year" she said apologetically.

"The playground doesn't look anywhere near big enough for seven hundred children. Do you have access to other spaces to play?" Hadrian asked.

"The grades five and six are allowed to go across to the oval and the littlies go out at a separate time than the older grades" the principle explained. "Of course, the children also sneak into the manor grounds to play. We try to stop them but the groundskeepers don't seem to mind."

Hadrian frowned. "I'm making plans to develop that land into housing" he said.

"Family housing?" the principle asked in dread.

"Yes, the land could support approximately 100 family homes" Hadrian replied watching her reaction.

"There's no way we could take that many extra children and the next nearest school is several miles away and also bursting at the seams" she told them.

"Is the secondary school experiencing the same problems?" Hadrian asked.

The principle sighed. "Yes, if anything it's worse" she pointed out the window at what looked like a three-story factory. "The building up on the hill is our current secondary school and it's scheduled to close at the end of the year because the building requires too much maintenance to bring it up to passing the building codes. The children will be split up among four neighbouring schools three of whom don't really have the room for them.

Hadrian nodded. "Thank you for your time." He said taking his leave.

"What are you going to do?" Tim asked.

"Contact the office that manages this area and get them to talk to the education department about building them a new school" Hadrian replied. "If we own the school we can ward it to keep the children safe. I imagine the secondary school has just as many problems but I'll leave that to the planners."

"Two schools will take up quite a lot of the land" Tim said.

"Yes, but if the education department leases the schools from me then we'll still make a return on our investment eventually" Hadrian said.

"Do you think they'll let you own the schools?" Tim asked.

"They have in other areas I've developed, and while it would be cheaper in the long run for them to build their own new schools they might not have the money to actually do it now when it's needed. And this land is mine already so it's not like I'm increasing my holdings."

"Shall we go to the next property?" Tim suggested.

"Sure" Hadrian agreed. "Quincy" he called.

"Yes Master Hadrians and Master Tims" Quincy popped back.

"Change the plans for this area to include a primary school large enough for at least 900 children and a secondary school as well. You'll need to get the numbers from the current school" Hadrian ordered. "We're ready to see the next property."

This time they popped onto a well maintained formal drive. The house looked in reasonable condition but had a forbidding air to it. "This be Black Abbey" Quincy said.

"This will be Teddy's as an adult" Hadrian told Tim.

Tim shuddered as they entered "I don't like the feel of it" he said.

"No the house feels very dark" Hadrian agreed. "Quincy I think this house might need the curse breakers to go through it."

"That's bes done Master Hadrians and Master Tims" Quincy replied.

"Then what's causing the problem" Hadrian asked.

"Lord Black warded house unfriendlies Master Hadrians" Quincy said.

"Tear down the wards and start again. I want the same wards we have on the house we live in, and activate the full war wards" Hadrian ordered. "We will come back and look at it then and see what else need doing."

"Doo's yous want to look at the next properties Master Hadrians and Master Tims?" Quincy asked.

"I think we've done enough for today Quincy" Tim decided, still feeling unsettled by Black Abbey.

"We'll call you when we're finished looking into the theft and ready to look at more houses tomorrow" Hadrian added. "Thank you for showing us around today, I know you're busy."

-o0o-

The warrants came though on schedule and Tim and Hadrian arrived and took over the South East London office of PGC. The staff were all surprised but co-operative. "I don't understand, PGC is a reputable corporation. We have always had a good co-operation with the local constabulary" the manager said handing over the keys to the office.

"We're not investigating PGC, there's a 100,000-pound discrepancy in the receipts and deposits from this office this year.

The manager looked shocked. "I've known most of these staff for years, none of them would do such a thing" he protested weakly.

And yet the money is still missing" Tim replied calmly.

He went through everything and quickly came to the conclusion that the money was going missing during the exchange to Gringotts. The full amount was deposited in the muggle bank that served as the liaison and then a withdrawal was made prior to the amount being transferred to Gringotts at the end of the day. The staff at the office were still under suspicion though because the deposit sat in the muggle bank for less than an hour before being transferred and someone had to know what time the deposits were made to make the illegal transfer while the money was in the account.

"Who deposits the money into the metro account?" Tim asked.

Hadrian silently cast a spell to promote truthfulness, it could be fought but Tim would pick up on anyone making the effort to do so. They'd practiced this in the past with Hadrian casting the spell on himself and with Neville's and Hannah's willing co-operation.

"I do" one man said nervously.

"What's your name?"

"Andrew Baulch" the man replied.

"And who else knows what time you transfer the money each day?" Hadrian asked.

"I assume most of the staff in the office know I do it at the end of the day" Andrew said thoughtfully, careful not to look at any of his colleagues as he metaphorically threw them under the bus.

"But last Wednesday you were late depositing the money and the thief was also late trying to take out his cut. So who specifically knows exactly what time you make the transfer each day?" Tim asked.

"Anyone who is in the office at the time would because it's the last thing I do before I go home. But anyone who has worked here in the past could also be in the street waiting to see me leave and know the deposit was made" Andrew said.

"Or anyone that you've told about that part of your job" Hadrian said cynically.

"I haven't…" Andrew began then after a moment's pause said sadly, "only my mum and dad."

He took a deep breath and admitted "Dad bragged for weeks when I got this position. He could have told everyone he came into contact with all about it" Andrew said morosely, "But he would never have stolen the money or been any part of helping someone steal it."

Hadrian thought for a moment, Andrew was a similar age to Vernon Dursley. "What do your father and your brother do for a living?" he asked.

"Dad's was an accountant and Richard a bookkeeper" Andrew replied. "They work for Grunnings Drill Company. Dad's retired now of course."

"With Vernon Dursley" Hadrian said sighing.

"That still doesn't explain how he knew that PGC was yours" Tim replied.

"We need to speak with him" Hadrian said. "Can you write down your father's name and address."

"This will break his heart" Andrew said sadly as he wrote out the information and handed it over.

"My Dad didn't mean any harm officer, I'm sure he didn't."

"We need to officially clear him of any involvement and get his statement so we can go after the real criminal."

"You knew before you came in here who was stealing the money" the manager accused.

"We knew a little about where the money ended up which gave us a potential suspect but we needed the evidence of how it was done to confirm that and we weren't sure no-one in the office was involved."

After speaking with Andrew's father who sadly confirmed it was possible he had inadvertently passed on enough information to Vernon Dursley years ago to enable the timing of the thefts, they approached the bank. Reading through the records Tim confirmed that the transfers did in fact start in November 1981 within days of Harry arriving in his relatives care and that the transfer had originally been set up by Albus Dumbledore to automatically deposit a certain amount in Vernon and Petunia Dursley's joint account each week as child support until July 1997. Following this, double the amount was removed via computer transfer each month, the amount then quadrupled in August this year. The back manager was incredibly embarrassed to realise that none of the withdrawals after July 1997 had the account holder's approval and there wasn't even any record of the bank staff having checked for these approvals. He also had grown up living in a PBC home and it wasn't until he moved out and had to deal with other landlords realised how lucky he'd been. The fact that he'd allowed money to be stolen from the company that made his parents lives so much easier than it could've been made him feel sick to the stomach.

"We will immediately freeze Mr Dursleys account and any other private accounts he transfers money into, until such time as the courts decide on the amount to be returned to the PBC account" he offered. We also hold the mortgage on Mr Dursley's house, 4 Privet Drive which we could foreclose on unless Dursley can prove the loan payments were never made with the money stolen from the PGC account."

"Video footage in the branch explained the increase in the amount stolen. Hadrian identified the man drawing the money out and depositing it into his account up until the 4th of August as Vernon Dursley but the week after that a younger man began making the transfer.

"I think that's Dudley Dursley but I haven't seen him since he was seventeen so I couldn't be sure" Hadrian said.

The bank manager eager to be as helpful as possible checked the records and volunteered the information. Money is transferred into his account at just after the withdrawals from the PGC account. The timing fits."

Satisfied with the level of evidence the police ordered the locals to bring Dudley, Vernon and Petunia Dursley in for questioning. From there the Aurors took over wiping the muggle's memories and Hadrian and Tim went to collect the Dursleys. The goblins were unable to act outside their bank and the Aurors would have wanted to try them in the wizarding world if they'd arrested them, so Hadrian was left to organise for them to be fooled into agreeing to be portkey end to the bank to sort things out. Tim had stood by with his gun out ready to shoot either of them if they'd tried to attack Hadrian while Hadrian had described in detail how the goblins would strip them of everything they owned in reparation for the theft if they couldn't justify the withdrawals from the corporation accounts. Vernon and Dudley foolishly believed the fake invoices would convince the goblins that the payments were genuine and no more than they were owed. Petunia had her doubts but in the end her belief that her husband and son could do no wrong stopped her from arguing and the three of them willingly agreed to meet at Hadrian's accountant's office which was actually a shop front with a portal through to Gringotts.

Sharprock allowed the three to be interviewed together, trusting Hadrian's decription of his uncle's and cousin's tempers and hatred for their nephew/cousin. He sent Hadrian in to see if the two idiots would save him the cost of the Veritaserum and confess voluntarily.

"You can't prove it. Dad said that if you try to press charges you'll have to explain where the money goes and you'll be had up for tax fraud" Dudley said triumphantly.

"My taxes are fully paid which I more than I can say for you or your father since I'm sure you never declared this income" Hadrian replied.

"Still your money doesn't stay in our world so you can't prove it's missing" Vernon yelled.

"Yeah and we're not wizards and it's not your stupid wizard money that was stolen so we can't be tried in your world either" Dudley gloated. "You can't even make us give it back since it's all been spent."

"You are right that the Wizengamot wouldn't try you for theft of my money if it occurred in the muggle world" Hadrian agreed grinning. "Oh no Dudley, it's far worse than that. Gringotts handles all my money. And Gringotts is run by goblins. The treaty we have with them allows them to prosecute you for the theft and goblin justice is far worse than wizarding or muggle justice would be. For example, your justice system doesn't allow hard labour or thieves to be eaten by dragons" Hadrian grinned wickedly. "And I assure you that the powers that be know enough about our world to know how important it is that they don't break the treaty to prevent another goblin war and the failure of the economy, wizarding and muggle. They will allow you to be prosecuted by Gringotts, and you might be surprised how much of the money they'll be able to recover. Not that it will matter to you"

"We earned that money taking you in and putting up with you" Petunia declared.

"Not according to my parents' wills you didn't. Legally you could only claim the expenses that were actually for me."

"We housed and clothed and fed you for sixteen years" Vernon yelled furiously.

"Yes of course, and you no doubt can prove that you bought me food, clothes, toys, school supplies and bedroom furniture" Hadrian sneered. "The goblins wont be interested in your receipts. You'll need to provide the goblins memories of me sitting at your table eating full meals, decently dressed, playing with my toys, reading my new schoolbooks in my nicely appointed room?"

Petunia paled and held her hands to her head as if to protect her memories from being stolen.

"But even that only relates to the money that Dumbledore approved to be transferred before I turned seventeen. There's no justification possible for the money you stole after that" Hadrian added.

"What money?" Petunia asked confused.

"You really didn't know? You didn't notice the increase in income when you should have been expecting a decrease as my parents' estate stopped paying you for your so-called care?"

"Noo" Petunia whispered fearfully, "Vernon please tell me you didn't?"

Sharprock entered the room. "Thank you Lord Potter, we will collect the memories in question and assign the appropriate punishments. Their assets will be seized and your money will be retrieved."

"Thank you Sharprock, a pleasure doing business with you."

"And you as well Lord Potter." That was clearly a dismissal so Hadrian left his account manager to finish dealing with the thieves.

-o0o-

"Goblin justice is rather barbaric" Tim said hesitantly.

"It is, but Vernon was right, it would be extremely difficult to prosecute this in the muggle world. Especially as Gringotts noticed the discrepancy and started the investigation. If you're disturbed by the extreme punishment for what is basically stealing some of our excess income keep in mind that these people are guilty of criminal child neglect and multiple counts of child abuse bordering on attempted murder. There is no way I would have survived my childhood without magic helping keep me alive" Hadrian replied. "If it had been anyone else I would have had Gringotts reclaim the money and turn the evidence over to the muggle police."

"Will they really be eaten?" Tim asked.

Hadrian laughed. "I doubt it. Goblins don't eat humans. They will set them to work until they've worked off their debt. Dudley and Vernon will probably will end up shovelling dragon dung for the rest of their lives."

Tim laughed. "I think I can live with that" he said remembering some of the things Hadrian had let slip about his childhood.

Hadrian and Tim chose not to watch what passed for a goblin trial. They'd heard enough to know that Vernon and Dudley were guilty when they'd gone to help arrest them and knowing that justice would be brutal. Hadrian tried to put it out of his mind but this new insult from the Dursleys and having to see them again brought back memories he had spent years trying to bury.

-o0o-

A/N: Thank you to Kaorilamb, Locket1, Firehedgehog, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Rori Potter, MageVicky, DarkRavie, dobbys-stinger, Sakura Lisel, Village-Mystic, lilly-flower15, charm13insomnia, Books-A-Plenty, buterflypuss, julschristine975, xDarklightx, Naezee, Lientjuhh, acherongoddess, madnessdownunder2, DS2010, serenityselena, Guest, lia (Guest), Merlenyn, Fallow53 (Guest), Serpent91, Maben00, Silvermane1, kimbarn30, Schlaubi, vampireloversw, Vampiero101, Vesania Insania, MOKA CASTILLO, IceBluePhoenix, , NamikazeYuki08, w1362713, Kilare T'suna, SakuraLove1928, 1, starkresurection, Moose22244128, gamerman5603, Roxanne Le Fay, Regina'sMusic, Duochanfan, ElphieTMoLM, dannibaby, marky802, LiAmi, StorySharer, merthugirl89, Ethiliam, TheDevilInDisguise, Midnight Marauder, GardenViper, Lyane Satigre, Astroorbiterboom and shelljax for your support.