Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling, and do not own Harry Potter. I make no money from the writing of this fan fiction.
Chapter Four
Krogund turned a few pages in the Potter account ledger, silently running a clawed finger down the list of entries. If Kyle had to make a guess based on body language, he would say that Krogund was becoming enraged. The longer he looked over the ledger, the slower and more precise his movements became. His posture stiffened, and his jaw clenched. Whatever he saw in the ledger was definitely not good news.
"There have definitely been withdrawals made from the Potter account, ostensibly for the care of the Potter heir, Harry James Potter. All from December of 1981, almost two months after James and Lily Potter were killed. I believe that you would like a copy of the withdrawals, and to whom they were sent?"
"If that is permitted, yes. It can only help me as I try to aid young Mr. Potter, if he is, indeed, in the care of Vernon and Petunia Dursley. I should be able to find that out in the next day or so. May I assume you would want that verification as well?"
"You assume correctly, Mr. Stanton. There is also a bit of information I can pass on to you based on your status as the Potters solicitor, since if I am reading the guardianship clauses correctly, would directly affect young Mr. Potter."
"What information is that, Krogund?"
"Every time someone who has an account with Gringotts is convicted of a crime and sent to prison, Gringotts is sent the information which would include arrest and booking number, trial transcripts, trial verdict, and prisoner number, along with the name of the prison if it is not Azkaban, so Gringotts may place the account in stasis-on hold or freezing the account in other words-until the account holder is released so no one else may access the funds contained in the account. In the guardianship clause of the Potter will, tell me, does your copy mention the name Sirius Black in any way?"
Quickly scanning the document to find the relevant section, Kyle carefully read through the clause, and noted the wishes made in the will. He looked up to meet Krogund's gaze.
"It says that Sirius Black, oath bonded Godfather to Harry James Potter, was to take custody of Harry Potter in the event of the deaths of both James and Lily Potter. But Sirius Black has been in Azkaban for the last seven years, allegedly for betraying the Potters and killing twelve or thirteen Muggles. This doesn't make sense, and raises even more questions. Do you have the information you described about Sirius Black?"
"The only information Gringotts was provided was the date Mr. Black was incarcerated in Azkaban and his prisoner number. No other information was given. As such, the Black account is still active. Perhaps this could open an additional avenue to aid young Mr. Potter, should the child in question be verified as Harry James Potter?"
"It will take a bit more investigating, but it will help indeed, Krogund. My thanks."
"Then let me make you a copy of the withdrawal information for the Potter file before you leave."
"As he apparently never received a trial according to the information you have, I'm going to assume Sirius Black has no solicitor of record for this matter. Whether or not the Black family has a solicitor on retainer, I have no idea. I will however, find out and get back to you about that."
"And if there is no solicitor on retainer, you wish to be considered Mr. Black's solicitor?"
"Until I can travel to Azkaban and speak to Sirius Black myself to confirm, if there is no solicitor on retainer for the Black family, either myself, or someone in my office, will stand as his solicitor pro tem. It most likely would be someone from my office, to avoid conflict of interest, although we would be working together. I would like the information you described when I'm able to contact you regarding Sirius Black."
Krogund quickly made a copy of the withdrawal information and passed it to Kyle, who added it to the Potter file.
"May all your adversaries fall before you, Mr. Stanton," Krogund intoned, standing to signal the meeting was over.
"And may the gold from your enemies overflow your vaults, Krogund. I thank you for your time."
With a slight nod, Kyle left the Account Manager's office and quickly left Gringotts. Walking quickly to the Diagon Alley entrance of the Leaky Cauldron, he entered the small pub and Flooed to his office. He had a mountain of paperwork to do if his suspicions were correct, and the first thing on his list was thoroughly reading through the solicitor copy of the Potter wills.
It was going to be a long day.
It was late evening when Kyle returned home. He had gone through every paragraph of the wills, and compared them to the information Krogund had given him. Now, he stood at the window overlooking Privet Drive, trying to comprehend how and why someone would just blatantly disregard someone's Last Will and Testament. It still made no sense. Why send an innocent man to prison for murder? Magical Theory had never been one of his best subjects at Hogwarts, but even he knew that a Godparent Oath would make it impossible for someone to harm the child that he or she stood as Godparent for, at least not without losing his or her magic and dying. And that oath would have seen betraying the Potters to Voldemort so they could be murdered as harm. Yet Sirius Black was still alive.
Kyle was distracted from his thoughts by the shouts of several children outside. Focusing his attention on what was happening, he saw what appeared to be a rather overweight child and several others beginning to surround the black haired boy Kyle had seen being shaken. Quietly, Kyle slipped out the door and stood in the shadow of the doorframe, the better to overhear what was going on.
"Start running, Freak. Me and my friends will give you a count of five head start," the overweight boy said.
"Yeah, it's not a good hunt if the prey doesn't run," one of the other boys jeered.
Hunt? What in the name of Merlin are those boys talking about? Kyle thought.
The black haired boy looked up, and even from the distance he was standing, Kyle could see he was trying to hold back tears.
"I don't want to do this, Dudley. Why do you always have to chase me and beat me up? I did everything Aunt Petunia told me to do."
"Because it's fun, that's why. Mummy and Daddy said I could go outside and play, and I want to play Harry Hunting. Now run, Freak."
Kyle, having heard enough, stepped away from the door just as the black haired boy began running. Making sure to step into his path, he briefly put his hand under the child's elbow to prevent him falling and whispered something into his ear as he steadied the child.
"My back door is slightly open, and leads into my kitchen. You can hide there if you want, and the door should automatically lock when you close it. I'll be there in a moment," he told the child, nodding toward his house. The child briefly nodded his understanding, and began running again. Just to make certain the child had enough time to escape the boys, he deliberately bumped into them when they began to run after the child, causing the overweight one called Dudley to fall to the ground.
"So sorry, I didn't notice you were there. Trying to get to know my new neighborhood, you know."
Turning, Kyle walked back into his house, heading for the kitchen. As expected, he saw the young black haired boy there.
"I just moved into the neighborhood not long ago. My name is Kyle Stanton, what's yours?" he asked, doing his best not to frighten the child.
"Harry Potter, Mr. Stanton. Thank you."
"You're welcome, Harry. A group of larger kids picking on someone smaller than they are is always wrong. I was just trying to help."
"No one else tried to help. The other adults just ignored it."
"Well, that doesn't make it right. Have you had anything to eat? I was just about to have tea, and was wondering if you would join me."
"I won't be bothering you? If I stay for tea, I mean."
"Of course not, Harry. If I thought you would be bothering me, I wouldn't have asked you."
"I would like to stay then, Mr. Stanton. Thank you."
"You're welcome. And maybe you could help me understand about a few things I heard outside while we have tea, alright?"
"I can try to help."
Nodding in approval, Kyle put together the tea and a plate of sandwiches, as well as a tin of shortbread biscuits. Setting it down on the table, he poured the tea, and set a plate in front of Harry, taking a biscuit for himself.
"Help yourself, Harry. And we can talk a bit while we have tea." He almost winced seeing the way Harry was hunched over the two sandwiches he'd put on his plate, as if he thought it would be taken from him. But he had found out that the boy he'd seen was Harry Potter. He sighed, knowing Krogund wouldn't be happy with this information.
"Okay, Mr. Stanton."
"First, what did that large boy you called Dudley mean when he said he wanted to play 'Harry Hunting'?"
"You won't believe me if I tried to tell you. The other adults I told didn't believe me."
"Harry, if you tell me nothing but the truth, I'll believe you. I promise. Can you promise to tell me only the truth while we have tea and talk?"
"I promise that I'll tell you only the truth while we talk having tea, Mr. Stanton."
"Then I have no reason to not believe you. So what did the boy you called Dudley mean?"
"Well, Dudley is my cousin. When Dudley gets bored, he gets a bunch of friends and they chase me everywhere. If they catch me, they beat me up something awful. So I have to run fast enough that they don't catch me. Dudley said it was a game for his friends, and all games have to be called something, so he called chasing me to beat me up Harry Hunting."
"You mentioned outside you had done everything your Aunt Petunia asked you to do. Who is your Aunt Petunia? And what did she ask you to do?"
"Aunt Petunia is Dudley's Mum. She's my Mum's sister. Aunt Petunia gave me a list of chores this morning to do today and I got everything done. Washing the dishes, making breakfast and lunch, mopping the kitchen, dusting the lounge, cleaning the bathrooms, and then after Aunt Petunia got home from her club, making dinner. I was outside weeding the garden when Dudley wanted to play Harry Hunting."
"And what chores did Dudley do? Because what you were asked to do sounds like a lot to ask from someone your age."
"Dudley doesn't do chores. Uncle Vernon says that's why he lets me stay there. I'm almost nine."
"I don't understand. Why doesn't Dudley have any chores?"
"Well, Uncle Vernon says that because he and Aunt Petunia let me stay there, because I cost so much that I have to do chores to earn my keep. If Dudley did any chores, then I wouldn't be earning my keep."
"Harry, do you know what 'earning your keep' means?"
"Oh, Aunt Petunia said that means that if I want to have clothes, food, and a place to sleep, that I have to work for them. So I do chores to earn that stuff."
Looking at what Harry was wearing, which looked to be too large for him, Kyle continued with his questions.
"So I guess you have a nice room and toys to play with when you finish your chores, right? The clothes you're wearing are for chores only? And why don't you stay with your parents?" Kyle asked, knowing the answer to his last question, but curious about what the boy had been told.
"I sleep in the cupboard under the stairs, Mr. Stanton. Only Dudley gets toys to play with, but he breaks them and says I did it so I get in trouble. I wear clothes like this all the time, not just for chores. They used to be Dudley's, but they don't fit him anymore. Buying clothes for me would cost too much. Aunt Petunia said that I have to stay with them because my mum and dad died in a car accident when I was a baby because my dad was a no good drunk and crashed the car. She said that's how I got this scar," Harry explained, lifting his bangs to show the distinctive, lightning bolt shaped scar.
The final piece of the puzzle. Even if no one knows what he looks like now, everyone in the Wizarding world knows Harry Potter has that scar. There's no doubt now. Kyle thought to himself.
"Three more questions and then you can ask me questions, or I'll just tell you about myself, okay Harry? And remember your promise; only the truth."
"Okay, Mr. Stanton."
"Go ahead and eat some more of those sandwiches if you're still hungry. I'll just put them in the icebox if we don't finish them during tea. Now why did you say you sleep in the cupboard under the stairs? Your aunt and uncle must have enough room to give you your own room in the house. This house has at least three bedrooms. And the second question is, do you get enough to eat? Because usually someone's clothes fit them a little better, and the ones you're wearing are too large for you, even if your cousin used to wear them first. And the last question is about punishments. I want you to tell me what kind of punishments both you and your cousin get and why."
"I promised to tell only the truth, so even though I was told never to talk about any of this stuff, I'll tell you so I don't break my promise. I sleep in the cupboard under the stairs because Dudley uses the other bedroom that he doesn't sleep in for all of his broken toys. It's Dudley's second bedroom. He has a bedroom to sleep in, and Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia have a bedroom. So the only other place for a freak like me to sleep was in the cupboard under the stairs. I get to eat what is left after my aunt, uncle, and cousin are done eating, but usually Dudley gobbles all of it up. The nurse at school sent a letter home to Uncle Vernon once saying I didn't weigh enough, whatever that means, and Uncle Vernon got mad. She didn't stay the school nurse long after that. Dudley doesn't get punished, Mr. Stanton. Uncle Vernon says everything that goes wrong is my fault because I'm a freak. But when I get punished, it's usually Uncle Vernon that does it. I've gotten whipped with a belt, told I wasn't allowed to eat for a week, locked in my cupboard for a few days, Uncle Vernon shook me hard a couple of times, and when I was still learning how to cook, Aunt Petunia held my hand on the stove when I messed up making dinner once. I tried to tell other adults, like at my school, but no one ever believed me, just like Uncle Vernon said they wouldn't."
"I believe you, Harry, so it looks like your uncle was wrong, doesn't it? I work as a solicitor. What that means is, if someone needs legal stuff done, they hire me and I take care of the legal stuff for them. And unless I'm wrong, I might have even been your parents' solicitor before they died. I can check my records for their names to be sure. Now I moved here in the last few days, and so far it's a quiet neighborhood, but I work in London mostly. Sometimes, though. I'll be working here at home in my office. And I'll make you a promise. If I'm working at home, I'll leave the back door slightly open. If you need a place to hide because of your cousin chasing you, you can come in and close the door. Just call my name when you come in so I know you're here."
"Mr. Stanton, do you think I need someone to do legal stuff for me?"
"Well, I don't know how to answer that Harry. Your mum and dad died, so you're an orphan, but you stay with your aunt and uncle. Even though from what you told me your aunt and uncle shouldn't be the ones taking care of you. As a solicitor, I've sometimes helped people who want to take care of kids that needed a better home. And I've sometimes helped kids who needed to find better people to take care of them. Why do you ask?"
"Dunno. Maybe because I don't know if Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon lied when they said that mum and dad died without leaving anything to take care of me. If mum and dad did have some money, wouldn't that help so I wasn't a burden to my aunt and uncle? Because I would maybe get that money?"
"Hmmm. That's an interesting idea. I'll tell you what. I need to wash the dishes from tea and dust a few things that I unpacked from moving today. If you help me with that, wiping dishes dry after I wash them, and handing me things to put away after they're dusted, I'll pay you two pounds sterling. After that, you hand me the two pounds sterling, and I'll take that as my fee for being your solicitor. Is it a deal?"
"And you would be able to find that stuff out for me?"
"I certainly could. It would be part of my job."
"Deal!" Harry said, smiling for the first time Kyle had seen since he walked in the kitchen.
True to his word, Kyle paid Harry the money he'd promised for helping out, and Harry promptly handed it back, "hiring" Kyle as his solicitor. Reluctantly, Kyle sent Harry back to his relatives' house, wishing he was able to do more. Unfortunately, a lot more work needed to be done before that could happen. But the first hurdle-gaining Harry's trust and establishing his identity-had been passed.
Now he only needed to inform Krogund of what he'd found out.