Chapter 8
Precisely at 10:30, there's a knock on Minerva's front door, signalling that Filius has arrived for coffee, Harry has been moved to his room with his toys and under the watchful eyes of both Fawkes and Doc. Fawkes decided to stay out of sight for now but may make an appearance near the end of the meeting.
"Good morning Filius, please come in, my house elves have just finished making a fresh batch of cookies. To be honest I was glad to receive your letter, I need someone to talk to, and your letter arrived in the nick of time." Minerva greets him.
"Thank you, Minerva, now what is it you needed to see me about?" Filius inquisitively asks.
"The reason I invited you over is a long story, but I will summarize the best I can. It all started 2 nights ago, when I met Albus and Hagrid in a small subdivision in Surrey, where Albus planned to leave young Harry. I tried to talk Albus out of this decision, but he was adamant that Harry must stay with his muggle relatives. Do you remember some of the stories Lily would tell about her sister?" Minerva begins.
"You mean that Albus wanted to leave Harry in the cold weather and in the hands of that, that, that, cow Petunia?!" Filius is flabbergasted that Albus would decide to leave a child in the cold, goblins may be a tough race but they value their young and would behead anyone that even thought to harm a child.
"Yes Filius, and I regretfully admit that I left shortly after Albus placed Harry on their doorstep. However, I decided that I could not let the child of my former students be raised by a family like that, so I went back and brought Harry home with me." Minerva explains.
"I had a feeling that the letter you sent the headmaster didn't tell the whole story, I believe I know you well enough that you wouldn't lie unless you wanted to protect someone. So, please continue, you have me sitting on the edge of my seat."
"Very well, yesterday morning I decided to write to my account manager Axewielder and figure out who James and Lily left the guardianship of Harry to. Imagine my surprise when I found out that they placed me on the short list. To make a long story short, I also had Rockgrinder and Axegut sit in on the meeting and began a file against Dumbledore. I found out that he has been using the budget to line his own pockets and that he was purposefully drowning me in work. Anyways, I decided to blood adopt Harry so that no one can take him away from me. For all intents and purpose Harry is my son, and during the meeting I found out Albus bound his magic not 10 minutes after Hagrid and I left that night."
"Why would Albus bind a child's magic?! It is illegal for so many reasons, and I am glad you chose to blood adopt Harry, what are your plans for the future?" Filius is shocked, glad that he always took the headmasters words with a grain of salt.
"Later this week, the goblins will perform a cleansing ritual which will cleanse him, not only of the bind on his magic, but something much more sinister. Speaking of which, I recently received a reply from the goblins this morning, however I haven't had a chance to read it." Minerva explains.
Filius looks positively giddy at this, "Does this letter have anything to do with why your house elf was hiding in Albus' office?"
"Indeed, it does, I am planning on showing Tilly's memory of the meeting with Rockgrinder and Axewielder, would you be willing to accompany us to Gringotts?" Minerva asks Filius.
"Why don't you read the letter first and we will go from there, I informed my Ravenclaws that I am away for the day, and I trust my prefects to keep the rowdiness to a minimum."
With that, Minerva unseals the letter and reads,
Dear Minerva,
Do not worry about the lateness of your letter, ever since you gave me the copies of the budgets, I have been comparing them and it is as you say, Albus has been using half the budget to not only update his wardrobe but has also been depositing the money into a separate vault simply titled War Efforts. Will you, Hendrick, and your guest be able to come to my office at 1:00 this afternoon? If the evidence is strong enough, we may be able to take further action against him.
May your strength never waver
Sincerely,
Rockgrinder Hogwarts Account Manager.
"Well Filius, we have an appointment at 1:00 at Gringotts, would you like to stick around for lunch? I will fetch Harry from his room, and after lunch we shall head to Gringotts, how does that sound?"
"Sounds like a wonderful idea Minerva, would you like me to start anything? I know I'm a guest but I'm a bit of a whiz in the kitchen."
"I don't think we should do anything too heavy; I'll just get Bashful to make some sandwiches and feed Harry some applesauce and veggies, I must warn you though that Harry has a habit of playing with his food when he's full enough. I'm not quite sure how to stop this, but at the same time I want him to just be a kid."
"Its quite understandable Minerva, now can you quit hiding your son from me? I want to meet my honorary nephew." Filius replies.
"Of course, I will be down shortly." With that, Minerva heads upstairs to make sure Harry hasn't completely destroyed his room, and to bring him down for lunch. "Harry, time to put your toys away, its time for lunch."
"Can Pwong come with? Pwong hungry too." Harry replies holding his stuffed stag.
"Prongs can come, as long as both you and him behave. If you misbehave you won't get a cookie for dessert." Minerva warns.
"I be good, I like cookies. Pwease let me have cookie." Harry pleads.
"Like I said, you may have a cookie if you behave, we have to go back to see the goblins today."
"Ok mama, will Nor be there too? I like Nor, she pwetty and nice."
"Not today, but Uncle Filius will be joining us, do you remember Filius?" Minerva can't believe she's sweet talking her son and bribing him with a cookie to behave, but if it helps avoid another bath, hopefully Harry will listen. She then picks him up and brings him down for lunch.
After lunch is over, and thankfully Harry didn't spread the applesauce on his shirt, just all over the highchair tray. Minerva waves her wand to clean up the mess, and within 5 minutes, her, Filius, and young Harry apparate to Gringotts. When they arrive in Rockgrinders office, Filius and Minerva both bow and Filius greets him, "Greetings Rockgrinders, may your blades never dull and your coffers never empty."
"Rise cousin Filius, may your enemies cower at your feet." Rockgrinder replies, "Now lets get down to business, Minerva, do you have the memory for me to view?"
"I do, I applied a charm on it so that we can view it much like a muggle invention called a projector. I much prefer viewing memories this way than dunking myself into a pensieve. May I conjure some earmuffs for young Hendrick? The memory has language that isn't suitable for his young ears." Minerva replies.
"That is a much better way to view memories, and of course you may conjure earmuffs for him, Filius, have you seen this memory yet?" Rockgrinder inquires.
"I have not Rockgrinder, but I was present for part of the meeting with the headmaster. After Albus got Minerva's leave of absence, he called an emergency staff meeting." Filius answers.
"Well, as the muggles say, let the show begin." Rockgrinder says, with that, Minerva taps the memory vial and by the end of the viewing, Rockgrinder is grinning like the Chesire Cat. "This is better than I hoped for, if you leave this memory with me, I will send it to my informant in the DMLE, I have someone there that I know can be trusted, she may only be a junior auror at the moment, but she is trustworthy."
"Thank you Rockgrinder, I was planning on sending them a copy, but I was unsure who to trust. I thank you for taking that weight off my shoulders." Minerva sighs in relief. "What are we going to do with this evidence?" Minerva asks.
"Simple Minerva, we are going to bury the bearded goat alive." Rockgrinder replies. "I talked to Elanor earlier this morning, although she has not received a reply from Remus, she is hopeful to get a reply within the next couple of days. Is there anything else Gringotts can do for you today?"
"No Rockgrinder but thank you again for your help. May your dragons guard your treasure trove." Minerva replies.
"Have a good day Minerva, we will contact you when we hear from Remus and hear back from the DMLE. May you live long and prosper." With that, Minerva, Filius and Harry leave Gringotts with smiles on their faces and decide to head to muggle London to find a few more toys and clothes for Harry.
End Authors Note:
Who do you think the informant is in the DMLE? I am so glad about the reviews I have been getting and that everyone is enjoying the story so far. Please keep the reviews coming, I really appreciate them.