Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. This is a piece of fanfiction and no money is being made from it.

Acts of Defiance

It was a far more confident Harry Potter who returned to Courtroom Ten on what should have been the second day of the new school year. During his trial earlier in the summer he had been expelled from his school and effectively banished from the wizarding world. In fact, he had been informed that he was not allowed to live, visit or communicate with other witches and wizards for a period of ten years, after which his sentence would be reviewed.

And so, forced to return to his relatives' house in the knowledge that it would be a long time before he saw his friends again, Harry had made a brief visit to Diagon Alley to put his affairs in order before being escorted by Aurors to his relatives' home. And with the knowledge that there was nothing he could do to change things, Harry had rung the doorbell and waited for his uncle to let him in.

It had taken three days before the Ministry of Magic had sent him a letter demanding his presence before one of their committees. As a law-abiding citizen, he had of course ignored it. Then they had sent the Aurors to fetch him, only to discover that they were incapable of stepping to the property and all attempts to enter the house had been a complete disaster.

It turned out that the wards surrounding his home were very very clever and designed to protect him from any witch or wizard that might cause him harm. Before his trial that protection was reserved to keeping away a hundred or so dark witches and wizards, the odd reporter looking for a cheeky story, and the odd lunatic witch that desired him as a husband. However, since he had been banished from the wizarding world, the wards now considered all witches and wizards aligned with the Ministry of Magic to be an additional threat. And so, the number of magical humans capable of approaching the house could be counted on one hand. Of course, Harry was not aware of that fact and just believed that his strategy of ignoring them until they went away had been successful.

The next day the Aurors had returned accompanied by a very official looking wizards, armed with a clipboard. They were ignored again, although Harry did ask his aunt's permission to close the windows, just in case. The other occupants of the house just went about their daily lives, grumbling about the weirdoes in the street and exclaiming out loud it was likely due to the new couple in the road around the corner.

It had been close to dark when a thoroughly annoyed official had drawn his wand and attempted to force his way inside the wards. Harry had not seen what happened, but from the cries from the panicked Aurors, he assumed it had been nasty. They had left soon after, although they had deposited a letter with yet another demand for his presence on the pathway.

On the third day the Aurors returned, this time accompanied by a ward breaker. The man had taken a quick look, frowned and turned to leave. It seemed the wards were impossible to remove safely when Harry was inside his home as the wards grew more powerful when they only needed to extend a short distance. The Aurors had looked annoyed before leaving another letter and departing, this one with a port key attached. Fortunately, the wards at full power required Harry's consent before they would allow him to be removed from the property.

In the end the Ministry of Magic had done the only thing it could under the circumstances and had sent somebody Harry along to talk to him. Of course, they had also sent the same Aurors as the previous times, but they had not been able to cross the boundaries. Still the message, which had turned from a demand that threatened serious consequences should he not attend immediately, to a less threatening demand that required his attendance, to a request for his attendance, to a plea for him to visit at his earliest convenience.

And so, armed with the letter as proof that he was there at the Ministry of Magic's request, Harry Potter had passed through the atrium and descended to the courtroom where the same body that days earlier had expelled him, awaited him.

"You're late!" Minister Fudge stated, causing Harry to stop and walk away. "Where are you going?"

Harry stopped again and turned back toward the court. Those watching him could see the difference between the timid boy they had punished days earlier and the youth that stared defiantly at the Ministry of Magic.

"You told me at my trial that because I was late you were not prepared to go ahead with the trial and would instead move on to punishment. Since I am late and you have no ground to punish me, I'll take it that this meeting is over and will return home."

He started to walk away.

"Wait!" a female voice rang out; one he recognised as belonging to Amelia Bones. "I apologise Mr Potter. The minister has been under a great deal of stress and I'm sure he will not try that again. Correct Cornelius?"

Fudge looked defiant but gave a curt nod when he noticed the lack of support around the chamber. Clearly whatever they wanted was more important than Harry Potter's time keeping.

"Yes, well..." he said after a moment. "Sit down and let's get this started."

With a slight smile on his face, Harry moved toward the seat in the centre of the room, stopping before he reached it. He turned back to where the judges were sat with an inquisitive look.

"In the chair," Fudge urged impatiently.

"I don't think so," Harry replied.

"Sit down," Fudge bellowed.

"Goodbye," was Harry's response.

"Wait!" Fudge begged, causing Harry to pause as somebody conjured him a different seat. There was no way Harry was going to sit in the chair intended for felons. "Just sit down."

Harry considered just leaving but decided that he had already wasted a good part of his day to get there, so he might as well hear what they wanted. He already had a good idea what it was about.

"This is a special hearing in the behaviour of Harry James Potter."

And so the minister began his long-winded statement of why they were there and how it was against their better judgment to conduct the hearing. For the most part Harry ignored him.

"Mr Potter, please tell this chamber how you managed to unset the Goblin Nation and caused the closure of Gringotts?"

"Huh?"

"Gringotts, Mr potter," Madam Bones urged. "You visited there just after your trial?"

"I did."

"What did you do there?"

"I placed some items inside the vaults I control, I moved some objects inside those vaults, and I met with the goblin who overseas those accounts."

"And what did you discuss with that goblin?"

"Nothing. I simply gave him instructions that the vaults I just left instruction that only authorised payments could be removed from my vaults and that I would be unavailable to authorise payments for ten years. I gave him instructions to use the money in my trust vault for investing and signed some overdue paperwork. After that I left."

"So, you did not meet with any goblin above the account manager?"

"No."

"And you did not request a meeting with a senior goblin?"

"No."

"Mr Potter, following your visit to Gringotts, the goblins closed the bank for two days stating that your visit was the reason. When they reopened, they openly refused to make payments on behalf of the ministry and have actively closed down businesses and repossessed homes belonging to old families. Now, what exactly did you instruct the goblins?"

"I told them the truth: that the Ministry of Magic had chosen to use underhanded tactics to avoid a trial they arranged and banished me from the Wizarding World. I told them that I am the last member of my family capable of access my vaults at this time and that my vaults should be frozen until I return."

He could hear the murmurs, many of them disgruntled that he had shared the details of his trial with the goblins, even though it was a matter of public record. Of course, what he said next would cause the real outrage.

"I made it clear that due to the actions of Minister Fudge, all relations between the Potters and the Ministry of Magic are at an end and that Vault Sixteen should be locked down."

"Vault Sixteen?" somebody asked.

"Vault Sixteen is the vault that the Potter family made available to supply the Ministry of Magic with emergency funding should it ever run short," Harry explained. "The Potter family were one of the thirty five families that agreed to do so, and one of the few that kept the arrangement in place."

"I fail to see how that would cause a problem..."

"It shouldn't," Harry agreed. "There should never be a problem with my closing that vault because the Ministry of Magic is funded by the the taxes it collects. Unless of course somebody high up in the Ministry of Magic decided that they would not raise taxes to cover their spending and instead rely on access to that vault. Then the closure of that vault might cause a problem. Especially since upon closure the goblins were required to reclaim any unpaid debt."

Harry looked around the chamber, making a note of those that seemed to have realise where he was going.

"Of course, at the time my parents died I can say that the government rarely if ever made use of that vault. I believe that Minister Bagnold used it once following a Death Eater attack to fund the clean up. And then it was repaid immediately."

Bagnold despite her flaws had been sensible where money was concerned. Despite the unpopularity of such actions, she had not been afraid to raise taxes when she needed to instead of relying on expensive loans. Fudge had actually lowered taxes during his time in office, taking funds from key departments and funding the Ministry of Magic through increased use of borrowing.

"For the duration of my exile, House Potter will not be funding the Ministry of Magic. You can either raise taxes or borrow money from elsewhere."

The minister did not look pleased by the news. The other families that had joined the Potters in the original agreement had either become inactive due to a lack of an heir, closed their vault or decided they no longer wished to replenish the balance of the vaults after they were emptied.

"Yes, well that is something we will need to discuss later," Fudge said, wondering how he would explain the sudden need to raise taxes.

"I also told them that I was suspending payment from all Potter legacy vaults," Harry volunteered.

"Legacy vaults?"

"Yes, those vaults that my ancestors set up to help fund the education system," Harry answered. "I believe any of you with children at Hogwarts would recognise them as the scholarship payments that cover the majority of their school fees. I see no reason why I should pay to provide education to other families for their children's education when I have been expelled."

"Your expulsion was perfectly justified," Fudge replied. Many of those present agreed.

"And my closure of those funds is my decision and will stand," Harry replied. "Besides, there is nothing you can really do about it. Those vaults are locked down and the goblins would be unable to take any money from them even if they remained open."

"Why?" Fudge demanded.

Harry ignored him.

"My final instruction was that the goblins should examine the vote in this court and compare the names that voted for my banishment and consider any financial arrangement between them and House Potter void. That includes all proxies, vassals and allies. The goblins have no doubt been making sure to reclaim any monies due to House Potter from those instructions."

He could see from the faces of some of the members that his actions had indeed had an effect.

"Oh, and before you get any ideas of holding some sort of vote to force me to change my mind," Harry said. "I also reclaimed all voting rights held on behalf of House Potter."

"You can't do that," a witch angrily yelled. "You're not old enough to vote in this chamber."

Harry smiled. "I didn't say I intended to vote. I am however old enough to remove the ability of others to vote on my behalf as long as I can prove they have voted in a way that cause harm to House Potter. Voting to banish me counts."

And that had been a masterstroke on his part. Few realised just how many votes House Potter held inside the Wizengamot. With the various families that acted as either proxies or vassals, he wondered if there were sufficient votes for the chamber to be considered capable of holding a vote.

"Now, if there is nothing else, I will be returning home."

"But you still haven't explained why the goblins shut down Gringotts,"

"I have no idea," Harry told them. And it was true, although he imagined with all the work that needed to be done and gold, they needed to shift to carry out his instructions, the goblins had needed to close due to lack of staff. "If you want to find out... ask them."

And with those final words, he was gone.

Author's note: This was just a story idea I had after reading book five of the series. The idea being that the Potter family or at least their ancestors set up several vaults to aid the Ministry of Magic during its founding years and to provide scholarships to magical students. I had some idea that all students at Hogwarts receive a scholarship that pays for their education. Different families draw funds from different scholarships, but all four houses are covered and there is a special trust set aside for muggleborns. The school sets the fees, the goblins take the money from the scholarship funds and the government should pay the rest, although in my mind that only applied to the heir and the spare, not a large family. Hence why the Weasleys find it especially difficult.
There are obviously a lot of problems with the idea such as Harry being allowed to just go to the Ministry of Magic on his own, Dumbledore not showing up to intervene and the court just accepting what he said and allowing him to leave. But it was the start of an idea that I was trying to expand on for a while before giving up.