Occlumancy

Diagon Alley: Gringot's

The wizarding bank, Gringot's, dominated Diagon Alley, a white marble structure that was the tallest in the Alley, the top of the dome made up of panes of glass. The marble stairs leading up to the double doors. The outer of bronze beside which stood two goblin guards on either side. The inner doors of silver, decorated with a poem, and a warning:

Welcome, Guest, but take heed
Of the consequences of the sin of greed
For those who take, but do not earn
Must pay most dearly in their turn
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there

Harry had been here just once before, the start of his first year when he visited with Hagrid to collect gold from his educational trust vault. Since then, Molly Weasley had his vault key as she did his pre-school shopping for him. It was here that he had some unfinished business…

He stepped up to the first available teller.

"How may Gringot's be of service this fine morning?", the goblin teller asked. When it came to business, any animosity between the wizards and the Goblin Nation were set aside.

"I have an appointment to see Barchoke", he said. Barchoke was in charge of the Potter accounts. "I'm Harry Potter, and here's my wand", he handed his student wand over for inspection and identification purposes.

"Someone will be with you directly", as the teller pushed a button on his switchboard that looked like something out of the twenties.

"See Mr Potter to Barchoke's office", as the escort arrived.

"This way, Mr Potter"

Barchoke, wearing a three piece suit and tie like any normie banker, rose to offer his hand: "I've been expecting you", he greeted.

"You have?"

"You are the sole heir to the Potter family vaults, and I have been managing your parents' affairs for years now".

"I did not know that".

"Have you not received our statements? We've been owling them to your address, 4 Privet Drive, if I'm not mistaken? We've been wondering why we haven't heard from you".

"I haven't gotten any owls, and you're not mistaken. I also haven't received any Gringot's correspondence delivered to Hogwarts either".

"We have a definite problem. If they're not getting through to you, then there must be some sort of redirect charm in effect. The Wizengamot has sealed the last will and testament of James and Lily Potter, so that we have no record. You have an illegitimate magical guardian who we do not recognize as having any legal authority over your family's assets."

"How about my normie step parents?"

"While the muggle government may recognize their legal authority in the muggle world, your magical guardian had no authority to turn you over to them. They have no standing under the laws of the Goblin Nation. You, on the other hand, could have – should have – taken your place as head of the Potter family as you are the last of the Potter line when you turned eleven. Has no one explained this to you?"

"No one…"

"Your illegitimate magical guardian is…"

"Let me guess: Dumbledore"

"Indeed…"

"He has been interfering with my life for too long now. How do I claim head of house status?"

"That's simple: you put on the Potter family signet ring while making the proclamation: 'I (insert your name) do hereby claim that I am the head of (state your house) by the magick of (name)'. If magick accepts your claim, the ring will stay on your finger and adjust to fit you. If it doesn't, the ring will fly off".

"Then let's do it".

Barchoke pushed a button on his switchboard: "Would you fetch the Potter family signet ring?", he said to the secretary on the other side of the office door.

"Right away", came the reply.

Ten minutes later, Harry had the ring.

"I, Harry James Potter, do hereby claim that I am the head of the Potter family by the magick of Potter", as he slipped on the ring. The ring shank to fit his finger.

"You have been accepted and can now conduct business on behalf of the family. You are also legally an adult and need no guardian. Use your status wisely: you are now responsible for managing all Potter assets and debts".

"I shall, and I would like to see an accounting of the family assets".

Once the ledgers were brought to him: "You will find that all is in order".

He did, indeed, see that was the case. Even though Dumbledore had full access to his trust vault, there were no missing funds as all withdrawals were for Hogwarts tuition, and the yearly withdrawals for needed school supplies.

"Albus Dumbledore is skating a fine line between the legal and illegal, Barchoke explained. "Dumbledore abused his position as Chief Warlock to have your parents' wills sealed in the name of 'national security'. Naturally, we thought this suspicious. If there were any withdrawals that were not related to your education, the Goblin Nation would move against him".

Harry figured that would be the case as the Weasleys didn't seem to be living it up beyond their means.

"Is there any way to find out what the wills said?"

"Unfortunately, they were sealed before any copies were registered with the bank. It would require an act of the Wizengamot now".

"Still, just in case, I would like a new vault key made".

"That can be done for a price".

"How much?"

"Twenty-five galleons"

"Then do it".

"Anything else we can do for you?"

"I would like a copy of these ledgers".

"Five knewts a page for the copies".

"Agreed. I would also like to schedule an appointment for a physical with a goblin healer".

"May I ask why?"

"I don't trust Madam Pomphery, and if I go to St Mungos, Dumbledore is very likely to find out, and I want to keep my business, my business".

"A wise decision".

"You will require a stay with us of at least 36 hours", the goblin healer informed him.

"I'll owl you to set up the appointment", he informed him. "One final thing", Harry requested, "I don't want Dumbledore to know of my new status".

"That can be arranged".

Harry whistled softly to himself as he went over the Potter ledger. His trust vault contained 50,000 Galleons, automatically replenishing at the start of every Hogwarts term. The main vault held over 120,000,000 Galleons, and an extensive collection of family heirlooms.

There were several properties listed: a cottage in Godric's Hollow, Potter Manor – destroyed during the last rampage of Voldemort through magical Britain (insurance covered the cost of the loss of the manor and furnishings) a ranch in Montana under the management of Potter Holdings, Inc. There was a vacation home in the American Virgin Islands.

Harry knew he wouldn't have to work a day in his life unless he wanted to.

0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

"Have you completed your latest assignment?", Tom asked Harry.

"Yes, I've claimed head of the Potter family, that means I'm emancipated, and I stressed how important it was that my new status remains a secret. Barchoke agreed. I also have the ledgers of the Potter account".

"Good man", Tom congratulated.

"What I don't understand, is why you wanted me to do this?", Harry asked.

"It's easy to explain, we need you to claim head of House Potter to keep Dumbledore from stealing your gold to give it to the Weasleys…"

"Who're these Weasleys?", Vernon asked,

"Ron's family", Harry explained, "My first friend at Hogwarts was Ron. Molly and Arthur are very nice, nice but poor".

"Yet all the Weasley kids have attended Hogwarts. Haven't you wondered how that's possible?", he didn't wait for an answer. "Usually, a family in the financial straits of the Weasleys will send the oldest to Hogwarts, and the rest of the kids would have to be content to attend a magical day school. Dumbledore has been using Hogwarts' scholarship program to send all of them, even if that meant more deserving students were denied scholarships. Do these kids seem the type to deserve scholarships?"

"Bill would: he's working in Egypt as a Curse Breaker for Gringot's. Charlie is a dragon master, so I don't know. As for the Twins, they don't seem all that interested in school work. Ron was never the scholarly type, not like Hermione. Ginny, maybe, she seems pretty smart".

"There you've answered your own question".

"I still don't understand", Vernon objected, "why would he want to give Harry's gold to these people?"

"The Weasleys are some of Dumbledore's oldest and dearest friends. Molly and Arthur were in his Order of the Phoenix, and among the few to live to tell about it. Arthur got an Order of Merlin and appointment to the Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts for his efforts in opposition to Voldemort during his last rampage, a rampage interrupted by Harry here.

"As the Ministry doesn't hold muggles in any special esteem, to say the least, Arthur's position is neither prestigious nor well paid. He's barely making enough to support his family, and you would think any position would become a spring board to better positions. However, his job gives Arthur Weasley the perfect opportunity to study muggle technology – a passion of his. He's also very good at his job, and the Ministry isn't looking to promote him and thereby losing him. Dumbledore has always believed that he deserves better, and he may even be right. That's Dumbledore for you, he's more concerned with the ends, and isn't very picky about the ethics of his means".

"Would he accept?", Harry asked.

"You can be sure that Dumbledore would transfer all the Potter gold without his knowing the source. It would look like some unexpected windfall. Enough gold can silence a lot of questions.

"Now onto further business. You need to learn Occlumancy before you get back to Hogwarts, you and Hermione".

"What's Occlumancy?", Harry asked.

"The defense of one's mind to prevent intrusion into your thoughts and memories. You should also invite Hermione to these lessons. That also includes you", Tom indicated the Dursleys.

"We're not magical…"

"Occlumancy is one form of magick that normies can use. You see every psyche is naturally opposed to any sort of intrusion. Granted, being normies, you won't be able to withstand an accomplished Legilmens like Dumbledore, but you will be able to deter any sort of casual probing, should you ever meet Dumbledore.

"One good thing is that Occlumancy doesn't involve a lot of wand magick".

Tom took out his wand: "American made wands don't report casting to the authorities, so the Ministry won't detect that magick is being performed here. However, we can't be sure the wards won't report to Dumbledore. He doesn't need to know what we're doing".

"I will also teach you the Disillusion and Notice Me Not Charms. It's best that Hermione isn't seen dropping by all the time".

"I'll call her, see what we can arrange".

0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

"Hermione? …"

"Everything's been going just great here. …"

"This distant cousin dropped by, he's from America…"

"Yes, he's magical. Graduated from Ilvermorny… Anyway, after he heard about how horrible Defense is at Hogwarts, he offered to show me some Defense charms, and I was wondering if you'd be interested. …"

"No, I'm afraid we can't do it here. …"

"It's Dumbledore's wards: we don't know if they'll report back to him if they detect magick. He's rented a cottage in the country, we can practice there. …"

"I remember, but we can get in some lessons before you go to France. …"

"Normie summer school? …"

"How about evenings? …"

"OK, let me know what your folks say …"

"Bye, talk to you later. …"

"She said she would ask, but doesn't think they will object".

0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Harry did the introduction: "My cousin, Tom", he began, "Hermione Granger, one of my best friends from Hogwarts".

"Pleased to make your acquaintance", he greeted.

"What brings you to England?', she asked, vaguely suspicious.

"Just catching up with distant relatives. Part of a European tour. I decided to drop in, and when I heard about the sad state of how Hogwarts teaches Defense, I thought I could help out. That nasty business from the early '80s".

Tom began his introduction:

"Occlumancy is one aspect of mind magick, along with its opposite: Legilmancy – the invasion and reading of minds. There is also memory obliviation and replacement. The various Ministries have teams of Obliviators working for them for those cases where normies see something they shouldn't see, or when malicious magick is used on or around normies. They can be made to forget what they shouldn't recall.

As for Occlumancy, there isn't a whole lot written about it, as this form of magick has usually passed from master to apprentice. The main idea is to get control of your thoughts and emotions. This involves meditation to clear the mind, to examine thoughts and memories to compartmentalize then. You can't protect what you don't know you want to protect.

"How about you?", he indicated Vernon.

"What do I do?"

"Nothing… Legimens", he cast.

"Did you notice anything?"

"No… yes, there seemed to be a pressure behind my eyes".

"You are expecting a visit from your sister, Marge. There seems to be some concern on your part, involving Harry?"

"Yes, I was thinking about that. Marge can be a bit… outspoken, as it were. You saw that?"

"Yes, I didn't go very deep as I'm not looking to completely invade your privacy. That's what we're trying to prevent".

"How can I…"

"There are two forms of Occlumancy: active and passive. Being a normie, you won't have resort to active Occlumancy".

"What's the difference?"

"Passive Occlumancy is hiding your thoughts. Active Occlumancy is the ejection of an invader from your mind. This form of Occlumancy may or may not involve a wand. As I explained earlier, you won't stand up to a Legilmens, but you can hide thoughts from milder, likely wandless, probes. Should you have an occasion to meet Dumbledore, you don't want him reading your thoughts as he will know you know about his compulsions, and that they've been removed. You can nudge him away to harmless thoughts. It does help to know if you're being probed, and everyone has a different reaction".

"Try me", Dudley offered.

"Legilmens"

"Anything?", Tom asked.

"Like a buzzing in my ears".

"I would advise that you not do what you're planning next weekend. I would also advise you to avoid that Piers Polkiss: he's a bad influence. I'm sure the diet your parents are planning to put you on won't be all that bad".

Dudley had overheard Vernon and Petunia discussing it as Smeltings, the school Dudley attended, and Vernon's alma mater, send home a letter advising that Dudley was getting too big to fit in the school uniforms.

"I'm sure McGonagall isn't planning on failing you", Tom told Hermione.

"Let's try a meditation exercise", he said as he turned down the lights.

"How…", Dudley started to ask.

"Just try to clear your mind, order your thoughts".

A while later: "I can't… I keep thinking of all sorts of things", Dudley complained. He got a lot of agreement.

"You can't expect perfection the first time. It gets easier with practice.

"I think that will do", Tom announced the end of the session. "Before you drop off to sleep, spend fifteen minutes in meditation. You don't have to get it perfect, but do try to improve. Fifteen minutes".

"You mentioned other lessons?", Harry asked.

"The schedule I've worked out is Occlumancy between now and your B-day. In the August run-up to the new term, I'll show you the Disillusion and Notice Me Not Charms and some defensive spells".