Discussions

Harry stood perfectly still inside the runic array that the headmaster had arranged in his office while Najash rested on a pedestal on the other side of the circular design. Behind him, Hemione studied the procedure carefully. This was the first time she'd been allowed to attend one of Harry's special lessons, and she was determined to remember as much as she could. She had already decided that when she was old enough for it to be safe she wanted a proper familiar of her own. Though she was leaning towards a cat, cliche as that was. She needed to ask the headmaster about it while she was here.

Harry had spent the first twenty minutes of the lesson, before the headmaster had placed the pre-drawn rune circle, under a series of charms that let him experience Najash's senses, and vice versa. This was supposed to help them understand each other better when they went to find and quantify the bond between them, and they had spent the meeting before this almost entirely under the effects of the charm. Hermione had been allowed to talk to Harry while he was sense-sharing with Najash, but it was awkward as sometimes he would reply in Parseltongue without realizing it. Najash's senses, according to Harry, were confusing but amazing. While sharing with the snake, Harry could "taste" warm and cold, as well as emotional ranges to a degree.

Hermione gasped softly as she felt magic ripple out of the rune circle. Harry had been silently meditating for almost five minutes at this point with nothing happening, the runes gently pulsing as they glowed. The feeling she now got from the circle reminded her of when she and Harry would cast spells together.

"Excellent, I think he's done it." The headmaster spoke quietly, "Harry, do you think you can find that again without the runes helping you?"

"I think so," the boy replied as he slowly opened his eyes, "should I step outside it and try again?"

"You would likely find it extremely easy to grab ahold of the bond right now because you just did," he answered, "so you should wait until tonight. Perhaps your Head of House could offer her office for the twenty minutes or so it should take."

"That won't be a problem," The woman in question agreed, "though I would like to get some work done after this. Could we please address the issue from last weekend?"

"What issue is that ma'am?" Hermione asked while Harry picked up his familiar and wiped a bit of sweat off his forehead.

"During the incident with the troll," the headmaster spoke, "you two performed a most remarkable feat of magic. One that neither of you could have managed separately, or even merely working together normally."

Harry and Hermione glanced at each other as the headmaster explained, they hadn't told anyone but Neville about magic frequencies and synchronising outside of the time with the troll.

"Is something wrong with it?" Harry finally said, "Matching our magic just makes it easy to cast the same spell on something. That's basically all it was."

"No, it was more than simple synchronicity." Dumbledore returned, "I decided to have this test of your bond today because I knew that you would succeed, you've already done something much harder. You opened a link with Miss Granger and fed magic to her through it, allowing you to cast a spell together with uncanny power. Unlike with Najash, however, there is no preexisting bond to protect you from harming each other. Sharing power like that can be very dangerous for both of you. But especially, the magically weaker of you can be burnt out if the spell being cast is simply too far above your norm."

"I trust Harry." Hermione proclaimed with more strength than she felt, she had no illusions that she wasn't the magically weaker of the two. That burning could have killed me? "He wouldn't hurt me."

"Yes well, trust is the most important factor in joint magic such as what you performed working. However, I must ask you not to do so again unless it is a life or death decision. There is no need for it at your ages but if, when you are older, you are still interested in it then I can hold lessons with you." The headmaster smiled, "Of course, that has nothing to do with magic synchronicity. If you wish to continue your practicing with that, then I encourage it."

"Thank you, and thank you again for letting me watch Harry's lesson." Hermione added, "Could you recommend a book about different kinds of familiars to me? I'm most interested."

"Miss Granger, perhaps that can wait until you are older?" Professor Mcgonagall interjected, "It is a small miracle that Mister Potter suffered no permanent negative effects from such a young bonding. Additionally, you would likely lack the advantage of being able to literally speak to your chosen companion."

"But-"

"I see no reason she can't begin learning about different kinds of animals that are generally chosen though." Dumbledore said, overruling his deputy as he wrote down a title on a piece of parchment. "Remember that forming a familiar bond must be a mutual decision. You should endeavor to find a creature that your magic responds to and not just look for a specific species or breed necessarily."

"Thank you sir, I will." Hermione promised as she accepted the parchment.

"Well, in that case," the headmaster said with a clap of his hands, "thank you again for allowing me to teach you Harry, and congratulations once more on your victory despite adversity on the pitch yesterday. Next time we meet like this we will begin working on the shrinking spell, starting with regular objects. Miss Granger, you are welcome to join us if you would like and Harry allows."

"I'm sorry Hermione," Harry said as soon as they were at the base of the stairs outside the headmaster's office, "I had no idea that was dangerous."

"It's okay Harry, it was just a little burn. My hand is totally fine now. Saving Dudley and Ron was more important. But we should definitely try to avoid doing that again."

"For sure."

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"I wasn't expecting you home for another hour." Molly Weasley said as her husband came through the door. "I haven't finished cleaning yet and dinner hasn't been started, so give me some time dear."

"It's alright Molly, but we need to prepare for company tonight. I received a request from the Potter family this morning." Arthur grinned like a loon, "Apparently their new regent wants to talk to me about the Muggle Protection Act. The request came in this morning and I verified with the man that delivered it, the steward I believe, that today would be alright. I didn't want to delay it since I'm planning to present the bill next month. I left a little early to get some paperwork together."

"Oh dear," Molly groaned, "why does that have to happen in the house?"

"Well, it shouldn't be too much trouble. I believe it will only be the new regent and her advisor. Why don't you let me finish up cleaning while you get dinner started? Whatever you were going to make is probably fine, we just need enough for five instead of three."

"I'm almost done in here," his wife replied, "just let me finish and I'll get something started." She thought about what her husband had said, "Do you really think Ginny needs to be there? She's much too young for politics."

"Perhaps," Arthur conceded, "but she would never forgive us if we deprived her of a chance to ask about Harry Potter. From what I understand, the advisor is one of the people who raised the boy after that Halloween."

Molly couldn't argue with that, and the two set about preparing for their unexpected guests. Hiding on the stairwell, a ten year old girl was giddy with excitement that she hadn't felt when her father had first announced dinner guests. She wasn't going to be sent Aunt Muriel's for the night! She might get to meet some of Harry Potter's family!

The Weasley matriarch had secretly looked forward to having dinner guests while she was cooking. But when she reentered the living room to tell Arthur it was almost ready, she suffered quite a shock. Her husband was adding their guests to the floo book, their oldest son Bill had made a special privacy ward for their floo before he left for Egypt since Molly was always home all day, and he was speaking the names aloud as he wrote. She thought that "Andromeda Tonks" sounded familiar to her, but "Petunia Dursley" definitely did.

That was the name of that boy who'd written her a letter about Ronald early last month, she'd tossed it in the garbage but remembered the name. A Hufflepuff who defended a Slytherin was odd enough to stick in her mind, and why would a Dursley be related to Harry Potter?

She had almost half an hour to wonder over the question before the floo ignited and two women entered her living room one after the other. The first was dressed in casual robes and had a regal air about her that was hard to deny, but the other caused her to worry if Arthur had been lied to. She was clearly a muggle, wearing a muggle outfit and handbag and looking disapprovingly at the magical architecture of the Burrow. She'd thought "Dursley" sounded muggle, now she was sure.

"Welcome, welcome," Arthur said as he stepped forward, "I am Arthur Weasley, welcome to The Burrow."

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with us Mister Weasley," The regal, brown haired woman said as she stepped forward and shook the man's hand, "I am Andromeda Tonks, and this is Petunia Dursley. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Indeed," Arthur said as he shook both women's hands, "this is my wife, Molly, and our daughter Ginny is upstairs in her room. She should be down for dinner soon, the table will be set in a few minutes."

"Wonderful," Andromeda said, smiling serenely, "I've heard many excellent things about your wife's cooking."

"Mrs. Dursley," The Weasley patriarch inquired, "if you don't mind my asking, how are you related to the Potter family? I'm pretty sure that Andromeda here is related to the Potters by marriage, but I can't say as I've ever heard of a 'Dursley' before."

"You wouldn't have," she replied, "its my husband's name, and he's not magical."

"What was your name before you married?" Molly asked from behind her husband.

"It was also a muggle name, so you wouldn't recognize it either I wouldn't think."

"Do you really know Harry Potter?" A tiny voice from the bottom of the stairs interrupted the woman's questioning and drew the attention of the four adults. A young girl with bright red hair she obviously inherited from her parents was hiding partially behind the bannister. "Could you tell me about him?"

The innocence in the girl's face melted Petunia's heart like only a child could, and she smiled broadly as she answered, "Yes I do, is there anything in particular you want to know?"

"Has he really beaten a dragon and outsmarted a sphinx?" The girl asked, her eyes growing in excitement.

"What?" Petunia asked, stunned and completely at a loss, "Why would you think that? If Harry did something that dangerous I'd ground him until he was thirty!"

"But the books say he was raised by-" the girl started to explain.

"Ginny dear-" Molly tried to interject.

"What books?" Petunia asked, turning to the adults in the room as she did.

"Just some silly children's stories that have been popular since eighty-one." Arthur explained, "The Adventures of Harry Potter, imaginary stories of the adventures Harry could get up to after defeating You-Know-Who."

Petunia knelt down to speak softly to the girl, "Ginny is it? Harry and I have never talked about writing a book before, so anything that is true in your stories is just by accident. Harry had a regular old childhood just like anyone else." She smiled sweetly to stall the girls tears, "Plus, beating up dragons sounds more like my son, Harry's cousin. Harry has always wanted to be a healer and cure all the world's illnesses."

Ginny smiled back, only moderately disappointed, "Well… he's Harry Potter, he can do anything."

"They can do anything they set their minds to, Harry and Dudley both." Petunia agreed. There was a small gasp from Molly Weasley as Petunia named her son, confirming the woman's suspicions. There was no way this was just about Arthur's bill in the Wizengamot…

"Arthur," Andromeda spoke softly to avoid being heard by Ginny, "before we start dinner there is something that we need to talk about. You probably want to send your daughter upstairs for ten minutes or so first."

Arthur wasn't pleased, but did agree to send Ginny to play in her room for just a little while longer while the adults talked. He wasn't sure what to make of the pale complexion his wife was showing as they sat down around the table with cups of tea to discuss… whatever.

Andromeda and Petunia glanced at each other before they began speaking; they had worked out the basics of how they wanted to approach this after Remus had taken some time to exchange a few letters with Ron, as well as speak to the boy during lunch last Saturday. The idea that a woman could ostracize her own son for something he didn't have any say over was anathema to Petunia, so she was trusting Andromeda to lead the discussion and keep her from losing her composure if necessary. Seeing Ron break down crying the night of the troll attack had rattled Petunia once the shock of what had happened to Harry had worn off. This woman was at least as responsible as Dumbledore for Harry getting hurt.

"Let me start," Andromeda began, "by asking whether you two were aware that a mountain troll slipped into Hogwarts during the Halloween feast and the students had to be evacuated to their dorms?" Arthur shook his head, while Molly seemed to know something.

"Percy wrote me about it," the red headed woman explained, "but I just assumed it was a prank or something that the school took a little too seriously. Are you saying there was actually a real troll in the school?"

"Yes, there was." Andromeda continued, "Not only that, but there was a student who didn't attend the feast that found themselves directly in the troll's path through the school. He would have been killed if not for the actions of three other students who were among the only ones to know that he was missing from the feast."

"That's terrible!" Arthur exclaimed, "Whatever damages or injuries happened, I'll do my best to pay for them. I'll give my boys a good talking to this Christmas about taking pranks too far. I'll have to find out where they lured the troll as well."

"You misunderstand, sir." Petunia interjected, realizing after a second what the man probably meant, "Your twins weren't involved in this. The troll in the school was not a prank of any kind."

"Erm, well then." Arthur huffed in confusion, "As much as I am glad that you took the time to inform me about this then, I must admit I'm at a loss as to why you brought it up in this setting."

"The same reason I asked you to send young Ginny upstairs." Mrs. Tonks answered, "The missing student who was almost killed was one of your sons. Ronald. The three that saved him were Harry Potter, his cousin Dudley, and their mutual friend Hermione Granger. All first years."

"That boy has done nothing but get into trouble and get poor grades since being sorted, now he makes three other students risk their lives because he can't be where he's supposed to be!" Molly hissed under her breath.

Andromeda grabbed Petunia's arm to keep the woman from reaching across the table and slapping Molly, "Your son had been pranked by a couple of his housemates and was very sick. He'd apparently been stuck in a bathroom for most of the day. That's why he didn't know about the troll. You would know he's been having these issues constantly if you'd paid more attention."

"Ronald hasn't really tried to contact us since he was placed in Slytherin," Arthur confessed, "I assume it is to keep his housemates from tormenting him over our family's lower status. The only time I've gotten a letter from him was this one time he sent one with Percy's update to my office. I-"

"Incorrect," Petunia interjected, "the child tried quite a few times to write to you." Molly's face was pale as a ghost, an assessment that Petunia now found herself able to make without speculation since seeing real ones at Hogwarts, "According to him, he received many of those letters back, unopened."

"I don't understand how that's possible." Arthur stated without looking at his wife. If he had he would have known the answer without asking.

"Why don't you ask the one who sent him a howler the first week of school, just to call him a disgrace for being sorted into a different House than his siblings?" Petunia asked in a deadpan voice as her eyes drifted over to Molly Weasley. "All of your sons that I've spoken to seem to agree that she's the keeper of the mail in this house."

He looked over at his wife to find her paling even more, "Molly? What do they mean?"

"I told him in the howler!" She exclaimed, "He just needed to get sorted back into a respectable House. There's never been a Weasley that wasn't a Lion, him being a Snake is intolerable."

"You sent him a Howler and returned his mail unopened because you want him resorted?" Arthur was furious, "Ignoring the fact that he's our son, and treating him this way is unacceptable. Only the headmaster can overturn a Sorting and, even then, only to protect a student from credible bodily threats." He turned back to the women sitting across from him, "Am I to assume you wish to discuss a life debt between our houses? Mister Potter and the others saved Ron's life."

"Yes and no." Andromeda answered, "The only thing Harry and Petunia want from you is for you to treat Ron like part of your family again. He was being tormented, with no friends, before he took in with Harry's group. According to the children, it's better now but Ron still wishes he could write home about his troubles. At the moment he isn't even sure if he'll be welcome home for Christmas."

"Of course he will be!" Arthur shouted, "Molly, how could you? Our own son doesn't think he's welcome for Christmas!"

"While I agree she was out of line," Petunia said, "little Ginny is still upstairs, it would not do for her to hear you yelling at each other. Perhaps save that for when you can yell without being heard?"

"I agree ma'am, I apologize for my outburst." The Weasley patriarch said, "But seriously, whatever you think is fair for saving my son's life is-"

"No sir," Petunia interrupted him, "Harry saved Ron because they are friends, and there are no debts like that between friends. We would only have pushed the matter if you seemed to agree with how your wife was behaving. As long as you work to make sure Ron feels welcome here, that is all Harry or I would ask of you."

"Were any of the children actually hurt?" Molly asked, her face looked like a switch had been flipped inside her and she'd finally seemed to realize that one of her own had almost died.

"Harry was hurt pretty badly," Andromeda answered, to keep Petunia from having to discuss her nephew's injuries again, "his legs were hurt, but Madame Pomfrey had him right as rain in a day or so. Ron twisted his ankle, and Miss Granger burned her hand in the magical outburst that incapacitated the troll. But all of them are fine now. If you've got time after dinner, I could tell you the story of what happened. We got it out of the kids that night after Professor Mcgonagall brought us to the school to see them."

"Why wasn't I contacted?" Molly asked.

"Ron said he asked the teachers not to," Petunia answered, feeling sorry for Molly as the woman began openly crying when she finished, "he seemed honestly worried you might have yelled at him or even congratulated the troll."

Her mother's crying meant that no one heard Ginny, hiding in the next room, also distraught over what she'd heard. Her brother had almost died? Harry Potter had almost died saving him? It sounded to Ginny like Harry's life was just as exciting as it was in her story books, but in real life good people got hurt. In her stories only the bad wizards and monsters did.

"Why don't we pick ourselves up with some dinner, I assure you these problems will be addressed." Arthur said to break the melancholy after his wife had finished crying after a couple minutes, "Molly has cooked a ham for us, and some things fresh from our garden to go with it. Just let me run and tell Ginny she can rejoin us." As he finished speaking, all four heard the pattering of little feet rushing back up the stairs.

"Oh dear." Arthur drawled as he rose to check on his daughter, "I'll be right back."

While he was gone, Andromeda and Petunia offered to help Molly bring the food to the table. She raised an eyebrow when Petunia carried a platter by hand, Andromeda levitated the ones that she carried…

Mister Weasley returned a couple minutes later with a red-eyed daughter who had clearly just stopped crying.

"She heard basically everything." He said as he held Ginny close.

She stepped forward after receiving a pat on the shoulder from her father, "I'm sorry for listening after you asked me not to." She said with her eyes on her toes.

"It's alright sweetie." Petunia told the girl as she pet her head, "You should know that sometimes adults keeping things from you are just trying to keep you from being scared for no reason. I promise, your brother is fine, his ankle was already fixed by the time I got to the castle that night."

Andromeda suggested that they tell the story over dinner, which led to Molly complaining that that wouldn't be appropriate for Ginny, but she spoke over the woman, "There is nothing inherently scary about the story besides the troll itself. Honestly, I think it will sound a lot like one of her story books, Harry and Hermione did something truly special to save your son. Her imagination is sure to create a picture worse than reality if we don't tell her the truth."

They began their story with Ron getting sick in the bathroom, then explained that the boy who had put puking powder on his muffin was given two weeks straight of detention and a loss of house points. Petunia's disgust at house points as a punishment was evident throughout.

"They really lifted a troll in the air?" Arthur Weasley asked incredulously after his guests had finished telling about his son's rescue.

"Who's Hermione?" Ginny asked, ignoring her father's question.

"She's a friend of Harry and Dudley from before Hogwarts," Petunia answered the girl first, "she's also one of the only people in their year that can beat Harry's grades. And yes, they apparently lifted the troll so hard that it conked it's head on the stone ceiling and was knocked out." They weren't about to say the troll had been killed in front of a ten-year-old

"Too bad Harry didn't have the strength to move afterwards." Andromeda added, "He looked dreadful with all the bones in his legs gone, but at least he didn't lose his head over it. Right before he was put to sleep he was asking questions about the healing process that I wouldn't have expected from a first year."

"But he's really alright, right?" The ten-year old in question asked, her face a mask of worry.

"Of course," Petunia insisted, "he even flew in a Quidditch game last weekend. He caught the Snitch and won the game for his team. It was spectacular to watch, though I wish the stands weren't so far up. I don't like heights very much."

"You actually went to Hogwarts and watched the game?" Molly asked, "I didn't know that was allowed."

"It's not against any rules," Petunia replied, "you just have to floo to Hogsmeade and walk or take a carriage if one is available. We actually had lunch with the children after the game."

Molly frowned, "I might have to surprise the twins by coming to see their next one. I've heard stories, but I've never seen it for myself."

"Those two were pretty strong with their bats. I can't tell you much more than that because I was too busy watching Harry."

"Speaking of Mister Potter again for a moment," Arthur said as he finished the last of his food, "I've heard around the Ministry that Harry and your son can use wandless magic. Supposedly there's even a wandless class being offered this summer?"

"That's correct, Hermione can use wandless magic as well." Ginny gasped at that, but Andromeda continued speaking, "Professor Flitwick is planning on offering a class on wandless magical control based on their success, but it is supposed to require pairs with at least one being muggle raised. Part of the class will involve getting away from all magic of any kind for an extended period. If any of your sons find a partner I would highly recommend letting them go."

By the time Ginny was sent upstairs for bed, Petunia felt much better about Ron Weasley's situation. His mother was planning to write an apology letter to him soon to make sure the poor boy knew that he was always welcome home for the Holidays.

"Speaking of the Christmas Hols," Petunia added, "We were planning to invite several of our children's friends over for some time during the break. Ronald was one of those they wanted to ask about. We're planning to spend the time on one of the Potter family's warded properties."

"I don't know…" Molly demurred.

"There will be plenty of adult supervision. We are going to be there for a week and different friends from Hogwarts are going to be visiting at different times, whenever they were available." Petunia explained, "Think about it, if you will."

"Ginny could probably be invited as well, space depending." Andromeda added, "There is a family with three pre Hogwarts children that maintains the property. Plus, there's a muggleborn girl that lives near the Dursleys that will be joining them as well. She'll be in the same year as Ginny."

"It would be nice for her to know someone before going to the castle." Molly Weasley thought aloud, "She hasn't spent much time with Luna Lovegood since the poor girl's mother died, and there aren't any other magical children around here."

When the discussion moved to Arthur's Muggle Protection Act, Molly tried to get Petunia to go to the other room with her only to be rebuffed by the woman.

"But, you said you… lived as a muggle?" Molly asked, confused.

"That gives her a unique perspective here." Andromeda answered for her new friend, Petunia didn't seem to be receiving the plump woman's judgemental tone very well.

"Indeed, I would love to hear a muggle's perspective," Arthur exclaimed happily, "though I'll have to keep your involvement a secret."

"Actually I'm a squib, So that won't be an issue. I would prefer if you let any contribution from me be attributed to 'The Potter Family' if at all possible though."

Molly frowned anew at that, the woman had entered the floo with Andromeda Tonks, not separately, and left to work on the sweaters for her children's Christmas gifts while the other three set about discussing the bill. It quickly became apparent to Petunia that the man who was called the Ministry's top muggle expert had no idea how anything in the non magical world worked. He was even a card-carrying member of the "Eckletrickery" Club.

"For example," The squib explained, "your wording on permitted enchanted items allows for enchanted machines so long as they perform the same function as their muggle counterpart. Unfortunately, for most muggle technology that has more than one moving part nowadays the 'how' is more important than the 'what.'"

"Could you be more specific so I understand what you mean?" The man asked, this was exactly the kind of thing he needed to nail down the wording. Most of the other Ministry heads or Wizengamot members working with him had simply assumed he knew what needed to be done because he was Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Department. The Minister had apparently never learned that obsession was not the same as experience.

"Suppose a wizard wanted an automobile to visit muggle or muggleborn friends but doesn't want to worry with fuel, so he enchants it to run on its own." Arthur gulped as Petunia elaborated, "No gasoline required. The way both your bill and the current law are worded, that would be allowed. But that is a horribly dangerous risk to secrecy. If a muggle stole the vehicle they would know within a few days that there was something odd about it. They have to be refueled every few hundred miles depending on the vehicle. One can argue that you could simply require tracking to prevent theft, but that is an extra step that still risks secrecy."

"What made you pick that example in particular?" Mister Weasley inquired, visibly upset.

His guests both smirked at him, "Should I make a point of not asking what kind of projects you get up to in your work shed, Mister Weasley?" Andromeda joked.

When the man sputtered a failed response Petunia took pity on him, "Actually, when Harry was very little he used to have dreams of a magical flying motorbike. I was reminded of it when I was skimming your bill and got to thinking more about it."

Arthur Weasley had hoped that he would be getting a promise of support and maybe some points of advice for revising the bill. Instead, when the two women left the Burrow after discussing it with him for almost an hour, he was left wondering if it was going to be possible to present by Easter, Christmas was certainly out with as many revisions as were going to be needed.

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

Albus Dumbledore sighed in momentary contentment as he took a sip of tea in the VIP waiting room of Gringotts, his secret was putting a lemon drop in the tea and letting it dissolve as he drank. He had spent the better part of two weeks preparing for this encounter, his reckoning with Ms. Acacia, no… Mrs. Dursley. How the woman was a squib he would never know, but he had been shown the blood tests performed by Gringotts last January that confirmed it. That had been the last mark against his secret wish that this was all a prank set up by Remus. If anyone could figure out how to sneak a muggle into Hogwarts it would have been one of the Marauders. But Gringotts shot down his hopes. He couldn't deny the truth, just be puzzled by it.

She was understandably angry at how he had handled the Potters' affairs, especially Harry Potter personally, and he needed to make sure his arguments were airtight. Getting Petunia Dursley and Remus Lupin on his side was paramount. It didn't matter if he could somehow wrangle guardianship of Harry back if the boy would resent him for life over it. Most of the monetary decisions he had made he felt would be easy to wave away, but his decision to freeze all Potter businesses would be a hard sell. Hopefully it wouldn't matter too much to his "interrogators," the Potter family subsisted mostly on royalties from past accomplishments (particularly Sleekeazy's Hair Potion) and a vineyard in France. The vineyard had been shut down to keep Albus from having to look at the paperwork, but the royalties had continued to be deposited into the account.

His only worry was that he had overestimated the actual size of the Potter fortune. With Gringotts unwilling to work with him on accessing anything except Harry's trust vault without proof of how the money would be spent, he had been forced to simply empty said vault of it's thirty-thousand Galleons to use to begin fighting against the Dark on the Wizengamot and wait for it to refill itself yearly on the First of January. He hadn't needed the full thirty-thousand every year, but he had simply assumed that the Potter vaults weren't going to be significantly hit by his spending. Looking back, he realized he'd used quite a sight more of Harry's money than he'd realized.

"Ms. Acacia has just entered the conference room." The gruff voice of a goblin broke Albus out of his contemplation, "Follow me, wizard."

The conference room he was led to was much more welcoming than most in the goblin bank. There was a low burning hearth on one side that gave it a warm glow, and the meeting table was low-set with comfortable looking couches on either side rather than office chairs. Petunia Dursley and Remus Lupin were already seated in the room enjoying tea and biscuits, and sitting on either side of one Vernon Dursley.

"Ah, welcome Headmaster Dumbledore. Thank you for agreeing to meet with us about this before the holidays." The large man in the middle said, standing to shake Albus's hand as the aged wizard sat down. He noted that there were no goblins in the room, something he didn't expect from a conference in Gringotts.

"Before you ask," Petunia said from her husband's side, "we felt you would be more open if it was just us. But understand that while no one outside may be listening, everything we say here is being recorded. Just in case we feel the need to fact check."

"I… suppose that is fair." Albus conceded, "Where would you like to start today? I hope that I answered most of your concerns regarding Harry, himself?"

"Hardly," Vernon griped, "but every magical we've spoken to has agreed that you are basically like if Winston Churchill was also the strongest man alive. Nothing less than murder or abuse of a minor would actually see you punished by the courts."

"Er… I suppose that is one way of looking at it." Dumbledore conceded, "Though I never have."

"Why don't we start with going through why you felt it was okay to use my nephew's inheritance to pass your legislation?" Vernon returned, "Why couldn't you use your own money?"

Simple questions first, "Because I did not have the funds needed to do so. The House of Dumbledore is neither noble, nor wealthy, and simply having a seat on the Wizengamot doesn't entitle one to wealth."

"What about your other positions?" Remus asked, "Chief Warlock? Supreme Mugwump?"

"My salary as Supreme Mugwump is no different than that of a common ambassador to the ICW." The old man replied, "As well, the Chief Warlock doesn't get paid a salary. It is the same stipend for all sitting members of the 'Gamot to compensate for lost time."

Albus pulled out one of the few, small, folders he had brought to this meeting. This one showed the financial information for a charity that puts lower income muggleborn students through Hogwarts, "As for my salary from the school, I have it paid directly to this charity, along with my ambassador's salary. I have done so since becoming Headmaster and Mugwump respectively. Even then, you can see that it is not an impressive amount. I live almost exclusively off of my Wizengamot stipends, as most of my basic needs are provided by Hogwarts."

Vernon looked furious at Dumbledore's answer, 'I give all my own money away' wasn't exactly a viable excuse in his estimate. But only a monster talks down about a man's honest charity.

"If I had thought that simply cutting off those donations and using my own funds would have worked I would have tried to do so." Albus huffed, "You must understand the context, particularly in the early days after the war's end. Many Dark families claimed Imperious, mind control, to get out of sentencing. Those people then immediately began trying to legislate their dark agenda once more. The first time I reached into Harry's vault though, was to prevent a direct attack on him and you."

"Explain." Petunia and Vernon bid together.

"Lucius Malfoy, as well as his father Abraxus, may he rest in peace, were trying to get custody of Harry." Dumbledore explained, causing the two raised outside the magical world to look questioningly at their magical advisor. Remus was paler than normal as he pondered all that could have gone wrong if the Malfoys had taken Harry.

"The Malfoy family was generally accepted to be You-Know-Who's main financial backer." The werewolf explained, "And Lucius, I believe, married Narcissa Black. She would be Andromeda's younger sister."

"Indeed," Dumbledore concurred, "Lucius Malfoy was trying to use his relationship with Harry through the Blacks to get the boy placed in his care. My sealing of the Potter wills to keep any allied families from asking about him unfortunately made his case stronger. For the first few years I used money from Harry's trust vault to keep Lucius tied up fighting legislation in the Wizengamot, while also using some of it to keep private investigators the man hired from being able to track you to Privet Drive. In the moment, I didn't have time to wait. I needed to begin work before Malfoy found your married name. After I did it once, it became easier to justify coming back when something else that would protect Harry came up."

"What about the werewolf laws?" Petunia asked testily, "You have to have known that wouldn't have been something Harry's parents would support." She and Vernon had found some of the wind taken from their sails at the bombshell that a known Death Eater who'd escaped punishment had tried to use his familial relationship with Harry to find him.

Albus frowned at that and poured himself a new cup of tea while he thought about how to answer, "No. The Potters would not have pushed for those restrictions the way I did. But… I had to take the chance when it was presented. It pushed Malfoy into a corner, either he comes out in support of werewolves or he stabs another of Voldemort's lieutenants in the back."

"Greyback." Remus whispered under his breath.

"Fenrir Greyback, and what was left of his pack, left England about five years ago for a werewolf village in Scandinavia. Remus, I'm sure you can agree that that is a good thing."

"Who is Fenrir Greyback?" Petunia asked, "He sounds like a character out of Lewis or Tolkien with a name like that."

"Greyback is the monster that bit me when I was five years old." Remus answered.

"Monster?" Petunia was genuinely shocked. Remus occasionally referenced other werewolves, but the only one he ever referred to as a monster was himself, his self degradation was worst right around a full moon.

"He is truly evil." Remus continued, "He likes to set himself near isolated families right before a change to make sure he attacks humans, with a preference for houses with multiple children. He'll even target muggle hamlets and such, if there aren't any wizarding homes within range on the night of the full moon."

"Does that make a difference?" Vernon asked, "Magical or not?"

"Most muggles simply don't survive the attack, let alone the first transformation." Albus answered, Remus was clearly getting uncomfortable being the one talking about Greyback, "But even if they do, without magic there is no way they can repair the muscles and bones in their body post-transformation. I've never heard of a muggle werewolf surviving more than three full moons before their body simply falls apart."

"That's terrible." Petunia sighed as she took a long sip of tea.

The four spent the better part of that Saturday afternoon discussing what had happened over the last ten years. Albus was forced to recall the specific details of far more transactions than he had prepared for, Vernon Dursley apparently didn't get to be one of the heads of his department by missing out on details, but recall them he did. The family seemed to understand his claim that the managing of the actual Potter Estate was just one job too many after all his other titles. Especially after he insisted that he would have turned over the reigns had he known that that was an option. By the end of it, Albus felt he had managed to persuade the Dursley family that he wasn't simply a thief in the night stealing Harry's money for his own political ends.

At least, he thought so until he was grilled about the sanctions against Gringotts that he supported after the war.

"I knew that Gringotts was sitting on information that could remove certain Death Eaters from their seats in the Wizengamot." He defended himself, "Proof of bribes and hiring of mercenaries and thugs, it could have turned the war long before Halloween."

"I agree that it would have been wonderful, my sister might even still be alive." Petunia answered, "But as it stands, Gringotts was forbidden from helping. They aren't allowed to interfere in wizarding wars, and the Ministry was officially at war with Voldemort. Axegut informs me that the motion to declare war was made by a Dark family, he even implied that it was by Voldemort's design. If so, it would have been specifically to keep Gringotts from helping."

"Magical treaties between nations don't force compliance, they can't." Dumbledore returned, "They could have shared what they knew and then, even if the families they informed on complained, when the Ministry won the war they would be thanked for their assistance."

"Ridiculous." Petunia muttered, "Your Ministry is full of corruption and bigotry on both sides of your 'light and dark' debate. It is so ingrained in your culture that even someone like Andromeda Tonks couldn't help it a little." Remus glanced at her in puzzlement, "When we spoke of replacing Amos as Harry's proxy she went out of her way to make sure he wouldn't be burned by anything. 'I understand, but he's not actually a bad man himself' is more or less what she said. Well I'm sorry, he may not be a 'bad' man, but he isn't a 'good' one. Not as violently bigoted and entitled as he is."

She was still peeved at Amos Diggory, the man had written multiple letters demanding the proxy seat back. Apparently he felt he was owed a chance to vote the seat while being in correspondence with Harry. Her and Andromeda's reply that his stance on certain issues was uniquivicably known, and were the primary reason he had been replaced, just caused more mail. His most recent correspondence actually included a promise of retribution the next time the full Wizengamot met, on the night of the Solstice when Arthur Weasley had originally intended to present his bill.

"Anyways," she concluded, "there was no way that the goblins could trust you to understand. I have heard the adage that it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission, but the man who spoke those words was thinking of individuals, not nations."

"I suppose that it true." Albus sadly confessed. This was not the stance he was expecting the Dursleys to take about all of this.

"This has gone on most of the afternoon at this point," Vernon said as he stood up to stretch, they'd already had to take a break to relieve themselves after drinking multiple pots of tea and it was getting to be that time again, "so I believe we should wrap up for the day."

"Indeed." Albus said, nodding, "Sir, madam, you and I all know that I will never be able to return the money I used from Harry's accounts were we to be able to parse out exactly what I do or do not owe him back. Perhaps I can make amends in some other way in the future, but for now all I can offer is my condolences for not checking on Harry and realizing your situation sooner."

No one in the Dursley party left Gringotts that day happy with how things had gone. Vernon was peeved that the old man had presented solid arguments about Harry's safety, after almost a year to grow more and more spiteful towards the man it was anticlimactic for him not to be the mustachioed bad guy. It turned out that the man was grossly negligent, not realizing that several of the royalty incomes that were present in 1981 had run their duration, and nothing necessarily sinister. Despite that, Petunia couldn't help but think that there was something she was missing, something important, in the way Dumbledore was interested in Harry. Remus was conflicted, on the one hand he was ecstatic to know that his home country was no longer beset by Fenrir Greyback, but was the human cost in werewolf hardship really worth that? Several mainland governments had taken to modeling their werewolf control after Britain in the past five years, mostly in the eastern portion of the continent.

Albus Dumbledore sighed in relief as he flooed directly from Gringotts to his office in Hogwarts. That was a much more arduous meeting than he had expected, but at least he had the tenuous trust of the Dursleys for the time being. He needed to make a point of going back over all of his affairs again, clearly he had been slipping for a while. Now to make sure Harry Potter didn't get them both in trouble looking for the Philosopher's Stone again. The Mirror, the last piece of the Stone's defenses, was scheduled to arrive in the next two weeks and he needed to make sure he had all the enchantments he intended to add for protection ready to go.