All Harry Potter belongs to RR…wait…wrong series. All Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling who allows us to enjoy her characters in Fan Fiction. Thanks to the kind lady!
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Lady Longbottom took command of the conversation for the next few minutes, repeating the information that Director Bones had shared with her regarding Harry Potter's muggle guardians. "From November 1981 until last month, Mrs. Petunia Dursley and her husband, Vernon, were Harry's primary guardians and he lived with them in the muggle world."
"How did that come to be?" asked Ironstream. "There is no such person listed in either Lord Potter's will or Lady Potter's will!"
Harry explained, "I was told by someone I trust, Rubeus Hagrid, the groundskeeper at Hogwarts, that Headmaster Dumbledore placed me on the stoop outside the door of No.4 Privett Drive in the dark of night and left me there. Hagrid saw it and so did Professor Minerva McGonagall. She'd been there all day watching the Dursleys. The next morning, my aunt found me in a basket when she went to collect the newspaper."
[Merlin Love Two Ducks! Watch the goblin's mouth! He is going to spit!] Iggy said with great excitement. Harry imagined a little boy dancing with excitement on Christmas morning before opening presents. [In all my centuries of sitting on Potter shoulders while they deal with goblins, I have never seen one mad enough to spit.]
[What happens if he spits?] asked Harry.
[Someone is very likely to die…or wish they were dead after Gringotts closes their vaults.]
Lady Longbottom frowned and grew concerned, Neville found himself horrified by the information being shared by Harry, and the goblins began to panic that someone would declare them 'bad custodians' of the Potter estate.
After another moment, Ironstream did spit! He turned his head away from the wizards and the other goblin but he expelled a decent stream of viscous liquid from between his lips that actually smoked when it hit the stone wall at his side. The goblin roared in anger and rose to leave the room. Before he left, Ironstream bowed to Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom and Lady Longbottom, but then he stomped from the room, calling for his battle axe and armour in the hallway.
"Well, that is certainly something seldom seen in Gringotts Bank since King Charles I was beheaded by Oliver Cromwell and his Roundheads," Sowsbreath said. "The goblins went to war against Cromwell's new Commonwealth and in six months beat the muggle soldiers soundly."
"That's when we won complete independence from the wizards because Cromwell burned and hung every witch and wizard, he could lay hands on. The bank was closed for twenty years until Charles II took back the throne in 1660 – I think."
"What is Account Manager Ironstream going to do?" asked Harry.
Sowsbreath glanced at Lady Longbottom who seemed as interested as her ward so the Longbottom goblin explained, "He'll go and try to convince our chieftain to declare war on all wizards. When that fails, he will ask Ragnock for permission to hunt your previous magical guardian and separate the wizard's head from his body."
Again, glancing at Lady Longbottom who didn't seem upset at that prospect, Sowsbreath continued, "Ironstream might actually get somewhere with that request but I believe Ragnock will convince your account manager to declare sufficient account penalties against the foolish wizard to confiscate his wealth–here at Gringotts and out in the world."
"Who was my previous guardian anyway?" asked Harry with more urgency in his tone. "This magical guardian–it can't be Aunt Petunia–who was it?"
Sowsbreath frowned and refused to answer. Lady Longbottom asked, "No one ever told you, Harry?"
[Be polite! Be polite!] Iggy counselled feeling Harry's temper beginning to fray.
"No ma'am. No one ever told me," Harry managed to say through clinched teeth. This brought Neville out of his chair to stand beside Harry and even put his arm around the slightly shorter boy's shoulder.
Augusta said, "I have not had time to talk to you about everything…Nonetheless, the guardian was Albus Dumbledore."
Iggy exclaimed, [Dumblemore! That faker! Let me get Lady Hogwarts free again and she'll put the fear of Mordred and Morgana in that poofter!]
Before Harry could explode with anger, Neville laughed aloud and, in his mind, Neville said, [I heard that. I can't believe the goblins didn't hear it. I want to see the headmaster afraid like Mordred and Morgana are after him.]
When Harry and Iggy didn't say anything, Neville asked, [Why do you call him Dumblemore? They were a really bad family of muggleborns who almost started a war between muggles and wizards when Queen Victoria was on the throne. The ministry issued open death sentences for all Dumblemores.]
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Sowsbreath read the room correctly and called for tea. Since the introduction of tea to the diet of Englishmen, the goblins found two primary benefits to the practice of serving it to their clients at moments of great stress. The familiarity of the steps to prepare a cup of tea gave them time to think and reconsider their anger or stress. And the introduction of boiling hot water to make the tea improved the health of the average Englishman–muggle and wizard alike. The boiled water killed any parasites in the water and the custom of sipping their cups of tea seemed to calm the often-boiling tempers.
While drinking a cup of tea and eating three biscuits, Harry calmed enough to speak with Iggy and Neville about their new connection. [How is this happening Iggy? Any other Potter able to have more than one person talking to them through you?]
[Uh…can we wait a few years for that conversation? It's kinda icky and you two won't like it right now.]
[But you will tell us?] asked Neville.
The reply was instantaneous. [Yes.]
[When?] demanded Harry. [You have to make certain Iggy knows who is boss sometimes.]
[In your fifth year, we'll talk about it. And what do you mean 'who is boss'? This is a partnership!]
Before they could continue with the argument, Ironstream returned to the room, his battle axe over his shoulder and his armour in place.
"Heir Potter, Gringotts is going to pursue your former magical goblin for every galleon, horrid robe, and twinkling spell book he holds," the goblin announced before he buried his axe in the tabletop where Sowsbreath remained seated.
The two young wizards grinned to see the axe buried several inches deep in the wood, Sowsbreath decided to keep his opinions to himself, and Lady Longbottom wondered whatever possessed any wizard to think they should try to cross wands with a goblin with a battle axe.
"Now to business," Ironstream said. "Did your muggles ever talk about the money they received for your care?"
"My care?" asked Harry, thinking of the days he was hungry, alone and cold.
[Only the truth and slowly,] Iggy insisted.
[Yeah, what Iggy said,] added Neville with some cheek in his tone.
Harry sat down replied, "Ironstream, my aunt and uncle told me repeatedly that they never got any money to help pay for me. They didn't have the correct documents and it was very hard to get assistance–as an orphan the government would have paid a monthly stipend for food and clothing but Aunt Petunia had no paperwork on me."
"They didn't get money from Gringotts every month?"
"Not that I am aware of, but they would never have told me about that."
Ironstream fiddled with some runes on his desk–the battle axe had not broken the magic there–and he soon grinned. "More theft! Dumbledore withdrew funds for your care every month but then paid himself and deposited it into another vault."
"Now, have you received the Potter family heirlooms that Dumbledore removed from your family vault in November 1981? He took out a cloak of invisibility and a large pensieve capable of projecting memories as a teaching aide for instruction."
Harry grinned, "He 'gifted' me with the cloak at Christmas in 1991. But…"
[The pensieve is in his office. Big stone dish with lots of memories floating in it,] said Iggy.
"Wait, I think the pensieve is in his office at Hogwarts," Harry said. "I read about them in a book and remember seeing a big one in his office."
They continued the conversation for twenty minutes and when Ironstream was done with questions, he promised to deliver a strategy for the Dumbledore Attack that Gringotts would conduct beginning 1 January. Tired and ready to rest, Augusta lead the two boys back to the floo to return home.
The moment she stepped through the floo, she felt the wards and shouted, "Lock down!"
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More Thieves
Her wand in her hand, and once again forcing Harry and Neville to stay behind her, Augusta began searching for a thief in her home. The wards were humming–someone attempted to break in through the elf portal–there were four dead elves lying there–two from Longbottom Manor and two that the surviving Longbottom elves identified as elves that belonged to the McMillian family.
Augusta noticed that she had a young wizard on either side of her now and they were carrying their wands properly to flick back spells cast at them and continue with an attack.
[The spell is called Friend fire, Neville,] Iggy instructed his new student. [A spell that Harry and I created last year deal with enemies. Any thief in this house is an enemy.]
There was nothing in the house and suddenly Neville said, [The greenhouse. The Breathe of Magic!]
Without regard to their safety, both young wizards ran toward the greenhouse but they vanished from Augusta's sight and hearing as Iggy cast spells on them. The thief had made it to the greenhouse and the Lady Evans Rose lay on its side. The Lady Alice Rose had been uprooted and lay on the floor. With great care, Neville and Harry returned both plants to their correct pots and location.
"They came for the roses!" Augusta cursed when she reached the greenhouse. "Stupid, selfish wizards!"
Calming herself, Augusta reached out to the wards once again and after a moment, she said, "The war wards got him here. He was trying to steal the roses when the wards grabbed him and threw him out."
"Will he come back?" Neville asked.
She shook her head and continued, "He won't come back. The wards ripped him into a dozen pieces and spread him all over the estate."
The family remained in the greenhouse for a long time, and the two surviving Longbottom elves brought news of the dead wizard–there were pieces of him on the roof of the greenhouse, his feet were on the walkway leading to the house and his legs were in the back yard. The torso was in the middle of a nearby pasture and his head was stuck between the branches of an apple tree.
"Gather all the pieces in the empty barn," Augusta instructed the elves.
"Will you call the Aurors?" asked her ward.
"I don't know yet," she replied honestly. "I want to know who the man was before I start yelling at people."
"What difference does that make?" asked Harry.
"That's a very fair question," replied Augusta. "Neville, can you think of reasons why I want to know who the wizard was before I summon the Aurors?"
Immediately Neville said, "He could be someone important enough that we'd never admit to the death. Like Dumbledore. If he is torn up here, we'll never mention it to anyone and 'wonder' what happened to him like everyone else."
Iggy commented, [We'll not be that lucky.]
Then the boy continued, "If the thief is an Unspeakable, we'll get the minister to come down on the Department of Mysteries like a tonne of bricks on fire. Gran's brother is the head unspeakable but they do what they want until it is time for budgets every year."
"If it is someone totally unknown, we'll turn it over to the Aurors to investigate but we won't tell 'em about the roses." Neville thought about it for another minute and then said, "In fact, I don't see any situation where we're better off calling the Aurors."
"Unless it is an Auror," Augusta corrected her grandson. "But you are correct otherwise. If this was an operation by the Aurors, we'll have to pretend…"
She paused, "We need more elves–two of our own dead–damn the thief."
When they reached the empty barn, while Augusta examined the man's head and Harry used a few spells from Iggy to examine the contents of his pockets, Neville knelt and hugged both of the surviving house elves. He asked them to see if any elves were free to bond and one elf popped out immediately and then back with six elves. There was always a few elves lingering around the now-closed portal wanting to visit with the Breathe of Magic.
Neville took three elves to be his elves and sent one to his Gran to bound with as her personal elf. The last two, Case and Angus, a couple recently freed when their old mistress died, he sent to Harry.
BREAK SCENE ++***++
At breakfast, Augusta noted that neither boy had slept the night before and she admitted she sat up in her armchair, dosing off but awakening with every creak of the beams and struts in the old house.
"Who was he?"
"He was a wizard who works for McMillian family in their printing business."
"Like newspapers?" asked Harry. Neville was disturbed by the news because he and his family and friend had aided Ernie McMillian back at Hogwarts and never received any mention of thanks.
"No, McMillian owns the patents on the charms for receipts and business forms used by every business in Magical Britain," Augusta explained to Harry. She pulled out a printed sheet with the last receipt from a shoppe where she'd purchased the Roman style robes the boys wore again this morning and showed it to Harry. "This is magic just like everything else in the Alley."
"Gran, there's something else you need to know."
"What is it, Neville?" she asked.
Looking at Harry for a moment, Neville explained about how the perfume he made from the Breathe of Life had revived Ernie McMillian after he was possessed by the dark artefact.
"There was a dark artefact in a student's hands? It possessed him?" Lady Longbottom asked, her voice growing louder. "Were the Aurors called? Does Director Bones know this?"
[Lady Longbottom is going to hurt someone today…somewhere…somehow, she won't be calm until someone is yelling for mercy,] Iggy observed. [Stay out her line of sight.]
"And no one–not Ernie, not his father or mother said a word of thanks at Hogwarts after a drop of the perfume revived him," Neville reported. "Even the days afterwards, there was never a word of thanks mentioned."
[Iggy, I thought manners were one of the most important things for purebloods,] said Harry. [Why wouldn't they have said 'thank you'?]
[You're a half-blood. You're supposed to thank them for allowing you to save their inbred…]
"What are we going to do Gran?" asked Neville. Harry noticed that Lady Longbottom was pale as if restraining herself to keep from yelling or blasting through a wall of the manor with uncontrollable magic.
"I am furious," she replied. "I intend to teach McMillian what happens when he tangles with me and give you boys a lesson in using a large stick to beat a pureblood in the head–or the bollocks–whichever works."
Frowning, Harry asked, "Will we do this at the ministry?"
"And involve those fools who can be bought for a galleon a piece?" she asked sarcastically. "We're going back to Gringotts and I hope Ironstream left his battle axe buried in that desk."
[I don't know about this… she's really mad. It'll either be a disaster or work out great,] Iggy pronounced. [I remember once when George Potter started a war between England and Scotland with a disagreement about a young woman and her value in sheep and horses. He only wanted to pay one horse instead of four.]
Rather than using Hedwig, Lady Longbottom sent her new personal elf to Sowsbreath with the story of a thief in her home, body parts scattered around, and an 'urgent need' to speak to Baxter McMillian as soon as a meeting could be arranged in the neutral territory that was Gringotts.
Just after luncheon on 29 December, Lady Longbottom passed a nervous Headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the foyer of Gringotts Bank. The wizard was attempting to talk his account manager into allowing him to make a withdrawal from his vault and could not believe the bank had sealed the vault for 'irregularities and penalties'. The old wizard saw the formidable witch walk passed without any acknowledgement. She was alone in the bank and he would speak to her when she left and convince her to return his wand.
[Now that's interesting,] Iggy said. [The protection of not seeing Harry seems to have spread and includes Mr. Longbottom now.]
[Hey, Neville. Wonder if we can come up with a good prank to play Dumblemore when we go back to Hogwarts?]
Grinning, the other boy said, [Think he'll have recovered from all the pranks the elves are playing on him?]
[Might want to wait a bit,] Iggy counselled. [The headmaster is bound to be extra cranky when his lemon drops taste so peculiar.]
In the same office as the day before, with the battle axe still embedded in the tabletop, Sowsbreath greeted Neville and Augusta, while Ironstream, still in battle armour, greeted Harry Potter.
"McMillian and his account manager will be here shortly," Sowsbreath informed everyone.
[Let Lady Longbottom do all the talking…unless there's a big problem. And never draw your wand in the bank,] Iggy reminded the boys. [That's why wizards meet here–no one can fire a spell at anyone without spending five years in a goblin iron mine… or gold mine… or coal mine.]
[Yes, Iggy,] replied Harry and Neville.
There were no refreshments spread on any table in the room, but there were two sets of chairs set opposite one another with a rug on the floor between them and the table for the accountants along the bottom of the rug. Finally, purposefully late, the door opened and Harry watched another goblin, introduced as Stinkeye, lead in the wizard Harry remembered from the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Mr. McMillian was followed by his wife, Ernie, and three other wizards.
Ironstream demanded, "Dismiss the retainers. This is not a Wizengamot meeting to posture for imagined positions."
McMillian did wave the three men out the door and Sowsbreath muttered a few words to Stinkeye who nodded and cast his hand to remove a few listening charms left behind by the three wizards.
"Gringotts will record this meeting," Sowsbreath announced. "Any other recordings are illegal, as you well know Baxter McMillian!"
"Why are we here today?" asked the wizard in a bored voice.
"I wanted to return something to you. No, that is not correct; circumstances dictate that I 'must' return something to you," Lady Longbottom said as her invisible elf now made a large hat box appear. The elf sat the box on a table beside McMillian and he opened it contemptuously, but then gasped in shock. His wife glanced into the box and screamed, pulling Ernie close to her side and preventing him from seeing inside the box.
Baxter McMillian demanded to know, "What is the meaning of this? Why have you got the head of my brother-in-law in some hat box?"
"While I was conducting business here at Gringotts yesterday," said Augusta as she motioned toward the tabletop with the axe buried deep in the wood, "this wizard attempted to breach the protections on my home. He killed two of my house elves and left two of your house elves dead outside my home as well. But his efforts were for nothing as the wards grabbed him and sent him in ten different directions at the same time."
"Murder!" Mrs. McMillian shouted, though no one seconded her declaration.
Mr. McMillian and his accountant both looked away from the box as Stinkeye returned the lid to the box. The goblin said, "Mrs. McMillian, the wards of any wizarding home defend the house from invaders. Especially when the owner is absent, which your brother would have known the instant he apparated into the area. If he attempted to breach them–for whatever reason–they dealt with him."
"Why are we here?" asked Baxter McMillian. "I am totally unaware of the actions or intentions of my brother-in-law."
Harry, Iggy and Neville watched closely as Mr. McMillian did glance at his wife who looked away and would not meet her husband's eyes.
Lady Longbottom asked, "So, McMillian you state that you were unaware of the intent of this wizard to break into my home?"
"I do. He acted without the knowledge of anyone responsible or in authority in my home," the wizard replied, now wishing he'd left his wife and son at home.
Sowsbreath spoke up, "But the man is or was employed by you. He was a 'trouble shooter' I believe is the term used in Diagon Alley for his position."
Ironstream picked up the conversation at that point. "Once his death and the manner of his death are known, it will greatly impact the trust people have in your business."
Now angry, McMillian said, "I am…my business is not responsible."
Augusta sighed and said, "Nonetheless, I believe our business association should end today."
"We don't do business with you," spit McMillian.
Augusta smiled and replied, "Yes you do. You buy all your inks from my ward's business. Pottery Ltd. provides the inks used by all your printing charms in every business in Diagon Alley."
Angrier now, McMillian demanded, "What do you want?"
"If you wish to continue buying ink from us, there are two things you must do. First, I shall inflict an immediate price hike of ten percent for the inks. After twelve months the price will return to previous levels."
"That's outrageous! I can't do it."
"Your brother-in-law is the only wizard who 'can't do it' because he lies in pieces around our estate," replied Augusta. "By the way, do you want the rest of his body for cremation or should I feed it to the crows circling overhead this morning?"
Hearing his wife sob, McMillian replied, "Four percent."
Pursing her lips, Lady Longbottom began to stand up and leave.
Refusing to look at anyone, McMillan declared, "Alright seven percent… I can't do more than that!"
After a moment, McMillian asked, "What else do you want?"
"Baxter, your brother-in-law came to steal the rose bush that saved your son's life."
"No," Mrs. McMillian declared. "Horace was looking for more of the perfume! He wasn't going to steal any rose bush."
Her eyes narrowing with anger to hear that someone in the household did know of the planned theft, Augusta said, "I'll tell you what else you're going to do Baxter McMillian! You and everyone in your family are going to publicly thank my grandson and my ward for saving your son's life!"
The wizard immediately frowned and said, "But everyone knows that Potter and your grandson saved Ernie. It was in the papers that they saved him from a lingering death caused by dark magic."
"But none of you have said a word of thanks to either young wizard. It's obvious you can't bring yourself to admit that a half-blood had a hand in saving your son's life."
"The other purebloods won't accept my business if they hear us 'thanking' him. People will question doing business with us," Baxter McMillian yelled. "I won't do it!"
"Very well, the House of Longbottom and the House of Potter…"
[Intervene! You must speak up and soften Lady Longbottom's position!] Iggy demanded. [This will cause problems for generations to come if it grows worse. McMillian is a man who cannot admit he was ever wrong.]
Harry stood up and whispered, [Help Me!]
Both Iggy and Neville heard Harry's request so the entity poured his power into Harry while Neville placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and willed his strength into his friend.
The goblins were first to notice the glow but then the adults were affected and had to look away and cover their eyes with their hands as the 'Boy-Who-Lived' began to sparkle. Harry's voice was deeper with all the magic pouring off him but no one could deny he was Heir Potter and would someday lead that family.
"We must not create problems for the future. Mr. McMillian is unwilling to bend and Lady Longbottom is a learned sorceress who knows the laws and traditions of Magical Britain. McMillian does not stand a chance if he bids against Longbottom for precedent and tradition."
"The House of McMillian owes two debts now to Potter and Longbottom equally. We saved the McMillian heir from a lingering illness, if not death, without asking for any payment. And House McMillian repays this gift by refusing to thank us and by sending a thief–someone from inside their own home–to steal that which was freely given. These debts and insults mean we cannot be allies in government or in life," said Harry shaking his head sadly.
"We do not want more money from McMillian. In the new year, Potter Ltd will sell these inks to you for one month only. But one month from today, you must seek elsewhere for your ink. We do not curse you–there is no need for we believe your house will go the way of other faithless wizards and witches over the centuries."
"We will not see McMillian from this day," Harry said as Iggy's magic made Harry, Neville and Lady Longbottom vanish from the site of the McMillian family members.
[Merlin Love A Duck, Harry!] thought Neville. [That was great! You are not cursing them but totally left them out to dry.]
[Very good, Heir Peverell,] Iggy said. [Don't steal my lines, Longbottom.]
Ernie listened to his parents argue in their bedroom. His younger brother and sister were in the nursery without any nanny elf – all their elves left before the family returned from Gringotts. He hurried into the room to entertain his siblings for a while and hoped that one of his parents knew how to prepare some food for supper.
In Gringotts, Ironstream, Sowsbreath and Stinkeye sought out Hangman, the goblin responsible for the Abbot family vaults. Without many prompts, Hangman negotiated a deal with Ironstream to purchase inks from Potter Ltd. to resell to the McMillians.
"Stupid wizard would have paid the same for ink if he'd just said, 'Thank you' a few times in public," Stinkeye noted. "Now, he'll have to pay that ten percent higher fee he wanted to avoid…forever!"
SCENE BREAK ++***++
On 30 December, Lady Augusta Longbottom sat upright in her chair in the library with a sudden thought. She sent her elf to find where the two boys were working and when she knew they were working with the perfume in the still room, she hurried there.
"Hey Gran," Neville said as he watched Harry decant the new bottles of perfume. "We had enough perfume to fill four bottles this time. Harry and I will each keep one and we're going to give one to Luna."
"And the fourth?"
"We thought you should have it Lady Longbottom," replied Harry. "Someone could drop over in the Wizengamot or at a tea party, and you could help me."
"Will it cure anyone?" she asked, her voice full of hope suddenly.
Neville and Harry exchanged glances before Harry said, "I don't know if it'll cure anybody. It did help Ernie McMillian that day."
"And it made the basilisk leave the front door…and maybe helped to disintegrate it," Neville added.
Lady Longbottom asked very carefully, "How did you apply it to the McMillian boy?"
"Luna put a drop on her finger and then ran it over his lips and brushed across his eye lids," Neville explained.
Neither boy paid attention to Lady Longbottom and she returned to the manor house. When they joined her for dinner late in the day, she asked about their trunks, their clothing and their books for school.
BREAK SCENE ++***++