(A/N: It was interesting to see the reactions in the reviews to what happened at the Grangers' and to Hermione [being pulled from Hogwarts]. Some matched my thoughts and questions and some didn't. I don't think it's giving anything away to say that she won't totally disappear.)
[Wed, Jul 10]
Harry came into work at his usual time of a little after seven. He grabbed one of the Daily Prophets kept in the department, so he didn't need a subscription.
He sat at his desk intending to only skim through it for the highlights and then return it until he read the headline and then the other major storylines on the front page. He sat down without paying attention and avidly read the entire front page and multiple follow-up articles.
Harry was still absorbed in his reading so Croaker seemed to appear suddenly. "Ready for this morning's session? I only have an hour today."
Looking up, Harry realized he'd completely forgotten his schedule.
Croaker looked down at the newspaper spread out on the desk. "Perhaps this is a day for talking…to my office."
Harry had to hurry to catch up with him and they did go to his office and not the training room. Taking a seat, he blurted out the question that had been on his mind as he read. "I'm the reason my friends were attacked, aren't I?"
Croaker looked thoughtful and took a moment to answer. "Harry, does it really matter? I understand where your emotions want to go; but in the big picture, does it really matter if you were the reason?"
"Yes! I don't want them hurt."
"Hmm, do you plan to take responsibility? Did you order the attacks?" Croaker asked.
"Of course not, but-"
"Did you," Croaker interrupted, "order or carry out any of the other ten or so attacks over the last few weeks, most of which have not been publicized in our newspaper since they were against the Muggle world?"
"No, but-"
"Then if you aren't responsible for any of those, you aren't responsible for these latest ones either. Think, Harry, what connection do you have to Amelia Bones? Are you related to her or close friends with her?" Croaker looked at him.
"No."
Croaker leaned forward. "I'll admit to having to guess at the intentions of a madman, but if you looked at what really happened and the timing of it all, this wasn't about you or your friends. At best, your friends were convenient excuses. They were meant to keep the Aurors busy while the real attack happened."
Harry was confused as the older man laughed for a moment. "What's funny about that?"
"Sorry," Croaker apologized, forcing himself to regain control. "It just occurred to me that Voldemort picked the worst targets he could have. Oh, going after Bones was good tactically, but I think his plan was to distract the Aurors with the other attacks." He grinned again. "Except that by picking your friends he ended up sending many of his Death Eaters to their death because your friends have some of the better protected homes.
"Oh, I'm sure he didn't think that through. No, sending Bellatrix Lastrange back to Longbottom manor wasn't smart, though I'm starting to suspect he doesn't know of my connection there. The Weasleys? You've stayed there before and their oldest son is a Curse Breaker. Really bad choice there. I have no idea what happened at the Lovegoods, but the deceased mother was once one of ours as a Spell Crafter and there's no telling what she had in place to protect their home. Your Muggle friend? She got lucky and I don't believe the story that her unnamed attackers were scared away because I'm aware that Muggles aren't as helpless as many Purebloods think they are.
"No, Harry, this isn't about you; your friends were merely convenient though badly chosen targets. It's also quite possible there were other targets we simply haven't learned about yet, like your Muggle friend whose story was late in coming," Croaker commented.
"Fine, I'm not responsible, but you just said they were chosen because they were my friends," Harry contested.
"In a way, yes; but not really," Croaker leaned back. "Again, we're having to get into the mind of a madman. He only needed five or six attacks to keep the Aurors busy, so the simplest explanation is that your friends were a convenient group to attack. You have to remember that Arthur Weasley is the head of a sub-department of the DMLE. Attacking him is going to get a response from the Aurors at any time. It's the timing in the attacks that's the key, Harry. The attacks were all a diversion to facilitate killing Amelia Bones. Voldemort just needed any set of people attacked a few minutes before to lessen the Auror response on his main target.
"Instead, good wards at the homes that were attacked denied him that advantage. He's really not completely all there mentally, which makes me wonder what not having parts of your soul does to you beyond losing the inhibitions most of us have against doing wrong. Yes, a very interesting question," Croaker said thoughtfully.
Harry realized he wasn't going to get the answer he wanted, which did make him wonder if his first reaction was correct or not. He was also starting to understand that Croaker lived in a world of gray; he seemed to still have some form of right and wrong in his head, but Harry was wondering just how many things he would consider wrong that Croaker wouldn't.
"Thank you," Harry said as he stood, knowing the discussion wasn't going to be any more useful to him. "I'll go work on my research since you're not available today."
"How is that going?" Croaker asked, sounding normal now.
"A little slow. I have a list of ways I think the Dark Mark can be used and I'm trying to come up with ways to test that." Harry paused, not sure how to say the next part. "I, uh, I can see that my lack of schooling is slowing me down. I need more theory."
Croaker smiled slightly. "I wondered if you'd come to that conclusion. However, I think a better way to say it is that you don't have enough of it in the areas you haven't studied in. We may have to pull in Heather or Kathleen to help you on the theory, though without telling them who you really are. Liam maybe if Kathleen can't help, but probably not." He shrugged. "We'll cross those bridges when we get there."
Harry considered the older man's comments as he walked away; he wasn't sure what to make of some of them.
— — —
Hermione looked around her new bedroom for the next month or so, if her parents' plan worked out. They were in a two bedroom flat about a thirty minute drive from their old house. She unpacked a few things but left all of her magical things in her trunk. She'd get to return to the house on Friday to get the rest of her things before the house was packed.
According to her father, the hole in the back of their house might even be fixed by then. She suspected he'd had to offered a large bonus to the construction crew to achieve that.
Sitting on her bed, for she didn't even have a proper desk, she used a large book as a writing surface. She could have used the dining room table but wanted to be undisturbed for a few hours as she wrote Harry about her situation. She had no idea when she'd get to send this to him.
Hopefully she could get her parents to take her to Diagon Alley long enough to mail it, although that could be a hard battle. Her parents were fairly open about their disdain for the magical world now, not that she could blame them too much considering what had happened lately.
She understood her parents reaction, really she did. Hermione just didn't like it.
— — —
Ginny was up in Ron's room since it was the furthest from the kitchen. They'd both read the Daily Prophet and Ginny had just returned from Luna's. "Well?" she asked.
"I don't know. Maybe all of us were attacked because we're Harry's friends; maybe not. It's hard to tell," he said with a shrug.
"Come on, Ron," she said with some exasperation, "It's really obvious we were. Luna agreed. That doesn't mean anything to us; I'm not going to stop being his friend."
"I'm not either," said Ron with a hint of indignation that she though he might.
"Good, we need to write him to see how he's doing after this," she suggested.
"Don't know it'll do any good," he groused. "You know Errol wouldn't take Mum's letter. I need to write Hermione to make sure she's fine."
Ginny tried to hide her smirk but couldn't fully. She wondered if Ron liked the girl only a little or lot. "Luna and I decided to each try to write Harry and hopefully one of ours would get through. Maybe the problem was Errol."
"I tried too with Pig and it didn't work either," he said, surprising her.
"Hmm, a challenge then. I'll have to think about it. Too bad we don't know where Hedwig is," Ginny said and returned to her room.
Ron decided a short note to Hermione couldn't hurt; maybe she had an idea on how to reach Harry.
[Fri, Jul 12]
Hermione heard an owl tapping on her bedroom window. Wondering if it was Harry's owl, she hurried out of bed and to the window. She wasn't disappointed to see Pigwidgeon, but she wasn't as excited as she would have been if it was Hedwig.
Opening the window, she let the owl in and then closed it to ensure the owl couldn't leave immediately. "Stay there," she commanded as the bird took a perch on the back of the single chair in her room and seemed to look weary suddenly.
Hermione grabbed a small bowl and left to get water. She set it on the window sill when she returned and also relieved the owl of its letter. While the owl drank, she read the short note.
She was pleased that Ron had thought to ask how she was. She wasn't sure what to think that they hadn't heard from Harry and weren't able to send an owl to him. Part of her wanted to worry that the situation meant he was dead - she hated how her mind immediately jumped to that conclusion - but most likely it just meant he was hiding in a good enough place no one could send an owl to him.
"Stay there please, I'd like to write a return note," she told the little owl. She wasn't surprised to see it jump up and fly to the top shelf on her wall where it was a little darker and put its head under its wing. She supposed the owl would fly out this evening.
The problem she had was what to tell Ron, which she considered as she readied herself for the day. By the time she was dressed and had brushed her hair, she decided a brief note only. Since Ron knew they had been attacked, she'd tell him everyone was all right and they were in hiding for the moment. She wasn't going to mention that she wouldn't be returning to school. No, she wouldn't do that yet.
As she reached that conclusion, she was called to breakfast. After that, they were going to the house to pack. She'd be back before dinner and would write the short letter then. Ron would have it tomorrow morning and he could share it with Ginny.
— — —
Harry had changed his look via his cloak and sat near the front of the gallery, though on the opposite side of the room from Dumbledore. He was quite pleased that he could do this and not be recognized by the Headmaster - or anyone else.
He didn't hate or even dislike the man, but he very much disliked some of the things the man had done and a few of the man's beliefs. The root issue he'd decided was that Dumbledore's actions frequently hurt others, whether he meant to or not, and Dumbledore was rarely affected…at least he felt that was true in regards to himself.
The session was called to order and Harry watched the proceedings, closely watching Lady Longbottom in the Wizengamot. Knowing this was coming since their evening sessions for the last few nights had been about how the Wizengamot was set up and how it worked.
The woman had mentioned that the Potters had had a seat at one time, but it was considered inactive at the moment - the Wizengamot didn't do proxies - and Harry couldn't take up the seat until he turned seventeen and there was a vacancy in the active fifty seats. As an Ancient and Noble house, he'd be given preference to fill a vacancy though.
They'd also covered what would be happening today.
Harry watched Fudge get called out for his performance for the last year - finally. The man's actions of ignoring the warnings that Voldemort had returned was finally coming back to bite him. Harry actually enjoyed listening to the accusations which Fudge couldn't refute because of what Fudge and Umbridge had done to him last year.
The vote of no confidence was swift after that, with only three votes in the man's favor. Harry didn't recognize who they were, but he planned to ask Lady Longbottom later as he was sure those were families to keep an eye on.
Watching it all, Harry started to get a better understanding of why Voldemort had attacked as he had. Croaker was correct, Bones had been the real target. Attacking his friends had merely been a distraction for the Aurors. It had worked out well for the "good side" that Voldemort had attacked those with strong wards around their homes. Harry still wasn't sure if the attacks were just because of who he was or because of the prophecy, though it could be argued those two reasons were one and the same. Or Croaker might be correct that his friends were merely a convenient group. He'd never know for sure.
Then it was time to pick a new Minister for Magic. This would be for a one year term only with elections at the end of the year, or so Augusta had told him.
As Dumbledore opened the floor for nominations, an older man stood up immediately. Dumbledore had barely pointed at him when man said, "I nominate Theodore Nott."
"Seconded," another cried out and raised an arm.
Harry recognized each of those as two of the three voters for Fudge. Given who they nominated, this was the Death Eater candidate he recognized. Augusta had said there almost certainly would be one. He also suspected the man was the father of the Slytherin boy in his year at Hogwarts.
Augusta Longbottom was recognized and she stood. "I nominate Amelia Bones."
"Seconded," said several others, each with a raised arm.
Surprisingly to Harry, the woman mentioned stood and gave a forced smile. "Thank you for your confidence, Madam Longbottom and others; but I will politely decline." Various gasps and murmurs were heard around the room. She let them quiet down a little before she added, "I think I can do more for this country by remaining the Director of MLE. However, Chief Warlock, if I may?" Receiving a nod from Dumbledore, she said, "I'd like to nominate Rufus Scrimgeour. As the current Head Auror, I believe he will have a firm understanding of what's needed during this perilous time."
"Seconded," called out a man barely ahead of several others, one of which was Augusta Longbottom.
"I nominate Albus Dumbledore," a man said as he stood.
Dumbledore head up his hands before anyone could say anything. "I'm afraid I must also decline as I do not have the time to do the job adequately. Are there any other nominations?"
After ten seconds of silence, Dumbledore said, "Let us vote. Those for Theodore Nott."
Harry quickly counted and heard the same small number he'd come up with.
"That looks like nine for. Those for Rufus Scrimgeour?" Dumbledore waited a moment before counting.
Harry saw it wasn't even close. It appeared that for most of those voting, they wanted security and that meant an Auror.
"That looks like thirty-seven for, leaving four abstaining," Dumbledore announced. "Rufus Scrimgeour has a majority of the votes and is the Interim Minister for Magic for a year, or until July twelfth of the year 1997, which will be when the next election is held. Mr Scrimgeour, if you will come up to be sworn in please."
Harry watched a man who was probably in his sixties and hair that was half gray walk up. He had a slight limp; unfortunate for him but better than the situation Alastor Moody was in. He took the oath to defend Magical Britain and then was invited to say a few words.
Scrimgeour looked at the Wizengamot and then the full audience area. "We've had better times; we've had far worse times. We have differences, but those can make us stronger if we come together. Join me and stand up together. Together, we will put a Dark Wizard down and then resume our peaceful life. I will work hard for you; please work with me. Thank you."
Scrimgeour took a seat in the chair normally reserved for the Minister while everyone applauded. Harry noticed a few were doing so half-heartedly for show only.
Dumbledore stood again and regained control. "As this was a special session with only one item on the agenda, I close this session." He banged the gavel and set it down before going over to Scrimgeour and congratulating him.
Harry decided that was his cue to leave. He'd change back to his normal appearance at the entrance to the Department of Mysteries.
— — —
That evening, conversation was interesting in the Longbottom household. Neville asked the question that was also on Harry's mind. "Why did Bones turn down the nomination?"
"Why do you think?" the woman returned quickly.
Neville looked at Harry slightly confused. "Because," Harry said, "she didn't want it. But then why gets asked again."
"It does," the Lady of the manor said with a small smile. "This is politics but it might be for other reasons too, so why did she turn it down?"
"Maybe she doesn't want to be a target again?" Neville offered.
"I'm sure that was a very uncomfortable position," the Lady said, which Harry thought was an amazing understatement, "but Amelia Bones is capable of dealing with that."
"It's a position she's doesn't want, as in doesn't think she'd like it?" Neville tried again.
"A good guess, since you don't know her all that well," Augusta commented. "I'm sure that's part of it, but not all and probably not the majority reason."
"So she really wanted Scrimgeour to be Minister instead of her," Harry started and then paused to think that through.
"And?" Augusta said looking pleased.
"She thought he could do a better job as Minister?" Neville guessed.
"She said she thought she would be better staying as the Director of MLE, so she thought she could help more from that position than as Minister," Harry said tentatively.
Augusta smiled at both of them. "I believe you're each correct. In addition, Rufus Scrimgeour has always had stronger political ambitions than Amelia Bones. Remember, more often than not there are multiple reasons for major events or decisions."
Harry considered that and could see the wisdom in that statement, as he'd had several large reasons for leaving the Dursleys.
The rest of the evening was given to discussion as to what might happen next in the Ministry. It caused Harry to realize how much he had to learn and caused him to be a little piqued at the Headmaster for not teaching at least some of this at Hogwarts.
[Sat, Jul 13]
At breakfast, Stolli popped in and handed a letter to Neville before he popped away. He opened it while his grandmother and Harry continued with breakfast. At the end, Neville shrugged and handed the letter to Harry.
Harry took and read it also before setting it down.
"What are you going to do?" Neville asked.
"I guess I need to write Ginny and Luna - and Ron too - and let them know I'm fine," Harry said. "Probably need to talk to Algernon about the mail ward he placed on me; I need to be able to receive mail from some people."
Considering it more, Harry added, "I'll say you saw me in Diagon Alley over the weekend and gave me the message to write them."
Neville grinned. "A little redirection doesn't hurt."
[Mon, Jul 15]
When Harry went to work at his usual time, he found Croaker already in his office. "Do you have a moment?"
"Is there a problem?"
Harry closed the door. "Does the mail redirection charm you placed on me stop all mail?"
"Yes. Oh, your friends," Croaker said in surprise and a little chagrin for not having thought of it earlier.
"Exactly," Harry said, glad he didn't have to explain it.
"My apologies. Lunch is on me and I'll fix it then. I'll set up a redirection to a box in Diagon Alley for you; several others have the same need. The house-elf that works for us can get yours every day along with the others." Croaker grinned. "The good thing about the service is that they check for spells and tampering and remove those. Howlers are also disabled. The department will pick up the cost, though it isn't much."
"Err, thanks," Harry was happy this was so easy. He'd send his letter to his friends this evening.
— — —
Croaker put on a disguise also and the two went to the post office in Diagon Alley. There he rented a box and did a spell while Harry had his hand on it. Handing the box to the proprietor, Croaker led Harry to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch.
[Tue, Jul 16]
Hermione got up and walked into the kitchen to find breakfast.
Her father was already up as usual. "This came for you a little bit ago. I'm not really into birds, but the white owl that delivered it was beautiful."
Hermione closed her eyes and cursed mentally. "I wished I'd been up as I'd have sent a letter with her." Despite that setback, she was pleased to get a letter from her friend.
When she put the letter down, her father looked at her, implying his question. "Nothing is wrong," she told him. "Harry says he heard we were attacked and he's also glad to hear we escaped unharmed. He says he's fine too and will write a longer letter soon."
She hoped she'd be there when Hedwig arrived next time.
— — —
Ginny opened her letter and read. She assumed the other letter on the table for Ron said about the same thing.
Her mother came into the room. "Was that Hedwig I saw leaving?"
"Yes, Mum." She finished reading and then looked up at her mother who was standing there looking at her, obviously waiting for news. "He says he's fine and he's glad we survived the attack."
"That's all?" her mother asked, surprised.
"He also says sorry about not being able to send him post but he's under family wards that prevent that." As requested by Harry, Ginny left out the part that his friends could send post now but he didn't want all the adults doing that just yet.
"I wonder what family wards that would be," her mother said before she returned to the kitchen.
Ginny thought that was a good question, but one she wouldn't be asking in a letter; she knew Harry well enough to know that.
[Tue, Jul 30]
Hermione had been rising a little earlier than usual all week. Her planning was rewarded when she saw Hedwig fly through the half-opened window and land on the back of the chair next to her. Her father looked up from his breakfast slightly startled in amazement at the sudden appearance of the bird as it had been totally silent during its glide in. She was further thrilled to see that the letter was a thick one.
"Let me get you something to drink," Hermione got up and retrieved a short glass out of the cabinet and put water in it, setting it before the owl. She then snagged a piece of bacon from her father's plate, which earned her a glare. She tore that up into bits and put it next to the water. Finally, she took the letter, which allowed the owl to take care of its needs. "Oh, please don't leave yet, I have a letter for you to take back to Harry."
Hedwig gave a soft barking hoot and then returned to the small pile of bacon bits.
As she finished, Hermione wondered what was really going on with all of her friends, other than Harry. "Do you want to rest here and go back this evening or should I give you the letter now?" When the owl shook her leg, Hermione said, "I'll go get it."
When she returned, he father was looking at the owl carefully. "It acts like it can understand you somehow."
The own turned his head around almost backward and gave several sharp barks, causing the man to pull his head back and sit up straight.
Hermione couldn't help the soft giggle that escaped her. "Dad, magical post owls like Hedwig can understand us, at least as long as we ask or say simple sentences. The magic makes it possible, just like how they can find people even if they aren't at home."
"Hmm," was all her father said to that as his daughter attached her thick letter to the owl's leg.
"Be safe, Hedwig and take care of Harry because it's going to be hard for me to that in the future." Hermione petted the owl and did her best to hold back her tears. As the owl took off, gliding for the short moment it took to go through the window, Hermione turned and walked quickly to her room. There she shut her door and cried softly yet again, wondering when she'd get to see Harry or really any of her friends again.
— — —
That evening, Augusta threw a small party for Neville and also included him as both boys' names were on the cake. "Uncle Algie" joined too. While small presents were exchanged, the best part of the time was when Augusta handed him a thin box. Opening the box, Harry found some photos.
"I'm sorry it took me so long to find them, but they were in storage," Augusta told him.
Harry looked through them. There were a few with both of his parents and who he assumed was Neville's parents. "Your parents?" he asked his friend who nodded with a sad smile. Most of the pictures were only his mother and Neville's mother though. "Thank you," he told the older woman very sincerely. He'd add these to the book Hagrid had given him.
[Wed, Jul 31]
Harry was about to leave for work when Hedwig flew to him as he stepped outside. He let her sit on his shoulder while he took the letter and opened it. He wasn't too worried about being a few minutes late for work.
He was sad as he read the part about her family being attacked. The worst caused him to freeze there and blink…his friend was moving away very soon. At the end of the letter, he found a Muggle photo of her for him to keep. She promised she'd return just as soon as she finished her seventh year.
Taking several deep breaths to center himself, he slowly petted Hedwig who was still perched on his shoulder. He wondered if he could do anything to help her, but decided he probably couldn't since it was her parents forcing this move. About the best he could do was to let her know he understood and would always be her friend. He'd write a letter with that in it in the next few days.
Putting the letter in his pocket, he let Hedwig fly up the small owlery before he went to work. He'd expected Ron and Hermione could help each other over him not being at school. Instead, they were all going separate ways…at least for now; he'd mostly decided not to return to Hogwarts a few days ago. Work felt a little more lonely today at his realization.
[Thu, Aug 1]
When Harry arrived at work, he found a plain box on his desk. Opening it, he found several letters. He thought this was interesting, but it was actually smart of Croaker to arrange this as the letters had his real name on the outside.
There were a few letters from his friends wishing him happy birthday; he'd have to write a thank you back.
He also found a letter from McGonagall asking for his choice of classes for his sixth year. Surprisingly, the Quidditch captain badge was included. He'd expected Katie Bell to be captain. He set those to the side as he hadn't fully decided if he was returning to Hogwarts or not.
At his normal morning lesson with Croaker, in the privacy of the training room Croaker said, "Tomorrow is my last day for this training for at least a month and probably a little more. I've been putting off some work so I could help you, but Ministry paperwork and budgets don't do themselves. Also, the change in leadership here is taking up more of my time than I'd like.
"However, I'm going to have Betty help you at least three days a week, check your new spells and help you if you get stuck if nothing else," the man told him.
"All right." Harry pulled up his courage. "I think I'm going to need a Death Eater, or really probably two, to continue my work."
Croaker nodded. "I'd like a write up of the experiments you plan, but I'll have Betty set up one of our special projects rooms for this. You'll probably have to be patient as I don't know how long it will take to, uh, procure them." He grinned.
"Certainly," Harry agreed.
"Ideally, we'd borrow those who've been convicted for life from Azkaban, but that's not an option at the moment.
"Now, I want to see you do the animation spells silently," Croaker told him. "Yes, good, keep them going…"
[Sat, Aug 3]
Harry had his work cloak on and it was set to the disguise he normally used when he wasn't at work. As he walked towards Gringotts, he hoped his going a few days after his birthday would cause those in Dumbledore's Order to miss him.
Walking into the bank, he saw Bill Weasley at a desk at the side and he was paying attention to those who walked in. Sighing as he joined a line, Harry pulled out a note and his vault key.
A few minutes later, Harry gave both the note and key to the teller when it was his turn. The teller gave him a sour look but read the note then looked at the key. He rang a bell, said something to the young goblin who walked over then said, "Follow him. Next."
Harry smiled and followed the goblin to an office that had a much older goblin. He turned off his disguise and then sat.
"What do you need, Mr Potter," the older goblin said tiredly, "and why the ruse?"
"My apologies for the disguise, but I didn't want to be recognized by your employee, Bill Weasley, who's in the lobby," Harry explained.
The goblin stiffened and his eyes narrowed. "What exactly are you suggesting about one of our employees?"
Harry considered how to say this with the least offense. "I have a concern that if Bill saw me without my disguise that he would notify friends of his that I am in the bank and that they would be waiting for me when it was time for me to leave and I have no wish to talk to them. I don't believe he would do anything hurtful to the bank or to myself, just that he might think he was doing something helpful when he would really be putting me in a position I don't want to be in."
The goblin looked at him for a moment. "I see." He paused some more before he asked, "What business did you have here today that a teller could not take care of?"
Hoping he had passed that test, Harry said, "My guardian has informed me that after I am sixteen, I can visit my family vault. Since this is the first time, I thought I would probably need to see someone other than a teller."
"You have that right," the goblin agreed and seemed to relax a little. "However, you can remove nothing from it until you are an adult, which won't be for another year - approximately. That would require the permission of an adult Potter and there are none."
"That was explained to me," Harry said. "I wish to see what's in it, to do an inventory as is said."
Reaching into his desk, the still nameless goblin pulled out some parchment, filled in a few parts, then set it in from of Harry. "Sign this first."
Looking it over quickly, he saw it allowed him to audit the Potter family vault, otherwise known as Vault 37, but no removal was allowed until July 31st of next year. He signed it and handed it back.
"There is one other matter while you are here." The goblin pulled out another folder and handed a parchment to Harry. "Sign at the bottom to show you have received the keys. You also have full access to the family vault."
Harry looked at the parchment and his eyes widened. "These are now mine?"
"Yes, Sirius Black listed you as the beneficiary. One was his personal vault; the other was Regulus Black's person vault which he inherited but never visited; of course, there is the Black family vault, Vault 29." The goblin gestured to the parchment with a curved claw on the end of his finger. "The will of Sirius Black was contested by a Narcissa Black, but her claim was denied."
Harry was surprised he hadn't been notified about it, but he supposed it didn't matter so he nodded and signed the document before he was handed the two keys. "Does anyone else have access to the Black family vault?"
"No." The goblin rang a little bell and the door opened; the same young goblin from before was there. "Take him to Vault 37; there is a non-removal restriction in place."
"Yes, Sir," the young goblin said to the manager before looking at Harry. "Follow me."
"I'd also like to visit these two vaults," Harry handed the keys over to the younger goblin, "and the Black family vault too."
"As you wish, follow me." The young goblin didn't introduce himself either.
It didn't take long to reach the first vault. The goblin opened it with the key.
"Whose vault was this?" Harry asked as he stepped in and looked around. There was a small pile of mostly golden coins and that was it.
"Sirius Black's".
"I would like to transfer it to my vault and close this," Harry told him.
"That can be arranged with the manager. The next vault is next door. I'd advise you not to fall off the ledge." The goblin closed the door and walked on the narrow ledge to the next vault and opened it for Harry. "This was Regulus Black's."
There was more money in here in, obviously he had more favor from one or more relatives, or maybe he'd spent less than Sirius, Harry thought. There were a few books on the side. Picking them up and flipping through them, near the end he saw the words "Soul Jar". He closed it and realized he was breathing a little heavily. He did an Occlumency exercise before he turned around to find the goblin. He'd have this vault's contents moved too.
"Can I do magic in here?"
"Only in the vault," answered his guide.
Harry stayed inside the vault and made sure he wasn't pointing his wand anywhere near the goblin when he shrank the books down and put them in a pocket before putting his wand away. If there was anything useful in the book he'd tell Croaker. Exiting, they walked back to the cart for their next destination.
After a much longer cart ride, the little car stopped and the goblin led him away from the tracks and picked up a metal device that made a clanging sound when waved around. Harry saw the reason why when they turned the corner and saw what had to be a very old dragon. It must have been trained to do this, but at the clanging sound, it moved to the side into an alcove and stayed there.
The goblin led Harry past the dragon and a moment later vault 37 was opened. "I'll wait here." The goblin pulled a miniature chair out of a pocket and a wave of his hand caused it to expand before he sat on it to watch the door of the vault. "There is magic on the vault doors to prevent you from removing anything already in there."
"Err, all right," said Harry as he walked in. The vault was easily ten times bigger than his school vault. Most of the contents was coins stacked in a tall heap with the tallest point being in a corner. He noticed a very small hole in the corner of the ceiling. He stepped back to the doorway. "What the hole in the ceiling for?"
"It's for us to add money without having to open the door," he said in a bored fashion. "Don't worry, only Gringotts coins can enter through it."
Harry wondered if that was asked by everyone. "Thanks." He turned back and started looking around. Other than the coins, there was a wooden trunk and a shelf of boxes … and that was it.
Looking in the trunk that only came to his knees while sitting on the floor, he saw various gems and jewelry mostly filled the trunk. There was no organization, they were just thrown in. He'd never need to buy jewelry for a girl; if he didn't find what he liked in here, he could take some of the gems and have jewelry made. He ignored this for now.
Going to the shelf, he looked through the boxes and found a number of legal documents. Most were properties the Potter family owned and rented out. That explained the income. He also found a few deeds for houses, including the probably destroyed cottage in Godric's Hollow. Ready for things like this, he pulled a small Muggle notebook and pen out of his pocket and copied down the addresses. He also found the deed for Potter Estate; he copied this address too.
Another box showed some ownership in a number of companies. He made some notes on which company and how much he owned. "Cool," he breathed as he found that he owned thirty percent of the Comet Broom Company. "I wonder if I can get a discount from them on a new broom." There were a few other companies of interest; he made a note of them too.
The last box had records of loans with his grandfather's name on them. Most also had "Paid" stamped on them with a date. A few did not, but there was a record sheet that showed payments; all were up-to-date (magically recorded he guessed) but one. He copied information on that one to investigate.
Almost hidden, he saw an oversized book covered in dust with "Potter" on its spine. He suspected this was the family grimoire, but since he couldn't take it out nor did he have a really safe place for it, he left it where it was for now. At least he knew it existed.
Exiting, he said, "I'd like to visit the Black family vault too."
"This way." The goblin led him down a corridor - carrying his chair - but still in the same area. He opened the door and sat in his chair again.
Harry looked around and it was about the same except that pile of coins was a little bigger. There were two trunks here; the first was to his waist and was mostly full of gems while the second was the smaller size and only jewelry. He supposed the Black family was a little older and richer. Either way, he didn't have to worry about money unless he was stupid with his spending.
There was a single bookshelf here too, but there were more boxes (the Potter shelves had been only about half full). He found the deed to #12 Grimmauld Place and several other houses. He pulled out the deed to #12 and put it on the shelf while setting the rest of the box on the floor.
Looking at the rest, he found ownership in various companies he really didn't care about, so he left those alone. The rest of the boxes were records of loans. Two of the boxes contained only records that were marked "Paid" and he recognized many of the family names on the documents. There were two more boxes of outstanding loans with some names he also recognized.
Knowing he had time, he started going through the unpaid loans quickly, making two stacks: current and late. After a bit, he made a third stack for "a little behind". He'd write a letter to these people to remind them to continue paying, guessing they might have thought they didn't need to pay off the loans when Sirius had died in June. This stack would go with him. The "current" stack would go back on the shelf.
The "late" stack, and all were really very late as in years, he shoved into a box and shrunk it. He grabbed a few Galleons just because it was easy and went to the door.
The goblin was reading a book; he looked up when Harry left the vault. The door was closed and they returned to the cart, with the clanging device to move the dragon. He was taken back to the manager's office.
"I'd like to have the contents of these two vaults moved to mine and then released," Harry told the manager, handing Sirius's and Regulus's keys back to him. "I'd also like to discuss loans."
The manager looked surprised. "What are you buying that you need a loan for?"
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I found some family loans that are not current and I wanted to know how to collect on them."
The old goblins smiled. "We'd be happy to help you collect the defaulted amount … for a fee."
"I thought you might," Harry said with a grin. "I do have a question though." He handed the information for the one he'd found in the Potter vault. "Do you know why this one is late? Did something happen to the family? It was the only one like this."
"Yes," the goblin said with a nod. "The entire family was killed in late 1980. They no longer have a vault here. I believe you are out of that money unless you can find an extended family member and convince them to take over the loan."
"I'd wondered considering the date of the last payment," Harry said, having already noted the last payment had been during the war and only a few months before his parents were killed. He placed the shrunken box on the desk. "Let's discuss the process and fee…"
Harry walked out of the bank past Bill Weasley with his disguise restored and the Order member not any wiser. He was also grinning at the chaos that was coming.
All the loans in default were from the Darker families and this was really going to hurt some of them. For those that had the money in the bank, he'd only lose 10% for retrieval. For those the goblins had to go repossess property and sell, he'd lose 25%. He thought it was a little unfair for him, but then again, the goblins might have to risk themselves to get the property. In the end, he didn't care about the loss all that much as he was looking forward putting the Death Eater families in a difficult financial situation.
Seeing Bill had given him an idea though. Going to the Apparation point in the shopping area, he Apparated to the paddock at The Burrow. Not seeing anyone there, he walked up to the house and was a little surprised to see Ginny sitting on the porch; she looked like she was writing a letter. She was wearing cut-off jeans showing some nice legs and a T-shirt that was a little tight, all showing some curves he hadn't noticed on her before.
He could tell when she saw him as she quickly put her letter away and jumped up to greet him.
"Hi and happy birthday," she told him as she walked over. "I'm surprised to see you here; it's a nice surprise though," she said with a hint of a blush.
"I just thought I'd come by for a quick moment to show that I'm really still alive," he said with a smirk. "So I don't get in trouble, is anyone else here?"
"Dad's in the shed and Ron's upstairs. Mum is out shopping so I think you're safe," she teased him. "If Mum was here, I'm sure she'd tell you that you needed to come live with us."
Harry smiled broadly, "I'm sure, but I'm fine where I am. I've been learning some interesting things, like about my family."
"Oh?" she said in surprise. "I'm happy for you. You're probably having a better summer than we are then. We're confined to the house," she said unhappily. "We can't even go flying."
"I'm sorry," he told her. "You'll be back at school in a month and can fly there."
"I know, but it feels like a long time." She looked at him for a moment. "How are you doing? I mean really … after, well, you know, the Department of Mysteries."
Harry looked down for a moment. "I'm better now, but I still miss Sirius. How are you and how's your ankle?"
Ginny blushed slightly and looked down as if trying to look at her ankle before looking back at him. "It's fine and I haven't had any trouble with it after Madam Pomfrey fixed it." She looked down again and then back at him. "Can I say that I like your look without your glasses?"
He chuckled and smiled. "Sure, I kind of like it too; they were an annoyance at times."
"I'm sure," she agreed casually while still looking at him as if trying to memorize his new look. "I notice you've lost something else." She put her hand up and brushed back his hair a little on his forehead.
He smiled but pulled back a little so she dropped her hand. "I, uh, I had that removed as you can see. What do you think about it?" He was curious as to her answer, knowing what she was like a few years ago.
Ginny smiled gently. "What I think doesn't matter. If you're happy then I'm happy for you. I can understand why you might not have liked it."
"Might not?" he asked with a hint of teasing.
"I was trying to be nice," she returned with her own teasing.
"Maybe I should send a message to Ron to come down," he said. "I don't want to get trapped in your house as I'd rather your parents didn't know I was here."
Ginny grinned conspiratorially at him. "I won't tell anyone. Let me go get him, probably better that way."
As she turned, they heard her mother call out, "Ginny? Ron? Arthur? I'm home."
"Gotta go," Harry said and stood quickly. "I'll see you later."
"Go, I'll keep her in the house for a few minutes to cover for you," she told him and headed for the back door, looking very nice from behind too.
Harry smiled at her and hurried towards the paddock to Apparate away. It had been a nice if short visit. She was still a little shy around him, but not enough to be a bother. He had noticed she was definitely growing up too.
[Mon, Aug 12]
Harry was sitting with his feet propped up on his desk as he read the Daily Prophet and waited for the weekly status meeting to start shortly; he was also grinning like a loon.
"What do you find so amusing?" Kathleen asked him.
He turned the paper around to show her. "Seems like some of 'formerly Imperioused' families have run into some financial trouble. A few of them even lost their businesses. Such a shame for those fine upstanding families just because they have a magical tattoo."
Kathleen snorted. "Yes, such a shame. Sounds like you have a personal interest."
Harry shrugged and became more serious. "Probably about like everyone else; I lost some family and friends to them."
The woman looked more somber now. "Yes, I can understand."
"Mike?" Liam called out from across the aisle. "Can you help me again with my project by spotting for me?"
"Sure," Harry agreed, understanding this was part of the job and he was picked a little more often for this sort of work because he was the newest member, not that he minded as it was sometimes very interesting.
"Time to start," Croaker announced as he walked into the office area with Betty behind him. He and Liam moved back to their chairs, the experiment on hold until after the meeting.
"General announcement: It's budget planning time for next year," Croaker looked around. "You have two weeks to write up what you want to buy or spend money on for next year. If you can keep it to under 250 Galleons, just list what you want. If you go over that, I'll need a detailed write-up on what and why. Those are due by this meeting in two weeks or go without. Status time. Betty?"
Harry listened to the statuses, making notes in his notebook on who was working on what in case he needed help from something like that.
When it was his turn, Croaker looked at him. "I like your experiment write-up, except that I think you need three of the items you requested; still no date for when I'll have your items."
"Uh, thanks. No significant change in my normal work and, as you say, waiting on my requests for the experiment," Harry stated.
When the meeting was over, Liam called him back over to his desk to resume the experiment. "Do you remember the shield control I showed you last time for containment?"
"Yes," Harry answered, looked at the rune in a circle on the man's desk. He pulled his wand out in case he needed it.
Liam pulled a stone chest about the size of a small bread box out, setting on his desk. He looked at Harry again and asked, "Ready?"
Harry thought he was being overly dramatic, something unusual for the normally quiet and sometimes grouchy man. Though his cloak made Liam look about 40, Harry wondered how old the man really was.
Liam started on some spells, causing the box to glow. "Anything unusual?"
"No," Harry answered as he looked at the back of the stone chest. It was a rough stone and light gray with flakes of black in it, like pepper.
Another and longer spell in an unknown language caused a very short vibration. "Anything now?"
Harry was about to say no again when something came through the stone. "There's something like a little arm back here now. Is that important?" He looked up see an tentacle coming out of the front and extending towards Liam who was casting a shield with a panicked look.
"Containment shield!" Liam shouted.
Harry hit the rune on the desk with a small burst of magic, causing a semi-transparent dome shield to materialize around the stone chest, containing the little arm on his side and about half of the tentacle on Liam's side - the other half that had been outside the bubble was chopped off and dissipated like a vapor. He saw Liam sprawled back in his chair with a hand on his chest and breathing hard. "You all right?" he asked casually.
Liam glared at him. "Is an arm out of a piece of stone all right? NO!" he screamed the last word. "Stones don't have arms or tentacles! Why didn't you raise the containment the second you saw it!"
"Hey, calm down old man," Dupree said as he strolled over. "You all right, Mike?"
"Never better. You?"
"I'm good, thanks for asking," Dupree chuckled. "With steady nerves like that, I'll make a Curse Breaker out of you eventually."
Harry shrugged. "Don't know why he was so excited; I've seen worse."
That caused Dupree and several others to laugh while Liam glared at him. Harry shrugged again and returned to his desk. Honestly, the job was pretty boring most of the time, but sometimes there was a little excitement.
— — —
Ginny reread the letter she'd found on her bed earlier, which she assumed Hedwig had delivered. It hadn't been romantic or anything like that, but Harry's effort to send her something along with his words had ensured she knew he valued her friendship. She had no idea where he'd found the copper bracelet he'd sent her as she'd never seen anything like it in Diagon Alley, but it was pretty. She suspected he'd bought it in the Muggle world.
As she slipped the bracelet on her wrist, she wished Harry would show more interest in her. If Dean could ask her out, why couldn't Harry since he knew her better than Dean did?
.