Disclaimer: This is Albus Dumbledore. I can tell you without a single doubt that Hamilton Wrye, who writes under the ridiculous pen name of Hamm On Wry, does not own anything other than the plot. He should not even have that! He is a cretin of the highest order. J. K. Rowling would never have put me in circumstances such as this, she actually has class, unlike the scribbler who is pretending to be a writer in these pages. Now if you will excuse me, it is time for dinner. Today's specialty, just like every other day, is gruel with fried rat parts.
Chapter 6
New Enemies
The Hog's Head, Hogsmead
There was not many people in the Hog's Head on this night. This was alright with Aberforth Dumbledore. He was grieving and really did not want to be disturbed by such things as making money. Of course, if things kept going the way they were, he wouldn't have to worry about that anyway.
In the last few weeks, he has lost everything. He had lost his brother, the family fortune and properties, his side income from his brother, and his reason for staying in Hogsmead. The only reason that he had opened this dump was because Albus had asked him to. He needed a place where dodgy characters would not be afraid to go and drink, thereby loosening their lips and allowing Albus, through Aberforth to pick up gossip about the darker dealings in the wizarding world. It was all to keep the school safe and pass on information to the Order of the Phoenix.
All of this was ruined by that little bastard Harry Potter. The Order was gone, his brother sent to Azkaban on trumped up charges, and all of the family's fortune gone. Aberforth had no idea how he was going to be able to continue supporting his granddaughter and her children. He could leave nothing to them, no legacy, since his money had been in Albus' vault for safekeeping. Albus had taken care of the kids after his son's death. All Aberforth could claim is the hereditary seat in the Wizengamot. And right now he could not even do that since the signet ring denoting the Head of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Dumbledore was at this time resting in Potter's vault at Gringotts. The hell of it was that the brat didn't even realize it. And to think that Albus had done so much for that kid, rescuing him and keeping him safe for all of these years, taking care of his finances so that he wouldn't be swindled. And how does he repay him? By sticking a knife in his back.
A light came into the pub as the door opened and a figure in a hooded cloak entered. Aberforth gave a disinterested glance and went back to wiping the same dirty glass with the same dirty rag.
"Buy a girl a drink, handsome?" Aberforth knew that voice, one of the few who could make him smile.
"Violet!" He came around the bar and hugged his granddaughter. "What brings you here today? Not that I'm complaining you know."
"I came to see you and see how you are doing. I know that this whole thing has been hard on you. I also wanted to know if there was anything that could be done to keep us in our home."
Aberforth froze. "What do you mean?"
"It seems that Uncle Albus owned the house. I just got a notice from Gringotts to vacate the house by September 1st. It seems the new owner," She said this with not just a little bitterness, "Wants to either dispose of the property or convert it to his own use."
"Damn him!" Aberforth was seething. "That house was purchased with my money, Albus was only holding the deed for me. When will that little bastard quit persecuting our family?
"Grandpa, he might not even know. I doubt if he has looked at his holdings from Uncle Albus, he probably decided to let the goblins handle all of the details."
"Don't defend him! Don't you realize that he is the cause of our troubles? Pretending to be a Light wizard, he is as Dark as they come. I wouldn't doubt that he knows exactly what is going on and is just trying to stick the knife in deeper."
"Why don't you let me find out? I will owl him and explain the situation, then if he is as cruel as you believe and turns us down, I can take it to the Daily Prophet. They have had it out for him for years."
Aberforth looked at his granddaughter with new respect. "Not a bad idea. Use his own reputation against him. You know that he has the House signet ring?"
"Why! He can't use it, the seat is hereditary."
"Albus put it into the vault for safekeeping. Really, who would question the identity of Albus Dumbledore?"
"I'll ask him about that also. We'll see what this 'Lord Potter-Black' is really made of."
With that, she gave her Grandfather a kiss and left.
Black Manor, Kent
Harry was just coming in the door as the grey owl swept down and landed on the railing in front of him. He had been in the garden watching Vernon and Dursley, his house-muggles pulling weeds and de-gnoming the garden. Or rather attempting to de-gnome the garden. It seemed that with their reduced size, the gnomes were not very impressed with the two. The gnomes were not used to people the size if four year old children grabbing them and attempting to throw them over the fence. It made for a very entertaining scene watching the gnomes fighting back. All of this happened with Blinky, the manor's head elf screaming at the pair of Dursleys. Blinky was there since Harry had given Kreacher head duties at 12 Grimmauld Place and overall elf-hiring duties. He did not want Kreacher hanging around the manor since there would be other-than-pureblood wizards and witches visiting and staying at the manor. Harry and Kreacher were both satisfied with the arrangement and the elf had made hiring decisions accordingly.
Harry took the letter from the owl, dug in his pocket for an owl treat, and gave it to the owl. The bird did not fly off, so Harry figured that he was waiting for a response. "Come along, I will need to read this inside." Harry held out his arm and the owl hopped on.
When he got to the study, he put the owl on Hedwig's perch (she was out on an errand), and opened the letter.
Dear Lord Potter-Black;
My name is Violet Dumbledore. I am the granddaughter of Aberforth Dumbledore and the great niece of Albus Dumbledore. I am writing to you today in desperation. My grandfather purchased the house where my children and I live, but gave the deed to my Uncle Albus for safekeeping. He also had Uncle Albus manage our income from his vault. With the sentencing of my uncle, the deed and all of our money went into your vault, as well as the family signet ring. We are destitute and have received notice from Gringotts to vacate our home by September 1st.
Can you please find it in your heart to allow us to continue living in our home? I am not asking for money, I will find a way to survive someway, but I pray that you will show mercy and not let what was once a great family perish. I am also asking for the return of the signet ring to my grandfather, the rightful head of our House. You cannot claim his seat, and while you have the ring, neither can he. He cannot name an Heir unless he has it, and he is not much younger than Uncle Albus.
Sincerely,
Violet Dumbledore
Harry was stunned. He had no idea that Dumbledore had heirs who would suffer through his action. He had heard that Albus had a brother, but had never paid much attention to the whole thing. He had not even seen what Dumbledore's restitution had put in his vaults, he had just told the goblin advisor to handle it. He quickly penned a response and gave it to the owl to deliver. Going to the fireplace, he took a pinch of floo powder, tossed it in the fire and, stepping in, said "Gringotts", and disappeared.
Entering Flickaxe's office, Harry tossed the letter from Violet Dumbledore down on the desk. "What is the meaning of this?"
Picking up the letter, Flickaxe scanned it, then smiled. "Oh, that. We will have the property ready for your use by the first of October. We just had to give the tenants notice."
"But it wasn't even Albus Dumbledore's property! It should have never been in the transaction."
"Lord Black, possession is nine points of the law, even in the wizarding world. Do you realize that gaining the Dumbledore vault has made you the richest wizard in the world? Before you were only the second wealthiest."
"The vault is still intact then?"
"Absolutely. There was not enough room in your vaults for the contents, and it is an old family vault, very prestigious you know."
"In that case, I need an inventory list. Then I need to go to the vault."
Twenty minutes later, Harry was careening down the rail track in the cart going to the Dumbledore vault. He had played his cards close to the vest, telling Flickaxe to rescind the eviction order and schedule a meeting with Aberforth Dumbledore and his granddaughter Violet for the next day. Having looked over the inventory list, he saw that the vault did not have nearly as much money as the joint Potter-Black vaults, but they would still support a family for several generations. Harry supposed that some of the Dumbledore family had decided to live off the vault rather than adding to the fortune. No matter, that was their decision. There were a few items in the vault he was interested in however.
Arriving at the vault, Griphook took the key and opened the door. It did not take long to find what he was looking for, the goblins having inventoried and cataloged the location of everything inside. Harry took a bottomless transport bag and loaded it up with the items that he needed. He was sure that the Dumbledore clan was not very happy with him right now, and was hoping to, if not gain them as allies, at least keep them from becoming declared enemies. Allies or enemies, they could hold a lot of sway. Harry took one more look around and left.
Later that night, Harry was going through Albus Dumbledore's journals, those being the main thing that he had required from the vault. He was marking passages and putting indexing tabs on the appropriate pages. It took him several hours, but by 9 pm, he was done. He then called Blinky.
"Yes, Lord Black? How can Blinky serve you?"
"Bring me the two muggles and the clothes in which they arrived."
Blinky looked horrified. "Lord Black is going to free the muggles?"
"Well, they are really not very useful, are they?"
"Blinky has tried to make them better workers, but they are useless. Lord Black should have gotten elves instead. Blinky is very sorry that he could not train them better." Harry saw that Blinky was about to punish himself and stopped him.
"Blinky, before you can train someone properly, you have to have something to work with. You have actually done wonders with them. They are at least respectful now and know their place… below house elves."
"There is that.. Stupid muggles deserve to lose the honor of working for Lord Black. Giving them clothes will properly shame them"
"That's the spirit! Go fetch them and their clothes. But make sure they bathe first. Working out in that garden has probably made them stink."
"Oh yes, Blinky had them fertilizing the roses. That dragon dung is not pleasant." With that, the elf disappeared.
Less than 20 minutes later, Blinky appeared with Dudley and Vernon. He gave them each a kick in the rump and screamed at them. "Show proper respect for the great Lord Black!" The two mini-muggles got down on their knees and bowed until their foreheads touched the ground.
"Rise." When the Dursleys stood, Harry fixed them with a icy glare. They trembled. "I am dismissing you from my service. I hope that you have learned something from this experience." They nodded quickly, afraid to speak. I have called in an Obliviator to erase all of your memories of me and of the magical world. When you awaken, you will be in your new home in London. I can't take a chance on sending you back to Little Whinging, you might somehow recover memories when you are confronted with the horrors that happened there. You will be able to return to your job, as far as the company knows, you have been on compassionate leave due to your wife dying in a tragic auto accident." Harry thought that was especially appropriate since Petunia and Vernon had told him that his parents had died the same way. "Terrible thing, driving drunk. She should have been more careful. I have put £50,000 in your bank account, the money being an insurance policy on Petunia's life. I have kept the house in Little Whinging, since you stole £3000 per month for 15 years, I figure that I own it. Blinky, bring them back to normal."
Blinky pointed his finger at the two, and they grew back to their normal size. Unfortunately, their elf uniforms stayed their proper size, ripping until they were nothing but rags. He then handed them their clothes. "Filthy muggles, you are disgraced and dismissed from the service of the benevolent Lord Black. Your shame shall follow you forever!"
The Dursleys quickly dressed, then turned to face Harry. "Just so you know, I am having the Obliviator leave one memory. Your company's major stockholder is none other than Lord Potter-Black. Should I ever find out that you are bullying or mistreating anyone ever again, I will make it my personal mission to destroy you. That goes double for you Dudley."
There was a knock on the door and the Obliviator from the Ministry came in. Harry gave her the perimeters and she performed the spell. She then led the dazed Dursleys out the door into their new lives. Blinky looked at Harry in awe.
"Lord Black is a great and terrible wizard! Your wrath knows no bounds. Not only have you shamed them with clothes, you disgraced them by making them take money from you! You did not even leave them with the happy memories of working for you. Please Master, if Blinky ever displeases you, just kill me, I could not stand the shame."
"Blinky, I seriously doubt that you could ever disappoint me like they did, but if you do, I will go ahead and do as you ask." With that, the happy elf went off to supervise his staff.
A/N: I know this one is a bit short, but the it would have been too long had I continued to the logical end. The next one will have somewhat of a showdown between the Dumbledores and Harry.