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Chapter 3 – Plans and More Information
Harry was pleased with Dobby's work. Yes he wanted another month's worth of potions considering his general health or rather lack of it. He decided he wanted three extra potions lists just to be safe.
Dobby told him about Snape's visit and demand for basilisk venom. He couldn't decide if Snape was brewing something for Voldemort or for Dumbledore which would require the venom. Dobby had found out from the other apothecaries in the Alleys how much basilisk venom went for and the price was well worth their selling the limited supply they possessed. However with Snape searching for it, it was out of the question to sell it at this time. Perhaps in a few months when Harry was settled and away from Britain.
Harry decided to give Jiggers a larger scale so that it would hopefully cover the other month worth of potions and the three extra potions lists. He hoped the larger scale would help to make up the personal loss the man was willing to give him knowing he was short on funds.
Speaking of which, Harry needed funds and he needed them now and quickly before all his possible access was stopped by the Ministry and now by Dumbledore. By now the contents of his trust vault were in the hands of the Ministry.
He wasn't willing to contact Sirius asking for funds because he was furious with the man for siding with Dumbledore in all things and especially at the cost of Harry's health, education, safety and psychological well-being.
He had every intention to send Sirius one of the copies of the potions list in the future but not until he was more secure in his plans. Besides, Sirius would probably demand to know where Harry was so he could give him back to Dumbledore and would probably not advance him any money.
Therefore, Harry had one more very important errand for Dobby to run today, or rather tonight. He was going to be reimbursed by the Dursleys for all of the work he had done for them over the years.
He didn't know if Dumbledore had been paying the Dursleys the Muggle equivalent of the G12,000 a year which he had withdrawn for "Harry's care" or if he just kept it for himself. After all those horrendously ugly and gaudy robes Dumbledore wore probably didn't come cheap and Harry had no idea, nor did he really care, how much a Headmaster or a teacher at Hogwarts earned.
If the Dursleys were getting money from his vault, well there wasn't anything he could do about it at the moment. Someday maybe but not today. He did know the Dursleys were getting something for his care from the Muggle government as he had accidentally seen a statement when Vernon was doing his taxes. Harry had done some checking on it at the Muggle library and yes, they were eligible to receive money for caring for Harry. They certainly weren't spending the money on him.
No, he had spent ten years of his childhood "earning his keep" and he earned far more than was required. They barely fed him and then only scraps, half rotten food or the cheapest thing they had in the kitchen such as stale bread and tap water. He wore Dudley's old castoffs which were in terrible condition by the time he got them, besides being way too big for him. He had never had a new toothbrush of his very own until he went to Hogwarts. He was just given the worn out brushes of Dudley and Harry wasn't allowed to use toothpaste or floss just to brush his teeth with water!
No Harry would now be getting something back, however little it was. The Dursleys would call it stealing but Harry wouldn't as what he was going to grab would be a drop in the bucket to what they really owed him. He had explained his reasons to the angry elves and they were in complete agreement with him.
That night when Harry was sure the Dursleys would be asleep, he sent both Dobby and Winky to Privet Drive. They checked for magical signatures and trackers as well as for any wizards who Dumbledore might have lurking about. Finding none they began their "retrieval work" from the Dursley residence.
Harry knew where Petunia, Vernon and Dudley hid their mad money and emergency funds. There was a family emergency fund which consisted of cash kept on hand to pay an emergency bill or if Petunia and Vernon didn't have time to go to the bank. It usually contained around £500 unless Duddykins had helped himself for "an emergency" as Petunia called it.
It was stealing actually because Dudley wasn't supposed to know about it but he did and she always just blamed Harry and punished him accordingly. Winky found this first and apparently Petunia had just replenished it because there was the full amount hidden in the vase.
She then went to Petunia's private stash hidden in her curio cabinet in yet another vase. Winky acquired another £300 from there before going to the china cabinet where Petunia had yet another stash of £400 hidden inside the soup tureen which she never used and which was in the bottom cabinet behind the extra dinner plates.
She then found Vernon's golf bag where he hid his "really mad money" as Harry referred to it because there was usually a very large amount to be found. Vernon only went golfing when he was entertaining a client. He hated the game and did badly but at least it allowed his client to win. He figured Petunia and Dudley would never think to take out all of the clubs and find the plastic bag where as much as £1,000 could be hidden. Harry was in luck as the bag actually contained £1,200 for some reason. Maybe fate was finally on his side for once.
As per Harry's orders, Winky then checked all the pockets in the coats and under the couch and chair cushions. That search only netted a total of £4-10-3, but it was better than nothing. The downstairs being finished she went out to Vernon's car where Harry said he hid money in the glove compartment which netted another £110 and some miscellaneous coins. Petunia's car had nothing.
Meanwhile Dobby was upstairs doing his errands. He placed a strong sleeping charm on all the Dursleys. His first hit was Dudley's room. He merely summoned any money located in the room as Harry had told him Dudley had his stashes but also left loose change lying around. He then found and threw in "the goodie bag" which was the magical expanding, light weight charmed bag Dobby had found in Hogwarts and added not only the money but some of the "loot" Dudley had acquired since he had been home.
Dudley and his friends always bullied the weak and helped themselves to their possessions. Last year the gang had branched out and started sneaking into houses when people were out for the day, night or away on holiday. They only took easily carried things such as money, any type of drugs or prescription medicine, real jewelry or small things which took their fancy and were easily pawned or fenced.
Dudley made out really well last year and Harry had overheard him telling Piers they should do even better this year. They had as Dobby found some jewelry, a few good cameras with extra film and unopened bottles of liquor, all went into the bag.
Dobby then made his way into the master bedroom. Vernon snored loudly while Petunia snored softly. He found Vernon's wallet and took half the money out so as not to arouse suspicion as well as one of his credit cards. He then used magic to open the safe Vernon kept hidden in the back of his closet. Dobby opened it and took the financial documents and a few others things which Harry had requested before locking the safe. He checked all pockets in the closets for change.
He did the same with Petunia's purse but in her case took out a credit card and her debit card. If she noticed them gone she would probably think that Dudley had "borrowed" them like he did on occasion but he would always put them back so she wouldn't worry for a day or two.
The elves met up and popped back to the lair. Winky went back to her sleeping quarters just in case she was missed. Harry looked through the documents until he found the information he required and then he and Dobby popped out of the lair to continue the heist.
Dobby had no idea how Muggle technology worked, thus Harry had to risk exposure to show him how to use an ATM machine. They went to Liverpool and found an out-of-the-way bank. Harry wore his cloak and Dobby disillusioned himself just in case there were hidden cameras. Dobby also cast a silencing spell.
Harry explained what a password was. He then showed Dobby how to punch in Petunia's password, check the balance in her checking account to see how much was in there and then withdraw the maximum amount allowed per day. Then Harry let him do the same for Vernon' credit card.
Then they took the credit cards and got cash advances. After that they went back to the lair to tally up their haul and found it was rather impressive.
Harry decided they could do the same thing again tomorrow night except this time they would go for broke. All the cash and credit cards would be removed from the Dursleys as well as all of Vernon's stash of booze. Harry wasn't planning on drinking it but it could be used for bartering at some point and he just didn't want Vernon to be able to drown his sorrows when the "paybacks" were discovered.
The elves would also be grabbing some of Petunia's "trophy jewelry" which was gaudy but expensive jewelry which Vernon had bought for her to wear to impress clients. That was kept in the safe which Dobby had broken into the night before.
Since this was probably the last night they would have access to the Dursleys home, Harry had Dobby take the entire safe. Now he would have all of Vernon's secret files. Petunia had other jewelry but Harry knew some of it had been inherited from her mother and he didn't want to accidently sell any Evans heirlooms. Oh what the hell, he'd have Dobby bring it and keep it separate because no doubt Petunia would probably sell it after having to "reimburse" Harry.
The elves would also be gathering all the food the Dursleys had. Petunia always kept the freezer stocked with meat and frozen vegetables and the dry pantry contained some tinned and bottled gourmet goodies which the Dursleys used to show off when entertaining clients. There were always a lot of snack foods for Dudley to enjoy as well as fresh fruit and vegetables for Harry's use in preparing specialty dishes and bake goods for the Dursleys which he would never get to enjoy – just make and watch them eat.
Nope, the next morning the Dursleys would wake up with no food in the house (or booze) and hopefully (but he doubted it) know what it was like to have no breakfast or the prospect of any meals for the day. Since all of their cash would be gone as well as anything left in their checking accounts, they would be forced to use their credit cards, but would find all of them to be missing. If they wanted to buy any food they would be forced to borrow money from someone, which would only add to their humiliation.
He even went so far to acquire pots and pans, some dishes, glassware, tablecloths and napkins and other things for use in the preparation and serving of the meals he was prepared to enjoy. Winky even nabbed the spice cabinet and the canisters containing flour, sugar, etc. and well – everything.
Harry didn't want Winky to risk sneaking him food as during the summer holidays as the cooking was carefully watched as only a few people permanently lived at Hogwarts during the summer and this was when "knuts were watched closely" and money was saved. So Harry had decided the Dursleys would be finally feeding him like they should have been all those years he lived and slaved for them.
After the two elves brought back the loot, Winky returned to her duties while Dobby took Vernon's debit card and got all the money he could as well as all of the credit cards and got advances on them.
The next morning he glamoured himself to look like Petunia Dursley and, at Harry's suggestion, placed a fake cast on her writing hand so that when "she" signed the credit card receipt, there would be an excuse for her signature not matching on the card.
He then went to a Tesco's and filled a shopping cart with non-perishable items such as soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, toilet paper and boxes of cereal, tinned goods, bottles of soda, juices, several boxes of assorted tea, sugar, flour and coffee and put them on Petunia's charge card.
He took those things back to the lair and then went to another Tesco's to stock up on fresh fruit and vegetables, frozen goods, milk, butter, cream, meat, assorted cheeses, lunch meats and even some fresh fish. He took those things back and placed them under a stasis charm.
Meanwhile Winky managed to sneak out also glamoured to look like Petunia and went to Harrods to buy Harry some clothes which would actually fit him. She got him lots of underwear, socks, jeans, T-shirts, some dress slacks and shirts, two jackets, two hats, a coat for "good" and a dozen handkerchiefs.
She then bought him two off the rack suits in a size larger so that he could wear them after all of his healing and hopefully getting a growth spurt. Lastly she bought him two pair of dress shoes, three pair of trainers and a nice pair of black boots. She then hurried back to Hogwarts before she would be missed.
Harry had the copies of the Dursleys' charge bills and wanted to get his clothes at Harrods. They only had the charge for "appearances" and a few times a year Petunia would go to London simply to do some special shopping. She always brought home several bags and made sure the neighbors saw where she had been shopping. The next time she went shopping in other shops near her home, she would switch her purchases into the Harrods bags again to impress the neighbors. There was nothing on the charge at the moment and the Dursleys had a limit of £10,000.
After Winky came back, Harry checked the total she had spent and there was still a lot left on the charge card so Dobby went back and paid a visit to the famous Food Hall and purchased some of the "finer things" which the famous store had to offer. Harry would be eating very well for the next few months!
Now some people would have called this petty, but Harry called it survival. There was a war going on – the war against Harry Potter. It was the Wizarding World of Britain, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and all of his so-called friends and family against Harry Potter. Harry's only allies in this war were Helwig, Dobby, Winky and Kreacher as there was no one he could trust or depend on except himself, his owl and the three elves especially after Kreacher's report.
It had been the day after the first payback raid that Kreacher had summoned Dobby to give a report. He had heard Molly, Ron and Ginny Weasley having a private chat in the kitchen. Hermione was in the library reading, of course, no Order members were about and Sirius was up tending to Buckbeak with a bucket of rats for the hippogriff and a bottle of fire whiskey for the wizard.
Molly was updating her two youngest children on what would be happening in the next few weeks, whether or not they found Harry Potter. There was no doubt in Dumbledore's mind, so therefore there was no doubt in most of the Order's minds, that the boy would be found. After all he had no wand, no money or even access to his trust vault, no friends other than them, he couldn't go back to the Dursleys or anywhere, he only had the clothes on his back as he had left his trunk in "Ron's room" so it was only a matter of time before he was found and dragged back to Grimmauld Place and his punishment begun.
From what Kreacher heard, despite Harry being the logical person to be made the fifth year boys' Prefect for Gryffindor House and against McGonagall's rather loud and outraged objections, Dumbledore had decided at the beginning of the summer that Ron would be made Prefect instead for "services rendered" to the Headmaster.
Naturally Hermione Granger would be the girl's Prefect because the only other options were Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, but due to her poor self-esteem, Hermione would think it was because she earned it for "services rendered" to the Headmaster.
For spying on Harry not only did Ron get the occasional monetary payment and bonus, Dumbledore had promised him many other perks. Ron would make the Quidditch team this year and then next year he would be chosen Captain. If things really went well and Ron continued rendering special services, Dumbledore had hinted that Ron would be Head Boy and Hermione Head Girl.
Hermione wasn't aware she was spying on Harry for Dumbledore, she only thought that she was letting Dumbledore know what Harry was up to "for his own good" and thus she received no monetary payments. She would be allowed on occasion, because she was "such a studious and well-deserving girl," to borrow a few rare tomes which Dumbledore possessed. He had also given her a secret access pass to the restricted section of the library. She had been flattered and unknowingly went deeper into the favors debt which Dumbledore had always used on brilliant students to manipulate them for his own projects.
It was also a given that Ginny would be made a Prefect in her fifth year, she also would make the Quidditch team this year and after Ron graduated she would be made Quidditch Captain. The Head Girl position would depend on many things so it was still too early to promise her the position.
Theoretically, Harry would have graduated when Ginny was in her 7th year, but Dumbledore was still debating whether or not he would "let" Harry leave school. If it served his purposes Dumbledore would have no qualms about having Harry flunk out an entire year and having him repeat a year – or even two – if it would keep the boy under his control longer.
The Hogwarts letters containing the book lists and Prefect badges would be arriving shortly. Ron was informed to look shocked and pleasantly surprised as would his Mother. There had already been a party planned but now it wouldn't be held until Potter was found and brought back to Grimmauld Place so that the fact that Hermione, and especially Ron, were still Hogwarts students and both had been made Prefects could be rubbed into his face.
"Remember don't let on as the Mudblood can't know what Dumbledore is really doing and under no circumstances can Sirius or Remus or anybody else in the Order find out about our little arrangement," Molly had strongly stressed.
Kreacher had also found out, that due to the Last Will of Harry's grandfather as well as various laws on the legal books for centuries, the Ministry was barred from confiscating Harry's trust vault. Therefore Harry, but mostly Dumbledore, still had access to the trust vault and the G12,000 would be added once again on July 31st of next year and Dumbledore could withdraw the funds on August 1st.
Also, it would have originally been illegal for the Ministry to prosecute Harry for performing underage magic because to permit his participation in the tournament, he had been made an official adult and legally emancipated.
However, half way through the tournament, after Harry was well and truly obliged to participate and could not withdraw, Dumbledore had made a deal with Fudge cancelling the emancipation as Dumbledore did not want Harry to be emancipated because then Dumbledore would not be legally able to control him, which was what he needed to be able to do at all costs.
That was how Fudge had been able to plan and carry out the illegal hearing/trial as Dumbledore could not pull the "adult wizard" card.
So Harry's vault had not been confiscated and G12,000 would be added next year. It was nice to know he still had his trust vault but annoying to know that while Dumbledore would benefit he would not.
He had wondered just how hard Dumbledore had tried to get his expulsion repudiated or if Harry being expelled now helped whatever scheme Dumbles had going at the moment. He probably would never know unless Kreacher managed to overhear something about it or Winky was able to find out through Deezy.
But how wrong he was!