Phew, this one took me a while to write! Sorry again for the ridiculous delays, it appears I can't actually stick to a writing schedule at the minute... My daughter is suffering from that horrible stage called separation anxiety and it means I can't write during the day, and by the time the house and everything else is done in the evenings I'm too tired to even consider concentrating on anything. To all my wonderful readers out there, I can only promise that this story will NOT be given up on, even if updates are irregular this story will be finished. It just might take a bit longer than originally planned. I will try to update as often as I can, and work as hard as I can in the time I get to keep this story running but obviously there are limits to what anyone can do, even if being a Mummy automatically makes you superwoman. And to any of you who is questioning the speed this story is moving at (another chapter of Gringotts) don't worry, it will speed up considerably once Harry returns to Hogwarts, and I have chapter plans made out for at least the next ten chapters of this story so my problem isn't writers block or lack of direction, it's just finding time to write what I know should go in.

Disclaimer: Much as I wish I owned Harry Potter, I really don't.

Chapter 4:

Harry had learned a lot from reading his parents Will, but more than that it brought up a lot of new questions, and emphasised the ones he had already started to wonder about. Most of all, he was questioning Dumbledore, and what role the man had actually played in his childhood. From what he could tell initially at least a lot of his problems had come from this man, and noone else was aware of it. It seemed a bit strange to him that everyone could put so much blind faith into someone who was clearly capable of such huge manipulations, and it made him really question the integrity of much of the wizarding world. Were they really that slow and unaware that they could put so much blind faith into one man without any real proof, or was Dumbledore playing more games than he was even starting to realize. What logic had come to pass that his parents Wills had been ignored to this level, that although there were many other people listed as his potential guardians the soul duty of providing his care had been left to the elderly headmaster. While he could understand to some extent why he couldn't have gone to Sirius, his imprisonment being a huge factor in that, and he understood that Nevilles parents had not been an option, he was left to wonder about why Lupin had not been chosen, or even how Sirius had been sent to Azkaban given the details revealed in this document. After all, it would have had to have been read at some point, or someone had to have had some idea of its contents for there was no way they could have just left it closed for that long without questioning it. The fact that Gringotts had been attempting to contact him for so long was in itself enough of a reason to wonder why it hadn't been opened. He sighed, before turning to Gripnook who had been sitting silently through his contemplations.

"This has brought up a lot of questions for me. I don't really understand the Wizarding customs against Muggle, but is there any chance you can clarify a few things for me, or at least try to make them make more sense. I'm not certain how much of it you'll be able to help me with, but noone else has ever even given me as much honest answers as you have already managed in just this short meeting."

"Ask your questions. We may not be able to help you at this moment in time but at least in the near future we can start to make sense of your affairs, and once you have exhausted your questions from the readings we can move onto other matters surrounding your accounts. It is of course most important that we understand the basics so that we don't get confused later on."

It made sense, he guessed. Better to have a basic understanding of his current questions so that he didn't get bogged down in whatever other information was there for him, though he did wonder what other revilations were to come. Was there really much more that he could learn at this point, because his parents Wills in themselves had given him a lot to digest.

"Firstly, I must ask who witnessed my parents Will. In the Muggle world there always has to be a witness to a Will signing, someone else who was there at the time and confirmed that it was all legit. I guess so that it can't be changed at a later date?"

"A fair question." came the reply, as Gripnook reached for his papers and began to reef through them. "It says on the paperwork I have here that the two witnesses to the signing of your parents Will were the Goblin clerk who handled the writing, and one Albus Dumbledore, although there is a note that he contested a lot of the clauses and pushed for some changes your parents were unwilling to make at the time, and that he was responsible for some items and clauses that weren't in the original document but your parents agreed to at the time of writing, under his suggestion."

More Dumbledore; it seemed he had been involved right from the beginning then, and had deliberately gone against what he knew was written. Even if he hadn't had a say in whether or not the Will had been read, he should have at least been able to push some of the points forward then, with his intimate knowledge of its contents.

"What changes did he ask for?" Harry asked, his voice cracking slightly. It was imperative he understood just what problems Dumbledore had developed with his parents wishes, so that he could understand more why things had ended up the way they were. It took several minutes of paper shuffling before he got his reply however, when Gripnook eventually pulled out three sheets from his stack and read through them, before looking up again giving what could only be described as a slightly evil smile.

"According to the notes taken by our scribe on the day, Mr Albus Dumbledore was unhappy about the lack of funds left to Hogwarts castle as a whole, he felt that a lump sum to the school itself would have been more beneficial than individual amounts to each staff member. He seemed more than disappointed that your parents notes and research were left to individual teachers rather than to the school itself, arguing repeatedly and often loudly that by offering these things just to the individuals they were essentially hurting the chances of the masses to learn. Your parents, however, were adamant that their research was just that as yet, and that it shouldn't be left as teaching material while there was still doubts within their findings.

Mr Dumbledore also requested repeatedly that there be some provision for money left to individual staff members be used within Hogwarts school, stating the argument that as members of his staff each beneficiary was already in recept of free home as well as a relevant income, so they had no need for the extra money or properties provided by your parents request. His view here was contested greatly but a compromise reached; in the original documents certain people had been left lump sums as well as property and notes, but in the revisions Dumbledore suggested a percentage of the monetary value of their benefits was to be used strictly within Hogwarts. When he attempted to push for a higher proportion your mother especially noted that noone could be expected to teach until they died and that each of their beneficiaries deserved the chance to live comfortably outside the castle as well.

Mr Dumbledore also contested your parents choices for guardianship should they not survive the war, and the choices they made regarding your future. He was especially against the idea of your care going to Mr Black and Mrs Mc Gonnigal, citing the argument that Mr Black was hardly the most mature of people to be bringing up a child and that Mrs Mc Gonnigal had other priorities within Hogwarts castle and so would not be able to give you the care or attention you deserved. He also raised concerns regarding their choice of Mr Remus Lupin as a potential guardian, stating that a werewolf would not be able to raise a child properly and that it would put you at untold risk to be left with them. He pushed repeatedly for the removal of the clause allowing for you to be emancipated if you weren't placed with one of your parents named, but was again refused by both your parents, your father in particular who referred to the fact that there was noone else he could trust not to use the Potter position or wealth to their own benefit.

Our scribe here notes that Mr Dumbledore became quite irate at this suggestion though hid his reaction well, and instead asked why there was no reason for you to become a ward of the state or Hogwarts since so many of your parents friends were on the staff of the school at the time. Your father referred back to Mr Dumbledore's previous arguments regarding Mrs McGonnigal against the suggestion of Hogwarts, and his previous comments regarding trust of the rest of the Wizarding population in relation to you becoming a ward of state and that idea in itself was quickly dropped, though Mr Dumbledore argued strongly for some financial control of your accounts or at least an advisory position in the unfortunate occasion that you would become emancipated. Neither request was granted since as friends of our nation both your parents knew that any guidance given by our people would be sound of nature."

Harry had to ask for the details to be repeated several times before what he had learned began to make sense, but Gripnook was patient with him and had no problem explaining the details he asked for. It was probably just as well, as without these extra explanations and clarifications it would have taken him a lot longer to reach what he felt was the obvious conclusion; Dumbledore wanted control over him and his assets, and he didn't like being told no. he was wiling, it appeared to go to just about any level he could to gain this control, ignoring peoples wishes and working only towards his own goals.

"Who currently has control over my finances?" He questioned, and although he was expecting an unpleasant answer he was not expecting the one he received.

"Your accounts were treated as if there was no Will connected to them, meaning ownership of all contents were passed to yourself, with guardianship and control over all assets going to your legal guardian until you were old enough to take that position yourself. The guardian at the time has not changed over the years and currently stands as one Vernon Dursley."

Letting out a breath he didn't even realize he'd been holding Harry allowed himself to relax slightly; the fact that the Dursleys were Muggles and unable to access Diagon Alley or Gringotts meant that his money had more than likely stayed safe and untouched right? Wrong it appeared, as Gripnook continued.

"Upon gaining custody of yourself, Mr Dursley was also provided with details for the Bank of England account connected to your vaults here at Gringotts, and since then has made regular withdrawals much above the amount stipulated in your parents Will to provide for your future. There was also a regular amount removed from your accounts and directed to go to the Headmasters vault at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardary although it is unclear whether or not Mr Dursley was aware of this fact. There are several other regular outgoings we will of course look into in due course, but it could take some time to make sense of where these funds are going and for what purpose."

He was raging, how dare this man do that?! After bringing him up believing that he was nothing other than a burden on them, that they received nothing for his care, Harry was now finding that he had in fact paid mostly for his guardians extravagant lifestyle from his own pocket. This meant that almost all of the presents received by Dudley over the years had come from him, while he had been forced to live in clothes no better than rags, with nothing new ever given to himself. He was ready to ask more questions when he was interrupted by Gripnook, who had glanced at a large clock mounted on the wall before starting slightly.

"Apologies Sir, but it appears we have gone long over the allocated time for our meeting. We will of course arrange a secondary meeting in the near future, and in that time I can hopefully be more prepared and have some time to go through more details pertaining your accounts and their current status."

Harry sighed; just as they were starting to get somewhere it seemed that he would have to stop, and go back to his thinking on his own while at the same time dealing with a lot more difficult information and trying to make some sense of it. In the mean time though, there was something he might be able to do to make him feel at least slightly better about the situation.

"Is there any way we can block Muggle access to my accounts for now, or is that impossible since I'm underage and I understand that until I can claim my inheritance legally it will fall automatically to my guardians. I don't want to block magical access since that will pull up too many questions I'm not ready to answer yet, but I would be interested to find out exactly to whom my money is going at the earliest convenience."

The Goblin grinned, before standing up and ushering the young man to the door "Consider it already done, Mr Potter. Noone else need know of your visit to us today. We will of course be in contact over the next several days with more details and to arrange another meeting in the near future, preferably before the return to Hogwarts in September."

a/n:

Oh dear Dumbledore is a controlling old fool isn't he! I know the goblins talking in this chapter could have been a bit monotonous and boring, but it was important to place the grounding for the first stage of the manipulations Harry will have to deal with. Over the next few chapters he will begin to try and make more sense of the reasons why, as well as finding out more information though this will hopefully be the last chapter which is all talking and theorizing on his part. After this we're likely to see some more action, although I don't want to make my Harry all superpowerful and able to react perfectly to every situation, there are likely to be some emotional breakdowns coming because Harry is just a human boy, and finding out that the people you've trusted that much has got to mess anyone up a lot. As yet we've seen him as only a cool collected person able to deal with whatever the Gripnook can throw at him, but don't expect this to last! In cannon Rowling made Harry too able to deal with everything, too Heartless in a way because he never showed much emotion or natural reactions with the things he faced, and I plan to rectify this! Next chapter Harry is back at the Dursleys and the aftermath of at least one of the things he managed to put in place at Gringotts becomes apparent! Thanks for taking the time to read, and please review!