Author's Note: Thank you everyone who is reading. I hope you continue to enjoy the story. MNF
Chapter 4:
The Very Bad, No Good, Awful Day of Albus Dumbledore
(Still the day after the Full Moon)
Hogwarts Castle
To say that the last twenty-four hours of Albus too-many-middle-names Dumbledore did not go his way is an understatement. In Albus's mind, he was suddenly on the losing side of a battlefield he'd been planning meticulously for years. How had he come to be on the backside of the campaign?
The answer: Sirius Black.
Albus had deftly dealt with the son of the House of Black shortly after James and Lily's untimely deaths – although it did clear up which boy the prophecy pertained to. He'd preferred if Sirius had been killed, but prison was a good substitute. He never thought Remus would choose his school roommate over him. He allowed Remus to come to sighed and put his head in his hands.
"My great-great-grandson has done a number on you, hasn't he?" Phineas Nigellus nearly tittered. "Never underestimate a Black."
"Yes, Phineas, I did underestimate Sirius. He'd never wanted to be part of the Black family and is more Potter than anything now."
"Never turn you back on one of those Potters either. You forget my granddaughter married Charlus Potter and he was one very shrewd politician."
"True."
"What happened to your funny little instruments there? They exploded when the Potter boy accepted Sirius's offer to live with him," Phineas said proudly.
"What? When?" Dumbledore stumbled over his words. He stood up and walked to the little table that held his monitoring devices. Stepping on a spring, he realized three were destroyed. The first was the little bronze cube which used to spin on one corner, monitoring the charms Albus had placed on the Dursley house. It had broken in two. Then there was the small pot that belched steam, indicating Harry considered number 4 Privet Drive as his home. It was so broken Albus couldn't find all the bits. Finally, was the small sphere that whirled on an indented golden plate, it monitored the mild Compulsion Charm on Harry, making him agree with whatever Dumbledore told him. The orb had split open, and the golden plate was cracked.
While Dumbledore was looking at his broken devices, he failed to notice the middle top drawer of his desk glow golden for a moment before something rattled about inside. He'd missed the whole thing, although several of the other portraits, Phineas included, did not. They'd been counselling him about his actions toward members of his beloved Order for years, and it always fell on deaf ears. Dilys Derwent shared a look with Phineas and then shook her head. She decided she couldn't watch any more and went to her portrait at St Mungo's Hospital.
Suddenly, Albus's private Floo roared to life and a foot appeared. There was only one person so brazen as to come through without asking permission. With his back still to the fireplace he said, "Hello, Molly."
"Albus, the strangest thing just occurred. The key to Harry's vault disappeared." This made him turn around.
"What do you mean, disappeared?" he asked calmly, feeling anything but.
"I kept it here, on my watch," Molly explained, pointing to the broach watched that had a flip down top and would have been welcomed in any Victorian Era Museum collection. "I'd shrunk it, so it just looked like a charm. It glowed, then wiggled itself off the ring and disappeared. What's going on, Albus?"
"Oh, dear," Albus said before moving to his desk, tapping the top middle drawer with his wand, and was distressed to find it empty. "Molly, I would prepare yourself for a summons from the goblins."
BB*BB*BB*BB*BB*
Back at the bank, Sirius was reviving his godson. "Don't get up too fast," the older man said.
"What happened?" Harry asked groggily.
"Your magic was about to explode, so I Stunned you."
"You Stunned me?" The shock in Harry's voice evident. "You Stunned me?"
"Calm down, Harry," Sirius said gently. "It was that or have you bring down the bookcases and maybe the chandelier. Your magic was flaring uncontrollably." Harry thought for a moment.
"Mrs Weasley's been stealing from me!" Harry said, agitated again.
"Yes, but before we lay blame, I think we need to speak with the Weasleys. Arthur and Molly have been very good to you, and they may have been misled by someone else."
"Right," Harry said. Sirius offered him a hand to get up from the floor with. "She made me a Weasley sweater my first Christmas. It was the first gift I remember."
"Yes, I do think that –" Sirius stopped short as Strongblade's metal box began to glow again. When the brightness had dissipated, the banker opened the box to find another key, this one an ancient looking skeleton key, numbered seventy-six.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but seventy-six is on the lowest level of the bank," Sirius stated.
"It is," Strongblade agreed. "Those are the ancient families down there. The ones who date back to the early days of the bank. This account would have been one of the initial investments. Curious."
"What number is the Black vault?" Harry asked Sirius.
"My family came over from France about six-hundred years ago, so we're at one-eighty-six. We need to know who had that key," Lord Black stated firmly. "That should be the key to the primary Potter Vault."
"How many vaults does my family have?" Harry inquired.
"Well, I know of five – the primary which has all the gold, the jewellery vault, the library and artifact vault, the estate vault, and your student vault. There are probably more, and we might need to close some and do consolidation. I don't know who else named you as their heir."
"Why would someone do that?" Harry asked.
"Because they'd rather see the son of a friend get their money than the goblins and the Ministry split it – no offence, Strongblade."
"None taken, we find it pitiful when humans have such short sight and do not have an heir named," the goblin sighed. "Now, to find out who had this key." He withdrew another sheet of parchment and laid the key on it before saying a few words. Sentences in Gobbledygook spread out and with a wave of his hand, the words changed to English. "This is the primary Potter vault, and money has been regularly moving out of it."
"Who, who had the key?" Harry demanded.
"Albus Dumbledore."
"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry said in disbelief. "How did he have the Potter vault key?"
"There's only one way," Sirius said slowly in his simmering rage. "Your father kept that key on his person, unless he was sleeping, and then it was in a locked drawer at his bedside. Usually, it hung invisibly with his watch fob. There were only two of us who knew where it was – Lily and me. However, if your father had his watch on him when he died, the spell could have reverted and made it visible."
"So, Dumbledore took it off my dad's dead body?" Harry asked in shock.
"I didn't remove it when I took you from your cot," Sirius explained. "My goal was to get you out of there. I wrapped the blanket over your face so you wouldn't see Prongs as we left."
"Wait, you had me that night?"
"Harry, it's a long story, and I'll explain it all to you at another time. This key situation is a much more pressing matter."
"Okay, you promise?" Harry asked letting a bit of hope in.
"Harry, I will do my best to never break a promise to you," Sirius said as an oath. His godson nodded. "What do we do about this?" the man asked, turning to the goblin.
"Normally in this situation, I'd swear out a battalion of the goblin guards to arrest the offender, however, I doubt this is the end of his crimes. I'm going to freeze all the Potter accounts for the time being. Do you need any money, Heir Potter?"
"Er, do I need any money?" Harry asked Sirius.
"No, if you need anything, like clothing or your school list, I will be buying it for you. Do you have pocket gold?"
"Yeah, like ten galleons left over from the school year," Harry said.
"That should do for buying chocolates and jokes and such. Please, xcellent freeze the accounts," Sirius confirmed.
"Additionally, we have copies of the Potter wills, would you like them read?" Strongblade asked.
"Definitely. Can we do it today?" Harry quickly said.
"We need at least three days to invite those mentioned in the will. Could you come back at that time?"
"We can. Even if he is mentioned, please do not invite Albus Dumbledore," Sirius stated.
"If he stepped into the bank, he would be arrested. Stealing from an heir is a crime. Stealing from a primary account of a family is a serious crime. The goblins do not look kindly upon thieves." Strongblade had a devious glint in his eyes.
"What would you do to him?" Harry asked.
"Thieves stand trial in a goblin court. If found guilty, a thief would lose a hand and then spend the rest of his life working in the mines. Usually, our one-handed wizards don't last long." Harry thought he might lose his breakfast at the comment.
Back at Hogwarts:
Albus looked at the Gryffindor table and could not find Harry. He had hoped to call him to his office so that he could explain about the vault keys, or if that failed, perhaps charm him into understanding. Albus leaned over to Minerva to ask if she knew where the boy was.
"He's gone from the castle, Albus," she answered. "He packed his things and left with his guardian this morning. I gave them permission."
"He's supposed to ride the train home and then go to the Dursleys," Albus complained.
"Do you honestly think you'd be able to send him to the Dursleys after Sirius told him he was wanted and loved?" Minerva asked. "We frequently have students from magical families leave once their schoolwork and examinations are done. Classes are over and he would have just gotten himself into trouble if he'd stayed. Trouble finds him when he isn't busy."
"But Sirius Black has no legal standing to take the boy."
"Actually, he does," Minerva said. "I took him to my home last night. Amelia Bones showed up this morning with his temporary magical guardianship parchment. She's started the process to have the permanent one filed, as well as his Muggle paperwork. Apparently, when he was declared innocent at the Ministry, the goblins were able to take the actions James and Lily had specified in their wills. Albus, you said you sealed their wills." The old man sighed.
"I sealed the Ministry copy. I didn't realize they'd filed one with the goblins." Albus felt a headache coming on and something rock-like growing in the pit of his gut.
"Of course, they'd file one with the goblins; they were rich, and they would want their assets protected. Sirius took Harry to Gringotts this morning. I'm sure the poor boy will be shocked to find out just how much gold he has," Minerva said with a smile. "I'm sure I'll hear about it later."
"Why do you say that?" Albus enquired.
"Because Sirius is going back to my house until he can find somewhere proper where he and Harry can build a life together. I promised I'd take tea with them this afternoon."
"Who is going to supervise the school?" Albus dared ask.
"With examinations over, every teacher in this building can supervise the students. Additionally, I've asked Charity Burbage to be available to the Gryffindors if they need someone. The prefects will be doing their rounds, as planned, and of course, you could always be available to the students. I don't believe there is anything in your diary." Minerva was supressing a smile.
"I may need to go to the Weasleys' home later," he said quietly.
"Who is in trouble and why, as their head of house, do I not know about it?" She was generally surprised, as Albus usually left her to deal with that family.
"None of the children are in trouble. I simply need to speak with Arthur and Molly."
"Then you can wait until after I've returned at five-thirty from my four o'clock appointment." Minerva turned back to her lunch. She wanted to check on how Remus was doing, since he'd chosen to have lunch in his rooms.
BB*BB*BB
Sirius and Harry left the bank, feeling annoyed and upset. Sirius's finances were in better condition than he'd expected. He owned five homes, one of which was the horrible London house on Grimmauld Place. He planned to gut the house and then decide if he wanted to keep it or sell it. Any of the other four homes would be his choice to live in. Harry had three houses, although one was the house in Godric's Hollow and as far as the goblins knew, nothing had been done to repair it. For now, they'd returned to Minerva's house in Baldernock, outside Glasgow.
"Do you want some lunch, Harry?" Sirius asked.
"I can't put food in my stomach right now," Harry confessed. "Let's just get this over with. First the Dursleys and then…" he stopped talking, barely able to comprehend that the people he thought of as family had been taking his money.
Arriving outside the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office, Sirius spoke with Arthur's assistant, who climbed over a pile of strange objects to tell Arthur the pair were there.
"Sirius and Harry, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you in today?" he asked. Sirius looked to Harry, wondering if he wanted to ask the question. The barely detectible head shake told Sirius to proceed.
"Can you take a lunch and go to your house with us. There are some questions we need to ask Molly," Sirius said firmly.
"Of course, does this have to do with a school matter?" Arthur enquired.
"No, and as far as I know your children are fine. I'd rather not bring up the subject of our discussion here."
"Yes, yes, okay. Vanessa, I'm leaving for lunch."
"Fine, Mr Weasley."
Arthur was deeply concerned about what they wanted, but grasped the seriousness of it from the distant, fiery look in Harry's eyes. They used the public Floo in the Atrium to arrive home. Molly was pleasantly surprised when Arthur came through. She was not when Sirius and Harry followed. She started to speak, but Arthur stepped in.
"Molly, I think we need to listen to what they have to say. Come into the sitting room, please." Harry and Sirius sat on the sofa, while Molly and Arthur sat in their respective chairs.
"Would anyone like some tea?" Molly immediately popped up again.
"No, thank you, Molly. After we've said what we came to say, we will be leaving," Sirius answered, and Molly sat down and nervously began twisting her apron in her hands. "Do you want to say anything first, pup?" Sirius asked Harry but he shook his head and looked down. He felt sick when he looked at the couple. How would he ever look at Ron again, knowing what his mother had been doing?
"We visited Gringotts today to evaluate my accounts, but we decided to look at Harry's first. Arthur, were you aware of the payments your family had been receiving from Harry's account since he began school?" The colour drained from Arthur's face, and he looked at Sirius, flabbergasted.
"What payments? Molly, what is he talking about? What have you done?"
"Dumbledore told me to take the gold out. He said since we were always willing to have Harry stay with us, we should be well provisioned for it," she spoke quickly.
"How were these payments made and why didn't I know about it?" Arthur asked in a sterner tone.
"Dumbledore gave me Harry's key just after the beginning of school his and Ronnie's first year. He said I was to take a twice-yearly withdrawal. It was always just after term began and I used the gold for things the children needed."
"Having someone else's key is tantamount to stealing! Molly, you stole from Harry!" Arthur had turned an unnatural red-purple colour that reminded Harry of his Uncle Vernon when mad. Without thinking he burrowed himself into Sirius's side.
"I asked Dumbledore about it, but he was sure Harry would forgive us when he found out. After all, he's just taking care of his future in-laws," Molly said wholly innocently.
"Excuse me?" Arthur yelled.
"What?" Sirius yelled.
"In-laws?" Harry whimpered.
"Yes, the marriage contract between Harry and Ginny. He and I signed it when Ginny turned five."
"You went behind my back?" Arthur said incredulously. "I had said I wouldn't sign it."
"Marriage? I'm thirteen and Ginny is twelve!" Harry yelled and sprang from the sofa. "If you needed the money so badly, I would have given it to you. But you went behind my back and…you know who else received payments to supposedly 'care' for me? My aunt and uncle. So, if there is a cupboard under the stairs you'd like to lock me into, or maybe you'd like to starve me for days on end? Here, Arthur take off your belt and you can add to these!" Harry roared and he quickly lifted his jumper and tee-shirt up so the scars from Vernon's belt showed.
The overlapping criss-crosses were hard to look at for the Weasleys. They'd no idea that his time with his relatives was this bad. Harry was panting with anger and his magic was coming off in roiling waves.
"What do you mean a cupboard under the stairs, Harry?" Arthur asked calmly. Harry dropped his clothing and took a few deep breaths before speaking.
"I didn't get that room the twins and Ron rescued me from until after my first year. Before that, I slept in the cupboard under the stairs with an infant cot mattress on the floor," Harry paused while that sank in. "I trusted you, and you acted just like everyone else. Sirius, I'll be outside." Sirius nodded and then stood.
"Arthur, I'm not sure what will happen next. The goblins are quite upset by this and … I'd get your affairs in order. If you can repay the gold, perhaps they won't require Molly to stand trial in their courts. I'll keep in touch, although only as a courtesy to you. I won't force Harry to behave in any particular way. You should warn you children as soon as they're home." Sirius left through the front door and found Harry kicking rocks on the drive. "Come on, let's go back to Minerva's and figure out what we're going to do next." He Side-Along Apparated them to the lovely home that overlooked beautiful lake and waterfall.
