Imagine: The List
Fic posted by members of Vo's Imaginings YahooGroup


Harry entered the office of the goblin that had served as the family financial advisor for the entire Potter clan in both the Muggle and Magical worlds. Now that clan consisted solely of Harry.

“How can Gringotts be of service, Mr. Potter?” the goblin asked once Harry had taken a seat in the chair in the front of the goblin’s desk.

“Well Warrior Bloodstone, I seem to have come upon a quandary and I would like to know Gringotts’ stance on the matter,” Harry answered.

“And what exactly is that matter that has you here asking for Gringotts’ opinion?” Bloodstone asked.

“I’m sure that you’ve been informed that today I was on trial for underage magic along with breaking the Statute of Secrecy,” Harry said.

Bloodstone nodded his head. “I’ve been informed that the Wizengamot has found you guilty and your wand had been snapped.”

Harry nodded his head. “And that is the source of my quandary. You see after my third year at Hogwarts I developed in an interest in magical laws, so this past school year I took it upon myself to read up on the laws governing magical citizens whenever I had a chance. One particular law stood out in my mind and that is that no person under 17 years of age can stand before the Wizengamot unless they are being tried for the crime of murder or treason. It was the opinion of the times the law was written in that the members of the Wizengamot were too busy dealing with other matters, so trials before Wizengamot were reserved for adult matters only,” Harry explained.

“And underage magic is not an adult matter,” Bloodstone agreed with a nod of his head.

“Exactly. By being placed on trial in front of the Wizengamot, the Wizengamot has declared me to be adult in the eyes of the law and therefore I could not be tried for underage magic,” Harry explained. “As for the charge of breaking the Statute of Secrecy, I believe the current fine is 200 Galleons or six weeks in minimum security ward of Azkaban, therefore the breaking of my wand was illegal. Of course I would like to hear Gringotts’ opinion about whether or not I am adult in the eyes of the law and therefore in eyes of the goblin nation.”

Bloodstone’s eyes narrowed. “To what end would you want my people’s opinion in matter that affects wizards only,” he demanded.

Harry smiled a fierce smile, one that promised blood and pain towards his enemies. “I just wish to serve the wizard community the same amount of truth and justice they supplied me but while I do so I do not want to make an enemy of Gringotts or the goblin nation. As my current plan stands, my actions would make this branch of Gringotts an enemy,” he explained.

“And that is something you wish to avoid,” Bloodstone replied.

“It is,” Harry agreed. “Of course this depends on if matters turn out to be as I suspect.”

“And what are these matters,” Bloodstone asked.

“Matters I can not investigate until I am 17 years old or have been declared an adult in the eyes of the law,” Harry replied.

“And if Gringotts decides not to see you as an adult until you reach the age of 17?” Bloodstone asked.

“Then I will end up hurting all of Gringotts, not just one branch and this is something I wish to avoid. I would rather have the goblin nation as an ally instead of an enemy,” Harry answered.

“And if matters are not as you have assumed?” Bloodstone asked

“Then my plans will have little effect on Gringotts or the goblin nation,” Harry answered. “But I am confident that matters are as I believe them to be.”

Bloodstone sat back in his chair and stared at Harry. “I am either taking the life of my family and my own in my hand or I have been granted the greatest prize the goblin nation has won in a hundred years…” he said. “Because of the trial before Wizengamot, Gringotts is declaring that Harry Potter is an adult in all matters and shall be dealt with as stated for his status.”

Harry let out a sigh of relief as he slumped in his chair. “Thank you,” he said softly.

Bloodstone nodded his head as he acknowledged that Harry had played the game admirably. “So how can Gringotts be of service?”

“I would like to see my parents will,” Harry replied.

Bloodstone nodded his head. “Immediately after your parents’ death, the Wizengamot ordered their will to be frozen until you became an adult,” he summoned another goblin, and spoke to him in Gobbledegook. The goblin hurried off. “Now while we wait for your parents’ will to be retrieved, how else can Gringotts aid you?”

“Well… I’m sure you know how the wizard community likes to intermarry,” Harry said. “And with the last two wars killing off so many families… I was wondering if Gringotts had a way of determining if someone was heir to an account.”

Bloodstone stared at Harry for a moment before he chuckled darkly. “That can be arranged for the cost of 50 Galleons, of course Gringotts makes no promises that you will discover you are the heir of any accounts except ones you already are.”

Harry waved off Bloodstone comment. “And I am sure that I will find one account other than my parents that I am an heir to after all my mother was Muggleborn, so there has to be one account she was heir too.”

Bloodstone blinked a couple of times in response to Harry’s comment. “I don’t follow your logic,” he said. “If your mother was Muggleborn then she shouldn’t be the heir to any account.”

“That’s assuming that magic suddenly was granted to her and that she wasn’t the descendent of a squib who was banished from the wizard community a long time ago,” Harry replied.

Bloodstone spent a moment lost in thought before nodding his head. “And since Muggleborns are told that they are the first in their family to have magic they never bother to see if what they’re told is actual the truth.”

“I find that the wizard community tends to believe what they told is truth without checking the facts themselves,” Harry added in. “What’s the American term… oh yes, sheeple. The wizard community is made up mostly of sheeple.”

“With a few wolves thrown in to thin out the herd,” Bloodstone added in.

“Or to lead the herd to go in the direction the wolves want,” Harry said. “There are killing wolves and then there are controlling wolves. I plan to be the fox that steals all the wool and leave behind all the baaing sheeple for the wolves to deal with.”

Bloodstone blinked a couple time as he was clued in to Harry’s goal. “Of course if a shepherd would appear and help the poor sheeple in their time of need…”

“I’m sure they would grant the shepherd anything they wanted like a seat on the Wizengamot, of course the shepherd would have to step in before the wolves gained control again,” Harry said.

“Yes, of course. Timing is everything in matters such as this,” Bloodstone agreed thoughtfully.

It was then that the goblin returned with the Potter’s will in hand. Bloodstone took the will and then handed it over to Harry, unopened.

Harry opened the will and read it quickly. “Just as I suspected. I was never meant to go to the Dursley,” Harry handed the will over for Bloodstone to read. “My parents wisely listed in their will who was their secret keeper along with a list of people that I am to be placed with in the event that Sirius was unable to take me.”

Bloodstone read over the will. “No, not surprising at all. We here at Gringotts have often questioned things that Dumbledore has forced through the Wizengamot.”

Harry nodded his head, his brow furrowed in thought. “So it appears that I have to pull the teeth from two wolves instead of one. I had been so hoping that Dumbledore had not been informed of the change in time for my trial but it appears he wanted me to be the sacrificial sheeple.”

“How do you plan on pulling the teeth from the wolves?” Bloodstone asked.

“Pulling Voldemort’s teeth is actually going to be fairly easy and undoubtedly very profitable since he has already given me the key to do so,” Harry admitted. “As for Dumbledore… I can only hope that when we test to see if I’m the heir to any other accounts, we find his downfall.”

A furious grin appeared on Bloodstone’s face. “Perhaps you’ll care to tell me how you plan to pull the Dark Lord’s teeth while we wait from someone from the inheritance department to arrive.”


~*~


In the kitchen of #12 Grimmauld Place, Dumbledore called a meeting of his secret organization, the Order of the Phoenix, together. “Thank you for arriving on such short notice,” Dumbledore said.

“Is it Harry,” Molly demanded before anyone could say anything. “Is he alright? Did something happen to him?”

“Now. Now, Molly, give the Headmaster a chance to speak,” Arthur soothed his wife. “I’m sure that Harry is alright.”

“Where is Harry?” Sirius asked. “Did something happen?”

Dumbledore slowly sat down at the head of the kitchen table. “Unfortunately something did happen,” he took a deep breath to maximize the dramatic affect. “Fudge changed the time of the trial. I didn’t learn of this until the Wizengamot had found Harry guilty.”

“Where is Harry?” Sirius growled as Remus laid a hand on Sirius’s shoulder that many took as a sign of support while others took it as the beginning of attempts to restrain him if necessary.

Dumbledore sadly shook his head. “I don’t know. He left the building before I arrived and no one knows where he went.”

“You don’t know,” Sirius snarled like a wild animal. “How could you not know!”

“As I said, he had already left the building by the time I arrived,” Dumbledore replied in a firm tone of voice. “We will find him, Sirius. You just need to be patient.”

“Patient!” Sirius exclaimed as he rose to his feet. “I’ve been patient for almost 2 years waiting for you to get me a trial! I had to wait patiently on the sidelines when you forced my godson through that Merlin-be-damned Triwizard Tournament. Of course if you had stopped for a moment you would have realized that he never had to compete! All the kids had to do was play some children’s game and then Harry would have been out it and then those who actually entered their name could have competed. But no, the great Dumbledore, trust me to make sure Harry gets a fair trial, made him compete.”

The flare of Dumbledore’s nostrils was the only indication of his anger at Sirius’ words as he maintained his calm, grandfatherly façade. “Things are easier said than done, Sirius.”

“That’s a load of crock!” Sirius snapped back. “You could easily have discovered that there was no record of my trial and convinced the Wizengamot to give me one. Of course once that was agreed upon all you need was to have your pet Aurors arrest me and drag me before the Wizengamot. And instead of allowing Fudge and the Prophet print lies about Harry, you could have had him brought before the Wizengamot to give testimony about what happened. I’m sure that Diggory would want to know the truth about his son’s murder! Of course we can’t have the truth come out right now because then Saint Dumbledore won’t look good when everyone learns the truth months later after he’s suffered through the abuse and ridicule.”

Dumbledore slammed his hands down on that table. “That’s enough, Sirius!”

“You’re right, that is enough!” Sirius growled. “I’ve had enough of listening to you preach about your so called greater good. About giving monsters like Snape a second chance while denying mine.” Sirius looked around at the shocked faces gathered about the table. “The rest of you can stay and listen to Saint Dumbledore tell you how it should be but I’m going out there to find my godson!”

Dumbledore’s wand appeared in his hand. “I can’t let you do that, Sirius,” he said, stunning the younger man.

Dumbledore looked around at his followers. “I’m afraid that this stress on top to his time in Azkaban has been too much for poor Sirius. I didn’t realize until now how much stress the poor boy was under.” Dumbledore shook his head sadly. “I know he didn’t really mean anything that he said. It was his worry for Harry that made him say all of that.”

A number of people around the table nodded their heads in agreement.

“I’ve seen Sirius looking out the window and sigh in longing to be out there,” Molly chimed in. “Or he’s watching the sky for Harry’s owl, Hedwig.”

Dumbledore nodded his head. “Unfortunately if Sirius left the protection of this house he would be in constant danger not only from Voldemort and his Death eaters but from the Ministry itself. No, Sirius is safest here. And when we find Harry, we will bring him back here too until I can have him reinstated at Hogwarts.”

“But how can we find him?” Someone from the other end of the table demanded. “The boy could be anywhere!”

“I don’t believe so,” Dumbledore replied with a kind smile. “I believe Harry will stay close to places he knows. Diagon Alley. Little Whinging. The Burrow. Perhaps he could even make it up to Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. Those are the places we need to start our search.”

The members of the Order of the Phoenix quickly fell back under Dumbledore’s sway and were soon plotting out their plans of how to find Harry and bring him back here.

No one ever noticed when Remus levitated Sirius out of the room and into his bedroom nor did they ever notice that Remus didn’t return to kitchen and had in fact stayed with his friend.
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