FicWad

Authors Note: Chapter edited on 8/6/06. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the reviews!!!! You guys are great! Still don't own anything! This chapter will ignore the welcoming group from the end of OOTP.

When Great Minds Think Alike

********

Once the train reached Kings Cross Station, Hermione's parents were there to welcome them home, but left after a little while saying that they would see her in a couple of weeks. When Harry, Nev and Hermione reached the Dursley's, Vernon looking like he was going to explode, if the veins on his temple and neck were any indication. "Boy! Get your things and let's go, I've wasted enough time on you already. What are those two doing here! I'll not have you bringing any freaks to my home! Do you hear me!?"

"For your information, I think all of London heard you. I certainly hope that none of your neighbors are here....what they would say about such a spectacle. As for going with you, that won't be necessary. I have my own home now and that is where I'll be living." As he said this, he could see his Aunt stretching her horse like neck around hoping that, indeed no one they knew had heard or seen them.

"I would've written you, but I know how much you enjoy giving off the appearance of a loving and normal family, so decided that I would spare you receiving a post with Hedwig. After all, that would not be proper would it, Aunt Petunia? I will say this about your loving family environment, you haven't got any one fooled. The entire neighborhood knows that you've had a 'so-called' juvenile delinquent living with you and to top it all off, you son is known by all as the biggest bully in the area. If you're not careful, you'll have a true criminal living with you....it's only a matter of time before DiddyDumplings gets caught."

His Uncle was slowly but surely turning every shade of purple possible by a human when he let off another rant. "Don't you dare accuse my son of such non-sense! You're nothing but an ungrateful freak that has forced us into coming all the way to London, wasting our precious time and money for gas to come get you and this is how you show your appreciation! I'll not have it! That's it! I'm through with you and your kind! Don't ever pollute our door step again with your unnaturalness!"

Then seeming to come to a realization at what Harry had previously said, Vernon asked, "What do you mean you have your own home? You don't have any money to buy a home!"

Harry gave a sneer towards his "family" and said, "Come to find out my parents left me quite the legacy. You know, come to think of it, you better watch what you say to me dear Uncle, I own majority stock in Grunnings." At this his Uncle and Aunt paled at the implications of what their past treatment of Harry could cost them.

With one final thought before he left, Harry said, "If you stay out of my way your job is safe, but make no mistake, you cross me and you are out on your ear! I'm being far more generous to you than you have ever been to me, but I also understand that you weren't given much choice in the matter and that is the only reason that I am being this forgiving." With that the new trio left to go find Nevilles' Gran and head to Longbottom Manor.

Deciding that they could all use a day of rest and relaxation, Thursday was dedicated to swimming in the pond beside the Manor and Harry trying to improve Nev and 'Mione's flying abilities. The later had proven to be extremely entertaining to Harry and he figured he'd get quite a few laughs out of it for the coming months. The rest of the day saw Neville showing them around the grounds, which only solidified that Neville definitely had real talent when it came to Herbology. Harry found that he could really relate to Neville's love of plants. It was one of the only chores, while living with the Dursley's that he actually enjoyed.

After coming inside, they all got ready for dinner and headed down to the dinning room. Once dinner was served, Mrs. Longbottom asked, "So how are you enjoying your stay so far? I can't tell you how pleased I was that Neville would be having friends over this summer."

Hermione replied, "You have such a beautiful home here and the grounds are just spectacular! I'm sure I speak for Harry as well when I say that, so far, we are having a wonderful time. As you may have known, Harry and I have been very good friends for 5 years now, and while I always considered Neville a friend, it has been great getting to know him better. You should be very proud of Neville, Mrs. Longbottom, for I have never met anyone with such a strong sense of friendship and honor." Harry could only agree and was taking delight in the interesting shades of red Neville's face became.

"Thank you, Hermione, for your kind words. I have noticed that my Neville here is really starting to come into his own, no doubt a direct byproduct of the confidence that both Harry and yourself exude. What plans have you come up with for your time here?" asked Mrs. Longbottom.

"If it's not too much of an imposition, I have asked for a meeting between Minister Fudge, Tony Rooks and two representatives from Gringotts for tomorrow. By the way, thank you for your assistance with procuring Tony. He speaks very highly of you. I found out that up until my parent's deaths, they used to hold the Potter Estate in trust, amongst other things." said Harry.

"That is quite an interesting group of people to meet with. I have absolutely no problems with you meeting them here. As I said to you on your arrival, make this your home for as long as you wish to stay. From what you have told me of your parent's wishes, you should have called this house 'home' well before now." Mrs. Longbottom said, a touch of anger in her voice.

Giving the elderly woman a small smile, Harry said, "That is very kind of you Mrs. Longbottom. I would be honored if you would join our group for its meeting? Any advice you could offer would be readily valued. It has not escaped my notice your influence in our world."

"I have no previous engagements, so I will be able to join you tomorrow. On that note, I bid you all goodnight. Neville, please see that our guests are quite satisfied for the rest of the evening." ordered Mrs. Longbottom.

"Of course Gran, goodnight." After Harry and Hermione both bid their goodnights to Mrs. Longbottom, the three headed out to the back portico for dessert. A little while later, after several yawns, Harry, too, bid them goodnight.

"Hermione, did you really mean what you said about getting to know me better?" With a shy smile, Hermione looked over at Neville and for the first time noticed how much he had truly grown in the last several months. He had lost most of his baby fat, giving him an aristocratic look. He still had that shy, uncertain air about him but to her, it made his aristocratic features not quite so sharp; he had also shot up to almost 6' she noticed.

"Nev, of course I meant what I said. You should know by now that I usually don't mince words." said Hermione.

There was a long pause where both stared up to the sky, broken by Neville saying, "'Mione, I'm glad you and Harry came here this summer. I always felt like the odd man out before, but I'm glad that we're getting to know one another better."

"Me, too, Nev. You've been really good for Harry these last few days and that means a lot to both of us. What Ron did really hurt Harry...more than he is willing to admit or show. Your quiet ease has done him good. I can be a bit overbearing at times...don't laugh at me Neville...so having two people he can count on, on opposite sides of the spectrum is going to help in the long run." They both chuckled at that and called it a night.

Walking Hermione up to her door, Neville was about to open it when he turned just right and brushed Hermione's lips with his own. They both froze for a few moments before Hermione, feeling a little braver, gave Neville another tentative kiss. After parting, they both smiled and went to their respective rooms to ponder what those two small kisses could mean. Even though the kisses were brief, they had both felt a small jolt in the pit of their stomachs. This summer, in their opinion was definitely looking up.

Shortly after breakfast the following morning, the Minister and his secretary, Tony and his assistant, Koldbuk from the Wills Department, Hordak, Chief of Gringotts and surprisingly, Bill Weasley, all started arriving at the Manor.

Once everyone was set at the conference table in the Longbottom family library, Harry took the initiative. "Good Morning everyone and I thank you for coming. Minister Fudge, Chief Hordak it is an honor. I have to admit that I am a bit surprised to see you here Bill."

"I can say the same for you Harry. According to Mum, Dad, and Dumbledore, you were supposed to be at your relatives. What happened if you don't mind my asking?" retorted Bill.

"Not at all Bill, which is part of what will be discussed during this meeting. If everyone is in agreement, I would like to turn this over to my law wizard, Tony Rooks." With nods in the affirmative, Tony began the critical part of the meeting. First on the agenda was to find out from the goblins how things got so far out of hand. After all, the will was made and kept within Gringotts.

"Mr. Koldbuk, we are wondering if you could give us any information pertaining to the Potter Will, and the Audits you have performed?" asked Tony.

"Certainly, Mr. Rooks. But first, I would like to turn this over to Chief Hordak." Koldbuk said.

Nodding to his employee, Hordak began, "I would first like to say to Mr. Potter that by inviting us to this meeting as an equal participant, you continue the honor the Potter Legacy. Your ancestors before you always showed us the greatest respect and that goes along way with my people. Secondly, that none of the other people here today protested also speaks volumes. Having said this, it angers me greatly that the evidence that is forthcoming has occurred at all. I can only offer you, Mr. Potter, our sincerest apologies and hope that with this meeting we can begin to mend any disputes that have come between us. Thank you."

Harry gave Hordak a deep nod to show his respect and acknowledgement of his words and apology. At this point, Koldbuk took over again, "Firstly, we looked into why Mr. Potter had not received his copy of the will and any accounting statements that should have started going to him at the age of 14 as specified in his parents will. What we have found out concerning this matter is that somehow, Mr. Dumbledore procured statements giving him a sort of magical guardianship, giving him some authority over the Potter accounts. What I mean by this is that Mr. Dumbledore was able to assign persons to oversee the estate as only those of Potter blood can actually access the vaults. Hence, the reason why Rooks, Rooks, and Burke lost the Potter accounts. From within Gringotts, he hired a goblin by the name of Smeltzyr to be the accounting manager. To date, we have been unable to find out the law wizarding firm that was hired to replace your firm, Mr. Rooks. Obviously, he wishes this information to be kept very restricted as all our records show only Mr. Dumbledore as the go between."

As Koldbuk was speaking, he was handing out copies of all documents to those present. Bill, not having been privy to the situation prior to the meeting, had the most bewildered expressions of the assembled group. What was surprising, was Fudges' reaction, he appeared to be the most angered of those present.

After a short pause, Koldbuk continued on, "Now, we have taken all accounts away from Smeltzyr and until you assign a new account manager, I will be handling them. After going thru the entire estate file, we have come to several conclusions. The first being that with these so called documents and the help of Smeltzyr, Mr. Dumbledore was able to get Gringotts to seal the Potter's will and leave it unexecuted. At this point, I would like to ask for the cooperation of the Ministry of Magic in aiding our investigation into how these documents were procured and what recourse Mr. Potter can seek at a later date."

At the affirmative nod from Minister Fudge, Koldbuk continued, "The second conclusion that we were able make was that by sealing the Potter will, Mr. Dumbledore was able to receive the stipend stipulated for the guardianship of Mr. Potter. If you remember, that is 4000 galleons a year, and if you tally that up over 14 years, the total from this endeavor is 56,000 galleons. These funds have been directly deposited into Mr. Dumbledores' personal account. I can venture a guess that you never received any of these funds in anyway, is that correct?"

"That is correct. I feel it's safe to assume that if my muggle relatives were receiving any money for having to raise me, they would have sought more of it, or at the very least, would have made it a point in their constant belittlement of myself to prove that the money they were receiving was not worth it to be saddled with their freakish nephew. What I would like to know is if the funds can be returned to the Potter vaults? Also, Cornelius, when your turn comes around, I would like to know if this alters the list of laws broken by Dumbledore." At this, Fudge leaned over to his secretary to confirm that she was getting all the information needed and let Harry know that he would respond when his time came.

Koldbuk continued, "Mr. Potter, I believe we will be able to recover any funds, however, I would like to hold that discussion until we get to the audits. Now, thirdly, we have concluded that since the will was sealed, that any other possible guardians listed by your parents were never notified. I don't think this actually breaks any more laws than have already been broken, but thought you should know this bit as to not hold them responsible for failing to adhere to your parents wishes. They are also victims in all of this. And lastly, while going through your file, we were able to determine that Mr. Dumbledore has been the recipient of your copy of the will and all accounting statements to date. Oddly enough, he was not the only one. A Mr. Severus Snape has also been receiving this information. Why, we have no idea, but we are hoping once again to get the help of the Ministry on this point."

Throughout this whole session, Harry had been getting more and more angry and frustrated with Dumbledore's actions, but at the mention of Snape knowing anything about his family and its finances, Harry lost it. Everyone at the table was soon witnessing why Harry was considered a powerful wizard. A bright green aura surrounded by a dark blue one began to pulsate around him, a wind began blowing in the windowless room, and crackling could be heard as his magic began lashing out. Hermione and Neville rushed to his side trying to get him and his magic back under control.

It took almost 10 minutes with constant talking and platitudes to get him calm enough to speak to the associates around him. With a look of someone who was ready to kill, Harry spoke, "I want it known by all present that I want Dumbledore, Smeltzyr, Snape and anyone else who has disregarded and defiled my parents wishes, and thus myself, to be prosecuted to the utmost of our laws. They need to be taught that if you're going to play with fire, you will get burned."

Mrs. Longbottom suddenly stood and said, "I think this would be a good time to retire to the dining room for lunch and to digest all this new information. We can continue this meeting after lunch." The tone in her voice left no room for argument and Harry was eminently grateful for Mrs. Longbottom. He stood up and went outside to the portico and tried to continue calming himself. Under the watchful gaze of his two closest friends, Harry was able to get himself back to normal, or as normal as he could be under the circumstances, and headed back inside for lunch. It was proving to be one of the longest and hardest days of his life so far.