Categories > Books > Harry Potter > At The Heart Of The Matter
Could This Day Be Any Worse?
After the events of the DOM, Harry starts to slowly reevaluate his life and with truths revealed and a new perspective, he gets at the heart of the matter and sets of on his own path to becoming th...
?Blocked
Authors Note: Chapter Edited 8/6/06. This chapter will continue the meeting. Thanks again to all my reviewers....you the best! This chapter is a little shorter than I would like, but I really wanted to get this chapter out to you guys considering it is the second half of the BIG MEETING! JKR owns it all!
Could This Day Be Any Worse?
********
Originally, the group was only going to adjourn for a quick 45 minute lunch, but the group decided that a longer lunch of an hour and a half was in order. The morning had proven to be extremely stressful and the afternoon session wasn't looking much different. Harry, Hermione, Neville and Bill went for a short walk to stretch their legs a bit.
Bill broke the silence by saying, "Harry, I just want you to know that even though I am in the Order, I had no idea any of this was going on. I hope you don't feel that I'm intruding, I didn't even know that you would be at this meeting, but Hordak asked me to come because I'm their best warder. Hordak told me his client would be picking one of his many family homes and that they are going to offer my services. Usually, a client likes to meet the warder ahead of time, to get a feel for them before entrusting them with their safety. If you wouldn't mind, I would like to set up some time with you, to find out what's going on. From what I have heard so far, and going by the group you have assemble, this is really big. I'd be more than willing to take an oath to ensure your secrets. Just let me know."
The group had slowly made its way back to the house when Harry asked for that oath from Bill, "I, William Arthur Weasley, do swear on my magic that I will never reveal anything I have learned today or anything I learn in the future as it pertains to Harry James Potter. So mote it be."
To seal the oath Harry said, "I accept your oath, William Arthur Weasley, so mote it be. Bill, if you could give me a few days to get my head around everything, I would like very much to have that conversation. I'll ask that Ron never find out anything about our future meeting, or the fact that you were here today. Neville overheard Ron mumbling to himself in the common room, and from that it was revealed that he's been spying on me for several years to Dumbledore. You can imagine how hurt and angry I am and as far as I'm concerned, he is dead to me. I will not hold anyone else in your family responsible for his actions unless they prove otherwise. Ginny and I are still very good friends."
Shaking his head, Bill said, "I'm shocked, but at the same time, it isn't wholly unexpected. For years now I've watched Ron's jealousy become more and more apparent. I can only guess that by spying on you, he probably thought he was getting one up on you. Disappointing doesn't even begin to express what Ron is. I am glad to hear that you won't lump us all together and that Ginny is still using her brains. As for meeting, I have Tuesday off if you would like to meet then. You choose the place."
"I understand how you feel, trust me....and Tuesday is good for me. I'll let Koldbuk know where on Monday. Hopefully by then I'll have picked out which house from the Potter estate I want to live in. If that's the case, we could also discuss any new or upgrades to the property's warding." said Harry.
"Sounds good." Bill ended. All to soon, the group was reassembled around the table to continue with the meeting. Before the meeting got to far along, Harry wanted to apologize for his outburst, and said, "I would like to apologize for my loss of control earlier but when my emotions run high, that tends to happen. Needless to say, my emotions were not only running high, but did an extreme spike. I will endeavor to control them better this afternoon."
"Harry, it is quite alright! I'm sure I speak for all here when I say that with everything you have learned so far, your handling things exceptionally well. I say we get back to business and let Koldbuk continue on." Tony said, all this while placing a reaffirming hand on Harry's shoulder.
"The second part of my contribution to this meeting has to due with the audits of the Potter Vaults. Now, before I get into the numbers of it all, we also came to the decision to audit any accounts that surfaced during our investigation. As you will find out in a few minutes, we audited 5 different accounts, not including the Potter account. What we found during the Potter audits is that not only did Mr. Dumbledore get the 4000 galleons a year that we spoke of earlier, but also took a managers fee of 1000 galleons a month. Both of these were deposited directly into Mr. Dumbledore's personal vault. We also noticed that 263 withdrawals of 5000 galleons each were sporadically withdrawn over the same 14 years. These, we were able to trace to the Hogwarts account and from there to an account called the Phoenix Trust. Each deposit into the Phoenix Trust was alternately left for exactly 43 days and 67 days, respectively, then transferred to Mr. Dumbledore's account. Some 34 days after that, 2500 of the 5000 galleons was then transferred to Mr. Snape's account." stated Koldbuk.
Harry didn't know how much more his anger could be contain, so in an attempt to keep it under control, he forced all his emotions to the back of his consciousness and just tried to put up a mask and absorb the information he was getting from a purely factual basis. The mask was cold, but it was definitely his only hope.
Koldbuk went on, "We also noticed another 28 withdrawals of 50,000 galleons each, that were transferred into an account by the name of, The Order Resource Services Fund. The funds in this account were left untouched until a little over a year ago, and since then, the account has become active again. From what our auditors were able to gather, the monies taken from your account totals 2,939,200 galleons, add to that 316,000 galleons in lost interest, the sum comes to 3,255,200 galleons."
Koldbuk paused and passed around all the accounting information. While this was going on, everyone seemed to take notice of the cold and emotionless look on Harry's face. Deep down, Hermione new this could not be good, but did the only thing she could think of. Slowly, she reached out and gave his hand a small squeezed in the hope that she could bring him back a little so he wouldn't explode later. He gave her a slight, reassuring squeeze back and asked Koldbuk to finish.
"The last bundle just shows the paper trail so to speak and that the audits performed on all the other accounts mentioned confirm our Potter Audits findings. Are there any questions?" asked the goblin.
Harry spoke up, saying, "Koldbuk, if all are in agreement, I would like to hold the questions pertaining to this information for a later date. Everyone, as you think of any questions or concerns, please forward them to Mr. Rooks and he will send them onto the goblins. We can meet again the same time next week if that is convenient to you all for further discussion." When every one agreed, the group took a short break. Harry still wasn't saying much, but to Hermione's relief, at least he was again showing some emotions, even laughing a little at someone else's joke.
When they reconvened a short while later, it was Fudge's turn to go over what the Ministry had been able to compile so far. "I'm going to go ahead and hand out a file to each of you that goes over every law broken, in detail, but will summarize what I've come up with. Excluding any possible new allegations that may stem from Koldbuks report, we have so far found over 9 laws broken by Albus Dumbledore. I can safely say that at least 3 more can be added to Dumbledore's list, as well as several to be brought up against Mr. Severus Snape. I can only come up with 2 laws that could be pressed against Smeltzyr, but I recommend that you, Harry, decline to press any charges and let Chief Hordak and his community handle that end of this situation. I believe the goblin laws will serve to be far more harsh than ours." suggested Fudge.
At Hordak's nod, Fudge continued, "Now, without going into legal detail, Dumbledore faces at least a life sentence in Azkaban and some severe fines. This does not include any monies that are recovered and applies to all parties involved and convicted. Mr. Snape is possibly facing 25 years, severe fines, and loss of his Master of Potions certification. Obviously, if both are convicted, they would also lose their teaching credentials and the Dumbledore line would be permanently removed from the governing body of the Wizengamot. I would like to add at this point, that I have some people in my research department looking into some old laws that could allow for you, Harry, to hand out your own judgments, with some restrictions. What this means, simply, is that on July 31 you will become Lord Potter after taking up the mantel of the Potter Legacy, and the old laws still hold for the nobility of our world. As soon as I have more information, I'll forward it to both yourself and Tony. That pretty much sums up what I have to offer, and I also agree with Harry's earlier suggestion that we forward any questions to Tony and discuss them next Friday."
At this, Mrs. Longbottom spoke up, "Minister, the library here at the Manor, as well as our family vaults, contain many of the tomes that cover the old laws and ways of the wizarding world. If your researchers think that the tomes could be of any use, please let me know and I will allow access to them."
Shocked by the offer, Fudge said, "Thank you! I will pass that on! Knowing the Longbottom line goes back to before the establishment of the Ministry, I can almost guarantee that they will be contacting you, seeing as so many of the old tomes have been lost through the ages."
It was common knowledge amongst the older families that this type of information was rarely shared so openly, and as such, showed just how far Harry's friends would go to help him. As Tony closed out the meeting, Fudge, musing to himself, decided he would do all within his means to earn Harry's trust, and possibly his friendship. There was no doubt in his mind that he was looking straight into the eyes of the future and they were staring right back in a vividly brilliant but determined green.
Could This Day Be Any Worse?
********
Originally, the group was only going to adjourn for a quick 45 minute lunch, but the group decided that a longer lunch of an hour and a half was in order. The morning had proven to be extremely stressful and the afternoon session wasn't looking much different. Harry, Hermione, Neville and Bill went for a short walk to stretch their legs a bit.
Bill broke the silence by saying, "Harry, I just want you to know that even though I am in the Order, I had no idea any of this was going on. I hope you don't feel that I'm intruding, I didn't even know that you would be at this meeting, but Hordak asked me to come because I'm their best warder. Hordak told me his client would be picking one of his many family homes and that they are going to offer my services. Usually, a client likes to meet the warder ahead of time, to get a feel for them before entrusting them with their safety. If you wouldn't mind, I would like to set up some time with you, to find out what's going on. From what I have heard so far, and going by the group you have assemble, this is really big. I'd be more than willing to take an oath to ensure your secrets. Just let me know."
The group had slowly made its way back to the house when Harry asked for that oath from Bill, "I, William Arthur Weasley, do swear on my magic that I will never reveal anything I have learned today or anything I learn in the future as it pertains to Harry James Potter. So mote it be."
To seal the oath Harry said, "I accept your oath, William Arthur Weasley, so mote it be. Bill, if you could give me a few days to get my head around everything, I would like very much to have that conversation. I'll ask that Ron never find out anything about our future meeting, or the fact that you were here today. Neville overheard Ron mumbling to himself in the common room, and from that it was revealed that he's been spying on me for several years to Dumbledore. You can imagine how hurt and angry I am and as far as I'm concerned, he is dead to me. I will not hold anyone else in your family responsible for his actions unless they prove otherwise. Ginny and I are still very good friends."
Shaking his head, Bill said, "I'm shocked, but at the same time, it isn't wholly unexpected. For years now I've watched Ron's jealousy become more and more apparent. I can only guess that by spying on you, he probably thought he was getting one up on you. Disappointing doesn't even begin to express what Ron is. I am glad to hear that you won't lump us all together and that Ginny is still using her brains. As for meeting, I have Tuesday off if you would like to meet then. You choose the place."
"I understand how you feel, trust me....and Tuesday is good for me. I'll let Koldbuk know where on Monday. Hopefully by then I'll have picked out which house from the Potter estate I want to live in. If that's the case, we could also discuss any new or upgrades to the property's warding." said Harry.
"Sounds good." Bill ended. All to soon, the group was reassembled around the table to continue with the meeting. Before the meeting got to far along, Harry wanted to apologize for his outburst, and said, "I would like to apologize for my loss of control earlier but when my emotions run high, that tends to happen. Needless to say, my emotions were not only running high, but did an extreme spike. I will endeavor to control them better this afternoon."
"Harry, it is quite alright! I'm sure I speak for all here when I say that with everything you have learned so far, your handling things exceptionally well. I say we get back to business and let Koldbuk continue on." Tony said, all this while placing a reaffirming hand on Harry's shoulder.
"The second part of my contribution to this meeting has to due with the audits of the Potter Vaults. Now, before I get into the numbers of it all, we also came to the decision to audit any accounts that surfaced during our investigation. As you will find out in a few minutes, we audited 5 different accounts, not including the Potter account. What we found during the Potter audits is that not only did Mr. Dumbledore get the 4000 galleons a year that we spoke of earlier, but also took a managers fee of 1000 galleons a month. Both of these were deposited directly into Mr. Dumbledore's personal vault. We also noticed that 263 withdrawals of 5000 galleons each were sporadically withdrawn over the same 14 years. These, we were able to trace to the Hogwarts account and from there to an account called the Phoenix Trust. Each deposit into the Phoenix Trust was alternately left for exactly 43 days and 67 days, respectively, then transferred to Mr. Dumbledore's account. Some 34 days after that, 2500 of the 5000 galleons was then transferred to Mr. Snape's account." stated Koldbuk.
Harry didn't know how much more his anger could be contain, so in an attempt to keep it under control, he forced all his emotions to the back of his consciousness and just tried to put up a mask and absorb the information he was getting from a purely factual basis. The mask was cold, but it was definitely his only hope.
Koldbuk went on, "We also noticed another 28 withdrawals of 50,000 galleons each, that were transferred into an account by the name of, The Order Resource Services Fund. The funds in this account were left untouched until a little over a year ago, and since then, the account has become active again. From what our auditors were able to gather, the monies taken from your account totals 2,939,200 galleons, add to that 316,000 galleons in lost interest, the sum comes to 3,255,200 galleons."
Koldbuk paused and passed around all the accounting information. While this was going on, everyone seemed to take notice of the cold and emotionless look on Harry's face. Deep down, Hermione new this could not be good, but did the only thing she could think of. Slowly, she reached out and gave his hand a small squeezed in the hope that she could bring him back a little so he wouldn't explode later. He gave her a slight, reassuring squeeze back and asked Koldbuk to finish.
"The last bundle just shows the paper trail so to speak and that the audits performed on all the other accounts mentioned confirm our Potter Audits findings. Are there any questions?" asked the goblin.
Harry spoke up, saying, "Koldbuk, if all are in agreement, I would like to hold the questions pertaining to this information for a later date. Everyone, as you think of any questions or concerns, please forward them to Mr. Rooks and he will send them onto the goblins. We can meet again the same time next week if that is convenient to you all for further discussion." When every one agreed, the group took a short break. Harry still wasn't saying much, but to Hermione's relief, at least he was again showing some emotions, even laughing a little at someone else's joke.
When they reconvened a short while later, it was Fudge's turn to go over what the Ministry had been able to compile so far. "I'm going to go ahead and hand out a file to each of you that goes over every law broken, in detail, but will summarize what I've come up with. Excluding any possible new allegations that may stem from Koldbuks report, we have so far found over 9 laws broken by Albus Dumbledore. I can safely say that at least 3 more can be added to Dumbledore's list, as well as several to be brought up against Mr. Severus Snape. I can only come up with 2 laws that could be pressed against Smeltzyr, but I recommend that you, Harry, decline to press any charges and let Chief Hordak and his community handle that end of this situation. I believe the goblin laws will serve to be far more harsh than ours." suggested Fudge.
At Hordak's nod, Fudge continued, "Now, without going into legal detail, Dumbledore faces at least a life sentence in Azkaban and some severe fines. This does not include any monies that are recovered and applies to all parties involved and convicted. Mr. Snape is possibly facing 25 years, severe fines, and loss of his Master of Potions certification. Obviously, if both are convicted, they would also lose their teaching credentials and the Dumbledore line would be permanently removed from the governing body of the Wizengamot. I would like to add at this point, that I have some people in my research department looking into some old laws that could allow for you, Harry, to hand out your own judgments, with some restrictions. What this means, simply, is that on July 31 you will become Lord Potter after taking up the mantel of the Potter Legacy, and the old laws still hold for the nobility of our world. As soon as I have more information, I'll forward it to both yourself and Tony. That pretty much sums up what I have to offer, and I also agree with Harry's earlier suggestion that we forward any questions to Tony and discuss them next Friday."
At this, Mrs. Longbottom spoke up, "Minister, the library here at the Manor, as well as our family vaults, contain many of the tomes that cover the old laws and ways of the wizarding world. If your researchers think that the tomes could be of any use, please let me know and I will allow access to them."
Shocked by the offer, Fudge said, "Thank you! I will pass that on! Knowing the Longbottom line goes back to before the establishment of the Ministry, I can almost guarantee that they will be contacting you, seeing as so many of the old tomes have been lost through the ages."
It was common knowledge amongst the older families that this type of information was rarely shared so openly, and as such, showed just how far Harry's friends would go to help him. As Tony closed out the meeting, Fudge, musing to himself, decided he would do all within his means to earn Harry's trust, and possibly his friendship. There was no doubt in his mind that he was looking straight into the eyes of the future and they were staring right back in a vividly brilliant but determined green.
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