Master of Death

Kicking the Beehive to piss off the Old Bumblebee

~ *~* ~ *~* ~ *~* ~ *~* ~ *~* ~ Chapter XIX ~ *~* ~ *~* ~ *~* ~ *~* ~ *~* ~

Dumbledore ground his teeth as he sat before what was basically a tribunal of Goblins, his own accountant at his side as the Minister, Madams Umbridge and Bones and the four reporters sat off to the side to witness this meeting. Griphook sat before a him at a single desk as the other Goblins sat in raised chairs behind him with a darkened alcove raised much higher and behind them.

“Hem, hem... as to why are we here?” Umbridge spoke up, smiling like she rather have her teeth ripped out with repair tools rather than talk to any of them.

“As I stated, Madam, Lord James Potter's orders were quite clear as are the current Lord Potter's. Mr. Dumbledore has overstepped his boundaries on multiple occasions, one of which resulted in Lord Potter vanishing for most of his life, presumed dead.” Griphook tells her with a sneer so fierce it could curdle milk. “Not to mention that as the papers have stated, upon his return to British soil and attempting to exchange Muggle currency for Magical currency, we, the Goblins of Gringotts preformed an Identity Test. Upon learning that Lord Potter was indeed alive and well, we quickly preformed an Inheritance Test, to make sure we handed him everything he needed. However in doing so, it activated one of many contingency plans Lord James Potter had set into place before his death, one of which was a full in depth audit into all of his accounts.”

“I fail to see what this has to do with the Headmaster other than that he claimed Magical Guardianship of Lord Potter and it turns out he never had permission to do so as well as the legal issues of him claiming Proxy to Wizengamont seats that were not his to claim either.” Amelia speaks up politely. “May I have some clarification?”

“Certainly, Madam.” Griphook nods at her, she was another one who had earned, if grudgingly, the Goblins respect for her unfailing beliefs that everyone deserves justice and respect until proven otherwise.

“May I, Manager Griphook?” A Goblin on the third right spoke up.

“You may while I get together my evidence.” He nods and sets about shuffling papers around.

“To answer your question, we must first give a bit of history. While we believe and follow Lady Magic, Human and Creature alike, there are other Deities and even Entities at work. Lady Magic can only do so much and the others pick up the slack in her name. One such being had been summoned that fateful Samhain night. It would seem that Lady Lily Potter etched into the floorboards and the walls of the nursery around the crib in which then Heir Potter rested. Upon the deaths of herself and her husband, the being formed a powerful barrier which protected then Heir Potter. It is possible that in the resulting clash of magic, mortal verse Eldritch, a pocket of excess magic transported the toddler to safety. It certainly explains why he only recalls a forest.” The Goblin explains.

“However what is not clear is if this happened before the Headmaster placed said child with his Muggle Relatives or after. As far as we were all led to believe, he was safe and being spoiled, raised to know he was a hero and would glorify in the public's affections. And yet the articles of late state otherwise. No offense to Ms. Skeeter and her credibility, but when similar articles began appearing, we were curious. And since Ms. Skeeter is very good about gathering information, it has aided us, even is she was unaware of it, in completing the audits. And it is most curious that when we used a ritual that only Goblins can use, to track the late Lady Potter's blood and magic, the blood led us to a Muggle home where Petunia Dursley nee Evans, Lady Potter's sister, lives.

We were quite confused when none of our scans showed any sign of Lady Potter's magic, but rather Mr. Dumbledore's. Nor did the scans show us any sign of then Heir Potter ever being on the property for the so called Blood Wards to be erected. In short, there are no Blood wards, never were. If indeed such powerful wards were erected, they must have formed around the home that Mr. Mors made for then Heir Potter once he came into his care. It is very possible the wards manifest wherever Lord Hadrian is. It is also possible that the wards, fueled by a mother's love and deep desire to protect her child, that caused the snake that found Lord Hadrian, to exhibit a much stronger maternal reaction than what would have normally happened.”