The code was simple and allowed anyone who didn't know better to assume the signature was genuine but too much ink here and a backwards letter there, full middle name instead of just the initial and the inclusion of his mother's maiden name made it a language all it's own. Even if Dumbledore went straight to Gringott's with his trusty little paper, he wouldn't be gaining access to Harry's real accounts today. Oh, he'd gain access to some money. Harry couldn't afford for him not to really. Which was why, upon the advice of his Uncle who had a lot of experience in corporate espionage and thievery, they'd set up a small account with trackers on every coin and attached it to this particular code. Every time someone came in showing this signature, their name would be added to a list the goblins were compiling along with the amount of their withdrawal. And the money they withdrew would be traced in an effort to locate all the thieves. Not just the money man. And each person found would be made to account for every knut they'd received just as every money man would.
But only when Harry was safe from anything Dumbledore or his people could do, would the goblins move forward to deal with the conspirators trying to steal from him. They all knew Harry needed at least one more year of formal education before he could say good-bye to this place if it became necessary for his survival. And since Lady Tonguelash was his rightful legal guardian, they'd do what they could to give him the time he needed. Even if it went against the grain for them to knowingly let a thief profit from their crime. In this case, it was either allow a little stealing now or be responsible for the death of their Holder which would allow the thieves to steal the entire account. And since Harry was, or would be, the Lord of Five, that was a lot of money. Furthermore, getting the rightful Holder killed wouldn't restore their tarnished honor. Or make Lady Tonguelash happy with them. In fact, getting him killed would probably bring her back into the Bank and then they'd find out if she could wield a weapon as well as she could use her sharp tongue. The Goblin Nation really wanted to avoid that if they could.
Dumbledore smiled happily with his eyes twinkling as he looked over the parchment now bearing what he assumed was Harry's legal signature. He released the boy as quickly as he could without raising flags and made his plans to be away from the Castle the next day. Harry went down to eat his lunch concealing a sneer of disgust with the blatant thievery of his Headmaster.
At the bank, Dumbledore had been distressed to learn, even the Black accounts were now out of his reach despite his attempts to keep Harry from learning about them. When reports had begun coming in of his bought and paid for people not being able to use their keys, he'd naturally gone to the Bank to see what the problem could be. The goblin he'd spoken to had told him of the freeze on Harry's Potter account. So he'd tried to access the Black account to get the money he needed for his people. He needed to pay Mungdungus or who knew what the man would spill the next time he was arrested. Which seemed to happen at least three times a month. And then there were the Li Brothers he used to make problem people disappear when the Death Eaters couldn't be blamed. They actually had a daughter/niece in his school right now and she was trained by them. He knew the only reason that girl was a Hogwarts student was to keep him honest, as the saying went, with them.
But again the goblin refused him. He was informed he couldn't access the Black account without permission from the Board of Trustees who oversaw it. Nor would they tell him who was on that Board because he wasn't a trustee of the account. He'd tried telling them he was Harry's magical guardian and therefore was in charge of all his banking business until Harry came of age. Since he hadn't appointed a Board of Trustees to the account there shouldn't be one. But as the goblin obviously believed there was, he needed to contact them and either dismiss said Board or get himself a place upon it as was his right as Harry's magical guardian and legal representative here in the magical world. So if he could just get a name he'd be on his way.
But that was denied because the goblins knew he was no such thing. They knew he claimed to be their Holder's magical guardian but they also knew he wasn't any such thing. When their Holder began his secondary schooling the Ministry had appointed another as their Holder's Guardian/Protector and that man had all the legal power over their Holder until said Holder finished his education at Hogwarts. But not even his Guardian/Protector could interfere with banking matters pertaining to the young man. Not unless Harry appointed the man as his representative and came here in person to inform the goblins of the appointment. Not any more anyway. Not since that disreputable goblin lost his head for his perfidy.
Just as he had with Sirius Black, Albus Dumbledore ignored what he didn't want to acknowledge. He refused to understand the teachers in the Castle were oathbound to protect Harry when and if they could regardless of what manner of threat the boy was facing. He honestly believed Severus had only interfered with his plans for the boy because of a graveside promise made to the boy's dead Mother. And that wasn't binding. Therefore, it could be ignored if the man truly wished to ignore it. Especially since he himself, who was the boys magical guardian, had not felt any kind of a pull on his magical core suggesting he was overstepping his bounds as guardian. Since Harry was a minor, attending Hogwarts under his dominion, he assumed he was his legal and lawful guardian now. As such, Dumbledore thought he had managed to withhold the information of the Black bequest from him on the grounds that as his magical guardian, he handled all legal matters for Harry in the magical world and Harry didn't need to be reminded of his loss so soon. Or so he thought.
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