Chapter 3
Albus Dumbledore was glad Tom had finally been defeated, though concerned for the probable repercussions. After Poppy had taken a look at the recently-orphaned Harry Potter and expressed some concern with the curse scar that marked him (just as the prophecy had foretold), Albus had spent some time ensuring that the boy wouldn't be too affected by whatever had left such a Dark aura lingering, and then setting up blood-bound wards around the Dursleys' residence while Petunia was out shopping. The poor woman had some very strong opinions regarding 'strangely dressed' people showing up at her door.
(Albus didn't agree with her assessment of his attire - he thought the delightfully colorful robes he'd been wearing the one time he'd met her in person were quite fetching. Still, there was no sense irritating her by being seen in the area.)
After finishing up all the work required to set things up for young Harry to take up residence with his remaining family, he'd briefly attended a few of the celebrations that had spontaneously broken out before meeting Hagrid at Privet Drive to arrange Harry's future. Minerva had been a bit of a surprise - he hadn't been aware she even knew of Lily's sister, much less where she lived.
(He probably should have suspected, given the stern witch had been Lily's Head of House.)
A few more hours spent showing his face at various gatherings, and a good night's sleep later, Albus made his way into Gringotts. Just because Tom was gone didn't mean his followers' teeth had been pulled, and he'd need a fair bit more funds to ensure the right people backed the right initiatives. There were a few older grimoires in the Potters' vault that he'd thought might be useful as well...
The vault was not as Albus remembered it. The Galleons, Sickles and Knuts were still piled before the door for easy accessibility, but the furniture that had been rather haphazardly scattered around the large-ish room was now stacked neatly along one wall. Several previously-accessible chests and drawers were locked when he tried to open them. Books that would not fit in the overflowing bookshelves were piled neatly atop said shelves, and he'd swear at least a third of them were missing - including several rare volumes he'd planned to 'borrow'.
(Not that young Harry would know to ask for their return.)
Ah, well, the Potter Family Grimoire and a small collection of Peverell journals would suffice for now while he figured out where the missing tomes had gone. Surely there was a simple explanation with a simple solution. He was Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, after all, and had complete access to the Potter vaults in perpetuity.
Thirty minutes later, a highly incensed Albus Dumbledore was valiantly refraining from cursing (even verbally) the Potter Account Manager. Not only had the goblin guide manning the cart refused to allow him to remove his chosen books from the vault, it had had the utter gall to call him a thief!
(Knowing how the goblins dealt with thieves, he'd left the books on a table near the door to retrieve after sorting this silly little mess. He quite dreaded riding the infernal cart again, though... maybe he'd demand the goblin fetch the books as recompense for this egregious behaviour.)
And now he was in Silvertooth's office, sitting across the ornate desk from the Senior Account Manager in a position he was more accustomed to having misbehaving students in, being told that his vault access was restricted to coinage only! How ridiculous! He knew perfectly well there had been no such restrictions in his agreement with James.
But somehow, in the 36 hours since the Potters had died (leaving him as the sole Distributee* of the Potter vaults) a significant portion of the Potter Library, along with a great many valuable heirlooms (which had been stored at Gringotts since the Potter Family Estate had been attacked some three years previously) had been removed from the main vault, and the dratted goblin wouldn't even tell him where they were taken.
Worse, since he'd only been granted access to the vault, not proprietary control of it, he couldn't even demand an audit!
It was preposterous! The only thing Silvertooth would tell him was "the contents of the Potter Vaults were dealt with in accordance to instructions left in the event of Lord and Lady Potter's demise prior to their Heir coming of age. You were granted access to funding for your so-called 'war'. So, access to funds you have."
How outrageous! Albus curbed his temper as best he could under such provocation (honestly, were the goblins so cocksure as to think they could best him??) as he replied (through gritted teeth) "That is most certainly is NOT the agreement I had with Lord Potter."
Silvertooth grined unpleasantly. "When Lord Potter died, Lady Potter automatically became Executor of the Potter estate. Her wishes have been followed."
Drat! He had thought James had gotten that firmly under control. Lily had agreed to drop the dispute over his access in exchange for a Trust...Vault...
Ah-ha! that explained the missing books, at least. She must have had the rarest volumes included in that Vault's contents. Sneaky little chit.
(It was really no wonder she'd kept up a friendship with a Slytherin for so long.)
Shaking that train of thought away, he tried a different tack. He had, after all, made himself the Guardian of young Harry Potter in the Magical World. As such, he should have access to the Trust Vault.
Silvertooth's grin widened almost imperceptibly. "You must bring the Heir in to verify your claims before we can release a key to you."
Drat again! Harry had already been taken in by Lily's sister and fetching him now would only cause problems on that front. If he'd known this would be a problem, he'd have brought the boy in yesterday. hmmm... how to get around this? "Now, Silvertooth, I hardly think a bank is a place for a toddler."
"Well, not if you plan to simply let him loose to run amok. For a simple bloodline verification and guardianship authentication, it is hardly out of the ordinary. With the war and its casualties, we've seen a fair number of very young children come through our halls in the last few years. We can have the Potter wills properly authenticated and activated at the same time and save you a second trip."
no... no that wouldn't work at all. He knew James had left him a sizeable bequest, but the bulk of the estate was left to Lily's care and - as James had died first - Lily's will would supercede his. And he had no idea of what might be in it. He would just have to wait a few years and have Harry sign over control of the vaults under the guise of ... something for school, perhaps.
(At least he'd thought to redirect Harry's mail to Hogwarts - he'd be getting the monthly statements from here on, and the next one should include at least some hint of the recent withdrawals and transfers.)
Silvertooth watched the arrogant old wizard storm out, and smirked to himself. That had been every bit as fun as Lady Potter had suggested it would be. And everything was properly documented and above board. If one Albus too-many-names Dumbledore tried to use legal means to force the issue, he'd have to explain precisely why he was trying to either rob a child's Trust Vault of valuable family artifacts he had no practical need for in raising the child, OR he'd have to somehow prove that Lily Potter, as Regent for the Noble House of Potter upon her husband's death, and as Executor of the Potter Estate according to the (rather straightforward) instructions James Potter had left, was acting against the best interests of the Noble House of Potter in his efforts to overturn her will. The fact that it was Albus Dumbledore, himself, who had pressed them into isolation and hiding would actually work against him as Lily Potter had left Advance Directives with Gringotts because Albus was ensuring she could not easily access the bank as needed. Directives which only came into play if predeceased by her husband.
(Which was, really, a logical condition given that he was on the front lines of Dumbledore's 'resistance' while she would have remained in a more protected position as support, especially once she had a child to care for.)
Among other things, a complete audit of the Potter Vault had been done and all items and artifacts not tied to the Potter House or Bloodline had been transferred to the Evans vault and designated for her son.
(The incentive of the return of any five Goblin-wrought items ("excluding signet rings and insignia of the Lord or Heir and ritual items used in claiming the Lord- or Heirship of the House of Potter, the House of Peverell, and any other House the Heir to the Potter Line may reasonably have claim to") if the audit and transfer were completed within 24 hours of her ascension to the Regent position had been very well considered on her part. Silvertooth could only applaud her foresight.)
And quite frankly, Silvertooth thought Lady Potter had been quite lenient in merely redefining access to the vaults through prior agreements with James Potter to include only such items as were explicitly listed. ...and Dumbledore's agreement had been for 'access in perpetuity the purposes of funding the resistance against Voldemort for the duration of the war.' It was his own fault, really, that he only had access to funds, now.
(If it had been up to Silvertooth, he'd have further restricted it to explicitly stated durations and causes as well... And as the Dark Lord called Voldemort had been defeated, the war was, for all practical purposes, over. Alas, as he could not simply divulge the specifics of the contract, and as Lady Potter had not asked quite the right questions nor his recommendation on additional clauses, that partiuclar loophole had not been closed.)
Eight years later, the last knut had been removed and the vault physically locked down until the Potter Heir came of age and opened it personally. In his office, Albus Dumbledore ground his teeth in frustration: he could not get the full amount of his withdrawal due to insufficient funds.