A matter of Law

3

Kyle nodded, and sat back to wait. Krogund wrote something on a piece of parchment, folded it, and put it on his desk, then tapped it twice. After the parchment disappeared, Kyle looked at him with a raised brow.

"Think of our communications system within Gringotts as similar to a Muggle FAX machine, Mr. Stanton."

"Ah. So you hope to have a response momentarily?"

"Yes. You seem to understand the reference."

"My mother was a Pureblood, and my father was a Muggleborn. He taught me about some of the Muggle world."

Before Krogund could reply, a parchment appeared on his desk. A slow, feral grin spread on his face as he read it.

"I have the authorization to break the enchantments obscuring the copies of the wills. It will not-yet-unseal the copy in the Ministry of Magic, but the enchantments on the documents interfere with the duties of those who were trusted with duties to look after the legal-meaning your office-and financial-meaning Gringotts-well-being of the Potter family. As it violates quite a few treaties, I am allowed to break the enchantments."

"Your assistance in this is noted and appreciated, Account Manager Krogund."

Krogund only opened a drawer in his desk and removed two phials, placing each on his desk to the side of the documents.

"One of these phials contains a potion which will break any enchantments not authorized by the authors of the documents, so the magic used by your office as well as Gringotts will remain intact. The second phial is a potion used to verify authenticity. This will ensure that these documents are, in fact, the Last Wills and Testaments of James and Lily Potter. As their solicitor of record, you should be able to read it so you are able to see to it their wishes as far as the guardianship of their heir, Harry Potter are carried out, as well as other bequests, is this not so?"

"Yes. The fact that the wills were bespelled to make my office overlook or even forget about the wills is appalling."

"Then let us first use the potion to remove the enchantment obscuring the documents. It should work in only a few minutes, and allow me to obtain the magical signature of the person or people responsible for the enchantments."

Opening the first phial, Krogund placed three drops of the potion on the corner of each of the documents. As it slowly soaked into the parchment, Kyle and Krogund watched intently. After a few minutes, the documents glowed silver, and when the glow faded, there were two copies each of the Last Will and Testament of James and Lily Potter sitting on the desk blotter. Before using the second potion, Krogund wrote something on a piece of parchment, and set it on his desk, tapping it twice. Just as it had before, the parchment disappeared.

"I informed my superiors of the magical signature used to set the enchantment to obscure the wills. Now we will verify the copies are authentic."

Opening the second phial, Krogund placed three drops of the potion on each of the documents. After a few moments, the potion soaked into the parchment, causing the documents to glow gold.

"The documents are authentic. Please take your copy of the documents, Mr. Stanton."

"Thank you, Account Manager Krogund. With your indulgence, I would like to briefly read over the wills before leaving. If there are any other discrepancies, I don't want to waste your time asking for another appointment for a meeting."

Krogund simply waved his hand toward Kyle, in the universal sign for 'if you must'. Honestly, if it weren't below the dignity of a goblin to roll his eyes, Krogund felt he would have already seen the back of his eyelids several times by now.

After a few minutes, Kyle spoke.

"I knew the names Vernon and Petunia Dursley sounded familiar, but this explains why. Krogund, without breaking confidentiality, are you able to determine if there have been any withdrawals from the Potter account that weren't sent to the trust vault for Harry Potter over the last seven years, specifically since November of 1981?"

"Easily. You suspect a misappropriation?"

"Yes, unfortunately. How soon could you find out?"

"Not long at all. You wish to find out if these Dursleys were receiving funds from the Potter vault, am I correct?"

"That's exactly what I want to find out. If they have, they are at the least receiving stolen funds. And I suspect that the person or people responsible for the enchantments is or are responsible for the funds being sent. As such, Gringotts may have been fooled by this person, but are not at fault."

Krogund's only reply was to summon the Potter family account ledger and open it.