As soon as Kyle Stanton returned to his office, he went to his Floo. Tossing in a pinch of Floo powder, he watched as the flames turned green. Putting his head in, he called out the destination of the call.
"Gringotts Bank, Office of the Potter Family Account Manager!"
A moment later, he was looking at a very unamused goblin.
"What is your name, and why do you need to speak with an Account Manager, wizard? I assume you are capable of coming into the bank in person."
"My name is Kyle Stanton, and I am a solicitor, Account Manager. I assume I am speaking with the Account Manager for the Potter Family?"
"I am Krogund, and I have been the Account Manager for the Potter family for the past four generations. Why do you need to speak to me? My time is valuable, and I do not usually see someone without an appointment."
"Well met, Krogund. My business is simple. I believe I have found discrepancies regarding the Last Will and Testament of James and Lily Potter and need to discuss them with you. Their heir, Harry Potter, may possibly be at risk. That possibility is so far a speculation of mine, and with your help, I may be able to either prove or disprove that possibility."
"And what discrepancies do you believe you have found?"
"The Potter will has been sealed by Albus Dumbledore. As there are no official seals from the Minister of Magic or the ICW, it is my belief the will has been sealed illegally. My office is the solicitor of record for the Potters. Regardless of the will being sealed, my office should be able to locate our copy in the file. It is obscured, both in the file summary, and the will itself. I saw a young boy being shaken today while moving into my new home. I want to make sure that the child is not Harry Potter before alerting muggle authorities."
"You may step through, Kyle Stanton. Please bring all relevant paperwork. Gringotts will assure confidentiality remains intact for everything that is not the Last Will and Testament. I will give you an hour of my time."
"Thank you, Account Manager Krogund."
Making sure the Potter file was in his hand, as well as the sealed file he had just received at the Ministry, Kyle stepped through the Floo into Krogund's office. Briefly bowing his head in respect, he approached the desk.
"I would see the sealed file first, Mr. Stanton. However, before we do that, I must verify you are who you say you are. Your wand, please."
Slowly, Kyle pulled his wand from his sleeve, reversed it, and held it toward the goblin handle first. Briefly passing a hand over the wand handle, Krogund nodded, and then tapped a small symbol on his desk. Shortly, a piece of parchment came through the desk. Scanning it, he looked again at Kyle.
"Very well, your identity has been verified. The sealed file for the Last Will, please."
After handing the sealed will to Krogund, Kyle watched closely. He didn't want to get on the wrong side of the Gringotts goblins. Krogund waved a hand over it, then took a small phial from his desk, and then placed five drops of the potion within the phial on the folder. Shortly, the folder was surrounded by a sickly yellow light. Krogund's eyes narrowed.
"You are correct, Mr. Stanton. The wills of James and Lily Potter were indeed sealed illegally. One moment while I summon the Gringotts copy."
Krogund tapped another symbol in a pattern; five, seven, three, nine. A moment later, a document came from his desk. A low growl sounded from his throat.
"The same magics that obscure your copy also obscure the Gringotts copy. Both have the same signature as the seal on the folder from the Ministry. Please wait while I contact my superiors."
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.