24

Chapter 24: You Found a What?

Thanks for all the reviews.

I have a horrible memory. If you find a plot hole, feel free to point it out. I will do my best to correct it.

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They left the Great Hall and ran into a few of the teachers who were loitering around the entry hall. Snape and Moody were there glaring at one another. There were a few others, but they were watching the duo stare at each other. The tension was thick enough to cut with a severing charm.

"Can we help you gentlemen?" Alex said addressing Snape and Moody, since Sirius and Lily didn't seem inclined to talk to either of them. Sirius seemed to be waiting for spells to fly and Lily still wasn't talking to Snape. She didn't know Moody too well. They had hardly talked when they were in the Order together. The man was too paranoid for her taste back then, though she understood him better now.

"We're just waiting on the headmaster," Moody said in his gruff voice, narrowing his one good eye at the lawyer. "Not that it's any business of yours," he added, like he had been asked a personal question. His magical eye was roaming all around, like he was looking for someone or something out of place.

"Then you won't mind if we leave," Alex said, moving to get past the two. They stood firmly in his path.

"Aren't you interested in who put the lad's name in the Goblet?" Alastor asked, like it should have been the first question that was asked by the trio. "I am the one looking into it," he confessed. "I've come to the conclusion that someone is out to kill the boy," he added, glaring daggers at Snape.

"That is obvious," Sirius said, also glaring at Snape. He was willing to believe that the man put his godson's name in the Goblet.

"Do you have proof?" Lily asked, not wanting to accuse anyone without some.

"I've only just begun," Moody said, his magical eye whirling around his head like it was looking for the culprit.

"Of course, you are doing the investigation," Preston said, rolling his eyes slightly. Dumbledore would assign the man to do something like that. "However, it is not your place as a schoolteacher to do such a thing. I will be taking it up with Madam Bones as soon as we leave," he said, using his hand to get past the two men and ushering Sirius by them.

"There's no need to disturb Bones," Moody protested as he moved slightly out of the way.

"It is her job. Now if you'll excuse us," Alex said, moving along the entry hall towards the doors.

Lily glided right past the two men not looking at either of them. She had nothing to say.

Snape sneered at the two men, but he looked longingly at Lily, who snubbed him once again. He hung his head in shame. His greasy hair covering his face so that no one could see his watery eyes. He would never out live his mistakes made to her.

The other teachers in the hall were watching with various expressions on their faces. There were some that were happy to see the two men put in their places. There were others that were upset by the lack of respect being shown to their fellow coworkers.

"I was the best Auror on the force," Moody stated, stumbling a bit with his peg leg faltering having been nudged aside. "I have the highest arrest record around." He tried to right himself and succeeded after a moment.

"'Was' being the operative word in that sentence," the lawyer said over his shoulder. He knew the man had spoken the truth. He was one of the most decorated Aurors, but that was quite a few years, and many body parts, ago. The man was not what he used to be. He was a paranoid broken man now. And he was firmly in Dumbledore's pocket. Why else would he take up a position that he was not suited for?

"Why were you so short with Moody?" Sirius asked once they were out of the castle. "He is right, he was the best on the force. Sure, he's a paranoid old fart, but he was handy in a fight, and he was one of the few that would question Albus during the Order meetings," he added, feeling the need to defend the man's past. He liked the old man.

"He is also in Dumbledore's pocket," Alex said, reminding them that the old man was Albus' best friend. "He will do what Dumbledore wants him to do, and say what Dumbledore wants him to say. I don't trust him to tell the truth," he stated, continuing on down the expansive lawn.

"Not always," Sirius rebutted. "There are times that he doesn't like what Dumbledore does," he added, again sticking up for old Mad-eye Moody. "I know he hates Albus' no kill policy," he stated as fact. He could remember all the fights over that particular difference of opinion.

"That may be true, but he still did what he was told," Alex said, still walking to the gates. "Besides, the placing of Harry's name should be investigated by the DMLE, not the school. It needs to be done by an uninterested party. Moody is too close to Dumbledore to be impartial." They were almost to the gates now and would soon be on the path to the village.

"I guess, I see that," Lily said, gliding along by them. "So, are we going to the ministry?" She didn't like going there, the DoM still hadn't noticed her, and she liked it that way. Hopefully, she'd get away without them taking note of her today. As far as anyone knew she was just a ghost. Now that she wasn't stuck with Harry it would be easier to convince people of that fact.

"Yes," Alex said, getting out his wand to call the Knight Bus for when they got to Hogsmeade. They would then go to the ministry and talk to Amelia Bones and get her involved. He had already prepared a press release for the PR department for the outrage the family felt on Harry's name coming out of the Goblet of Fire.

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The trip to the Ministry was uneventful and the talk with Amelia was simple. "Are you saying that Harry Potter did not put his name in the Goblet of Fire?" Bones asked reading the affidavit. It was a legally binding document that swore the boy had nothing to do with his name being entered into the contest. Since it was signed in blood, it was also magically binding.

She was a middle-aged woman with a monocle on her right eye. She looked to be very stern with her greying hair pulled back in a tight bun.

"That's right," Alex said, seated across the desk from her with Sirius and Lily. "Harry has never set foot in Hogwarts. He had no way of putting his name in the Goblet," he added, making sure the woman knew that they had all the bases covered.

"You can attest to this?" she asked Sirius. the man was the boy's godfather.

"My name is on the document," he pointed out. "I was with Harry all last night. He never left our domicile. I can swear an oath to that affect if need be." He held up his wand as if to make such an oath, but Bones just shook her head that it was unnecessary.

"I see," she said, reading the signatures again. It was hard to make out. Most signatures in her opinion were just a bunch of scribbles. "I'll take over the investigation myself," she said, putting the document in a folder and spelling it shut. She then added a magical seal on the folder that only she could break. She tapped her wand to the top and it read Harry Potter on the label tab. "I was going to let Alastor do it, but as you rightly pointed out, he is a schoolteacher now." It would take up a lot of her time, but she would see to it personally. It was going to be a mess with the press. She could see that now.

"You have our thanks," Lily said with a brilliant smile. She was just glad that this woman was listening to them.

"Of course," Amelia said with a smile of her own. She had no proof, but she was sure it was because of these two that they knew all about the goings on at Hogwarts. "You do know they aren't going to stop here, right?" she asked the lawyer.

"I know. I'm prepared to stop whatever they try to throw in our way," Alex said, keeping his cards close to his chest. He had already figured out some contingency plans for anything he could think of that the Wizengamot could possibly think of to try and get Harry to compete. They were going to try to cut their noses to spite their faces. Sometimes those old geezers just didn't have a lick of common sense. With Sirius on the panel, he could warn Alex when the meetings were, and he'd be there with all his legal arguments. "If you would be so kind as to call me if there is a meeting of the Wizengamot?" he asked, handing her one of his cards. Better to have more than one person on call. They might block Sirius, knowing he was Harry's godfather.

"I can do that," she agreed, knowing what he was thinking. She doubted that they would try it since Black was here every day, but it never hurt to be safe. She took the card and put it with all the other cards she kept on her desk for quick reference.

"We'll abandon ship, if need be," Sirius said, looking Amelia dead in the face. "We'll take the Black and Potter fortunes with us. Don't think we won't talk the Longbottoms into joining us," he said, in a tone that left no doubt that he spoke true.

"I'll make sure to pass that along," the head of the DMLE stated, knowing that that would keep some people from letting the idiots from passing stupid laws. The neutrals, which she was a part of, would keep the other factions in line. They were the greater party after all. No bribes would be big enough to lose that amount of money from the economy. The Black and the Potter were the two largest accounts, barring the Malfoy and the Nott accounts. The Longbottom account was nothing to sneeze at either, now that they weren't paying hospital bills.

"We'd better get home and assure Harry that he doesn't have to compete," Sirius said, getting up to leave. He had spoken all he needed to say.

"I bid you good day then," Amelia said, holding out her hand to be shook. She was glad that the meeting was calm, many parents or guardians would have been shouting at her.

They all took turns shaking her hand and then left. Amelia sat down and went over strategy on how she was going to handle this case. It was going to be hard getting around Dumbledore in his school, but she was going to have to persevere.

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The next day Sirius got a letter from Gringotts. In it there was a notice that he needed to come to the bank. They had discovered something they needed to discuss with him in person. He wondered if it was about the items he had sent to have cleaned. He knew there were some dark items among them, but were there some so dark that the goblins needed his permission to cleanse them? That didn't make sense.

"I have to go to Gringotts," he said to everyone when he finished reading the missive. "They require my presence." He folded it and put it in his pocket. He would need to show it at the bank.

"Do you need any of us to accompany you?" Remus asked as he got ready for work. It was early in the morning, and they had just finished a light breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast.

"No, I don't think so," he said, then added, "Do any of you need anything from the Alley?"

"I'm good," Remus said, thinking on all that he had on hand. He, unlike Harry and Neville, could freely move about in the wizarding world.

"I need some more potions supplies," Harry said, going over his magical items in his head. "A full kit," he stated, thinking that would be easier to remember than individual ingredients.

"Me too," Neville said, since he had the same tutor, and he was doing the same potions.

"I can do that," Sirius said, grabbing his outer robe and donning it. He picked up his coffee cup and sat long enough to finish it off.

It was then that the Daily Prophet arrived, and on the front page was the article about Harry's name coming out of the Goblet and how he was not there. It was the one that the PR company had submitted, so it told of how he was being set up, and that no matter what they did, he wasn't going to participate in their gladiator games. It ridiculed the school and the ministry for trying to force a fourteen-year-old boy to take part in what could be a deadly competition. There was a sentence or two on how angry Sirius was that this happened.

"Well, hopefully that will get more people to see our side of it," Lily said, shooing the boys to finish getting ready for school.

"Hopefully," Harry said, grabbing his light jacket and putting it in his bookbag. He didn't need it now, but who knows what it might be like later. He just didn't have time to check the weather. "Got to run, Mum. I'll see you after school," he said, kissing her on the cheek and running to the lift which was open and waiting for him and Neville.

"Bye, Aunt Lily," Neville said, doing the same. The lift doors closed behind them and started taking them to the lobby. The bus would pick them up from there.

"I'm off to see the goblins," Sirius said a few minutes later, going to the lift and pushing the button.

"Wait," Lily said, picking up her crystal. "I want to come with you. Let me grab an invisibility cloak." She ran from the room to get one. She didn't use Harry's invisibility cloak, so they kept a few on hand for when they needed them.

"Why does she need a cloak?" Sirius asked Remus.

"How should I know," the werewolf answered with a shrug.

"Not for Gringotts, for after. I don't want to be seen in the Alley right now," she said, shoving the cloak under her arm. There would be too many questions about the Goblet that she didn't want to answer.

"Alright," Sirius said, going to the lift that had arrived moments before.

"See you later, you two," Remus said, finishing his tea. He wasn't due at the repair shop for another half an hour.

"Bye, Remus," they both said as the lift doors closed.

The travel to Diagon Alley was short thanks to Sirius' apparation. They did it in an alley right off their building. They didn't apparate in the penthouse because there was an anti-apparation ward up. Nobody in or out. Sirius thought it was a bit too much since there was the modified Fidelius, but Lily insisted.

They made their way to the bank, Lily under a cloak until she got to the steps, then she took it off. They waited in line for only a few minutes, getting stared at by a few people. There was whispering about the article, but no one approached them. When it was their turn, Sirius went up to the goblin and handed him the letter.

"Ah, yes, your account manager will see you now," the goblin said, waving a cart runner over. "This is Griphook. He will take you there," he said, already looking to the next customer as he handed the letter to Griphook.

"This way," Griphook said, waving them to a set of doors at the back of the bank.

They followed him down a long hallway that was lined with more doors. There were animal heads adorning the walls. Lily was fascinated by them. They were things she had never seen before, like the kind of animals you would read about in the Quibbler. She had seen them on her travels to the bank before, but she had always been in such a state to never admire them as she could now.

They finally came to a door marked Black, and Griphook knocked, opened the door and announced them.

"Get in here, Black," a surly voice said, making Sirius grimace.

"I didn't do it," Sirius said in a semi-joking manner. He was sure he messed up somewhere. He just didn't remember where. They walked into the office. It was a plain office with a desk, three chairs, and some filing cabinets. There were no plants, pictures, or animal heads.

"Not this time, perhaps, but someone in your family did," the goblin said, waving them to sit in front of the desk.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"Somehow your family came in possession of a horcrux," Sharptooth said, tapping his long spindly finger on the desk in irritation.

"You're having me on," Sirius said in an astonished tone. "There's no possible way. My family hated horcruxes," he stated as fact. His mother and father had made that perfectly clear. They stated that only fools and cowards made them.

"Yet there was one among the items you gave us to cleanse," Sharptooth said, leaning forward to show he was dead serious. "It belongs to Voldemort," he sneered.

"Reggie," Sirius said in a whisper as if just realizing something. "My brother Regulus was a Death Eater. He died trying to dessert, or at least that's what we were told. If he found out that that idiot dark lord made one, then he probably tried to destroy it." He put his face in his hands and mourned his brother for a minute.

"There's more than one," the goblin said, making Lily's and Sirius' heads snap to him. "This is only one of seven," he added, his beady eyes focused on Sirius.

"Can you find the others? I can pay you," the man offered. Anything to make sure that vile man didn't come back.

"We'll split the cost," Lily said, putting her hand on his arm. "It's my problem too. Harry is a part of this," she added, knowing that the prophecy made Harry tied to it whether he wanted to be or not. If only because the two old men believed in it.

"We can," Sharptooth said, greed in his tone. It was no secret that the goblins were a greedy lot. You just had to be careful how you dealt with them.

"How much? And don't waste my time," Sirius said, not in the mood to haggle. He knew he'd have to do some, but some goblins took it too far.

"One hundred thousand galleons," the goblin said, starting big, but not too big.

"Seventy-five thousand," Sirius said, starting as low as they would possibly go.

They settled on eighty-six thousand, and the goblin would turn over each item to Lily. It was agreed upon and a contract was drawn up. Sirius had to sign both for himself and Lily, as Harry's guardian.

It was a simple contract that stated they would search for and destroy the horcruxes. They would preserve all items and those items would be turned over to the Potter account. Any extra cost in obtaining the items must be discussed beforehand. There was no small print to worry about.

"I need two copies of that for our lawyer," Sirius said, pointing to the contract that the goblin was about to put away.

Sharptooth sneered, but he made the copies anyway. "We are honorable people," he said, handing the parchments over.

"I know, but he likes to have records of every contract I sign," the dogman said, folding the contracts up and slipping them into his inner pocket.

"I need to see my account manager," Lily said, standing and going to the door.

"I will call Griphook to take you there," Sharptooth said, pressing a rune on his desk. A few seconds later Griphook opened the door and came in. "Take them to Steelclaw," he said, waving a hand dismissively.

Off they went down the corridor again, until they got to the Potter door. Griphook knocked, entered and announced them.

"What can Gringotts do for you today?" Steelclaw asked, not having expected a visit this year.

"Harry is getting to an age where I think he can handle a bit of financial responsibility," she said, hoping she was right. "I want to give him a limited credit card. One that has a hundred galleon limit, or the equivalent in pounds," she said, wondering if they could even do that.

"We have no such card," the goblin said, waving the notion away. "However, we can set up a trust vault that has a limited number of galleons and put a debit card on it," he offered. There was a greedy glint in his eyes.

"What's the catch?" Lily asked, seeing that telltale sign in his eyes.

"Your main vault will be charged a nominal fee for the upkeep," Steelclaw said, trying to make it sound trivial.

"How nominal?" Lily asked, wanting a number. While she had told Harry, way back in the beginning that goblins were nice, and they were, they were still greedy little buggers. You had to watch what you did around them, or they'd fleece you for whatever they could and be nice and legal about it.

"Ten galleons a month," the goblin said, going for the highest number.

"That's highway robbery, two galleons," she countered.

"That barely covers the cost. Nine galleons," he stated.

"I won't go higher than three galleons," Lily said, folding her arms. She wasn't going to be robbed by this goblin. She couldn't see paying more than that for such a small service.

"Then I apologize, but Gringotts cannot accommodate you today," Steelclaw stated, not being able to go below five galleons.

"Fine, I need a thousand pounds in muggle money," she said, waiting for him to reply. She'd just do this in the muggle world where there was interest set up with the account. "Also, the Potters have a contract with Gringotts to hunt the horcruxes of Voldemort. I have promised to pay for half the cost, and all the items are to be put in the main vault," she informed him, even though he probably would get a memo of the contract.

"That blasted fool made horcruxes? As in more than one?" Steelclaw asked in an angry tone as he drew up a withdrawal slip for the account.

"Seven by Sharptooth's count," Sirius said, signing the slip for the pounds. He pushed it back to the goblin, who put it in a slot in his desk. There was a chime, and the goblin opened a drawer. He pulled out a wad of money and handed it to Sirius. Sirius didn't bother to count it. He knew it was all there. For all they were greedy, they were honest about it.

"That fool," the goblin ranted still. "Doesn't he know that would make him insane? No wonder he looked the way he did by the end of the war," he said, more to himself than to them.

"Well, that's us done," Lily said, wanting to get the banking done before the boys got home. She was going to set up an account for both boys of five hundred pounds each. If they wanted to earn more, they were welcome to try. However, she didn't think they had any time left in the day for even part-time work.

"Yes, yes, quit cluttering up my office," Steelclaw said, distractedly. He looked like he was still going over the ramifications of Voldemort having horcruxes.

The two humans chuckled and left the goblin to his musings. They left the bank by following Griphook to the lobby and then out the doors.

"Horcruxes," Sirius said, wiping a hand down his face. "If that don't beat all," he sighed. He was flabbergasted that anyone would warp their soul in such a manner. It was just unbelievable.

"What is a horcrux?" Lily asked as she slipped on the invisibility cloak. She was behind a pillar, so no one saw her disappear.

"It's dark magic. You split your soul by killing an innocent, then you put a piece of it in an object. As long as one survives, old Voldy can come back," Sirius explained as he started walking down the stairs. Lily keeping a hand on his arm, so he knew where she was. As it was, he was getting curious looks from those passing by. He knew that they were too scared of him to approach. He still had a reputation from his time in Azkaban.

"Do you think that is what I killed when I took over in Harry's mind? You know, when I thought something was trying to possess him," she asked, low enough for his ears only. She remembered that bit of soul, even if it was confusing at the time.

"It could be, if so than that is one piece they don't have to look for," Sirius said with a grin. That thought made him happy. "I'll write to Sharptooth and tell him about it when we get home," he said, not wanting to go back into the bank.

Right now, he just wanted to get the potions kits and Lily's muggle banking done. Then go home and go over what they could do about the whole horcrux situation.

"Okay," she agreed. She just hoped the goblins were good at what they did. They did have an entire department for curse breaking. So, maybe they knew what they were doing. She did wonder if they should tell anyone. Did this have anything to do with Harry's name coming out of the Goblet of Fire?