Chapter 9: Learning Your Heritage

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Harry appeared in his room at Privet Drive, startling Dudley who was eating a MRE dinner. "Sorry Dud I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's alright Harry. I'm just not used to people or creatures popping out of thin air." Dudley told him with a shrug. "Your little friend Dobby had been popping in to clean and make sure Hedwig has food while you were gone. Did you have a fun time at camp?"

"It was awesome," Harry said and sat down and told his cousin all about his week at camp and about all the staff changes he had to make. "You're looking great Dud. I see the diet, exercise and potion are really working."

"Thanks for helping me with it Harry," he said. "I don't know how I would be holding up through all this without your help. My parents are still being completely unreasonable. I don't know what to do about them so I spend all my time either hiding in here or at the gym. I've been reading some of your books, I hope that's ok?"

"Sure," Harry told him. "There are some that can only be read by a Potter and a lot in goblin language so you won't be able to read those. There are few that I placed charms on so that only I could open as they have very nasty spells in them but since you can't open them there shouldn't be any problems. What did you read about?"

"I was reading about Wizard laws and history. I also read about squibs and how you can tell the difference between a squib and a muggle. I was curious if my mum was a squib since your mum was a witch. I haven't been able to figure out how to tell for sure. The only useable thing I read about is that squibs can see some magical creatures that muggles cannot and the only real proof is a blood heritage potion to see if there are magical ancestors." Dudley told him and Harry was intrigued. He had never really thought about the possibility that his aunt was a squib.

"We can go to Gringotts the wizarding bank and you can take a heritage test and see," Harry offered. "I have a portkey that will bypass the entire alley if you want otherwise I can show you around Diagon Alley as well first."

"Oh! I remember now, you got a letter from Gringotts this morning." Dudley said and went over to Harry's desk and brought back a small stack of letters. "Dobby screened your mail and said these could wait till you got back but I was supposed to give you the bank letter as soon as you got home."

"Thanks," Harry said laughing at the mental picture of Dobby ordering his cousin around. The letter was from Ragnok reminding Harry to check his Gringotts box as they had left letters that past few days with no response. He had written that he assumed Harry was either having too much fun playing or had been injured. He also stated that if it was the latter then he better let Nani look at him or they would both be in trouble. Harry pulled out his trunk and resized it before removing his Gringotts box to find the actual letter from the head goblin.

Lord Potter,

We were finally able to determine who made the withdrawals from your accounts from the time of your parents' deaths and your godfather's imprisonment. I have enclosed the list of dates, amounts and the person who authorized the withdrawal. I have also cross referenced those individuals' accounts and have included the immediate transfers of funds to other individuals. We have a strong case against everyone involved if you wish to press charges. Please inform us of your decision.

Ragnok

Harry looked over the list and was actually surprised at the amount taken from him. It was enough to fully support a large family for life yet it barely scratched the surface of his fortune. There was of course the annual stipend to the Dursley account that was given bi-annually and amounted to a total of $14,000 galleons over 14 years. There were also the annual withdrawals of Wizengamot dues, ministry taxes and once he was 11 his annual Hogwarts fees. Then there were the fraudulent withdrawals that were made before he was 11 as well as extra withdrawals made other than the ones he authorized.

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