Chapter 24: Resisting
During the second week of school, Dumbledore made his move. He had Minerva tell Harry he wished to see him in his office during the lunch hour. Then he proceeded to tell Harry there had been a mix-up at the bank and they were freezing Harry's account while they straightened it out. Harry needed to sign a parchment allowing Dumbledore to handle matters for him so they could unfreeze the accounts again and things could move ahead as they were scheduled to.
"That's ok, Geppetto," Harry said in the same flat voice he always used when talking to an adult he didn't trust while he carefully read the paper Dumbledore wanted him to sign. He pretended not to notice as Dumbledore frowned over the manner of address and the implied disrespect it showed him. "I went to the bank before I got on the train. They told me then about this audit of the accounts. They let me visit my school vault though. So I've all the money I'll need for the year with me. It doesn't matter if my school vault is frozen or not cause I won't need more money while I'm here. What would I spend it on since I'm not allowed off the Castle grounds and Hogwart's doesn't have a student store like other schools do?"
He was very careful to say school vault since that was the only vault he was supposed to actually know about as it was the only one he'd ever even held a key to or heard anyone mention in his presence. "They'll finish it soon 'nough -a couple of weeks is what they told me it'd take- and then everything'll open back up again. Not that it really matters, I guess. Since I'll still be here unable to go anywhere or spend any money myself. It's not like the Professors charge us for sitting in their classrooms or anything. Nor do we need to buy the equipment for practical applications of what they teach us theory over."
Dumbledore squirmed and flushed lightly trying to convey a look of being uncomfortable. Both at Harry's very clear insinuation that he was nothing more than a prisoner of the school and at what he needed to admit to get his paper signed. "Well, you see, Harry my boy. That's just it. The small amount of spending money you get for your needs while you're here isn't the only thing that vault pays for. Your Aunt and Uncle receive money each month for your upkeep and there are other bills that need to be paid also. Taxes and the like. All those things get paid out a little bit each month and so long as your accounts are frozen, they aren't being paid. The fall out of this could be disastrous to your reputation."
"Why are my Aunt and Uncle getting paid for my upkeep when I'm not even there? I can see it during the summer cause I do have to live with them then. But during the school year I'm not even there. So why do they get a check now?"
Dumbledore ignored the interruption. He gave Harry a condescending smile as he said, "You have to admit your reputation isn't the best right now, my boy. You've gotten enough bad press in recent years, don't you think? All the terrible things you've been involved in here at school that upset and scared your peers. You have to realize they went home and told their families all about everything that happened here each year. So their parents don't think too kindly of you any more than the children do. Do you really want it known that because you refused to sign a little authorization paper, bills went unpaid for months on end? And more people had to suffer?"
The smile changed to a benevolent one as he concluded, "I'm free to come and go from the school as needed and can easily handle the job of taking care of your obligations for you. But since you are the Holder, the bank needs the authorization from you, now that you're older, to allow me to do it. When you were younger I didn't need your signature because the account wasn't frozen but now I do. So just sign the paper and I'll let you go grab some lunch while it's still being served. I'm sure you're quite hungry." He hit Harry with a spell to make his stomach growl from under the cover of his desk followed by a low level compulsion spell.
Harry's stomach growled and he found his fingers curling around the quill Dumbledore had shoved towards him. Seeming almost in a daze, Harry forced his fingers to twiddle with the quill while he fought with the compulsion spell Dumbledore had just thrown at him. Mentally, he growled. How dare the man try to coerce him into letting him steal from him again! Outwardly, he didn't let it show he knew what the wily old man had just tried to pull. Years of experience with the Dursley had taught him how to think his own thoughts while pretending to do no such thing. He verbally responded to the Headmasters statement so the old man would be unlikely to notice as he fought off the spell.
Acting like he was trying to look more mature, as most teens his age would in these circumstances, Harry tilted his head and said,
"So that's why you had Hagrid tell me I could only take a limit of ten galleons for each month. Because you were using my school vault, which is supposed to be for covering my schooling, to pay for other things. I get a measly ten galleons a month while others -strangers- get the rest? Tell me, Headmaster, other than my Aunt and Uncle's stipend, just what and who am I paying for that I know nothing about? You said taxes. But what taxes exactly? And what people will be suffering? For that matter, with you withdrawing money from the vault to pay for these unknown other things and people, how do I know there will actually be enough money in there for me to finish my education here? And while you're at it, please explain how an audit that lasts only a couple of weeks will add up to bills accrued going unpaid for months? That makes no sense."
Dumbledore suppressed a flash of alarm as quickly as it had come and laughed the questions aside pushing the paper forward a little bit more. He sent another compulsion spell at Harry not understanding why the first one hadn't worked. for good measure he also sent a mild confundus spell at him. The boy was just too quick on the uptake and had caught his unintentional slip-up. That could come back to bite him if the boy remembered what he'd said today later on.
"It doesn't matter right now, Harry, my Boy. Once you're older, I'll sit down with you and go over your financial responsibilities and how the financial world works. Just suffice it to say having your accounts frozen like this will really put me behind schedule in paying your obligations. The taxes are to the Ministry and they love to apply late charges and fees whenever they can. But I'm more than capable of tending to your responsibilities for you. After all, it's not like you can do it yourself. Nor should you have to. You have your hands full with your classes and studies here. And from what I saw of your grades you really need to be putting all your effort into them right now. Not worrying about money. All you need to do is sign this parchment letting me handle it. I'll teach you how to handle your Holdings when you're older and more capable of understanding."
"But my Uncle says. . ."
...
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