Gringotts and wizard-guardian Was (Re: Where did the Nimbus 2000 come from? )

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 37133

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "uncmark" <uncmark at y...> wrote:
 My point is what was Hagrid doing with the key to 
> Harry's vault anyway? I assume Dumbledore gave him the key 
but he isn't Harry's guardian , Uncle Vernon is... or is he?
> 
> My hypothesis is that Harry is a VERY IMPORTANT orphan of 
wizards  with Muggle relatives. In his unique case, the MoM 
named Dumbledore  his wizard guardian to handle decisions 
about Harry's education and  wizard riches. 
> 
> Consider that otherwise Hagrid's acts in Sorceror's Stone 
amounted to  kidnapping and that as a minor Uncle Vernon 
should have had full  access to Harry's gold. (From PofA, we see 
Gringotts does exchange  wizard and Muggle money.)


It's actually common, especially when large sums are involved,  
for parents to designate different people as custodial and 
financial guardians  for a minor child.  They might want the child 
to go to the care of a relative, but appoint a bank or another 
relative as trustee of their estate, to be used for the benefit of the 
child.

My belief is that when James went into hiding, he gave both his 
invisibility cloak, which he wouldn't have needed while protected 
by Fidelius, and the key to his Gringotts vault, to Dumbledore. 

We don't know how Gringotts actually operates. Muggle banks 
don't keep the money you deposit on hand. Most of it is lent out. 
Of course it's possible that Gringotts works this way too, and that 
the gold isn't actually in the vault until an authorized person 
shows up to withdraw it.

 That would be one reason robbing the place is so difficult. On 
the other hand, high security vaults, like the one where the Stone 
was kept, would be more like a safety deposit box, and function 
as an actual repository.

As to how  Sirius paid for the Firebolt, in the British edition of 
PoA, Sirius mentions a  vault number in his letter. His account 
may have been numbered, not named, like the Swiss bank 
accounts of old. Sirius may have ordered the broom in Harry's 
name, but withdrawn  the funds with a number and a password. 
Since the vault  account was only identified by a number, the 
Ministry could not connect it with Sirius.

Pippin
who worked in the banking business for a while