Harry's vault key

[Grey Wolf]

No: HPFGUIDX 47456

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Jacqui" <jasonjacqui at y...> wrote:
> I am curious how Hagrid came to posses Harry's Gringott's vault key.  
> Did he get it from Dumbledore?  If he did, how did Dumbledore get 
> it?  He wasn't even at the Potter's on the night that Lily and James 
> died.  Hagrid was, but even so...how did Hagrid know about the small 
> fortune in the first place?  Is it possible that Harry's small 
> fortune is actually from someone other than his parents?
> 
> Jacqui

It has been theorized before that the Potters (James and Lily) left a 
few magical objects in the care of Dumbledore when they went into 
hiding. The reason behind this thinking is the fact that they seem to 
have hidden between muggle population (Lily would know how to fit in, 
and James was a fast learner), and certain objects had to go (including 
things like James quidditch broom, his invisibility cape, his copy of 
the marauders map if they each had one, etc.). Since they wouldn't be 
able to go into diagon alley to fetch WW money (and besides, they 
probably didn't need it, since they would be using pounds), it's 
reasonable to assume that they also left Dumbledore in charge of their 
state.

Another possibility (which I don't remember having been proposed 
before) is that most of those things were left in charge of layers, and 
that Dumbledore had been nominated as next of kin. Not the first choice 
(Black would be the first choice), but maybe when you're put into 
Azkaban without trial you are not allowed to receive inheritances. 
Since I think Dumbledore is a reasonable second option, he would have 
received all those things that Lily and James wanted for their child to 
have when he was old enough. This theory has an advantage, too: there 
is no need for the Potters to have given away their key: they simply 
had a duplicate that had been placed in the trust of their layers. 
Their copy of the key blew up with the rest of the house, or was lost 
in the debris. No-one had to look for it, and it wasn't found: 
Dumbledore simply received the copy as part of the inheritance placed 
on his trust until Harry came of age or needed it.

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf