Harry sighed as he laid down on his bed in Ron's room. "You could hear his snoring even a couple of miles away", Harry mused, before turning his mind to other matters. The Weasleys had arrived that morning at Private Drive via floo to pick him up. Would've been simple, had the Dursleys not had an electrical fire. In his dilemma, ended up bombarding the chimney, spraying bricks and cement everywhere inside the decorated drawing room. Harry sincerely thought Vernon could've burst from rage at that incident. If that hadn't been enough, the Weasley twins had accidentally dropped a Ton-Tongue Toffee near Dudley before flooing to the Burrow. The baby whale in his greediness ate the sweet, learning the hard way not to accept any edibles from the vicious pranksters. Although had fixed ickle Duddykins' tongue, the latter had sure learnt a lesson. Upon arriving at the Burrow, Harry had been welcomed with a Molly Weasley bone-crusher, before the woman started fussing over his long hair and oversized rags. Though he had acquired replacements for his wardrobe earlier, he hadn't put on new clothes yet. However, he placated Mrs. Weasley by telling her that he had bought new clothes. A couple of days ago, the Dursleys had gone to attend a lunch party at one of their associates'. Taking advantage of the rare opportunity, Harry had taken the Knight Bus to Diagon Alley in order to make some well overdue purchases. His first stop had been Gringotts, where he had been confronted by an angry Griphook. It had turned out to be quite the startling conversation.
****************************************************************************FLASHBACKHarry had just entered the lobby of the bank, when his hearing was accosted by a voice filled with contempt.
"Ah! If it isn't the great Harry Potter. Nice to see you've finally taken some time out of your oh-so-large schedule of adventures to grace us with your presence." Griphook sneered.
Harry frowned."I beg your pardon, Griphook, but I'm at a loss of what you are referring to. Was I expected to visit the bank earlier or something?"
Griphook scowled."I believe that much was obvious for even the biggest dunces from the letters we sent to you repeatedly."
"Letters? What letters are you talking about, Griphook? I am willing to swear on my magic that I have not ever received any correspondence from you or anyone at Gringotts." Harry replied.
Griphook looked confused."You say you've never received any letters or bank statements from us; and you are also willing to swear it on your magic?" Upon Harry's confirmation, he said."So be it. Follow me to the Overseer's office; where your oath shall be taken. Beware that should your oath prove to be false, you will not only loose your magic, but also all of your holdings inside Gringotts. Not that you can back out now."
Harry followed Griphook down a long maze of corners, turns and corridors until they arrived at a set of marble doors labeled as "Overseer Goldfang". Entering the door, he came face to face with a large goblin whose office walls were graced with a multitude of battleaxes.
"Overseer Goldfang, this is Harry Potter. He claims to never have received any correspondence from us, and is willing to swear it on his magic." Griphook said.
Goldfang looked at Harry in surprise."Is this true, Mr. Potter?" He asked.
Harry replied."Yes it is, to the best of my knowledge."
"Very well. You are allowed to use your wand to give an oath repeating your claim, and then cast a non-lethal spell." Goldfang said.
Harry raised his wand."I, Harry James Potter, do hereby swear on my magic that I have not received any correspondence from Gringotts ever since I learnt of the magical world to the best of my knowledge. So I swear, so mote it be." A flash of light temporarily blinded them. Then Harry focused on his happiest memories and said:"EXPECTO PATRONUM". A dense cloud of mist erupted from his wand before separating into two. One of them condensed into Prongs, while the other solidified into a dragon. Harry looked at them in shock.
"How the hell do I have two patroni?" He asked.
Goldfang said."Mr. Potter, do you know how rare it is for a person to master the patronus charm at such a young age? And as for your question, we have not known any one to have two patroni since Godric Gryffindor."
On Harry's confused look, Griphook said:"What the Overseer meant to say, is that you are one of the most powerful wizards in existence. Congratulations."
Harry looked baffled."Great! Another thing out of the ordinary. Why can't I just be normal?" He said bitterly.
"Because you are Harry Potter. You, young wizard, are one of the few people selected by the powers that be for a great purpose. You should try to embrace your destiny instead of running away from it." Goldfang suggested."Now if you don't mind, let us proceed to business. The letters we sent you, concerned your heirship of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter. As you are by default Lord Potter since your 11th birthday, you are required to make at least one visit to Gringotts per annum to stay abreast of the latest developments concerning your finances. Failing to do so, results in a deduction of a 5% of your holdings per year-unless we are supplied with a genuine excuse that we deem satisfactory. We have been deducting said fine from your vaults for the past three years. Said amount will now be refunded to your vaults. In addition, we will also be investigating the matter of you not receiving our letters. Due to the possibility of a mail-redirecting ward, we will start using wardpicks on owls that we send to you. I am the overseer of the Potter and Black account, while Griphook has recently been promoted to Potter Account Manager. As of yet, your Gringotts holdings include the Potter Family Vault, and your mother's personal vault. In addition, your godfather has recently opened a trust fund-tied to the Black Family Vault- for your use; since he cannot come to Gringotts on a regular basis due to his status as a convict. Even though he has given you unrestricted access to the Black Family Vault, he said you might feel uneasy using it; hence the trust fund. This trust fund contains 1.5 billion galleons, which is its set limit. Every year, at 1st January, the vault will be refilled to this limit by compensating money from the Black Family Vault. The Potter Family Vault contains 10 billion galleons in liquid, while your properties collectively are worth around 300 billion galleons. Your vault also contains jewelry and other valuables- a third of which have been evaluated at 20 billion galleons. The rest of these items are unpricable, as releasing them on the market would devalue the wizarding economy. Your mother's personal vault was established for the deposition of her salary from her job in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic. Her monthly salary was 2500 galleons which, due to her death in the last war, is still being deposited in her account as part of the War Casualty Scheme. It will continue till your 17th birthday or your emancipation- whichever comes first. As for your business, you own 30% share in the Nimbus Company, 20% share in Quality Quidditch Supplies, 10% share in every restaurant and café in Diagon Alley, and 10% share in the Three Broomsticks. After their marriage, your mother convinced your father to invest in prominent muggle businesses, resulting in a significant increase in their income. Thus, you own 20% share in Apple Inc., 20% share in Harrods, 30% share in Dell Inc., and 15% share in every prominent dining establishment and clothes store in Central London. You also own vast stretches of farmlands and vineyards across the globe, where the peasantry works the land for a 30% share in anything they grow. In addition, you are also the sole owner of the "Reaper's Garden", a prominent vintage brand renowned for its superior taste and quality across the continent. It has the most demand in France and Germany, while other magical and muggle governments also make use of it for their special guests and dignitaries. It makes half a million galleons per year on average. In summation, your annual income is about 5 million galleons. Do you have any specific questions or demands about the way your business is handled?"
Harry shook his head."No, Goldfang. Please continue handling the business as before. I would like to visit my family vault to make a withdrawal; and if possible, convert some of it into pond sterling."
"Do you wish to visit the vault just for the withdrawal?" Griphook asked.
Harry nodded.
Goldfang took over."There is a more convenient method for withdrawing your money. We have developed a coin-bag that can be tied to your vaults. Whenever you need money, you will just have to think of the specific vault and the amount you want; and it will appear in the bag. It will be keyed to your blood and magic, and thus will not be able to be used by anyone else even through the use of polyjuice. For use in the muggle world, we have a wallet that works on the same principles for muggle currency. It also has a space-expanded pocket for storing the coin-bag. For a large sum of muggle currency that would be, from muggle point of view, impossible to draw out in cash from your wallet, we have a debit card that also works on the aforementioned principles. If you are interested, we can provide you these items for a total of 25 galleons.
Harry replied:"That would be quite helpful, Goldfang. Please do so. I may also wish to get such items keyed to my vaults for my friends in the future."
"Very well." Goldfang said. He took out a bag, a wallet and a plastic card; then instructed Harry to cut his finger and drop a little of his blood on each item. Upon completion of the ritual, the bag and wallet got engraved in calligraphy of his name. The debit card was all blank except for the words "Gringotts" in its corners, his name in the middle, and a silver band at the backside. The words "unlimited validity" were written under his name.
"What is the current conversion rate from galleons to pound sterling?" Harry asked.
"The current rate is a galleon to 30 pounds." Goldfang replied.
Harry rose, bid his goodbyes and exited the bank. According to the clock in the lobby, it had been 2 hours since Harry had left Private Drive. He hurried out of the alley and into muggle London. Hailing a cab, he went to the nearest shopping mall. There, he bought himself a dozen shirts, six denim jeans, three Levi's jeans, four leather jackets, three pairs of trainers, two pairs of long boots, a stylish watch and a few other items before going to a secluded area and calling the Knight Bus. He arrived at Private Drive ahead of the Dursleys. Going upstairs, he went into his room and placed his shopping bags in his trunk, discarding all of Dudley's castoffs barring the smallest couple of shirts and jeans.
END FLASHBACK
Breaking out of his thoughts, Harry pulled of Dudley's old shirt before tossing it aside. It would be the last time he ever wore those rags, he swore to himself before pulling up the covers and falling asleep. Well, there you go. Since I've already written 25 chapters, I'll be posting them rapidly-which will be whenever I can manage. I study in University, so I already have quite a bit on my plate. In addition, I'll also be posting another of my works; which I have already completed. Please share your views with me. AlwaysUnderEstimated.