This is a place for me to put all the little things I write that I'd like to share, but don't want to post as an independent story. Helps keep down the clutter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
My own personal take on the Gringotts inheritance scene.
--ooOoo--
Harry Potter sat in one of Gringotts private offices. He had been summoned to appear on his 17th birthday to go over his family estate. The young man was nervous, but was oddly excited to see what mementos his parents had left him. Plus, a small part of him was wondering just how extensive the so called Potter Fortune was, especially since it had Ron so envious.
The Goblin entered and, sneering, placed a single piece of parchment in front of the boy hero. "Sign here Mr. Potter, and be on your way."
Harry blinked. This was not was he was expecting. He picked up the parchment and read through the rather short text. In essence, it stated that he was taking control of vault 687 which contained 12,020 Galleons, 2 Sickles, and 3 Knuts.
"Um, sir, is this my correct account balance? It seems a little, well, low."
The goblin glared at him. "Are you insinuating that Gringotts has cheated you?"
Harry gulped. "N-no sir, not at all. I had just thought that after my inheritance from my Godfather I would have more than that."
With an exaggerated sigh, the goblin drew out a large ledger and opened it to the middle. "Account activity for vault 687 in descending order. August 15th, 1996 a withdrawal of 23 Galleons. June 23, 1996 a transfer from vault 711 of 9,243 Galleons, 1 Sickle. August 9, 1995 an authorized withdrawal of 10 Galleons. August 14, 1994 an authorized withdrawal of 10 Galleons. August 8, 1993 a withdrawal of 33 Galleons. August 20, 1992 a withdrawal of 25 Galleons. August 1, 1991 a withdrawal of 41 Galleons. May 17, 1980 a payroll deposit from Tallow's Terrific Texts in Godric's Hollow for Lily Potter of 5 Galleons. Do you need me to go back any further?"
Harry was dumbfounded. He had thought he had much more money than this. "What about interest? I thought accounts garnered interest?"
Another sneer. "That is only on savings vaults. Your vault was a standard storage vault. Now if you'll excuse me."
Harry's head was spinning. Surely his parents had a vault and this was his trust vault as Ron had thought. Hadn't he heard Malfoy talking about the wonderful treasures hidden within his family vault? There were even rumors of him being related to Godric Gryffindor. Maybe there was a Gryffindor family vault? "But, what about other vaults? Didn't the Potters have a family vault for heirlooms? Or maybe a vault of my ancestors?"
The goblin was getting visibly annoyed. "I assure you that is the only vault the Potter family had. As for your ancestors, we have no documentation so the answer is no."
The being got up to leave as Harry got desperate. "But can't you at least check?"
Grumbling, the goblin returned. "It's a 75 Galleon fee to run a bloodline trace, and a 25 Galleon fee if no new claims can be made."
"100 Galleons to find out nothing? That's outrageous!"
"It also deters those who are merely trying to grub up money. Do you want it or not."
Harry hung his head in defeat. 100 Galleons was a decent amount of his money and he couldn't afford to just throw funds away. But with the rumors, there had to be SOME truth. Steeling his Gryffindor resolve, he nodded. "I agree."
Almost faster than he could believe, his finger had been pricked. 13 drops of blood were added to a potion vial which was shaken exactly 27 times in each hand before being dumped onto what looked like a palm frond. The goblin reached into a pocket and sprinkled a glittering dust on the whole mixture before rolling it up and lighting one end on fire. The goblin picked the slowly burning leaf up and took a long drag before blowing purple smoke into a clear globe that Harry was sure hadn't been there before.
As the goblin took another hit, words began to form in the smoke.
Harry James Potter
Vault 687
Vault 1
A violent cough filled the room as the goblin beat on his chest. Without saying a word he reached under the desk and pushed a hidden button, before taking the rest of the burning leaf into another room, leaving Harry to sit and wonder what the hell was going on.
He didn't have to wait long as moments after the original goblin departed a very old (if Harry could judge goblin ages properly, which he couldn't) goblin entered and sat in a very plush chair that rose from the floor.
"Well Mr. Potter, it seems you have a claim to the very first vault ever opened at Gringotts. A very special day indeed. The year was 985. I can remember when he came in. Tall and built like an ox. Which reminds me, I need to have lunch soon. It was opening day and I was a lowly mid rank senior teller with a desk closest the door. I'd taken a shot of gleelzub before my shift, as I was wont to do back then, and escorted him down myself. Although we didn't have carts back then, we had to whip a unicorn to take a grain sack on a rope uphill. 'Course that was before the rathled Ministry said we couldn't use Unicorns, and Acromantula tended to eat the customers. Down and down, deeper and deeper we went until we reached the end of the line. I opened the door and he put his life savings inside, emptying out the fancy purse. Monogrammed and everything, gluth was that a fancy purse. I always wanted one of them. 'Course once I could afford one they had made 'em more expensive and then I had to save up a bit more. Never did get me one of them. Anyways, where was I? Oh, um, hello. Who are you?"
Harry just stared at the smiling goblin who was obviously waiting for a reply. "Harry Potter sir."
"Oh, well now Harry Potter, it's been awhile but I'm pretty sure I remember how to set up a new account. Been saving up your allowance then?"
A flash of anger as Harry tried to get his temper in check. "No, sir, you were telling me about my claim on Vault 1."
"Oh, of course of course. I remember the day that vault was opened. It was 985 that year. Very first vault you know. I believe it was a Tuesday, not that we called it Tuesday back then. A man built like an ox came in, which reminds me I need to eat lunch. He walked up to me and said he wanted to open an account, so I took him..."
"WHO! Who was it that opened the account!"
"Oh, a Mr. Evanson. Olaf Evanson. He'd just gotten his first paycheck and wanted somewhere secure. Got a good deal too. Apparently his family had just been robbed blind by the Potthur family. Heard the last one is in school now, called Harvey or something."
"How much sir?" Harry was starting to lose his patience.
"Deposited his life savings, 2 Sickles."
"2 Sickles was his life savings?"
"2 Sickles was a lot of money back then. That, and he had been robbed blind shortly before. And he spent most of his paycheck on a fancy purse. Gluth was that a fancy purse. Monogrammed and everything."
"So the vault contains 2 sickles? I paid 75 Galleons for this?"
"Now wait just a minute, you interrupted me. Fellwa kids these days, getting younger every decade. He got a savings vault, and we gave him a first customer special rate of 2.75 percent interest compounded annually. Had to treat your customers right back then or you'd find yourself out on your bleeth begging for a bit of hard liqueur."
"So how much is in there then?" Harry hoped it would at least cover the price of the search.
"Patience. He never came in again after that, got eaten by a nasty Hungarian Horntail the local fool was attempting to raise on the way home and his family never knew he opened the account. Let's see, carry the 3, round it up, and there." He wiggled his gnarled fingers over a sheet of parchment and writing appeared.
Handing it over, Harry took one look at it before jabbering like a baby. Finally composing himself he asked, "Is, is that really how much money is in there?"
"No, of course not. Haven't got near enough gold to cover that. It's all on paper. Don't think you could stand up properly in those first vaults, they're small. Why once I remember when I was a wee goblin working on the mines, used to keep our lunches in the unfinished vaults before they put locks on 'em. Just about the right size for a side of Pegasus and a flagon of goat blood. Was a lunch fit for a king. Had this whole complex networked out before we ever opened the doors. Don't spread it around but Griphook's sister made me a real goblin in vault 687 back then. Still have a reunion there every summer. She likes it when I use the Galleons in there to..."
"STOP, PLEASE STOP! Just tell me how I can claim it."
"Sorry, got to reminiscing there. All you have to do is show your key at the counter and you can withdraw directly without having to ride the cart. Which reminds me that it's about time for me to go see what Griphook's sister is up to. Do you want a ride down to your other vault for anything while I'm on my way?"
"NO! I mean, no thank you."
"Well, suit yourself." The goblin got up and walked towards a blank wall along the side of the office. Waving his hand, a secret panel opened up to reveal a Unicorn tethered to a small chariot. With a grin, he turns back to Harry. "Upgraded from the grain sack." As the wall closed, he pulled a whip off the wall and gave it a great crack.
Blinking, Harry made his way outside and numbly back to 12 Grimmauld Place.
--ooOoo--
Doing the math, it should come out to exactly 98,581,083,912 Galleons in 1997, provided it had already been compounded for the year.
Peace Out
Lord Retro