[Chapter 5] Going to Hogwarts?
Denied. Harry "that's not my name any longer" Potter had expected many things, but this wasn't one of them. The parchment in front of him told him in not uncertain terms that his request for a new vault at Gringotts had been checked, and in the end denied.
The reason: insufficient proof of identity.
Harry had always thought that the goblins were greedy assholes who would let anything pass with the correct amount of bribes, a bit of threatening and sufficient knowledge of the legal loopholes.
And he wasn't wrong.
It was just that he did not have the amount of money necessary to bribe his way through: allowing someone to set up a vault without all the necessary identification and papers was simply too risky for the goblins to bother – at least for the amount of money he could currently offer.
He, in the body of this rather young girl with a name that was clearly not from an important family, was also not all that scary.
And while he had dealt with laws in his old time, being the last Potter and therefore having a seat in the Wizengamot and all, his understanding was more on the side of social issues and the parts of the criminal code relevant for auror work.
While all of these things might have had part in his request being denied, he was also rather sure that a small mishap on his part might have caused the goblins to become irritated with him: In his attempt to show respect towards the goblins, he had greeted Griphook by his name, only to find out that it wasn't actually him. Shortly after 'her' request had been stamped by said goblin, and Harry might have heard a muttered 'racist little shit' at one point.
"That… could've worked better." he thought to himself as he read over the text once again, before setting it aflame.
Now that he thought about it, things could really have worked better – a lot better in fact. Because without a vault he faced another problem: He wouldn't be able to pay tuition for Hogwarts. He could afford it, at least the first year there. He'd eventually have to find a summer job or something to pay the remaining time, but without a way to store his money or make transactions (he seriously doubted they would just accept hi… her showing up and giving them the tuition in cash), he couldn't think of a way to actually attend Hogwarts.
He could maybe find a way to open a vault in some other bank in another country, but that would take even more time, would possibly need even more papers and identification (which he still didn't have), and would most likely not happen before the start of the year.
No, if he wanted to attend Hogwarts, he'd have to do that next year instead.
A whole year to prepare? A pessimist would say wasted time. An optimist would say an opportunity to prepare even better and further establish his new identity in this world.
Harry Potter said neither of these things, instead he screamed in agony as he stubbed his toe in the attempt to angrily kick a stone.