Harry's Golden Nuggets

by Snaggledog

Harry takes charge of his fate and the war. He manipulates the wizarding world with revolts, scams and his own vast wealth, but even the best laid plans go awry. His mistake costs him more than he bargains for. Regardless, he is committed to making his crazy plan work. Begins after GoF - Some Dumbledore bashing.

10. Chapter 10

This story is not the work of J K Rowling

Chapter 10

Harry was sick to his stomach about the photo. What was he going to tell everyone when he was back at school? He had an idea of what the Daily Prophet was going to print, and he hoped that he could solve that problem soon. Mrs. Weasley was going to be insufferable and the teasing that he was going to get from everyone else was going to be relentless.

It was nearly time to talk to Sirius and he knew that he was going to be in for it. He didn't know which was going to be worse, the nudity or the gold; probably both. There wasn't anything to do but take the abuse. He went to the mirror and got ready.

"Sirius?"

"What did that portrait say? You're kind of big for your age?" Sirius chuckled and then let his temper show. "What in the world are you doing!? Didn't I tell you that you didn't have to be nude, that it was a bad idea?"

"I didn't mean for that photo to be sold, I got the negatives mixed up and gave them the wrong one. I should have double checked, it's just that the negatives all look alike."

"I told you that you didn't have to do that to get the hot babes. Now you are not going to get a minute of peace, they are going to be swarming over you day and night."

"That is what I'm afraid of. Maybe I'll just spend the rest of my life here in the vault."

"You have to come out sometime. You will just have to face the music."

"There is over a month before school starts. Maybe they will forget."

"Not a chance. You are going to be more famous for these photos than for being the boy-who-lived."

"You sure know how to make me feel better. I was hoping that at least one person would be on my side."

"I am on your side, I just don't like what you did. What is done is done and there is nothing more that you can do about it but learn from your mistakes."

"I think that I'm going to be learning for a long time to come. Is anyone talking about the gold or are my bits the only thing that they see?"

"Frankly your bits have been the main subject of conversation. Molly's eyes have been glazed over all afternoon, she hasn't spoken a word."

"Oh… It is going to be murder once I see her again."

"I don't envy you... well I do sort of, in the bits department I think you have me beat."

"SIRIUS! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR BITS!"

"Well I didn't want to see yours either, I guess neither one of us gets what we want."

"Talking to you is hopeless, can we change the subject for just a little while?"

"I suppose so, what is on your mind?"

"Twenty three percent of the Daily Prophet came up for sale today and I bought it. Between us we now have control of forty percent. If things work out there will be more available soon, I'm hoping that we can have control before long."

"What do you intend to do with it once you are in control?"

"I was thinking of letting Remus handle it. I trust him, and he needs something to do."

"That sounds like a great idea. Maybe we will have an honest paper."

"That is what I want. I'm stressed out and am going to sleep early tonight. Would you keep your ear open and tell me what the talk is about the gold? That is the real reason that I did the photos, I wanted everyone to see that I had found gold but instead all anyone sees is my family jewels. I screwed up and made a huge mistake."

"I would say so."

"Good night, Sirius."

"Night, Pup"

Settling down was out of the question. He was too worked up over the photos and what he was going to have to face once he got back into the real world. He was going to have to go to Witch Weekly tomorrow and claim that the photos were only for his own use and that he was very upset that they were published without his approval.

The pool and the night jungle had never failed to calm and relax him, but tonight was going to be a real test. Thankfully, it worked, and he got a good night's sleep.

~~oo000oo~~

Draco had seen the photos, he was livid. It was Potter this and Potter that. New photos came out every week, and he was more famous than ever. Now with these latest photos, that was all that anyone could talk about. Even Pansy was glassy eyed when she talked about it. No one knows where Potter is, but his photos just keep coming out. That one photo showed everything that Potter had, and he had much more than Draco, that served to make Draco even more jealous. He was going to see that Potter got what was coming to him.

~~oo000oo~~

"Severus, Lucius, what do you have to say about Potter?" Voldemort hissed.

"Potter is an insufferable show off and craves attention wherever he can. The photos are proof that he is eager for people to throw themselves at his feet and worship him…" Snape was on a rant when he was interrupted.

"Not that you fool, I meant about the gold that he was wearing in the photos. What do you have to say about that?"

Lucius spoke next. "From everything that I could see in the photos, the gold looks to be real. It could be a clever forgery but I doubt that Potter is clever enough to pull it off. Staging a fake discovery while in the middle of an African jungle is beyond his capabilities. It could also explain the rumors of why he is trying to raise a great deal of cash. There were advertisements in today's Prophet that the Prince of Lichtenburg has put up a very large tract of land in Africa for bids and he demanded that Potter return any gold that he has found. Potter hasn't the talent to concoct such a scheme."

Snape interjected. "I agree with Lucius, Potter is too stupid to pull such a stunt. He doesn't have the talent to fake a discovery like this. The worthless brat is likely to have discovered gold."

"I want both of you to keep on top of this. If Potter finds too much gold it could be detrimental to our efforts. The Potter fortune is large, but if he finds vast amounts of gold he could rival or surpass you Lucius."

"Never, My Lord."

"See that he doesn't. Do what it takes to stop him."

"As you wish, My Lord."

"As My Lord commands."

~~oo000oo~~

"Master Harry, it is time that yous wakes up."

"G'way, I'm having a good dream."

"But Master Harry, yous tells Dobby to wakes yous up at 7 o'clock, it be 7 o'clock now."

"Alright, thank you, Dobby."

Harry got up and turned the jungle back to daytime and went to get dressed as Harry Potter. After breakfast, he built up as much nerve as he could and rang the bell for Nearfang to come pick him up. Thirty minutes later he was on the surface and bought a portkey from Nearfang. He arrived at Witch Weekly at 8 o'clock and entered the lobby. The receptionist saw who it was and became very flustered.

"I would like to speak to the editor."

"One moment, Mr. Potter, I'll see if she is available. Please wait here." It wasn't more than two minutes before she was back with her boss.

"Good morning, Mr. Potter, my name is Abigail Watkins."

"How do you do, Ms. Watkins. Are you the one that is in charge of Witch Weekly?"

"Not completely, I handle day to day operations, my boss is Tobias Misslethorpe. He is owner and Chairman."

"Then I'm afraid that I'm going to require his presence as well. You see, this is apt to affect the legal standing of this magazine. I have been wronged, and I demand satisfaction."

"If you care to wait in our conference room, I'll see if Mr. Misslethorpe is available."

"I prefer to stay here with your receptionist for the moment and I would like you to make note of the time. I intend to prove that I'm not under the effects of Polyjuice potion."

"I understand and I'll be back as soon as possible."

In less than fifteen minutes, Harry was in a conference room with Ms. Watkins, Mr. Misslethorpe and another man.

"Good morning, Mr. Potter, I'm George O'Conner, and I'm legal counsel for Witch Weekly."

"Good morning to you as well Mr. O'Conner." Harry turned his attention to all three of them. "How can you do such a thing to me? You have used extremely personal photos of me, without my permission, and shown them to the entire magical world. Imagine my shock when I returned from my trip to Africa yesterday and found a copy of your magazine exposing every square millimeter of me. I would be ranting and screaming right now except for the fact that I have taken a strong doze of calming draught this morning so that I can be calm enough to talk to you. I'm outraged that my privacy has been so violated that I'll now have to face everyone that I meet with shame and embarrassment for the rest of my life. Don't you realize that I'm a minor and such a violation is illegal?"

"Mr. Potter, you are a public figure, and as such there are different laws that apply." George O'Conner spoke up. "Any photos of you are in the public realm and can be published without consideration."

"But these photos were not in the public realm, they were stolen from me and sold to you. They were not taken in a public place, they were taken by a private photographer for my own use. They were never to be shown to the public or to anyone else. You have profited from a theft of my personal property."

"I can understand your feelings in this matter, it is our position that we have done nothing wrong, but if we were to be mistaken in our position what would you be looking for in compensation?"

"I suppose that recalling all copies of Witch Weekly is impossible, the photos are now out there for all to see. I want there to a be an apology printed and sent to each of your subscribers today before more people think that I have done this on purpose. I want to try to salvage a tiny bit of self respect."

Harry could see the three of them looking at each other with a little worry on their faces. Finally, Mr. Misslethorpe gave a slight nod of his head and Mr. O'Conner continued.

"Supposing that we did as you asked, would you be willing to sign a waiver of our actions."

"Only if any future violations are not covered, if something like this happens again, then I'll sue to recover damages. Also I want to approve the apology before it is sent."

"I think that we have a deal, Mr. Potter." Mr. O'Conner continued while Mr. Misslethorpe nodded his head. "If you and Ms. Watkins will work on the apology, I'll draft the waiver, while Mr. Misslethorpe will get the staff here to start printing and sending out the apology."

"Mr. Potter, before we sign any waiver," Ms. Watkins quickly interrupted, "we need to know that it is really you and not an imposter alleged by the Daily Prophet. We have passed the one hour time for Polyjuice but how do we know that you are not wearing a clever disguise. You could be wearing a very powerful Glamour charm and we wouldn't know."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Only one way comes to mind, we must compare you with the photos to be sure that it is really you."

Harry stood up and took his shirt off and turned around.

"Satisfied?"

"Almost, many young men look like you do from the waist up."

Harry couldn't believe what they were asking. They wanted him to expose himself to them and compare him to the photos that they had published. He needed the apology published today and he couldn't do so unless he could prove who he is. He was beyond embarrassment anymore, everyone had seen everything he had in this week's issue. Harry sighed and grabbed his belt buckle.

~~oo000oo~~

Harry used his portkey back to Gringotts directly from Witch Weekly's conference room. He wasn't going to take another chance of being intercepted in the alley. There was little that he could do at the moment to help his situation. He returned to his vault and decided to relax for a while. After the last twenty four hours, he was wrung out.

~~oo000oo~~

WITCH WEEKLY APOLOGIZES

Witch Weekly and its management would like to sincerely apologize to Harry Potter for any possible violation of his privacy. Mr. Potter visited our offices this morning and stated categorically that he did not give permission for his photos to be sold and published, they were intended only for his own personal use. He firmly stated that it was his intention that he was the only one that would ever see the photos as commemoratives of his journey to Africa.

There have been allegations from the Daily Prophet that someone has been impersonating Mr. Potter, and we took steps to dispel those rumors. Mr. Potter was in our presence for much more than an hour and didn't have the opportunity to take Polyjuice potion. To disprove any allegation that he was under a strong Glamour charm, he also agreed to verify his identity by allowing our management team to compare his body to the photos in very thorough detail. There is no doubt whatsoever that we were speaking with Harry Potter.

We regret that we were part of violating his privacy and the exposure of his gold discovery he made during his trip. It was never our intention to violate his personal and business lives. Again we wish to let everyone know that he was severely wronged by our publishing the photos without his permission.

Mr. Potter has also asked us to publicly state for him that everything that has been printed by Rita Skeeter in the Daily Prophet are lies and distortions of the truth. We at Witch Weekly have to concur with that statement.

The Management of Witch Weekly

~~oo000oo~~

The rest of his day was spent in his potions lab working on making a Kivi stone and more mirrors. He was getting pretty good at creating mirrors and was nearly ready for his next idea.

It was time for Harry's daily talk with Sirius.

"Sirius?"

"I'm here, Pup, it looks like you were busy with Witch Weekly. I wish you were more careful in being seen in public."

"I know, but I had to get the apology sent out. I want to try to salvage a little of my reputation."

"Good luck with that, after those photos there isn't too much of your reputation that can be salvaged."

"I have to try anyway. At least this way, I have a little defense when I return to school."

"I haven't asked, but you ARE through selling photos to Witch Weekly aren't you?"

"Of course I'm through! I've gotten my message out about the gold, and there isn't any reason for me to continue."

"Your message isn't the only thing that you have out. What did the apology mean when they wrote that your body was thoroughly compared to the photos? You did keep your pants on for that didn't you?"

"Is Remus around? I would like to have him do something for me?"

"Don't change the subject. You did keep your pants on didn't you?"

"Why would you think that I didn't? It doesn't say that I was naked or anything."

"Then why can't you tell me straight out that you kept your pants on?"

"Well… It's kind of complicated."

"So uncomplicate it for me."

In a small voice Harry responded. "It was the only way that I could prove that I am who said I am."

"Harry… What am I going to do with you?"

"Can we change the subject? I need to talk to Remus."

"Are you going to drop your pants in front of him too?"

"Of course not, I need him to do a little shopping for me."

Sirius had brought Remus into the room and told him about what Harry had done in Witch Weekly's office.

"Cub, are you sure that that was the only way to identify yourself?"

"What other way was there without giving blood and having it tested?"

"I guess you have a point. How many people were there?"

"There was Mr. Misslethorpe the owner and chairman…"

"and…"

"and Mr. O'Conner their lawyer…"

"and…"

"and Ms. Watkins the editor…"

"and…"

"and the receptionist walked in…"

"and…"

"and it drew the attention of the reporting staff…

"and…"

"and some of the printing crew but that was all, I swear."

"Were there any more photos taken?"

"I didn't think of that. I don't know, I had my eyes closed for most of it."

"Oh, Harry…"

~~oo000oo~~

Dumbledore entered the kitchen of Grimmauld place and called the meeting to order.

"Has everyone seen the latest issue of Witch Weekly and their apology that followed today?" There were a lot of heads nodding, but no one spoke up. "If we are to believe the apology, then Harry must be back from Africa, and we must find him."

"I think that we must believe that Harry is back, otherwise why would Witch Weekly hurry to print an apology the next day after the magazine was released? Normally, an apology would wait until the next issue."

"That is a very good point, Elphias, does everyone agree that we should consider that Harry has returned to Britain?" All heads were nodding except for Molly's, she was still in shock and hadn't spoken since the day before. "Severus, would you tell us what Voldemort is thinking?"

"He is convinced that Potter has found gold and has ordered that he be told about anything pertaining to that. He was unconcerned about anything else about the photos."

"That is something else that we have not discussed, what do you all think about the gold that Harry has apparently found?" Dumbledore asked.

"It seems real to me. How else would Harry get those photos unless there was gold present? The ads in the Daily Prophet today from the account manager for the Prince of Lichtenburg offering a big plot of land for sale and demanding that Harry return the gold further support Harry's discovery."

"Thank you, Dedalus, I tend to agree with you. Does anyone else have any other comments about Harry's gold?" No one commented. "Then do any of you have any idea where Harry might be, now that he has returned?"

Hestia Jones asked. "Has anyone checked the Leaky Cauldron or the rest of Diagon Alley? It seems that he has been talking to his account manager in Gringotts, maybe he will be doing so in person."

"Very good point, I think we should all check out Diagon Alley and put someone watching Gringotts around the clock. I'll set a schedule if you will all see me after the meeting. Is there anything else this evening?" Without a response Dumbledore adjourned the meeting and started work in setting a schedule for watching the bank.

~~oo000oo~~

Harry was upset after talking to Remus, he even forgot about telling him to buy what he wanted. If there were any new photos taken would they be considered to be in the public realm? He might be able to pass off the photos supposedly taken in Africa to be stolen, but how could he explain any taken within Witch Weekly's offices? How did he get himself into these messes? The portrait was right, he was a pervert, and returning to school was going to be Hell.

Without an appetite, Harry skipped dinner and started reading the notes about the Death Eaters that the elves were watching. There wasn't much to learn. Voldemort seemed to have asked all of them about the gold, but from what he could read, no one had much to say. Deciding to take a look for himself at Lucius Malfoy, he went to one of the master mirrors and watched for a couple of hours to Lucius and Narcissa preparing for the charity ball the next night. Nothing of interest happened, and Harry went to sleep again in the night jungle.

~~oo000oo~~

Saturday morning saw Harry being woken by Dobby at 8 o'clock with breakfast ready. Harry didn't bother getting dressed until after he was through eating. Why bother? After the last two days there was nothing more to hide, he might as well be comfortable under the 'sun' in the jungle before getting on with his day.

Today was the day that he would complete the work on the Kivi stone. He was going to be doing much of the work by himself because Wilbur Ramsey's portrait was getting severely weak. The last instructions called for the mass that he created to be heated white hot and have a charm placed on it, then quenched in a potion that he had brewed. Harry conjured a blue hot flame and hovered the mass over the flame as he slowly turned it so it would heat evenly. It took over an hour to get the mass up to temperature until it was spitting a few sparks, he placed the charm and moved it over the potion and lowered it in. Steam billowed out of the cauldron as the potion boiled away leaving a very hot rock to cool on its own. In an hour he would know whether it would work.

While he was waiting a thought crossed his mind. He went further into his vault and looked for an old mirror frame. He wanted to use one of the new mirrors that he created to send to Fudge but have it in a very old antique frame. This is what he wanted Remus to do, to go to antique shops to find something, but that was silly, he had far more antiques in his vaults than any antique shop would ever have. If he didn't find it in the Potter vault there were many others from which to choose. With a sudden thought he stopped and called out.

"Elves?"

"Master Harry called for his elves?"

"Thank you for coming. I just wanted to know if any of you have seen an antique frame for this mirror that I made. I would like for it to be carved and very ornate. If it would be covered in gold that would even be better. Have any of you seen something like that?"

One of the elves in the back was nodding his head.

"Yes, Master Harry, Cubby has seen one. Woulds't Master Harry like Cubby to bring it?"

"Yes, I would, Cubby."

With two quick pops Harry was looking at just what he wanted. It was entirely gilded in gold and was gaudy, it would be a perfect gift for Fudge. He thanked the elves and sent them back to what they were doing before. He mounted the mirror to the frame and secured it into place. Now was the part he wasn't too sure about, he needed to get it to Fudge. He had an idea and he returned to the study in the tent. He took out a dicto-quill to disguise his handwriting and began.

Dear Minister Fudge,

I have recently returned to these fair shores and found many delightful things since I have last been here. Of all the things that I witnessed, I was most impressed by how efficiently the ministry is operating. In the few dealings that I have had recently, I found your staff and colleagues to be very polite and most helpful. This could only come from the leadership that you have provided. Recently I was visiting my old vault and found this eleventh century mirror that my ancestors treasured. I can't think of a better way to show my appreciation than to gift this mirror to you with my sincere hopes that you will continue to lead this great nation to an even more glorious future.

With the greatest admiration,

Harrison,

The Prince of Lichtenburg.

This was as sugary and sickeningly sweet as Harry knew how to make it. He expected Fudge to lap it up and fall all over himself from the false praise that the note contained, especially from a prince. He had made up a name and claimed the frame was hundreds of years old, he really didn't care, Fudge had no way of knowing. Now all that was left was to ask Nearfang if Gringotts had a shipping service that could get it to the ministry. He rang the bell, waited for Nearfang to appear and asked how the mirror could be delivered to the minister's office. Nearfang took the mirror and said that it would be delivered as soon as possible, though the ministry was likely closed for the weekend.

With that chore completed, he returned to the lab and checked on the Kivi stone. The alchemy book gave directions on how to make it, but not how to use it afterward. He was going to have to have Wilbur Ramsey's help with that.

"Lord Ramsey, could you wake up again please?"

"Make it quick. I don't have much strength."

"I think that I have the Kivi stone ready, but I don't know how to use it."

"Lay my portrait flat on the floor and place the stone in the center for an hour."

With Dobby's help the portrait was moved to the floor and the stone was placed on top. Within a few moments the portraits eyes opened, and he started to talk.

"I think that you have done it my boy. I can feel strength flowing back into me, it feels marvelous."

"I'm glad. How long will your portrait remain with the energy you are receiving?"

"I should be as good as new, It may take centuries for me to get back to as weak as I was."

"That is great news. Will this work for any portrait?"

"I have never encountered one that it didn't."

"Dobby, that stone that you see on top of my ancestor's portrait is a Kivi stone, it will give new life to old portraits. I would like for you to assign an elf to take each portrait, lay it on the floor and put this stone in the center for one hour before moving on to the next portrait. Please don't use it on the portrait of the woman wearing a ruff that has been calling me a pervert. Once this is done for the Potter vault, then move on to the other vaults. Wait… Let's bring the portrait of Prince Orson of Lichtenburg to this vault and use the stone on him next, then continue with the Potter portraits."

"Dobby understands and will doos as Master Harry asks."

With a pop Dobby was gone, and Harry returned to the mirror room to watch more of Lucius Malfoy. It was important to see everything that he could over the next two days. He watched Lucius most of the rest of the day. Other than meals, a very brief talk to Sirius and a short talk with Prince Orson about his kingdom he spent all of his time watching everything including the charity ball. He couldn't hear very well with all the people there, but he could hear his name mentioned more than once by those attending. Thankfully he didn't hear the word 'pervert' mentioned, but he did hear 'gold' more than once.

Finally the guests left, and Lucius was in his study enjoying some brandy before bedtime.

"Master Malfoy, sir." An elf said after popping into the room.

"What do you want?"

"Mitzi found a cloak that was left behind with this inside." Mitzi held out some papers. Harry was thrilled, it looked like Tonks had done her job.

"Give them to me." Lucius took the papers as the elf popped away. He lost all color in his face when he got to the mineral survey. He whispered, "170 billion pounds… that is 34 billion galleons… just what has Potter stumbled across?"

"Narcissa! I'm going to meet our Lord, he has to see what I just found." Lucius hurried from view and presumably left to talk to Voldemort.

With an elf in charge of the mirror and a request that if Lucius returned he was to be woken, Harry left to sleep once again in the jungle. This time he had a smile on his face, his plan was coming together.

~~oo000oo~~

Sunday morning an elf named Folly woke Harry.

"Folly is sorry, Master Harry, yous must come quick, Mr. Malfoy is talking, and it soundses important." Harry jumped, ran to the mirror room, threw his invisibility cloak on and entered. Crabbe was with Malfoy.

"I don't care what you have going, Harold. The Dark Lord has ordered us to do whatever it takes to outbid everyone else tomorrow."

"But all of my assets are tied up until Wednesday. I have nothing to help you with."

"What about a loan, couldn't you raise money that way?"

"I have already taken a loan which I will repay on Wednesday."

"Just what are you doing? Why is everything tied up?"

"I'm really not at liberty to say. Once this deal is complete, then I'll be happy to tell you about it."

"Alright, but the answer better please the Dark Lord or there is surely going to be pain involved."

"I'm sure that he will be pleased when he hears."

"If you can't be of any help, then just go. I have other people that I need to talk to."

With that, Crabbe flooed home. Harry was worried that Goyle might tell him the same thing and come to a conclusion that they were being scammed. He kept his fingers crossed and continued to watch.

Lucius stuck his head in the fireplace and called out "Goyle House" and Harry could only hear half of the conversation.

"What do you mean that he is not there? Where is he and when is he coming back?"

"Germany and France? What is he doing there?"

"He is doing what? Talking to jewelers? Why is he talking to jewelers?"

"What do you mean you don't know? When is coming back?"

"Wednesday morning is too late. If you hear from him, have him contact me immediately."

Lucius left the fireplace before throwing another handful of floo powder in.

"Nott Mansion!"

"Let me speak to Gilford." There was a short wait.

"Good, you are there, come through the floo I have an order from our lord that I need to discuss with you." With a flash of flames, Gilford Nott entered Lucius' study and sat across from the desk.

"What is this about, Lucius?"

"The Dark Lord has ordered us to buy the property in Africa where Potter has found gold. He has ordered his inner circle to join forces financially and do whatever it takes to win the bid. I'm going to liquidate my assets tomorrow and borrow as much as I can. I want you to do the same thing. How much can we count on from you?"

"Wait a minute, selling everything is a big move, if you sell everything at once then the prices are going to be very low and we will lose a fortune. Borrowing money so quickly will surely have very unsatisfactory terms."

"That is what the Dark Lord has ordered. If he finds out that you have held back then we are both dead."

"I don't like it. There is no assurance that we will have enough to win the bid, if not, we may lose up to half of what we are worth."

"It can't be helped. How much do you think that you can raise by tomorrow noon?"

"With luck I should be able to raise seventy five million galleons, plus maybe another ten if the goblins are generous. I'll do it, but you better know what you are doing or you can forget about the Dark Lord, you will answer to me."

Nott stormed to the fireplace and returned home. Harry was ecstatic, by tomorrow noon he would buy Malfoy's thirteen percent and Nott's nine percent. That would give him sixty two percent with Sirius' six percent. He will have control of the Daily Prophet.

Lucius Malfoy continued to make notes and call more of the inner circle. He kept writing on a piece of parchment and seemed to be totaling up the numbers. Harry wanted to see that list very badly. An idea struck, and he quietly left the room. He quickly ran to his bedroom and got dressed, in his haste to see what Malfoy was doing he was only wearing his invisibility cloak.

"Dobby?"

"Master Harry calls Dobby?"

"Yeah, I did. Do you know how to make a copy of a piece of parchment or can you remember a page full of numbers?"

"Dobby can't copy a whole book but Dobby can do one page at a time."

"Are you still allowed to go through the wards at Malfoy Manor?"

"Dobby thinks so, Master Harry. Dobby has not tried."

"There is a piece of parchment that I really want to see. If you know where it is stored can you make a copy for me when your old master leaves the room?"

"Dobby doos anything for Master Harry."

"Why don't you turn invisible and come with me back to the mirror and watch what Lucius does with the parchment that I want."

Dobby and Harry continued to watch Lucius for the rest of the day. Once he went to bed, Dobby was able to get through the wards and make the copy that Harry needed. Malfoy also had control of the Lestrange estate, and he included it his list. That was one more pigeon to pluck and another thirteen percent of the Daily Prophet that he was going to own.

~~oo000oo~~

Harry woke early the next morning. It was his birthday, and he was looking forward to the biggest present that he would ever receive. Harry wrote messages to several of his biggest account managers to place bids for the Lichtenburg property, he told them that there was no danger of winning the bid, the bid was fixed, only Malfoy was going to win. He told them to bid up to 975 million galleons, but no more. He sent another note to the Lichtenburg manager to end the bidding and award the bid to Malfoy when his bid exceeded 975 million. Harry's managers were instructed to buy the loans from Gringotts for anyone helping Malfoy.

Nearfang delivered Harry to Ragnok's office, and Harry decided to stay there until the bidding was over. He just couldn't stay in the vault waiting. Harry had Varnok bid 185 million on behalf of the Potter account at 11 o'clock. The bidding was brisk until ten minutes before noon when the Seabrooke account bid 975 million galleons. At five minutes before noon Malfoy submitted his last bid of one billion galleons and the bid was awarded to Malfoy. It was reported that Malfoy was strutting around like he owned the world. Only then did Harry tell Ragnok the full story. Both of them laughed until their sides hurt.

Talking about the numbers made both of them grin widely. Including the 70 million that he swindled from Crabbe and Goyle, he was ahead 1.07 billion galleons in cash and loans. He didn't think that he was ever going to collect on the bad loans but they only accounted for 65 million or so. He had just cleared over one billion galleons after the expected bad loans. That was the same as five billion pounds in the muggle world. Harry was just as happy that he had bought Mulciber's twelve percent of the Daily Prophet along with Lestrange's thirteen percent. He now owned eighty-one percent personally and with Sirius' stock they had a total of eighty-seven percent. The end of the libel was at hand.

One of the best parts was the fact that Malfoy and the rest of Voldemort's inner circle were broke and didn't know it. If they had only had someone in the muggle world try using a telephone this morning to call the Emery and Associates survey company, they would have found that the number didn't exist. Their arrogance and ignorance about muggles had just cost them everything they owned. And with the outstanding loans, anything they will ever own will be immediately confiscated.

Malfoy, most of the inner circle, and Voldemort were totally screwed and didn't know it… yet.