Harry and the Magic Fedora
Chapter 1
Meeting George
Griphook opened the vault door and turned to the boy behind him.
"This is your vault, Mr. Potter. Take a look around."
The 11-year-old wizard was astounded. All his life he had never had more than a few pence to his name, and now he found himself with enough money to spend £1000 a day for the rest of his life and not make a dent in the vast amount of wealth in this vault.
"This is all MINE?"
The goblin nodded. "Actually, this is just the trust vault, Mr. Potter. The main Potter vault is about 25 times as big. You might want to consider getting an ancestry test done; you never know who you might be related to."
"Sure, that sounds like fun."
10 minutes later, Harry had only scratched the surface on his trust vault. He was mesmerized by all the gold and silver lying in mounds 10 feet high. He could probably buy a small country, and not even start to spend his inheritance.
He was about to head back when he saw a green striped hat sitting on top of one of the piles of silver. He then felt the overwhelming urge to take it with him, so he reached over and grabbed it. He then headed out of the vault back to Hagrid.
"Got your money, Harry? Hey, you found your dad's fedora!" shouted Hagrid in his gruff voice.
"This is my dad's?"
"Yeah, he wore it all the time, even at Hogwarts. Always said it was a guide for him, no idea what he meant. He must have hid it in the vault before he died. Try it on. Don't worry, it's yours."
Harry stopped a minute, and then placed the fedora on his head.
Who is this? Said a gruff voice with an American accent.
You can talk?
Of course, I can talk! Now who are you?
Harry James Potter, sir.
Oh please, the name is George, kid. Did you say James? You wouldn't happen to be Jimmy's kid?
Actually yes, George. He died when I was a year old.
I'm sorry, Harry. Jimmy and I were great friends. How are Sirius and Remus?
Who?
You don't know Sirius and Remus? They were Jimmy's best friends. I assumed that they raised you together.
No, I was raised by my Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.
Not Lily's sister! You weren't supposed to ever go near those evil twits!
Well, what can I do about it?
Well, first where are we? I vaguely remember it from when Jimmy would come here, but my memory is a little groggy from hibernating for a decade.
We're in Gringott's, getting money for school supplies. I'm starting Hogwarts. I did say it right did I?
Don't worry about Hogwarts, Harry. You're starting this year? Awesome, I can say hi to Polonius.
Who?
A friend of mine at Hogwarts. I think you'll like him. Anyway, since we're at Gringott's, you need to request a meeting with Steeltongue. He was your parents' account manager the summer before they died. He will be able to show exactly what has been going on with the accounts since they died. He can also read you your parents' will.
OK. I'll make sure to do that. Thanks, George.
After twenty minutes in the cart riding through the vaults, they finally reached the lobby.
"Hagrid, I need to talk to the teller about something."
"OK, Harry. Just make it quick, we need to get all your things today."
He walked over to the teller.
"Excuse me; I would like to see whoever the account manager for my family is."
Normally, the goblin would have ignored a child asking questions unexpectedly. However, this kid was acting very polite for a wizard, so he decided to humor the kid.
"What's your name, kid?"
"Harry James Potter, sir."
The goblin's eyebrow twitched. The Potters were famous among the goblins thanks in part to their politeness to all creatures. Even their house elves were treated like members of the family. Steeltongue, the old account manager for the Potters had become the head of Gringott's, second only to Ragnok in authority in the goblin nation, and yet he remained the Potter's manager even after they had passed on. This was going to be interesting.