Harry Potter and the Staff of Slytherin
Chapter Fifteen – Money
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Disclaimer: I (surprisingly) don't own Harry Potter or the Founders. I own everything you don't recognise from JKR's books.
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If anyone wishes to join the Mailing list, leave your email address in a review and I'll email you whenever I put up a chapter.
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Please review after reading this. It will help make this story better. Also, it's quite a nice thing to do. 139 reviews so far! Maybe I'll have 150 after this one! Come on people, review, I need the advise. Any requests for song lyrics to go on at the beginning?
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Money, it's a crime
Share it fairly, but don't take a slice of my pie
Money, so they say
is the root of all evil today
But if you ask for a rise
it's no surprise that they're
giving none away.
~ Pink Floyd - Money
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The sun rose as Harry surfaced from beneath the tangled sheets. His black hair was longer than it was when he left, as there were no barbers in the village that he lived in shortly. His hair went to around the top of where a T-shirt would go if he had any. The torn ripped clothes that he had been given by the Villagers nearly a year ago had been thrown away and he was going to wear the pair of blue Wrangler jeans that survived in his inventory, plus a black plain t-shirt and a black shirt over it. He received strange looks from the other Founders when he arrived downstairs.
"What Muggles wear in my time," Harry explained. He expected three of the Founders to accept this. He was right.
Salazar snorted at this. "You wear Muggle clothes?"
"I find them comfortable. I usually wear them under my Wizard Robes."
"Anyway, we must get to the shops soon before they fill up. It will not do if we are in crowds." Godric interrupted before an argument ensued.
They found themselves at Hogsmeade town five minutes later. Rowena's house was situated just outside the town centre in a mansion named 'Ravenclaw Manor'. The Ravenclaws were a long line of wizards with great magical power and wealth. It was Rowena's ancestor who founded Hogsmeade and built this manor, becoming the Lord of the town. The Lordship had been passed down through the generations but had died out when the town had grown. The Ravenclaws were still living in Ravenclaw Manor and Rowena's brother, Rogun Ravenclaw, was Mayor of the town.
It was because of this that Rowena and her companions received a lot of respect whenever they went to Hogsmeade town. Helga and Salazar also came from families of great wealth and power within the magical community, Helga's father was the Minister of Magic and Salazar's family had always been very influential businessmen. Godric, although he came from a comparatively poor family, was a very great warrior, both magically and physically, and had also helped in the fight against Mordrin a great deal, eliminating many of her servants and allies.
Hogsmeade's town had grown a lot between the time that Harry found himself in now and the time that he was previously in. There were many more houses than in Harry's town but far less shops. There were only a few shops that Harry recognised. There was not a Quidditch shop and there was only the Hog's Head inn present, the Three Broomsticks had not yet been built. There were some shops that were not present in Harry's time, for example, the Weapons shop.
It was the Robes shop that Harry and Godric visited first. Helga and Rowena had gone to the Hog's Head for lunch and Salazar had gone somewhere, saying he had 'things to do'.
Harry had been debating with himself whether or not to tell Godric that Salazar became evil. On one hand, it could save a lot of lives of innocent people, but on the other hand, he would be messing around with time and would change future events dramatically. He eventually decided not to tell Godric, as he didn't want to change the course of the future.
The Robes shop was quite old; it was the first shop to be built in the town. It had several aisles of mixed varieties of clothes, mostly formal and dress robes. Harry made his way to the male casual robes section first. Godric was in the formal robes section. After around twenty minutes of seeking through the racks and trying on robes, he picked out four robes. Two of them were a very dark pitch of black and reminded Harry of his school robes. The others were silver, green and blue. Harry wandlessly charmed these to float along behind him as he made his way to the under-robe section. The selection of clothes that wizards wore under their robes was very varied. There were some trousers that were similar to jeans that Harry liked; he picked two pairs of these and various t-shirt like garments. Harry noticed that none of these clothes were available in his own time. He wondered why they had ceased to be manufactured.
The dress robes section was in the next aisle. Harry did not think he would be attending any formal events this year but bought two pairs of dress robes in case. A black/silver pair and a black pair. With a folded pile of robes floating behind him, he entered the 'other' section, which included shoes, socks and underwear.
Satisfied with his overall selection, he went to the counter and placed his chosen garments on. The young lady assistant raised her eyebrows at the large amount of clothes there but nevertheless checked the prices and added up the total price. "That will be 2 sickles and a knut please", she said, stretching out her palm to collect the money. Harry placed 3 sickles in her hand, not having any knuts, and she handed him the remaining change in knuts.
"Thank you." He smiled at the assistant, who blushed slightly and smiled back, and sat on the chair near the exit, waiting for Godric.
When Godric finally came, they set off to the Weapons shop. Godric had promised Harry that he would further educate him in sword fighting and archery. Harry's sword had been left behind in the village and he had never had any proper armoury or quiver and bows. The Weapons shop contained many aisles of various Weapons and armoury. It was the sword section that Harry made his way to first. After looking around for a great deal of time, he picked out 3 practise swords and a deep silver coloured sword. It was then that Godric came over and spoke to Harry.
"Harry, it is possible to get a sword custom-made. The blacksmiths here are incredible. With your money you would be able to get an excellent sword built just for you to fit your needs. You can also get armour and other Weapons made by them. It costs quite a lot, but it would be nothing to you." This sounded very good to Harry so they put down the practise swords and walked to the counter to ask about the whereabouts of the blacksmiths.
The blacksmiths did not start work until 10 o clock so Harry and Godric had three hours to spend. They decided to go to the Hog's Head to get some breakfast. Maybe Helga and Rowena were still there.
"Two Firewhiskeys please, Betty."
"OK, Godric. Coming right up."
"Have Rowena and Helga left already?"
"Yes. They had some hotpot and left. I'm not sure where they went."
Godric thanked Betty and they made their way to a table in the corner with their Firewhiskeys. Harry had never tasted Ogden's Firewhiskey before and it burned his throat quite a lot. It was very strong and Harry could feel it going to his head already. He was shocked; he had found a taste he liked more than Butterbeer! He was not sure whether or not Butterbeer was available in these times but he did not care, this was all he was drinking from now on!
They sat down at the mahogany table and Harry wiped away some of the dust with his sleeve. The place had not changed much since Harry's time. It was dirty and overrun by suspicious characters – there were a couple of hags in the corner and a vampire was sitting on a stool at the bar. Harry also noticed some pointy-eared creatures sitting on a table near the middle of the room that he could not identify.
"Godric," he whispered, gesturing to the table with the unidentifiable creatures on, "What type of creature are they, exactly?"
"Why, they are Elves, of course. Do you not have elves in your time?" He asked, his eyes bulging.
"No, only house elves."
"Wow. I wonder what could drive Elves away completely."
Harry put the thought out of his mind and took another gulp of Firewhiskey, his eyes scanning over the menu. His eyes rested upon 'Beef Stew', which he chose. Godric pondered the menu for a short while longer before deciding upon hotpot. Harry took the time before the food arrived to investigate the vampire at the bar. He had never seen a vampire before, apart from in Care of Magical Creatures and Defence Against the Dark Arts books.
He had long silver hair that went down to around the middle of his back and he was wearing a long black cape. (Picture Sephiroth from Final Fantasy V11) He was facing the bar so Harry could not see his face.
A voice interrupted his examination of the vampire, "Harry. Your stew is here." Godric was looking at him thoughtfully, some food on his fork.
"Thanks," he called to the barmaid, but she had already departed.
The beef stew was very nice. It was almost as nice as Mrs Weasley's food. Nevertheless, it was the first thing he had eaten since he woke up from his coma so he was famished. Before that he had been living on animals that he had shot down with his bow and arrow and cooked on the spit roast.
He finished in a hurry, his stomach empty, and waited patiently for Godric to leave. The silver-haired vampire had left, as had the elves. A few more human visitors had entered, scattered round various tables in the wide room but the hags still remained.
"Come on, Harry. We'll go back to the Weapon's shop and see if the blacksmiths are back yet."
They silently made their way to the other end of the town centre and arrived at the Weapons shop at ten to ten. The shop itself was more crowded than it had been before but it was still not packed. Most of the other customers were suspicious looking, although they were nearly all human. There were, however, a few exceptions, like the three goblins in the knife and dagger section and the half-giant in the long-sword aisle. There was also a Forest troll in the staff section. Forest trolls were much more intelligent than their mountain troll cousins and slightly smaller.
"We are here to see the blacksmiths. Are they here yet?" The lady at the counter looked rather shocked to see the Great Godric Gryffindor at her till.
"Y-Yes… they have just arrived. I'm… not sure if they have customers already, p-please go through to the back room."
Godric thanked the lady and passed through the customers into the backroom. The backroom had a sign saying 'Blacksmith' on and the door was quite heavy. Godric pushed open the door, which squeaked, and was greeted by the Blacksmiths. "Godric, long time no see. Is your mail shirt playing up again?"
"No, I am fine. It's this young man that needs equipment today. I will be leaving you now, Harry. Come back to the house when you are finished here."
"Okay, Godric. See you later."
"What is it that you need today?"
"Everything really, armour, bow, sword."
"What do you want your equipment to be made of?"
"I'm not sure really." Harry thought for a moment. "What is the best? I am not very experienced with these things."
"Well the best will cost a lot. Are you sure you can afford it?"
Harry, in response, put his hand in his pocket and drew out one single galleon. The blacksmith's eyes bulged. Harry was quite amused by the fact that a single galleon could be worth so much more in these times than in his own.
"Are you sure you want to spend so much money?"
"Quite sure. Please could I have the best possible equipment and I will pay you very well for it."
"Very well. Let's start by measuring you." The blacksmith's hands were shaking at the prospect of such a rich client. He drew out a magical tape measure. Harry remembered these; Madam Malkin used one on him just before his first year when he went to Diagon Alley with Hagrid. He smiled at the memory and realised how much he missed his old friends. Would he ever see them again?
By the time his thoughts finished, recalling his trip to Diagon Alley, he had been fully measured.
"We will take quite a long time to make this equipment, where should we deliver it to?"
"Ravenclaw Manor, please. I will be staying there for a short time."
"Ok. They will probably be ready by next weekend, possibly longer, depending on how many other customers we get."
Harry, again, found himself thinking about 'home' as he strolled through the Square with his hands in his pockets. He had not missed his life when he was living with the Villagers, as he had not remembered it, and this was the first time he had thought about it since his wake. His expressionless eyes momentarily tinted with fear at the prospect of never seeing his friends again. As Hagrid had said, what would come, would come ... and he would have to meet it when it did.
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A few people have asked me what the 'Midnight Rider' thing was about. Well he did not know his name so I had to have the villagers call him something. The Midnight Rider sounded kind of mysterious and cool. Also, it's from an Allman Brothers' Band song called The Midnight Rider. So I suppose Steve Allman owns the Midnight Rider, not me.
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If anyone wishes to join the Mailing list, leave your email address in a review and I'll email you whenever I put up a chapter.
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Please review after reading this. It will help make this story better. Also, it's quite a nice thing to do.
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Thanks to the reviewers:
Pug320
Prd2bAmerican18 – Scarily close to the truth, but not for a while
OrionTheHunter
Linky2
Coolpadfoot
TuxedoMac
Wanderingwolf
HiddenCamera
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