CHAPTER 3

Harry left Gringotts, with a promise to Griphook that he would return soon. Harry had left his trunk underneath his invisibility cloak behind a plant in the Gringotts lobby, but he waited to retrieve it; he had other things to do-- like find Black Manor.

Although it hurt to think about Sirius, Harry pictured the best memories only, excluding all others. Harry remembered the night Sirius offered him a home in his third year; riding on Buckbeak the night of Sirius' escape; the visits in Hogsmede; the jokes shared about various things; the look on the Dursleys' faces whenever Sirius was mentioned; and the times Sirius understood him when no one else did.

Suddenly, a new picture appeared in Harry's mind. A large, white mansion in an oak forest near a lake; Harry felt something tug his middle. At first he resisted, but then a large black dog appeared at the house, and Harry gave in to the unknown force.

The wind seemed to pick him up in a whirl, but there was no sound, and nothing to be seen but white, empty space. With a jerk, Harry opened his eyes to find himself standing before the house he'd seen earlier-- he'd found Black Mansion. Wow, Harry thought, this is perfect! Grinning recklessly, Harry wondered how he was supposed to return to Diagon Alley. Realizing that Sirius' letter was still in his hand, Harry glimpsed a p.s. he'd missed.

Harry, to get back from the Manor, think of something, or someone, that was or is at the place you want to return to. This only works to and from the Manor. Padfoot

Sighing with relief, Harry thought of Gringotts, and the 'wind' picked him up once more, then left him outside the bank. Harry got his trunk and cloak, then reappeared at Black Manor, dropped the trunk and box off-- he didn't stay to explore the house just yet, and returned to Gringotts. Quickly he found Griphook once more, and inquired about something that would allow him to take a large amount of money from the Black vault, without having to carry it all around.

Griphook took Harry to see a bank-teller for his problem. He showed Harry to an office, and then stepped outside, leaving Harry with an elderly looking goblin.

"How may I help you Sir?" the goblin asked.

"Well Mr-." Harry glanced at the nameplate on the desk, "-Slenvog, I had asked Mr. Griphook, who's been incredibly helpful lately, if there was some sort of thing that would allow me to access one of my vaults without having to carry all the money around, or physically come to Gringotts."

Slenvog's eyes were slightly cautious, "Tell me Sir, which vault is yours?"

Harry removed the ski cap, and showed Slenvog the key for his regular vault, "I am currently in the possession of three vaults, I was inquiring about this for the Black Vault, which was left to me by the late Sirius Black, last heir of the Black family."

The banker's eyes widened, "Forgive me, Mr. Potter, for my assumptions."

Harry smiled, "It's alright. I don't blame you Mr. Slenvog, I'm just trying to keep a low profile these days."

"Very wise Sir," the goblin agreed," and I believe we do offer something for people like you-- there is a fee of course, but it is only one, fairly low payment."

"And what's that?" Harry asked.

"Ah, the payment is one thousand galleons Mr. Potter, and it can be paid monthly in smaller increments of hundreds."

Harry thought about it, "And how does it work, Mr. Slenvog?"

The goblin's eyes lit up, "It is quite simple. All you do is key the bag to your voice, then connect it directly to the vault of your choice; in this case, the Black Vault. When you are ready to purchase something, all you do is speak the amount you want, and it will appear in the bag."

So far so good, Harry thought. "What does it look like, if I may ask."

Slenvog nodded," "It is the size of a normal money bag, and comes in various shades of green, black, blue and red. It has an anti-weight change spell, so it will always be feather-light. The maximum it can carry at one time is 10,000 galleons. If you do not use the money called for within two minutes, the money is automatically re-inserted into your vault, with a fee of two galleons."

Saves you a lot of trouble if you get attacked while shopping or something, Harry thought. "I'll take it, Mr. Slenvog."

It took about fifteen minutes to finalize all the privacy and ownership paperwork, and then Harry left with a black money bag tucked into his sweatshirt pocket. Harry found out from Griphook, who congratulated him on a wise choice that items could be transferred from the vault to the bag, but only if he placed an auto-enlargement charm on the bag, or shrunk the item while in the vault.

Harry thanked Griphook immensely, and left Gringotts, ready for a day of shopping; before the Order started a full-out search. Little did he know that Snape was reporting his absence at that very moment.


Coming Up:

What's Dumbledore's reaction?

Then:

Harry's fun-filled shopping spree.