Chapter Six

An Unexpected Fortune

Ron and Harry walked the old cobblestone steps of Diagon Alley. It was still as busy as ever, though it had changed so much since the last time they had stepped in it more than a year ago. The grand shops that lined the street were no longer there. Instead, there was a mass of rubble on every corner, while familiar merchants were busy cleaning up and repairing whatever they could with spells while attempting to sell what was left of their wares on makeshift shelves.

Fluorish and Blotts was still standing at least, though most of their windows were shattered and from outside, one could see shelves overturned and hundreds of books scattered on the floor, mostly burned or torn. The Magical Menagerie also had similar damages in its façade but it was covered by an opaque shield. There was blood splattered on the walls and one could only guess the carnage within when dozens of animals were killed in the fighting when the shop was attacked.

They passed Mr. Ollivander who waved sadly at them from the front of what used to be his wand shop. His familiar sign was still there indicating his name and the year the shop was established, but the entire façade had crumbled leaving boxes strewn in all directions. He summoned a half-burned box and cradled it as if it was a precious child. There were tears in his eyes and Ron and Harry quickly turned away. Their eyes however, found a more depressing sight.

"Damn those Death Eaters!" Ron said to Harry. "They couldn't leave the shops alone, could they? What did Quidditch suppliers ever do to them?"

They were looking at what used to be Quality Quidditch Supplies but now it was nothing more than a mass of stone and dust. There was a single sign that hovered on top of the ruins that said "MOVING TO ANOTHER LOCATION." This area of the wizarding shopping complex had the worst damage. The Daily Prophet had reported that when the Death Eaters came to attack and destroy, they used magical fires that could raze whole buildings to the ground in a matter of minutes and the damage couldn't be repaired with Reparo spells.

They heard a sniffle from behind and they looked up to see Molly and Fred, trying his best to compose himself. They both knew the Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes stood next to Quality Quidditch Supplies though there was nothing there now but rubble.

"I didn't have the heart to put a sign at all," Fred muttered. "The shop stood for everything fun, but there's nothing funny about this. We can't even afford to rebuild at all."

Ron placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. It'll be alright. You may never know when you might find a stroke of good fortune. The shop will be back in no time."

"Won't he be in for a surprise?" he added silently to Harry.

"Well he deserves it. All these people Ron, they've got so little left. I've got an idea, I don't know exactly how much I have left, but maybe we could spare something. A little donation to help rebuild Diagon Alley."

"Like a grant fund, Harry?"

"Yeah something like that, as long as you don't put my name in it. Let's make it an anonymous donation."

"Good idea."

They gave Fred another squeeze on the shoulder, and Fred nodded his thanks for the comfort. His mother laid another hand at Fred's other shoulder and Ron could tell she was also trying hard not to cry. Since they had gotten the owl summoning himself, Fred and George to Gringotts yesterday, Molly Weasley was beside herself with worry. What could Gringotts possibly want with them? Ron had no personal account with Gringotts and the Weasley family vault was empty. Fred said his and George's accounts were already cleaned out as well. Could they have some unpaid dues of some sort? Would Gringotts repossess The Burrow if they couldn't pay?

Ron threw his mother what he felt was an encouraging look and led her and Fred onward down the street. Gringotts Bank was still standing up ahead, but the once towering white building looked different. The entire right wing of the building was destroyed by fire and some of its columns lay in shambles at the base. The other parts of the building that did manage to be saved from the flames were grayish from soot and scorch marks.

As they approached, they found two familiar heads—one red, one bushy-haired brown—waiting for them at the steps.

"Bill! Hermione! What are you doing here?" Fred exclaimed.

"I found out Gringotts summoned you today," said Bill. "So I decided to meet you. I met Hermione here on the steps just about to go in."

"Gringotts sent me an owl yesterday," Hermione explained. "It didn't say why, but it just told me to look for Griphook at one 'o clock."

"That's odd," Molly said. "Fred, George and Ron got the same message. So here we are. George is still in St. Mungo's of course, but I supposed it wouldn't hurt if I came along for him. Do you know anything about this, Bill?"

"No, that's why I waited for you."

"Well its five minutes to one," Ron said looking at his watch. "Let's go in and find out, shall we," he added cheerfully.

The others remained apprehensive but followed him in through the silver doors. Hermione fell in a step beside him.

"My parents let me go today, Ron and they agreed to take me to your house this weekend as long as I visit them as often as I can," she said. "At least it's a start. I think they're realizing the only way to help me is to let me go. I know it's a big sacrifice for them and I'm grateful."

"I'm glad for you, Hermione," said Ron and he squeezed her hand. Ron caught a faint blush on her cheeks and she turned away.

"That's good news at least," she said. "When I came here and I saw Diagon Alley... It's so awful, Ron. All these shops, so much destroyed and all because one wizard wanted power for himself. It's not fair. Not even his death was good enough. He had to take—"

"Hermione don't... let's not talk about it now, alright," Harry cut in before she could say more. Ron understood. Harry couldn't stand it when people cried for him, especially Hermione.

Inside, the bank didn't appear to change much. The goblins were still hard at work at their business, unperturbed even by the damage to their building. Griphook was easy enough to locate after they requested for him at the information counter. He swept in with an important air and led them to a private room not far away. The room was small, with a desk and a high chair fitted for a goblin. Around it were several plush looking chairs for them to sit on. The room was elegantly lit with a single chandelier on top and lamps at the sides. All in all, the room appeared grand and was the sort where important business could be discussed.

When they were all comfortably seated, Griphook magically closed the door behind them and took several rolls of parchment from one of the desk drawers.

"We have summoned you today to disclose the last will of the late Mr. Harry James Potter."

"What?" Fred exclaimed. He, Bill, Molly and Hermione stared at Griphook in surprise.

"We received his post-owl only yesterday and it concerns those present we have sent letters to," Griphook continued, ignoring Fred's outburst. He opened one of the pieces of parchment and showed them a document written in what was unmistakably Harry's script. "We, of course, at Gringotts are mandated to execute his last wishes in the matter of his properties which he has entrusted to us."

"Did you know about this?" Hermione asked Ron, who just shrugged.

"Ahem!" the Goblin interrupted, giving Hermione an annoyed look. "If we could proceed?"

"Yes, of course, I'm sorry," Hermione replied.

Griphook looked back at the parchment and cleared his throat. "The Will goes that in the event of Mr. Potter's death, Misters Frederick and George Weasley are to receive a thousand galleons to their store, the Weasley Wizarding Wheezes in Diagon Alley."

Fred gasped in surprise. "He... he left George and me..." Tears were falling on his face. Ron felt his heart lighten and he knew Harry was feeling an enormous surge of happiness.

Griphook paid him no heed. "To Ms. Hermione Jane Granger, Mr. Potter bequeaths a number of his books, including his special edition copy of Hogwarts, a History and his collection of Gilderoy Lockhart's works."

"You hated those books, Harry. You never read them after the teachers stopped requiring them."

"Why do you think I gave them to her? Somebody gave me the Hogwarts, a History and I never even touched it, and you know Lockhart's books are all trash anyway. At least she'll appreciate them more than I did."

"In addition to the books, Ms. Granger is also to receive two hundred galleons for her cause of freeing the house-elves."

"You shouldn't have done that Harry. You know it's a hopeless cause."

"I know, but let's give her something to make her happy."

Hermione was in tears and Ron reached out to pat her in shoulder.

"The rest of Mr. Potter's possessions, including all his personal belongings, go to Mr. Ronald Bilius Weasley."

Everyone uttered a gasp and looked at Ron. They knew Harry had a stack of gold in his vault. But before anyone could say anything, Griphook cleared his throat and they lapsed back to silence.

"Mr. Potter didn't indicate anything in particular regarding his bequeathing to Mr. Ronald Weasley. We presume of course that he meant everything else not given to others. We have therefore assessed all his properties and monetary holdings and these are following: A castle in Cornwall..."

"You have a castle in Cornwall?"

"Sirius's, probably. He left everything to me, except for Grimmauld Place. He gave that to the Order, under Dumbledore's care. He also gave Tonks something since her mother was cut off from the Black Will, and quite a considerable sum to Professor Lupin so he could at least live comfortably. He deserved it."

"...Black Manor in Lyon, a 360-acre farmland in Montpellier, France..."

"Okay, Harry. Exactly how many properties did Sirius leave you?"

"I'm not sure. I wasn't listening when Sirius' Will was read. I was too depressed at the time. I remember he had a couple."

"A couple? Try several!" Ron almost screamed as Griphook droned on mentioning houses and manors not only in Britain and France but also in Germany and Switzerland.

"...And finally a piece of property on what used to be Potter Manor in Godric's Hollow."

"No surprise about that last one. It was my parents'. Reckon the property is still mine, though the house was destroyed. We have to go there sometime."

The other Weasleys and Hermione were staring at Ron with bewilderment. Ron was sure he was looking at Griphook with the same surprised expression.

"And of course there's the subject of Mr. Potter's liquid assets..."

"Hang on! There's more?"

"My vault, remember? But it's nothing. Just a few thousand galleons I think. It's dwindling, but we can always sell one of Sirius' properties if we need more money. If Grimmauld Place is any indication of the kind of houses the Blacks have, I'd rather sell it. I'm not living in one."

"The Potter Vault, aside from those amounts given to Messrs. George and Frederick Weasley and to Ms. Granger, has 19,253 galleons, 347 sickles and 715 knuts, while the Black Family Vault yields a total of..." The goblin paused to check another parchment. "Two hundred sixty eight million galleons, 3,450 sickles and 18,962 knuts."

Both Ron and Harry were so surprised they fell off their chair. "WHAT!"

The goblin repeated the sum.

"Harry, what in the world...? You didn't tell me Sirius' fortune was—a FORTUNE!"

"I didn't realize. But come to think of it, his family is one of the richest in the country and he is the sole heir. No wonder he could afford to buy me a Firebolt in third year. It was just spare change for him compared to what he owned."

Ron's mouth was now hanging open. Harry closed it for him. Griphook finally took notice of the shocked expressions on the faces of his companions and decided to make an explanation.

"Mr. Potter was one of the wealthiest wizards in Britain after he inherited the Black Family Fortune from his godfather Sirius Black three years ago."

"But... but... Two hundred million galleons..." Bill gasped. "Not even the Malfoys—"

"The Malfoy Fortune is nothing compared to the Blacks," he continued in the same bored businesslike tone. "In fact, the Malfoys gained a considerably larger fortune only after Mr. Lucius Malfoy married into the Black family through the Lady Narcissa. Now if you would be so kind as to sign these documents so we could complete the transfers to your names..."

Ron was still in too much shock so Harry moved to the table where the goblin held out the parchment. Hermione followed behind them, as well as Fred so they could sign after him. Harry signed his own name before he realized it.

"Ron, you have to sign your name. I can't do it for you."

"Oh, yeah, right mate." Ron crossed out Harry's name and wrote his own.

Ron moved away and stared ahead into space. He was too bewildered by these turn of events. He had gone from being penniless to becoming one of the richest men in the British wizarding world in just a few minutes. He was too absorbed in all of it on the way out of the bank that he didn't notice the suspicious look Hermione gave him.