Har-mony, the dynamic duo:
The new year, 2009 would arrive in a rather quiet fashion. It seemed Harry's extended family had chosen to spend time amongst themselves. Lorna as the exception, went to visit her grandmother. From what Harry understood, her mother and father had passed away as soon as she had finished Hogwarts, and her grandmother was all that she had left.
The Granger and Singh families had spent their new year by themselves. The Singh family and the Granger family had both invited each other to spend the new year, and it ended in a hilarious stalemate. They decided to continue the dinner tradition next year, fortnightly in an alternating fashion, when possible. Harry had been invited to spend the night with Hermione first and then with Priya later.
Harry surprisingly, had explained to both parties that he wanted to spend the time by himself,– it wasn't that there was a problem, but rather that his life had literally flipped upside down in ten months. He wanted to read his parent's journals and contemplate things. Amba and Jean had acquiesced, on the condition that Harry would send Grace or Mipsy to collect deliveries. Harry would not lack for food and snacks.
Harry sat on his bed after having enough to eat as the old year passed away. Invictus kept a watchful eye as he read his mother's Bible. Lilly Potter had left a crucifix pendant under the front cover of the book. Harry slipped it on his neck and held it in a sentimental manner. This was one if his mother's heirlooms, surely it was important to her. Slowly, as he thought about all the good that had come into his life, he read the Bible and silently thanked God for saving his soul.
"Good Boy. Make me proud," Lilly Potter said as she observed her son.
As he read the Bible, certain pages had small notes stuck to them. Harry realised that his mother had undertaken religious study of the book. He read his mother's notes which had been her own philosophical thoughts. Harry enjoyed reading these – it seemed that his mother did not consider the most literal translation of the Bible to be of importance. No, she looked into the book and saw the majesty of creation, the infinite love God had for his creation, and most importantly the duty that man had to do good. Lilly made notes on what she thought were the philosophical ramifications of the scripture.
Harry found himself confused – he was aware that eventually Voldemort would have to die. He would have to kill him, as he was alive in one way or the other. Harry considered that he would have to do evil.
He would have to kill.
He didn't like this at all. And yet, the inability to kill the wicked had cost good people so much pain. No, God would forgive him, right? He would reserve judgement until he read more. Harry who had perfected the art of speed reading, soon encountered enough evidence for self-defence as he browsed through his mother's sticky notes:
"Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."
"Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute."
"Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy."
"Learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause."
"Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
More interestingly, there seemed there was a clear line between murder and killing. Murder was deliberate and malicious. Sometimes killing was necessary to fulfil justice. Invictus who had never believed in any religion except the blessing of Lady Magic herself, watched on intently for a long time. After the fireworks had welcomed the new year, the noise had died down a little. He enquired of Harry, if he had found any solace in the beliefs of his mother. He replied:
"I think I have. I guess justice isn't the greatest thing. Sometimes you have to kill, so that others won't suffer. The thing that tried to murder me, it is not a debate if he might murder me – he and his followers have already committed murder.
Learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause." Harry whispered.
"Perhaps you can speak to your grandfather also for advice. I have noticed he is truly a wise man. He has an ancient wisdom that flows through his culture – a culture that directly helped you on your way. I particularly enjoyed his readings of the Gita while you were being healed. While, it was to pass the time, I did get an insight into a culture that seems deeply connected with mysticism and the occult. The scripture of your mother Lilly Potter is your birthright, but do not forget the advice of those who breathe too. Rest now my grandson, it is 2009. I think we will have a very busy year ahead."
Before Harry Potter closed his eyes and slept away, he sat on the bed and prayed. He thanked God for his extended family, his life, his rescue and Grace, his trusty bird. Then he thanked Magic as he sensed that it was alive and sentient. He thanked Magic for granting him such a wondrous gift, and he promised to try his best to be responsible with it. He promised to uplift the downtrodden, and to help those in need.
Lady She-who-creates suddenly collected a token from Harry Potter and she smiled. Harry had recognised her work indirectly and thanked the fabric of the universe with much gratitude in his heart. As was the custom, for those souls who understood the significance of the gift, a token was given to the one who watched over their fate.
Harry began the new year by gently testing the market for his graphene the first week in January. Harry realised he needed to run his business like a narcotics operation until he sorted out the automation necessary to produce the product. For now, he was going to sell high tech materials in brown paper bags. Those university students who wanted to play with expensive materials, would get a fairly inexpensive chance at it.
Harry had purchased a small portable glovebox and had connected the environment to a small Argon tank. While these purchases and the modifications had set him back fourteen hundred pounds, Harry gambled on being able to make the money back. Inside the glovebox, he used his wand to purify the operating environment and the tools via an intent modified Evanesco. Harry banished everything that wasn't argon, copper foil, charcoal or his materials at the atomic level. This had been Hermione's contribution late last year.
Then Harry, rubbed the copper foil on a graphite slab and transfigured the carbon into graphene. Harry had designed a 3D printed tool that contained a wand core with the custom Peverell house magic and a 'power cell'. The foil was then packaged into a urine container within the glove box. The entire affair took about twenty seconds to produce a sample after the glove box was prepared. Harry could manufacture about forty units before he had to replace the argon, containers and copper foil.
Hermione had helped with the operation. Half hour of production daily resulted in an easy five hundred units per week. Lorna in the second week of January, made a handoff containing free samples to local universities within the area. She began with flyers on notice boards and suddenly received interest from at least fifty people. Students from many disciplines were interested – Biochemistry, Material Sciences, Electronic Majors were excited to receive the materials. Harry had hoped that the free samples would impress them.
The premise was simple – should the graphene meet their needs, they could buy it at the ultra-low cost of twenty five pounds per a 25cm2 piece of copper foil. That was fifteen pounds cheaper than his nearest competitor. The only downside was that no documentation about its properties would be available.
Naturally the more specialised students in prestigious departments were not interested. Many students naturally complained about the lack of datasheets and specifications, but those people were not his clients. No – Harry's clients were people who needed access to it and were not too picky. This was almost a facsimile to Chinese manufacturing – dirty cheap and temporary use. The engineers and electronics crowd on the other hand, wanted more after receiving samples.
At the end of January, Harry had completely sold two thousand units and had made an easy fifty thousand pounds. Between the three thousand pound salary for each person involved, and the operational cost of four thousand pounds, Harry was now sitting on thirty seven thousand pounds. He took out an additional five thousand pounds and decided that he would invest this in expanding the business.
This purpose of this venture in Harry's mind was not really for long term financial viability – this was to fund Harry's other projects without dipping into his Gringotts vault. Harry had almost replenished what had been spent over the last year, and now he would have the ability to make income for himself.
The entire of February's R&D salary had been spent as Harry had no qualms about buying materials and tools for experimentation. The end goal was to automate the process and add graphene powder to his offerings. Many evenings were spent at Hermione's home where they both took apart the problems slowly. Hermione would lead the questioning and Harry would slowly find unusual solutions to complex problems. The results began to arrive slowly but surely.
Harry now had a magical assembly line that was enclosed in an airtight Perspex environment. Instead of a conveyor belt, Wingardium Leviosas had been used liberally along with many other charms that had been applied creatively. However, the real secret sauce was for once, the electronics.
The whole affair ran off a custom five kilowatt lithium-cobalt battery pack Harry had built. Everything was controlled by ARM-Cortex based microcontrollers along with encoders, optical sensors and an AI powered webcam feed that acted as a nanny. Hermione had taken to A.I. tensor programming overnight. Grace or the Elves would recharge the magical capacitors, in order to keep the spells running. Spells were triggered by mechanical servos that physically connected power cells to wand assemblies that performed specific functions.
Another similar setup blasted very controlled micro sized Bombardas to shear the graphene layers off to produce flakes. As Harry got more familiar with his house magic, he began to finetune his spells. He could blast off a single layer of graphene exactly one atom thick. Exactly what people were willing to pay money for.
This second production line only required that Graphite slabs be fed into the containment area, as a funnel collected the powder. These facilities changed his business operation greatly. Harry would operate the machines for about four hours per a day. Then he would shut them off and maintain them when he was finished. Sometimes problems occurred during operation, but Harry found that accumulation of materials on the sensors were the worst of the issue. After all Harry had built the system and understood it intimately.
Harry found that his best seller was no longer the graphene on copper foil substrate. One hundred millilitres of water with 10 grams of Graphene suspended in it, or at a 100g/L concentration could fetch seventy pounds easy. By the time March had arrived, Harry was selling approximately seven hundred units of his graphene solution at the cost of 70 pounds per bottle. Harry decided that he would move his operation to Amazon, and allow them to take a large cut of the money so that he would not have to deal with deliveries. Lorna had done an admirable job, but the hustle and bustle along with the loose cash was getting difficult to handle.
Nonetheless, Harry was now sitting on 170,000 pounds of savings as his business from the combined increased sales of the graphene foil and the graphene solution respectively. Harry and Hermione decided that it was time to visit Gringotts. Harry had been dealing with large stacks of cash and had been forced to buy money counters to deal with the loose bills. Harry had entire hard shell cases of money as he did not bank his money in any of the Mundane financial institutions. After all, he was operating without a business name and he, like any law abiding citizen was supposed to pay his taxes. Harry had also chosen not to say anything to the adults, and Hermione's parents had found it unusual she had stopped asking for allowance money. However, William had noticed the rather large amount of food containers from expensive restaurants and decided to confront her about it.
"Moine, your mother and I have a question for you."
"Sure dad."
"We are concerned about where you have been obtaining money from as of lately. We have noticed the large amount of food containers from expensive restaurants. The old greenhouse has been turned into some kind of lab. Please tell me you haven't been selling drugs?"
"Oh – you think I would do that? Nah too boring. Actually, I work for Harry. We are selling lab grade materials to the local universities."
"Lab Grade materials?"
"Harry can use his magic to produce Graphene from Graphite. We built a production line. We run the machines for about four hours a day. When I go missing every evening, we do homework, study magic and keep an eye on the machine in the null-box. Lorna sells the powder suspended in water and the foil out of the back of her wagon."
"This is the Graphene that they talk about in those science shows?"
"Exactly that. Over the last three months I have made nine thousand pounds. So has Harry and Lorna. Harry is going to Gringotts to set up an officially registered magical business that also has a presence in the normal world too. We are tired with checking bills with money counters, so we are eventually moving the operation to Amazon. You can come by and see the entire thing if you want. Harry is literally sitting on 170,000 pounds from three months of operation because we are producing an expensive product for the price of peanuts with his magic. Harry can see the atomic structure of things. It is like the ruby ducky transfiguration…but a really expensive quality lab grade rubber ducky is being produced."
Both of Grangers were flabbergasted. Hermione continued to explain as they realised that the truth was even stranger than fiction.
"Harry was not sure if people would like the quality of the product he was producing. These three months were kind of a trial. Like selling cookies out of a kitchen. Also consider that normal banks would ask for a source of funds if he deposited what he earned – what would Harry tell them?
He is a wizard who peddles Graphene products like a drug dealer, in brown paper bags….in his spare time? That would be a disaster.
The plan is for Harry to operate from his new wizard business Peverell Industries. Lorna said the Goblins can apply for a business to have a Muggle presence and any money we earn on Amazon or elsewhere automatically becomes galleons."
"I suppose this is what it is like living with wizards and witches? I have to say, we are proud. That is a fairly decent wage?" replied William.
"Actually dad, that isn't really true. Most wizards aren't 'Muggle' educated like us, remember. Nor do they have access to what Harry has in terms of research. Maybe you can come with us to Gringotts? We have a couple hard-shell cases full of pound bills and I almost feel like a Drug Lord, even though we don't do nothing illegal. You know, just for safety?"
"Sure. Show us the production line this evening? You have to understand, this all sounds impossible." replied William.
Harry was rather surprised when the Grangers showed up to find him looking at a dissected broom along with some unique charms that Lilly Potter had developed. Harry had discovered a suite of custom broom creation spells that were supposed to be for "Thunderbolt Broom Company." Sadly, with the death of his parents, that dream had not materialised. Nonetheless, Harry studied the charms closely. His mother had developed a system where individual broom components could be produced. Harry for the last four months had been studying his mother's theory.
William and Jean came to appreciate that Harry was running a full prototyping lab. As the 3D printers whizzed away, William realised that Harry had a deft hand when it came to building objects. Hermione spent the evening explaining the initial issues they had faced, before they slowly iterated their design.
"Well, since you are such a responsible young lady, how about you contribute a five hundred pounds to the monthly bills?" asked Jean cheekily. Of, course she was not serious.
"I was planning to do one thousand, but I hoped to surprise you with my bank card. Of course, you got suspicious early and kinda ruined my prank. But…deal, no problem."
William raised his eyebrow. Their Hermione was becoming a riot, but a good kind of troublemaker? Harry then wrote a quick note to Bloodaxe while the smiles and comments were being traded on the other end.
Hello Master Bloodaxe,
I have a lot of loose muggle currency that I would like to bring into Gringotts to deposit in my account. However, it is too much to fit in a moleskin pouch. I was wondering if I could apparate into Gringotts? I am bringing company with me. Three other family members.
I also would like to discuss some investment options. My father had investments from what I read recently. I am quite aware it has been a year I have not visited the bank, but I was busy recovering from my ordeal. I do believe I am ready to get up to some general mischief. I have a business that I would like to register and I have some other general housekeeping issues to sort out.
Thanks for the accommodation as always.
Regards,
Harry Potter.
When Bloodaxe received the correspondence, he was rather excited. His supercapacitors had been received warmly and they were being used in a variety of experimental wards that Gringotts had always wanted to power. Bloodaxe had been instructed to ascertain if Lord Peverell's designs were advancing. Bloodaxe suspected that this was the case. He quickly scribbled a reply.
Hello Harry,
Grace was shown the VIP Lobby. It is acceptable to apparate there. I have prepared for you and your entourage. Saturday, I am not busy. You may drop in during the morning.
Regards,
Bloodaxe.
During the rest of the week, Harry and Hermione had discussed a possible solution to getting all the Peverell notes translated. Harry had noticed that when he used his laptop, Invictus could see the screen quite clearly. Harry was also aware that Invictus could interact with objects in his environment. A mad idea popped into his head and he began to wonder if these ideas could be combined to give Invictus access to technology. As Hermione went through the dusty Peverell notes and tomes, she commented:
"I wish we had all of these on a computer. If they were text searchable that would be excellent. Translations could go much faster, as we would not have this much physical labour to deal with."
"Or better yet Mione, what if we could probably figure out how the portrait works. And then we could connect him to the outside world where he can interact things." Harry thought aloud.
"I always wondered how magical portraits where so lively. Maybe you can me about the process of how you are created Gramps?" Hermione questioned.
"A special ink is used, and the spell is redone every time the brush is passed on the canvas. The pattern gets more and more complex as they weave the spell work into the ink. The ink may be mixed with pigments to produce images." replied Invictus.
"And you have the ability to hear us and see us in spite of actually not having organs not so?" Hermione queried, genuinely curious.
"Never thought about that – somehow there must be a substitute. Maybe it's in the paint – there isn't anything else really?" Invictus pondered.
"Any chance you chose a two meter portrait because bigger portraits are more accurate and livelier?" Hermione asked hopefully.
"Yes, I did – what is the significance? I can see thoughts are swirling in your head…" Invictus questioned.
"I think the paint probably has structures that are similar to neurons. Essentially, the paint acts as a brain and the magic programs it into patterns from the subject's original brain. So, imagine we extended your portrait by creating maybe an additional box that gave you more space to think – more processing power."
"Modification of portraits are not unheard of – Master Painter Lord Fouquet could do it easily back in my time. Gringotts will know probably know who to ask. What modification are you interested in?"
"I am thinking it might be time for you to get a keyboard painted in your environment. I notice you can light the torches in your picture frame. Imagine of you can make a spot on the portrait light up? I could use a photosensor and convert that to a keystroke?"
"That-That is brilliant Harry. I want you to come over and visit my potions lab. I decided to work on the Wound Cleaning Potion and I could use your company. I have some ideas on how to offset the acidity. When you are ready to build that device, I will help you."
Harry on Friday had his first encounter with Arabella Figg. Unknown to her, Harry had remembered Arabella Figg being an informal lookout in the muggle world during previous Order of the Phoenix operations in the last war. Lilly Potter with her fantastic memory had documented all the odd personalities she had encountered until her death. Harry's mind immediately put the observations together and realised that the batty woman next door was probably Dumbledore's informant.
"Good – she will be put to use." Harry thought to himself, as he spoke to her.
Arabella Figg was only too happy to report to Dumbledore later that day, that the Dursley family had become responsible. Arabella, unaware of all the plans and plotting going on at Privet Drive happily reported that Petunia had become pleasant, the young Dudley was easily shaping up to be an athlete. Vernon was a hardworking man, and drove a nice car.
Arabella reported that Harry was well mannered, and physically fit. He ran around the neighbourhood on mornings, and it had been rumoured that he was not the brightest student, but definitely far above average. Better yet he was respectful, and he had offered to carry her across the road.
Dumbledore smiled and thought to himself in all his hubris "He is becoming exactly what I need." Little did he know, Harry was undergoing exponential magical growth, pruning his mind to become an absolute razor, and doing cutting edge research while unknowingly misleading him with a broken trinket in his office. And all that while making fat stacks of cash.
On Saturday, Harry arrived directly at the V.I.P Gringotts lobby with a large amount of hard shell cases. He requested to see Bloodaxe after telling the goblin at the information desk that he should smash the little toe of his enemy into pulp with a hammer and use guerrilla marketing tactics to drive his enemy into madness. William had smiled at Harry's odd but creative quips at the Goblin
Little did Harry know that the Goblins were collecting his greetings and compiling them into a book called "How to insult your enemies, and make friends like Lord Peverell"
William and Hermione who had been prepared duly, gave their formal greetings. William and Hermione were a little unnerved initially, but because the proper decorum had been shown, the Goblins were not bothered. There was always a first time for all wizards when they entered the bank, and witnessed the Goblins. Harry walked into Bloodaxe's office with Lorna, Hermione and William in tow. As they entered the office and Harry stacked up the cases, Bloodaxe began to suspect that Harry Potter had been very busy. Bloodaxe decided to forgo the usual protocol as he considered Harry to be good company.
"Hello Harry, how have you been? How can I help you today? I think some introductions are necessary?" He enquired kindly.
"Indeed, Master Goblin. Hermione Granger and her father Mr. William Granger. Ms. Lorna Findley over here, and me?"
"Excellent, why don't we all have a seat. I am happy to meet your extended family. It is nice to put faces to the inheritance ritual. I am curious as to why you need so much cases, what do they contain?"
"Oh right, that is one hundred and seventy thousand pounds. Profits from my business over the last three months." Bloodaxe almost fell off his chair when he heard the rather large sum of money.
"Er, Bloodaxe is that a lot of money by Wizarding standards?" asked Harry.
"Harry that is a lot of money by even by our standards?" Lorna laughed.
"I suppose there is an entertaining tale involved. Tea for all of us. Tell us how you saw so much success in such a short period of time?" asked Bloodaxe.
"Well, I was not happy about burning through my savings. Apart from getting a new wardrobe and improving my general standard of living, equipment for my lab and miscellaneous expenses are quite high. I also have a habit of eating expensive take out on a regular basis. I decided I wanted to get some income to support my living expenses."
"Quite an admirable goal. What did you decide to do?" asked Bloodaxe.
"Well, I was using my Mage sight to explore wands. Hermione and I learnt a lot about how magic is channelled through wands and in the process, we tried an experiment that allowed us to trigger a spell from a wand with a power rune. Let me clarify…we triggered a spell in a repeatable manner without a person providing the magic directly. Stored magic was enough to do the job."
"That is very remarkable!"
"It is – for Wizards the runic patchwork-quilt problem has been an ongoing issue. Anyway, I was unsatisfied with the power rock and decided to copy a common muggle design to make a magical energy storage device. While the first prototype was alright, by pure accident I discovered that my House Magic has the ability to shape materials at the atomic level. Or perhaps my scientific knowledge allows me to rework the House Magic in new ways. So that was how you got some of the rough supercapacitors to play with for Christmas."
"My king was impressed. We are already using them in some experimental wards. I take it you already know that House Elves and Goblins can bypass wards? Well, we have an anti-elf apparition ward and a magic-masking ward that we recently designed and we had no viable way to power it."
"Magic-masking?" asked Harry.
"It should, in theory block all magical mail, tracking spells, apparition and everything else. After we took the Mail blocking ward off your house, we examined it and tweaked it. We had never encountered a ward like that before. We believe it is an obscure ward only Albus Dumbledore knows. We did not like the idea of being vulnerable to it. "
"Makes sense. As for exactly what I sell, well….
So, yes while those improvements were coming by, I began to wonder if I might be able to use my magic to produce a sophisticated Muggle lab material. I succeeded and graphene is usually used for electrical energy storage devices and strengthening materials. My graphene foil sells for 5 galleons per piece. I also have an ink that sells for fourteen galleons. By the way take a look at this ink and tell me if it is close to Wizarding ink." Harry proceeded to hand Bloodaxe a bottle and Bloodaxe tried some with a quill.
"This is the best ink I have ever used. Why do Muggles require wizarding ink?" asked Bloodaxe.
"They use it to experiment with their own things. A lot of people use them for devices that store electricity. So here we have a material recently discovered by science, that has existed in the magical world for a long time, that is both capable of storing magic and electricity. I had considered selling the solution as Wizarding ink but nobody could meet the seventy pound price. I rather get fourteen galleons for my item in the mundane world."
"That is understandable. Profit is Profit." replied Bloodaxe.
"I want to create a Wizarding business that also accepts muggle transactions. Peverell Industries will be the name. From the Peverell Industries account I want a six hundred galleon salary sent to Ms. Findley. I also want the same amount sent to Hermione, which implies she will have to get an account here. I also want one million galleons moved from the main Peverell Vault into the business account, and whatever I brought here on loose bills can be deposited."
Bloodaxe gathered the required parchment and began to organise everything as he asked Harry some more specific questions. He also provided Hermione with forms to open an account. After Bloodaxe confirmed if she was interested in an account, he handed her the papers and said:
"Very well. Ms. Granger please look at this forms and sign here when you are done. Be mindful of the quill, it draws blood."
Hermione took the forms and looked it over as Harry continued to explain some of the more unusual requests.Harry then continued:
"I want to invest in a couple of Muggle tech companies. I understand their products and in five years I can see the profits. Does Gringotts offer that service?"
It was at this point that Bloodaxe explained that Gringotts had been considering that the Wizarding economy would collapse upon itself in about two centuries, and Lord Ragnok had a large amount of Goblin assets invested in numerous Muggle companies. The Goblins had most of their gold stored in gold reserves through intermediaries so that if war came to their door, their gold would be safe. Essentially, they already had the mechanisms set up to purchase stock, and Harry needed to specify how in each company he wanted.
"I think I will take one million galleons from the main Peverell vault and I will split them evenly among Toyota, Microsoft, Tesla, SpaceX and Facebook. I also want another one million galleons invested in the S&P 500. I will leave all of those as long term assets. What about my wizarding business assets for Potter Estate?"
"The Potter accounts are connected to Wizarding businesses in Diagon alley. Nimbus Broom Company, Sleakeasy's Hair Potion, Teenage Witch Weekly and Zonko's Joke Shop collectively earn the Potter main vault an average of 1200 galleons monthly, totalling at 14,400 galleons yearly."
"That is disappointing. Maybe that is good by Wizarding standards, but I will work on that. By the end of next year, Nimbus is in trouble. How much do I own in Nimbus?
"Two percent or 200 shares. I do understand the shares are up for sale. Many people after the war cashed out their shares to recover money. Forty percent of the company valued at two million galleons are available for purchase."
"Alright – I rather not purchase anything large right now. Use one million galleons for twenty percent of the Nimbus ownership for now. I should own twenty two percent of the company so excellent. By the way, who is my competition in terms of moving the most amount of galleons? I like a challenge."
Bloodaxe's face took on an impressed look and he laughed.
"Sometimes I wonder if you are part Goblin. Rumour has it that the Malfoys make approximately 8000 gallons a month, but they have taken generations to establish that type of cash flow and it often involved political favours."
"Who are the Malfoys?"
"Ah, generally we are not allowed to reveal customer transactions that happen inside the bank – however the youngest Malfoy made a mistake that allowed that information to become public. Let me explain the particulars.
The Malfoys were a French family that came from France many centuries ago. They were a friend to English Royalty. As time progressed, they became more intolerant, but continued to maintain the gifts and assets they had acquired. Currently the Malfoy family consists of Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy nee. Black and their son Draco Malfoy. They are considered not necessarily a wealthy family in terms of investments. The main bulk of their wealth is in art and jewellery and antiques. These items with almost eight centuries of heritage could easily be worth eight million galleons total. Close to your own worth.
However, what I will say is that unless they part with those assets, they cannot be monetised. It is true that they will continue to climb in value as time passes, but the family will never part with them and it essentially is wealth that trapped. Their investments are primarily in potions and other black market artifacts. They also stifle their competition through the Wizengamot. I have no idea what their loose gold value is, but I would like to believe when you come into your majority as Lord Potter, you will be wealthier than them. Or you could possibly already be wealthier than them, right now.
This information was obtained as I was walking down the road and the young Malfoy was reminding many young girls how much money his family possessed. He bragged for fifteen minutes straight as his parents had been indisposed. I was able to work out the specifics by guesswork. If I had attempted to share any transactions or information that had been obtained within these walls, my oath would strike me dead.
"He sounds like he needs a fucking boot to the head."
William and Lorna raised their eyebrows as Harry demonstrated his unique brand of sailor language.
"He and his entire family.
Your grandfather Charlus and even Lord Arcturus Black did not like them, even in the days of Abraxas Malfoy. It was rumoured that Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater in the last war – he will become an issue to deal with, as your businesses expand in the wizarding world.
The only family that is wealthier than them is House Black, the house of your godfather. Their businesses have disappeared with the death of their business owners. Most of them were Grindelwald supporters. They died when many foreign Magical families retaliated with deadly force. House Black has wealth in Jewels, Silver and Gold Bars and various art pieces. So, I heard a long time on at Fortescue's. Yes Harry, I eat ice-cream."
Harry smiled.
"Good to know. What is your fee on exchanging the currency?"
"The bank takes two percent. I do not take any personal fees." replied Bloodaxe.
"From an account that I read in my Father's journal, I know negotiations depend on what the client is willing to give. My father used to give you one percent. Considering Gringotts is looking out for me, let the bank take three percent, and you can take two for your personal coffers. And you better believe as things get rolling, you are going to get a bigger cut. After all, I believe I am already punching above Malfoy's league not so?"
"Thank you Harry, those commissions are quite generous. The reason why I was surprised when I heard the sum of money you brought, is that while your business is being run in the muggle world, you are moving the largest amount of galleons as of right now. What was your monthly salary?"
"My salary is technically six hundred galleons. I also take money for salaries, operational costs and research before the money arrives here. Gross earnings is probably about 85,000 pounds monthly."
"The reason why Wizarding businesses do not need to make large amounts of money, is because Wizards normally use magic to get by and the total wizarding population of England is only 12,000 individuals in England. Therefore, the economy is very small. Nimbus is the only international company of significance. If Muggle customers are willing to spend fourteen galleons on an item, and you are selling by the hundreds, it will be easy to surpass most of them. I take it you don't plan to stop?"
"No. In fact, I want Hermione in the game. We will figure something out. I do have several projects coming up also, so we should have extra income coming in. I have a vineyard which is ready, but we are trying to incorporate some muggle methods in the wine production. That has not been successful. I will keep trying. Suddenly I am a wine maker now, I guess?"
"I certainly look forward to your success. Your success, is profit for me. Anything else?" Bloodaxe asked.
"For now, no. I am interested in selling the properties form the amalgamated inheritance a little later on. As for Remus Lupin, later I will deal with him as he already has the money. My primary aim is to finish Muggle school and to begin to study magic intensively. I also need access to a person who specialises in Portrait painting. The best. If is for a cutting edge experiment."
"I will ask around. Gringotts has a loose network of people, while not officially affiliated with the bank are well known for their expertise."
Hermione had signed the document as the scar slowly healed. Bloodaxe took her through what to expect. The door opened and another Goblin presented Hermione with a vault key and a bank card.
"Thanks Master Bloodaxe. I don't plan to let Harry have all the fun."
Harry then commented:
"I feel like a family member here. So much for vicious Goblins bla bla bla wizarding nonsense. I read the Hogwarts history textbook by the way, it is like a toddler wrote the textbook. Anyway, I think I am done here. Today is Hermione's first time at the bank and Mr. Granger is not magical. This has been an experience for both of them. Lorna here is keeping an eye out so she can inform my mother of the secret mischief we have been up to. I can't wait for the interrogation."
"Ah, good luck with that Harry. It was a pleasure doing business with you. Why can't the rest of wizards give us an olive branch?"
"I have no idea. You better believe when I am ready, I will turn their lives upside down."
Bloodaxe nodded and bid him goodbye as he apparated with everyone else away from the bank. Everyone arrived at the Granger living room. Lorna left and Harry stayed because Hermione wanted to have a conversation with him and her parents.
Over the next hour, Hermione outlined how she had been skipped two years ahead previously. This meant that she was approximately the same age with Harry, and would finish primary school at ten years old, at the same time with Harry on his accelerated schedule. That left exactly one year and some spare months before the Hogwarts letter arrived and she was interested in doing her magical studies at an accelerated pace.
Harry and Hermione had agreed that both of them would continue standard Mundane education but would start at the GCSE level and take personalised classes, while spending most of their day working away at magical subjects and experimentation. Hermione had already worked up a hypothetical timetable, and Harry approved of the high intensity study schedule.
Harry was not preparing for a comfortable life – he was preparing himself for a war. Lord Voldemort did not hesitate to kill his parents and he was not going to hesitate with any of the fuckers who had it coming to them.