If Hermione was here what would she be suggesting as their next action?
Seconds ticked into minutes.
"Scribulus' for ink, quill and parchment, to write down the charms, before my transfiguration fades. To Gringotts to ask about ID tests, vaults and get these charms notated. Maybe ask about exchange pouches. Buy a trunk, a tent and groceries." Harry blinked. "Okay… that was weird. Channelling Hermione… never done that before." He heaved himself to his feet and stuffed the draughts into the coin pouch. "Scribulus' it is."
The goblin frowned at Harry from across the desk.
"Are you aware that you are under glamours?" It asked.
"Yeah…" Harry sighed. "Two of my mate's brothers are pranksters, they like potions, drinking anything at their place…? It can be… dangerous. I'm not twelve years old, I'm seventeen, I'll be eighteen in a few weeks." Or that had been the case, before he'd walked into the veil.
"Ah, I see. What can Gringotts do for you today?"
"I need some information and after that? It depends on the answers." Harry replied.
"Information? I may be able to assist, but until I know what type if information you need…?" The goblin huffed.
Harry looked at the notebook in his hand, making it clear that he was doing so. "First. Identity tests? How do they work? I mean... The cost? And what's involved in doing one?"
"There are three types of tests. Identity. Inheritance. And Propriety. Each requires three drops of the recipient's blood into a potion and the potion poured onto a treated and charmed sheet of parchment. An Identity test costs ʛ5, an Inheritance test costs ʛ20, as does a Propriety Test."
Harry wrote down the goblin's answer.
"Can tests be bought and taken away?"
"Yes… but they aren't considered legal, if not validated by Gringotts."
"For what I want that's not really an issue. My cousin… there's been some doubt about his parentage." Harry said without actually saying what he meant.
"You can bring them here." The goblin said. "Or pay for a test on their behalf."
"They're muggles." Harry corrected.
"Ah, a muggleborn." Like that answered why Harry was asking all these questions.
"No, sir. My mother was, but she died when I was a baby and I was sent to live with my muggle Uncle." That was the truth, if you looked sideways at it. "He doesn't like magic much, there was a huge argument over me going to Hogwarts, screaming, shouting, broken doors, that sort of thing. There's no way, he'd ever come to the Alley, or let my cousin come here. If I were to take something with me… that's different, he'd never admit to seeing anything magical, not in action. The result, sure, but not in action."
"Ah, I see. Yes, identity tests be purchased for home testing, however… to be legal a test must be validated by Gringotts. Because you'll not be having validations done, the cost is less, ʛ2 covers the cost of the potion and the parchment. Inheritance and Propriety tests must be done at Gringotts."
"Do you have a way of creating a family tree or history?"
"We don't, but there is a Family Heritage Specialist in Diagon. Heritage Options, they've a small door in between Ollivander's and Scribulus'. I do not know what they require for the creation of a family history."
"Right." Harry made another note in his notebook and turned a page. "Vaults. What's involved in opening one? How do I access it here? Can I access it externally? Do you have something that connects with the muggle world, that I can use in the muggle world?"
"Opening a vault requires a validated identity test, freshly done or one that has been connected to your magical signature. To access a vault in person, you simply present yourself and your key, to a teller and either request a transaction or to physically visit your vault. For external access we have linked money purses, where you simply state the amount and pulse your magic into the Gringotts' cartouche on the purse. We have subsidiary branches in the muggle world and many muggleborns use these, as opposed to a vault, as any other muggle banks may transfer to and from their accounts. These subsidiary branches offer the usual muggle access cards."
Harry wrote furiously for a few seconds. "Great." He turned another page. "Do you have some way for me to exchange muggle money for ʛalleons, §ickles or κnuts, externally, without visiting any branches?"
"We have exchange pouches. There are a number of different types. Single transfers. Meaning… From muggle pounds to ʛalleons. From ʛalleons to pounds. From ʛalleons to draughts. From draughts to ʛalleons. Dual transfers. ʛalleons to pounds and back. ʛalleons to draughts and back. Then there's our omni-directional pouch. One side works in pounds and the other does both ʛalleons and draughts."
"Explain that one a bit more please."
"An omni-directional pouch? It had two pockets, the exterior of one will have a small medallion with the pound symbol on it while the second pocket has two medallions, one that appears to be a miniature ʛalleon and the second is engraved with the Gringotts' logo. Now… Say you have a handful of pound notes and wish to change them to a Gringotts' draught? With one of our omni-directional pouches, you place the pounds in the side marked with the ʛalleon medallion and pulse your magic into the medallion. This will exchange the pounds for ʛalleons, only ʛalleons not §ickles or κnuts, so please be aware that you may still end up with a small amount of muggle money, which you need to remove before progressing any further. Then you would pulse your magic into the second medallion, the Gringotts' logo. This will exchange the ʛalleons for Gringotts' draughts. If you have a draught and which to exchange it for pounds? There are a couple of options. One you can simply reverse the actions to acquire ʛalleons, then transfer them to the opposite side to exchange for pounds. Or two… you can lay a Gringotts' draught on a flat surface or hold it by a corner over a container and pulse your magic into the ʛalleon amount printed onto the draught. This will terminate the charms used by Gringotts and each tiny image of a ʛalleon on the draught will revert to a ʛalleon coin. At which point the parchment card will be worthless as a draught. If, however, you were to bring such a card to Gringotts, we will purchase it back from your, for ʛ1, as it already contains the enchantments needed for replenishing the draught. It takes three goblins, three hours to create a draught from scratch, but only one goblin, one hour, if using a depleted draught. ʛalleons can then be exchanged for pounds using the pouch." The goblin waited while Harry made his notes, then continued. "The pouch can also be used to exchange smaller denominations for larger ones. As an example. You have a jar of muggle coins. You can pour them into the pound side and activate that side, it will exchange to the largest possible denomination. Although muggles do have £50 notes, Gringotts uses £20 notes as the largest available in our exchange pouches. This is done as many muggle businesses prefer to use smaller notes. The same applies to ʛalleons, §ickles and κnuts. A jar of κnuts can be placed into the Gringotts' side of the pouch and exchanged for ʛalleons and §ickles. Which can them be exchanged for draughts. And so on. Each exchange will take approximately ten seconds to complete."
"Brilliant…" Harry did his best to smile without showing his teeth.
"They are incredibly handy, yes." The goblin agreed.
"How can I get one? What are the conditions of use?"
"If you have a vault, the setup cost is minute and you pay an ongoing fee each month, with the cost being removed from your vault, on the date of acquisition. If you don't have a vault, the setup cost is larger. The actual transfer is where Gringotts makes our fees. Over the counter the exchange between pounds and ʛalleons is ʛ1 equals £4.93, but with our exchange pouches, it is ʛ1 equals £5."
"So, I lose seven pence for every £5?"
"That is correct." The goblin nodded.
"And how much is the setup? Both with and without a vault?" Harry asked.
"With a vault, ʛ5 in advance and §1 per month. Without a vault, ʛ15. And the pouch has unlimited use with both options." The goblin replied.
Harry bit his lip while he considered what to do. He handed over a sheet of parchment.
"Please read this."
"Why?"
"Muggles frequently drop a coin or lose a note or wallet or throw away a small coin, as far as the police… uh, the muggle Aurors, I mean. As far as they are concerned, those coins or notes that are later found by someone else, become the finder's possession. Wallets and purses are usually handed in to the police, if they aren't claimed within a certain timeframe, they may be claimed by the finder. I am assuming the wizarding world works the same and have created a spell-chain to locate and summon such lost, abandoned or discarded monies. I would prefer that Gringotts be aware of this."
"Interesting. I note that the timeframe and distance is only nominated once. Is there a reason for that?"
"Yes, it's more an estimate than a set number. It's slightly flexible, some people are a more precise judge of distance or time than others and it… kind of depends on what the caster judges." Harry tried not to give too much away. "Some people judge months by date, the first of the month to the first of the month. Others by the moon, a month is twenty-eight days. Others again average it out and say that a month is thirty or thirty-one days. Distance? Some people are excellent judges of distance and others are a little imprecise."
"Ah." Was all the goblin said as he made a few notes. "Do you have a vault with us?"
"My Uncle refused permission and in the muggle world, we don't come of age until eighteen and guardians have the right to refuse permission or to close an account or withdraw us from education. I left Hogwarts at the end of my sixth year. Without NEWTs, employment in the wizarding world is limited. Without a muggle education, employment in the muggle world is even more limited. However, the muggle military, the Army, Navy and Airforce aren't too worried about certificates, as long as you can follow orders. But without a guardian's consent, you can't join before you turn eighteen."
"And that is your intention?"
"They'll post you anywhere in the country, so I'd have the opportunity to use my LAD spell-chain to find money simply waiting to be found. But I don't want to give up using my magic, so I figured that if I bought an expanded trunk, I could use that for extra storage or when I want to transfigure or charm something." Harry answered without actually answering the question.
"Well… normally we would add a copy of your charm to your vault file, but without a vault and the possibility of you not opening one in the future, the best I can do is note it on a pouch purchase, if you were to purchase one, of course."
Harry just nodded, while he tried to think of what name to put on the paperwork.
"Might I suggest you not put the name you are commonly known by, on such a purchase. And keep it simple, something that you will remember, but something that no one else is likely to guess."
"Okay…" Harry nodded. "I'd like one of the omni-directional pouches, please. And four identity tests, to take away."
"Very good, young sir. I shall send for the tests. Please excuse me." The goblin crossed to a goblin-sized door and disappeared through it.
Harr meanwhile sat and thought. What should he call himself? There were three people that Harry considered 'his' family. Hermione, Sirius and Remus. But what and what order? He hummed and scribbled in his notebook, different ideas, different names, first-names, middle names and surnames.
By the time the goblin returned, Harry had reached a decision, this wasn't going to be his permanent name, that would depend on the results of the ID tests. No, this was just a temporary name, but how temporary was another matter.
"Sir? If you'd fill out this form, please? No need to attach a magical signature, just a written one is fine. After all this is not a magically binding contract." The goblin pushed a sheet of parchment across the desk.
Harry picked up the quill and began to fill out the form in the name of Ewan Rion Granger. Ewan being the Scottish version of Evan, for his mother. Rion was as close as he would go to Orion, for Sirius. Granger, was of course, for Hermione.
Ten minutes later he was back on the roof of WWW. He laid the exchange pouch on the ground in front of him with his satchel beside it. He pulled out the Gringotts' draughts and tucked them under his leg. The first exchange was muggle money to ʛalleons, which tipped back into his coin pouch. Then the draughts went in and were reverted back to ʛalleons, with the parchment carefully put back in the satchel.
The sight of his coin pouch prompted Harry to try and use his spell-chain and summon any containers holding LAD money, be-it muggle or magical. Then a frown pulled at him as he thought about what he'd told the goblin about the timeframe and distance. A few seconds of indecision and Harry sighed. He recast the spell-chain, but this time he decreased the timeframe down to three minutes and the distance increased to one mile.
Half an hour passed before Harry had finished his summoning and exchanged everything for ʛalleons and draughts. He'd kept £60 and the little bit of change in muggle money, placing it in a plain men's wallet that had been one of the LAD containers. All other containers had been emptied and banished back where they'd come from.
A final count of his LAD money was £64.80 in muggle money, ʛ28,460 in draughts and ʛ9, §14 and κ22.
Time to go shopping.
A few minutes were spent working out what shops were where, before Harry entered the first shop.
Bags and Boxes sold everything you could think of when it came to storage. Bags, boxes and trunks of all shapes and sizes.
"Afternoon." The shopkeeper greeted Harry. "How can I help you?"
"I'm after a trunk…" He started.
"Well, you're in the right place for that." The wizard laughed. "What sort of trunk and what do you plan to do with it?"
"Ah, that takes a little explaining." Harry proceeded to tell the shopkeeper the same, mostly true, tale that he'd told the goblin.
"I see…" The wizard sighed. "It happens all too often, lad."
"Yeah, I figured that I couldn't be the first and likely wouldn't be the last." Harry gave him a half-hearted grin.
"So, the military, huh?"
Harry just shrugged. "There's not a lot of other options and they'll help you get muggle qualifications as you go."
"But you don't want to give up doing magic?"
"No, sir. I was thinking of… maybe an expanded trunk, a couple of compartments, I could use some as storage and one as my main magical space." Harry said.
"That would work. We have limits on expanded capacity trunks, you understand. We can't sell you anything with more than a total of four hundred square feet or four compartments, not unless you're an Auror."
"Nope, I was planning on it, at least until I left Hogwarts." Harry sighed. "But four hundred square feet? That's not really much space."
"Lad? I suggest you get the biggest I'm allowed to sell you, then you trot off down Technic Alley to Add a Room or Two and see if they can help you."
"Add a Room or Two?" Harry asked.
"They do wizard spaces. Wizard spaces are created very different to expanded spaces, so you can put one inside the other. You can't put a wizard space inside a wizard space, likewise with expanded spaces, but combing the two? Yeah, you can do that."
Harry's face lit up. "Wow, that great, thanks, I'll do that."
"So, the biggest trunk I can sell you is four hundred square feet, over four compartments." The wizard said.
"Yeah…" Harry hummed. "Let's see… Two compartments at ten-by-ten, one hundred square feet each. One at one hundred and eighty or ten-by-eighteen feet. And one at twenty, four-by-five feet."
"Not a bad mix. Now how would you like them set out? What order? Vertical or horizontal? Where do you want the entry? And what timber would you like?"
Harry frowned. What would Hermione say? "Vertical access. Compartment one, is the twenty square feet, I'd like the entry to be on the shorter size and to the left. Two and three are the one hundred square feet and entry is the middle of a side, as they're all the same, it doesn't matter. Four is the largest, entry to be the middle of the longer side. And I'd prefer oak."
"I can do that. I'll assume you want lighting, ventilation and atmospheric controls?" Harry nodded in answer. "Right, just let me work out an order sheet for you." The wizard jotted down locations and sizes, adding in the various controls. "Lad, I'll warn you now, it's going to be expensive. The physical trunk is ʛ10, the three extra compartments are ʛ50 each, and the expanded space… four hundred square feet is ʛ4000." He held up a hand. "The Ministry sets the prices, not me. ʛ10 per foot for all expansions."
"Damn." Harry grunted. That was a big chunk of money gone in one go. But it was still a better deal than the ones he'd seen in Borgan and Burkes. "Do it, before I change my mind." He ordered.
"I need to know you've got the funds, lad. Ministry orders. ʛ4000 is a lot of money."
"Hang on." Harry pulled out his satchel and shuffled through the draughts until he found the ones he wanted. "Here." He laid the required number of draughts.
"Good enough, lad, have a seat and I'll have your trunk ready to go in a minute or two." The wizard flicked his wand and an unstained, unsealed trunk slid from a storage room. An array of runes were quickly carved into the surfaces of the trunks' interior frame and the wizard cast a silencing charm around him, before creating the multiple compartments, then he chanted the charm that locked and activated the runes expanding each one. Another flick and the wizard took a deep breath.
"All done." He turned the trunk to face Harry. "This point here?" He pointed at the centre of the lock. "This is where you set the blood securities. This is the physical activation point for shrink and enlarge." He pointed to a cartouche at one end of the trunk's lid. "All my trunks have featherlight, fire repellent and weather protections as standard. You'll find a product guide book in the first compartment, but it's fairly easy to figure out."
"That's good to know." Harry said.
"Better to be prepared than lose everything." The wizard warned.
"Isn't that the truth?" Harry laughed. "ʛ4160? Right?" He counted out draughts to that amount.
"Yep. That's it. Good, lad. You go and see Albert, you tell him Carson sent you. Tell him your story and what you plan to do. He'll do right by you. He's my brother and we've both lost friends that were in the same position you're in, lad, if we can help you, we will."
"Thank you." Harry shook Carson's hand and after shrinking the trunk and tucking it in this satchel, he left the shop headed for Technic Alley.