DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANY OTHER CHARACTER FROM THE HARRY POTTER UNIVERSE.
Diagon Alley - Gringotts
The next day Harry woke up feeling completely refreshed. He was surprised when he checked his watch and saw that it was 8am. This was the first time in years that he slept later than 6am. He could really get used to this.
He quickly got out of bed and put on his glasses. He left the room and went to the bathroom to finish his morning routine and for the first time in his life, he took a good long bath without caring about using up the hot water. He went back to his room with only a towel wrapped around his waste and opened the cupboard. He looked through the clothes until he found underwear that fit him somewhat along with a t-shirt that was only two sizes too big for him as compared to the usual 4 or 5 sizes too big. Next he found a pair of faded jeans that had been gifted to Dudley a few years back that fitted Harry perfectly. How anyone thought these would ever fit Dudley he would never know.
Finally dressed, he looked into the mirror on the inside of the cupboard and saw that he looked somewhat presentable for the first time that he could remember. He tried to make his hair lie flat and succeeded a little since his hair were still damp from the bath but they were still sticking out in all directions.
Harry put on his old sneakers that were only held together with tape and then pocketed his money along with both the letters on his table. He went downstairs at around 9am and saw that his uncle had already left and his aunt was clearing up the breakfast. She didn't even acknowledge his presence when he walked in.
Harry looked around and thought about what to do but made up his mind quickly. He would get something to eat in London. He told his aunt that he was leaving and that he didn't know when he would be back. She just gave him a glance and then went back to the dishes.
Harry shrugged and left the house. He walked to the bus station and was soon on his way to Charing Cross Road. It took an hour to get there by bus and by the time he got off he was really hungry. He saw a small restaurant right across the street and quickly made his way to it.
After a huge meal, Harry contentedly walked down the street looking for the Leaky Cauldron. His aunt had described it as shabby and dingy and when he found it, he couldn't help but agree.
He went in and saw that the inside was just as shabby looking as outside. He went to the back of the pub and followed a woman wearing colorful robes and a pointed hat through the back door. He saw her pull out her wand and tap a particular sequence on the brick wall. He made sure to remember the sequence. He looked on in shock and awe as the wall folded onto itself to make a arch and got his first glimpse of Diagon Alley.
It was unlike anything he had ever seen. For the second time in as many days his mask slipped off as he stared open-mouthed at the view in front of him. Then someone behind him told him to get a move on and he snapped out of it. he quickly moved into Diagon Alley and walked towards the big white building he could see at the end of the street which he assumed was Gringotts from his aunt's description. He stared wide-eyed at everything he saw as moved past different shops and vendors.
(The description of Diagon Alley is the same as canon so I'm not gonna repeat it.)
He finally reached Gringotts and quickly climbed the marble steps that led to the huge gold doors. He stared at the two goblin guards but he was prepared this time and didn't gape like an idiot. He quickly moved in and was momentarily stunned by the size of the bank and the amount of goblins working at different counters. There seemed to be at least a hundred goblins.
He moved to the nearest free teller who was counting gold coins in his hands. Harry patiently waited until he was acknowledged.
The goblin finished his counting and then looked up and gruffly asked, "What can I do for you?"
I quickly replied, "I wanted to check if my parents left me any money. They died when I was one and I only recently found out that they were magical."
The goblin looked bored but asked, "Name?"
"Harry Potter"
The goblin froze for a second and then his eyes narrowed. He pulled out some parchment and an ornate knife and handed them to him and said, "Put three drops of your blood onto the parchment to verify that you are who you say you are."
Harry was a little confused but didn't show it. He took the knife and pricked his finger. He let three drops of his blood fall onto the parchment. As soon as the third drop touched the parchment, his finger healed on its own and writing appeared on the parchment in dark red ink.
Name: Harry James Potter
Age: 10
Father: James Charlus Potter
Mother: Lily Marie Potter née Evans
Harry stared at the parchment for a moment and then numbly handed it over to the goblin along with the knife. He had never even known his own full name let alone his parents' names. He only knew that they were James and Lily Potter from what he had forced his aunt to tell him. He looked up and saw that the goblin was yelling at someone behind him in a rough, guttural language that he could only assume was the goblins' native language. Another goblin walked up to the counter and the teller turned back to Harry and gestured towards the other goblin while saying, "Mr. Potter please follow Griphook. He will lead you to your family's Account Manager."
Harry just nodded and thanked the teller before following Griphook. He missed the surprise on the teller's face when he thanked him. Griphook led him through a maze of hallways until they were finally standing in front of huge gold double doors which had a plaque that said 'Silvertooth - Potter, Bones and Black Account Manager'.
Griphook banged on the huge double doors and yelled something in the goblin language. There was a reply from inside in the same language and the doors swung open. Griphook gestured for Harry to go in and left. Harry slowly moved in and saw an old-looking goblin sitting behind an ornate desk wearing an expensive looking suit.
The goblin looked up from some papers as he entered and indicated for him to sit in one of the chairs in front of the desk. As Harry moved to take a seat, the doors closed behind him. When he was settled the goblin spoke up, "Good morning Mr. Potter. My name is Silvertooth and I am your family's Account Manager. We at Gringotts have been hoping that you would show up here for almost 10 years now. If you would have come even a few months later, the Potter family fortune would have been turned over to the Ministry."
Harry was confused again. He blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "Potter family fortune? My family has a fortune? And why would it be given to the Ministry? And what Ministry are you talking about?"
Silvertooth looked at him carefully and then said, "Mr. Potter what do you know about your family and the wizarding world in general?"
Harry answered immediately and honestly, "Next to nothing. I only learned about the wizarding world yesterday when I got my Hogwarts letter and I know nothing about my family other than my parents' name."
The goblin looked at him in surprise which quickly turned to anger. He sighed and said, "Well I suppose that I will have to explain everything."
Silvertooth grumbled under his breath before he took a deep breath and started speaking. He told Harry about the Ministry of Magic and the Wizengamot. He told him about the the Potters being a Most Ancient and Noble House and what that meant. He explained about the House system and that the Potters were one of the oldest and richest families in the wizarding world. He then explained about the last war and how he had disappeared right after his parents' death and the defeat of Voldemort at the hands of Neville Longbottom, the boy who his parents were looking after that night. Silvertooth explained that his parents' will couldn't be read because Harry as the primary beneficiary had to be there for the reading. He told him that the will was sealed by the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Albus Dumbledore, who had named himself as Harry's magical guardian and had just said that Harry was safe and that the will would be read when Harry was ready. Then he told him that as a result of this, Gringotts froze the Potter estate so that it wouldn't fall into the wrong explained that this was done because a lot of people, mainly Dumbledore, were trying to gain access to the Potter estate. He told him about the law that stated that the estate could only be frozen for 10 years and if it wasn't claimed by then then it would be turned over to the Ministry.
By the end of the explanation, Harry's head was spinning but he was able to understand most of it. He resolved to get books about the Ministry and the wizarding world so that he could understand everything better. He was also starting to feel very resentful towards Albus Dumbledore. But for now he decided to focus on the issue at hand. He looked up at Silvertooth who was waiting patiently for him to say something.
"Thank you for taking the time to explain everything to me. I would like to know just what the Potter estate consists of and how do I claim it?"
Silvertooth nodded and said, "All you have to do is wear the House ring for the Heir of House Potter. Since you are the last remaining member of the Potter family, you will be able to claim the Lordship of the House when you turn 13. As soon as you put on the Heir ring, the Potter Accounts will be activated and you will be able to access all the information you need about the House finances. As it stands, you can only access your mother's personal vault which was separate from the Potter fortune. The Potter fortune consists of 4 vaults in Gringotts - the Potter family vault, the Potter money vault, your father's personal vault and a trust vault which was set up for you when you were born. There are also various properties all around the world as well as stocks and ownership in various companies in both the wizarding and muggle world. When you put on the Heir ring, your mother's vault will be added to the Potter estate, you will be able to access your trust vault, your father's personal vault and will have limited access to the Potter family vault. Once you claim your Lordship, you will be able to merge your father's vault, your mother's vault and your trust vault into the Potter money or family vault and set up your own personal vault. You will have complete access to the whole Potter estate. For now, here is the Potter Heir ring."
With that Silvertooth placed a beautifully carved wooden box on the desk and slid it towards him. Harry slowly picked up the box and opened it. Inside it was a plain gold band with a ruby that had what he assumed was the Potter Family Crest carved into it. He picked up the ring and slipped it onto the ring finger on his right hand.
He stared at it for a moment and then there was a brief flash of light and the ring resized to fit him perfectly. Silvertooth told him that he could will the ring to become invisible if he didn't want anyone to see it. He then pressed a gem on his desk and a scroll appeared in front of Silvertooth who opened it and scanned it quickly before handing it to Harry.
Harry took the scroll and when he read it he realized that it was a summary of the Potter estate.
The Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter
Head of House: None (Heir still underage)
Heir: Harry james Potter (Age: 10)
Vaults:
Trust Vault: 50,000 Galleons
Lily Evans' Vault: 23,650 Galleons
James Potter's Vault: 2,391,000 Galleons
Potter Money Vault: 11,587,341,290 Galleons
Potter Family Vault: 19,367 tomes, various heirlooms, jewellery, weapons and armor.
Deeds for various holdings, shares, stocks and land also in the Potter Family Vault.
Harry looked up wide-eyes after reading the summary. He gulped and asked softly, "What are galleons?"
Silvertooth started and the said, "Oh that's right. You don't know. Galleons are the currency used in the wizarding world along with sickles and knuts. 27 knuts make a sickle and 11 sickles make a galleon." He showed harry what a galleon, a sickle and a knut looked like.
Harry nodded and then asked, "What's the conversion rate from galleons to British pounds?"
"1 galleon coverts to roughly 5 pounds."
Harry's eyes widened comically. He quickly did a rough calculation and almost fainted at the amount of money he had. It came out to be around 58 billion pounds!
Silvertooth chuckled at Harry's expression and said, "I did tell you that the Potters are one of the wealthiest families in the world. Now would you like to visit your vaults or have the some money brought to you? You can visit your trust vault or your mother's or father's vault. You should know that your trust vault will be refilled from the Potter money vault each month. Also, in regards to the Potter family vault, you can only access the books in the vault. You can't even visit it. You can access the books via this."
He touched one of the many gems embedded on one side of the desk and a small, thin book with the Potter family crest appeared on his desk.
"This is an index book. If you open it, you will find a list of all books with brief descriptions that are in the family vault. Just tap the name of the book you want to read with your wand and it will change to that book. Tap the cover with your wand to go back to the index. Only a member of the Potter family can use this. Others will only see a blank book."
After this explanation, he handed over the book which Harry tucked away in his pocket since he couldn't try it without a wand. Then he checked the time and was surprised when it showed that it was actually past lunch. He still had to do his shopping and now he didn't need to worry about the money either. He decided that he would visit the vaults some other time.
He asked, "Silvertooth, how much money do you believe would be enough for buying my school supplies along with a few extra things? I would also need some money to use in the muggle world."
Silvertooth looked surprised for a second and then chuckled, "I wouldn't know Mr. Potter. Though, I do have a solution regarding that. Gringotts provides its most valued customers with money pouches linked directly to their vault, for a fee of course. You just have to say the amount you need and it will appear in the pouch directly from your vault. A feature can also be added to provide muggle money as well. It is charmed to look like a wallet in the muggle world."
Harry was again shocked for a moment. He wondered what else magic was capable of. He noticed that Silvertooth was waiting for his reply so he nodded and said, "I would like to have a money pouch linked to my trust vault with the feature for muggle money added to it. You can take the fee for it from my trust vault as well."
Silvertooth nodded, "Very Well." He then pressed another gem on his desk and a goblin came in. Silvertooth talked to the other goblin briefly in their native language and the goblin retreated. Silvertooth turned back to Harry, "Your pouch is on the way. Is there anything else you would like to discuss in the meantime?"
Harry thought about that and then asked, "What all properties do I own and which companies do I have shares in?"
Silvertooth touched another gem and a ledger of some kind appeared on his desk. He quickly listed all the properties and businesses owned by the Potter family as well as the companies he had shares in. He recognized a few of the muggle companies but other than that, he didn't know any of the places or companies listed. Silvertooth told him that Gringotts used a small percentage of the Potter fortune to invest in various companies and got a share of the profits in return as per the orders of the last Lord Potter. He told Harry that he would be able to change investment policies when he claimed the Lordship as only the Head of House could do that.
By this time the goblin had returned and handed a dark brown pouch with a gold 'G' emblazoned on it's side to Silvertooth. Silvertooth took out a knife and handed it to Harry and said, "You need to put a drop of your blood onto the pouch to bind it to you so that only you can open it."
Harry didn't question him and did as he was asked to do. Like earlier, his finger healed as soon as the drop of blood touched the pouch. The pouch glowed for a second and then went back to normal. Silvertooth handed it to Harry, took back the knife and said, "This concludes our business for the day. If you have any more questions about your family estate, you can send me an owl or set up an appointment. If you ever wish to visit your vaults, just go to any of the tellers, show him your heir ring and ask to visit your vaults. Bloodclaw here will lead you back to the lobby."
Harry nodded and stood up. He held out his hand and said, "Thank you Silvertooth for taking the time to help me with all this."
Silvertooth had a shocked expression on his face for a moment and then shook his hand and said, "It was no problem Mr. Potter. Activating the Potter account also brings more profit to Gringotts as well as myself."
Harry nodded again and left. He followed the goblin who led him to the lobby and he quickly left Gringotts through the same doors that he came in through. He stepped outside and saw that the sun was high in the sky. He checked the time and saw that he had spent nearly 4 hours in Gringotts. He quickly pulled out his school list and saw what all he had to buy and then moved off back into Diagon Alley.
Okay, there isn't much in this chapter. I didn't want to use the usual Dumbledore/Weasleys-stealing-from-Potter-Accounts story and I also didn't want to make Harry Lord Potter so early because I think that 11 yr old is too young for that. So, this was the easiest original way I could think of.
The Ancient and Noble House stuff will be somewhat similar to the usual fanon concepts. There may be some new or different laws that I use later in the story though.
The pairings for the story haven't been decided yet but I can at least assure you that it won't be Harry/Ginny or Harry/Hermione. They're just too overused. Again I'm open to suggestions for any other pairing you might think would be interesting. Oh yeah and NO SLASH. I don't have anything against it but I just don't like reading or writing slash.
As for Dumbledore, I still haven't decided about the good or bad dumbledore thing but I'm pretty sure that Harry won't have much contact with Dumbledore for the initial part of the story at least.
I'm already halfway through the next chapter and it's going to be a very important chapter for the story.
A big thank you to everyone who faved, followed or reviewed.