First of all I would like to apologize to all of you. You guys have given such wonderful reviews and words of encouragement and I haven't been doing enough to get the story going. Been having some personal issues lately and work as usual takes up most of my time. Writing has always been my outlet but with so many things running on my mind I suppose I just hit a block. Nevertheless, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It is a bit rushed and more of a filler chapter but I promise the future ones will be better. In this I am just trying to set a platform for the future of the story without rushing it.
Cheers
_zik_
Chapter 7 - Difference by Choice
The Davis House was the true definition of simplistic class. Not on the very large side in comparison to manor houses, it was still an elegant homestead. However, what made it homelier was the cheerful atmosphere and the occupants of the house itself.
Reginald Davis was an expert in Magical Architecture and this was very well reflected in the subtle design touches of true artistry in the Davis House. Any person who visited the house was left in awe of the simple elegance at display.
Given his expertise Reginald Davis had already been approached by the Ministry of Magic for the post war redesign works. This was one the major reasons for him returning to Britain a week earlier than anticipated.
The other reason was the Katherine Davis Home, which was an orphanage started by his wife when she was alive to provide a home for the magical orphans. 5 years ago, Reginald had taken over the running of the orphanage after Katherine's untimely demise.
Over the years the orphanage had grown immensely in terms of the number of young children housed in it. The day to day running of the orphanage was overseen by Sheena Williams who had been a longtime confidante of the Davis'. Sheena was particular very close to Reginald's daughter Tracey and she often used to help Sheena at the orphanage during her holidays.
However, even though the Davis' were quite well off financially in their own right, they were by no means in the elite list of Magical Britain's richest. That was one of the reasons why the functioning of the orphanage was greatly dependent on funding by charitable organizations and for the Katherine Davis Home the major donor was Lily Flower Charitable Trust. It had been a constant financier for the orphanage even during the war and it was the continuous financial support that had enabled Reginald to leave Britain together with his family, staff and the kids of his orphanage.
They had sought abode in a large Manor House in Italy courtesy of the Lily Flower Charitable Trust. Reginald had tried his best to locate the owners of the trust to personally thank them but all he had found out was that the Trust was managed by Gringotts and it is as easy to take out information from the goblins as finding a needle in a haystack. In fact, it was the Goblins who suggested the relocation owing to the threat the orphans faced in the war.
The Greengrass' were very close family friends of the Davis' and their elder children had grown up together to be best friends. The same could not however be said for their younger children as Astoria and Nathaniel were always at each other's neck. However, despite their clashing personalities the two were quite similar to each other in traits. Maybe that was one of the reasons for their clashing personalities in the first place.
Reginald was brought out of his thoughts by the green glow of the floo in his study. Daphne stepped out of the floo and with a flick of her wand cleared the dust from her clothes.
"Hello, Uncle Reginald," she stated upon seeing him.
"Daphne. Sweetheart. It's so good to see you. How have you been?" Reginald replied.
"I've been better. Is Tracy around?" Daphne asked.
"Yup. Up in her room unpacking." Reginald replied
"Thanks. I'll see you later." Daphne murmured before clamoring out of the study with haste.
"Kids!" Reginald sighed.
However, his thoughts were once again broken by a post owl. And by the looks of it, not just any post owl. The envelope bore the familiar seal of Gringotts. Reginald had an anxious look on his face as he opened the envelope. It was a summons from Gringotts. Something to do with the foundation. He dearly hoped they weren't planning to pull the funding. The meeting was in 2 hours. Leave it to the Goblins to give such a short notice.
Reginald kept the letter and left via floo. He had to get his legal counsel ready. It was always good to prepare for meetings with the Goblins
=/=/=
"So Potter, huh." Tracey asked mocking a look contemplation.
"What exactly are you implying?" Daphne retorted with a raised eyebrow.
"No! I just mean that I never figured that your knight in shining armor would be Harry the Saint Potter." Tracey replied with a smirk.
"He is not my shining knight." Daphne retorted with a glare, accentuating each word in her sentence.
"Okay, okay. Fine! Come here. I am just glad that you are fine." She said enveloping Daphne in a hug.
"I still think you were a bit rude to Potter. He did save your life. He could've claimed a life debt but all he did was to tell you to smile more. Damn!" Tracey said breaking the hug and looking at Daphne.
"I know. And it hurt me to do that but I just couldn't comprehend what was happening to me. Every time I am around him it feels… it's just so confusing." Daphne uttered in desperation.
"Well you wouldn't have to worry about him breaking your walls if you just open the doors yourself, you know." Tracey stated pointedly.
"Anyways let's talk about something else."
The two friends continued their conversation about other things but somewhere inside Daphne's head Tracey's statement kept ringing.
'Open the doors yourself'
Could she do that? Was that even an option? Damn why was it so hard?
=/=/=
"There has been a change in ownership of the Trust that funded your orphanage." Stated Brig, the Davis's account manager at Gringotts.
"However, the new owner, as generous as he is, has actually advised us to increase the funding of your foundation. May his gold forever flow and his enemies drop at his feet." Brig continued in his usual monotonous style.
Reginald's initial concern of the funding being suspended by the new owner turner to relief upon knowing that they still had the funding and that it was obviously going to increase. However, what was not lost to him was the way the Goblin had addressed the new owner. For Goblins to give this level of respect to wizards was something that was unheard of. And that too without them being present.
Whoever the new owner of the Trust was they obviously had the Goblins respect and people of that stature were not to be trifled with. There was no one that came to mind who could have that level of respect from the Goblins. Even Albus Dumbledore had never achieved that, although he was one of the few wizards who was in good terms with the Goblins.
"Would an audience with the new owner be possible?" Reginald asked his curiosity increasing.
"Ahh. Unfortunately, he wishes to remain anonymous for the moment. However, he has expressed the desire to remain in touch with your foundation through letters if you would be willing." Brig replied.
"Indeed. It would be an honor for us. I respect his privacy and so I shall be glad to honor his request." Reginald replied knowing very well that it was futile to pursue this any further.
"This is an enchanted parchment. Whenever you wish to write to him you can just write in this parchment and the letter will be delivered by our mail delivery system." Brig stated handing him an elegant golden parchment.
"Here are the details of the new funding scheme and Gringotts will be auditing the expenditure on a monthly basis." He finished handing Reginald a thick envelope with a dismissing gesture.
Reginald knew when he was being dismissed and taking the parchment he took his leave. Walking out in the bustling streets of Diagon Alley he was still trying to figure out who the mysterious owner could be. No one came to mind. Whoever he was it obvious he had money and a lot of it by the looks of the funding details which he had opened and perused as soon as he was out of Brig's office.
However, Reginald new that whoever he was, money was not the reason the Goblins respected him. Well at least the consolation was that Reginald could write to him. From the funding scheme Reginald could also gather that their Orphanage would receive a major upgrade. There was also a mention of a potential change in location should the numbers require.
Even through his curiosity surrounding the mystery trust owner Reginald could breathe a sigh of relief knowing that Katherine's life's work was not in vain. Coming out of his thoughts Reginald realized that he had reached the Leaky Cauldron. Deciding to write to this generous person as soon as he got home, he made his way to the public floo and disappeared in the green flames.
=/=/=
Dear Sir
Firstly, I would like to convey my deepest gratitude towards you and your foundation in the continuous support it has provided our Trust during such trying times. The tremendous contributions from your predecessor at a time when most only considered their own wellbeing is something which leaves me in their debt.
I was very keen on meeting you personally as I was for your predecessor, however, I respect your privacy and am thankful that at least this avenue was provided for me to convey my thanks. However, I hope that things change in the future and I am able to secure an audience with you.
Nevertheless, once again I give you many thanks and hope that this cooperation between us continues in the same essence. I have requested Gringotts to enclose a full detailed operational report of the orphanage together with the details of our occupants. I hope this will help you get better acquainted with the work we do.
The day to day running of the orphanage is managed by Miss Sheena Williams and she will be glad to answer any questions you have and information you need. Currently, we are in process of recruiting a Development Manager who will be directly looking at implementing the proposals in the new funding scheme and once recruited can be put in touch with you, if required, to discuss on the potential expansion and relocation mentioned in the scheme.
Wishing you a great week ahead.
Sincerely
Reginald Marcus Davis
Harry Potter put down the letter he was reading and took a sip from the tea that Kreacher had prepared for him. When he got the statement of his accounts from Gringotts he had been given an option whether to continue with his Godfather's funding of a charitable foundation through a Trust. He had smiled upon knowing that the Trust was named after his mother. His respect for Sirius grew immensely in that moment. When Harry found out that the foundation ran an orphanage his mind was made.
He decided right there and then that he will not only continue the funding but increase it to have a bigger impact on the magical orphans. He had grown up an orphan in a place without love so he knew perfectly how important a good upbringing was. He had also seen firsthand what growing up in a toxic environment had done to Tom Riddle.
Harry felt blessed that life had given him this opportunity to change the lives of so many people. He wanted to take a more active role in the orphanage project however, he didn't want to reveal his financial involvement. He didn't want limelight thrown at him for something that he genuinely felt like doing. This was solved for him by his account manager at Gringotts by suggesting the use of the enchanted parchments. Although it came with a price tag as everything associated with the Goblins does, he was satisfied that this could actually work.
He could provide his input in the expansion and improvement of the orphanage without all the media frenzy surrounding every aspect of his life. He had quickly done up a funding scheme with the help of his account manager and asked for it to be relayed to the owner of the foundation that ran the orphanage.
It was something about the tone of the letter that indicated to Harry the Mr. Davis was someone he could trust to see this through. He was very excited about this new project and finishing his tea Harry began jotting down the reply. It had been a good day indeed. Finally he was doing something without his life depending on it. Finaly he was going to make a difference by choice rather than obligation.