June 25th, 1992
"Are you sure about this, Harry? I'm kind of nervous…"
Harry looked at Ron and saw him fidgeting in his seat slightly. It had only been a couple of weeks since they had left school but Harry had already found the boy's first buyer for his Wardstones. Ron had come at his calling to this meeting, though, they had no adults with them. Ron had requested that only Harry be there as the person who set the meeting up in the first place.
"Worse comes to worse is they see them and they choose not to buy them." Harry reminded. Ron nodded though he didn't look convinced.
"I know, I know. It's just… they're Goblins you know. They're not exactly known as the nicest lot."
"No, though I've never had any issues with them. If you would like and you trust me to do so, you can simply leave the speaking to me and I shall negotiate on your behalf." Harry told the boy. Ron looked at him in surprise.
"Is that allowed?"
"With your permission, yes. Though you will need to confirm that with my account manager when he comes in." Harry explained. Ron nodded as his eyes glazed over in thought. Harry waited patiently; they still had several minutes before his account manager came in.
"Alright, I think I'll let you take over for me then. I trust you to not screw me over or anything." Ron finally said looking at him appearing a little calmer at the thought.
"Considering I don't exactly have anything to gain even if I wanted to do that, I doubt there would be a point. I've already told you what to expect, if it's too much lower than that, you know something is wrong." Harry pointed out.
"Yeah, you're right, I guess… Maybe I should have waited to come with dad." Ron murmured to himself. Harry shrugged.
"Maybe, though, your father doesn't really have much business experience either so I don't really see the point. Besides, I think it admirable that you wished to be here yourself to see how it is done. You will likely do it more alone in the future. Besides, your father couldn't take off work you said. You're just lucky your mom was willing to let us go alone."
"Hardly alone, Dumbledore came with us. He's just waiting in the lobby." Ron shot back.
"True enough…" Harry said back. He didn't say more as a goblin finally entered the office and looked at them. He paused only briefly before shutting the door behind him and walking over to the desk.
"Greetings Heir Potter and Mr. Weasley."
"Account Manager Silvertooth. Thank you for the time to see us today." Harry nodded back politely. Ron copied him though said nothing himself, likely not trusting himself to say something wrong. Harry's account manager just nodded back as he pulled out a folder from the desk and laid it on the table.
"Let us get right down to it. Do you have the sample?" His account manager asked. They nodded and Ron reached into his bag at his side and pulled out a Wardstone he had created. Silvertooth took is and brought it in close. He pulled out a monocle that Harry could tell had some sort of magic on it. He assumed it had something to do with apprasing magical items and artifacts. They waited a minute as the goblin turned over the crystal in his hand.
"Rare for magic to become imbued in a crystal like this…" Silvertooth commented.
"Will that be a problem?" Harry asked.
"No, just commenting." Silvertooth said as he continued looking at the Wardstone. After he had observed every centimeter of the object he placed it on the desk and removed the monocle.
"A high-grade, Low-Tier Wardstone, as you said." Silvertooth finally said. Harry nodded.
"For our negotiations, you shall be dealing with me as requested by Mr. Weasley." Harry told his manager. Silvertooth's eyes narrowed and looked at Ron.
"Do you confirm this?"
"I do."
"Very well. As I have said when we initially spoke Heir Potter, Gringotts is always looking for sources of Wardstones."
"Feel free to not answer, but out of curiosity, why does Gringotts wish to have so many?" Harry asked hoping he wasn't crossing a line.
"It is fine. It is not a secret. We may use them for our smaller vaults, but primarily they are used for protection and Rituals on our expeditions." Silvertooth revealed. Harry's eyes lightened up at that.
"Rituals you say?"
"Indeed. How many are you selling?" Silvertooth asked pushing forward and directing the conversation back to what he was actually there for. Harry didn't mind. His account manager was actually already much nicer than most Goblins even if he wasn't really 'nice'.
"Mr. Weasley currently is willing to part with one hundred Wardstones." Harry replied back. Ron had been creating a stockpile since getting home and he had closer to one hundred and fifty at the moment though he didn't wish to sell them all yet.
"And you claim they are all of the same quality?"
"And material, though their shape can vary. The size remains somewhat consistent though." Harry explained. It was at this that Silvertooth looked at them with suspicion. One hundred Wardstones from a private seller was extremely rare, even more so from the same material. It was almost unheard of actually. Crystals were already an uncommon type of material for Wardstones as well.
"And where did you acquire so many of these?"
"I'm afraid that is confidential. I can only confirm that they were not acquired by any illegal means or a practice that Gringotts may consider banned." Harry said back. They had not told the Goblins they had been artificially made through Alchemy though they would likely find out eventually.
"Very well… Gringotts will take all one hundred you are offering and we are willing to pay one thousand galleons for the entire lot." Silvertooth offered. Ron almost choked at the number. Harry simply shook his head.
"Please do not assume that we are ignorant just because we are children. The price as of this morning for Wardstones of a similar quality is around twenty-seven galleons each. We are also aware of many other buyers both locally and abroad who would be of interest. We allowed Gringotts to make an offer first out of respect but we do not expect to be swindled. Even for buying in bulk, I can take no less than twenty-two galleons." Harry shot back. Ron looked at him like he was crazy at that though he didn't notice since he was staring directly at Silvertooth was staring right back.
"Flooding the U.K market with this many Wardstones at once would lower the price of them considerably. So, unless you wish to sell them one by one overtime…"
"Even taking into account the lowering of worth in our current economy, it would not be nearly enough to bring down to the price you're offering." Harry shot back. Again, the room went silent as they reengaged in a stare-off.
"Very well… fourteen galleons a piece."
"Seventeen galleons and we shall also come to Gringotts first the next time we are wishing to sell in bulk." Harry shot back.
"…Fifteen."
"Deal." Harry said. When discussing, that was the actual price he had told Ron they would be lucky if they could get negotiated. In truth, every Galleon they made was massive profit considering they got the materials for free and they weren't worth anything.
"Very well, let us ink out the contract and be done with this. Of course, all Wardstones will need to be checked while we do so and the deal will be off if any are found to be fake or defective." Silvertooth shot back. Harry nodded. That was completely fine since he had made sure to check every one, they brought today before coming.
"As you wish, Ron the bag please?" Harry gestured. Ron gleefully handed it over as Harry pulled it open and watched as it magically expanded. He placed the greatly expanded size bag and reached inside, a moment later, he pulled out a large box full to the brim with crystal Wardstones. Harry then sat it on the ground next to the desk. He watched Silvertooth's eyes light up as he looked at the box. He reached over and ringed a bell on the desk causing two more goblins to enter the room. They silently went over to the box and lifted it before taking it out of the room together.
"I trust, if the contract is not inked out, we will receive all those back." Harry said to Silvertooth blandly. Silvertooth gave a small glare at that insinuation.
"Gringotts is no thief. We leave that to you Wizards." He shot back.
"Then we shall have no problems. Now, the contracts?" Harry asked as he looked at the papers Silvertooth had placed on the desk earlier. Silvertooth nodded before getting out a quill and started filling out the invoice properly. The room was silent for a few moments but not too long as the contract had mostly been made in advanced with several areas left blank to be filled out. When he was finished, he handed the contract to Harry first.
Harry took the parchment and began to carefully read through it. He had read through it already previous to this meeting but he wanted to make sure not sneak clauses had ben added to it. It wasn't unheard of for Gringotts to try and add those. After near five minutes, he read through the whole thing and handed it to Ron.
"It's good. The last thing is the placement. You have two options. Either you can have the money placed in your family's vault as a legitimate member or you can open your own vault and place it there." Harry told his friend. Ron nodded slowly as he processed the words.
"Can I do both?"
"Explain."
"Like, can I place some in a new vault of my own and also place some in my family's?"
"You may, though you will have to open your own first, where all the money will originally be placed, then you may authorize a transfer to your family's. A standard vault near our top level has a 20 galleon a year upkeep fee that you will need to accept." Silvertooth told him. Ron looked to him at that to see if that was standard. Harry gave him a short nod and Ron turned back before nodding at Silvertooth.
"Yes, that'll be fine. Where do I sign for that?" He asked looking for it on the contract. Silvertooth shook his head before reaching into one of the drawers in his desk again.
"That is a separate contract, though this a standard one we keep on hand. Here it is." Silvertooth pushed the new parchment towards Ron. Ron looked at him again as if he expected him to take it. Harry just shook his head.
"This is a short one you can read yourself, though its much safer. Goblin's have legal clauses they have to abide by when it comes to management of Wizarding vaults as per some of the agreements made during the end of one war or another, we had with them. Even if you agreed to something that took advantage of you, it can be overturned pretty easily. I'm not saying not to read it., I'm simply saying it's safer to skim it then the other one." Harry advised. Ron nodded though he still looked a little weary. He did follow Harry's advice though as he seemed to quickly skim through the contract before signing at the bottom.
"Very good, now for the other." Silvertooth said. Ron nodded before moving back to the original contract and signing in various places before also handing it back.
"Excellent. Should everything be verified, all your gold shall be in your vault minus the twenty galleons for the vault fee later today. Now, here is a transfer form. You will need to use one of these anytime you wish to make a transfer larger than fifty galleons." Silvertooth explained.
"Ok… Do I also get an Account Manager as well?"
"No. An account manager is not supplied with each vault. An account manager can be assigned to you for five hundred galleons a year. They are normally assigned to manage finances and investments. They take a ten percent rate off of any profit they may make for you while managing said finances." Silvertooth explained. Ron's eyes widened at that.
"Man, that's expensive… Maybe a little later after a few more sales I could think about something like that." Ron said almost to himself. Harry nodded.
"A good idea. Silvertooth, as you know, is my account manager though most of my finances are currently frozen until I reach thirteen." Harry said back. Ron nodded again and Harry hoped he actually understood everything being thrown at him.
With that, Ron filled out the transfer form for a few moments before handing it back to Silvertooth. Silvertooth placed the three contracts in order on his desk starting with the invoice and ending with the transfer form.
"Alright, a transfer for seven hundred and fifty galleons to the Weasley Family vault. It shall be done by today and a notice will be sent to them. You did not mark to have it sent anonymously so they will know it came from you." Silvertooth said looking at Harry's redheaded friend who simply shrugged in response.
"They'll know anyway. It's fine." Ron said back.
"Very well. With that, I believe our business is done for today. You may wait in the lobby as the authentication process will likely only take another thirty minutes at most." Silvertooth said. Harry and Ron both nodded before standing up.
Nearly Half an Hour Later
"Hmm, they should almost be done by now." Dumbledore commented breaking the silence. Harry nodded in agreement sitting to the man's left. Ron was on his right and looked over to the both of them nervously.
"You don't think something has happened right? Maybe something happened with the crystals." Ron began speculating nervously.
"Peace Ron. Everything will go fine. We checked all the crystals before bringing them and they were perfect." Harry consoled his friend. Ron didn't say anything else but he still looked rather nervous.
Harry wasn't too worried about the transaction. He was more worried about the looks they were receiving from some of the other patrons of the bank who looked at them in both surprise and awe, or at least, he and Dumbledore with surprise and awe.
He had decided not to bother to come under any disguise considering they were only going to the bank though he hadn't considered how much time they would have to spend in the very public lobby. No one had approached them yet but many were openly staring and looking to be contemplating the idea.
"Ah, I believe that is Silvertooth coming out." Dumbledore said, breaking Harry out of his thoughts. He looked up and did indeed see his account manager walking across the floor towards them. They stood as the goblin reached them.
"Mr. Weasley, the authentication process has been completed and everything has gone through with no issue. The money has been deposited to your account and everything else we discussed has been taken care of. Here are your copies of the invoices from each thing we did today. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"Uh… No. Thank you Silvertooth." Ron said looking at a loss for words now that he was officially no longer broke.
"Very well, our transaction is completed. May your blades run red with the blood of your enemies." Silvertooth said before turning and walking away. Harry watched only for a moment before looking at his dazed friend and giving him an encouraging pat on the back.
"There, you, see? I told you it would all go well, didn't I?" He asked his friend. Ron looked at him though for a moment, it looked like he was seeing right through Harry.
"Harry…"
"Yeah?"
"… I'm bloody rich!"
Several Hours Later
"Well, that was quite the day." Dumbledore said aloud as he and Harry finally arrived back at Potter Manor. Harry nodded in agreement as he sat on one of lounge chairs in the room as Dumbledore sat at on adjacent to it.
"Indeed. His mother looked like she couldn't believe what she was hearing… At least until she burst into tears and started blubbering."
"Yes, that was something. Such a sum of money can do much for a family like the Weasleys. And young Ronald has the means to make further profits if he wishes, which shall be nice. It was nice of him to give half his profit to his family."
"I wasn't expecting that, though I did believe he would find some way to take care of them… It was quite a stroke of luck that this was his first creation with Alchemy. Did you ever figure out what went wrong with his experiment that turned them into Wardstones?"
"Indeed, while I have taken an oath that prevents me from going into specifics, I will say that Mr. Weasley seemed to have made some minor alterations to the stones he was using in hopes to prevent them from being destroyed by the rapid influx of magic. The equation formula he used though was not what he thought it was as it is instead used to balance magic and adding it seemed to prevent an overflowing build up but seemed to allow a perfect balance to be reached within the stone for enough time for the magic to carve a permanent storage component within the stone."
"That's interesting. Though it seems a little simple, for someone to have not applied and tried already."
"Ah, you misunderstand. Mr. Weasley's unexpected success was a combination of several things he did right that just happened to mesh correctly with the one thing he did wrong. He actually did a lot of unnecessary things within his equations in an effort to make sure there was enough magic for a permanent transmutation. He had the opposite problem many new budding alchemists face when beginning on their journey. Instead of using too little magic, he used too much." Dumbledore explained. Harry nodded in understanding.
"Did he figure it out himself, or did you have to help him?" Harry asked curiously.
"I gave him a few hints though he was able to find the mistake himself. He is actually beginning on his second experiment already to hopefully make a mundane crystal as he originally planned which he should be doing any day now. After that, he is going to try some other materials. He has money to get some better materials to start with as well." Dumbledore explained.
"Well, good for him… While we were in Gringotts, they mentioned they use Wardstones in some rituals they use. I was wondering if you have heard such a thing before?"
"I have, though, using Wardstones in Rituals is usually harder to do since they provide more raw power then other magical ingredients which tends to throw many Rituals off. Also, many Rituals take on other properties besides power from the ingredients they use." Dumbledore explained.
"Hmm, I see the point though… They might be perfect for my new Runic Rituals. They're much more controlled then normal ones after all." Harry pointed out. Dumbledore nodded in agreement.
"From what you have told me, that is likely true."
"Then, I'll have to see if Ron would be willing to sell me some of his crystal Wardstones." Harry mumbled to himself.
"Away from that for a moment. The Grangers reached out to me recently and agreed to have a Floo installed in their home."
"Did they? That's excellent news. That means my friends and I can begin our training sessions soon… I never asked but would you wish to join? I know you have sometimes been curious about my illusions." Harry asked his guardian.
"A very kind offer, and one I might take you up on at some point. Have you any new breakthroughs in the area?"
"Not breakthroughs no, though I have had some more practice and a few of my casting times have decreased. I have been really working on my transfiguration though. I specifically have been working on Elemental conjuration."
"Really?"
"Indeed. It works rather well for me since its focus is more on power then control, which is what I currently excel at. Animation and making living creatures are something I have been trying to get better at but using them in combat is still beyond me."
"That makes sense I suppose, though don't let that stop you from continuing you work on control."
"That's the plan, but I can sit around defenseless until then so exceptions need to be made. I do notice though I don't really use many curses except a few that are mixed together within other spells like my cursed flames and lightning."
"That is the case with many young people, minus the second part of having other spells to fall back on. Most actual defense spells are learned in third year and beyond." Dumbledore said to him comfortingly. Harry nodded in acceptance at that. What matters is he had ways to defend himself.
"I suppose… I do need to find some shield charms for protection though. I've just been using my ward charm but it takes a moment and it's not very adaptable." Harry continued.
"I'm sure there are several in this library."
"I'm sure there is, I just need to find them is all. I also am still working on my Runic Ritual."
"Ah yes, the Purification Ritual one, how is that going?"
"It's going. I have been reading through the one Penelope developed but I am still a little stuck on a certain part, mainly why is it so difficult for it to purify certain types of magic, both dark and otherwise. I have to look into it a little more and maybe I will write to Penelope about it." Harry mentioned as he thought back to his experiment.
"Well, if you do complete it, it will be one of the higher-level rituals I will have seen or heard of. I think you should try a few other rituals first before jumping to that."
"Maybe you're right. I can see if there are lower-level things, I can do first. There are a few other things I have planned. One is another high-level ritual though. Some are lower-level ones meant for healing rather than purifying."
"Interesting."
"Indeed. Healing is apparently easier than simply purging the body of magic which is good. It's also good since I still have no healing magic."
"A worthy pursuit… Well, I believe that is all I have time for today. I have to start figuring out what to do for next year's Defense class."
"Ah, yes. I forgot about that. Any candidates you can tell me about?"
"Not as of yet, but perhaps next time… Anyway, I shall be heading out. Thank you for helping out Mr. Weasley today, Harry. I am sure he appreciated your efforts."
"It was nothing. I have never had to negotiate before but there is a book for tips and tricks on how to do it. It seemed to work rather well which is nice. I shall see you soon Albus. I shall also inform you of whenever we have my first lesson so you may decide if you wish to attend or not.
"I appreciate that. Well, I'm off. Until next time Harry."
"Goodbye."
A Few Hours Later
"Ciri… You're looking… Well?"
"Don't. Even."
"Alright."
Ciri was in her normal outfit though she was covered in bruises and look very roughed up. Most of the time, when they were injured in reality, they didn't bring said injuries into their mindscape. They did for more… impressionable injuries though. They did so instinctively and could get rid of them after a moment which Ciri was in fact doing. When the marks where gone, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"So… Would you like to tell me about your day?" He asked wearily. Ciri scowled.
"I had to do the Gauntlet today." Ciri told him. He wracked his brain at the familiar term. He believed she had mentioned it a week or two ago about some sort of training course Geralt had said he was going to put her through.
"I take it that it didn't go well."
"You think?"
"…How hard was it?" He asked curiously not taking too much offense to her prickly rebuttal. Ciri was pretty much in as good of shape as a twelve-year-old could possibly be at this point. To the point that her abs on her stomach had a visible definition. He wasn't sure if that was healthy for someone as young as them but he at least hoped Geralt knew what he was doing. The point was, for an exercise to do this to Ciri, it must be quite something.
"Extremely so. I know it's a good thing but the fact that every time I think I'm improving Geralt can throw me something else that can completely demolish me isn't exactly reassuring." Ciri mentioned as she plopped herself on the couch as tended to do after a long day of training.
"I see. Well, I wouldn't let it get to you. In terms of fighting, you're way ahead of many people and definitely considered a skilled fighter at this point. In fact, I believe your speed has crossed over the point of believability. It's probably from the potions that your Witcher's have been giving you. Have you noticed any side effects from them by the way?"
"No, at least, not ones that I have noticed. I asked Geralt once and he just told me to not worry about it." Ciri said to him. Harry frowned but nodded nonetheless.
"Have you told Geralt about me yet?"
"No, I still don't think it's the right time." Ciri said back with some weariness in her voice. Harry shrugged at her answer. It wasn't his decision and she could do it whenever she felt she was ready too.
"Just keep in mind we may not be able to keep it hidden when his sorceress arrives. Speaking of, has he told you more about when she will arrive?" Harry asked.
"I think she should arrive in two more months or so. It's winter here though so we think it's slowing her down."
"Makes sense, I suppose… Well, what do you feel like doing today?" Harry asked moving on to something less serious.
"For a little, I want to relax and unwind from the day. After that, I want you to make the Gauntlet in here so I can practice on it." Ciri told him seriously. Harry nodded in understanding.
"As your wish, my lady. Is it okay to access your memory of the day or is there anything I shouldn't see in todays?" He asked as he got up and moved to her side of the library.
"No, go for it." She called to him. With that he went to the book containing her memory of the day and opening it. He immediately became immersed in the day from Ciri's perspective. He watched her begin her training with Geralt before Geralt finally brought her over to the lower Courtyard of Kaer Morhen and showcased the Gauntlet.
Harry watched the various movements that the training course went through carefully before stopping the memory and re-watching it. He also paid attention to other things such as the temperature of the day as well as how Ciri felt as she moved through the course to make sure he mimicked everything he could successfully. It took him probably close to thirty minutes before he believed he had enough of the training course memorized as well as the environment.
He pulled out of Ciri's memory and gently placed the book back on the shelf before looking over to Ciri. She was laying down resting with her eyes closed, the closet thing they could get to sleep in this mindscape.
He walked over to where he normally formed the arena and immediately began to cast the illusion he had in mind. Soon, the library world they normally inhabited faded away. They were once more on the top of the mountain they had been on during Ciri's birthday, though there was no table and it was not night time. Instead, the sun was high in the sky and an elevated area where the training course was placed began to form.
Harry spent nearly ten minutes making sure everything was just as he wanted, including the clouds in the sky and the wind that would pelt Ciri as she did the course similar to actual wind she had felt when she did the course in reality. When he was finally done, he then crafted his normal research station a little way away so he could work while she practiced. That meant, that there was only the training course, his research tables, and the couch she was currently sitting on remaining from the main image they used for their mindscape.
"Alright, Wakey Wakey. The course is ready for you." He playfully called to Ciri who opened her eyes and looked around curiously.
"Is this…"
"The same mountain from your birthday? Yes. I thought it would at least give you a nice view." Harry told her as she stood and looked at the Gauntlet waiting for her. She didn't exactly look happy to see it.
"Alright, well, it's all yours. If you need me, I'm going to be at my research area." Harry told her as he turned and walked over to it and began to look at the papers he had neatly spread on the table for his perusal.
Before he got to engrossed, he noticed that Ciri was already up on the Gauntlet and watched as she began her regiment. He watched her use a conjured sword and dance around the various obstacles as they moved while also twirling the blade and striking at certain places. It very impressive to watch her go through such complicated movements while also managing to keep her balance.
The only thing that subtracted from the sight was her getting hit every seven to ten seconds by one of the swinging obstacles causing her to lose her balance and forcing her to stop herself to right herself. Considering how often it happened, its no wonder she had come into their mindscape covered in bruises.
He had a feeling this wouldn't be a pleasant time for her.