Chương 19: Chapter 019

The goblin peered down at him with a sneer on its face. Of course, it had been sneering before it even looked at Harry, so he assumed that was just its natural facial expression. The goblin's eyes flickered to his forehead, where the bandana was still wrapped around to conceal his scar.

"Do you have a key?"

"No." Harry looked the goblin in the eyes and straightened his back. "But I was told that for the right price, one can be made for me."

The goblin paused, his brow ridges raised. Harry stared back, not allowing its intimidating countenance to bother him. After a moment, the stare down ended.

"Very well," it said, then hopped off the stool. "Follow me, Mr. Potter."

Harry followed the goblin through one of the many doors, this one leading to a long hallway. They passed along even more doors, these ones holding plaques with names on them. Burton. Middles. Kenths. These must be the doors that led to a family's accountant, he assumed. Soon enough, they reached the door with the word Potter engraved on the plaque. The goblin knocked, once, then opened the door and gestured for Harry to enter.

The room he entered appeared large and cylindrical. A bookcase bursting with scrolls and tomes sat along the wall, presumably where all the information on the Potter accounts had been stored throughout the years. In the center of the room was a large desk made out of a wood so dark it looked black. Sitting behind that desk was a goblin that looked quite a bit taller than the other ones Harry had seen so far. He was completely bald on top and had a small, pointed goatee.

As Harry walked up to the desk, the goblin looked up from his work. He took one look at Harry, then reached under his desk and slid open one of the drawers. From the drawer he produced two items, which he laid on the desk, a slip of paper and a dagger with ancient symbols Harry had never seen before drawn on it.

"Cut your finger and place three drops on the paper," the goblin instructed. Harry raised an eyebrow, but did as told. Picking up the knife and slicing his finger open without flinching, he held the open wound over the paper and squeezed three drops onto the parchment. Before anything else could happen, the goblin snatched up the parchment and looked at it. He nodded, once, and then looked at Harry.

"Everything seems to be in order. What can I do for you, Lord Potter."

Harry frowned at the title he had been given, but didn't respond to it. While curious, this goblin was giving off an air of impatience. It would not be wise to tempt fate and make it annoyed by asking too many questions.

"I would like to check my account, as well as make a withdrawal, however, I do not have a key."

"Hmmm..."

A long, thin fingered hand reached over to a large ledger that sat on one side of the desk. The book was flipped open with a loud 'slam!' and the goblin began rifling through the pages. It would stop on a specific page, trail it's finger down, then begin flipping through more pages. Harry waited patiently, feeling it would be best not to rush the goblin in its task.

"Here we are."

The goblin flipped the book around so Harry could look at it. The page the goblin had flipped to seemed to contain the information Harry wanted, written in a neat cursive:

Harry James Potter, Heir Apparent to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter

Eligible for vaults:

Potter Family Vault upon reaching the age of majority:

6,347,234 galleons, 87 sickles, 62 knuts

Various Heirlooms

Total liquid value: 10,987,341, 119 sickles, 306 knuts

Evans Vault:

76,889 galleons, 75 sickles, 11 knuts

Items Collected from Godric's Hollow

Total Liquid Value: 80,234 galleons, 87 sickles, 14 knuts

Potter Trust Fund:

50,000 galleons to be maxed out every year for school and living expenses.

Eligible deeds for inheritance:

Potter ancestral home – Manchester – destroyed

Potter Flat – London

Potter cabin – Godric's Hollow – destroyed

Harry stared at the large number telling him how much money was in the Potter Family Vaults. He didn't know how much a galleon was worth, but a million of anything was a lot. Ten-million was probably enough for him to live in extravagance for the rest of his life and still not even make a dent in his funds.

"What's the conversion rate from galleons to pounds?" he breathed, his voice a hushed whisper.

"One galleon is four pounds ninety-seven pence, one sickle is twenty-nine pence, and one knut is one pence."

Harry ran a quick conversion in his head. The net worth of the Potter vault was over 31-million pounds. The Evans vault had a little over 400,000 pounds. While the Evans vault didn't have as much as the Potter vault comparitively, it didn't really matter. 400,000 of anything was a lot. And 31-million was beyond a lot. That kind of money was ridiculous. There was just no way anyone could have that much money on hand. It was...

"There must be some kind of mistake."

"There is no mistake, Lord Potter."

Harry's head snapped up towards the goblin. His eyes were wide, clear signs of shock. The goblin seemed to find it amusing, for he was giving Harry a smile that showed off the sharp teeth he had.

"How...?" he croaked. "How can anyone have that much money?" The kind of money in his vault was unfathomable. It was probably enough to run a small country for at least a couple of months!

The goblin was surprisingly patient as it began giving Harry an explanation to his question. "The Potter family is very old; older even than the Ministry of Magic. They are one of only five families that are more than just Ancient and Most Noble. They, along with the Longbottoms, the Bones, the Blacks, and the Peverelles are what we call founding families, for it was they who had a hand in creating the Ministry of Magic. Some believe that these families were even alive during the time of Four Founders themselves, though that is up for debate."