Gringotts
On the 19th of August, Harry slipped past the Dursleys and went around the corner to the Grangers’. He had only seen Mr. and Mrs. Granger once prior: a few months ago on Hermione’s 10th birthday. He barely made it in time, but he did make it in time, so they all packed in and went to a pub called The Leaky Cauldron in London. Weirdly, Hermione’s parents couldn’t see the sign.
As soon as they entered, Harry and Hermione felt strangely at home. Hermione's letter told them to ask the bartender, Tom, about the way to Diagon Alley. Tom was surprised Mr. Granger would be so upfront about it but showed them the way regardless.
The Grangers had decided the first thing to do was get some wizarding money. This magical world had to have something like a credit card, right? When they entered the magic bank, Gringotts, it was like Harry tripped an alarm. Every one of the diminutive employees was looking at him. One of the armored ones holding a spear grabbed his arm and said: “Account Manager Ragnok will see you now, Mr. Potter. Please do not resist.”
The guard took Harry to a room. The thing sitting in the chair behind the desk was about as tall as Harry but looked as old as time. His nose and ears were giant compared to the rest of his face. The desk's nameplate said: “Ragnok, Potter Account Manager, Crown Prince of the Goblins.”
“Hello, Mr. Potter. If you haven't pieced it together yet, I am Ragnok. For ten years, we have been sending you letters. Why haven't you responded to any of them?”
“You've been sending me letters?” Harry said.
"Ye- Wait. What?" Ragnok said, realizing Harry was asking a genuine question. Ragnok wrote something on his notepad, ripped the page out, and folded it into a paper airplane. He then flew it into a large chute in the wall.
“I haven't gotten any letters from Gringotts, Sir,” Harry stated.
“Oh, God! I have to tell you ten years’ worth of financial transactions while having to sort out the fact that you have a mail ward placed on you!”
At that moment, another goblin wearing white came into the office. Their nametag read: “Khanrog, Senior Healer.”
“Healer Khanrog,” Ragnok said, “I have reason to believe that young Mr. Potter here has had a mail ward placed on him. If it isn’t too much trouble, scan him now.” Khanrog held both arms out with palms facing Harry. They glowed blue for a moment, and Harry felt a tingling. When it was over, Khanrog said they detected nothing wrong with him. “Now, this is even more confusing!” Ragnok said, and then his eyes widened. “Wait. Mr. Potter. You’re not seventeen yet, right?”
“No! I’m only eleven!” Harry said.
“I see the problem. We’ve been addressing all of your mail to ‘the Duke of Powys’ You are much too young to be called that!” Ragnok fished a box out of a drawer and opened it. It had several rings in it. He picked one out and gave it to Harry. “Put this on, and we can put all this behind us.” When Harry put it on, the ring shrank to fit perfectly on Harry’s finger. Ragnok stood up. “You are now the Earl Cotswold. When you reach age 17, you will become the Duke of Powys. Would you like to see a Vault Report?”
“A what report?” asked Harry.
“Here at Gringotts,” Ragnok explained, “every client receives their own vault. A client can create a vault for the family, passed on when they die, or they can create a personal vault. A Vault Report contains the money stored in every personal and family vault to which someone owns the key. It also reports any scheduled transactions that involve a vault.”
“Yes, please,” Harry said, “How fast can it be ma-” Ragnok snapped his fingers.
A scroll about a foot long draped itself over Ragnok’s desk: "About that fast,” Ragnok said.
After confirming it was complete, Harry began to read.
Client: Earl Cotswold
Vaults:
Vault 192F - Potter Vault - 4.45 million Galleons - ON MINOR LOCK UNTIL CLIENT REACHES 17.
- (scheduled to have enough Galleons moved to Vault 789P for Vault 789P’s total to equal 50,000 on 31 July of every year)
- (scheduled to have 4,000 Galleons moved to Vault 180F "Weasley Vault" on the first of each month)
- (scheduled to have 2,000 Galleons moved to Vault 180F “Weasley Vault” and Vault 815P “Margaret Alice Weasley Vault” on the first of each month)
- (scheduled to have 1,000 Galleons each moved to Vaults 816P “Ronald Bilius Weasley Trust Vault” and 817P “Ginevra Margaret Weasley Trust Vault” on the first of each month)
Vault 789P - Harrison James Potter Trust Vault - 50,000 Galleons
- (scheduled to have enough Galleons to total 50,000 moved from Vault 192F on 31 July of every year)
“Who are Margaret, Ronald, and Ginevra, and would it be possible to stop these monthly payments?”
“I’ve personally never seen Ronald or Ginevra, but Margaret prefers to be called Molly and is a force to be reckoned with. The Weasleys are… economically challenged, let’s say. Your father gave them 8,000 Galleons monthly, Molly somehow convinced Arthur, her husband, to split the money between them, and then set up accounts for the other two, her youngest children. And, yes, it is very possible for me to stop these payments.”
“Please don’t stop the one going to Arthur. And, reset it to the original 8,000,” Harry asked.
“Consider it done. I don’t think we have any other business today, I’ll let you go. Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Potter.”
“Likewise, Mr. Ragnok”
After that, Harry realized there wouldn’t be enough time to do the shopping trip. Harry and the Grangers would probably have to rent a hotel or something like that.