Chapter 10
After that, Harry's much-dreaded meeting with Gornuk was almost anti-climactic. Almost. There was, indeed, a Potter family vault, and a Potter investment account. The investment account was run by Gringotts, and worked on commission, so the goblins had incentive to make the profits as large as possible. Once the commission was taken off, half the income derived from the investments was added to the principal, and the other half sent to the family vault. In turn, five-hundred galleons per year went from the family vault to Harry's trust vault. Those were the standing arrangements, set up by Henry Potter and continued by Fleamont Potter; James Potter had ordered the entire investment income to go to the family vault, but he had apparently made the order on an annual basis, rather than changing the standing arrangement, so that one year after his passing, the account reverted to the standard arrangement. Gornuk smirked at this. The investment income the previous year had been 6,521 galleons, eight sickles and three knuts; Gornuk anticipated this growing. The family vaults also received regular payments not derived from the investment fund: regular dividends from the potions enterprise Fleamont Potter had set up, and retained a minority stake in after he had retired and sold most of it; royalty payments from a gift shop in Hogsmeade, relating to sales of a novelty item Lily Potter had invented, something called a 'perpetual goldfish'; income from a travelling supplies enterprise, based somewhere in Eastern Europe, that Elizaveta Potter had played a role in setting up; income from a Fleamont Family Firm; legacies from various witches and wizards to 'the Boy who Lived'; the vault also received and held paperwork relating to Lily Potter's investments of Potter money in Muggle computer firms, though some of it was diverted to Harry's personal vault. Goblins felt using divination when choosing one's investments was cheating, and took all the fun out of it, but apparently Lily Potter hadn't shared those sentiments.
The Potter family vault contained a number of interesting documents. Harry not being of age, he could not remove these from Gringotts; he was, however, permitted to take them out of the vault, to the office of Gringotts Copying Services and back. Three sickles per foot of parchment copying fee; one galleon per document fee for the Gringotts seal certifying it as a true and faithful copy. In the end, he decided not to bother copying the wills of his grandparents, his Uncle Charlus, Aunt Dorea and Cousin Rigel. The main items of interest in there were his uncle's country house and his cousin's London flat, and he had found bills of sale for both of those, signed by James Potter. His father had also sold the freehold of a row of shops with flats above them on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, and his stakes in a silk manufacturing business in India, and a flying carpet firm in Iran, both of which had been the dowries of previous Potter brides; he had reduced the Potter share in 'Sputnik Volkov,' the travelling surprise enterprise, from 20% to 5%. (Harry had asked Gornuk what his father did with the money, and Gornuk had sniffed, "Order of the Phoenix donations, mostly.") Harry did copy his parents' wills, the title deeds for Potter Manor and Potter Cottage (both of which were entailed to the Potter line), and a document signed by Albus Dumbledore, as Potter Regent, leasing Potter Cottage to the Ministry in perpetuity for the sum of one knut per year, upon condition that they maintain it as a war memorial, glorifying Lily and James' heroic sacrifice. He didn't copy the share certificates, or the muggle bank book, but he did copy the most recent statement, and the note that was pinned to the folder.
Dear Harry,
I made bought some shares in a selection of computer firms, and the dividends go into an account that's jointly in my name and yours. It's funny to think of my little baby having investments. A Post Office child savings account is in your name, and you should get access to it from age eleven. The account book is in your trust vault, and you can take it to any Post Office and withdraw money, if you want a few extra treats from that side of the border. If all goes well, I can give it to you myself, but I have the feeling I won't be that lucky.
In the event that you pass without making a will, Harry, not that I want to contemplate such things but there is a war on, the investments go into a trust for my sister Petunia's children, tied up in such a way that her husband can't access them. I don't think much of my sister's husband, but I would have liked to know my nephew, Dudley Dursley, and any other children Petunia might have had. I wish my parents had known their grandchildren. Be kind to your cousins if you do meet them, Harry. They're family, and family's important.
On to the practicalities. If you get access to this as early as thirteen, Harry, you should be aware that some of them will do badly in the late 1980s and early 1990s before rebounding. By the mid 1990s, all of them should be worth hundreds of times what James and I paid for them. So don't sell any time soon. I didn't get a sense of whether they'd continue to do well past the first decade or so of the new millennium, so use your own judgement there.
I love you very much, my darling boy, and I've done what I can to help provide for your future. My every hope now is that you get to have one.
Yours always,
Mummy.
The names on the share certificates didn't mean much to Harry: Microsoft, IBM, Intel, AMD, and Apple. Dudley had been the computer enthusiast of the household; Harry hadn't been allowed to so much as touch Dudley's precious devices. The amount of money in the account raised Harry's eyebrows more than a little. Apparently the previous year had brought him over £12,000, and Lily had thought that things were going to get much better in the future. And with the standing order of £10 a month having gone into Harry's post office account for most of his life, there would have been a sizeable amount built up in there, enough that he wouldn't bother converting any of his galleons to pounds any time soon.
All in all, Harry thought he could count on an annual income of at least 8,000 galleons and £10,000, possibly somewhat more. That was a little more than Uncle Vernon's salary, if not quite the fabulous wealth Ted Tonks had hinted at. Mustn't be greedy, he chided himself. He had a good income, and the grounds of Potter Manor were his, and he could access them whenever he liked. None of the Boy-Who-Lived legacies had included real estate, that he could tell; or if they had, it must have been sold off by the executor, because there were no other title deeds in his vault, only records of deposits in galleons. So he didn't have anywhere to live, but he had land and money. Surely something could be managed. During the cart ride back to the lobby of Gringotts, something else occurred to him, and he thanked the vault-runner before joining a queue to see a teller, and obtain an appointment to discuss warding services.
He left the bank for long enough to trudge through the dark to a phone box; update his aunt; acquire a slice of takeaway pizza; run the gauntlet of the Leaky Cauldron; make arrangements at the Hopping Pot to keep his room for another four days; and fall wearily into bed. Bright and early the next morning, he was back, talking to an Apprentice Warder, who (to Harry's surprise) was actually human.
"I want to inquire about getting some wards checked, and possibly altered," he said, still with his hood up. "Oh right - this is confidential, isn't it?"
"Basic confidentiality is Gringotts' standard; full confidentiality, two sickles extra per appointment," recited the Apprentice, who had clearly received a fair amount of training from the goblins already. Harry rummaged in his money pouch and handed over two sickles. He might have to visit his trust vault again soon.
"Tell me more about these wards, then," said the young wizard.
"Well, there's Potter manor," said Harry. The young wizard gasped, then schooled himself to impassivity. "The building burned down years ago, but the land is still mine. I have the title deeds and everything. I want to know what wards there are left on it, what they're like, whether they're in good repair."
"Basic assessment for Gringotts' client landowner, medium-sized parcel of land, no significant building. I see no problem there. Depending on the size of the land, it will be between 60 and 150 galleons."
"Then there's my muggle aunt and uncle's house. Professor Dumbledore said there were blood wards on it. I want to know if that's true, what they're based on, and if they can be transferred to somewhere else, like the Potter Manor grounds."
"Oooh, that's a tricky one. What's the size of the house? Is it in a muggle area? Do the owners themselves know about magic? Are you their paterfamilias, or just their nearest wizarding relative?" Harry told him. "Well. Basic assessment of a small parcel of land with dwelling, between 40 and 80 galleons, depending on the exact size. We can't do anything unless you get the consent of all the owners on a written form. Two sickles for the form, 20 galleons for the insurance liability of your not being their paterfamilias. Secrecy from nearby muggles, 50 galleons. Consultancy with an expert in blood magic, 100 galleons. Moving the blood wards to another location, 50 galleons success or failure, with a further 200 galleons payable upon success. 2 sickles for the form, and anything from 260 to 500 galleons total, and we wouldn't start a pricey job like that without your account manager confirming you can afford it. 2 sickles for that form, too." Harry gulped. That was a lot of money. 500 galleons was the amount paid into his trust vault every year. But it had had that money paid in every year for more than ten years, so there was over five thousand galleons built up in there. He didn't think he'd spent even half of one year's allowance over the last two years. And it was an investment in his future, and the girls'.
"Okay," he said, handing over the four sickles, "I'd like both forms, please, and ask Junior Manager Gornuk about my personal vault. I'd like the Potter Manor assessment done as soon as possible; it might take me a few days to get the form filled out for the Privet Drive assessment. Should I hand it to a teller and ask it to be sent to you-" he looked at the nameplate- "Apprentice Jones, or should I owl it to you?"
"Fill in the Expensive Warding form now and give it to me," said Mr Jones, "and I'll see it gets to Gornuk. For the other one, put it in an envelope, addressed to me 'and associates' at the Cursebreaking Department, and hand it to a teller. Never send Gringotts forms by owl. It's not done. For the first job, we've got a team free tomorrow afternoon. Come to Gringotts at twelve."
"Thank you, Apprentice Jones," said Harry politely, shook hands and got up to leave.