Gringotts - Part3i - Harry
“Only his finances are left, but it will be too long to go over now, if I told you, vault by vault, overall Harry has a patrimony worth roughly 77 billion Galleons, vaults, houses, investments included,” Ragnok told them.
“That’s 370 billion dollars!” Tony exclaimed getting up to pace.
“Problem?” Sirius asked barely able to contain his mirth.
“It’s twice what I own,” Tony said, then sighed deeply and sat back down, “I need to make more money.”
“It’s not a contest Stark,” Phil told him.
“You realize Harry’s money comes from centuries of family members hoarding and investing, and barely ever stepping out of Britain, or their comfort zone, right?” Sirius asked. “You’re housing us in a tower in the middle of New York, my house which I inherited, is a brick and mortar mansion, built on acres of fields they bought for next to nothing, even maybe just decided it was theirs as it happened in the early 16th century, the land is now worth more than the house itself.”
“Yeah, I get that,” Tony said, still pouting.
“That’s enough Stark! Act like an adult or you will find yourself in the playpen with the kids,” Severus told him in a firm voice, Remus remembered hearing when he was being tutored in Potion. “You have enough money for the next hundred generations of Starks to grow old without ever lifting a finger, getting more won’t do either you or them any good. Clearly, you understand that as you still work, and Harry did too as he worked for Gringotts.”
“Fine,” Tony sighed throwing his hands in the air, “a man can’t even pout in peace anymore.”
“You can, but it is childish to do so over money, especially since yourself and Sirius are the only ones who grew up around it, so if you do so again, you will be grounded like a child,” Severus told him with a smirk.
“Not to forget the Gaunt Vault was included in the count, even though Harry left instruction for its use,” Natasha reminded them.
“Yes, that too,” Severus agreed. “Harry already planned to give some of it away, and to give all that will be given to him later.”
“The Ministry already sent an envoy to collect the taxes on inheritance, too. I took that into account, they took 10% of the Potter value, I didn’t feel the need to tell them about the others as James Potter never made it official,” Ragnok informed them.
“You are a treasure King Ragnok,” Sirius thanked him.
“How much did they take?” Tony and Phil asked at the same time.
“A little under one billion.”
“5 Billion dollars,” Tony converted for the others.
“The ministry is financed by donation and inheritance fees,” Sirius told them with a shrug.
“Incredible how they are always asking for more money when you know average wage is 519 Galleons a month,” Ragnok told them.
“Harry just paid enough for almost 2 million average wages, and you said many old Lords died recently, how many people work at the ministry?” Tony asked.
“1326 on the last count, so on the new year, with the death of the war, I would say around 1200,” Sirius told him.
“So, he paid enough on his own for the ministry to be self-sufficient for 133 years, if everyone was paid on average,” Tony told them.
“Yes, but not everyone is paid that, and Inheritance are rare, wizards live long lives when not at wars, plus Harry is one of the richest in the world even if he just hid most of it from them,” Sirius defended, though he didn’t sound so sure of himself.
“How long do wizard live?” Tony asked.
“Up to 150 years,” Remus answered when Sirius stayed silent.
“And on average?”
“A century.”
“So, Harry just paid average wages at the ministry for his whole life, by the time they need money again his children will have to pay the tax. And that’s not even taking into account what others paid, in the last months,” Tony pushed.
“I don’t think anyone ever put it that way,” Severus said with a thoughtful look, “I know I didn’t have to pay the tax, my parents didn’t have money and the house belonged to my father’s family, as a muggle the ministry had nothing to say about it.”
“I had to pay, my parents still owed money to St. Mungos for my mother’s treatment, when my father died, as the house was in her name, and she was a witch, I had to sell it to pay the tax and St. Mungos,” Remus explained sadly.
“That law is unfortunate, and Britain is one of the countries in Europe still working this way, it would be impossible for MACUSA to do, while the community is bigger, the old fortunes are less, and protested the system,” Ragnok explained as Sirius hugged Remus, as he did every time Remus had to think about his parents, even including Severus in the hug, though the wizard in question didn’t look like he cared much about the gesture.
“That’s the thing though, the Wizengamot will never give it up, it gives them privileges and influences in the ministry, when my parents died my brother had to pay the tax, I bet he paid about as much but since no one knew I wasn’t the new Lord Black at the time, everyone suddenly came to my box at the DMLE to ask for my opinion, or ask me to lunch,” Sirius explained. “While in real life in the Britain Wizarding world magical power is above everything, in truth, apart from exceptional wizards and witches, which are rare, most of the population are close in power, or at least Hogwarts students are, no one ever stood out. So, money became the deciding factor, and donations to the ministry bribes,” Sirius explained.
“But Harry is the most powerful and the richest?” Tony said.
“Yes.”
“Hopefully, we can use that to do good.”
“You will find it is more equalitarian under the MACUSA, though I already heard rumors about the boy-who-lived going around the mines from all over the world,” Ragnok told them.