Chapter 4: Wands and Wills.
After taking a few minutes to composer her thoughts, Hermione's eyes narrowed and she looked pointedly at Harry, "Now are you going to tell me how you didn't get into trouble for using magic and where did you get that other wand?"
Harry let out a low chuckle and replied, "I didn't think that you would forget to ask about that. Anyone can perform magic inside of Gringotts and it will not be detected by the ministry. There is too much magic in the area, sort of like Hogwarts. Also, in a magical house the ministry can tell that magic has been performed but not the specific person."
In an instant Hermione's face scrunched up into a scowl as she figured out the ramifications of Harry's statement. "Do you mean to tell me that only muggleborn witches or wizards ever receive warnings from the ministry for using magic?" she asked incredulously.
"Yes. It is really a nasty bit of legislation, isn't it? It shows us how bigoted the ministry really is towards muggleborns. I'm not sure what it would take to make them change their views though." Harry said contemplatively.
"How about starting a petition to change the underage magic laws? Ooh, I just know the Ministry would throw it out without even reading it!" Hermione groaned out in frustration as her anger started to build.
"I don't know Hermione; I think that it's going to take much more than just a simple petition to change things in the Ministry. Hmm perhaps…. Let's just let this sit for a while, I'm sure that something will come to us eventually.
Giving him a pointed look, she said, "Okay, Harry. Now tell me about your new wand."
"It's not new, it was Dumbledore's wand. I picked it up when I was kneeling on the ground next to his body." Harry said in a low whisper. "Everyone was in shock and I saw his wand a few feet away from where he had landed. After retrieving the fake Horcrux, I discretely pocketed his wand before Ginny led me away from his body. I was very surprised when I discovered that I could use his wand as easily as my original one. It also solves the Priori Incantatum effect with the matching cores when I duel with Voldemort again."
Hermione looked intently into Harry's eyes and she seemed to come to a decision, "Harry, I think we need to get me a second wand and then start gathering anything that could help us so we can start getting ready for the upcoming war. We can do this Harry, I know you can stop him and I'll do everything that I can to make sure that you succeed."
"Thank you Hermione. I know that I can always count on you. That is why I decided to show you what I really look like." Harry closed his eyes for a moment and he spoke so softly that Hermione almost did not hear him, "I've kept so much bottled up for so long and I really need to get some things off of my chest."
Harry opened his eyes again and gazed into Hermione's as he said, "I don't want there to be anymore secrets between us."
Slowly Hermione stood up and made her way over to Harry. She pulled him into a warm embrace and whispered, "When you're ready, I'll be there for you."
"Thanks, Hermione." After a few seconds, Harry's body began to shrink, and she stepped back to watch the final transformation and she handed him his glasses without saying a word. Harry stood up and held out a hand to help her up from a kneeling position and said, "Let's get going there are a few things that we really need to get finished today."
Harry cancelled the spells on the room and they walked out into the lobby of Gringotts and headed up to an available goblin. "Excuse me sir, I would like to make a withdrawal from my vault please." Harry said to the goblin while handing over his vault key.
The goblin took a moment to inspect the key before speaking, "Mr. Potter, there are a few things that need your attention if you have a few moments to spare."
"Uh, sure. I have an appointment with Griphook scheduled for tomorrow afternoon though." Harry answered in a slightly bewildered tone.
"Ah, I see. Did you request him or did Gringotts assign him to the task?" the goblin asked with a hint of curiosity.
"I sent him a letter a few days ago because he took me down to my vault the first time that I visited Gringotts and he was the only goblin that I have ever really met." stated Harry simply.
The goblin sat there with a slightly stunned look on his face before he said, "Please wait here, I'll be right back with Griphook." and he walked off leaving a confused pair of humans staring at his back.
"Harry, what's going on?" asked Hermione.
Frowning, Harry answered, "I don't know. I did ask Griphook to reserve a conference room for me tomorrow so we could meet with Rita Skeeter and to go over my inheritance from Sirius afterwards."
As Harry looked up, he noticed two goblins walking towards them. Stepping forward and extending his hand Harry said; "It's good to see you again, Griphook. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me on such short notice."
The goblin hesitated for a moment before stretching out his hand to clasp Harry's in a firm handshake. "Not many people can recognize a goblin, especially one that they haven't seen in five years Mr. Potter." Griphook said.
"Oh, I didn't know that. I recognized you instantly. You made quite the first impression on me when I was eleven. Please call me Harry," gesturing towards his best friend, he said pleasantly, "and this is Hermione Granger."
Hermione stepped forward and extended her hand to Griphook and said, "Pleased to meet you, Griphook. It's a pleasure."
Griphook clasped her hand with a look of surprise and said, "Like wise. Please follow me to the conference room and we can get down to business."
After settling in the conference room Griphook pulled out a large folder and began going over the items that were left to Harry by Sirius and Dumbledore. Sirius had left Harry everything from the Black estate and Dumbledore had given him some books and a few other magical items.
Noticing the look on Mr. Potter's face, Griphook asked, "Would you like to visit your vaults now Mr. Potter?"
Surprised, Harry asked, "Vaults? How many do I have now Griphook?"
"Three, Mr. Potter. Your trust vault, the Potter family vault, and the Black family vault. The items that Mr. Dumbledore left you have been placed into your trust vault." Griphook stated simply while looking over the folder detailing Harry's accounts.
In a concerned voice, Harry said, "Do I need to have three vaults or can I just combine them all into one large one? What type of vault should I get if you think that I should combine everything?"
"I would recommend two high security vaults Mr. Potter; one vault for all of your money and a second one for all other assets." Griphook spoke with authority.
Slightly overwhelmed, Harry said, "Okay, please make those changes but could we go down to my vaults today? I would also like to set up a will before we finish today."
"Very well Mr. Potter. I will get the paperwork for the will and we can complete it after you visit your vaults." Griphook stood up from his chair and beckoned Harry and Hermione to follow him down to the carts that would take them down to his vaults.
Hermione touched Harry's arm and to get his attention, "Harry, I can wait here while you visit your vaults. I don't want to intrude."
Stopping to look over at Hermione, Harry smiled at her before speaking in a very low whisper, "I don't want there to be any more secrets between us Hermione. Besides, I may need your help to sort through some of the items in the vaults." Curious, he asked her, "Have you ever been down to a vault before?"
Hermione shook her head no and followed Harry over to the cart.
He helped her in and climbed in next to her. "You are going to love this Hermione." Harry said with a huge smirk on his face. "We're ready, Griphook."
The cart shot off at tremendous speed into the tunnels eliciting a gasp from Hermione and a whoop of laughter from Harry. After a long ride deeper underneath Gringotts than Harry had ever been before they pulled to a stop in front of the Black family vault. "Hermione how is it that you enjoyed that cart ride but you hate flying?" Harry asked her.
"I've always loved roller coasters since I was a little girl but flying is different. You aren't on the ground or inside of a cart. I feel safer inside of the cart than I do on the back of a broom." Hermione said simply with one hand on her hip.
"Okay. Perhaps I should take you flying sometime on my Firebolt." Harry paused when he saw the look on Hermione's face before he continued, "Oh, come on. I won't do any crazy Quidditch moves with you on my broom. I just want to show you that flying can be wonderfully relaxing."
Upon seeing her look of complete disbelief, Harry chuckled and whispered conspiratorially, "Would you like to know another little secret of mine?" When Hermione nodded, he resumed speaking. "Quidditch isn't my favorite activity in the Wizarding world. It's flying and the freedom that comes with being up in the air. I think that the game itself is a little dangerous, great for an adrenaline rush, but not the safest sport out there." Seeing her look of surprise, chuckling, he said, "Please don't repeat that near Ron though, he would have a fit if he ever knew that."
Smiling back at Harry, Hermione said, "I won't say anything to anyone about that, Harry. Thanks for sharing that with me and I may take you up on that offer to fly. But you have to promise that you won't do anything dangerous with me on the broom."
"Okay, I promise. I think we are ready to enter the vault now, Griphook." Harry said as he turned to address the Goblin.
Griphook opened the door and Harry and Hermione just stood there with identical looks of shock on their faces while staring at the huge mounds of gold galleons.
After a few moments, Harry broke out into fits of laughter causing Hermione to look at him in confusion and with a touch of annoyance at his antics.
Seeing the look on Hermione's face, Harry did his best to compose himself before saying, "That's too funny. Dumbledore told me that Sirius left me a fair bit of gold when he died but this is beyond anything that I could have imagined."
Turning to Griphook Harry asked, "How much gold is in here?"
"I don't have an exact number Mr. Potter but I would guess several million gold galleons plus however many sickles and knuts on top of that." Griphook said with an air of boredom as he looked around the large vault.
Shocked, Harry asked, "How much is a million galleons in pounds?"
In a businesslike tone, Griphook stated, "One million galleons is approximately five million pounds, sterling, based upon the current exchange rate."
Hermione had stayed silent during the entire exchange but now she had a thoughtful look on her face. Stepping over to Harry, she whispered into his ear, "I think that you should move some of this into a muggle bank in case you ever need to leave the Wizarding World."
Nodding in agreement, Harry said, "That's a great idea Hermione."
Turning to face Griphook, Harry said formally, "I would like to get a certified bank draft for two million galleons converted into muggle currency. Please take the money from this vault."
With a smile on his face, he said to Hermione, "I think that Sirius would have loved the thought of me converting some of the Black family fortune into muggle currency."
Hermione had stepped over to the side of the vault and was examining some of the items that were lining the shelves on the wall. As she was browsing through them, she noticed an ornate locket with a large `S' emblazoned in the center. Excited, she said, "Harry! Come here, quick!"
Walking over to where she was standing, Harry looked at the items on the shelf she was pointing to. His gaze froze when he saw the locket.
Frustrated, Harry quietly said, "All this time we have been looking for the locket and it was in here, just waiting for someone to retrieve it. Good job, Hermione. That's going to save us a lot of searching. I was afraid that Mundungus had stolen and pawned it already."
"We should get moving so we can see the other vaults. We can come back and take a more thorough inventory later." Hermione said as she took Harry's hand and began leading him over to the cart.
Once they were seated, Griphook started the cart for a short ride to the main Potter Family Vault. The Potter Vault was about the same size as the Black Family Vault but it contained less gold and more items and heirlooms.
"Wow. I never knew that my parents were that well off." Harry commented as he was staring around the vault. Stepping completely inside, Harry began to walk through the aisles of heirlooms and books. "Grab any books or items that you think could help us Hermione." Harry called over his shoulder to her as he continued down the rows.
At the end of one of the rows, Harry spotted something that brought a smile to his face and a few tears to his eyes. It was his parent's wedding rings and a photo album from their wedding. The album was a bit damaged, Harry suspected that it was from the destruction of Godric's Hollow, but it didn't really matter to him. He was just happy to have the photographs.
Reverently, he put his parent's rings onto a gold chain that was on one of the other shelves and put it around his neck, feeling happier than he had in a while.
Hermione had finally made her way over to Harry and she was beaming at him. Happily, she said, "I have something that I think you are going to really like. I found your parent's wands, and some from your other relatives, in a case at the other side of the vault." Smiling, she handed him their wands.
Smiling in return, he said, "Thanks. I always wondered what happened to their wands." Reverently, Harry pulled his father's wand out of its box. He did not get that warm feeling like he did from his own wand but he knew that this wand would work for him in a pinch. His mum's wand wasn't perfect either, but he knew that it would work for him too.
It was Hermione's response to his mother's wand that surprised him. She was completely compatible with the wand. Harry smiled at Hermione and said, "It looks like you have a second wand now."
He noticed that Hermione was going to give the wand back but he wrapped his hands around her hand that was holding the wand as he spoke, "The wand chooses the witch or wizard. I'm honored that you are compatible with my mother's wand and I know that you will use it well."
Hermione was smiling with tears in her eyes because she knew how precious Harry considered anything that belonged to his parents. Choked with emotion, she said, "Thank you. I know how much this wand means to you and I'll cherish it forever."
Turning towards the vault door, Harry said, "Come on, we need to see what Dumbledore put into storage for Petunia all of those years ago."
Just as Harry was turning to leave the vault, he noticed a tapestry hanging on the wall. It looked very similar to the one hanging in number twelve Grimmauld Place. Walking over to the tapestry, Harry realized that it was his family tree. Awed, he asked, "Is it safe to shrink this and take it with us?"
Thinking it over briefly, she said, "I think so. Otherwise, how would your parents have managed to get it down here in the first place?" Hermione was looking over the names on the tapestry when she noticed that the Potter name changed to Peverell hundreds of years ago.
Curious, she asked, "Have you ever heard of the Peverell's, Harry?" When he shook his head, no, she continued, "I think that we are going to have to research them a bit more so you can find out about your family history."
Wistfully, Harry said, "I'd like that. I've never known anything about my relatives and this tapestry would be a good starting point. Why don't we just copy the names and dates down rather than take the tapestry with us? I don't have a place that I would like to hang the tapestry yet."
Hermione pulled out a notebook and a pen and began copying down the names and dates. Noticing that Harry was watching her while she copied everything down, she asked, "What?"
"You're using a pen and notebook rather than parchment." Harry said, pointing out the obvious.
Surprised, she answered, "Of course I am. Do you know how hard it is to write with a quill while holding a notebook upright? The Wizarding world is very backwards when it comes to a great deal of things. Parchment and quills went out of style over a hundred years ago for muggles. Pens work much better and you don't have to keep re-inking them every few lines as if you would with a quill. If I could have used them at Hogwarts during classes, I would have done so." Hermione finished her monologue, climbing down from her proverbial soapbox.
"Oh, I agree. I hate quills and parchment too." Harry said with a tone of amusement in his voice.
When Hermione was finished copying down the contents of the tapestry, they headed up to inspect the items that Dumbledore left for him. Once inside the vault, they found a box containing the Sword of Gryffindor, a few memories in glass vials, a children's book, and Dumbledore's pensive.
Carefully packing the items into a bag, Harry and Hermione made their way to the last vault containing the items Petunia had put into storage all those years ago. Inside the last vault, Harry found his parents school trunks, a few books, and some photos of them while they were in school. He pocketed their photos and a journal that he found in his mother's trunk before exiting the vault to return to the surface.
Once they were all seated in the conference room, Griphook produced the paperwork to make out a will and gave it to Harry.
He quickly filled out the paperwork and made Hermione his primary beneficiary and the Weasley family the minor beneficiaries should anything happen to him. Harry planned to tell Hermione what he had done once they were away from the bank so she would not try to force him to change his will.
Picking up the bank draft for ten million pounds sterling, Harry turned to Hermione and said, "Let's get to a bank in London so we can deposit this. What bank do your parents use?"
"I think that they use a couple of different banks actually. Barclay's is one of them and I think that the Royal Bank of Scotland is the other." Hermione answered. "I think that I remember a branch of Barclay's being nearby and I know that the Royal Bank of Scotland has a couple of branches in London too."
Motioning towards the door, Harry said, "Let's head over to Barclay's then. However, I think that we should go to one that isn't near Diagon Alley. I don't want to be seen going into a muggle bank by anyone from the Wizarding world and I think that we should keep this secret. What about one of the branches near your parent's house?" Harry asked her.
"That's a brilliant idea Harry." Hermione said excitedly. "I'll apparate us over to my parent's house and they can drive us to the bank. That way no one will think it out of the ordinary. When we are done we can have dinner with my parent's before getting you back to the Dursley's house."
Nodding in agreement, Harry held the door for her and they headed off towards the exit together.
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