Family Finances
Saturday 5th November 1994, 7:30 am.
The Great Hall was almost empty. On Saturdays most students chose to sleep in, and this week was no different. A couple of Slytherins, a solitary Hufflepuff, a handful of Ravenclaws, and our young hero and heroine made up the entire student presence. The staff table also was looking fairly destitute, with only Professors McGonagall and Hagrid eating their breakfast at this time.
Harry being up this early served two purposes: firstly, it meant that he was less likely to be hassled by other students, it hadn't been a good week for him in that regard, and secondly, it meant that he could be at Gringotts when they opened at 8 this morning. It had taken him almost an hour the previous night to persuade Headmaster Dumbledore that it was necessary, and safe, and in the end old Albus had only granted permission for him to leave if he took Professor McGonagall with him. That's why she was eating her breakfast in the Hall at the same moment he was. Harry was still annoyed that it had taken so much time to persuade the Headmaster given that as a Champion he was allowed to leave on tournament related business. And part of the trip was tournament related, he would have to look into hiring instructors and tutors, and to do that he needed to know his financial situation. Despite his annoyance he was happy to have his transfiguration professor along, as she would be able to keep away anybody they came across on the outing. It was to minimise these encounters that they had decided to go so early, when no other shops would be open in the Alley, so foot traffic would be minimal.
He let his mind wander as he ate the food he had on his plate, running over everything from the previous weeks events, to spells he had researched in the library, and what he wanted to accomplish today. An elbow in the ribs from his girlfriend startled him out of his thoughts, leading to a dignified grunt from him in way of a question.
"It's ten to Harry. Professor McGonagall left about five minutes ago, so you had better hurry to her office if you want to Floo out before 8." Flashing a grin her way as he stood up, he thanked her, and took off for the professors office.
/
Harry strolled through the Alley, enjoying the calm of the nearly deserted shopping district. It reminded him of the previous summer when he took the early morning empty streets as an opportunity to explore the Alley, while he was staying in the Leaky Cauldron. A few of the people they passed waved at, or greeted the Professor, but thanks to a last minute idea of a disguise spell, everybody pretty much ignored him. It took them a couple of minutes to walk from the Cauldron's entrance to the Alley, they had Floo'd to the Cauldron, to the wizarding bank, and as such were about 50 meters away when the doors were opened for business. Entering the bank, with a nod to the two armed goblins standing at the entrance, McGonagall cancelled the spell on young Harry. Thanking her, they both went up to empty counters, with goblin tellers waiting behind. Given that she was in the bank anyways, Minerva had resolved to get some banking done that she had been putting off for the last couple of months due to work commitments. Nervous of what he might find, Harry approached the goblin behind counter number 4, and waited for him to look up from the ledger he was writing on.
"How can Gringotts help you this morning, young wizard?" The goblins tone was surprisingly cheerful, and Harry assumed it had to do with a positive balance in the ledger he had just been attending to.
"Well, Mr. Goblin sir, I was wondering who I would talk to in regards to my account and any family accounts I may have? I don't know how Gringotts works, but I know in the muggle world banks have people who specialise in accounts, and I don't want to waste your time if there is a similar system in existence here." Harry made sure to keep his tone as polite as possible. It doesn't serve you to act condescendingly towards those who look after you money, something many purebloods don't understand.
"Ah yes of course, young wizard, Gringotts does provide that service. You see those three desks over in the right corner, those are our accounts advisers, that muggle born magicals, and less wealthy individuals use." Pointing to the desks in question, the goblin drew Harry's attention to where he needed to go.
"Thank you very much, may your gold ever increase." Harry told the teller, as he headed towards the indicated area of the building. At this early time, only one of the three desks were maned, well goblined, so the young Gryffindor made his way straight to that desk. The goblin had watched him approach, and stood in way of greeting. He was shocked when Harry extended his hand, but recovered and shook the offered appendage before introducing himself.
"Welcome to Gringotts this morning, young sir, I am Sharpclaw, how may I assist you today?" 'A polite young wizard? Must be a new blood' Sharpclaw thought to himself.
"My name is Harry, and I was wondering if you would be able to tell be about my vault, and maybe if my family has any other vaults here."
"Yes of course Harry, I will only need a few more details. Your surname, vault number, and do you have your key on you today?" Sharpclaw had been in this job for over 8 years now, so had the process streamlined for both his, and the customers convenience.
"Yes sir, Potter, Harry Potter Sharpclaw sir. Vault number 687. And here is my key." Sliding it across the desk. Picking up the key, the goblin put it onto a sheet or parchment, and then read the information that started appearing seconds later.
"Okay Mr. Potter, this key is for a vault in your name, number 687, that currently has 923 galleons, plus change in sickles and knuts. For any other vaults, you would have to talk to the Account Manager of the Potter family. If you give me a moment, I can find out who that is if you would like?" At the boys nod, Sharpclaw starting going through the documents on his desk. While this was going on, Harry was trying to work out how much a galleon was in pounds, but unfortunately he had no clue.
"Excuse me Sharpclaw sir, what is the conversion rate between pounds and galleons?" After all, the goblin was bound to know, and it was the fastest way to find out.
"Ten pounds to the galleon. One pound to the sickle. Ten pence to the knut." The account adviser informed Harry, without looking up from the pile of parchment. "Ah here it is. The Potter, Bones, Gileet, and Rouslaq account manager is Findore. If you would like, I can see if he is free to see you at the moment?" Sharpclaw had always liked Findore, as the older goblin had been the one to show him the ropes after he got promoted from teller to accounts adviser, before Findore got his own promotion 6 years ago. When Harry gave his blessing, Sharpclaw wrote a note to his old mentor, and sent it on its way thanks to a magical outbox, which sent the letter to the inbox on the desk of the addressed party. After handing the key back to the young wizard, Sharpclaw turned his attention back to the piles of parchment on his desk, and started working on a transfer request he had received during the night from Ferpied Banque la Magie, the goblin run bank of magical France.
Harry however just sat there stunned. He had a bank account with almost 10,000 pounds in it! Dudley would throw a fit if he found out that Harry had that sort of money, given how loudly Duds had been boasting when he reached 1,000 pounds in his account last year.
"Excuse me, Mr. Potter? Could you please follow me?" An older, distinguished looking goblin called out from the entrance to one of the corridors off the main area of the bank. Being the closest of the corridors to the account adviser area, Harry only had a 5 meter walk to the goblin, before following the goblin through a much longer maze of corridors. Out of the corner of his eye Harry caught a glimpse of shocking ginger hair.
"Bill? Is that you? What are you doing in England?" Despite only meeting Bill a few months ago, he felt like he knew the older man quite well, given how popular he was with the younger Weasley's. In fact, listening to his siblings would lead you to believe that Bill was the coolest person alive.
"Hey there Harry! How you going? I heard about the Triwizard tournament, tough break kid. My old boss left so along with a promotion I have the fun of interviewing a replacement for the crew in Egypt. So I'm here for a couple of days, then spending the next week conducting interviews in a few different places throughout Europe. You know, France, Germany and the such, hopefully I can even make Romania, I haven't talked to Charlie in a while but it would be fun to go to a pub with him. Just don't tell mum I said that." The oldest Weasley child finished with a laugh. Harry couldn't help but join in, imagining Molly's rant if she found out that Bill had gone all the way to Romania just to have a beer with his brother when he was supposed to be working.
"Don't worry, I won't tell her. Speaking of Molly, she must be so happy to have you around for a few days." Seeing Bill's whole demeanour change, Harry knew he must have said something wrong.
"Uh... Mum doesn't know I'm in England. Well at Gringotts, cause technically we aren't in England. I'm only here for a little while, and will be pretty busy the whole time, so didn't want her to make a big fuss over it. And besides, it's easier just to stay here at Gringotts, that way if I'm working late or something she won't complain. You won't say anything will you?" After Harry promised to stay silent, they went their separate ways with the appropriate 'nice to see you again' and 'have a good day's that follow chance meetings between casual acquaintances. With a quick apology to his goblin guide, they continued on the final stage of their journey.
/
Stopping by a door with 'Account Manager' on a golden plaque, the goblin opened the door and waved the young Gryffindor inside.
"Please, have a seat Mr. Potter, I am Findore. I am the account manager for the Potter family, among several others, and it is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance." The goblin who had led Harry here stated as he walked around a beautifully crafted desk and took his own seat.
"Pleasure to meet you as well Mr. Findore. I was wondering, given that you are the Potter family account manager, did you know my parents?" Harry had plenty of time to get to business, and decided to start on a more personal note.
"Unfortunately Mr. Potter I did not have the privilege as I only took over from my predecessor Claycart 6 years ago. But if I remember correctly I did meet your parents once or twice when they were in for business. So how may I, and Gringotts, help you today?" Goblins rarely dwell in the past, there is no gold in reminiscing, and as such Harry was not offended by Findore smoothly changing the conversation to business. That is not to say that goblins have poor memory, in fact they have very good memories, but only in regards to those who have either wronged them, or aided them.
"Well I recently found out a little about my family and our history, and realised with such a long history I figured there must be some financial... Well the existence of financial stability or the such, and wanted to find out if it was all in good standing. I mean I knew about my vault, but I never even thought about a family vault or the such, so can you help me?" Harry was out of his depths, he had never learnt about finances or economics, or anything to do with money.
"Of course Mr. Potter. I am caught a little unprepared for this talk today, as I wasn't expecting it until August 1st next year, but if you give me a moment I can find all relevant information for you." While his desk was more organised then Sharpclaw's had been, there was a lot of parchment spread out around the office.
"August 1st next year?" Harry had no idea why that date would be significant to the goblin.
"Yes, August the first, the day after your 15th birthday. That was when Mr. Dumbledore told me he would be bringing you in so that I could tell you about the Potter finances and we would have a year or two for you to learn about it before you came into your birthright." The goblin pulled a sheet of parchment out of a desk draw, before rummaging through a pile on a shelf to his left and pulling out another one. "Yes here we go, the Potter family vault 680 opened in 1478, and personal vault for one Harry James Potter vault 687, opened August 11th 1980. Now before I provide you with any information, I need to verify you are who you are. I'm sure you understand. Cut your right index finger, and then run your finger across this paper please." Findore picked up a small knife and a third piece of parchment and handed them to Harry. After the boy did as instructed, words started to form where a small trail of blood had previously been, 'Harry James Potter JPLE'. Findore was certainly pleased with the results.
"Good good. Now I shall start with your own vault, it is much less to cover. 5,000 gallons deposited on August 11th as directed by your parents via Sirius Black, who had a sighed letter from them. It was most unusual but given the letter, and that no key was to be given to Sirius the request was agreed to. That is the only deposit. First withdrawal was on November 8th 1981, 50 galleons in pounds, by your Magical Guardian, to cover cost of raising you. December 31st 1981, 250 galleons in pounds, same person and reason. The same 250 galleons every December 31st up until last year. First unprecedented withdrawal was July 31st 1991, but I believe that was you?" At Harry's nod he continued. "All other withdrawals have been by you. Is this consistent with your knowledge of your account?"
"Well my own withdrawals are, but I never knew about my account till I first came here on my 11th birthday. And I know nothing about those withdrawals of 250 galleons, and my relatives always complained about how I was a strain on them and a waste of their money..." Harry trailed off. He was never comfortable talking about his aunt and her family.
"I see, well I will raise them with Mr. Dumbledore when I next get a chance, but feel free to ask him about them yourself if you get the opportunity. Shall we move on to the family vault?" Harry took a moment to consider where the 2,500 pounds was going every year before giving his blessing for the goblin to continue.
"I will not go over every deposit and withdrawal in the history of the vault, we would be here for years, but the last deposit was 77 galleons on December 14th 1979, your fathers fortnightly pay check from the DMLE. The last withdrawal was 1,500 galleons, in a mixture of pounds and galleons, by your father on November 14th 1979. Unfortunately, with the older family vaults upon the death of the head of house access is sealed, even to us at Gringotts and so interest, your parents pay checks after that date, rent and the such have not been added since your grandfathers death on the 19th December that year. Your father, the heir, never presented himself before the needed authorities to be recognised as head, to the best of our knowledge, but he most certainly never came here to unseal the vault. We at Gringotts have of course kept the over flow, at a small fee, which will be added to the main vault when it is unsealed. The family vault contains 64,719 galleons, and a further 2,133 galleons in combined value of sickles and knuts. The holding vault has a total of 13,381 galleons as of last night. While that may sound good, before the war in that same 15 year window you could have expected 45,000 galleons plus the extra 3,500 odd galleons of your dads salary before his death. Your family suffered much because of the war. In fact your father and grandfather contributed more than 200,000 galleons to the war effort. While the Potter's have never been the richest family, the years after Grindlewald were very generous to your family. The Potters have owned some land for centuries, and two shops, one in the Alley the other in Hogsmeade, and after Grindlewald's defeat rent rose quickly until it had more than doubled. I think that is why your father and grandfather gave so freely, they felt that it wasn't money they had earned themselves. Unfortunately of the three residential plots, and two shops, only one house is rented out. Of the houses, one family left during the war, and the single occupant of the other was killed. The shop in Diagon was abandoned, and the one in Hogsmeade destroyed. Usually new tenants would have been found, and the destroyed shop remade, but unfortunately nobody had the legal authority to do that. Your parents had no will, or if they had one it was never produced here at Gringotts which is they only way to make it official in the Wizarding world, so nobody was left in charge of the estate. The Ministry would never allow Gringotts to make repairs, even if it was in your best interest, unless your parents had put us in charge, or you were of age and gave us your permission. Mr. Dumbledore on the other hand was your magical guardian but that meant he could only look after you, not the estate, and he could only make withdrawals from your account, for your care. He didn't have the authority to get new tenants or repair your Hogsmeade shop. There was also some maintenance required to your occupied place over the years, but we reached an agreement with those living there, and they have been paying for it, under the condition that once finances are freed up they will be compensated. That will be one of the first things you will have to attend to, as a sign of good faith. The family have been your tenant for near 30 years." Findore stopped here for a moment as he scanned through his documents, allowing Harry a bit of time to internalise all the information.
"Excuse me, you said that the last withdrawal was before my birth, but then my vault and account was made after my birth and had a deposit made, how is this the case?" While Harry had many questions, that glaring inconsistency really stuck out to him.
"Ah yes of course, I was just getting to that. Vault 684, for one James Daesil Potter, opened March 31st 1960, extended to include your mother after their engagement. It was out of that vault, not the family vault that the deposit was made. Usually after the heir becomes Head they merge their account back into the family vault, but as your father never came to Gringotts after your grandfathers death this was never done. The vault currently has 3,216 galleons and change. Which means on top of the total value of 951 galleons in our vault (including sickles and knuts), which is the only money you currently has access to, your family has a total of 83,601 galleons, 7 sickles, and 4 knuts. A respectable amount, but far short of the 300,000 galleons required for a Personal Account Manager under current Gringotts guidelines." This was business, something that goblins excelled at, so his professional manner throughout the entire talk didn't surprise Harry.
"Oh... Does that mean you will no longer be handling these accounts? Should I go back and talk to Sharpclaw?" While this was all new to Harry, he couldn't help but feel disappointed that it seemed like his family was losing even more. Even if it only was a more active and individual treatment from Gringotts.
"Pardon? Why would that... Oh, I seem to have confused you. No I am still your family Account Manager, unless you request a change from Gringotts, which I hope I have been helpful today so you don't. Gringotts have four levels for accounts. You have your standard which only use the tellers. While all customers can use the tellers as it is by far the fastest way to deposit or withdraw smaller figures. Next up is the account advisers level. Sharpclaw works at that level. It is available for those with 1,000 galleons in their account, although their is some leeway, like it you have been over 1,000 but have made some recent purchases. Only when you have had less than that amount for a year is that service unavailable to you. Of course if you deposit more money in after that time and are once again over 1,000 galleons you have access returned. At that level they offer advice for how to use that money, larger withdrawals and the such. When a individual, or family, have 20,000 galleons or more they are eligible for an Account Manager, such as me. An Account manager works with several families, up to ten if they have smaller funds, but usually around five. I for instance am the manager for four families. We offer a much larger range of services and personal involvement in your finances. With the advisers, their are current 11 here I believe, and depending on when you come in will determine who you will see. However as your family Account Manager I personally handle all the Potter family accounts and you have access to me, or my assistant, whatever time you come to Gringotts. If we are open that is. As such I do not work Sunday, and my chosen day off is Monday, but my assistant does work Mondays so can help you if you come in on that day. The final level is the Personal Account Manager for those individuals or families with 300,000 galleons in their accounts. It is much the same as you have with me, but he would not have any other families accounts to care for. Where I have four families, a Personal Account Manager only had the one. While in the past Potter's have had personal goblins such as that, it was during the early days of Gringotts when things were different, and under the current system it has never been the case. Your family did come close before the war, with 282,000 galleons, but as you can see you are a considerable way off from that at the moment." Findore stopped here to hear any other questions his employer had.
"So are there any families with that highest level of service?" Harry was curious about where his family sat among other magical families.
"While I can not tell you who they are, for security reasons, I believe that as of the start of the year Gringotts had 16 such accounts." They continued talking for another 40 minutes as Harry got answers to many of his questions, before Harry met Findore's assistant Tinshield who escorted Harry back to the Gringotts entrance where Professor McGonagall was patiently waiting.