Chapter Text

1 Announcement

June 5, 1995

Harry was sitting at the breakfast table, his thoughts going to the final task, due in less than two weeks. He wasn’t sure he could survive it and didn’t know how to better prepare for the task to increase his survival chances. He was brought out of his musings by an owl landing in front of him. It was clearly a Gringotts owl, as he had occasionally seen. Harry wondered why the bank was sending him some mail. He had never got any mail from the bank before.

The owl seemed impatient. Harry quickly untied the letter, and the owl took off even before Harry had a chance to offer it some water or food. Oh, well… This was clearly not Hedwig.

He opened the letter.

“Dear Mr Potter,

This is to inform you that Gringotts is going to cease functioning by the end of July. As you are one of our largest customers, you are among the first to get this notice. Since we consider this of utmost importance, we have taken measures to bypass any mail redirection placed on you, especially since you’ve not responded to any of the mail sent to you since you turned twelve.

We strongly advise that you come and visit your account manager as soon as you can, to make the transfer of your account to another bank of your choice in the smoothest and most lucrative manner.

If you fail to instruct us before July 30, then your account will be transferred to one of the banks listed below, chosen randomly. They all have branches within an easy walking distance from Diagon Alley. The contents of your vaults will be transferred as well.

Still, we consider it of utmost importance that you meet your account manager and not let this transfer happen in unsupervised mode.

On behalf of Gringotts Bank

Sharpclaw, the Potter account manager.”

He felt Hermione touch his elbow. “Anything important, Harry?”

“I’m not sure. They want to see me at the bank, but…”

“Of course! Who wouldn’t like to see the rich and famous boy-who-lived, now also the Triwizard leading champion,” Ron added sarcastically, looking extremely jealous and moving away from the table.

Hermione shook her head sadly. Harry knew she was hoping that Ron would overcome his childish jealousy, but this had not happened yet. He wondered if it would ever happen. He offered Hermione the letter. “What do you think?”

Hermione read it twice, judging by the way her eyes moved, and then she seemed quite apprehensive. “This is not good,” she said. “It may cause financial chaos.” She gave it another thought and then shrugged. “Actually, it may not affect me too much, as I have no account and no vault there, and I can always go back to the Muggle world. It’s more problematic for you, though.”

“Why do you think so?”

“It looks like you have at least some money there. According to this letter, it might be a significant amount. If you’re not prudent, you may lose quite a bit from this.” Hermione was still biting her lower lip, thinking deeply.

“Can you help me so I won’t lose? It’s my parents’ money, really, so the thought of losing some is like losing a bit of them once again.”

Hermione looked up at him and caressed his cheek, wiping an errant tear as well. “I have a free period, and you don’t need to go to classes at all. Let’s spend some time in the library and see what can be done.”

Harry had no problem spending time in the library. Besides, since the Yule Ball, he had become aware of how Hermione had changed. She was no longer the bushy-haired, buck-toothed mousy know-it-all. She was turning out to be a very beautiful young lady, and he liked watching her even more than before. He was also comparing her looks with those of other girls, occasionally, finding the others lacking.

They found a secluded place, far enough from Madam Pince, where they could discuss the letter. “According to what they write here, if you do nothing, then your account will be transferred to another bank. As far as I know, there’s a fee for such transfers even in Muggle banks, where it’s only an accounting operation. Moving stacks of gold and other items may cost much more, so it would be wise to check the fees before deciding on the bank to be used.” Hermione was already in full lecture mode.

“But… will the other bank even handle magical money? They don’t work with Galleons, Knuts and Sickles, do they?”

Hermione gave it a thought and then smiled. “I think that’s part of the goblins’ revenge against wizards. Why fight them, as we’ve been told in History of Magic, risking their own lives, if they can hurt them through their pockets, making wizards miserable or even bankrupt, without losing a drop of blood? Still, if you act wisely, it may turn to your benefit. When are you going to the bank?”

Harry shrugged. Hermione was expecting this, so it seemed, as she already had a suggestion. “It’s a Hogsmeade weekend this week. You can use the Floo from one of the shops and return before dinner, with nobody even noticing.”

“Will you come with me?” Harry pleaded.

She bit her lower lip. “I’m not sure they will allow me to be with you. I’m not family, you know.”

“But you’re like my sister, maybe even closer than that…” Harry’s face turned suddenly red, and he lowered his eyes, as if the table in front of him was very interesting.

“And what do you mean by THAT?” Hermione asked, not quite sure what to expect.

“I’m… well… we’re best friends… and you always care for me… so…”

“So?”

“I’m not sure, but… I think I’m falling in love with you.” His face was now shining red, and he felt as hot as if he were sitting inside an oven. Looking furtively at Hermione, he couldn’t find what she was thinking or what she was feeling. Her face seemed to freeze in the last expression while her mind, maybe her emotions too, processed his words. He dreaded her response, but he couldn’t take his words back. He’d been waiting since the Yule to express his feelings.

Hermione’s face finally melted into a coy smile. “How can we make sure of that? Do you think you’ll know, once you kiss me?”

Harry’s mind went numb at the implications. He just nodded. Hermione moved closer. Harry wasn’t aware of it, but he was complementing her, moving his face closer to hers just the same. Both closed their eyes as their lips touched. It was sweet and innocent, at first. Then Hermione opened her lips a bit, and Harry felt her tongue requesting entry, which he gladly granted. Their kiss became passionate, and they seemed to melt into each other, barely aware of their environment.

They were brought out of it by a shrill voice: “What’s the meaning of this?”

They separated quickly. Hermione looked at Madam Pince, who seemed a bit bewildered. “Sorry, we seem to have forgotten ourselves.”

“That’s understandable. What was that light, though?”

“Light?”

“I couldn’t see you from my place, and you were very quiet, but I suddenly saw the library illuminated brightly, and the light came from here. You were still glowing when I came near. What have you done?”

Both teens seemed confused. “We only kissed. Our wands are in our bags, and we only have some parchments here,” Hermione said.

“Whatever it was, make sure not to do it again. It’s very disturbing; you should know.” Madam Pince had her suspicions, so it seemed, but they were really good kids. As for kissing, this was not the first time and certainly not the last she’d seen students kissing. She couldn’t reprimand them for being hormonal teens, could she?

At least she made them return to their original topic. “Please come with me! If they don’t let you in, you can always go to the bookshop, and I’ll pay for what you buy. Please come!”

Hermione couldn’t stand his pleading eyes, and the prospect of buying some more books was too good to pass up. “Fine, I’ll come with you. Now, about that kiss — are you surer of your feelings now?”

Harry smiled. “I’m now sure I love you. Does it mean you’re my girlfriend now?”

She smiled coquettishly. “Only if you want me to be.”

“Then I really do. Please be my girlfriend!”

Her smile widened. “Gladly, Harry. Now, don’t you like to kiss your girlfriend?”

He looked hesitantly in the direction of the librarian’s desk. Hermione didn’t let him think too much. She grabbed his head and initiated a passionate kiss. Harry complied just as passionately. When they finally parted, he felt relieved that Madam Pince didn’t come to reprimand them again.

⁂

A low-level clerk in the Goblin Liaison Office looked at the letter. Unlike other correspondence with the goblins, this letter was addressed to the Minister himself and was signed by the highest-ranking goblin in Gringotts. He knew these facts would change nothing. He sighed and then did what was required of him. He stamped the letter as incoming mail, made a copy of it to be filed at this office, and forwarded the original to the minister’s office. ‘It’s just a waste of time,’ he thought. ‘Nobody ever pays attention to what the goblins have to say. They could have just as well declared that they seized everything in their vaults and nobody would know until someone tried to access their vaults.’

A short while later, the letter was delivered to the Minister’s office. His secretary made sure to put it on the top of his incoming mail stack.

Some time later, the Minister checked the stack, shuffling the parchments around. He didn’t mind the goblins and didn’t care about what they wanted to tell him. He only glanced at it and pushed the letter to the bottom of the stack.

⁂

Hermione had to attend her lessons, but she left Harry with several books about wizarding economics and economics in general, and some about monetary problems. With no distractions, Harry was able to learn quite a lot from the books. He still didn’t feel like he knew enough, even after reading most of them.

She joined him for a bit after lunch and for much longer after dinner. Just before parting for the night, Hermione had an epiphany. “Harry, you needed to change some Galleons into pounds. Do you remember how much you got?”

It took Harry a moment to recall it. “They gave me about five pounds for each Galleon. Why are you interested?”

“When I changed pounds to Galleons, the rate was a bit above five pounds to a Galleon. Now, do you know how much the gold in the Galleon is worth?”

“No. How much?”

Hermione smiled. “I once made the calculations, but I don’t remember the exact number, and the rates may have changed since then, yet it was roughly ten pounds. Do you understand what it means?”

“No. What?”

“That the system is broken. One can get rich by selling gold coins, exchanging the money back to Galleons and doing it all over again as many times as one wants, as long as one doesn’t attract attention. We can beat the system!”

⁂

Not wanting to cause too much of a scene, they kept their new relationship secret, especially so that a certain hot-tempered redhead wouldn’t find out about it before the final task, and preferably — not before the end of term.

Come Saturday, the three friends went to Hogsmeade. Harry then excused himself. “I need to visit Gringotts, as they asked me in that letter.”

Ron shrugged. “You can go, mate. I’ll keep Hermione company until you return.”

Harry knew this would come, so he had his reply ready. “You see, I asked Hermione to come with me, since I’m rubbish at understanding money issues.”

Ron seemed a bit unsure, but there was really nothing he could complain about. Eventually, he shrugged. “Fine. Tell me in the evening how it went.”