1,114Authors note: as you start reading this you may feel a sense of "I've read this before… loads of times" please try and bear with me as I've tried to do it in my own way and tried to be a bit more creative about it but it's a subject that I know has been done to death, but sadly it's needed in order to let me have access to things I want to do further into the story.
Chapter 4 – In Grave Peverell
Saturday 14th May, Gringotts, London
They made their way along a black marble corridor following behind Griphook. Harry couldn't help but be struck that they were all following Griphook who was also walking at a normal pace, but they didn't catch up or overtake him, considering that they were all taller and had longer legs than him.
Griphook led them to a set of Mahogany wooden double doors with the Gringotts' crest engraved into the wood, and as he approached the doors opened towards them of their own accord and they followed Griphook into the room.
The room before them was laid out as an amphitheater much like the Wizengamot and there was a goblin, that they assumed was Ragnok, sat on a golden throne on a raised platform towards the rear of the benches. Around 40 goblins were seated along the benches with coats of arms on the desks in front of them, which Harry assumed were Goblin coats of arms as they are situated in front of the goblins seated.
Along the benches to the left hand side Kingsley and his aides were taking their seats and a witch in a yellow dress suit was taking a large scroll of parchment out of the briefcase she was carrying along with a pink quick notes quill and set them up ready to make a record of the meeting.
There was already a group of around thirty witches and wizards sitting along the benches in quiet discussion, they stood and welcomed Kingsley as he made his way to his seat and most of them offered him what looked like some congratulations. Whereas some sat furthest back didn't move, and it was most likely they were the witches and wizards who hadn't voted for Kingsley's appointment to minister.
Fleur moved past the others who had stopped in the doorway and approached the goblin sitting on a gold throne in the front and middle of the assembled benches. He was wearing a gold breast plate beneath a long black coat with a brown fur lining that looked to have been taken off some sort of wolf and they couldn't see the lower half of him as a plinth blocked their view.
At top his head was a gold crown with jewels and next to him a large metal hammer that looked like it would be too heavy for someone to lift because the handle was also made of metal as well. They assumed, with growing concern, that this was the fabled Ragnok King of the Goblins that they had read about during their History of Magic lessons.
Fleur approached the goblin they assumed was Ragnok and bowed. She then had a whispered conversation with him and the goblin nodded to Fleur and pointed towards where Kingsley and the ministry workers were seated with the large group of wizards.
Fleur moves across to sit next to the woman with the quill and parchment out and as she passed she gave the four a small smile and whispered "Wizengamot", which confirmed Harry's suspicions that the other witches and wizards are the members of the Wizengamot.
In the middle of the room there are four chairs with a large wooden table three meters in length and Griphook indicated for the four of them to take the seats, which they did hesitantly. Harry sat in the left center seat with Ron on his left and Hermione on his right and Neville in the far seat.
Ragnok stood and banged the metal hammer on a gavel to call the session to order causing Hermione and several of the people having conversations to jump with surprise. He then said something in gobbledygook, which the Goblins all replied to by raising their hands. Ragnok gave them all nod in acknowledgement and then turned to address the room at large.
"I, Ragnok, King of the Goblins and Director of Gringotts call this session to order!" his voice boomed out around the room. "I have agreed with my Goblin brethren to first sort out a matter of importance before we attend to wizarding matters of Wills, wishes and inheritance."
"Harry James Potter, Hermione Jean Granger and Ronald Bilius Weasley, stand before this assembly and accept our judgement for the events on the sixth of April of this year, in which you used matters of deception and magic to gain entrance into Goblin territory and break the sacred oath that has kept this institution as one of the highest ranked and secure places in the magical world for over five hundred years!" giving them a cold look.
Harry, Ron and Hermione stood and looked at each other with very worried looks. They knew that the goblins wouldn't be happy with them and would no doubt want to punish them for what happened a few weeks ago.
"It is the decision of the Goblin brethren that you used magic on Goblins to enter this bank and deception to obtain access into a vault that was not yours, which is a strict violation of many of the Goblin laws and statutes laid out in the peace treaty between Goblins and Wizards after the last war." Ragnok continued.
Harry glanced over at Griphook who he could see was staring at his own feet with his head bowed, and this caused Harry's stomach to flip even more with anxiety about what punishment Griphook must have faced for helping them and the punishment they are going to receive as well. Of course he reasoned that would be why Kingsley was here as it was an incident in Goblin Territory and he needed to be here to agree to the punishment that they will lay on the three of them in accordance to the Goblin and Wizard Act 1274 after the last Goblin/Wizard War.
"The damage caused to the lower secured vaults area, banking hall and roof was to the cost of 227,000 galleons plus the loss of an Icelandic Windchaser Dragon, which cost the bank a further 150,000 galleons. You were lucky that no one was killed by your actions as the dragon is very hard to control and that is why we need to use certain measures to control its temperament, it is a particularly ferocious breed. Do you have anything you wish to say in your defense before we pass our judgement?"
Ron and Hermione looked at Harry and Harry nodded giving his silent agreement that he'd be the one to speak. He took a step forward and raised his chin so that he was looking Ragnok right in the eye, he thought for a moment about what to say and thought he'd best go with as formal a language as Ragnok was speaking but to show the goblins respect as they might at worst decide to kill them or at least make them pay for the damage to the bank.
"King Ragnok and noble members of the Goblin brethren before me. I understand your anger at the actions of myself and my friends for the damage caused to Gringotts, the loss of the dragon that aided our escape of the bank and for the deception we had to use in order to obtain entrance into the vault of Bellatrix Lestrange. Please understand that our actions were not intended to offend, slight, disrespect, injure or to damage, but to remove a dark object from a vault that was under your protection and that I assume had passed your security measures and into your bank against your wishes. We intended to gain access to the vault without injuring anyone and leave without anything being disturbed or discovered. While I can make no excuse for the damage that was caused due to our actions, I can only highlight certain occurrences that day and explain our reasons for our actions. My friends and I were being hunted and chased by what was considered the darkest wizard in history and his followers. We were set upon a mission to find and destroy objects of dark magic that were anchoring Lord Voldemort to life in order to return peace to the world and most directly Britain and also for my own personal survival."
Ragnok raised a hand instantly silencing Harry, "We know of the events that occurred that day and the reason you entered Gringotts Mr. Potter, as Account Manager Griphook has already explained the planning of your operation and the reasons and bargains struck behind it, so there is no need to recount the incident and the following events after your leaving Gringotts as we are aware of what happened after Minister Shacklebolt has explained everything to us. Is there anything you wish to add besides the events that occurred?"
Harry thought for a moment and said "Only your banks creed King Ragnok," causing a confused murmuring amongst the benches before continuing and reciting the words on the doors to Gringotts "Enter, stranger, but take heed, of what awaits the sin of greed. For those who take, but do not earn, must pay most dearly in their turn. So if you seek beneath our floors. A treasure that was never yours, Thief, you have been warned, beware, of finding more than treasure there."
"I'm well aware of our creed Mr. Potter, what is your point?" asked Ragnok.
"Only that we did not enter Gringotts for purposes of greed or our own wealth. We did take something that we didn't earn yes, but the person who put that cup in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault wasn't the owner of that cup, hadn't earned it and had in fact murdered to get his hands on it and stolen it from its owner before turning it into an object of dark magic.
We did seek a treasure beneath your floors and had to use deception to gain access to it because the bank was working in cooperation with the forces of Voldemort. They wouldn't have granted us access otherwise or would have announced that we had entered the bank to them and most likely turned us over to Death Eaters where we would be taken to Voldemort. We did find more than treasure in the vault, but we didn't take anything other than that cup from the vault.
My friends and I are not thieves or evil people. We value hard work and earning what you have, and don't believe in stealing from someone else who has put in the hard work to improve themselves or others around them.
That's all I have to say really. My friends and I never intended to cause the damage we caused to Gringotts but we only released the Dragon to aid our escape not to put the bank's security at risk. If you want gold for the damage caused, then take it from my vault and if I don't have enough money then I will work to pay the rest off. Speaking for myself, I'm afraid that I cannot and will not be able to apologize for my motivation in entering that vault and removing that cup, and I will not allow my friends to be punished for supporting me.
Don't punish Ron and Hermione for my actions. It was my plan and I'm the one who put it into action, so if you are to punish someone please punish me and not them." Harry concluded with a bow to the Goblins.
"Hang on a second, I'm not letting you take all the blame for this Harry. No way!" exclaimed Ron.
"Now wait a minute Harry Potter, don't you dare think you're taking the blame for this. If we hadn't done what we did then how many other goblins would Voldemort and the Death Eaters have killed? You shouldn't be apologizing or justifying yourself they..." began Hermione as they started to protest to Harry at the same time.
"SILENCE!" Ragnok's voice boomed out silencing them all and causing Harry, Ron and Hermione to look at their feet. "Very well if those are your final words on the matter Mr. Potter, we will now pass our judgement regarding your actions."
Ragnok turned to the Goblins assembled again and said something in Gobbledygook and all the Goblins raised their hands as one a few seconds later.
Harry, Hermione and Ron stood there feeling sick as Goblins were known to be ruthless and the ministry would be limited in any help they could give them as the incident happened at Gringotts, which is classified as Goblin land if the decision was one that would result in violence.
"As King of the Goblins and Director of Gringotts and on behalf of the Goblin Brethren, I would like to extend our thanks to the three of you for your actions on the sixth of April."
To say that the trio were stunned by this announcement would be an understatement.
"Huh?" Ron and Harry asked in unison.
Ragnok gave a deep chuckle at Ron and Harry's reaction, which caused the goblin brethren to cackle along as well. "Yes, we would like to thank you all, as you removed a very dark and evil artifact that had been illegally placed in one of our vaults, your actions upon leaving the bank, destroying the artifact and destroying the wizard known as Lord Voldemort has brought peace to the land again. It has also brought justice for the Gringotts Goblins that he executed after your escape. Having had an account from Account Manager Griphook about your honorable actions and intentions, which I must say you have backed up here today by offering to pay for the damage caused to Gringotts. We do not expect or require you to do so as the break in you staged highlighted some deficiencies in our protocols and vault security, which we have amended.
I can see from your friend's reactions Mr. Potter that they are honorable people and are loyal to you. The Goblin nation respects bravery, loyalty, ingenuity and respect. You saved the life of Account Manager Griphook from Malfoy Manor where he was to face certain death. He is a descendant of a noble goblin line and currently doesn't have an heir to that line, so for this we also thank you. You study a Wizard's History of Magic at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which I'm led to believe is just the ghost of a wizard telling a wizard's view on the Wizard-Goblin Wars and not a lot of anything else that has happened in the magical world. Goblins and Wizards have honored each other in the past and we would like to honor you as well. How we will do this will be discussed and arranged at a later date as there are other matters that require all of our attention here today." Ragnok finished with a nod before taking his seat back on the throne.
Harry and Ron didn't know what to do but Harry felt the tension instantly go out of Ron as it did for him and then to his surprise Hermione stepped forward to say something to Ragnok and the assembled goblins.
"Thank you very much King Ragnok and to the rest of the Goblin Brethren. We are honored that you consider us worthy of any kind of gratitude. All we wanted to do was rid the world of Voldemort and help our friend." When she finished she gave him a small curtsy and prompted Harry and Ron to add their thanks as well with a bow.
"You are most welcome Miss Granger. If you would all like to take your seats I will hand it over to Griphook who will oversee the reading of the Wills." Ragnok replied as he nodded to Griphook, who made his way out onto the floor in front of the table.
"Wills? Doesn't he mean Will?" Harry asked Hermione who shrugged and shushed him.
They looked towards Griphook as a trapdoor opened in the floor where he had been standing a few moments earlier and six goblins entered the room carrying boxes.
Four were mahogany boxes around one-foot-wide by two feet in length and about half a foot deep, and the fifth box two goblins had walked in carrying that looked to be made out of limestone that was about three feet long and a foot wide and half a foot deep.
Harry and the others strained their necks to try and make out the coat of arms inlaid in gold on top of the mahogany box that was nearest to him as they were put on the table, but he couldn't quite make it out as it was upside down. Three of the Goblins who had put the boxes on the table moved to the right side of the room and sat on three chairs, while the fourth goblin who carried a mahogany box made his way back up to the benches with the rest of the goblin brethren.
Harry looked at the fifth box after the carriers had gone back down through the trapdoor, which magically sealed itself and he could see the top of the Limestone box. He recognized the sign of the Deathly Hallows in black on the top of it.
The sight of this was enough for Harry and Hermione to turn quickly to each other as obviously Hermione had spotted the symbol on the box as well, and given their experience with the Deathly Hallows so far Harry got a sinking feeling in his stomach that this couldn't end well.
He'd destroyed the Elder Wand while repairing his Holly and Phoenix wand with it after the battle, and he'd deliberately lost the Resurrection Stone in the Forbidden Forest when he went to meet Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Was he going to be punished for destroying them?
"A lot of history is known in the wizarding world, but there is very limited knowledge on what happens to things after a wizard or witch dies. Wizards have always preferred to leave these matters to Gringotts and the Goblin Nation as we are the authority on such things.
Wizards however do not check information that is available to them regarding wills and last wishes left in those wills or instructions we are given by the witch or wizard making the will, as thoroughly as they sometimes should and some accounts of fact have sometimes easily been translated into myth or legend as the meaning isn't understood or isn't clarified with Gringotts." Griphook announced, bringing Harry's attention back into the room.
"For example much is known by Wizard kind about the Founding Four of Hogwarts, but not a lot is known about their deaths and their last Will and Testaments and the stipulations that were applied to their Wills."
"There are nine families' Will and Testaments that we will read today and they involve all of you. Five of these Wills are for some of the oldest accounts that Gringotts has and as such they, according to Goblin law, have to be read before the heads of family for the Goblin Nation and certain members of the Ministry of Magic and Wizengamot of Great Britain."
Harry's confusion really was reaching maximum levels as Gringotts had been going for over a thousand years and there was no one alive that old. Nicholas Flamel and his wife were 665 years old when they died, so even they wouldn't have known whose accounts they were talking about.
A quick glance at Neville and Ron and he could see they were just as boggled as he was and Hermione looked like she was desperately trying to search through her encyclopedic mind trying to find a reference for who or what they could be regarding.
Griphook made his way around the bench to the Limestone box and ran his hands over the box mumbling what Harry assumed was a spell. He felt Hermione and Ron stiffen next to him as a small wisp of gold smoke escaped the box as the lid came up revealing three scrolls and a miniature Limestone box identical to the box it was in.
Griphook lifted up the first scroll of parchment that was sealed with black wax and as he picked the scroll up, the seal cracked and the parchment unfurled in Griphook's hand.
"Herein and set forth is the last will and testament of Antioch Peverell, being of sound body and mind, I henceforth express my wishes and intentions upon my death from this world.
I go to duel one of my fiercest foes and if the result of the duel does not go my way, I leave all I own to my brothers Cadmus Peverell and Ignotus Peverell to be split equally and my wand to pass to Cadmus. If I win my duel and die another way in the future, I leave everything to them unless I have a son or daughter at the time of my death."
Griphook stopped reading there and looked to the four seated opposite him and explained "Antioch Peverell lost that duel and the Elder Wand in the process, but all of his other worldly possessions and shares ended up getting split between his brothers, although further into his will he requests that they track down the wand and bring it back into their family."
Griphook placed the scroll back into the box where it rolled itself up again and the wax seal reformed. Griphook lifted up the second scroll of parchment that was sealed with black wax and as he picked the scroll up, the seal cracked and the parchment unfurled in Griphook's hand.
"Herein and set forth is the last will and testament of Cadmus Peverell, being of sound body and mind, I henceforth express my wishes and intentions upon my death from this world.
I leave all my worldly possessions to my brother Ignotus Peverell. I have no living heir as the one I loved departed this world before we were able to have a child. I go to join my love and brother Antioch in the next life. I have managed to retrieve Antioch's wand from Bogard Filderstain and I leave this along with my ring to my brother Ignotus. Only he is aware of how much it means to me, how it was obtained, what it does, and I trust that he will be respectful in its use."
Griphook moved back to the box and placed the Will in the box and it again rolled up and resealed itself. "As you now know that Cadmus left everything he owned to his brother Ignotus along with the ring and Antioch's wand. Cadmus took on this quest as his last act before hanging himself before leaving everything he owned to his brother Ignotus."
Griphook then moved on to the final scroll of parchment and it unfurled for him and he read, "I, Julius Morpheus Peverell, being of sound body and mind hereby announce my final wishes. It is with regret that I have no male heir in which to pass my title onto as the current laws of the land dictate that the title and seat in the Wizengamot can only pass to a male heir. As a result of this condition I leave all my land, gold and businesses and shares and everything else that I own to my daughter Rosalyn as is her birthright. I only wish I could leave her the title of Lord/Lady Peverell to hand down to her first born, but alas I cannot. I have no wish for our line to die out so I have contacted the Wizengamot and my father's friend Gringott who is starting his own bank for a special dispensation of my family's last Wills and testaments. With permission from the Wizengamot I am henceforth setting a quest and whoever can complete the quest shall be recognized as my male heir and receive the title of Lord Peverell and the family seat in the Wizengamot. My father and his brothers obtained objects of great power and the quest is that whomever shall reunite my Uncle Antioch's wand, my Uncle Cadmus' ring and my father's clock that I am giving to Rosalyn to pass down through our family. Whomever reunites these items will be the Master of Death and our family's true heir and named as such. I have placed the ring in a place on the other side of the world and started a trail of information that will lead a worthy wizard to be able track the items down eventually. My father lost Uncle Antioch's wand in a duel years ago but never told me who it was that he lost it to so I have left information about that duel so that any witnesses can be tracked down. If no one is able to unite the Wand, Ring and cloak in the next two thousand years then it is with a heavy heart that our family line will die out since the Wizengamot is only allowing us 2000 years for the quest. I leave this Will in possession of my friend and banker Gringott along with the necessary magic to see that it is eventually brought into being. These are my final wishes on my word and magic, so mote be it."
This was met by silence in the room as Ragnok stood again to address them all. "Gringott, who founded this bank, was a close friend of Ignotus Peverell and his son Julius Morpheus Peverell and the Peverell account has been the first and oldest account with the bank for over five hundred years. It is my pleasure to be able to announce that the Hallows' Quest has finally had its conditions met and an heir to the Peverell family has been named. The Wizard who has completed the quest is Harry James Potter."
The Goblins stood and gave a round of applause along with, to Harry's surprise, the representatives from the Ministry and the Wizengamot.
Harry stood up with his hands up and said that he wished to speak. He informed everyone in attendance that he was in possession of the wand, the stone and the cloak, but he lost the cloak, which was a lie as it was safe back at Ron's Aunt's house. He destroyed the Elder wand after the battle as enough lives have been lost because of it, this got a sharp intake of breath from some of the wizards assembled, and lost the resurrection stone so he isn't the Master of Death at all.
Ragnok stood and explained that in the time that the Hallows were in his possession Magic recognized that they were all together and had been reunited by a single person and that they had a means to prove that Harry is in fact the Peverell heir. The only person who could have contested the Will was Lord Voldemort and as he is now dead there is no other heir and that the Peverell family line had a lordship and seat on the Wizengamot.
He gives a signal to Griphook, who reached into the Peverell family Will box and took out the small box from inside and approached Harry while mumbling like he did when he opened the large box.
He stopped in front of Harry and the box opened displaying a large gold band with the symbol of the Hallows in gold, mounted on a white opal. Griphook instructed Harry to take the ring and put it onto the middle finger of his right hand and, if he is the heir, the ring will magically resize to fit his finger, amongst other things. He whispered this last part under his breath.
Harry took the ring thinking that it would probably fit over two of his fingers, it was that big, and slid it onto his finger and waited. Just as he was lifting his head to tell Griphook that they had made a mistake, the ring suddenly glowed and reduced in size to fit Harry's finger perfectly. At the same time Harry felt as if a strong breeze had quickly passed over him before the feeling disappeared as quickly as it had come.
Griphook pointed out that the ring had accepted him as the Peverell family heir and summoned a piece of parchment from a black briefcase next to the desk with the boxes on it.
He handed the parchment to Harry informing him that what was on the parchment was his inheritance of the Peverell line.
Harry pushed his glasses into a more comfortable position and read from the parchment that along with the seat in the Wizengamot and title of Lord Peverell he had inherited fifteen acres of land in Argyll, Scotland on which the Village of Hogsmeade stood and explained that the Peverell family founded and owned the land and wards of Hogsmeade.
Harry beckoned Griphook closer so that he wasn't overheard and asked how he was meant to be inheriting land. He thought it was just the title and seat at the Wizengamot left in the Will.
Griphook explained that this is because Rosina Peverell married Byron Potter very early in the Potter Family tree and she had acquired the land from her father, but Griphook explained that he felt it was more prudent to list the Peverell created and owned properties separate from the Potter Families as it would make more sense to him.
Harry went back to reading the parchment and noticed that the Peverell line also owned the land on which Knockturn Alley is located and as a result the twenty shops on Knockturn Alley have a two thousand five hundred galleons per annum rent agreement that generated a rental income of one hundred thousand galleons a year and over the last three hundred years have generated a standing total of thirty million galleons in their Knockturn Vault.
Harry's mouth dropped open and looked up and Griphook casually looked at Harry giving him a sharp look before continuing his turn and looking at the assembled Wizengamot and Ministry members assembled and acted like he wasn't paying Harry any attention other than to tap the side of his nose at Harry who quickly figured out Griphook didn't want him divulging information in front of the other wizards and witches in the gallery.
Harry looked back at the rest of the parchment and continued reading. Hogsmeade Village has forty businesses but the generated rental income on those properties is only one thousand five hundred galleons rent per annum that brings in sixty thousand galleons a year, however over three hundred years that also has generated a standing total of thirty million galleons in that vault as well.
The rent for Knockturn Alley and Hogsmeade is only for five hundred years and not a thousand because the Peverell family wrote that the original terms of the lease would be for eight hundred years in an act of friendship with the shop owners and residents.
So in those two vaults alone he had sixty million galleons and that was a crazy amount of money for a seventeen-year-old to have access to.
"Griphook about..." Harry began to say
"We'll discuss the details of the will in a private session later." Griphook said, cutting Harry off who nodded.
Harry was absolutely dumbstruck, gobsmacked, and stunned all at once as are the other three who sat there and looked at him and his reaction.
"I'll tell you later." he said to Hermione and Neville before turning to look at Ron who nodded.
It was an absolutely crazy amount of money and while he had always had money in the wizarding world he'd never really been told the amount of money in his Trust vault that his mum and dad had left him.
'Blimey. That must make me one of the wealthiest wizards in the world.' Harry thought still in shock. Not only had the Peverell family's heirlooms helped save his life but their business acumen had now made him comfortable for life.
"This is absolutely crazy Griphook are you completely sure about the accuracy of this?" asked Harry who was starting to feel dizzy with everything that was happening. He'd entered the room not knowing whose Will they were coming to have read or why they were required to attend but now to be told that he'd been made a Lord of the Peverell family and a multi-millionaire in one stroke made him feel ill.
"Yes there is absolutely no mistake as the one thing we Goblins always make sure of, is that the figures are correct and going to the right people. Return the Peverell box to the Will chamber please." Griphook announced as he motioned for two goblins to take the Peverell Will box away.
"Looks like the butterbeers are on me later then." Harry commented with a chuckle, instantly easing the tension in his friends who had been gauging his reaction