Chapter 21: 28th July 1991, Sunday: Part 9

Any negativity on the teller's faces vanished after hearing Dominic's request. George got the impression that they had been expecting someone else, the Linwoods must have been a welcomed substitute. The two men looked at each other with gleeful expressions and stood up in unison. The older of the two walked around his desk to greet Dominic with a big smile whilst the other lifted his pile of parchments and placed them on the ground. George thought this was the sort of service Gringotts should be offering to their clients. Those goblins should be taking notes from these two.

"Good afternoon, my name is Roderick J Modesty and this is my assistant Benjamin Rosemary. Welcome to Gringotts Money Exchange. How may I help you today?", the older of the two asked in an overly enthusiastic manner.

Dominic responded with a smile and a firm handshake, "the pleasures all mine. As I said, I'm Dominic Linwood and this is my family. We have just opened an account at Gringotts Bank in Diagon Alley. If it isn't too much trouble, I would like to transfer some money from one of my bank accounts to my new account at Gringotts."

The level of excitement between Roderick and Benjamin went up another notch as they hurried to facilitate Dominic's exchange. Roderick clicked his fingers and his younger colleague clambered over his desk to hand him a small piece of parchment and a quill. He licked the tip of the quill before writing down what Dominic had just said.

"Dominic Linwood, right sir. And your address, if you don't mind?", Roderick enquired politely.

Dominic happily complied, "Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster, London. The postcode is SW1H."

That wasn't an address George was familiar with, it wasn't even one of the safehouses. From what little he knew about London, Westminster was right bang in the middle. He wouldn't be surprised if that flat were a short walk from ten Downing Street or Big Ben. The brief pause in Roderick's note-taking looked to be confirming George's presumption. That property had to be worth a couple of million pounds at least. How much more could his foster parents possibly own?

With a slight tremble in his voice, Roderick explained, "the current exchange rate fee has recently increased to forty-five per cent, but it can be as low as thirty-five per cent depending on how much money is being transferred.

I know this may seem like a lot, but I can ensure you that it's necessary. Your current bank must not be able to trace the money back to Gringotts for… obvious reasons. That requires a lot of work on our part to hide the transfer. Sorry if this causes you any inconvenience.

May I know how much money you intend on exchanging?", he asked anxiously.

Dominic didn't appear to be fazed by the high exchange fee, "no need to apologise, I understand your difficulties perfectly well. The amount I would like to exchange for is five point two million galleons".

Roderick nodded along, "absolutely sir, that'll be no problem. I will just be needing some info…"

He looked up from his notes before continuing, "I'm terribly sorry, sir. I must of miss-heard you."

"In regards to what exactly?"

"Well...  did sir just say five million galleons?", Roderick inquired in a desperate attempt to seem composed.

"Five point two million is what I have in mind", Dominic said with the same nonchalant smile he had entered with.

Roderick's hands then started to shake, "and does sir know that the current exchange rate is four pounds and ninety-three pence to one galleon?"

Dominic looked over his shoulder at Remus, "my friend here told me it was roughly five pounds for one of your gold coins."

"Including the fee, that'll be just over thirty-five million pounds, sir. Are you sure that's correct?"

"That sounds about right. How much longer is this going to take?"

George could tell that the metaphorical penny had finally dropped. Roderick's forehead started to glisten with cold sweat as he adjusted the tiny glasses on the bridge of his nose.

He took a moment to clear his throat before saying, "no sir, not much longer now. I just need to erm... Considering it's a rather large sum of money... I will just need to get my manager."

Roderick retreated back around his desk and gestured at his colleague, "I'll be just a moment. My assistant Benjamin will stay and keep you company in the meantime. Benjamin, stay here and answer any questions the good gentleman and his company may have."

Before Benjamin could even process what had just been asked of him, Roderick quickly dashed into the back room and slammed the door behind him. The poor young teenager turned back around and adjusted his fraying collar with shaking hands whilst desperately failing to maintain a confident smile. George guessed that Benjamin was more than just a little out of his comfort zone. The pressure looked like it was cooking him alive, if his face turned any redder then he might burst a blood vessel. For Benjamin's physical well-being, George hoped Roderick wouldn't be too long.

You are reading story Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon at novel35.com

Funnily enough, Amanda, who had been silent this entire time, decided to ask Benjamin a question.

"Mr Rosemary, would you happen to have attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"

Her voice was very gentle as if she was addressing a young child. Benjamin was clearly taken aback by that line of enquiry, he appeared to be at a loss for words. Amanda maintained her signature gentle smile and waited for the teenager to recover, she emanated a sense of calm and tranquillity. However, this behaviour had the opposite effect on George, he had gotten wise to her nice guy act. She must have seen Benjamin's compromised state and was taking full advantage of it.

The young teller relaxed a little after digesting the question, "Benjamin is fine Mrs Linwood, I'm only an intern. And yes, I did attend Hogwarts. I just graduated last year."

Amanda's smile bloomed like a flower in summer and Remus, knowing where this conversation was going, started to panic. There had been more than one or two 'exaggerations' about Hogwart's health and safety standards in the car. Remus was probably worried about some of his false reassurances being exposed in the next few minutes. Little did the werewolf know that George wasn't happy about this either. As far as he was concerned, the less his foster mother knew about Hogwarts, the better. What muggle mother in her right might would send their child to that death trap if they knew the truth?

Just to name a few things that might put a parent off; a three-headed dog on the third floor, an overgrown snake in the basement, a murderous tree in the gardens, some ghosts in the corridors, an army of spiders in the local forest, and a troll in the dungeons. None of the professors has any qualifications to teach or look after children, some of them might be mass murderers in disguise. Oh, and one last thing. Their brain-dead eleven-year-old son or daughter, which they probably don't trust with anything sharper than a butter knife, is going to be permanently entrusted with wands that can maim or kill at the flick of a wrist.

The only muggle parents that should want to send their child to Hogwarts after knowing all the facts are either insane or pure evil. Amanda might be a little unhinged but she still cared about George's safety, that much was a given. That's why she needed to stay in the dark at least until he was on the Hogwarts Express. For now, all George and Remus could do was cross their fingers and hope Benjamin doesn't say anything too damning.

And so began a lighthearted exchange between Amanda and Benjamin. She asked questions about Hogwarts and Benjamin quite happily answered them in great detail. The topics had a lot of consistency with Remus's talk in the car, it was obvious that she was comparing their answers. Luckily for Remus and George, Benjamin's life in Ravenclaw's house seemed to be relatively peaceful. The young teller, either by accident or legitimate ignorance, didn't mention any of the dangers of Hogwarts and only described it as being seven years of fun and laughs. Remus looked like he'd just had the world's weight taken off his shoulders, and George was happy just knowing that he is still on track to attend Hogwarts.

The only hiccup was the accident Benjamin had during a Quidditch game. A bludger had crashed into the back of his head and put him in hospital for two weeks in his third year. Amanda didn't say anything on the subject, but George could already tell that quidditch was off the table. This wasn't a problem since he had no plans of playing that silly sport in the first place.  Who had time for recreational sports when your life was on the line? The boy who lived doesn't count.

After around ten minutes, the conversations between Amanda and Benjamin end when the sound of muffled shouting came from the back room. One of the voices was Roderick's and the other sounded a lot like the high-pitch voice of a goblin. A moment later, the door swung open and two individuals hurried out. Roderick was back with his, presumed to be, goblin manager. George had to stifle a laugh as he watched the goblin walk toward his foster father. There was no better way of describing it, the goblin looked like a stereotypical leprechaun.

The goblin had curly thinning ginger hair and his nails were cut short and smooth. His uniform was more colourful than the suits the goblins wore in Gringotts Bank, it was a mixture of bright greens and gold. The only thing he was missing was a green top hat with a buckle. He also sported a genuine smile which George had presumed the goblin species was incapable of. If it wasn't for the fact that real leprechauns were only six inches tall, George would have considered this goblin some sort of hybrid.

The green goblin picked up a stool and stood aloft it before saying, "good afternoon, Mr Linwood. I just want to confirm what my colleague has just informed me. You want to exchange for five point two million galleons, is that correct?"

"Yes, I do. How many more times do I have to repeat myself?", Dominic said impatiently.

Unlike Roderick and Benjamin, the goblin didn't show any evidence of surprise. He merely pulled out a stack of paperwork and a silver quill from thin air and handed it to Dominic.

"If sir can sign here, here and here, then we can start talking about exchanging your money", the goblin said while pointing at several wordy pages.

Dominic took the paperwork off the goblin, and without even looking at it, through it on Roderick's desk.

"I am going to make this crystal clear for you. You're going to find a vault big enough to hold all of my money and give it to me."

"But sir, as a muggle you are not eligible..."

Dominic held his arm out, "I read the contract at Gringotts, you don't have to repeat it. Call 'my' vault a shared vault on paper and charge me eighty galleons just like everyone else. That way, the contract is still valid.

None of your other clients can have access to that vault, that is unnegotiable. Also, I need another set of keys for my wife so she has access as well. Just consider her another tenant.

You won't be getting a single penny until you've met my demands", he said authoritatively.

Not a word left the goblin's mouth as it stood on that stool in furious contemplation. Its forehead bulged with veins as he considered Dominic's ultimatum, it must have been weighing up the pros and cons. George couldn't tell whether the hatred of being belittled by a muggle would be enough to overpower the benefits of over five million galleons. In his opinion, his foster father was pushing his luck. Dominic didn't appear to have the patience to wait for the goblin to make up his mind. He was about to turn around and walk out of the exchange when a squeaky voice called him back.

With clenched fists, the seething goblin spat out, "I do not believe these documents I've prepared consider certain factors. Due to these… unusual circumstances, I can amend said documents to be more... accommodating to your expectations."

You can find story with these keywords: Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon, Read Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon, Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon novel, Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon book, Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon story, Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon full, Harry Potter and the Fractured Dragon Latest Chapter