"One last thing," Bellatrix said before Harry could apparate away.
"What?"
She held up a Gringotts key. "Deposit my share into my bank account, please. While you're at it, why don't you open up an account of your own? It is a simple process. You can't keep hiding your gold in your trunk. Either you'll run out of room or someone will steal it."
"How do you know I keep my gold in my trunk?" Harry demanded, accepting the key from Bellatrix.
Bellatrix smiled mischievously and waved goodbye. "Have fun. Wait for me at that Muggle bookstore across the street from the Leaky Cauldron. The funeral and family formalities should last for about two hours, maybe more."
.....
The clerk at Knockturn Alley's apothecary ultimately tried to take the basilisk venom and skin off of Harry's hands for far less than the actual worth. Luckily, Harry had stopped at the apothecary in Diagon Alley and had inquired after the price of said ingredients as if he himself was a potential buyer. The manager had apprised Harry of the current selling price of basilisk parts. From there Harry had gone onto Knockturn Alley, and, after some slippery bargaining, had sold the contents of Bellatrix's case for slightly less than market value, leaving a tidy, albeit deserved, profit margin for the apothecary. They, after all, didn't ask Harry where he had come across the items he was selling.
He then carried the hefty bag of gold into Diagon Alley and toward Gringotts. As usual, the goblins that guarded the front door left Harry alone and he passed inside. Harry had not had many opportunities to visit Gringotts in either the future or the past. He admired the interior architecture as he waited in line to see a teller and wondered if the goblins did their own building or had hired some other magical creature. Harry couldn't imagine them hiring witches or wizards if they didn't have to.
It was soon Harry's turn to see a teller. He stepped up to the window. "Good morning," he said, feeling a little nervous.
The goblin arched what passed as an eyebrow, "What is it you want?"
Harry set the bag of gold on the counter and held out Bellatrix's vault key. "I need to deposit half of this money into this account."
The goblin stared at Harry for a moment, but finally hefted the bag before placing it on a scale. Noting the bag's exact weight, the goblin wrote the key number and monetary amount on a small piece of parchment that Harry supposed was a deposit slip and then signed it. "And the other half of the money?" the goblin asked.
Harry fidgeted, wondering what the goblin would do if he requested that the bag be divided so he could walk out of the bank with it. Eventually, he decided that the goblin would be more than annoyed. There was also the truth that Bellatrix's advice was sage. "I'd like to deposit the second half into a new account," Harry declared.
The goblin said nothing, but wrote out another parchment deposit slip and handed it to Harry. "Speak with the goblin at the new accounts desk," he said.
Harry accepted the parchment and nodded to the goblin as respectfully as he could. "Thank you, sir. You've been most helpful."
The goblin was preoccupied with taking the bag and dropping it into a mine cart, and thus did not respond.
Harry wandered over to the new accounts desk, holding his deposit slip. A goblin sat behind it, reading a newspaper. Apparently, the bank did not see a large number of new accounts on a daily basis. Either that, or Saturday was just a slow day for the bank. Harry cleared his throat. "I'd like to open an account," he said.
The goblin sighed from behind the newspaper, set it down, and gave Harry a fake smile. "What would you like to deposit?"
Harry handed the deposit slip to the goblin.
The goblin examined it minutely as if he suspected it was a forgery, which Harry thought was rather ridiculous. If he had been paying attention, he would have seen his fellow goblin fill out for Harry only moments prior. "Very well. How much money do you anticipate holding in your account from day to day?"
"Probably about that much," Harry replied, taking into account the fact that he generally spent most of his salary on a regular basis. On the other hand, he was going to be working for the Ministry soon. "Maybe a little more."
"Any non-monetary possessions?"
"No."
"Very well. We'll need a blood sample," the goblin announced.
Having expected this, Harry held out a finger. The goblin was deft and soon had a sample of Harry's blood on a special parchment. The blood sank in and writing appeared. The goblin read the writing and then squinted at Harry, clearly not pleased. "If you'll excuse me, I must speak with the bank manager." He then stood up and stiffly walked away from the desk and down a corridor, carrying the blood parchment and Harry's deposit slip.
Harry sighed, wondering if opening an account was this difficult as a rule. The goblin soon returned with another two goblins. "These two goblins will escort you to visit with Goldspear, our bank manager," he announced.
"Right," said Harry, standing and allowing himself to be escorted down the same hall the new account goblin had disappeared into.
Harry was soon shown into the bank manager's office. The goblin Harry assumed to be Goldspear was sitting at very large, but low desk in a chair with an extremely high back. Harry would have found the sight comical if it weren't for the look of sheer anger on the goblin's face.
"Leave us," he snapped to the goblins that had escorted Harry in. As soon as they had disappeared behind closing doors, Goldspear the goblin snapped at Harry. "Sit." In front of him were the two pieces of parchment, though he was not looking at them.
Harry was confused and nervous, but he tried to make the best of the situation as he took a seat. "Good morning," he said.
"You think you're funny, do you?" Goldspear snapped.
"I'm sorry," said Harry, "but you'll have to explain why you're angry with me." Deep down, a suspicion was growing, however. The blood test must have told them more than he had expected.
The goblin clenched his teeth and then closed his eyes for ten seconds. When he opened them, he was still glaring, but his voice was eerily calm. "I am angry about the facts that you are the head of House Black, that you have travelled from the future, and that you have wandered around this time period without checking in with us. Do you have any idea how much trouble you have just caused us?"
"I'm sorry," said Harry. "The time travel was an accident, and I didn't know that it was correct procedure to check in with Gringotts in such a situation. How did you know I was from the future?"
Goldspear rolled his eyes. "If you were a Lord Black in the past, nobody would have inherited the title after your disappearance into time. Thus, the only way for there to be, or rather, have been, two Lord Blacks is if one came from the future."
"Oh. So what do we do now?"
....
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