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?"
"Well, I don't know, Lord Black. Had you come in earlier, we might have found a way to resolve it easily and at our leisure. As it is, I have the entire Black family coming in shortly to hear the last will and testament of Orion Black. Your existence renders the will null and void."
"Okay," said Harry thinking of the Black family. "Is there a way we can keep my being the head of House Black private?"
The bank manager scowled at him. "On such short notice, it would be difficult."
"I guess we could surprise them," Harry said.
"Yeah? And reveal to them that you're a time traveler? You seem to forget that one of the Blacks happens to be Minister of Magic. If anyone discovers your little time travel faux pas, you'll be in deep trouble. There's also the fact that many of the Blacks are murderers. How long do you think you would last?"
"I'm surprised you care," Harry grumbled.
The goblin shrugged. "It would be troublesome for us, too."
"So what do you suggest?" Harry said, his thoughts racing about he could best cope with the situation.
The goblin sat back in his chair and steepled his stubby fingers. Abruptly, he separated his hands and jabbed a button on his desk. The doors opened, and a goblin peeked in. "Fetch me the Black account file," the bank manager commanded.
He then gazed at Harry as the other goblin retreated. "I suggest that you outline a new last will and testament for Orion Black. We'll compose it into formal language and read it to the Black heirs when they arrive. When the topic of control of House Black comes up, we'll declare that we cannot move forward on putting a new person in power for a while. When Orion's widow inquires later, we'll inform her that the control of House Black was bequeathed to another. End of story. After that, you'll probably want to hire bodyguards, though we will try to prevent her from discovering your identity."
"You're too kind," Harry said.
"Indeed," said the goblin. He produced a blank parchment, quill, and ink from a desk drawer and then pushed them across the desk toward Harry. "Start bequeathing."
"I don't even know what the Black family assets are," Harry complained.
The door opened and admitted the goblin that had been sent to fetch the file. The bank manager accepted it and quickly thumbed through it, outlining the financial status of the Black family for Harry. The liquid assets, property assets, and investments were quickly reviewed. Harry was surprised at the wealth of the Black family. What he had originally inherited from Sirius had not been nearly so much.
Harry took the quill and scratched out a few brief directions and then handed the parchment over to the bank manager. Goldspear accepted the parchment and examined it critically. "I'm sorry, Mr. Potter, but you have to leave something for the widow or she will have grounds to challenge the will-not that it is a will, but I assume you don't want anyone digging into what has happened."
"Whoops," said Harry, taking the parchment back. He stared at it for several moments, reluctant to give Walburga Black much of anything. "How much do I have to give her?"
"I advise something above the official poverty level."
"What is the poverty level?" Harry asked.
The bank manager cited the current poverty level.
"That's not very much," Harry sighed, his tendency to be noble suddenly coming into play. "Let's give her double the poverty level."
"Fine," said Goldspear.
"Is that all?" Harry asked.
"Yes," said Goldthirst. "I don't want to deal with your account any more than I have to. Come back some other time. Your account manager will assist you in reviewing your assets and give you advice for your investments."
"Right," said Harry, trying to sound thankful. "One last question. Is there going to be trouble with the Potter estate?"
The goblin shook his head. "No. They're not stupid enough to manage their money in the same way the ancient houses do. You can't touch their money."
Harry shrugged. "Okay. I was just curious."
.....
Harry was thumbing through a book when the bell on the Muggle bookshop's door tinkled, signaling the entrance of another customer. He looked up and found Bellatrix walking toward him, a bright smile on her face. The black mourning dress was gone, replaced by some Muggle-style clothes.
"You look awfully cheerful for someone who just got out of a funeral," Harry said drily.
"There was a stop at the bank," Bellatrix said, still beaming a radiant smile. "My dear, departed Uncle Orion bequeathed ten thousand galleons to me."
"How kind of him," Harry said, placing the book he had been examining back on the shelf.
Bellatrix laughed. "You should have seen Aunt Walburga's outrage, Harry. You did well, very well."
"What do you mean?"
"It was you, Harry. You now have control of the Black fortune, don't you?"
Harry frowned and motioned for her to follow him out of the store. They were soon standing out on the London street in across from the Leaky Cauldron. "You deliberately sent me to the bank for that purpose, didn't you?" he said in an accusatory voice.
"You can't complain," said Bellatrix, still sounding very pleased with herself. "We're rich, Harry!"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I guess so. How did the rest of the family react? Is there going to be any trouble? The goblins weren't happy with the situation."
Bellatrix grinned. "Well, Aunt Walburga isn't as rich as she had previously anticipated. In fact, for the first time, my mother will have more spending money. That should change family dynamics. On the other hand, you did leave a monthly allowance for Sirius and Regulus. She may try to seize control of that."
"Not good," Harry said. "I guess I'll have to speak with the bank about that."
"Sirius can take care of himself," Bellatrix said. "As for Regulus, if he's stupid enough to let Walburga at his allowance, he deserves to be poor."
Harry shook his head, smiling.
"The family was very suspicious about Orion bequeathing me ten thousand galleons and then only a nominal amount for my sisters and parents in a lump sum," Bellatrix commented. She then grew a little more serious. "There is one thing I am curious about, Harry."
"What is it?" Harry asked.
"You gave Walburga the right to reside at Grimmauld Place and then specified that her death, Sirius was to inherit it. That's the family home. Why didn't you find a way to keep it for us?" Bellatrix asked.
....
Join my P@treon and get 60+ advanced chapters.
Link: p*atreon.com/0LordSilvere0 (Remove the *)
Free members get 5 chapters free.
Join Right Now