The Gringotts night supervisor was not particularly thrilled to receive a visit from Harry. Neither had been the guards outside of the bank. Only after Harry had made it clear that he was a wealthy client has he been allowed in.
"Your story is rather incredible," the supervisor goblin said after listening to Harry repeat the essential details for the third time.
Harry shoved the ring in front of the goblin's face. "Yet you have already admitted that I could not have obtained the Malfoy ring without the consent of Romulus Malfoy."
The goblin scratched his chin, more out of annoyance than thoughtfulness. "Put it on."
"What?"
"I want to see you wear it," the goblin said.
Harry ground his teeth, but acquiesced, slipping the ring onto one of his fingers. He and the goblin then stood in the bank lobby watching each other. Apparently, the night supervisor of Gringotts thought that something bad might happen to Harry if he had come to possess the ring through illicit means.
Finally, the goblin admitted defeat. "Moving the entire monetary assets of the Malfoy family is not a small job," he said. "Even if we are only moving it to a new vault within the bank."
"Then, by all means, help yourself to a generous gratuity," Harry said. "Both for the bank and for the personal pockets of the goblins involved in the job."
A greedy gleam in the goblin's eyes signaled that Harry had finally struck a deal. The goblin hobbled over to one of the teller desks and grabbed a number of sheets of parchment. "Fill out these forms," he directed before disappearing from the lobby into some side hallway.
Harry accepted the forms and filled them out as quickly as he could. The Malfoy gold was to be moved to a cash-only vault. The owner of the vault wished to be known as… James Evans. Mr. James Evans would have broad access privileges to the money through standard means as well as through muggle and/or international banks.
After nearly half an hour, the goblin returned and accepted the papers Harry had filled out. "James Evans?" he asked. "How many names do you have, Mr. Potter?"
"Is it a problem?" Harry asked.
"I guess not," muttered the goblin as he retreated, leaving Harry alone for another half an hour. Finally, the grudging goblin returned and handed Harry a key to the vault. "Is there anything else you desire," he asked.
Even if there was, Harry did not think he would have bothered asking. Not to this goblin anyway. But he did have some informational questions. "You won't point your finger at me if anyone comes asking about the gold that used to be in the Malfoy vault, will you?"
"We will protect your fake name to the extent the law allows us," the goblin said, his lips curving into a smirk over the thought of Harry's pseudonym. "Your action in seizing the gold was lawful. If the Malfoy heirs express dissatisfaction with being deprived of their gold we may, however, advise the Malfoy heirs that any future earnings from their properties ought to be safeguarded in a vault that doesn't open for the old Malfoy ring."
"I guess that is the most I can ask for," Harry said.
He left the bank and made his way down Diagon Alley. The shops were closed. The only sign of life came from the direction of the Leaky Cauldron. Harry sighed. Stopping for a butterbeer at the pub was very tempting, but he didn't want to be anywhere around when the news of Cygnus's death spread. I guess I'll have to go notify Bellatrix, he told himself as he trudged away from the bank and to where he could apparate.
.....
Alastor Moody glared at the snake-eating skull hovering in the sky above what remained of Malfoy Manor. Apparently the mysterious dark lord had created a calling card for use at attacks-real attacks. Not those farces up in Scotland. Moody scanned the grounds, his eyes passing over the corpses of Minister Black's late bodyguards. He cursed whoever it had been that had allowed half of them to go to Scotland to help put down the red herring attack. Not that it would have helped to have the full contingent. Based on the devastation outside of the manor alone, they had not stood a chance. They might have held out longer, though.
He was just preparing to return to the inside of the manor when Director Prewitt arrived. Despite the late, evening hour, Prewitt's clothes were impeccable, though the man himself seemed quite harried and permanently startled. "Have you confirmed that Minister Black's body is present?
"Yes," said Moody, "his death has been confirmed from the corpse, or what's left of it anyway."
"Left of it?" Prewitt asked.
"Looks like Malfoy gave the attackers hell," Moody said, quoting what one of the junior aurors had said after seeing the manor close up and in detail. He liked the thought of the older wizard holding off a bunch of ruffians. "We think he firebombed the manor from within. He may have even killed some of the attackers. We can't know for sure. They didn't leave anyone or anything behind."
Director Prewitt bit his lip absently. "You think maybe Malfoy deliberately committed suicide to take them out?"
"No," Moody said. "We found his corpse. Definitely the killing curse. He must have set some trap or chain reaction to get whoever did it."
Prewitt nodded and took a break from asking questions. The site of the ruined manor, some parts of it still smoldering fascinated him. Moody too found the property fascinating. Whatever Malfoy had done must have been spectacular to watch. The walls and infrastructure of Malfoy Manor still stood, but for the most part, the building had been completely gutted. A great deal of money and construction might restore the manor to its former glory, but not for some time yet.
"Ashworth was here tonight," Prewitt said. "Some of the Minister's bodyguards who were sent up to the attack in Scotland told me."
"Didn't find his body," Moody said. "Either he had the good fortune to leave before the attack or he managed to escape."
"If he escaped, why didn't he notify us of the ongoing attack?" Prewitt mused.
"You're assuming he didn't leave before the attack occurred," Moody said. "It doesn't matter, though. There's no way he did this. It's more than clear that the attackers came from the outside and practically had to lay siege. Further, killing Malfoy and Black does nothing for Ashworth. He has now lost the influence he had over the Ministry."
"Yes, you're right," Prewitt mused. "You might still look into it during your investigation, however."
....
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