Diff for "HPPT/GringottsPartI"

Gringotts Portkey Receiving Room, Moments Later

A brief wind and swirl of colour unceremoniously dumped Harry and Padma onto the floor of the room in front of a goblin in armor. After they stood up the goblin spoke “Mr. Potter, I am Guardsman Slipknot, I will escort you and your companion to the office where Gangrene and your Family Lawyer, Mr. Juris are waiting.”

Following the goblin out of the room he led them down a hall to another room with nothing on the door. Opening the door they found a nondescript room with a long table running down the middle of it, short end towards them. Sitting on the left there was a goblin, presumably Gangrene, on the right a man they had never seen seen before and two empty chairs.

Standing up the goblin started speaking. “Mr. Potter, it’s nice to meet you. I am Gangrene and the person sitting across from me is Mr. Prudence Juris, your family lawyer, and her friends name is?”

“Padma Patil.” Answered Harry.

“Very well then, Mr. Potter, Mrs. Patil, if you would sit down we can get started.” Said Gangrene.

Taking the seats set to Mr Juris with Harry in the middle so he could turn to either Mr. Juris or Padma for advice.

Once they were seated Gangrene resumed talking. “Mr. Potter, in your letter you said you estimated that the carcass is five across and one hundred and twenty feet long, is this correct? In your letter you said that in the course of slaying the beast its eyes had been ruptured and there was a stab wound in the roof of its mouth, could you be more specific? And could you describe the current condition of the carcass?”

Turning so that he could see his lawyer, who simply nodded for him to answer, Harry responded. “I remember it trying to sallow me, so, yes I would say it’s at least five feet around and one hundred and twenty feet long, tapering down somewhat for about half it’s length and after that slimming down much more rapidly. As for how I killed it, well after Fawkes, that’s the headmaster’s Phoenix, pecked it’s eye’s out I goaded it and when it tried to eat me I stabbed up through the roof of it’s mouth with Gryffindor’s Sword. Last time I saw it, which was shortly after Christmas, it didn’t look any different then the day I killed it.”

“Most impressive, Mr Potter. Your use of Gryffindor’s Sword is going to cause some problems inside Gringotts, but nothing that should effect you.” Said Gangrene.

“And what problems would those be, Gangrene?” Asked Harry.

“Magic items, particularly powerful magic items, are said to be magically linked to their true owner so as to only work for their true owner or to seek some way to return to their true owner, the classic example would be King Arthur’s sword Excalibur, only the true King of England, Arthur, could pull it from the stone. Some goblins, who let their greed get away from them, believe that this means that all goblin made artefacts are really the property of the goblin who made them and are only leased to their human owners for the owners lifetime. Goblins with more artistic tendencies, such as myself, view this as folly, those artefacts that are powerful enough to have a true owner will, as part of their wyrd, their fate or fundamental mystical make-up, find their way to their true owners, for other things, like Galleons, it makes no sense. Personally I feel much better that people simply can’t buy items such as Gryffindor’s Sword. Plus in the case of Gryffindor’s Sword there is now an added complication.” Explained Gangrene.

“There is?” Asked Harry.

“Yes, Mr. Potter. You see Gryffindor’s Sword is made of Goblin Steel and Goblin Steel imbibes things that make it stronger, so since you slew a Basilisk with Gryffindor’s Sword it is now permanently coated in Basilisk Venom, making it extremely dangerous to handle, and you, Mr. Potter, one of the people who have forged Gryffindor’s Sword. It will be quite interesting to see how those who believe that goblin made artefacts are only leased respond to this.” Said Gangrene.

“Now, returning to the business that brought as here today.” Continued Gangrene. “This,” And he slid what looked like the first of many contracts across the table to Mr. Juris. “Is our estimate for the costs of rendering the carcass into separate components and Gringotts offer to buy the meat, along with estimates of total cost to render and total money raised from the sale based on the description of the carcass.”

“Gangrene,” Asked Mr. Juris. “Are these numbers correct? In preparation for this meeting I investigated past dealings of this nature, both with Gringotts and other establishments, and I found that rendering costs normally run to ten Galleons per ton and your offer is for eight per ton, and the price for the meat is in line with the wholesale price of beef in Tokyo.”

“Mr. Juris, Gringotts provides rendering services on a cost plus basis. For Mr. Potter’s information that means that you pay however much it costs us plus a little bit extra, normally 10%. Now in this case due to the nature and size of the carcass we believe that will be easier and therefore cheaper to render it, thus the lower cost. As for the price we are prepared to pay for the flesh, it is a delicacy among goblins.” Answered Gangrene.

When Mr. Juris handed Harry the paper his eyes went wide. According to this the goblins expected the carcass to weigh around eighty one tons (Metric for some reason, every were else in the magical world people seemed to use the ‘Imperial’ system of measurements, Harry knew they used different weights and things but didn’t understand the difference, he’d ask Padma about it later) and at eight Galleons per ton processing fee they expected the cost to come to six hundred and forty eight Galleons and didn’t expect the cost to go above seven hundred Galleons unless it was a lot heavier or more difficult to process then they expected. They were also offering five Galleons per Kilogram flesh and expected half the carcass’ weight to be edible. Their expected purchase of forty and a half tons, or forty thousand, five hundred Kilograms, paying Harry more then two hundred and two thousand Galleons in the process and the paper mentioned something called ‘Leavings’. Handing the paper to Padma, who’s eyes went wide in turn, Harry asked. “Do I need to sign anything yet?”

“No, Mr. Potter, not yet.” Said Mr. Juris. “There’s still much to talk about before you sign anything, what to do with the rest of the carcass and where the money is going to go.”

“What do we need to talk about next then?” Inquired Harry

“I think the blood is the simplest. There are several potions that use it, but with a source in so long alternative formulations or other alternatives have been found. From my inquires it might be possible to sell some to various alchemists but most of it will have to be disposed of with the other leavings.” Said Gangrene.

“Leavings?” Asked Harry. “I noticed a mention of them on the sheet before, but what are they?”

“Simply put they are what is left behind at the end, the guts of the beast for the most part.” Responded Gangrene. “In this case, as we are dealing with an animal we hope to be able to sell them for fertiliser, not much but still something.” He smiled. “The actual sales of anything other the flesh will, in order to ensure that you get the best prices will be on commission for the usual ten percent, split between the salesman and Gringotts.” Gangrene pulled two more ‘contracts’ out of the pile and handed them to Mr. Juirs. “Our expected sale figures.”

Seeing Harry’s look of befuddlement Mr. Juris decided that an explanation was in order. “Commission is a standard business practices were somebody if is doing something for someone else, such as selling something, gets a share of how much money is made in order to encourage him to perform better, a ten percent share is the norm. In this case the goblin who makes the sale will get five percent while Gringotts will get another five percent.”

After a moment he handed the first piece of parchment to Harry who was rather surprised at said. Potions ingredients normally went for Knuts and Sickles for very small amount, normally at most a single phial, some ingredients cost more, like bloomslag skin which went for 1 Galleon for several pinches of shavings in the bottom of a phial (after last years brewing of the Polyjuice Potion Harry had made sure to stock up on potions ingredients of all types) but the goblins were expecting to sell several phials to each alchemist that brought some, there weren’t that many, no more then twenty, at a starting price of one hundred Galleons a phial.

The ‘leavings’ as Gangrene called them weren’t expected to go for anywhere near as much, they were expecting to sell each ton for as much as they paid for a kilogram of the flesh, but there were several tons of leavings expected.

“Let me see, next is the venom. Again there once was a market for it in potion ingredients but that doesn’t exist any more. I assume that you don’t want to sell it to poisoners, Mr. Potter?” Gangrene inquired and Harry shock his head. “I quite agree with you there Mr. Potter. However in my asking around I have found a company in the United States that thinks that because the Basilisk is the ‘King of Snakes’ it might be able to develop a universal snake anti-venom from Basilisk venom. I see that you are uncomfortable with charging for something that may save lives, that speaks highly of you, however it may be possible to work out a deal were they only pay you if they develop something, either a one time payment or a share in the profits.” Said Gangrene.

Visibly more comfortable Harry motioned for Gangrene to continue. “Next up are the eyes. Now you said that the Phoenix Fawkes clawed it’s eyes out correct?” A nod from Harry confirmed this. “Yes, well no one is prepared to leave a Basilisk’s eyes intact, so it isn’t going to cause a problem. Like the blood and venom, there are potions that use powered Basilisk eyes that have fallen by the way side, but it may be marketable as a male performance aid in south-east Asia.” Finished Gangrene in somewhat disgusted tones.

Leaning over to whisper in his ear, Padma said “Don’t worry, Harry, I’ll explain it later.”

Seeing that the matter of what they would be selling the eyes been addressed, or rather would be later, he handed over the next piece of parchment. When Harry saw what they were predicting it was ridiculous, they expected get be able to sell the ground up eyeballs for two to three Galleons a gram, and they estimated based on the dimensions supplied in his letter earlier that the eyes would be about a foot across, yielding a thousand grams or more each, and the total worth to be at least four thousand Galleons.

Once the parchment had bee passed around Gangrene continued. “Now the teeth and bones, again there was once some demand for them in potions, but with the lack of supply it is no longer there. Some of our artisan’s are interested in making scabbards out of the fangs and there is always a market, if not much of one, for bone and we might be able to generate some demand for it. Now, Mr. Potter, how did Gryffindor’s Sword come into you possession?”

“I, ah pulled, it out of the Sorting Hat, which Fawkes brought with him” Harry answered.

“I think that I am going to want a memory of your encounter with the beast for viewing in a pensive before the day is over, if that is acceptable to you, Mr. Juris?” Inquired Gangrene, a nod from Mr. Juris and a whispered “Later” is Harry’s ear prompted him to continue. “So, Mr. Potter, when you pulled Gryffindor’s Sword from the Sorting Hat, did you also pull out it’s scabbard?”

“Sorry, no I didn’t.” Replied Harry.

“Not a problem, Mr. Potter. In that case a new scabbard, made from one of the fang’s of Slythrin’s Basilisk, would be most fitting. If you are prepared to donate the fang I’m sure I can arrange for Gringotts to convert it free of charge, assuming that a suitable fang is available.” Said Gangrene.

“A most generous and likely profitable offer for all involved.” Responded Mr. Juris, which reassured Harry as it soundly like the right things to do, but he wasn’t sure. “The big question is who owns the sword however.”

“A most complicated question, Mr. Juris. Fundamentally it would belong to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry like most objects belonging to the Founders, however Mr. Potter has some claim to it as me drew it forth from the Sorting Hat, it isn’t his to keep, but he does have to right to use it in any circumstance where he would be permitted to have a sword. A more important question is, where is it currently, Mr. Potter?” Asked Gangrene.

“I, ah, gave it to the Headmaster, it seemed that as the sword was Gryffindor’s it belonged to the school, so it felt right to give it to him.” Responded Harry.

“Indeed you are correct, Mr. Potter. And I suspect that the feeling you had that it belongs to the school is more evidence. Now, onto the last part of the beast: it’s skin. Normally shed snake skins are useless but between the apparent size, age and some past experience we have had with them we suspect that they might be useful. Mr. Potter, could you give me some more details, like the number and rough size and age of each skin?”

Giving Mr. Juris a moment to indicate if he shouldn’t respond, Harry launched into his explanation. “The smallest skin was twenty feet long and it still would have been five feet across, we guessed that it dated from the time of the Founders. After that there were nine more skins, each ten feet longer then the last and I have no idea of their age, but one skin every hundred years would work out, going from smallest to largest, so the thirty foot skin would be nine hundred years old and so on.”

“Yes, I suspect that you are correct about the interval it shed it’s skins at. Now in our past experience in dealing with Basilisks, which admittedly so rather long ago, we discovered that each Basilisk skin, unlike normal snake skins, is actually composed of several different layers with different proprieties, sort like the armour Muggles are putting on their ‘tanks’ these days, and as the Basilisk gets bigger each shed may contain more layers of a different type, compared to the skin shed by a normal snake which contains only a single layer of skin that is the same as every other layer it has. So for this reason we think that the shed skins might actually be useful, as they are probably of comparable thickness to a normal hide. The smaller ones will provide a light leather, getting slightly thicker as it gets older, for the skin on the actual carcass, unless it used for armour it will probably have to be separated like the beast had shed it to get anything useful.” Gangrene explained.

“Now like the bones there is not an actual market for the skins, but we believe this is remediable. The Wizarding World is fascinated with you, as evidenced by such things as those ‘Boy-Who-Lived’ Adventure books, which are, I believe are something that Mr. Juris wishes to discuss with you today. Any way, as such we believe that by marketing the skin and bones as coming from a Basilisk you slew they will sell particularly well, especially if the first public announcement comes in the wake of the revelation that Gryffindor’s Sword has a new scabbard, the fact that the Basilisk was Slytherin’s will only help sales. It is also possible that by keeping the leavings from the Basilisk separate the fertiliser company we sell to might be Now, are there any questions?” Asked Gangrene.

“Yes, I have been advised” Said Harry, nosing towards Padma. “That I should not have the proceeds from this sale deposited into my Trust Vault but rather a different vault, that way I would be able use the money without any limits placed upon my Trust Vault. It was also mentioned that my wife or wives would enjoy have clothes made from the skin and it was suggested that I keep part of the skins for that purpose. On that note, how good an armor will the skin make? Given the number of dangerous situations I find myself in something like that would be most useful.”

“All are excellent idea’s, Mr. Potter. Financial independence this early in your life, as long as you don’t overspend and deplete the funds, would be most useful in gaining experience for managing the Potter Trust when you get older. I must advise you however that Gringotts isn’t a bank as the term is used in the Muggle world, we are closer in nature to a company that provides high security storage space. As such we don’t give interest on account balances and use of a vault comes at a small fee of seven sickles a month. If you wish for your new found wealth to grow I suggest talking to Mr. Juris after I leave about investing it in the Muggle world, otherwise it will simply gather dust in a vault and slowly decrease.” Responded Gangrene.

“Dressing your self and your Lady or Ladies in this leather would undoubtedly help sales, so it is an idea I fully support.” He continued. “I suggest keeping the first half of the second largest skin for use by yourself and Lady or Ladies for use as clothing, if it later proves to be too much it can always be sold. Storing it in the extra vault you inquired about paying for until such time as you need it is a good idea as if it is stored in your Trust Vault you may have trouble accessing it if you need it. I will not be able to tell you how good an armour the hide of the beast will make until I have the chance to examine it myself. I would suggest only selling it to reputable organisations, such as the British Department of Magical Law Enforcement.” It was at this point Gangrene handed over the last two pieces of parchment.

The first one dealt with the teeth, the goblins expected four large fangs, possibly up to a meter in length and up too one hundred smaller fangs ten to twenty centimetres in length. Even removing one of the large fangs to allow for crafting a new scabbard for Gryffindor’s Sword the goblins expected that more then a thousand ‘knick-knacks’, small knives and statues and the like, could be made from the material available, based on previous sales of such ‘Harry Potter, The Boy-Who-Lived’ memorabilia, coupled with the fact that it was Slythrin’s Basilisk that Harry had slain, the goblins expected that they would sell for about twenty to thirty Galleons apiece, of which Harry could expect to see five Galleons of for raw materials, plus additional fees for use of his name. And that only covered the fangs, not the actual bones.

The last one dealt with the skins, the goblins expected to get one hundred square meters of skins from the carcass and that armoured robes for an adult would require between two and three square meters and due to the short supply of material they didn’t recommend making them in smaller sizes. Harry could understand that, any robes he got made now likely wouldn’t fit him in a year or so and it wasn’t like he was going to find another thousand year old Basilisk to kill to if he needed more skin. And if he needed them early he could always roll to sleeves up or something, it was something he could talk about with Parvati later seeing as how he was spending so much time with Padma today.

The goblins estimated that the skin on the carcass could be split into at least ten separate usable layers which was a lot of material. They unfortunately didn’t think that they would have much luck trying to get the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to buy armoured robes at this time and planned to sell the skin of the carcass last in the hope that they changed their minds, they had no idea how much those would sell for. The estimated selling price for the skin suitable for use in normal clothing would sell for fifty Galleons or more with the proper identification with his name.

“Gangrene, I appreciate the work your department has put in in creating these estimates when you haven’t seen the carcass yet, and I understand how inaccurate they can be.” Said Mr. Juris. “But there’s a couple of things missing from these estimate on the skins. I realize that Mr. Potter has only just told you the approximate size of the shed skins but I was wondering if you could give us an estimate of how much skin those will provide? And forgive, but for some reason the estimates only seem to cover the skin on the body, not the head, why is that?”

“In answer to your first question, Mr. Juris, from what Mr. Potter says once the Basilisk hit a diameter of one hundred and fifty centimetres or five feet it only grew longer meaning that the amount of skin will scale linearly, so if we assume an average yield of fifty square meters from the shed skin a conservative estimate would give a total yield of four hundred square meters, possibly easily rising to as high as five hundred square meters. This of course assumes that the skin is usable. The reason that the skin about the head isn’t listed is that the shape it is in will likely render it unsellable commercially, however if one were to take it to a tailor or leather-worker with a specific request they could no doubt make what you wanted. For this reason I intended to place any and all trimmings, such as the skin from around the head, into the vault you plan to lease, Mr. Potter. Now are there any more questions?” Replied Gangrene.

“Yes,” Said Harry. “Why is everything listed in the Metric system? I’ve never seen them used in the Magical World before and have to admit I don’t really know the difference between the Metric and ‘Imperial’ measurements.”

“Pretty much all international trade uses the Metric system, Mr. Potter, that’s why. Even if most of the Basilisk is sold here in Britain it is easier to only work with a single system of measurements throughout a contract, more importantly The Weights and Measures of Act of 1824 post-dates the Statue of Secrecy and as a result many in Magical Britain are prepared to pretend that it doesn’t exist if they think it will benefit them in some way if they can get away with it, so we at Gringotts use Metric measurements in our dealings with them to prevent this. I will provide with a conversation chart before you leave today, now unless there’s anything else I’ll have the contracts written up?” Answer Gangrene. Seeing that no one moved to talk he gathered up the papers and left the room.

Thanks to Tommy King for his beta'ing, firelordeg, traveler_of_the_void and Alex for typos busting and all the folks at the Caer Azkaban and Seel'vor fan fiction Yahoo groups for all the help I can't keep track of.

Thanks also go out to traveler_of_the_void for the name of the Potter Family lawyer, Prudence Juris