Harry Potter and the Heir of Slytherin

A Business Proposal

Harry Potter swept into Gringotts.

His walk was that of a man who'd come with a purpose. His brand new Yves Saint Laurent business suit ruffled as he moved, and his Blake Derby leather shoes squeaked along the floor. He felt like a million pounds, though considering how much this outfit had cost, perhaps that was not so surprising.

Harry knew that he looked decidingly muggle, which brought many stares from a good number of witches and wizards present at Gringotts that day, but since Harry was here for business, he felt that wearing a business suit would be a good idea.

Walking up to one of the empty teller booths, Harry spoke immediately and without waiting for the goblin to ask him to state his purpose.

"I have a meeting with Director Ragnok at half past nine."

The goblin before him, lording over him from behind his teller's booth, was shorter than average, had no hair and several sunspots staining his face. The goblin eyed him with some irritation, but Harry did not let that bother him. This was standard procedure when it came to dealing with goblins.

"Name?"

"Harry Potter."

"Wait right here."

With an annoyed grunt, the goblin hopped off the stool he had been sitting on and walked over to a door. Harry knew from past experience last year that it lead to the office's where goblin's assigned to a family vault worked.

Harry paid no more attention to the goblin as he disappeared behind the door, nor did he pay attention to the curious stares he was getting. He instead practiced his breathing exercises and cleared his mind. A few minutes later, the goblin came back through the door and bade him to follow.

Director Ragnok was sitting in the same position Harry last saw him in, making the young boy wonder if the goblin had even moved from that spot.

Sitting down in the chair just as Director Ragnok looked up from his paperwork, Harry began to once again speak without prompting, getting straight to the point of this meeting.

"Have your people been able to insert themselves into HSBC Holdings?"

"They have," Ragnok said. Harry nodded. He didn't question how they managed to do such a thing when they were goblins, but he assumed there was some kind of magic involved.

"Last yearly earnings were fifteen percent of the accounts holdings."

"I know," Ragnok leaned back in his seat, placing his elbows on the desk and locking his fingers together in front of his face. "I saw the statements you sent. Not bad earnings for only a year. While it could have been better, it could have also been worse."

"Quite," Harry said with a nod, "and what of the information I gave you on the muggle stock market?"

"I've read through it," the goblin director allowed. "I'll admit, this stock market is a rather ingenious way of making more money. Those muggles came up with a good idea when they made it."

"Since you've seen my bank statements, you should know how I managed to make that money."

"By buying out stocks for two different companies that are in competition with each other when they are at their lowest prices, then selling them when they are at an all time high," Ragnok's feral smile made Harry feel uneasy. He knew it did not mean anything, that was just the way goblins smiled when they were pleased, but it was still unsettling. "Yes, I saw that too. You've got impressive instincts."

"Thank you," Harry accepted the compliment with a nod. Compliments from goblins to wizards were rare, so receiving one just went to show Harry how impressed Ragnok was with his business acumen.