A sirius matter

chapter 3 - going shopping

"Maybe we both should. Hopefully if we cut both sides at the same time, she won't have time to run away into other portraits," suggested Hermione.

They went back to the portrait that was still yelling, stuck two sharp knives into the canvas, and immediately started cutting. They ignored the ear-splitting shrieks from the old woman as they managed to pull the canvas off the wall, rolling it up.

"I hope Sirius doesn't mind," commented Harry, "but there's no way I could concentrate on my magic with that racket going on."

"We won't destroy it unless Sirius wants us to," stated Hermione. "We'll just move her elsewhere."

"Maybe Ron could take care of her," suggested Harry, causing them both to laugh.

"Anyway," said Hermione, "We'd better go if we're going to have time to go shopping. You can owl Sirius about what to do with her."

"Better yet, I'll send her to him. Do you know how to shrink it so that Hedwig can carry her?"

"I can shrink it, but I think you should use a different owl. I doubt very much that Hedwig would forgive you for making her put up with that racket for such a long flight."

"I don't trust any other owl to find him," replied Harry.

"I wonder if it can be silenced now that it's off the frame," commented Hermione. She pointed her wand at the screaming portrait and cast, "Silencio," which caused it to immediately stop yelling. She then shrank the canvas down with no problem and stuffed it into her purse.

"Okay," said Harry, "now that that's settled, let's take the bus to the Leaky Cauldron."

"Actually," suggested Hermione, "why don't we floo there? Didn't you see the jar of floo powder by the fireplace?"

He took a deep breath. He hated flooing, but knew that it would save time. "Okay."

She went first, throwing down the powder into the fireplace and shouting, "Diagon Alley," and disappeared in the green flames. Harry took off his glasses and put them in his pocket. Stating his destination very clearly, he threw down the powder and soon found himself lying on the floor next to Hermione's feet, putting his glasses on.

After she'd helped him up, they walked as quickly as they could, hand-in-hand to Gringotts, where Harry asked to speak to a goblin about his account. Harry and Hermione were shown to a small office and told to wait a few moments. After about five minutes, a goblin walked into the room and sat at the desk. "Mr. Potter," he greeted, "my name is Griphook. And your name is?" He asked, looking toward Hermione.

"Hermione Granger. I'm a friend of Mr. Potter's."

Griphook turned back to Harry. "How may I help you?"

"I'd like to know exactly how much money I have," stated Harry.

"Well," replied Griphook, "here are the exact figures." He waved his hand and a portfolio appeared in front of Harry. He passed it to Hermione as Griphook continued. He didn't notice her eyes widening as she skimmed through the pages. "You own the land that the Potter home in Godric's Hollow was built on. Unfortunately your ancestral home was destroyed in the attack that killed your parents. They did, however, leave you a significant amount of gold and other assets such as hotel chains and airlines. I understand that your parents used those to travel incognito whenever they needed to get away fast. Those investments have made significant profits, as is indicated in the portfolio. Hermione nodded at Harry when he glanced at her. "They also left a significant amount of gold here."

"You mean my vault?"

"That vault is only one of several," Griphook corrected him. "Its purpose is to finance your schooling. You are actually one of the wealthiest wizards in Britain. You're even wealthier than the Malfoy family." Harry smiled at that. "If you so desire, you'll never have to work a day in your life. You're what muggles would call, 'filthy rich.'"

That gave Harry an idea. "Is there any convenient way that I can use my money in the muggle world? Muggles have things called debit cards that…"

"Oh yes," answered Griphook, smiling his toothy smile. "We actually have debit cards." He waved his hand and another paper, along with a quill and ink, appeared in front of him. "There's a startup fee and transaction fee. Just read that paper and sign it if you agree to the terms."

He and Hermione read the form. He looked at her as if to ask, "What do you think?" She nodded and he signed the form. The form disappeared, replaced by a visa credit card, which Harry immediately put into his old-looking wallet. Harry then asked, "Could you start owling me financial statements every month?"

Griphook smiled. "Actually, Mr. Potter, that portfolio is charmed so that it is always accurate. You can check it anytime to see what you own. In fact, you should find that the startup fee for your debit card has been removed already." After they confirmed that, Harry was satisfied.

After they left the room, Harry took a significant amount of gold out of his vault. He then grabbed Hermione's hand, and together they headed toward Flourish and Blotts. Harry looked at Hermione and smiled. "Look around the store. Grab any book you think would be useful. Try to be quick because we still have to go muggle-clothes shopping, but I want to make sure we have what we need to get started. We'll probably take another trip here soon, when we decide what else we need from the shops here."

"No problem," replied a beaming Hermione, as she hurried through the store, scanning the titles and grabbing the interesting ones. Harry thought she appeared to be on a muggle shopping spree as she handed him the huge stack she'd already acquired. Once she was done, Harry decided to add a bottomless, weightless, trunk that they also sold to his purchases. His pockets significantly lighter, they hurried out of Diagon Alley, through the Leaky Cauldron and onto the streets of London. Harry was going to call the Knight Bus, but Hermione stopped him by saying, "There's a mall within walking distance." She grabbed his hand and all but dragged him toward their destination.

After Hermione had picked out a new outfit for herself like her father told her, Harry decided that the best thing for him to do was to let Hermione pick out his clothes. She had him try on a few things to determine his size. She then started filling a cart with jeans, shorts, swimming trunks, t-shirts, jumpers, underwear (which embarrassed him), and socks. She even had him get a few muggle suits, one black, one navy blue, and one dark green, which she claimed made him look, "very handsome." She then picked out shirts, ties, belts and socks to go with them. She then had him try on trainers. He paid for it all with his new visa, and then changed into one of the outfits before leaving the store. When they got out of there, they were bogged down with packages, which they put into the bottomless trunk as inconspicuously as possible. When they were finished, they hailed the Knight Bus and went back to Hermione's home.

When they got there, Adam, who was watching TV in the living room, commented, "You're five minutes late."

"I'm sorry sir," replied Harry. "It was my fault. Don't blame Hermione; she was helping me."

Adam Granger smiled, "Okay, we can stay the execution. I must say that I like your new outfit, Harry.