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Vault 329, Gringotts Wizarding Bank,
"Blergh!" came the sound as Andromeda emptied the contents of her stomach, the mess spreading in unsettling hues.
"Mum…" Nymphadora's voice trembled with concern as she quickly stepped forward, gently rubbing her mother's back in soothing circles.
Andromeda groaned softly, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Ugh… I'm sorry, Dora. I didn't mean to—"
"It's alright, Mum. Just lean on me," Nymphadora said firmly, steadying Andromeda.
"Bloody hell… couldn't you hold it in?" Griphook snapped, scowling.
Ragwurt, although, didn't say a word, his face showed he was equally disgusted and dissatisfied.
Rigel shot Griphook and Ragwurt a cold look and said, "Don't make a fuss… It's not like she's stolen or destroyed anything. It's just vomit, it can be cleaned up."
Griphook said nothing more, but the displeasure was clear in his expression.
Ignoring that, Rigel turned his gaze back to Andromeda, concern flickering in his eyes. "You alright, Aunty?"
Andromeda forced a weak smile. "I feared this might happen… I've never been good with anything that moves too fast, whether it's a cart at Gringotts, a flying broom, or even a flying carpet… I always end up like this." She sighed, "That's why I rarely ventured into the deeper vaults when we visited Gringotts. Look at the mess I've made…" She felt the goblins' disgusted, disapproving stares on her, as Griphook questioned her, "Are you done?"
Taking out her wand, she waved it carefully, causing all the mess to vanish from the floor with a soft 'Evanesco!'
Andromeda cleaning up the mess did lift Griphook and Ragwurt's mood somewhat, prompting them to ask, "All done then?"
"Yes," she nodded, quickly wiping her mouth and hands before offering a sincere apology, "Sorry about that…"
Andromeda cleaning up the mess did lift Griphook and Ragwurt's mood somewhat, prompting them to ask, "All done then?"
"Yes," she nodded, quickly wiping her mouth and hands before offering a sincere apology, "Sorry about that…"
Rigel glanced her way just then, and their eyes met for a brief moment before Andromeda quickly dropped her gaze to her feet, cheeks flushing with shame.
As a proper lady, she felt utterly embarrassed to have shown herself like that.
"Mum, you alright?" Nymphadora asked, holding her hand.
Andromeda smiled lightly, squeezing her daughter's hand. "Y… yes…"
Whether she truly felt better was another matter; the queasiness lingered, but at least it was a bit more bearable than before.
Shaking his head, Rigel turned to Ragwurt and said, "Mr. Ragwurt, please open the vault," before facing the gate of Vault 329.
This gate had no engravings like Vault 22, and no keyhole; it could only be unlocked by a Goblin.
"Stand back, please…" said Ragwurt, nodding as he approached the vault gate. Griphook shone a lamp at the door.
Ragwurt raised his hand and gently stroked the door with all five fingers, and the door melted away.
"If anyone but a Gringotts Goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through and trapped inside," Griphook said with a nasty grin to Rgel, Andromeda, and Nymphadora.
But no one paid him any mind, their eyes fixed on Vault 329, their faces once again left gobsmacked at the sight inside.
Though the visual impact wasn't quite as striking as the treasures of Vault 22, it was still bloody shocking enough.
If Vault 22 was heaving with metric tonnes of gold, all kinds of artifacts, and all sorts, Vault 329, which was also as big as an Olympic-sized swimming pool in length, was stuffed to the brim with Galleons, mounds upon mounds of the lot. Rigel couldn't spot a single Sickle or Knut in sight; it was Galleons, and Galleons only.
"This one as well…" murmured Nymphadora, feeling a bit lost, much like Andromeda, who stood speechless, unsure of what to say.
Here she was, living a bloody poor life for the past fifteen years, having run away from her family and been disowned… barely scraping by, even desperate these last few weeks since Ted passed away… Meanwhile, such immense wealth was stashed away in the Gringotts vaults owned by the very family she'd fled from.
If the Blacks had this sort of fortune, then the families she might've been forced to marry into would be just as wealthy… The marriage wouldn't have been as per her wish, at least, it would be into a wealthy family…
Realising all this, for a fleeting moment, she felt a right fool for the choices she'd made in the name of love at seventeen.
But just as quickly as the thought came, horror gripped her, and she pushed it aside, muttering, "No, I… I shouldn't be thinking like that…" She tightened her grip on Nymphadora's shoulders, grounding herself.
"Mum… is something wrong?" Nymphadora asked, turning away from the vault to look at Andromeda.
Forcing a smile, Andromeda shook her head. "Nothing…" she said, then added, "It's just that I'm amazed at how many galleons there are in this vault… I've never seen this many before."
Nymphadora nodded. "Um…" She spotted her mum's forced smile but kept quiet, turning her gaze back to the vault. "I've never even seen a hundred galleons at once… let alone this." It felt like millions were stacked inside—simply unbelievable. For a moment, she wondered if she was dreaming. That kind of wealth was something most could only fantasise about… yet here it was, right before her eyes. Shame it wasn't hers or theirs, but her cousin's.
Andromeda sighed, just as unsure about it all…
While the pair of mother and daughter wrestled with doubts about their life choices and reality, Rigel was already firing questions at Ragwurt about the money stashed in Vault 329.
"This should be recorded somewhere, yeah?"
"Ah, yes… indeed," Ragwurt nodded, rifling through his coat pockets before pulling out a parchment. It listed the details, and he showed it to Rigel. "As you can see, this vault holds about 103 million Galleons, and the sum grows each year…"
"I see…" Rigel murmured softly, unsure what else to say for now. After a pause, he asked, "Can you give me a rundown on how the Galleons get added here?"
"Of course, Mr. Black," Ragwurt nodded and began explaining. "The Galleons in Vault 329 include interest your family earns by keeping their wealth with Gringotts. Plus, there's a clause in the contract of House Black stating that when a family member passes away, their personal vault is emptied and the Galleons transferred here, unless that vault's already been passed on to someone else."
After all, the goblins use the wealth stored at Gringotts to run their business worldwide, so naturally, they pay interest on the vaults for making use of that money.
The interest paid is minus the cost of the Vault itself, which, despite the deductions, is still a very large amount considering the principal capital here.
"So, this vault holds the accumulated interest over five centuries, plus almost all the Galleons my ancestors have made since Gringotts was founded," Rigel murmured with a frown.
Though Rigel came from a middle-class background and wasn't used to calculating through such vast sums at a glance, upon hearing 103 million, something didn't quite sit right with him. The amount of Galleons seemed lower than it ought to be; 103 million just didn't feel like enough. After all, this represented five centuries' worth of earnings. Was Ragwurt really saying all the interest on billions worth of gold, plus the combined income of the Black family over five hundred years, came to just 103 million Galleons?
"Minus the large-scale withdrawals made several times for various purposes," Ragwurt added, noticing Rigel's doubtful look.
"Ah, that explains it," Rigel murmured, realising he'd completely overlooked the expenditure side. House Black had bought plenty of properties, lands, castles, and whatnot over the years, Grimmauld Place, the Castle of Mey, just to name a few. Naturally, none of that came free; those purchases would've been paid for with Galleons from this vault.
With that understood, he turned to Ragwurt. "Right then, I've seen this vault and the wealth in here. Close it up, and let's move on to the next one…"
Ragwurt nodded, "Very well…" and got on with it.
"Come on, Aunty… cousin, let's be off," Rigel said, heading back to the cart.
Andromeda and Nymphadora exchanged a glance before following him inside.
Once everyone was seated, the cart started moving again, but this time at a much slower pace. Rigel gave Griphook a sharp reminder, "This time, go slow… we don't want repeats of the last mess, yeah?"
"Understood," Griphook nodded, casting a quick glance at Andromeda. The person responsible for the mess.
Under Griphook's gaze, Andromeda wished she could just disappear into one of those vaults.
…
For the next hour and a half, the cart rattled from one section of Gringotts to another as Rigel checked vault after vault belonging to the House of Black, Vaults No. 535, 666, 980, 1004, 2014, and so forth.
While the other vaults held plenty of wealth, none matched the sheer volume stored in Vaults 22 and 329. Those two held the lion's share of the family fortune. The others served various purposes: Vault 666, for instance, held earnings from rare and precious materials mined from veins the Blacks owned in parts of Africa; Vault 980 collected rents from properties owned by the family, and so on.
As they moved from vault to vault, Andromeda and Nymphadora gradually grew numb, overwhelmed by the ever-growing piles of wealth laid before them, and all of it belonged to the six-year-old relative of theirs, which only made them sigh…
For a child to hold this much wealth… they didn't even know what to think. Their brains had stopped functioning…
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Vault 7777, Gringotts Wizarding Bank
Glancing over the contents of Vault 7777, which held several thousand Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts, Rigel decided, "I'll be using this vault for my personal transactions, so please make the necessary arrangements."
Vault 7777 was also used by Regulus Black back in his Hogwarts days, so Rigel figured he'd carry on the tradition.
For those wondering why Vault 7777 hasn't been closed as per the House Black's agreement with Gringotts, despite Regulus being dead for over six years, his death was never officially confirmed or reported to Gringotts. No reports came from the House of Black, nor was there any public news. Until Gringotts receives formal confirmation of the vault owner's passing, the vault stays active and its contents untouched. So, Vault 7777 remained open with a few thousand Galleons still inside.
"Understood," nodded Ragwurt as he closed the gate, then informed Rigel, "With this, all the vaults owned by House Black have been checked."
"Well then, let's head to my aunt's vault next. She's been waiting several hours already," Rigel said, turning to Andromeda. "Come along, Aunty… my business here is done. We can now move on to the Tonks family vault so that you can withdraw the money."
"Ah, yes… please," Andromeda replied, though to be honest, she was dreading opening the Tonks Family Vault. It was embarrassing, seeing how empty it was compared to all the Black Family Vaults she'd just laid eyes on. Even Vault 7777, which held the least amount of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts, still boasted thousands of times more wealth than the Tonks Vault.
But she had no choice; if she didn't, how else would they afford Nymphadora's course materials?
And so, they got back on the cart and made their way to the Vault 10183.
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Vault 10183, Gringotts Wizarding Bank,
"Key, please…" Rugwurt said, turning to Andromeda and asking for the vault key.
With a reluctant sigh, Andromeda handed over the key.
Rugwurt took it, almost snatching it from her fingers, since she was so reluctant, and unlocked the vault door, revealing its contents.
At that moment, Andromeda wished she were large enough to hide the emptiness of the vault with her own body. Sadly, she wasn't, and everyone could clearly see three neat stacks of sickles, each with a dozen coins, lying on the floor.
Apart from those few coins of silver color, the vault was utterly empty, embarrassing Andromeda.
Nymphadora felt just as embarrassed, avoiding eye contact with the Goblins or Rigel.
Rigel, eying the mere thirty-six sickles, felt pity for Andromeda and Nymphadora.
He'd expected the Tonks family vault to hold very little, after all, he knew that Ted Tonks didn't make much… but he hadn't expected it to be this empty. Thirty-six sickles? That's not even enough to cover supplies for Nymphadora's third year, let alone anything else.
It made him wonder if Andromeda planned to starve herself to make ends meet, and Rigel didn't think Nymphadora would be getting any pocket money that she could spend on her Visit to the Hogsmead village.
'Truly pitiful,' he thought. Yet, beneath that thought, a faint, playful smile flickered.
Andromeda, not wanting to prolong their shame or draw pitying looks, quickly gathered the sickles and stuffed them into her robe pockets. She then turned to Ragwurt and said, "Close it, please."
The older goblin gave the empty vault a quick glance, feeling pity for the empty vault. But without making any comment, he shut the door and locked it. Handing the key back to Andromeda, he said, "Here's the key to the Tonks Family vault, Mrs. Tonks."
She nearly snatched the key from his hand, slipped it into another pocket, and murmured as she headed for the cart, "Let's get back to the surface… It's getting late."
She didn't want to stay there a moment…
Ragwurt shrugged and moved to the front alongside Griphook. Nymphadora quietly followed with Rigel trailing behind.
Once everyone was settled, they made their way back to the surface.
…
"Well then, Aunty, cousin… I'd have liked to come along for your Hogwarts shopping, but I've still got a few things to sort out here at Gringotts, so I suppose this is where we part ways," said Rigel, standing by the gates of the tall, white marble building.
"No, that's quite alright… We'll manage on our own. You've helped us plenty already… we can take it from here," Andromeda replied, waving her hand. She really didn't want Rigel tagging along — it'd only make things more awkward and clutter her head with even more thoughts.
Rigel sighed. "No need to be modest with me, Aunty… rather than helping, I feel like I've held you up. I didn't expect it to take this long." He glanced at the sun dipping low on the horizon. "I do apologise."
Andromeda gave a small smile, looking for the silver lining. "Well, at least we don't have to empty our vaults." And thought to herself, 'Even if it's already empty…'
"Ah, yes… that troll-faced woman… I didn't expect you to end up in such a mess. It was pure coincidence that I happened to be looking down from the one-way glass and caught sight of you being in a troubled state," explained Rigel.
"Yeah… it saved us a right lot of trouble," nodded Andromeda, then glanced at the darkening sky. "Well, we should be off… got loads of shopping to do."
"Yeah…" Rigel nodded, waving his hand as Nymphadora turned and started down the stairs. But they'd barely taken two steps when Rigel called out, "Aunty, one more thing…"
Andromeda and Nymphadora stopped and looked back, curious. "What is it?" Andromeda asked.
Leaning in, Rigel met her gaze and said, "After everything today… Considering your situation, the embarrassment you felt opening that vault, and all we've seen, I really think you should take my offer seriously and give me a proper answer soon. The answer I want to hear. It could sort out your problems."
Andromeda pursed her lips, not replying right away, but not rushing to refuse, question, or freeze either. After all she'd seen today, there was a lot to think about.
And she did feel that she really must not rush the decision and think it through…
Nearby, Nymphadora overheard Rigel's words and tilted her head in confusion. 'Offer? What offer?' she wondered, unsure what was going on between them.
Seeing Andromeda's reaction, Rigel felt satisfied and took a step back. "Well, that's all I needed to say. Good luck with your shopping…"
Andromeda stood there for a good ten seconds, locking eyes with him, which he returned steadily.
"Mum…?" Nymphadora's voice broke the moment, and Andromeda quickly broke eye contact, giving a respectful bow, "Lord Black," before leaving with her daughter.
"Goodbye, Cousin," Nymphadora said, waving her hand as they left Gringotts and headed towards the second-hand shops in Diagon Alley to complete her purchases.
Watching them go, Rigel smiled and whispered, "Kreacher…"
In an instant, the old house elf apparated beside him, bowing. "Master Rigel called, Kreacher?"
"Send Drek William to Diagon Alley," Rigel murmured without turning.
"Understood, Master Rigel," Kreacher nodded before disappearing.
'Time for the final phase of the plan,' Rigel thought as he watched Andromeda and Nymphadora walk away… his gaze lingering on Nymphadora's back with a hint of pity.
He knew the next part of the plan would cause her a great deal of pain, and the thought of inflicting suffering on the teenager made him feel a bit sad. Yet, he understood it was necessary. Necessary to give Andromeda the final push she needed to break into desperation and accept his offer regardless of the costs, sacrifices, and implications.
Otherwise, she'd remain indecisive, and time would slip away. He didn't want to wait anymore…
'A short burst of intense pain is better than a lifetime of misery,' he told himself, trying to justify the horror Nymphadora was about to endure within the next few hours.
'For the Greater Good, eh?' he wondered for a moment before shaking his head, 'Who am I kidding…'
Deep down, he knew there was no true excuse for hurting an innocent girl who'd done him no wrong; it was merely a convenient excuse.
'It's just my selfishness and obsession,' he thought, recalling the day nearly a year ago when he first met Andromeda. But he stopped himself right there.
'Forget it. Not the time to dwell on that…' With that thought, he discarded the thought before turning and heading back inside Gringotts to collect the cheque books issued in his name for his vaults.
After all, he didn't fancy coming back again and again to withdraw galleons; having a few cheque books would make things far easier for his transactions.
'I've got to check out 'Mulligrubs Materia Medica' as well, see if that shop meets my standards…'
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That's it for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed reading this one!
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