41

Chapter 40: Filthy Rich Muggle

Lucius Malfoy frowned as he looked at his latest bank statement. This had gotten ridiculous. The goblins clearly had to be breaking some sort of law with those new interest rates, and really now they wanted to charge him an extra fee for his other accounts.

Blasphemous. They had given him their signature goblin word that they'd be discreet, after he paid the initial fee. And a goblin's word was as good as his bargain.

Or at least that's what he thought until he spotted a note in the classifieds that said Gringotts had been bought and renamed Gold Bank.

How original.

Not.

Seriously, Gold Bank? They might as well have named the bank Galleon Bank.

And he could not find out who bought it. Just the company's name—Spinner Enterprises.

Lucius had never heard of such a company. Must be a filthy mudblood that owned it.

To top off his mood, he had a very grueling day planned ahead of him. It consistent of a governor's meeting at Draco's school and then some not so legitimate business in the Ally as well as picking up Draco's broom or brooms.

He really didn't need his blood boiling first thing in the morning.

But that was what happened.

And to top it all off his bloody house elf couldn't make him a decent English breakfast. His toast was burnt. A good boxing in the ears. That's what he told that creature to do. There was no need for burnt toast or really anything else.

Seriously, a rise in interest rates?

Gringotts was bad enough before. Excuse him, Gold Bank.

Such a stupid name.

And his mood didn't improve when he arrived at the school. He forgot how obnoxious certain people at Hogwarts could be (cough, Dumbledore, cough). And that most of these meetings were dreadfully dull—because nothing ever changed at Hogwarts. Despite the fact that Lucius tried his hardest to get proper measures in place regarding the standards in said school.

Mudbloods were still allowed there. And the Dark Arts were still not taught.

Just defense theory.

Bah.

And then there was that idiot they hired. Gilderoy Lockhart.

What an idiot.

He had tried to hit on Cissy at one of the ministry's parities the other Christmas or show. Lucius hexed him with a simple second year curse and with the amount of wailing the buffoon did you would've thought it was an unforgivable.

Maybe he should transfer Draco.

Durmstrang was always a good strong option. Alas, Draco lacked decent linguistic skills and Lucius really didn't want to give have to result to using a translating potion on his son. Such potions were so messy and expensive. And with those interest rates and the ministry's crackdown on his less than legitimate business, he didn't have as much as access to his funds as he'd like.

So it looked like more than likely Draco was going to be stuck at Hogwarts.

"You look unhappy."

Severus.

The only person with half a brain at this stupid school.

Lucius shook his head. "Bloody house elf burnt my toast."

Snape shrugged. "You could always make your own toast."

Lucius shrugged. "I'm not a peasant."

Severus shrugged as he sat down. "I had an interesting visitor the other day."

"Did you?"

Severus nodded. "It brought up some thoughts on an old project of mine. If I can figure out what's going on, I think it could be very lucrative. But I need access to some old reading material that you have."

Lucius raised an eyebrow. Was Severus referring to something back in their Death Eater days? He had to be. Lucius was the one who had managed to scavenge whatever research materials the Dark Lord had ordered. Mainly, because his manor was large enough to hide them. Of course, he had been selling bits and pieces of such material off, but the Dark Lord had a lot of books. And all books were the same when you really thought about it. "I might have some time this evening. Give me a fire call."

The conversation was quickly forgotten as Dumbledore entered the room.

It was summer and the man was still wearing robes with a fur collar.

Ridiculous.

Then again, at least it was a respectable shade of puce and not the rubber ducky print sequins catastrophe he wore in the May meeting.

"Lucius," Dumbledore said his eyes twinkling.

Malfoy Senior just shook his head. He was smarter than to buy that trick and Dumbledore knew it. He was Severus's best (and only) friend after all. And Severus was a bit of a gossip, especially when you got him drunk.

Which didn't happen often. Unless you had some damn good wine, like Lucius did. Severus was used to the stuff in the box, so whenever he came over to Malfoy manor he indulged. Big time.

"Professor," Lucius said with a nod. "You're looking well."

Dumbledore smiled. "A little relaxation in Baden-Baden will do that for you. And how is young Draco?"

"Fine." Lucius said inwardly rolling his eyes at the pleasantries. "I'm guessing this meeting wasn't called though to discuss pleasantries."

"Unfortunately, not." Dumbledore said motioning him to sit down before addressing the rest of the school governors. "It seems like there are issues with the school financing. Did you know Gringotts was bought out by some Gold Bank?"

"Of course," Lucius said. Stupid Gold Bank. Wanted open transparency, what sort of nonsense was that. Not to mention the increase in the interest rate in his mortgage. He ought to rip the throat out of the mudblood that bought it. "Odd that goblins of all creatures were bought out."

Dumbledore nodded. "It is strange. …um, well, the new owner is foreclosing on the school."

"Foreclosing? I didn't even realize there was a mortgage on the school. A mortgage with the goblins? Seriously, I am going to get you sacked, Dumbledore. Goblins. That's almost as bad as…"

He stopped himself. As fond as he was of the word, mudblood, he knew better than to use it with Dumbledore. The wizard could twist and turn his favorite word into making him look some sort of bigot.

Which was. But Lucius really didn't want the entire world knowing it.

"As bad as what?" Dumbledore asked almost as if he knew what word Lucius was going to say.

Lucius shook his head. "Never you mind. I want to know how the school has a mortgage in the first place, Dumbledore."

The rest of the governors tended to agree with Lucius.

Dumbledore looked down at his nails.

"It really is preposterous." Amelia Bones, a former Hufflepuff and ministry officer slash governor said. "Hogwarts is an institution."

"Not a state institution though," Dumbledore sighed. "If you read through Hogwarts a History…"

Everyone who had any sort of common sense rolled their eyes—that would be all the former Slytherins and most of the Ravenclaws in the room. No one read that book. Unless they were an extremely studious Ravenclaw or a pretentious Gryffindor who had too much time on their hands (a.k.a. Dumbledore).

"Cliff notes version." Some Ravenclaw mudblood that Lucius usually ignored said.

God, he really needed to learn the mudblood governor's name. Dirty as they were, he could use them to get rid of Dumbledore.

Dumbledore sighed. "The original four families owned equal shares in the school. Throughout the years, they sold them off. The ministry controls the majority of Gryffindor's share and I believe part of Hufflepuff's share as well. But parts of the estate were sold and seize by other agencies. The goblin's bought out the Ravenclaw heir's share years ago."

"Okay, nice lesson on the history of the ownership of the school, but this doesn't explain how the school would have a mortgage on it. Especially since the bank owned a portion on it." Lucius taking the role of unofficial inquisitor said.

Dumbledore sighed. "The war."

"Pardon?" Lucius asked while inwardly rolling his eyes.

Of course.

The war.

Dumbledore's go to excuse. Though personally Lucius thought most of it went towards Dumbledore's personal wardrobe. As garish as those outfits were, they had to be expensive. Surely, no one would mass market puce colored robes with rabbit fur.

Of course, Lucius had more tact than that. Deciding to take his role as the unofficial inquisitor further he asked, "I don't believe it's in a school's interest to support either side of a war. It's an institution of learning after all."

Very well played, he thought as he noticed all the nods he was getting from the other governors. Maybe if he was lucky, he'd be able to make a motion to get Dumbledore sacked.

Alas, he knew that was probably a fantasy.

"Safety," Dumbledore said cutting off Lucius's inquisitor's high, "is a priority of the school's. Besides, as I previously stated Hogwarts is privately own."

"By who? Who invested their funds in the war?"

"That's the donor's decision…" Dumbledore started rattling but Lucius cut him off.

"We're cleaning up their mess, I think we have a right to know."

He sighed. "Lucius, I don't think it really matters. At this point, we need to pay the goblins back."

"The bank is no longer owned by goblins." Amelia Bones interjected.

"Well, I'm sure it is. Who else is in banking besides, goblins."

Mudbloods.

Lucius didn't add this information to the conversation though.

Instead he said, "There was no rule stating that only goblins bank."

"Well, we can talk to whoever's in charge of the bank." Dumbledore, "I'm sure they'll understand."

They were foreclosing on the school.

Not to mention, they were causing Lucius's own personal business problems too. He really needed to find out who this mudblood was and teach him some manners.

"I'm afraid that's going to be easier said than done," The mudblood governor said.

So many mudbloods. Why couldn't he keep them straight?

"I don't see why not? We'll send a representative to the bank to talk to this Mr…"

"That's the thing, Dumbledore." The mudblood said. "The owner of Gold Bank hasn't made his name available. He's like a ghost."

"Surely, the paperwork had to be signed by someone for the ownership of the bank."

"It's just owned by Spinner Enterprises."

"Well, doesn't that have to be owned by someone?"

"It's a corporation. Legally they're viewed as their own entity."

This flew by anyone's head who didn't have a business or law school background—meaning almost everyone in the room.

"Huh?" Dumbledore asked.

"It's a legal fiction. The corporation is viewed as its own person." The mudblood said. "Seriously? Did any of you attend school post Hogwarts?"

"I took a course at the community center for knitting charms." Amelia Bones offered.

The mudblood shook his head.

Though, Lucius admitted he had a point. Even he was able to sort of put together what he was talking about. Only because he funneled his money around lots and had a few entities set up of his own.

Nasty business. Best leave it to the solicitors to set the whole thing up—well, if it was a legal business.

Dumbledore sighed. "So, a legal fiction then. So, Mr. Spinner Enterprises is who we have to talk too?"

This was going to be a long meeting. Lucius needed some fire whiskey. Sometimes Dumbledore could be as stupid as his robes.

It was around one in the afternoon by the time he finally entered the bank. The place already looked different.

He could've sworn he saw the bank manager using a mop by the water closets. And all the goblin art had been completely taken down and replaced with the logo of Gold Bank which was fairly boring all kidding aside.

Very generic.

Someone obviously didn't want their identity known, Lucius thought as he walked up to the teller.

It was still a goblin, but it seemed like they were trying to be a bit nicer.

Trying half-heartedly. But still. There was some effort. Some being the objective word.

He could see the goblin biting his lip when he saw him. "Mr. Malfoy."

"I want to speak to Riproar."

"Riproar?"

"The goblin that I usually talk too. Your manager or former manager. I think I saw him by the loo."

"You did," The goblin said. "That's his new position. Office toilet cleaner of Gold Bank. And his name is not Riproar"

" Whatever. Seriously, he's cleaning the loo?"

"There's been some changes around here, Mr. Malfoy."

"Yes, yes, yes, I here your new owner is causing quite the stir. I'd actually like to speak with him, if he's around."

"I'm afraid the owner's very busy." The goblin said. "You'll have to make an appointment with our new branch manager when we get one."

"And when can I talk to them?" Lucius said. "These new interest rates of yours…"

He knew he was starting to cause a scene. He could feel his voice raising. He couldn't help it though. This was ridiculous.

Him having to wait.

He wasn't a mudblood.

"What's going on here?"

He turned around and had to restrain from rolling his eyes. Why was some Scottish mudblood interrupting him?

Really, he probably thought he was impressing Lucius with that fancy suit of his. But suits only meant one thing to Lucius. Muggle trash and that's what the man standing next to him was.

However, if Lucius wouldn't have been appraising all the muggle clothes that the man was wearing, he might've notice the change in the body language of the goblin teller. Instead, though he continued to act stupid.

"This doesn't concern you."

"Does it, dearie?"

Lucius rolled his eyes. Dearie? Really? He would not be patronized. "Is it really that hard to speak to someone with common sense. In a reasonable amount of time."

"I was actually asking the same thing the other day." The Scottish mudbood said still not getting the hint.

Lucius rolled his eyes but used the information before asking, "Don't tell me you're getting to talk to someone before me?"

"Well, I was here a day before you." The man said.

"Yes, but you're mudblood trash." Lucius said. He couldn't help it. Today was very draining.

The man smirked, "But I'm the temporary branch manager, don't you want to talk to me?"

Lucius eyed him and nodded as the man motioned him to follow him towards his office. He didn't see the goblin shake his head at him or noticed the smirk on the man's face.