"I've left out some texts that you should probably study a little bit this afternoon." Bellatrix told Harry as she wrapped a dark red cloak around her and then pulled the hood over her head. She then used a charm to shadow her face so that only her mouth and part of her nose could be seen. "Other than that, just do some drills."
"Are you sure that you don't want me to know what you're planning?" Harry asked. Nearly a week had passed since Fudge's letter had been received. Bellatrix had been planning something since then. She had done endless research in the library and archives.
Bellatrix smiled at him. "It's a surprise. Fudge will learn his lesson; he might even prove useful to us in the future."
"Be safe then." Harry said, deciding not to press the issue any further.
"I will. I might be back late though." Bellatrix said. She gave Harry a quick peck on the lips and then pulled out her wand to Apparate. "Have a good day, dear." She then disappeared with a quiet pop.
Harry smiled and made his way up to the private study to go over his daily stack of business. The load had increased after the audience with Queen Xerina. She had been sending him endless reports on everything that concerned him.
Apparently he owned thirty percent of the profits from the gold, platinum, sapphire, silver, and ruby mines located in the North. Thirty percent from over a thousand years stacked up.It seemed thatNorth Gringotts, which was entirely independent of the other Gringott branches of the world held the vast bulk of his fortune.Whatever he had in Britain was negligible.
She had also scheduled a national day of feasting in his honor in three days. He and Bellatrix were required to attend the first day at least. It would be interesting.
He entered his office and found Reggins waiting with the newest set of documents. The Ministry's refusal to vacate Azkaban had created problems which required ten times more paperwork to get around. Reggins assured Harry that everything would be fine though.
The ghost still served as the personal secretary, even though Harry had hired a large staff of workers. Harry was supposed to be looking for a suitable replacement, but he wasn't looking very hard.
After lunch, Harry made his way to the library which served as his all-purpose classroom. He found the books that Bellatrix had left out and quickly skimmed them. The material didn't seem very hard at all, which was odd. It was more advanced than NEWT levels.
Harry finished and began his drills, absently wondering what Bellatrix was up to.
Bellatrix appeared with a small pop just down the street from Gringotts in Diagon Alley. She quickly put her wand in its holder that was on the inside of her cloak. It's twin was in a sheath on her wrist.
She quickly blended in with the crowd and made her way to the bank. Upon entering, she went to the nearest goblin she could find. Mustering all the kindness she could, she spoke. "Would you be kind enough to show me to the Chief Financial Advisor's office?"
"Yes, ma'am." the goblin answer, immediately leading the way down a broad hall and into an office.
The goblin in the office stood and bowed. "My name his Holdhook. How may I be of service?"
"I need to make some purchases and acquire holdings in some rather large companies. Your advice would be of the utmost usefulness to me." Bellatrix answered, sitting down at a chair in front of the desk.
"Do you have an account with us?"
"Polairix." Bellatrix said simply.
The goblins eyes widened and he looked at Bellatrix's ring closely because her face wasn't available for scrutiny. "I see, my lady." He snapped at the goblin who had led her in. "Get me the Polairix file immediately."
The goblin returned only a second later, clearly out of breath. He handed the thick file to Holdhook and left the room, closing the door behind him. Holdhook then opened the file and drew out several papers.
"Vault numbers one through seven. The first initial transfer to Gringotts came from North Gringotts. The current balance, including the Potter and Black estates, comes to… eight hundred and ninety six billion galleons in cash. Approximately two hundred million in real estate. I imagine that the bulk of your fortune is managed by North Gringotts however." Holdhook summarized for Bellatrix's benefit. "You and your husband, are without a doubt, our biggest customers."
"Is there any interest associated with all that?" Bellatrix asked faintly. She had not know that Harry was that rich. Well… it was her money through marriage as well, but she couldn't help but feel that it was Harry's more than hers.
"Of course." Holdhook replied. "What did you want to do today?"
"I wish to obtain managing control of the Daily Prophet and, if possible, full ownership." she announced. "For this piece of my business, cost is of no concern."
Holdhook steepled his fingers thoughtfully. "I believe that the Daily Prophet is owned by about five or six shareholders. If you can buy out at least four of them, you probably won't have any trouble at all when it comes to managing control. Buying them out will probably require you offering triple the value of their shares, but it can be done."
"Offer whatever you must to get them all." Bellatrix decided. "Try to keep the business strictly secret though."
"I can get you control of the paper by next week I think." Holdhook declared, making some notes on a piece of parchment. "What else did you wish to do?"
Bellatrix thought over her next move again. This could go well, or it could go bad. "I would like to invest in Gringotts." she said slowly. "The House of Polairix would be honored if the goblins were to be our allies."
Holdhook was even more surprised than before. "Your account with us is more than a significant investment, which is nothing strange, but allies?"
"Yes, we would like you to be our allies. Hard times are coming. The Ministry is incompetent and Voldemort is on the rise. The House of Polairix intends to play a significant part in Britain's future." Bellatrix declared.
"I have no authority to do something like that." Holdhook admitted. "Would it be suitable if the Head of Gringotts called on you and Lord Polairix tomorrow?"
Bellatrix nodded happily. "That would be wonderful. I'm sure that Lord Polairix could come to you here at Gringotts, however."
"We would be honored." Holdhook said. "Extremely honored. What time should we expect Lord Polairix?"
"Ten, I think." Bellatrix answered thoughtfully. Harry could probably get most of his work done early and then be back from Gringotts in time for his afternoon training.
Holdhook nodded excitedly and made a note. "We'll be expecting you then. Any other business?"
"Yes, lots more." Bellatrix said. "I would like to obtain managing control of St. Mungos, but not ownership." That hospital needed big improvements and expansions for the coming war. It would help if she could make sure they happened.
The goblin made the appropriate notations and they continued with Bellatrix's requests. Several hours later, the House of Polairix was slated up for some major investments in nearly every industry and company in the wizarding world. If they went through, Harry would be able to virtually control the economy by next week.
As Bellatrix left Gringotts, she changed her cloak to a light blue color and did some self-transfiguration. It was time for phase two of her plan.
Harry yawned as he turned the page of one of the older books in his library. He had finished his studies, drills, and dinner. Still no Bellatrix. Hopefully she wasn't in trouble. She had told him that she would be late though. The chapter on the page suddenly grabbed his attention.
Splitting Spells
A powerful wizard or witch may be able to cast a spell and 'split' it so that there are actually two beams of light going for the target. This can be used both for a double hit, or to counter any dodging move the opponent may make. Further study, practice, and magical ability can allow the witch or wizard to be able to control the movement of the spell even after it leaves his/her wand. A word of caution, this spell is not for the weak. Spells won't be as strong separate as they would have been had they remained together.
"This would be very effective against a large crowd of Death Eaters, or of course, someone who dodges." Harry observed to himself. He looked at the incantation and pulled out his Black Ash wand. "Duplexio Stupefy." he muttered. A pair of stunners shot from his wand and harmlessly hit a wall.
Harry practiced the spell several times and eventually was able to force the stunners to move toward any target he chose. He couldn't make them go anywhere he pleased, but he could subtly manipulate them to curve one way or another until they hit something.
After that he tried the Duplexio spell combines with several other jinxes and curses he knew. They all worked excellently. He was just about to give up for the day when he had a couple of ideas. Perhaps the spell could be manipulated.
"Triplexio Stupefy!" he uttered. Much to Harry's delight, three stunners shot from his wand. His ability to control them decreased with the addition of the third stunner, but a little practice would solve that problem.
He then pulled out his other wand and put it in his left hand. "Triplexio Stupefy!" he whispered, concentrating on both wands. The nearest wall was attacked by six seperate stunners. Harry grinned at his wands and began another experiment. "Tetraplexio Stupefy!"
"Are you finding everything that you need, dear?" assked the stout woman who was in charge of the Ministry Archives. "The Ministry doesn't really store documents from very many Goblin Rebellions, but I do believe that you might find some pertinent entries in the International Relations section over there."
Bellatrix Potter, who now appeared to be a blonde and blue-eyed girl of 18, smiled sweetly at the helpful archivist. "I've found a few things that ought to be helpful for my report, but I need so much more, Mrs. Drake. What shall I look under?"
"The Ministry often is required to report their current state-of-affairs to the International Confederation of Wizards." Drake told Bellatrix. "They would have mentioned a few things about any ongoing Goblin Rebellions."
"Thank you so much." Bellatrix said. She stood up from the pile strewn with various folders filled with parchment and made her way over to the said section of the Archives while Drake returned to whatever she did at her desk.
Making sure that Drake was occupied, Bellatrix dropped her act of searching through the International Relations section and studied the door to the secured vault that contained just about anything that the current and past Ministers of Magic wanted to keep secret. She could definitely take it on. But only if that woman would go away.
She returned to her table with a random file she had grabbed from the section and made a good show of being absorbed with the contents. Too bad the contents were so horribly boring and petty! Cauldron bottoms indeed.
After another two hours of extreme patience on Bellatrix's part, her chance finally came when Drake stood up from her desk and approached her. "Finding everything you need?" she asked.
A fake smile. "Yes! There's so much in the International Relations section. I'll have everything I need in no time."
Mrs. Drake nodded importantly. "Yes, I thought that there would be plenty there. I need to attend a short staff meeting upstairs, dearie. Do you think that you'll be all right down here alone?"
This time the smile was a little more genuine. "Absolutely. There's so much here that I'm sure I won't need too much assistance from you for a while."
Mrs. Drake nodded. "I won't be gone for very long." She turned around and left the large archive room with Bellatrix alone in it. Based on experience so far, she would be gone for a long time. The old lady probably was a true gossip.
Bellatrix quickly abandoned her supposed project and quickly strode to the vault while simultaneous pulling out her sister-wands. "Totalium silencium protegix." She muttered, giving the wand in her left hand a flick and then holding onto the ward she had just cast. Since it was sitll in contact with her wand, she would be able to quiclky detect any intrusions through the ward's border.
With her other wand, she carefully performed several unlocking and and shield destroyer curses. After several minutes, the vault opened with a resistant screech. Bellatrix winced even though she had placed silencing charms around the room.
As soon as the vault was completely open, she stepped inside and began to rummage through the collections of documents and inter-office memos- especially the ones pertaining to Cornelius Fudge. After a few duplication charms on various parchments, disguising spells on the resulting copies, and a spell to erase any trace of her presence, Bellatrix exited and closed the vault.
Now she would have the pleasure of cleaning up her papers from the Goblin Rebellion search. If she left it all out, the archivist would be more apt to remember her and exactly when she was around. Not that it mattered or anything, what with her disguise. But sloppy work could lead to more sloppy work.
Narcissa Malfoy gave her husband an intense look and began tapping her foot the moment he entered the bedroom. It was quite late and she had been pacing back and forth in front of the bed rather than going to sleep like a dutiful wife would have. "Where have you been?"
Lucius ignored her and began to prepare for bed.
"Why won't you tell me anything anymore?" she demanded angrily in a loud voice. "You're always gone, Draco has been acting even more arrogant and disdainful toward me ever since Christmas, and you still won't tell me where Bellatrix has been!"
"Your sister is dead." Lucius sneered as he pulled off his dragon-hide boots.
Unshed tears caused Narcissa's eyes to become bright. "How? Who?"
"She tried to escape from Azkaban and drowned." Lucius said coldly. He failed to mention that she had escaped with Harry Potter. It didn't matter now though. The Dark Lord was quite curious as to how they had done it- but that was beside the point.
"What was she doing there?" Narcissa said in an angry tone.
"She betrayed the Dark Lord and was accordingly punished." Malfoy told his wife vaguely. He smiled absently as he recalled his sister-in-law's shrieks as the enchanted whips had cut her skin many times. It was a shame that the Dark Lord had grown bored before they could get to more pleasurable pursuits.
Narcissa promptly came to the conclusion that Malfoy had probably been involved with 'punishing' her sister and that it had probably extended beyond the Unforgivable Curses. "How dare you?" she screamed at him.
Malfoy coldly stood up. "How dare you?" he whispered. He then slapped his wife as hard as he could. Again, and again, and again as she sobbed. After a while he finally left.
Narcissa stumbled over to the bed and tried to muffle her cries with a pillow. Tomorrow, she would go and find out who the Head of the Black Family was. Whoever he was, he could have her marriage canceled and her declared his ward. It was the only legal way to get out of the marriage thanks to the pre-nuptials. A loss of emancipation was better than staying married to Lucius. She only hoped that Draco wasn't the Head of House Black.