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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 61: An Influx of Wealth
His second trip to the bank went smoother than he had anticipated.
He had sent Lucius on his own, just in case the goblins had some way to detect if someone was being manipulated with magic, which would have gotten him into a lot of trouble.
But they either didn't have a way to do that, or the goblings simply didn't care enough about wizard matters to intervene.
In any case, Lucius came out of the bank with a containment briefcase that held the entire fortune of the Malfoy House, walked into a side alley, and handed it to him.
"That was easy…" Harry stared down at the briefcase after making sure no one was around. 'I won't have to worry about money for quite a while.'
He glanced back at Lucius Malfoy. The man was standing next to him with empty eyes.
'I don't think he is going to function for much longer.' He had to break his mind almost completely to gain control of the Malfoy Lord. At this point, even if he dispelled the curse, he had the feeling that the man would basically become a vegetable.
"Tell me, Lucius…who is currently in your manor?" Harry asked, expecting him to answer with the names of his son and wife.
Instead of that, Lucius began to throw one name after another, finally ending with a "Lord Voldemort."
"What the…did he turn your house into his headquarters?" Harry had not been expecting this.
"Yes." Lucius simply answered.
"That was rhetorical…never mind." This made things more difficult for him.
He had already been looking forward to making use of the other members of the Malfoy family to test his newly acquired artifacts.
But he couldn't just go into a house filled with Death Eaters and a Dark Lord. He was far from ready to face something like that on his own.
'Ideally, I would like to keep Lucius under my control for longer, maybe even use my last collar on him.' That would give him access to Voldemort's hideout, which would have been very useful in the future.
But looking at Lucius's state…that was not a possibility. Harry would be surprised if the man didn't collapse within the next hour, as his mind was close to a complete collapse. Using his collar on him now would be a complete waste.
"Okay, change of plans, we are going t—" Harry stopped mid-sentence when he heard someone approaching.
He had made sure they were not visible from the main road at Diagon Alley, but if someone ventured into this narrow road, they would be found.
"Don't make a noise." Harry whispered as he placed an invisibility charm over himself and Lucius.
A moment later, he spotted someone peeking into the alley, as if they were looking for someone.
Harry immediately recognized that person. It was the young Auror with pink hair that he had encountered in Azkaban on the day of his return.
'Auror Tonks…what is she doing here?'
Harry did not have to wonder for long, as just then, someone else entered his view. His aunt Petunia was now standing next to the Auror, looking around with a visibly nervous expression.
'They are looking for me?' It was the only conclusion Harry could reach.
The Auror must have been following him and later on found Petunia at the Leaky Cauldron, forcing her to join the search.
On the first day after coming back from Hogwarts, he had felt a presence outside the Dursleys' home.
Back then, he didn't think much of it, but after seeing that Auror, he came to the suspicion that he had been monitored since he left the school.
'Do they suspect me of killing Albus Dumbledore? Or perhaps the other ones.' He had been careful not to leave anything that could be traced back to him.
Auror Tonks sighed and looked down before turning to say something to Petunia.
Harry could not hear what was being said, as they were too far away, and using a spell now could give his position away.
Petunia shook her head and responded with something, appearing even more nervous and scared.
A moment later, they both walked away.
'Looks like I will have to find a new place sooner than expected,' Harry thought.
'But the fact that they are merely keeping track of my whereabouts and didn't directly attempt to arrest me…must mean that they have no evidence of any crime.' He concluded.
Harry waited for several more minutes before removing their concealment.
"Lucius, how many properties do you own inside Britain?"
The man was sweating profusely and breathing with difficulty. "S-six…" His eyes started to twitch.
"Are any of them unknown to the Dark Lord and his other followers?" Harry made a follow-up question.
"Two…"
"Are any of those two unknown to the rest of your family?"
Lucius nodded. "Yes."
"Do you have a portkey to that place?"
Lucius nodded once more.
A grin appeared on Harry's face. As he expected, these rich lords always had some safe location where they could escape to if things got dangerous for them.
"Activate the portkey."
Lucius removed one of his rings and placed it on his hand before giving the stone a twist.
Harry was already grabbing onto his robes, and the next instant, they were gone from the alley.
The landscape changed to a beautiful clearing inside a thick forest. A single cabin had been built at the center of the clearing.
Harry observed the surroundings. He didn't know exactly where they were, but the place appeared to be extremely private.
"This will do." He nodded in satisfaction.
His encounter with Lucius Malfoy had been an unexpected gain. And even though things didn't go in the direction he had initially anticipated, he couldn't complain about the results.
He now had a bag filled with money and access to a house that only two people in the world knew existed.
His eyes moved to Lucius. 'And very soon, there will only be one.'
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