From now on, whenever Julian summoned his house-elf in public, anyone who saw it would immediately assume he possessed absurd amounts of wealth, whether that was true or not. Not that he was exactly poor, since he had finally learned the precise amount of money sitting in his vault. In total, he had around five hundred million galleons, two hundred thousand sickles, and nearly fifty thousand knuts in family wealth. And that number did not even account for the rare books, materials, and other valuables hidden inside the vault that had not been specifically listed in the paperwork.
"Now that all of that is settled, it's time to move on to today's real business. I need a transfer made from my account to Minister Fudge's political fund in the amount of twenty thousand galleons," Julian said, making both Grimgrip and Helena stare at him in shock. He shook his head at their expressions. "No need to worry. I stand to gain far more from this arrangement than Fudge ever will," he said before explaining the broad outline of the situation. "Binding the Black family name to yourself for a mere twenty thousand galleons is indeed a profitable arrangement," Grimgrip said with clear approval.
Goblins valued profit above a great many things, and this deal with Fudge to allow Sirius to be freed promised Julian considerable gains in the future. "I assume you would like to see your vault now, correct?" Grimgrip asked eagerly. Julian nodded, and Grimgrip rang another bell, summoning a paper-pushing goblin to return the now organized documents to their proper place. After that, Julian was led to one of the special carts the goblins used to travel through the deep tunnels beneath the bank.
The ride to the Ravenclaw vault, which was also known as Vault 3 due to being one of the first ever established by Gringotts, took quite a while. The vault door itself was a slab of metal layered in so many enchantments that Julian paled the moment his magical senses brushed against them. The sheer number of defensive and offensive enchantments woven into the door made every instinct in him scream to keep his distance rather than move closer and press his signet ring into the slot. Because yes, the key to the vault was the active lord ring on his finger, and opening it required pressing the signet into a specially shaped indentation.
Even so, he did it, and watched in amazement as the vault door rumbled before crumbling apart into countless grains of sand that merged smoothly into the frame. "A bit too theatrical for my taste, but still impressive," Julian said once the process ended and the small mountain of coins inside the vault came into view. "Mother always did have a flair for drama," Helena said with a shrug. Walking into the vault, Julian could not help staring in wonder at what lay before him. There were rows of ancient tomes, rare metals, and even potions believed to have been lost to time, all preserved beneath spells.
The most astonishing thing by far, however, was a large tree being kept in temporal stasis. It had white bark, golden leaves on its branches, and small unopened flower buds. Using the system to appraise the tree, Julian nearly lost control of his expression when he saw the result.
[Divine tree: Golden apple(Mana deprived/dying)
Grade: MYTHICAL
Abilities: Singular , holy , Life domain
MYTHICAL ABILITY: Golden apples: Grows golden apples that can cure any disease and extends ones lifespan by a single year each.]
'Where the hell did she even get something like this!?' Julian thought, torn between horror and curiosity as he finished reading the appraisal. It was not an unreasonable reaction either, because this tree was very likely the same one Herakles himself had once been tasked with retrieving an apple from during his labors.
That immediately raised a glaring red flag in Julian's mind, one that deeply unsettled him. 'Does this mean the gods actually existed at one point?' he thought uneasily. There were myths and legends all across the world about gods, of course, but most wizards believed those stories were probably just exaggerated tales about extremely powerful wizards. But the existence of this tree strongly suggested that gods had indeed been real in the distant past, and that they were gone now, which was not reassuring in the slightest. If they had left the earth for some reason, then nothing guaranteed they could not come back. And if they had died, then he needed to know what kind of force could kill beings like that.
'Ugh, why does this world have to be so much more complicated than the books ever showed!?' he grumbled inwardly, though in truth he did not think that conclusion was unreasonable. Even more troubling was the condition displayed beside the tree's name, mana deprived. 'Does that mean there simply isn't enough ambient mana left to sustain it? Is that why the gods seemed to vanish too?' he wondered, but there was no way for him to truly understand the situation from such a tiny piece of the puzzle alone.