Griphook and another senior goblin appraiser who had been summoned immediately moved closer.
They did not touch the gold bars directly, instead using various peculiar instruments to scan their surfaces.
The two goblins whispered rapidly to each other in an incomprehensible goblin tongue, nodding repeatedly in approval.
“Perfect quality, with a purity exceeding 99.9%. The craftsmanship is exquisite and meets Gringotts’ highest acceptance standards.” Griphook finally announced, turning to Charles.
“Would you like to exchange all of this for Galleons? According to today’s real-time exchange rate, this gold can be exchanged for…”
He rapidly moved the beads of a complicated gemstone-encrusted abacus.
The gemstones flashed, and the beads seemed to jump on their own.
“…five hundred and fifty thousand Galleons. In addition, five hundred Galleons will be deducted for the vault opening fee and the highest-level security service for the first year.”
Five hundred and fifty thousand Galleons?
Henry clicked his tongue.
If this had been his previous life, he definitely would have thought he’d struck it rich.
But in this life?
Just pocket money.
Charles pondered for a moment before speaking.
“Very well. Deduct five hundred Galleons as the service fee. Of the remainder, exchange fifty thousand Galleons into physical currency, including an appropriate amount of Sickles and Knuts for change. Deposit the other five hundred thousand Galleons directly into the new vault being opened for him… In addition, every year, we will deposit five hundred thousand Galleons’ worth of gold into Henry’s vault.”
“Of course, Your Royal Highness.” Griphook’s voice had clearly become much warmer.
“As a distinguished major client, Gringotts will also provide you with an appropriate gift.”
Griphook worked with remarkable efficiency.
A magical contract written on parchment was soon presented to them, its terms appearing extremely complicated.
In the end, Henry selected Vault 777.
After the contract was signed, Griphook presented him with a small wallet enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm.
The wallet had three compartments.
One was stuffed with copper Knuts, another with silver Sickles, and the last was filled with golden Galleons.
“Here are your key and gift, Your Royal Highness.” Griphook presented a gold key set with a ruby to Henry with both hands.
“The vault is located deep underground and guarded by creatures such as dragons. You may visit this bank at any time to deposit or withdraw funds, or authorize remote payments through an agreed-upon magical contract. We can provide you with further details.”
When they left Gringotts, Griphook personally escorted them outside the bronze doors, his manner even more respectful than when he had welcomed them.
This was the courtesy reserved for a truly major client.
“All right.” Charles placed one hand on Henry’s shoulder and wrapped the other around Diana’s waist, his tone extremely relaxed.
“Now we can go buy Henry’s school supplies.”
At Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions, Henry stood on a footstool while a magical measuring tape automatically moved around his body, taking his measurements.
Every so often, the tape mischievously tightened around his waist or poked his knee, making William giggle beside him.
Madam Malkin herself was so excited that her face was flushed.
She repeatedly promised to use the finest materials and make the most perfectly fitted and elegant Hogwarts robes possible.
She even quietly asked whether they wanted a special family crest embroidered onto them, but Henry politely declined.
At Flourish and Blotts, towering bookshelves reached all the way to the ceiling, while staircases moved on their own to carry customers around the shop.
Charles was captivated by a set of thick books on the History of Magic and began flipping through the chapters concerning the evolution of relations between wizards and Muggles, his expression extremely serious.
Henry, however, noticed that he was actually reading the entertaining little anecdotes hidden throughout history.
Diana, meanwhile, became interested in a magical picture book that could play gentle music by itself and wanted to buy it for Harry.
William nearly had his finger bitten by The Monster Book of Monsters, causing him to jump backward in fright, but his attention was soon firmly captured by an illustrated book depicting fierce Quidditch matches.
When they passed a pet shop, Harry became fascinated by the fluffy Pygmy Puffs rolling around behind the glass window and refused to leave.
Diana gently explained that they could not keep magical pets inside the palace and promised to buy him a toy version instead.
Only then did he finally give up.
That boy…
Henry carried the snowy owl’s cage while glancing at Harry, who was still staring at the Pygmy Puffs without turning his head.
He knew this little brat was anything but easy to deal with.
Of course, his entire family was rather troublesome.
His father was hardly the picture of a kingly figure, while his second younger brother had shouted at his teacher just a few days ago, “When I become king, I’ll have the guards kill you!” He had the bearing of a spoiled medieval prince declaring that he was born to rule.
I shall indulge my desires.”
If he really joined forces with the guards and carried out a coup, then the royal succession would truly have been transplanted to Windsor.
Of course, Henry also obtained his own wand at Ollivanders Wand Shop—a yew wand, eleven inches long, with a dragon heartstring core.
“That crazy fellow just said that a yew wand can grant its owner the power to control life and death?” Charles casually complained to Henry, clearly unconcerned.
“Take it from me, you don’t need this wand to have that ability.”
Henry believed him on that point.
After finishing their shopping, Dumbledore took them to Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour for a short break, where they enjoyed ice cream from the magical world.
Charles bought a large chocolate volcano lava ice cream with raspberries and crushed nuts, which supposedly had an extra touch of sophistication to its flavor.
After eating it, however, even his speech became slow and sluggish.
William and Harry were completely captivated by the ice cream scoops that changed colors and the little sugar candies bouncing around on top, temporarily forgetting their nervousness.
Dumbledore himself held a serving of caramel rum raisin cookie ice cream, calmly savoring it one small spoonful at a time with a focused expression.
Diana did not order any ice cream.
She had an almost obsessive fixation on maintaining her figure.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Henry made another trip to a potion shop and bought several expensive slimming potions and beauty potions, tucking them into his wallet.
He knew that one of the major reasons his cheap old man did not like his mother was because she would induce vomiting to control her weight, which often left her with the smell of vomit on her.
There was no denying that even the most stunning beauty would lose a great deal of her charm because of such a problem.
Fortunately, Henry’s existence had helped prevent the couple’s marriage from heading toward failure.
Sigh…
Sometimes Henry couldn’t help looking world-weary.
This family would fall apart without me eventually!
Besides the slimming potions, he also asked the shopkeeper whether a [Hair-Growth Potion] existed.
When he received a negative answer, Henry felt as though the sky itself had collapsed.
Yes, the crisis before him was not some damn Voldemort, nor was it anything else.
It was…
Baldness.
His grandfather was bald, and his cheap old man was bald too.
According to scientific research, baldness was a sex-influenced hereditary trait—the genes controlling baldness were affected by sex hormones.
Men with either AA or Aa would go bald, while only aa would not.
Henry certainly didn’t dare gamble on that tiny probability…
Of the three men in the previous generation, two were already bald.
That meant that when William grew up in this generation, he would also go bald, while only Harry escaped baldness.
As for the remaining one, whether he would go bald or not was really hard to guess!
He returned to the ice cream shop dejectedly, and Diana immediately noticed that her son was in low spirits.
“Henry, darling?” she asked with concern.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, Mum.” Henry couldn’t exactly tell her that he was worried about going bald.
He sat down beside Diana.
“I was just thinking about going to Hogwarts. I’m a little reluctant to leave you all.”
It was a perfectly appropriate answer for a child his age.
Diana sighed and pulled him into her arms.
“By the way, Mum,” Henry continued, “let’s order some ice cream. I heard that eating sweets makes people happier.”
Diana was extremely tempted.
She had been watching everyone else eat ice cream the whole time and had been resisting the urge for ages.
But she gritted her teeth and managed to resist the temptation.
“No, sweetheart.” She kissed Henry on the forehead.
“I…”
Before she could finish, Henry mysteriously pulled out a small bottle and discreetly waved it at Diana.
“Mum, I bought a slimming potion at the potion shop. It can help you maintain the perfect figure…”
Diana immediately raised her head, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
“I’ll have the biggest ice cream they have!” she said firmly, pointing at the ice cream shop’s sign.