I want to thank JK Rowling for allowing HP fanfiction to exist and providing me with countless hours of enjoyment. I am not her and my writing will prove that.

Harry doesn't have superpowers, but he is very rich. He uses his wealth as a weapon to accomplish his goals. This story has a purpose in having him wealthy, if you don't figure why before, chapter 12 will tell you.

This story is completely finished. It is 24 chapters long, and I will be publishing a chapter at least twice a week until done.

I am an old fat bald guy that has read hundreds of millions of words of HP fanfiction over the last twelve years. In all that reading I have never encountered some of the plot devices that I have used in this story, maybe they are out there, but I haven't seen them. Finally I decided to write my own story so that I could see them in print. Unfortunately, not all of this story is original, there are many things that you have seen before, but I am sure that you will find many new things to enjoy as well.

This story is rated 'M'. There are no lemons in this story and it is not slash, although the subject is briefly mentioned. The first half of chapter 17 is violent and deals with things that are not family friendly.

I am not going to beg or ask for reviews, but I will be most grateful if you would let me know if you like it.

Chapter 1

Harry entered his hotel room and flopped onto the bed. He took a couple of deep breaths and closed his eyes. Thoughts were flitting through his head, and he was having trouble calming down. Harry was in a daze. Everything that he had thought and planned this morning was thrown out of the window, and a whole new set of circumstances had taken their place.

~~oo000oo~~

The night of his arrival on Privet Drive was uneventful, he was left alone to unload his trunk from Uncle Vernon's new car and drag it up to his room.

As Harry lay on his bed, there were many thoughts going through his mind - thoughts of Cedric and the graveyard and how screwed up his life was. He kept thinking of what he could have done differently and what he could do to change things in the future to give him a chance. The only things that he could think of doing were to gain more knowledge and get more training.

The problem was being trapped at the Dursley's. Dumbledore wouldn't let him leave, and if he did leave, then they would bring him back and keep him there. With the underage restriction of using magic during the summer, there was no way for him to train. Asking for help was out of the question, and finding a way around the underage restriction was out as well. Surely the Weasleys, especially the twins, would have found a way around it. If there were any ways to get around or break a rule, then Fred and George would have found it. Harry couldn't think of a way to train without using magic, but he just had to find something that he could do to become better equipped to fight Voldemort.

Harry wanted to know his options and what possibilities were open to him. He could buy books to study, but he didn't know if that was enough. He could ask his friends for advice but couldn't send those kinds of messages by owl, and he didn't know if he would get a chance to see them during the summer. 'First things first,' thought Harry. Perhaps he could get some books for summer reading if he could get to Diagon Alley. There was no reason that he couldn't read about defense and other subjects while imprisoned on Privet Drive.

The next morning was met with Vernon being his usual insufferable self. Being left alone was too much to ask for, and it was obvious it was not going to happen. After being loudly called from his room, he knew that something was going to happen, and it wasn't going to be pleasant.

Vernon's purple face was an indication that he was about to blow, "Listen here, you freak, your kind doesn't scare me, and you are not going to bring your freakishness to this house. We are normal, upstanding people, and I won't tolerate any of your kind around here."

"Yes, Uncle Vernon."

"You will make sure that none of those freaks will come around here and cause trouble, or you will pay for it. You understand?"

"Yes, Uncle Vernon."

"There is going to be a list of chores that you will do, or you will be thrown out the door so fast that your head will spin around."

"Yes, Uncle Vernon."

"Now, get out of my sight."

"Yes, Uncle Vernon."

After Vernon left for work, Harry decided to leave for Gringotts to refill his money bag so that he could go to Flourish and Blotts. He thought that using his invisibility cloak might be a little paranoid, but better safe than sorry. Harry sneaked out the back door and put on his cloak before going around to the front of the house. As he started down Privet Drive, the smell of strong tobacco and firewhisky assaulted his nose.

Who it was wasn't clear, but he was very glad that he had decided to be cautious.

Taking the Knight Bus didn't seem to be a good idea, so he headed for the bus station to catch a muggle bus for London. After five bus changes, he was at Charing Cross and in front of the Leaky Cauldron. While hidden under his cloak, he waited for someone to open the door so that he could squeeze in along with them. After a few minutes, he made it through the barrier into Diagon Alley itself and headed straight to the bank. The Alley wasn't too crowded, so he didn't have much problem getting there quickly.

He took off the cloak on the steps of the bank and hurried inside. He approached the nearest teller and waited several minutes before the goblin acknowledged him.

"What do you want?" the teller asked brusquely.

"I need to make a withdrawal from my vault."

"Key, please," The goblin responded.

"I don't have my key. It was given to someone else to make purchases for me."

"You can't visit your vault without a key."

"Can I get a replacement key?" Harry didn't know if this was possible, but since Mrs. Weasley never returned his key from last year, he didn't have many options.

"You will have to see your account manager for verification."

"Who is my account manager?"

"Name, please?"

"Harry Potter." Harry lifted his bangs and showed the goblin his scar, and the goblin made a gesture to the side.

"This is Nearfang, he will take you to see Varnok."

Harry gave his thanks and followed Nearfang through several hallways up and down stairs until Harry was sure that he couldn't find his way back out without help. Finally, they came upon a large ornately carved door. Nearfang held his hand up to Harry, indicating to wait while he knocked and entered. After a few moments he was motioned into a large office with an old goblin sitting behind a desk. Nearfang announced him and left.

"I'm Varnok, the Potter account manager. Nearfang tells me that you have lost your key. Do you have any way to prove that?"

"I didn't lose it, I gave it to Mrs. Weasley so that she could get my school supplies last year, and she hasn't given it back. For reasons that I don't want to explain now, I would like to get a replacement key so that I can withdraw some gold."

"You will have to give blood to prove you are not a fraud, like so many others." The goblin had a feral smile showing his sharp teeth. "Be warned that if you shall fail the test, it will mean your life." The goblin reached in his drawer for a piece of parchment.

"I'm Harry Potter. I'm not worried that I'm not."

"Cut your thumb with this blade, and press it against this paper." Harry did so, and there was a soft golden glow around his hand and the parchment. Harry couldn't tell if the goblin was excited or disappointed. It was really hard to tell. Goblin expressions were difficult to read. Within a few seconds, a key materialized on the desk.

"Your key has been retrieved from wherever it was, and it is returned to you. Do you wish to visit your vault now, or do you have any questions for me?" Harry thought for a few moments and realized that he had never asked how much gold he had.

"Would you, please, tell me how much gold I have?"

Varnok paused for a moment and replied "I have been instructed, should you ever ask that question, that Ragnok, our bank director, wants to be present. Give me a moment to see if he is available." Varnok left the office, leaving Harry to wonder why his asking about his vault would merit the attention of the bank director. After several minutes, Varnok returned with a very old-looking goblin.

"Mr. Potter, I'm Ragnok, and I have asked, specifically, to be here to help explain your position. There are many things that you need to know, and I want to make myself available for your questions."

"Thank you, Mr. Ragnok, I'm unsure why I require your attention, but I appreciate it, regardless."

"Please, Mr. Potter, call me Ragnok, and I will explain in due course the purpose of my presence."

"I would appreciate if you and Varnok would please call me Harry, I really don't like being called 'mister.'"

"Alright then, Harry, let's listen to Varnok's answer to your question, and then you and I have other things to discuss."

"The simple answer to your question is at the moment you have…" Varnok looked to a parchment in his hand, "1,257,186 galleons, 14 sickles and 11 knuts in your vault. This number changes rapidly and the account balance fluctuates a great deal. Many times there is very little money left."

"Why does it change so much?"

"You need to understand the reason behind your rapidly changing balance," Varnok explained, "the reason goes back for hundreds of years within your family. What do you know about your family, Harry?"

"Not very much, I know that my father's name was James and my mother was Lily Evans before they were married. I don't know anything about my grandparents. I was never allowed to ask questions when I grew up, and no one has told me anything since." Harry wondered why he never bothered to ask more about his family, but he wasn't sure who he could ask.

"I'm appalled that no one has explained your history to you before this. Are you aware that the Potter family is an Ancient and Noble House, and do you know what that means?"

"No, I didn't, and I can only guess what it means."

"An Ancient and Noble house means that the Potter family has been here since before the time of Merlin. Ancient and Noble families have hereditary seats in the Wizengamot, and you will one day take your place there. It also means that you are not subject to certain laws." Varnok paused a moment before he continued. "At this point you only need to know that the Potter family has been around for a very long time. Hundreds of years ago, Arthurus Potter changed how the Potter family managed its wealth. His management directive can be illustrated by asking you a few questions."

"Okay, but I don't know much of anything about how to manage money."

"I'm sure that you will understand when I'm done. First, Harry, do you have any money on you?"

"I have two galleons and a few knuts, but that's all."

"That is fine. Let me ask you, if you were to leave that money in your pocket for weeks, months or years would you ever have more than you do now?"

"I don't think so. I don't see how I would."

"If you withdrew a thousand galleons and placed it in your trunk, would it ever increase in amount?"

"No."

"Would you think that an even bigger pile of galleons in your vault would ever increase?"

"I thought that a bank would pay interest on what is in my vault." Harry was confused as to where this conversation was going.

"You are almost correct Harry, but let me explain one of the ways that a bank makes money. If we pay our depositors interest for their galleons, we must lend those galleons out to customers for more interest in order to make money. For example, if we pay a depositor four percent interest, we then lend the money to companies and individuals for eight percent, then the difference between what we pay for galleons and what we charge for lending - in this case, four percent - is how we make a profit. With the galleons remaining in the vault they can't be leant out."

"That makes sense, I guess, but I don't understand why my vault keeps changing amounts."

"Let me ask another question. Which do you think will make you more money, the money you gave to Fred and George Weasley or the money sitting in your vault?"

"You know about my Tri-Wizard winnings and what I did with it?"

"Harry, you are my client, it is my job to know these things. But let me continue with my explanation. Your ancestor learned that his galleons lying in a vault weren't making him any money, so he did as you did with the Weasley's, he made investments in people and businesses. He set as a goal to have only a very small portion of his money sitting in his vault, the rest was to be used to buy businesses, property, stocks, commodities and anything else that would bring him more galleons."

"So how does this work exactly?"

"There are Goblins working on your account who are constantly investing into a wide variety of things and then deciding when to sell, trade or keep what you own. We also have goblins collecting the proceeds from the sales, rents, any dividends - which is what companies pay their investors - and any other money that is returned from your investments. A simple answer to your question is that there are always galleons coming in and then being used for further investment."

"Wow, I had no idea that the Potter family was that rich. Uh…. just how much are we talking about?"

"It averages that in a month's time there are a little over two million galleons of profits, plus any galleons from sales of assets, flowing through your vault."

"That is a lot of galleons. I don't know what to say." Harry had a rather shocked look on his face.

"If you don't consider galleons in your vault as a measurement of wealth, but instead how much your investments are worth you are very rich in the magical world - not the richest, but very rich indeed."

"I had no idea."

"But that isn't all, another one of your many-times-great grandfathers, Aloysius Potter, decided to not limit himself to the magical world, he loved to spend time with muggles and bought real estate that he thought would be valuable someday. Your ancestors continued to invest in muggle properties around Britain, and you have nearly two billion pounds of investment property that bring in tens of millions of pounds of rent each month. You also own large tracks of bare land that doesn't return an income but appreciates in value. All these profits and purchases are not converted into galleons, but stay in muggle currency and are not part of the galleons flowing through the Potter Vault."

"I don't know what to say. This is a lot to take in."

"There is even more that you need to know." Varnok continued, while Ragnok just sat and listened. "There are foreign investments and a large amount of capital invested in muggle corporations. I think that you will be interested to know that, after your father and mother were married, your father directed us to buy Grunnings Drill Company through one of your subsidiary companies. Your uncle works for you, and he has no idea."

"Bloody Hell!" Harry was wide-eyed, and his mind was going in circles with all the possibilities. Eventually he started to get a grin on his face. He just had to figure out the best way to use this information.

"Something else that you should know is the only ones who know the complete picture of your wealth are here in this room. Since your father and grandfather died, only Ragnok and I have had the complete picture. Other goblins only deal with certain portions of your account and don't know the entire portfolio. Unless you tell someone how much you are worth, then they won't know. Most of your investments are held by companies within companies. You may only own a small percentage of some companies, while you may own controlling interest in others. Of course, you own some companies outright. It is a little confusing until you spend time with it to fully understand how it all fits together." Varnok was enjoying the look on Harry's face, he always enjoyed shocking humans. "I'll provide you with a complete set of documents that will show how your assets fit together when you are ready. I believe that you might need time to come to grips with this information before working with the details."

"You are right. This is all overwhelming, and I can wait for details until later. However I would like to know how to go about using Grunnings to my best advantage with my uncle. I'm not sure yet what I want to do, but it is going to be fun, at least for me." Harry was grinning now, and there was a gleam in his eye. It was like Christmas coming early.

"You will have to be careful that you don't do anything where your Aunt and Uncle's physical guardianship of you may affect your financial holdings. Right now, your holdings are held within a trust that is administered by Director Ragnok and me. What your aunt and uncle don't know is probably for the best. That doesn't mean that you can't use your ownership to your advantage, though it would be best if you went through us until you come of age."

"You mean that the Dursleys could try to take control of all of this?"

Ragnok answered Harry's question. "They would fail in their attempts. Muggles have little standing within magical culture. However, in the muggle world, you would be more vulnerable, and all your assets might be disclosed. I suggest that the secrecy about your wealth is of great benefit to you. It is something that can be used to your advantage to strike better deals and even destroy your enemies."

"I appreciate both of your advice, and I'll have to think about the Dursleys some more before I want to do anything. I'm looking forward to hearing your ideas… I'm REALLY looking forward to listening to what you have to say." Harry said with a huge grin on his face.

Ragnok and Varnok smiled at Harry knowing of many things that Harry might choose to do with his relatives. The possibilities were nearly endless, and all of them were great fun for goblins. Ruining the lives of humans was what goblins did for sport.

Shortly after the three of them discussed some of the options that could be done to the Dursleys, Varnok excused himself leaving Ragnok and Harry alone.

"Harry, what I'm about to tell you no one else knows but me. Even Varnok is not privy to this information." Ragnok was looking directly at Harry, making Harry a little uncomfortable.

"I understand, but what can be more important than what I just heard?"

"You will be surprised by what I'm going to tell you. Varnok is just one of many of your account managers. Perhaps he is the most visible because he handles the Potter holdings, but he is not alone in what he does for you."

"You mean there is more than what Varnok told me?"

"Exactly, and let me take you back to what we were talking about earlier with your family. Arthurus Potter was not the first to take interest in how to increase the Potter wealth. The Potter line goes back at least as far as the Peverells, but likely much further. You would have to study your family history to know more. Goblins aren't terribly interested in how wizards intermarry unless it involves gold. A most curious thing has taken place throughout your family history which has caught the interest of Gringotts for hundreds of years. Your ancestors have always tended to marry single noble heiresses. Your many-times-great grandmothers generally came from rich lines of nobles without brothers to carry on the family name."

"So my grandmothers were rich and noble before they married into the Potter family?"

"Yes, but let me give you an example. Your father's mother, was born Dorea Black. Her father was Aries Black, but her mother was Lady Isabella Templeton, the last of the noble Templeton family. One of your titles, besides Lord Potter, is Lord Templeton."

"You mean I'm a lord?"

"You are a lord many times over. Many of your titles begin with baron, earl, viscount, duke, and even prince of a now defunct kingdom. As I said, your grandfathers seemed very attracted to titles when they married. That is why it was such a surprise when your father married your mother. It is still talked about in goblin circles. The last time that a Potter married a commoner was over two hundred years ago."

Ragnok continued, "Even with all their titles the Potters have never flaunted the nobility of their family. In fact, one of the Potter family secrets is the knowledge of a complex form of a Fidelius charm that hides these family connections from others. Even magical genealogy books don't accurately show your ancestry. No one but you and I know that you are Lord Templeton as well as Lord Wickham, Overton, Bentley, and Selby. You are the Baron of Seabrooke as well as Northrop and many others. It has always seemed odd that the Potters always married well, but failed to flaunt their new titles. What is interesting to note is that the Potters left the fortunes of these nobilities managed separately from the Potter fortune. Arthurus Potter did invoke his investing methodology onto all these entities and they were later modified by Aloysius Potter. Without any withdrawals from these accounts, they have amassed wealth of unbelievable proportions. An example of this is the Barony of Seabrooke, it has been left untouched for over seven hundred years and it is mostly invested in shipping, in the past few decades it has branched into luxury liners for muggles. Many of these large luxury liners have several thousand passengers and cost in excess of a billion pounds each. Seabrooke has several of these ships operating and have more under construction."

Ragnok could see that Harry's mind was reaching overload. "The director of Gringotts is the only one who knows the true scope of your wealth. Each of these accounts operates independently from the others and they often buy and sell between themselves not knowing they are owned by the same person. If the account managers suspect anything, they haven't mentioned it to me. Harry, many people strive to be the richest person on the earth. What none of them know is that the Potter family has been the richest for a very long time and has chosen to keep it secret."

Harry tried to respond, but words couldn't come out of his mouth. His head was in a daze, and he expected to wake up at anytime from a very weird dream.

"Harry, I would like to encourage you to learn and study your family. It is not only rich in galleons, but history as well. There are vaults containing books and heirlooms from many branches of your family. Many of these vaults haven't been opened for generations. I believe that your ancestors faced many of the same problems that you are facing in their own time and you might find the answers that you need."

"Ragnok, I need time to absorb this and try to ask some sensible questions." Thinking of the person waiting for him outside on Privet Drive he continued, "I don't want to return to my aunt and uncle's home today. I think that I would like to find a quiet room somewhere and spend some time alone. When I came here today, I needed to make a withdrawal; I still do, but now I need enough money to hide for a couple of days before I'll come back here again. Could you have someone retrieve some money for me, both magical and muggle?"

"It will be ready when you reach the front lobby. Would you like for me to call Nearfang to show you out?"

"I would. I think that I'll come back either tomorrow or the next day to visit with you and visit one of my vaults."

Ragnok called for Nearfang, and Harry was taken back to the lobby. A teller met him there with an extension-charmed pouch with galleons and a wallet full of pound notes. The teller also explained that he included a muggle credit card to make larger purchases.

With Harry's head feeling a bit numb, he approached the doors to the bank and slipped back under his invisibility cloak. As he retraced his steps back down the alley and through the Leaky Cauldron, he tried to think of a place to hide for a couple of days. A muggle hotel would do nicely, but he didn't know of any. As he walked a couple of blocks down Charing Cross road, he came up with an idea.

After hailing a taxi, he told the driver, "I hope that you can help me, my parents and I are visiting London, and they went on to our hotel. I wanted to visit some shops and told them that I would meet them there. But I can't remember the name. They said it was near Kings Cross. They only stay in the best hotels, but I'm really bad at remembering names. Maybe if you could give me some names of hotels in that area, I might remember."

"The best one is the Great Northern Hotel, and then there is…"

"That's it! That is the one! Would you please take me there?"

Before long, they arrived and Harry tipped the driver a fifty pound note for his help. The front desk looked a little bothered to see a scruffy looking teenager trying to rent a room, but they checked the platinum card and found that he had unlimited credit. They decided that he was probably some spoiled rich kid and allowed him to book a suite of rooms.

~~oo000oo~~

Harry entered his hotel room and flopped onto the bed. He took a couple of deep breaths and closed his eyes. Thoughts were flitting through his head and he was having trouble calming down. Harry was in a daze, everything that he had thought and planned this morning was thrown out of the window, and a whole new set of circumstances had taken their place.