The goblin who was seated at the large table in the room looked much older than the others they had seen and his clothing was much more elegant, containing gold embroidery and other fine materials. He stood up from his chair and bowed slightly as Harry walked in. "Welcome, Lord Potter. It's an honour to have you visit here along with your lovely lady. May I offer you some refreshments?"
Pansy pressed his hand once, trying to convey the positive answer expected. Harry seemed to understand. "That would be appreciated… Sir? I'm sorry, I don't know how to properly address you."
The goblin smiled, exposing some very sharp fangs. "You may address me by my name – Ragnok – as that is the custom. You may also use 'friend' if you like, as the Potters have always been considered friends of the goblin nation, and I hope you will continue this tradition."
"Of course, friend Ragnok. It is an honour to befriend the goblin nation and I intend to keep this tradition."
The atmosphere in the room seemed to become much warmer. Ragnok ordered some refreshments, using what looked suspiciously like an old telephone. And then sat back leisurely, as if preparing for a long and pleasant conversation.
"Care to tell me why you chose to break into the bank instead of using your position to do everything legally?" he asked, with a lot of curiosity evident in his voice and nothing else.
"I was probably not well-informed. I was unaware of the easier solution to the problem of getting rid of that dark artefact. I would have not willingly done anything to upset the goblin nation had I known of the easier and safer alternative."
Ragnok frowned. "Griphook should have known. It looks like he misled you only to gain his position back. Now I think it will backfire on him."
"Where is he?" Hermione asked.
"He's been restricted to his quarters until the investigation is finished. Your input may be very important in deciding his fate," Ragnok explained. "Can you tell me how you found out about that object and what followed?"
Harry sighed. He didn't like talking about that day, but it was important to keep his friendship with the goblins. "It all started with us – Ron, Hermione and me – being captured by Snatchers, after inadvertently saying Voldemort's name…"
Pansy listened attentively, not daring to intervene. She found out it was a more fantastic story than she would have thought. Her appreciation for the Potters rose significantly. She was probably unable to cast most of the spells mentioned and she would have never dared come close to a dragon, while they RODE one.
"…and then Ron and Hermione destroyed the dark magic by piercing the goblet with a basilisk fang," Harry finished.
Ragnok looked contemplative. "Do you know the kind of dark magic in that object?" he asked.
"I do, but I'd rather not utter that name. I had something similar in my scar, but it's gone now," he added.
Ragnok looked at the famous scar. It was now healing, like a normal scar. A faint sign would probably stay (unless some goblin healing was used) but it was clearly not housing dark magic anymore.
"I believe I'd like to hear that story as well, but not right now. I've already taken more of your time than I expected, and I know your account manager and his team are anxious to meet you. My curiosity may wait for another occasion."
Their escort was still waiting at the door. He bowed deeply and led the three to another office, less ornate, but the goblin sitting there looked just as well clothed.
Pansy thought it wasn't right for her to witness all these private business discussions and asked to wait outside.
Harry didn't agree. "You are under Potter's protection, which makes you part of the family. Besides, you know much more about the magical economy than either I or Hermione, so I need you at our side in this. If you need to tend to some Parkinson business, you may do it later, while I visit my vaults."
Pansy thought she had a rough idea about the Potter's financial position. As her father had introduced her to all his business dealings, she needed to learn about all prominent families, their assets and their policies. She knew almost everything about Malfoy and several other families, but there was not much information about Potter, since Harry had been a baby when his parents were murdered and nobody seemed to handle the business. She found out that the Potter's riches were much surpassing the Malfoy. She was also surprised to find that the Black estate, also obscured for many years, was also considerably larger, and there were some more, lesser estates, to be discussed at a more convenient time.
Harry looked overwhelmed when hearing all this, while Hermione seemed eager to learn everything ('What a surprise!' Pansy thought) and determined to help Harry along.
"I think I have enough to think about," Harry said after the brief (less than two hours) overview of his assets was done. "I think I'd like to visit the Potter vault and give my wife her Lady Potter ring."
"I suggest you wear your Lord Potter ring as well. You should be proud of your position and your ancestry," Pansy added.
"I'm proud of it all, it's just… I need to get accustomed to all the changes. Right now I'm simply overwhelmed."
Pansy went with them to the main hall, where Harry took the cart to his vault, Hermione joining him reluctantly. Pansy withdrew some cash as well and then waited for the Potters.
They looked even more overwhelmed when coming back from the vaults. Harry also looked uncomfortable wearing a ring. He was touching it repeatedly, moving it a bit in all directions. Hermione was very pale from the rough ride, as expected (Pansy had only ridden the cart once and hoped to never need to ride it again. The goblins could fetch anything one wanted from one's vault and it was more than worth the fee.), looking at her fingers with disbelief and admiration. Pansy noted that Harry had given her not only the Lady's ring, but also another ring, which was much more ornate and looked priceless.
Harry helped Hermione walk, as she looked like her feet would not carry her. He helped Hermione to a seat on the bench where Pansy was sitting. He then took another ring out of his pocket. "Pansy, I'm not sure what position you will eventually take, but I think a modest ring, to show you as being one of the family, should be fine. I hope you like this."
As he was putting the ring on her finger, Pansy dared to look at it and gasped at the view. The ring, although not as magnificent as Hermione's, was clearly as priceless, being very old and including a multitude of diamonds and other precious stones, set in intricate patterns. She could hardly find her voice. "Are you kidding? I love it! It's the most precious jewel I've ever had. It's probably more precious than my whole estate! And it's really beautiful. Thank you, Harry!"
Pansy grabbed his head and kissed him, putting her whole excitement into the kiss, although Harry responded only reluctantly.
"There were other rings there as well, but I didn't want something too extravagant," he apologized.
"This is more than good enough, and I can't think of something more extravagant," she assured him.
Harry smiled reluctantly and pointed at Hermione's finger. Pansy's ring paled in comparison. Hermione's ring was wider, held larger stones and about three times as many, yet looked as delicate and as elegant as can be.
"We can command them to hide or disguise," Hermione said weakly, starting to recuperate from the ride.
She looked at her ring and it faded to look like a simple ring with a small ruby, the kind many young girls wear. She concentrated again and the ruby turned into an emerald, just the same colour as Harry's eyes.
Pansy tried the same. Her ring was now sporting only a single semi-precious stone, looking as simple as Hermione's.
"We may do some more shopping now," Harry commented.
"You don't think of going into Diagon Alley, I hope," Hermione said.
Harry smiled. "No. That may be too embarrassing, and also too time-consuming. I believe we can go to a muggle shopping area and buy some casual clothing, some underwear and some sleepwear, if you want to."
"Do you have Muggle money? I can exchange some with the goblins," Pansy offered.
"They gave us credit cards and bottomless money bags. It looks like we'll never need to exchange money again," Harry smiled at her.
"Oh…" she said. It was only natural that such an important client would get all the pampering the bank could give, she thought. Her father had once asked for such a money bag but was refused, as he didn't have enough assets. Not even the Malfoys had one.
Hermione waved her wand at Harry, making his hair dark blond and changing his features to look as if he was Luna's brother. She then did the same to herself. "Do you want a disguise?" she asked Pansy.
Pansy wasn't sure. She wasn't as famous as Harry or Hermione, yet some people could recognize her and act nastily. She nodded reluctantly. Hermione made her look like she was Luna's sister as well. They exited the bank and walked quickly to the Leaky Cauldron. None of them wanted to trust the glamour charms for too long.
It was Pansy's first time walking through London streets, and she felt overwhelmed by the noise, the crowds and the views. Hermione had made sure to transfigure her robes into muggle clothing, appropriate for muggles her age, yet she still felt like a stranger. Harry and Hermione were not strangers here, that was evident. She could see their excitement at seeing some long-missed places. They stopped at a small shop and bought some muggle drinks, Pansy tasted cautiously. It tasted funny but nice. Then they arrived at the big shop.
She had never seen such a big shop. There were several floors to this shop, each containing more stuff for sale than the whole Diagon Alley! And the staff – there were probably more staff members there than there were students at Hogwarts. She felt almost sure that there were more shoppers in that single store than the whole British magical population!
It put some things in proportion, though. No matter how powerful wizards were, the sheer mass of muggles could always win in a confrontation. Only a fool would believe otherwise. This led to the unavoidable conclusion about the wizarding community – most were fools, as much as she didn't want it to be so.
Still, shopping was fun. She had never seen so many clothes of so many different designs and styles as there were in that shop. Some of them were new to her even in concept. Nobody in the magical world was wearing shorts, except as underwear. Here she could see many types of shorts, some of them so small that just the thought of them made her blush, in various colours and designs.
"Why do they sell torn garments?" she asked Hermione, seeing some Jeans, ripped at the knees.
"They are intentionally torn. Some people love the 'used' appearance. These actually cost a bit more than the unripped ones," Hermione explained. Pansy decided that people, whether magical or not, are probably not very smart.
The underwear section was also overwhelming. She had never seen so many kinds of bras: push-up, padded, maximizer, minimizer, and sports bras, all using various materials and designs. She owned a few sets, some quite elegant, but nothing compared to what was freely displayed in this section, and at prices which seemed ridiculously low. She was glad Harry was looking for underwear in the men's section, so she could feel better when talking to Hermione about the merits of the different types.
Once they finished shopping, they took the elevator and used the portkey to return to Hogsmeade with nobody noticing.
Pansy was still dizzy of all the sights and sounds of Muggle London. It gave her so much to think about, so much to consider. It proved many of her former beliefs untrue. She was wondering how much more of what she thought she knew was false. They all walked back to Hogwarts, Harry and Hermione holding hands, carrying their shrunk shopping in small backpacks, also bought in London. Pansy walked a bit behind them, carrying a similar bag.