25 The Price of Influence

"Oh, thank you." Lockhart paused again, giving the image of one who is thinking deeply. "I say you donate a knut for the first ten points taken, double that to two knuts for the second ten points on to the two hundred points, with the final sum donated to my 'Dark Arts Defence Fund.' I will happily restore the points taken and give only a single detention to your son on proper wizarding conduct. Is that agreeable to you, Lucius?"

"Knuts! I can pay you in Galleons for what you have offered, Gilderoy," Lucius said with a smile.

"Oh, that's all right. In all good conscience, I cannot charge more for such a simple mistake from a child of such a preeminent parent as yourself, Lucius. Besides, I value your friendship much more than galleons," Lockhart said with a smile and charming wink.

"Consider it done." Lucius said with a victorious smile and thinking, 'As if I would ever consider such an obvious suck-up a friend. He probably engineered that whole scene yesterday just for this chance to meet with me and pretend to do me a favour!'

"Excellent! Let's shake hands on the deal, Lucius." Gilderoy waved his wand and a parchment appeared on his desk. He quickly jotted down the terms of their agreement.

.

"In exchange for reversing ten points, one knut shall be removed from the House of Malfoy Vault to Gilderoy Lockhart's Vault for The Dark Arts Defence Fund, with the second ten points doubling that to two knuts, and so forth, on up to two hundred ninety points being reversed."

.

He signed it and spun the parchment around for Malfoy's signature. Both allowed three blood drops to hit their respective signatures. Lockhart offered his hand to the pompous arse, knowing that when they shook hands, the spell on the parchment would be completed and a copy appear on a certain Goblin's desk at Gringotts.

The Goblins would immediately begin transferring 544,493 Galleons fourteen sickles, and two knuts out of the Malfoy Vaults. If Lockhart had calculated properly, that should be almost sixty percent of the entire Malfoy family's net worth.

Like most rich people, his money was in real estate, so this would easily wipe out his cash reserves. Plus, if there weren't sufficient funds in the Malfoy vault to pay the debt in galleons, and in absence of previous orders to the contrary, the Goblins would begin selling Malfoy properties until the sum was paid in full. Gilderoy expected to get several valuable moneymaking properties. And that would cripple the Malfoys' ability to make a quick recovery.

They promptly shook hands and drank the finest Champagne Lockhart had to offer. Gilderoy made a show of handing the parchment to Malfoy without bothering to make a copy for himself. "I trust you implicitly," said Lockhart, "I don't need a copy for myself." He didn't explain that a day after the transfer completed both parchments would disintegrate into dust to remove any possibility of a parchment trail for an investigator to find.

The best part was that Malfoy could not complain about the transfer, the gold simply disappeared from his vault. There would be no evidence to explain what happened. As far as anyone ever would be able to determine later, money disappeared from Mr. Malfoy's vault, for due cause according to the Goblins and approved by Mr. Malfoy — that was all the Goblins would say on the matter.

That a large amount of gold appeared in Lockhart's vault at the same time was a coincidence. That several former Malfoy properties became Lockhart's was interesting, but Lockhart had clear bills of sale to show that Lockhart purchased those properties with funds from his vault. That those funds had been moved to his Vault as part of a previous transaction executed only moments before was not disclosed.

The same laws that allowed Malfoy to get away with bribing Wizengamot officials would hide and protect Gilderoy's transactions.

Both were immensely pleased with themselves.

Mr. Malfoy mistakenly believed he had the right measure of the popinjay and had managed to change his son's sticky situation with his classmates for a ridiculously small bribe. He had never purchased such influence for so little, and he had assured his son of excellent scores for the rest of the year.

Gilderoy was doing a little happy dance in his head, and suppressing the urge to do it in real life. He had just increased his vault's contents by a factor of at least a fifty. In one fell swoop, he had propelled himself into the rarefied atmosphere of the top one-tenth of a percent wealthiest Wizards in Britain — numbering less than ten Houses total. Lord Black was at the top with a net worth of two million galleons, and, until today, the Malfoys had been in the top three of that pack at about 800,000 galleons.

Oh, how he had decreased House Malfoy's wealth!

He had even reduced the Malfoy's ability to make money. Normally, when someone transfers an amount that exceeds the galleons in their vault, the Goblins begin selling off properties stating with the lowest-valued ones first. He had arranged with the Goblins that anytime anyone transferred him gold and their vault had insufficient gold to complete the transfer, the Goblins would start selling the smallest income-producing properties first and selling them to him.

In essence, he was using his victim's gold to buy their properties, and then they gave him his gold back! All he did was pay a special purchase price fee of twenty-percent to the Goblins, again using the victim's gold. It was just as if the victim were giving the property to Gilderoy at no charge. And Gilderoy would get all the future income from that property, more than making up for the current loss of additional galleons in his vault.

After finishing their toasts to each other's health, Mr. Malfoy said, "I must be off, there is business I need to attend to this afternoon."

After Malfoy left, Lockhart removed the silencing, binding, and glamour charms from Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Neville.

"You utter bastard! You sold yourself for bloody peanuts," Ron cursed. "You are so cheap, selling yourself for bloody knuts," Ron raged. Harry Potter was looking at Gilderoy with daggers in his eyes. Neville and Hermione looked disappointed and confused.

"Remember the Legend of the Chessboard, Miss Granger?"

She frowned for a moment, then her eyes popped wide open and her mouth formed an "o" of astonished recognition. Poor Neville still looked puzzled. Harry frowned, having heard of the legend in primary math classes, but not remembering the details. As far as Harry/Gilderoy could remember, that particular cautionary math tale wasn't taught to Wizard children.

"Is the punishment sufficient, Miss Granger?" He beamed at them happily, confident in his solution. "It is not enough, don't you agree, that the younger generation learns some manners, but also the old. That should teach both Malfoys a very valuable lesson, is that not right, Miss Granger?" Lockhart smiled, showing his dazzling smile to the shocked and blushing brunette.

"And, ten points and another detention for cursing at a Professor, Mr. Weasley."

"I, I don't understand," Harry Potter said in wonder.

.....

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