Alexandra Potter listened with all her attention now. Seeing she was agreeing with him, Grimjaw continued.
"From 1978 to 1981, Magical Britain was in a state of civil war. While we the Goblins of Gringotts stayed neutral, hundreds of wizards and other magical races died in the futile butchery you humans are so known for. On the one side there was the Ministry of Magic and various militias. On the other side was the Dark Lord Voldemort, his supporters the Death Eaters and other magical races, supporters of blood purity." Grimjaw grimaced. "By October 1981, this side had almost won. Thousands were dead, and your Ministry was openly considering surrender. Until the day of Halloween, when the Dark Lord tried to kill the Longbottom family. While this dark wizard killed Alice and Frank Longbottom without effort, the moment he turned his wand on their son Neville, the spell he cast backfired and he disappeared without a trace. All his supporters fled, dispersed or surrendered shortly after. Since then, Neville Longbottom was celebrated by your whole Ministry and the rest of the wizarding population as the Boy-Who-Lived, the saviour of Magical England."
Alexandra was stunned at that news. Did her manager account just tell her a war had just been fought and won by a fluke? In the British Isles? Grimjaw seemed delighted by her expression, but then turned sombre.
"Unfortunately for your family, the events turned rather bad after that. Your father, Lord James Potter, was a good friend of Lord Frank Longbottom. In the aftermath of the attack, James Potter was openly accused of being a spy in service of the Dark Lord and to have revealed to him the place where the Longbottom family was hidden. He managed to flee for a short period, but your mother and yourself were attacked by a mob in your house at Godric's Hollow on November 5 1981. Your mother was murdered that night, although she managed to save you before the end."
"Is my father dead?" Alexandra asked coldly. Inside, she was boiling with anger. Her father had abandoned her mother and herself to die! What was the coward thinking?
"No, Heiress Potter. He was arrested after a bloody fight on November 9 1981 and sent to Azkaban prison to serve a life sentence. He is still imprisoned there as we speak."
She nodded at this information, not trusting herself to speak.
"It was the beginning of the end for your family by then," continued Grimjaw with bitterness. "You were the last Potter who could access your family fortune, but we could not find you, and even if we had, you were one year old and your parents did not leave any valid will in their name here or anywhere else I know. The Ministry of Magic and the former allies of your father rapidly divided between themselves the former possessions of your family."
"Not that your father hadn't made their task easier," added the account manager after a moment surprising her. "From the start of the war, Lord Potter had invested important sums of money to support a militia group named the Order of the Phoenix who fought against the Dark Lord. Your mother objected to this spending but..." The goblin gave the equivalent of a roll of shoulders at that.
"How much is left to me?"
"Not a lot, Heiress Potter." The goblin started to look at his ledgers again. "Apart from the ruins of Potter Manor in Wales, the ruins of your family house in Godric's Hollow and an old and decrepit house in London, you have no more lands to your name anymore."
"In currency, thanks to your mother's precautions, you have a total of 210 075 Galleons, 5 Sickles and 8 Knuts in your vaults."
Alexandra still was impressed. When she had been at the Dursleys, she had been told she was worth nothing at least twice a day!
"What are the basics in wizarding money and the conversion rate from Galleons to Pounds?" she asked in barely repressed excitement.
"One Galleon is seventeen Sickles and one Sickle is twenty-nine Knuts. One Galleon is roughly nineteen pounds, one Sickle is one pound and twelve pence, and one Knut is approximately four pence."
Alexandra found herself in utter ecstasy. If what Grimjaw said was true, she had in her vaults the next best thing to four million pounds in cash! That kind of money was a huge sum for someone like her. There was just no way she could have that much money on hand. It was too incredible to be true.
"There must be a catch." She observed. Grimjaw nodded, apparently satisfied his client was not stupid.
"Indeed Heiress Potter. As you're currently under-age, you will not be able to enter the Potter vault where the majority of your fortune is until you come of age or you are emancipated. To be blunt, the latter is not going to happen. Your family is currently seen as the worst traitors in the British Isles by a large margin. The chances of the Ministry of Magic granting you the right to access to your vault as a minor are currently null. And we, the goblins of Gringotts, are sworn to uphold the laws of the Ministry unless they have broken the treaty." His voice suggested he would not shed a tear when this event happened.
"So I won't be able to access the Potter vault until I'm eighteen?"
"Seventeen," the goblin corrected, and Alexandra looked at him curiously. "A witch becomes a magical adult in the wizarding world at seventeen."
"What will I be able to access then?"
"Your trust vault, which is vault 869. Currently there are 11 000 Galleons in it, with 1000 to be added every year the day of your birthday."
"Are there other things in the vaults or elsewhere that I own?"