a gray past and a bright future... (Patreon)

"Since you has passed the test and has been declared Lord Stark, it is time for Gringotts to update you on the financial status of your house, the Stark accounts are active and it is important that we start multiplying the gold" exclaimed Rangrok, as he began to walk down the way back, towards the room with the platform

“Under the terms of the pact, Gringotts offers a member of the royal family to manage their vaults, my eldest sons are not available, Kurok is campaigning against the Orc clans in Germany and Torkik is leading an expedition to ancient ruins in the Sahara Desert, my youngest daughter Balka would take over” explained the king

Jon nodded without answering, he was curious about the princess, would she be a warrior princess like King Rangrok or would she be similar to what they had in Westeros, delicate, dull and protected

Arriving at the platform Rangrok growled another word in his native language, and in a moment he was in another place, now Jon was in a kind of office, in the center was a goblin, but he had something different, his body was slender, similar in height to Jon, he had pale skin and long black hair loose all over his back,  with elegant black horns sticking out of her head, she had delicate features unlike a male goblin, long and strong legs, and the muscles of her arms were well defined, although they were still thin, a warrior focused on speed and not strength, Jon thought to himself, this must be Balka the king's daughter

Tilting his head he began to speak, "Father, there are rumors that the Stark vaults are active, has a new Lord Stark ascended?" she asked in a deep voice, but with softness and elegance

Jon was incredulous, not even 5 minutes had passed since the guardian had given him the ring and there were already rumors, the news traveled fast through these lands apparently

"Indeed, my daughter, the Stark vaults have been opened and the pact has been renewed, so we will have a lot of work to do," replied the king. "I present to you Jon Stark, the new Lord of House Stark," he exclaimed.

The princess directed her gaze to Jon, looked him in the eyes without saying a word, analyzing and judging him, Jon held the gaze with a stoic expression, although inside he was quite impressed

Normally the nobles that Jon had met in Westeros had nothing spectacular, spoiled simpletons who believe themselves to be the gift of the gods and only knew how to count to 7 and that with the help of their fingers, just because they were squirted of a certain cunt, or they despised they despise the smallfolk, treating them as simple cattle with which they can do and undo, there were few cases of nobles who really took their title seriously and who looked after the well-being of his vassals

Whatever the princess was looking for, she found it and with a slight nod of her head exclaimed, "Growing up with the tales of old, hearing from the legendary Starks, the only humans who besieged our glorious capital and the only humans who brought a goblin king to his knees, you have a great legacy Lord Stark, we expect great things from you."

Jon replied “I will do whatever it takes to overcome the legacy of my family princess, but this is a discussion we could have another time, your father told me to provide support to manage the finances of the Stark house”

The princess's gaze gained a gleam of approval, and she replied “indeed, time is gold after all, take a seat Lord Stark for us to begin with the count of assets that her family deposited at Gringotts” the princess sat down at her desk and offered Jon a seat

"I leave you to get up to date, Lord Stark if there is any business opportunity or any matter you want to talk about you can communicate it with my daughter, it was a very entertaining day hahaha I hope to know about your extraordinary achievements in the coming years” replied the king while, with a gesture in his hand a golden spear materialized,  a true work of art that radiated so much magical power that Jon shuddered just to be in his presence, Rangrok slammed the spear into the ground and in the blink of an eye disappeared in a flash of golden light

"Don't take it seriously into my father’s dramatic vein Lord Stark, he loves to put on shows," replied the princess as she took out a rather large black leather book, on the front of the book was engraved a leafy tree with white stem and leaves and on each side of the trunk were seen a pair of direwolves sitting,  guarding and protecting the tree from all danger, all surrounded by a circle of runes, many of which Jon had no knowledge of, however, the few he could understand had concepts of vigilance, knowledge and will, it would be necessary to study the shield of his family in these lands more thoroughly

“House Stark first appears approximately 1800 years ago, during the occupation of the islands by the now extinct Roman Empire, the first recorded Stark, Lorian of the Wolf Clan, was the unifier of the Celtic magical clans that were being exterminated by the Romans, who were bloodthirsty and ruthless conquerors, they destroyed everything that did not submit to their rule,  Lorian slowed down the Roman advance, using magic he unified the Celtics clans, managed to stop and push back the advance of Rome, who, even with their war mages were unable to stand up to him. Lorian had a special gift that has not been seen in any other magical family, the details are quite diffuse, tamer of beasts, he made all animals do his will, master of runes, with matrix so complex that they made him a God in battle capable of exterminating thousands of men and hundreds of wizards, affinity with the elemental magic of ice that could raise monolithic structures in seconds and with druidic magic so powerful that it is commented that raised entire forests to fight for his cause. How much of this is true and how much is not is a mystery to us. It was in the Battle of the Dancing Star that Lorian, finished off the Roman imperial war master Claudius Vallens, the Roman magicians with their war beasts and blood magic facing the unified Celtic tribes under the guidance of the great Wolf, with the support of the magical races that the Romans had enslaved in what is now southern England, Goblins included” paused for some water

Jon was absorbed, the name of Lorian Stark was a complete mystery to him, an ancestor was sent by the gods to these lands and made a name of his own, built his own legacy, when the princess began to speak again, Jon gave her all the attention he had, he wanted to know what had happened

“the battle lasted 20 hours, the scars that the battle left could still be seen in the country, countless lives were lost on both sides, in the end Lorian murdered Claudius in single combat, cut off his head and exhibited it to what was left of the broken Roman army, Lorian took Claudius' daughter and married her to his son Rickon, while he took Claudius' now widow as a concubine,  in exchange for their children's lives being spared and allowed to leave Britain, Lorian granted it" the princess explained

Jon nodded to himself, that tactic was as old as war itself, by taking the daughter as his son's wife would make the followers of Claudius behave and by taking the mother the girl will not get any ideas, crude, immoral and dishonorable tactics, but no less effective, Jon thought reluctantly.

“The Celts returned to their territories with daughters and wives of their defeated enemies, and the blood of the Roman wizards was mixed with the Celtic blood, small clans began to unify until the first magical houses were born, the Starks being the oldest and most prestigious house, to avoid problems and have a kind of order,  Lord Arnold Stark, grandson of Lorian, summoned the heads of the house to formulate the first council of wizards, where the heads of the magical families would meet to write the first laws and with that the wizarding society of Britain, now the United Kingdom, would be born” the princess finished

Jon was fascinated, House Stark in these lands had a history as rich and impressive as in Westeros, he had to live up to it, he swore on his honor and in the name of his father that he would take House Stark to the top at all costs

"With the disappearance of the last Lord 500 years ago, other houses began to take relevance and power in the islands, and with the creation of the Ministry of Magic in the 1700s, magically weak families, but with enough economic capital began to buy seats in the council of wizards, now called Wizengamot," the princess continued

Jon interrupted her “weak wizards but good merchants, I understand and I also imagine that, since the house was dormant for a long time, have those "prestigious" families been usurping things that don't belong to them or am I wrong?” Jon asked coldly

Nodding the princess replied “exactly, the ministry grants itself the power to assign some dormant properties to some prestigious families, but with your ascension, those "decrees" are as valid as a brass coin”

Nodding, Jon replied "that means there will be families who want me dead and even this "ministry" will not be so happy about the return from my house either” frowning he was thoughtful “we will have to plan contingencies in case these "Lords" think they can take action against me” Jon continued talking to himself

Balka replied with a satisfied smile “indeed, you have understood quickly, I was afraid that, because of your young age, you did not have what it takes, but I see that you have a spine of steel Lord Stark, I will be happy to do business with you”

Opening the giant book, which Jon thought would be about 3000 pages continuous “In this book are all the transactions and account statements that the Starks have made with us, the last Lord Stark left us free to handle 10 percent of the Stark fortune, but without the backing of a current Lord Stark, our options were very limited," he replied while passing him a scroll. "With the activation of the vaults this would be the total amount of resources he possesses."

STARK HOUSE

Lord Actual: Lord Jon Stark

Account balance:

Galleons: 1,134,350

Sickles: 10,344,800

Knuts: 134,506

Jon looked at the amounts and feeling a little silly asked, "I'm not familiar with this princess coin, is it a relevant amount?"

Balka replied “It's not a small amount, but it's not one of the greatest riches either, the Malfoy or the Greengrass have much more economic capital”

Jon nodded his head and was thoughtful, if anything had taught him growing up in the north it was that there was never too much gold, so he spoke "It's not enough, I'll have to think of something to make more gold" Jon replied to himself

Balka nodded pleased, the new Lord Stark seemed capable, although somewhat naïve, well he was young, he will learn she thought to herself

"That would cover the current liquid capital, now property and assets," said Balka as he turned pages in the large book in complete concentration

 “your house never focused its power on gold and trade, the Starks hoarded three things, daughters of their enemies, knowledge and lands, the Stark house has as its main residence in the United Kingdom the Wolf's Den, a small castle near what is now Surrey, about 4 hours away from London, the capital of the islands,  it is in acceptable condition thanks to the Stasis enchantments but repairs are needed, the property owns about 200 hectares of forests and meadows with various species of magical plants and animals, the Ministry tried for centuries to confiscate them, but the ancestral magic of the Starks is so strong that not even the best curse-breakers could with them,  those lands are safe," said the princess

“Maybe we should start to diversify a little, trade and gold are important in times of peace, do you have any idea to start generating wealth princess?” Jon asked politely, he knew that he was not the best in financial matters, but he understood that to generate wealth he had to invest wealth.

The princess looked at him with a mixture of respect and satisfaction and said "I am pleased to see that the new Lord Stark has wealth among his priorities, so I promise to look for good opportunities to make that gold multiply, of course for a small fee" said Balka while letting out a small laugh

"I didn't expect less, I consider 7 percent of the profits for you would be a fair deal," Jon replied

"20 percent," replied the princess dryly, while looking him straight in the eyes, challenging him

Shaking his head, Jon exclaimed, "It's too much, the risk of the investment will be done by the Stark house, 9 percent per transaction."

“18 percent per transaction and special rates will be applied for the services that Gringotts offers” against the offer of the princess

"And what services does Gringotts offer that might be of interest to my princess?" Jon asked intrigued

"For the right fee, any service you require the bank can solve it," said the princess with complete certainty

Jon was thoughtful, cultivating good relations with the goblins seemed a priority, if the reach they had was as wide as he imagined, then Jon wanted them as allies, so he counter-offered

"15 percent for transactions under 300,000 galleons and 10 percent for larger transactions, 25 percent off the services offered by Gringotts and the proportion of a goblin blacksmith teaching me how to imbue magic into metal at the time of forging," Jon exclaimed as he stretched out his hand to the princess

The princess began to laugh uncontrollably as she leaned her head back, after a few seconds she looked Jon in the eye and exclaimed “you haggle like a goblin Lord Stark, those terms are acceptable to Gringotts, before you go to Hogwarts I will send you an owl to schedule another appointment with you, this way I will have some investments ready that will allow us to make that gold flow,  Are there any other matters you wish to discuss with Gringotts today?”

Jon nodded and replied, "Understood, I'll be waiting for your message and about the other matters, I'd just like to know if there is a way to pay without carrying gold with me all the time?"

Nodding Balka removed a kind of small book under his desk and handed it to Jon, when he observed it Jon saw that it had the logo of the bank on the cover and that all the sheets were the same, they had two sections, one that said quantity and another that said stamp Jon continued to look at the sheet when Balka spoke

"You take a sheet of paper from the book, whisper the amount," Balka explained while whispering "20 galleons" and Jon watched as the amount was written on its own on the sheet in elegant silver handwriting, "and to validate it you place your Lord's ring in the section that says seal and says "validated by House Stark", then you will see how the coat of arms of your house materializes on the paper,  the merchants can collect the money in the bank, this way you don't carry the gold everywhere and the merchants know that you are not like the ordinary rabble, but a Lord, which will usually give you certain privileges with them, this book I will give you for free as a sign of respect for our treatment, but each book has a cost of 100 galleons and they have 200 sheets, understood?” explained Balka

Jon nodded while taking the notebook, being honest the idea seemed very good even to adapt it in Westeros, in this way many problems with bandits and robberies on the roads would be avoided “Understood Princess Balka, in case you have more doubts I will take care of letting you know when we have the next meeting” Jon exclaimed as he stood up followed by Balka,  He bowed his head slightly towards her as a sign of respect but not submission and exclaimed, "Thank you for everything, princess."

Balka nodded and exclaimed, "Welcome to the wizarding world Lord Jon Stark, I'm sure that, with you in it, the next few years will be most interesting."

Jon nodded, but didn't answer anything else, flooded with emotion, the magic of his ancestors considered him worthy, he was a Stark no matter what the Andal scum invading his father's fortress said, and Jon swore, at that moment, that he would be up to the task, that he would be the best Lord Stark and the best wizard these lands have ever seen

Balka continued “using that platform you can go back to the surface, just stand on it and say "Diagon Alley" and you will find yourself in the lobby, I think Mr. Dumbledore is already waiting for you."

"Thank you for everything princess" Jon replied as he stood on the platform, said the words and in a golden light disappeared from Balka's office who, after a few seconds looked to the side, where a wall used to be, now his father was together with his personal guard, seeing that they were alone he exclaimed

"You were right father, Lord Stark radiates enormous magical power, with training he will be a fearsome force, but there is more than the ancestral magic of the wolf lords, chaotic, ferocious, a primordial fire within him, he had never felt such magic" exclaimed the princess

King Rangrok exclaimed, "I have felt that magic, my daughter, in a single man, two centuries ago, one of the most powerful battle mages I have ever fought, I felt that fire inside Lord Stark."

Balka was surprised and asked “do you think he has another lordship then?”

Rangrok denied, "I don't think so, my daughter, I know, but it's too early to talk about it, first let Lord Jon dominate the Ice in his blood, then we'll see if he can subdue the fire," he exclaimed as he took his daughter by the shoulder and said, "but that's for the future, let's go to the palace that your brother sent some interesting artifacts from Egypt."

Balka nodded “understood father” as they both disappeared  

Meanwhile Jon left the transport room for the Gringotts lobby, where Dumbledore was waiting patiently for him talking to Professor Snape who apparently had finished with his pending

Jon walked up to them and said to the professor, "I'm done, Professor."

Dumbledore looked at him and said “I can see it Lord Stark, welcome to the wizarding community, ready to return to Hogwarts?” asked the director

Jon shook his head and exclaimed “there are quite interesting things I saw when I entered the bank, I would like to check them out”

Dumbledore nodded and said "I have no doubt my Lord, but it is already dark and most of the shops are already closed, if you want, I can offer you an escort tomorrow, but today we must return to the castle to organize the schedules of your intensive wizarding course," Dumbledore exclaimed firmly

Jon was thoughtful and, after a moment, he exclaimed “I understand Headmaster Dumbledore, so let's not waste any more time and go back to the castle

The trio of wizards walked to the leaky cauldron and Jon could see that, indeed, most of the shops were closed, only the bank and a shop called Chang's apothecary were still open, Jon supposed that they sold ingredients for potions

Returning Jon cautiously looked at the fireplace that humiliated him earlier that day, Jon took a breath, threw the devil powder and shouted Hogwarts as the green flames made him disappear