Black Family Wealth

Who is the richest wizarding world right now? A few hundred years ago, it would definitely have been the Malfoy; they dominated both the wizarding Muggle World.

However, with the enactment of the Statute of Secrecy, the Malfoy family had long been living beyond their means. Although they had acquired some properties in the wizarding world, their pursuit of power, coupled with the fact that Voldemort had been executed more than a decade earlier, meant that while they were still wealthy, they were no longer among the richest families.

Smith are wealthy, but their wealth, like themselves, remains largely unknown.

Furthermore, by Ryan's generation, he had rebuilt a full-scale replica of Smith Castle, so Smith was no longer considered the richest man.

No one, including Fudge, would likely guess that the Black House is the wealthiest.

To be honest, the Black Family doesn't have much of a business sense, and logically they shouldn't have that many Galleons. But their family is old enough, and they just happen to be in the real estate industry.

This real estate isn't Muggle World real estate; they're not actually selling houses, but they own a large amount of land, most of which happens to be in prime locations.

The rent for these properties is actually not high, or even negligible, as it is automatically transferred to the Black House's treasury by a Magical Contract.

Unlike the other properties of the Black House, the Galleons earned from these lands would only be left to the head of the Black Family, and could not be used privately without the permission of others.

Because the Black House was so old, the Galleons earned from the land had accumulated to an Astronomy sum, and since they were almost never used, they were now practically untapped.

The Black House currently has no other living heirs who can be identified as the head of the family except Sirius.

In addition, even if wizards break the law and are imprisoned in Azkaban, it will not affect Gringotts' vault. The Ministry of Magic cannot seize the gold inside, and Goblin will not steal it.

Goblin, wizards, and even humans have different values. In their eyes, they don't necessarily need to have your Galleons. As long as they are in their vault— Gringotts —they won't steal them and will even prevent others from taking them.

Sirius's storyline is different from the original one; he also inherited some physical businesses that the Ministry of Magic could seize.

This is why Sirius Black was able to afford the Daily Prophet.

So, tempted by a promotion and a raise, Rita Skeeter handed over the photos, which caused Sirius to pause his house cleaning (Harry would be coming over for a while during the summer vacation) and quickly contact the parents of his godson's two lovers— the Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and the Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy.

This is why the four of them stood outside King's Cross Station with grim faces.

Meanwhile, the train finally stopped at platform 9 of King's Cross Station.

It took Harry and the others a long time to all get off the platform.

A gaunt old guard stood at the ticket gate, allowing only two or three people to pass at a time, so that they wouldn't emerge from the solid wall in large numbers and attract the attention of the Muggle.

"You must come to our house this summer," Ron said. "Both of you—I'll send an owl to invite you."

"Thank you," Harry said. "I'm going to Sirius's house first, and then I'll come to your house with him."

"Ron, I'd love to see your father and his magnificent workshop, but my father's place—" Draco said somberly.

"Don't you have your mother?" Ron looked at Draco like he was an idiot.

"I almost forgot. I hope your family will welcome me, especially your two brothers." Draco smiled.

They headed toward the exit back into the Muggle world, with people constantly squeezing past them.

Some of them shouted, "Bye-bye, Harry!"

Goodbye, Potter!

"Phoenix Guard!"

"You're still so famous." Ron said, grinning at him before glancing away at the other person.

"What is the Phoenix Guard?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"That goes without saying, it's definitely a title from Ron's latest fabricated story," Draco said.

He knew perfectly well that only Ron could come up with such a shameful title.

He, Ron, and Draco went through the exit together.

"How could this be? Where's Ginny?" Ron frowned, a worried look on his face.

He knew that Ginny loved Harry the most, and that she would definitely pester her parents to come with her after learning from the letter that he and Harry were friends. His parents would probably be happy to bring her along.

But now, Ron had a bad feeling.

"Dad, Mom?" Draco stopped in his tracks, looking at his parents dressed in Muggle clothes with a startled expression.

What circumstances would lead them to act this way?

Was it he who stopped the You-Know-Who from shooting the Philosopher's Stone, and whose parents were about to side with the Muggle?

Or was it because he became friends with Ron and they wanted to ease tensions with Ron's parents?

This wasn't just Draco's wild idea; in fact, the two of them stood with Ron's parents, and there was no full-blown fight.

"Sirius?" Harry looked at the scene before him in surprise.

Sirius seemed to have just arrived, because he didn't exchange pleasantries with Ron's parents or meet his cousin, Draco's mother.

At this moment, she affectionately put her arm around Uncle Vernon's neck.

Vernon Dursley still had that same purplish-red face and that same long beard, but he no longer glared angrily at Harry.

Instead, they used a humble, ingratiating look in their eyes, the kind of look they only showed when facing the big boss who bought their company's drilling rigs.

Aunt Petunia was unexpectedly absent. As the most doting mother of Dudley, how could she be absent— Dudley, who had been away from her for almost a year and was now in the Wizarding World, which she considered extremely dangerous?

Ron, Draco, and Harry exchanged bewildered glances. They vaguely sensed that all these differences seemed to be related to the same thing.

Sure enough, after Sirius appeared, Ron's parents and Draco's parents stiffened and walked towards Sirius.

Mr. Weasley broke the ice first. He was a tall, thin, bald man who adjusted his glasses, extended a hand, and walked toward Vernon Dursley. "Ah—you must be Harry's uncle!"

Mrs. Weasley, the short, plump woman, kept her eyes fixed on the wall, as if waiting for Fred, George, Percy behind her.

Draco's father Lucius Malfoy, raised his head high, as if to greet his nemesis Arthur Weasley and Uncle Vernon, but he couldn't say anything. He then snorted and looked at Draco.

"Yes, that's me. Um—we'll have to wait for Dudley."

"Harry, come here with your friends, this is your godfather," Uncle Vernon said to Harry in an unusually gentle voice.

"We must be crazy!" Harry and his two friends said in unison.