The Lure of Money ~open~

[eric]

During his winter break Eric had visited Gringott's Bank. His vault held many treasures, some expensive trinkets, some mundane. Trunks of sparkling gold almost fell over at the edges of the vault. The labors of hard work past. He had selected several of the trunks, two small and one medium sized to be delivered to his contact in London. His idea was simple, but he was sure no one had even thought of it before. In fact, he felt superior in the moment as he smiled to his American counterpart, and handed over the three trunks. The man was gone in a wisp, and Eric had returned to the Leaky Cauldron for a quick lunch. It was rare that he spent the holidays with his family. Honestly, he could care less for the festivities missed. It was not Eric's cup of tea.

Many months had passed since he had made the exchange with the American student. Although Eric was not at all apprehensive about the deal, he did have a tendency to grow impatient when it came to dealing with Americans. They always seemed so damned rushed, never stopping to enjoy the process. He figured that was fine in this instance. After all, he stood to gain a ton of money in this transaction. The American's fee was a small sum compared to the rewards that could be gained once Eric graduated this insufferable school. His eyes sparkled as he unrolled the parchment. Hazel orbs danced across each line under the lowlight, and he nodded with every word. Things had gone exactly as planned, and the package had been delivered and inserted into his vault.

The current market value of gold overseas had sky rocketed in the last several months. Eric knew that there had to be a way to take advantage of this. His mind crawled over idea after idea until it struck him. His plan was simple, and delicious at the same time. A simple exchange could bring him more than he would give. The profits could be mind blowing, all he had to do was make contact with the right person. The right person turned out to be a long distance cousin of his mother's family. The male had some small amount of talent in magic and was going to a private school in the states. The tuition had to be hefty, and the con job Eric sent into motion was complete in a short period. His smirk moved across his lips as he rolled the parchment up and dipped the end into the flame from the torch on the wall. The parchment burnt to ash, and Eric began to move down the corridor.

He had talked his cousin into coming to London during the holidays and picking up three trunks of gold coins. These coins held the standard value in the wizarding world; however, melted down and turned into bars the same gold could be turned into mountains of muggle dollars. Muggle dollars were worthless in the wizarding cities, but they were a good thing to have when traveling abroad. With muggle money Eric could buy no end of muggle luxuries. He could rent a flat, buy anything he wanted or needed. He could use the money to bribe other muggles into his bidding without using a drop of his magical talent. Not to mention the fact that having muggle money could gain him access to more things those poor creatures produced that could turn a profit while inside the castle. Eric almost giggled at the thought.

He felt sure he was on an never ending cycle of profit and gain. Use muggle dollars to buy things that the other students would pay top gold to acquire. Smuggle in more items, and sell them at a premium price for gold. Then, take half the gold gained and turn it into muggle money to keep the cycle going for as long as his heart desired. Pretty soon he could make enough to employ someone else to do all the grunt work for him. He could sit back and watch his money roll in by the owl-load. Easy as taking candy from a first year Hufflepuff, not that he would bother to do such a thing. He never much cared for candy in the first place.

However, now was the time to consider who he could bring in on his little project. He would not mind having someone in charge of selling the stock to the other willing students. His mind played over many possible ideas, but he could not think of a single person at the moment. His own trust level was really low, and no one would ever be allowed to meet with his contacts, or know where the muggle items came from. No, all he needed was someone to sell items at the school, and collect their small cut while bringing the rest to Eric. Nothing less, nothing more. It would help if said person was attractive. Being attractive drove prices up, and made for pleasant business meetings. He leaned back against the wall and considered his plan a little more. Time slowly ticked by.

Tagg; Open Thread
Notes: Feel free to join.

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[adele]

-snags- I was planning on it. Just have to work up a post. I'll have it up within a day or two.

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