Harry Potter: I, Tom Riddle, am not the Dark Lord Chapter 4 4: Borrowing Money from the Headmaster?

"Each person is only allowed to exchange seventy Galleons, but thanks to Professor Dumbledore, I can give you a limit of one hundred Galleons—that's five hundred and five pounds, including a five-pound service fee."

"That little?" Tom frowned with displeasure. "Professor Dumbledore just told most people can exchange around two hundred Galleons."

"Tis have changed," the goblin replied curtly.

Goblins never treated those who couldn't help them make money with warmth, but Dumbledore's presence made this one noticeably more patient and polite.

"Muggle money is of little use to us. We can't even finish spending the pounds we exchange each year, so Gringotts has to strictly control the amount. But don't feel short-changed—this will be more than enough for your first year at Hogwarts."

"Two hundred Galleons? That was fifty years ago. You really think Muggle money is still worth that much now?"

"Apologies, Tom."

Dumbledore looked awkward. "The last ti I brought a student to Gringotts was over forty years ago… I may not be the most up-to-date on the exchange policies."

Tom couldn't help but roll his eyes.

Prices in the UK had skyrocketed since then—doubled and tripled many tis over. In that light, maybe the goblins weren't being entirely heartless?

"Professor, could you lend so money?"

Taking full advantage of Dumbledore's guilt, Tom made his move without hesitation.

"I'm not sure this will be enough to buy all the books I want. I can pay you back in pounds, of course. Or—if you'd prefer—you can wait until I graduate and I'll repay you in Galleons, with interest."

Tom was hoping for the second option. After all, Dumbledore was supposed to die by the ti Tom hit sixth year. Wouldn't that make it a risk-free loan?

"Muggle currency is rather useless to , so let's go with repaynt upon graduation. I'll look forward to that day."

Dumbledore never hesitated to help a student, even with money—especially when it was his own oversight that had caused the misunderstanding. He agreed readily.

"Wait here for a mont. I'll go withdraw the money—and handle a few personal matters while I'm at it."

With a quick instruction, Dumbledore followed a goblin toward the underground vaults.

Tom's heart skipped a beat. A thought hit him suddenly.

Could Dumbledore's "personal matters" involve retrieving the Philosopher's Stone? Originally, it had been Hagrid who ca for it—but maybe his appearance had changed the plan?

Still, it wasn't sothing he needed to worry about. After pondering it for a mont, Tom shifted his focus to chatting with a goblin about the possibility of exchanging gold for Galleons.

Technically possible, yes—but once Tom did the math and converted it to pounds, he felt like he was getting absolutely robbed.

At today's rate, five pounds would get you about 0.8 grams of gold. But it took 10 grams of gold to get just one Galleon.

That ant one Galleon was worth about sixty pounds—twelve tis more than what he was getting from Gringotts.

Just because it was called a "gold Galleon" didn't an it was actually made of gold. It was goblin tal. Who knew what strange elents they mixed into it?

The terrifying exchange rate instantly made Tom abandon the idea. He didn't have nearly enough personal funds to squander.

Better to earn in the wizarding world and spend in the wizarding world.

…

About half an hour later, Dumbledore returned to the Gringotts lobby holding a key and a small pouch.

He handed both to Tom.

"There are a hundred Galleons in here. I also rented a vault for you—there are six hundred more stored inside."

Dumbledore added with a gentle reminder, "One hundred Galleons per year. I hope you'll manage your finances wisely."

"Thank you, Professor. I'll make sure to use your money with care."

Tom was privately amazed at Dumbledore's generosity.

Eight hundred Galleons. That was enough to last him comfortably all the way through graduation—so long as he didn't splurge on luxuries like a racing broomstick or custom robes.

The old man blinked, sensing that sothing about Tom's phrasing was off—but he couldn't quite pinpoint it, so he let it go and changed the subject.

"Well then, Mr. Riddle, we still have a long list of supplies to buy."

The two of them left Gringotts and began purchasing next sester's essentials—robes, textbooks, a set of scales, cauldrons, and more. With Dumbledore by his side, shopkeepers were exceedingly polite and even gave them discounts.

Even so, the whole trip cost over forty Galleons—over fifty without the discounts.

And with a wand still left to buy, the fixed expenses totaled more than sixty Galleons.

By Gringotts' standards, if Tom had only been allowed the default amount, he'd have just a few Galleons left. Surviving a term wouldn't have been impossible—Hogwarts provided als and lodging—but it would've been tight.

Ron Weasley's yearly allowance was probably under a single Galleon. Compared to that, Tom was already quite the wealthy student.

He had already taken a liking to many books, most of which were outrageously expensive. He decided he'd return to buy them alone next ti.

Having Dumbledore around made him overly cautious—he was afraid of being over-analyzed.

Besides, Tom had no intention of burning through the hundred Galleons in his pouch and stopping there. He fully intended to dip into the vault funds as well.

"If only I had a system…"

Tom sighed to himself, following Dumbledore into the final stop of the day: the wand shop. Without a magical system to help him, he'd just have to knuckle down and get strong the old-fashioned way. No shortcuts.

As soon as they stepped inside, Tom instinctively held his breath—he didn't want the cloud of dust shaken loose by the door to get into his nose.

"A rare visitor indeed, Albus," a soft voice said. An old man erged from between the towering shelves.

"The last ti you visited my shop was forty-eight years ago. It was sumr, just like today."

Dumbledore smiled wryly. "Garrick, please don't show off that remarkable mory of yours. It only makes terribly jealous."

"Hahaha! My mory only extends to wands and this shop, I'm afraid."

Garrick Ollivander stepped forward and gave Dumbledore a warm hug before turning his gaze to Tom.

"And this young wizard—what's your na, my lucky boy? You must be soone very special to have Dumbledore as your guide."

"Tom," the boy said. "Tom Riddle."

Thud!

Ollivander collapsed to the floor, staring up at the boy in stunned silence.