Five people were shocked, but finally Sirius let out a whistle. Now he knew why Dumbledore didn't want this kind of money floating around the ministry. This basilisk alone could buy enough influence in the government to change major policies for good or bad.
"And your cut Moony," Harry reminded him. "And do not tell me it's too much, you agreed to the amount," Fleur had determined that the normal fee for rendering a magical animal down was four percent of the total value if there was no danger to the person, six percent if there was danger. Fleur and Remus had argued again about the final amount and finally agreed on eighty percent of five percent or overall a four percent of total value.
Remus had already computed that just extracting the venom was worth between three and eighteen thousand galleons, more money than he had had in his life, and that didn't even cover the rest of the Basilisk. The rest was worth less per piece but a lot more overall. He knew he was going to have a full vault at Gringotts when this was over.
"So what else has value?" Hermione asked.
"The fangs are pretty valuable as potion ingredients," Lupin replied. "The Goblins will also pay very handsomely for them. They like to carve them into swords. Again with these being larger than average Basilisk fangs the value increases exponentially. Then there's the skin. It's extremely resistant to magic but in a special way that it absorbs magic instead of reflecting it like dragon skin does. Well-to-do families and businesses will line a room with the material to have a magical training room."
"Can it be used like dragon skin to protect you?" Harry asked thinking of Hagrid mentioning he might need dragon hide to line his robes with.
"If you're a giant maybe," Remus said.
"What does that mean?" Hermione asked.
Remus went into the tent that had been set up in a corner and brought back a small piece of what they recognized as Basilisk skin. "Fleur helped me cut this off the skin in the tunnel yesterday," He handed it to Hermione who almost dropped it because she hadn't expected it to be so heavy. "Heavy isn't it?" Lupin asked. "Basilisk skin weights about twenty kilos for every square meter. It would be too heavy to wear for any length of time and if you're an Auror having to face the killing curse on occasion, moving quickly is very important than the additional benefits this would give you."
"Can't it be lightened with a spell?" Hermione asked.
Remus looked at her and smiled. He mentally counted and when he reached four he saw Hermione's eyes reflect the answer he knew she would get.
"If it could be magically lightened, it wouldn't be resistant to magic," She answered her own question.
"Exactly," Her old defense professor exclaimed. "Dragon skin is naturally light or the Dragon would never be able to fly, but Basilisks never developed a need to have lighter skin."
"Ow much is ze skin worth?" Fleur asked.
"Depends on the usage. Selling it as it is, about a thousand galleons per square meter," Remus said. "But believe it or not there is a market for basilisk skin in the fashion industry. With the right potions the skin can be broken down into layers which does lighten it. It takes about three years of continuous soaking and the skin loses all of its magical protection but you end up with five times the amount of skin you started with. People pay a lot for Basilisk skin boots, robes and other articles of clothing. You can make more money by selling some of it that way, but since they get five times the amount in return they don't need as much."
Hermione had been mentally calculating the surface area of the Basilisk, and came out with about two hundred and fifty square meters. At a thousand galleons per square meter the skin alone was going to bring in another two hundred and fifty thousand galleons.
Remus saw the look in her eyes and asked. "Did the math?" and when she nodded, he asked, "Did you remember there are three other skins to be harvested as well? The one in the tunnel and Sirius and I found two more up in the statue area. They are all smaller, but still a lot of skin."
"How much are you talking about for the Basilisk in its entirety?" Hermione asked as she thought about the enormity of the amount it was already at.
"If the internal organs are still intact, you're probably looking at somewhere between three and four million galleons. With a good seller who knows the market, maybe a lot more. Remember that I'm using numbers from a book that's a couple of years old."
Harry had never really cared about money, he knew he had more than the Weasleys and it often made him feel bad about having more than they did. But even he knew this was a lot of galleons. What was he going to do with three million galleons?
"I wanted to give some of it to the Weasleys," He said.
"You can't give them that much Harry," Sirius said.
"Why not?"
"Arthur is a Ministry employee. He has to report any amount of money above ten thousand Galleons given to his family," Sirius explained. "It's one of the ways that corruption is supposed to be kept out of the government."
Fleur snorted at that comment. "But eet 'appens anyway. Just ze 'onest ones can't take money for good reasons while ze dishonest officials 'ave it given to zem zrough various means to disguise it."
"I'm not arguing with you Fleur," Sirius said. "That's exactly what happens. But If Harry gives them more than ten thousand galleons Arthur will report it because the man doesn't have a dishonest bone in him. When he does, Harry will have to explain where it came from. If he does that, Fudge will be demanding all of the money from the Basilisk go to the Ministry."
"I'll talk to Mr. Weasley about it when I see him," Harry said. "No, not I, we need to talk to him after we figure out what we would like to give them. This money will belong to all of us."
"Harry, I can't take part of that fortune," Hermione said. "It's yours. You killed it."
"I thought we were a family Hermione," Harry said. "If we are, then there is no me when it comes to things like this, it is only us."
"Of course we're your family, but…" Hermione stopped and then started again. "Fine, just remember that I loved you before you were rich."
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