'Ah...just a moment,' said the goblin banker, stepping down from the podium, muttering to himself. He stopped in front of them, looked at them both, then bowed deeply. 'Welcome to Gringotts Wizarding Bank. ...Vault number twelve, I presume?'
Meli glanced at Professor Fig.
'...Precisely,' he said.
The banker stared at them expectantly for a moment. '...The key?' he said, holding out his hand.
'Hm?' said Professor Fig, confused.
Meli gave him a pointed look. 'The key,' she repeated, hoping the banker wouldn't sense that anything was off and that they did indeed have the slightest clue what they were doing.
'Oh!' said Professor Fig. 'Yes, of course.' He withdrew the mysterious key from his jacket and handed it to the banker, who examined it for a moment as though verifying its authenticity.
'This way, then,' said the banker, leading them over to a small platform at the side of the room.
'Stay close,' Professor Fig muttered to Meli as they followed the banker.
The goblin banker whistled down the tunnel in front of the platform, and a cart came hurtling up the tracks, coming to a halt beside the platform. He turned back to face Meli and Professor Fig.
'After you!' he said, gesturing towards the cart.
Meli and Professor Fig took their seats, though Meli didn't feel quite as secure in hers as she would've liked; it was clear they were designed for people of typical wizard- or goblin-size. The goblin banker climbed the ladder up the side of the cart to the driver's seat.
'Keep your hands inside the cart, if you don't wish to lose them!' he said with a light chuckle.
He pulled a lever, and they were off, hurtling down the tracks, winding through what seemed to be a massive cave system, passing mineral deposits and clusters of other vaults.
'How many vaults are there in Gringotts?' Meli asked.
'Hundreds,' the banker answered. 'In fact, you'll see quite a few on our way to vault number twelve. As we speak, we're just beneath the main lobby; the vaults you see now are the newest.'
'Are private entrances to the bank common at Gringotts?' asked Professor Fig.
'They are most uncommon,' said the banker. 'Only one with great wealth or power or both could have arranged for such a service.'
They rode in silence for just a moment more before the banker spoke up again.
'You'll want to take a breath!' he said.
'A what?' asked Professor Fig, but Meli saw what the banker meant; a great waterfall cascading down over the tracks.
She bowed her head and held her breath as they passed beneath the waterfall. Not fancying spending the rest of the day dripping wet, Meli was quite annoyed; to say nothing of what it would do to her hair.
'That waterfall washes away all enchantments,' explained Professor Fig as they shook water off of themselves. 'It's a security measure.'
'Experienced the Thief's Downfall before, have you?' the banker asked, laughing.
'Heard of it,' said Professor Fig.
'These are the lower vaults we're passing now,' said the banker as the cart took them deeper into the bank.'
'How deep are we goin'?' Meli asked.
'Vault number twelve was commissioned shortly after Gringotts was founded over four centuries ago,' the banker told them. 'It resides in the deepest part of the bank. Settle in; we've quite a distance to go.'
YOU ARE READING
Burning Bright
FanfictionMelpomeni Asimi has spent the past four years believing herself to be a Squib. Having long since come to terms with the painful fact that she would never set foot in Hogwarts, her only plans for the future are to learn and practise medicine, followi...
