Harry Potter and the Ties that Bind

Chapter 20

Harry Potter woke up early in the morning and left Hogwarts by using one of the secret passages that he had discovered. He had a meeting to attend outside of the school.

There was a field around Hogwarts that kept people from apparating in and out. If he wanted to reach his destination, he needed to be outside of the field. It wasted time, but sometimes, to get what he wanted, he needed to be patient.

The secret passage that he was taking had an exit point within Hogsmeade, in one of the shops near the border farthest from Hogwarts. Harry was wrapped within his invisibility cloak. He'd also thrown a muffling charm on his feet. This allowed him to easily slip outside, with the shopkeeper being none the wiser.

He was fortunate that the dementors were not allowed to enter Hogsmeade. Yet even so, an aura of depression hung over the tiny village. Desperation. Fear. Anxiety. Like a thick smog, these negative emotions polluted the streets.

What had once been a lively hamlet filled with friendly faces, now there was only a desolate street with a few people darting from one building to another, as if they were afraid of staying outside for too long. Harry ignored this, entered a small alley, and apparated, disappearing with nary a crack.

Apparating was not a pleasant magic. Whenever Harry used it, he felt like he was being forced through a very small tube, as if his insides were being squeezed, his body compressed. However, he had learned to deal with the discomfort. It only lasted for an instant anyway.

Seconds after apparating, Harry appeared in a small alley within Diagon Alley. He stashed away his invisibility cloak, put up the hood of his robes, and then stepped onto the main street and merged with traffic.

Because of the early hour, there weren't that many people present; he saw a couple of adults walking down the street and shopkeepers opening their stores. Above, on the second floor of several buildings, lights were turning on as people got a start to their day. He imagined it would get busy some time within the next few hours.

Harry's destination that day was Gringotts Bank. He had a meeting with Ragnarok.

The bank was mostly empty, as he had expected. Walking up to one of the tellers, Harry didn't even bother waiting for them to finish their task, but instead he placed a notification on the table.

"I have a meeting with Director Ragnarok."

The goblin stopped what he was doing—counting jewels, it looked like—glanced at him, and then looked down at the notification. From the widening of the goblin's eyes, he knew what this notification meant. He stopped everything that he had been doing and hopped off of the stool.

"Follow me."

Harry followed the goblin into the side passage that took him to Director Ragnok's office. The goblin knocked on the door once, received permission to enter, and walked inside.

Harry waited outside. He knew how this worked. The goblin would introduce him, and then Ragnok would let him enter. Protocol was important to goblins, even if time was money and standing around waiting wasted time.

"Director, the person you have an appointment with is here," the goblin said.

"Send him in," a voice said from inside.

The goblin came back out and held the door open. "Director Ragnok will see you now."

"Thank you."

Harry walked inside. The door shut behind him, leaving him alone with the director. As he'd expected, Director Ragnok was sitting behind his desk, leafing through documents. Harry didn't let this bother him and took the chair in front of the desk, waiting for Ragnok to finish. Unlike with the other goblin, he couldn't afford to be rude here.