O r p h a n ● Tom Riddle [Harry Potter Fanfiction]

➐ Sept - Creepy Crawlies

//Chapter image finder credits goes to ViolentSaviors because c'mon, that pic is accurate af/// 

The wrinkled head goblin peered at me through his spectacles; he had thinning grey hair, pointy ears, and awful teeth. "What do you want?" he sneered.

For such small creatures, goblins were as intimidating as any other foul breathed being – they really made up for their height by lowering their vanity, "I was told I'd be able to take out money here from my vault"

He leaned closer over his podium, trying to get a better look at me, "Who are you?"

"Vivienne, sir... Vivienne Cecilia Rosewood"

"Your parents are Cecilia Rosewood and Merciless Rosewood. I am aware you have no key...." He scribbled something down onto a piece of parchment and motioned with his hand for the goblin by the black Iron Gate to come over. "Griphook!" he yelled. What's a Grip hook?

The goblin that was locking up the gate turned around in attention, and then waddle over while muttering a few choice words beneath his breath (something about impatience?). The head goblin whispered something into the goblins ear before he motioned for me to follow him over to the gate. The goblin didn't look anything like a Grip hook would, so I assumed Griphook was his name – how unfortunate.  

Walking through, I noticed that there was a rusty cart that awfully resembled one you would find in a mine, and tracks that led underground. If I didn't know any better I would've thought we were in a mineshaft, but I knew better, and I knew the vaults were kept underground. The 'cave' was barely lit, and the muttering Griphook was holding a lantern to light up a clear path as I clambered into the cart. "Keep your hands to yer'self" he spoke roughly.

He didn't need to tell me twice.

The cart jolted to a start and we were off down the tracks! Turns here, turns there, up, down, sharp turn... whoop! I was being flung from side to side in the cart as the turns kept becoming sharper and sharper. Strangely enough, I could hear the faraway sounds of splashing water, and even a distant roar at times.

Freaky.  

We were now standing in front of a large black door covered in a small maze of thorns, the number 720 carved into the wall, the light from Griphook's lantern only barely made things visible – it was so dark, and I was still a bit disgruntled from the ride here, "Hold yer hand out" Griphook commanded, and I did as I was told.

"Not at me! The door!" he scolded.

I heard him muttering something about 'insolence', but chose to ignore him as I held my hand out at the door. The thorns began to clear away, and the black double doors opened on it's own.

There was a grand crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling that brightened the room considerably, a plush snow white carpet in the middle of the room beneath a beautiful round glass table filled with odd trinkets, and the rest of the room was filled with gold coins. Walking towards the glass table, I noticed a letter addressed to me sitting beside a velvet pouch. Opening the letter, the contents revealed that the pouch was enchanted to be bottomless (infinite space!), and that my wand was patiently waiting for me inside. I could see that Griphook was still standing outside the room, which seemed a bit odd. "You're not allowed to come in?"

He scoffed, "I would rather not die, thank you"

"What... what do you mean?"

"Thing about high security vaults is that they have the ability to keep everyone out, now hurry up!"

Keep everyone out. Keep everyone out. Keep everyone out.

 

Those words kept running in my mind. That is, until I realized that someone was actually chanting it. I pulled my wand out of the velvet pouch, It was a dark ebony wood that was only a bit longer than my hand, nothing too impressive in size or length, but it's beauty was in it's intricate handle – animated dancing merfolk. At times they were just swimming about, or sleeping at night, and if they sensed a foreign hand they would turn gruesome, grotesque, a strange contortion would become of their faces, and the foreign hand would latter find that their palms were covered in flaming scratches – word to the wise: don't touch my wand.

I stuck my wand into the pocket of my coat - separate to my dress pocket where the Diagon Alley map was, and grabbed a handful of gold coins into the velvet pouch before throwing it into my rucksack.

On a last minute whim, I decided to find the source of the eerie chanting.

Scavenging, and weaving through piles of gold, I found myself in a dark space where the light of the chandelier didn't reach. There was a single lit candle in the corner on a dark wooden desk, the surface was empty, but it was surrounded on either side by two tall looming shelves lined with strange variation of books. The flaming candle casted strange shadows on things that shouldn't even be that strange, and even stranger: there was not even a fleck of dust to be found.

 Keep everyone out. Keep everyone out. Keep everyone out.

 

There it was again!

And then I heard a slither, a crawling shadow behind a pile of loose papers in the far corner, an irking feeling, yet again, in the back of my mind telling me that this was all too familiar. "H-Hello? Is someone there? Something there?"

I heard more slithering, the sound got closer and closer, closer and closer.

Until, it just stopped.

There was no longer a sound to be heard. Which made things much worse. "Hello?" I asked again, slowly wallowing into a nervous wreck.

I am here.

And then I felt it. It's crawling, slithering long body, slowing wrapping around my right ankle, I was stuck, unable to move, afraid, yet... it felt comforting, like a part of me had come back, this is fine, I am fine. It reminded me of home.

The thing was now wrapped around my shoulder, oddly enough; loosely feeling like it was a shawl. And then I came face to face with its head, it was now staring into my eyes, it's tongue slithering in and out. It was a snake - a long pure white snake with a pair of vibrant green eyes, and a strange pattern of gold roses along its body.

I am here. It whispered.

I couldn't scream and I didn't really want to. I didn't get the sense that this snake was trying or going to hurt me. I was more weirded out that I understood it – considering the fact that I was no parseltongue. "How... No, why? Why can I understand you?"

Enchanted.

 

"What?"

I isss enchanted.

 

"You're enchanted... so that people are able to understand you?"

Only Rose.

 

Only you.

 

"Only... me. Only Rose... Do you mean Rosewood? Only Rosewood?"

Yesss

 

"HURRY UP!" I heard Griphook holler.

"I have to go, will you always be here?"

Keep everyone out. Keep everyone out.

 

"I'm taking that as a yes"

I gently picked up the snake off from my shoulders and placed in down onto the floor, I petted it's head and It seemed to hiss in joy, I walked back through the piles of gold, deciding last minute to turn around and give the snake a final wave of goodbye. I could feel it's eyes on me and I smiled when I waked out of the doors to find Griphook with his arms crossed, looking annoyed.

"Took yer long enough!"

And to think I once regarded goblins as the 'Valiant Knights' that guarded our sacred treasures.

So much for childhood dreams.