Deep Into Gringotts

With Gringotts key in hand, we left early the next morning. As per my request, instead of transferring to Diagon Alley via the floo powder, Eva apparated us to the Leaky Cauldron. Since using floo powder was as simple as saying the name of the place you wished to travel and thus I could use that means of travel at any time even without prior guidance, I thought it appropriate for Eva to show me the how to use the only other entrance to the Alley. As a former assassin, my instincts told me to properly learn of and secure all avenues of escape.

Walking into the Cauldron, I was hit by a wave of noise and the smell of alcohol. The place was crowded and the celebrations from Voldemort's fall were still continuing despite more three weeks having passed. Although Great Britain's wizarding community numbered only in the tens of thousands, thus increasing the chances of fellow witches and wizards recognizing each other as compared to more populous places, no one called out to Eva nor me. Instead, we discretely made our way to the courtyard behind the Cauldron, only giving a polite nod to Tom on our way.

As Eva began the process of opening the path to the Alley, I waited in anticipation. Thus far, beyond the times when I was in danger, seeing magic used had always given me a rush of excitement that still had not faded away. Though I knew magic had to operate by the natural laws of the world, it seemed many spells used laws that had not yet been completely explored by muggles. For me, with knowledge having been stuffed into since birth, the pursuit of unknown fields was fascinating.

And, the brick wall did not disappoint. Seeing bricks fold back on each other was…magical. The scene it revealed was even more so.

Diagon Alley was not just an alley of shops as described in the books and movies. Rather than a one-way path leading to Gringotts, there were many paths to the right and left that led to other sections of shops. It was more of a city square than anything.

This actually alleviated one of my doubts. In the books, somehow Harry's 1000 galleon prize money was enough to fund the Weasley twins' research and development costs in addition to setting up shop on the single alley that made up some of the most prime real estate in the wizarding world. The finances never added up to me. However, with Diagon Ally spanning for more than just an alley, things now seemed more feasible and realistic.

Just like in the Leaky Cauldron, an air of festivity hung over the entire Alley. Everyone had smiles and most shops had large sales going on to celebrate.

Walking towards the large, domineering bank ahead of us, I tried to maintain a stoic expression that fit my position as the Eilean Head. However, my expression slipped a couple times and my eyes glinted in interest as I walked past and saw the various magical items and creatures through store windows.

From the corner of my eye I saw Eva give an amused smile as she looked at me. She then grabbed my hand and said, "Can't let you get lost, can I?"

I knew she was teasing me, but I just rolled my eyes and went along with it. Truth be told, I was slightly irritated at myself for the lack of control I held over my emotions as of late. It wasn't really a problem when I was just alone or with Eva, but lacking control in public was a different matter. I needed to find a way to dominate the original Keira's soul/conscience.

Gringotts was a stunning building. From both my lives' experience, I could tell the difference between pseudo-rich entities and those who possessed true wealth. Gringotts fell into the latter category. The quality of the material plus the craftsmanship was clearly meant to communicate the goblins' wealth and power.

As for the goblins themselves, they were much as I expected them to appear – pale skin, dome shaped heads, and pointy ears. They all had an air of superiority about them. Though the feeling wasn't too noticeable, I got the distinct sense that they felt themselves above wizard-kind. Of course, being a race that had competed against witches and wizards for millennia, that attitude wasn't all that surprising.

Inside the bank, I oriented my body into perfect posture and assumed a proud yet not arrogant attitude. Then, with Eva walking behind me, I approached a counter and told the goblin, "I'm here to open my vault."

I could have taken many different attitudes with the goblins. For one, I could have pretended to be a young, naïve girl in order to get them to drop their guards around me. Second, I could simply be arrogant, but that wouldn't benefit me at all. Third, I could go for a respectful and somewhat humble approach. While that may endear me to them, it would also make me look weak.

At the end of the day, I wanted to form an alliance with the goblins. Obviously, the alliance wouldn't happen in a day, but the process certainly started with first impression. And, in my mind, while true allies are always respectful of one another, they never behave subservient to the other party. Thus, my current attitude and phrasing where I purposely avoided words like 'I want to' or 'can you help me with' which directly imply reliance upon the other party's actions.

Without even looking up from his paperwork, the goblin responded, "Name and key."

I took out an aged key from my robes that had a '1' imprinted on it and slid it across the counter. "Keira Knight Eilean, Head of House Eilean."

Hearing that, the goblin stopped what he was doing and looked at me with interest. "The little orphan and her guardian, is it? A shame what happened to your parents. I shudder at the thought that House Eilean nearly came to ruin," he said without an ounce of sympathy in his voice. Instead, I felt as if he were probing and challenging me by drawing attention to the relatively dire straights my house was currently in.

With a smile I said, "At least, in the end, I got the satisfaction of annihilating my house's enemies." How the goblin took my statement was up to him. On the one hand, I could simply be talking about my killing of the Death Eaters. On the other hand, the goblin could take it as a thinly veiled warning to not oppose House Eilean.

"Interesting," he said, the corners of his mouth turning up ever so slightly. "Wait here as I get your escort." He then hopped down from his chair and walked out of sight. A few minutes later he came back with another goblin. Approaching us, I noticed the goblin I had been speaking to had an attitude of deference towards this new goblin. Returning my key to me, he said, "Griphook here is our branch's vice president. He will guide you to your vault."

"Follow me," Griphook curtly said. Without waiting for a reply, he turned around and made his way to the underground entrance.

Griphook is the vice-president? Well that's new.

As we boarded the cart – whose appearance really made me question goblin safety standards – I asked Griphook, "So to what do I owe the honor of having the vice-president of the Great Britain branch escort us?"

Without missing a beat, he replied, "A vice president or president escorts most old houses since an officer being present is required for most of our highest security vaults. No simple worker will do." He then turned around with a sneer. "Of course, normally, as our oldest patrons, the president is traditionally the one who escorts the Eileans to their vault. However, since it doesn't seem your house will be around much longer, the president didn't see the need."

So, they're not even going to bother pretending to be cordial? I'm really being looked down on. It seemed that before they would respect me enough to want me as an ally, I'd need to teach them a lesson soon.

"Let us hope he does not regret his decision one day," I said with an icy face and an equally cold tone.

Perhaps because of my rapid shift in personality, surprise flicked across Griphook's face. He then said in a contemplative tone, "Indeed, let us hope."

We then began our journey into the depths of the earth in earnest. The best description I can come up with for the cart ride is…insane. While I had never been on a rollercoaster, I figured my current ride was several factors more severe than the most extreme rollercoaster muggles had. It was in equal parts scary and exciting. For her part, Eva closed her eyes and tightly gripped the small handles throughout the whole journey.

Yet, despite our speed, the ride took a great deal of time. Even after passing under the Thieve's Downfall, ten more minutes were needed to reach our destination.

As the cart slowed, we passed under a final rocky ceiling and entered a huge expanse of open plane. The space we were now in extended for several miles, with the ceiling being a mile above us. Green grass, tall trees, and various mundane and magical plants filled out the surroundings. Natural light was brought into these depths through holes that ran throughout the ceiling and were outfitted with a strange material.

The cart stopped before what looked like a stone altar, upon which was a fastened bowl with a knife next to it.

At that moment, a loud, echoing roar rang through the air. Three black shapes flew at and unbelievable speed towards our locations. I say 'shapes' because the depth of their blackness made it hard to focus on them. In fact, the shapes reminded me of a technology that was being developed in my past life called Vantablack, which was so dark that it absorbed 99.96% of light.

Upon drawing closer, and hearing one of them roar again, I got the impression that I was looking at dragons, one of which being smaller than the others. With a loud thud, they landed on the ground on the other side of the altar from us. At this point, though their bodies were hard to get an exact impression of, their deep red eyes and white teeth were on plain display. I felt a pressure from them that I only ever felt in life-and-death situations.

"What are these?" Eva asked shakily. I gave her a glance and, though her body and voice were shaking from fear, her eyes shone with a bright light. She was a magic creature enthusiast through and through.

"Dragons," Griphook said. "A family of Gaelic Devourers. Ones that are loyal to the Eilean bloodline." Probably thinking just that information wasn't a sufficient explanation, he went on. "With their history, the Eilean family were the first ones we goblins invited to have a vault at Gringotts. We already had our most powerful security measures in place, but your family had us add a male and female Devourer they had captured and tamed. Years later, they mated and had the youngling before you."

"Why have I never heard of the Gaelic Devourer?" Eva asked.

I could have sworn I saw Griphook shrug at the question. "These are the last known in existence. In ancient times, their kind was overhunted because their bodies are comprised of even more amazing properties than normal dragons."

"Such a shame," Eva said. "I'd have loved to study them."

Griphook turned and faced me, more solemn than he had ever been up to now. "Right now, we can still turn back. However, as soon as you step up to the stone altar, you'll either be recognized by the Devourers or we'll all die."

"How do I gain their recognition?"

"You must pour your blood into that bowl," he said, pointing at the bowl atop the altar. "Once enough blood is spilt, a mechanism will diffuse the blood into the nearby air. If the Devourers recognize your blood as that of the Eileans, then you can proceed to your vault. If not…"

Hearing the explanation, Eva exclaimed, "You can't ask a child to give up so much blood!"

"There's no other way. Not only does the blood appease the dragons, it also serves as the first of three keys to unlock the vault door, the others being the physical key and a branch officer's presence."

Ignoring them, I confidently strode up to the altar and, under the fierce gaze of three dragons, I slice the palm of my left hand. Blood drizzled down the stone bowl beneath my hand, slowly filling it up. "How much blood is needed?"

"Enough," the goblin replied.

I rolled my eyes at his response and continued to let my blood drip. When the bowl was more than half-way filled – a sizeable amount for a girl my size – I felt magic well up in my surroundings. The blood then vanished. A second later, the air around the dragons was filled with a red mist.

The three dragons each sniffed the air. Then, almost at the same time, they stuck out their tongues and lapped at the red mist. Having tasted enough, the adult Devourers, followed closely by their child, let out ground-shaking roars before moving off to the side and bowing their bodies to me.

I let out a large sigh of relief I hadn't known I'd been holding. Behind me, I heard Eva and Griphook do the same. Even though I was confident the dragons would recognize my bloodline, it was nevertheless a nerve-wracking experience.

Eva practically ran up to me and placed me in a tight hug. Releasing me, she gave her wand a wave and the cut in my hand began closing. Then, with another wave of her wand, she cleaned the blood from me. It was a very strange feeling to have my wound close in such a manner. And, when it was healed, a certain itch remained behind.

"Follow me," Griphook ordered. Following him, we walked past the dragons and approached a vault door set into the wall fifty meters away. Upon reaching it, Griphook held out his hand. "Key." I handed him the vault key, which he then fit into one of the fifteen keyholes the vault had.

"What happens if you place it in the wrong hole?" I asked, curious.

"A powerful curse will activate. If it doesn't kill you, then, even if they initially recognized you, the Devourers will attack. Also, the correct keyhole randomly changes and only goblins can perceive which is the right one."

After turning the key, Griphook then placed both hands on the door and seemed to channel his magic into it. A moment later, a great groan echoed from the vault doors and dust billowed as the massive doors swung open.