Secrets of the Silent Passage

After twenty minutes of walking in the direction of the station, Harry had arrived. As it turned out, it only cost five pounds to ride the subway. This was more of a gain than a loss, considering that it meant Harry had a lot more money.

The ride to Charing Cross was a long yet entertaining one. Many of the muggles Harry saw were among the strangest he had ever met (though Harry personally believed most of the wizards he had met to be much more peculiar). In the center of the train he was on, two muggle men were having a sort of fist fight over an attractive blonde woman, which was entertaining to say the least. Particularly when the woman slipped out at one of the stations without either of the men noticing.

An hour and a half later, Harry stepped out of the subway and went up to the surface street. According to the directory he had seen when he had exited the subway, Charing Cross Road was only two blocks away from where he was now. Sure enough, he spotted the dusty wooden sign of the Leaky Cauldron just ten minutes later, sticking out amongst the colourful and bright muggle signs.

Harry stood directly in front of the pub door and turned around, looking at the people nearest him on the street. He noticed that the people who were looking at the shops all did the same thing. When they scanned the stores, their eyes seemed to almost skip the Leaky Cauldron, including Harry. Grinning to himself, Harry placed his bag on the floor and pulled out his Invisibility Cloak, before covering himself with it. Now unseen, Harry opened the pub door and walked inside.

It took Harry a moment to remember that doors typically didn't open themselves, causing his skin to pale slightly under his cloak. Thankfully, most of the wizarding world consisted of stranger things, and so his slip up went unnoticed. Harry quickly made his way to the other side of the pub, slipping through the door after a large group of teen witches and wizards a year or two older than himself. They had swung the door open to enter Diagon Alley, laughing at something one of them had said.

Harry grimaced when he saw their faces recognized them. They were a group of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, all of whom had made fun of him during his second year during the Chamber of Secrets debacle. He didn't like them very much, they were part of the reason he had constantly had to replace his belongings during that year. How they had managed to enter the Gryffindor common room, Harry didn't know. He was fairly certain, however, they hadn't used Polyjuice Potion.

As the group parted the brick entrance to Diagon Alley, Harry sent a whispered wide area stinging charm at them. Thanks to finally reading 'Hogwarts: A History', he had finally learned how to use his wand without getting in trouble with the Ministry of Magic.

According to the book, each wand sold in Diagon Alley had a trace issued upon it, which lasted until it's master's 17th birthday. All the trace did was tell the ministry where the underage magic was used, not by who. As long as Harry was not near Privet Drive, he would be fine.

Harry had also learnt that house elves were commonly sent in the 1800s to use magic in muggle born households, as they were capable of triggering the trace of a wand by using magic nearby. Harry was more than slightly agitated to read that it had become considered 'a common game played by pureblood witches and wizards during the summer months', as stated in the book.

Fortunately, that had been dealt with decades ago, and the punishment for doing such a thing was now quite severe. The only reasons he hadn't tried to sue the Malfoys upon hearing that was because Dobby had triggered the trace without being told to by the Malfoys, and because Harry was rather fond of the elf.

Ignoring the gasps of surprise and indignation issued by the group, Harry walked around them and towards Gringotts. Within a few minutes he realized that it was not the best idea to attempt walking through a crowd while invisible.

After arriving within a few shops of the Wizarding Bank, Harry ducked into a corner where he could not be seen, before pulling off the cloak and putting on his robes, being sure to cover his face so as to not attract attention.

Once done, he walked up the steps of the Gringotts bank, and through the large marble doors, which magically opened upon approaching them. Refraining from looking around at the beautiful structure, Harry made his way to the only goblin teller not helping someone, who happened to be sitting at the station in the very center of the hall. The goblin looked up from the parchment he had been reading a few moments prior.

"Name?" asked the goblin roughly, not bothering to hide his annoyance.

Harry tried and failed not to squirm under the goblins glare.

"Harry Potter." replied Harry nervously, watching as the goblin's eyes widen slightly, before performing the all to familiar flick up to his scar. The goblin's eyes narrowed as he observed Harry.

"And where, Mr. Potter, is your vault key?"

Harry was internally panicking. How could he have been so stupid as to forget he didn't have his key? The goblins seem to know what was going on in his head, as he stepped down from his seat, and opened the door separating the customer from the teller. The two of them walked out of the room through an elegant hallway that was right behind the center goblin teller station.

They continued to walk through the ornate hallway, passing several closed doors, each labelled 'Client Meeting Room'. Eventually, they arrived at a room that was not in use, and the goblin entered the room, motioning for Harry to follow.