Chapter - 19 : Beneath Gringotts

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I was sure, however, that I didn't appreciate the flood of clients who rushed forwards to greet us.

"Doris Crockford, such a pleasure to meet you!"

"Welcome back!"

I found my hands scooped up and shaken enthusiastically. The man in the top hat bowed and his hat fell off. My eyes widened as it triggered a memory.

"You bowed to us in a shop once!" Harry exclaimed, surprised. He'd clearly remembered the same thing. The man in the top hat grinned so wide it looked like his face might split.

"He remembers me, you hear, he remembers me!"

I didn't much like the attention, the way all these wizards and witches were beaming at us like we were particularly adorable kittens Hagrid had just brought in. But I did notice that most of them contented themselves with a brief greeting and a handshake when it came to me. Doris Crockford kept coming back to shake Harry's hand and people seemed much more interested in speaking to him than me.

I smiled slightly and hugged myself. Well, I didn't defeat the biggest bad the wizarding world had faced in the last century, did I?

That was true for most people. Not the twitchy young man though.

"L-L-Lorena P-P-P-Potter, such a pl-pl-pleasure!" he announced. I plastered on a smile – it wouldn't do to be impolite – and offered him my hand. He recoiled as if I'd just tried to stab him, giving a weak smile.

"Ah hah, I-I'm not m-m-much for sh-sh-sh-sh-shaking h-hands," he explained.

"Professor!" Hagrid greeted jovially. "I didn see yeh there! Harry, Lorena, this is Professor Quirrell! He'll be teachin' yeh Defense Against the Dark Arts!"

"F-F-Fascinating subject," Quirrell stammered, though he looked like he would have rather said 'f-f-frightening.' "N-Not that y-you n-need it, e-e-eh?"

Hagrid let the other patrons have us for a few more minutes before whisking us off into the back alley behind the pub. Trash littered the area. Hagrid pulled us to a stop in front of a brick wall.

"Told yeh," he said pointedly, tugging out his umbrella. "Yer famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' to meet yeh. Mind yeh, he's usually tremblin'."

"Does he need some kind of medication?" I asked.

Hagrid explained something about him getting in trouble with some vampires while on a sabbatical, but I pretty much tuned him out after the word 'vampire,' taking the chance to process it. When I stopped imagining a Dracula monster sinking its fangs into my neck, I looked up to find Hagrid tapping his umbrella against the bricks on the wall. My eyes widened as they began to spin around each other, pulling back to reveal-

"Welcome to Diagon Alley," Hagrid said grandly.

Witches and wizards bustled everywhere, some tugging children along. Some seemed eager to get on with tier shopping, but some were lingering and chatting happily. A cluster of young witches were gathered around a clothing store, cooing over some glistening black beaded robes. A young boy was pointing at a sweet shop hopefully. A few old men were gathered in the shade of a patio outside of a little café, talking about the Ministry. A couple of guys in their mid-twenties clustered in front of a shop, staring at a gorgeous, streamlined broomstick in awe.

It was like a normal street, but… magical. Vapors and sparks drifted from the doors of some of the shops. Owls fluttered overhead, lighting on lamp posts. Some of the shops had floating signs outside that repainted themselves with sales every few seconds. The people were walking around in robes and pointed hats, a few even twirling wand absently as they walked.

It was gorgeous.

And so was Gringotts, I mused as Hagrid guided us towards it. It was made of snow white marble with a pair of bronze doors, people filtering in and out casually. Past the bronze doors was a set of silver ones with a poetic warning against thievery – basically steal anything and we kill you, I observed – and standing beside those doors in a red and gold uniform was

"Yeah, tha's a goblin," Hagrid confirmed.

The goblin had a pointed beard and a clever face. It was a head shorter than I was and it had very long fingers and feet. It seemed oddly disproportioned, I mused, and I vaguely wondered how he kept balanced.

Past the silver doors were more goblins. Some tottered around under piles of records as large as they were. A few were dealing with customers. Some were weighing coins and gemstones carefully against a series of weights, and my eyes widened at a pile of rubies the size of her fist. Still more goblins bent over thick ledgers, making notes every now and then with quill pens.

Hagrid approached one of the free goblins and cleared his throat. The goblin looked a little irked as he set aside his quill and asked, "Yes?"

"The Potter children wish to make a withdrawal," Hagrid explained.

The goblin leaned over his counter, looking at us calculatingly. "And do they have their key?" he asked as he sat back, sounding unimpressed.

"Oh, uh…" Hagrid fumbled in his pockets. He pulled out a live dormice and some dog treats before finally plucking out a golden key. He held it up triumphantly, stuffing the dormice back where it came from. The goblin took the key and examined it, looking infinitely pleased as Hagrid removed the dog treats from where he'd dropped them on the counter.

"An' I've got a letter from Dumbledore about the thing in vault 713," Hagrid added, thrusting out his chest importantly as he offered the letter to the goblin. He scanned the letter through, nodding to himself before passing it back.

"Everything seems to be in order," the goblin said. "I'll have a goblin take you to both vaults. Griphook!"

Another goblin ventured forwards and gestured for us to follow him.

"What's in vault 713?" Harry asked curiously.

"Can't tell yeh," Hagrid said mysteriously. "Hogwarts business, very secret. Dumbledore trusted me with it. More'n my jobs worth ter tell yeh."

I had expected to be led into a labyrinth holding rows and rows of vaults. Instead, we entered a cavernous chamber that dropped away under my feet, going so far down that if it weren't for the torches running down the walls at varying depths, I wouldn't have even been able to see all of the way down. Mine cart tracks ran around the place wildly, like some kind of ride at a theme park. Dimly, I thought I could hear water rushing.