Chapter 245

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Now there are four Horcruxes left: in Potter, in the Gaunt's ring, in the serpent, and in the Hufflepuff's cup. And why did I apparate to Hogwarts?

Once again, I apparated to another dark corner near the Leaky Cauldron, and after casting Muggle-repelling charm on myself, I headed for this establishment. Why here? Firstly, it is rude to Apparate onto the Alley itself, and secondly, the Aurors immediately come running. Furthermore, you can't apparate to the Hogwarts Express platform at all - an anti-terrorist measure dating back to World War II.

It was already dusk outside, and the sky above the rooftops was a pleasant shade of red, which would soon become dark but without stars. Stars over Hogwarts is one of the reasons I love the mountains of Scotland.

"The Leaky Cauldron was as gloomy as ever, but it was pretty clean this time. Whether it was the absence of all sorts of unpleasant magical bums, or the sudden once-a-decade cleanup, it was quite pleasant to be here now. And the aromas of baked vegetables and roasted meat of several varieties whetted my appetite. However, I was not here for the food. As soon as I took a few steps towards the exit to the backyard of the establishment, I was immediately noticed by the bartender Tom. He was rubbing the glass with a rag with the equanimity of a boa constrictor and the stubbornness of a ram. He always rubs the glass with a rag.

"Young man," the gray-haired bartender called out to me. "What are you doing here?"

"Skipping Hogwarts, of course," I smiled back without slowing down. "What else?"

"Indeed," the bartender smiled and nodded, and when the door to the backyard almost slammed behind me, I heard a shout behind me:

"Wait, what?!"

I completely hid myself under the concealing charms and stood in the corner. After a brief moment, the bartender ran into the backyard, looking around.

"Did he slip through?" he muttered quietly. Then, reaching the brick wall, he waved his wand near it a couple of times. "Didn't pass."

Throwing a few search spells into the space around me but not finding me, Tom shook his head and returned to the establishment.

"What a youth these days..."

I decided to wait a few minutes, and for a good reason. Just forty seconds later, the door swung open abruptly, and out of the doorway, in a comical "Caught" pose, appeared Tom with a wand at his side.

"Aha! Gotcha... No one. Ugh..."

Once back inside, the bartender even locked the door. I waited again for a while and only then went to the brick wall, opening the passage with my wand.

Diagon Alley was almost empty by this time, though the stores were working, and the lights were on in the windows, as were the second or third floors, which were often residential. It was not the stores that interested me, however. I walked down the street to the porch of Gringotts, and with a nod to the goblin in armor and an axe that guarded the entrance, I went inside.

It was already livelier here, and it didn't matter that the reason for the liveliness was the imitation of extremely useful activities in the form of small and greedy bank employees. Finding the first relatively free employee at the tall wooden stand, I quickly approached him.

"Good evening, sir," I nodded to the goblin, who was already paying attention to me.

"Good evening. Can I help you?" the goblin replied in an invariably squeaky voice and grinned.

"Certainly. I have information that may interest you or your superiors. Or maybe not. I will even offer you fifty galleons for the answer to the question, 'What will you do with it, and will you do anything at all?"

"You know how to intrigue an honest goblin," grinning more than before, the bank employee put his fingers together. "I'm listening."

"That's not something you can talk about in the hall."

The goblin shrugged, and an invisible but palpable dome of silencing covered us.

"That's a controversial statement," the goblin remarked.

"There's a good chance that one of your vaults contains the Horcrux of You-Know-Who."

No reaction.

"Are you going to do anything about it?"

"Absolutely nothing. Gringotts Bank exists to store any valuables of wizards. I draw your attention to the word "any." Even if it were Merlin and Morgana in the flesh, the bank would provide them with as much quality storage as the customer desires, and their financial means allow."

"A very... Practical point of view."

"Reputation, tradition, and treaties," the goblin spread his hands out."

"Well..."

I pulled out my wallet and quickly counted out the promised galleons.

"It was worth a try."

And so I left the bank with nothing. And what made me think that the goblins would be horrified by this information and would rather try to destroy the Horcrux or take any other action? Stupid, really. So, at the very least, I will need to break into the bank and destroy the cup. Unfortunately, I don't think it's possible to force Bella to cooperate in any way.