Gringotts

The inside of Gringotts was as grand as the outside, with massive chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, casting flickering golden light on the polished marble floor. The air was thick with a peculiar mix of a rich metallic scent and the faint aroma of old parchment.

Gold and silver carts traversed the hall, and the sound of quills scratching on parchment echoed as the hundreds of goblins sitting in their ornate teller-booths meticulously recorded transactions. The atmosphere was both hushed and bustling, creating a strange sense of tension.

Looking at the magical scene, Ted's expression almost changed. "Keep it cool, Theodor. Keep it cool!" he repeated in his heart. The magical hall truly mesmerized him. He may have read a lot about magical worlds and species, but he never had the chance to actually see such a thing until earlier today. Just this morning, he had still believed this place to be one among the many legends he had read before. He was quite excited for his first experience.

Gringotts, in fact, was one of his favorites, with its legendary tunnels that reached thousands of meters beneath the earth, guarded so heavily that no unauthorized person had ever stepped foot inside, leading to countless legends on whatever it contains.

Stepping forward, Ted saw countless doors leading out of the hall, with many goblins leading wizards and witches through them. As he looked at the counter, he could see the goblin tellers perform various tasks from weighing gold and silver to checking old weapons, the types only seen in museums.

Towards the right end of the row of booths, Ted spotted an unoccupied teller and approached the angry-looking goblin. Then he just stopped in front of it, waiting patiently, so as not to look too impolite. Looking to his left, he could see various witches and wizards talking to the tellers, but to his surprise, he heard none of what they spoke.

'A noise-canceling charm that only affects speaking, wow. That could be interesting.' he thought. In the little amount of books he had read on basic charms, only a charm to cancel all noise was mentioned. This type of thing was cool too, yes, but its use could be applied mostly to sneaking around.

But for a business deal, an observant person would notice the lack of all noise in a bustling area. This, in turn, might attract attention. This charm used in the bank also concealed lip movements, making it quite intriguing.

This kind of charm could be useful for dealing with people while in a public area, as well as in class when he was bored. This also gave him a new direction of thinking on the application of magic, with small differences in necessity, creating variations in the magic that would be normally applied.

True, Ted had yet to learn any actual magic, but logic was his forte. Using reason, he would often make somehow difficult concepts easy to understand. Of course, it also went sometimes the other way around, as he could overthink a simple concept, making the easiest of things a lot more complicated.

"Are you just going to keep on stinking the whole room, or are you going to state your business?!" an abrupt voice woke Ted up from his thoughts; the angry-looking goblin gave a glare.

Goblins, having abnormally large noses, also had an abnormally strong sense of smell. Ted, who hadn't taken a shower yesterday after he sweated his ass off while fleeing his pursuer on Charing Cross Road, was probably as stinky as they come, for your average wizard at least...

Turning his head back to the glaring goblin, Ted gulped his own spit, looking at the frowning black eyes, but he still did his best to keep his poker face.

In his lessons, it was always deeply emphasized how important it was not to reveal your emotions while doing business, as it might be used against you.

"I wish to convert Muggle money," he said, in the most decisive voice he could master. Being an 8-year-old, his voice was squeaky, even though it was still comparably low-tuned for his age.

"The amount?" The goblin asked monotonically; goblins were known to love gold and riches, but the bills that Muggles used didn't quite cut it for them.

If it wasn't so important to the economy and helping it grow, with many new wizards being born every year in Muggle families, they would have long stopped accepting it.

Ted carried most of his money in the form of a credit card, which was already accepted almost anywhere. Unfortunately, Gringotts wasn't just anywhere, and being a part of a world that didn't even have electricity, Ted didn't think they would use such a 'new' item.

"720 pounds." Taking out all the money he had in his pocket, he counted it swiftly and handed it to the frowning goblin while keeping a 50 bill, just in case.

The goblin took the pile of bills and counted just as swiftly. "The current exchange rate is 0.037 pounds for a Knut. Wizarding money is stable with the 29:17:1 exchange; that would be 39 Galleons and 8 Sickles. Is that fine, sir?"

"Yes, thank you." Ted nodded slightly. "How much initial deposit is needed for a personal vault?"

The goblin looked at him a little weirdly; Ted recognized it. It was the 'aren't you a little too young for that' look. He didn't get it often, but when he did, he always felt challenged somehow. It was weird, considering he thought the exact same thing, and yet that's how it was.

"It would be a minimum deposit of 5 Sickles and a drop of blood," he said, but then he added with a slight grin, "But to minors, there are some more laws, including the authorization of a legal guardian. That is, of course, if the guardian holds a vault as well. Gringotts only serves its clients; no race distinction."

It was quite clear that he didn't like Ted for making him work with the Muggle bills. The goblin probably thought that Ted was bound to be disappointed. After all, almost all wizards had a vault in Gringotts, and Ted was clearly here to sneak around. No wizard in his right mind would ever send their kid alone to Diagon Alley.

With Knockturn Alley right around the corner and dark wizards running around causing all sorts of trouble, one would really have to be crazy to send a kid out alone. But what he could never have imagined was that a smile would suddenly show on the lips of the poker-faced kid.

Hearing this, Ted's neutral mask broke for a moment, and a small smirk rose to his mouth. He had expected many answers, most of them consisting of something along the lines of 'no minors allowed,' but the second part made him very happy.

It wasn't the vault he was really interested in. Sure, carrying a bunch of gold around with you is quite tiring, and maybe he would, in fact, use the vault to store his gold in the future, but right now he wasn't planning on keeping any of the money he had just got.

There were far too many things he wanted in the magical alley, and the money he had on him wasn't nearly enough. No, what Ted was really aiming for was actually just sightseeing, and only with a vault would he get to ride the rails he had read about in the books. He was really looking forward to that.

"Then I shall deposit 5 Sickles," Ted said with glee, which he tried his best to keep hidden.

The goblin's glare intensified; he then took a small ball and a knife from under the counter, presenting them to Ted. The knife was short and had a noticeable metallic sheen; its blade reflected the light of the chandeliers that hung from the ceiling.

The ball, on the other hand, was see-through, like glass, but Ted could see many little carvings on its surface, which looked like letters in a language he didn't recognize.

"Drop the blood on the top of the ball," the goblin said, as he pointed a long finger at the little see-through ball. Then he turned around and called another goblin, passing him the bills Ted gave him along with a piece of parchment.

Ted took the knife from the counter. A little hesitant, he pressed his left pointing finger on the shiny blade, only for it to cut a slightly deep cut. The blade was crazy sharp, and only a gentle touch was enough to cut his skin and draw some blood. He didn't know that and used a bit of force, causing a deeper cut than he originally intended.

Ignoring the slight sting from the cut, Ted pressed his bloody finger on the ball. The ball, in turn, started glowing in weak red light, the letters curved on it seeming as if they were on fire. Ted watched it fascinated as the glow lasted for around 15 seconds before it finally dimmed, revealing a few lines written in red that seemed like they were floating inside the see-through ball.

"Give it here."

Ted was about to read them when he heard the goblin call sternly; a bit disappointed, he handed it over silently. The writing was really small, and Ted believed he would need a magnifying glass to read it. The goblin examined the ball closely for a few seconds before he finally nodded.

"Your current guardian indeed seems to not own a vault in our establishment," he finally said; it was clear from his voice that he was surprised. "The process would be completed shortly. Then you will be taken to your vault. Meanwhile, I have already sent someone to get your money; it will be here shortly."

Nodding towards the goblin, Ted let out a smile. Once the business was over, he could now relax. His mind was now fully occupied with the things he had seen until now and the things he was planning to do next.