Chapter 323: Infiltrating Gringotts

Three days later, Alaric, Cho Chang, and Penelope arrived at Diagon Alley, having completed their preparations. They found a corner and took the Invisibility Potion, rendering them almost invisible.

They then donned their invisibility cloaks, making them completely disappear from sight.

Ordinary invisibility cloaks, made from Demiguise hair, were not as effective as Harry's cloak.

They often revealed outlines and lost their potency over time. However, the Invisibility Potion which Alaric had made with his research greatly compensated for these flaws.

With their presence reduced by a factor of tens, they would be unnoticed as long as they stayed out of direct sight.

The slight distortions from their invisibility cloaks would be negligible.

They proceeded to the bottom of the marble steps leading to Gringotts' bronze doors.

At the top of the steps, beside the gleaming bronze doors, stood a goblin in a scarlet and gold uniform, holding a slender gold rod—one of the detectors.

Ahead of them, a pair of witches and wizards in old-fashioned robes were heading toward the door.

Alaric acted quickly and activated the magical Disruptor.

The goblin's gold rod immediately began to flash and emit a piercing noise.

The pair of witches and wizards were promptly stopped by the goblin guard.

"What's going on?" the male wizard said loudly, his voice rough.

"Why are you stopping me? I need to get money quickly!"

"Rumor has it that the Dark Lord has returned," the female witch's voice was sharp, cutting through the noise of Diagon Alley.

"We need to move quickly, so don't block us."

"Sorry, Madam, Sir," the goblin bowed politely.

"Our detector shows that you might be carrying dangerous magical items or have malicious magic. We need to perform a full-body check."

"A full-body check?" The male wizard seemed offended. "How dare you? You're just a goblin!"

"But this is Gringotts!" The goblin guard's tone was firm, and his gaze was unfriendly.

Meanwhile, several other goblins in uniform emerged from Gringotts and took the pair of witches and wizards aside.

However, the rod continued to flash and beep, signaling a discovery.

But the goblin guard was not pointing the rod at anyone else at that moment.

Why was it acting up without a target?

The guard was bewildered, realizing that there might have been a malfunction with the detector.

As the goblins hurriedly apologized to the wronged pair, Alaric, Penelope, and Cho Chang had already entered the doors and arrived in the marble hall of Gringotts.

Behind the long counter, goblins sat on high stools, serving customers.

The trio moved to a relatively deserted corner to avoid bumping into any passing wizards or goblins.

Their task now was to wait for an opportunity.

They needed to find a time when a wizard or goblin would need to enter the vaults below.

At that moment, they could slip through the door to the vaults.

Gringotts' underground system was vast and complex, with tunnels crisscrossing throughout.

Goblins used railways and small carts to move through these tunnels.

If they could get into the tunnels, they would find their way to the lowest level and search the vaults belonging to Voldemort's pure-blood followers.

However, not every moment saw someone needing to access the vaults.

Wizards stored their wealth in Gringotts, but they didn't visit every time they needed to withdraw or deposit money.

Goblins only entered the vaults to manage deposits or withdrawals when the small vaults at the counter were full or empty.

This avoided unnecessary trips.

Eventually, their patience paid off. An elderly witch requested to personally check her vault.

A goblin emerged from behind the counter, appearing at the end of the counter and happily led the witch towards a door in the hall.

"They must be heading to the underground vaults," Penelope whispered to Alaric.

The trio followed behind, passing through the door into a rough stone corridor lit by burning torches.

The corridor was a steep downhill slope with a small railway track.

The goblin whistled, and a small cart sped towards them along the track.

They watched as the goblin and the elderly witch boarded the cart.

As the cart was about to depart, Alaric and Penelope exchanged a glance and acted simultaneously.

Two Incarcerous Spell hit the elderly witch and the goblin, causing them to collapse in the cart, immobilized.

Alaric then cast a Stunning Spell on the elderly witch, rendering her unconscious, and turned his attention to the goblin.

"Who… who are you?" The goblin stared in terror at Alaric and Penelope, who had removed their invisibility cloaks.

"What… what do you want? This is Gringotts… there's no good outcome for intruding here…"

"Calm down," Penelope said in a soothing tone.

"We just need to find a few specific vaults. If you tell us the directions, we won't harm you."

"No… no," the goblin, though scared, bravely said, "I… I won't… tell you…"

"Is that so? You seem very loyal to Gringotts," Alaric sneered. "Perhaps a dose of Veritaserum will help."

The goblin tried to protest, but Alaric forced Veritaserum into his mouth.

The goblin, held by Alaric, was compelled to drink an entire vial of Veritaserum.

His throat wrinkled, and a few drops of the potion dribbled from his mouth.

Soon, his eyes glazed over as the potion took effect.

Penelope then began questioning him, while Cho Chang took out a piece of parchment to record the answers.

They only needed the routes to the Lestrange, Crabbe, and Goyle families' vaults, but due to the complexity of the underground vaults and tunnels, even a few routes filled up a large sheet of paper.

Next was cleaning up the scene.

Penelope used a spell to lift the Stunning Charm from the elderly witch, waking her up.

Alaric used the Memory Charm to erase the memories of both the witch and the goblin.

They then donned their invisibility cloaks again and watched as the goblin, who had forgotten everything, took the witch away, driving the cart into the darkness.

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