Ternion || Oliver Wood

Chapter 135

Fleeing Gringotts

"Where's the sword? It had the cup on it!" yelled Harry as Griphook clambered onto his shoulders again, determined to avoid the swelling mass of red-hot-objects while Hermione, Ron and I were almost drowning in the still multiplying shining objects surrounding us that burned our skin.

My eyes squinted, scanning the room to find the sword that Harry used to get the cup.

"There!" shouted Griphook who lunged, and in that instant, I knew that the goblin had never expected us to keep our word.

One hand holding tightly to a fistful of Harry's hair, to make sure he did not fall into the heaving sea of burning gold, Griphook seized the hilt of the sword and swung it high out of Harry's reach.

The tiny golden cup, skewered by the handle on the sword's blade, was flung into the air. The goblin still astride him, Harry dived and caught it. The vault opened up again, Hermione caught my hand and dragged me into the outer chamber.

My whole body was burning, I was panting, out of breath. I looked around and saw how horrible we all looked. But Griphook was gone. Sliding from Harry's shoulders the moment he could, he had sprinted for cover amongst the surrounding goblins, brandishing the sword and crying, "Thieves! Thieves! Help! Thieves!" He vanished into the midst of the advancing crowd, all of whom were holding daggers and who accepted him without questions.

Slipping on the hot metal, Harry struggled to his feet.

"Stupefy!" he bellowed, and Ron, Hermione and I joined in.

The only way out of this mess was through.

Clutching my wand, jets of red light flew into the crowd of goblins, and some toppled over, but others advanced, and at the corners of my eyes, I saw several wizard guards running around the corner.

The tethered dragon let out a roar, and a gush of flame flew over the goblins: The wizards fled, doubled-up, back the way they had come, and for some reason, an inspiration, or madness, came to me.

"I got an idea, but it's fucking mad!" I shouted at the three who looked at me with rather confused faces.

I faced the thick cuffs chaining the best to the floor and pointed my wand at it, and I yelled, "Relashio!"

The spell broke the cuffs that imprisoned the dragon with loud bangs.

"This way!" I yelled, and still shooting Stunning Spells at the advancing goblins, I sprinted toward the blind dragon, putting my wand back in my pocket. I took a big leap and landed on the dragon's back, hanging from the spikes on its back.

"Agape — what are you doing?" Hermione cried.

"Jump! Come on!" I shouted, stretching my hand towards them while the other was clinging by the dragon's back. Harry jumped first and Hermione followed, and Ron was the last to go.

"You did not lie when you said your idea was bloody mad, Black!" yelled Ron who looked terrified as we gripped on the dragon's back, trying not to fall to our doom.

"We'll never get out, it's too big!" Hermione screamed, but the dragon opened its mouth and belched flame again, blasting the tunnel, whose floors and ceiling cracked and crumbled. By sheer force the dragon clawed and fought its way through. "Defodio!" yelled Hermione

She was helping the dragon enlarge the passageway, carving out the ceiling as it struggled upward toward the fresher air, away from the shrieking and clanking goblins: Harry, Ron and I copied her, bloating the ceiling apart with more gouging spells.