Reaper's Heir (Book 1)

Chapter 7

I groaned and shoved another book on the history of Gringotts across the table and laid my head on it. While I could admit that the history of the bank itself probably wouldn't help me figure out what had been in the vault Hagrid had taken Harry and me to, it had been my only idea of where to start. All I'd learned was that Gringotts was where wizards kept their money and important heirlooms, which Hagrid had said while we were at Diagon Alley anyway, so that didn't help either. Some families, mostly purebloods, would even give each member a separate vault for their share of the inheritance. I looked up, glaring at the book across the table. If whatever had been in the vault had been important enough to try and break in to get it, why had Hagrid been sent to get it? Why had he taken us along? Out of convenience? That seemed most likely since he probably would've had a hard time getting rid of us long enough to get it and we would've had to go for our money anyway. But that still left me at square one; what had been in the vault?

I jumped as Daphne dropped her books on the table, the loud thud earning her glares from a few other students as she sat down. "Still reading those books on Gringotts? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were hoping to put in a job application already."

I scowled at her, reaching for the book again. "I don't want to work at some bank. I just can't stop thinking about that vault or that article in The Daily Prophet."

Daphne pulled her work out of the stack and began scribbling in it. "You never told me exactly what happened with that. Why are you so obsessed with it?"

I flipped through the pages again, hoping that even though I'd already read the book front to back multiple times, something that I'd missed would magically appear. "It just seems suspicious. The same vault that Hagrid-" And here, her nose wrinkled again, "took Harry and me to gets broken into on the same day. He made it out to be such a big secret, such a big deal. Something we needed to keep quiet about. It just... doesn't make sense."

She had stopped writing as I'd talked and was now looking at me, seemingly unimpressed. "That's it? So you got taken to a vault and it gets broken into on the same day. Maeve, that's not much to go on. Even if that oaf did make whatever he got out of there seem like a big deal, you can't drive yourself crazy over it. Gringotts is the most secure bank in the wizarding world. They have precautions and protocols for this kind of thing."

Her casual dismissal made my chest tight, reminding me far too much of the Dursleys. Closing the book with a snap, I stood up and began gathering my things. "I'll see you in class," I said, quickly walking out of the library, ignoring Daphne calling my name. Thoughts swam in my head. Abruptly, my mind turned to Harry. Where was that older boy -was it Wood? I couldn't remember for sure. Where was he supposed to show Harry whatever quidditch things they needed to go over? Could I find them and talk to Harry before class? He'd take me seriously about the vault. He'd have to, he was the one to find it suspicious in the first place. I set off, having no real idea of where to start, but determined to find Harry anyway. Suddenly, I stopped. Perhaps they'd be near the field we'd had our first flying lesson on? I turned and began making my way there, my mind still swirling with ideas and theories. It wasn't until I walked through a door, down an oddly sloping corridor, and came out near the entrance to the dungeons that I stopped and looked around, wondering how I'd managed to get so far off course.

Looking around, I groaned and hit myself on the forehead. This was great. Now I was all the way across the castle from where I'd wanted to be and still needed to get to charms. I wouldn't have any time to find Harry, assuming I managed to get to class on time at all. Feeling all my frustrations from the past few days beginning to overflow, I covered my face with my hands, refusing to let anyone see me cry, on the off chance that someone came wandering down here.