Mellilla

Chapter Three

Ms. Evans, of number four, Privet Drive, was proud to say that her family were perfectly abnormal, thank you very much.

When Ms. Evans woke up on the dull, grey Thursday, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and abnormal things would be happening soon. Wrestling Dudley out of his pyjamas seemed a sport as Ms. Evans was seen trailing behind his jumping form, shirt in hand.

At half-past nine Ms. Evans gathered her excited children and locked up number 4 privet drive, handbag in hand and dressed in her finest. With grinning faces the children scampered over each other to get in the car as Petunia watched with a hidden smile and laughter on her lips. Pulling out of the driveway the abnormal family made their way to the leaky cauldron, London. 

The Leaky cauldron was a tiny, grubby-looking place, wizards and witches of all sorts lingered in the overcrowded bar. A crowd of rowdy witches stood out as they cackled on about the latest daily prophet gossip, with tiny glasses of sherry clutched in their hands on their crowded table in the corner. Across the room, a thin man reading the paper sat by the bar, his outfit looked quite funny thought Dudley as his eyes trailed over the mans frame. The man, wearing a dark jade green waistcoat and fancy black pants, the type he'd see on fancy businessmen also wore a strange green cloak and sported a sour look on his face, looking as if he'd just swallowed a lemon. The man, as if sensing Dudley's curious eyes lingering on his figure, turned and sneered angrily towards the small boy, causing him to scamper terrified into his mothers figure as the man at the bar chuckled gleefully. 

The Evans family trailed on as they made their way to the back of the dingy pub into the corridor which held the stone entrance to Diagon Alley. Dudley's mind procured several bizarre theories surrounding the seemingly normal brick wall, his mind swimming as Harry stepped forward counting bricks in the cobblestone wall. 'Three up ... Two across ...' he muttered. 'stand back everyone'.

The brick he'd touched quivered in the middle and a small hole had appeared as if a sinkhole had opened and it grew wider and wider and suddenly the Evans family were looking at an incredibly large archway leading to a cobbled street which twisted and turned out of their sights. Grinning at his family's dazed expressions Harry stepped through the arch and his family quickly followed his pace, their heads turning to watch the disappearing entrance with awe. Quickly the Evans family's posture straightened, their heads high and their faces expressionless; The family radiated confidence and poise, the perfect pureblood mask, despite the appearance of their attire reminding them of their muggle upbringing, something they'd have to recorrect immediately.

Dudley and Mel wished they'd had about eight more eyes as they looked about the street internally jumping in glee at the various exciting sights to see and explore. The family walked down the street in an elegant manner as they passed the many shops selling broomsticks, expanding trunks, cauldrons, owls and many other exciting things. There were shops selling robes, shops with overflowing piles of magical books looking as if a small gust of wind would topple over the piles, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eel's eyes, quills and rolls of parchment, potion bottles....

'Gringotts', said Harry.

Reaching the large snowy-white building that towered over the little shops Melisandre had suddenly got the feeling of being small but nonetheless her body buzzed in anticipation as she faced the large bronze doors. Walking up to them she looked over to the two Goblins that wore a uniform of scarlet and gold looking quite serious as they bowed to the new-comers, the family respectfully giving a nod of acknowledgement to the utter shock of the guards. Reaching another set of doors, silver this time, Dudley strained as he stood on his toes reading the inscription engraved on the doors:

Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.

With a barely concealed shudder the Evans family made their way through the silver doors quietly as another set of goblins bowed to them, giving another nod, and receiving the same amusing reaction. Their reaction making it clear they were not used to being acknowledged, much less by wizards, a thing Mel and Harry had silently told themselves they were going to uphold. The large marble hall was filled with about a hundred goblins sat on tall stools as they worked behind the long counters weighing coins and scribbling in ledgers. Melisandre and her family made their way for the counter as they stood patiently behind a regal looking couple that sported one too many feathers for Mel's liking as they tickled her face. Making their way to the Goblin bank teller the goblin snapped at them "what do you want?", much to the quiet shock of Petunia and Dudley.

"Greetings Master Goblin, my name is Melisandre Potter and I would like an inheritance test for myself and my brother Hadrian Potter and I would like to speak with our account manager." Mel replied formally being polite and to the point.

Peering down from his ridiculously tall counter, the goblins beady eyes quickly looked over the two Potter children with a look of barely concealed shock. And with a curious tone he replied "very well, follow me Mr and Miss Potter", and his figure disappeared completely and reappeared from beside the tall counter. The goblin led the Evans through many long stone corridors lit with torches before stopping at a polished wooden door that had a small plaque with the name Kleerk inscribed in formal lettering. Politely knocking, the goblin waited for a reply before opening the door for the Evan's to walk through and with a polite nod and a quiet thank you the family made their way through to the dim office.