Lily Evans

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

     The first thing we did was enter Gringotts. It was possibly one of the most magnificent buildings I had ever been in. The outside walls, though looked so pristine and pure against the other buildings of Diagon Alley, were undeniably strong, and I could tell no magic or force could ever penetrate them. We walked silently through the bronze doors and into the small entrance hall bearing yet another set of doors, silver this time and with the warning engraved across it in  loopy, elegant calligraphy:

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.

     The message sent an unexpected chill down my spine, making my hair stand on end. Goblins will not be cheated, unless of course you can escape on a dragon.

      High, marble walls stretched across a long hall full of at least a hundred goblins, sitting behind endless counters on either side of the room. The huge, constantly sparkling chandelier was what really caught my attention. It set the hall alight, illuminating every expensively marbled corner and every perfect jewel resting on top of the counters.

      The goblins however, were extremely intimidating. Their beady eyes followed my every move, my every breathe as Tonks and I approached a goblin on the right, who appeared to be examining a peculiar sort of rock, and handed over my key. I watched silently as he turned the key over and over again in his hands. He held it up to the light, tapped it several times - it was obvious that he was looking for a reason to deny my entry. "This vault has not been opened for fifteen years." It wasn't a question, just a statement that made me feel like I was doing something wrong, though I wasn't. He stared down his nose at me with cold, accusing eyes. Eventually he came to the conclusion that the key was genuine and called forward a goblin that look slightly less accusing of me, called Grink. Grink then led us through one of the hundreds of small doors leading off from the hall.

     It really wasn't that bad, I'd been on plenty of roller coasters, this was similar but just darker and less fun... I found shutting my eyes increased the nausea so I reluctantly opened them, but refused to look anywhere but forwards whilst on the cart ride. When we finally arrived at my vault, Grink hurried forward and poked my key through a hidden hole in the door. He slowly pulled open the door, it had grown very stiff from years of not being opened. Once I was inside, I could see the piles upon piles of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. Hundreds of shiny coins in neat stacks spreading over the entire interior of the vault. This had been my parents vault, but it felt weird to think that because I had only ever known the Muggle Andrew and Rose Evans, their wizard side was only accessible to me through other peoples stories.

      After shuffling about 50 galleons into a small money bagI had bought - and making a mental note to get a much bigger bag - I reluctantly got back into the death ride and was transported up to safe grounds of Diagon Alley with Tonks. "D'ya reckon we should get your books first, get the most boring out of the way?" asked Tonks once we had left Gringotts, I nodded, though personally thinking the books wouldn't be in the slightest bit boring, and we set off for Flourish and Blotts, coins jingling. 

      Flourish and Blotts was crammed with students and adults weaving in and out of the many bookshelves crowding the shop. Tonks approached a shop worker and handed him my book list. Then she and him disappeared to find them while I wandered over to some shelves, taking out a book at random and rummaging through it. I found books on creatures I had never heard of, spells that I would love to do but knew I wasn't at that level just yet, and I spent a while reading upon historic witches and wizards and what they had done. Ten minutes later the shop worker returned carrying a large stack of books, obscuring his vision, Tonks trailing happily and book-lessly behind. She and I walked over to the counter with the shop worker to pay. I counted out Galleons and Sickles while Tonks talked to him about the Daily Prophet.