A Taste of Magic

Chapter 112: 112th Course - Very Far Down

"Wow," Harry gasped, looking out the window of the train car.

"Quite the sight, isn't it?" Flitwick said proudly. He joined Harry at the window and sighed softly. "I never tire of it despite seeing it many times."

Harry was finally visiting Thalga, the main goblin city in Britain and the one beneath the bank. The bank had a long weekend and Main Kitchen One was closed as well as many other parts of the bank. It was a Goblin holiday, one where families usually met together for a little rest, and Harry was invited to visit the city and spend time at the StoneHeart family home, something that touched him deeply.

Flitwick's goblin side of the family also lived in Thalga, next door to the StoneHeart clan estate actually, and he was more than happy to serve as Harry's escort to and from the city as well as show him about alongside members of the Crew and Diglin and Dee of course.

They started the journey from the bank itself, a grand elevator reserved for the higher officials. It was very comfortable with chairs and benches and a well-secured lantern hanging down. The elevator took them about a third of the distance to Thalga and they then boarded a train to take them the rest of the way.

Flitwick had told him that there were elevators that took them straight to the city or they could use the Goblin Floo, but they decided on the scenic route for Harry's first visit, something he was grateful for. The train was a lot like the Express with the station much like King's Cross. Goblins and a few humans walked about and waited at platforms and boarded different trains going to different places. The train taking them to Thalga was once again a nicer example of some others and they had a very nice compartment for them to sit in comfortably.

"What do goblin trains run on?" Harry asked,

"All of them can run on fuel of some sort," Flitwick explained. "Coal, different fuel sources that provide steam-power, and others can run on goblin magic like the small minecarts the bank uses for local transport. The bigger ones like this one are typically a combination of magic and a fuel source."

For the first part of the train ride, the windows looked at blank stone walls. The tunnels were dark and somewhat claustrophobic with dangling lights making many small oases of light in the dark desert. However, suddenly, the car was filled with a bit of light and Harry looked out and gasped.

The ground to the side was a slope and it went into an immense underground sea. The water was greenish-blue and it glowed, giving off a light that was clear and cold. He could no longer see the opposite wall and the space was a gigantic cavern. The roof was too far high to see and the fact that there was a bit of an ever-prevalent gloom reminded Harry that he was underground. The sea disappeared into the dark. The train chugged along the track and it was going to a place with more lights and structures.

"This is the Undersea?" Harry asked excitedly.

"It is! Biggest one in all of Britain and bigger than many in the rest of the world," Flitwick smiled. "In fact, the southern edge of the Undersea is in France. Thalga was a port city at first, a place for ships that travel the Undersea to dock and repair and refuel. When Gringotts Britain was founded, it used Thalga as a base to obtain materials and where the majority of her employees reside, which persists to this day. It is the capital city for British goblins and all material and visitors from Goblin places from the continent and other parts of the world come through Thalga."

"It's beautiful," Harry breathed, looking at the sight.

Flitwick beamed. "The light coming from the Undersea is from creatures and algae and lichens that give off natural light. Also, look there." He pointed at an orb that hung in the air above the city. "That is the SunDrop. It was made to mimic the day and night cycle of the world above for those that depend on that. Much less bright of course. Oh, before I forget. Here you go."