Mysterious Girl (Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

New Beginning

So far, so good. I'd settled into my room in the Leaky Cauldron with no problems; it was a simple but comfortable room, more so than Professor M's make-shift one, I even had a fire, which when lit, gave a glow to the dark furnishing. Dumbledory had given me the first three days to settle in and I currently wait in the dining parlour on my fourth day for him to return. As I'd spent my evenings thus far, I watched the other guests in my wait, fascinated by their behaviour as I imagined various back-stories which might fit with the snippets of their conversations I managed to catch. 

"Robyn."I turn around to meet Dumbledory's gentle blue eyes, "Shall we?" He motioned, but several of the guests insist on greeting and shaking hands with him before we're able to leave.

"Are you secretly really famous, Professor?" I raise my eyebrow. He merely winks as he leads me through the bar and out into a fairly small, walled court yard sporting nothing except a few weeds and a dustbin with a smell that could just about be ignored. Tapping the wall three times with his wand, the chosen brick he'd tapped began moving – wiggling – and as a small hole appeared, it expanded until seconds later we stood in an large archway. The cobbled street in front of us twisted and turned out of sight but around us stuff shone from various shop windows. Everything from the shops to the people in and around us fascinated me, and all I could think was, now THIS is the wizarding world! We passed several shops including, Eeylops Owl Emporium, which I felt a particular impatience to visit since I'd always wanted an animal companion and was only quieted by Dumbledory's assurance we would go there after visiting Gringotts. Also along the journey were shops boasting robes, broomsticks, telescopes, books, quills and parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon and other instruments I couldn't name... The beauty of everything before me left mespeechless. Hope bloomed in my chest.

However, our destination as Dumbledory pointed out – not that you could miss it – was a towering, snowy-white building, with goblins in gold and scarlet uniforms standing beside its bronze doors. I recognized them from one of the books I'd read at Hogwarts, their pointy, clever faces and long fingers and feet were very distinctive. They bowed as we passed and we came to second set of double doors, silver this time. I halted to read the engraved inscription:

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay mostly 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.

I raise my eyebrow at Dumbledory, who'd been watching my expression. "Next to Hogwarts, Gringotts is one of the safest places you'll find," He told me. Like the first set of doors, we were bowed through the second set by another pair of goblins and let into a vast marble hall; we moved swiftly, leaving me little time to gape at the hundred more goblins sat on high stools behind a long counter doing various jobs with money and jewels. Or even at the numerous doors leading off from the hall which goblins were leading people in and out of.

"Good day," Dumbledory greeted the goblin as they both bowed to each other. "Miss Robyn Evans, here, would like to withdraw some money from her vault."

"You have her key, sir?" At this Dumbledory looked to me. My locket began to warm against my chest; I reached up and opened it and found within, nestled between two photos I never knew were in there, a tiny golden key. Retrieving the key and closing my locket, I handed it over then waited as the goblin examined it closely before pronouncing everything to be in order and motioning for us to follow one of the other goblins. To my surprise, we were led through a door revealing narrow stone passageways lit with flaming torches, revealing the steep downward slop and little railway tracks. The goblin whistled which no doubt summoned the little cart that came to a abrupt stop in front of us.