A Hybrid at Hogwarts

Chapter Four

After my brief outburst, we continued in silence. A new sense of respect seemed to have grown for me though, I could feel her gaze on me but it wasn't piercing and judgmental as it had been before we came to this new dimension, her eyes were softened. I didn't know why.

I hate not knowing, it makes me feel weak, weaker than anytime I was on the streets. There was nothing to know, no new things to learn. When I was there, it was a sense of freedom that was clouded by an overriding fear. The fear was what made it so interesting, I'd met others who were in the same situation as I was, they'd taught me basic things that they'd learnt themselves like maths, English, history, sciences. None of them were family though, none of them cared enough to stick around for very long...

I was dragged quite violently out of my reverie by Professor McGonagall placing a firm hand on my shoulder. I jumped and looked questioningly at her, only to find that she was looking up. Standing before us was an impossibly crooked, marble building with 'Gringotts' written across the entrance above two extremely large mahogany doors. With a small glance at me, she strode inside, drawing glances from the... creatures inside the place... What on earth? Try as I might, I couldn't help but furrow my brow in confusion as I made to walk in after her.

There must have been dozens of the small, shrivelled creatures inside this place! They all did different things, some measured fine rubies, other counted immense stacks of odd coins. I decided heavily against asking questions, any that I had tried asking previously were all too quickly shut down. There was a gnome-like thing at the end of the building who looked with caution at my escort.

"I'm here to extract some money on behalf of Hala, Kamira." Was all she said, placing a small golden key onto the desk. He sneered before attempting to shove the key back. The professor's face turned cold again and I fought the urge to shrink under the glare that she pointed toward the goblin

"To open a vault, the owner of it must be present unless signed note be presented." I cleared my throat at this and his eyes fell upon me. His piercing, beady little eyes seemed to go right through me. There was a brief and awkward pause in which I stared him right in the face before he took the key back and beckoned to one of his colleagues behind him "Globrown will take you to your vault Miss Hala, Miss McGonagall." He then bowed so low I feared his nose would hit the floor and we were led away.

Sensing a greater deal of tension between my, now two escorts, I decided again to keep my head down. I felt that I should tell her however, "Professor? I have no money to take out. My mum's possessions were already given to me and she couldn't leave me much and I never knew my dad."

"What about your grandparents? Do you think they resented throwing their only child off of their estate?" She spoke quietly but with a clipped tone. Was she reprimanding me for not thinking of relatives that I had never even heard of, much less spoken to? Seeing the frown that I hadn't even noticed playing my face, she gave a questioning glance but said no more on the subject as we approached the vault. My vault. I could've never in my wildest dreams thought of what was inside.