Chapter 17: Chapter 15
The Gringotts bank was an imposing building right in the middle of Diagon Alley. It was also the tallest building in sight. We climbed the white stairs which led us to a tall pair of silver doors manned by two goblin guards.
I kept my expression neutral when I saw my first goblin. Well, they weren't too weird. The goblin was wearing a uniform of gold and red colours or to be polite, he looked like a human midget with slightly sharper features and dome-shaped heads.
Pointy ears were the first sign that indicated that he was in fact not a human. That and the fact that he had only 4 fingers.
The goblin stared at me while I walked. The doors had words engraved on them that said:
------------------------
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.
------------------------
A grim poem that served as a warning. Though ironically enough I was more interested in the building itself than the treasures found in it. Its high-security wards were something I was fascinated by.
I had put warding on things I must learn as I would have a lab of my own someday for experiments of the nefarious kind and knowing good wards would be helpful.
We reached the main hall after passing the silver doors. The hall had a high ceiling and it looked bigger on the inside.
I found it ironic that the goblins of all creatures had such a large place to themselves while Hagrid, a literal giant lived in a house more suited to them.
There were many rows in the hall with each one having goblins sitting on high tables doing their jobs.I saw many wizards and witches too who were waiting patiently in a line.
Eileen approached a goblin and I followed behind her.
"Excuse me," she said trying to grab the busy goblin's attention.
The goblin looked up with clear annoyance having been interrupted.
"What is it, witch?" he asked.
"We are here to get him registered as heir," Eileen stated and pointed towards me.
I had to look up to see the goblin over the tall table.
"Right…what's the house name?" he asked.
"Prince," Eileen answered.
The goblin grunted and began looking through a thick book.
"Let's see...Prince...ah yes the house doesn't have an heir."
"So you want to have him try the heir verification?" he asked, looking at me.
"Yes. He turned 11 a few months ago and will start Hogwarts soon so I want to restore his pureblood status." Eileen replied.
"Very well, Adgrot !" he said and another goblin came running. This one looked more goblin like than the other ones. He had a pointier nose and longer ears.
"You called master Burgock?" the goblin asked once he arrived.
"Take these two to the Prince vault and get an heir ring ready." the goblin, Burdock said.
"Alright Master," Adgrot said and beckoned us to follow.
He led us out of the hall to a doorway that descended into the ground. The door opened to reveal a cave. It painted a stark contrast to the white marble outside. The cave-like mine extended into the darkness and it had some torches on the wall with tracks descending into the abyss.
Adgrot didn't talk much and gestured to us to stop. He pulled a lantern hanging on the wall and lit it before clapping. A sound of screeching was heard as the sound of what seemed like minutes, a cart came rushing up the tracks and stopped before us.
"Come along wizards," Adgrot said and got on the cart.
The next few minutes were thrilling and I had to hold myself back from screaming. The goblin minecart was perhaps the longest and the best roller coaster ride I had ever been on.
Of course, it was dangerous too as there were no safety features but one would be relatively safe as long as they did not piss the goblin off.
Once we got off the cart on a floor I couldn't tell, the goblin began leading us deeper into the cave.
"So what number is our vault?" I asked Eileen.
"Our family is not very old so we didn't get the higher security vaults that the older ones got. Ours should be...vault 545," she answered.
Hmm...545 meant that it was higher than Harry's if I recalled correctly and it also cleared my doubts of security being higher the deeper we went.
I thought back to the history of my house. The Prince's had started off as a branch family of a pureblood house and they could be traced back to 800 years ago. The main family died out allowing the Prince family to become the main one.
They specialised in making potions and were a relatively well-known family back then and even had ties to the other craftsmen families like the Ollivanders.
They had been at their peak somewhere in the middle of the 16th century but they suffered a heavy blow during the witch trials. Being a family specializing in potions, they were discovered more quickly and many were hunted down. It didn't help that they also sold potions to muggles back then.
Many wanted the Prince Family to work under them and when refused, they hunted them down. Most were muggles but some dark houses tried attacking them too.
I had been under the impression that witches and wizards didn't really suffer much during the trials as I was pretty sure some witches voluntarily got themselves burnt for fun.
Turns out I had been right for the most part as full-grown wizards and witches did survive but the younger ones who were caught didn't. Accidental magic could only do so much after all and only powerful wizards and witches could make out alive from a burning.
From that point onwards, the Princes who were a family that used to belong to the 'light side' turned into a muggle hating house. After years of generational brainwashing, it didn't come as a surprise that Eileen's parents hated her for marrying a muggle.
Well, it didn't matter now. They had passed away and left their fortunes for me or so I hoped.
They had been in decline even before Eileen left and I don't think they did better after that. They had been caught up in the war between Grindelwald and Europe and being a craftsmen family. They were targeted to stop supplies.
Being on the losing side didn't help too. Coming back to the vaults, we had arrived in front of it.
It was a cave-like hole with a metal door on it. Adgroft pulled a ring out of his pocket and handed it to me.
Eileen nodded at me and I put it on. I was about to comment on its large size but it adjusted itself to fit my finger perfectly.
"What should I do next?" I asked.
Adgroft tapped the vault a few times and an arm-sized hole appeared.
"Put your hand in the hole, young wizard," he said with a nasty smile.
"Go on Severus, don't be afraid. Worst case, it fails and we can't access it." Eileen said, trying to reassure me.
"Wait….so there are no repercussions if I fail?" I had been under the impression that failing meant I would have to face some issues.
"Of course not, only the dark families do that. Our family didn't put any curses on the vault. Failing means you won't be able to try it again. That's it, no curses or repercussions…"
Hearing that, I felt all my nervousness disappear and without hesitation, I clenched my fist and inserted it into the hole. That may have sounded wrong but it is what it is.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Klazy_Labbit
Klazy_Labbit Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Like it ? Add to library！
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone