Strength in the Darkness

Disclaimer: All these characters belong to the wonderful JK Rowling!

A/N- Oh my gosh... I am soo sorry to all of you who have waited for the next chapter of this story... I will admit to you guys that I really gave up on this for a while, and every time I started this chapter, it was written at school during a boring class, and never got typed on my computer! Also, I dedicate this chapter to my bestie Veronica who nagged me to get back to this story! [What are best friends for? :)] And now without further ado, I give you.. Chapter Three! So anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 3: A Key to the Past

Gringotts was now in sight, and I quickened my pace, when all of a sudden, I caught sight of the person I was least expecting to see today..

Harry's POV

I stared, frozen in shock, as I watched Albus Dumbledore serenely walking up the steps to Gringotts. All of a sudden, the reality of where I was hit me, and I realized that people would see me and would end up mentioning it to Dumbledore. That is, if he didn't see me first.

I cursed, and ducked into a side alley, as I narrowly missed being seen by the Headmaster's twinkling blue gaze as he turned around on the top step to slowly survey Diagon Alley below. Smiling, he turned around and stepped through the heavy gold doors of the bank.

I slumped back against the brick wall of the alley, and cursed my horrible luck... Of course, I should have realized that Diagon Alley would be crowded today, it was the first weekend of the holidays, and people would be anxious to get to their vaults so they could have money to do all their fun summer activities. I decided to blame it on the fates that seemed to have it out for me that Dumbledore chose this day to visit his vault.

Sighing in resignation, I decided to just try my (nonexistent) luck, and hope that Dumbledore would be in his vault by now. It was my only choice, as I didn't want to be waiting for an unknown amount of time for Dumbledore to leave the bank. And I had already spent all my pocket-money on the ticket for the underground to London. So the bank was my only choice.

Pulling my baseball cap farther down over my easily recognizable hair, I stepped out of the shadows of the alley, and made my way to the white marble steps of Gringotts. As I stepped into the teller hall, I looked around nervously for any sign of bright purple robes or a white beard. Sighing in relief, I squared my shoulders, and made my way to the nearest goblin teller.

As I approached the desk, I realized that the goblin working there was the one who had shown me to my vault in my first year. I racked my brains trying to remember his name. Griphook! That was his name! Clearing my throat politely, I stepped up and said, "Good morning Sir. I would like to take a trip to my vault."

Griphook looked up and said, "That seems to be in order, key and wand please."

I grabbed my wand out of my pocket, and scrounged around in my sweatshirt pocket for the key, and then handed both to Griphook. He examined the tiny golden key, and then pulled out what looked like a dictionary. I was surprised to see that it held descriptions of wands and who they belonged to. In awe, I watched as he flipped to a page marked Potter, and found my name. Then after he was satisfied with my wand, he handed it back to me.

Griphook then motioned toward a goblin who was standing by one of the many doors leading out of the hall, and the goblin walked over and introduced himself.

"Hello Mr. Potter, my name is Brickjaw, and I will be accompanying you to your vault today." The new goblin said jovially. He seemed in a very good mood for a goblin. All the others I had met were always cold and seemed very closed off.

He motioned for me to follow him, and we headed over to one of the tunnels. I got into the cart, and we took off through the labyrinth of twists and turns that led us deep into the depths of the bank. I relished in the freedom that I felt as we rocketed steeply downward, some people hated the carts, but I absolutely adored them.

After a little while, Brickjaw turned around and asked, "What vault would you like to visit today, Mr. Potter?"

I looked at him in confusion and said, "I'm not quite sure what you mean sir. You see, I only have one vault."

The goblin looked at me strangely and questioned, "Mr. Potter, you mean to tell me that you have never heard of or visited any of the Potter family's vaults?"

I looked at Brickjaw in awe, "You mean that there's more of them?"

Brickjaw looked at me in realization and instead of answering, said, "I'm not sure I should be the one to be telling you this Mr. Potter. Once we get back up to the surface, I will schedule you an appointment with Ragnok; our head goblin. For now we will just go to your trust vault, which is the vault you normally go to."

"That's fine sir. Thank you for telling me this, I would never have known otherwise." I replied.

We finally arrived at my vault, and Brickjaw inserted my key into what looked like a random piece of the wall. I stepped in and looked around at what, to me, seemed like a large fortune. I couldn't imagine that I had even more money in the depths of Gringotts in another vault somewhere. I quickly pulled a small bag out of my pocket, and filled it with gold galleons, silver sickles, and bronze knuts. Then I jumped back into the cart, and we made our way back to the surface.

When we got back to the top, I hopped out of the cart. As I turned around, my stomach plummeted as Dumbledore said, "Ah, Harry my boy..."

Muhahaha! I am so evil! :) Not sure when the next chapter will be up next, but I will probably try for Friday the 22nd! Hope you enjoyed that chapter! I sure did! :) Especially the cliffy! I can practically feel your anguish! :) Well, until next time my dear readers!

Mischief Managed! ;)