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.
It was a simple poem, but a meaningful one. A warning against the unscrupulous and untrustworthy, a message to keep them from stealing from the bank. It was also a very effective one, for no witch or wizard, sane or otherwise, would dare to take the security of Gringotts Wizarding Bank lightly. She knew this, and she understood this.
But to her, it mattered little.
It was the same feeling that spurred her to rob residents of Gensokyo of their Christmas presents, only to resell them to the stores that owned them. A mixture of whim and indignation, and even more besides. She felt that she had been challenged, that the bank had slighted her in some way. Ultimately, only one thing mattered, however:
Seiga Kaku wanted to rob Gringotts.
She had prepared for it, prepared well. The majority of the month between the trip to Gringotts and Harry's letter were spent in preparation for the event. Research was conducted, spells were recalled and refined, and Yoshika labored over until the Jiang Shi was in peak condition. Finally, the day after Seiga had received Harry's letter, the same day that Harry Potter had left for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Seiga could honestly say she was ready.
Seiga had made her way into an isolated corner of Knockturn Alley. Her hair was dyed black and let down, her normal dress replaced with the common black robes worn by wizards. She had also cast a spell to alter her facial features. She did not intend to be seen directly, but as a precautionary measure it was prudent for her to ensure that she could not be recognized. Yoshika was dressed in much the same, with a hood obscuring her face and talisman.
The first phase was entering Gringotts. A huge portion of the security of the Gringotts was limiting what entered the caves. There was only one entrance into the depths of the bank, and it was covered by the building itself. As such, the goblins were easily able to monitor who or what entered the bank simply by monitoring what walked into the marble walls. In addition, while the bank was in the hands of the Ministry of Magic, a series of wards was put over the marble building. Additionally, given that Seiga did not have an account at Gringotts, it would be difficult to get into the caves. Even if Seiga opened one, she would only be permitted access to the higher floors, and would be accompanied by a goblin, which would prevent her from being able to enter the lower floors. On top of this, it would be impossible to leave with items from the front. In short, entering Gringotts from the front was not feasible, and there was no other avenue to enter.
However, if there isn't a path to take, then one simply has to make one. And that was precisely what Seiga would do.
There are many different methods and flavors of magic. You could go with faith based magic, such as the ones that are used by Gods or shrine maidens. These would come with anti-creature abilities and purification rites. You could go with Elemental magic, which, as the name suggests, affords one power over the elements. You could go with raw power and end up with magic similar to the Black-White in Gensokyo. You could also go with magic like wizards and witches, wand based but very very versatile, and so on and so forth. The different methods of magic extended to practically everything that could be thought of, and the applications varied vastly. Gringotts was based heavily on Goblin magic.
Goblin magic was, to put it simply, enchantment based. They imbued qualities into their items, be it the ability to resist dirt and grime onto their weapons, or to take the qualities of things that touch them. Goblins were enchanters of the highest caliber. While they may have allowed the Ministry to ward the upper portions of the bank, the lower portions had decided to forgo such protections in favor of the kind that could be used only by goblins. The caves of Gringotts were lined with qualities that made it impossible to use any sort of magical transportation to appear inside their walls, and were impossible to force open. This was to prevent any entry into the vaults without permission from the bankers. The goblins had assumed that this made it impenetrable, and, indeed, it was not possible to pass through the wall of rock that lined the caves of Gringotts. Unfortunately for them, Seiga's specialty was passing through walls. Wards and enchantments shared a fatal flaw: they were purely preventative and completely inflexible. In other words, you could only use them to prevent what you could predict. As such, the goblins had no protection against what Seiga would do.
Seiga reached into her sleeve and pulled out her hair pin. It was enchanted by ancient Taoist magic, magic which outlived even Dumbledore. She touched the ground with it, and the ground parted, a hole opening up. She quickly jumped inside, Yoshika following, and the hole closed. Seiga's pin was had a unique ability: the ability to pass through walls of any kind. The strength of the wall was irrelevant, the mere fact that it could be defined as a wall and that it was something that existed in reality was enough for the pin's magic to force it to part in front of the blue-haired hermit. It was the most powerful artifact in her possession, and was instrumental in many of her encounters with Kishin. Slowly, but surely, Seiga dutifully used it to dig a tunnel under Knockturn and Diagon Alley, and into the caves of Gringotts.
Eventually, the duo appeared in an empty cave. It stretched on in two directions, but tilted heavily downwards. Seiga, eyes flickering left and right, slowly closed her tunnel. She gently floated downwards, Yoshika following. There were a pair of tracks beneath them, likely for the carts that traversed the caves. They continued, down down down. Eventually, the caves opened up into a large cavern, deep and vast.
"This must be where the vaults are," said Seiga lowly. She quickly flew directly downwards, leaving the path behind. Shortly afterwards, the duo reached the lower floors. They quickly moved into one of the set of caves. There was a clear waterfall very close to the entrance. Seiga knew that the Goblins had additional security, and also knew that their magics were enchantment based, guessed that it was enchanted in some way. Not willing to figure out how, she quickly opened a hole in the side of the cavern and bypassed the waterfall completely. The duo continued on quietly, but it wasn't long before they stopped. A low rumble could be heard, followed by the sound of chains. There was something large chained up ahead. Seiga was not so naïve as to think that the Goblins would be so foolish as to use only preventative measures for protection. The obvious flaw could be easily corrected by having an obstacle which could only be surmounted by using the items that could not be brought into the bank. The simplest way, and the most likely way, for this to be achieved would be to bring some sort of magical beast into the picture.
Seiga signaled Yoshika. It was time for her to do her part. Yoshika was largely useless in stealth missions, being slower to move than the average human, and, due to the rotting of her brain, a bit on the slower side. However, there was something that she excelled at: combat. Yoshika never tired, never slowed. Even if the beast was great and powerful, Yoshika would perform adequately as it likely would not have room to maneuver, while Yoshika's flight would be able to allow her to dodge the beast's assaults with ease. Yoshika moved forward, ready to warn Seiga in the case of danger. Seiga followed at a safe distance.
The beast was large, though not massive. If it stood to its full height, it would be slightly larger than Seiga, despite being four legged. It had the golden, feline body of a lion, then the majestic wings of an eagle, and finally the face of a human. A sphinx, the guardians of the sands. It was fitting that one would be chosen to help guard the vaults of Gringotts. It was, however, surprising that a being as intelligent as a sphinx allowed Goblins to enslave it so. Yoshika, seeing that the sphinx had not made any sort of attack, stopped and gave time for Seiga to catch up. Seiga stood, facing the sphinx, her face betraying nothing. The sphinx looked back.
"What goes up, but never comes down?" it said. A riddle.
Seiga frowned. Such a half-hearted attempt was strange to her, but she did not have the information required to make an educated guess as to why the attempt was so halfhearted. She would simply have to answer the riddle. It was tricky, but to someone who had lived centures, it wasn't too difficult.
"Age," said Seiga. The sphinx nodded, before suddenly pouncing at Seiga. The answer was correct, but the riddle was a trap. It preyed on the expectation of a Sphinx's Riddle, and used the moment where the potential thief felt safest, the moment right after they solved the riddle, to strike. Unfortunately for the sphinx, Yoshika was there.
Yoshika didn't really understand the riddle, but she trusted her Master Seiga to answer it correctly. Instead she focused on the sphinx. While human-animal hybrids were not uncommon in Gensokyo, it was still her first time seeing a sphinx, and thus it was worth noting, even if she would likely forget all about it soon. As such, she was prepared when the sphinx pounced, and moving with speed unexpected from someone as slow as Yoshika, she flew over in front of the sphinx and blasted it face first with a danmaku bullet. The bullet of light, key the most common form of combat in Gensokyo, stunned the sphinx enough for Seiga to work her magic.
Taoist magic was, ultimately, based off of the Wu Xing, also known as the Five Phases or Elements. It consisted of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water, and had a number of relationships within them. The first relationship was one of creation. Wood fueled fire, which burned into ashes for the earth. Earth was then forged into metal, which turned into minerals and fueled water. Water would then nourish wood, and ultimately the cycle would repeat. There was also a cycle of overcoming, of combat. Water doused fire, but was soaked by Earth. Earth was overgrown by wood. Wood was cut down by metal, and metal was melted by Fire. Together, the two cycles formed the basis of Taoist magic. Sphinxes were creatures of Earth, not only being closely related to the sands of the desert, but also spiritually. Earth represented patience, reliability, and logic. The three key aspects of a proper sphinx's personality were also represented by the Earth.
Earth was also overcome by Metal. Seiga pointed a palm at the Sphinx and a white, glowing pentagram appeared, a circle inside a star. Each point of the star had a Chinese character for one of the Five Elements, with Metal on top. The pentagram let loose a ray of magic imbibed with the element of metal engulfed the sphinx. It faded shortly afterwards, leaving a smoking corpse. Seiga quickly moved forwards. She shortly found herself in front of a large stone door. It was perfectly solid, with no visible flaws or hinges present, nor any method of opening it. Indeed, it was the bank's greatest security measure, for should one attempt to open the door without the touch of an authorized goblin, they would find themselves sucked inside with no way out, left to rot. Seiga simply removed her pin and used it to open a hole in the door, and entered the vault
Inside were mounds and heaps of gold and items. Seiga touched one, and immediately dropped it, startled by the burning of the coin. The coin then split into several copies. Seiga frowned. It appeared that if someone tried to take the items, they would burn the owner and create many copies. The copies would almost certainly be worthless in the real world, but they could probably be melted down and sold in the Muggle world without problems. Seiga, however, was not a normal thief. She was not here for money, no, she was there to make a point, to show that she (although no one would know it was her) was vastly superior to the stronghold of the goblins. Copies would not do, and petty gold wouldn't either. She floated above, Yoshika below, and looked for something eye catching. She found a sword, which looked valuable, judging by how it was placed in a position of prominence.
"Yoshika, take the sword," she said. Yoshika gave a grunt of agreement and floated over. She grabbed the sword and lifted it, ignoring the burning and not caring about the copies that fell down. Seiga held out a bag which she had charmed to hold a significantly greater amount of items. Seiga then quickly marked the sword, so as to identify it from any copies that may form in the bag, and let Yoshika drop it into the bag. Satisfied with the contents of this vault, she quickly moved on to the next one and repeated the process. Eventually, she robbed every vault in the area guarded by the sphinx and had to move on. The two thieves moved on to the next vault.
Seiga was not pleased with what she saw. A large, white dragon. Even for someone as powerful as her a dragon was formidable. She would have thought more about the situation, but had to dive to the side to avoid the dragon's maw from swallowing her whole. She made sure to float rather than hit the floor. The dragon snapped its head towards her and breathed out a ball of fire. Seiga twisted and threw her hands forward, a blue version of the pentacle with the Wu Xing appearing, this one with the sign for water on top. Seiga unleased as much water as she could on such short notice forward in an effort to repel the fire. It wasn't enough to extinguish the fire, no matter how powerful Seiga was, a short notice spell versus the breath of a dragon was too uneven of a matchup, but it diverted the flames enough to leave Seiga merely burned and injured instead of burned to a crisp.
Yoshika acted. She flew up with unexpected speed and punched the dragon straight through the eyes. Most beings, even youkai, would hesitate here. Humans would be repulsed or surprised, while some youkai would be distracted by the delicious blood flowing from the wounds. Yoshika was neither, and as such did not act like them. She punched the being again, her fist meeting the dragon's scales with an audible thud of force. She would have repeated the action, but the dragon turned to her and attempted to bite her. It was unsuccessful. Yoshika's diversion allowed Seiga to compose herself, and she blasted the Dragon with another blast of water-element bullets of energy. With no fire to extinguish it, the blast continued and blasted the inside of the dragon's mouth. The dragon flinched. Seiga then noticed why it was exclusively using its mouth for combat: it was chained to the ground.
"Yoshika! It's chained!" she called out. Yoshika proceeded to fly backwards, out of the reach of its mouth. Seiga did the same in another direction. The dragon could now not manage to attack both at the same time. Then the two started firing bullets of raw energy at the dragon. When using the Spell Card System in Gensokyo, their bullets were weak, only about as strong as a punch from a strong human. In this case, however, unbound by such rules, each bullet was as powerful as a blasting curse from a powerful wizard. Unfortunately, the dragon's hide dulled the blow significantly. However, what the bullets lacked in power they made up for in sheer quantity. Every time the dragon turned to Yoshika, Seiga would pepper it with hundreds upon hundreds of the bullets, forcing the dragon to turn its attention to her. Once it did, Yoshika would then do the same. If the dragon attempted to breathe fire at either, they simply dodged it as if it were a spell card from a resident of Gensokyo. Ranged combat was the duo's forte, and the second it was revealed that the dragon could not use its amazing mobility to its fullest, the battle was won. It was mere moments later that the dragon fell to the onslaught. Seiga and Yoshika floated down and took a moment to catch their breath before moving onwards. And so it continued.
Daily Prophet
Gringotts Robbed for the Second Time
Lawrence Brown
Last night it was revealed that Gringotts bank was robbed again. While the last time it was robbed, on July 31, the vault that was broken into was empty, and thus not under as much scrutiny as the major vaults where the real money is, the case was not here. It was revealed that the thief, fighting their ways through six sphinxes, four golems, and even a dragon, as well as bypassing every single protection that the goblins had to offer, stole a single item from every single of the highest security vaults. Among the vaults stolen from are ones owned by the Ministry of Magic, as well as several families of major note, such as the Malfoy family, and even the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. The motives of the thief is unknown, but it has become clear that Gringotts was completely incompetent. This is the second break-in in a month's time, and the single, most major event in Gringotts Wizarding Bank's history. There needs to be some major consideration about the state of Wizarding Fiscal Affairs.
Is Gringotts Reliable?
Rita Skeeter
Many people have expressed distaste about trusting beings like the Goblins with the hard earned money of wizards, but in the end it was something that everyone accepted. Everyone says that that's how it has been forever, but few people know that Gringotts, despite being created by the Goblin Gringotts, was actually run by the Ministry of Magic for the majority of its life. The bank was created in 1474, but the Ministry was given control in 1510. It was not returned to Goblin control in 1865, meaning that the Goblins have controlled Gringotts for less than 200 years compared to the 300 years of Ministry control. Clearly, Gringotts Bank's reputation has not been created by the Goblins, but rather by the Ministry itself. The Goblins have also demonstrated that, with not just one but two robberies in the span of a month's time, their defenses are inadequate. It's time to ask some questions. Are the Goblins making Gringotts worse? Can a species known for so much war be trusted with our money? The answers, as always, are up to you. I just report the facts.
AN
Let me say something first: Being sick sucks
Let me say something next: Finals also suck.
When combined, the two above cause huge delays. I got violently ill shortly after writing the last chapter and with finals coming up, was unable to write for a long time. My apologies for this. Unfortunately, I won't be updating for a while more as I've still got finals to worry about.
So, I decided to, as a sight apology (and mostly because I was bored of writing Hogwarts) move this up a little. Initially I was planning on having another chapter of Harry, this time during his classes, but it wouldn't work out well. It always felt too boring for me. I also had to cut that chapter a little too short to account for this wonderful event. All in all, I decided to push this event up and then write a (assuming things go as planned) larger chapter for next time over the finals. Maybe. Either way, you get some of the more whimsical side of Seiga this time around. Seiga doesn't care about material possessions. She was far more interested in the defenses of Gringotts, and also felt a little bit challenged by that poem. So she decided to rob it! For the giggles!
This is an important event, and you can already see some of the repercussions later. Seiga isn't someone to sit around doing nothing. She's going to take actions, and actions are going to have repercussions.
So there is alot of information in this chapter. I spent a long time thinking about how Seiga's magical abilities as a Hermit would work. Marisa's magic comes from Love, Pathouli's from the elements and alchemy, while Alice's is from... I actually have no idea. Something something magical book? Either way, I did some research and came up with the explanation of using the traditional Chinese 5 Phases. Seiga obviously has some sort of ties to Chinese magics, as exhibited by Yoshika, and it would make sense that she would use a philosophy from China. Ultimately I decided on using this. Hope it makes sense.
The history of Gringotts gets a little non-canon-y (according to the wiki at least). While the wiki had information on Gringotts history, it didn't have the exact date it switched to Ministry control so I made it up to serve my purposes... or did I? Who knows, it's Rita Skeeter saying it after all.
Oh boy...
As always, feedback is very much appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read.
