AN: So hey, like I said last chapter, sporadic updates, for all I know the next can be a couple weeks from now. But that's beside the point. I've made a few changes to some of the previous chapters, mainly chapter 1, so if you would go back and take a look at it. But overall here is the next chapter and I hope you enjoy it.
Normal speech= "Hello"
Thoughts= 'Hello'
Guardian talking= 'Hello'
Parseltongue= $Hello$
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and all rights belong to J.K. Rowling.
Harry and Hagrid, Alec having disappeared once they got off the boat, and Hagrid reassuring Harry not to worry about Alec and that he'll see him again soon, arrived outside a dingy looking building in the middle of London. Harry looked around and noticed that people around him would simply ignore the out of place building as soon as they got close to it. 'Must be some kind of repelling charm or trick, though I don't understand how we can see it and it's our first time here?' Harry agreed and decided to ask Hagrid.
The older man replied "It's a spell that keeps muggles from wandering into the place and the reason you can see it is because you're a wizard, Harry." Harry nodded and then asked, "so what does the term muggle mean then?" Hagrid started toward the entrance to the building as he answered "it's another term for those folks who are non-magical."
As the two stepped into the building Harry saw that it was just a regular bar looking shop, nothing magical about it really besides the strangely dressed people within the tavern. Hagrid walked up to the bar and called out to the barkeep who was apparently named Tom. Tom then turned to Harry once Hagrid introduced him and said "Well I'll be if it isn't the great Harry Potter in my place, well I'm honored."
At this point Harry started to feel dread as if he was about to go from being a nobody, which he was fine being, to a somebody that will have way too much attention. Before he knew what happened he was swarmed by people all wanting to shake his hand and talk to him. 'Vultures the lot of them, only wanting to get close to you because you're apparently famous for some reason, just another thing we will have to ask Hagrid later.' 'Yeah, though I wish Hagrid would hurry up and save me so we can continue with our shopping' As if reading his mind Hagrid swooped in and started telling people to back off away from Harry. They soon did as the man asked and after a minute it was just Harry, Hagrid, and two men who wore turbans, though the second had a full wrap around his face.
Hagrid recognized him and introduced him "Harry I would like you to meet one of your professors at Hogwarts, this is professor Quirrell and his guardian Andras. They will be teaching you Defense Against the Dark Arts in the coming year." Quirrell then looked toward Harry "It i-is a pl-pleasure to meet you y-young man, I look forward to teac-hing you this y-year." Harry simply nodded his head toward the professor though he felt a slight pain in his scar. 'I don't like the look of this guy or his buddy, seriously never get left alone with these two if possible you hear me?' 'I read you loud and clear, though what is this guardian person Hagrid talked about?' 'Well the simplest way to get an answer is to ask Hagrid in a minute.'
After Quirrell left Hagrid and Harry continued on their journey, after a stop in front of a wall in which Hagrid touched a few bricks and the wall started to open did Harry ask his question, "Hagrid what is a guardian?" Before Hagrid could answer Alec seemingly stepped out of the giant's shadow and answered for him, "I am a guardian, we are a group from another universe summoned to stop a force called the Darkness from feeding off of wizards for their magic. Each witch and wizard will do a summoning ceremony once they reach Hogwarts to summon forth their own personal guardian that will protect them from the darkness." Alec paused to for a second to let that sink in and continued, "however the darkness hasn't been attacking like it used to however it is better to be safe than sorry so the ceremony continues on." "So where did the Darkness come from?" At this Alec gained a sorrowful look to his eye as he answered "It came from our universe. We stood as a line of defense keeping it from this world however it was able to break through when we were at our weakest. That event in our history still affects my kind to this day. I'm sure once you get done with your shopping you can buy a book that goes over our history, I mean I'm sure you're not the only one who wishes to know more about the Guardians."
At this point the three came in front of large marble building that stood out from all the others. Hagrid turned towards Harry and said, "well Harry here we are, this here is Gringotts Wizarding Bank. It's the safest place to be right after Hogwarts of course." Harry looked closer towards the top and saw a phrase he recognized 'Fortius Quo Fidelius, what an appropriate statement for a bank.' 'Ha, I told you studying a 'dead' language would come in handy someday.' 'I'm sure this is just a lucky coincidence, it's not like I'll be using Latin every day for the rest of my life, right?' 'Ya, you just keep on believing that, I'm sure Latin will absolutely have no importance in your new life.' Harry could hear the sarcasm dripping from Will's statement and prayed he wasn't right in order to not having to listen to 'I told you so' for the rest of his life.
As the two giant men lead Harry towards the door the boy saw a somewhat small figure standing outside the door in golden armor and holding a spear big enough to skewer Harry. At this Harry thought it would be good not to stare at the figure anymore in order to not know what being skewered felt like. The three continued on into the bank and once inside the place opened up into a large marble hall that had long counters that had many stations where creatures that had big noses and equally large ears counted coins and were constantly writing, none of them even glancing up to see who had walked in through the doors.
Hagrid chuckled at Harry's curious gaze and said, "these are goblins Harry, they handle all wizarding currency, and can even exchange muggle money for Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. They are incredibly clever creatures though not overly friendly, so it's best not to get on their bad sides." At this they walked up to one of the stations and started talking to one of the goblins, "hello we'll be needing to visit Harry Potter's vault to pick up some money and I need to retrieve something from Vault 713 for Mr. Albus Dumbledore." The goblin simply looked up annoyed and said "key?" At this Hagrid started to search his pockets for said key. Before even ten seconds could pass Alec spoke up "Right breast pocket, the pocket within the pocket." He did not want to annoy the goblin even more with Hagrid's fumbling with his pockets. Hagrid retrieved the key and handed it over to the goblin. "Follow me," and the goblin started walking off through one of the doors not even looking back to see if the three would follow.
Harry was able to get a closer look at the goblin now that he did not tower over him from the counter he was previously sitting at. The goblin was about shoulder height on Harry, though his fingers and feet were longer very long, and the creature had white hair. Less than a minute later they stood in front of what could be called a mine cart, however it was clear that it was not large enough to fit both Hagrid and Alec. "So how are we all supposed to get down there," asked Harry. Alec looked at him and responded, "I'll simply disappear for a while, and normally Guardians are not allowed to go down to the Vaults without permission from the goblins." At this Alec stepped into Hagrid's shadow and simply disappeared. Harry figured he would ask later how Alec was able to do that. Now that everyone could fit into the cart they piled into it. "So how long is the ride," Harry asked and he immediately regretted it as the goblin gave a sinister smirk and gleam in his eye. "It'll only take a second," and at that the cart shot forward.
xXxXxXxXx
When they finally reached Harry's Vault, the boy felt slightly queasy though overall he enjoyed the ride. However, Hagrid looked about ready to be sick and told Harry to go on without him and that he would catch up. The goblin once again took the key and used it to open the door. As the door swung open and Harry got a look inside he was frozen by a large amount of coins sitting in piles around the Vault.
"Here we are Mr. Potter if you would go ahead and get what you need from your trust vault we can be on our way," the goblin said with a slight hint of impatience in his voice. The boy snapped out of his stupor and started piling the gold coins, or galleons as Hagrid had told him. 'You're bloody rich, rich I say, still it's probably best you not blow it all at once. Maybe you should start looking into investing it somewhere?' 'That can be done later, though I do wonder what the goblin meant when he said trust vault? I wonder if there are any other vaults that are tied to my family?'
Once done Harry thanked the goblin and he missed the slight quirk of the goblin's brow. Once again they rode off in the cart to their next destination, Vault 713. As they arrived Hagrid got up and moved toward the door with the goblin. Harry was about to follow however, "You can wait there Harry, I just need to grab this and we'll be on our way." The goblin had opened the door with what Harry could have only assumed was goblin magic and before Hagrid could stuff the object they had come to retrieve Harry was able to catch a glance at it. It looked to be some kind of small package. 'Wonder what that was? Maybe something of great power?' Harry could only guess but ultimately it didn't matter for none of it was his business.
After that they rode back up to where they originally started and Hagrid started to stumble his way out with Alec reappearing to make sure his friend didn't knock anything over on his way out. Before Harry left he turned to the goblin and asked, "excuse me I'm sorry to say but I never did get your name sir goblin." The goblin simply looked at the boy and responded, "my name is Griphook Mr. Potter." At this Harry smiled, "thank you Mr. Griphook for escorting me and Hagrid to our vaults and I hope you have a good day." At this the boy turned to follow the two men he came with once again missing the quirked brow of the goblin. Once outside Harry turned to Hagrid and asked, "So now what do we do?" Hagrid, still slightly green, gave the boy a smile and said one word, "shopping."
AN: So that was the fourth chapter and one of longest yet. Hopefully I'm getting better at my writing though I would appreciate any constructive criticism that would help me down the road. So please drop a review and I hope you are enjoying this story.