The Raven and The Serpent
Chapter 11: Diagon Alley, Part One
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Harry looked from the rubbish bins to the red brick wall, staring at it curiously.
"It's glowin'," Trisha said breathlessly, looking at in awe. "This is where we goin' shoppin', 'aint it?"
To Severus's dismay, both of their accents kept slipping back to the horrendous street slang. He believed it was from walking around London. He also reminded himself to have the children turn out their pockets, but not until they arrived back at the house; he had no wish to make a scene in the middle of London, muggle or wizarding.
"The two of you," he began, drawing him up to full height and glaring fiercely, "will keep your hands to yourselves. If you try anything with these people they will notice and will not be as pleasant as I was when they discover their valuables missing."
He didn't wait for a reply before jabbing the wall with his wand. He impatiently waited as the wall began to turn into an archway to Diagon Alley. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Trisha's eyes open wide with delight, but when he glanced over at Harry he saw that his eyes were downcast and narrowed, his head only slightly lifting to look at the variety of shops. The boy was probably still upset about the Leaky Cauldron. Oddly enough, he didn't seem to appreciate everyone gawking at him and he had stayed silent, his lips pressed tightly together accentuating his eyes that clearly had a 'go to hell' look about them.
"They're idiots," Trisha said without taking her eyes off the sights, snapping Severus back to the present.
Harry was silent.
"Will you get rid of your infamous 'go to hell' look, please?" she asked sweetly, making Severus cringe.
Harry playfully scrutinized her gaze when she finally turned to look at him. She grinned devilishly and a look of hard earned contentment settled on his face. Severus wasn't fooled, but then again, he reminded himself, he didn't really care.
"Where are we headed?" Harry asked casually.
"Gringotts," Severus answered,"I thought you two would like some pocket money so you can own something that is yours." And stop stealing my possession…
"But we have stuff that is ours," Trisha said with a pout forming on her lips.
Severus decided he didn't want to know the workings of her mind. "Stuff you haven't stolen?" Severus asked pointedly.
Harry smirked. "Well Trish, he does have a point."
"Too true," she agreed. A confused look befell her face. "But I don't have any wizard parents who left me money…"
Severus looked carefully at them; they were bonded with each other, that much was obvious, but they didn't seem to have an understanding of the benefits that came with their actions. "When you two bonded," he began, "how much did you know about what you were doing?"
"We were told that if we bonded we would, in a way, share a life force and would never be alone. If one of us is in trouble than the other one is too, but if one of us dies it doesn't necessarily mean that the other one will die. We were told that it would be unpleasant if unable to let the other go," Harry answered quietly. "Why? What does this have to do with money?"
Severus paused before answering; at least the two had some idea of what they did. He took a deep breath and began. "There are benefits in the wizarding world when you are bonded. You share the money and most assets; you most likely would have done so anyway even if it were not ordained by law. In a way, it is like marriage; you have all the benefits. However, at the same time it is not. Noting that you have primarily lived amongst muggles, I doubt you would like to be married to your cousin." Both their faces took on a disgusted look. "I thought not," he continued. "Although, it is hard for those who are bonded to persue a serious relationship and they tend to remain single all their lives. There have been cases where 'splitting' has been attempted, but all have ended unsuccessfully."
Even though Severus hadn't asked Harry or Trisha anything, they both nodded solemnly. The word 'splitting' had left a foreboding feeling in the air and ended any more conversation along with arriving in front of Gringotts.
It was a snow white building that towered over the little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold was a—
"Goblin," Trisha breathed and Severus looked at her calculatingly.
The said creature was about a head shorter than Harry and Trisha (who were about the same height), with a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and extremely long fingers and feet.
"Interesting," Harry said, catching Trisha's eye. They both took a step forward but Severus held them back.
"Goblins are very prideful and strong creatures. Do not insult them," he said silkily. He then let them go.
As they walked inside the goblin gave a bow, which Harry and Trisha humbly returned. The goblin looked at the two in a wary sort of daze and Severus merely glared.
"There's two doors?" Trisha asked uncertainly when they stood in front of a pair of silver doors. Harry didn't answer; he was reading the inscriptions on the doors.
Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly for 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.
"Damn," Harry whispered. "Now that's a warning."
If only I said that, Severus thought. "Language, Mr. Potter," Severus said and watched his eyes flare in anger that was quickly shoved away.
"Harry," he almost whispered.
Severus gave a curt nod. They turned to the goblins and both Harry and Trisha bowed first leaving a pair of wary goblins behind.
Within the marble hall Harry and Trisha quickly estimated that there had to be about a hundred or a hundred and fifty-three (Trisha's count) goblins working.
Severus strode up to the counter, the two seeming to have taken refuge behind his robes, and briskly spoke, "Potter's vault." From the folds of his robes he withdrew a tiny golden key. Neither Harry nor Trisha seemed to take much interest in the key; they were too busy looking at the pile of rubies that a goblin was weighing. Severus looked down to his right and saw only a glimpse of Harry before he slowly drifted back behind him.
"That seems to be in order," the goblin said.
Severus pulled out a letter and silently handed it over to the goblin who read it carefully.
"Very well," he said, handing it back, "I'll have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"
"Another?" Trisha asked out of the corner of her mouth. Harry gave her a warning look as they followed Griphook towards one of the numerous doors leading out of the hall.
Griphook held the door for them. Harry raised his eyebrows looking at the stone walls. "So it's not all marble," heard Harry and Severus. Severus looked sharply at Trisha who looked at them in confusion. Griphook whistled, seemingly oblivious to Trisha's outburst, and a cart came hurtling up the tracks on the floor. They climbed in.
Although the cart went through the twisting and turning passages at an unbelievable speed, Severus maintained his almost impassive face, scowling at times at the two who were clearly enjoying the ride; their eyes remained open for the whole ride and the girl looked like she was going to screech with delight.
The car stopped in front of a small door in the passage wall. They got out of the cart; Harry and Severus a bit less excited than Trisha and waited as Griphook unlocked the door. When it opened green smoke came billowing out and both Harry and Trisha furrowed their brows. However, all was forgotten as the smoke cleared and they saw the amount of coins in the vault.
Severus heard the gasps from them but they didn't seem as excited as he assumed they would be. He went and helped them pile some coins into a bag, explaining the money system to them while doing so.
"All this time," Trisha whispered, "all this time, we had all of this?"
Severus looked to Harry, whose face was turned away from him. He really hoped the girl wasn't going to cry. If she did he was carting her off to Potter.
On their way to the next vault, Harry and Trisha brightened up a bit, but on a whole, they were still more subdued. When they reached the next vault, the two children looked from the vault to Griphook. There was no keyhole.
"Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He gently stroked the door with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.
Harry had a slight suspicion that Griphook delighted in being important.
"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook, giving a pointed look towards Trisha who had her hand precariously close to the door. She put her hand down.
"How often do you check to see if anybody's inside?" Harry asked impishly. (Severus decided he was going to keep a very careful eye on the two.)
"About once every ten years," answered Griphook with a rather nasty grin.
"Well we sure don't want anything that valuable," Harry whispered.
"Yeah," Trisha whispered back, "it could be hazardous to our health."
Griphook handed a small, grubby-looking package to Severus, who proceeded to stuff it into his robes. They climbed into the cart and headed back towards fresh air.
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A/N: I have shamelessly taken JKR's writing, but face it, she writes better than I do. I also believe that the characters are not going to change what they say merely because Harry is different. If you are in a monotonous job you tend to say what you were trained to say at most time.
Also, this is only the first half of the chapter. The more reviews I get, the quicker I'll update! I know how it's going to play out; I just need a little motivation.
Please Review! Criticism accepted and loved!
