The journey to London was a lot quicker than the journey to the cabin had been because they didn't have to sit in holiday traffic, instead Hagrid did something to the bike and it took off and they flew the entire way. It was around 2 o'clock when they arrived in a small carpark near Charing Cross Station and they felt a slight shiver as they crossed over some invisible boundary. Harry didn't notice, but he did notice when his Aunt shivered. Hagrid then lead them to a dingy pub just down the road from the station, as he got to the door he suddenly stopped and turned to Harry.
"Right, just remembered ya probably want ta grab your Aunts… Blimey, never mind then." He tailed off as he noticed that Petunia was standing right beside Harry. With that he lead them through the pub and into the back, somewhat delayed when Harry's name was mentioned and they were mobbed by the entirety of the late lunchtime rush. Both Harry and Petunia, having had traumatic experiences in the last few days, cowered back against the bar until Tom, the barkeeper shouted at the crowd to give them space. Once they got into the back there was a glowing brick in the middle of the wall, and Nixie clambered down from Petunia's neck to try to get at a tasty morsel. With a little bit of juggling Harry and Petunia managed to stop it from jumping at the wall and it settled down in her arms as she stroked it and gave it her thumb to suck on. Hagrid turned to them and paused mouth open as they seemed to grasp at nothing before he continued.
"Right, this is the entrance to Diagon Ally, all you need to do is tap your wand to this brick. It's 6 up and 3 across from the bin here." He indicated the glowing brick with his umbrella before tapping it. The entire wall folded back in on itself forming an archway into the alley proper.
Harry and Petunia gawked like Tourists visiting Buckingham palace for the first time as Hagrid lead them up the alley towards the bank. The glowing words above the doors standing out even from the end of the street. He lead them into the building under the words and took them to a queue, turning to them he started to explain that they could see.
"This 'ere is Gringotts, and it's run by Goblins. Now, they're mean little buggers, but they knows money and security. As such there's no safer place to keep ya stuff, 'cept maybe Hogwarts. If ya respectful to them, they'll be respectful to you."
Once they reached the end of the queue the goblin teller looked down at them from the counter.
"Well?" the goblin sneered down at them.
Hagrid looked up at the counter, "We're here to get some money from Harry Potters account."
"And does Mr Potter have his key?"
"Yes, right here, one mo." Hagrid sorted through his pockets and eventually extracted a key and a letter. He handed the key over first. The goblin waved it's hand over the key and Harry and Petunia saw that the key glowed with a series of pulses as his fingers passed over it.
"Very well, the key is in order, anything else?"
"Yes, I have a letter, and I need to get the you know what from this vault" Hagrid hands over the letter.
"Griphook, these people need to get money from these vaults, take them down so they can do it."
A goblin comes over to the counter when his name is called and takes both the key and the letter before leading them towards a door at the back of the lobby. As they reach the door one of the guards stops them and says.
"We can't let you down to the vaults with your familiar, you'll need to wait here." Surprised, Harry and Petunia glance at each other before she responds.
"OK Harry, you go on ahead with Hagrid, and I'll try and get the other stuff sorted up here. If you get back before me can you wait by the front door?"
"I'll see that he's there Petunia" Hagrid responds before following Griphook through the door.
Turning back to the Guard, Petunia address him.
"Would I be able to speak to someone about the stipend for Harry Potter, as we were unable to arrange things before now as we didn't know where to come."
"I can't help you with that, you need to see Ragnack at the desk over there."
Heading over to the desk with a busy looking goblin going through paperwork, she waits patiently while he finishes what he's currently doing. When he's done he looks up and growls.
"Well, how can I help you?"
Feeling a little intimidated, Petunia curtsies before replying. "I'm one of Harry Potters Guardians, and when we took charge of him we were told that we would get a stipend, but we were unable to let anyone know where the money needed to go because there was no forwarding address."
Looking at her as if she's stupid he responds "Very well, I'll see if Harry Potters account manager is available, do be aware that you will be charged a Galleon if you're wasting his time. Please wait over there." He indicates an empty patch of floor off to one side before calling over a goblin and sending it off with a message.
A couple of minutes later the goblin returns and walks up to her "Kragnast has a few minutes free now, follow me".
Still feeling a little lost in such a different environment she did the only thing she could and followed the goblin through a maze of corridors to an unassuming door with a distinct pattern glowing along the centre.
Knocking on the door, she waits for a reply. A goblin calls out from inside "Come in and stop wasting time with human niceties".
Entering she finds herself in an office that wouldn't look out of place in any legal office apart from the mace that's sitting propped up against the side of the desk. Making her way over to the only chair available she sat down.
"I understand that you're hear about the stipend for Harry Potter. Now I was given to understand that he was being raised in the muggle world, so tell me why a witch is here before I break your wand arm and have you chucked out of the bank."
Confused Petunia responded "I'm not a witch. I've never been a witch."
"Don't lie to me, especially while you're cuddling an Aictuilaxr, if you weren't a witch you wouldn't even be able to feel it, let alone see it."
"But Nixie came back with me once Harry calmed down last night, I've got no idea what an Aictui..r is. But I'm not a witch."
Kragnast sat back in his chair, one finger tapping on the arm as he thought.
"OK, lets say I believe you, you've offered no proof of what you've said, and I can only discuss Mr Potters accounts with his legal or magical guardians. There is a way to prove that you're telling the truth, but if you're lying you'll be guilty of lying on a legal document which is crime under goblin law and carries a minimum sentence of working in the mines up to death by dragon for the worst offences.
"Now, before I do this I'll give you a chance to pay the galleon and leave."
Petunia looked at him for a long moment weighing up the costs of doing this before responding. After the first minute Kragnast nodded approvingly. Finally, she looked up.
"I'll do it, I'll take your test and prove that I'm telling the truth."
"Very well follow me." He stands up and grabs the mace, hefting it easily, before leading her off to another door.
"Here we are, once you go through this door you're committed to this, if you back out after you enter you'll be arrested and will be likely to need to pay a large fine. If you're sure, enter the door and we'll get started."
Swallowing, Petunia opens the door and steps inside. In the room is a single pedestal with a black orb resting on top, off to one side is a table with pieces of parchment, quills and ink. A small brazier burns next to the table, and an ancient looking goblin sits against the far wall reading some paperwork.
"Esteemed Master Banlirg, we need an oath confirmation of identity and guardianship." Banlirg gets up and walks over to the table.
"Names and clarification?"
Kragnast looks towards Petunia "What's your name witch?"
"Petunia Dursley, and I'm not a witch."
Kragnast turns back to Banlirg and responds "Petunia Dursley claims guardianship of Harry Potter, she also claims that she is not a witch."
Banlirg nods and thinks for a moment before writing something down on a piece of parchment with elegant script.
"If this is acceptable, let her know what she is required to do and how it works, then you can proceed." He then hands the parchment to Kragnast. Looking at it Kragnast nods, and then hands the parchment to Petunia.
"Is this acceptable?"
Looking down she reads the oath.
I Petunia Dursley swear that I am the legal guardian of Harry Potter and
that to my knowledge I am not and never have been a witch.
"It looks acceptable sir."
"Very well, what you're going to do is place your hand on that orb and recite the oath as written. This orb uses the same magic as unbreakable vows but doesn't bind you to the oath. Instead, if the oath is accepted the floor will light up with the confirmation magic. When you put your hand on the orb, it will draw on your magic and glow. I will be able to interpret the glow, and if it shows that you are under any compulsions I will stop the oath and you will be removed to have the compulsions removed at your own cost before being given the option to try taking the oath again, if you can't afford to have the compulsions removed you will be required to work for 5 Galleons a day until the cost has been defrayed. Though given your familiar I doubt you have any compulsions on you.
"If you understand what I've told you walk to the centre of the room and place your hand on the orb, once you do you will not be able to remove your hand until you've taken the oath or I remove it for you."
Kragnast watched as the witch walked to the centre of the room before hesitantly putting her hand on the orb. Once she did the orb lit up with a bright royal blue. While he was surprised with the brightness, the blue indicated that she had no compulsions or obliviations affecting her. Nodding he handed her the oath and he felt her familiar move up to her shoulder as she dislodged it. Even more surprisingly, she read the oath correctly the first time and the orb immediately extinguished as the pattern on the floor lit up a brilliant white. What most witches and wizards don't realise is that their magic will try to prevent them from making a false oath, so if there were any doubts in her mind she'd have needed at least another try.
"Very well Mrs Dursley, you've passed successfully, if you'll hand me the oath I'll dispose of it here and we can return to my office."
Petunia watched as the parchment that her oath was written on burned to ash in the fire before following Kragnast back to his office. Once they were seated Kragnast opened the conversation.
"Mrs Dursley, I am honestly surprised that you were able to take that oath, as non-magicals can't even get the orb to activate, and squibs it would show as a dull purple as it wouldn't be able to take enough magic to activate properly.
"This means that despite your belief, you are in fact a witch. Let me be the first to welcome you to the magical world. Now being magical opens up some new opportunities for you, the first of which is that you could become the Magical Guardian of Mr Potter as well as his legal guardian. You can also buy a wand, though you should be warned that owning a wand over the age of 16 is illegal in Magical Britain unless you have OWLs in the wanded subjects or are registered as a student with a Tutor or an Educational institution that teaches OWLs, the punishment for breaking this law is having your wand snapped and your magic bound.
"You are also allowed to open an account with Gringotts and register a family name.
"Finally, you are allowed to purchase portkeys from a Ministry registered vendor, of which Gringotts is one, and also learn to apparate at the Ministry. Incidentally, there are no requirements for owning a wand or passing OWLs in order to be certified for apparition. If you don't wish to attend the Ministry, we at Gringotts would be willing to teach you the necessities for it and bring in an examiner from the Ministry."
"On the subject of Harry's stipend, our records indicate that one Petunia Dursley already has a vault with us, and she is receiving 10 Galleons a week, which is being taken out as muggle money. After transaction fees, that works out to around £45 a week."
Petunia stared at him with a stunned expression at that last statement. Pulling her scattered thoughts together she took her purse from her bag and placed the debit card on the desk.
"As we have established that I am Petunia Dursley and the legal guardian of Harry, would you be able to redirect the stipend to this account?"
"I'm afraid that by law we are not allowed to work with the muggle world, which is why our transaction fees are so high for converting to muggle money. But if you can bring me a letter from Harry's magical guardian I can certainly change the vault where the money goes to one of your choice."
Petunia stops for a few moments at this new roadblock, trying to go through everything that was covered today.
"Would I be able to become Harry's Magical Guardian please?"
Kragnast gave her a smile that showed a row of sharp pointed teeth before he replied.
"Why yes that is possible. We will need to have your ward present in order to enact the change legally but it's just a couple of forms and a 5-sickle fee."
"We need to do some shopping with Hagrid, would we be able to do this at another time?"
"Certainly, I can make an appointment for 9am tomorrow morning if that would be acceptable."
"We could do that, though we'd need somewhere to stay the night as it's a long way home."
"Well you could stay at The Hopping Pot in Carkitt Market, they have good rooms and the bar in much better condition than the Leaky Cauldron. Or you could use the Knight bus for a few knuts."
"Why are you being so helpful?"
"That would be because you're not legally a witch, so I'm investing in the future."
"What do you mean?"
"According to the laws of Magical Britain, all human magical children must pass their owls before their 17th birthday or have their magic bound. However, the law makes no provision for an adult coming into magic other than it being illegal to own a wand as an adult without OWLs in the wanded subjects. Also, according to the law, a witch is a female magic user that has passed their OWLs."
Sitting back, Petunia thought about that for a moment.
"Earlier you said that I had a familiar, and that it was an Aictulix? What did you mean?"
"A familiar is an animal that has a magical bond with a sentient being, this allows them to get impressions from each other. An Aictuilaxr is a creature that we documented from when we were able to delve what humans call The Dream. It's an occasionally useful pest that eats loose magic, though it's very unusual to find one on earth. We used to use them in the mailing department to clean the post before it was sent to department heads. Unfortunately, Gringotts is in the same place as the lair of a particularly dangerous predator so we are no longer able to make that journey. Incidentally, the spell that binds someone's magic is considered to be loose magic that powers itself off of the subjects magic."
"Do you have any other advice that you could give me before I go and meet Harry and Hagrid?"
"If you're willing to pay 1 Galleon, I can give you a list of places to buy his school equipment that is better value than the places recommended on his letter."
"How much is a Galleon?"
"£5, and I think you'll save at least that with the list, though some recommendations will be more expensive but better quality instead."
Thinking for a moment, she reaches into her purse and pulls out a £10 note. Smiling Kragnast takes the note and hands her back a gold coin and a sheet of parchment with a list of recommendations on it.
"Thank you for your time."
"No, thank you. I think our business will be very profitable in the future."
With that he leads her back to the Lobby where Harry is waiting on his own.
"Where's Hagrid?"
"He said that he wasn't feeling well, so he left me with the Guggus, the guard here and went to get a drink. Guggus has been very helpful while I've been waiting."
"Well say goodbye, we need to get your shopping done."
"Goodbye Guggus. May the flow of gold into your vaults be like the blood of your enemies through the streets."
"Goodbye young one, and may your knife stay sharp and strike true."
"Right, do you have your money? Good, then the first thing on the list is to get your robes ordered, for that we're going to go to Gladrags."
Looking down at the map on the back of the parchment she leads the way to start their shopping.