Chapter 39: Bank Robbery
Raise Your Weapons by Deadmau5
The reflection of her face in the mirror was startling. To the common passerby, Elara knew she now looked almost identical to her mother. Almost. There were a few things that were off of course, the eye color, the height, and the fact that her mother was far more poised than Elara could ever hope to be. But still, she gave it her best effort, straightening her spine and setting her shoulders back as she lifted her chin just a bit.
Yes, to the average witch or wizard, Elara looked exactly like Narcissa Malfoy. The only problem was, they weren't attempting to thwart the average witch or wizard, they were trying to get past Goblins.
"Ready?" Hermione asked, emerging from the bathroom and shifting uncomfortably in her ornate robes.
"You look terrifying," Elara said, swallowing the burn that rose in her throat of its own accord.
"It's not the greatest look, that's for certain," Hermione agreed.
"You need to straighten your back, walk with your nose in the air a bit," Elara advised. "You need to pretend that you're better than every single person around you. She may be completely insane, but she's still an old pureblood."
Hermione gave a sharp nod, instantly pulling her shoulders back and lifting her head in the air, looking down her nose at Elara, "Like this?"
Elara made a face, cringing away from her a bit. "Yeah, just like that."
"Ready?" Harry asked, pushing open the door and poking his head into the room. He was holding his invisibility cloak and his eyes went wide when they landed on the pair of girls. "Blimey, you both look… convincing."
"Well, that's rather the point," Hermione said. "Where's Ron?"
"He's outside already with Griphook."
Elara's heart was thundering in her chest as her feet hit the cobblestone in the streets of Diagon Alley. The same eerie sickness filled her gut as the last time she was here, and she found herself looking over her shoulder to survey her surroundings. There were posters plastered to every surface, pictures of Harry with large bold "UNDESIREABLE NUMBER ONE" headlining every print. The pathways sparkled in the sunlight from the glass of broken windows and the ones that hadn't already been busted out, were boarded over, sealing off the shops from the alley. Walking the streets were men in black cloaks and silver masks and Elara felt her heart skip. Her mind instantly fell back to the last time she was here over Christmas, and her heart clenched at the thought of Ted. She took a shaky breath as she shook the thought from her head, instead looking around at the men, trying to see if she recognized any of them. The possibility that her father may be roaming the cobblestone streets struck her and she felt her eyes widen at the realization of how she and Draco had left the Manor. If her father was here… But then again, the likelihood of either of her parents being able to leave the Manor after both of their children had openly defied the Dark Lord? Slim to none.
She felt, rather than saw, Harry's hand wrap around hers briefly and she cleared her throat, taking a step to move ahead. Hermione and Ron were already on their path to the bank, a few feet ahead of Elara and Harry. Hermione walked with purpose, the black walnut wand held tightly in her grip at her side, each stride stronger than the one before it. Elara's breath caught in her throat, her heart pounding hard when someone stopped in front of Hermione, questioning her on her business in Diagon Alley.
"...Perhaps your credit is not as good with him as mine is, Travers." Elara heard Hermione say.
She smirked. We might actually pull this off, Elara thought as the Death Eater conceded, mumbling an apology and sauntering off.
Elara skipped her potion this morning. She wanted to take it, knowing that it would be easier for her to stay focused if she didn't need to worry about everyone else's emotions, but Hermione had been right in her suggestion. If they knew that someone was feeling suspicious beforehand, it could benefit them. Give them time to recover from whatever it was that may be thrown at them. She had decided on a signal to let Harry and the others know if the Goblins were on to them. Elara would make a small "ahem" sound, quiet enough to not raise any suspicion, but enough that it would get their attention.
She took in a deep breath, blowing it out through shaking lips as she climbed the stone steps leading into Gringotts. This was it. There was no going back now, no matter how much Elara's gut twisted around in protest. She clung to Harry's words as they entered the bank, "There has to be a reason she was so upset about the vault. There has to be a horcrux in there." There had to be. Because if they somehow, by the grace of Merlin, made it into the vault to find nothing, they would certainly be killed. Because she seriously doubted that Harry would leave the place empty handed.
Elara stood slightly behind Hermione and Ron and they approached the counter and began speaking to the Goblin. The name plaque on his desk said Bogrod and he had a kind face; she briefly wondered what the Goblins' stance was with the war, if it would affect their communities the way it was tearing through the Wizarding community. But then again, Goblins didn't like to get involved in Wizarding matters, Griphook had made that abundantly clear.
She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to focus, stuffing her own emotions away into a locked trunk to deal with later. She couldn't have a repeat of what happened at the Manor, she couldn't allow her emotions to best her this time. Their lives very much depended on it. As Hermione began talking, she felt the suspicion grow within the Goblin at the desk. The more questions Hermione answered, the more combative she became toward Bogrod, the less he believed them.
"Ahem," Elara coughed into her hand quietly.
She saw Ron give her a glance over his shoulder, barely moving his head at all but enough to say he had heard her. She watched as he lightly tugged at Hermione's sleeve, just enough that she would feel a bit of resistance and be made aware that something was off.
The incertitude building in Bogrod was rising in seconds. She watched as he gave a pointed look to someone, a guard, perhaps? When he asked to see Bellatrix's wand, Hermione froze.
"M-my wand?"
"Security purposes, of course, Madam Lestrange, you understand."
"Ahem," Elara coughed again, a little louder this time.
"Mrs. Malfoy, are you here to enter your... " Bogrod trailed off, his eyes suddenly glazing over for a moment before clearing and Elara felt all of the stress that had been building in him ease away, melting from him like butter on a hot knife. His entire being seemed to be zapped of any emotional thought or curiosities and he felt like a blank slate, no more emotional than the stuffed pink dragon she slept with in her bed as a child.
"Right this way," he said.
Elara felt her eyes grow wider for a moment before she schooled her expression and took a deep breath, following the small group as Bogrod led them toward the entrance to the vaults. When they passed through the doors and were in the safety of solitude, with no one but the entranced Goblin, Harry pulled the cloak off his shoulders and set Griphook down from his back.
"Harry!" Hermione said, "What did you do to him?!"
"He's Imperiused," Elara answered.
Hermione looked mutinous, "Imperiused?! Harry! You understand that's an unforgivable for a reason?! It's completely illegal!"
"Hate to break it to you, Hermione, but we're breaking into Gringotts right now. I'm fairly certain my use of an Unforgivable isn't the only law being broken," Harry said.
"Besides, he had to do something! Even I could tell he was on to us!" Ron said.
"We need to go," Elara interjected.
She climbed into the cart and twisted her hands in her lap as she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. The second Griphook closed the small door on the cart, it took off. Elara's stomach flipped as the cart gained speed, twisting and turning between the stalagmites as it went deeper into the sub-levels of Gringotts. Elara had never been this deep into the bank before, her personal vault certainly did not require such protection. She knew of the dragon guarding the deep vaults simply from the knowledge being passed down from her father.
"What are we looking for when we get in?" Ron yelled to Harry, the force of the air rushing past them from the speed of the cart, muffling his words.
"It'll be something small, something that has to do with Hogwarts, I reckon! I think… I think I'll be able to feel it, like I could the locket," Harry answered.
"What is that?!" Elara shouted, pointing to a large waterfall up ahead.
"Thief's Downfall," Griphook replied. "Washes away all enchantments to reveal the true identity of the person beneath it."
"Well that's just bloody fantastic," Ron said, his eyebrows in his hairline. "What are we going to do?!"
"Can we stop it?" Elara asked, as the waterfall sped toward them.
"There is no way to hide from it," Griphook said.
"It's fine!" Harry called out, "Really, the least of our worries."
"They'll be alerted!" Griphook shouted.
"Great! And we couldn't have known about that before?!" Harry shouted, his frustration rising.
Before any argument could continue, Elara felt the water of the Thief's Downfall wash over her, filling her mouth and soaking every strand of hair on her head. She sputtered, coughing hard as she tried to breathe. When she finally caught her breath, the cart took a sharp turn, toppling it from the tracks and sent the group hurtling toward the ground.
"Molliare!" Hermione shouted, pointing her wand to the ground.
Elara felt her body go weightless, the impact onto the ground nothing more than a smack to a pillow. With an "oomph!" she landed on her backside, legs sprawled out under her and robes sopping wet and heavy. Harry grabbed her elbow, hoisting her to her feet as she used her wand to dry herself.
"How are we supposed to get out now?!" Ron cried.
"We'll worry about that when we get to it!" Harry said.
Elara groaned, the lack of escape plan heightening the fear in her chest. She could hear voices echoing above them and she knew their time was becoming extremely limited. "We need to go!"
"She's right," Griphook said, "They've been alerted, they know there are thieves! We need him!"
Griphook pointed to the other Goblin who was shaking his head as the Imperius charm wore off. His eyes grew wide with understanding as he realized his surroundings. Harry quickly brandished his wand, pointing it at him and casting the curse. The Goblin's eyes glazed over once more and he looked complacent, his mood completely mild and unassuming.
Griphook led the way, grabbing a set of something he called "clankers" and moving deep into the cavernous vaults. Elara could feel the prickling magic in the air, something different surrounding them than the normal, everyday hum of magic she had grown accustomed to feeling in her life.
As they rounded the corner, her eyes bulged at the sight of the dragon. Enormous, bigger than she could have even imagined, and… pale. Sickly, almost. Her brows pulled together as she stared at the beast. It's large body was covered in deep scars and its eyes a milky white color that suggested it couldn't see.
"It's partially blind," Griphook confirmed. "But it knows to expect pain when it hears this. It will move and allow us access! We need Bogrod to get us into the vault!"
"That's barbaric!" Hermione said, as Griphook gave a wicked smile and began shaking the clanker back and forth.
The sound was loud, reverberating off the stone walls and practically vibrating inside of Elara's head. Her hands flew to the sides of her head, trying to muffle the loud noise as they moved forward toward the vault's door. Harry pointed his wand at Bogrod again, and the Goblin placed his hand against the door.
A series of loud clicks and grinding sounds accompanied the clanking. Elara felt her head starting to split open from the volume of it, the blood in her ears pounding in time with the clankers. Finally, the door opened and they all stepped inside.
The room was dark, much darker than it had been in the cavern of the bank they had just been standing. Elara could barely see more than a few inches in front of her. Ron cast a Lumos and there was a collective gasp as they looked around the vault. There were piles upon piles of gold and jewels, stacked high along the walls, nearly scraping the ceiling. There were crowns, tiaras, necklaces, and an assortment of broaches and bracelets that seemed to be never ending. Old crystals and strange objects that glittered enticingly in the soft glow of the Lumos and reflecting little dots of light around the stone walls. There were several suits of armor standing guard, lined up against the back wall.
"Harry, do you think- OUCH!" Hermione had lifted something from a stack, dropping it instantly as she cried in pain. Elara gasped as the object bounced on the ground, multiplying and hitting her ankles, burning through her cloak and blistering her skin instantly.
"Gemino and Flagrante curses," Griphook said. "Anything you touch will multiply and burn. Meant to crush whoever enters."
"Fuck!" Ron said, "This just keeps getting better!"
"Don't touch anything!" Harry said, "Just… Just look around! It'll be something smaller, probably have a symbol on it… Badger or Eagle…"
Elara, Hermione, and Harry all joined Ron with casting Lumos and the room lit up, sparkling brilliantly against the gold, jewels, and trinkets. Elara carefully turned on the spot, looking around her for anything that could be a horcrux. Her heart was racing as she kept her feet cemented to the floor. She was a bit of a bull in a china shop on a good day, so the chances of her falling off balance and knocking everything around her to the ground was astronomical. She took slow breaths, trying to remain calm to keep any jerkiness out of her motions.
"Shit!" Ron swore, his elbow knocking into a stack of jewels behind him.
The jewels tumbled to the ground, multiplying and burning, singeing holes into their robes. As Elara turned back to face Ron, she felt one of the scalding jewels land under her boot, before she could lift her foot, she slipped. On instinct, her arms spread out as she fell backward, a stack of golden trinkets tumbling on top of her. She cried out in pain as the small objects hit her skin, searing through her clothes and instantly blistering her flesh. Ron turned and grabbed her burnt wrist, pulling her out from under the ever growing pile of items.
"There!" Harry cried, pointing to the far side of the vault.
In the corner, near the ceiling on top of a shelf was a golden cup with a handle on either side and a badger etched into the front of it.
"How are we going to get it?!" Elara asked, her tone desperate as the tiny trinkets kept multiplying around her.
Hermione pointed her wand toward Harry, "Levicorpus!" she shouted.
Harry was thrust upward into the air by his ankle, his body smacking into one of the suits of armor lining the walls. Hermione yelped as the suit tumbled over and began multiplying.
"The sword! Hermione! Give me the sword!" Harry yelled.
The heat from the burning objects was sweltering. Elara felt sweat begin the bead on her forehead and drip down her back. It was suffocating, the lack of cool oxygen almost worse than the burns on her legs as everything around them continued to multiply. She could hear the clankers begin from outside again, and she felt her heart skip a beat.
"Harry! They're coming! We need to hurry!" Elara called.
"I've got it!" Harry shouted, hooking the handle of the cup on the shaft of the sword. "Hermione, put me- ARRGH!"
As Hermione cancelled the Levicorpus, Harry dropped to the ever growing sea of gold and suits of armor, the sword falling from his grip. Elara screamed out in pain, her cries met by identical ones from Ron and Hermione, as the objects grew and came nearly to their waists, burning into them and burying the Goblins. Elara saw Ron begin to dig through the items, pulling Bogrod from the sea of metal and fire and Harry heaved Griphook onto his shoulders.
Griphook had one hand fisted into Harry's hair as he leaned as far as he could on his shoulders, reaching for the sword.
"We need to get out of here!" Hermione cried, "We need to go! Now!"
"Open the door!" Harry yelled, struggling against Griphook for the sword.
Ron waded through the burning gold and picked up Bogrod's hand, pressing it against the door. The door flew open and the mountain of gold that had accumulated inside, spilled out into the cavern, multiplying and burning against everything in its path. Elara leaned over to grasp onto Hermione's hand, pulling her from the vault.
"THIEVES!" Griphook yelled, running toward the sound of the clankers. "THIEVES! OVER HERE!"
"Shit!" Harry said, "He got the sword! He took the fucking sword!"
"We need to go!" Elara said, "We can worry about that later, we need to get out of here, now!"
"I have an idea!" Hermione said, "I have an idea but it's absolutely mental!"
"Well, let's hear it then!" Ron said, "We don't really have time to figure out anything better!"
"Relashio!" Hermione cried, pointing her wand to the cuffs that held the dragon tethered to the floor. "Let's go!"
"Go?! Go on what?!" Elara said.
"The dragon!" Hermione shouted, as if it were the most obvious thing she had ever said.
"Brilliant!" Ron said, his eyes lit up with excitement as a huge grin stole his face.
"Yeah, fine! Let's go!" Harry said, pulling at Elara's elbow and moving toward the dragon.
The dragon had yet to realize it was unchained, something Elara felt grateful for. Harry and Ron knelt to the ground, creating a step with their hands for Hermione and Elara to use to hoist themselves onto the back of the beast. Once both girls were on its back, they hooked their legs around one of the many great spikes lining the dragon's spine and offered hands down to help pull Ron and Harry up. Harry settled behind Elara, half his weight on her as they laid flat to the back. Elara's fingers dug between the massive scales that covered it, several inches thick and hard as steel. She gripped hard, even with her wand in one hand, she held on with as much strength as she could muster.
Finally, the dragon realized it was uncuffed and reared back, pushing off from the ground and surging upward. It blew massive flames through the caverns, blasting its way through the labyrinth of underground.
"We aren't going to fit!" Hermione shouted, pointing up.
"Defodio!" Elara bellowed, pointing her wand toward the stone, watching as it fell away.
Hermione, Ron and Harry all began yelling the same spell, carving away at the cavern walls to widen it for escape. The dragon's snout faced upward, taking in a long breath as the cool air from above began to filter into the vaults. The lighting became brighter, Elara's eyes taking a second to adjust from the lack of light just seconds before.
Finally, with one last belch of flame from the dragon, they burst through the floor, landing in the foyer of the massive bank. Screams filled the air and Elara felt the stunning spells zoom past her, bouncing off the dragon's scale and ricocheting into the walls. A deafening roar came from the dragon as it blew another flame from its snout before busting through the doors and pushing off the ground.
"Where is it going?!" Hermione yelled.
"I don't know!" Ron answered, "But it's better than being here!"
As the dragon climbed ever higher in the sky, the rush of air filling Elara's ears and burning against her blistered skin, she felt absolutely elated. They had done it! They had broken into Gringotts, got the horcrux, and made it out alive! She knew the sword, however, was gone again. But they could figure it out later, there would be something, there had to be something that they could use to rid of the horcrux. They would figure it out, Elara was sure of it. They had come this far, she was riding on the back of a dragon, for Merlin's sake! Surely, they could figure out a way to destroy the horcrux?!
"I can't believe we did it!" Elara shouted, laughing loudly as she pulled her head up from where it was buried against her arm. Her hair flew behind her, pulling in the wind and whipping around her face.
"Don't get too excited, we still have to get off this thing!" Harry laughed, "We could jump!"
Elara looked down for the first time and saw they were over a large body of water. Her heart plummeted and she looked over her shoulder at Harry, "I can't swim!" she said, panic in her voice. "I never learned how to swim!"
"We need to jump!" Hermione shouted.
"Do you trust me?" Harry asked.
"Yes, of course I do."
"Then we have to jump," he said, reaching up to grab her blistered and swollen hand.
"Okay," Elara said, nodding frantically.
"Harry, Ellie! Now! We need to jump now!" Hermione yelled.
"Count of three," Harry said. "One… Two… Three!"
On three, Harry and Elara let go of the dragon's back and pushed off with their feet. Somehow, Harry's other hand found Elara's arm and he held onto her as they plummeted toward the water.
"Hold your breath!" Harry yelled, taking in a deep breath.
Elara followed suit, taking in a deep breath and holding it. When her body slammed into the surface of the water, it took everything in her not to yell out in pain. The icy water burned against her horribly inflamed skin, not to mention the force of breaking the surface from such a height. Elara thrashed in the water, panic taking her in as she sank even deeper into the murky depths of the lake they landed in.
Finally, she felt Harry's hands tighten around her wrists and she was being pulled upward. She kicked her legs as hard as she could, trying to stay calm as her lungs began to burn for air. Harry's hands moved from her wrists, hooking beneath her underarms and he shoved her upward, her head breaking through the surface of the water.
Elara gasped for breath, her arms and legs moving wildly in the water, her feet trying desperately to find something stable to land on. She felt herself begin to slip under the surface again, her futile effort of holding onto the water proving useless. Finally, she felt a pair of arms encircle her waist.
"I'm here," Harry whispered in her ear. "I've got you."
Elara's teeth chattered from the cold of the water and nodded, "Okay."
"Look!" Hermione shouted, pointing in front of her, "Land! It's not far off!"
As Harry pulled them toward the shore, Elara's legs kicking as she tried to help propel them forward, she could feel the exact moment something in Harry changed. She felt the rush of adrenaline that had been pulsing through him die completely, replaced by fear and confusion and white hot fury.
"Harry?!" Elara asked, as Harry's body began to go slack.
Harry's face screwed up in pain, his eyes slamming shut, wet hands leaving Elara's waist and reaching up to clutch his head. Elara panicked for a moment until she realized her feet were finally hitting something solid. Sinking and sliding to the side as she tried to find purchase in the wet sand, she held on to Harry, pulling him forward toward the shore.
"Harry?! Are you okay?! What is it?!"
Harry yelled out, his knees sinking into the mucky shore as they finally collapsed onto land, "He knows."
.
.
a/n: Hey all! thanks for reading! Sorry it's a bit late going up! If you're in my FB group, then you know that I was in a terribly foul mood all of sunday. I honestly just could not bring myself to focus on anything. So, I waited to edit so that I could give this chapter a proper amount of attention!
Anyway, please let me know what you thought! Again, thank you so much for reading. I love you wonderful people so dang much!
xo
mimi
