As the Gringotts cart raced down the track into the depths of Gringotts twisting and turning so sharply on the rickety tracks that harry gripped on tightly to the sides of the cart worried that whatever magic that was keeping them from flying out of the carts would fail. Despite the crazy twisting and turning of the cart Harry still found his mind racing with all the information that he had learned.
First his parent his parents weren't unemployed alcoholic freaks living of off the state who had died while drunk driving like his uncle Vernon and aunt petunia had told him but they were magic users and had died protecting him from the dark lord called Voldemort. Which being fluent in French harry recognised the dark lords name as a complete butchering of French Vol de mort which translates into flight from death. A rather strange choice for a name in Harrys opinion but by all accounts, Lord flight from death was rather insane so it probably could have been worse.
The second major piece of information that Harry was acclimatising slowly to was that there was an entire hidden world filled with magic, potions, magical plants and animal that existed right along side the rest of the world and had a major hub in the centre of London yet went unnoticed by the rest of the world. This world of magic appeared to be incredibly advanced while stuck in both the dark ages and the Victorian era.
The third and most concerning piece of information was that Hagrid the incredibly large and aggressive man behind Harry right now was blatantly waving around how great the headmaster Dumbledore was and how Headmaster Dumbledore defeated another Dark lord called Grindelwald, Dumbledore was the beacon of everything light, pure, good, protector of the innocents and the best headmaster ever. In Harry's opinion Headmaster Dumbledore sounded like a manipulative old man but he would reserve his judgment until he had collected more information on the man from a wide variety of sources and even have possibly met the man himself.
However, even more concerning was the Hagrid had right after this enormous spiel loudly proclaimed drawing the attention of the entire bank that he was there to pick you know what up in vault you know which. Harry struggled not to roll his eyes at the ridiculousness of being so secretive while announcing to the entire bank that you were collecting something important from this secret vault.
Jerking sharply forwards harry was brought out of his thoughts by the suddenness of the carts stop and the huge sparks spraying from the wheel's. Hagrid took a quick gulp from his hip flask which judging by the pungent smell was a wizarding drink as it smelled similar to the chilies that the family in number 8 magnolia crescent used in their curries and that the cheap whiskey Uncle Vernon drank. The unsteadily hauled himself out of the cart whether Hagrid was drunk or unsteady from the rollercoaster like journey. Mean while the goblin Griphooks nimbly leapt out from the cart and whipped out the vault key.
Ignoring Hagrid Griphook walked towards the huge vault door. At some point the vault door had been a grand door but now their where only hints of its grandness from the great iron hinges creating a vine of roses dull green and red flakes of paint clinging to the metal only visible if one looked carefully the wood of the door was aged and faded to a warm grey with a pure grey smudges at edge of the door , around the handle and key hole. At the top of the door a couple of peeling flakes of either varnish or paint were just visible but the only evidence that there had ever been varnish or paint on the door.
Whipping out the key for the vault Griphook smoothly slid the key into the lock the sharply turned it four times then stepped backwards. A great creak and groan sounded making Harry wonder if the door would even open or if it was rusted shut. Just as it appeared that the door wouldn't open a series of clangs and thuds sounded. Then a high-pitched screech rang through the cavern as the vaults doors slowly swung open a cloud of orange dust showering the ground beneath the hinges.
Once the sounds died down the great doors had opened to reveal a huge vault wi
th one small lump sitting in the middle of the vault. Blinking in surprised Harry looked around the vault again spotting an old medieval style crest on the back wall the crest featured a stylised fountain with a unicorn jumping over it in black on a silver background. As Griphook climbed into the cart Harry herd him mutter, "Secret task my ass, the whole of the British wizarding world and the French wizarding world will know by sundown and if the oaf doesn't stop with the dramatics even wizarding Australia will know of it."
Trying not to laugh Harry turned to watch Hagrid scoop up the dusty bundle of fabric that like the door appeared to have once been extremely ornate as hints of faded embroidery could be made out once the dust was knocked off the tiny dirty bundle. Once again comparing the size of the vault to the size of the package before muttering: "that seems like a waste of space why stick it in a huge vault by itself when I saw a leaflet stating that there is a wide range of vaults and security levels for each vault."
The deep rumbling growl of Griphooks laughter startled Harry as he realised that he had said that out loud, Griphook growled, "yes, it is but no one in the history of time has ever claimed that the majority of witches and wizards are logical if such a word can even be loosely applied to them." Before Harry could reply Hagrid clambered back into the cart having tucked the package into one of the many oversized pockets in his jacket.
As soon as Hagrid had sat in the cart Griphook sent them plunging deeper into the mines the as he announced, "next stop is the vault 687" after a few minutes riding along in the carts Harry was sure he had passed the same dog shaped stalagmite` twice and that the goblin was deliberately taking a scenic route just to spite Hagrid who was now moaning every time the cart hit a bump or turned sharply.
Grinding sharply to a halt Griphook announced, "Vault 687." Quickly leaping out of the cart Harry looked at the eight foot tall oak door with a clear varnish on it with a sense of approval the door was practical and well maintained. Whipping Harry's key out Grip hook slid it into a second almost inviable key hole and opened a smaller door in the door and whispered, "if you don't want the idiot to know what you have in your vault enter now before he arrives, and I have to open the whole vault door."
With a nod of thanks, Harry darted into the vault ignoring Hagrid's cry to wait. Stepping into the vault Harry felt his knees go week in shock as stared in awe at the towering piles of gold, silver and bronze coins, a multitude of metals sat in piles, jewels displayed on selves, furniture, bookcases of books among the most common items.
As Harry was inspecting a stack of chairs that looked like they belonged in a heritage house in complete confusion Griphook who had slipped into the vault behind Harry said, "The rich pure blood wizarding families have been around for centuries and understand that everything comes back into fashion, so they store furniture for their descendants thus saving money and helping to assure the continued wealth of the family." Seeing that harry was listing Griphook continued to explain saying that, "many old family's boast about the age of their furniture rather than the price and with magic they keep them in pristine condition."
Nodding in understanding Harry turned his attention to the three massive piles of coins. One pile was filled with large gold coins that would fill the palm of Harry's hand the word galleon engraved around the image of a man's face. The second pile of coins was filled with slightly smaller silver coins. Checking the coin Harry was pleased to find sickle engraved around a woman's face. The final and last coin was a small bronze coin with Knut etched around the image of a cauldron and a wand.
Closely examining the three coins Harry turned to Griphook and asked, "what are these coins worth bot in the wizarding world and the exchange rate to pounds?." Pausing for a second Harry picked up a gallion and continued to ask "and how much money do I need for my school supply's."
With a rather terrifying grin, Griphook replied, "an heir of a Most Ancient and most noble house would normally get 500 galleons to buy their first year Hogwarts supply's and what's left over is pocket money. The exchange rate is dependent on the muggle value of gold so a pound of gold in in a Galleon as originally muggle pounds where a pound of gold and it made life easier but now the exchange rate is now £6.50 to a galleon."
Before Harry could ask how he was supposed to carry all that money Griphook summoned the required amount into a small moleskin bag with a swirl of his long bony finger and handed it to Harry. Amazed that all the money had fitted into the tiny bag and the lack of weight Harry peered into the bag noticing that inside it appeared full but when he put his hand in the bag expanded. As Harry was looking in the didn't spot Griphook pulling out a silver and black coat trunk with an intricate family crest on the front from behind a pile of tables and chairs.
Turning to Griphook Harry was surprised to see the trunk it's elegant silver leather and black bracings appealed to Harry. The intricate crest of a Gryphon and a large snake standing over a cauldron with the smoke from the cauldron forming the shape of a circle with a triangle inside and a line down the middle.
As Harry was examining the trunk Griphook said, "your parents left this trunk to you with strict instructions that if anything happened to them that Gringotts would ensure that you would receive it before your fist year in Hogwarts. It contains in it everything you will need from portkeys to your property's all the books you will need for Hogwarts, protective jewellery, and many more Items." Gazing at the Trunk in awe Harry made a mental note that he had to look up portkeys and how everything fitted into the smaller containers and that were so small considering what was inside them. A couple of theories from when placing the item in the container it shrunk to his most likely theory based on how the mole skin pouch reacted to his hand that the inside of the container was similar to the TARDIS in doctor who but with a false floor to ensure everything was reachable.
Walking over to a small table by itself Griphook picked up a sheet of parchment and duplicated it with a wave of his long finger. Passing the parchment to Harry he said, "if you write the name of something you want to buy this parchment will tell you if you have it already and where it can be found fortunately The Potters are one of the more reasonable line of wizards and kept everything organised unlike others where everything is just chucked in the vault."
As Harry turned to leave the vault Griphook pulled out a scroll that was the length of Harry's fore arm and as thick as his calf. On each end of the scroll the same crest as on the trunk adorned the ends of the scroll. Placing the scroll in a large office desk Griphook said, "This cannot leave the vault until you are of age but when you are of age you will be able to access your complete family tree the scroll will automatically lengthen with each additional generation.
Suddenly aware of how much history was recorded in the large parchment Harry was amazed that his family could trace so far as to fill the entire scroll Harry felt himself fill with determination to do his family proud.
Taking a deep breath Harry darted out of the tiny vault door and was almost immediately knocked over and sent skidding towards the cart sliding to a stop inches from tumbling into the bottomless darkness bellow. Growling under his breath the purple faced Hagrid took another great gulp of his flask before grabbing Harrys arm in his vice like grip and roughly pulled harry up wrenching his arm so much that harry was dancing on the tip of his toes in a desperate attempt to relieve the pain in his arm.
Shaking Harry slightly Hagrid growled, "what did you do in there boy and why did you not wait for me?"
Gasping Harry quickly put a confused expression on his face masking the fear and anger coursing through his veins. Ducking his head Harry quickly replied, "I went in because the Griphook opened the door and I thought you were behind me Griphook gave me a money bag and an empty trunk he found lying in the back of the vault after telling me to be careful how I spend my money until I leave Hogwarts and get a job."
Nodding sharply Hagrid sent a dirty look towards Griphook as he hauled Harry into the cart while muttering about filthy goblins and stupid brats ruining the Albus's plans. Fortunately, the trip out of Gringotts's was quicker than the trip to the vaults as Hagrid kept a painfully tight hold of Harry's arm until they were in Diagon Alley.
Stepping out of the bank Harry was blinded by the son leaving him unprepared for the large cobbles that lined Diagon alley. Stumbling forwards Harry tripped and slipped over the cobble stones only just managing to catch his feet. So, focused on keeping his feet he was unaware of the worried and alarmed looks the shopkeepers and shoppers of Diagon alley sent his way.
A few people stepped forwards to help the dark-haired boy but were quickly pulled back by other shoppers and shopkeepers hissing, "are you crazy there's nothing you can do." Eventually harry manged to get his feet underneath him and run alongside Hagrid.
Stopping outside of a shop Hagrid with a bright and cheerful sign proclaiming it to be Madam Malkin's robes for every occasion. Shoving the school list into Harry's hand Hagrid growled "get what is on the list while I go get a pick me up from the leaky."
Holding on tightly to the list Harry watched as Hagrid made his way back to the Leaky cauldron. Taking a deep breath Harry entered the shop and was quickly spotted by a kind looking lady who quickly bustled over and said, "Hogwarts dear" At Harry's small nod she quickly ushering him up onto a platform next to an aristocratic boy with white blonde hair.
The boy glanced over at Harry took an appraising glance then proceeded to introduce himself saying, "hello my names Draco Malfoy. Are you going to Hogwarts too?" nodding in conformation Harry relaxed as Draco barely noticing that he hadn't said a word began talking about familiars and quidditch.
As the tape measure few around him and a large blue quill and a roll of parchment appeared to be recording his measurements. Quickly Harry began to compile more research topics to cover before he went to Hogwarts based on the offhand way Draco talked about them like it was common knowledge some of the topics included researching Slytherin, Hufflepuff (and why Draco would quit if in it), Quidditch and familiars. Eventually, Draco had finished his robe fitting and after saying goodbye he left with his mother who was waiting outside.