Chapter 2 - Gringotts
The quiet murmur of conversations, punctuated by the clink of galleons being exchanged was the ordered calm that meant the proprietor of Gringotts' Bank was ensured a smoothly run day.
His domain, ruled by an iron grip. Not one witch or wizard could disturb his kingdom.
"Excuse me?"
The scowl on the goblin's face appeared immediately. A hooked nose and sharp teeth practically growled at the fool who dared to interrupt his important task - tallying up his bank's store of wealth.
"I am not a teller. Get back in line."
A cherub faced girl smiled even wider back at him when she directly saw his fearsome features.
Strange. Even the strongest of wizards cowered at a goblin's ire.
His especially.
The girl went on however, without fear. "You look familiar. Have we met?"
The banker merely gave a snort of derision. "I highly doubt it, young lady. My kind do not mix company with witches and wizards. We'd rather deal with money than people."
"Ah I suppose so. It's only my second time in Diagon Alley and the wizarding world at all, but how splendid it is!"
Hmph, a first year. A Muggleborn, if her naivete had been any more apparent. The goblin only grunted in reply, hoping it would be the end of the conversation. He had already entertained the whelp enough.
"You do look strikingly like an old friend of mine. His name was Gringott."
The banker rolled his eyes. As if the giant name of the building above the doorway entrance didn't bear a clue. He pointed to the portrait which dominated the wall with a bony hand. His serious figure loomed above the other bankers, as if policing them when he wasn't physically there.
The name emblazoned at the bottom in gold script caught the eye of all who entered.
Warwick Gringott, 8th Head Goblin of Gringott's Bank.
"You are Gringott!" The voice exclaimed. She called back to those in her party, waiting in one of the long queues. "He is Gringott!"
The others in her group merely waved back with embarrassed, sheepish grins.
The elfin girl turned the power of her profound joy back to the grumpy proprietor. "I should have known. You look just like him, but I knew a Harelip Gringott."
A shocked breath and a numbness shook his whole body. Was the girl insane?
"Harelip Gringott was the founder of this bank nearly five centuries ago. He was my ancestor," he replied with uncertainty. The girl looked only to be of age with the first years, but how did she know his greatest great-grandfather's name?!
She didn't seem shocked, only nodding with assurance. "Yes, you have a strong family resemblance with him. The Gringotts and their clan were the only ones not to join the White Witch. I always wondered what he did with the gold we gave him. I'm glad he invested it so well."
Shaking fingers raised metal rimmed spectacles to his wide eyes.
It cannot be!
He slid off his stool with a clatter, and the door to his stand gave a mighty bang as he scrambled to the little one's side.
"Your majesty!"
The resemblance was uncanny. But how was she here?
He bowed so low the tip of his long nose nearly brushed the floor. "Are you here alone? No, you called out to someone?" He cursed his former belittling of her.
"Yes, my siblings." She pointed them out again nearly to the front of their line.
All thoughts were stolen from his shocked mind. It was as if the heroes of old had stepped out of the pages from ancient tales and entered the real world.
He sprang forward toward the others with a quickness that belied his ancient age.
"Please if you could be so kind as to step into my private office. I would be most honored."
The eldest of the family nodded as he and his three younger siblings followed the owner into an opulent room.
Those around wondered at the normally taciturn goblin's strange behavior.
—-
A blazing fire and warm cups of tea were pressed into everyone's hands as they settled in.
Warwick Gringott stared again at how ordinary High King Peter, Queen Susan, King Edmund, and Queen Lucy looked in their childlike jumpers, skirts, and trousers.
"How did you recognize us?" Peter asked.
The owner gave a framed picture to the boy. It bore a wonderfully detailed image of four faces, their own, full of youthful joy.
"Those in my family who could draw created this so we could always remember our patrons. Also Queen Lucy spoke of the Witch just now, and how we obtained our initial wealth. Only those in my family knows of that secret."
"Oh dear. And I just blurted it out in public too," she murmured.
The banker waived her concerns away. "No one would believe our story anyway. The prophesied kings and queens bestowed gold on my ancestors, and the Great Lion himself opened a portal to England's magical world?"
"It does sound preposterous," Susan agreed. "We barely could ration out how we came back to Finchley with our memories of Narnia and Aslan intact."
Strange. Queen Susan seemed to hesitate saying those ancient names. As if they were a foreign language on her lips, Gingott thought.
They pondered the timeline of the elder Gringott being sent back to the 1400's while his patrons were returned to the 1940's.
Not a tame lion, indeed.
A second cup of tea was spent explaining the wizarding world. The mention of Grindlewald was alarming, but Gringott reassured the royal family that after his defeat by a Professor Dumbledore, this world has been at peace.
"I guess we'll find out later why we suddenly received four owls on our doorstep," Edmund sighed.
The hour chimed, and Peter mentioned needing to get the money exchanged to purchase wizarding robes.
"We don't have much between the four of us, but if at least Edmund and Lucy should look presentable, Su and I can manage."
Gringott opened the safe in his office, and a series of tumblers and locks clicked open. He pulled out four sizable bags of galleons, and pressed it into the astonished children's hands.
"Please accept this gift along with my family and my clan's eternal gratitude."
"It's far too much!" Edmund tried to protest.
The goblin could only shake his head. "It's far too little. You and your family were the only ones to trust us especially after what the others of my kind did during the one hundred years of winter. That is far more priceless than the gold you gave us so that we could get to where we are now! We have always honored you by telling of your great deeds in story through my family for generations."
The Pevensies blushed at his praise, and took the money with gratitude.
As the proprietor bowed low again to the family as they left the bank, whispers and murmurs arose from witches, wizards, and proprietors alike.
Who were these people?
Warwick is from Gringott's actor, Warwick Davis. Harelip is from the Princess and the Goblin. Thank you to my first reviewers, rebecca-in-blue and Dartemisana. I hope I'm not beating, 'Hey they're royal', over everyone's heads too much.
Grignard