Harry sat and idly pulled out random blades of grass from his school's cricket field. Professor McGonagall was to meet him here at 9am, but that was still a few minutes away and Harry was a little bored. At exactly 9am, Harry was shocked from his boredom by a sudden crack and the appearance of a particularly strict looking old woman. He stared at her in disbelief and she offered a small, tight lipped smile in response. "Good morning, Mr Potter. I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Head at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Harry took a few seconds to compose himself before responding "Nice to meet you, Ma'am. How did you appear here so suddenly? Did you teleport? Can I teleport? Do you –"
"Muggles call it teleportation, but to wizards and witches it is apparition. It is illegal to apparate in front of muggles, but since there are no muggles nearby I will give you another demonstration." With that she promptly vanished and reappeared a few steps to her right.
"Wicked! Can I try? I have been considering a lot of the strange occurrences in my life and even though it sounds insane, magic really is the best explanation. I always knew I was different than the other kids…" Harry trailed off as he noticed the disapproving expression McGonagall wore. "I am sorry, Ma'am. I didn't mean it the way it sounded."
"I should hope not. But to answer your earlier question, no, you cannot apparate yet. It is only taught when you are 17 years old and you may only apparate once you successfully pass a test at the Ministry of Magic and obtain your licence."
"I understand, Ma'am." Silence reigned for an uncomfortable period while Professor McGonagall studied the young boy.
"Well Mr Potter, we must get going. We have some extra business to attend to at Gringotts, the wizarding world's bank, and I only have a few hours available in my schedule. Grab onto my arm and I will apparate us to the Leaky Cauldron, the most popular entrance to Diagon Alley."
Harry silently did as he was told with a mixture of excitement and intimidation at the professor's stern demeanor. As soon as he took hold of her arm, they disappeared and he felt a horrible pressure over his whole body before they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. Professor McGonagall hurriedly explained where the Leaky Cauldron was in the muggle world and how to get through to Diagon alley. Harry tried to absorb all the details but he knew he wouldn't quite manage that. He frowned at her back as she tapped the bricks and opened the archway to Diagon Alley.
Harry immediately forgot the presence of the deputy headmistress as he took in the sheer lunacy of the alley. A narrow, crowded path twisted out of sight, with buildings looming precariously over the bustling magical shoppers. Most wore strange dresses and silly hats but Harry barely considered this as his eyes roamed over the chaotic wizarding alley. A grin crept onto his face as he considered the simply incredible products that must be sold here. I can't wait to go exploring! Are those flying brooms? I have to have one! This is amazing!
"Come along Mr Potter, you can look around after we have attended to our business." I guess it must be a little tiresome to introduce young children to an essentially new world, but surely she could lighten up a bit?
Harry looked up to see McGonagall walking briskly through the crowds, her stern demeanour and reputation preventing any collisions. Unfortunately, he was still bumped every few steps until he followed right behind her.
After around 5 minutes Harry saw a hulking architectural masterpiece. White marble was sculpted into the most beautiful and extravagant building he had ever seen. McGonagall lead him between the massive columns and to the entrance area, past two strange looking creatures that guarded the entrance doors. Their craggy faces twisted into fearsome sneers in response to his bemused stare. He hastened back to McGonagall's side and whispered "What on earth are those things?"
Her disapproving frown returned and Harry cursed inwardly as he realised his words were somehow inappropriate for wizards. "Those are goblins, Mr Potter. You would do well to treat them with respect. If not, you will find your dealings with them to be rather unpleasant."
Harry just nodded in response, still staring around himself in fascination. They joined a queue and slowly got closer and closer to one of the wrinkled, leathery, wart covered beasts. When they reached the front of the queue, McGonagall addressed the goblin while Harry attempted a smile which was not returned by the creature. "Good day, Albus Dumbledore sent Gringotts a letter about Harry Potter and his accounts. I have Mr Potter with me to address the matter of his inheritance."
The goblin leaned forward and glared at Harry who stared blankly back. McGonagall frowned mildly at the pair, but Harry didn't notice, his full focus was directed at the creature that was trying to intimidate him. He wondered a little about this inheritance McGonagall mentioned, but that could be addressed after the goblin stopped glaring so ferociously.
The goblin's sneer grew as he spoke "Director Ragnok issued a directive clearly stating that since the Ministry declared line extinction, and since the Potters did not bring in their heir for processing, Gringotts had no reason to believe that an heir had survived. Gringotts consequently bears no liability for the distribution of the funds that once filled the Potter vaults. If Mr Potter wishes to take legal action against the Ministry then he is more than welcome to do so at his own expense. However, I would imagine it is rather unlikely that they will bankrupt themselves for the sake of an orphan."
Harry didn't quite understand the full story but the goblin's attitude was beginning to grate on his nerves. He felt his blank expression deepen into a frown at the creature who dismissed him with a smirk of sheer joy at Harry's expense. McGonagall finally found her voice "You mean to tell me that you honestly cannot recover ANY of the funds of one of the wealthiest families in Britain after you prematurely closed the accounts?"
Harry was a little surprised that McGonagall was standing up for him, but even more so at the fact that his family was very wealthy before his parent's death. By the goblins smirk he knew he would never see that money. At this point he wished more than anything to get out of the bank, where people were beginning to stare at the stand-off between goblin, Deputy Headmistress and young boy. He did not fully understand the situation, but as his confusion and his anger at the goblin's sadistic joy grew, something cold seemed to swell in his chest.
"As I have already explained, Gringotts is not liable for any losses due to human incompetence. Now, is there anything else I can do for you? If not, get out, I am rather busy as you can imagine."
McGonagall looked at Harry with pity and laid a hand on his shoulder. She glared at the goblin as she said "This matter is far from settled, but for the time being, we require that Harry be granted access to a Hogwarts scholarship vault."
The goblin seemed elated at this and replied "I am terribly sorry, but that fund is only available to Muggleborn students. Fortunately for Mr Potter, there are dozens of cheaper schools that he can apply to if he cannot afford Hogwarts fees. Alternatively, Gringotts could offer him a loan, at an appropriate interest rate of course. It was very generous of Mr Potter to cover the Hogwarts fees for all seven years for a number of families, all seven of the Weasley children for example. Perhaps if this good will had also carried over to returning the stolen goblin made armour and weaponry from the second century then we would be having a very different conversation. Unfortunately for Mr Potter, these items have been withheld by generation after generation of Potters, who have the gall to claim these items were never stolen. Alas, there is nothing we can do."
The cold pressure in Harry's chest burst forth. His eyes flashed and the goblin gasped and clawed at its chest . It slammed its hand into something on its desk and collapsed behind the counter. As Harry's anger and confusion turned to horror at the incident, for which he was clearly, if unwittingly, responsible, the goblin's fellows drew weapons and jumped over their counters. They shouted incomprehensibly to each other and soon over twenty goblins had circled Harry. McGonagall had drawn her wand but she looked particularly grim at the turn of events.
Harry had dropped to one knee after the drain on his energy due to his outburst. He turned a pleading look towards McGonogall.
"Human! You have assaulted one of our clan members in goblin territory. As per our laws, you are hereby sentenced to death in reparation!" A spear flew from his hand towards Harry's head. He just barely dodged the projectile and certain death. The spear embedded itself in the shield of a goblin behind Harry. The goblin that had thrown the spear drew an axe from a holster slung across its back and stalked towards Harry with deadly grace.
Harry summoned the energy to get to his feet but flinched violently in surprise as a strange creature appeared right in front of him. The creature's eyes were far too big for its head, which reached just above knee height. It spoke rapidly in its excitement "Master Harry is alive! Wees felt his magic!"
Despite shedding tears of happiness, the elf noticed its surroundings and the menacing goblins. Three spears flashed towards her, but she snapped her fingers and all the spears disappeared. She immediately grabbed Harry and he just managed to glimpse the enraged lead goblin before his vision blacked out.