"Wands for sale! Wands for sale!"
"Cauldrons! Get your cauldrons here: pewter; gold; brass. We've got everything. "
Slowly, Harry and Sirius waded through the thick crowd and came to an imposing snow-white multi-storey building: Gringotts. Rumour had it that not a knut had been stolen from there in a century.
Staring up Harry gulped.
"Do I have to come with you? The goblins give me the creeps. " Harry timidly asked.
Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"Seriously? You know that I can't open the vault without you. "
Seeing Harry's glum expression, he added: "Cheer up, I'll get you ice cream at the leaky cauldron later."
"Fine." Harry grumbled. "And a butterbeer."
"Come on then, we haven't got all day."
Sirius was staring at Harry through the burnished bronze doors.
Then they stepped inside.
They went up a flight of stairs, and before them was a silver door engraved with a message:
Enter, stranger, but take heed of what awaits the sin of greed.
Those who take but do not earn must pay the highest price in return.
So, thief, if you seek treasure that was never yours beneath our floors, beware of finding more than treasure there.
The doors were flanked by goblins, short and pale. They had long fingers and feet, domed heads, and long ears. As they passed, the goblins sneered at them.
Through these doors was a vast marble hall, with long counters stretching along its length and doors leading off to the vault passageways with around a hundred goblins sitting at them.
Harry and Sirius approached one each.
"State your purpose." The goblin droned, in a grovelling voice.
"We are to make a withdrawal from vaults 687 and 711."
"Keys."
"Here," Sirius said, handing the goblin two polished silver keys.
The goblin studied them closely. Once he was satisfied, he turned to them and said, "Follow me."
He walked through a door behind his desk. Sirius and Harry followed.
Harry gasped.