b center Chapter 5
Pureblood /b /center
We wandered out into Diagon Alley. My wand had refused to work for me. I was worried and so was Lela. "A wand just doesn't stop working. I mean it might malfunction and or break, but not stop working. That's weird."
Jessie, however, found the whole matter hilarious. She laughed for at least half an hour, as we walked past shops. We all needed to go to Gringotts and Jessie had some money from her parents, but she wanted more.
Lela and Jessie went to the Withdrawal Counter, while I went to another.
"Excuse me?" I said. The goblin looked up from his work. He gave me a piercing stare.
"Yes, Miss…?
"Black, Kat Black," his eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened. I pushed the paperwork, confirming my identity, forward.
"Here's proof," I said "And there is also a note from Dumbledore asking for the key to my father's vault."
"Very well." He said, "Which vaults do you have the right to?"
"Regulus Black's and his mother, Maria Black's second vault out of the four I her name. When I'm 17 I will inherit the fourth."
The goblin nodded. He took to keys from a drawer in his desk. He labelled them both, then handed me a piece of parchment.
"Sign here," he pointed, "and here" I did.
Then he took the parchment and handed me a second. It read:
i Katharine (Kat) Black
1. Regulus Black (d) (father) – 392
2. Maria Black (d) (grandmother) – 436 /i
Then he handed me the two small gold keys. Both were clearly labelled, one read
i RB – 392 /i
and the other
i MB – 436 /i
"You can claim the other one when you are 17" I nodded.
I walked over to Lela and Jessie as they waited.
"Ready to go?" asked Jessie, she was obviously excited though I wasn't sure what about. Lela looked pale and nervous.
A goblin approached us, "I am Zok, to which vault do you wish to go to?"
"392" I said. "414" said Lela. "568" said Jessie.
He nodded and walked through the great white doors at the end of the large hall. I was expecting more marble, but it was all dirt and stone with small red lanterns on either side every few feet. There were railway tracks laid into the floor. There was a thud behind me, Jessie had tripped and stacked it on the tracks. I laughed and Lela was trying not to laugh, and failing. Jessie got up just as a small cart whizzed around the corner. I stopped just near Zok, a few feet to our left. We all climbed in.
"Just to let you know….. I get motion sickness" muttered Lela. Behind her Jessie grimaced,
"Yep, you do and real bad"
I was a little nervous, but Jessie said,
"She'll just run out to the bathrooms after this and throw up then. She won't be sick in the cart. It's ok."
I nodded feeling relieved. Jessie leant towards me,
"If you like them coaster things that Muggles have, you'll like this." I looked at her confused,
"What? Oh, a rollercoaster, yeah I like them."
Before we could say anything else the cart started to roll. Suddenly, we turned left, with a lurch, then right. Lela groaned behind me and Jessie. Then there was a big dip and Jessie and I were behaving like we were on a rollercoaster.
"Wee!"
"Yeah!"
"Hahahahaha!"
Then we stopped at Jessie's vault she got her money out. She had a lot of money, more wizarding or muggle money that I've ever seen in my life! We continued to Lela's vault on our 'rollercoaster' and screaming most of the way. She got her money she and Jessie had about the same amount of money.
Then we stopped at my vault, I got out for the first time all trip, and walked towards the giant door. I handed my key to the goblin and he opened it. I stared I was absolutely speechless. The strange thing was so were Jessie and Lela, even Zok's eyebrows had gone up. The…money…it….was….there was sooo much of it!
"Wow" said Jessie, Lela couldn't speak but nodded along with Jessie. I stepped forwards and carefully stepped inside the vault, half afraid that it would all vanish. Jessie and Lela stepped in behind me, I grabbed my purse out of my shoulder bag and turned to the girls behind me,
"Um, help? How much money do I need? It's for school stuff and fun stuff." I asked them, feeling helpless.
They began to help me, Lela doing school calculations and Jessie fun stuff guessing. Finally they agreed that I had enough. We got back in the cart and rode back to the main entrance.
Just as Jessie had predicted, Lela ran out of the cart and into the main hall, to the bathroom before we could say anything. She came out 15 minutes later looking a little green. We laughed and shove her forwards out to Diagon Alley.
We all sat in a café having lunch, Jessie was listing all the best places to shop and Lela was telling me all the good bookshops. Once we had finished and paid for our lunch, we left.
We wandered along Diagon Alley looking in shops and trying to decide which one to go into, when we stopped right in front of our favourite person, not. It was Draco Malfoy. I stepped forward, glaring at him. Jessie moved to my left just behind me and Lela to my right.
"Ah," he said with a sneer in his voice, "If it isn't little miss mudblood" Jessie scowled at the use of 'mudblood' and Lela clenched her fists. But much to Draco's surprise, I stepped forwards.
"Oh, I'm a mudblood am I?" he stared at me. "Well if I'm a mudblood, that make you one too."
"Lela giggled and Jessie nodded. "Excuse me," he began to call me rude names and insult Lela, Jessie and I.
"Tut tut," I said, "Is that any way to greet your cousin?" he gaped at me.
"My cousin, I think you're wrong there…"
"Allow me to i Re /i introduce myself," I pulled my cap off and my black hair tumbled down my back, "Kat Black," I looked him straight in the eye, "Your i dear /i cousin"
He gaped at me, "Your name is Kat Black?"
"The one and only," I said striking a pose. Jessie and Lela did the same.
"Draco?" said called a voice. He turned around a richly dressed woman, came towards him.
"Hello, mother," he said. She stepped up next to him, "And who is….."
The words died in her mouth, she stared at me opened mouthed in shock.
"You," she began, "…Black…not….possible….dead"
"Yes," I said, "My name is Kat….Black. And you are?"