Sirius apparated and looked around him. He was in a narrow valley, a chaos of black rocks, pebbles and dust, without a single tree or even a blade of grass in sight. Not far in front of him, the Goblin's house was leaning against a steep cliff, hardly visible, even at a short distance, as it was made with the same dark stone.
But on the cliff face, no mine entrance was to be seen, even it Sirius was certain it was there.
Gormuck was the only link that could allow them to find it and save the people trapped behind this forbidding stone wall. So in spite of Narcissa's worrying state and its unknown origins, he had decided to come immediately after the visit at St Mungo, which hadn't given any results. Narcissa had confused Andromeda with her own mother, as strange as it was to realise that Druella had once been a beautiful women. Sirius himself was the only one that Narcissa had actually recognised, but her only reaction on seing him had been to shriek 'blood traitor scum', and to list a number of past misdeeds, in the best style of Walburga Black. There had been no time to wait for an improvement of her condition.
As he walked toward the house, Sirius remembered that he had to pay close attention to the precise wording of the Goblin 's greeting. Hermione had insisted on this point again and again.
"Don't forget", she had said, her eyes full of anguish, "if he says : 'welcome to the only one who has the right to cross this threshold', it will mean that the place is clear. But if he says' welcome to anyone who has the right to cross this threshold', it will mean that his loyalty is divided, and that he's warning you as the one who is entitled to it in priority. If so, wait for us, and for Merlin's sake, don't go inside on your own !"
He knocked at the door, which opened immediately. Obviously Gormuck had seen him coming… or knew that he would come. The Goblin was a thin, middle-aged one, with the razor sharp features of the member of his species. But his eyes were not cold and inscrutable, as they usually were.
They were full of terror.
Yet, Gormuck's voice didn't betray anything when he said, with a solemn bow :
"Welcome to anyone who has the right to cross this threshold".
Sirius 's heart missed a beat. He knew that he shouldn't come inside. Yet the Goblin's eyes were begging him to do so.
He waited for a few seconds, expecting the others to start apparating behind him, as they had all heard Gormuck's words, thanks to the muggle microphone (much more discreet and convenient than extendable ears) that he was wearing under his jacket.
But nothing happened.
And Sirius realised that the whole area was probably protected by an Anti-Apparition Charm. Only he had been able to overcome it because of his position as TP Mining's CEO.
No one else would come to Gormuck's help. If Sirius disapparated now, he would die, and the unknown muggles inside the mine with him.
So he entered the house and let the Goblin precede him along a dark corridor.