Harry Potter and the Silver Dragons

Chapter 3: Surprise at Gringotts

Harry, Ron, and Hermione woke up early the next morning. They quickly dressed in muggle clothes, and after sealing the door to Harry's room, left the house. The three of them walked for a few blocks until Harry stopped and looked around, "This should do it." He said, and held out his wand hand. There was a loud BANG as a purple triple-decker bus appeared. A witch wearing what looked like a muggle conductor's suit and hat stepped out of the bus.

"Welcome to the Night Bus, emergency transportation for the stranded witch or wizard," she said as if reciting it off a card.

Before she could say anything else, Ernie the Night Bus driver shouted at her, "You don't need to tell them all that April." April gave Ernie an abashed look and stepped out of the way.

"Hi Ernie!" Harry said as he started pulling out some Sickles for the toll.

Ernie held up his hand, "You don't need to pay Harry," and looked back at Ron and Hermione, he added, "none of you do." And seeing the looks on their faces, he quickly added, "It is the least I can do after what you tried to do for Stan, not to mention it's my way of paying tribute to Dumbledore."

Harry thought about this for a moment, and nodded. Ernie was, of course, referring to Stan Shunpike, who was the usual conductor for the Night Bus. "How is Stan doing?" he asked as he looked around, the brass bed that lined the Night Bus during the night time were still out.

Ernie shrugged, "I have not had time to go and see him lately, but I have heard he is doing ok, luckily the dementors are no longer there, so it is not as bad for him as it used to be." Then all business Ernie asked, "So were are you going today?"

"The Leaky Cauldron," Harry said.

Ernie nodded, "Then grab a seat and hang on." Before any of them could move, there was another loud BANG and all of the beds, which lined the floor, rolled backwards, and immediately rolled back into position.

Not wanting to get hit by the shifting beds, every time the bus stopped or took off again, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to the top floor, and found that it was completely empty. Sitting down on one of the beds, Harry placed the case with the sword on it, which was wrapped in a brown paper, next to him on the bed. Ron, who had the copy of the Daily Prophet, which had been delivered just before they left, and Hermione, who had Dumbledore's diary, kept their stuff with them. Both of them sat on the same bed. She started reading the diary once she was seated.

With another loud BANG, Harry grabbed for the case, just as the bed he was sitting on rolled forward, which banged into the bed Ron and Hermione were sitting on. "This is mental mate," Ron said to Harry.

"I know this is not the best way to travel," Hermione said, closing the diary, "but until either you and Harry pass your apparition test, or we can get a hold of some Floo Powder, this is the only other way for us to travel." There was another BANG and all of the beds rolled backwards again.

"Speaking of which," Ron put in when their bed stopped moving, "we need to figure out what all we need to pick up while in Diagon Alley."

"We can get a lot of our stuff from Fred and George," Harry said, "they told me last year that since I gave them the gold they used to get started with that I was entitled to take anything from the store for free."

"That will be a good start," Hermione said, "but we still need other supplies that Fred and George don't offer in their shop."

"And," Harry added, patting the case, "I need to stop at Gringotts and put this in my vault so Voldemort can't get his hands on it."

BANG, all of the beds rolled forwards, just as a magically magnified voice called out "The Leaky Cauldron!"

Harry grabbed the case, and the three of them climbed down the steps to the first floor, were they thanked by Ernie and April, and stepped off the bus. They walked into the Leaky Cauldron, and stopped to look around. Just as it had been when they had been there the previous year, the pub was completely empty except for the owner and bartender Tom, who was sitting behind the bar wiping out a glass. "Maybe we should get something to eat since Gringotts won't open for a few more hours," Hermione said, and Harry and Ron agreed with her.

Finally noticing them when they sat down at a table, Tom rushed over to them and took their orders. Their food was brought out to them in short order, "If you need anything else," Tom told them as he sat a plate of food in front of Ron, "just let me know." They all thanked him and he returned to his station behind the bar.

Hermione grabbed the Daily Prophet Ron had brought along and opened it up. "Anyone that we know listed in it?" Ron asked. This had become an all too common question that he always seemed to ask Hermione when she opened the paper anymore.

Hermione did a quick scan of the paper before saying, "Not that I can tell, but there is an interesting article in here." Hermione passed the paper to Harry;

Minister of Magic Initiates Zero Tolerance Policy

Minister of magic Rufus Scrimgeour announced from his office at the Ministry of Magic late last night that he will be instituting a zero tolerance policy to all Death Eaters, or supporters of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. "The first step to this plan is to actually find real Death Eaters, therefore all suspects that are being brought in on the suspicion of being a supporter of You-Know-Who will be subjected to intense interrogation carried out by Aurors, that will include the use of both spells and potions, such as Veritaserum."

When asked if this included the release of witches and wizards that had been wrongly accuses of being supporters of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, he said, "This will actually be the second step in my new policy. We will be looking more closely into their cases and if no connections to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named can be found, those individuals will be released with our deepest apologies to both them and their families."

Scrimgeour also put into effect a cleaning of the house as it were, firing several key people in his own office that he suspected of wrong doing. Most notable of these terminations is that of Dolores Umbridge, the Senior Under Secretary to the Minister, and former Defense Against the Dark Arts and self appointed Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When asked about this Scrimgeour said, "There have been some rumors that have been going around that while at Hogwarts, Umbridge performed actions that were not only unethical but also possibly illegal. There is also the matter of a dementor attack that she authorized onto certain individuals without the authorization of the ministry. I will not have somebody in my office that can not control her behavior, no matter what the reason."

Harry read through the article twice before handing the paper over to Ron. "I don't understand," Ron said after reading it over. Folding the paper up, he looked at the other two "why do you think that he's doing this now?"

"Isn't it obvious Ron?" Hermione asked in an exasperated voice, "He is trying to get on Harry's good side so that he will give his support to the Ministry."

"And it might have worked too," Harry added, "if it was not for the fact that I already know exactly what he is trying to do and why."

Ron appeared to think this over, "Do you think that those Auror that took us to the Dursleys the other night were sent there on his orders?"

"Might have been." Harry said, shrugging his shoulders.

Hermione looked at her watch and stood up, "We had better get going." Anticipating an argument about this from Ron, Hermione quickly added, "Don't forget what Bill told us about it taking a lot longer than usual to get into and then out of Gringotts these days thanks to Voldemort." Harry and Ron gave each other the look that they usually gave each other when they knew that Hermione was right about something. They left some gold on the table for their meal and headed for the entrance to Diagon Alley.

When they entered the alley behind the pub, they found a young lady dressed in Muggle clothes standing there looking at the spot were the archway would usually form. She turned to look at them and smiled. Looking like she could not have been much younger than twenty-five, she had hazel eyes, and brown hair, which was pulled back in a pony tail. "Hi!" she said to them, and Harry immediately knew she was American by the way she talked.

"Hello," Hermione said "what are you doing back here?"

She continued to smile at them, "Just trying to figure out how to get into Diagon Alley."

"You don't know how?" Ron asked.

Shaking her head, she said, "I am visiting family here in London and asked them were I could get a supply of Eel Wax for a potion I am working on. They told me to come here, but neglected to tell me how to get in." She looked at each of them in turn, and then said, "By the way, I'm Samantha Baker, but you can also call me Sam."

Harry nodded to Sam, "This is Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and I am Harry Potter." Sam did not even look for the scar on his forehead, and just greeted each of them.

"Now that we know each other," Sam said, "do you three think that you can help me?"

"No problem." Hermione said as she pulled out her wand and tapped the brick that was third up and second across, and the archway immediately appeared. Together they entered Diagon Alley.

"Thanks for the help," Sam said, "see you around." And before any of them could say a word, she had run off towards the other side of Diagon Alley.

"Hmmm, how interesting," Hermione murmured as she watched Sam run off.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"Well," Hermione began as the three of them started walking to Gringotts, "she told us she was visiting from America and needed a supply of Eel Wax for a potion she was working on."

"So," Harry said, "plenty of potions require Eel Wax in them."

"I know that," Hermione said a bit angrily, "but don't you find it a bit strange that she didn't even ask us how to get to the Apothecary so that she could purchase it?"

Harry and Ron just looked at each other, both knowing that Hermione's argument had a point to it. This did not stop Ron from saying, "Maybe she got the directions from her relatives before she came here."

"If that was the case, wouldn't she have also gotten directions from them about how to enter Diagon Alley?" Hermione retorted.

This argument had apparently gotten through to Ron as he was quiet for the rest of the walk to the huge white building that housed Gringotts. As Hermione had guessed, there was a very long line in front of the wizard bank, and reluctantly they joined the end of it. After several minutes, Harry was about to suggest that Ron and Hermione just go to Fred and George's store without him when they heard a familiar voice call out to them, "'Arry, over ere!"

They all looked towards the sound of the voice and saw a very beautiful woman heading their way. Harry looked around and saw that several of the men in the line were now looking at her with mouths open and drool coming out of their mouths as Fleur Delacour moved up to them in line. "'Arry," she said, kissing him on both of his cheeks, "we 'ave been waiting for you."

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione and saw they had baffled looks on their faces as well. "We received an owl telling us you would be coming here today, and we should make you our top priority."

"You did?" Harry asked, still a bit baffled about this. Fleur nodded and motioned for them to follow her.

Leading them to the back of the bank, Fleur stopped in front of what looked like an ordinary stretch of the wall and just stood there looking around. When she had determined that nobody was looking, she placed her hand on the spot and said, "Fleur Delacour, Gold Wiegher!" An archway appeared in the way where her hand had just been and Fleur smiled at them, "Employee Entrance." She then proceeded to lead them through.

Inside of the bank, they were met by a rather stern looking goblin. "Griphook 'Arry Potter has arrived." She said to the goblin.

He nodded, "You're dismissed Miss Delacour!" Fleur gave Harry a smile, and headed off. Griphook then looked at Harry, "I am sorry Mr. Potter, but you are the only one I can take to your vault."

Looking at Ron and Hermione, Harry said, "Why don't you two head for Fred and George's store, and I will meet you there when we are finished here."

"Ok mate." Ron said as he and Hermione headed for the main entrance.

Harry watched them go, then followed Griphook down the long stone path to the roller coaster like tracks that led to the vaults. After a thrilling ride through the maze of twists and turns, the cart finally stopped at what had once been a small door that protected all of his money from thieves. Now it was a much stronger looking door that had what looked like a complicated locking system on it. Griphook held up a key for Harry, "This is the new key to your vault Mr. Potter." Harry took the key and examined it. After a few seconds of this, he pulled out his old key and looked at it, the two keys were virtually the same except that the new one had a blood red ruby embedded on the tip of it.

Harry handed the key back to Griphook, and watched as he stepped up to the new door. "I will need for you to place your hand on the door and state your name."

Harry did as he was told to do and after placing his hand on the door said in a clear voice, "Harry Potter!" At the same time, he noticed that Griphook had placed the key into its slot and had turned it. "I didn't ask for any of this," Harry said as the vault door swung open, "why did you do it?"

Griphook looked up at him, "It was put into place because of the threat of the Dark Lord, and extra security was requested in the owl we got last night notifying us of your arrival." The goblin then rummaged around in his pockets and pulled out a small box, "We were also told to give this to you."

Harry took the box from the Griphook, opened it, and almost as quickly dropped it out of surprise. Inside of the box was a heavy golden locket on a gold chain with an ornate letter S on it. The mark of Salazar Slytherin. Immediately Harry recognized it as the Horcrux he and Dumbledore went after the night he was killed. Looking down at Griphook, Harry asked, "Where did you get this?"

"It came with the letter that told us you would be coming this morning, Mr. Potter," Griphook said. "We were also instructed to give you this." The goblin said as he handed over a rolled up piece of parchment to Harry.

Deciding he would look over it later with Ron and Hermione, Harry put the parchment into his pocket. He thentook the Horcrux out ofits box and stuck it into his other pocket. Then walking over to the far side of the vault, Harry placed the sword on the other side of a large pile of Gallons. He then filled up his money bag with as many coins as he could put in it and walked out of the vault with Griphook right behind him.

Bracing against the bright sunlight as he stepped out of the bank, Harry immediately headed down Diagon Alley in search of Fred and George's joke shop. He had not even made it down the marble staircase when he heard a familiar voice call out his name. When he turned to look in the direction of the voice, he saw Samantha Baker headed in his direction. "Hello Sam," Harry said as he remembered what Hermione had told him and Ron about her suspicions about her, "did you find the Apothecary ok?"

For a second, Harry saw a confused look in her eyes, almost as if she had no idea what he was talking about. "Oh, yeah I found it alright, but they didn't have any Eel Wax in stock." There was a slight pause as if she was trying to figure out what to say next, "So, um, where's your friends, Ralf and Hilary?"

"They went ahead of me to a store further down Diagon Alley, and their names are Ron and Hermione." Harry said.

"Really," Sam said, "what store would that be?"

Harry looked at her for a moment before answering, he had a funny suspicion she was acting like this for whatever reason. Could the Minister of Magic be tailing him in order to try and find out what he was up to? Harry dismissed that idea right away. Though he had only met the Rufus Scrimgeour twice, Harry did not think this was the way he pursued matters. Mentally shrugging, Harry told her, "Weasley Wizard Wheezes!"

"Isn't that that joke shop up the Alley that some people are saying will soon replace Zonko's as the new top joke shop?"

"Could be," Harry said nonchalantly with a shrug.

"Would you like some company walking there?" Sam asked, "I've wanted to go there ever since I first heard about it, and they say that nobody should be going anywhere alone with so many Death Eaters around these days."

Harry thought about this for a moment then nodded. Before long they were standing in front of Weasley Wizard Wheezes, where they found Ron standing there waiting. "I was beginning to wonder what was taking you so long Harry. Hermione is inside getting our supplies…." He then saw Sam and trailed off.

"Ron," Harry said, "you remember Sam."

Ron nodded and whispering in Harry's ear, he finished what he was going to say before he saw Sam, "Hermione is inside getting our supplies and she needs your help so we get the right stuff to go after the Horcruxes, but Fred and George don't really believe that we are here with you."

"Understood!" Harry told Ron in a whisper, then in a louder voice so that Sam could hear them, "Well, we had better get inside and find Hermione."

Once they entered the store, Harry and Ron headed for the backroom where the most useful stuff was at, not even noticing that Sam had separated herself from them. In the backroom, they found Hermione talking to one of the twins, "And I am telling you Fred that Harry is here with us and he will be here soon."

"I know that is what you said Hermione," Fred retorted, "but George and I do have a business to run and if Harry is not here then…"

"Then what?" Harry asked Fred.

Both Fred and Hermione turned to look at Harry and Ron, "Sorry about that Harry," Fred said, "but I just had to be sure you were actually with these two," he indicated Ron and Hermione, "before I approved anything."

Harry and Ron walked up to Fred, "Well Ron and Hermione are helping me with a project that is of the up most importance, and so I am asking you to let them take whatever they need until we have finished with it."

Fred nodded, "Ok Harry I will pass on that information to George and the rest of the staff, but they can only take things from this room, and either George or I have to be here when they do that, agreed?" Fred then offered his hand for Harry to shake.

"Agreed!" Harry said taking Fred's hand.

Fred then opened his arms out wide, "Then in that case help yourselves to anything that you need." He then looked at Harry, "Can I have a word with you?"

Harry nodded as Ron helped Hermione to gather up some of the things that they had already decided that they were going to need. Fred then led Harry to a corner, "George and I were hoping to have a talk with you about our little sister."

Harry rolled his eyes, "If you are going to tell me it is not right for me to place Ginny's life in danger by going out with her, or you are going to tell me you will put a hex or a curse on me if I do anything to break her heart, or anything else like that you might as well save your breath because I already ended it with her so she would not get hurt by Voldemort or his followers."

"Actually," Fred said looking a little shaken by what he had just heard, "I was going to tell you that George and I both approve of you being with Ginny, as do Mum and Dad." A smile broke out across Fred's face, "I also wanted to let you know that Ginny told us about what you were trying to do when you called it off, and how you reached an agreement on the train." Harry was about to say something, but Fred held up his hand, "Ginny told us all about it, because we were worried about her, and I must say Harry that what you tried to do is even more reason that we all think Ginny is better off being with you."

Harry could not think of anything to say to this, except for "Thanks!"

Fred just grinned at him, "Of course if anything happens to our dear sweet sister, we will have to jinx and/or curse you. Whichever we think is the best solution." He then gave Harry a wink.

An hour later the three of them were walking through the Leakey Cauldron heading back out to the streets of London to catch a ride on the Night Bus back to Privet Drive, and from there they would decide if they would proceed onto Godric's Hollow or just stay in. Among their supplies, there was a large supply of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, the same stuff that Malfoy used to sneak Death Eaters out of the Room of Requirement the night that Dumbledore had died. There also was some special goggles that Fred and George had developed to go with the powder, several of their shield products, as well as some Decoy Detonators.

They made a stop at Flourish and Blotts where Hermione picked up some books she said would come in handy. Their last stop was at the Apothecary where they picked up a wide variety of potion ingredients that Hermione said would more than likely come in handy.

"So where to next?" Ron asked as he watched Hermione put out her hand to signal the Night Bus.

"I think we should either head back to the Dursleys in order to leave this stuff," Hermione said, "or head for Grimmauld Place, and leave it there." She looked over at Harry, "What do you think Harry?"

Harry thought about this for a moment, but before he could say anything, there was a loud CRACK, and the Night Bus appeared in front of them. "Grimmauld Place," he said as the witch April stepped off the bus and began her prepared speech, "I don't think we will be going after any," Harry glanced at April, who was now looking at them, "objects before I leave the Dursleys for good." And without another word they all boarded the Night Bus.

Sam watched them board the bus from high atop of the Leakey Cauldron. She then pulled out a cell phone. There was a momentary pause before she said into it, "Yeah, it's me. I made contact with Potter and his friends. Potter spent about forty-five minutes to an hour in Gringotts, and then he and his friends went to Weasley Wizard Wheezes and left with a large amount of stuff. Then, they went to the Apothecary and Flourish and Blotts, and picked up potion supplies and several books. I will keep my eye on them as best I can…..Understood!" She then closed the phone and placed it back in her pocket.

"What are you and your friends trying to do Harry Potter?" she asked herself. Sam then walked over to a motorcycle and started it up. She drove off the side of the building and down it to the streets below.