Harry woke up after having a bizarre dream. He was back on top of the building where he had supposedly died. He was searching over the building top while his wand emitted a small beam of light…
Harry went downstairs to have breakfast. There were two wizards; each one with drooping eyes for it was still early in the morning. Tom the inn-keeper, also with half closed eyes, poured the milk for Harry's cereal on the table five inches away from the bowl.
Harry entered Diagon Alley just as the morning sun started rising over the buildings on the western side. Harry walked around, looking at all the shops. Most were closed, but a few were open.
Harry went to Flourish and Blotts, where he bought a used book on advanced spells, and then he went to the shop across the street that sold magical items from teapots to grandfather clocks. Harry left the shop, his money bag just about empty and a magical tent under his arm.
He had just dumped his stuff on his bed when realized his money back was awfully light. He looked into his money bag and saw he had two Sickles and four Knuts.
"Oh."
Harry walked back outside and down Diagon Alley and entered the white marble building, Gringotts. He walked down the aisle made by the two long tables of goblins counting money, rubies, and, as one goblin was doing, diamonds.
A goblin sat at a desk, writing a letter, his glasses on the edge of his long nose. As Harry drew near, he looked up and abandoned his letter.
"How can I help you?" he asked with a nasty grin, showing all his sharp pointy teeth.
"I want to make a withdrawal."
"Do you have your key?" enquired the goblin.
Harry reached into his pockets, past his wand, past his pack of Drooble's finally reaching his key.
The goblin narrowed his eyes as he examined it. He then gave the key to another goblin who whistled, summoning a small cart up through a pair of doors up to him.
The goblin turned to Harry and warned, "Hold on tight," and they went shooting into the chasm passing many doors.
The cart stopped immediately and the goblin hopped out.
"Vault number 724," he said, and thrust the key into a keyhole.
The door opened up to reveal a large room filled with Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. Harry stepped inside, never really knowing how much money he had before this.
"If you need me, just whistle and I'll be here in a flash," said the small goblin. He hurtled into the cart and zoomed up the tracks back to the top. Harry was just about to put some coins in his bag, when he heard a drawling voice getting closer.
"Now now Draco" said the voice, "you can't take any of the money in his vault. The Dark Lord needs to be sure that no money has been taken. If I find even one Knut is missing, the Dark Lord shall know he is alive."
Harry shoved the door shut as quietly as possible and slipped under his invisibility cloak just as Lucius Malfoy rounded the corner. A boy with Lucius' hair and exact sneer walked half a step behind Lucius.
Harry's vault door burst open as Lucius pointed his wand at it, and with a wave of his wand, all the coins started to restack themselves, each one shouting it's value until the vault itself declared that it contained forty-thousand Galleons, seventy-five-thousand Sickles, and one million Knuts.
With a small smirk, Lucius closed the door and walked away.
Harry sat down on the cold rocky ground. If Voldemort was counting Harry's money, then he couldn't take any, yet Harry needed money. Then something came into Harry's head: If he couldn't take money from his own vault, he'd take some from someone else's.
But whose?
He sat there for a moment, maybe and hour, maybe a day until he remembered something.
Lucius was filling out a form.
"It says I need to pay ten Galleons for this…vault number…473…"
It was almost as if he had been planning this all along, for Harry set off for vault 473, still under the invisibility cloak.
---
"Here we are," muttered Harry as he finally met the vault he was looking for: 473.
Harry pulled out his wand, pointed it at the door, and it opened up for him. Harry looked in and was shocked. He had more money in his vault than the Malfoy's did. Shrugging, he reached in and swept it all into his bag.
He heard footsteps, and swung around. There, blocking the way out of the vault, was Lucius Malfoy.
"Ahh. Hello Harry. The Dark Lord wondered if you had survived," he said with a welcoming voice that did not quite reach his cold eyes. He smirked and pressed one pale finger to the Dark Mark imprinted on his left forearm.
Harry knew what was coming. He jumped to the side, dodging Lucius' curse. Whipping out his own wand, he pointed it at Lucius and shouted, "Expeli-"
But Lucius hit him with a curse, slightly winding Harry. He suddenly felt his wand fly out of his hand and soar right into Malfoy's outstretched hand. Lucius gave a malicious grin.
"The Dark Lord wants you dead, Harry." He said, "I will be honored above all the Death Eaters, even Severus Snape!" he shouted. Then he raised his wand to perform the killing curse. "Avada Ke-"
He stopped abruptly as he was thrown into the vault. Harry saw a large gash on Lucius' back before he looked up to see what caused it: a Swedish Short-Snout dragon. It lowered its head, and peered inside. Harry quickly grabbed his wand and jumped through the air, landing on the dragon's blue scaly neck.
Feeling something on its back, the dragon started lurching side to side, his tail swaying dangerously. The dragon finally spun around and his tail hit the vault door, closing it shut on Lucius Malfoy, whose wand was on the outside.
The dragon started spewing fire out of its mouth, finally bucking Harry off. Harry whistled, and a cart came zooming down right underneath him. He landed with a thump, and the cart zipped off for the entrance hall, the fire-breathing dragon just behind him.
The dragon was so close that Harry could feel the fire licking at the back of the cart. Suddenly, the cart jolted to a stop, hurling Harry through the air. Harry slammed into the double doors and skid halfway across the marble floor. He got up, ignoring the goblins' accusing stares and their whispering to each other.
Harry got up, trying to ignore the sharp pain in his chest and looked behind him. The doors got red, then even more so, then they exploded right of their hinges. Harry ran as fast as he could, hearing the wizards nearby trying to stun the dragon. The dragon let out an ear splitting roar before sending a torrent of fire at Harry.
Harry charged for the door, feeling his robes on fire before his burst through the doors that lead to Diagon Alley. His momentum shot him over the marble steps and into the street where he fell and tumbled about. The fire was out, but trouble was still there.
Out of every store, masked Death Eaters came streaming into the street. People were screaming, others trying to fight the Death Eaters, and Harry ran for the Leaky Cauldron, curses flying over his head, smashing the brick gateway that went to the Muggle World.
Harry vaulted inside the small dingy pub; his stuff flew down the stairs, knocking people off the banisters, straight to Harry. He grabbed it all, shrunk it, and ran out to the street just as Death Eaters started Apparating in front of the pub, while more came through the back door.
With a spin and a swishing of his cloak, Harry was gone.
I won't be writing the next chapter for a bit, sorry. R&R please!
LF24