Chapter 3: Visit to Gringotts and Reunions

Harry was lying on his bed, starring towards the ceiling. This was his last summer he spent with the Dursleys. He can't wait to get away from them, after spending years and years suffering in this house. While the another side of him was thinking, he had grown up here since ever he knew. Although they didn't treat him well, he still gets the chance to get back to Dudley sometimes.

This year, Harry was thinking of going to the Weasleys himself and not waiting for the others to come and get him. It was nearly the end of the holidays and he wanted to walk out from this house himself.

Harry had sent an owl to Dumbledore and the Weasleys, informing them that he will go to the Burrow himself. But how? He did not know yet. He had his trunks well-prepared by his bed. And he could left anytime he want. Finally, he sat up, took a last glance around his bedroom and went downstairs with his trunks.

The Dursleys were watching morning Muggle news in the living room when he went downstairs. There was news about unexplained missing, the abrupt change of the weather, or about owls flying at daylight. Fear can be sensed everywhere, not only in the Wizarding world, but also in the Muggle world.

"So, you'll be leaving?" asked Aunt Petunia, who spotted him standing behind them.

Harry nodded. The Dursleys were all looking at him.

"Have... have... You-Know-Who returned?" asked Uncle Vernon, trying to make himself sound brave.

Harry starred at the television, which the news were reporting another attack in a muggle home. He nodded and his cousins expressions were shock.

They were all speechless for a moment, until Aunt Petunia asked.

"You'll stop him, won't you?"

"I'll try." Harry looked down at his feet, never thought that they would asked him like that.

"Well, I'm leaving." He took a last glance at his cousins and picked up his trunks. He might never come back to this house anymore, or maybe, no chance. "Goodbye."

The Dursleys watched him walked out the door, and Aunt Petunia was a bit worried of Harry, for the first time in her life. She had been warned by Dumbledore to keep Harry safe, as they were Harry's only cousins left.

Suddenly, Aunt Petunia rushed to the door and called Harry.

"Harry, where are you going?" Uncle Vernon stared at his wife, a bit shocked. "Well, I mean, is there anywhere that we could take you to?"

Harry was rooted to the ground. He looked at his confused Uncle Vernon and guilty Aunt Petunia and thought for a while. He wanted to go to The Burrow, but how?

"Maybe... London subway?"

"Go take your car keys Vernon." said Aunt Petunia.

"We're driving the boy there?" asked Uncle Vernon.

"Yes." answered Aunt Petunia. Uncle Vernon walked inside the house and grabbed his car keys, puzzled.

Uncle Vernon started his car engine while Aunt Petunia pushed Dudley into the car.

"Why are you driving me to London?" asked Harry who felt all this was unbelievable.

"Don't ask so much. Just get in the car." roared Aunt Petunia.

After about half an hour of journey, they put Harry down by the London subway and drove away, as fast as possible. Harry walked through the large crowd and passed shops, cinemas and restaurants. He tried to rememorize the way to the Leaky Cauldron, which Hagrid first showed him to the Wizarding world. Unexpectedly, he found himself standing in front a pub- Leaky Cauldron. People were walking passed it without having a look on it.

When Harry stepped into it, the barman recognized him instantly. Harry told him that he was staying and Tom led him up to his room. A bit tired, he decided to have a short nap. He told himself that he will write to the Weasleys and Dumbledore that he was at Leaky Cauldron when he woke up and doze off.

Megan woke up quite late in the afternoon. She kept lying on the bed, her eyes shut tight. She reviewed on what happened last night and where she was now. Suddenly, she sat up and looked at her surroundings. It was not piled with books and grandpa Ni was not beside her, smoking his long pipe. Indeed, it was a wide and well-decorated room, and she was lying on a four-poster bed.

Yes, she was in London. She rubbed her eyes, and took off the spectacles that she had brought with her to bed last night. She managed to walk to the bathroom and took a shower.

After she was fully cleaned, she sat on her bed, thinking what to do next. Dumbledore had told her that someone was going to come-

Knock, knock, knock. The sudden and heavy knock on her wooden door startled Megan. She went up to open the door and found a very tall, huge, bushy giant standing at the doorway. She could not see the giant's face.

Megan heard a grunt from the giant and he had to squeeze and hunch very low so he could entered the room. When he tried to stand up straight, his head knocked the chandelier. He sent out an 'ouch' and sat down on a sofa.

"Close that door would you, girl?" asked the giant.

Megan closed the door and saw the giant turned left and right uncomfortably, trying to make himself fit into the sofa.

"Me...Melanie is it?" he scratched his brown bushy hair.

"It's Megan."

"Yeah, sorry. Megan." said the giant, feeling shy.

"Are... are you Hagrid?" asked Megan.

"So Dumbledore had told you. Mus' ve forgotten to introduce meself again." Hagrid looked up and down at the girl in front of him.

Megan stood starring at the giant. Astonished as she had not saw one before.

"Let's get movin' on. Lot of things to do. First, we have to got to Gringotts, then buy some of yeh things. Don't forget to bring along your letter." Hagrid stood up cautiously and tried not to knock anything.

"Letter?"

"The Hogwarts one. You should have had one already. Aren't you?"

Megan remembered and rushed to his trunk, where she kept the letter and tucked it into her pocket.

They went to the back of the pub and faced a wall made of bricks. Hagrid started to count the bricks in front of him and muttered something in his breath.

"Three up... Two cross." He tapped the bricks as he counted. "Stand back, Megan."

The bricks he tapped had quivered, it wriggled and a small hole opened. It grew wider and wider, until a new view came into her eyes. An archway led them to a cobble-street which twisted and turned out of sight.

"Welcome," Hagrid grinned. "to Diagon Alley."

They stepped through the archway and the brick wall had shrink instantly back into its actual form. To Megan's amazement, it was more crowded and everyone in Diagon Alley was busy and chatting, which was different from Egypt.

Shops selling all sort of magical things were everywhere. Megan could hear a mother scolding his son. "You bought a toad for Ten Sickles? Better bought a rat for yourself!"

"Gringotts." said Hagrid. Before Megan got the chance to ask what it is, Hagrid had walk into the snowy-white building, towering over Diagon Alley. Short, pointy ears creature were sitting behind long counters and were busy weighing jewelries or counting things.

"Those are goblins." informed Hagrid and they reached a free goblin.

"Morning." greeted the goblin, putting down its glasses.

"Gotta' take something out from Miss Megan Movain's vault." Said Hagrid to the goblin.

"Movain?" the goblin stood up from his stool and took a look at Megan. "Does Miss Movain have the key?"

"Key?" Megan had a sudden thought and took out her necklace and handed it to the goblin. "Is this the one?"

The key on it was rather peculiar, embroidered with silver linings and was specially made by Gringotts, different from the other vault keys. Grandpa Ni had made her to wear it a few weeks back before he passed away and made her promised him that she will not took it off.

"Yes. I still remembered." The goblin peered on the writings above the tiny golden key carefully and handed it back to Megan. "Someone will guide you down. Groveil!"

Another goblin came and led both Hagrid and Megan off the hall. The goblin opened the door and Megan was suspecting high ceilings with marble. But it was a narrow stone passage-way lit with flaming torches. Groveil whistled and a cart appeared in front of them. They climbed into it and the cart sent off moving.

The cart was moving very fast and had passed vaults and vaults. It moved down a few levels and into a session which was quiet and very rare vault doors were seen. The cart seemed like it knew its way, for it turned and turned without the goblin controlling it.

It took quite a long time and they were going deeper and deeper into the grounds. Megan turned to look at Hagrid but saw him turned green.

"Are you okay, Hagrid?" asked Megan, concern that Hagrid may throw up or something.

"I never liked to come to Gringotts, especially riding these carts..." Megan felt sorry for him.

"How much longer are we going?" asked Megan.

As she asked, the cart slowed down and finally stopped. Hagrid quickly walked out from the cart and leaned against the wall. The metal door was high and there was only a keyhole on it.

"Key please." said Groveil.

The goblin took it, unlocking the door. There was a soft rattling as the goblin turned the key. At last, the heavy door slowly swung open. Megan was very curious on what it is inside. When it came into view, Megan gasped.

The vault was really big and had huge mounds of gold coins, some silver there, and a few bronze there. It was called a few as compared with the huge amount of gold coins. Megan was speechless as she saw these. She and Grandpa Ni had been living by barely making the ends met these few years and here she was, facing with a fortune buried under London, unknowned.

"Go on, there's a letter in the middle." pointed Hagrid at something on a heap of gold nearest to them. Megan teared it up and read it. She recognized his grandfather's writing on it.

Dear Megan,

When you're reading this letter, I must have passed away. I'm sorry for leaving you and left so many things unsolved and unexplained. Go straight to Dumbledore if anything happens. Everything in this vault is once the Movain family, now it is all under your name, Megan Movain.

Take good care of yourself and be strong. You'll always be my beloved grandchild.

Your grandfather,

Fergus Movain

Keeper of the second H.

Her eyes grew hot once more and she had to blink so her tears won't fall. Hagrid saw and quickly helped Megan piled some money that would be enough to use for a few years into a bag. Her eyes were blurry with tears, but before she turned to leave, she caught a glimpsed of a golden door behind the huge pile of gold coins.

On their way back, Hagrid kept explaining about Galleons, Knuts and Sickles, hoping to keep Megan and him feel better. The cold wind blew and stung on Megan's skin, she thought on what the letter wrote, curious and misery.

"You reminded me of Harry." said Hagrid as they both stepped out of Gringotts and in the sunlight.

"Harry Potter?"

"Yeah. On his firs' year, it was me who took him from the Muggles. It was also I who took him to Gringotts." he paused and looked at Megan. "You are quite like Harry."

"He wear specs?" asked Megan.

"No... no.. Not what I mean. But yes, he does wear a pair of glasses and have jet black hair like you. What I really mean was he lost his parents and was special like you, just him bit famous." Hagrid smiled and patted Megan. "Oh!" Hagrid looked at his watch. "I am late! Blimey! Gotta rush. Take care, Megan, and be careful." Hagrid said and disapparated.

Megan stood there wondering where to go. She had a bag of money with her, more than she ever had in her whole life. She stood in the middle of the street thinking of where to go and what to buy but Megan decided to go back to the Leaky Cauldron as she was holding a huge amount of money. Soon, a thought strike her, she did not know the way to go back. Although, she was certain Hagrid had taken only a few turns.

After asking a few wizards and witches, she found herself lucky to be able to return to the Leaky Cauldron. She wasn't dare to go out exploring Diagon Alley again alone, not today, in case she went lost.

Someone had come into her room and tidy it, leaving the windows opened and the sun pouring in. Megan could hear the sound of buses rolling by in the unseen Muggle street behind him, and the sound of the invisible crowd below in Diagon Alley.

All of the sudden, Megan's stomach rolled and made an unpleasant sound. She had forgotten to have her breakfast this morning as she was too excited where Hagrid was going to take her to. It was past noon now and she decided to have her lunch and breakfast together.

Megan have her breakfast, or, well, lunch at Leaky Cauldron. She was interested in the weird-looking wizards and witches chatting; a warlock drank a whiskey and was out of control, jumping and singing on his table; a few goblins carrying something in their bag, sitting in a corner and discussing in a grave look; a teenage witch and her friends were practicing how to make the spoon spin in the cup. Now and then, wizards and witches went in and out from the Leaky Cauldron and were rather crowded.

Several witches and wizards walked in together and made their way to a table, but Megan did not pay much attention to them. The lady who was the mother of all the other teenage witches and wizards said, "I do not want you guys to scare her, okay? Now, let's check into our rooms first."

Megan did not look up but she knew the lot of witches and wizards had walked upstairs with their belongings. More people were pouring in. She did not want to stay anymore longer so she finished the last bit of food on her plate and decided to go upstairs.

"Mum, are you sure its room seven?" after a while a young girl asked while descending from the stairs.

The same lady from the crowd before answered. "Yes, Dumbledore wrote room seven in the letter, dear."

Megan heard those conversations as she approached the stairs. Room seven? Dumbledore?

"Maybe she had gone out-" said another teenage boy.

Not having the chance to response, she found herself bumped right into the teenage boy who had been speaking. She and the boy were now having their backs on the floor, both massaging their foreheads.

"Bloody hell!" the boy said. "It hurts."

The lady hurried to Megan's side and tried to help Megan up, who was still rubbing her sore forehead. "Are you alright?" asked the lady in a worried voice.

"Yes, I'm fine." Megan stood up and looked at the lady for her first time.

"Oh my god! It's you, Megan!" the lady's eyes widen as she saw her.

"Aunt Weasley?" asked Megan in a shocked voice.

"I can't believe it's you! I hardly recognize you. You've grown!" Now, the lady was hugging Megan tightly. "Children," Mrs Weasleys released Megan and turned to the group of her children, all starring at Megan with shocked. "Do you remember Megan?"

"Bloody hell!" shouted the boy who Megan had knocked down. "Hey, do you remember me?"

"Of course, Ronald Weasley!" Megan walked up and gave the boy a hug. "You've grown so tall."

"Megan! I missed you!" the youngest Weasley came up and hugged her.

"Me too, Ginny!"

"Let her breath." said another older red-head boy.

"Charlie!" Megan beamed as she saw him. "Wait, where is Fred and George?"

"Come upstairs, you have a lot of things to be updated to." said Ginny. "Come on, Ron."

There were only three of them in Megan's room. Ron and Ginny both very excited and happy to see her and were filling in details for her. Where Fred and George were now and what happened to Percy and Bill.

"Fred and George still did not know you had come. We wanted to keep it secret so we can give them a surprise!" said Ginny.

"I can't believe they had opened a joke shop. That was their dream since they were small." said Megan.

"Maybe we're going there on Friday." said Ron. "They must be very surprised."

"I can't wait to see them."

"What make you come back to London?" asked Ron.

So, Megan filled them up with her side of information, on Grandpa Ni's death, Dumbledore's sudden arrival at Egypt and the vault in Gringotts.

It had been years since they met, and they were chatting non stop.

"Megan, you have to meet Harry and Hermione." said Ron as they walked passed Harry's room, going downstairs, not knowing Harry was inside, slowly waking from his nap. "They are my best friends at school."