AN: Sorry for the delay, and for how short this chapter is. I've had a lot of schoolwork lately. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but I'll probably be pretty busy until the end of term, which is a couple of weeks away.

6 – Much Better than a Rollercoaster

The cart sped along tracks through the ground, passing tunnels and intersections before it pulled to a stop outside one of the vaults. They climbed out of the cart and Colin handed his key over to the goblin, who unlocked the vault. Colin grabbed a stack of galleons and then they were back on the cart, heading for the surface, but they hadn't been travelling long when, instead of travelling upwards, the cart branched off and began heading down again. The goblin struggled with the wheel, but every turn, instead of going up, the cart headed deeper and deeper into the heart of Gringotts.

'What's going on?' asked Hermione. She had to talk quite loudly to be heard over the clattering of the wheels and the wind roaring around them.

'I'm not sure,' said the goblin.

'Has someone hexed it?'

The goblin shook his head. 'It is not possible to hex Gringotts carts. They are immune to magic. We'll see soon enough, at any rate. The Thief's Downfall will take care of any magic.'

'The Thief's Downfall?'

'You'll see. It cancels all enchantments.'

The cart continued to turn down at every opportunity. Suddenly a waterfall appeared in front of them. Hermione guessed that this was the Thief's Downfall. The cart shot through, and apart from getting very wet, they were all unharmed. The goblin started to look seriously concerned. He went back to battling with the wheel.

Colin looked around. He'd never been this deep before. These were the really high security vaults. Something caught his eye and he looked down. The Doctor was pointing his sonic screwdriver at the steering wheel. Colin pointed at it and raised his eyebrows at the Doctor. The Doctor grinned and put a finger on his lips.

Just then the cart shot around a corner and a large white dragon appeared in front of them. The Doctor's childish grin got even bigger, Colin gaped, and Hermione even managed to stop talking for a minute. The cart slowed to a stop in front of the dragon. From this distance, they could see long, thin scars criss-crossing its face and neck, and manacles around its ankles. The dragon ROARED, and the goblin, once again in control of the cart, threw it into reverse. The cart shot backwards as fire billowed from the dragon's maw.

Colin glanced at the Doctor to see him slip something inside his jacket pocket.

The goblin managed to find tracks to turn the cart around and then they were heading back towards the surface. They passed under the Thief's Downfall, once again without incident, past all the normal vaults, and then the cart pulled to a stop. They climbed out and the goblin led them back into the main area of the bank. Before climbing back onto his desk, he turned and bowed.

'It was a pleasure to meet you all,' he said. 'To meet figures of goblin legend is truly amazing. Also, I will report the malfunctioning cart to my superior. It should not have behaved that way, and I hope you won't let the cart's behaviour tarnish you view of the bank.'

'Don't worry about it,' said the Doctor. 'I'm sure the cart is fine.' He turned and headed for the exit. Colin and Hermione followed him.

'I wonder what happened to the cart,' said Hermione. 'That goblin told me that the waterfall would cancel all spells and enchantments. It must have been a powerful spell.'

Colin shook his head. 'It wasn't a spell. Ask the Doctor about it.'

'What?'

'Apparently that sonic screwdriver does more than let him see the Leaky Cauldron.'

'Doctor!' called Hermione. The Doctor stopped in the shadow of the silver doors.

'Come along,' he said. 'I want to look at some more of these wizarding shops.'

Hermione caught up to him, grabbed his arm, and pulled him through the bronze doors and out of the Gringotts. 'Was that you?' she demanded angrily.

'Was what me?'

'The cart.'

'Errr…' said the Doctor. 'Maybe.'

'You promised no break ins. You crossed your heart.'

'Hearts. Anyway, I didn't break in. I just wanted to see the dragon. You've gotta admit, that was pretty cool.'

'The dragon was awesome!' said Colin.

Hermione swung around to glare at him instead.

'What?' said Colin.

'Look,' said Hermione. 'We can't just…Doctor, look at me. I'm talking to you.'

The Doctor continued to stare over her shoulder. The expression on his face was a mixture of shock, fear, and concern.

'Doctor?' Hermione turned, following his line of sight. Wizards and witches bustled in and out of shops, the fountain bubbled quietly, and owls were hooting from further down the alley. All in all, everything looked completely normal.

'Doctor, what is it?' said Hermione.

'The fountain,' said the Doctor. 'Look at the fountain.'

Hermione looked at the fountain. It seemed like a fairly normal fountain. A pool of water with a group of statues in the middle. Nothing unusual.

'Hey, one of those statues is new,' said Colin. 'When did that happen?'

'Really?' said Hermione.

'Yeah. That one.' Colin pointed.

'Keep your eyes fixed on it,' said the Doctor. 'Whatever you do, don't blink.'

Hermione looked at the statue, wondering what was dangerous about an angel statue with its hands over its face, as though it was weeping.