Here's Chapter 7, thanks to everyone that reviewed.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry. But I do own Penelope. :)
Penelope's eyes widened at all of the stores, the things outside them, the people buying things and walking round and round with their long cloaks. The children staring at –it couldn't be- a broomstick. She could hear them muttering, "It's the fastest broom in the world." "It's a favourite for the Quidditch Cup." Harry stopped outside the window, his eyes swollen in admiration at the mere sight of it. Penelope too, appreciated the beauty of the broom, and they both just stared at it for a few minutes. They suddenly realized what they were doing, and broke their gazes to continue down the alley towards a big white building in the middle of the street.
"So- you're muggle born? New to London?" asked Harry.
"Erm –no. Actually, my mother was a witch, and I have no idea who my father was, so I'm at least a half-blood (although I think he might've been a wizard my mother met at school). I didn't know about the wizarding world until –well, before yesterday, to tell you the truth. I'm going to a school called Hogwarts… ever heard of it?"
"Ever heard of it? I go there, too. Although we never get new students unless they're first years… everyone will be surprised at your appearance. I wonder if they'll sort you with them…"
Penelope stared at him. Harry chuckled.
"Right. You have no clue what I'm talking about. Well, when the first years arrive (all of them are new, of course), they have to be sorted into their houses by a sorting hat. It's placed on your head and it sorts you into one of the four houses: Gryffindor, home of to the brave; Slytherin, the evil lot; Ravenclaw, the really smart kids; and Hufflepuff, well, they're supposed to be really caring but I think that it's also because they just don't fit in the rest."
"And you are in Gryffindor, I presume?" inquired the girl.
"Yes. Where do you want to be in?"
"Well… I don't know. Gryffindor would be nice, but if not Ravenclaw doesn't sound too bad either. And I'd rather be in Hufflepuff than Slytherin… I am NOT evil."
Harry laughed, and stopped in front of a snowy white building with burnished bronze doors. And standing next to the door was –nah, it couldn't really be a goblin?
They entered through, and Penelope saw some more goblins with scales and pieces of gold, others showing visitors in and out of doors that seemed to go on forever. They were in a hallway of counters, with countless goblins behind them, waiting for customers.
Harry led her to a free goblin and asked, "We would like to change some muggle money into wizard currency, please."
"The goblin looked down at them from the high counter, slightly frightening Penelope as he did so, and asked, "How much?"
The green-eyed boy looked puzzlingly at Penelope, who took out her wallet and looked through, putting the items on the counter as she did so.
"198 pounds and 40 pence," the girl informed the goblin.
The latter simply waved an incantation over the money and it instantly turned into coins of gold, and stated: "39 galleons, 14 sickles and 7 knuts."
Harry sighed, and his companion looked at him, puzzled.
"It won't be enough for your things. Ask if your mother had a vault. What's her name?"
"Libby Jones."
"Excuse me, sir," Harry addressed the free goblin again, who looked down at them for the second time.
"Yes?"
"We would also like to consult if there is any vault in the name of Ms. Libby Jones.'
"Who asks?"
"Her daughter," replied Penelope.
"Do you have a key?"
Penelope slowly shook her head, and heard Harry sigh. Trust wizards to have keys to vaults. For goodness sake, they could've used a finger print method or DNA test or something! Her mother must have seen this coming… hadn't she? A key, a key, a key…
"A key!" cried Harry.
Penelope looked at him blankly.
"You have a key on your necklace," he explained. The girl realized it with a jolt. Her mother had given it to her when she was eleven, and told her that it opened her deepest secrets.
Penelope unlocked the clasp at the back of her neck and handed the necklace to the goblin, who was studying it closely.
"Hornpick!" called the goblin suddenly, and handed the necklace back to the girl.
An extremely thin goblin with a pointy nose and extremely sharp fingernails emerged out of nowhere. He gestured for Penelope and Harry to follow him, and opened one of the doors leading out of the hall.
Penelope expected more marble, but she was surprised with the narrow passageway made of stone. It went downward and had railing tracks along the floor. Hornpick whistled and a cart appeared out of the blue. Harry got on, it looked like he was used to it by now, and Penelope followed him, uneasy.
Suddenly, they sped through a labyrinth of twisting and turning halls, with endless doors. They jerked, right, left, right, right, left, then left again, and suddenly Penelope lost count and studied the big underground lake they had come to full of stalactites and stalagmites for a few seconds before the cart sped forward again, coming to a halt after a few moments, abruptly.
Harry got out, and helped his companion stand as she stumbled from her dizziness.
"Light, please," called Hornpick in a coarse voice, and Harry took the oil lamp from him.
"Key, please." Penelope handed him the necklace. Hornpick unlocked the door, and a lot of green smoke flooded out, but once it had cleared away, Penelope gasped at the amount of coins there were. Gold, silver and bronze ones.
Harry remembered with a smile the first time that he had visited his vault. He had been so surprised at the little fortune left by his parents, and he realized that the girl was feeling the same thing as him.
The green-eyed boy took out a small leather pouch, and started piling in some gold. Penelope helped him, and in a few moments Harry closed it and handed it to her.
"The gold ones are Galleons, the silver are Sickles and the bronze are Knuts. Seventeen sickles to a Galleon, twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle. You'll get it eventually," he explained with a grin. "That should be enough for three terms and supplies."
Hornpick closed the vault door behind them, and Penelope looked questioningly at Harry, on whether he needed to go to his vault.
"I already got my money out yesterday," he explained.
And the sped into the maze of underground Gringotts again.