Chapter 235 The Dragon Deep Underground
Although Aiwen has been to Gringotts many times before, he has never entered the underground vault. His Galleons are basically spent as he earns.
Hermione, like him, hadn't been to the depths of Gringotts.
Only Harry, because his parents left him a legacy, he had to go to his own treasury to get some Galleons for tuition every year before the start of school.
Regardless of whether everyone has been to the Gringotts Underground, they all have a strong interest in the Black family vault.
Although according to Sirius, there is nothing to see in it, it is just full of boring gold.
But the thought of being able to fill an entire room with gold is shocking enough.
Today is the first day after Christmas, and just like the Muggle streets outside, Diagon Alley is deserted, with snow covering everything as far as the eye can see.
On the street, apart from a few of them, no one else could be seen, and many shops were closed.
Everyone was still a little worried, afraid that Gringotts would not open the door.
But when they came to the towering snow-white loft in the central square of Diagon Alley, the thick snow on the ground had been cleared, and the shiny bronze gate had been opened, and a goblin in a scarlet and gold uniform was coming. stand there.
"The goblins are extremely dedicated. They are open all year round. During the Christmas holidays, only Gringotts will be open as usual." Lupine explained in a low voice.
"Don't mislead the children, Remus! We all know why goblins don't rest. It's not because they are dedicated, but because they are greedy enough. In my opinion, these goblins don't care about Christmas." Sirius said disdainfully , "Gold is more important to them than festivals."
Sirius didn't lower his voice, the goblin standing in front of the bronze door obviously heard this sentence, and looked at them a little less friendly than usual.
He still bowed to everyone, but with deadly rigidity.
Ai Wen saw that this goblin looked about the same height as him, with a dark face full of intelligence, a pointed beard, and his hands and feet were very long.
"This way, gentlemen!" he led them into Gringotts.
Behind the bronze gate is a second silver gate.
When he came to Gringotts for the first time, Ivan just felt that the door was extremely beautifully made from the senses.
Later, through reading relevant documents, he knew that the gate in front of him was the gate when the ancient spirit first established it thousands of years ago. It was made of pure silver by goblins, and a lot of magic was refined on it by the greatest alchemist at that time.
The ancient magic may no longer work, but the gate itself has historical value.
A row of words are engraved on the two doors, which are the warning words left by the goblins, like a curse, expressing in verse that thieves will be punished.
Inside Gringotts, behind the long counter, goblins sat on high stools, receiving the first customers of the day, and the goblin who had ushered them in led them towards a very old goblin in the center.
"Sirius Black!" Seeing Sirius, the goblin was obviously very surprised, "What a rare visitor, what can I do for you today?"
Perhaps thinking of Sirius' past dark experience in Azkaban, and the rumors outside that he was a death eater who killed people without batting an eye, the goblin shivered.
"I'm going to the vault, not my own vault, but the Black family's vault." Sirius put an accent on the word Black family.
"The vault of the Black family?!" The old goblin shrank back, then leaned out from the counter, "Have you brought the key?"
"Bring it!" Sirius found a rusty key and threw it on the counter.
Ivan noticed that the key was very long, with the Black family crest engraved on it.
"Very well, there is no problem." The goblin frowned and continued, "We can let you in, but you know, your family's ancient vault is in a special area, and the surrounding protection measures are very strong, you'd better be alone ..."
"We want to go down together, I don't care what special area it is!" Sirius said impatiently, "Don't waste time, there are still many things waiting for me to do."
They stalemate for a while, and finally each took a step back.
Lupine stayed up there to wait for them, and Sirius took Ivan, Harry, and Hermione down. The goblin agreed to this suggestion. In his opinion, Aiwen and the others were just children, and they were not qualified for defense at all.
Seeing that the other party was so cautious, Ivan was even more curious about the vault of the Black family in a special area, guessing what could be inside.
"Griphook, take the four of them to the underground vault." The old goblin waved and said to the goblin who had just led them in.
Griphook seemed to have expected this a long time ago, and a malicious light flashed in his eyes.
Behind the counter was a narrow side door, and he ran to open it for them.
When Ivan walked in, he would have seen an architectural style similar to the tall marble hall outside, but in front of him was a narrow stone corridor illuminated by burning torches, as if it were an ancient mine.
The stone corridor is a steep downhill slope with a small railway underneath.
Griphook blew a whistle, and a cart sprinted down the track toward them.
Harry climbed into the car first, looking very skilled. He introduced the points that should be paid attention to to Ivan and Hermione who followed.
"This car will run very fast for a while, you'd better hurry up." Harry reminded, "The road inside is winding and winding, like a maze."
Hearing Harry's words, Ivan and Hermione were prepared.
But the speed of the trolley far exceeded their imagination, and the Sirius that came up at the end had just been finished, and Griphook pointed.
The small cart started suddenly, and the speed was getting faster and faster, as if there was no limit.
It led a few of them whizzing into a gap in the wall, and galloped along the maze-like winding corridors, rushing forward.
The depths of the ground were pitch black, and the cold air hit us head-on.
The rattling sound of the car made Ai Wen unable to hear anything. All he knew was that they were making sharp turns among the stalactites and speeding down the depths of the earth.
Beside Ivan, Sirius, Harry, and Hermione had their hair flying back, and the three of them didn't look very well either, looking around nervously.
Only the goblin named Griphook was particularly happy. He turned his head and looked at them gloatingly.
Pull-hook waved his fingers from time to time, and after each shake, the speed of the trolley increased.
For what Sirius had just said, he was taking revenge on them all.
In addition to being greedy enough, goblins are definitely the smallest creatures in the world, and they must take revenge.
If you accidentally offend a goblin, he may remember it for a lifetime.
Although he knew that the other party was playing tricks, but disturbing Griphook now was definitely courting death.
Aiwen gritted his teeth and insisted. About twenty minutes later, the four of them had rushed to a deeper place underground.
They passed an underground lake covered with huge stalactites and stalagmites hanging down to the ground.
"I've never been this deep before!" cried Harry. "I just looked through those rocks and saw something breathing fire..."
His shouting stopped suddenly, they quickly turned a sharp corner, and the cart came to a slow stop.
"Please get out of the car, everyone! We have to change the car, and we need to use the small trolley that goes deeper to the Black family's vault." Griphook jumped down first, "Please go this way, we need to walk for a while."
But apart from him, no one moved, and everyone stared forward with dumbstruck eyes.
In front of them, Ivan saw what Harry had just seen, a huge fire dragon tied to the ground not far away, preventing people from approaching the deeper vault.
The dragon's scales had become pale and loose from confinement for too long, its eyes were a cloudy pink, and its hind legs were heavily shackled by thick chains driven deep into the stone. The giant pile of the ground.
Its huge spiked wings are gathered on both sides of its body, and if it is unfolded, it will fill the entire basement. Sensing someone approaching, the dragon turned its ugly head towards them and let out a roar that made stones tremble. (To be continued.)