Chapter 235: An Underground Dragon

Although Ivan had been to Gringotts Bank many times before, he had never been to the subway vaults, and had merely taken his galleons back on the way.

Hermione, like him, had never been in the depths of the old vault.

Only Harry, as his parents had left him an inheritance, had to go to his vault every year to take a few gold galleons as tuition before going to school.

No matter if they had been to Gringotts Underground or not, they were all very interested in the Black's vault.

Although, according to Sirius, there was nothing to see, it was full of dull gold.

But enough gold to fill a room was enough to shock those who thought about it.

It was the first day after Christmas. Like the Muggle street outside, Diagon Alley was cold and snow covered as far as the eye could see.

On the street, apart from them, there were no other people, and many stores had not opened.

Everyone was worried, fearing that Gringotts Bank was not open.

But when they reached the snow-white loft in the central square of Diagon Alley, the thick snow on the ground had been cleared, and the shiny bronze door had been opened. A goblin in a scarlet and gold uniform stood there.

"Goblins are devoted to their work. They don't rest all year round. During the Christmas vacations, only Gringotts will be open as usual." Lupin whispered.

"Don't fool the children, Remus! We all know why elves don't rest, not because they're dedicated, but because they're greedy like that. As far as I'm concerned, these goblins don't care about Christmas." Sirius said disdainfully. "To them, gold is more important than festivals."

Sirius didn't lower his voice. The goblin in front of the bronze door apparently heard the comment, and looked at them with even less friendly eyes than usual.

He still bowed to everyone, but his movements were stiff.

Ivan saw that the goblin looked about his own height, and had a dark, intelligent face and a sharp beard. His fingers and feet were particularly long.

"Gentlemen, this way, please!" He led them to Gringotts.

Behind the bronze door was a second silver door.

When he first arrived at Gringotts, Ivan felt that the door was very well made.

Later, reading related literature, he learned that the door was the Gringotts door when it was first established a thousand years ago. It was made of pure silver by goblins, and the greatest alchemist of the time used much magic on it.

Such ancient magic may no longer be functional, but the door itself has historical value.

A row of words was engraved on the two doors. It was a warning sign left by the goblins. It appeared to be a curse. It was said in a verse that a thief will suffer greatly.

At Gringotts, behind the long counters, goblins sat on high stools, greeting the first customers of the day, and the goblin leading them guided them to a very old goblin in the center.

"Sirius Black!" seeing Sirius, the goblin was obviously very surprised. "What a rare guest, what can I do for you today?"

The goblin shivered; perhaps, at the thought of Sirius' dark past in Azkaban, and the rumors outside that he was a terrifying Death Eater.

"I want to go to the vault, not my own vault, but the Black family vault." Sirius added an accent on the Black family.

"The Black family vault?" The old elf shuddered and then peeked around the counter. "Do you have the key?"

"I have it!" Sirius pulled out a rusty key and tossed it on the counter.

Ivan noticed that the key was long and engraved with the Black family crest.

"Okay, no problem." The elf continued to frown and continued. "We can let you in, but you know, your family's old vault is in a special area, surrounded by strong protective measures, and you'd better be alone..."

"We have to go down together, I don't care about that special area!" Sirius said impatiently, "Don't waste your time, I still have a lot of things waiting for me."

The two stared at each other for a moment before the goblin backed away.

Lupin stayed upstairs waiting for them, and Sirius went downstairs with Ivan, Harry and Hermione. Although the goblin agreed with Black's proposal, he still regarded the three of them as children who shouldn't be careful enough.

Seeing that the goblin was so cautious, Ivan was more curious about the Black family vault in the special area, trying to imagine what might be there.

"Griphook, take the four of them to the subway vault." The old goblin beckoned, and said to the goblin who had just led them.

Griphook seemed to be expecting this, and his eyes glinted with malicious intent.

Behind the counter was a narrow side door that he ran to open for them.

When Ivan entered, he did not see the same architectural style as the tall marble hall outside, but before his eyes was a narrow stone corridor, lit by a burning torch, like an ancient cave.

The stone corridor formed a steep slope leading to a small railroad below.

Griphook whistled and a small carriage ran towards them along the tracks.

Harry was the first to deftly climb into the trolley. Ivan and Hermione followed and Harry introduced them to what they needed to watch out for.

"This wagon will be running very fast for a while, you'd better hold on tight," Harry warned. "The path inside is twisting and turning like a maze."

Hearing Harry's words, both Ivan and Hermione mentally braced themselves.

But the speed of the cart far exceeded their imagination, and just as Sirius climbed in, Griphook pulled the lever.

Suddenly, the cart began to move, and it was getting faster and faster, there seemed to be no limit to its acceleration.

It took them twisting in a crack in the wall, twisting and turning through the labyrinthine passages, tilting downward all the while.

The dark, cold air in the deep underground hit their faces.

Ivan couldn't hear anything over the noise of the trolley on the tracks. All he knew was that they were still spinning among the stalactites as they sped down into the depths of the earth.

Along with Ivan, Sirius, Harry, and Hermione's hair swung back. The three of them didn't look very good, and looked around nervously.

Only the elf, Griphook, was particularly happy. He turned his head and looked at them with gleeful glee.

Griphook wiggled his fingers from time to time, and the speed of the carriage quickened after each jolt.

Because of what Sirius had just said, he was retaliating against them.

Besides being so greedy, goblins are definitely the most spiteful creatures in the world, out for revenge for the smallest complaint.

If you accidentally offended a goblin, they might remember it all their lives.

Even though he knew they were in trouble, Griphook was still trying to scare them to death.

Ivan gritted his teeth. In about twenty minutes, the four of them had already rushed to the deepest place under the earth.

They passed through a subway lake with huge stalactites and stalagmites hanging from the ground.

"I've never been in a place this deep before!" Harry shouted, "I just went through those rocks and it looks like I saw something sleeping..."

His shout came to a sudden halt, they quickly rounded a sharp bend, and the carriage slowly came to a halt.

"Please, everybody get down! We have to change the cart. We have to use a wagon that goes deeper to get to the Black family vault." Griphook took the lead and jumped out. "This way, please. We need to walk for a while."

But no one but him moved, and they all stared straight ahead.

Ahead of them, Ivan saw what Harry had just seen, a gigantic dragon tied to the ground not far away, blocking access to the deeper vaults.

The dragon's scales had turned pale and scaly during its long imprisonment underground, and its eyes were milky pink, both hind legs carried heavy chains which led to huge stakes driven deep into the rocky ground.

Its large pointed wings, folded close to its body, would have filled the chamber if it had spread them. Sensing someone approaching, the Dragon turned its ugly head toward them and roared with a noise that shook the rock. It opened its mouth and spat out a jet of fiery fire with an astonishing wave of heat.