Lucifer09
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Chapter 20
🕑 Added 2023-01-15 10:47:56 +0000 UTCLondon. Charing Cross Road. Leaky Cauldron.
As soon as Snape entered the rather busy bar, he immediately went to the counter, behind which stood a stooped man in a dark outfit, wiping a glass glass with a white cloth.
"How much does it cost to rent a room for two days?"
"A Galleon, and for for breakfast, lunch and dinner you will have to pay an additional four sickles,” he replied calmly, but when he saw seven gold coins appeared on the table, the owner of the establishment smiled businesslike, putting down the room key and taking the money.
“Number twenty-nine, lunch will be delivered in two hours."
“Good,” after taking the key, the Archmage did not immediately go to his room, but left the bar through the back door leading to Diagon Alley. “Although still a strange person, he reminds me of someone…”
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A few minutes later he was standing in front of a huge white building that towered over the shops. “Gringotts Bank…” he read the name above the huge, gleaming bronze doors.
“Entrusting the storage of money to goblins… what the world has come to… although after the Basilisk in the school where children study, it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise…”
The goblins that lived in the world Snape came from were wild creatures that could only destroy, rape and kill. They did not have intelligence and acted on instincts, so the very idea of entrusting them with such a role seemed to the magician a real nonsense, but still this was not his world, so the Archmage tried to discard these stupid prejudices. Passing by a creature of small stature, outwardly resembling a house elf, with huge ears, a nose and a disproportionate head,
Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn, Must pay dearly in their turns,
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief you have been warned, beware of finding more than treasure there."
Snape’s eyes trembled at those words. “And the goblins write about it… my world will never be the same again…” shaking his head, he went through these doors, finding himself in a huge marble room, in which work was in full swing.
A huge number of goblins stood behind high racks and worked hard, while each of them was dressed in business suits and did not pay any attention to their surroundings. All that could be heard in the room was the rustling of the pages, and only the loud sounds of sealing were out of rhythm.
The archmage did not approach these goblins and distract them from their work, but immediately went to the one in the center, looking like the leader, and was older. “I want to access Eileen Prince's vault."
"Hm…?" Looking up at Snape, the elderly goblin frowned. " Only the owner of the vault can …"
"I am her son, and I also have the key."
“Hmm…” Leaning over lazily, the goblin took out a golden bowl and placed it on the table. “Drop your blood to test the relationship,” at the same moment he took out a small test tube with a drop of blood.
“If the relationship is confirmed, for the reason that the owner of the vault is dead, you, as the next of kin, will get access to it, and if you lie, you will be required to pay a fine of a thousand galleons for using the ritual,” the goblin’s eyes lit up at the mention of gold, and he, smacking his lips contentedly, poured the blood into a bowl of water. Without answering anything, Snape cut his finger and calmly dripped blood.
Nothing happened for the first few seconds, and as the smile on the goblin's lips deepened, the water shone and the blood began to drain. “Show me the key,” he grumbled without the former merriment ... ~~~~~~~~~~~
Having descended into a rather gloomy dungeon, illuminated only by torches, they got into a cart and drove down by rail, crossing many corridors and vaults at great speed, and in a few minutes they reached the very real cave, covered with a slightly rusted steel door.
The magician handed over the key to the goblin, the same one with a little difficulty was able to turn it, and finally, with a creak, the door slowly began to open, revealing a small pile of gold coins to the magician's gaze. “About six thousand Galleons…Tell me, when was the last time my mother visited this place?”
“Twenty-three years and six months ago." The Goblin answered.
“So much pride…” Shaking his head wearily, he took out a bag and simply moved all the coins into it under the goblin’s displeased gaze. “If it was the real Snape in my place, most likely he would not even touch this money,"
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Leaving the bank, the young man did not pay any attention to the displeased faces of the goblins, looking as if he had killed their own mother, and then ate them in front of them. And even the one who was standing at the entrance to the building didn’t bother to look at the departing Snape, but only poked his back contemptuously.
“And how are they still afloat with such an appeal to customers? Even in the most seedy bar in my world, customers are almost like gods, even if they went to their competitors,” the Archmage shook his head in disappointment, yet he really hoped to continue using the services of this bank in the future.
“Although… no competition, since if I remember correctly, this is the only bank in the country, then it’s understandable why they are so arrogant, and even recognition by the Ministry of Magic played a significant role.” But still, Snape didn’t bother himself with this anymore, but immediately headed towards a rather large two-story building, the windows of which were boarded up, and there was a sign on the door: “For Sale”.
And as soon as he went inside, he was greeted by real devastation: broken tables and chairs, broken plates and bottles lying on the floor.
The walls were decorated with drawings of an unflattering nature, and that's not counting the stains on the wooden boards and wallpaper, which smelled unpleasantly.
“Hello, young man,” a middle-aged man who looked rather tired came down to Snape from the second floor. "Do you want to buy this building?"
" I do, but first I would like to know the price, and then I'll think about whether to take it or not."
“Of course, four thousand seven hundred galleons, I’m not going to lower the price: I’ll give it for a pittance anyway, a simple Reparo is enough to restore the furniture and clean up all the holes in the floor…"
“No problem, I’ll take it, but still this deal looks too tempting: such a large building near the center of Diagon Alley and so cheap…” he narrowed his eyes, looked suspiciously at the slightly embarrassed man.
“We are moving to another country: at the moment it is very dangerous to be here,” the seller explained with a sad sigh, sitting on another whole chair.
"I'm a Muggle-born wizard, and my wife is a half-breed, and she's still in a position...if it wasn't for the war, we wouldn't be selling anything, of course, but I'm worried about my family and I want to keep it safe."
“Understood, I apologize for the incredulity."
“Nothing, I understand everything."
"I'll take it from you for five thousand. Of course, I would pay more, but now almost every Galleon counts,” Snpe drawled with a guilty smile.
"Thank you! Don't worry, that's enough." Taking out a small purse, the man pulled out three A4 sheets covered with text, from which magic emanated.
"Let's go to Bank D…"
" It's not necessary." pointing his finger at one of the tables, Snape used Reparo, quickly restoring it under the astonished look of the seller, and then, pulling the reduced bag out of his pocket, knocked on it a couple of times, and at the same In an instant, galleons burst out of it, as if from a fountain, accompanied by a golden glow, flying to the table and began to land in even columns of two hundred coins. And within a minute, five thousand coins lay on it.
"I'm coming from the bank."
“Understood…” the wizard nodded slowly. "As I understand, Is this the first time you have dealt with something like this?"
“It is, but still, I studied a lot of information on this case, so I would like to see the real documents, and not this fake.”
“Of course, but we still have to visit Gringotts, because the real documents are there,” the man replied in confusion, and Snape only smiled dryly. “I feel that if I return now, they will definitely drive me away with pissed rags ...”
"Is something wrong?"
"No, let's go…"
