3 ◆ wandering through diagon alley
◆
"I'M GOING DOWNSTAIRS to meet up with Lisa, Flynn, Rose, and George before we head out to go school shopping in Diagon Alley," Robyn replied snidely, a smirk playing across her lips. At the feigned hurt expression that crossed over Fred's face, she snickered softly. "Is there a problem, Frederick?"
At that, Fred scoffed, holding a hand to his chest, appalled. "Yes, actually, there are a few problems, Robyn. One, why wasn't I invited to come along too?" He sniffed, as if he were about to cry, but the smirk on his face said otherwise. Robyn opened her mouth to reply, but before she could say anything, Fred continued, "And two, your name still has a 'y' and not an 'i' in it. You're offending birds everywhere, Robbie."
She raised an eyebrow. Robbie? What a stupid nickname. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I didn't see you downstairs with the rest of you Weasleys last night," she accused, poking the tall redhead in his stomach. "But if it really matters that much to you, by all means, join us."
Fred hopped out the doorway, a large, mischievous grin spreading across his face. "Well, if you insist," he laughed, "let's go wreak some havoc." He held out his arm for Robyn, and she accepted, the two of them striding down to the main floor together, heads held high, both of them trying not to burst out laughing.
"Ron, you better get that bloody rat away from me right now, or I swear, I'll snap its little neck," Flynn's voice snapped angrily, and Robyn and Fred let out their laughs as they reached the bottom, the group coming into view.
Ron was cradling his poor little rat, who was continuing to try to jump out his arms at Flynn. Every time it did, Flynn took a hesitant step backwards, until she bumped into George, who was standing right behind her. She shot a sharp glare at the other Weasley twin.
Fred and Robyn made their way through the tables, reaching the little group there that was drawing the attention of the entire room.
Rose, who was donning a yellow sundress, spoke up in Ron's defense. "Flynn, it's just a rat, and Scabbers hasn't ever even come that near to you. Don't you think you're being a bit...oh, what's the word..." she trailed off momentarily in thought. "...right, explosive."
Flynn turned on her friend, fists clenched tightly at her sides. Robyn and Lisa, who were now standing next to each other, cracked up laughing at the sight of Flynn nearly boiling over and Rose standing back, a motherly amused look on her face. Ron was now backing away slowly, before he caught sight of Hermione down the table and went running over to her.
"Explosive?! I'm not explosive! You're explosive!" Her screams drew the room into silence, except for their little group, who were all laughing now. Lisa nearly collapsed on top of Robyn from laughing so hard.
Rose merely raised her eyebrows, the amused look growing across her face. "Really? That's quite interesting, Flynn."
Flynn slammed her fists down on the table, letting out an exasperated yell. "Gah, just shut up!"
Lisa couldn't take it anymore. Her laughs became short and breathy, and the grin on her face wouldn't disappear. She wrapped her arms around Flynn tightly, helping to calm down her friend.
"Flynn, I just want to tell you, in case I die before we get old or whatever, that I love you so much, alright?" As she hugged her friend, Flynn's harsh expression seemed to melt away, relaxing into a happier expression.
"Love you too, Lise," Flynn laughed, "although you make that known to me about four times a week, so trust me, I'm aware."
Lisa smiled, a bit embarrassed. "Right," she mumbled.
"Anyways, I'll go tell Mrs. Weasley we're heading out, so I'll be back in just a minute, alright?" she quickly sputtered out with a hesitant laugh, hurrying over to Mrs. Weasley.
Fred shook his head, patting George on the shoulder. "Sometimes I worry for you, dear twin. Dating her must drive some people insane. Good thing you're already mad, that way she can't do any more damage to you than what's already been done."
George laughed. "Honestly, Fred, sometimes I wonder myself."
◆◆◆
THE GROUP OF THEM STROLLED DOWN THE STREETS of Diagon Alley, weaving their way through the swarm of people towards Gringotts, which stood tall and mighty down at the end of the road, its marble columns standing taller than anything else on the street.
As the group approached the bank, Robyn read the words engraved on the silver doors, as she always did when they visited Gringotts:
As she finished reading aloud the inscription, Lisa shuddered. "Does that make anyone else feel really nervous?" she asked, rubbing her bare arms.
Flynn glanced at her friend, an amused look on her face. "You're such a baby, Lise. But...yeah, it is pretty freaky."
The group of them entered the bank and approached the goblin sitting at the front desk, sitting high up above them. As they neared the desk, the goblin set down his quill and leaned over the edge of the table to peer down at them.
"We'd like to visit our vaults, please," Rose asked politely, smiling up at the little creature.
"State your vault number and present your keys," he replied in a monotone voice, sitting back in his seat.
Lisa was the first, who walked up to the front of the group, handing her key up to the goblin, saying, "Sara Alisa Potter, Vault 687." The goblin nodded and took her key.
Rose followed next, presenting her wand and speaking her full name to the goblin: Rosaline Carren Figg. The twins, Robyn, and Flynn stood back, as their Gringotts processes were a little different.
The twins weren't allowed in the Weasley vault, due to their family's shortage of funds and the twins' extreme irresponsibility, and Robyn and Flynn had special vaults that couldn't be opened with a mere key.
"Flynn Yaneva Black, Vault 2472, please," Flynn said, handing up her wand to the goblin. He inspected the wand for a moment, then glanced down at Flynn before nodding and handing the wand back to her.
"Robyn Jacquelyn Abrams, Vault 1776, the Fray family vault," Robyn then said. She handed her own wand up to the goblin, and the procedure repeated. The goblin stared at Robyn for a while, however, with a look on his face like he knew something she didn't. Robyn shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably while the goblin evaluated her wand, then called up another goblin and whispered with him for several moments before finally the goblin turned back and handed Robyn's wand back to her with a smile that looked more like a grimace.
"Very well, come along, all of you," the goblins guided them down through to a very unsafe-looking cart attached to rails that led off in either direction and dropped off out of sight. Robyn had ridden in the cart several times in the past, but a wave of nausea still waved over her, filling her with a sense of dread. Slowly, the group clambered into the cart, followed by one of the goblins, and they set off.
The cart picked up speed, barreling down the track faster and faster through the rocky caverns until it finally slowed to a stop in front of Vault 542. Rose stood and accompanied the goblin off the cart as the rest stayed behind. Fred, who sat next to Robyn, leaned over and rested his head on her lap, closing his eyes and feigning sleep. She looked down at his face with a loud sigh. A brown eye opened to look back up her.
"Got a problem, Robbie?" Fred grinned as he sat up to face Robyn.
"Actually, I do. I have a problem with you calling me 'Robbie.' That's not my name. My name is Robyn. Robyn Abrams," she replied with an annoyed smirk.
Flynn leaned back from the front seat to face Robyn. "Those goblins don't seem to think that's the case," she cut in.
Robyn furrowed her eyebrows as she turned to look at Flynn, who had a skeptical look on her small face. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"I mean that they don't seem to think your name is Abrams. Did you see what they did when they took your wand? They messed around with it for almost ten minutes. That's never happened with any of our wands. But with you, every time we go into the bank, they have to check your wand," Flynn explained.
Robyn shrugged. "Maybe it's to make sure I am who I say I am, because I'm accessing a vault that doesn't have my name on it," she retorted.
Flynn opened her mouth to protest, but Rose and the goblin accompanying her returned to the cart, Rose's sunflower yellow coin purse stuffed full of galleons. Everyone drew quiet except for the twins, who were using their wands to try to make the cart grow antlers and a bright red nose. The goblin shot them a harsh glare, and the twins immediately straightened out, stuffing their wands in their shoes and sitting completely still in their seats. With an audibly loud sigh, the goblin hit an old, rusty lever and the cart rolled into movement, picking up speed and continuing to roll down through the caverns.
The twins shot each other a mischievous look and grabbed each other's wands out of each other's shoes. Fred grinned and reached around Robyn to try to grow an antler off the side of the cart, but Robyn elbowed him roughly in the side and he fell back into his seat with a huff.
Soon, the cart screeched to a rough halt, and the goblin led Lisa off to her vault to get her money. A few moments passed before the pair returned, and then they were off again, this time headed to the deepest part of the caves, all the way down to Robyn and Flynn's vaults.
The cart came to the end of the track, where it finally slowed and came to a soft stop. The group made their way off the old cart, which squeaked loudly as each one hopped off the cart and onto the rough, rocky floor.
The goblin guiding them was the last to exit the cart, carrying with him an armful of metal noisemakers. The goblin handed out the noisemakers to all of them, then beckoned the group to follow him into the next room.
The room was large and circular, with a tall ceiling that domed at the top. Pieces of the ceiling were broken off and had fallen onto the ground. Back in a corner, several piles of bones were stacked up, and looming up in the corner of the room was a tall, skeletal dragon, its silvery skin falling off in chunks. Its eyes glowed a bloodshot red, and it had sharp, pointed teeth. It was a hideous creature.
Robyn, Flynn, and the goblin began to shake their noisemakers, and a loud, obnoxious rattling sound echoed throughout the large room. The dragon whined and curled up back into the shadows. Warily, Lisa, Fred, George, and Rose all began to shake their own noisemakers. The dragon continued to whine and squeal as the group snuck by.
Lisa shivered as they discarded their noisemakers in a crate on the other end of the room. "That was horrible," she muttered, wrapping her arms around herself. George rubbed her back soothingly.
"I know it is, but there has to be something to keep thieves out of here," Robyn replied, ushering her friends along. Rose and Lisa both seemed worried, but Rose looked as though she was trying not to make it obvious that the use of noisemakers to scare off a dragon made her uncomfortable.
"It's barbaric," Lisa whispered. Nobody paid much attention, however, as they came upon Robyn's vault.
"Vault 1776. Miss Abrams, your wand, please," the goblin said, his voice high and scratchy. Robyn pulled her wand from her boot and handed it over to the goblin.
Everyone but Robyn turned away as the goblin waved her wand in front of the large, black door. Then, he touched his claw to the door, and a series of clicks sounded off, one by one, until finally there was a loud POP! and the door swung open. The goblin handed Robyn her wand back, and Robyn slowly stepped inside the vault.
Surrounding Robyn were shelves and shelves of neatly organized treasures. Unlike some of the wealthy ancient wizard families, such as the Lestranges or the McLaughlins, the Frays were tidy and kept their valuables in neat lines on shelves or packed away in boxes. On the shelves sat several trophies and medallions, as well as diamond encrusted jewelry boxes. Sitting in the far back of the room was a chest. It was made of a dark wood and was lined in gold, and that was what Robyn was looking for.
The inside of the chest was sectioned off into three separate sections: galleons, sickles, and knuts. Each were filled to the brim with coins. Robyn grabbed a handful of each and poured them into a small bag she had brought along with her.
She exited her vault, and the goblin waved a claw over the door, securing the lock once more.
They went to Flynn's vault, and the procedure repeated itself, except when the vault opened, there were several clinks and clangs, and a pile of gold trinkets fell over onto the floor. Flynn had to clear a path through the piles of valuables that had littered the floor of the vault just to find where she kept her money.
Soon, they were done, and they made their way back out of the caverns and back to the main floor of the bank. They thanked the goblin that assisted them and made their way out of Gringotts, back out into the streets of Diagon Alley.
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top