From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 225 Gringotts

Diagon Alley is hidden in a tavern on a bustling street in London, and Gringotts Wizarding Bank occupies the most conspicuous location in Diagon Alley.

It was a tall, snow-white marble building, but some of its designers and builders must have been drunk while working, because many of the stone pillars supporting the building were tilted, neither symmetrical nor regular.

However, considering that most of the buildings in the alley are in this crooked style, perhaps goblins and wizards prefer it.

The door of Gringotts was cast in one piece of bronze and polished with cleaning magic until it was shiny enough to be used as a mirror.

The person in charge of welcoming guests at the door was a goblin in a scarlet uniform. Seeing the Malfoys coming, he bowed deeply.

Behind the bronze gate is the silver gate, also cast in one piece. The two silver-white door panels are engraved with a very famous warning:
Come in, stranger, but beware the consequences of greed, for want of gain without work will be punished most severely, so if you attempt to take from our vault a portion of the wealth that was never yours, thief, you have been warned, beware of the evil that may come to you instead of treasure.

After passing through the silver door, you will enter the main hall of Gringotts. Unlike the stereotype that "gold must be after bronze and silver", the goblins did not cast another golden door. This is because they put all the wizards' gold underground and vowed to keep it forever.

The ceiling of the marble hall is very high. God knows whether these dwarfs are planning to do business with the giants.

On both sides of the hall were very long counters, behind which hundreds of goblins sat on high stools, weighing coins with scales, examining gems with eyepieces, and scribbling in account books with quills.

In addition, there are many doors leading to the underground in the hall, and each door leads to different levels of the vault. The older the wizard family, the deeper and more secure the underground vault.

Of course, this also means that their vaults are more easily forgotten, especially after those wizard families become extinct, and all the gold and treasures inside belong to the goblins.

However, the goblins will certainly not make their biggest profit-making method public. They advertise that the underground vault is a more thorough security measure. The vault is guarded not only by dragons, but also by dangerous magical animals of XXXXX level such as the Sphinx.

The wizards bought into this thing, and even helped the goblins promote Gringotts as the second safest place after Hogwarts. Even Voldemort hid the golden cup as his Horcrux in the deepest part of the Lestrange family vault.

Of course, we all know that Hogwarts is not actually the safest place, as there are always accidents every year, and this is even more so after Ivy came.

In the first year, Quirrell died and Umbridge went crazy.

In the second year, a bunch of students and professors were injured, Lockhart was disfigured, Snape did a sit-up on the desk in the headmaster's office, and a rat was thrown into Azkaban, where the Dementor's kiss was waiting for him.

But isn’t this much more civilized than a hundred years ago?

At that time, Ivy slaughtered hundreds of wizards and goblins, but now he has become very restrained.

So Ivy never liked goblins, not only because he slaughtered a large number of goblins more than a hundred years ago.

These greedy and ugly little guys always reminded him of the goblins and goblins in the fantasy world, and he always believed that only dead goblins were good goblins.

However, the banking system of the wizarding society relies entirely on these goblins. Even if Ivy really kills them all, rebuilding the banking industry will be a laborious task.

Ivy hated any trouble that hindered his study of magic, so it was better to leave them as they were.

The Malfoys, carrying the vault key, came to a counter, and the idle goblin behind them immediately smiled ingratiatingly: "How much gold do you want to deposit today, Mr. Malfoy?"

"No," Narcissa placed Bella's vault key on the counter, "We are going to the Lestrange family vault. This is my sister's key."

"Lestrange?" The goblin's wrinkled face showed a look of surprise, "But their whole family is already in Azkaban... It is said that the Lestrange family has no descendants..."

"Apparently my sister left me the entire vault." Narcissa's radiant face showed full of arrogance, and she almost snorted at the goblin. "Take us to the vault, and don't make me say it again!"

"This is against the rules..." the goblin screamed, "very against the rules!"

"The rule of Gringotts is that customers come first! My wife has brought the key, so you have to take us to the vault, otherwise the Malfoy family will have to consider Gringotts' service attitude. Hogwarts is planning to raise dragons recently, and I am a board member of Hogwarts. Perhaps we can also set up a wizarding bank and use dragons as security measures!" Unlike his radiant wife, Lucius' face looked much grayer, and even two thick dark bags appeared on his usually pale face.

Lucius's threat was simply an attempt to dig up the roots of Gringotts. Although the goblin behind the counter knew that Lucius was most likely just threatening, he didn't dare to gamble on that little possibility.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" the goblin shouted behind him, "Griphook! You take these two distinguished guests... No! Griphook, you take my shift, I will personally take the two distinguished guests to the underground!"

The goblin named Griphook looked very happy, and couldn't wait to sit on the high stool that didn't belong to him. Perhaps the goblin in charge of reception had a higher status than the goblin who led the customers to the vault.

The goblin at the counter first took out the Jingle Chip, then opened the door for the Malfoys, all the while apologizing for his previous remarks.

The passage leading to the underground vault is no longer built of marble, but a very narrow stone corridor, lit by torches, and there seems to be no concern at all about burning out the oxygen and causing suffocation.

After the downhill section of the stone corridor ends, you can see a very narrow railway at the end, which is very similar to the mine cart railway used by Muggles in mines. Even the small carriages used by goblins to pull people are not much different from Muggle mine carts.

The only difference is that the fairy's carriage does not have a cargo box, but instead has a few seats without seat belts.

Lucius and Narcissa both swallowed and sat together rather nervously, while the counter goblin sat back to back with them.

As for Ivy, who had been following him using invisibility, he also sat next to the goblin at the counter.

To be honest, he wasn't worried about the anti-theft waterfall in Gringotts at all. After all, it was a defensive measure that would only be activated when someone broke in. The Malfoys, who had the vault key, had a legitimate relationship that could be verified, and they could not be identified as thieves anyway, so Ivy, who went underground with them, certainly wouldn't encounter water pouring down on her head.

The vault cart suddenly started, speeding up, and continued to go down along the crooked corridor. The positions of these vaults were completely irregular, as if they were deliberately designed to confuse thieves who came to steal things so that they could not find the real way.

The wind whistled in my ears, and the constant clicking sounds from the car were like wailing, making people worry that it would fall apart in the next second. After turning around countless stalactites and stalagmites, the car finally stopped in the darkness.

Two light red dots suddenly lit up in the darkness, and Lucius lit his wand, reflecting the shadow of a fire dragon.

Although its body was huge, it had been destroyed beyond recognition. Its scales no longer looked metallic and had begun to loosen and fall off like human teeth. Its two sturdy hind legs were tied with even thicker shackles, and then nailed to stakes driven into the stone ground with iron chains. The giant fire dragon folded its spiked wings on both sides of its body. If it decided to spread its wings, this narrow passage would definitely not be able to fit it.

The vault's protective measures roared, the sound shook the stone, and then there was a fierce flame. Lucius and Narcissa couldn't help but take a few steps back.

Fortunately, the car stopped at a very level spot, just out of the range of the fire dragon's breath.

The goblin at the counter took out the Jingle Bells in a bag calmly and distributed them to the Malfoys.

A jingle piece is a metal device that looks very much like a tambourine. Many metal pieces are hung on an iron handle. When it is shaken, it will make a crisp and loud metal collision sound.

"That dragon is very old, and its eyesight isn't very good." The goblin at the counter explained, "But this makes it even more ferocious. However, we have a way to control it. As long as we shake the Jingle Pieces in our hands, we can pass safely."

Fire dragons do not have any advanced intelligence. They are more like primitive and ferocious beasts. Although they can fly, breathe fire, and many parts of their bodies contain extraordinary magical powers, they cannot master magic like other intelligent magical creatures. They act solely on instinct and are not much different from dogs domesticated by Muggles.

Just as Pavlov could teach a dog to associate the sound of a bell with eating, these fairies could teach a dragon to associate the sound of a jingle bell with pain.

The counter goblins and the Malfoys walked through the passage shaking Jingle Bells, and the noise bounced off the stone walls, adding up to become even louder.

The fire dragon that blocked the way let out another hoarse roar and retreated tremblingly.

Lucius's raised wand reflected the scars on the dragon's face. Ivy knew at a glance that it was a masterpiece of goblin weapons. He had collected a lot of similar things in the past.

"Please come in! Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy." The goblin at the counter bowed, then put his hand on the door of the vault, and with the key in Narcissa's hand, finally opened the door of the vault.

Inside the vault were all kinds of treasures. Gold coins and the like were the most inconspicuous. In addition, there were wine glasses decorated with various gems, silver armor, the furs of many precious magical animals, potions in crystal bottles, and even skulls wearing crowns.

Narcissa walked in first, followed by Ivy, and then Lucius.

"I won't bother you any longer, both of you. If you're done, just knock on the door and I'll open it and let you out." The counter goblin bowed again and closed the vault door again.

After a heavy metallic collision, the only light source in the vault was the wand that Lucius had been holding in his hand.

"Lord Doom?" Narcissa called softly.

In the past, this woman would not take the initiative to talk to Ivy when her husband was present. She would only answer questions when Ivy asked them. However, after Ivy showed his ability to rejuvenate, the mistress of the Malfoy family was convinced by Ivy.

Several bright balls of light suddenly appeared at the four corners of the vault, instantly dispelling the darkness inside the vault.

The Malfoys looked ahead and saw Ivy already standing there.

With a satisfied smile on his face, he quietly announced his victory: "One step closer to death, Tom."

"What exactly does the Horcrux we are looking for look like, Lord Doom?" Lucius stepped forward and asked.

"It's Helga Hufflepuff's gold cup," Ivy said softly, "but I don't need your help. I've already seen it."

In the innermost part of the vault, above the hill of gold coins, on the top shelf where various fairy silver items were placed, a solitary golden cup was flashing inconspicuously.

"I'll get it for you!" Narcissa volunteered, taking out her wand and chanting, "Golden Cup, fly here!"

However, nothing happened. The Hufflepuff gold cup was still on the top of the shelf, motionless.

"Obviously Voldemort has cast a lot of protective magic on it," Ivy said. "You also have to be careful. These treasures have been cast with fire spells and replication spells. If there is no correct way to remove the spell, they will replicate a boiling mountain of gold and crush anyone who enters the vault."

Lucius, who was about to step into the golden mountain, immediately stopped and retreated back to Ivy without leaving a trace.

"Is there anything you want to take?" Ivy took out his silver lime wand, "I can help you remove the spell on it."

"No, we don't need anything." Lucius shook his head and rejected Ivy's proposal.

"You'd better take some. It would be weird to leave the vault empty-handed." Ivy waved his wand violently and shouted, "Stop the curse!"

The turbulent magic power surged in the vault, and many of the already shaky treasures rolled to the ground, making clanging sounds.

Lucius picked up a sword that had fallen to his feet, while Narcissa assembled several pieces of intricately designed jewelry.

"Very good." Seeing that both of them had chosen their items, Ivy released his Grimoire of Destruction.

As the pages of the book turned quickly, a gust of wind suddenly blew up in the vault, blowing up all the gold, silver and treasures on the ground, as if forming a golden river flying in the air, and the end of the golden river was the Grimoire of Destruction floating in the air.

Under the powerful suction of the Grimoire of Destruction, the treasures passed down for generations in the Lestrange family quickly disappeared, and only the Hufflepuff gold cup placed at the highest point remained in the entire vault.

Ivy took it with the Mage's Hand and held it in his hand to examine it carefully.

The gold cup is very restrained in shape and is only the size of a normal adult's palm. Apart from the Hufflepuff badger carving on the cup, there is nothing to prove its identity.

However, Ivy was able to confirm that this heavy thing was indeed Voldemort's Horcrux, and it also had the potential to become an ancient heirloom.

　Think about the ancient ritual of the golden cup, and I will update it tomorrow!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)