Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

“Take me to my vault, goblin, and put my new acquisition inside,” said Bellatrix haughtily.

“Of course, Madam Lestrange. We’ll assign a goblin to serve you personally and help you get the things in. You only need to —”

“I’m going into the vault, didn’t you hear?” said Bellatrix impatiently.

“Then… I’ll need to see your wand, madam.” The old goblin looked almost cowed. He hesitated for a long moment before holding out a slightly trembling hand, explaining fearfully, “Anyone entering that particular vault needs identification. The Lestrange vault also has certain… special provisions. I have to be sure —”

“What are you babbling about, ‘identification’? You want to inspect my wand, is that it?” Bellatrix slowly pulled out her wand, but instead of handing it over, she casually waved it, leaving a deep scar on the goblin’s face.

The old goblin screamed, his hands covering his face as he recoiled. The other goblins stopped what they were doing and stared at Bellatrix, their horrified eyes filled with barely concealed hatred and fear.

“Madam Lestrange…”

“Filthy little goblin! You dare suspect me — the Dark Lord’s most loyal servant!” Bellatrix shrieked, pointing her wand at the old goblin. “And you even dared to think of touching my wand with your filthy hands! You’re courting death!”

“No, no, no, madam, I was only following procedure…” the old goblin stammered in fright.

“The procedure — Crucio!” Bellatrix snarled mercilessly, giving him no chance to explain.

The old goblin slid off his high stool and collapsed onto the floor, screaming in agony.

Evan frowned. He could feel Hermione nudge him from behind. This wasn’t his order. Bellatrix genuinely enjoyed tormenting others, and even under the Imperius Curse she remained true to her vicious nature. They were risking unnecessary complications; several goblins were already approaching, and provoking their suspicion or rebellion would be disastrous.

Evan hurriedly ordered her to lift the curse and stop the torture.

“Shut up, little goblin. I’ll say this one last time: take me to my vault, or I’ll take your head in there with me,” said Bellatrix. At Evan’s command, she waved her wand to undo the curse. “The Dark Lord is far too merciful to your kind. You ugly wretches aren’t even fit to decorate the walls of my home.”

The old goblin lay on the ground, panting heavily, but said nothing more.

He straightened up and clapped his hands shakily. A younger goblin came over, trembling.

“I shall need the Clankers,” he told the younger goblin.

“But sir, the instructions require —”

“I know the instructions. Madam Lestrange is going to her vault!” the old goblin barked, raising the side of his face that bore the deep wound so the younger goblin could see it. “Bring the Clankers down there, quickly!”

The young goblin glanced at the wound and nodded, then dashed away.

A moment later, he returned with a leather bag that seemed to be full of jangling metal, which he handed to his senior.

“P-please, if you will follow me, Madam Lestrange!” the old goblin said as he scrambled to his feet. “I shall take you and the two Lords Lestrange down to your vault.”

With the jangling objects in hand, he hurried to one of the many doors at the end of the hall.

Evan glanced back and saw that nearly every goblin in the hall was staring after them. Then he followed the others through the door, which closed behind them and shut out everything from the hall.

“Have we been discovered?” Hermione’s voice echoed in Evan’s ear.

“I don’t think so. That woman’s just like that. She scares them,” Evan whispered. “But it’s a good thing she’s here; if it were just Harry and me, we’d have no idea what special instructions the Lestrange vault requires.”

Undoubtedly, these so-called special instructions must have been set by Bellatrix herself; she naturally didn’t have to follow them. Or rather, the goblins didn’t think she needed to follow them. They were too afraid of her to ask for anything.

“Why are we taking her with us to the vault?” Hermione pressed.

“To avoid further trouble!” said Evan. “I’ll explain the details later. Keep up.”

They went on for a while through the dimly lit passageway until they came to a narrow section of tracks.

The old goblin whistled to summon a little cart that came trundling along the tracks toward them out of the darkness. Evan motioned Harry to get on first, then Hermione and Elaine, and finally, he guided Bellatrix aboard.

“Drive!” Evan said once they were all seated. “I know Gringotts has certain security measures — the Looping Tracks, the Thief’s Downfall and the rest — but my wife and I have no desire to be delayed by such pointless inspections on the way to our own family’s vault, nor do we wish to waste time underground or end up soaked in water. Do you understand? Go straight to the vault!”

“As you wish, Lord Lestrange,” said the old goblin, without looking back at them. “I will avoid as many of the devices as I can, but you know there are some we can’t bypass.”

“Fine. Then let’s get on with it…”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the cart moved off with a jerk, gathering speed.

Then the cart began twisting and turning through the labyrinthine passages, sloping downward all the time. After thousands of years of goblin excavation and engineering, the subterranean passages of Gringotts were bewilderingly intricate. There were countless routes to the same destination, some fast and direct, others fraught with difficulty or even dead ends. This was one of the main reasons why no one dared attempt a robbery at Gringotts.

Without the guidance of a goblin who knew that day’s precise arrangement of magical traps, few witches or wizards could hope to find the right way without triggering something. And even along the proper route, the goblins could set up a variety of magical devices as needed.

Through these wards and devices, they were able to guard against every conceivable form of intrusion.

Any intruder who so much as triggered one of the mechanisms would find endless traps and a horde of goblins lying in wait to pursue him.

Now, within the labyrinthine passages, Evan could not hear anything over the rattling of the cart on the tracks. As they hurtled deeper into the earth, he felt weightless, stalactites whizzing by, his hair standing on end in the wind. Sitting at the very back of the cart, Evan held tightly onto Hermione and Elaine, keeping them from being thrown out.

Forward, back, forward!

Clatter-clatter, clatter-clatter…

Forward, back, forward!

The cart was moving far faster than it had the last time Evan had ridden one, following Griphook to the Black family’s vault. For a moment, he even suspected that they had been discovered, and that was why the old goblin was driving at such a furious speed…