Chapter 533: Vault
Chapter 533: Vault
In the pitch-black tunnel, a Cart sped along the tracks, the sharp screams from the Goblin at the helm drowning out the clacking of the wheels and the wind in everyone's ears. The Goblin was incessantly boasting about the security of Gringotts.
"Don't think that just because you've made it this far, it's easy to get in here. You only made it because you have Identification. Otherwise, there's no way you'd be able to enter the heavily guarded Underground Entrance. The surrounding area is filled with Protective Spells and Detection Spells. It's impossible to bypass them any other way."
Despite the Goblin's constant chatter, Liam had already decided he would never store anything truly valuable here. Goblins were simply too untrustworthy. In the final book of the novel, when Harry met Griphook, a Gringotts employee, and dangled the Sword of Gryffindor, he easily obtained all the information about Gringotts. This information should have been kept strictly confidential by financial professionals.
Liam even suspected that the Philosopher's Stone could remain undisturbed in Gringotts for so long only because of Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel's reputation and power. Otherwise, with the Goblins' greed and lack of integrity, Liam believed they might have found a scapegoat, a Goblin to blame, and declared that a Gringotts employee had fled with the Philosopher's Stone.
Sirius Black, who had been enduring the Goblin's incessant chatter, finally snapped. He turned to the Goblin at the front and said, "Absolutely secure, you say? Then how do you explain the time a few years ago when the most secure underground Vault was breached?"
"Well, that—", the Goblin driving the Cart hesitated. "At least nothing was stolen, right?"
With that, the Goblin finally shut his mouth, and the air around them became much quieter. Liam took the opportunity to look around, noticing that the Cart was descending deeper underground. They made sharp turns through stalactites, reaching an unexpected depth.
Since Liam and his group had entered through official channels, their journey was different from the one Harry and his friends experienced in the novel. For example, they didn't encounter the Thief-Repelling Waterfall. It made sense; anyone important enough to enter the underground Vaults wouldn't be doused with water every time they came in.
Finally, after about ten minutes, the Cart, which had been as bumpy as a roller coaster, slowed down and came to a stop on a small stone platform. The Goblin's sharp voice rang out again, "All right, gentlemen, our Cart can only take you this far. From here on, you'll have to walk."
"Probably around 3000 meters underground", Liam calculated, considering the speed and time of their journey. What surprised him was that, theoretically, the temperature at this depth should have been over 50 degrees Celsius. However, it felt much cooler, maybe not even 20 degrees, with a damp chill in the air.
But as they walked down the corridor, the temperature began to rise. After turning a slight corner, Liam saw the cause of the heat: a Fire Dragon.
The Fire Dragon was enormous, at least a size larger than the one he faced during the Triwizard Tournament. This indicated that the Dragon was very powerful, as Fire Dragons grow larger and more resistant to spells with age. As they grow, their aggression and combat abilities also increase steadily.
But the dragon before them didn’t look well. Due to its prolonged Detention underground, its Scales had turned pale and loose, its eyes were murky pink, and its hind legs were shackled with heavy Shackles, the thick chains attached to massive stakes driven deep into the stone floor. Upon hearing the footsteps in the corridor, it turned its ugly head toward Liam and the others, letting out a roar that shook the very stones and opening its mouth to unleash a jet of searing flames.
However, Dumbledore, standing at the front, merely flicked his Elder Wand, and a translucent sky-blue Barrier appeared before them, shielding them from the inferno.
"You truly are the greatest White Wizard of our time—" the leading Goblin said with a hint of flattery, trying to cover up his earlier mistake of not warning them in time. However, Sirius Black snorted, and the Goblin quickly changed the subject. "Its eyesight is failing, making it even more vicious. But we have a way to control it. It has developed a conditioned response to Clankers."
With that, he pulled out some small metal devices from his small leather bag and handed one to each of them. "Shake these together, and once it hears the sound, it will think of pain and retreat. Then we can open the Vault doors."
It was then that Liam noticed the Fire Dragon was on a small platform, surrounded by several intricately decorated doors at various heights.
Suddenly, Dumbledore took control of the Goblin in front of them and waved his wand, causing the flame-spewing Dragon to collapse.
"We can only proceed peacefully from here", Dumbledore explained. "Before coming down, each Goblin is only granted access to the specific Vault requested by the client, a security measure to prevent theft at Gringotts. So, for the Lestrange Family Vault, Liam, you’ll need to take action. Don’t worry about the Fire Dragon or the Goblin; they’re just unconscious. I’ll implant prepared memories in them later."
Honestly, neither the Goblin nor the Fire Dragon was weak. Especially the Goblins with access to this area, whose combat abilities rivaled those of elite Aurors. They were so quickly overpowered purely because they didn’t expect a top-tier, fully-equipped Mage like Dumbledore to launch a surprise attack from behind. They had done their best, but the situation was beyond their control.
"Let me take a look", Liam said, following Sirius Black to the target Vault door and beginning to inspect it.
"Truly a clever setup", Liam muttered to himself. During his inspection, he discovered that the Goblins had prepared an extremely intricate power system in the underground Vault, using a geothermal transformation Magic Array to provide the entire Vault’s defense system with an inexhaustible supply of magic power. This explained why the temperature in the underground Vault wasn’t as high as he had initially expected.
The Vault door and the surrounding walls were laden with numerous defensive and alerting Magic spells. However, Liam was surprised to find that the Black Family’s Vault was right next to the target Vault.
"Could we have the Goblin open the Black Family’s Vault door first?" Liam asked.
"That’s simple", Dumbledore nodded, restoring the Fire Dragon and the Goblin to their original state. As expected, the Goblin showed no suspicion. After the Goblin opened the Black Family Vault, Dumbledore once again rendered the Goblin and Dragon unconscious and stepped into the Vault.
As soon as he entered, he heard Liam say cheerfully, "Ah, I knew it would be like this. Soon we’ll be able to enter Bellatrix’s Vault, where she keeps the Dark Lord’s treasures."
(End of Chapter)
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