Homecoming from Hogwarts

Amosta's sudden silence made Bogrod, the goblin in charge of Gringotts in England, feel uneasy.

In fact, goblins are not as abiding by contracts and trust as most wizards believe. For some wizard vaults that have been confirmed to have lost heirs, goblins have been sharing the wealth in them with officials from the Ministry of Magic. This has been going on for many years until the Minister of Magic found them and said that the matter had been exposed. Only then did the situation get better.

Even those vaults that have signed an agreement with the fairies, whereby the inheritor can enjoy the right of inheritance as long as he holds the token or meets the necessary conditions, will be "cleaned regularly" by the fairies if no one has been interested in them for too long.

But Bogrod had just urgently looked through the internal documents, and found that Salazar Slytherin's own vault was safe and sound. This was not because they did not covet the treasures inside, but because there was Slytherin's own magic on the vault door, and the goblins could not open it.

"Mr. Blaine?"

Bogrod wiped the sweat from his wrinkled forehead guiltily. He had heard rumors that Amosstar Blaine had once approached Mr. Bana of Gringotts Bank's Paris headquarters and demanded that the British branch of Gringotts provide a list of the wealth in the wizard vaults that they had illegally opened and seized, as well as a list of the share of profits they had made with the Ministry of Magic officials.

"Are you going to the vault of Salazar Slytherin himself?"

"Oh, of course--"

Amosta suddenly came back to his senses. He glanced at the sweat on Bogrod's forehead and his evasive eyes, and his heart moved slightly. He smiled and nodded.

"Then, could you please lead the way for me?"

"It's my pleasure, Mr. Blaine!"

Bogrod bowed deeply, but secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The goblins were afraid of Amosta Blaine not only because he was recognized by most wizards as the most powerful wizard of the time, but also because of his good cooperative relationship with Mr. Bana.

"Let's go--"

Amosta followed Bogrod to the door and found that Amelia did not follow him. Instead, she stood beside the sofa and looked at his back with anticipation in her eyes. When she heard Amosta calling her, her reserved expression immediately became happy.

Compared to the first time I met Amelia, she is now obviously more "lively". This is probably because she has unconsciously gained support in her heart.

"The Gringotts vault is underground, right?"

Amelia raised her face and asked curiously,
"How do we get underground? Through the fireplace?"

"Oh--"

Amosta shrugged.

"I haven't been there either, but I heard that it's a tool that doesn't provide a very comfortable feel."

Then, after fetching a jingling small package, Bogrod led them into a door embedded in the side wall of the magnificent and majestic hall, and into a rough stone corridor. The burning torches hanging obliquely on the thick stone pillars on both sides provided lighting for this dark and damp space.

Amosta did not have a vault in Gringotts. This was also his first time here. Looking around with curiosity, he saw a track next to the stone platform where he was standing, leading straight into the bottomless darkness.

After Bogrod blew the whistle, a whistling sound was heard in the thick darkness, and a "mine cart" similar to the cart that entered the underground world of Knockturn Alley rolled over the track with a clatter and stopped beside them.

Bogrod was the first to jump onto the cart with an oil lamp in his hand. He curled up as much as he could to leave more space for Amosta and Amelia.

"Have you ever considered a more comfortable means of transportation?"

As they stepped onto the cart, Amosta said half jokingly, half complainingly, he reached out his hand to Amelia, whose face had begun to turn pale on the stone platform, and led her up.

"You know, Mr. Blaine—"

The old goblin smiled shyly.
"Goblins don't like to spend gold on something that has no value."

"There are short-term and long-term ways to make money. Forget it, let's go--"

Amosta shook his head, holding onto the railing with one hand and holding Amelia's arm with the other.

Then, the tattered car started suddenly and the speed was getting faster and faster.

The cold air whistled in Amosta's ears, covering up Amelia's short screams and whimpers.

The car twisted and turned in the maze-like corridors, sometimes rising, sometimes diving like a free fall. The strong centrifugal force when turning sharply among the dense stalactites was difficult to resist even for Amosstar, whose physical fitness far exceeded that of ordinary Muggles and wizards.

Another free fall that made Amelia shudder. The speed near the ground exceeded her dynamic vision limit. Her eyes were dark and she could not see anything. The suffocating feeling made her hug Amosta's arm tightly. "Oh, this won't do--"

At this moment, Amelia heard Amosta beside her speaking, and her voice also sounded uncomfortable.

Just as the car under them was about to slide down the steep slope to a flat surface, Amosta's figure suddenly became blurred and turned into a shadow in the blink of an eye, and Amelia's arms were empty. Before she could scream, she found that she had also lost her body.

The speeding car carrying the old goblin and two cotton-like shadows continued to run wildly.

"It feels much better now--" Amosita said with a long sigh.

Although the strong pressure exerted on her body disappeared, the flashing light and shadows in front of her eyes still made Amelia nervous. She was on edge and dared not make a sound. Moreover, she didn't know how to speak in this state.

They were now very deep underground in Gringotts. The slightly cold air when they first entered the tunnel suddenly became scorching hot. This was not caused by the fire dragon that Amostah had just seen raging behind them after being driven away by Bogrod with the Jingle Piece, but by the geothermal heat from the deep below surging upwards.

White smoke with a sulfur smell wafted through the winding, narrow stone passage. According to conservative estimates, they were now nearly twenty miles underground.

"The goblin's madness surprises me—"

Looking at the faint red light in the passage ahead, Amosta's solemn voice went straight into Bogrod's head.

"You actually dug out the magma?"

"This wasn't done by a goblin, Mr. Blaine!"

The goblin's physique is really confusing. Even at such a crazy speed, the old goblin Bogrod still has some strength to spare. He said in a steady voice,

"Deep underground in Diagon Alley, there is an underground cavity connected to the center of the earth. We just connected it to the ground. We are almost there, Mr. Brian. Oh, no!"

They rushed out of the narrow corridor, and an enormous underground cave appeared in front of Amosta and Amelia in a majestic manner!

They seemed to be approaching the sun, and everything they saw was red. This red light came from the bottom of the cave. The scorching heat and dazzling light emitted by the boiling magma underground made Amosta suffocate!
The car they were riding in was still sliding towards the lava at an uncontrollable speed. At its speed, it would probably crash into the lava in less than ten seconds!
call--
At this critical moment, Amosta suddenly reappeared, and with a fierce look on his face, he violently waved his wand. Bogrod, who was desperately trying to brake, felt his body suddenly lighten. A powerful force pulled him from the car speeding towards the center of the earth into the air, and then he landed on a raised platform on the steep rock wall. Just as he stood firm, a magic barrier covered his head, isolating him from the unbearable high temperature!

"what happened?"

Looking at the cart that was put directly into the lava with a plop, sparking several pillars of fire, Amosta, whose cheeks were red in the light of the fire, waited for Bogrod with sharp eyes.

"I don't think Slytherin's vault is set up in the lava, right?"

"Oh--"

The old goblin was also frightened to death, his dark green skin turned pale, he stared at the cart disappearing in the lava with fear, and said tremblingly,
"Oh of course not, Mr. Brian, I think it's normal for that vault to be open."

“Was it normal when it opened?”

Amosta asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes. But you know, a thousand years have passed, and the height of the underground magma has risen a lot. Oh, this is not a place where the goblins from Gringotts often come. We, neglected it-"

"so?"

Amosta's eyes twitched.
"Is that vault really in the lava now?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Blaine, I... I think that's the situation."

The old goblin Bogrod said with a sad face.

(End of this chapter)