Chapter 23
Harry was stuck in a bit of a… predicament. He was in Diagon Alley, Gringotts to be more specific. The supplies list for Hogwarts had been delivered on one of his expeditions and he hadn’t been getting any results from the Compass when trying to locate the cup phylactery, so naturally he decided he could use a slight break.
But then the Compass decided to move about in his pocket. Pointing itself at the bank.
Which was how he found himself in an office in Gringotts.
“Mr. Potter, Gringotts does not allow the use of magic within its premises.”
“I know that.” Harry said. “And I didn’t use magic.”
“Then our alert system wouldn’t have sounded.”
“Maybe it’s faulty?” Harry asked.
“It is not.” The goblin answered confidently. “Active magical items also trigger the system. Perhaps you have one?”
Harry groaned before sliding his hands down his face.
“The Soul Compass.” He muttered to himself. “Right, you wouldn’t happen to have restrictions against phylacteries would you?”
“We would levy rent fines against them if they failed to inform us of the resident, but no.” The goblin replied. “Do you wish to inform us of any unknown tenants in our vaults?”
“Listen, I was really hoping to resolve this some other way.” Harry replied, standing up as he spoke. “But without those restrictions, it has to happen this way.”
Holding his hands in front of him, one higher than the other, Harry ignored the goblin’s questions as he slashed them through the air, meeting in the middle before he twisted them slightly and wrenched them apart, gripping something as he did.
In front of him, where he had ripped the air, stood a swirling vortex of near-black, purple energy into which he spoke the words “Shanta Ada Molag” causing the tear to dissipate, leaving, in its place, a Flame Atronach.
“Good luck.” Harry said, stepping into the shadows as he did.
∞༺♥༻∞=================================================∞༺♥༻∞
Flame Atronachs, it seemed, were very good at providing distractions. It may have been a touch over the top, but Harry wasn’t entirely certain that his shadow magic didn’t have an analogue from Earth, or a means to detect it, so better safe than sorry.
A wise choice, it seemed, seeing as his next step found himself very material.
“That shouldn’t have-“ Harry began before cutting off. “Evergloam. Really need to speed up the Sepulcher plans.”
Looking at the Compass, he saw it was still pointing down.
“Well, time for more conventional methods.”
One Invisibility later, Harry was sneaking through the tunnels beneath the bank, going down level by level, keeping an eye on the Compass as he did so. It was when he was about two or three levels away from the right one, by his estimates, that it happened.
Rounding the corner, he accidentally kicked a loose stone, sending it skittering away and catching the attention of one of the guards sent to look for him.
“I know you’re there, boy!”
It was at that exact moment Harry was reminded of an aspect of Invisibility. Its time limit.
Sweeping his hand up, Harry conjured a wall of ice, giving himself cover to conjure his buckler, twisting around just in time to block the blade that had broken through the ice. Dancing backward, he kicked the floor with his heel, sending off a wave of tentacles at the guard. As they subsided, he watched as the guard unrolled from a stone hump, not a sign of injury.
“Oh, this is gonna be fun.”
Running toward the guard, Harry threw a runeform behind the guard, causing tentacles to burst forward, grasping at the goblin. With the guard temporarily distracted, Harry closed the gap as he twirled his dagger into being, aiming at the sliver of exposed skin he could see between the plate armor, only to meet resistance from the stone-like skin.
“So you’re an elemental race.” Harry commented as he launched backward to avoid the guard’s halberd.
“You are no mere wizard.” The guard said, looking at Harry warily. “What are you?”
“Something you could only hope to understand.” Harry replied, summoning a tentacle that he whipped around the guard’s ankle, yanking on it to destabilize him.
“Lord Mora, an air spell, if you would?” Harry called out as he sent multiple Ice Spikes at the guard, herding him exactly where Harry wanted him.
With the guard pinned down, Harry shot the concentrated gust of air he had built up directly toward his head.
“Hm. Stone elementals.” Harry scoffed. “So dense.”
Thankfully for Harry, he managed to make his way to the right level without any other interruptions and even managed to get to the right section of the level before the next hurdle presented itself.
“A dov. The goblins have somehow trapped a dovah in their bank.” Harry whispered. “How is it even here?”