The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix Part Three

Five Blagojevics Walked Into a Bar...

"You play a very mean hand of cards, Mum."

"Do you expect to go easy on you just because you're my son?" Dora looked up over the fanned cards in her hand. Her eyes sparkled, teasing. "If you wish to win, you'll have to get better at the game."

Sirius grinned and used his hands to tighten the knot of his legs as he sat on the foot end of the bed in Dora's hospital room. On her lap, they'd balanced a tray and on the tray were piles of Bertie Bott's Cherry Flavor Beans and muggle caramels, the pot they'd built up. Sirius dropped card and drew another, slipping it into his hand and looking over what he'd done. Dora dropped two cards and took two cards. A smile spread over her face.

Sirius eyed her confidence warily, then looked back at his own cards and reached into his pocket. "Alright, I've got... half a bar of Forbidden Fudge," he tossed that onto the pile of the beans and caramels.

"Two jelly slugs sees your Forbidden Fudge and I raise you five sickles," Dora countered, tossing her coins onto the pile.

Sirius dug in his pocket again and withdrew a palm full of loose change, shaking his hand out and pushing through the coins as he mused, "Let's see here... Here we are... One... two... three - oh not a sickle..." His hand darted out to pluck up the funny coin shaped piece he'd just tossed onto the pile. "Four... five sickles and I'll see you... one - two --"

Dora's eyebrows had come together. "Where did you get that vault key?"

"Huh?" Sirius looked up.

"That vault key you've got there. You ought not to hide it among change like that, it's too easy to make a mistake like what you've just nearly done, sweet heart."

Sirius looked confused, "What do you mean?"

"Your vault key." She reached across and plucked the funny looking coin from Sirius's palm.

It was a funny, flat little coin sort of thing - some sort of metal, with blunt, jaggedy teeth 'round the outside edge and pieces cut out of it in the middle that looked like a flower. It was very, very plain other than that, and barely bigger than a sickle. The only writing on it was engraved 'round the center hole of the flower in teeny tiny little letters that were quite illegible and could not be read - nearly worn flat over time. It was clearly very, very old.

He looked at it, then up at her, confused. "Vault key? What are you on about, woman? That's not a key."

"It is!" she argued. "See here, look." She held it pinched between two fingers, "It's a cog - machinery - see the teeth here?"

Sirius blinked. Now that she'd said it, he could see it obvious as anything that it was a cog, though he'd had that thing stuck in his pocket for nearly as long as he could remember. He stared at it in disbelief.

"These letters," she said, pointing, "They're not really legible on this piece but they spell out Gringott's and likely a vault number. This piece is so old, though, it's worn off. Surely the Goblins would recognize it, however. It would only fit one vault, after all." Dora paused, then her eyes travelled up to Sirius, who was still staring at the coin. "Back in the old days, the vault mechanics were made using very old muggle technology, like a bank vault, but the goblins made each one uniquely intricate with different sorts of cogs so that each one is entirely unique. The owners of the vaults were given one piece which, without it, the vault could not be opened. So long as the owner has the cog, they can present it and the vault could be opened. These sorts of vaults are primarily used for discreet transfers, untraceable exchanges of money from one wizard to another when they don't wish to have any sort of paper trail. After all, moneys and treasures can be stored by whoever has the cog and the cog can be handed off to another and no questions are asked or records kept regarding the holder of the cog or the contents of the vault."