When We Were Young

C H A P T E R T W E N T Y - T W O

August 10th, 1944

"Good afternoon," Tom and Harry chimed, bowing to one of the goblins in front of them.

The goblin grunted, bowing back. "What can I help you with today?"

"I need to make a withdrawal from the Peverell vault, preferably, the vault meant for Ignotus' line," Harry said, giving his signature, sugar-sweet smile.

"Proof of identification?"

Harry handed his blood test over to the goblin, also showing the goblin his Peverell heir ring.

The goblin nodded at Harry. "Will you only be withdrawing money, Heir Peverell, or will you also be placing something inside the vault?"

"I'll be dropping off a shrunken piano into the vault," Harry answered, plucking the piano Tom bought him out of his pocket.

Considering that Tom and Harry were underage and had the trace, Tom had hired a Runes Master to carve in shrinking runes on the legs of the piano. In order to active them, they needed to tap their wands to the piano and do the same to undo the shrinking to have the piano at it's original size. Tom saw this as a necessary feature. How else would they be able to transport a huge grand piano?

"Alright, then. If you would follow me, Heir Peverell. I'll have another goblin attend to your friend, here."

Harry nodded and started to follow the goblin to one of the Gringotts transportation carts, folding and tucking his blood test back into his robe pocket (which was very large). Harry started to smile when he got inside the cart, grabbing onto the sides and waiting to be rocketed down into the deep vaults and mines of Gringotts. He started laughing when the cart speed along it's tracks, the skin on his face stretching back. Harry always enjoyed his rides in Gringotts, and he was glad that the experience was nothing like travelling on the Night Bus, which was a complete nightmare.

The ride was pretty lengthy, considering that the Peverell line was very, very old, but Harry wasn't complaining.

As the goblin opened his vault, Harry decided to strike up a conversation.

"What's your name?" Harry asked, smiling politely.

"Sharpnail," the goblin answered, stepping aside once the Peverell vault was unlocked and opened. "Is it true that you opened the vaults with the Deathly Hallows insignia, Heir Peverell?"

Harry nodded and stepped into his vault, not even surprised that Sharpnail knew that the symbol was. Many people thought that it was the sign of Grindlewald when it was actually the Peverell coat of arms, which technically made Grindlewald a line thief. But, considering who Grindlewald was, Harry was not stupid enough to try to charge Grindlewald for claiming the Peverell insignia.

Once Harry dropped off his piano and gathered a good amount of money, he started examining the various amounts of jewelry in his vault. Harry had never considered wearing any jewelry other than the locket Tom gave him and his heir ring, but his gaze kept going back to this one, random circlet.

It was simple, having a silver band and an obsidian stone in the middle, but there was something calling Harry to it, like a siren singing to a sailor.

When Harry reached out to touch it, a wave of warmth went through him. Picking up the circlet, Harry realized that the circlet had major protection charms laced into it. Harry's heir ring protected him from minor potions and spells, but this circlet was on a whole other level! In fact, Harry hypothesized that if he were to be shot, the bullet would only leave a scratch on him. That's how strong the protection charms were on the circlet. Harry wondered why he hadn't noticed the circlet before.