'Ah...just a moment,' said the goblin banker, stepping down from the podium, muttering to himself. He stopped in front of them, looked at them both, then bowed deeply. 'Welcome to Gringotts Wizarding Bank. ...Vault number twelve, I presume?'
Meli glanced at Professor Fig.
'...Precisely,' he said.
The banker stared at them expectantly for a moment. '...The key?' he said, holding out his hand.
'Hm?' said Professor Fig, confused.
Meli gave him a pointed look. 'The key,' she repeated, hoping the banker wouldn't sense that anything was off and that they did indeed have the slightest clue what they were doing.
'Oh!' said Professor Fig. 'Yes, of course.' He withdrew the mysterious key from his jacket and handed it to the banker, who examined it for a moment as though verifying its authenticity.
'This way, then,' said the banker, leading them over to a small platform at the side of the room.
'Stay close,' Professor Fig muttered to Meli as they followed the banker.
The goblin banker whistled down the tunnel in front of the platform, and a cart came hurtling up the tracks, coming to a halt beside the platform. He turned back to face Meli and Professor Fig.
'After you!' he said, gesturing towards the cart.
Meli and Professor Fig took their seats, though Meli didn't feel quite as secure in hers as she would've liked; it was clear they were designed for people of typical wizard- or goblin-size. The goblin banker climbed the ladder up the side of the cart to the driver's seat.
'Keep your hands inside the cart, if you don't wish to lose them!' he said with a light chuckle.
He pulled a lever, and they were off, hurtling down the tracks, winding through what seemed to be a massive cave system, passing mineral deposits and clusters of other vaults.
'How many vaults are there in Gringotts?' Meli asked.
'Hundreds,' the banker answered. 'In fact, you'll see quite a few on our way to vault number twelve. As we speak, we're just beneath the main lobby; the vaults you see now are the newest.'
'Are private entrances to the bank common at Gringotts?' asked Professor Fig.
'They are most uncommon,' said the banker. 'Only one with great wealth or power or both could have arranged for such a service.'
They rode in silence for just a moment more before the banker spoke up again.
'You'll want to take a breath!' he said.
'A what?' asked Professor Fig, but Meli saw what the banker meant; a great waterfall cascading down over the tracks.
She bowed her head and held her breath as they passed beneath the waterfall. Not fancying spending the rest of the day dripping wet, Meli was quite annoyed; to say nothing of what it would do to her hair.
'That waterfall washes away all enchantments,' explained Professor Fig as they shook water off of themselves. 'It's a security measure.'
'Experienced the Thief's Downfall before, have you?' the banker asked, laughing.
'Heard of it,' said Professor Fig.
'These are the lower vaults we're passing now,' said the banker as the cart took them deeper into the bank.
'How deep are we goin'?' Meli asked.
'Vault number twelve was commissioned shortly after Gringotts was founded over four centuries ago,' the banker told them. 'It resides in the deepest part of the bank. Settle in; we've quite a distance to go.'
They spent the next several minutes wending their way through the bank, the only sounds being the rattling of the cart and the air rushing past them. Eventually, they came to another platform where a goblin guard was standing. He held his hand out and the cart slowed and stopped in front of him.
'Vault number?' he asked gruffly.
Meli and Professor Fig glanced at each other.
'Vault twelve,' the banker answered. 'Momentous day!'
The guard grumbled. 'On your way,' he said, gesturing them onwards.
Meli frowned, looking more closely at the guard; on his upper arm was a metal armband of the same design as the collar worn by the dragon that had attacked them. She could see currents of black-and-red energy swirling about over the surface of the metal. She watched as the banker restarted the cart, while at the same time the guard entered his own cart and trundled off away from the platform. She leaned towards Professor Fig.
'Professor,' she murmured.
'Hmm?'
'The armband that guard was wearin' was glowin',' she said.
'Like the glow you saw on the Portkey container?' asked Professor Fig.
'No, darker,' she said. 'I saw that same glow on the dragon's collar.'
'What was that?' asked the goblin banker.
'We were just wondering about that goblin back there,' Professor Fig said.
'He watches over the oldest section of the bank,' the banker explained. 'Rare anyone goes there anymore.'
A moment later, the cart began to slow down, and they came to a halt at another platform, this one facing a vault.
'Here we are!' said the banker, dismounting from the cart as Meli and Professor Fig did the same.
'When was the last time this vault was accessed?' asked Professor Fig as the banker led them to the vault door.
'A goblin has been stationed at my desk for hundreds of years,' said the banker. 'In that time, no one has visited vault twelve...until today.'
He withdrew the key from his pocket and inserted it into the keyhole in the middle of the door; Meli watched as the many bolts of the vault door retracted themselves one by one, before it swung open heavily.
'Vault twelve,' said the banker, gesturing to the doorway.
'Thank you for your help,' said Professor Fig, stepping into the tiny vault.
Meli stepped inside after him. 'What d'ye suppose we should be lookin' for?' she asked.
'I'm not sure,' he said. 'Sir, I wonder if you might—'
The banker interrupted. 'The instructions for vault twelve indicate that I am to grant access to the holder of the key, and then close the door,' he said, and with a flick of his finger the door swung shut again, resealing itself instantly. 'Best of luck!' he said placidly, his voice muffled through the very thick and very solid vault door.
Professor Fig heaved a great sigh.
'Professor?' Meli said hesitantly.
'That was certainly unexpected,' he said. 'Let me think...there must be something here. Hmm...Revelio, perhaps.'
'Revelio?' Meli repeated.
'Yes,' said Professor Fig. 'A revealing charm. No time like the present—let's see what we're missing, shall we? Ready your wand and focus.'
'Me?' Meli asked, taken aback.
'Yes, I think so,' said Professor Fig, smiling. 'Now, just like this....'
He showed her the wand movement and she followed along, practising a few times before she felt she had gotten it down.
'Revelio,' she said, waving her wand.
What looked to be a wall of magic expanded outwards around her, and as soon as it met the opposite wall, she saw a golden shimmer on the air, as though concealing something invisible.
'There!' she said sharply, pointing. 'I saw somethin'!'
'Move a bit closer and try again,' said Professor Fig.
Meli approached the wall and repeated her spell; an intricately decorated set of metal double-doors seemed to appear out of thin air, bearing the same symbol she had seen on the Portkey container, the vault key, and the wall outside the entrance to Gringotts.
'A door,' she said.
'Well, that's a start,' said Professor Fig. 'There's that symbol again; I don't suppose you see a way to—?'
'I do, Professor!' Meli said. 'The same glow as I saw on the Portkey container and the wall in the ruins.'
'If what you can see reveals the way forward, then I daresay we are about to discover the secret of this vault!' Professor Fig said. 'Lead the way.'
Meli reached out to touch the symbol, and just as before, it vanished, along with the door, the wall, and seemingly the entire room as they were plunged into darkness.
'Lumos!' said Professor Fig, his wand flooding the room with light.
They now seemed to be in a completely different room, much larger than they could see, with nothing but stone support pillars surrounding them.
'This is no ordinary vault,' said Professor Fig. 'I suspect we will need to earn our way out of here.'
Meli frowned, puzzled. 'What d'ye mean, "earn" our way outta here?' she asked. 'D'ye think this is some sort o' test?'
'I do,' said Professor Fig. 'But to what end, I can't say. Stay close; there shall be no Disapparating if things go poorly—not out of Gringotts.'
'Assumin' we're even in Gringotts anymore...' Meli muttered as she followed Professor Fig through the darkness, looking this way and that through the endless rows of pillars.
They hadn't been wandering for very long before Meli saw something in the distance; a bright, silver-white glow just as before, emanating from the floor in tendrils of vapour, bubbling up from the floor like an underwater fissure.
'I see somethin' up ahead!' Meli said.
'What is it?' Professor Fig asked, continuing in the direction Meli was looking.
'That glow again,' she answered. 'But on the floor.'
They approached the glow, and as soon as Meli was right on top of it, she knew, somehow, what to do; she aimed her wand at the glow's focus, then brought it upward towards the ceiling as though releasing the magic within it. She was slightly unprepared for what happened next, though; the force of it knocked Professor Fig off balance and seemed to have cost her as well—she felt her energy take a sharp dip and she dropped to her knees in order to avoid collapsing altogether. The floor seemed to have transformed into the same enchanted, crystallised stone that they had seen before.
'What happened?' asked Professor Fig.
'When I moved towards the glow, it suddenly seemed as if the ground was swirlin' about,' Meli explained.
'Are you alright?' he asked, looking down at her.
'Yes, sir,' she replied. 'I'm fine.'
'You seem to have caused the floor to change,' said Professor Fig, looking around at their feet. Beneath the surface of the stone was a statue of a knight, kneeling before his sword. The statue was upside down, as though it were a reflection of something unseen.
'That statue...' Meli said, pointing towards it with her wand, thinking.
'What statue?' asked Professor Fig.
Somehow, she was no longer surprised by Professor Fig being unable to see everything she could. 'I see some sort o' statue,' she explained, getting back to her feet, 'but only as a reflection in the floor.'
She stepped towards the reflection, reaching out into the space above it. Though it appeared unoccupied, her hand met something quite solid.
'Revelio,' Meli said with another wave of her wand, and just as the door had appeared, the reflection's origin revealed itself.
'I presume this is what you saw reflected in the floor,' said Professor Fig.
'Yes,' said Meli. 'But the positions don't match....'
Professor Fig walked around the statue, examining it. As he did so, the reflection slowly revolved to continue facing him.
'Wait!' Meli said sharply. 'It's followin' ye! I think it's yer wand, the light!'
'Hmm,' said Professor Fig. 'Perhaps you should cast Lumos.'
He extinguished his wand and Meli lit hers, and instantly the reflection turned away from Professor Fig to face Meli.
'Now it's turnin' towards me,' Meli said. 'It does follow the light.'
Hmm.... Acting on a hunch, she walked around to face the statue, bringing the reflection to match it.
As soon as the points of the swords lined up, a thin beam of light emanated outwards across the floor, away from the statue and straight towards Meli. Slowly, the statue stood up, then lifted its sword ever so slightly, tapping it on the ground with an echoing ring. Magic flowed outwards from the knight's sword, lighting braziers on each of the pillars around them, surrounding them with a howling wind, as though they were in the eye of a storm. One by one, more knight statues fell from the sky to meet them, until they were surrounded by half a dozen more. Suddenly, the original statue swung its sword up over its head, aiming straight at Meli.
'Look out!' shouted Professor Fig.
Meli had barely cast her Shield Charm before the knight's sword ricocheted off of it. The knight statues were now closing in on her and Professor Fig.
'Accio!' he called, and the statue in front of him was pulled towards him through the air as though by an invisible fishing reel. 'Descendo!' he shouted, jerking his wand down towards the ground, and the statue was slammed into the floor, where it and one of its fellows next to it crumbled. He levitated another statue before sending it careening backwards into one of the pillars, where both the statue and a substantial amount of the pillar crumbled as well. Two more statues came crashing down to the ground to replace their fallen brethren.
Another statue swung its sword at Meli, and she blocked it again. 'Stupefy!' she shouted as it staggered backwards, the only attack spell Professor Fig had taught her thus far besides the basic cast. The statue fell to its knees. It appeared to be catching its breath, except for the fact that it had no lungs. If it had been human, it should've collapsed, unconscious and unmoving; she supposed the magic of these things meant that the normal rules of combat didn't apply. Still, she took advantage of its moment of incapacitation to hit it with a few basic casts, the final and most powerful one reducing it to rubble.
Professor Fig aimed an Exploding Charm at one, then another Banishing Charm at another. Meli shot another Stunner at the one nearest her, finishing it off with another handful of basic casts. Before long, she noticed that the statues seemed to be taking it in turns to attack. This puzzled her; surely if she and Professor Fig weren't supposed to be there, these guardians or whatever they were would be trying to dispatch them as quickly as possible?
After what seemed like ages, the last statue crumbled under Meli and Professor Fig's combined spellwork. They looked around, prepared to fight if another wave was coming.
'Stay close!' Professor Fig shouted over the wind that continued to howl around them.
And then, quite suddenly, the air went still, the braziers went out, and the crystallised stone disappeared.
'Lumos,' Meli said, raising her wand. She turned to ask Professor Fig what he thought, but he was nowhere to be found. '...Professor?' She looked around, half confused, half worried. 'Professor Fig! Professor, where are you?'
Her words were met with silence.
This isn't good, she thought. Where am I supposed to go?
Almost as though the room knew what she was thinking, the floor began to produce tiny wisps of light at her feet, wisps that floated away as they came, all of them leading in the same direction. Cautiously, she followed the wisps in the direction they seemed to be leading her, though to what end she didn't know. Before long, another glow appeared in the distance, identical to the one she had seen before discovering the statue.
Aha, she thought, approaching the glow. She invoked the magic within it once again, but this time she was prepared for the effect; she kept her balance, and looking around she saw that not only one, but three reflected statues had appeared.
'Revelio,' she said with another wave of her wand, and just as before the stone statues above the surface revealed themselves. 'Lumos.'
The statue directly in front of her stood slowly to its feet, tapping the ground with its sword just as the original statue had done. She braced herself, preparing for it to attack, but it simply stood there. She looked around at the other two statues; they were still kneeling, immobile and inactive. Frowning, she walked backwards away from the first statue she had awoken, letting the other reflections follow her wandlight until they had also lined themselves up with their other halves. As they stood, she saw that all three thin beams of light now intersected with each other at her feet. As soon as the last knight had tapped its sword on the ground, the wind began to howl again, the braziers on the pillars sprang to life, and the next battle had begun.
Suppose I'm on my own this time, she thought, raising her wand.
One of the knights raised its sword and launched itself at her as she cast a Shield Charm. She repeated the same tactic she had employed in the previous fight, of Stunning it and then bombarding it with basic casts until it crumbled. Just as before, when one statue fell, another came down to replace it, but also as before, they seemed to only be attacking her one at a time. It was like they were giving her a chance to fight—as if they somehow wanted her to win. She recalled what Professor Fig had said, about suspecting that this was some sort of test; if he was correct, then what exactly lay at the end of it?
After what seemed like ages, the last statue crumbled, the wind stopped howling, and the light faded just as before. Meli re-lit her wand as the wisps reappeared, leading her onwards. She followed them, and in the distance she saw a great stone statue, seemingly lit by its own self, that resembled the silver-flame symbol she had seen throughout this journey. As she approached the statue, another swirling silver glow appeared on the floor in front of it. She invoked the magic just as before, and the statue seemed to melt into the ground, an elaborate metal archway springing up in its place. Though there was nothing behind the archway besides endless rows of stone pillars, a glowing blue portal within it seemed to lead to another room altogether.
Feeling closer to discovering the secret of vault number twelve than ever before, she stepped through the portal, and found herself in one of the most gorgeously decorated chambers she had ever seen. It was supported by twisting stone-and-metal pillars, lit by metal braziers full of dancing silver flame. There were several high alcoves resting within its walls, walls made of a magnificent blue, gold-threaded marble. At the centre of the room was an expansive platform bordered and plated with metal, and though the ground was quite solid, it swirled slowly beneath her feet, like a massive blue, gold, and silver potion. In the middle of this platform, twisting up from the ground was a basin of sorts, filled with a silvery-white substance that seemed to be neither liquid nor gas, swirling and tumbling slowly about, like a cloud in the sky. Having seen one of these used by her mother countless times, Meli recognised it at once; this basin was clearly a Pensieve. There was something floating above it; taking a closer look, Meli saw that it was a small crystal bottle intricately inlaid with silver. It almost looked like it was supposed to hang on a chain, given the ring at the top, only it seemed a bit large to be a necklace.
Her attention was drawn away by the squeak of a door opening, and she turned to see the double-doors that had led them out of the vault in the first place swinging slowly open, revealing the vault itself with Professor Fig back inside it, looking around in mild confusion. He looked through the opening doors, his gaze falling upon Meli.
'There you are!' he said, walking towards her. It appeared that only a few moments had passed for Professor Fig; Meli figured that he would've been considerably more concerned, and sounded far more relieved, if he had been waiting back in the vault for all the time it took for her to find this room. 'How did you—what is this place?' he asked, looking around at the room surrounding them.
'I don't know,' Meli said. 'But I found this, floatin' above that Pensieve there.'
Professor Fig looked at the Pensieve, his face shifting into an expression of intrigue. He looked at the bottle in her hand. 'I wonder...'
She handed the bottle to Professor Fig. He held it over the Pensieve as he carefully removed the stopper, then tipped it over; more of that silvery-white substance, what Meli recognised as a memory, poured out of the bottle in a thin stream, falling into the Pensieve. Professor Fig slipped the bottle into his pocket, walking right up to the edge of the Pensieve.
'Follow my lead,' he said, and he held the rim of the Pensieve, slowly bending over it to submerge his face in the swirling substance within. Meli followed suit.
Having only seen her mother use a Pensieve and never having done so herself, Meli was not prepared for the sensation that followed; her stomach lurched as she was thrown head-over-heels forwards into the Pensieve, but instead of hitting her head against the stone bottom as instinct told her she would, she felt herself falling through the air, unable to see anything but the swirling, shapeless mass of grey before her eyes. As quickly as it had begun, however, it stopped, and looking around, she saw herself and Professor Fig standing in the very room they had just vacated.
Two men, one tall and thin with a long grey beard, the other shorter and stouter with a round, shadowed face and large brown eyes, seemed to be creating the room out of thin air. They both wore clothing of an exceptionally old design; Meli couldn't tell the exact era, but this memory was clearly from centuries ago.
'All is in place,' said the shorter man, stashing his wand away.
'The Portkey is well hidden?' asked the taller one.
'Perhaps too well,' the first man said. 'I wonder if the path we've created—'
'—may be impossible to follow?' his fellow finished for him. 'It will only be impossible for one who cannot see traces of ancient magic, as I can.'
'Your ability to see what others cannot will not be enough, Percival,' the man said imploringly. 'We are entrusting the one who embarks on this path with powerful secrets—with knowledge others will do anything to obtain.'
'Yes,' the man called Percival said. 'And if we are correct, Charles, the witch or wizard who completes the trials will have proved themselves worthy of that knowledge and the responsibility that accompanies it.'
The man called Charles looked around at the room they had just created. 'We've done all that we can,' he said.
Percival lifted his wand and placed the tip against his temple; as he pulled it away, a strand of the silvery-white substance that filled the Pensieve came with it, and the memory Meli and Professor Fig were watching quickly began to fade, until Meli felt herself being tipped over backwards, back out of the Pensieve, to land firmly on her feet back in the present day, facing Professor Fig.
'That's what you're seeing?' he asked. 'The glow that surrounded them?'
'Yes, sir,' she said.
'...Astonishing,' said Professor Fig, thinking hard.
'Sir—' she said. 'Sir, can I see—magic?'
'Traces,' he specified. 'Of an ancient magic, to be precise. The magic that Miriam had always believed existed, but could never...' He turned to face her once again. 'Miriam—and perhaps George—died in pursuit of knowledge that has been dormant for centuries. And you, it seems, are the key to understanding why. We wou—'
He was abruptly cut off by the muffled sound of some sort of commotion outside the door to the chamber.
'It all looks rather different than it did a moment ago!' came the voice and nervous chuckle of the banker who had helped them earlier.
'Someone's coming,' Professor Fig whispered, eyeing the door warily.
'Who were they?' asked a gruff voice.
'I-I don't know,' the banker answered. 'But sir—you shouldn't be in here—'
The doors swung open. 'I was right,' the intruder declared.
Standing there was the goblin Meli had seen in the newspaper, wearing heavy metal armour on his arms and shoulders. Following him were the goblin banker, looking distinctly terrified, the guard that had stopped them, obviously the one who had tipped Ranrok off, and a fourth goblin that Meli took to be one of Ranrok's lieutenants.
'Ranrok,' Professor Fig said, glaring as he stepped away from the Pensieve and towards Ranrok, Meli sticking close.
'Seems my reputation precedes me,' Ranrok said. 'I was beginning to think no one was ever gonna visit Rackham's vault.'
'And why are you here?' Professor Fig asked contemptuously as he drew his wand, Meli following suit.
Ranrok held up a hand. 'No need for that,' he said, sounding almost bored. 'Just give me whatever it is you found here, and we can let bygones be bygones.'
Professor Fig only glared.
The goblin banker cleared his throat, laying a timid hand on Ranrok's shoulder. 'Sir,' he said delicately, 'they had the key to the vault.'
Ranrok gave the banker a sidelong glance. 'Choose your next words wisely,' he said dangerously.
'I—I only meant that the instructions for vault twelve were quite clear!' the banker said tremulously. '...Sir, I-I must insist. I was to grant access only to one with the key, and you didn't have—'
Ranrok's armour suddenly flared with the same red-and-black energy Meli had seen on the dragon's collar, and as he flung his arm upwards, the banker rose into the air. He brought his arm down, and the banker slammed back down to the floor with a sickening crunch. He did not move again.
'I have no patience for traitors,' Ranrok said disdainfully. 'Now...where were we?'
'I'm not giving you anything!' Professor Fig said fiercely.
'Hm, well,' said Ranrok, 'perhaps your young friend here will be more helpful.'
Meli narrowed her eyes, bracing herself to fight if necessary, but Professor Fig was first to the punch; he aimed a spell at Ranrok, a Stunner by the look of it, but Ranrok blocked it with nothing but his own armoured hand. Gathering power in his other, he cast it outwards, straight at Meli and Professor Fig.
She was thrown off her feet and sent flying through the air, landing hard on the stone floor below. Looking around to reorient herself, she saw that Ranrok had blasted them all the way across the room. She also saw that the Pensieve's platform was no longer smooth and still, but pitching and rolling like the liquid it so resembled, as though it had finally been disturbed somehow.
The room suddenly darkened, and the Pensieve melted below the waves, something larger, much larger rising up in its place. As it rose, Meli realised that it was another knight statue, but different from the ones she had defeated; this one was made of metal instead of stone, and much more elaborately decorated. It was taller than her, taller even than her mother—it had to be twenty feet tall at the very least, its body below the decoration pulsing with the same bright, silver-white glow she had seen of the ancient magic. It raised its massive sword and brought it down inches from where Ranrok stood, and Meli understood instantly—this place had never seen her or Professor Fig as a real threat. If it had truly wanted to defend itself, it would have, as it was doing now against Ranrok—someone who objectively, indisputably, did not belong there.
Ranrok and his companions retaliated instantly, sending more blasts of the same bright red magic he had attacked her and Professor Fig with towards the giant knight. Meli stood up and helped Professor Fig to his feet as the knight staggered backwards against the combined weight of the goblins' attacks. She looked around, and her attention was caught by the archway she had entered the room through in the first place; it had reactivated, but instead of leading back into the outer chamber, it appeared to lead into a forest somewhere.
'I know a way out!' she said, turning around just in time to see the knight swing his sword again, Professor Fig ducking only just in time to keep his head. 'Professor!'
The sword's momentum carried it into one of the pillars, splitting it clean in two, where it began to fall straight towards Meli and Professor Fig. Meli reached out for him as he ran to meet her, and as soon as he was within reach, she seized his arm, pressing her other hand against the portal. Though her hand met solid stone behind it, though she had her eyes shut tight out of instinct, she knew that they had left the vault; the sounds of the battle had gone, the air had changed, and, most importantly, no pillar had come falling down to crush them. She and Professor Fig opened their eyes, looking around cautiously.
They were indeed in a forest, bathed in moonlight; she once again had no idea where they had wound up, but right now, it was enough just to be away from Ranrok.
Professor Fig heaved a relieved sigh. 'Are you alright?' he asked.
'Fine, sir,' Meli said.
'I've never seen so powerful a goblin!' said Professor Fig. 'He seemed wholly unaffected by my magic!'
Meli was still looking around the forest. '...Where are we?' she asked.
Professor Fig gave the area a proper look this time, his face splitting into a grin. 'It can't be!' he said, walking forward towards the lamppost a little ways ahead of them. There were two signs pointing in either direction on the sides of the post. It looked like they were pointing towards villages, but they were too weather-worn for Meli to make out any writing.
'It seems those who set up the Pensieve, the locket, and the path to both, wanted someone with your ability...to end up here,' said Professor Fig, thinking.
As Meli was still wondering just where 'here' was, however, Professor Fig spoke up again. 'Come,' he said, leading her into the woods. 'We've a Sorting Ceremony to get to.'