Chapter 18: 28th July 1991, Sunday: Part 6

The Linwoods followed Remus up the stairs and hesitated once they saw two small figures standing on either side of the large bronze door. George along with the rest of his family hadn't noticed them at first since they were only four feet tall and stood completely still. They looked like extremely old men with pointy ears and long noses with sharp pointy teeth. Their fingers were wrinkly and long and ended with overgrown pointy nails, a firm handshake would most likely draw blood. These two guards in fancy gold and crimson uniforms were none other than goblins. The shock of seeing them was causing the family to also stand completely still like it was some sort of competition. It took a quiet whistle from Remus to make Amanda and Dominic continue walking past them and into the bank.

Once they passed the lavish threshold flanked by the two goblins, George was greeted with an interior that vastly contrasted with the warped exterior. The premium finish and design remained the same, but every other characteristic had changed to something more... sensible. The lines that dictated the room's dimensions were perfectly symmetrical right down the middle. The construction made sense and looked plausible in a more muggle setting, no magic would be needed to keep this place standing. On a personal note, George felt like he had finally found some wizarding architecture he could appreciate and admire. This place felt like a haven of order from the chaos outside. A reprieve for those who prefer things well-built and neat.

The foyer had already left a great first impression on George, it was only going to get better as the family continued into the main hall. The only thing spoiling the view was the complete disregard for cleaning as various cobwebs were covering the majority of the light fixtures. Surely magic could be used to clean them in mere moments but perhaps the goblins perceive this task as beneath them. Regardless of the goblin's poor cleaning etiquette, they kept walking at a steady pace and reached a pair of silver doors no less impressive than the bronze equivalent behind them. These doors were engraved with a little poem warning would-be thieves that death awaited them, but George knew that wasn't always true.

In just three days from now, the bank will be successfully broken into without anyone being killed or apprehended. The only reason why nothing will be robbed is because the item the thieves wished to steal had already been taken. In another few years, some teenagers with a bottle of Polyjuice potion and the Imperious Curse will break in as well. To add insult to injury, they'll use the bank's own high-security measure to escape. As much as these goblins would like to boast about their 'impenetrable' vaults, George wouldn't be worried about stealing a thing or two if he felt like it in the future. Whilst George was contemplating some light pilfering, Remus pushed the doors with their meaningless threat open and they entered the main hall.

Similar to the Leaky Cauldron, the bank's main hall had very high ceilings. However, instead of a few cheap candles randomly scattered around, there were beautiful sparkling chandeliers that illuminated the massive room. From the floor to the ceiling and the pillars in between, the entire chamber was finely decorated with expertly crafted marble. The space was relatively minimalist with only two rows of brown desks spanning across the length of the room. Each desk had its own globe light and golden scales placed in positions identical to one another. The only inconsistency was the larger desk at the far end of the room reserved for the head goblin.

The inside of the bank was all well and good, but one part of the room really called out to George. His eyes wandered past the head goblins table and landed on a large gate. He instantly knew that they would lead down into the vaults where the majority of the wealth is kept. His future visions had nothing to do with his confidence, but instead because of the pulsing transparent waves emanating from the golden bars. The mirage-like effect was far more distinct than the sign outside of Diagon Alley. The enchantment had to be leagues ahead of any anti-muggle spell. That gate had to be reinforced with magic to high heaven, next to nothing would be able to break through it.

The mirage-like effect seemed to become more clear the longer George stared at it. What was originally completely transparent was now starting to form vibrant colours similar to spilt oil. Almost instinctually, he was starting to feel a profound understanding of the radiating enchantments. A hidden mystical language was becoming clearer with every passing second. There were different coloured waves weaved through one another in a mesh that clung tightly to the bars. He could imagine each wave as an individual spell working in tandem to strengthen the gate. The different flow of each ripple suggested that multiple wizards contributed to its magnificent design.

Remus muttered from under his hand while pretending to wipe his nose, "it's best if you don't stare. Just follow my lead".

George almost lost himself in the hypnotic effect of the bewitchment before Remus brought him back to reality. The wonders of seeing the radiation magic could produce had been far too alluring and he had been caught unawares. His negligence had been noticed, it was not ideal to say the least. He had all the time in the world at Hogwarts to understand his new abilities, now wasn't the time to experiment with them. Luckily, George turned around to find that Remus wasn't looking at him. Relief washed over him once he realised that Remus had been talking to his family instead.

Whilst George had been appreciating the craftsmanship of the bank's first line of defence, his family's eyes were elsewhere. Dominic and Amanda were paying exclusive attention to the staff managing the desks, that being the finely dressed goblins who were counting gold coins and signing parchments. Ellie on the other hand was currently watching two Goblins pulling a crate full of jewels from one side of the room to the other. Her positivity seemed to have drained from her face, only to be replaced with apprehension and a twinge of fear.

After hearing Remus's suggestion, Amanda and Dominic simultaneously realise their mistake. They desperately avoided eye contact with anything that may not be considered human, both of them seemed to find the floor and ceiling suddenly more interesting. Ellie didn't appear to be able to manage the same 'discretion' as her parents. Her wide-open eyes were still glued on the nearest goblin picking up a ruby that fell off the crate. George was sensing something new from Ellie for the first time, perhaps she found the hall of goblins a little intimidating.

Remus, George and Dominic stepped forward toward the nearest bank teller, but Amanda found herself unable to follow. Ellie was glued to the spot, her expression suggested that she didn't want to get any closer to the goblins. Even though they only stood at 4 ft tall, George could somewhat understand why a child might find them scary. Remus offered for the mother and daughter to wait in the foyer, and Amanda was quick to agree before making a hasty retreat out of the hall. For a brief moment, Dominic looked like his emotional anchor had just abandoned him but, as usual, he was quick to regain his composure.

The slightly nervous men walked up to the tall desk and politely waited to be attended to. The goblin obscured behind a stack of gold coins didn't acknowledge their presence and continued to weigh a few dozen galleons as if they weren't there. This ignorant behaviour made George question if this busy goblin was even aware of them or was just blatantly ignoring them. He had a feeling it was the latter. George and Dominic remained silent behind Remus, just as they had been advised, until a pair of beady black eyes looked down at them.

With a high-pitched huff, the goblin suddenly slid the stack of coins aside and stared down at Remus. George got a good look at the goblin and could make out some distinct features, such as long white hair and a partially droopy nose. He also wore a black cravat instead of a bow tie like the rest of the tellers. Other than that, he looked identical to the rest of his kind, clearly the goblins here cared more about uniformity than diversity. This obviously irritated goblin did not speak but instead waited for Remus to initiate his request.

"We wish to open a new account", Remus said with a slight waver in his voice.

The goblin didn't respond initially and instead peered at Remus in a rather disapproving way before looking at Dominic in a slightly more positive manner. George knew that goblins had an eye for wealth, it was almost like an innate ability of the race. He could distinguish the value of the clothes both Remus and Dominic were wearing at a glance. From there, the goblin could assume whether they were wasting his time. Dominic was currently wearing his formal suit and tie with a large brown jacket over the top, his shoes were so well polished that George could see his reflection in them. Just in clothes alone, Dominic had to be wearing a few thousand pounds at least.

"In whose name shall this account be credited?", the goblin inquired in an eloquent voice.

Dominic stepped forward and answered the question, "Dominic and George Linwood".

The goblin looked over George's foster father one last time before reaching under his desk and pulling out a scroll covered in dust. He then untied a straying string with his bent fingers and unrolled the parchment before leaning over the table and handing it to Dominic.

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"Please read the document carefully and sign your name at the bottom", the goblin explained while propping itself back on its chair.

Dominic didn't read the parchment for long, "a muggle shared vault? What does that mean?"

The goblin returned to counting his coins while elaborating, "a muggle shared vault is what sir is eligible for. It differs from a normal vault in three main ways.

As the name implies, the vault is shared with other tenants which will remain anonymous. The shared vault is not accessible by its tenants and items can only be deposited or withdrawn by a member of staff.

The fee for securement and twenty-four-hour access is eighty galleons annually. The galleons will automatically be taken out of your savings until you're unable to cover the amount, which will result in you losing access to your shared vault.

After one month, you will be stripped of your assets as compensation. Do you find these terms agreeable?", the goblin recited.

"What about my son? He is not a muggle. What if the vault is in his name only?", Dominic inquired.

The goblin glanced at George before saying, "purchase of a vault is only available to wizards or witches over the age of seventeen."

Dominic looked back at Remus, "did you know about this?"

Remus shook his head, "no, I didn't. I inherited my vault from my father's side of the family. I didn't even know that shared vaults existed until today."

Dominic then looked back at the distracted goblin, "what are the current interest rates for a shared vault?"

Remus's grimacing expression seemed to suggest that was a bad question. The goblin bore its pointy teeth in clear anger at Domonic's question briefly before returning to its indifferent expression.

"You, along with all muggles, are not eligible for interest rates. That is only available for private vault owners and you sir as a muggle are not eligible for a private vault", the goblin reported in an annoyed manner as if he was stating the obvious.

Remus hadn't been exaggerating when he mentioned the goblin's disdain for muggles. The fact that Dominic even dared to suggest he might be entitled to some compensation seemed utterly repulsive to the goblin.

Dominic decided to dig himself a little deeper into this hole when he asked, "so am I right to understand that regardless of how much money I invest into your bank, I will never see any return on investment".

"You are indeed correct. May I ask again, are you happy with the terms of the agreement, or are you no longer interested in a shared vault?", the goblin questioned with a slight smirk on his smug face.

Dominic seemed to have forgotten his hesitation in talking to a different species at that moment because his expression relaxed significantly.

He smiled at the goblin and said calmly, "of course. The terms seem quite agreeable".

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