Chapter 17: When Vaults Connect
Puzzi guided Hydrus onto the vault cart.
The tunnels beneath Gringotts twisted and turned, but the carts ran smoothly—no jolts, no spins. Only the seats were a bit hard. Five stars, easily.
811… 812… 830, 831, 832, 833!
The cart flew through the tunnels, but Hydrus's eyes, imbued with magical acuity, tracked everything with perfect clarity. She memorized the Gray family vault's location.
Seconds later, the cart descended a spiral and stopped before Vault #870.
As Puzzi had said, it was directly beneath the Gray family's vault. By her estimation, about five or six meters separated the two.
"Please give me the key."
Hydrus rolled her eyes. If the goblin was opening the vault anyway, why hand her the key now? Why not open it first and hand it over? Such ridiculous ceremony.
Puzzi took the key and approached the vault door. Hydrus followed.
The vault, centuries old, still impressed with its intricate design and craftsmanship. Turning the key unlocked layer after layer of mechanisms, taking over ten seconds just to open.
Finally, the doors swung open. Puzzi gestured politely for Hydrus to enter.
Inside, the once-dark vault lit up, revealing conical magical wall lamps on all four sides.
Hydrus emptied all the Galleons from her pouch with a satisfying clatter.
"Mr. Puzzi, I'm going to count my money," she said, gesturing for the door to close. "I think I have the right to privacy—please wait outside."
"Of course, Miss Astrey," Puzzi swallowed nervously. This was a major client—he had to stay in her favor. "This is your vault; you may do as you please. There's a pull-ring inside—if you want out, just pull it lightly, and I'll open the door."
Hydrus nodded, watching the vault door slowly close.
Count money? How mundane.
6,944 Galleons plus 1,000 Galleons—7,944. Done.
But she had to count the money upstairs too.
Switching mode!
House-elf body activated!
She gauged the distance, leapt—and appeared inside Vault #833. Her head was mere inches from the ceiling.
She stuck out her tongue—this was a risky move. If she miscalculated by a few inches, she'd be stuck in stone.
Vaults stood about four meters high. Hydrus dropped in free-fall, landing lightly. The magical lamps lit automatically.
"Hmm," she frowned, surveying the vault. "Is that all?"
The Gray family vault contained piles of Galleons, scattered Sickles and Knuts, and two leather-bound books in a corner.
Not that the Galleons weren't numerous, but far below her expectation. She had estimated far more.
No matter—quantity didn't matter anymore. Take it all!
Hydrus gleefully stuffed Galleons into her pouch, hands moving so fast they left afterimages. In less than a minute, she emptied the vault.
Her pouch, only a cubic meter in volume, had more than enough space for under 10,000 Galleons. She had anticipated multiple trips—but the Gray family vault was far too weak.
Back in her own vault, she dumped the loot.
Even Sickles and Knuts weren't spared.
Now—now was the real counting time.
Half an hour later, she had an exact inventory:
16,751 Galleons
622 Sickles
1,319 Knuts
The two odd books she stored with her potions.
Humming softly, she pulled the inner vault ring.
"Clang, clang, clang…"
The locks responded, as if keeping rhythm with her song.
The door opened. Puzzi stood outside, respectful. His eyes swept the piles of coins inside—Hydrus hadn't even emptied all of them yet!
This hoard could have easily filled a top-tier vault. A truly excellent client.
"Miss Astrey, your singing is exquisite. If it were broadcast on Wizard Radio, I'd be your first listener!"
"Thank you, Puzzi," she said, taking back the key. "Let's go upstairs—the air down here is awful."
"As you wish, Miss."
Puzzi escorted her out of Gringotts, reluctantly seeing her off. Only when Hydrus entered Drofane's Dress Emporium did he sigh, turning back to work.
Drofane's was a high-end wizarding boutique, catering to a different clientele than Madam Malkin.
Upon entering, a shop assistant approached.
"Hello, miss. How may I help you?"
Hydrus asked, "Do you have clothes that can change appearance at will?"
The assistant clapped her hands. "You've come to the right place! Across all Britain, no one else has such garments—but we do!"
She led Hydrus to a corner where a plain white dress stood alone.
"This piece was designed by our owner last year," the assistant explained. "But the materials were rare, the design complex, so… the price is rather high."
"How high?"
"Let me show you first," she replied quickly, speaking at lightning speed. "This dress carries an eternal transfiguration charm. It can become anything you desire. It can resize to fit all women. Windproof, waterproof, fireproof—well, not magical fire—but it self-cleans and repairs, never wears out. Buy it, and you become a VIP at Drofane's…"
Hydrus cut her off. "How much?"
Awkwardly, the assistant said, "450 Galleons. A bit steep, but absolutely worth it—you won't regret it. Unique in our store…"
"Shut up!"
Hydrus pulled out a pouch from Puzzi—one of four, each holding 500 Galleons—and tossed it to the assistant.
"Here's 500 Galleons. Count out fifty and give me the change. I'm going to try it on."
She grabbed the white dress and stepped into the fitting room. The assistant stood, speechless, holding the heavy pouch.
If only she had said she was this wealthy earlier… Talking this much was exhausting!
Leaving the shop, Hydrus had returned to her original cute, pretty dress—but the scorched back marks were gone. Drofane's had been right; the dress was a high-quality alchemical item, extremely comfortable.
With the hem fluttering, she skipped along Diagon Alley's historic cobblestones, clearly in a fantastic mood.
She still needed a pet and Hogwarts textbooks. While she didn't want to attend classes, being completely "magic-illiterate" was awkward.
With her house-elf body, she could now cast spells—different from a wizard, but the results were the same. And thanks to Puzzi, she even had goblin physiology, granting exceptional alchemical talent.
Pet, books… what else?
Ah! Treats for Rick! Chocolate Frogs would be too intense for a Muggle, so ice cream would do nicely.