Freak

Chapter 5

Hagrid led Freak through the dusty bar, and people stopped to stare.

"Good lord, it's Harry Potter!"

"Mr. Potter!"

"So nice to ha-"

Freak looked up with loathing eyes.

He looked into the faces of the crowd...

Confused, the people in the bar parted like the red sea before this little boy, their savior, who had uttered naught a sound, drifted almost ghost like behind Hagrid towards the brick wall in the back of the building.

Hagrid took out his umbrella, tapped some bricks, and the wall opened.

Inside there were people and shops and vendors and smells and life.

Freak breathed it all in and felt... a little lighter. They made their way to the huge white building, people stopping occasionally to stare at Freak in incredulity.

"Gringotts bank, Harry. It's the safest place in the world... 'cept Hogwarts of course."

And it certainly looked safe, with all these freaky little creatures tending to it.

"Hello, er... Potter vault?"

The goblin looked over his glasses at Hagrid, before settling on the small boy beside him.

"...Key?"

"Errr... one second.." Hagrid started pulling trinkets out of his coat, before eventually finding a golden key, and handing it to the goblin.

"'Ere ya go." The goblin took the key, examined it, and hopped down to where they were.

"I am Griphook, follow me." He led them through twisting halls for what seemed like miles before coming to a stop in front of what looked like a rusty cart.
"Just get in here and we'll be on our way."
Freak climbed into the cart, and it barely rattled under the slightness of his malnourished body.

Then Griphook and Hagrid got in, and the cart was off.

Twists and turns and drops and hills led them deeper and deeper into the depths of the bank.

-0-

It has taken them about 10 minutes to get all the way to the Potter vault, and when they got there, Freak was actually feeling something... was it happiness? He did not know what happiness felt like, but using the cart had caused some sort of feeling to well up in his chest. He liked it.

Griphook unlocked the vault and allowed Freak to step inside, where he was immediately assaulted with the bright shine of gold and treasures upon his face. The torch light reflected off the mounds of precious metal, making the walls dance in yellow.

Freak immediately scooped up as much as he could into his pockets, and soon they were bulging with money.

"Oh, err... Here." Hagrid handed him a tiny bag, what did he want Freak to have this for?

"You can put yer gold in there, Harry." Freak peered down at the little bag. How could it fit in there?

Cautiously, Freak put a coin inside the bag, after waiting a few seconds, he dropped another one in. It took a few seconds but he eventually heard the clink of metal against metal. Experimentally, Freak stuck his arm in, where it seemed to disappear, and after groping around for a few seconds, he felt the warm gold against his fingertips.

This would be useful.

Freak emptied his pockets into the bag, along with another small pile near the entrance of the vault. When he was satisfied with the amount of money he had, he snapped the bag shut and strung it around his neck for safekeeping.

"Time to go."

Hagrid reluctantly stepped back onto the cart while Freak just walked back onto it.

-0-

"Where to next, Harry?"