Chương 5: Diagon Alley
Stuttering forward ever so slightly, as if hypnotized, Ted passed through the now-open brick wall; the magical threshold between the Leaky Cauldron and the unfamiliar street revealed a whole new world in front of him.
Diagon Alley in the early morning hours was already swarming with people. Countless figures moved along the street, adorned in robes of various colors, from dark to light, engaged in lively conversations and transitioning seamlessly from one shop to the next.
However, none of this registered with Ted; his brain seemed to shut down, refusing to process the scene unfolding before him. Mouth agape and eyes wider than ever, he walked forward slowly, seamlessly blending into the enchanting and chaotic crowd.
It took Ted several minutes to finally clear his mind. By now, he was already halfway down the cobblestone path. When, in his mind, something suddenly cracked, it was like some imaginary wall that kept his sanity suddenly opened, allowing in the foreign, new information.
He found himself unraveling the events that led him to this magical alley. Memories flickered in his mind, each one shaping his perception of the extraordinary world he had entered.
The journey transformed into a contemplative exploration of his life's twists and turns, influencing how he perceived not only the unfamiliar surroundings but also the way he viewed his own experiences.
All this while his eyes kept scanning the ancient buildings and particular shops along the long and narrow street, adding new information to Ted's already hectic mind.
Strings were being woven in his head, connecting things that he never thought related before.
Memories surfaced from a school trip to the Battle of Hastings, where they visited an ancient abbey. Standing next to a window in the farthest corner, he recalled seeing a silvery figure with a humanoid shape, floating in the air and muttering words in an unknown language.
The figure, a male dressed as a warrior, attired in chain-mail armor and a kite-shaped shield that was covered in darker shades of silver, like stains that would never wash away. Of course, Ted at the time just thought he was tired from the long bus ride. The existence of ghosts seemed far too surreal...
He recalled one time when he got angry at the science teacher at school. The teacher had blackmailed him, threatening to inform his father about sneaking into the library in the middle of the night unless he recommended one of the teacher's inventions to his father—something he had already refused to do a week before.
At that time, the cage containing a couple of snakes suddenly blew up out of nowhere, setting the snakes free in the office, while one of them was thrown in the teacher's face.
Pictures from old books in his mother's library, things he remembered her doing that never made sense to him, things he saw at the little time that he spent out of the house, even the things he saw and heard over the last day at the Leaky Cauldron and finally, that fateful night, the night his mother died.
All those things became one piece, a piece of the great puzzle that was his life, a piece that was always supposed to be there, but something kept away...
<=================>
Ted wasn't sure how much time had passed, but by the time he had come back to his senses, the sun was already high up in the sky, indicating it was already around noon.
Now with a calm mind, Ted turned back, giving a contemplating look to the crowded alley that he had just gone through, this time looking closely at the finer details that revealed the uniqueness of the ancient street.
With the buildings leaning into one another and the slightly uneven cobblestone path that was walked by many, both being hundreds of years older than the streets surrounding them. The colorful shops may have looked only slightly more vibrant at first sight. But upon closer look, he could see the magical versions of items he knew.
Clothes and robes that change color and size on demand, neat-looking broomsticks that seemed to be especially made to be ridden on, a cloak that floated a few centimeters over the ground, quills made of the feathers of various magical creatures that caused a layer of ice or sand to conjure on the paper simply by writing, and many more weird magical things.
The scene was still shocking for Ted, but at least now he kept a straight face; the wall that seemed to block his emotions from showing unintentionally seemed to have been risen once more, allowing him to reasonably analyze the situation even in his slightly disoriented state.
'I need to find Gringotts,' Ted decided finally upon remembering one of the books he had once read. The wizarding world didn't accept pounds or muggle money, as they called it.
The wizarding money system was more similar to medieval times, with bronze, silver, and gold being the main currency; only they were named Knuts, Sickles, and Galleons instead.
Ted, being the son of a businessman and learning the fundamentals since he was 4, knew just how important money is, no matter where one was.
Looking around, he almost immediately located the huge snow-white marble building; the awe-imposing multi-storied bank was over twice as tall as any of the ones near it, creating a certain sense of apprehension that was probably meant to keep thieves away.
As Ted approached the towering entrance of Gringotts, a great feeling of respect awakened in him, as well as a small smile; he will never admit it, but even with all the trouble that came with it, he still loved being rich.
He loved being able to get almost everything he could think of. He knew better than anyone just how hopeless one can be when the thing one wanted most was nothing short of impossible to obtain...
Looking at the gigantic bronze colored door, he read the words deeply inscribed into the bronze door in latin.
"Fortuna Favet Fortibus"
'Fortune favours the bold, typical for a bank' Ted thought as he entered through it,
Near the entrance, around a head shorter than Ted, wearing red and gold uniform stood a small being, it had black judging eyes that seemed to scan him as he walked forward.
'Goblin' Ted thought as the small creature bowed slightly, he scanned the creature with interest , he had only seen some drawing of the magical creatures, this was his first time seeing one in person.
moving forward, Ted finally reached another door, this one was silver in color and was decorated with more beautiful engravings. Astonished by their grace he moved his hand over it gently feeling the cold metal on his skin. the carving were also in latin and translated to:
"Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there."
'The irony...' Ted couldn't help but sigh. If he hadn't read some of the history of the wizarding world, he might have actually found the rhymed text amusing, but history taught those who were willing to listen, and Ted was eager for it.
Those 'history' books, were no more than legends to him when he read them, of course now, he saw them in a whole new light, the stories might not all be true, but even if only some were, the goblins weren't ones to be underestimated.
The owners of Gringotts weren't known for being light on their punishments and defenses; quite the opposite, with the hardest metal in existence being produced only by the goblin race, the goblins' defenses were near perfect.
The bank at least, had a perfect record, and it was one of the two: either no one ever tried to steal from it or none has ever lived to tell the tale. Either way, the goblins' defenses were the best of the best.
The goblins' cruelty was also never in doubt; the race was known for slaughtering their enemies, using their indestructible armors and swords to rid all that they found to stand in the way of their greed. The goblins were a fearsome race if provoked, Ted had no doubt about it.
The Goblins rebellions were one of the most prominent examples of their strength, with their small physical body and short limbs, the goblins were all but natural fighters, but even than, with only their cold weapons and armour, they still killed hundreds if not thousands of the wizarding kind.
They may have eventually lost, but they did go down without a fight, the rebellions were bloody and cost both sides heavy casualties.
Ted was actually quite surprised it was also written in Latin; after all, the book he read offered an english version, but he had learned Latin over the last two years and was already quite fluent in it. He found it to be quite useful, as a number of the older books in his mother's library were written in it.
He guessed it must have had something to do with some translation spell, but he wasn't quite clear on the subject. There were, in fact, several books in the mansion that covered the subject, but Ted found this kind of literature to be too weird for him in the past.
He had always found this type of books that covered a seemingly imaginary spell with no background to be quite weird; of course, now, he planned to read them all the moment he set foot at his home. He felt like he had wasted a treasure that was sitting for years right beneath his nose...
Taking another deep breath, his face became neutral once more, and with a slight push, the ancient silver doors opened, revealing the grand interior of the sole wizarding bank in Britain.
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
TheDeath_Angel
TheDeath_Angel first chap this week is here. over the next few days there will be at least one more, I know some mihgt find the scene a bit confusing, but trust me, Im gonna explain everything as the story developes.
Im giving a lot of time to make even the smallest detailes fit and be a part of the story. and iim doing so while using actual historian facts as much as I can.
hope you enjoy following the story so far!
Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.
Like it ? Add to library！
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
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