Bryan led Amelia toward a snow-white building that towered high above all the surrounding shops, dominating the Diagon Alley skyline. The building was built completely of white marble that seemed to glow in the summer sunlight.
Two goblins in scarlet-trimmed gold uniforms stood in rigid posture in front of the gleaming bronze doors, which were twice the height of a tall man. The metal had been polished to such extent that Amelia could see her own reflection in the surface.
Upon seeing Bryan approach, both goblins' expressions flashed with surprise.
Then, immediately setting aside the faint trace of arrogance and superiority they typically displayed to ordinary wizard customers, they nimbly leaped down the white marble steps with surprising agility for creatures of their size.
"Welcome to Gringotts, Mr. Watson—"
They spoke in unison, bowing deeply at the waist with genuine respect rather than simple professional courtesy.
Along the way through Diagon Alley, many wizards who recognized Bryan and there were many, far more than Amelia had anticipated—had bowed or nodded to show their respect, some even stepping aside to let him pass.
Amelia was getting somewhat used to it by now, though the sheer universality of the respect still surprised her.
After giving a slight, acknowledging nod to the two goblins, Bryan turned his head toward Amelia and said in a casual tone, "Since you plan to live in London for the foreseeable future, I suggest you also open a vault at Gringotts. It's the safest place to store valuables in Britain, possibly in all of Europe."
After a moment's careful thought, considering her situation and deciding it was indeed necessary and prudent, Amelia nodded in agreement.
They followed one of the goblins through the doors into Gringotts' marble hall. The space was absolutely vast, the ceiling so high above that Amelia had to crane her neck to see it properly.
She gazed around with curiosity at the goblins behind a long row of tall counters that stretched the length of the hall—some weighing coins on copper scales, others examining precious gems with jeweler's eyepieces while making hasty entries in enormous ledgers.
Behind these working goblins, the walls were embedded with numerous doors of various sizes, each one leading to different areas.
"We have our own wizarding bank back home in America, of course," Amelia said, looking with fascination at the long queues forming in front of the various counters. "But it's not nearly as busy or impressive as this. This is like a cathedral to wealth."
She turned to Bryan with curiosity. "Why haven't you opened a vault at Gringotts yourself, Bryan? With your... well, you must have considerable wealth by now."
"As you surely know, when I first entered the magical world, I didn't have much wealth to speak of—essentially nothing," Bryan explained straightforwardly.
"After spending a few years at Hogwarts, surviving on scholarship funds and what little I could earn, I eventually saved up some galleons through various means. But that money was constantly being used to purchase expensive potion ingredients for practice or rare magical books to improve my magical abilities and knowledge. There was never anything left over.
In the end, by the time I had finally accumulated enough galleons to make a vault worthwhile, to justify the fees, my own abilities were already more than sufficient to protect my own wealth through personal magic. So, there was simply no need for Gringotts' services."
Bryan explained to Amelia patiently, then turned to address the waiting goblin who stood at respectful attention, "Miss Amelia Depp needs to open a vault for secure storage. We'll handle that business first, if you please."
"This way, please, Mr. Watson, Miss Depp—"
The guiding goblin bowed with considerably more grace and respect than he showed most customers, clearly recognizing Bryan's importance and wanting to curry favor.
It led Bryan and Amelia efficiently to the specific goblin clerk responsible for this particular service of vault establishment and account creation. There was no need to queue and wait, as no one else was opening new vaults at this particular moment. The timing was quite fortunate.
However, the wizard standing at the front of the adjacent queue, a man in expensive robes conducting some routine transaction, after casually glancing sideways at Bryan beside him, suddenly stiffened! His entire body went stiff as if he'd been struck by a spell.
The impatience that had been evident in his furrowed brow vanished abruptly, replaced by something that looked very much like fear. His body gave a violent jerk!
Bryan's eyes swept over casually. His eyebrows raised slightly in recognition as he smiled faintly and nodded with thoughtful politeness. "Ah, Mr. Nott, hello. What an unexpected coincidence."
"Hello, Mr. Watson—"
Nott immediately straightened his posture to strictness, as if being inspected by a superior officer. His fists clenched tightly inside his sleeves. His gaze flickered uncertainly between Bryan's face and the floor, unable to maintain steady eye contact.
On his unnaturally composed face, attempting to show calm normalcy, drops of sweat had already begun forming and running down.
"I didn't expect to see you here today—"
"Indeed—"
Bryan smiled calmly. His tone was perfectly pleasant. "Our last meeting was just as unexpected, wasn't it? Though under rather different circumstances."
Theodore Nott was Bryan's student in the physical education class at Hogwarts. But he and Theodore Nott Sr. standing in front of him had absolutely no social connection whatsoever. Their last meeting, strictly speaking, had been at Voldemort's resurrection ceremony in that graveyard.
Nott Sr. understood Bryan Watson's veiled implication perfectly. His face flushed red with a combination of fear and shame. He was seized by an almost overwhelming impulse to flee, to simply turn and run from the bank!
This formidable young man standing calmly in front of him was nothing like Dumbledore in approach, he wouldn't be so pedantic and rule-bound as to insist on absolute proof and evidence before passing judgment or taking action.
"Theodore has always... um, said at home that you're the professor he admires most, looks up to tremendously—"
The shock and fear turned Nott Sr.'s complexion from flushed red to pale in seconds. After struggling internally for a few seconds, his throat began working, he finally stammered out the words, hoping to deflect through his son.
"Theodore is a very talented young man with potential—"
For some reason, Bryan suddenly showed a hint of genuine melancholy, something sad flickering behind his eyes. His voice took on a melancholy tone. "I hope these children won't hate me later."
At these cryptic, ominous words, Nott Sr. broke into a more intense cold sweat, the muscles in his calves were crazy twitching with the urge to flee.
"You're quite... humorous, Mr. Watson—"
Nott Sr. said desperately, drawing in ragged breaths, trying to maintain composure. "You've taught Theodore so much genuine knowledge, real practical skills. He's always admired you so much, speaks of you constantly at home. How... how could he possibly... hate you? It's impossible."
"Let's hope so, Mr. Nott—"
Bryan said with a heavy sigh, then deliberately left Nott Sr. hanging awkwardly to one side. He no longer paid the man any attention, turning instead to instruct Amelia on filling out the various forms required for vault creation.
His suddenly indifferent attitude left Nott Sr. in an extremely awkward position limbo. It wasn't appropriate to simply stay standing there like a servant, nor did he quite dare to turn and leave without being clearly dismissed, fearing it might draw Watson's attention again.
"...You need to leave a token with us, Miss Depp—"
The goblin behind the counter, showing extraordinary respect and attention to Amelia because of her association with Bryan Watson, leaned out over the high marble counter and said with politeness that bordered on actual submissiveness,
"If you're unable to come in person to conduct business in the future, you may entrust a wizard you trust implicitly to bring your token, and Gringotts will serve them as we would serve you directly. It's quite convenient for those who travel frequently."
"A token—"
Amelia, who had been somewhat distracted listening to the tense conversation between Bryan and the frightened Nott Sr., was momentarily stunned by the request. She bit her lip in difficulty, uncertain what would be appropriate.
"Generally speaking, wizards use their wands as authentication tokens," Bryan gently reminded her. "It's the most personal item a witch or wizard possesses."
"Oh! Of course!"
Amelia snapped back to attention and immediately drew her wand from her sleeve and handed it to the waiting goblin, who examined it.
"This lady is—"
Standing awkwardly to one side, trying to appear casual, Nott Sr. finally realized with interest that Bryan Watson hadn't come to Gringotts alone, he had brought a beautiful young woman with him.
This could be extremely valuable intelligence for the Dark Lord!
Nott Sr.'s heart leaped with excitement despite his fear. He was certain the Dark Lord would be very interested in this information, would reward him for it. Knowing about Watson's personal connections, potential vulnerabilities, that was exactly the kind of intelligence the Dark Lord valued.
Dumbledore was just an elderly, weakening old man, past his prime. Bryan Watson was indeed fearsome in combat, his reputation was well-earned. But with the Dark Lord's trust and protection, Watson wouldn't be quite so terrifying after all!
One could operate with more confidence.
A calculating glint flashed in Nott Sr.'s fear-filled eyes, ambition was temporarily overriding caution. Feigning normal social curiosity, trying to appear merely polite, he inquired carefully, "Forgive my curiosity, but who is this young lady?"
"Oh, you're asking about Amelia?"
Bryan pretended not to notice anything suspicious in the question. He smiled warmly and openly.
"Amelia is an extraordinary talent I discovered during my time in New York. She was working as an Auror at MACUSA at the time, doing excellent work, but showed tremendous natural aptitude in alchemy.
She proposed many innovative improvement plans for the learning machine—very constructive ones. So, I invited her to return to London with me to join workshop and help develop the next generation of learning machines."
"Ah, I see—"
Nott Sr. nodded politely to Amelia with feigned warmth, but disappointment flashed in his calculating eyes, that was quickly concealed.
He had thought, hoped really, that this beautiful girl had an intimate romantic relationship with Bryan Watson, that they were lovers or at least romantically involved. That would be truly valuable information.
But if this was merely a professional colleague, her value to the Dark Lord as potential leverage was greatly diminished.
"This is your receipt and accounting summary, Mr. Nott—"
The goblin clerk, whom Nott had been mentally cursing thousands of times for his slowness, finally finished the tedious accounting process and passed a rolled parchment from behind the counter.
"Well then, I wish you all the best, Mr. Watson."
Nott Sr. stuffed the parchment hastily into his robe pocket, taking the opportunity to sneakily wipe the accumulated sweat from his temples with his sleeve.
He bowed his head slightly to Bryan in respectful farewell, and finally, under Bryan's sharp, knowing gaze that seemed to see right through him, his somewhat bedraggled figure quickly disappeared into Gringotts' bustling hall, practically fleeing.
"Who was that wizard exactly?"
Amelia, who had been listening intently to their entire conversation, couldn't help but ask with curiosity and concern once Nott was gone.
"Among the Sacred Twenty-Eight pure-blood families, he's the current Head of the Nott family," Bryan explained quietly. "His son Theodore is my student at Hogwarts. And Nott Sr. himself is a..."
Bryan raised his fingers in a subtle gesture, casting a privacy charm that blocked the eavesdropping attempts of several curious wizards in the adjacent queues and the goblin behind the counter who'd been listening.
"Death Eater in active service."
"A Death Eater?"
Amelia was started with alarm, her voice rose slightly before she caught herself. Her eyes widened with shock. "And he just... walks around freely?"
Bryan nodded slightly, his expression grim.
"Fourteen years ago, when Voldemort fell and was believed destroyed, not all of his followers were imprisoned in Azkaban. A considerable number who already possessed certain power and high social status, who had money and connections, used lies and massive amounts of gold galleons to successfully escape judgment. They claimed they'd been under the Imperius Curse, and just were innocent victims.
Many have remained at large ever since, living normal lives, conducting business. Recently, after Voldemort regained his powers, these people who escaped justice have been returning to his side one by one to continue following him and serving his cause... though truthfully, they didn't really have much choice in the matter."
As Bryan spoke, he led Amelia to the leading position in the grand hall, approaching the most senior desk. An elderly goblin with a long white beard, seeing them approaching, had already left his seat and come around the high counter to wait respectfully.
"Welcome, Mr. Watson. I am Bogrod, senior vault manager," The goblin said with a deep bow. "How may I serve you today—"
"It's like this, Bogrod—"
Bryan once again raised his hand, casting another privacy charm that blocked out all the surrounding sounds and curious attention.
Pondering his words carefully while searching for something in the inner pockets of his robes, he said slowly, "I've come into possession of an item during my recent travels, and I suspect it might be the vault key or access token of some long-lost ancient family... I wonder if you could authenticate it for me, verify its origins?"
As he spoke, Bryan drew out the Slytherin family crest he had obtained from the basilisk's belly.
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