When she was done with her work, Lilith slipped into another of her tangent worlds again. She was propped up on her elbows, very much awake, but her mind was elsewhere. Instead of a whole new made up world, she was right back in the past, not too long ago.
Coming into the Pre-Hogwarts Primary classroom, Lilith seemed to be the only one who knew almost completely nothing--as no one had bothered to explain things to her, like the other Muggle-born students. She had no idea where to go to get all of her magical supplies, or even if they accepted Muggle money. Luckily, Miss Katie pointed her in the right direction.
She was to go to a place called Diagon Alley, where there were shops and even a Wizard bank!
So, after talking it over with her over-excited mum, Lilith was on her way to Diagon Alley. And then, before she knew it, they were there!
Of course, Gringotts, the huge bank, stood out. Lilith strode to the doors, her mother in tow, and entered, bronze doors first, then silver ones. This opened up into a grand lobby with marble floors and desks that seemed to go on forever; it was the most beautiful bank she had ever seen. Almost instantly, a teller was open. Her mother nudged her forward.
When they reached the teller, they both froze; Lilith couldn't help but to let a gasp escape. It wasn't a person--it was a.. a--
"Yes, I'm a goblin," the creature said gruffly. Lilith flinched and clung to her mum. "What is your business?" the goblin continued. Looking up at her mum, Lilith saw that she was barely containing her excitement. Always a novelist. In a strong voice, her mother replied.
"We need to open up a bank account for my daughter--she's a witch!" she whispered excitedly.
"Muggle-born.." muttered the goblin teller. His twisted mouth pressed into a firm line before he addressed her mother again. "How much will you be exchanging?"
"Exchanging?"
"You assume we use Muggle money?" he growled. Her mum sighed.
"Well, I was hoping.. Anyhow," she said as she opened her purse and pulled out her wallet, "how will this do?" She held a large chunk of money in her hand.
"MUM!!" Lilith said shrilly. That had to be more than five hundred pounds in her hand! Probably a lot more, by the look of it!
"I want you to have enough to cover one or two years, and I don't know how much you'll need for all your supplies and such," her mum explained. She turned back to the teller. "Well?" she implored. The goblin took the money.
"One thousand pounds," he grumbled. Lilith made a sound in protest, but it was ignored. "This will get you two hundred Galleons. Galleons are the coin of most value in the Wizarding money system. They are worth five British pounds each. There are seventeen Sickles in a Galleon, and twenty-nine Knuts in a Sickle," he quickly explained. He sounded like he would rather be anywhere else but here talking to them. He sighed, tucked the money into some sort of box under the section of desk he was at, and hopped off of.. something. But suddenly he was out of view.
And then the goblin came through a swinging door and appeared in front of them. He was rather short.
"Follow me."
They were led through a door, into (surprisingly) a stone passageway. They walked on for a bit until they all stopped--in front of a cart.
"Get in." And so they did--and in the next moment, they were off flying, the cart racing through cold, damp-looking tunnels. Lilith caught a flash of orange-ish light, but before she could see what it was, all was dark again.
Just as suddenly as they had taken off, they stopped. In front of them was a large vault-style door. What the..?
Then the goblin presented her with a key. "This will unlock your vault. Go try it now." She gingerly took the key, stepped cautiously out of the cart, and looked closely at the door. On it read the number "3013", and just by her hand was a small keyhole. Here goes nothing.. she thought as she stuck in the key.
But when the heavy door swung open, what was inside was far from nothing. It was a pile of gold! Gold coins! The goblin appeared behind her with a small pouch. "You'll want to fill this up," he advised. Lilith was confused. The pouch looked so small..
And yet it seemed, as she began stuffing in the Galleons, that the pouch was still quite empty and rather light. After counting about twenty Galleons, she could see a glint of gold close to the opening. That'll do, she decided. After all, twenty Galleons would be one hundred pounds! Plenty to cover school supplies.
The door swung shut behind her as she left it, and a loud clanking sound told her that it had been re-locked. Lilith and the goblin were already climbing back into the cart--and it was off, the wind rushing through their hair.
"You'll want to remember your vault number," the goblin told them in his rough way once they were walking in the passageways again, nearly back to the lobby.
They all went back through the door, and Lilith barely got to say a Thank You to the goblin before he had disappeared behind the desk again. She turned to her mum and said the same. A thousand pounds--that would have taken a huge chunk out of her mum's Muggle bank account. In return, her mum hugged her tightly, then murmured, "Come on.. We've got a shopping spree on our hands."
They left the marble lobby behind them, Lilith smiling for all the new things she was about to encounter.
