"Oh, Merlin, what is going on here?" one Auror muttered as the team reached the front of Gringotts. The proud white bank no longer looked untouchable, and the entrance had been buried beneath shattered stone, twisted metal, and drifting dust.
The goblin guard who had stood outside the doors lay motionless not far from the steps. Around him, frightened witches and wizards kept their distance, whispering to one another while staring at the ruined bank as if it might explode again at any moment.
"Someone really robbed Gringotts," Kingsley said, disbelief heavy in his voice. Gringotts was supposed to be the safest place in the wizarding world after Hogwarts, and in some ways, people trusted it even more than the Ministry of Magic itself.
No one robbed Gringotts. People joked about it, boasted about it after too much Firewhisky, or used it as an example of something impossible. Yet now the front of the bank had been blown open in broad daylight, and the street was full of witnesses.
"Kingsley. Dawlish."
A cold, arrogant voice came from behind them. Lucius Malfoy strode over with his jewel-topped cane in hand, his platinum hair still neat despite the panic around him.
"A wizard murdered the goblin guarding the door, destroyed the entrance to Gringotts, and is currently robbing the bank from the inside," Lucius said sharply. "As Aurors of the Ministry of Magic, you should be rushing in immediately to arrest him."
Kingsley turned toward him. "Lucius, are you saying the wizard is still inside Gringotts?"
"Of course he is," Lucius replied, his tone making it sound like Kingsley had asked something foolish. "The valuables of wizarding families are kept in vaults far below the ground. Gringotts vaults are hundreds of meters underground, and no one could rob them and leave so quickly."
His fingers tightened around his cane. His face remained composed, but there was a hard edge in his eyes that betrayed his true anxiety. "However, if you continue moving this slowly and allow him to escape, will the Ministry be able to bear that responsibility?"
Lucius was not worried about justice. He was worried about the Malfoy vault.
"Kingsley, we need to get in there now," Dawlish snapped. He was already raising his wand, impatience written across his face. "We have to arrest that maniac before he gets away."
"Wait, Dawlish," Kingsley warned. "Don't rush—"
But it was too late.
"Confringo!"
Dawlish fired a Blasting Curse at the rubble blocking the entrance. The curse struck the collapsed stone, but instead of breaking through it, the magic sank briefly into a dark pattern carved across the debris.
A heartbeat later, the spell rebounded.
"Danger!" Kingsley shouted, throwing himself sideways.
Boom!
The Blasting Curse exploded in the middle of the gathered Aurors. Dawlish, standing at the front, took the worst of it and was hurled backward as if an invisible giant had struck him in the chest.
Several Aurors around him were blasted off their feet as well. The reflected spell came back too quickly for proper shields, and bodies hit the cobblestones amid smoke, dust, and startled cries.
The onlookers screamed and scattered again. Those who had crept closer to watch the Ministry work suddenly remembered that curiosity was a terrible survival instinct and fled toward the shops.
"Father!" Draco cried.
He ran to Lucius's side, pale and shaken. The explosion had caught Lucius as well, throwing him back and ruining the polished dignity he valued so much.
Lucius Malfoy looked dreadful. His long platinum-blond hair had been scorched black in places, soot marked his pale skin, and his expensive robes were torn and stained. He pushed himself upright with stiff fury, looking less injured than insulted.
"That idiot," Lucius hissed through clenched teeth. Dawlish's simple-minded charge had dragged him into the blast as well, and Lucius very much wanted to crack open the man's skull to see whether it contained anything more intelligent than troll snot.
"Get help from the Ministry," Kingsley ordered, coughing as he rose. He had reacted quickly enough to avoid the worst of the blast, but his robes were still dusty, and one sleeve was torn. "Now."
Support arrived quickly this time. The attack on the Leaky Cauldron had been bad enough, but Gringotts being robbed was something the Ministry could not ignore without looking utterly useless.
Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge arrived in person, flanked by Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of the Auror Office, and a group of elite Aurors. Fudge looked rattled before he even reached the bank, his bowler hat slightly crooked and his face damp with nervous sweat.
"I had only just begun my workday when I received word that there had been a dreadful attack at the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley," Fudge babbled as he hurried forward. "And then, before that matter could even be addressed properly, I was told Gringotts had been robbed as well. Gringotts, of all places!"
He reached the front of the bank and saw the ruined entrance. His words died in his throat, and he staggered back three full steps.
"Oh, Merlin," Fudge groaned, pressing one hand to his head. "Who did this?"
For a moment, he looked as if he might faint. Scrimgeour caught him firmly by the arm before he could collapse in front of half of Diagon Alley.
"A wizard robbed Gringotts," Kingsley reported, walking over once the reinforcements arrived. His expression was grave, and he kept his voice low enough that the crowd would not hear every word. "He should still be inside."
"Do we know who did it?" Scrimgeour demanded. His leonine face was dark with anger, and his eyes moved over the ruined entrance with a veteran's sharpness.
"No confirmed identity," Kingsley said. "Our investigation at the Leaky Cauldron suggests the earlier attacker was also a Dark wizard. Based on timing and method, this may be the same person."
"Those cursed Dark wizards," Fudge burst out. His fear had finally found somewhere to go, and it came out as anger. "They should all be locked in Azkaban forever!"
His face was red now. First the Leaky Cauldron, now Gringotts. If he failed to handle both disasters properly, his position as the newly appointed Minister for Magic could become shaky very quickly.
"You just said the Dark wizard is still inside Gringotts," Fudge snapped, turning on Kingsley. "Then why haven't you gone in and arrested him?"
"Minister, there appears to be some kind of magic laid over the entrance," Kingsley explained. He pointed toward the rubble, where the faint lines of the dark array pulsed almost invisibly beneath the dust. "If we attack it with spells, the magic rebounds."
He glanced toward the injured Aurors being carried away. "Dawlish used a Blasting Curse just now. It reflected back, and he and several others have already been sent to St Mungo's."
"It rebounds spells?" Scrimgeour said, narrowing his eyes.
He raised his wand and fired a controlled spell toward the rubble. The magic struck the barrier, trembled against it for an instant, then shot back toward the Ministry group.
An unlucky Auror failed to dodge in time and was knocked off his feet, landing hard on the cobblestones. Scrimgeour's expression sharpened, and he lowered his wand with clear displeasure.
"It really does rebound magic," he said.
The watching crowd broke into louder whispers. Fear spread quickly when people could see that even the Ministry did not immediately know what to do.
"It has to be some Dark magic cast by that robber," one wizard said anxiously. "He killed the goblin at the door. Who knows what else he can do?"
"Oh, Merlin's socks," a witch moaned, clutching a shopping bag against her chest. "What if he gets into my family vault? What if he steals everything?"
"What are the Aurors doing?" another wizard complained from a safer distance. "Why aren't they rushing in to arrest that Dark wizard?"
The crowd continued cursing, worrying, and demanding action from the far side of the street. Though they wanted the Ministry to solve everything immediately, none of them dared step anywhere near Gringotts themselves, because they were still afraid of being affected.
.....
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