Just a Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor

Griphook looked at the man in front of him. Judging from his appearance alone, he knew that he was the kind of wizard who was least likely to be messed with, so he persisted.

"The Lestrange family's vault is very special. It is one of the oldest families. If you want to take things out of it, you don't have to have a key. You have to prove your identity to us."

Sherlock, who was dressed as a gloomy wizard, was well prepared for this, but the coldness on his face not only did not subside, but became even more dissatisfied.

He took out the small badge-shaped metal box from his pocket and threw it towards the pull ring very impolitely.

Griphook reached out and caught the small box. Instead of studying it himself, he came to the counter and found a goblin with gold-rimmed glasses.

"Family crest, from the Lestrange family."

The old goblin who looked extremely old reached out to take the badge from his pocket, took off the glasses on his face, picked up a pair of monocles from the side, put it on his face and looked at the badge box carefully. stand up.

It didn't take long for the old goblin to return the locket to Griphook.

"It's a real thing, but the style is a bit old. I remember that before the Lestrange family was all captured and sent to Azkaban, they seemed to have customized a batch of new badges."

Griphook looked back at Sherlock, who was standing three meters away and looking impatiently at the ceiling of Gringotts Hall, and then asked in a deliberately lowered voice.

"Then it's possible that this person is someone left behind by the Lestrange family? Does he comply with the rules?"

The old goblin put on his gold-rimmed glasses again and glanced at Sherlock vaguely.

"You don't care whether it complies with the rules or not. Now everyone in that family has been imprisoned in Azkaban. Before they went to jail, no one told us how to deal with the vault. Just follow the rules. , As long as we are sure that he is from the Lestrange family, even if there is an accident, it has nothing to do with us."

Griphook nodded, took the badge box, and was about to go back to find Sherlock when the old goblin suddenly reminded him in a low voice.

"Be careful when you take him there. The premise that it has nothing to do with us is to confirm his identity."

Griphook paused, then returned to Sherlock calmly, returned the badge box to him, and showed that professional smile on his face again.

"Ah, I kept you waiting for a long time, sir. There is nothing wrong with your badge. My name is Griphook. What do you call me?"

"John Lestrange."

Sherlock took the box from his hand, raised his head proudly, and snorted coldly, as if he was looking at people through his nostrils.

"Mr. Lestrange, I will take you to your family treasury right now."

Griphook smiled and didn't care about this.

Wizards from big families, especially pure-blood families, are basically like this, and the more they look like this, the happier the fairies will be.

Large families are also their big customers.

For an approachable pure-blood family like the Weasley family, no matter how friendly they are, the goblins will not show any kindness to them.

Even if you overturn the treasury and you can't find even half a piece of gold, no matter how good your attitude is, can you still eat it?

Griphook led Sherlock toward a door on the wall of the hall.

He pushed open the tall double doors, and behind them was an underground tunnel like a mine.

The surrounding walls were uneven and rough. After Sherlock and Griphook walked in, the door behind them closed by itself, and the torches on the walls lit up one by one, illuminating the underground tunnel.

Griphook whistled deep into the tunnel, and then a rumbling sound came from far away, and a small cart drove up from the tunnel on its own.

Sherlock and Griphook sat on it together, and the cart started suddenly, taking them underground quickly.

Griphook had no intention of talking to Sherlock along the way, and there was only the sound of wind whirring around them.

The underground tunnels of Gringotts were intricate and complicated. They had already passed through no less than twenty forks, but they still kept going down, with no intention of stopping.

Sherlock maintained his indifference on his face, but he began to murmur in his heart.

How deep have these goblins dug their holes? Who knows if they have dug through the earth's crust all the way down?

Just as he was muttering mentally, a sound of rushing water came from the front. He squinted his eyes and raised his head, and saw a waterfall blocking the tunnel and falling from the top of the passage.

Anti-thief waterfall!

One of the most important protective measures in the depths of Gringotts, the vaults behind this waterfall are treasure caches that have existed since the beginning of Gringotts.

As these extremely important treasury portals, the water falling down from the Anti-Thief Falls cannot be just ordinary water.

Any wizard who wants to enter the deepest vaults must be "cleansed" by this waterfall.

It will cleanse all magical effects and magical disguises from the visitors, and when it finds a problem, it will throw the intruder out of the tunnel, and Gringotts will immediately get the news of someone breaking in.

Anti-thief waterfall is equivalent to a super-large curse that works all the time.

It is rumored that it can even eliminate part of the effects of the Unforgivable Curse (the goblin controlled by Harry using the Imperius Curse was lifted after passing through this waterfall).

After seeing the waterfall, the cart continued to speed. Griphook, who was sitting in front of the cart, turned around and stared at Sherlock intently.

Sherlock's face was calm, showing no signs of nervousness towards the waterfall.

The trolley quickly passed through the anti-thief waterfall, and the slightly cold water poured on Sherlock and Griphook. The trolley was not thrown off the track, and Sherlock did not change at all.

Griphook's gaze gradually relaxed as he stared at Sherlock, and his fingers that had been tense also relaxed.

Sherlock took out his wand in disgust and used a spell to dry the wet robe.

"Is this how Gringotts treats its customers?"

"This is a necessary protective measure, sir." Griphook said in a neither humble nor overbearing tone. "In order to protect your treasure, we must be extra careful."

"But Gringotts has been broken into before." Sherlock said sarcastically.

He was talking about the time when Quirrell broke into Gringotts when Harry was in his first year.

Griphook didn't make much excuse for this, he just said loudly.

"But he didn't take anything with him. He was just a thief who returned empty-handed!"

Sherlock just sneered and said nothing.

It was at that time that Hagrid took away the Philosopher's Stone according to Dumbledore's instructions. Otherwise, it is doubtful whether Quirrell would have returned empty-handed in the end.

After passing the anti-thief waterfall, the authenticity of his identity has been greatly improved. At least Griphook is no longer as suspicious of him as he was at the beginning.

The method to deceive the anti-thief waterfall is actually very simple.

Sherlock did not use any magic disguise on his body. The face he was wearing now was not created by magic or drinking any magic potion.

It's just a human skin mask obtained from Muggles.

The anti-thief waterfall can wash away magic, but Sherlock did not use any magic means.

Anyway, he doesn't need to disguise himself as a specific person. As long as it's not his own face, anything else is fine, so the restrictions on disguise are very low.

Before planning to come to Gringotts, Sherlock also asked Dumbledore in detail about all the details about Gringotts' internal defense, especially making sure that the waterfall was ineffective against Muggle things.

After all, these arrogant goblins may not even be able to like wizards, so how can they like Muggles?

After passing through the waterfall, Griphook took out an old small bag, took out a metal device from it, and handed it to Sherlock's hand.

"A jingle piece, shake it and it clicks, so you know right away when to use it."

Not long after he finished speaking, a deafening roar echoed in the tunnel.

In front of the four or five innermost vaults, there was a giant beast blocking their way.

That's a giant dragon!

Due to being confined underground for too long, the scales on the dragon's body have become pale and loose. Its eyes are cloudy pink, and its two hind legs are wearing heavy shackles. The thick chains on them are connected to deep stones. A huge pile of ground.

Its huge, spiked wings are folded at its sides and would fill the entire basement if unfolded.

The dragon turned its ugly head towards them, let out a roar that made rocks tremble, opened its mouth and aimed at the approaching Griphook and Sherlock, and then spewed out a burst of fire.

Griphook demonstrated to Sherlock and shook the metal device called the "Jingle Piece" in his hand.

There was a sound like a small hammer hitting an anvil, and Sherlock followed suit and shook the thing in his hand.

That sound was like deadly poison to the dragon. It roared back and made way out of the tunnel.

After getting closer, Sherlock noticed the scars on the old dragon's face.

It was obviously forced to be tamed here by the goblins, and the so-called "ding-dang piece" was a precursor to punishing it. Judging from its old appearance, it was unknown how long it had been imprisoned here.

Sherlock was not Hagrid, and he didn't have much sympathy for these big guys. He just stared at the old dragon for a moment, and then turned his attention to the front of him again.

They had arrived at the door of the Lestrange family's vault.

"Please give me the key, sir," Griphook said.

Sherlock took out the brass key from a pocket alone and handed it to Griphook.

There is no keyhole on the door of the vault, and the key looks like it is superfluous.

But Griphook had no intention of inserting the key into any secret hole. Instead, he stretched out the hand holding the key and gently touched the door.

In an instant, the door of the treasury disappeared, and you could see that the cave was stuffed from floor to ceiling with gold coins, gold goblets, silver armor, and the furs of various strange animals with spines or wings hanging down, packed in treasure bottles. potion, and a skull still wearing a crown.

Sherlock, who had only tensed up until Griphook took the key, finally breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

His key came from Rabastan, which died seventeen years ago. Who knows if anyone in the Lestrange family later discovered that the family crest and treasure key were missing from his body.

So the only risky bet on this trip to Gringotts was just now.

Sherlock was betting that Bella and Rodolphus didn't know where Rabastan hid the key and didn't change the way to open the treasure house.

But now, he obviously made the right bet.

This is also his good luck, because if according to the original plot, after Voldemort returned and took control of the Ministry of Magic, Bella did change the way to open the treasure house and abandon the family key.

Looking at the splendid treasure house in front of him, Sherlock didn't think too much and walked directly in.

Griphook bowed and stood aside, respecting the customer's privacy and not intending to go in with Sherlock.

The Lestrange family's treasure house is very large, at least five times the size of Sherlock's own treasure house in Gringotts, and it is enough to hold a football match in it.

Looking around, everything is resplendent and magnificent. Lights are installed on the ceiling of the treasure house. The reflected light from those priceless treasures makes people feel dizzy.

This is the accumulation of the oldest pure-blood family!

It would be no exaggeration to say that the property stored in this vault could buy half of Diagon Alley!

But Sherlock was not blinded by the wealth that could make people lose their minds. He walked half a meter in front of the treasure pile that could be called a golden mountain and stopped steadily.

He could clearly feel a burning heat as he got closer.

These treasures also have special protection!

Except for the true bloodline of the Lestrange family, any outsider who comes into contact with any of these treasures will trigger the copying curse and the fire curse on it.

The Fire Spell needs no further explanation, while the Copying Spell will instantly create countless worthless copies that are exactly the same as the original, overwhelming the thieves.

Those replicas will also carry the effects of copying spells and fire spells. As long as they are touched, these priceless treasures will turn into countless hot "irons", and the spells will be repeated until the thief is scalded alive!

Of course, Gringotts will not tell anyone about these things, and the owners of those vaults will not tell anyone about the protective measures.

But Albus Dumbledore, who also came from an ancient wizarding family and was well-informed and knowledgeable, naturally knew all about the various protection measures here. Before coming, Sherlock had done enough homework from him.

Gringotts claims that no one can steal anything from it.

In the final analysis, this is just a big statement. It is true that wizards with mediocre abilities cannot do it. But for people like Dumbledore and Riddle, sneaking into Gringotts to steal things is no more trouble than drinking water and eating.

Even if Voldemort has lost all his power and is possessing Quirrell, he can still come and go freely here.

This is also the reason why Sherlock wanted to confess to Dumbledore about the Horcrux discovery. If he had relied on himself and had no prior understanding of these internal measures, even if he had the vault key, he would not have been able to get to this point.

After gathering his thoughts, Sherlock's eyes did not stop at the treasures, but quickly browsed the golden mountains.

He still doesn't know what the Horcrux is hidden in this treasure house, but Sherlock is not worried at all about how to find it.

Not long after, he saw a cup reflecting golden light under the light on a shelf near the ceiling!

The little gold cup had two handles, and the body was engraved with a vivid little badger looking back from the grass.

And just as he made eye contact with the golden cup, he felt a slight burning sensation in his left arm!