It was just past midday when Bill crested the hill, Christoph flying low behind him. In the valley below, if a valley it could be called, grew a small, rectangular patch of grass. Of all the things he had seen in the past five days, this one took the prize as being the most out of place. In and of itself, the grass was not so out of the ordinary. It didn't look half dead, rather dehydrated, or matching the seemingly barren desert-like appearance he had gotten used to. It was not oddly shaped, discoloured, or even bespeckled with a hint of the glitter that could be found on everything else.

No, this patch of grass was merely a patch of grass, green and emitting a fresh-cut scent. And the fact that it was so ordinary is what set it apart.

Bill knew what the patch of grass was, what it represented. Here, after nearly five days journey, he had reached the back entrance to the Gringotts vaults. But as he looked at it, he found himself uncertain as to how, exactly, he should proceed. He walked halfway down the hill, flopping down onto the dusty earth as he thought about what to do next.

Christoph stared at the Wizard as he, in turn, stared down the hill. I wonder what he sees, he thought, turning his gaze to regard what he saw as a shimmering rent in the air leading Aboveground. It's obvious to me, of course, but I'm not exactly what you'd call unfamiliar with the magic of the Underground. But does he realize what he is looking at? He looked back at Bill once more.

After another minute of silence, Bill turned his head and made eye contact with his owl companion. "So, my feathered tour guide," he said, "there it is."

Guess he does.

"What shall we do next?"

Christoph turned his head to look at the gateway, blinking at it. Go in?

"The obvious thing would be to go in, naturally."

Naturally. Right.

"Of course, considering the hour, Gringotts is still open."

You're assuming time here is synchronized with time Aboveground, you silly Mortal.

"And if Gringotts is open, it is likely crawling with Goblins."

I cannot even begin to imagine those Goblins of yours crawling...

"Not literally crawling, of course."

I know that!!! I was just being -- hang on, how did you know what I was thinking? Christoph spent a moment regarding Bill warily before deciding that he was merely being deliberately patronizing. Again.

"Merely a metaphor," Bill muttered, as though not particularly concentrating on what he was saying. He had turned back to the gateway, deep in thought once more.

This patronizing thing started the morning after Christoph went to speak to his mother. She had obviously spoken to his father, for there was no more of the watching. With its absence, Bill's mood had become more lighthearted. What that meant, much to Christoph's chagrin, was he was constantly giving Christoph instruction on the way of Mortal life and expression. He over-explained a host of obvious turns of phrases as though Christoph would have no idea what they could possibly mean. At first, he thought Bill had lost his mind to suddenly become so obnoxious in a way that was not to be expected. Then he caught the gleam in Bill's eyes. This clued him into Bill's game: he was playing along with the ridiculous notion that Christoph was nothing more than an owl, albeit one with above-average intelligence. But he also appeared to feel that the need to play along was even more ridiculous, and so took delight in giving Christoph a hard time. While this did indeed serve to raise Christoph's esteem of Bill, it rankled that he was not able to give as well, or better, than he got because he actually had to pretend that he was no more than an owl.

Just you wait, he thought. I know things about you now you never would have let me know had you known I am the older brother of the girl you're interested in. Once more, Christoph found great comfort in the fun that was to be had at the expense of his sister and her suitor. He could not hold back his chuckle, however.

Bill looked back at Christoph at the emission of a rather strange sound. "What was that?" he asked. "It sounded like a combination between a screech and the coughing up of something large and unpleasant. Are you all right?" He watched as Christoph shuffled uncomfortably and averted his gaze. It was his turn to chuckle. "You know, I know you're probably trying really hard and everything, but you make a crummy owl. I hope I get to find out what the whole secret is one of these days. I mean, if not I understand and everything, but really. That this is necessary is outrageously funny."

Yeah, you think so now. Hah, I say.

"Anyway, I guess it's back to the topic at hand, eh? I say we wait a few more hours until its a little closer to closing time. There won't be quite as much activity in the vaults, but still enough people milling about upstairs to hide our escape." He paused. "Hm. Once I figure out what our escape will be." Bill sighed and scratched his head. "Well, I suppose I should take a closer look at this entrance thing."

With that, he rose and scrambled the rest of the way down the hill. Dropping his satchel at the edge of the grass, he dug through it and pulled out the tome. Tucking it under one arm, Bill slowly circled the patch of grass.

Christoph flew down to stand next to the satchel, peering inside it once more. He supposed he should be watching Bill just in case he made some sort of sudden dive into the gateway, or tripped and fell in, but he could not get over the idea of being able to fit so much stuff inside such a tiny bag. It was a use of magic that he had never seen before. He wondered if it could be duplicated with Fae magic, as well as how.

When he got to the other side of the patch of grass, Bill yelped. This caused Christoph to jump a foot into the air and nearly fall over when he landed again as he attempted to look in all directions at once trying to find the danger. Seeing nothing, he chose to glare at Bill. What in the name of all that is sacred did you do that for?!

Noticing out of the corner of one eye that Christoph looked rather ruffled, Bill apologized. "Sorry. I wasn't expecting to see inside the vaults." He peered around the side of the grassy rectangle, and then looked through it again.

Christoph hopped over to Bill's side and looked through as well, curious as to what the vaults looked like. What he saw was not what he expected. All the things he had seen about Mortal banks, mainly through films at his Uncle Toby's house with their orderly metal boxes and security cameras, would never have led him to the picture that presented itself. Even his father's treasure vaults looked nothing like this. This was a cavern. This was where a dragon would keep its hoard in a large pile. This was where he would choose to go spelunking. This was not where he would have built a bank. You Wizards are completely bonkers. Though, he thought after a pause, I suppose it is the Goblins who are bonkers since they built the bank in the first place. So maybe it does make sense. Maybe.

"This is an amazing spell. It's so... clean... and polished... and precise..."

Well, naturally. What did you expect from the Fae? And the King of the Goblins, no less? Christoph barely restrained himself from preening.

"Like when they opened the board room window and instead of Diagon Alley down below all I could see was this place. But when I walked through, I couldn't see the board room behind me. I wonder if that is because it was only a temporary connection, set up specifically for me to use to get here. Huh." Bill raised his eyebrows and circled the grass once more. "Of course, if I go through here and can't see the Labyrinth behind me, that throws that theory out the window, eh Christoph?"

He flopped down on the ground once more, next to his satchel, and pulled out another packet of quest rations with a heavy sigh. "Mm, lunch. I'd sure love to have some of Mum's home cooking right about now." Bill offered a dried wafer to Christoph. "Hungry?"

You have got to be kidding me.

The look of disdain the owl gave him was priceless and set Bill laughing once again. "Can't say I blame you on that one!" Leaning back on his hands, he looked around. "You know, I think I'm going to miss this place."

Really? Even though it, what was it, gives you the creeps?

"It all still seems very strange to me and everything. But it's so," he shrugged, "I don't know. Peaceful, in a way."

Peaceful? The Labyrinth? Christoph called to mind their first 'conversation' and mentally gave an ironic grin.

"I can't really figure it out. I know I'm not the only living thing out here; that chicken was evidence of that."

The chicken? And what am I?

"You don't count, of course, being as you aren't really what you pretend to be," he said with an obvious grin.

Hmph.

"Anyway, no matter whatever else is out there, it's so solitary here. But it isn't lonely at all. Probably because I know there are other things out there and knowing is something of a comfort. It's a great place to think without too much distraction. To get away from it all for a while." He fell silent, laying back with his hands folded behind his head and staring at the cloudless sky.

Christoph wondered if Bill was going to fall asleep, staring at nothing. Initially, he hoped Bill would say something else. It was a bit aggravating to have to partake in a rather one-sided conversation, but at least it filled in the silence. As he thought about what Bill had said about thinking without distraction, however, he found his own thoughts wandering to the variety of things that had plagued his mind recently but were not given the luxury of time for contemplation.

It seemed like only minutes later when Bill sitting up again brought Christoph out of his reveries. "Well, as I mentioned before, I genuinely wouldn't mind having the opportunity to come back here again in more favourable circumstances. But that isn't likely to happen."

Oh, ye of little faith.

"In any case, time to get going." He took one last look around before slipping the tome inside his satchel once again and hitching it over his shoulder. Standing before the gateway, he reached into the satchel and pulled out his wand. Casting a glance down at the owl at his feet, Bill grinned wryly. "You don't actually have to go in there, you know. Caves and such aren't exactly made for owls to fly around in and we might have to make a fast getaway."

And miss this chance at seeing how this all is going to turn out? Of seeing you in action in your own World? Fat chance. He somehow launched himself into the air from the ground and landed on Bill's shoulder in one, graceful movement.

"I take that to mean you're coming along then," he said with a chuckle. "Though for future reference, owls don't usually tend to zip about like sparrows. Well," he said after considering, "unless you're an owl like Pig, I guess. Right then, here we go." Thus said, he stepped through to the vaults.

There was a strange whooshing in Christoph's ears as they entered the vaults, but none of the familiar sensation of travelling Aboveground. Mildly concerned, he blinked and peered around.

"Lumos," Bill muttered, and his wand began to emit a faint light just bright enough to see by. He turned around and saw the Labyrinth still behind him framed in a vague square. However, instead of being a clear picture, it was superimposed upon an image of rocks. His eyebrows popped up again. "It's camouflaged," he whispered. "That is bloody brilliant."

Christoph personally agreed, not having expected that, but his attention was still on the feel of this place. Abruptly, he remembered what his father said about the vaults; how the Wizards believed them to be deep underground below London when in actuality they were Underground. Oh, right, he thought, feeling vaguely stupid for not realizing it. That makes more sense. It wasn't a gateway after all, simply a doorway to another part of the Labyrinth. I wonder where, exactly. And how the Wizards and Goblins get down here from Aboveground in the first place. Hm... For that matter, I wonder if Dad even knows exactly.

Bill had manoeuvered the tome back out of the satchel. "Never should have put it away, really," he muttered to himself as he flipped pages to a bizarely drawn map. "Ok, this should be interesting. I've never actually gone from one vault to another by walking. I can't quite imagine how it is supposed to work, but if these drawings and Quirrell's notes are even remotely correct, it should take us another hour or so to get to the vault we need, number seven hundred and thirteen"

With that, he steadily began moving farther into the caverns, over rocks and around large stalagmites. Christoph remained perched firmly on his shoulder, only getting off when they would get to a point that required some climbing on Bill's part that would have been near impossible with an owl on his shoulder. However, once he would be on relatively level ground again, Christoph returned to his former spot. Now and again, they would venture past a trench that seemed to go down forever bisected by tracks of some sort. These reminded Christoph of more films he had seen, this time Westerns in which there was mining for gold or coal. When they saw these inexplainable tracks, for which Bill did not offer any clarification, they would shortly pass by a door with numbers emblazoned on it. There were tiny keyholes in the doors and Christoph assumed these were the vaults. It seemed to be a rather insecure way to lock them, with simply a key.

It did not take quite an hour to get to vault seven hundred and thirteen, though it certainly felt that way. Bill stood before the door for a full minute simply regarding it, and Christoph avidly perused it as well. What struck him as most odd was the fact that there was no keyhole in this door. How do we get in? he thought.

"Well," Bill was still whispering, "now there's nothing left for it than to get inside, drop the tome, and get back out again. Easy enough, except for the getting out again part. See, this one is a high security vault, which means it doesn't open with a key."

I gathered that much.

"Technically, only Goblins can open the door. If anyone else tries to open this door, they should get sucked in and not released. The problem with that is the original of the tome was found inside the vault, but Quirrell was not."

Oh. That is a problem.

"I've checked this thing cover to cover numerous times, and there isn't anything about how to get in the vault without getting trapped inside. Nor is there anything about getting out again once one is trapped inside. The last page of the tome is this picture." Bill held it up for Christoph to see, but in doing so he dropped it. The loud 'thud' echoed off the cavern walls for nearly a minute. "Bollocks," he hissed, kneeling to pick it up so quickly that Christoph nearly lost his balance. Picking the tome up, Bill noticed it was upside down and, as he rose, he began turning it around.

Suddenly, he froze mid-rise, staring aghast at the what the picture revealed at an angle. "Bloody hell." He was so shocked he forgot to whisper. Bill held his wand closer to the page, illuminating what was drawn there for Christoph to see.

It took a moment to realize what he was looking at. When it finally registered, his eyes widened in horror. He was severely tempted to transform then and there with the desire to actually discuss this with Bill. When Dad finds out about this...

"Well, that explains it." Once more, Bill was whispering. "Though I don't see how this could possibly work since it is only a copy of the original." He paused. "At least, I think it is only a copy. They wouldn't have..." He looked at Christoph. The owl was looking a little green. "Would they have?" He paused again. "Well, I suppose the only way to find out is to try it." Swallowing hard, Bill closed the tome and, holding his breath and leaning back, pressed the spine against the door.

Nothing happened.

Both owl and Wizard heaved huge sighs of relief. Their momentary relaxation was cut short, however, by the sound of something clattering down the tracks behind them. "Damn," Bill whispered. "Goblin guards. I don't know if this quest is exactly common knowledge, so they probably shouldn't catch us here." He extinguished his wand and ran over between two stalagmites next to the trench and crouched down.

Thinking this could be considered a critical moment, Christoph thought quickly. Surely even these Goblins wouldn't be so foolish as to attack a member of the Fae. Certainly not a member of their Royal Family... He was on the verge of transforming when Bill whispered to him.

"Here they come. I have an idea." He threw the tome at the door, where it smacked against it with another 'thud' and slid to the ground in a heap.

That's your idea? Throw the book at the door??

"Now," continued Bill as he opened his satchel and placed his wand inside, "this is a huge risk, and we could end up getting killed. But we'll likely get killed anyway so we may as well try it. I'm sorry, but this is probably going to be very uncomfortable for you."

What is? He began to get extremely nervous when Bill grasped him in both hands. Are you going to throw me next or something?

"Don't make any noise. At all. No matter what. And don't worry; you won't shrink."

Is that supposed to be reassuring?!

Bill flattened himself against the stalagmite and peered around the edge. A cart came to a screeching halt and five angry looking Goblins bearing nasty looking weapons piled out of the cart. They crowded over to the door of the vault, some snapping their heads around and peering into the darkness. One said something in Gobbledygook as he picked up the tome, and they all turned to look at it. After more brief comments, another one of them opened the door to the vault and they all crowded inside.

As if that was the signal Bill was waiting for, he stuffed Christoph into his satchel, flipped the cover down, and launched himself at the tracks. In an instant, he scrambled around the outside edge and gained hold of the cart with one hand. With the other, he reached into his satchel and pulled out his wand. Pointing it at the hand holding the cart, he muttered a sticking spell before shoving the wand between the stuck fingers and pointing it in another direction. Finally, he grasped the cart with the other hand as well in the vague direction that the wand was pointing and he muttered the spell again.

He was just in time. The Goblins came rushing out of the vault just as the spell placed itself. Four of them ventured out into the darkness, whilst the fifth went back into the cart. Immediately, it was careening back along the tracks once more.

Well, Christoph thought as he banged around inside Bill's bag, that Wizard is either a genius, or insane. Possibly both. He fell over for the fourth time and decided that he may as well just lay there. Oh the indignity of it all. No wonder Kati likes him. As he considered this somewhat upsetting and somewhat amusing revelation, he felt the suction of magic leaving the air. Unexpected, it left him very disoriented, but he managed to grasp that they were now, truly, Aboveground.

In short order, the cart skidded to a halt once more. The Goblin launched out of the cart and ran through a door. When Bill heard this, he muttered the counter-spell to unstick first one hand, then the other. Gingerly, arms aching and feeling as though they were no longer connected to his shoulders, he climbed into the cart and out the other side. Realizing there was no time to acknowledge the spinning of his head, he snuck out the door as well.

He had timed it right. There were still plenty of Wizards wandering around the lobby of the bank. With his experienced eye, he gauged things precisely and blended into the crowd, disappearing from sight out the main doors. Somehow, he managed to remain calm, though in appearance only, as he sedately walked toward the Leaky Cauldron.

Once there, he ordered a large tankard of butterbeer before making his way to a table hidden in the corner. Sitting down, gingerly, Bill tucked the satchel next to him and opened it. Christoph looked even more green than before, but he was in once piece and alive. Bill carefully lifted him out of the satchel and, after checking to see if anyone was paying attention, set him on the table next to his tankard.

"It wasn't the easiest way to come, I grant you, but in any case, welcome to the Wizarding Realm."