Hairpin bend at speed and saw ahead of them, with seconds to spare, a waterfall pounding

over the track. Harry heard Griphook shout, “No!” but there was no braking. They

zoomed through it. Water filled Harry’s eyes and mouth: He could not see or breathe:

Then, with an awful lurch, the cart flipped over and they were all thrown out of it. Harry

Heard the cart smash into pieces against the passage wall, heard Hermione shriek

Something, and felt himself glide back toward the ground as though weightless, landing

Painlessly on the rocky passage floor.

“C-Cushioning Charm,” Hermione spluttered, as Ron pulled her to her feet, but to

Harry’s horror he saw that she was no longer Bellatrix; instead she stood there in

Overlarge robes, sopping wet and completely herself; Ron was red-haired and beardless

Again. They were realizing it as they looked at each other, feeling their own faces.

“The Thief’s Downfall!” said Griphook, clambering to his feet and looking back

the deluge onto the tracks, which, Harry knew now, had been more than water. “It washes

away all enchantment, all magical concealment! They know there are imposers in

Gringotts, they have set off defenses against us!”

Harry saw Hermione checking that she still had the beaded bag, and hurriedly

Thrust his own hand under his jacket to make sure he had not lost the Invisibility Cloak.

Then he turned to see Bogrod shaking his head in bewilderment: The Thief’s Downfall

Seemed to have lifted his Imperius Curse.

“We need him,” said Griphook, “we cannot enter the vault without a Gringott’s

goblin. And we need the clankers!”

“Imperio!” Harry said again; his voice echoed through the stone passage as he felt

Again the sense of heady control that flowed from brain to wand. Bogrod submitted once

More to his will, his befuddled expression changing to one of polite indifference, as Ron

Hurried to pick up the leather bag of metal tools.

“Harry, I think I can hear people coming!” said Hermione, and she pointed

Bellatrix’s wand at the waterfall and cried, “Protego!” They saw the Shield Charm break

The flow of enchanted water as it flew up the passageway.

“Good thinking,” said Harry. “Lead the way, Griphook!”

“How are we going to get out again?” Ron asked as they hurried on foot into the

Darkness after the goblin, Bogrod panting in their wake like an old dog.

“Let’s worry about that when we have to,” said Harry. He was trying to listen: He

thought he could hear something clanking and moving around nearby. “Griphook, how

much farther?”

“Not far, Harry Potter, not far … “

And they turned a corner and saw the thing for which Harry had been prepared,

But which still brought all of them to a halt.

A gigantic dragon was tethered to the ground in front of them, barring access to

four or five of the deepest vaults in the place. The beast’s scales had turned pale and flaky

During its long incarceration under the ground, its eyes were milkily pink; both rear legs

Bore heavy cuffs from which chains led to enormous pegs driven deep into the rocky

Floor. Its great spiked wings, folded close to its body, would have filled the chamber if it

Spread them, and when it turned its ugly head toward them, it roared with a noise that

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 597