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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Aug 10, 2010 4:57:12 GMT -5
"What about the different shops? Are there special ones for different items, like brooms and owls?" There were many different questions that were running through her mind and she did want to ask but she wasn't going to just throw them all out there. She wanted to see everything but then again she didn't want to get overwhelmed with everything and have that trigger some sort of panic attack. She was going to have to take new things in, in doses.
Kayleigh looked at the glass in front of her and wrapped her hands around it. For a moment, she felt like a small child again. Her feet didn't reach the floor since she was sitting on something high and someone was looking at her, waiting for her to try something.
She picked up the glass and took a sip from it. There was a hint of butterscotch to the drink, her favorite, and something she hadn't had in a very long time. Kayleigh wiped the top of her lip before looking back to Flynn. "It's really good. The butterscotch taste is my favorite."
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Aug 13, 2010 23:24:18 GMT -5
Flynn chuckled lightly at all her questions. She must have had some experiences in the wizarding world before her parents had died, if she could even think to ask about these things.
"Actually, you're exactly right," he agreed. "There are shops for all of these things. In fact... I'll tell you a secret. In the back of this pub is a secret entrance to a place where they have all different kinds of shops... stores for robes and stores for books.... stores for cauldrons, and yes, a store for owls and one for brooms. There's even a wizard bank. Have you ever seen wizard money?"
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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Aug 14, 2010 8:20:00 GMT -5
Her eyes went wide. "Really," she asked. "What sort of books are there? Any on anything in the wizarding world, or are there any by any muggles?" Kayleigh wanted to see for herself what the stores were like. She vaguely remembered going to a place where there were all sorts of shops but she couldn't remember the details of everything there.
"I think I have at one time," she said. "But I didn't really remember. Is wizarding money like muggle money?"
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Aug 14, 2010 21:19:28 GMT -5
"Most of the books are about the wizarding world... magic and potions and things like that. Or they're about magical creatures or legends. There aren't a lot of fiction books, really, just the ones for children that teach lessons. If you want muggle books, you mostly just have to go to muggle stores, although there are a few places that will carry muggle books, usually hidden in the back. There are some wizards... not me, mind you, but some, who don't like muggles."
Flynn's expression darkened as he mentioned this. He was thinking about his family and how he was considered the outcast, just because he didn't think being purebloods made them superior to half-bloods or muggleborns... or squibs, like Kayleigh. He was sure they hadn't always been that way... they had once been close. How had things ended up this way? How had his family changed without his ever even knowing about it?
He looked back up at her, a sheepish expression on his face. "Sorry... me mind wandered for a minute there. Er... yes, wizard money." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins.
"This here's a sickle, and that's a knut," he explained, placing them on the table. "And this big one is called a galleon. It's somewhat equivalent to a pound in muggle money, only the value is a little higher."
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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Aug 15, 2010 9:27:20 GMT -5
It didn't really hit Kayleigh that there were going to be some wizards that didn't like muggles. However, that just proved that wizards were more like muggles than they really realized. There were muggles that didn't like anyone who was different, just like some wizards didn't like anyone who was different. The only main difference between the two was that one had an ability the other didn't have. That was it.
She looked at the coins and then back to Flynn. "So you don't have to deal with anything paper, just the coins?" Looking back down to the coins, Kayleigh wondered how the bank kept track of things and how exactly wizards could access their accounts. "How does the bank work here?"
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Aug 17, 2010 22:18:05 GMT -5
Flynn felt a little guilty for having to tell her about the prejudices of the wizarding world. He had seen some incidents of muggles not liking other muggles for strange reasons, such as the color of their skin, but he had mostly believed that the muggle world was simpler, nicer, and more accepting. It shamed him to think that people like him--people in his own family, even--could be so narrow-minded.
Thankfully, Kayleigh didn't pursue the topic any further. It was much more fun to tell her about the bank. When she asked the question, he smiled.
"Actually, the bank is run by goblins," he replied. "They keep a wizard's money in vaults deep underground, and it's almost impossible to steal from them, because they're so well protected. Hey... I wonder if your parents had a vault?"
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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Aug 18, 2010 18:11:58 GMT -5
"Goblins? Are they really short and actually really ugly things?" Kayleigh kept her hands wrapped around her glass and took another drink. "I've only seen those drawings in books before."
It was a whole new world that she felt like she wanted to explore. She wanted to put aside everything she feared and just go for it. However, letting that go was something that was still going to take time to get over.
"Do these vaults need some sort of key? Like a gold fancy one?"
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Aug 20, 2010 15:39:37 GMT -5
Flynn let out a loud laugh. "Shhh, they might hear you," he said. "Sometimes goblins come in here for a drink... I don't think there are any here now, though. Anyway," he continued in a low voice. "They are small, rather ugly things, and they're also quite unpleasant. You don't want a goblin to get mad at you... they have terrible tempers."
He gave one more quick look around, to make sure that there weren't any goblins anywhere around. Once he was sure that they were safe, he nodded. "Yes, the vaults do need keys. You take them to the bank and show them to the goblins and they take you down a sort of underground train to your vault."
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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Aug 23, 2010 7:58:30 GMT -5
"So, they really are like the book said they were." Kayleigh let out a quieter laugh. She didn't even think about there being any Goblins around. She would have actually felt terrible if one of them had been there and heard her.
"Does it matter if you really know your vault number? Or is that what the three numbers on the key are?" There were three numbers that were marked into the key and Kayleigh and never been sure as to what the significance was.
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Aug 26, 2010 20:34:14 GMT -5
The way she was talking, Flynn was seriously beginning to wonder if her parents really had left her some money in a vault. How else would she know that there were usually three numbers on a golden key to Gringotts vaults?
"Yes, the numbers on the key usually are the vault numbers," he replied. "Do you have a key like that? Something that your parents left you?"
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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Aug 28, 2010 9:57:27 GMT -5
Kayleigh reached around the collar of her shirt and picked up the necklace chain. On the end of the necklace was the key that her parents left her. She showed it to Flynn. "I never really knew what it was for except for some bank. I remember me da vaguely telling me that it was a special key and that it was going to be mine one day. He told me that the bank was in the Wizarding World and I remember very vaguely a trip there."
She gave a small shrug and dropped the key so that it was shown on the outside of her shirt. "I never knew what exactly it went to other than it was used at the Wizarding bank."
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Aug 29, 2010 20:50:00 GMT -5
Flynn's eyes widened. He had really been joking when he suggested that maybe her parents might have left her some money in a vault, but the key she was showing him now was no joke. There was no mistaking it.
"That's definitely a Gringotts vault key," he said, nodding. "There's only one wizarding bank, and it's not far from here. When we're finished our butterbeer, do you want me to take you into Diagon Alley and take you to Gringotts? You should see what your parents left for you."
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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Aug 30, 2010 17:43:47 GMT -5
Banks still sort of scared Kayleigh. She tried to avoid them if she could but today she was going to have to get over that fear. She could do it. She could take a few deep breaths and everything would be alright, hopefully.
Taking in a deep breath, Kayleigh nodded. "I would like to see what is there," she replied. Hopefully she wouldn't start to have a panic attack in the middle of the bank. Sure, she liked Flynn but she didn't want to have some sort of panic attack infront of him, let alone in front of other people.
"I don't even know what I would do with what was in there if there is anything."
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Aug 30, 2010 22:44:09 GMT -5
As though he had sensed her nervousness about the bank, he reached out and touched her hand lightly. "Gringotts isn't like a normal bank," he said. "It might look like it from the outside, but on the inside, it's very different. The goblins keep things very safe. And if you find that there's wizard money in the vault, they can actually change it over to muggle money, if you wanted. But wizards don't just put money in their vaults. Sometimes they put their most prized possessions in there, too. Jewelry, antiques.... anything of value. Maybe you'll find some old family heirlooms in there."
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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Sept 4, 2010 13:07:18 GMT -5
That seemed a little strange to Kayleigh, to have someone that could sort of read her. She nodded at the mention of the bank being safe. Even if it was the safest place on the planet, that fear would still be there.
"I don't know what they would have left me." Her father always mentioned that there was going to be something for her if something ever happened to them. Everything would be taken care of for her, that was what he told her. She wouldn't have ever made it here alone, and maybe it was her parents intention of showing her how to get there when she was a little older.
Whatever the case may be, Kayleigh felt like it was some sort of journey to something. What that something was, she didn't know. Not knowing about something was something else she had a small fear for. She always wanted to know what was going to happen so she knew what to expect. Life wasn't like that however, and she was trying to come to terms with that.
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Sept 5, 2010 17:43:42 GMT -5
It was really a strange coincidence that Flynn had happened to meet Kayleigh today. He didn't know whether she'd met any other wizards, or if she would have had the courage to talk to one if she had. And he certainly hadn't expected to meet a squib in the middle of a park in Muggle London. But somehow they had run into each other, and he could already tell that they were going to be great friends. His family wouldn't like it if they knew he was making friends with squibs, but what did he care what they thought anymore?
"The only way to know is to go there and find out. It'll be safe, I promise you," he said. "And I'll stay with you the whole time."
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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Sept 27, 2010 10:22:03 GMT -5
That was the only way she was going to find out, is if she went in there. Kayleigh would be lying if she said that she wasn't afraid. Her father told her a long time ago, when she used to be afraid of the thing that supposedly lived under her bed, that the only way she was going to get over her fear was to face it. Maybe that was the point of today. Maybe that was the point of meeting Flynn. She wasn't sure.
She nodded in response. "Okay." Part of her felt that she should warn him of her panic attacks, but Kayleigh didn't want to think about it. Maybe if she didn't think about it, it wouldn't happen.
After taking another drink of butterbeer from her glass, Kayleigh looked back up to Flynn. I'm glad I met you today."
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Sept 28, 2010 17:54:30 GMT -5
Flynn smiled reassuringly at her. He felt fairly certain once she got there and saw how different it was from a normal bank that she would not be afraid anymore. She'd be too distracted by the goblins, the enchanted carts, and the underground caverns and lakes. But as he thought of the cart, and how it rode at fast speeds down twisty tracks, a new worry occurred to him.
"You don't get motion sickness, do you? Er.... are you afraid of those muggle roller coaster things? It's just... to get to the vaults, the goblins take you on an enchanted cart.... the carts tend to go very fast."
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Post by Kayleigh Doyle on Oct 25, 2010 18:04:30 GMT -5
"Motion sickness? No. I like things that go fairly fast," she said. Going fast didn't bother her. It was just the being in really small places or banks, or really big crowds. Kayleigh was going to try to face her fear today, although it was not going to be extremely easy. She knew that. She wanted to know what her parents left her but she didn't know how well things were going to fair out.
"How far deep down do you go to the vaults? Are the way underground or do they run all underneath Diagon Alley?"
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Post by Flynn Kennedy on Oct 25, 2010 21:29:45 GMT -5
Flynn let out a little chuckle. "Ah, you like things that go fast? Then you're a braver man... er, woman... er, person than I am," he joked. "I always get a little queasy going 'round on the carts. Tell ya what? When we're in the top part of the bank, you can lean on me if you're scared, as long as you don't mind keeping me steady in the cart."
He thought it might help her if she knew she could lean on him, and if she believed that he needed her in the carts. And, really, what he had said was true... he did tend to get motion sickness in the fast-moving carts on the winding tracks.
"No one is really sure how far down the tunnels go. Well, the goblins know, but they're sworn to secrecy. I've even heard tell that some of the most secure vaults are guarded by a dragon... But I don't know if that's true."
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