Gringotts Wizarding Bank

"Enter, stranger, but take heed
 * Of what awaits the sin of greed
 * For those who take, but do not earn,
 * Must pay most dearly in their turn.
 * So if you seek beneath our floors
 * A treasure that was never yours,
 * Thief, you have been warned, beware
 * Of finding more than treasure there."

- Inscription from the doors of Gringotts

Gringotts Wizarding Bank is the only known bank of the wizarding world. It was created by the goblin Gringott. It is located in Diagon Alley and is owned and run by Goblins. In addition to storing money and valuables for wizards, one can go there to exchange Muggle money for wizarding money. According to Rubeus Hagrid, other than Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Gringotts is the safest place in the wizarding world.

Outside Appearance
This snowy-white building towers over neighbouring shops. Customers pass through a set of bronze doors and then an additional set of silver doors before entering the lobby. The main floor is paved with marble and has long counters stretching along its length. The vaults are miles below, accessible through rough stone passageways and then by means of magic carts that travel speedily along mining tracks. Dragons and other mysterious beasts lurk in the depths as additional security devices.

There are a number of methods to opening the vaults. Most vaults, such as Harry's, use small golden keys. Higher security vaults may have various enchantments upon the doors. For example, the door to vault 713 needs to be stroked by a certified Gringotts goblin, which causes it to melt away. If anyone but a Gringotts goblin touches the door, the person will be sucked into the vault, which is checked for trapped thieves about once per decade.

Employment
While Gringotts is largely staffed by goblins, it is known that the bank does employ humans.


 * Ragnok - possibly the bank's president
 * Griphook
 * Bill Weasley - worked as a curse-breaker for Gringotts in Egypt, retrieving artifacts from ancient Egyptian tombs and pyramids.
 * Fleur Delacour - took a part time job with Gringotts after participating in the Triwizard Tournament, supposedly to improve her English.
 * Bogrod
 * Numerous Goblins

Vault 713
Gringotts was first introduced in Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts. Harry didn't know his parents had left him a great deal of money in a vault. This was fortunate for Harry, since his uncle and aunt would have surely taken most, if not all, as "proper compensation" for "opening their home" to him. While they would have had to exchange it for Muggle money, this appears to not be very difficult, as shown when Hermione's parents did so while paying for her school supplies.

The Philosopher's Stone was held at Gringotts in vault 713, in a small, grubby bag. Hagrid was charged with moving it from Gringotts to Hogwarts, which he did expertly. Later that very same day Professor Quirrell broke into the vault under orders of Lord Voldemort; although he was unsuccessful in obtaining the Philosopher's Stone, the break-in shocked the wizarding world because the culprit was not caught. The robbery was reported in the Daily Prophet, because it was practically unheard of for Gringotts to be robbed.

On that first visit to Gringotts, Harry was told by Hagrid that one would have to be mad to try to rob Gringotts. Goblins are extremely greedy and would protect their money and valuables at any cost, which makes them ideal guardians for the valuables of the wizarding world. Ironically, Harry later did rob Gringotts.

Lestrange Vault


The Lestranges, a very old pure-blood family, had a vault in Gringotts guarded by a dragon and full of treasure protected by the Geminio and Flagrante curses. It also served as the hiding place for Helga Hufflepuff's Cup, one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes. It was this item that Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger sought to steal when they broke into Gringotts in 1998. They managed to steal the cup and severely damaged the cavernous interior and freed a dragon while escaping.

Behind the scenes

 * According to the movie adaptations of the series, Harry's vault is number 687.
 * Sirius Black's vault number is 711.

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