CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

At Shell Cottage, the trio finalize their Gringotts heist: Hermione will impersonate Bellatrix using her hair and wand, Ron adopts a false identity, and Harry and Griphook hide under the Invisibility Cloak. Despite Harry’s unease and Hermione’s hatred of Bellatrix’s wand, they depart at dawn for Diagon Alley.

At the Leaky Cauldron and in Diagon Alley, Hermione’s Bellatrix act draws attention. Travers intercepts them, but Harry Imperiuses both Travers and, inside Gringotts, the goblin Bogrod after staff demand Bellatrix’s wand for identification. With Bogrod leading, they descend by cart; a magical waterfall, the Thief’s Downfall, shatters their disguises and breaks spells, forcing Harry to re‑Imperius Bogrod.

They reach a chained, half‑blind dragon guarding the deepest vaults. Using “Clankers” to exploit its conditioning, they drive it back and open the Lestrange vault. Inside, treasure burns and multiplies under curses, threatening to crush them. Spying Hufflepuff’s cup high on a shelf, Hermione levitates Harry, who hooks the cup with the Sword of Gryffindor amid a flood of scalding, duplicating objects.

As the vault door opens to approaching goblins, Griphook snatches the sword, flings the cup, and betrays them by raising the alarm. Harry grabs the cup, sustaining burns, while goblins and wizards converge. In desperation, Harry frees the dragon by blasting its shackles.

The trio scramble onto the dragon’s back. It smashes through tunnels and the bank’s entrance under fire and gouging spells from the trio, then bursts into Diagon Alley. With Hufflepuff’s cup secured but the sword lost to Griphook, they escape into the sky on the dragon.