It's Not A Large Community solo finished

Elspeth had never seen her mother look so perturbed before. Normally, Rebecca Gollens was a people pleaser, looking to try and stop conflicts before they began. Today, though, she seemed practically put off by Elspeth. After getting into the fridge on her own, Elspeth had accidentally consumed some Invigoration Potion, thinking it was chocolate milk. Her mother woke to find her almost literally bouncing off of the walls, eyes bulging out and unable to stop speaking at a mile a minute. On a typical day this wouldn't have been a problem, as she could have just brewed some calming draught but they'd run out of crocodile heart. Which meant a trip to the local apothecary, which meant needing to take out some extra cash and a trip to Gringotts.

She'd never been inside the wizarding bank before. Her dad would always sit with her in The Leaky Cauldron while her mother dealt with the money as the goblins always upset him a bit. But he was off visiting family, so her mother had no choice but to take her into the bank. Elspeth couldn't tell if her mom was still mad about her mistake. Upon waking up, her mother hadn't seemed super mad at her. She'd rubbed her temples and gone to the cellar to try and find a cure. Even after they found out they didn't have the ingredients her mom only seemed mildly annoyed at the whole situation, but not angry. It was only after looking in her small coin purse and realizing she didn't have any cash that her mood had turned sour. Was it Elspeth's fault that they were low on money? She was still coming down from the energy rush and felt a little too sleepy to try and remember how this might be her fault. Instead of asking, she just held on to her mom's hand as they passed through the floo network into Diagon Alley.

Aberstwyth was a small muggle city that had a strong magical presence, but nothing like Diagon Alley. Five year old Elspeth's eyes grew as wide as platters staring at all of the glittering window displays and fancifully dressed wizenfolk bustling about to their jobs or to barter for ingredients. The crooked buildings, from Elspeth's height, all looked like they were leaning over toward her, beckoning her to come in. She tugged on her mom's sleeve, "Mom, can we go to the Weasly Shop and get some candy? I want some -"

"No, Elspeth. You can't just drink mommy's potions and then get candy for it. We're just here to go to the bank and then go home," her mom's voice had the tone of finality to it.

Elspeth's eyes started to water. She didn't like it when her mom used the harsh tone with her and she felt like she was being punished for something she didn't mean to do. "That's not fair! You shouldn't have left your potion where I keep my chocolate milk!" Elspeth's face scrunched up in anger and frustration, and she began to stomp alongside her mom who was working hard to not acknowledge her daughter's feelings. Being ignored only made Elspeth more angry and she started to grunt with each stop until she was practically roaring and attracting the attention of everyone they walked beside.

Her mother squeezed her hand tightly, clearly angry with her for behaving this way. But it pinched Elspeth's fingers and only served to make her more mad at her mom who seemed to be very unfair this morning. She stopped walking, standing resolute in her spot, forcing her mom to almost drag her behind. "OW! STOP IT! THAT HURTS!"

Her mom swung around and bent down to get on Elspeth's level. At first it looked like she was going to yell at her, which is something her mother never did. But after a moment her face softened, and she smoothed back the hair on Elspeth's head. "Look, Elspeth," she sighed a little, "Honey, I'm really sorry. I'm just... we don't have more money for candy right now, okay? And I'm really frustrated that I made that mistake, and put mommy's wake up potion on the wrong shelf. If we can just get into the bank and get our money fast enough, maybe we can stop by Florean's on the way out."

Elspeth's face lit up, "Really!" Her mom nodded. "YAY! I want the hot chocolate ice cream. With extra sprinkles-" They started walking toward Gringotts again, "And marshmallows! And a cherry! And -"

Her mom put a finger on her lips as they got to the doors of the bank. Elspeth nodded and proceeded to whisper, "and more sprinkles and cinnamon and -"

As the doors swung open Elspeth really did get quiet. She'd never been inside Gringotts before. Some of the neighbor kids talked about how there were dragons inside that would eat you if you tried to even touch anything. She stepped a little closer to her mom, to stay safe.

From the outside, the bank looked so small and crooked, practically dilapidated and falling apart. Inside, though, revealed a large marble expanse that reached up higher than the building's exterior appearance let on. Elspeth craned her neck up to look at the cascading chandeliers practically dripping from the ceiling. Everything looked immaculate, like you could eat right off of it and not have to worry about the five second rule. Which only made the piles of gold, glittering behind the counters, even more wondrous. Elspeth's hand slipped out from between her mom's fingers as she started walking toward the shiny mountain.

"Halt!" a nasally voice cut through her bewitchment with the precious metal and she stopped in her tracks.

Sitting just beside the pile of gold was a goblin. A real life goblin! She'd never seen one in person before, only in her picture books. This goblin looked angry with her, their brows furrowed on a squat, wrinkly face. With pointed ears, pinned back against their scalp, and deepset eyes that revealed almost no iris, the goblin appeared more creature than person to her. She was about to yelp for help when she felt her mom's hand on her shoulder.

"Elspeth! Please stick with me, okay. We don't want to bother anyone working right now," her mom's voice had softened from her earlier anger, but was clearly still exasperated at having to make this trek without the help of her father. She looked to the goblin sternly before offering, "I'm sorry about that. I'll keep a closer eye on her."

The goblin grunted in response before settling back in their seat. "You'd do well to remember this isn't a day care, Rabaco," they added that last word with something akin to a snarl, revealing their many pointy teeth. Elspeth gasped and hid her face in her mom's robes.

They walked over to the counter where her mom began to talk with the attending goblin about making a withdrawal. Elspeth tried to pay attention at first, but was once again distracted by the elaborate room she found herself in. Her eyes wandered from piles of jewels, to the customers coming in and having hushed conversations with goblins. The goblins, themselves, all looked very serious and unhappy, with frowns and scowls coming in response to questions about vaults. She didn't understand why they looked like such a miserable lot. As her eyes scanned the space, they landed on one especially intense looking goblin, who appeared to be staring directly at her.

He was sitting just behind the counter, toward the front door. Elspeth couldn't hear what her mother was saying anymore, his deep eyes transfixing her in a way that made it difficult to remember the rest of the world was still moving along around her. He had wisps of white hair sprouting indiscriminately around his large cranium, his forehead protruding forward more deeply than any human she'd seen. He had a wide mouth that seemed to form from a tear in his doughy flesh, as if someone had left a newly kneaded bun out to proof and it had grown over the edge of the counter, sagging toward the floor. Those deep, dark eyes though, seemed to see something inside of her. She couldn't tell what, but she knew well enough to not want some stranger knowing much of anything about her.

She tore her gaze away as she heard her mother make another exasperated sigh, "I can't possibly take my daughter down to the vault right now, she's only five! Would you like to have chocolate milk spit up all over you?" Rebecca Gollens put her elbows on the counter and rested her face in her hands before, dejectedly, saying, "Fine. Just, how about I just exchange some muggle money over, okay?"

The cash swapped hands, and as quickly as they'd arrived, they left, her mother tugging on her small hand as they walked down the marble hall toward the entrance. All the while, though, Elspeth couldn't shake the feeling that she was still being watched by the goblin near the door. She was too scared to look up, for fear of revealing anything else about herself. What did this goblin know? And why did he want to know it? She shuddered.

As their boots clicked down the white steps back to the street, her mother offered, "Do you still want to get that ice cream?"

But Elspeth shook her head. She wasn't very hungry anymore.