Gringotts Wizarding Bank

Gringotts Wizarding Bank was the only wizarding bank in Great Britain, and was owned and operated by goblins. It was founded by a goblin named Gringott in 1474. Its main offices were located around the North Side of Diagon Alley in London, England. In addition to storing money and valuables for wizards and witches, one could go there to exchange Muggle money for wizarding money, which appeared to not be very difficult, as shown when Hermione Granger's parents did so while paying for her school supplies. The currency exchanged by Muggles was later returned to circulation in the Muggle world by goblins.AOL Live Interview with J. K. Rowling - October 19, 2000 According to Rubeus Hagrid, other than Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Gringotts was the safest place in the wizarding world.
==Location==
Gringotts Wizarding Bank was located on the north side of Diagon Alley. It was the side closest to the Leaky Cauldron and, thus, closest to Charing Cross Road and Muggle London. The bank was located near Potage's Cauldron Shop, Flourish and Blotts, and Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.
==History==
===Break-ins===
====1991 break-in====
The break-in of 1991 was committed by Quirinus Quirrell, who was attempting to steal an object from Vault 713. The vault, one of the higher-security ones, held a small grubby bag, inside of which was the Philosopher's Stone. Albus Dumbledore sent Rubeus Hagrid to retrieve it while the latter was escorting Harry Potter to Diagon Alley in order to buy his school supplies.Later that very same day after Hagrid and Harry left the Alley, someone, apparently a very powerful wizard, broke into the vault. Although he was unsuccessful in obtaining the Philosopher's Stone, the break-in shocked the Wizarding world because it was practically unheard of for Gringotts to be robbed. The culprit was not caught, though it is later learned Quirrell broke into the vault acting under orders from Lord Voldemort. Also the protection around the vault was minimal at the time, since it no longer contained anything and thus had nothing to guard.
==Description==
Gringotts was an imposing snow-white multistoried marble building located partway down Diagon Alley, near its intersection with Knockturn Alley, that towered over the neighbouring shops. It was the place where British witches and wizards stored their money and other valuables, in heavily-guarded vaults miles below ground.When Harry Potter first visited Gringotts, he was told by Hagrid that one would have to be mad to try to rob Gringotts and that, apart from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it was the safest place for anything valuable to be kept. Goblins were extremely greedy and would protect their money and valuables at any cost, which made them ideal guardians for the valuables of the wizarding world. The goblins had a code that forbade them to speak of the bank's secrets, and would consider it "base treachery" to break any part of that code.The centuries-old bank was run by goblins, and they alone knew the secrets of the twisting underground passages and the enchantments and creatures in place to defend against intruders. There was a rumour that Cornelius Fudge was trying to take over Gringotts when he was Minister for Magic; however, as it was published in The Quibbler, it was likely unsubstantiated.
===Entrance and main hall===
From Diagon Alley, a set of white stairs led up to a set of burnished bronze doors. The doors were flanked by a goblin in a uniform of scarlet and gold, though during the Second Wizarding War the goblin was replaced instead by two wizard guards with Probity Probes. This was the entrance to Gringotts, and it led into a small entrance hall and another set of doors. Engraved on these silver doors were the words:
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.
Through these doors, also flanked with goblins, was a vast marble hall long counters stretching along its length with doors leading off to the vault passageways with around a hundred goblins sitting at them. The vaults extended for miles under the city and were accessible through rough stone, complex and interconnected passageways by means of magic carts that were operated by goblins. Dragons and other mysterious beasts lurked in the depths as additional security devices.Private entrances to Gringotts could be arranged. They they were very uncommon. Those who had great wealth and/or power were the only ones capable of arranging it.
==Gringotts vaults==
In contrast to the grand marble of the entryway and the main hall, the passageways to the vaults were stone and dimly lit with flaming torches. They sloped down to a track, upon which ran little carts controlled by the goblins. These carts took visitors deep beneath the surface of the earth, through a "maze of twisting passages" to the vaults. The carts went very quickly, which made Hagrid a little queasy and prevented its occupants from getting a good look at their surroundings, and seemed to run on a vast, complex, interconnected series of tracks that allowed them to move to and between any vaults.The vaults themselves varied in size and security. The largest, most well protected vaults belonged to the oldest and richest wizarding families and lay deepest beneath the surface. Those vaults closer to the surface seemed to be smaller and had fewer security precautions surrounding them — they used keys, for example, rather than requiring the touch of a goblin to gain access. The rules around who was allowed to access vaults seemed to change; sometimes wizards were asked for identification or a key to be allowed access, yet both Molly Weasley and Bill Weasley were able to get gold from Harry's vault for him.It is possible there was a charm forcing the wizard to give the gold to its rightful owner. However, even this wouldn't explain how Sirius Black was able to order a Firebolt in Harry's name, but take the gold from his own vault — despite being an escaped convict at the time. It also seemed that only blood relations could inherit a Gringotts vault; Albus Dumbledore implied strongly that when Sirius died as the last of the Black family line, his vault was cleaned out and its contents added to Harry's, rather than Harry inheriting the vault as well, though this could be excused as due to Harry already having a vault the bankers would not see fit to grant him an additional one. 
It seemed that any vault belonging to a criminal would remain guarded and untouched, as when all the Lestrange family were sentenced to Azkaban for life, their vault was not evicted, leaving it a safe-place for Voldemort's horcrux, though it is possible that they had non-criminal relatives who could be in possession of the vault during their incarceration, but as Sirius Black was the last Black by name for at least some of his sentence and his vault remained without anything being confiscated, it would seem that Gringotts operated outside of wizard law, at the very least in rights of ownership towards their vaults and what was kept inside.There are several vaults that were known specifically:
Vault 	Owner 	Description 	Notes
Vault 1 	Unknown 	Contained loads of Knuts. 	People had to use the Mine Cart to come around in every corner of it. This vault also contained lots of rubies, emeralds, sapphires, yellow gems and diamonds.
Vault 2 	Unknown 	Contained loads of Sickles. 	People had to use the Mine Cart to come around in every corner of it. This vault also contained lots of rubies, emeralds, sapphires, yellow gems and diamonds.
Vault 3 	Unknown 	Contained loads of Galleons. 	People had to use the Mine Cart to come around in every corner of it. This vault also contained lots of rubies, emeralds, sapphires, yellow gems and diamonds.
Vault 12 	Percival Rackham and Charles Rookwood 	Opened with a key. It was protected with ancient magic and contained a Pensieve. 	Percival and Charles opened it in Tudor times and left behind a path for those that could detect ancient magic.
Vault 619 	Edwin Avarus 	The vault required a key for entry, though the overall security for the vault's location was questionable, as a goblin might still take one to the vault without proof of actually possessing the said key. 	Simeon Woderuff, at one point, was forced to train a Griffin, Tiffin, to guard the content.
Vault 687 	Potter family 	The vault required a key for entry, and was at a moderate depth — further down than the Weasley Vault, but not as far as Vault 713. 	Harry Potter first ventured to Gringotts in 1991, when he learned that his late parents had left him a great deal of money in a vault.
Vault 688 	Unknown 	It faced Vault 687. 	
Vault 711 	Sirius Black 	In 1996, it contained a "reasonable amount of gold". Given its depth, it was likely a high-security vault. 	Sirius used gold from this vault to pay for Harry Potter's Firebolt in 1993. Upon Sirius' death, he left all the money in the vault to Harry in his will.
Vault 712 	Instead of being used as a regular vault, it was used by the goblins as a (presumably unsanctioned) lounge, suggesting it was unused.	Instead of being used as a regular vault, it was used by the goblins as a (presumably unsanctioned) lounge, suggesting it was unused. 	Instead of being used as a regular vault, it was used by the goblins as a (presumably unsanctioned) lounge, suggesting it was unused.
Vault 713 	Possibly the Flamel family 	A higher-security vault that used to hold a small grubby bag, inside of which was the Philosopher's Stone.
It is reasonable to assume that the vault, like the stone housed within it, belonged to Nicholas Flamel and his wife. 	Rubeus Hagrid was charged with moving the Philosopher's Stone from Gringotts to Hogwarts in 1991 while he took Harry Potter to Diagon Alley. Later that very same day, someone, apparently a very powerful wizard, broke into the vault.
Although the culprit was unsuccessful in obtaining the stone, the break-in shocked the Wizarding world because it was practically unheard of for Gringotts to be robbed, and the robbery was reported in the Daily Prophet.
Vault 998 	Quirinus Quirrell 	Located in the new vault area. A key was needed to gain entry. 	
Lestrange Vault	Lestrange family 	The security of this vault was even higher than that of Vault 713, as a goblin had to place his entire palm on the door to open it, rather than just a finger, and it was guarded by a dragon. Each item in the vault was enchanted with the Geminio and Flagrante.	It, at one point, stored the sword of Godric Gryffindor, unknown to the Lestranges that it was actually a fake.
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, severely damaged the cavernous interior and freed a dragon while escaping.
Spellbook vault	Unknown 	Sealed by a special key consisting of five gemstones and guarded by a giant Fire crab known as the Vaults Guardian. 	Contained a spellbook.
Travers's Vault	Travers 	Required a key. 	When Ron, Harry, and Hermione (disguised as Bellatrix Lestrange) broke into Gringotts, they ran into the Death Eater named Travers, who was holding his key to his vault, also heading toward the bank.
Weasley Vault 	Weasley family 	Closer to the surface than Vault 687, and had fewer security measures. 	When the Weasleys entered it in the summer of 1992, the vault contained only a small pile of Sickles and a single Galleon, all of which Molly Weasley took out.
Pickering Vault	Pickering family 	Probably located near the high-security Lestrange Vault. 	Destroyed by dragon detritus during the 1998 break-in; later moved to a different location. "Brilliant Event: First Year at Hogwarts"
==Security==
250px|thumb|left|The Gringotts dragon that protects the high-security vaults
Gringotts used a variety of security systems. Most lower security vaults, such as Harry Potter's, required a key; higher security vaults required the touch of a certified Gringotts goblin. Higher security vaults might have various enchantments upon the doors. For example, the door to Vault 713 needed to be stroked by a certified Gringotts goblin, which caused it to melt away. If anyone but a Gringotts goblin touched the door, the person would be sucked into the vault, which was checked for trapped thieves about once per decade. This, and the fact that visitors must travel in the mine carts to access the vaults, strongly suggests that there were Anti-Apparition Charms around the bank. 
At various points, the bank had used Dragons, security trolls, and Sphinxes to guard the highest security vaults, such as the vault of the Lestrange Family. Though affiliated with Gringotts, the dragons kept there were not actually "tamed" in the traditional way, in the sense that they were merely used to discourage intruders and unauthorised persons from approaching the vaults to which these beasts were stationed at. They were "conditioned" in an inhumane way that compelled them to retreat whenever they heard the sound produced by Clankers, which only the goblins possessed.
The usage of Sphinxes were troublesome for some clients, when they wished to make a withdraw but were unable to answer the riddles that the Sphinxes gave as security questions. Another security measure was the Thief's Downfall: a charmed waterfall that the goblin carts must pass through, it cancelled all enchantments and magical concealments, and threw the carts off their tracks. Some vaults used the Gemino and Flagrante charms; when any item was touched by a thief, it multiplied rapidly and burned them, eventually crushing and scorching them to death. Objects within Gringotts couldn't be summoned. At times, Probity Probes were used on clients to detect enchantments, magical concealments and hidden magical objects. 
On his first visit to Gringotts, Harry was told by Hagrid to be cautious. Goblins were extremely greedy and would protect their money and valuables at any cost, which made them ideal guardians for the valuables of the wizarding world. This became one of the primary reasons that Voldemort chose to hide one of his precious horcruxes in the deeper vaults of the bank, and was explosively furious when it failed his expectations. Ironically, Harry later did rob Gringotts with Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, the only known successful theft in the history of the bank, by taking advantage of a former employee's knowledge of the inner workings of the bank. It is unknown if Harry was able to resume normal business with the bank following Voldemort's defeat.
During the Second Wizarding War, security of the bank was further enforced, as it was taking normal clients around five hours to make withdraws. Probity Probes were a known security measure used during this time, which could be stuck up a certain part of their bodies. Only employees of the bank would be able to get money out of a vault for a client much faster, as Bill Weasley did for Harry Potter.
==Employment==
While Gringotts was largely staffed by goblins, including Griphook, Bogrod, and Ragnok, it is known that the bank did employ humans: Gringotts actively advertised career employment to Hogwarts students at least for Curse-Breakers, and might likely also do so to other wizarding schools elsewhere. Bill Weasley worked as a Curse-Breaker for Gringotts in Egypt, retrieving artefacts from ancient Egyptian tombs and pyramids after his graduation from Hogwarts. 
When Bill wanted to do work for the Order of the Phoenix, he transferred to a desk job in England to be near home. That same year, Fleur Delacour took a job at Gringotts as well after participating in the Triwizard Tournament, to improve her English, though she only worked part-time. They also employed Dragon Feeders, a job with a high mortality rate, at 7 Galleons per week.
At least during Harry Potter's break-in of the bank, there seemed to be a full-time security force that was comprised of wizard guards, who rushed to the scene when the Lestrange vault was broken into. Despite this, Griphook mentioned at that time that the goblins resented "wand-bearer" interference in their internal affairs.
===Goblins===
*Gringott - founder of the bank
*Ragnok
*Griphook
*Ricbert
*Bogrod
*Gornuk
*Nagnok
*Blordak
*Snaglok
*Burgock
*Odbert
*Bodrag III
*Garnuff's family	
*Gringotts Head Goblin
*Unidentified goblin stockbroker
*Unidentified Gringotts spokesgoblin
*Tall goblin
*Clever goblin
*Magic goblin
*Unidentified goblin at Gringotts in 1998 (I)
*Unidentified goblin at Gringotts in 1998 (II)
*Unidentified goblin at Gringotts in 1998 (III)
*Unidentified goblin at Gringotts in 1998 (IV)
*Unidentified goblin killed by Voldemort
*Numerous unnamed goblins
===Guards===
*Unidentified Gringotts Bank goblin guard
*Marius
*Unidentified Gringotts guard (I)
*Unidentified Gringotts guard (II)
==Competition==
Gringotts had no known competition in the wizarding banking industry, and was almost surely a monopoly in Britain. Rubeus Hagrid said it was the only wizard bank, but it isn't clear if he meant in Britain, or in the wizarding world as a whole. It is known, however, that the bank at least had dealings in Egypt, where Bill Weasley worked as a Curse-Breaker as of 1993.It is likely therefore, as goblins tended to be at odds with wizards on political and social levels, that the Ministry of Magic had laws set in place to stop Gringotts intentionally regulating the wizarding economy, likely through the Goblin Liaison Office.
==Etymology==
Gringotts may be derived from the word "ingots", which means a mass of metal cast in a convenient form for shaping, remelting, or refining. Also "Gringo" is an informal slang used by Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries to describe merchants of foreign nationalities, or really anyone who is foreign and (apparently) rich, a fitting term if one considers it refers to a bank run by the Goblins.
==Behind the scenes==
*In , the interior of the Australia House in London was used for the Gringotts grand entrance hall.
==Appearances==
* 
*Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
*Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
*Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Category:Entire Diagon Alley
Category:Foundables
Category:An Goblin-Made Objects
Gringotts
Category:Horcrux Known Locations