A/N: Sorry it took so long. I wanted to add a little more to this, but I'm kinda stuck on the formalities. I have a bunch of ideas when they actually get to Hogwarts, but right now in need to figure out how to do the shopping/meet the female founders' chapter. This chapter at least gets them to Diagon Alley.

It was dreadfully early in the morning when Salazar was startled awake by a pounding at the door. It sounded as if someone was beating their door down with a sledge hammer, and it was practically shaking the house. "That had better not be what I think it is." He said to the dark ceiling of his room before heaving himself out of bed. He was not a morning person and already had a deep scowl on his face.

Grumbling to himself as he rushed downstairs and opened the door. Outside was a man who could have been six men in a fur coat. He had extremely tangled brown hair on his head and face, and warm black eyes.

"Hey Jem!"

Salazar sighed at the familiar voice coming from behind the large man. Godric poked his head around the half giants arm and smiled at his friend.

Salazar just glared back. "I assume you've been sent from Hogwarts?"

"Oh, yea. Name's Rubeus Hagrid, but you can call me jus' Agrid. You Jeremy Gre'stone then?" Hagrid said with a smile behind his long tangled beard.

Salazar flinched a bit at the man's way of pronunciation, but said nothing. "Yes, I am."

"Great! So we'll need ta' get yer supplies an' such." Hagrid said enthusiastically.

"Jeremy?" A voice from within the house.

"I believe you have forgotten about something." Salazar said motioning back to the brown haired woman inside the house.

"Was' that?" Hagrid asked curiously.

"Are you going to explain magic and Hogwarts to my mother, or are you planning on kidnapping me?" Salazar snapped a bit harshly.

"Oh a, ye mean yeh didn't already?" Hagrid said with a bit of nervousness in his voice.

"And how would you expect me to do that exactly?" Salazar said half mockingly.

"Oh, give him a break Sal!" Godric said coming inside as if it was his own house.

"I wasn't speaking to you Gabriel." Salazar hissed. He was in a bad mood this early and was even more irritated that his suspicions had been confirmed. The headmaster was definitely a Gryffindor.

"Don't mind him. He gets a bit cranky if you wake him up too early!" Godric told Hagrid which made him relax a little.

"Hello Ms. Greystone!" Godric said politely to the woman standing idly in the hall.

"Uh, hello Gabriel. W-what's going on?" Salazar's mother asked warily, still looking at the intimidating form of Hagrid.

"See, Sa- I mean Jeremy's a wizard, and now he needs to go to a school to train a and stuff." Godric said then grinned proudly.

"That was informational…" Salazar sighed again, then turned to his mother. "I've been accepted into a school to help nurture my natural talents. I'll need to be away most of the year, but I will write you." He was going to have to explain himself in more detail when he returned.

Ms. Greystone looked about to protest when Salazar stopped her. "Just trust me on this. You know I don't go barreling into trouble. I know what I'm doing alright?"

"Alright Jeremy." She said before giving him a hug. It was true, Jeremy had always been logical and mature for his age.

"I'll be back after getting my supplies. We don't leave until September the first." Salazar said wriggling out of the embrace.

"Well. Uh….bes' be getting' on our way, eh?" Hagrid said uncomfortably.

"Right. Let's go then." Godric said not at all uncomfortable.

"Hold on you imbecile, let me get dressed!" Salazar snapped at him before running upstairs.

The two friends were surprised to see the entrance to Diagon Alley hadn't changed in 1000 years, although a bar called The Leaky Cauldron had been built around it. Salazar was busy trying to convert in his mind the $600 his mother had given him (which she was going to use to buy his 6th grade school supplies anyway) into Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts.

Godric however was still going on about the triple-decker purple bus that had transported them here. He was probably the only one who had enjoyed that ride, as Salazar thought it was extremely uncomfortable.

Hagrid was pointing out normal things and muttering about 'strange muggle machines' and trying to explain all about magic which Salazar eventually tuned out. Diagon Alley itself however was drastically different then what it once was. It was bigger and it had a lot more than the small shops and apothecary it had a millennium ago.

Hagrid walked the two up to Gringotts which to Salazar was the most astounding change. It was at least 10 times larger and seemed to be run entirely by goblins. Salazar couldn't help but agree with their guide that Gringotts would be the safest place for their gold. Back in his day he had asked a goblin specifically to keep up his vault even though there were a few wizards working there as well. He knew they were extremely trustworthy if not a bit grumpy.

Godric had meanwhile started up a conversation about dragons with Hagrid who they found out was the Care of Magical Creatures professor at Hogwarts. Salazar was going to point out to Godric that he shouldn't know anything about dragons, but couldn't get him alone and Hagrid didn't seemed to notice.

After the exchanged there muggle money for wizarding coins Hagrid was about to lead them to a store called Flourish and Blotts, when Salazar cut him off.

"If you don't mind, I believe we can get everything on the list ourselves." Salazar said carefully, he wasn't so irritable now that he was fully awake. "You could come fetch us in a few hours if you'd like."

"Uh, well, alrigh'. You sure yer not gonna be needin' any help now?" Hagrid asked.

"We'll be fine." Salazar said and Godric grinned and nodded.

"See ya Hagrid!" Godric waved.

"Alrigh' I'll see ya in a few hours then!" Hagrid said before walking off.

"I like him." Godric said throwing an arm over Salazar's shoulders.

"Definitely a Gryffindor." Was Salazar's reply.

"Think so?" Godric actually pondered it for a moment.

"I'm sure of it." Salazar said. "Let's go back to Gringotts and see our vaults."

"Can you believe how big it's gotten?" Godric said.

"I know." The brunette agreed.

"Back again I see. Did you… forget something?" One of the goblins asked when he saw the two boys enter.

"Yes actually. Do you by any chance have an employee here with the surname Sepleburn?" Salazar asked politely.

"Sepleburn?" The goblin looked at Salazar suspiciously, then he called out to one of the goblins in the back.

The goblin which came out was particularly old and also had a suspicious look in his eyes. Once the former goblin left, Sepleburn immediately asked, "How do you know me?"

"Your family was put in charge of my friend's vault as well as my own." Salazar answered smoothly. "I need access to vaults 2 and 5."

Sepleburn's eyes widened then narrowed in rapid succession. "Do you have your key?"

Salazar was actually amused by the goblin's question, as he knew he was trying to make them slip up if this was a plan to steal from the vault. Goblin's had always been very clever, not to mention possessive.

"Those vaults do not require a key." Salazar replied patiently. Godric, however, seemed to be a bit irritated as he hadn't recognized what the goblin was attempting, and was very anxious to explore the vastly improved wizard market.

Sepleburn was still looking at them with narrowed eyes, and Salazar knew why; there was nothing goblins hated more than thieves. "Right this way." He said suspicion not leaving his voice.

They where lead to a platform that dropped straight down to the deepest depths of the bank. The platform jerked and came to a complete stop after 15 minutes of free falling. "Vault number 5" Sepleburn said smirking.

"Right that's mine!" Godric, who had been looking around quietly, piped up when he saw his vault. It was huge and golden with a lion engraved on it in a very noble pose.

When Godric approached the door the lion sprang to life and gave a ferocious roar. Godric walked right up to it and placed his hand on the lions head as if to pet it. There was a flash of red light then the lion purred and the door opened with a loud creak.

Inside the walls where a warm red color, which Salazar couldn't help but sneer at, it was as large as a hallway and was packed with piles of not only wizarding money, but also jewels, weapons, and large chests. Godric went directly over to a white gold chest to the side and opened it.

He shifted the objects around until he found what he was looking for. He got out a pouch with the Gryffindor seal on it. He looked around putting more coins in the pouch then could physically fit although the bag still looked empty. He pocketed the pouch and was about to close the chest when something caught his eye. It was a golden locket with a ruby stone. When he picked it up he felt his magic welcome the familiar item.

"Hey! Remember this?" Godric said holding the locket up.

"Yes." Salazar responded from outside the vault, thinking of the locket's nearly identical silver and emerald counterpart.

"You know where yours is?" Godric asked slipping the locket around his neck.

"No, I died with mine…" Salazar said quietly sparing a glance at Sepleburn who seemed to be stunned.

"If you…but that must mean…" The old goblin rasped out.

"Yes?" Salazar's eyes held the goblin's with a subtle power, and the banker was momentarily at a loss for words. Salazar decided to spare him the trouble. "Ah, yes. One thousand years ago, I entrusted my own vault as well as three of my comrades vaults in the care of your family. I expected secrecy and attention from your ancestor."

"And you can expect the same from me." The goblin supplied, still under the emerald gaze of the Hogwarts Founder.

"Then we appear to be on level ground." Salazar said allowing the harsher edge of his voice to fade. His eyes lifted off of the banker and rested on Godric who was hopping agilely out of his vault. "That answer is appreciated."

"Next?" Godric said pocketing his money pouch with a interested grin on his light features. He was still wearing the ruby adorned round locket.

Salazar almost told Gryffindor to take it off when he stopped himself. It would be interesting enough to find anyone who could recognize that item, probably lost in time for a millennia. Instead he answered, while stepping back onto the moving platform. "Yes."

The platform took the three even deeper into the Earth's crust, deeper until the air held a stale chill and the only light that could ever ender was the dull glow from the torches. As they journeyed farther Godric could not help but wonder why his friend liked these dank and dark areas so much. The Gryffindor house founder was already shivering slightly by the time Sepleburn's raspy and oddly subdued voice called out the vault number for number 2.

This vault, like Godric's, was different than most. Instead of a common door, the object sealing the vault from intruders was a huge stone basilisk. It was coiled around the entrance, blocking the low archway completely, it's eyes were thankfully closed.

Salazar didn't hesitate in stepping smoothly off the platform and up to the stone monster. At his approach the basilisk gave a shiver and began to move it's enormous stone head. Salazar's speech turned to Parseltongue by instinct. ::Hush, now. Surely you remember me?::

Godric watched with a strange fascination as his friend began conversing with the large stone snake. He didn't know why, but no matter how many times Godric saw Salazar speak in the language of the snakes, it never failed to be extremely creepy. Not that Godric Gryffindor was scared, but the fact that he was not curiously and recklessly bounding over to explore the secret vault of his best friend spoke volumes to anyone who knew him.

The basilisk's eyes remained closed on orders, and it sleepily uncoiled it's long body to make an opening so that Salazar could access his money. Unlike Vault 5, this vault had default stone walls and instead of jewels and treasures lying haphazardly about there was a comfortable feeling of order. Unmarked chests held his wizard currency, and shelves and racks held various amounts of ancient texts and weapons.

His stone basilisk had slithered it's way into the vault and was happily praising its master's return. In glancing over at the enchanted guardian, green eyes were drawn to a sheathed blade.

The dark wizard moved closer and picked it up from its place. ::It's been too long.:: He hissed absent mindedly as he drew the short sword from its sheath.

It's true that the weapon would not bring the same amount of awe Godric's ornamental sword would. It's jade lined hilt and obsidian edges were not as visually appealing as the ruby encrusted hilt and goblin made blade of his companion, however, Salazar felt he had the better deal when it came to power.

The Goblin's had most likely reacquired Godric's beloved blade, but Salazar had made this sword himself. He'd spent the time weaving his own magic into its every fiber, and the result of his hard work was revealed in the humming burst of welcoming power that filled the Founder as soon as he'd drawn the sword.

Salazar quickly re-sheathed the sword and secreted it away inside a pouch similar to Godric's that was, however, effectively invisible to anyone but himself. Salazar attempted to wandlessly summon his coins to himself, and was unhappily startled when it was unsuccessful. The Founder had a horribly annoyed sneer on his face that was so effective, even his currently blind stone guardian shivered.

Salazar left the vault with his invisible pouch already tucked into his pocket. He stepped back onto the platform, his mind somewhere else as he watched the stone snake recoil itself in front of his vault's entrance. "Let's go."