A few mornings later, just before leaving the house, Snape watched as Eileen pried up a slightly loose floorboard in the sitting room and used magic to dig a hollow pit beneath it.
"Not this one..." she muttered under her breath, prodding at the soil and rubble with her wand. "Restore to original state."
She repeated the process no less than seven times before she finally uncovered a small golden key, dulled in color, from under the floorboards. After brushing it off, she tucked it carefully into her robes.
Seeing this, Snape abandoned any expectations he might have had about the vault.
"Come on. Let's go."
After being Side-Along Apparated by Eileen to the door of the Leaky Cauldron, Snape staggered, gasping for breath, and took quite a while to recover his bearings.
"Are you alright?" Eileen looked down at him with concern. "You'll get used to the feeling with time."
"I'm fine," Snape said, patting his ears. "Let's go in."
Together, they walked through the pub and into Diagon Alley.
This was Snape's first time stepping into that towering snow-white building, which rose high above the other shops along the Alley.
At the long counter, Eileen rapped lightly on the wood and addressed an idle goblin on the other side:
"Hello, we'd like to access the Prince family vault."
The goblin carefully inspected the small golden key Eileen handed him, then gave a short nod.
"No problem. I'll have someone escort you to the vault. Ragnok!"
Ragnok?
Such coincidence?
Snape's eyes fixed on the dark-skinned, long-fingered goblin striding toward them.
"Wizard, I don't like the way you're staring."
Ragnok's slanted black eyes glinted with disapproval as he looked at Snape.
Snape quickly averted his gaze.
He knew better than to believe this goblin possessed a forgiving nature. Until he saw the vault and made it back aboveground, there was no sense in provoking Ragnok.
Ragnok led them out of the main hall, through a thick iron gate, and into a narrow stone passageway.
"Whistle-"
Ragnok blew a sharp, piercing note.
A cart came clattering along the tracks toward them at full speed.
Once they had all climbed aboard, Ragnok shoved a lever forward, and the cart shot ahead at once.
Cold wind whipped into their faces.
Soon, they were racing along winding tunnels, plunging deeper into the earth.
After leaving behind an underground lake whose ceiling was hung with massive stalactites and stalagmites, the cart eventually slowed and stopped before a door.
Ragnok dismounted, fitted the key into the lock, then pressed his palm flat upon the door.
The vault entrance melted away, revealing a gaping opening.
Snape craned his neck to peer inside.
The sight made him suck in a sharp breath:
Mountains of gold coins were piled high within.
On the shelves in the corners stood bottles filled with potions, bundles of dried herbs, thick tomes, and rolls of parchment.
"And you called this 'there should be some gold in there'?"
Snape turned toward Eileen, motioning for her to look as well.
The scene clearly stunned her too. Her mouth fell slightly open, she blinked hard, but no words came out.
Snape exhaled long and slow.
"I think... we'll never have to work another day in our lives."
After filling two bulging bags with Galleons, they boarded the cart again, which roared them back up to the surface.
"Let's go buy a few things next."
Eileen glanced at the cuffs of Snape's robes, which revealed his wrists, and at the worn trainers peeking beneath the hem.
"You need some new robes. We can also buy next term's books ahead of time."
"No need. I'll wait until after my O.W.L. results. Old textbooks aren't so bad, and I've written plenty of notes in them."
Before stepping out of Gringotts, Snape hesitated, then said:
"Wait... let's exchange some for Muggle money. I want to buy some Muggle-made clothes and daily necessities."
"Daily necessities?" Eileen asked, puzzled.
"Like shampoo..."
Snape knew the answer sounded strange, wizards had far better alternatives.
As expected, Eileen raised the obvious question.
"Why not buy Sleekeazy's Hair Potion?"
"I don't like the smell," Snape replied stiffly, then added, "It makes me a little sick."
"Then buy some for me too."
Eileen handed him a pouch.
"Whatever you want, just go ahead and get it."
After purchasing new robes at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, they strolled leisurely with ice cream cones from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, eventually stopping outside the Quidditch Quality Supplies shop, which was crammed with people.
Peering over the heads of children, Snape spotted a sleek broomstick displayed in the window.
A sign beside it read, in elegant script:
"Nimbus 1500, Experience the thrill of high-speed flight! Aerodynamic design, fine birch handle, polished with pure magic, combining speed and precision. Accelerates from a standstill to 60 miles per hour in just ten seconds, with a top speed of 107 miles per hour. Your best partner on the pitch!"
"No, I don't want that." Noticing Eileen's questioning look, Snape quickly swallowed a bite of ice cream. "I don't play Quidditch."
When they returned home, Snape dug out his old Gobstones set from his trunk and set it on the wooden table downstairs.
"Want to play a few rounds? I remember reading in the Hogwarts library's Daily Prophet that you used to be captain of the school's Gobstones team."
"It's been a long time since I touched this."
Eileen's rough fingertips instinctively brushed across a small round stone.
"Come on, it'll pass the time."
Snape sat across the table.
"Why were there so many things in the Prince vault?"
The stone he flicked missed, trembling pitifully on the board.
"Uncle Charon couldn't have saved all that..."
Eileen struck his quivering stone precisely. Her stone then sprayed a foul liquid triumphantly into Snape's face.
"Maybe our ancestors were wealthy."
"Ugh, what is that stench!"
Snape wiped the sticky slime from his cheeks.
"But it really is surprising. Looking back on the past, I feel like I endured hardship for nothing."
Before long, his entire body reeked of the foul odor.
Throwing up his hands in defeat, Snape said, "That's enough for today. I surrender."
After washing up and returning to the sitting room, Snape suddenly realized there was no reason for Eileen to continue living here.
"Mother, why don't you move?
"Tintagel in Cornwall, Upper Flagley in Yorkshire, Ottery St. Catchpole in Devon... anywhere would do. How about moving to a wizarding community?"
"...I suppose I could," Eileen said after a moment's hesitation. "Sometime soon, I'll look for land or a house."
"Good. Once you move, just write to me." Snape said, then dashed out the door. "I'll go buy you an owl!"
"But how will you-"
"The Knight Bus!"