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harry potter - Has the UK branch of Gringotts bank been ever broken into before?


There are two known break-ins and theft in Gringotts Wizarding Bank.




The first one was committed by Quirinus Quirrell, who was attempting to steal the Sorcerer's stone from Vault 713 but the vault was already emptied and the other one was committed by Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley for one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes, Helga Hufflepuff's cup from the vault of Bellatrix Lestrange.



Have such incidents ever happened before at Gringotts?



Answer



Gringotts has almost certainly been broken into before. The goblins display a pretty cavalier attitude towards people breaking in, they obviously expect it to happen:



“Stand back,” said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.


“If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they’d be sucked through the door and trapped in there,” said Griphook.


“How often do you check to see if anyone’s inside?” Harry asked.


“About once every ten years,” said Griphook with a rather nasty grin.




Of course, the goblins aren't worried about people breaking in because that isn't the hard part. The difficult part is getting back out once you've made it to a vault, due to all of the possible enchantments involved. That, I suspect, is why Quirrell not being caught is such a big deal. Not because he tried to rob Gringotts, or even that he made it to a vault, but because he was able to make it out again afterwards.


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