Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World-Chapter 75 - 70. Was There a Goblin in Your Family?

Chapter 75: Chapter 70. Was There a Goblin in Your Family?

Of course, Severus could have taken everything from the goblins by force and simply made them work, but he was too lazy to deal with that. Besides, why quarrel and make enemies when you could form an alliance instead? Those thoughts drifted through his mind as he considered them. Showing his strength again, drawing the attention of all Magical Britain and the wider world by attacking one of Gringotts’ branches, one of the most protected banks in existence, would have been a stupid idea.

He did not crave power or world domination. He only wanted enough strength to protect himself and his loved ones and live a peaceful life without wanting for anything, the kind he never had in another world, where he had to survive, constantly fight, and lose friends, comrades, and teachers. By the end of his life he had been left alone, simply so he would not have to feel that grief again.

He did not want to repeat that fate, so he often acted with restraint and tried not to take the lives of anyone who did not intend to harm him. The goblins behaved arrogantly, but he did not care. To him they were like ants. It would take a second to kill them, and watching them was even interesting. So he ignored their quirks. Of course, if they crossed the line, sending assassins after him, accusing him of something, or falsifying evidence to steal his Galleons, then not even the dragon or the Ministry of Magic would save them. Severus hated one type of person most of all: traitors.

After returning, he continued brewing with Nelly, whose knowledge could easily give any fourth-year Hogwarts student a head start.

The next day, early in the morning, the moment he passed the goblin at the entrance, Griphook intercepted him and led him to the chief goblin.

Going down one floor and passing the guards, he met the same captain again, handed over his wand, and the door opened as he stepped inside.

"I take it you agree?" Severus smiled at the four old goblins while ignoring the thick-browed one who was staring at him with open dislike.

"We agree, but about the third condition..."

"It will not be more difficult than the first and second, and it will not concern gold." Only after those words did they relax a little. Greedy goblins, but it makes things easier.

"Good. That suits us."

"Excellent." Two contracts, almost five centimetres thick, appeared in Severus’s hand. "Read and sign. The first is for the second condition, and the second is for all three. The contract is magical. If you violate it, your blood will boil from the inside."

They glared at him contemptuously, as if saying, "How can a human compare to us when it comes to contracts?" Then they snorted and began reading the booklet. With each minute, their faces grew more shocked.

What Severus gave them was the very definition of a perfect contract. It took everything into account: what each party was obliged to do in any possible situation, the costs and benefits for both sides in any scenario, and even every case of non-compliance by either party. The goblins were genuinely stunned because a pathetic little human had done what they could not, beating them at their own game.

Then they stared at him with such expressions that even Severus felt a little uncomfortable.

"Is something wrong?"

"Did you write this?" one of the elders asked, unable to stop himself.

"Yes."

"Young man, by any chance, were there no goblins in your family?" Gruhagakh asked with interest, and Severus nearly choked.

"Do not joke like that. Of course I have nothing against you, but I am human."

"But you have the gaze and the sharp mind of a true goblin!" the elder in the hat grinned, making Severus’s right eye twitch.

"I agree with you. And his craving for gold? There was definitely a goblin in his family!"

Even the thick-browed elder’s gaze softened, though he chose to stay silent.

Finally the chief raised his palm, and everyone fell quiet at once.

"You surprised me. How about working for us after school? We promise a good position and a good salary."

"I will probably refuse. Why would I work when I have Galleons bursting out of my pockets? I can buy anything I want whenever I want," Severus waved the offer away with a smile.

"Definitely had a goblin in the family," the thick-browed elder finally said.

Severus did not reply. Convincing a goblin of anything was like telling dwarves to put down their hammers and anvils and go pick flowers. The dwarves might even kill you for that joke.

"All right, we agree, but clause seven hundred twenty-five, prohibiting the second party from using this contract as an example for other transactions..."

"And what is unclear?" Severus looked at the chief goblin with a smile. "Of course, that condition can be crossed out for a separate fee."

In that very second, the four pairs of eyes lit up.

After nearly three hours of discussion, they finally signed four contracts. Two from Severus’s side and two from the goblins. The conditions were completely identical, so there would be no conflict between them.

"Well, thank you for your cooperation," Severus said, shaking Gruhagakh’s wrinkled palm with a smile. Gruhagakh grinned back and nodded.

"And to you, Mr. Prince. You helped us very much."

"Glad to hear it." Two blueprints appeared in Severus’s hand, and he passed them to the old goblin. "The first is for a set of leather armour, and..." A roll of hide dropped onto the floor, and the goblins’ eyes lit up. "This is the material it should be made from."

"This leather... where did you get Basilisk hide, and in such quantity?"

"Bought it on the black market. Can you process it?"

"Yes. And the remnants?"

"Keep them for yourselves. And if you manage to do everything exactly as in the blueprint, I will give you the remaining metre. Also, pick the hardest magic-conducting metal. Weight does not matter, and insert it here." Unfolding the paper, Severus pointed to the necessary sections of the armour. One of the goblins quickly wrote everything down in a notebook.

Within a few minutes they calculated the cost of the materials and the work and presented a bill for nearly nine thousand Galleons.

Then came the manor, whose blueprint was also ready because Severus had been thinking about it back when he lived in Severus’s house and had started the preparations even then.

At first glance the house did not seem special, just ordinary aside from the expensive materials. That would only be true until he laid the runes and charms. After that, it would become a fortress that no wizard in this world could break through. Severus had worked especially hard on it, calculating every millimetre where the charms and runes would go so they would not conflict and would run smoothly. It was painstaking work, and he was even a little proud of it.

Another hour later they finished the discussion. According to Gruhagakh, the manor would be ready in two weeks, and the armour in a week and a half. As for the house, Severus would supervise the construction personally. It would begin tomorrow, and today they would buy the materials and transport them to the site.

After saying goodbye, declining their job offer again, and ignoring the question, "Maybe there were goblins in the family?" Severus left the office. A slightly displeased Griphook was already waiting for him, pulled up from his throne once again.

"Follow me. I will escort you to the vaults."

"Of course."

"Hey, little human," the goblin commander called out with a grin. "If you want to learn how to wield a sword, I will, so be it, give you a couple of lessons. Not for free, of course."

"I will probably pass. Thank you for the offer," Severus replied calmly with a smile, sliding the sword back into his wallet.

"Well, as you wish. My job is to offer. But if you change your mind, it is a thousand Galleons per lesson."

Severus waved lazily. He had been trained by a true sword master, so the goblin’s offer sounded like a very good joke, and it even made him smile.

They went down into a gloomy chamber lit by lanterns, got into a cart, and it took off at once. Since the Blacks, Lestranges, and Malfoys were among the richest families, their vaults were near the very bottom, so the ride took a long time.

The lower they descended, the larger the tunnels became. To Severus’s surprise, when they emerged from the cramped corridors of ordinary vaults, they entered a vast gorge with artificial lighting. Crystals cast a bluish glow over everything. The place looked less like a bank and more like the ruins of some extinct civilisation.

At the very bottom and along the walls, he could see a road leading upward, huge columns carved with unknown symbols, and nearly destroyed structures that resembled houses and even a palace.

A few minutes later the cart stopped on a small ledge, tiny compared to the gorge. Severus’s gaze almost immediately caught the dragon, chained about three hundred metres away, a little lower. When it heard the cart, it stared at them with hatred.

"You are wrong to treat him like that. If he ever gets rid of the shackles, he will kill you all first."

"If he can," Griphook chuckled. He turned and approached an iron door. In the next moment it swung open, revealing a passage leading to twenty more vaults. "Number 711 belongs to the Black family," he said, stopping before it. "You are forbidden to take anything. You can only look at the contents, nothing more."

"I remember."

Severus touched the steel doors, and they opened slowly. Inside lay almost five large piles of gold coins, plus a heap of other treasures. On the right and left, carved into the stone, were shelves holding all sorts of artifacts and books.

"If you count everything, it comes out to about a million. And I thought I had almost caught up with them. All right, in two months I will definitely be richer than they are," Severus said, shaking his head. He looked at Griphook. "There is nothing here that I was looking for. Let us move on."

Griphook glared at Severus, certain he was being mocked. He closed the vault, reactivated the protective charms, and when they left the room, the next door slammed shut behind them.

They did not continue in the cart. With a lantern in hand, they went on foot, descending right down to the dragon. Its muzzle was strapped into a muzzle. They bypassed it and entered another door. This one led to only ten vaults.

"Number 809 belongs to the Malfoy family, and 801 to the Lestrange family," Griphook said calmly, touching the nearest door, number 809.

The door swung open, and the sight was almost the same as the Black vault, except there were far more piles.

"Not bad, not bad. Almost one and a half million," Severus nodded with a smile. Then he felt a familiar aura and shifted his gaze to a black notebook on the shelf. "There it is." He stepped into the vault, went to the shelves, and took the notebook in his hand.

"You are forbidden to take anything from the vault," Griphook reminded him grimly, watching his actions.

"Of course." Severus pulled out a gold watch, opened it, and said with a smile, "Eileen, enjoy your meal." Under the goblin’s shocked gaze, a black, writhing shadow burst out of the notebook, leaking a dark aura. It screeched so unpleasantly that the goblin covered his ears.

It tried to fight, but after a few seconds it was dragged into the watch. Severus did not leave Voldemort’s soul fragment alone with her. With magic, he bound it completely and offered it to the woman to tear apart.

"One more part, and she will be able to become a full-fledged undead. She will not be threatened with dispersal." Severus set the notebook back in place and turned to Griphook. "Let us move on."

"What was that?" the goblin snapped, finally coming to his senses, though he still watched Severus warily.

"Voldemort’s Horcrux." When he saw the confusion on Griphook’s face, Severus sighed wearily as they left the vault. "Terrible dark magic that splits the soul through murder and hides a fragment inside an object. With it you can gain false immortality, meaning you can resurrect from that fragment, if you do not go mad first. Do not worry, no one will notice. I cast charms that imitate the Horcrux on the notebook."

"I need to contact the chief goblin!"

"Be my guest. And tell him the Malfoys will not mind. I am on good terms with the heir. As for the Lestranges, they will be gone soon. A little information for you. They insulted someone they should not have. Give it a year or two, and they will disappear."

"Y-yes! Three minutes!" Griphook ran to the bare wall and pressed his palm into a small recess. A scarlet magic circle flared around his hand, and a few seconds later he brightened, beginning to communicate with someone mentally.

Severus could tell by the darting eyes and the constant flicker of emotions on the goblin’s face. With Legilimency, he read those thoughts without much difficulty.

Exactly three minutes later the circle went dark. With a heavy sigh, Griphook headed toward vault number 801.

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