A/N- Thanks again to everyone for reading along and reviewing! I realise that the scene with the Goblins is entirely in English, but I didn't really fancy typing out the entire thing in Gobbledegook and then translating it! That's about all I have so say, for those of you who celebrate Christmas I hope you had a lovely one! Anyway enough of the babbling and on with the story. Happy reading!
**Islanzadi** J
The sound of hundreds of hurried footsteps echoed noisily on a stone pathway leading into a vast chamber. Small shadows could be seen desperately hurrying across the cold stone walls lit only with fiery torches. There was mayhem as the goblins gathered into the room as quickly as they could, waiting for a meeting that would change their lives forever and put them in the history books for rebelling against the wizards once again. The goblin Elder and his Second sat on ornate chairs at the front of the gathering on a stone platform the was raised a few metres into the air. This was partly so they could see the crowd better and partly to show their status in the goblin society. Ten goblins moved to the huge doors at the entrance of the chamber and divided their force to heave them closed. Once that was completed they joined the back of the crowd, eagerly anticipating the decision of the Elder and the heads of the clans. A silence fell across the room and the Elder and his Second stood up to address the assembly.
"The time has come," said the Elder commandingly "to make a choice. The Lord of the Dark wishes us to join him in his fight. We must make this decision swiftly. Tell me, oh Twelve, what are your thoughts?" Twelve Goblins were seated on the side of the room and all of them wore a large golden ring. Each ring had a different symbol on it to signify the clan they were in charge of. The first stood up, Ragnok, and walked to the front of the room to address the Elder and the mass of goblins waiting with bated breath.
"We have been oppressed for centuries!" he said loudly and angrily to the room "we have been forced to work for wizards so that they control us! Our clan says no more! We shall not lie down and do their bidding! The Lord of the Dark offers us freedom to do as we will! He shall break the cycle of suppression and we shall be free! We are joining the Lord of the Dark!" He turned to face the Elder and bowed his head then returned quickly to the bench. A smaller Goblin stood up and scurried to the front, trying to not listen to the angry cheering coming from Ragnok's clan.
"Elfriar," said the Elder gravely "what has your clan to say?"
"We believe that we ought not to be oppressed, we believe that we ought to have the right to freedom. But we also do not wish to disgrace our ancestors, and by joining HIM we shall be doing just that. There is no excuse for senseless bloodshed and pain. There is violence enough in our bloodline without trying to add to it. I say make peace; I say fight the Lord of the Dark if we have to. I say that we save ourselves and the innocent, then we can earn our freedom." There were cheers of agreement from one corner of the room, loud and angry cries from the middle and a strange quietness from the front. A goblin statue by the heavy doors glowed a brilliant blue, which prompted an anxious movement in the crowd. Gringotts had invaders and the goblins time had run out. The Elder moved slowly down the stone steps and stood in front of the crowd. He spoke quietly and urgently -
"Tradition says that we must listen to all of your responses. But I fear our time has run out. The Lord of the Dark is upon us and we are to be divided. Do as you will! But I shall not cower to anyone, evil or good! I shall not shame my ancestors by becoming a tool in a war of pitiful humans! Whatever path you must take, remember the face of your ancestors and never forget where you came from. Those who wish to fight with me come to me and stand true! Those who have no opinion leave now for you are in grave peril. Those who are against me…I suggest you join your Lord and fight me." The hall was suddenly filled with scuffling sounds and angry cries. The Elder watched his Second look at him with probing eyes before joining Ragnok and the other clans who wished to support the Dark Lord. Elfriar joined the Elder and watched as a quarter of the hall rushed out of the doors, wanting to avoid any confrontation.
"They shall die out there," said the sudden voice of Griphook. Elfriar turned around to stare at the Goblin he had not expected to join their side.
"Why do you say that?" asked Elfriar
"They're everywhere out there. He has powers they do not dream of, they shall not escape." said Griphook grimly. The sound of screaming filled the chamber and Elfriar winced inwardly. Time to fight or go down trying. For the face of his ancestors he drew his weapon and stood facing the enemy with honour.
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Harry, Hermione, Ron, Susan, Luna and Neville walked through the old and claustrophobic streets lined with brick houses trying to find Spinner's End.
"They all look the same," moaned Ron
"Nonsense," said Hermione "we just took a wrong turn at the last street. Look it's all laid out in perfectly logical rows. Just follow me, there are only two streets we haven't been down yet so we'll be there soon." Ron nodded and looked around, having a strange feeling that someone was watching him. He looked to the side and saw that Luna was looking at him, but that wasn't what was giving him the sudden chills.
"We should walk a little faster," said Luna dreamily "I have a feeling that we wont be alone with professor Snape for long. We need all the time we can get…" Hermione rolled her eyes and walked a little faster, smirking at Harry as she passed him. He grinned at her playful racing and walked a little faster himself, making Hermione's eyes narrow as she tried to keep up.
"What do you mean?" asked Neville worriedly
"Not to worry now," said Luna brightly "just keep walking" They followed Hermione through a narrow alleyway that led into another row of dejected looking buildings. She stopped and chewed absently on her bottom lip, seeming to count with her eyes. She nodded her head right and grabbed Harry's hand, quickly pulling him in the direction she decided they should go in. After only a couple more minutes of walking they finally found a little street with an old looking sign that read 'Spinner's End'. Hermione smiled triumphantly. Harry gave her a little smile and squeezed her hand before taking a quick look around. Something didn't feel quite right about the place…He waited for a moment longer before heading up the street and finally stopped outside the house on the very end.
"I hate him," said Ron when he reached Harry "he could have let us Floo. He could have taken down the wards he put up around this place so we could apparate…but no! We had to apparate a few miles away and walk all this way to hear what this greasy git has to say!" The front door was opened suddenly and Ron stared up at Snape not quite knowing what to say.
"Surely even someone as unintelligent as you should know I have wards around my home to let me know when someone approaches. Either that or you were insulting me so that I would hear? I suggest you stop complaining about having to exercise and step inside. Unless you would rather stay on the doorstep and not hear what I have to say. In which case, you will meet your end very quickly…not that it would be too much of a tragedy to the wizarding world." Ron glared at him and waited for Harry and Hermione to step over the threshold before joining them. They walked into the tiny sitting room and Harry grinned as Hermione tried to discreetly look at the books lining the wall. He caught Snape looking at the two of them with pure loathing but Harry simply smiled. It was sad that losing someone he loved had made him so bitter, but Harry wasn't going to pretend his feelings didn't exist anymore. He felt wonderfully exhilarated by these incredibly new feelings and he wasn't going to let Snape or anyone else get in his way. A small voice in the back of his head began warning him. He wasn't being totally honest with Hermione, he was putting her in danger. Regardless of his change of heart towards Ginny he had broken up with her for a very valid reason, only to put Hermione in the same kind of danger. He thrust these thoughts away and continued to look around the room, pointedly ignoring Snape's angry glare and making sure the walls around his mind were firmly in place.
Once they were all congregated they stood there rather awkwardly.
"I would offer you a drink but because of your company I had to send away my servant for the evening. So why don't we just forget the pleasantries and get on with the task at hand…" said Snape icily
"Sounds wonderful," snapped Ron "wouldn't want to drink anything from your house elves anyway, probably die standing here…"
"House elves? Oh no," said Snape in a mocking voice "no my servant is Wormtail…" Harry started at this then moved to sit on the sofa. He hadn't forgotten about Wormtail as such, but it brought home the kind of people Snape associated with and he was suddenly anxious sitting there, though he couldn't place his finger on why.
"What did you want to talk to us about Snape?" asked Harry
"Nagini is the last Horcrux that you have to destroy, am I correct?" asked Snape, his dark eyes glittering and boring into Harry's head. Harry nodded his head and continued to hold Snape's gaze. It was nice to see that no matter what secrets he had told Harry to gain his trust, he still hated him.
"There is not usually a time that Nagini is away from the Dark Lord for long. If she is attacked, she reaches out with her mind to summon him. The Dark Lord is rather fond of Nagini…Before this evening I would have advised against trying to kill her for fear that you would have to face him also. But tonight you have an opportunity. The Dark Lord is going to Gringotts…" Said Snape silkily, but was interrupted by Susan.
"Gringotts?" she asked, "so the goblins have joined him?"
"If you would not have interrupted me then you would know the answer by now. The Elder and the clans have been trying to make a decision for quite some time. The Dark Lord is impatient and has decided to…persuade them to his way of thinking. Nagini shall be there, but she seeks the treasure that is rumoured to lie in the deepest of the underground tunnels. I imagine he shall be too busy with the goblins to rescue her if you were to strike quick enough." continued Snape
"You imagine?" asked Harry quietly
"Well there are no guarantees of anything Potter," replied Snape, his voice edging towards anger "but I would say you have more of a chance killing her this evening than any other time."
"What kind of treasure is she after? What does he want with it?" questioned Harry
"Nothing of great consequence," answered Snape impatiently "the Dark Lord likes to collect things that belong to others. The treasure is the goblins secret pride and he must have it."
"Why should we trust you?" asked Ron suspiciously "this could just be some trap…"
"I don't care if you believe me or not," said Snape, his voice now trembling with anger he was trying to control "do it now or do it later, either way your chances of surviving are slim." Ron looked outraged and went to stand up but Harry spoke loudly and calmly over him.
"We'll go tonight, but I thought you were going to tell the Order of any developments with the goblins? Surely they ought to know,"
"Indeed," replied Snape "and I will inform them after you have already made it into Gringotts. They can provide quite a handy diversion while you kill Nagini." Harry didn't like the idea of not telling the Order right away, but he knew that if he arrived with all of them it would be virtually impossible to avoid Riddle and get to the snake.
"When is he planning on going there?" asked Neville, his voice strong and proud.
"He's already there," answered Snape. "If you go to the river bank you can apparate from there rather than walk for a few miles. It might speed things up a bit…"
"Nice of you to tell us now," said Ron sulkily. They all moved towards the door but Luna stepped in front of them and held out a hand to stop them.
"Just one more thing before we go," she said vaguely. Snape raised his eyebrows and looked at her as if she were vermin. "You might want to stop the boy outside from running away. He's been watching for a while and I imagine he has plenty to tell Riddle already." Snape curled his lip and laughed low and sarcastically in his throat.
"I have wards that tell me when someone is approaching, whilst your imagination is undoubtedly fascinating we do not have time for it."
"He's not approaching," said Luna serenely with a smile on her face "he's just watching and waiting. He's about to leave though…I think we're being a little too obvious standing like this." Everyone looked at her for a moment then Ron and Harry lunged towards the front door. A figure was running down the pathway, his platinum hair glowing in the moonlight. Ron pulled out his wand at the same time as Harry and pointed it at Malfoy.
"STUPEFY!" he shouted, and the red light hit Malfoy squarely between the shoulders and pitched him to the floor. Harry grinned at Ron, impressed with his quick actions. Snape came rushing past them and ran to where Malfoy had landed. He picked him up roughly and carried him back to the house. Harry and Ron checked to see if anyone was watching, but there was no one. The strange feeling that had plagued them earlier had now gone.
They gathered once again in Snape's sitting room, Hermione and Neville staring at Luna with shocked expressions.
"How did you…" began Neville but was cut off by Hermione's frantic voice
"What are we going to do with him? We can't let him go because he'll tell Riddle everything he saw and you're life will be in danger! But they're bound to notice he's gone missing. What is he told someone he was coming to see you? Then what? Could we pass him off as a traitor do you think? Oh my goodness, there are charms to protect against being seen you know, if only we would have used one we wouldn't be in this situation!" Harry moved closer to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder comfortingly.
"Calm down," he whispered into her ear "we can figure all of this out later. Don't panic yourself over it now, we have more important things to do…" Hermione nodded quickly and rested her head by his neck, breathing in his scent and breathing out in a slow and relaxed pace. He put a finger under her chin and lifted her head to meet his. He kissed her softly and quickly, enough to let her know that he loved her. She smiled happily up at him, almost forgetting where she was and the fact that there was a stupefied Malfoy on the couch.
"Well as irritating and revolting as this is, there are more productive things to be doing. I shall take Draco to Grimmauld place. We'll have to keep him there until we can figure out what to do. I would suggest modifying his memory but the Dark Lord can break such things. You should go to Gringotts. I'll have the Order follow you in half an hour. Now get out of my house…" said Snape angrily. Ron glared at Snape once more before turning around and exiting. Hermione grabbed Harry's hand once again and pulled him out of the door smiling. She wondered at the ease of Harry managing to calm her. If only she had been like this with him during her O.W.L.S, she wouldn't have been nearly so stressed out. The group rushed forward, following the sound of the nearby river. They stood on the bank and disapparated to Gringotts, wondering what they would find when they got there.
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They approached the door of Gringotts and were surprised to find it wide open, as was the one inside. They walked through the deserted main room and could smell smoke and something putrid that made Harry want to gag. They heard a banging noise coming from the left and saw four goblins and a death eater emerge from a door that he could have sworn wasn't there before. He raised his wand, but was surprised when the goblins turned around quickly and leapt viciously onto the death eater. A blood-curdling scream filled the room and the death eater twitched a little but then was still. Harry watched transfixed as the goblins jumped up and dragged the body of the death eater back through the door.
"Might be handy to have them on our side," said Ron quietly. Harry nodded and watched as another goblin entered the main room and stopped in front of them.
"You fight against the Lord of the Dark," he said bowing to them, then looked at Harry "and you are Harry Potter. What is it you desire within these walls?"
"Erm, we're here to find and kill a big Snake. What's your name?" said Harry, taken aback by the goblins quick and polite voice.
"I am called Elfriar, and the snake you seek is trying to steal the finest treasures from our deepest tunnels. If you shall follow me I will take you there. But beware, death is everywhere tonight." said Elfriar gravely. Harry grabbed Hermione's hand and led her towards the back of the room and down the passage. The smell of smoke was strong and Hermione began coughing violently. A cart came speeding up to them and stopped abruptly so that they could all climb in. It was a tight fit with all if them in one cart and as soon as Elfriar stepped in it began its quick and bumpy journey to the bowels of Gringotts. Harry put his arm around Hermione and kissed her passionately as the cold air rushed past his face. He pulled away and whispered quickly into her ear -
"Be careful and stay behind me,"
"I can take care of myself," she said defiantly, though her eyes were smiling. "Besides, I'm not in any danger Harry. I am with you…"
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