'I sincerely believe that bankingestablishments are more dangerous than standing armies…'

~ Thomas Jefferson

When you are deep underground, you can often tell; you feel it, sense it, the weight of the world above and around you, only something unseen keeping the earth from crushing down on you from all sides. Harry could feel that weight even through the excellent wards of the goblins of Gringott's London. He was beginning to think Hermione was right, that his coming here was a bad mistake. On the other hand, the wording of the invitation, both Hermione and Bill had confirmed, implied Harry would be allowed to walk back out alive. Nothing promised he would be in the same condition that he entered though.

How mad does massive structural damage, loss of a dragon, loss of a perfect record, and destruction of reputation make a goblin?, he wondered. Then he quailed when he thought about how mad just one Quidditch loss made him. He shuffled his feet as he thought about leaving now before the meeting began.

Too late.

Contrary to popular opinion, the office of the manager of Gringott's was not on the surface. This office was meant to be the home playing field, to give advantage to the goblin. The feel of the weight of the room, so deep underground, was just one part. The ornate desk, slightly lowered guest chair, trappings of gold everywhere, the perfect mosaics outlining goblin victories in all their bloody detail - all helped to define power being on one side of the room, and all of it the goblin's. To Harry, it carried the weight of Dumbledore's office combined with Professor McGonagall's disapproval combined with Snape's sneer all wrapped into one.

A crack in the back wall suddenly appeared, which then turned into a door which then opened. That wall had been spotless, without seam before. The goblins truly work magic in stone, thought Harry. And then his focus shifted to the elderly goblin walking in, surrounded by a small phalanx of guards who spread out behind him. While the all moved smartly to set positions, the elder goblin shuffled slowly to his seat. He was dressed in a perfectly tailored robe which was clearly threaded with pure gold. Maybe the goblin wasn't so old after all, that had to weigh a lot!

When the goblin had been seated with his guards standing implacably behind him, he crossed his hands, his claws standing out clearly. Sharp, discerning, smoldering eyes peered down at Harry over bifocal lenses. Without hesitation, the goblin got to business.

"I am Ragnok, the manager of Gringott's London. Welcome, Mr. Potter." The goblin's teeth flashed brightly in the torchlight.

Harry stammered, but managed, "Th-thank you for your invitation, Manager Ragnok."

The goblin's ears flapped as he shook his head in a short but abrupt movement. "Please, just Ragnok. I don't suppose you'd care to try to guess why you are here?"

Harry had to bite his tongue to avoid blurting out 'because you told me to be' or 'because I walked in.' No good could come of channeling Gred and Forge in this situation. Instead, he settled for, "Not exactly, although I suspect it would have something to do with my actions last time I visited."

Ragnok nodded, his ears which no long stood up straight, but had begun to bend ever so slightly, making a soft noise as he did. "That would be reasonable. And it is, in a way, though likely not in the way you'd expect."

Shifting uncomfortably in his chair, Harry asked, "And how would you describe it, Ma…Ragnok?"

The goblin stared at Harry for long moments, as if judging, weighing. "You seem uncomfortable, Mr. Potter. Are you well?"

Hermione's long lectures on how to treat goblins came back. Never show weakness. Never get engaged in a staring contest, but if you do, for heaven's sake don't lose. Don't ever lie. You can be crafty, sneaky, skirt the truth even, but it is far better to be frank and even brutally straightforward than to lie...Harry was so focused on trying to think through this he almost missed the following question, one which shocked him.

As he continued his musings, Ragnok tilted his head and asked, "Are you under the impression that we are mad at you, Mr. Potter?"

Harry didn't consider himself an expert on goblin behavior, but the question came out far too smooth and flat, with no tone, for him to trust it. No, this was one pissed goblin.

However, Harry couldn't find it in himself to lie or even skirt the truth, although he quickly defeated the desire to roll his eyes. Ever since defeating Voldemort, he'd had much less patience for dancing around topics. That is why'd he'd marched right to Ginny and apologized for leaving her, why he'd told her less than a week later it wasn't working, and why he'd told Mrs. Weasley he was moving to Grimmauld no matter what anyone thought.

So he simply nodded, and said, "Well, yeah, Ragnok, I suspect so given I broke into a vault, released a dragon…"

"Did you now? Hmm…" came the response, pausing when the elderly goblin groaned appreciatively as a drink was delivered. He sipped something that smoked and bubbled in its mug. Harry was very glad there was a ward that seemed to keep the smell on the goblin's side of the room. While the ward likely was there to prevent any kind of attack, it was helpful now.

Harry shrugged. "You know this. It makes little sense to deny it."

Setting his mug down, the older goblin settled himself back in his chair. "No, no, Mr. Potter I am afraid you don't understand. I have gone over the investigation. I know how you did it, why you did it, and I know why you handled it the way you did. I may not like it, but I can appreciate it. We goblins have no love for human's dark magic any more than you do and can understand a warrior willing to risk all to do what he must. On the other hand, we deal harshly with idiots."

Harry gulped.

"Our analysis confirmed you were the former. You knew walking in here what the cost could be. If you had just done it on a whim, well…" The goblin ran a thumb along his throat causing Harry to force himself to stay still. He added, "And you did your best to keep damage to a minimum, all things considered. That we can understand.

Harry focused on the thing that troubled him the most, among the layers of concerns he had. "My friends were only following orders…"

The goblin raised his bushy eyebrows. "Oh? You order your friends about?"

Harry stared at the goblin more closely; he could swear the goblin's lips had crinkled upward. A…joke?

The goblin waved this off with his hands. "No matter, no matter. Yes, I'd heard you would make a good leader among goblins, even if you despise human politics. Luckily, we don't want or need a human politician. Spoken like a true warrior watching out for his troops."

Harry had to admit he was getting curious now. Hermione had sworn that if Ragnok got involved it would be over in thirty seconds one way or another. Why was someone as important as Ragnok spending this much time with him?

The goblin chuckled as he stood and motioned Harry to do the same and to come forward. Harry did so until he was just inches from the ward, although the goblin clearly wanted him to come closer.

"Something amiss, Mr. Potter?"

Harry nodded. "You should call me Harry if you want me to keep calling you Ragnok, and yes, I'm not sure what this ward of yours here does." He finished waving his hand just inches from the shield.

The goblin cackled, this time in clear delight, laughing, although it took Harry long moments to realize the sound for what it was.

Ragnok clapped his hands in delight. "Oh, yes, I have the right human. I swear this is going to be the start of a wonderful friendship, Mr. Po…Harry. No, back to your concern, Harry, your friends are insignificant and irrelevant to us at the moment, although depending on our conversation that may change."

Harry stared at the goblin, who was now looking back placidly and giving nothing away. The goblin seemed delighted when Harry let the silence draw out, refusing to ask for more information. That was just as well to Harry, who had the sense that one wrong word and Ron and Hermione would be on the chopping block with him.

After several moments, the goblin nodded briefly, a short jerking almost violent motion that made it older jowls wobble. "No, Mr. Potter, we don't want to punish your friends, or even you. Yes, I am afraid your actions count as an act of war in certain minds. Ignore that side for now; I can and will control that. Consider it shelved, to be forgotten completely when we have done more damage control."

The goblin started pacing, then finally shooed his reluctant guards out. "Harry," he said when they were alone, "this ward between us that you sensed is meant to be imperceptible. A protection that lures those with bad intentions to their own doom. And yet you pick it up as if it is nothing." It was clear the goblin wanted to know how he did it, and his eyes didn't leave Harry as he sat back down.

Harry sat back down heavily. "It's just something I picked up from Dumbledore, really, a feeling of magic when it is around. I mean, I know you have actual warders and those who can do things I can't imagine. Maybe they could explain. I don't understand it or the theory, I just sense it."

Ragnok now sat down too. "I do. And yes, you are young and unlearned, and that is why the other bank branches mock us. Not just that there was a break-in, which would be bad enough. No, we are the butt of humor for letting someone so untrained in and out and causing such damage. Of course, your power and ability to shift on the fly is such that your knowledge deficiencies rarely matter. And even as they mock us, don't think I haven't noticed them scramble to make their own improvements. Make a mockery of me and my bank, when they'd have done no better!"

He slammed his claws on the desk and launched into a pace again, pausing only to wave his nervous guards back out the door after they reacted to the loud sound. "Harry, Voldemort was an anathema to us all. All well and good he is dead. I can wish you had handled this some other way, but with Dumbledore gone, the little contact you have ever had with us, and the blasted Binns' lectures about goblin wars and nothing else, why, I am forced to understand why you acted as you did."

Harry nodded gratefully, noticing his back was now sopping wet from nervous sweat.

"And yet, Harry, I cannot let this affront stand. No, no, not yours," he hastened as Harry twitched nervously. "Theirs. The other goblins and their banks. I need them to suffer a worse loss than we ever did. No, I don't need a politician, Harry, I need a magician of power with an ability to think on their feet. You are quite remarkable in this sense. I don't want to punish you. I want to hire you."

Harry stammered. "T-to hire me?"

The goblin's pointed teeth shone ferociously. "Oh, yes, I do want to hire you Harry, very badly. To let every other bank learn never to mess with me again. I want to send a message, to give a lesson that will never be forgotten. I want to hit them so hard their teeth shake at the very thought of you or me. I cannot start a goblin war, but I may hire an emissary to act on my behalf."

"A war?"

The goblin waved this off as irrelevant. "Semantics. Not a real war."

Harry nodded. That wouldn't be so bad. "And this would wipe out my debt to you?"

The goblin's ears flapped. "Oh yes, and we will pay you and you may keep your winnings."

That was confusing. "My winnings?"

The goblin chuckled evilly. "My dear human, isn't it clear yet? I want to hire you to rob each and every single branch of Gringotts for me."