I do not own Harry Potter or any its characters, and they are the copyright property of their owner(s).
Chapter 2-Goblins
The sound of rain on the tent awoke Harry the next morning. He took extra care to avoid waking Hermione, who was still fast asleep next to him, threw on some clothes, and went outside.
The rain was extremely light. He could hear it against the tent, but could barely feel it.
After getting some fresh air, he returned inside and saw what he could scrounge up for breakfast. There wasn't much, but they had about a loaf and a half of bread left, and some butter that they took from a muggle farm before they left for Godric's Hollow. He made some toast for himself, and after he finished his own, made some for Hermione and woke her up.
"Morning." She said, pulling herself into an upright position. Her hair was an absolute mess; knotted and jetting off into all sorts of directions. "Thanks," She said, shoving the toast into her mouth like she was angry at it. "I'm starving."
Harry went to the night stand to grab the locket, throw it around his neck, picked up his wand, and went to sit down next to her again. "Any sort of plan for today?" he asked.
"We are going to need some more food." She said. "Bread won't last forever."
"We can't fish?" He asked. Looking out the open tent door over the great lake.
"I doubt it, it's pretty early in the season." She sighed at the idea of stealing food. They had been leaving money wherever they took, but they had run out of muggle money, with no new lawful ways of acquiring any, and doubted fat, gold galleons would do farmers any good.
"I'll go." Said Harry. "You look tired."
"Okay." She said, with a smile and a yawn. "Don't take too long."
He pocketed his wand, threw the invisibility cloak over himself and set off towards a nearby village.
The town of Windermere was about a mile north of where they were camped out. It was a quiet town of fewer than ten-thousand people, and it was best known for the lake. Harry stayed off the main streets, despite having the cloak on. He knew that there was a sufficient magical population there, and didn't want to draw any attention to himself.
The outskirts to the north of the town held a few farms, and Harry managed to grab a few boxes of eggs, some more bread, a large container of milk, and five or six large slabs of meat that were in a cold storage container behind the chicken pen on one of them.
He was well on his way back to Hermione when he heard something very strange. It sounded like what he knew of Gobbledegook; the goblin language. He walked closer to where the sound was coming from – an alley behind some shops close to the main street – and tried to listen to what was happening. There was at least one human voice also.
"What do you think the Dark Lord would want with a mudblood and a pair of goblins?" Said one voice. "We'll bring em' to the ministry, make some coin on the reward!"
"Alrigh', Alrigh' no need to shout, people might here us!" Another voice replied. "Incarcerous!"
Harry looked around came around the corner, moving silently because they still could not see him. He was shocked when he saw the victims.
There were two men, who Harry thought were death eaters but didn't recognize them. In ropes on the ground were two goblins, and next to them was Harry's old friend, Dean Thomas.
Harry took out his wand, poked the end through the invisibility cloak, and yelled, "Stupefy! Stupefy!", knocking both of them down. He took off the cloak. "Relashio!" he said, pointing his wand at their bindings.
"Harry!" Said Dean. "What're you doing here?"
"Never mind, we have to go. I'll explain later, just follow me." He said, picking up the two extra wands from the death eaters and then throwing the cloak back over himself. "I'll lift the back up every ten or so steps so you can see me. Just hurry up."
He guided them out of the town and toward the lakeside ground where they were camped out. When they were a safe distance away from the village, he took off the cloak. "What were you guys doing in Windermere?" He asked.
"I've been in hiding. My mum's gone abroad." said Dean.
"And you two?" Harry asked, looking down on the Goblin's.
The taller of the two answered. "We believed it fitting to join Dean in hiding. We have been dodging the Dark Lord's oppression as much as anyone."
"This is Gallahad." Dean said, referring to the one who spoke. "And this is Hogrod."
"Pleasure." said Harry, pulling open the doors to the tent. "Hermione! Look who I've found!"
She walked out of the kitchen, and her jaw dropped when she saw who he was talking about. "Dean!" She said, throwing her arms around his neck.
Harry took a second to explain how he had found them.
"What an incredible coincidence!" She said. "How long have you been on the run?"
"I've been running since the start." Said Dean. "Any potential muggle-borns who didn't turn up for questioning we're put on the undesirable list straight away; I have no way of proving I'm not, so I ran. I never knew my dad, he may or may not be a wizard."
"What about you two?" Asked Harry.
Gallahad spoke again. "We were dismissed from Gringotts because we didn't support the Dark Lord. They told us to leave or die, so we left."
"But Goblins are just as discriminated against as muggle-borns, so why would any goblin support him?" Asked Harry.
"Cowardice." Hogrod's voice was low and raspy, but rang throughout the tent very clearly. "All of them."
"Nobody wants to dissapoint him," Said Gallahad, "for fear of their families going missing, or their children being plucked from school and tortured. The Dark Lord's regime does not exactly benefit creatures like us. But they need someone to run the bank."
"So how long have you two been running?" Said Hermione.
"A few months." Said Gallahad. "It's not been easy, but Dean has helped."
Dean smiled, then changed the subject. "How did you guys find out about the taboo?"
"The what?" Asked Hermione.
"Well you haven't been captured yet, so I thought you knew." He said, slightly surprised. "You-know-who's name is tabooed. They can trace anyone who uses it."
"That's how they found us on Tottenham Court Road!" Said Hermione.
"Sorry?" Asked Dean.
"A couple of death eaters managed to trace us to a cafe in London, but we escaped." Said Harry.
"Lucky. How many?" He asked.
"Just two, and not exactly the smartest ones either. Plus we outnumbered them." Hermione added.
"Oh, right." Said Dean. "Where's Ron? Or has he actually got Spattergroit?"
Hermione said nothing, and Harry hesitated before responding. "No, he's fine. But he, er, sort of left."
"Left?"
"Well, we argued about stuff, then he decided he'd go home." Began Harry. "I thought he might go back to Hogwarts, but that would have been foolish, seen as everyone there knows we're friends. He might just be at home."
Dean smiled. "He'll be back."
Harry gave a worried look. "I hope so."
"So what exactly are you guys doing, anyway? Rumour has it that Dumbledore left you something to do?" Dean asked.
"Well, yes, but we aren't supposed to tell anyone." Harry replied.
He sighed. "I understand. But that doesn't mean I can't help. Are you looking for something?"
Harry and Hermione gave each other a worried look, but decided it was okay. "Well, we need to find the sword of Gryffindor." Hermione began. "Dumbledore left it to Harry in his will, but it went missing." Harry silently agreed that that was the best way to justify it.
Suddenly, Gallahad spoke up. "Well, I don't know if this would help," He began, "But it might interest you to note that the headmaster of Hogwarts – Snape, I think – had recently placed a false sword in the vault of the Lestranges before I left Gringotts."
"Gallahad, tread carefully." Said Hogrod. "You ought not to reveal the secrets of the vaults."
"Oh, I don't care, Hogrod!" He replied, slightly annoyed. "They expelled us from that place, the Dark Lord seeks to oppress our race, and if my information can help bring him down, so be it!"
"They are attempting to claim goblin made artefacts to which they have no right!" Hogrod responded, as if they weren't there.
Harry interjected. "Would you be able to tell me about other things that were in that vault?"
"I could." Said Gallahad. "Anything specific?"
Hogrod gave a low, disapproving rumble of his voice.
"Anything with Ravenclaw's sign on it? The eagle?" He asked.
"I never saw anything like that in my time there." Gallahad responded.
"What about a cup? With the badger of Hufflepuff?" Asked Hermione.
Gallahad nodded. "You mean a small, golden goblet, with two handles? It does have a badger on it."
Harry was exuberant. "I knew it."
"If it's in a Gringotts vault, it shall never be yours, thieves." Hogrod said.
"Unless we had a goblin on our side." Said Hermione.
"I shall not!" Hogrod yelled. "And I urge you not to, Gallahad."
"I will consider it." Said Gallahad. "But we have no hope unless we manage to miss Lestrange's key, a feat all but impossible."
Harry, Hermione, and Gallahad were throwing around ideas for the next little while, until Dean interrupted.
"Have you guys been listening to Potterwatch?" He asked.
"I'm sorry?" Said Hermione, confused.
"Blimey, there's a lot you guys don't know. Gallahad, where's the radio?"
Gallahad pulled an old, shabby looking radio out of his bag. Dean tuned it to a very fuzzy station, and then spoke.
"Fawkes." He said. "An order-supporting radio show. You need a password to tune in, and they tell you the next password at the end of the show. We should be getting it a few seconds."
"Who runs it?" Asked Hermione.
"Mostly Lee Jordan. He gets people in all the time though. Listen, it's starting."
" '-and we have two special guests today; Runner, and Rupert. First, we'll here from Runner. So tell me, Runner, as our resident expert on Dumbledore, do you believe that Snape was the real murderer?'
'Thanks, River.'" Said the unmistakable voice of Elphias Doge. " 'Yes, I do. A witness, whom I trust very much, has told me and much of the order the story of what went on that night. Dumbledore was murdered in cold blood.'
'And what do you think about the ministry's story? About how Harry Potter has something to do with it? He was apparently wanted for the questioning of Dumbledore's death.'
'Only a fool would believe such a tale. Surely this is you-know-who's influence over the news. Listeners, let nothing tarnish you thoughts of Harry Potter. Let no one tell you that he is not, at this very moment, wherever he may be, fighting for your safety and for your freedom.'
'So you think he's still alive?'
'Unquestionable. If he were dead by you-know-who's doing, we all would have heard about it.'
'Well he's doing quite a good job of hiding. Our next guest is someone very close to Harry. Welcome to the show, Rupert.'"
Harry's heart skipped a beat when he heard Rupert's voice.
" 'Thanks, River.'" Said Ron.
'Now you've seen Harry lately, have you not?'
'Yes, I have. It's been close to a month since I left him and our other accomplice.'
'And why did you leave them, exactly?'
'I don't exactly know. I wasn't thinking straight. But I'm going to find them and make things right.'
'Good to hear. But you've been staying with someone?'
'Yes, someone close. I've been getting along.'
'And what would you tell Harry Potter if you knew he were listening?'
'Just keep fighting, mate. Everybody is with you. And I'm sorry, and I'll find you soon. I promise.'
'Well said, Rupert. Now, I'd like to say a few words before our time is up. There have been numerous alleged sighting of you-know-who in about fifty different places over the last few days. Please, people, there's no need to create more fear. In times like these, the most important thing we have is each other. Please, for everyone's sake, do not make stuff up for attention, because it can do no good.
'And also, we would like to inform any regular listeners that there will not be a show for the next few days. Tune back in on Tuesday everybody, next password will be Padfoot'"
And then the signal went out.
"Sorry we missed the beginning." Said Dean.
A fat tear rolled down Hermione's cheek. Harry brushed it off and put his arm around her, saying nothing all the while.
Hermione collected herself, and addressed them. "You are welcome to stay with us," She sobbed. "but we have only two extra beds."
Hogrod stood up. "That is okay. Gallahad, you are my closest friend, but I can no longer associate myself with one who plans to betray the most ancient of goblin laws."
The other goblin stood with his friend. "I'm sorry, Hogrod. But I will fight the Dark Lord. And I trust you will not sabotage this?"
"No, I will not. I shall go abroad, and hide. Farewell." He said, a he walked out of the tent and vanished into the night.
"Hang on," Said Dean. "There's only one extra bed?"
Hermione smiled. "Er, Harry and I are sharing now."
Dean gave a light chuckle. "I thought this might happen. Congratulations, I guess!"
He and Gallahad took the bunk beds across from the kitchen, while Harry and Hermione had the big one. Once they were out of earshot of the other two, Harry spoke.
"Do you think it was a good idea to tell them that we were looking for the cup?"
"I don't see what can go wrong." She replied. "I doubt either of them know what a Horcrux is, anyway. But the thing that worries me is Gallahad and the sword. He might not seem like it, but at some point he will try and seize it, I have no doubt about that."
"You're probably right." He said. The next subject, that was floating around still, was Ron. "So, what about Ron?" Harry added, awkwardly.
"Well we have to try and find him!"
"But I haven't the first idea how."
"Well we can figure something out in the morning."
Harry smiled at her, before kissing her on the forehead, and putting out the flame.
