obviously, I don't own Harry Potter

Harry's and Hermione's wedding party had been the cause of many discussions. While Gabrielle and Harry had only felt it fair that she should have a marriage of comparable size to Gabrielle's, Hermione had wanted something smaller, more personal. In the end her argument that they didn't want to spoil the surprise in the upcoming wizengamot session had carried the day. The marriage of Harry Potter, Lord Gryffindor, and Hermione Jane Granger took place in Gryffindor Castle. Her majesty, the Queen, had demanded and received an invitation, and the small party wasn't all that small. While Hermione's parents, her completely confused godmother and Hermione's sole surviving grandmother were the only family from her side, the Delacour and Weasley families, Neville, Luna, Victor and Tr'lik were there. The DA, Remus Lupin and Professor McGonogall would arrive later to the reception. Thus, Harry was able to lead his bride through the aisle of the House Chapel to the Archbishop of Canterbury in his true persona.

In the morning Harry had found out that the experience of one marriage ceremony and even the fact that he had been intimate with this bride before did nothing to ease the nervousness. He again had driven Neville and Ron bonkers and was happy when Hermione entered the hall leading to the Chapel in her white dress. She had demanded a more simple ceremony, and even if her father had been a little sad not to lead his little girl through the aisle, he had relented. So Hermione could whisper soothingly to Harry while they slowly walked to the sound of several goblins playing string instruments. The old organ had been found beyond repair.

The exchange of oaths had been as magical for Harry as the first time with Gabrielle, but he was able to focus a little more on the words of the ceremony and the celebrations afterwards. First there was a dinner for those present in the hall of the castle where Kenial, Dobby and several others had done – well – magic to make the hall presentable again. Seeing that Harry had no parents, the Queen had been seated in loco parentis. She cheerfully informed him that he had been elevated to official advisor to the Queen. Again, she extended her invitation for him, Gabrielle and Hermione to Windsor before school would start.

Later that evening, Victor had caught Harry and led him to the terrace. Lord Tisul had advised Harry to inform the Bulgarian seeker about his roles. "Harry, you know very well that Hermione does not have a big brother, right?"

Harry smiled. "So you took the job?"

The Bulgarian nodded slowly. "I know that you love her. Hell, I knew that during the tournament. Do you know that she was the first girl I really dated?"

Harry stared at the older seeker. "You mean...?"

"No, I mean, the first girl I did anything else with than use for some nice sex. I was quite shocked when she didn't agree to getting intimate. But she was the first girl I dated for anything else but her assets. It's pretty easy to get girls in your bed if you are the best flyer in the world." He smiled ruefully. "If I hadn't run into Hermione, I wouldn't be together with Svetlana now, I believe. Or at least her dad would never have agreed to a marriage. Would have been right, too." They both grinned and Harry nodded to his friend's girlfriend.

"She's good for you, as far as I can see."

"As your girls are for you. You three will be at our wedding, won't you?"

"Yes."

ooo

It was the day of the first session of the wizengamot after the summer. It was also the day the wizengamot was to decide on the murder of several upstanding citizens by Harry Potter and several associates. All sitting members of the wizengamot were already assembled in the central chamber, the first time for many years. But the House Longbottom had motioned to assemble here. The galleries were packed with the press and visitors. However, no friends of Harry seemed present. Then, the great doors opened and a goblin in splendid armor and the colors of the gamot entered. He banged his staff on the floor. His voice filled the chamber: "Behold! For the House of Savils, Ms. Cho Chang as warden by appointment of Harry Potter, holder of Savils."

Cho entered the chamber in a splendid oriental silk robe, bowed to the empty throne behind Dumbledore and spoke: "For as long as the holder allows me to, I swear to represent the interests of the holder in this chamber."

The goblin banged his staff again and again, and one after another, young people entered the hall and declared their allegiance to the holders.

Silence fell when the goblin announced: "Behold! Hermione Gryffindor, Lady Gryffindor as holder of House Suffolk."

A loud humming filled the hall and became a storm of protest when the goblin announced: "Dobby Malfoy, by appointment of Lord Syltherin the New Holder of House Gaunt. Let it be known that Dobby Malfoy and his offspring will hold this seat in their own name and for all future. All other members of his family are now under Master Malfoy's authority." Dobby entered the hall in gaudy clothes and bowed to the throne. "Dobby will hold his title in good faith."

"What farce is that!"

"Silence!"

"Behold! His royal highness prince Ragnoki, holder of House Valois, by appointment of Lord Slytherin. Let it be known that the royal house of Ragnokal will hold this title for all future, to distribute the title as the goblin nation sees fit."

Tr'lik entered the hall and the uproar became pandemonium. Even Dumbledore thunderclaps couldn't bring the gamot to order. It took several minutes, then the herald added. "Behold, Master Harry Potter, holder of the Houses Potter and Black." Harry entered, shook Tr'lik's hand and sat down. Now, it would become really interesting.

"Behold! Lord Ravenclaw." Ron in his persona as Lord entered, ignored the ruckus around him, opened the stall for the first tier and sat down in his thronelike chair.

"Behold! Lord Gryffindor!" Harry sat down next to Ron.

Her royal highness, Princess Gabrielle Slytherin-Pottera, heiress of Slytherin as representative of his Lordship." Gabrielle wore a beautiful green robe with silver embroidery. The young girl stared down several of the old members and sat down in her place.

"Behold! The Merlin of Britain, Lord Slytherin, overlord of all wizardkind in Britain." Harry wore his robes of state, two goblins with longswords (and hidden MPs) followed him. When he entered, the herald announced: "Stand for your overlord!" His followers and most older members rose.

With measured steps, he went to his throne, knelt down and brandished his wand: "I swear on my magic that I will serve Britain and wizard kind. I will punish the evil and nurture the good. I will shelter the helpless and work tirelessly for the good of the realm. So mote it be." A whirl of magic surrounded him. Then he rose and sat down.

Gabrielle rose. "I swear fealty to the rightful Lord of Britain. I swear to obey and fight on his orders against enemies of the realm."

Harry rose as Lord Gryffindor and repeated the oath. Ron, Lord Ravenclaw followed, then Tr'lik, then Neville. Madam Marchbanks, first among the Ravenclaw families, hesitated for a second, then repeated the oath. The resident magic let the air in the chamber sizzle. Others followed until it was Cornelius Fudge's turn. The wizard felt all eyes in the chamber on him, but he didn't stand. After a few minutes of complete silence, Ginny Weasley, sitting next to him, rose for the oath.

All in all, only four of the members of the wizengamot didn't swear the oath. The Merlin rose again.

"Thank you. All those who feel they can't fight for the realm will please find a new representative for their House." The eight fell to the ground as their seats disappeared suddenly. "Mister Fudge, you have lost Our confidence. You are dismissed as minister. Master Potter?"

"Yes, my Lord Merlin?"

"We dub thee fashokai-Merlin, warlord of Britain and ask thee to put down the uprising of the wizard Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known as Voldemort."

"Thank you, my Lord Merlin. You will not be disappointed."

"Mr. Dumbledore, as We will lead the gamot, We will not need your services as Supreme Mugwup any longer. For your services for the realm, We thank thee."

Dumbledore, who had hesitated for some time to take his oath, bowed his head. "As you wish, my Lord Merlin."

Hermione rose and was recognized: "The House of Suffolk recommends Madam Bones as the new Minister."

"The House of Potter seconds this motion."

"The House of Malfoy seconds this motion."

"The goblin nation seconds this motion."

"There is a motion on the floor. Is there any debate?"

There was none, and some minutes later, Madam Bones was elected Minister.

The Merlin nodded. "Now, we have the case against fashokai-Merlin Harry James Potter, Master Neville Longbottom, Master Ronald Bilius Weasley, Lady Gryffindor and Luna Weasley, Princess Ravenclaw. They have been accused to have killed several persons. Will someone from the ministry please read the writ?"

It took some time until Percy Weasley, the only Weasley without representation in the gamot, proved that even if he was a git, he still was a Gryffindor and read the writ. According to the orders he had received from his superior, he then urged the Gamot to sentence the murderers to several years in Askaban. Even he had to admit that some questions remained why so many upstanding citizens were assembled in a muggle home with so many murdered muggles.

"Warlord, would you please explain?"

"Thank you, Sir." Harry rose and explained the events of the night. Then, the others gave evidence.

"Slytherin, your decision?"

"Not guilty."

"Ravenclaw?"

"Not guilty."

"Gryffindor?"

"Not guilty."

"With the unanimous decision of the first tier, the accused have been acquitted."

There were several more motions before the wizengamot, one of them a law that made accepting the dark mark a crime. Harry had wanted to make having the mark a crime, but Hermione had pointed out some rules about the European Convention on Human Rights that made such a law illegal. The Merlin's faction would be bound by human rights and law.

But more important for Harry personally was a law that was to change the scope of marriage contracts. Harry and Hermione had been all for outlawing marriage contracts, but Neville and Ron, and – to their surprise – even Ginny and Gabrielle had been against that.

"You don't really understand the value of betrothal contracts in our society." Neville had said. "We don't really form a civil society. We are not the millions of muggles who are connected by something as abstract as a nation. Yes, we will have you as an rally point, but basically, we live by personal connections, by friendships and by the way of extended family clans. For most of us, a marriage between two scions of the respective families is the best way to show everyone that these families will really stand together. And even the declaration of intent shown by a betrothal contract sends a strong signal to the families and all who know them. They say: We will stand together."

Hermione shook her head. "But you told me that a marriage cannot be dissolved. Imagine you would have to marry Pansy Parkinson."

Neville shrugged. "If this were a way to bring Slytherin and Gryffindor closer together and to make sure that the Parkinsons were unable to attack any family allied with mine, it might not be a bad trade-off. Hermione, we do not think as much about the individual as you muggle-born do. Pansy, Luna, Milicent, I, most of us purebloods have been raised in the secure knowledge that we are part of our family clan and that the continuation of the family clan is more important than the individual. Would I like being with Pansy? No. Would I actively seek a contract with her? No. But if there was an old contract that both families chose to uphold, would I consent? Of course."

Luna stared at Hermione. "I still can't completely understand your thing with the rights of the individual. You can't really be an individual, you are always interconnected with others. To put the rights of the single person above everything else, you would have to be willing to forsake the others. To me, this individual first thing might actually lead directly to Voldemort. He puts one individual above everything else – himself. Couldn't you say that he just pursues his right for personal happiness?" She held up her hand. "I know that you don't mean it that way, and I really like that categorical imperative you mentioned last week. However, why shouldn't arranged marriages be the maxim of general law? They have worked for centuries."

Ron butted in. "You are both wrong and both right. Arranged marriages hold our society together. To forbid them – even if you could arrange a suitable majority in the wizengamot – would weaken our society. But I agree with Hermione. There is no sense in upholding all old contracts. Some of the ones Harry has are more than a thousand years old, and they do not serve as a connection between the families any longer."

"And if you look at Harry and me, you see that magic herself arranges marriages. Why should human law forbid what magic herself orders?"

Harry nodded slowly. He understood Hermione very well. They had had the idea when they had discussed his marriage contracts. It was tempting to solve this problem by just erasing all of them. And his muggle-raised mind shuddered at the thought of marrying someone he might never have seen. But when he had looked in his memories, he had seen that the arguments his friends had raised were not invalid at all, either.

"So we propose to put all betrothal contracts which have lain longer than twenty years under review of both families. They will have to decide if they want to continue the connection, change it or break it. All older than 200 years are completely dissolved. And the people who are betrothed get the chance to opt out of the contract, but only if they accept losing their family position."

"And there will be no contracts with an age difference of more than 15 years. Also, if possible, the young people in question should be involved in the decision."

There had been heated discussions among the Merlin's faction about this new law, but in the end and after a lot of fine-tuning, everyone had agreed.

It was a testament to the shock the Merlin's appearance had given the older members that the law had less debate in the gamot than among Harry's friends. However, there was some opposition to it, and the wizengamot decided to postpone the second and final reading of the law to the next meeting.

All other motions were passed or denied without much debate with the Merlin's party's majority and a surprising number of other wizengamot members concurring. It was obvious that everyone wanted to leave, to discuss the events. So Harry was able to meet with his inner circle for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. Tom was beside himself that so many wizengamot elders graced his pub for lunch and ushered them to a back room for more privacy.

Ron grinned. "I'd love to listen to some of the conversations going on right now."

Harry shook his head. "Get some extendable ears from your brothers, then. I won't listen to them. I know I wouldn't want anyone to listen in on me. And I won't do it to someone else if there is no obvious necessity for it. Besides" he smiled, "it gives me a tremendous headache."

Everyone laughed.

"I wouldn't be too surprised if the majority was very happy to have us. It's been Britain's bane that there was no strong rallying point in the government for more than a century." Neville said. "Wizards want stability, even if the price they pay is a dictatorship. Now, we have a leader who is stability in person - you muggle raised and even you, Ron, have no idea what connotations we wizengamot families have with a Merlin. You are more or less a semi-god, you can claim divine ancestry and are supposed to be able to be so much stronger than any other wizard that we don't even count. As long as you seem to have a firm control on affairs, you will have their support."

He shook his head. "You have to remember that almost half of the old wizengamot families, mine included, still worship in the old way, and that means that you, Harry, are not only our political, but also our religious leader. Yes, in the thousand years since the death of the last Merlin, our rituals may have become botched, but they will expect you to lead them. And do not forget! We are not a democracy. Never were, never tried to!" He laughed. "Most of us wouldn't even be able to explain what a democracy is about. And of those, few would consider this a good form of government. We are damn conservative, and our world has always been led by one or very few people, first the Merlins, then the wizards council, then the leaders of the wizengamot or strong ministers." Harry watched his friend starting to pace in front of them. "Yes, sure, we have factions, and a successful leader has to have as many of us behind him as possible, but that only means that he won't have to fight everyone else or at least win handily."

Harry stared at him.

"Why do you think that we had almost only unanimous votes on our new laws? A huge majority ven on that with the arranged marriages, even though it will throw our world in disarray?"

He stared at his friends, and Harry answered slowly. "Because they did not want to be the one to say no to the new strongest man in Britain. Because they wanted to show that they will support the strongest and that I will not have to fight them. They will obey the strongest, whatever they may really think. Obstruction, yes, and they will try to influence me, most likely through my heiress and her husband."

"Anyone who is the strongest?" Hermione looked around.

Neville answered "Yes. Even if it is Voldemort or some old man they have never seen before, but who has declared himself Merlin. Hell, we staged a bloodless coup, and they will stay calm as long as we are strong. Outwardly at least."

"So as long as Voldemort is gone, we are well?"

"Yes. If we can keep him small, the others will be willing to follow. Harry?"

"He has no more than a dozen followers active right now. He can't do much and he knows it. You wouldn't know about poison-filled MP-bullets by the way, comito-Merlin?"

"I?" The goblin was a picture of innocence. "Not at all, my Lord. Why?"

"Just idle curiosity. It seems our enemy has been hurt very much and still can't move his leg, even after ingesting two bezoars."

"Oh dear." The goblin placed his ears directly on his skull. "I really hope that the bullets were not the ones with plutonium coating..."

Hermione laughed out loud. "You didn't..."

"It's not as if any wizard would recognize radiation poisoning, ne pas? And before you ask, we collected all bullets back. Wouldn't want any innocents to be hurt."

"And magical means won't help against that."

"There has been no research on this, Lady Gryffindor, but I would imagine you are right."

"So Voldemort will slowly break down via radiation poisoning?"

"Most likely, he won't really die of it. But then, maybe he will." The goblin grinned feral, showing his sharp teeth. Harry had to remind himself again that goblins were a different species and had very different values.

"So what do we do now?"

"Nothing really for now. Voldi hasn't anything planned for the next weeks. He physically can't. So Gabrielle, Hermione and I will leave for France tonight. Honeymoon, you know? And after that, we go back to school. I'm really looking forward for that."

"No objections from me, there. So Luna and I can go, too?" Ron smiled. "Love, where do you want to go?"

The late August was sunny and warm in Southern France. Gabrielle and Hermione had quickly united with Christine Delacour and tried their best to mould their man from the inexperienced boy who had not been out of Surrey much to a leader of a nation. For this, they spent every morning in some other place of Europe. Harry visited the Sistine Chapel (closed one morning for routine maintenance), the Prado (where he fell in love with Velasquez), the Berlin Wall and the Reichstag, the Akropolis, the Hagia Sophia and Carcassonne.

After their cultural events, they had lunch with the Overlords. El Defensor, the Overlord of Spain, was a haughty old wizard whom the teens could not really relate to. Agamemnon Schliemann, the Greek Overlord, was only 35 years old. Harry had met his daughter, Helena, a beater, at Lord Tisul's quidditch camp. They had a very nice lunch, and Harry was sure that he had found an open ear for any problem he might have.

Dr. Wasenburg stemmed from Hamburg and had been born before the Germanies had united. Like England, the Germanies had never had an Overlord in historic times. There had been, of course, the imperial wizard, advisor to the Holy Roman Emperor, but Graf von Hain, appointed in 1798, had died in 1848. After that, the huge territory of the Holy Roman Empire (including Austria, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, parts of Poland and Italy) had not had a legitimate leader. And when the united Germany had imploded in two world wars, the wizards and witches of the remains of Germany had done something unprecedented in 1947. They had all met on the magical Brocken Mountain and elected an Overlord to lead them for 10 years. And they had carried on. Dr. Wasenburg was to step down in two years to make room for a new Federal Wizard. There wasn't much democracy in Germany, either, as the federal magical council was only there to advise their leader, who was alone responsible to make the necessary decisions. But he was the only Overlord who had been awarded his office not by any magical means, but by a vote of the people. His reports about how the wizards had helped reunification were interesting, but the teens could not really see how the German model could work for Britain.

The afternoons were spent on the beach or the quidditch pitch. Even Hermione did not have the heart to force them to their homework. Harry would never have to revise in his life, and the brown-haired British teen had finally found that there could be something different than academic success.

It was the third evening in their honeymoon, and the three teens were sitting on the terrace of the castle when the leader of Harry's bodyguard suddenly saluted. "Lord Merlin, Ragnokal expects you in his council hall at nine."

Harry nodded and looked at his watch. It was seven. Knowing what refreshments would be served, he ordered a quick supper and dressed in his robes of state. Then, he held out his hand to the goblin officer and found himself in a wide corridor. Seven goblins with machine guns stepped out of the dark, followed by one armed with only a sword. "Lord Merlin."

"Ragnoki." Harry drew his sword and slashed into the direction of his friend, stopping the weapon a few inches from him. Then, he froze as the prince drew his weapon, slashed at him and stopped only half an inch from his face.

Harry didn't blink. The goblins around them chuckled with appreciation. "You dish out like a baby, but you take it like a fashok, my friend."

"I would rather flinch than hurt you, Ragnoki." Harry was on goblin land, and he would follow their rituals, as the prince did when he was among humans. He had soon learned that goblin culture was macho.

The few clan-mothers of the goblins were never shown to outsiders. Even Harry, telmasca to their prince, would most likely never see the distorted, huge mass of a goblin female, bearing children only to the clan-master. The goblin race was slowly dying out. In another thousand years, goblins would only be the subject of legends. There had been millions of them in the ice ages, but the disease they called the Curse had killed so many in the fifth century. And now, almost no new goblin females had been born for several hundred years. While formerly, there had been almost parity between the sexes, only a few females in all of Britain had survived, and only about one in a thousand goblin births was a girl. So the goblins had done what had to be done and used their magic to change their females so that they could give birth to hundreds. A clan had one clan-mother who gave birth to all clan-members.

A goblin greeting was a test in dexterity, in trust and in character strength. One goblin would slash his sword as close to the other as he dared. The other would calmly wait for the first to stop in time. It was a serious loss of status to hurt someone or stop too early, and an even worse one to flinch. Harry, as a non-goblin was given some slack for his swordplay – at least for now.

Harry sheathed his sword and followed his friend through the tunnels. Their escorts followed them, equally silent. Small talk was not acceptable among the goblins, and so Harry had the chance to scrutinise the masonry. The tunnel was carved into the bedrock without decorations. Walls, ceiling and floor were polished and the few, beautiful cast chandeliers that lit up the passage let strange reflection ghost over the rock.

Two heavy doors of bronze were opened by some guards, and Harry saw the council chamber of the bus rishuk. The hall was huge, but only roughly hewn out of the grown bedrock. The floor was tilted, and the walls were painted with wood scenes, using the unevenness of the rock to give the painting an eerie depth. Goblins had lived in what would later become Britain since before the end of the last ice ages had made the sea levels rise and cut off the island from the rest of Europe. Only in the last 2000 years, the goblins had started to live more and more under the surface, after the humans had become too many. Around a large table, 21 goblins sat. Most of them were old, but there were three younger ones. Harry recognized Ragnokal and Gringott, and when he understood, he grasped. "There are only 21 left?"

"Good evening, Lord Merlin." Ragnokal rose from his chair. Harry stood straight. In council, all clan elders were equal, and Harry was the elder of the humans. "Yes, of the thousand clans, only 21 remain. Take your seat in council, my ally."

Harry stepped up and sat down next to the High King. A wonderful goblet was filled with red wine, and Harry followed the bus rishuk in drinking a deep draw.

"Lord Merlin, do me a favour and recall for us the events of the first spring council in the 49th year of Ragnokal Mior the Cursed."

Harry concentrated and recalled what had happened that night in the spring of 1004. Salazar Slytherin had met the bus rishuk in council. They had talked about the growing number of muggles and – even more frightening – the growing number of Christians on the island. And as in every council during the life of Merlin Salazar, they had not come to an conclusion. After midnight, the 900 clan elders had slowly left, and only Ragnokal and Merlin had stayed. Salazar Slytherin's mother had been the product of a goblin and a human girl, and thus, he stood in council with his grandfather.

"We are losing ground against the new religion. They can draw on the strength of the ruins of Rome. And they can promise something to the simple muggles. We can't in good faith."

"You have to fight them. The time for words is past. You need to throw the Christians out of the islands." The Ragnokal was old, but in his youth he had been a feared fighter.

"I don't have enough fighters. We even loose more and more of our young ones. Only a few still want to learn the old magic and pay the price for it. Godrik's faction in Hogwarts is getting stronger and stronger. He's a friend, of course, but I shudder when I think of what will come after him. People who believe that our arts are either presents of the devil or of their god."

They walked out of the hall, and to the personal quarters of the goblin king. In a golden crib there lay a baby goblin. "And we are weak, too. We have not enough warriors, ever since the Curse." He threw a disgusted glance at the crib. "Another useless girl. If we would have more men, we could aid you."

The two men had gone on to discuss their weakness at length, and finally, the Merlin had blessed the goblin nation with the blood of the little goblin girl. "Your people shall have sons by the threes and fours."

And so the second growth of the goblin nation had begun, thousands and thousands of young warriors fighting and losing the wars that the two leaders had planned for them, even though they both were dead. But the number of females had dwindled. Goblin magic allowed for the surviving females to have hundreds of children, and a few girls continued to be born, but by and by, their number fell from the tens of thousands to very few. Now, there were 21 left, and each of them was the mother, niece or sister of all goblins of her clan.

When Harry had finished his report, an eerie silence had fallen on the group, as every male was lost in his own thoughts. Finally, Ragnokal asked: "Can the Merlin break the Merlin's curse?"

"The blessing given can be withdrawn. But I will need royal blood, as with royal blood the boon was given. And all women shall be here to receive the magic."

The clan chiefs left, and returned a bit later with the last of the goblin females. There were 21 women and three children, all carefully held by their clan lords.

"Name your price and receive it."

Harry's thoughts raced. A few weeks ago, he had told John Granger about the Merlins being good, but not necessarily nice. Salazar Slytherin had killed the goblin baby without remorse to fulfil his grandfather's wish, as he had thought best for the realm. And now the High King of all goblins in Britain offered his life to undo what those two had brought upon the goblins. And he asked Harry to name his price.

When he thought about it, it was easy. "The price shall be peace. Let all that was decided that night be undone. Let there be peace between goblin and man, be he Old Believer or Christian. The old religion has lost, and the war will not help us any longer."

"Peace shall be." The High King slowly rose and began to undress. "I, Wis'ry, wish you luck, Harry Potter."

Harry bowed, took a deep breath, and cut the goblin. Blood began to flow, and the basilisk's tooth dipped into it, writing runes around the body of the monarch. He began to chant in the ancient language of the island, and the runes began to glow in red. Small red fires began to burn all over the dead goblin, until Harry finished speaking. "The Merlin's blessing shall be taken from the goblins. They shall bear children as the magic wills." The hall cracked with magical power. Then, all was gone. The hall was in darkness, and it took Harry a second to light up his wand and then the candles around him. His comito-Merlin, Ragnoki, stood before him. With a leaden weariness, Harry pulled out his sword and slashed at his friend. "Hail, Ragnokal." He said softly.

The new High King smiled sadly. "Thank you, Harry. But I believe you should leave us now."

"I agree." Without a word, Harry turned and left the hall. He wanted to show sympathy, to tell him how sorry he was for having had to kill his friend's father, to cry for the goblin who had been so friendly to him the three times they had met. But goblin custom did not allow for something like that. Tonight, a new union had been entered over the blood of a King, and this was not a time for grieve. The goblins would not comment on the fact that the Merlin did not participate in the celebrations, and Harry would never tell any goblin how bad he felt. Only time would tell if the ritual had been in time to save the goblins or if they would die out. But for the first time in more than 500 years, there was at least a glimmer of hope for them.

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