Disclaimer: See Do Not Meddle Part 1
Harry Potter and the Veela Bond
Chapter 9: Meddle Not in the Affairs of Dragons: Part II
Gringotts Bank
Diagon Alley
London, England
July 24, 1996
Harry's POV
A low, mirthless chuckle escaped from Harry's throat as he stared into the goblin's eyes. "Somehow I thought you would say that," he replied with a cold smile spreading on his face. "It is time, goblin. The sins of the Goblin Nation have come home to roost, and the price of betrayal must be paid. And just for the record, no one controls the dragons. They alone hold their destinies. But by ancient pact, they work with me." With this Harry initiated the change. He started growing dramatically as his clothing and armor shimmered to nothingness. His skin turned a light grayish color as his eyes seemed to get even greener over the extending snout. Wings started to extend out of his back, extended part way out to give him an even bigger profile than his main body had already achieved. His fingers extended to twice their length, each ending in a rather wicked-looking claw. His feet grew proportionate to his body, also ending in similar claws. Finally his teeth grew, extending much like a dragon's teeth. The end result was had Hagrid beat by at least a foot, with pure muscle outlined clearly by scaled hide that covered his body.
Before Sliphook could move, Harry had him caught in one of his huge hands. He hauled the being up to eye level, just out of arms reach for the being. This kept the goblin from trying to stab Harry in the eye like he was trying to do to Harry's hand. Deciding that the goblin needed to be taught some manners he opened his mouth and roared to his comrades, though the visage of him roaring anything was enough to make the bravest of magical beings pause. //My brethren! Hear me! I, Harry of House Dracon, do hereby announce the return of the Lords! There are stout ones on their way to help free you from your bondage. Fight the pain givers and be free!\\
The goblin paused, plainly made to pause by the rather vicious looking dragon-man in front of him. But before the goblin could get his courage back the entire bank shook from the violence of the explosions underneath the bank. A loud sound of metal shattering and being ripped from stone echoed throughout the bank's lobby, followed by the screams of goblins and humans from outside the doors. "Get the humans out," Harry growled at Dumbledore before shifting to draconic language again, //Hurt not the ones with sticks unless they hurt you first. The crooked-nose ones with weapons must pay.\\ Once he was sure the bank's dragons heard him, he strode toward the door only to be stopped by a tickling sensation. His magic detected spells being fired at him, rather uselessly, from behind and to his left. Quickly he spun around to see Draco and Narcissa firing spells that, if he were in his human form, would have killed him several times over. He moved forward at fast time, effectively disappearing from where he was. When next the others in the room saw he had a Malfoy neck in each hand, and was in the process of picking them up by the neck with the ease of someone picking up a small porcelain doll.
A low but menacing growl rumbled from Harry's throat as he spoke, "Give me one good reason notto end the Malfoy line now." He punctuated the command by slamming both bodies against the stone walls of the conference room in such a way as to make everyone watching wince in sympathy. Outside the human screams were fading as the witches and wizards were all being lead somewhere away. The building shook again as the distinct sound of marching armored feet hitting stone was heard outside. The Malfoys, ever the pureblood elitists they were, refused to answer Harry even as they were shaking and in obvious pain. "I have little patience or time for either of you. Do not underestimate me, I will kill you. And yours would be merely the first people to die at my claws today. Give. Me. A. Reason. To. Spare. You." Each word of his command was punctuated by a shake that rattled the bodies of his captive hard enough to give everyone in the room sympathy pains. But most people in the room were too afraid to move.
Dora, obviously acting out of reflex, took a step forward and said, "Harry, we'd all love them dead, but it would be..."
She got no further as Gabrielle and Fleur both stepped forward in her way, each sporting a decidedly avian look to their faces. "This is war," Gabrielle started, her voice an octave higher than normal. "There is no murder in war. His Grace is giving them their right to a defense. Stand down Auror, and let His Grace do what must be done."
Draco, for perhaps the first time in his life, appeared truly afraid of Harry. The acrid smell of urine rose up from the floor and his legs as he lost control of his bladder. Narcissa fared no better, but for a different reason. Her body was spasming in Harry's hands so much that were it not for his increased strength, he would have dropped her. Instead he lowered her to the floor before slamming Draco one more time into the wall, causing him to go limp. "Brekter," he called as he used a claw to tear Narcissa's left sleeve open. "Secure the Malfoy Heir. Do not let him speak to anyone, and give me an ax." Sure enough, there on Narcissa's arm was the dark mark, plain as day. A dwarf came forward with an ax big and heavy enough to require the normally robust male to carry it two-handed. Harry absent-mindedly took it from the Dwarf, and with only minimal effort brought it down on Narcissa's neck, separating head from body. The body gave one final spasm before slumping to the ground, unmoving. The mark itself started to burn deep, and would not stop until her bone was visible, with the mark plainly branded upon it.
"You know what to do," he instructed the head dwarf. Wasting no more time he took up the ax he was given as if it were made for him, and strode to the now shut doors. Outside the sounds of marching could be heard close by, while further beyond the sounds of metal clanging on metal combined with screams of anger, pain, and even death echoed through the halls. Off to the right he could hear human voices yelling instructions, aurors from what Harry could tell. Harry used a glamour spell along with a subtle compulsion charm on himself to make him appear as his human form, though he knew it wouldn't last long. Still, five minutes was all that he needed. "I need guards," he announced. The glamor charm also managed to adjust his voice, so it didn't sound like he was growling his words. Instantly three dwarfs were by his side. "I'll be using a species specific notice-me-not ward to get us to the front doors, which is where the Aurors are located. Do you have the Declaration?" At the dwarf's nod Harry smiled a smile that sent chills through the spines of most people. "Good. Just don't let them touch me, as the glamour does not extend to touch."
At the acknowledgment of orders, Harry appeared to wave his ax around once more, causing a slight ripple through the room. To the humans in the chamber, Harry was still there, though his ax was now a wand. To the few conscious goblins however, it was obviously a different story. "Where did he go?" Sliphook demanded. "It doesn't matter. Release us now, and you'll all live."
"Shut up and sit down, drek," the guard monitoring the still conscious goblins ordered as he hit the goblin on the back of his head with the flat of his ax "You are in no position to make demands here." The witches and wizards all looked supremely confused as they watched Harry and his entourage leave through the doors. Harry noticed Hermione shake her head and move closer to her parents. It was obvious to Harry that she wanted to follow, but Fleur's head shake prevented her from doing so. Still, Gabrielle did follow, since the wives had decided that one of them would be with him at all times during this battle.
It was definitely not business as usual in the lobby of Gringott's bank. Harry's hearing had been correct, as the doors to the cart area had been chopped down from their hinges. An entire company of dwarves stood just inside the doorway, holding it against at least three companies of goblins. The dwarves could probably hold the door for another five minutes, but beyond that, they would need assistance. That would be Harry's job, once he got the Ministry out of this battle.
On to his left he could see rows and rows of humans lined up, but the group looked impossibly small against the company of goblin guards that stood firm to not let them past. One auror, who Harry recognized as Shacklebolt, stood in front of the gathering aurors. It was obvious he was in a heated debate with a goblin standing just opposite him, one which the auror was decidedly losing. Harry motioned for his guards to follow as he walked closer. 'Gabrielle, when we get in range hit them with the allure, full tilt. I'll be using mine at the same time,' he mentally told his wife. Feeling her acquiescence, he continued to motioned the guards to form up facing the goblin side, signing that they should be ready for the allure. They nodded, each activating an object on their armor. Just when they were within 25 feet of the two forces, Harry let go of his allure, which signaled Gabrielle to do the same.
The effect was instantaneous. All males on both sides of the company stopped what they were doing and turned toward the approaching group. Their faces showed a mix of expressions between awe and fear. They were in awe of Gabrielle, as she became the most beautiful thing they had ever seen. The fear, on the other hand, was for Harry. To them he was the biggest, baddest, most intimidating predator they had ever seen. It didn't matter that he looked entirely human to them. No indeed, that made it worse. To them, that just meant that he had something unseen that could literally tear them all to shreds in the blink of an eye. On the females the combined allures had just the opposite effect. To them Harry was the most handsome and powerful male in the world. While Gabrielle made them all shake in their boots. And the goblins had it even worse, for the effects of the allure was twice as potent against them. The entire company looked like it wanted to flee right then, but they seemed afraid of what the two of them would do. 'Never fails,' thought Harry, 'A company of trained individuals is not a mob. A mob has the protection of social momentum. A company of trained individuals does not.'
Harry walked up to Shacklebolt and smiled. "What are you guys doing here?"
"The Ministry reported an attack on Gringotts, and we came here to help. The goblins don't seem to want us here though," Kingsley responded automatically. "Uh... Mr. Potter, can I ask..."
"No, you can't," Harry replied with a "that's very unfortunate" look and a head shake. "You see, humans aren't attacking Gringotts. The main thrust of the attack are coming from dwarves and dragons, the later of whom seem intent upon throwing of the shackles of slavery. Just between you and me, they haven't been treating the dragons in their care very well." He sighed and shook his head before looking back at the goblins. Once his head was turned away he sneered at the goblins, which caused them all to reflexively take a step backwards. "The dwarves have asked me to deliver this to you, as proof that they, and a representative of the dragons, have in fact declared war on the Goblins for crimes far too numerous to mention at this moment. And per the last agreement between wizards and goblins, the wizards can only come to the aid of the goblins upon their request. Any attempt by the Ministry to step in during an attack against them, so long as it isn't other wizards attacking them, is to be seen as an invasion by the wizards themselves. If you and your fellow aurors continue this, you'll be engaging in a war against the goblins. Are you sure you want to do that?"
Kingsley paled when he heard all of that. He tore his eyes away from Harry to look at the goblins for a moment, then tentatively reached out for the document. Upon reading it he paled further, then focused once again on Harry. Making a supreme effort to speak, he asked, "So what do we do?"
"Leave," Harry said succinctly before the company commander could gather his wits to ask for help. It looked to Harry like the other aurors desperately wanted to leave themselves, but would not so long as the lead auror on the scene remained. Kingsley himself swallowed hard and looked at Harry closely... "Harry... should you be here? I mean... I know the will was today, but no one expected..."
Harry drew back his allure slightly, just enough to make the lead auror slightly more comfortable with him. With the goblins as susceptible to the allure as they were, it wouldn't give them enough room to really think of doing anything. Besides, Gabrielle still had hers up so they weren't going anywhere any time soon. "I'll be fine, Auror Shacklebolt. They're going to let me go in a few minutes. I just need to get back to get the others with us out. I'll be safe enough until then. The dwarves at least are trying to work with us," he said with a sigh. He held up his hand to stop the obvious protest and said, "I promise, if I'm not right behind you, I'll be out as soon as I can. I don't want anyone I care about hurt. Please just go." With this last request he pushed his allure as high as it would go. He wanted this done and them gone. He couldn't do what he needed to do with them here.
Fortunately the spike had at least some of its desired effect, even if the female aurors seemed to moan in ecstasy. Harry tried to make his smile as innocent, especially one of the faintest of heart goblins actually squeaked. Kingsley nodded once and made a motion for the Aurors to fall back. "I'll stay nearby, and help people as they come out," the auror answered. "Fall back! All Aurors fall back. Secure the perimeter. No one in, and only non-combatants out. Move!" The aurors could not get out fast enough. Once Kingsley had left, the dwarves closed the doors behind them.
Suddenly a loud roar echoed throughout the cavernous lobby. Harry turned in time to see the top of the arch crack as a small dragon shouldered its way through the doorway. A dozen goblins came forward and rattled some kind of strange mechanism, producing a sound that hurt Harry's ears. The Dragon was not very comfortable either as it reared back to get away from the noise. //Fire them, my brother, and the noise will stop!\\ he roared over the sound. But the dragon didn't seem to hear him. But this did shatter his glamour, leaving him in his original form in front of an entire company of pissed off but scared to death goblins. "Passion fire my love," he suggested before taking a deep breath. Gabrielle had seen him do this before and took a step back as balls of blue fire formed in her hands. The goblins were shaking violently, but they were still fierce opponents. The lead goblin in front of him quickly but shakily drew his sword.
This was all Harry and Gabrielle needed. Harry quickly expelled his breath, which changed to a bout of dragon fire just outside of his mouth and struck Harry's left side. Gabrielle lobbed both balls of passion fire and lobbed one to Harry's right and one in the center. The goblins in the company went from regular temperature to about 1500 degrees celcius in about one second, completely incinerating them and leaving only the metal in their weapons and armor behind. Some unlucky goblins, caught in the outer areas of the blasts, ran around on fire, demoralizing the nearest goblins near them. The stone floor beneath where the goblins stood was literally radiating heat, and looked a bit lighter than before for some reason.
But the goblins were still not out or cowed yet. Six of the dozen goblins contending with the dragon broke off from their comrades and started to head toward them. At the same time another set of goblins opened a nearby door, admitting at least a half dozen mountain trolls. He started to briefly run through his options before Gabrielle said, "I'll handle the noise makers, you take care of those trolls, oui?" Instantly Harry knew this was the best plan, as only he and the trolls could withstand the temperature of the stone in front of him and be any kind of use in a fight. Giving a solemn nod to Gabrielle he slung his ax over his back and roared defiantly at the trolls. He only hoped his claws were up to the challenge, as he had not quite tested them yet. Still, he knew they ware stronger than his normal hands.
Harry charged into the midst of the trolls, ducking several clubs and axes as he moved. Time seemed to alternately slow down and speed up as he ducked and weaved his way through, all the while striking out with his claws. He soon discovered he had to put some force behind his blows to penetrate troll hide, but it was possible without breaking his hands in the process. He had just gotten done ripping the throat of one troll when an agonizing sound ripped through his ears, threatening to make them burst under the pressure. This caused him to hesitate just enough for something to hit him in the back of the head and threatened to send him sprawling. He barely caught himself at the last minute, extending his wings out slightly to help him catch himself.
Suddenly he felt an enormous weight on his right wing, pinning it to the floor. Several other blows started to rain down on his body, but the axes seemed to not be able to penetrate his hide. But Harry knew it didn't matter if they could penetrate his hide or not, he had to get himself unstuck or he could be bludgeoned to death by the trolls. With supreme effort, he shifted his weight to his left side while looking to the right side, using his own arm as a shield. The noise seemed to quiet a little as he noticed a troll standing on one of his wing membranes while it continued to pound on his body. Taking aim he let loose with a bout of flame about half the strength of the one he used before, which backed the troll up just enough to get it off of his wing. After he pulled his wing back he spurted another flame, this one the hottest he could. The troll's "clothing," for lack of a better word, instantly caught aflame while it was flung into a stone wall with enough force to render it unconscious, breaking the wall at the same time.
Now freed, Harry pushed himself as hard and as fast as he could, his body blurring with his movements. The trolls might as well have been moving on at a snail's pace with the speed the dracomagus was moving, but they were still hard to kill. Even so the noise started dying down, allowing Harry to focus more and more upon the trolls. Finally after what seemed to be forever there was one troll left and no more of that annoying noise. The troll was massive, almost as tall as Harry himself when he was in this form, and wielded what looked to be a great ax The troll was swinging at him determinedly, causing Harry to mainly dodge. He knew he had to end this soon, or he'd be a sitting duck for whoever wanted to finish him off. Finally he saw an opening, and with a sudden burst of speed he used his claws to rip the troll open from belly to chin.
As the last troll fell he looked over to discover that Gabrielle had taken care of the last of the goblin noise makers. Furthermore Fleur had sneaked out and dealt the first group of goblin noise makers a rather heavy blow, enabling the dragon to roast them before they could start to use their devices again. Unfortunately though the last remnants of the three companies of goblins were fighting desperately, one half taking on the dwarven host and the dragon while the other half turned toward their new target: Fleur. "We need to get to Fleur!" he called out as he passed Gabriel. He pulled his ax from his back, bellowing a challenge as he rushed forward. The crash sounded worse than a train collision when he hit their ranks, as bodies were either mowed down or flung in different directions. He was joined by his wives who had taken on their battle form, their claws alternating between slashing at faces and hurling passionfire. Along with them were a few squads of dwarves, among which were most of the guards from the will reading. Together they were worth an entire company themselves, devolving the entire area into a bloodbath.
Shields alternately flared up and winked out of existence as he and the girls fought on. None of the three of them were going to let anything happen to the others, and it showed. The battle was vicious as the world devolved into a seemingly never-ending flow of iron, flesh and flame. Even the screams started to get tuned out as their focuses narrowed down to eliminating the threats against them. After what seemed like an indeterminable time they finally caught glimpses of their dwarven allies as the fighting started to slow. Still, they could not afford to lose focus as they fought on. But there was no surrender from the goblins, even as the final ten of them were surrounded by the dwarves and Harry. "Surrender goblin, and you'll live to bear our message to your other cities."
A rather impressively sized goblin came forward, his war ax in hand. "We will never bow to a dracomagus. You will have to destroy us all, abomination." He started to leap forward, ax high in hand, only to be stopped by a large ball of passionfire from Fleur. His body erupted in a column of flame as the dwarves stepped back. That column was quickly joined by several others as the veela, the dragon, and the dracomagus mixed their own fire to completely destroy the remaining goblins.
"So be it," Harry rumbled as the flames started to die down, leaving just a pile of steaming metal and a cracked stone floor. "We've got control of the bank, what about the goblin city?" Harry asked of the dwarven commander standing next to him.
"Between the dragons and our dwarf battalion, we have most of the goblin city, and all but one entry/escape route cut off. The goblins have fortified themselves within Ragnok's residence. The Hogsmeade sub-branch has fallen, as has the Dublin branch. Once we defeat the goblins here, the core of the Commonwealth will be secure." The doors to the conference chamber opened just then, spilling out the witches and wizards within along with three bound goblins, Sliphook among them. The goblins were all watched very carefully and guide by ax blade toward Harry.
When they finally got close enough Harry turned to look at them, his eyes boring into the last senior account manager within the bank. The goblin glared back, his expression defiant and bold Finally Harry snarled at the goblin and stated, "You three will be used to send a warning and message to your leader. The message is this, dragons have longer and better memories than the fabled elephants You betrayed us, and almost cost us an entire race. Payment is due. The goblins will withdraw from the world's economic scene and abandon their banks to the dwarves. They will be kept to their cities for the next two centuries, and will not be allowed any say in leading the magical world. The goblins have enjoyed control of the other species long enough. Control you have gained via illicit means. Your time is up. Surrender to our demands, or die."
"We will not let you ruin us, abomination," Sliphook snarled. "You will surrender yourself to our judgment, or you will die."
Harry did not answer the goblin. Instead he just motioned the dwarves bring the goblins with him. They made their way through countless tunnels and past nearly as many vaults. Bodies littered the catacombs, mostly goblins with a smattering of dwarves. Many bodies were at least partially burnt as the ash still floated in the air. Harry knew going into this what would happen, for it was a truism in the magical world that whatever side the dragons were normally the victor. Only humans had truly won a pitched battle against the dragons and lords, but it was generally due to sheer numbers combined with a large group of druids. While the druids were human themselves, they had for a long time sided with the other magical creatures, until some goblins brought "proof" that the dragons were working to eliminate the other species. The druids, who prided themselves as guardians of nature, turned on the dragons. Their combined magic turned nature against them, and caused the decimation of the lords. And without the lords, the rest could not stand. No one knew of the goblin involvement at the time though, it wasn't until the lords were narrowed down to one settlement that they found out the truth. By then it was too late.
Finally they exited the tunnels into a huge underground cavern. A large city sprawled out before them in what would have been radiant glory. Instead the city was on fire in places as plumes of smoke drifted toward the ceiling and the air vents. Other parts were stained red as blood was spread far and wide enough to be seen from the "hill" they were standing on. Harry shook his head at the waste, but he already knew that the goblins would never capitulate. Instead he motioned them down into the city after asking the dragon with them to provide aerial guidance toward the large structure in the center of the city.
It must have taken them about half an hour to get to the center of the city, even though they were met with only negligible resistance. In fact, they had only run into five goblins in total, who they unfortunately had to kill as they would not stop attacking. Finally they could hear the sounds of a siege a couple of blocks away. Two dwarves came forward and took point, allowing Harry and his wives to go behind, with dwarves on each side. They floated the three goblins behind them, with the dwarves bracketing them and also guarding the rear.
It wasn't until they cleared the last line of buildings they saw what was going on. The center building was surrounded by a high, heavily warded wall. What appeared to be the main gate was about 20 meters to their right, and two broken battering rams were tossed to each side. In front of the gate were several seemingly dead dwarven bodies lying between the broken siege weapons. Immediately in front of them was a front of dwarven warriors launching boulders and arrows against and over the walls. Unfortunately the boulders that made it over the walls were shot down by some kind of energy. The result of this was a constant rain of rock and debris which fell off wards the dwarves had up over them. It was a stalemate. The dwarves couldn't get in or hurt anyone inside, but the goblins couldn't hurt them either.
Harry shook his head as he sent a warrior to find Rurik and let him know he was here. Not long after the older dwarven warrior approached, apparently happy to see them. "I take it the conquest of the bank is complete?" the dwarf asked as the goblin bodies were maneuvered to the ground between them.
"Yes. And I take it you're in a stalemate?" Harry answered, looking down at the bodies. At the dwarf's affirmative response he smiled and looked up at him. "I have an idea. Give me a moment to move to the front gate and I'll see what I can do. And bring the goblins with you. I want the ones inside to see that there will be no help from above."
Harry moved off toward the gate, locating a catapult near it. After instructing the team to cease fire, Harry started to conjure a large, empty ball with a resealable hole at top. It was rather simplistic in design, but it looked much sturdier than it actually was. Once he checked over his conjuration, he started to conjure some kind of liquid inside. Only Harry knew what he was conjuring, though everyone around could soon see a faint bit of what appeared to be white steam rising out of the hole. Harry of course was sure not to get his face anywhere near that steam, which seemed to bring a smile to at least one dwarf's wizened face. Soon he was done though, and as he sealed the ball he ordered the dwarves to load it on the catapult. They did as ordered, and soon launched it over the wall. It, like others, was struck by the lights, but when it exploded everyone could tell something different was happening.
The liquid in the ball continued its forward momentum, splashing an area well within the walls. Instantly everyone could hear loud shrieks of pain and see a bit of different colored smoke rise up. The dwarves cheered and an angry roar was heard from the goblins inside, but there wasn't enough time for the goblins to do anything. For just as the screams died down two more catapults were loaded with these shells, only to launch them over the walls toward their targets. Both were struck by light, and both times the liquids splashed against the defenses inside, causing more injuries to the goblins and property. "Acid and burning oil! Launch liquids inside, they can't stop them," he ordered. Following those orders, a rain of liquid death soon started to fall amongst those inside.
After a relatively short time a white flag was waved from a parapet near Harry. He quickly ordered a cease fire, but ordered a few squads of seasoned dwarven warriors to be ready to invade once the talks were concluded. A short time later Ragnok himself, flanked by several imposing looking goblin warriors marched out. Ragnok himself was bandaged in several places, though the wound on his arm looked very recent. Harry could smell the acrid stench of dissolving flesh coming from the goblin, but the goblin was trying to ignore it. Harry merely smiled and held firm, and when the goblin got into range he asked, "What do you want goblin?"
"For you to leave our city, and our bank, and never return, dracomagus," Ragnok snarled. "You have violated the agreement between wizard kind and goblins, ransacked our city, brought these... drekka into our midst, and killed far too many of my kind. But legality doesn't mean a thing to you, does it?"
"More than it means to you goblin," Harry replied while waving forward some of his guards. The guards brought forth three goblins, setting them between Harry and Ragnok. "You attempted to illegally entrap the true leader of the wizarding world into a capital offense. You falsified records and tried to illegally seize the Duchy's coffers. By the laws of the realm I could have the head of whoever was involved in this conspiracy. And those are but the recent crimes against one person. There are other countless crimes against other magical species, based upon ancient contracts, that demand recompense. You are lucky I'm not interested in your species' total annihilation. Instead I have brought the last three goblins from the bank here to give you a message. Speak Sliphook, or I will force you to."
"Chieftain Ragnok.... they say that they will allow us to live if we give in to their demands. But their demands would ruin us. I plead with you not to even listen to them, and to put down this abomination and his drekka," Sliphook said, cringing as Brekter came forward.
One of the other goblins broke down though, and relayed Harry's proclamation from earlier. Brekter grunted and moved back, though Harry didn't notice since he was watching Ragnok. "You go too far abomination," Ragnok snarled. "We will not bow down to your blatant imperialistic antagonism. We will fight to the last woman and child."
Harry wanted to sigh at this, but he tried not to. He really did not want to commit genocide, and even the dwarves did not want to kill children. Sure, some children died in this invasion, but the dwarves, and dragons to an extent, tried to avoid it. Instead they would take the children and put them with carefully screened dwarven caretakers, hoping to at least make sure the goblin children were cared for. The only children who had died so far were either in the wrong place at the wrong time, or joined the adults in actively fighting the invading forces. Still, he had to maintain a strong front as he spoke. "Then you doom your race to extinction," Harry growled. "We have proved we can reach you even through your defenses. And if I wanted to, I could blast those gates open. Then you would all die."
"You would destroy us anyway, no matter if we gave up or fought. You would chain us, remove us from our rightful place, and doom us to the lives of beggars. You would bring shame to us all. We'd rather die first," Ragnok snarled as the goblins widened their stances into an attack stance. Their pikes swung forward as they readied to charge.
"You doomed yourselves to this fate when you betrayed the other magical species trust in you for mere gold, goblin. You tried to commit genocide yourselves, slaughtering women and children, and even pregnant mothers in your search for power. You failed to protect other races as they were subjugated, hunted, and driven from their homes. You took a destiny that was not yours, and then turned your back on it. Your kind cost this world thousands of years of darkness for your greed. Now your greed demands just payment. The dwarves and veela are but the first two races to join me in rising up against you, but they will not be the last. You have already lost, but you're to foolish and blind to realize it. Your time is up. Either surrender or fight," Harry responded as every dwarf within the area raised their axes menacingly toward the goblin contingent.
"No, it is you who should surrender," Ragnok answered with an unholy look on his face. Just then the walls were topped with hundreds of goblin archers, who all promptly let lose a storm of arrows. Harry could hear the goblins mutter something as they were fired, and roared as he sent a bout of flame up into the air. The dragons of the siege did the same, sending their flames back along the paths of the arrows to the archers above. White hot flames struck the top of the walls and loud cracks where heard as stone began to break apart, partially melting under the torrent of sustained fire. A relatively few arrows managed to make it through the flame, each one unimpeded by the shields that should have stopped them. Harry could hear grunts and a couple of screams as dwarves fell, but he knew it was no where near as bad as it could have been.
Harry turned around just in time to see the goblin contingent turn and flee toward the door. Harry brought his ace up, changing it to a wand as he went. "Reducto!" he bellowed, putting as much energy behind the spell as he could. A reddish beam of light hammered against the "inside" of the open gates, shattering them into pieces that sent shrapnel through most of the goblins trying to pass them. "Charge!" he called, running forward with his wand in hand. He hit the doorway first, bellowing out dragon fire as he entered the compound. A group of goblins near the gate were instantly incinerated as the stone in front of him cracked under the heat. He then dodged several shafts of light coming from both sides, allowing his instincts and heightened senses to pinpoint his enemies for return fire. Once again the world narrowed into threats and non-threats as more blood began to be spilled.
Another seeming eternity and the battle died down, as he realized the only nearby goblins were either dead or too injured to fight. Anyone that took arms against them were either killed or otherwise rendered incapable of fighting at the moment, which reduced the area to an eerie post-battle silence. Then cries of anguish and pain pierced the air as the non-combatants saw what had become of their loved ones. Harry moved through the bodies alongside the healers, both helping them and watching for traps and goblins faking being injured to get in one more blow. Thankfully there were precious few o f those, as a vast majority of the goblin warriors fought to the death. Harry sighed, regretting the waste of life battles such as this caused.
Brekter, ever present at his side, looked over as he kicked a sword out of a live goblin's hand. "What is wrong dracomagus?" the guard asked calmly.
"This was such a waste," Harry replied as he did similar to another goblin who appeared more dead than alive. "Don't get me wrong, they would have killed me and my family in a heart beat, and their past crimes warranted a revolution. I know that the only way to make the world safe for my family, and countless other families, is by changing it. I even know that parts of this change would has to be violent, like today. But... What I don't understand is that Ragnok knew he was beaten here. He knew we had ways to reach him, and that the siege was about to fall. Was the money worth the lives of all the goblins that placed their trust in him? Was his pride worth all this blood?"
"Do you regret killing the goblins?" Brekter answered, seemingly ignoring what Harry had said. The both stopped to watch their wives attempt to assist the few women and children who did not fight in gathering up their belongings. Even though the were covered in goblin blood, and had a few scratches of their own, they were still showing kindness to those few goblins who would have supported showing none to them.
"Yes and no," Harry replied before calling a medic over for a dwarf he was untangling from a dead goblin. "I don't like killing, Brekter. Even though my lord form was practically made for it, and regardless of how I posture when it is time to battle, I still hate it. It does hurt, inside, when I do it. I mourn for lives that were cut short, lives that could have been more productive in the future than being some sort of macabre fertilizer. But at the same time, I know that there was no way I could run away from them forever, even if I decided to fight my destiny and the prophesies. Even if I had decided to run, this battle would have eventually happened, one way or another. And I may have been worse off doing it any other way. Certainly there would have been more lives lost as others would have paid for my peace. In that respect, I do not regret this. It is entirely possible I saved lives by fighting this way. Future history will be the only true judge of whether or not this was a right action."
"History is written by the winners," Brekter answered as he took a break to sit down on a broken bench nearby. "That is a proven fact, your grace. You only need to crack open your schools' history books to see it. But history is also full of examples of what happens when you leave evil and indifference unchecked. It breeds corruption, stagnates progress, and finally demoralizes people until you get to the point your Magical Commonwealth is today. Look at your world, Duke Gryffindor. The remaining elves turned into grotesque, misshapen shadows of the proud race they once were. Centaurs seeking the comfort of their herds to the exclusion of everyone else, just to avoid degradation and abuse. Werewolves treated like monsters, even though they are only truly dangerous to humans once a month. Other once proud beings either reduced to speechlessness or driven to the most obscure and in some cases inhospitable places on this earth. Even fairies have been driven off into hiding, remaining invisible most of the time, save to a very select few people and families. And yet your history says nothing about this."
"It's still hard," Harry replied as he watched other dwarves start to cart away the dead.
"If it were easy, then I'd be worried about who we're putting our trust in," Brekter replied. "I'm an old warrior, Duke Gryffindor. But even I find it hard to kill. I don't like it either, but I do it because it is necessary. I do it because if I didn't, my friends and family would either die or be slaves. Freedom is the right for every magical species. Even your terms of surrender would permit the goblins to run themselves, which some spiteful beings would say is too good for them."
Harry thought about what Brekter said, and realized he was right, and more than about the points he brought up. Some small part of Harry was blaming himself for the slaughter of the London goblins, as if to say if only he had done more this could have been avoided. To many of the younger goblins, this had been about defending their home. Only the older ones, and the leaders who ordered them to fight, knew this was about more than fighting for their lives. And it was not up to him to lead the goblins either. They had refused his offer for a peaceful end to this war out of greed and a wish to maintain their status quo. It may have been the only life many of them had ever known, but when it was obvious they had lost, even defeat would have been preferable to genocide. Harry just hoped the other leaders would not be this obstinate. "Thank you Brekter. It does help to hear that from time to time."
"You're welcome, Your Grace. You should know though, that I do agree with you. This was a waste. An honorable leader would have given in when you confronted Ragnok at the keep gates. It was obvious they could not win. In that manner, this was a waste of epic proportions." Just as Brekter had finished, a messenger came up to Harry, clacked is feet together and stood at attention.
'Dwarves do not bow,' Harry remembered as he watched the messenger wait for recognition. As he recalled from the history lessons from the dwarves, they felt like no one was superior to them. On extremely rare occasions they would salute, but those were only to specific beings that had earned the respect of the Dwarf Nation as a whole. And that respect was not given out lightly, even to other dwarves. This they picked up from the dracomagi, who never even saluted their leaders. They simply held firm and tall, as that was the biggest compliment that could ever be paid to a leader. It told that leader that they inspired great pride and respect amongst their followers. Harry wondered himself if he would ever upkeep that tradition. Not that there were many people worthy of consideration for that. So far only the Queen of England came to mind. He'd have to wait and see. Finally he shook himself out of his thoughts to ask, "Yes, what is it?"
"Duke Dracomagi," the dwarf started, nearly causing Harry to giggle. Out of the corner of his eye he could have sworn he saw his gruff bodyguard's eyes actually light up in mirth over the address. "Diesa, Rurik, and Barendd are up above in the bank's lobby. The human ministry is back, and those that were in the conference room are demanding to see you."
"Where are my wives?" Harry asked, not seeing them anywhere.
"Waiting by the gates, Your Grace," the messenger answered.
"Very well," he said as he turned to walk toward the indicated area. "Shall we?" After receiving a nod from Brekter, they went to the main gate were the found the rest of his guard waiting. They, however, had to wait for a few more moments while the lovers hugged each other and made sure each was okay. Fleur and Gabrielle looked fully human again, and had their wounds treated by the dwarven healers. Harry only had a couple of scratches on him, but even they were healing fast now that he wasn't fighting. By the end of the day they'd be all gone on their own. Once the inquiries were settled though, they started the long walk back up to the ground level, only to climb in to a cart that some of the dwarves got working again. Harry himself shifted back down to his human form as he climbed in so as to give enough room for everyone as they rode back up to the surface.
It wasn't hard to know when they neared the lobby though as they could hear Scrimgeour's voice echoing down the hallway. "You will step down, and surrender to the ministry, or we will be forced to take action," the Minister for Magic bellowed. As they walked into the room they could see the three dwarves standing impassively opposite the bellowing man, who had a large group of aurors behind him. Some had their wands out, but at their side, while others had their hands ready to draw. The situation reminded Harry of the battle they just fought, as the three dwarves were supported by about a company's worth of other dwarves and a few veela. The people who were in the conference room were watching from the door, most of the quite unwilling to do anything about the situation. Dumbledore apparently had just entered via the front door and was about to say something when the old man saw Harry, and wisely shut up.
"Actually Minister Scrimgeour, you don't have that right," Harry said loud enough for them all to hear. Scrimgeour quickly spun around to look at the source of the voice, and apparently went pale at the sight of Harry's attire. "The goblins refused help, and almost came to blows with the aurors who were here. If it weren't for me, about half your force would have been dead right about now, at goblin hands."
"Harry my boy, you don't understand. We've got an agreement with the goblins, they're the only ones permitted to operate..."
"They're only permitted to operate a bank on the Magical Commonwealth's soil so long as they do not engage in acts of thievery, do not threaten the lives of the citizens of the Commonwealth, do not raise arms against the government of the Commonwealth, and as long as they are able to hold on militarily against other races. All of these clauses have been broken today Minister. Not to mention the same clause I mentioned to your senior auror. "The government of the Magical Commonwealth shall not bring armed forces onto goblin soil unless specifically asked by the leader of the appropriate establishment, regardless of any reason, even in defense of the goblin nation." The goblins refused aid, so your responsibility ended there," Harry explained as he came forward. "And as they lost their territory to the dwarves, that means your agreements are no longer binding with the goblin nation, as they no longer exist in any substantial form on our soil."
"Harry my boy, you obviously don't understand..." the Minister for Magic had started to say until he was over-ridden by Dumbledore, who had joined them now.
"Actually Lord Potter understands the situation very well Rufus." Harry gave the man a sharp look, followed by a nod. His first instincts was to demand the Chief of the Wizengamot call him by his correct title, but he realized before he said anything that said title was not common knowledge yet, by Harry's own wishes. 'Lord Potter' was an acceptable substitute. "It is sad to say that everything he has said about what has happened today is true. When I heard the aurors were refused, I refreshed my memory about the contract between the goblins and our nation. He is quite correct, they are no longer our allies. In fact, they should now be considered our enemies, given the actions they took here today."
The dwarves had remained quiet through this time, watching the discussion going back and forth between the men and their ally. Finally Diesa cleared her throat and said, "Can we get back to cleaning this mess up? The sooner we're done, the sooner the bank will re-open."
Harry cut in before Scrimgeour could act any more like an idiot and nodded. "Go on, the aurors won't do anything," he replied, an undercurrent of command echoing in the last words toward the aurors. Lucky for him there were enough people at least somewhat intelligent enough to know they had no basis to do anything, and soon all the aurors were putting their wands away. "How soon will you be able to open?"
"We will be open for regular banking business tomorrow. It will take another couple of days for all the contracts the goblins made to be reviewed and decided upon. If any alterations need to be made, the appropriate parties will be notified in three days to set up an appointment," Barendd responded, his eyes meeting Harry for approval.
"What do you mean, if they need to be altered? Are you planning to steal our money?" Scrimgeour demanded in one of his less than brilliant moments. This caused the three dwarves to growl deeply and reach for their axes, which in turn caused the aurors to start reaching for their wands.
"Hold!" Harry bellowed, freezing everyone in motion. He turned back toward the Minister and stared into the man's eyes while showing menace in his own. "Minister, that has to be the single worst question you have ever asked. If you have studied your magical creatures like you should have, you would remember dwarves place an extremely high value on their word and on their honor. BOTH of which you managed to insult in just two sentences. They are more likely to find ways the wizards and witches of our world have been taken advantage of, thereby allowing them to work for a more honest solution. I highly suggest you apologize, now."
Braver men than Rufus Scrimgeour have cringed upon seeing this side of Harry directed at him, so it was no wonder why he folded and apologized profusely to the dwarves. He followed it up with a request, "Can we meet sometime to discuss an agreement between your bank and the government?"
The three dwarves seemed to grudgingly accept the apology, but when the request was aired they simply looked at each other, nodded, then looked back to the Minister. "When the time is right, Minister, you will be one of the first to know how ready we are."
"In the meantime," Dumbledore interjected, "I think it would behoove us all to get out of the dwarves' way and let them work on this bank." Dumbledore gave Harry a nod, signifying that he would work with Harry for now.
Harry had mixed feelings about this, given what all it was proven Dumbledore had done. Still he'd give the old man a chance to at least explain himself. Perhaps it was best if the old man retired soon. Still, he had some things to work out so he said, "Minister, perhaps you and the Chief of the Wizengamot should work on a press release announcing the change of management for the bank? I would recommend not telling them much at the moment, but announce more details will be forthcoming after an investigation would be held. I would, however, emphasize that the dwarves have satisfied you of their claim, and thus you have complete confidence in them? If you do that, I promise I'll be available in three days for a discussion of today's events." The implication was clear to Dumbledore, the Minister was not to know about the revelations of Harry's heritage at the will reading.
The onlookers from said reading appeared to understand that, and Harry was relieved to see every one of them nod in agreement. He mouthed 'day after tomorrow' to them, which seemed to satisfy them all well enough, save for Hermione. 'Fleur, Gabrielle, can you pull Hermione, the Grangers, and Ron away from the group so we can diffuse that situation?' he thought to them.
'We are, as they say, one step ahead of you mon ami,' Fleur's voice whispered in his head. 'The youngest Weasley boy is being held by Bill, who will be coming with us, to placate the Weasley Patriarch. Gabrielle has pulled the Grangers aside, and they are headed toward the portkey point now.'
Scrimgeour did not like the time delay for his meeting with Harry, but he was quick to figure out it was the best he was going to get. Apparently the Minister realized that Harry was quickly growing in power politically, so he would have to tread much more softly. "Very well Harry, I'll see you in a few days." With a nod and a polite good-bye to the dwarves, he turned and motioned for the aurors to leave with him.
When the only Kingsley and Tonks, the two closest members of the Order amongst the aurors were left, Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "It should go without saying my heritage, and what truly happened here today, should not be a topic for public discussion, at least not yet," Harry mentioned to the Headmaster. When Dumbledore nodded he said, "You may tell Kingsley, since he's going to be a part of all of this, but keep as much as you can secret even amongst the order. I don't want the wrong words said in front of Snape."
Dumbledore surprised a great number of people by simply agreeing with Harry and replying, "Agreed. I'm sorry I took his word over other people's for so long. Right now he cannot be trusted with this. Your heritage may very well be the power, Lord Potter. Is there anything else you can think of I should do?"
"Drum up support for the dwarves amongst the Wizengamot, for one," Harry responded. He was pleased to see that Dumbledore had already thought of that by the look in his eyes, and decided to lay the next thing down, "And at the same time, start very subtly reminding people that we, as members of the Magical Commonwealth, are answerable to the Queen. I realize you don't have anywhere near enough time to prepare them for my revelation, but any groundwork you can lay will make the transition easier for all of us. And finally, keep Mrs. Weasley and the rest of the family quiet. Ron won't be able to spout off to anyone about what happened for a long while, but I'm worried about those who would not swear, primarily Percival and Molly."
"Don't worry about them," Arthur called from the door. "I'll personally ensure they remain quiet."
"I of course will try to do all I can, Lord Potter. I take it you'll be at the Delacours if I need to contact you?" Dumbledore asked.
As much as Harry didn't want to, he knew that Albus did need a way to contact him. So he went against his natural inclination to leave the old man in the dark about his whereabouts and nodded. "Yes, you can reach me, my wives and their family, and Hermione and the Grangers there. Ron will unfortunately be out of communication for a while." Surprisingly there were no objections from the Weasleys. Once he was sure everything was done here that he could do, Harry said good-bye to everyone and joined his family and the Grangers, guiding them away.
"Harry, what is going on around here? How did you change yourself like that? What was that form? What happened to you? And why did the Headmaster take orders from you?" Hermione asked, a bit subdued but also very curious.
Harry gave her a tired but happy smile, knowing that if she was asking questions like that she was going to be okay. "Most of that can wait until we get home, Hermione. But it suffices to say I outrank the headmaster now." He and his wives struggled hard not to laugh at Hermione's gobsmacked face as they took the portkey back to France.
