Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters, those belong to J.K. Rowling.

Rated M For safety, and mature themes

"Out loud"

'Thoughts' / internal thinking

Midnight Gold, the Rise of the Forgotten Lord

Chapter 9: The Great Hall

Reposted 1st April 2013

Revised and Beta by Joe Lawyer

Looking around the Great Hall as everyone discussed the results of the first Quidditch match of the season, Harry watched Gryffindor house loudly celebrating their victory over their Slytherin rivals, with Professor McGonagall in the background sporting a smug, cat-like grin. It had been exciting to watch and extremely fast paced, just like Padma had promised, even if he didn't fully understand all the rules yet... there were like 300 rules and another 1000 sub clauses... Luckily, he had Padma next to him explaining the rules as the game went on, with Penny adding and pointing out bits and pieces of interest.

Naturally they had ended up supporting the Gryffindor team over their Slytherin rivals, simply due to the fact that they preferred the fair game the lions usually played, over the questionable tactics the Slytherins often resorted to to win. Tactics like intentionally ignoring the rules and more often than not bullying their way to victory.

And frankly, no one likes cheaters, especially when individuals can get seriously hurt as a result. Personally, he had no issue with cheating under the right conditions and circumstances, but it seemed rather pointless to cheat when playing a simple school game, when you willingly enter an amateur competition to prove yourself against others...

However, Slytherin players didn't really see it that way, resulting in Katie Bell, one of the Gryffindor chasers, getting knocked out within the first 10 minutes of the game from a questionable move committed by the Slytherin team captain.

Fortunately for Gryffindor, Longbottom ended up stealing the game for the team with a daring move, leaping from his broom to catch the snitch before the Slytherin team could take advantage of having an extra player advantage. Frankly, he considered it stupid and rather reckless jumping from one's broom just to win a school Quidditch game... but then again he was a Raven.

It had still been a close run thing, even with Neville's broom playing up halfway through the match, by trying to throw its rider off.

The current running theory to explain this, if you believed the rumours that is, was that Neville had seen the snitch early on in the game. But before he could give chase, the head of Slytherin house, Professor Snape, Hogwarts' resident potion master cursed his broom in an attempt to eliminate the Gryffindor seeker, to ensure his own team's victory. Personally, he found the whole idea dim-witted and very unlikely with the resident potions master being surrounded by other members of the staff, including the headmaster himself.

The man may love taking house points over the smallest and most dubious of things, especially from the Gryffindors, but no way would the head of Slytherin house attempt to do something so reckless with such real consequences should he be caught.

More than likely it was one of the older students, either a jealous Gryffindor who lost the chance to play seeker due to Neville's recruitment, or some Slytherin student, tempted to remove Longbottom from the game. After all, the Gryffindor house had no open tryouts for the seeker position this year, thanks to Neville stealing the slot after Wood saw him playing on one of the Weasley twins' brooms. How could the Gryffindor captain refuse the Boy-Who-Lived when he had the terrible two backing him? No one wants trouble with the twins. If the rumour mill was correct, Neville had been playing Quidditch with the Weasleys for years before coming to Hogwarts.

Either way, he was sure this had made the boy some additional enemies; what were the odds of Wood just happening to come down to the pitch, just to see the boy training with the twins? Clearly it was a set-up. This added to the fact that Neville was clearly the favourite of the Deputy Headmistress, and had somehow managed to get around the rule about first-years not being allowed to bring brooms.

Just proves that favourites get away with far more than others, especially celebrities, which just reinforced his desire to become a favourite amongst the staff.

Thinking over the game, he couldn't decide whether it was skill or luck, since it was the first game he had ever seen; only time would tell if Longbottom was truly a skilled seeker. However, it didn't stop the lions from celebrating their victory; not even their own head of house sending them those potent warning looks of hers could calm them for long.

Leading up to the match, Percy had attempted to pull Penny into the Gryffindor ranks, as well as give her his Gryffindor scarf, which frankly wasn't a very discreet attempt at marking his territory by any standards. He might as well have put a massive sign above Penny's head, with big capital red letters saying, 'Taken by Percy' just like you would when marking a piece of food in the refrigerator for later.

However, things didn't go the way the lion obviously intended, after Harry discreetly and silently cast a tripping hex at Percy as he tried to pull Penny away from them, while ignoring Harry and Padma entirely.

The hex had flown straight and true, causing the prefect to lose his balance and stumble on some conveniently loose gravel. Unfortunately, in the process he desperately grabbed hold of Penny while attempting to stay upright, dragging their friend down with him.

Acting quickly to take advantage of the situation he had surreptitiously created, he rushed over to help Penny back to her feet like a true friend would, "Percy get your hand off my ass right now!" a ferocious Penny shouted, attracting several other students' attention, clearly not liking the idea of Percy feeling her up, whether on purpose or by accident. Which was rather hard to tell since they had fallen rather oddly, as Percy seem to freeze up, just like a deer does when blinded by the headlights of a fast moving car.

Helping his friend back to her feet as she unwrapped herself from Percy's frozen embrace, getting a series of giggle and chuckles from the growing group of onlookers, he cast a quite vocal cleaning charm on her, rather than reveal the fact that he could cast the spell silently, and risk revealing his own involvements. The charm efficiently removed the dust and dirt from her jeans and sweater, catching her by surprise at the expert use of a second-year charm.

It was easy to act concerned, because he really was, to a point. After all, his target had been Percy, not Penny, but that didn't mean he wouldn't use this situation to his benefit.

Examining him for a couple seconds before her curiosity got the better of her, "When did you learn that?" Penny asked, as Padma looked on with equal interest, clearly wanting to hear the answer as well.

Offering a friendly hand to Percy, he answered Penny's question, "Well, most second-year charms only need a bit more power than first-year charms, the main difference is the focus and intent behind it," He started in explanation, wondering if Percy would be smart enough to take the offered hand. "So when I was looking over the charms and studying ahead, I thought it would make the most sense to learn charms that would be of the most use in day-to-day life," he explained, as Percy slapped his hand away in anger and embarrassment.

That simple action reminded Penny of her earlier anger at her fellow prefect, "Percy that was awfully rude! Where are you manners? You're meant to be a prefect, setting an example to all these students," she lectured, as Percy seemed to be growing increasingly red faced which wasn't uncommon to see on his brother Ron's.

Watching the unfolding drama with hidden amusement, she gave her fellow prefect a rather brutal talking to in front of the audience of students, who were clearly enjoying watching the annoying Gryffindor prefect finally being on the receiving end of the lecture for a change, rather than the one giving it.

After all, he deserved it; since the beginning of term, Percy had been throwing his weight around with his prefect status, making himself rather unpopular amongst the student body and becoming a bit of a bully in the process.

Looking over his shoulder to check on his other friend, he saw Padma making the effort to slip unnoticed into the audience of onlookers, rather than being in the lime light of the 'stage,' as it were.

Deciding that it would be best to move on before Percy demonstrated the famous Weasley temperament, after remembering the incident in the hospital wing, he spoke. "Penny, it's fine," taking the high road, as he slipped his arm around her, pulling her away from the older red faced male.

"He should apologize to you Harry," Penny argued heatedly while looking over her shoulder and sending the Gryffindor an angry scowl. Her words echoing back to the audience and the red faced lion.

Fighting to keep the smirk off his face, knowing full well he was winning the private battle between the two of them over the Ravenclaw prefect's friendship.

As they walked down to the pitch, he noticed that Penny made no effort to break the hold he had on her and had instead been moving closer to him, rather than pulling away, as Padma finally caught up with the both of them.

In hindsight, it had started since leaving the hospital wing and his recounting of the fight against the mountain troll. It started mainly with spending more time around him, and her increased willingness to assist him with his studies and errands, rather than her own.

She even went out during one of the Hogsmeade weekends and did some shopping for him, picking up some potions supplies for his current brewing projects, and some chocolate frogs.

Of course, he had paid for it, but it had been unexpected since the only person who had ever done anything for him had been Bloodmoon, and that was because it was in the goblin's best interest to help...plus he was being paid to. After all, his relatives had never helped him out, and they were his family, however loosely he used that term.

Then the physical distance between them had also decreased, Penny often sitting as close as physically possible to him, almost sitting on his lap a couple of times without realizing it. It was bit disconcerting actually, it seemed a bit rapid for the natural progression of a friendship.

Even though he could sense no ill will from Penny and her increased desire to be close to him, it was still unsettling. He was just unused to it, but he expected he would get used to it in time, like how he managed to bond with Padma over her fears of losing her sister and being alone. Coming out of his memories he turned his attention back to the Great Hall.

Deciding to get some peace and quiet, he silently glided his way out of the Great Hall, and started heading towards one of the quieter sections of the school, hopefully where he could find an abandoned classroom to practise his magic.

Walking along one of corridors leading away from the great hall, he noticed Hermione was accompanying her two saviours to the feast, talking amongst themselves. They didn't notice him since they were so caught up in their discussion, to the point where he had to sidestep the trio to avoid being steam rolled by them.

Resisting the urge to aggressively tell them, 'watch where you are going,' and privately hoping they walked straight into the potion master himself, he overheard a part of their discussion.

"It was Professor Snape, I'm telling you, his lips were moving, plus he wasn't breaking eye contact," Hermione argued to Ron and Neville, as the trio headed in the direction of the Great Hall.

Once again he had to resist the urge to butt in, and point out that it could have been a simple counter curse, and that the potion's master was sitting with the rest of the staff. But it really wasn't his problem if someone was trying to harm Longbottom. He was no hero and he certainly wasn't responsible for Neville's safety.

He looked out for himself first and foremost, getting involved would just mean needless trouble. That was something he wanted to avoid as much as possible; getting caught up in Neville's drama would just cause him problems in the end. However, it was good that the girl finally had someone to talk to, he wasn't totally heartless, it truly sucked not having friends. But he wondered how long it would last before it snapped, he gave it another 2 weeks, a month max, before the red headed fool said something stupid and hurtful enough to drive her off.

"It was Snape, I'm sure of it," Neville stated with certainly and a good amount of spite, ending the debate as his voice echoed down the corridor.

At the mention of Professor Snape once again, he was reminded of his need to find some time to practise his potion making skills, as well as needing to dust off his codex, and remove the mental 'junk' that had accumulated.

Midnight Gold

Smiling, he looked down at the cooling mixture with a clear sense of pride. It had taken several failed attempts to successfully brew the Draught of Living Death, but he had done it at last! It appeared just like the textbook had described, the potion itself was like water in consistency, but was greyish black in color, almost like tainted silver.

Of course the only way he could truly know if it worked was to test it on something living. He could test it on a plant, but that would give unclear results, since the potion was not designed with the intention of being used on plant life. After all, it was meant to put individuals and animals into a death-like coma, not plant life, and was widely believe to be the poison Shakespeare described in Romeo and Juliet.

He bottled the potion in an unbreakable vial he had charmed earlier that day, before slowly making his way over to the window, his mind deep in thought as he looked over the grounds, mentally debating just how he could test this potentially lethal potion.

Throwing and catching the charmed vial in the air, he thought over the problem, thinking through several possible scenarios of testing the potion. It had to be on an animal of some sort, there was no other way to test it effectively, since he wasn't stupid enough to test it on himself or another person. 'Maybe a rat? Or a mouse?' He thought, since both animals would go unnoticed from around the school, and could be found around the grounds or in the forest itself.

After all, he had to be careful not to test it on someone's pet by mistake, and it wouldn't do to test it on an owl, since they held a special place amongst magicals. Frankly, he couldn't test it on any animal within Hogwarts' walls, just in case it was a familiar of a witch or wizard, that would undoubtedly just cause trouble and attention. However, he was half tempted to test it on Ron's pet rat anyways, after all, the fool had been nothing but an annoyance, and a headache, and there were plenty of cats around that could possibly take the blame if need be.

In truth, he couldn't think of any positive thing about the boy, but then again, he didn't really know him, nor cared to for that matter.

Nevertheless, the Sorting Hat had to see something 'noble' in him, to sort him into Gryffindor. He had also heard that the rat had originally been Percy's pet as well, prior to being given to Ron sometime after joining Hogwarts... So the rat had to be pretty old anyways, since most rats had a life cycle of around 3 years only, and it would be nearing the end of its natural life anyways, giving him another reason why he could test the potion on the rat, if everything Lavender said was true.

Frankly, it was amazing what Hogwarts students talk about, and was one reason why he put up with Lavender sitting with him, since she proved to be an invaluable source of information when it came to getting bits of knowledge about students, even if she was insufferable most of the time.

Truthfully, it was a fair price to pay for getting the low down on an individual, plus it meant Parvati sat with Padma more often. Once again he confirmed his first day impression about Lavender, reinforcing the need to stay on her good side rather than run afoul of Hogwarts' rumour mill, or at least stay neutral in that regard.

Turning his attention back to the problem, he started thinking over the downsides of testing it on the rat. First, he would have to break into their dorm rooms and locate the rat without being noticed. However, even before doing that, he would need to find out the password to the Gryffindor common rooms, which he doubted would be easy to acquire. Unless he slipped on his invisibility cloak and stood outside the door for a while, waiting to overhear the password from someone entering. All in all it was easier said than done, and there was no certainty that the rat would even be there.

So, reluctantly, he dismissed the idea; the Weasleys so far had been nothing but an annoyance, so no point in testing something that could possibly kill out of spitefulness. That would be irresponsible, and after all, how long until he started losing his morals and started to cross that line between light and dark?

He knew he wasn't ever going to be a strictly light wizard, he had far too much anger and hate in him due to the years at his relatives. Who wouldn't hate such people after suffering grievously for a decade? Almost dying due to their abuse and losing his childhood? The best he could ever be would be light grey, but more than likely he would be grey... he kind of liked power in all its forms.

Probably end up just being grey at best, he mentally admitted to himself only in the privacy of mind.

Then of course there were the twins to consider, who were well known pranksters that could very well decide that he would be a prime target if his involvement was ever found out. Truthfully, he'd rather not spend the next 5 years being a target for their considerably creative pranks... it would be majorly counterproductive to his plans to have to watch his step every moment of the day.

So far he'd been lucky to avoid their pranks, due mostly to his study habits and the twin's own reluctance to set pranks in the library and suffer the librarian's wrath for disturbing the sacred silence and endangering her cherished tomes. Plus, if they did destroy something they could easily be expelled from the school. They were brave, but not stupid... they wouldn't risk destroying priceless tomes dating back to the founders just for some laughs.

Then there was the chance of the professors finding out and ruining his plan, therefore he dismissed the idea immediately. The risks were simply too great to test it on the rat. And he couldn't go to Professor Snape for an accurate evaluation either, since it was becoming increasingly clear that the Potion master's rather biased nature against him specifically would prevent it. Of course, it once again would raise questions about his skills and his magical prowess if he made a Newt level potion as a first-year.

He really didn't understand why potion brewing was considered so hard, it was just like cooking really, especially when you were just following instructions, perfected over the decades for easiest usage, aimed at a student body of mixed skill levels. Sure the first couple of attempts at brewing the Draught of Living death had ended badly, causing him to immediately dump the potion down the sink in the connecting room before it exploded in his face. But he learnt from his mistakes, progressing further with each failed attempt at brewing the NEWT level potion.

The only really skill he saw in potion making was when you had to either make a custom made one from scratch, or make an antidote to counter an unknown poison.

Thinking over the problem, he could always owl it away to an independent potions master or mistress for evaluation, but once again ran the risk of owls being monitored; he wouldn't put it past the headmaster to monitor incoming and outgoing mail, just to help cut down on prohibited items entering the school.

He just couldn't see an easy solution to his problem, as he weighed up the pros and cons again of each scheme, before deciding to rest on it, and think it over the next couple of days. Hopefully an answer would present itself.

Bottling the rest of the potion, he gained an additional ten vials from the cauldron since he doubted a single man-sized dose would drop a Cerberus. If anything, it would take several vials since the magical dog was maybe 4 times the average wizard's weight, and would have its own natural magical resistance to overcome.

Making the effort to correctly label the vials with the name of its contents, as well as a date for when it was brewed, he put them away in his trunk in the potion section with the rest of the first-year potions he had brewed in class.

The main reason for dating potions was rather simple; many potions either degraded or intensified in potency over time, such as the Draught of Living Death as the potion's book pointed out, to the point that it became fatal after a year and a half, unless you cast a stasis charm on it. It was standard practice for the safety of everyone involved, to date any potions brewed for later use. He then got to the task of cleaning up the mess he made.

It had been a long, tiring day, but it would be worth it if he was successful. Going over his mental checklist he ticked off each homework assignment he'd completed, finding he had completed everything, but made the note to look back over the potion's assignment, just in case he'd missed anything.

Fortunately it wasn't due for a couple of days, so he could spend the rest of the evening relaxing, before the start of the new school week.

Midnight Gold

Enjoying the rich taste of the rare bloodwine as it flowed over his tongue, he privately celebrated the events of the most recent board meeting that had just ended less than half an hour ago. It was all thanks to the new drive and energy behind the Potter and Peverell accounts, and his own successful working alliance of sorts with the young Lord Peverell.

It was odd, considering the young boy as a Lord, and as Lord Peverell for that matter, but it was his current status and position... even if rightfully he should have been Lord Potter first and foremost, rather than Lord Peverell.

So far the boy was living up to his name.

The board meeting had been the same as always, discussing trade and other economical factors and policies. As well as discussing the wizards' politics and how it was expected to affect the upcoming business quarter and their continued policy of neutrality between wizard factions. It was the same old discussions and debates, as it had been for the last decade.

Their world was slow to change compared to the non-magical one, but they understood why they needed to stay hidden from the muggles, they would simply be wiped out by them, as much as they hated to admit it, even if the wizards themselves refused to acknowledge that little fact while believing themselves superior. History had clearly shown that muggles were more than capable of finding means to overcome magic; if they could do it once, they could do so again... And there was no profit in extinction. If that worst case scenario came to pass Wizards could at least blend in, they couldn't...

They would have to wait until they wiped themselves out... before they had any chance of winning that war, so they focused their energies on the magical world instead. The only time wizard politics got remotely interesting to them was when a war broke out between the wand-wavers, almost always accompanied by an attempt to court the goblins by both sides, which always made the senior managers chuckle.

Did they truly think the goblins would forget all the slights and insults the wizards had made for centuries against their race?

The only thing of any real significance to them was the preparation talks for the upcoming war against the dwarven clans of Europe, particularly those of France and the low lands. Due to negotiations having failed to make a break through, now axes and swords were being sharpened, and armour forged. This captured their attention to the point that not even one of their vaults being broken into was anything of consequence to them right now, nothing had been stolen after all, since the vault was empty.

It wasn't even one of their high-security vaults in the first place, just a standard run of mill vault, of a type that everyday witches and wizards used for daily expenses with no dragons, no special protections, nothing.

And the thief had only managed to get into one of their vaults in the first place by corrupting one of their curse-breakers, who was later found dead during the investigation. All evidence suggested the man was under the control of the Imperius Curse, causing their security to be upgraded and more armed guards moved into the bank, which would have been the case anyway since they were now preparing for war.

Taking another sip of his blood wine, he mentally noted that the Chief Warlock had quickly buried the story anyways, clearly not wanting the knowledge that it had been one of his vaults that had been robbed known to the public, and causing people to question what had been there in the first place. He didn't even know what was housed in the vault, only the Bank manager knew the details and he wasn't saying anything, giving the impression that he didn't even know for sure what was being store within their walls.

Not that it was their job to care about such things; they were just responsible for keeping everything safe under the treaty, not asking their clients questions.

The story being surpressed had allowed a quick cover story to be created, and made to look as if the whole ordeal was a controlled break-in designed to test the security of the bank and to ensure it was secure as required by treaty.

Everyone who knew the truth had been bought off by the bank to ensure the truth behind the events stayed hidden and buried behind their doors, even if there were rumours.

Whatever it was the thief was after, it was no longer their concern anymore, and they were no longer responsible for it.

The upcoming war was going be short and brutal and he was looking forward to it, since it had been far too long since the Goblins and Dwarfs had last met in battle, officially at least. Truthfully they often ran into each when on expeditions worldwide, both races competing over the same resources and treasures.

It had been over 300 years since their last official battle, when the last of the great Dwarven underground strongholds were finally destroyed within the British Isles. Then Ireland's own strongholds collapsed over the next hundred years, until they were finally driven out and exterminated.

Of course, there had been minor raids over the centuries; he had even led a few during his youth. And then there were the other Goblin clans outside Britain fighting with the dwarfs on and off over the centuries, but it had been close to 200 years since their clans had a full out war. It was funny in many ways, most of the magical world thought that the Ra'g-Nor'-Oe'ka clan had gone soft guarding wizard treasure, that may be true to some, but another interpretation was that they had spent time securing their positions, gathering their strength, and all that time their numbers swelling.

Then there had been their own internal wars, which had been becoming more brutal as their numbers continued to grow too large; they were effectively getting boxed in their underground caverns.

And the failed negotiations with the dwarves offered just what they needed, a glorious war, a means to expand outwards, to gain resources and mountain ranges to build new underground strongholds. After all, if things kept progressing as they were, in the next twenty years civil war would break out between the clans all over the island and Ireland, as each tribe tried to eliminate the other to secure room for themselves.

They had originally planned to start a war with the Goblin clans in Norway, in retaliation for a number of raids, secure in the knowledge that the wizards of Europe wouldn't interfere if it was a purely goblin conflict... and the Statute of Secrecy wasn't breeched. But why fight their own kind when they had an age-old enemy they could fight? Those other enemies could wait until the dwarves were slaughtered.

The lowlands were rather unsuitable for the creation of underground cities, due to the low lying land, and the continuous need to battle against water flooding their cities; this made settlement there impractical and overly costly. However, it did have several advantages and would serve as a warm up of sorts, allowing them to test their warriors in combat. First the Silversphere Dwarves were a rather small collective group of clans, meaning the war could be won in a matter of days before other clans could come to their aid, assuming everything went well. A quick victory would also prevent the wizards from interfering in the whole affair as long as they weren't outright attacked.

It also offered them a jumping point onto the mainland for later, either to expand into France or to go north. In addition, attacking the small Kingdom of Silversphere Dwarves put them in control of a trading hub, increasing their wealth, their power and their influence throughout the region.

It would also give them the means to gain increased access to the French magical economy, which was currently going through a period of growth and expansion, and they wanted a share of that too. This had been denied to them, by both the wizards and dwarves of France.

If everything went as planned, they would gain a better position to discuss a new trade treaty more favourable to the goblin state than it currently was.

No solid plans were made in case the war turned against them though. After all, they hadn't lost a war in over a thousand years, despite what the wizards said and believed amongst themselves. Of course, there were the inevitable factional debates on how to undertake the war, which of the 47 clans would take part, how to achieve maximum profits, which clans would run the new branches, etc... A Goblin war was all about profit, gold and gems, and, of course, the chance to test one's skills and mettle with the axe.

They weren't wizards or muggles who went to war over morals and beliefs; their wars were simply about money and power, right and wrong didn't matter to them, just gold.

Looking over at his old battleaxe hanging proudly on the wall, it had been far too long since he had a chance to take his axe to something in proper battle. He didn't count using it on a stupid wizard or witch, there was no test of strength in that, and that had been over a decade ago anyways. He could still fondly remember personally putting their heads on spikes and placing them outside the bank to the shock of the present customers, resulting in a toothy smile, reminding everyone that they were goblins and the bank was their dominion.

Reaching over to the silver jug on his desk and refilling his silver goblet with bloodwine, his thoughts turned back to the earlier meeting.

Naturally, some of the factions had suggested that their efforts would be better directed at the Ministry of Magic, since magical Britain was currently so weak and exposed after the civil war with Voldemort. However, that idea was quickly dismissed by their king, Ragnok, leader of the clans. This was due to a number of reasons; first, they were already in control of the magical economy and had little to gain compared to attacking the dwarves. It ran the risk of uniting the magicals of Britain under a common banner. It also risked the rest of Europe's magicals getting involved and most likely the dwarves taking a chance to strike at them as well in the chaos. However, if they went to war with the dwarves, then it was unlikely the wizards would get involved, simply due to it being the standard policy of the wizards to let them battle it out with each other, since it kept both parties from getting involved in 'wizard affairs'.

Even should this long-held policy be ignored, all they would have to do is bribe the right wizards and witches in government to prevent the wizards from directly getting involved too quickly, or at least delaying them until it had been already decided in one party's favour.

Of course, both sides would employ and recruit wizards to boost their ranks, since neither race could actively cast magic; one of the many reasons why they first started training their own curse-breakers. Besides getting a monopoly on warding services within Britain, smiling at the thought of how easy they had taken over the industry 300 years ago, they now controlled a powerful area of magic.

The war also came down to internal politics, many of the goblin clans were getting restless from too many years of peace, and needed a means to vent and direct their violent nature. Simply put, they needed to kill something before they started killing each other and the situation deteriorated into their own civil war like England had experienced decades earlier.

Clans would also be able to re-confirm their place in the goblin hierarchy, and prove that they deserved their position...or die, if they had grown weak. This also gave newer factions a chance to rise to prominence, ensuring their race stayed strong and the weak were culled. Simply put far better to make someone else bleed, than kill each other. However, this provided him with a chance to make profit, since he was one of 3 managers assigned to purchase metal materials that would be needed for their forges, by using the Potter and Peverell accounts as middle men.

It would also keep the Ministry of Magic from noticing if he was able to buy the necessary goods under several accounts. Of course, both accounts would profit from the arrangement and he, in turn, would gain a cut from both transactions. Ultimately they would all gain, except the dwarves of course, causing another sinister smile to form, his yellow teeth stained red from the effects of the blood wine, as his thoughts turned toward the idea of glorious battle.

And he may very well get his promotion, finally! He downed some more of the potent blood wine, already looking forward to moving back up to his previous status within the bank, before Lord and Lady Potter's death. And it would also help ensure his faction stayed in control in the coming years; so much to gain, so little risk.

Of course, it would be years before they would be ready, but the thought of having his axe in hand and his dozen sons fighting by his side made him feel all warm inside, now he just had to look up a mining company or two. There was gold to be made and weapons to forge, it was truly a good day to be a Goblin.

There was a short knock at the door before a young wizard entered, not even waiting for permission to be given; he ignored this since he was in such a good mood, "Senior Account Manager Bloodmoon, Senior Account Manager Quickquill, requests your presence."

"I'll be there in a moment," he answered, "Next time knock, otherwise you find yourself demoted!" dismissing the wizard, rather annoyed at being summoned.

"Yes, Sir!" the wizard rapidly replied, only then realizing his mistake.

Midnight Gold

Taking a lemon drop out of the charmed silver bowl resting on his desk, he was careful to avoid the ones laced with a calming draught and a weak dose of truth serum, since they were intended for the students brought to his office... as well as any politicians that had a sweet tooth.

Some people would question the ethics of drugging the offered sweets, but their primary purpose was to help relax panicking students that had been brought to his office. And ultimately help him get to the root of the issue faster, after all, he was important man and couldn't afford to waste his time, which could be better spent elsewhere.

After all, he had to manage three different full-time positions, as well keep the Ministry running effectively behind the scenes. Of course, his various assistants managed most of the day-to-day paperwork, allowing him to focus on the bigger issues, and they made such excellent scapegoats if a policy backfired.

Of course, there was an even faster way to get to the bottom of the problem. He could simply use his skills in Legilimency to solve the issue, but first that was illegal and could lead to more problems in the future. And on a more personal note, he'd rather avoid looking into his students' minds at all; even his master-level legilimency would not allow only getting the specific information he sought after, a student's mind was disorganised, unfocused, and chaotic at the very best of times, driven entirely too much by hormones for his liking. He almost always got various rumours, daydreams and fancies the students had as well. How many fancies had he seen of Professor Vector since he'd hired her? He shook his head at the number of sexually charged teenage fantasies he'd seen; it wasn't just the boys either!

So now he was waiting for Molly's youngest son to arrive; he was sure the boy would agree to assist him in keeping his friend safe. After all, what more honourable thing could an individual be asked to do than to help protect a friend from themselves, as well as help guide his friend into the future. Besides he was AlbusDumbledore, the next Merlin in the eyes of the magical world, particularly in Britain, how could the boy refuse him? He had worked tirelessly over the years to create that image, that of a wise-old mage.

Truthfully, it was far easier to get people to work with you if they were in awe of your prowess and ability. It was probably one of his best choices he had made in all his years; how many battles had he won simply by his presence, his name, his legend? How many bills had he blocked due to that very legend and personally denouncing it? How many people had willingly bound themselves to his cause? Honestly, he didn't know, there had been so many over the years.

Detecting a faint pulse of magic announcing the boy's arrival, he quickly looked over his shoulder to see his beloved phoenix sitting proudly on his perch, blazing bright in its full elemental glory, as if looking down ready to pass judgement on all who came before it. Fawkes truly looked amazing on days like these, truly grand and imposing. Making sure the whole office was the way he wanted, he straightened his robes, before stating firmly, "Come in Mr Weasley" lacing his words with voice magic.

Watching as the first year boy entered his office, the boy suddenly froze just past the entrance, his jaw dropping in wonder.

He internally chuckled at the familiar sight; with how many times he had seen that particular look of amazement, of awe over the years, it never got old. He decided to go with his kind, grandfather persona for this meeting, since he often visited the boy's mother Molly, one of his most loyal supporters. Molly was a bit extreme in her views, but it was never in doubt that she loved her children dearly, and reminded him a bit of his sister.

He also knew that Ron had most likely inherited his mother's views on light and dark magics, making him an ideal candidate for the task at hand, considering his close friendship with Neville.

He decided to use the boy's shorter name since he knew the boy hated his longer name, as his mother only used it when she was in 'banshee' mode and was punishing the lad; and he didn't want the boy to think of this as a punishment. "Please sit down Ron," he said magnanimously, while gesturing to the cosy seats.

Soon as they were settled down and comfortable he asked kindly, "Lemon drop?" holding the bowl forward, allowing the boy to take a couple.

Smiling kindly, he made eye contact, allowing him to feel the boy's surface emotions as the calming potions took effect. "Now Ron, I'm sure you're wondering why I asked you to join me in my office, first let me say that you're not in trouble," raising his hand to emphasize the point and stall any backtalk. "I know it was the twins who pranked Professor Snape," he offered with a kind-hearted smile, before continuing. "However, I have an important task that you are ideally suited for," seeing the boy's chest puff out in importance as he took another lemon drop.

"Now Ron, I'm sure you understand that your friend Neville is often a target for misguided people, who wish him harm, such as bewitching his broom," linking the idea to the recent Quidditch match... "Or want to use him for their own malevolent goals," his tone going low and serious, deciding to play up the danger. "What I need you to do Ron is to keep your friend away from the dark families. After all, it wouldn't do for the Boy-Who-Lived to become a dark wizard, now would it?"

Ron just nodded; a bit speechless as his mind processed the statement. He saw that the child's mind had suspicions that Professor Snape was behind the bewitching of Neville's broom. Making a snap decision, he decided to fail to mention that Professor Snape had been chanting a counter curse under the headmaster's orders. Severus would play the role of the villain, ensuring that Neville would continue in the belief that the potions master was behind the attack for some time, widening the bridge between the Gryffindors and the Slytherins... ensuring the boy didn't interact with his social equals within Slytherin... and continued to stay where he could be moulded and distracted to the Headmaster's liking.

"Neville could never be a dark wizard; he killed You-Know-Who!" Ron finally burst out, as his mind finally caught up with he had said.

He continued to use his grandfatherly tone, but spoke soberly, "Everyone can fall to the darkness Ron, that's why we need to keep Neville firmly in the light," he chided, before deciding to throw in an example, as he saw the image of Draco Malfoy popping into the child's mind. "It wouldn't do for the boy to start hanging around with young Mr. Malfoy; who knows what dark magic he could learn then," seeing the boy's face go red, he felt fear and jealously coming from the lad as he faked a shudder for good measure.

He already knew that Arthur and Molly despised the Malfoy family, and would have spread that belief to their children, but Ron was actually jealous and envious of Draco due to his wealth? 'Interesting,' he mentally noted, before pushing deeper into the boy's mind, searching for the necessary memories to explain it, before pulling out as quickly as he entered.

A mental note was made that he could use that jealousy to always separate Neville from Ron if need be in the future, the boy already growing envious of Neville's fame and wealth...

Continuing on to prevent another outburst, he used his aura to help keep the boy quiet, "All I want you to do, is make sure Neville only makes friends with light-side families, and inform me if he starts wandering away from the light, or starts practicing dangerous magic. This is so I can guide him back, before it's too late" he warned, while shifting his features to a wise and concerned elder.

Watching patiently as the boy nodded in understanding, he decided to add a carrot to ensure the boy would leap to the task, "Of course, you will be rewarded for your efforts, it wouldn't be fair on you to do it for free," seeing the boy's face light up at prospect of an unnamed reward.

"That said, I couldn't give it to you directly, I would have to give it to you through your parents, since you're still not of age, but if you help me out with this task, I will help you out the best I can without making it too obvious. The Quidditch World Cup is in a couple of years time...Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could go with all of your family," planting a hint, whilst the young Gryffindor smiled at the thought of his reward. "Now, I need you to make a quick vow of silence, to ensure that you don't speak of this." He summoned his wand wandlessly to his hand, once again leaving the boy speechless from the display of his magical prowess.

Naturally, he was reluctant to require a magical vow from a child; but it just wouldn't do for the boy to speak about what he'd just been tasked with, as he studiously ignored the silent stares of the previous headmasters and mistresses watching him intensely from their portraits, 'Good thing their magic forces them to obey the current head of the school, otherwise they'd be shouting their heads off,' he mentally admitted. It was all for the greater good, it wouldn't do for another dark lord to rise on his watch, one was bad enough, Magical Britain would never survive two dark lords back-to-back in such a short span of time. He instructed Ronald in the wording of the Vow.

Ron carefully repeated what the Headmaster said; it was a simple vow, but its only goal was to stop the boy from talking about these meetings, it wouldn't do for Neville to find out, simply due to the boy losing his temper or becoming jealous over something pointless and endangering his plans. That was one of the major flaws with Weasleys, their temper; they were awfully hot-headed at times.

"Now I believe that is all, I need to get back to my work, I wish you a good weekend Ron," dismissing the boy.

Watching as the boy took a few more lemon drops before leaving, 'the cheek of the boy taking more of my sweets,' he thought, a little annoyed that he would have to order more of his favourite sweets, while still smiling at the lad, keeping the act up that he had mastered decades ago.

"I won't fail you headmaster," Ron stated confidently.

Mentally patting himself on the back, "I know you won't dear boy," he answered back confidently, as the first year left his office, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

Making his way over to the window to look over the school grounds, he spotted Hagrid walking into the forest, as he thought over the meeting.

It had been surprisingly easy to recruit Ron to his side; in years to come the boy would be as loyal as his mother was and an ideal candidate for the Order. The boy may be a bit lazy from what he'd seen, but he hoped it was just a phase that he was going through. After all, most kids these days just wanted to have fun, and it often wasn't until their later teen years that they started to focus on a single goal.

Considering Ron's future role in his plans, he thought of the advantages and disadvantages of recruiting the rest of Neville's friends in the near future to his cause, in order to better protect the boy and to keep him away from undesirables. It would also allow him to surround the boy with a court of followers under his control, allowing him to better influence the boy. Also, considering the fact that another wizard war was brewing in the distance, surrounding the boy with loyal friends and followers would help keep him safe and provide him with support in the future.

Hopefully his plan wouldn't fail and he could capture Tom's spirit this year, giving them longer to prepare, longer for him to train the boy and recruit him as his apprentice.

He may not be personally destined to defeat Tom, but the least he could do was arrange the 'playing cards' in his and Neville's favour. He sighed as dark memories resurfaced from the last war.

Shaking his head, steadfastly trying to forget all the terrors of war he had seen over his long life, he poured himself a cup of strong tea.

Hopefully an all out war could be avoided, but it was his responsibility as Chief Warlock to plan for the worst and hope for the best, simply due to no one else being capable of seeing the bigger picture, no one else being capable of handling the burdens he carried. He continued to sip his herbal tea, its calming effects silencing his unvoiced doubts.

Letting his thoughts drift back to his youth, before he sadly made his way back over to his desk, to see more papers that he had to sign, sighing in despair at the thought of even more paperwork; he really needed another personal assistant or three.

Midnight Gold

Making his way back to the Ravenclaw common room, Harry was still lost in his own thoughts whilst thinking over how to get the potion tested. However, his thoughts were interrupted as he saw the 'fool' making his way out of the headmaster's office.

Wondering what the headmaster could have wanted with the boy, obviously it wasn't to tell the boy off, since he boy looked far too happy and upbeat, even a bit hyper for that matter... Shaking his head, it really wasn't his business anyway, deciding to hang back, rather than risk possible unwanted conversation with the boy, who he just wanted to curse anyways for being a continuous annoyance.

Deciding to indulge himself with that particular idea, he carefully took aim, which was made even easier since the boy was walking in a straight line, before he silently sent a shoelace tying jinx at the fool, before quickly taking the text turn in the hallway. Seconds later, he heard cursing, proving his aim to be true. It suddenly dawned on him that he would have to practice his aiming more; after all, his aim had been fine when casting at something as big as a mountain troll, at almost point blank range it was nearly impossible to miss. He would have to practice if he wanted to impress Flitwick enough to get the former champion duellist to train him. He sighed, so many things to do, so little time.

He was half-tempted to try and recruit a 6th year or something, just to help guide and direct his development. He could just aim at self-made targets, even moving ones, with an animation charm or two, but it was not the same, after all, it was predictable and they did not have minds of their own. It's one thing aiming at a target, another aiming at person who was fighting back and could adapt as needed.

He could always ask Penny to help, but he didn't want to involve her; she already had quite enough on her plate with it being her OWL year. Plus, it wouldn't be fair to ask more of her; she had her own future to think about. That was the exact same reason why he dismissed the idea of asking a 7th year as well, since they were handling their NEWTS.

So, ideally, he needed a 6th year, a person skilled enough to teach him, but at the same time act as a target, who he wouldn't have to worry about hurting and who would know most of the OWL material to the necessary skill level.

That certainly limited his options, he doubted he would be able to find a raven to help, since most of Ravenclaw house dropped DADA after OWLs, on the grounds that the teaching was unreliable and it was better to focus on another subject rather than waste time spending extra effort making up for incompetent teachers. Plus, DADA got more physically demanding in the final years and ravens where naturally inclined to be scholars rather than fighters. Who preferred to be debating theories rather than duelling; simply put DADA was primarily taken by lions in the final years, whilst ravens went for more academically challenging subjects like runes and arithmancy.

Thinking over everything he knew, DADA was the principal requirement for anyone who wished to become an Auror or Hit-Wizard like his father, before concluding that it was in his best interests to go and see his head of house. Since charms was another necessary subject required at NEWT level for that profession and career path, the charms master would surely know of a capable student in DADA.

Changing direction he headed towards his head of house's office; hopefully he would know of a student who would be suitable to approach. Of course, he would have to find something to offer in exchange, since he doubted any student would do it for free.

Hopefully, he could offer some money to solve the issue, and effectively buy the additional lessons.

End of chapter