Chapter 10

A Hero Once Again . . . And Umbridges' Fate

The Shock that went through the Courtroom was palpable, the atmosphere was thick with tension and the prospect of outright war was on the verge of many a wizards and witches lips, but, they all held their tongues.

They ALL KNEW the power this Goblin held, which many considered to be more than Fudge and the Wizarding Houses held in consolidation together.

But, in every barrel of apples there's always one that's bad.

Delores Jane Umbridge, the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, Cornealius Fudge, couldn't hold her tongue any longer. Especially NOW! As far as prejudice goes, she's as far with it as any could possibly be. Even 'Old Tom' with his Pure Blood Status couldn't even touch that 'Prejudiced Viewpoint' that Delores held.

Delores was as red as a tomato; When she would attempt to interrupt a conversation, you'd hear a slight 'hem, hem' as if she were coughing, then when she had your attention and momentarily stopped talking, she'd put in her two knutes worth.

Delores was not liking anyone who was either not magical nor outside the 'Human range'. And to make it worse, if you looked reasonably like a human, no matter your intelligence, that made it even worst.

In short, Delores was as prejudiced as they come. And, even worst!

"HOW DARE YOU, TO COME INTO A WIZARD'S COURTROOM!" Delores shouted as she stood up, wearing her pink robes. THIS is a courtroom for upstanding wizards and witches, not for ANIMALS who go parading around as if they're one of us! You're not even good enough to be considered anything but animals to be slaughtered! And the STINK that you bring in to our presence! Your kind should be wiped from the face of the earth and your gold, wealth, possessions and contracts will be OURS! Get OUT, NOW!"

If Fudge had thought he'd had a bad day, previously, he was wrong.

Oh, so very wrong.

Right now, it'd be better if Death Eaters stormed the Ministry. At least that way he and the Auror's could fight back, honorably.

He was looking at the very worst day he'd ever have. He'd be lucky to have his head still attached to his body, let alone live in peace without his job.

The court was in an uproar! And if that weren't enough, Umbridge saw her chance, or thought she did, and took it. Thus, was the beginning of the downfall of Fudge, and his supporters.

She lifted her wand, pointing it directly at Ragnok and fired off the killing curse!

Harry, with his reflexes, and standing almost next to him, jumped in front of Ragnok, taking the killing curse full in his chest!

After that, pandemonium broke out. Hermione, and Daphne along with Neville, Luna and the Twins surrounded Ragnok, the twins taking his back and protecting the Chief of the Goblin Nation with Shields.

Neville, fired off a stunning curse at Umbridge, multiple times. Luna Providing Shielding Charms for 'her Neville'.

Both Hermione and Daphne started firing off curses in tandam towards Umbridge, so many, in fact that she couldn't keep up the protection of her own shields and she fell. All the time, she was screaming epitaphs towards Ragnok and all of Harry's friends who were protecting him and supporting him.

The Goblin Guards sealed off the court room from the outside and the inside Guards started standing by Harry's friends and wives, shields blazing.

Ragnok, to say the least, was surprised at how much Lord Potter's friends came to his rescue. He wasn't hurt.

Rita Skeeter, remembering her Oath to Lord Potter was recording everything that was said, using instead of her quik quotes quill, she was using her Dictation Quill. Her photographer was taking both photographs and moving pictures and sound. She was going to provide the needed testimony to protect her Lord and prove to him her worth.

After the storm inside the Courtroom died down, there were two bodies on the floor: Harry and Umbridge. Harry was not breathing.

"Daphne, Keep your wand pointed. I'll look after Harry!" Hermione screamed out. She fell to her knees and took Harry in her arms. "HE'S NOT BREATHING! HARRY'S DEAD! !" Hermione screamed out.

She started doing something that no Wizard, nor Witch, had ever attempted: Something that Muggles called C.P.R. - or Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. She got on top of him, straddling his waist, and started pushing down on his chest, right on what Muggle Physicians would call the zyphoyd process, that middle part of the chest where the lungs can be pushed down. Hermione continued the process of manually restarting Harry's heart and breathing into his mouth, covering his nose. She kept this up for many minutes.

"Harry! Wake up! You're not gonna die on me now. It's not your time, you've got two wives to take care of. You've got to give us children to continue our lines. You've got responsibilities. You've got people here who love you. Come on, Harry, Wake up."

Hermione was beating on him, pushing down on his chest. Many there, thought she was going wild, and loosing her sanity. They all in the courtroom saw Harry being hit with the killing curse and they KNEW he was dead. No one had ever come back from the dead after being hit with it. No one.

Except Harry !,

when he was fifteen months old.

And he was protected by his Mother's Charm, her sacrificing of her life.

While she was doing that, others had got to Umbridge and bound her up multiple times and taken her wand from her. Fudge and Dumbledore were looking at trying to 'clean up' this mess that one of their own had started. In short, there was going to be 'hell to pay' for this attack on the Chief of the Goblin Nation. The only good thing about it was that Harry had taken the curse.

Lord Greengrass came up to Hermione, she was still pumping Harry's chest, administrating C.P.R., shouting at him to wake up.

She was going Ballistic.

"Harry James Potter! You wake up NOW! I've waited all my life for a man as good as you and I'm not gonna loose you to that bitch! You're gonna wake up if it takes all I've got to do it!"

Hermione Granger, the Muggle Born Witch who is the most intelligent student to have graced the Halls of Hogwarts since the Days of Lily Evans, continued to pound on Harry's chest. She was pumping his chest rhythmically, over and over, again and again, only stopping to place her mouth on Harry's mouth, closing his nose, and breathing in. Then, she would start all over again, pounding and pushing on his chest, every person in the courtroom was looking on her in Awe, none were even comprehending what she was doing, not even Dumbledore!

"Some one, go get a Muggle Physician - NOW!" Hermione screamed out.

One of the Goblin guards looked around and the Weasley twins acted. "Come with us. IF you can get us to ANY Muggle Hospital we'll get the Muggle Physicians!" With that said, the guards apparated out of there. While they were gone, quiet ensued in the Courtroom. That's when Ragnok spoke up.

"By the authority of the Wizard-Goblin Treaty of 1066, I hereby arrest that human woman for attacking the chief of the goblin nation. She is now a prisoner of the Goblin nation and is now subject to our laws! Breaking this Treaty is subject to the Minister of Magic and the Chief of the Wizengamot to paying enormous amounts of gold in restitution and other forms of restitution!"

Fudge stood there, sweat beading on his forehead, and looking as pale as any ghost at Hogwarts!

Albus Dumbledore was not looking any better!

"Hand her over to my Guards – NOW!" Ragnok loudly proclaimed for everyone to hear with no doubt in their minds what he wanted.

"Don't you think you're going a little too far, Ragnok? You weren't hurt." Dumbledore tried to reason with him. Fearfully.

"Lord Potter is our First Depositor! His welfare is our first concern. He protected my life with his own by giving up his own life and for that, I and the rest of the Goblin Nation, owe him and his House a Life Debt, and I intend to repay that, in kind, today!"

Fudge, nervous and shaking, asked, "What do you require of us, Ragnok?"

Ragnok smiled, showing all of his very pointed and very sharp teeth.

"First, by treaty of 1066, I require that your Wizengamot officially recognize Harry James Potter as Lord of the Houses that The Magical Inheritance Test Proved out. I'd already sent an official copy of it to your ministry Saturday. I want that vote NOW!"

The wizengamot all nodded in agreement and it was overwhelmingly passed. Cheap enough as compared to a War.

"What else?" Fudge asked.

"Here is a copy of all the Houses, both Ancient and Noble as well as Minor, plus individuals, who are subject to each of the Lordship's of Lord Harry James Potter. I require all of them to appear before this court NOW and give an Oath of Allegiance or else suffer the consequences, which is the confiscation of all of their Wealth, Lands, Gold, All Monies of all denominations, contracts and Vaults." It was his next statement that literally chilled the bones of the Lords of the Wizengamot, "And that includes ALL their Vassels!"

Fudge looked at the lists, which were extensive, but, he had no choice. If he didn't do as Ragnok demanded, there'd be not just War, but the confiscation of all that Ragnok mentioned, including many of the Lords of the Ancient and Noble Houses plus many of the Wizengamot itself! He had every minion and clerk in the ministry send out elves, and owls with parchments requiring them to appear in the court immediately by way of Portkey. Some, he knew, would not appear due to them being Death Eaters or their supporters.

Today, a lot of gold was going to be transferred and many Houses, both Ancient/Noble as well as Minor were going to be extinct. Many individuals were going to Azkaban and there was nothing that Fudge nor the Wizengamot could do about it.

The Wizarding World would be feeling the consequences of Umbridges' actions, and it's legalities and Treaty's, for centuries to come. Fudge knew he will not be Minister for long. Many Houses as of now will want his head and Fudge knew he was not fighting just for his political career, but for his life!

About that time, the Weasley Twins and their Goblin Guards came back with Muggle Physicians, from St. Mungo's Hospital where they were on duty. They'd brought the equipment, and medical devices that were needed and protected from magical interference.

"He's been hit with the Killing Curse? We can't do anything about that! Everyone knows that. Sorry, but he's either dead or as good as." One of the Muggle Physicians spoke out without even trying.

"Don't just stand there. Treat him as if he had electrical shock." They went to work and soon, Harry was breathing on his own. "Crap! I hurt like shite! What happened?"

Hermione hugged her and Daphne's husband. "You were hit with the Killing Curse, Harry. You were dead for a few minutes and I used C.P.R. to bring you back. You weren't moving nor breathing. Hon, I HAD to do something! I wasn't about to let you die here. You've got too many responsibilities. You've got to give Daphne and I children to carry on our, and your, lines! Besides, I wasn't about to let that Bitch's actions take you away from me.

"Oh, ok, but someone's gotta help me up. I don't think I can make it on my own."

"Don't worry, Harry." Replied Fred

"We'll help you." Continued George

"Just like you helped us get our shop started." Said Fred

"Are you alright, Ragnok?" Harry asked the first thing that came into his mind. He saw that Hermione and Daphne were ok, as were his friends.

"Yes, Lord Potter, I'm ok. If it weren't for your quick actions, I'd be dead and there'd be another Goblin-Wizard war. I owe you a life debt which I've already started paying."

Harry was a bit lightheaded, and somewhat confused, especially over the 'life debt' issue that Ragnok mentioned. Harry didn't intend for that to happen, but he couldn't do anything about that now. Water under the bridge and all that.

"If it'd help you, Ragnok, you can forget that life debt issue with me. That was just an automatic reaction on my part. Umbridge is no fan of mine. She hurt me and many other's last year by making me use a Blood Quill. I still have the words engraved on the back of my right hand." Here, Harry held up his hand for Ragnok to see.

'Impressive!' Ragnok thought to himself. With words cut that deep, it must've taken months to do that. I've never seen that much display of pain tolerance, even with Goblins.' Ragnok thought to himself. He didn't want Harry to know, yet, how much he respected him. But, Ragnok was thinking.

"Have you encountered the Cruciatis Curse?" Ragnok asked, wondering.

It was Hermione who'd spoken up at that question. "Yes, Ragnok, he has. He's been tortured by Bellitrix LeStrange and Voldemort on many separate occasions. It doesn't even faze him. We don't know why. We've had Madam Pomphrey look at him after those encounters, but even she can't find the reason."

"How about the Imperious curse?" Ragnok asked, knowing, somehow, what the answer was going to be.

It was Daphne who'd answered next. "Same response. Our Defense Professor, Moody and Moony, both, tried it on him, even some of the Death Eaters tried, but it just doesn't work on him. He shrugs it off."

The Weasley Twins, Fred and George, verified it. "It's true, we've seen Harry under both Curses at school, there's no one like him. None of the Unforgivable Curses have any kind of effect on him."

"Lord Potter, after we leave here, if you'd be so kind, would you accompany me back to my office, along with your friends? I have something to give you, something no other Wizard has ever received from the Goblin Nation." Here, Ragnok held out his hand and offered it to Harry, who took it and they shook hands, not like associates, or friends, but more like Brothers under the Skin.

Rita Skeeter, observant as she is, did NOT miss that interaction, either!

Fudge had finally gotten all the indicated people in the court room; Some had to be brought in by Aurors. The ones who didn't come in, by unanimous vote, their Houses, Titles, possessions, vaults, contracts, and worst of all, all the Vassals of those Houses, many of course being Death Eaters!, were confiscated or were put on the Goblins' List of individuals to be 'Taken' by the Goblins themselves. They were the known and evidently, unknown, and some were unmarked Death Eaters or their Sympathizers. The rest, those who were brought in and willingly came in, kept what they had and swore an Oath of Allegiance to their now recognized Lord. Many, didn't know due to the time that'd passed since the Founders had died. That list of people were a virtual 'Who's Who' of the Magical World. They all knew why they were here and to avoid another War and the possible loss of even more, they were most willing to go through the ceremony. They were all glad it was over.

Lucius, though was of two minds: He was a marked man as were all within Voldemorts' Inner Circle. He didn't think anything of it when he took the Oath to his new Liege Lord, Lord Black. That's when things started to unravel.

Those certain members whom Harry had personally seen in the graveyard that night two years ago, those whom were present, were all gathered together for their Oath.

They all fell down, their magic leaving them like they were bleeding their life's blood out, which in a sense, they were. Their wands all burst into flames, their clothes caught fire and they all passed out, unconscious. The Mark of Voldemort had burned off and through their skin leaving them totally without Magic.

At that, Ragnok said to Fudge, "This is just a taste of Goblin Retribution. The Next time it happens, I'll require the Head of the Minister of Magic and the Head of the Wizengamot!" With that said, the Goblin Guards took their prisoner, Delores Jane Umbridge out with them;

She was never seen again.

Some said they'd heard she was sentenced by the Goblins to the deepest part of their Diamond Mines in Africa's extinct Volcanoes,

wearing only boots!

The heat was almost unbearable. Or so the rumors said. Of course, Ragnok was responsible for this 'rumor', since he'd staged a couple of his own Goblins to talk about it within listening distance to some Lords while they were in Gringott's. The rumors, were in fact, NOT rumors!

Cyrus Greengrass, LORD Cyrus Greengrass, was in Gringott's, signing some new business Contracts with the Goblins. They trusted him in their business dealings, so, while he was waiting, some of the minor Goblins were walking by him and were speaking in Gobbly Gook, their own language. Of course, while Cyrus was a student at Hogwarts, he'd specialized in Business and along with that came the 'required' knowledge of the Goblins, their customs, ways of taking care of things, and their language. He'd heard every word that was said and his face blanched at what he'd heard.

It was concerning the fate of one Delores Jane Umbridge. By this time, she'd 'disappeared' into the Goblin's Justice System almost a year ago and no one had heard what'd happened.

Until now, that is!

What Cyrus heard was her fate, what was being done to her in the two kilometer depths of the Goblin Diamond Mines was beyond his worst imagination.

With shaky hands he signed the renewal's of the contracts that made him much gold galleons, and for the Goblins, also. They were grinning, showing their many pointed sharp teeth, when Cyrus looked up at them. "Anything wrong, Lord Greengrass?", one of the Contract Managers asked him.

"N – no, NO! Nothing at all."

"You sure? It's not about the contract, is it?"

"No! It's, well, I just heard something in passing. About the fate of one of your prisoners. I'm just glad that I'm in good standing with you."

"You've kept your end of all our contracts, Lord Greengrass. You've nothing to worry about."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, Lord Greengrass. Your daughter, Daphne, is the Wife of our First Depositor who saved the Chief of our Nation. You're in Good Standing with us! I don't think anyone would be too 'interested' in the fate of one prisoner, especially one who tried to kill the chief of our Nation!"

Lord Greengrass KNEW what that Goblin meant: Spread the Word!

Lord Greengrass did, and unknowingly he earned a few more percentage points on the rest of his contracts he just signed. Afterall, the Goblins keep their Word of Honor, especially with business!

As Dumbledore said to Harry once when he was younger, in referring to Tom Marvolo Riddle, AKA Voldemort, 'There are some things that are worst than Death!'

Of course, Umbridge was discovering that for herself.

For as much as she disliked nonhuman Magically empowered individuals, she was 'well KNOWN' by the Goblins! Many a time she wished for death, but it never found her, they were very sure to keep her healthy!

The gold that the Goblins acquired through the Emancipation of Harry James Potter, and his Elevation to his inherited multiple Lordship's was very profitable to them on that eventual court day.

Plus, they'd conquered one of their enemies!