The end of term came none too soon. Harry, Ron, Draco, and Neville passed their first year with excellent grades, thanks to a certain Miss Granger. Gryffindor won the House Cup, much to Ron and Neville's elation, and plans to meet up over the summer and practice Quidditch in hopes of making their respective House teams next year were made. Harry saw his friends off at the Hogsmeade train station, and then he and Severus Apparated back to Spinner's End.
Severus watched as Harry unpacked his trunk, scattering his school year mementos all over the place. A giant yellow and black Hufflepuff banner was put up over the bed and a tiny jar containing a luminescent unicorn hair was set on the shelf next to Harry's dragon and Gryffindor lion.
"Finished arranging all of your wordly goods?" Severus asked drily. Harry beamed at him, straightening a picture of him and Draco pushing Ron into the Black Lake.
"Yup. What's for supper? Can Draco come over tomorrow? When can I introduce Hermione and Neville to Raiknok? Are we going to France to see Adrien and Luc this summer? Can Hermione come? Will you buy me a broom so I can practice Quiddtich?"
Severus held up a hand to halt the barrage of questions. "Slow down, Potter. Your summer homework will be done before any gallivanting with those nuisances you call friends. As for France, we will see. And as for a broom, absolutely not."
Harry groaned. "Sev'rus!"
Severus merely raised a brow, and Harry sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Come, then," Severus said. "Let us go eat dinner."
Together, the two walked in companionable silence to the kitchen.
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"Raiknok!" Harry yelped joyfully, throwing his arms around his goblin friend. Raiknok chuckled, patting his back.
"Good day, Harry. I am glad you have returned."
Harry grinned. "Of course I returned. And I brought my friends!"
Raiknok looked past Harry to Draco, Ron, Neville, and Hermione.
"Good day, Draco. Good day, Ronald," the goblin prince said, bowing his head slightly. "And you must be Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger. It is an honor to meet the friends of my friend." He gently kissed the back of Hermione's hand and inclined his head respectfully to Neville. Both looked wide-eyed.
"Raiknok, I was wondering if maybe they could join us in our lessons, or at least watch," Harry said, eyes hopeful. The goblin carefully looked each child over.
"I think that would be acceptable," he finally said, his eyes lingering thoughtfully on a nervous Neville. "Perhaps, as you are friends of Harry Potter, some skill in physical defense will be useful in the future."
The friends grinned at each other, following Raiknok down into the bowels of the bank. Ragnok shook Severus's hand.
"Greetings, brother," he said. "We have another guest joining us today."
Severus groaned as Adrien Barclay came into view, shaggy golden hair gleaming.
"Come" Ragnok said, "Let us adjourn to my office. We have much to discuss."
Severus settled himself into one of the comfier chairs the goblin had to provide. Adrien casually and elegantly sprawled out in the seat next to him, and Ragnok took his place behind his massive wooden desk. He nodded toward Adrien.
"I hear Harry is now Lord of the Unicorns," the werewolf said without preamble. Severus eyed the man warily.
"So it would seem."
"A most excellent allegiance, I am sure we all agree," the goblin stated.
"Indeed."
"I have some news," Adrien said. Severus raised a brow.
"A man of my kind, a rogue wolf not of my pack, has recently visited France. He has been in self-imposed isolation for a decade and has not kept up with any of the rumors or gossip among our kind. When he heard that Harry Potter was now the Boy-Who-Runs-With-Wolves, he was very shocked indeed."
Severus had a very bad feeling about where this was going.
"This man, Mr. Lupin, apparently has some ties to the boy. Do you know him?"
Severus was tense and white-knuckled. "No."
Ragnok cast him a quick look. "Who is he, Severus?"
Severus growled low in his throat. "Nobody.
Adrien looked stern. "If he is a threat to Harry Potter, we will make sure he is no more."
For a long moment, Severus was incredibly tempted to deem Remus Lupin just that, but finally he sighed grudgingly. "I doubt he is much threat, aside from the obvious danger of his…condition." He cast a scornful look at Adrien, who merely smiled lazily. "He is…he was a friend of Potter's parents."
"I thought as much," Adrien said. "Well, while this rogue wolf was in France, he received an anonymous letter. He was kind enough to share this missive with me. In this letter was evidence that a Mr. Sirius Black, a resident of Britain's infamous Azkaban, was innocent of the crimes which put him there."
Severus and Ragnok both froze. Adrien eyed them shrewdly.
"Who is Sirius Black?"
"A murderer," Severus spat with venom.
"And Harry Potter's legal godfather," the goblin added softly.
"What is Lupin going to do?" Severus said in a restrained voice, anger making his dark eyes glow.
"He has already filed an appeal with the Ministry for wrongful imprisonment…and it was approved almost immediately. Strange, no? There will be a trial in one week's time."
Severus and Ragnok looked at each other worriedly.
"We will be there," Severus said in a determined voice.
"What will you tell Harry?"
Severus sighed, looking away. "I don't know."
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Deep in the belly of Gringotts, three wizards and one witch watched in stupefied disbelief as Neville Longbottom and Raiknok of the goblins dueled. Neville's round, normally nervous face was set in concentration his hair matted with sweat. He parried the goblin's blows, giving as good as he got until his foot slipped on the stone floor and he stumbled. Raiknok's sword was at his throat in a flash.
"Impressive," the young goblin said, peering down at the panting boy with interest. "Was that truly your first time wielding a blade?"
Neville stood, wiping sweat off of his face. "Yes."
"You have a great inherent skill," Raiknok said. "With the proper training, you will become a master swordsman."
"Whoa, Neville," Harry said, much impressed. "That was brilliant!"
"Wicked cool," Ron agreed.
Neville beamed, swiping some brown hair out of his face.
"Really?"
Draco shook his head, a bemused expression on his pale face. "I did not see that coming."
Hermione hugged the sweaty boy. "That was amazing, Nev!"
Neville turned to Raiknok, a fierce look in his normally passive eyes. "Can you teach me more?"
Raiknok eyed the boy for a long minute before nodding. "It will be an honor to teach such a skilled student."
Neville's face practically glowed. The only thing he had ever been good at was Herbology, and while that was useful, it wasn't enough to impress people. Now he had a real chance to make a name for himself. He vowed silently to work as hard as possible to learn how to effectively wield his blade.
"Thank you," he said, bowing to Raiknok. Raiknok looked pleased.
"You are welcome."
That night, as Harry chattered on and on, describing his day's training in great and minuscule detail, he failed to notice Severus's distracted nods and responses. He had just started his story of Neville's amazing feats when his guardian interrupted him.
"Harry," he said. "We need to have a talk."
Harry paused midsentence, looking at Severus worriedly, brow furrowed. "Am I in trouble?"
Severus sighed. "No. No, Harry, we need to talk about your…your parents. Have you ever heard of Sirius Black?"
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Lucius Malfoy listened to his son talk about his day with the goblins. Though he by no means approved of his heir spending time with creatures such as goblins, he recognized the value of having a friendship with those who controlled the world's wealth. For Draco to receive training with a blade by a goblin prince…well, it was unheard of. And from what Lucius could gather, it was all the result of Harry James Potter.
Harry Potter. Friend of goblins and werewolves, lord of unicorns, ward of Severus Snape. The boy was clearly powerful and a skilled diplomat. The Malfoy family had survived for generations by aligning themselves with those is power, and Lucius had enjoyed the power the Dark Lord had afforded him. However, there seemed to be a new power in Britain, a powerful leader in the form of one small Hufflepuff boy.
His son had made his choice. Draco had befriended Harry and remained loyal to the Potter heir. Perhaps he was right, Lucius thought, eyeing his bright-eyed son fondly. Perhaps it was time to officially declare allegiance to a new lord. His thoughts drifted to a small, leather-bound book he had hidden in his study. An old diary, bestowed upon him by the Dark Lord himself.
A powerful object of Dark Magic, Lucius knew. He had been told that it would help rid Hogwarts of mudbloods and that he was to somehow get it into the school as soon as he could. But perhaps he culd use the diary as a show of goodwill, as a show of his deference to a new leader.
Yes, he mused, watching Draco swing an imaginary sword around, nearly toppling over, he would present the diary to the goblins first thing in the morning. From here on out, the Malfoy family supported Harry Potter, even If that meant tolerating goblins and werewolves and mudbloods. Sacrifices had to be made, after all, and it certainly couldn't hurt to ally themselves with the ones who guarded their gold.