CHAPTER 14: FLAMELS IN THE CIRCUS!
When Hogwarts alerted them to the mad ramblings of Dumbledore, Harry and Neville understood the danger of pushing too fast and too soon. They couldn't entirely trust Snape enough to confide in the man, bring him in or even arrange for his protection; the deep-rooted animosity between Harry's father, and godfather and the dour potions master would make it impossible. They needed to replace his access and power within the castle as Head of House Slytherin. They also needed to nudge Dumbledore out or ease back to let the man think he was winning. Harry knew that the last option was all but impossible. All of the projects they had initiated in the pretence of being naive, ignorant little tween kids on their first experience of Hogwarts would wash out with the first drizzle.
So they had to figure out another way to divert his attentions from them. Luna had the brilliant idea to rope in the old man into their ERAS project. For all his schemes and plots, he was and always had been a brilliant mind for magical inventions. The many knickknacks and doodahs in his office were testament to his brilliance as an inventor. She showed his older articles and theses papers and his revolutionary putter outer that no one else had been able to duplicate as a game-changer. If not for his dabbling in politics, his study of alchemy and enchanting would have taken the British wizarding community very far. Harry agreed that perhaps it was time to disengage the politician and talk to the inventor. They only had to figure out a way to connect with the man without giving him too much levy to control their lives and choices. It was a tight trapeze act.
The Weasleys and the Granger girl were now more obsessed than ever. Rescuing the girl from being smashed by the troll's club had done little to instil any sense of self-preservation in her. She still went around bossing everyone, with her holier than thou act and her over the top adoration of teachers and staff. Nor did she find any amount of restraint while dealing with the likes of Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson. Out of sight from Harry and company, the dark faction'eers did nothing to curb their opinions and biases and clashed frequently with Granger. It had gotten frustrating enough for her that Daphne was seriously considering calling for student mentor interventions for that chit. No other muggle-born girl had gone this offensive route to make an impact in their seven-year career at Hogwarts. For all her superb memory and flawless recall, she had a serious absence of common sense that offended Daphne's sensibilities. Harry and Neville had fun listening to her rants on the topic so often even they were beginning to tire of the whole thing. The Weasley obsession with Harry was yet another sore point.
Even after nearly three months at school, the youngest Weasley male hadn't figured out that no one was actually evil at eleven; stupid or temperamental perhaps, but certainly not evil. Nor were all Ravens only nerds, or all 'Puffs softies and weaklings. No amount of explaining could convince that boy that Harry hadn't defeated a Nundu at five years of age; he still had no clue what exactly a Nundu was. Nor had he tamed a dragon cove. He would pop up at the most unfortunate moments, his tattered wizards' chess set in hand, insulting Neville, Susan, Daphne or Justin or whoever happened to be around Harry, and actually believing his own hyped-up words. Harry was fed up of his fanboy act and had taken to running away or hiding at the first glimpse of freckles, red hair and loud and vacuous tomfoolery.
One such escape attempt led him to hide away for three hours in Professor Flitwick's office. Neville had agreed to help Professor Sprout for a spell and a chance to explore her higher grade greenhouses. Susan and Daphne were plotting together with Hannah and a few other girls who were willing to call intervention on Granger. At loose ends, Harry had the misfortune of stumbling upon Weasley first thing on this Saturday morning and Flitwick's office sounded rather appealing. They got into an exciting discussion on the possibilities of a magical ERAS beyond portkeys, Patronus and floo calls when they had to welcome a totally unexpected company in their little tete e tete. Dumbledore stepped out of the charms office floo and strode forward with a genial smile as he joined them.
For a minute Harry froze but soon switched on his charming 'Puff persona. With all the guilelessness he could muster, he began to draw Dumbledore into the discussion, mentioning the headmaster's many inventions and discoveries in the field of Potions, enchanting and Alchemy. From there it was a hop and a skip for three bright minds to consider how Voldemort had been innovative in linking his followers with a magical tattoo. When Dumbledore attempted to explain the theory behind it, Harry's mind whirled and an idea began to emerge. A tattoo with a protean charm, but disengaged of the slavery spell and connected to a central ward stone instead of an individual could work. Now Harry had to explain his idea to the two academicians without truly revealing his actual age or his advanced knowledge.
Luckily, it was nearing lunch hour and the group parted ways and on an impulse, Harry hugged the two teachers with all the impulsive good-natured camaraderie expected of a Hufflepuff and thanked them both profusely for a fantastic and insightful few hours and a chance to learn ever so much. He mentioned in parting that he had an idea for the ERAS and looked forward to helping and guidance from his favourite teacher and the most brilliant inventor he had ever met. Both the elder wizards, rather chuffed with his profuse compliments for totally different reasons, parted ways.
Dumbledore walked back to the great hall lost in thought and a bit surprised to see the child's interest in pioneering new magics. But it should not have been all that surprising; Lily Evans had been the same. He wondered if that was the reason his mild taunts had failed to provoke the Potions Master into actively antagonizing the Potter Scion. Did the dour man see his best friend in that child more than the hated school enemy? Maybe this wasn't bad; it would not work with his initial plans, yes, but it wouldn't be too hard to work at the kid from another angle. He had been desperately seeking an in and Merlin above had come through with another way into the child's life.
Harry, Susan, Daphne and Neville had not wasted all their time politicking and building their network; they hadn't forgotten their initial plans entirely. The Educational Wizarding Cultural Referendum had begun circulating. It had brought many muggle-born students to Susan and Daphne, on the sly, seeking inheritance tests. The girls had collected the completed tests and presented options on tackling their newfound family connections. Discretion was vital and the students had to wait until Yule break to use the shopping excuse to visit Diagon Alley and Gringotts. Ragnok and the Horde had been tizzy with anticipation of at least 37 old vaults being revived and getting back to circulation and the opening of 23 new vaults as extensions of old names. But in many cases, leaking of the news before adequate protections were set in place would ensure that the traditionalists like Malfoy would rather kill new muggle-born relations than admit such connections.
The Younger Greys now securely stored the inheritance test results of sixty-two muggle-born students and planned to visit Gringotts through the Potter trunk on December the first, which, luckily for them happened to be a Sunday. Not being visible for hours on a Sunday would raise no alarm as most people would simply assume Harry and even Daphne slept in like they sometimes did on weekends, and that Neville would be deeply enmeshed in wrestling plants in some greenhouse or the other with Susan and sometimes Justin and Hannah, as they were wont to do. It had taken a few months of working that story into their weekend routines as a neat cover for any time they needed to vanish from campus in case of emergency. Now that stood in good stead and no one really noted their absence. What they did not anticipate was a surprise waiting for them in Ragnok's Inner Sanctum Office.
Ragnok considered this office of the head of Gringotts, Britain, his due. He had inherited and fought to affirm his claim to the grand throne just the same way every single forefather before him had. But the place of pride in this office, in his mind, wasn't the grand, golden jewel-encrusted throne or the intricately carved and rune charged Mythril desk that acted as the central control board for all the vaults and wards of Gringotts. His single most important and historical achievement for the books would be his finest acquisition - the Potter Trunk. A gift of allegiance from the wizard who would be the turnkey to the coming century. If Ragnok bet right, that young wizard was going to rewrite the history of magic for this century, not just for wizards but for Goblin Horde here as well. In front of him sat another such wizard and witch who had changed the game in their worlds.
The alliance between the Flamels and the Horde had been strong for more than four centuries. But Flamels never sought political influence and preferred to hide in obscurity. The sorcerer's stone that had forged an alliance between Flamels and the Gringotts around the world had ensured their desire for privacy and obscurity. Magicals everywhere mostly forgot the existence of the stone and its marvellous elixir or its ability to convert any metal into gold. But at least once every century for a long while now, there would be an attempt to steal it. There were a few dozen decoy vaults and false stones all secured with mazes, heavy curses, three dragons, one Cerebrus, and a grim to guard the same. The stone remained in two linked parts, extremely secure, embedded within the bodies of the Flamel couple.
What almost no one else realized was that Flamels weren't all human and the stone wasn't accessible to anyone else. The two linked parts of the stone were impossible to separate from the bodies of the Flamels. And only select members of the Horde remained present to observe, assist and collect the elixir and gold produced. The elixir formed a central element of the Goblin magics, curse breaking, healing and protective magicks and the gold produced once a year ensured sufficient wealth and stable economy in the magical world everywhere. It was a balancing act and mutually rather rewarding.
In exchange for anonymity, protection and secure business transactions, the horde gladly protected the Flamel business concerns including the stone, monitored the wards around their residences and gave them top-notch priority service in any and all Gringotts services. It had worked rather satisfactorily until one goblin had been hoodwinked by Dumbledore and his bribes and had given him access to one decoy vault as well as burying Potter asset transactions. Discovering Potter asset misappropriations in the Audit a few months ago had brought other crimes of that idiot goblin to light and Ragnok had been embarrassed to report the missing decoy to Nicholas Flamel.
Explanations and backstories had turned a fit of slow-burning anger into intrigued interest thankfully for Ragnok. Reading the moods of his most important clients, Ragnok had only embellished a wee bit here and there as he narrated how the boy sneaking back into Gringotts in the middle of the night had changed the wheels of destiny and Ragnok and Perenelle speculated that there would be far-reaching consequences to most simplest of actions of that child. Having lived among the human species for this long, they had made it a study to observe human behavior and impact on history. And usually, they always picked a winner in their travels. Although Perenelle had distrusted Dumbledore, Nic had seen the marvellous mind of the bright and idealistic wizard and taken Albus Dumbledore under their wing for a little while. The Flamels had once thought Dumbledore had great potential. Now the same intrigue and interest shone in the wiry, ageless man's eyes as he and his wife lounged like lazy jungle cats in Ragnok's office; only their aura gave away how excited and eager they were. Harry Potter had caught their fancy.
On the dot, as the clock hit Eleven, Sharptooth and Ironfist knocked and entered Ragnok's office, ushering in the Elder Wizards and Witches of the Grey Alliance. Cyril Greengrass and Circinus Black escorted Amelia Bones, Augusta Longbottom and Cassiopeia Black. A few minutes later the Potter Trunk pinged an alert as the lid eased open and the Younger Greys ambled out, un-glamoured and in their adult forms. Harry, Xeno and Luna helped Grandfather Arcturus and Aunt Selene settle into their runic mobile chairs and introductions were made all around as Astoria and Luna went into temporary fan-girl moments of red-faced embarrassment and stutters as they were being introduced to the two Flamels.
Daphne and Susan then handed the claimed inheritance test documents they had collected from the muggle-born students on campus over the past many weeks. Ragnok passed on the ledger for the Student body newspaper sales outside the campus. It was possible to just about help them break even and cover the production costs in a few more editions unless they charged a nominal amount to the entire student body as well. Flamels commented that they could sponsor the paper production costs for a period of one year and were willing to give an interview stating the same. They could gladly become the public face of the paper next year; it would be fun to get in the middle of the mayhem. They just needed to settle a few unfinished appointments and business before sharing their minds, efforts, support and time with the Greys. In case Harry Potter was wondering, Flamel quipped with a wink, yes, that was them offering to join the alliance.
When Lord Black wanted to know why, they revealed the latest disagreement they were volleying with Dumbledore. Perenelle admitted that she feared that Dumbledore wasn't being very thorough when courting Voldemort in a school full of vulnerable children. Although it would be impossible to actually access the stone, a dark lord believed dead, frustrated with having his plans and plots foiled would be as safe as a fiendfyre in the present setting. Nic also expressed his disappointment in his former protege and wished to make amends for his mistake in teaching and grooming the wizard into what he had turned into now. The Flamels admitted that having lived in isolation for more than a century now, they had forgotten the perfidies of humanity and their own responsibilities towards keeping the balance. Too long they had watched from the sidelines as not one but three dubious wizards of high prowess plundered their magical world. Both the Flamels were of the strong conviction that a silent spectator was as culpable as the one who committed the crimes. Helping Harry Potter and his crew of Greys would be their redemption and amends.
Arcturus Black was feeling especially proud of his heir - the young man demonstrated a remarkable ability to gather incredible allies to his side and yet continued to remain unassuming and selfless in his desires and ambitions. Flamels were a strong name in their world. Wealthy beyond measure. Powerful in both magicks and political influence. Revered all over the world for their achievements. And yet, in the face of their blatant support, Harry sat quietly contemplating and considering his options. Fame and fortune, neither theirs nor his own, had been able to influence his decisions and choices unduly. He had turned out to be the worthiest heir to Blacks yet.
He turned from Harry to observe Circinus; the young wizard had nearly lost his haunted and Azkaban stricken wildness in his eyes. He looked bored already. An extraordinarily bright and perceptive mind clouded with his wastrel like tendencies. Always at loose ends and uninterested in any venture that required the restless young man to sustain a productive, dignified mien. Cassie had informed him how, where ever they went, the idiot would go looking into werewolf clans, searching for his old school friend. If he wasn't careful, his cover would be blown any day now. He was getting harder for Cassie to reign in and she needed Arcturus to shorten the crazy man's leash and redefine his role in the group.
Harry couldn't take risks at this point; Arcturus felt every moment of his advanced age from his former heir's foolish antics. Maybe it was time to recall him and Cassie back to England and announce his presence to the community here. They could open up the townhouse for a party or two and Cassie would be glad to play hostess. Maybe he could announce Harry Potter as his heir this Yule season and see where the dice falls. The idea had merits. And it would be a perfect chance to prime up Cirinus for mischief and let him loose on the unsuspecting pigeons; yes that could work, indeed. Making a mental note to discuss the issue privately with Harry, Arcturus eased up to call a halt to the discussions; the youngsters needed to get back to school before they were missed. He invited Ragnok, Sharptooth, Ironfist and the Flamels to join everyone else at the Black Castle at their convenience.
The meeting wound down soon afterwards and the Young Greys stepped through the Potter trunk to return to the Hogwarts castle. Everyone except the Lovegoods moved out of the office and headed towards the Black Castle; Flamels gladly accepted the invitation. Goblins assured their attendance around dinner and everyone parted ways.
It had been a rather productive day for Gringotts, indeed.