Chapter 41
A Trip To Gringotts.
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Christmas day ends up being a pretty good one for the Gamers. Not entirely due to the gifts they received, though there are a few thoughtful ones that they open up that morning before breakfast. Luna sends each of them a Butter-Beer cork necklace that she has enchanted with runes so that the corks will flash random colors like a string of demented Christmas tree lights on command. It came with a note that the corks would protect them from something or other, but honestly just the fact that she thought to send them something is enough to make them both extremely pleased. And feel a bit guilty, as they hadn't actually gotten around to getting her anything yet. It was tentatively scheduled that their Christmas shopping would wait for their trip to Gringotts. They plan to see about securing some high-strength, weapon-grade steel, as well as randomly shop for things that they might need when they move on. But that won't be for a couple of days probably.
Flitwick had given them each a copy of the same book: "A Duelers Guide to Dirty Tricks: How to Use, See Coming, and Defend Against Them." The books are quite old, and they are guessing that they have been out of print for a while or the man likely wouldn't have run down antiques. They come with a note:
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Dearest friends,
A small thank you for what you have done for my school, myself, and my world. It is not sufficient to balance what we owe, but I can tell you that this book is at least half the secret of my success on the circuit. May the knowledge contained within assist you in dealing with your own circuit, a far more dangerous one than I had ever conceived of before meeting you. If there is ever anything I and my wand can do to assist you, you need only to ask.
Happy Yuletide to you both,
Filius Flitwick.
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It was pretty obvious why he'd sent two copies, but unfortunately, they don't qualify as skill books. At least they don't for them anymore, A lot of the basic casting that is actually described in them Flitwick had already taught them as most of it really wasn't that complicated. But getting into it, they can see what he meant by the books being 'the secret of his success.' They detail a huge assortment of nasty tricks and their counters. Things like icing up a floor under your opponent and a quick and dirty transfiguration for shoes that will spike the soles to negate it. The blinding flash or darkness gambit and the bat-ears charm to counter. Plus hundreds more. While a lot of them are obviously of limited utility outside of a dueling platform, Mindy's grin gets ever more wicked as she leafs through the possibilities it suggests.
Pomona had given them a sampling of magical plants, seedlings really in little pots. Along with a huge assortment of seeds, a book on fast-growing charms for greenhouse use that can cut the time until harvest to a third of normal, and three small magical growing chambers. They are each only the size of and appearance of a school trunk save that they open not from the top, but rather split in half top to bottom with hinges on one end. They have modest space expansion to quadruple the area inside and each half will pull out like a drawer once they are opened up, giving them easy access to whatever they have growing in there. Additionally, they are powered by runes to supply whatever the seeds or plants placed within will require as they grow in the small pots provided with the setup. Light, water, and temperature are automatic and individual to each pot that is set into its slot. She also sends a note:
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To my most gray-hair inducing Hufflepuffs ever,
The idea that all I could teach you would be rendered useless was not one that I could accept, and so I give you these. This is a set designed for use by a traveling healer and potion brewer that needs to have supplies readily at hand when apothecaries might be few and far between. I used these very ones myself while I was traveling and learning from others to obtain my mastery. As I am now quite too old to be fumbling about the countryside in foreign realms, it is my hope you will use them in good health. I am sorry that there is no similarly easy way to supply the animal bits that you may need, but many potions, up to sixty percent of them in the healing arts, can be made with Herbology and Potions skills alone.
Given your past, I somehow doubt that I will have an opportunity to see you graduate. So in closing, I offer you now the advice I give to my best students when they do. Put simply, in your travels toward your mastery, the flora can tell you much about what is happening in the area if you are willing to pay attention. Dark magic, muggle pollution, overpopulation of native animals, the type of soil, annual rainfall, and insect plagues. All these things and many more will affect the plants in the area and can be your guide if you care to look about.
May this and all future Solstice be merry for you and yours, and do please be careful.
Best wishes,
Pomona Sprout.
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Knowing that their inventory induces a stasis, they both smile at the thoughtfulness of the gift and then place the plants they were given in the growing chambers. Setting them into the back of their large 'bulk storage' for safekeeping, along with the additional non-magical trunk of seeds in their carefully labeled bags and small boxes.
While they aren't quite sure exactly how much they will use these, the fact that they have them makes increasing their potion skills a lot more appealing at the very least.
The last gift that they receive is from the Headmaster, and predictably, it is a book. Specifically, it is a single book that is not a skill book according to their systems. 'The Magical Guide to Appropriate Punishments: An introspective of our barbarous origins, where we are, and where we hope to one day be.'
The note it comes with is short.
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Dearest students,
I cannot claim to be able to truly conceive of the life you lead and the choices you must make. I can only offer my heartfelt empathy and worry that those so young should be forced into such an existence. Please do not take this book as any kind of condemnation. I can safely say that I am more familiar than most with the need for compromise and, on occasion, decisive action. I merely gift this in the hope that it may offer you more options in your travels.
Best wishes and luck to you both,
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.
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When they first read the title of the book they both looked at each other in irritation. After reading the note, however, they calmed down significantly. Dave even started reading the thing, on the off chance it might offer some insight. Two out of four places they had been sent so far, they were responsible in one way or another for children after all. Knowing how to set them straight without having to beat the hell out of them might be knowledge worth having.
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Breakfast in the great hall and the thanking the gift-givers went well enough, with the apology that they hadn't managed to get to Diagon alley yet for their own shopping being the cause of many scoffs and being told to please shut up, they had done plenty already.
After that, the two sequester themselves into the room of hidden things and begin to make a concerted effort to go through it. While they have a lot of money on hand now, it makes little sense to spend it on something if they might find it here for free after all. They had been at it for a few hours when Dave finds himself smirking and calling out.
"Hey, Mindy! Come on over here and check this out!"
When she makes her way over, he is pulling out of a mess of old, broken brooms and other random sticks and long, slender objects a handful of what look to be short spears. Built to a military standard of utility and durability, they don't have much in the way of adornments. Six of them, just under five feet long are all and with heads on the spears that are a solid foot of that. Slender yet strong things come to sharp points at the end of a double-bladed leaf design. While the wood is very old and needs to be replaced, the blades are in perfect condition aside from being dusty, gleaming even through this loose coating. The part that has Dave interested though is the inscription on the blades themselves.
"P.o.G. Three guesses what that means."
She looks at him quizzically for a moment and then the light dawns and she smiles.
"Property of Gringotts, I'd say based on the size of the spears. It would make sense, Gringotts bank was founded in the fourteen hundreds according to Binns and the rebellions were still going strong in the seventeen hundreds. Spoils of war that got forgotten and then stowed away by the house-elves, probably?"
Dave nods. "That would be my guess. But if we test them and they turn out to be the kind of quality you need, how would you feel about putting your runes on a piece of steel, then inserting that steel into the slot a shaft would normally go, and welding it in place? Maybe put a wrap over that to make it easier to wield? You'd end up with a short sword minus the guard, but would this work for your rune scheme idea?"
She is looking curiously at the metal. "You think it does the same thing as the Sword of Gryffindor? Where it takes in stuff that makes it more deadly?"
Dave shrugs. "No clue for sure, but we can find out easily enough. To be honest though I kind of doubt it. If the goblins could do that with everything, they wouldn't have lost the rebellions. My guess would be that the Sword of Gryffindor is a bit special. Probably not unique, but I doubt it's common either and these weren't carried by anybody important, at least by looking at them. Standard goblin foot soldiers would be my guess. We could probably ask Flitwick, he'd know a lot more than we would."
She slowly nods, considering. "Yeah, set them over by the door, and we can ask him later." Then she jerks a thumb behind her. "By the way, I found the broken vanishing cabinet that they used to infiltrate the school in sixth year. Not sure I want to fix it or bother with the other one, but I figured we should set it aside and give it to Dumbledore when we are done for the day. He might have a use for it, and even if he doesn't he'll probably want to either get rid of it or put it somewhere a hell of a lot more secure."
Dave considers for a moment.
"Not that I am arguing, but why wouldn't we want it?"
Mindy shrugs. "Well, I guess we would except we don't know if the defenses in another world would be bypassed by it. Most other stuff we are collecting, if it doesn't work right we can just put it away. Try to use something like this and it fails halfway through, what happens? You just vanish? They open the other side later and find a bloody cube of meat and bone settled into the bottom? I'm willing to pack it up and take it, but it seems like a risk that might not be worth bothering with. Besides, it's enormous and we'd need both of them. We have a lot of storage now, but..."
Dave drums his fingers on his pants while he thinks about it. They had both pulled out their muggle clothes for this because of two things. First, robes suck. And second, wandering through piles of broken, dirty, and sometimes cloth snagging trash isn't what they would call a fun time even with normal clothes. A robe would have made it a nightmare. Finally, he grimaces a bit as he considers her final point.
"Yeah, we could test them when we got somewhere new, but the size thing would probably be an issue. If they could be shrunk down I would guess they would have sent Draco to the school with half of a working pair rather than screw around with this like they did. I'll haul it off to the front if you'll carry these and show me where it is." He hands her the spears and follows her along.
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That evening at dinner, the two of them make their way to the head table and for a change, Dave is the one that speaks.
"Hey, Headmaster? We were wondering if we could ask you to meet with us in your office after the meal. Potentially Professors Flitwick, and Sprout as well if they're willing."
The headmaster looks guarded, but sincere. "No further troubles in the castle, I hope?"
Shaking his head in the negative, Dave grins. "No, nothing like that. We just found a couple of things that we'd like your take on is all. Nothing serious. Feel free to invite McGonagall as well, if she's interested."
Horace Slughorn is looking more and more put out as the conversation goes on, but he doesn't say anything. After his last attempt in the great hall to curry their favor that had gone so disastrously, he had sent a simple note of apology and then strictly ignored them except during classes. It's obvious to everyone though that he considers them all very much a much-lamented opportunity that has been lost.
Albus nods his head.
"I am certain that would be no problem, we can meet at eight if that would be acceptable?"
The two agree and make their way to the table to eat.
At precisely eight o'clock, the two arrive and the gargoyle doesn't even wait for the thinly veiled threat this time as it hops out of the way allowing their passage. Once they are settled in, Dumbledore turns to them with a grandfatherly smile while the other three look genuinely confused as to why they are here.
"So, once again merry Christmas. But I am guessing that isn't why you wanted to meet with us?"
The unspoken question is left hanging, and Mindy picks the thread up from there.
"Yeah, don't know if Pomona or Filius have brought it up, but we've been sorting through the room of lost things where the Diadem was for a while now. Working on our repair charms, getting stuff back into service. That kind of thing. Spent most of the day in there, and we found a couple of things that we wanted to talk about. The first is that we found the vanishing cabinet. Moved it to just inside the door of the room, figured you should do something with it. It's a hell of a potential security problem where it is, and we didn't feel comfortable just destroying it without knowing what you wanted done. It's your school after all."
Albus's eyes widen as he considers what he is being told.
"Yes it is, and obviously so. I hadn't considered it a threat as we've done so much to curtail the activities of Voldemort and his potential second rise, but leaving it there for the next Dark Lord to take advantage of is truly foolish. Thank you, I will deal with it myself when we are done with this meeting."
The two nod, and then Dave turns to Filius.
"The other thing is that we were hoping you could tell us about these? We're pretty sure we know where they came from, but if nobody minds and if they pass muster for our purposes, we were going to modify them a bit and put them back into service against whatever we get sent after next."
With that, he pulls out four of the six spears. They trust Flitwick, but they also know that goblins have some funny ideas about ownership and if the man insists that these need to be returned to the bank they want to have a couple leftover.
The part goblin's eyes go wide as he sees them, and his voice gets a bit more squeaky than normal as he reaches out to hold one of them.
"Spears of the lost legion! They have to be! These were laying around in that room?"
Mindy gestures to the ones in Dave's hands yet.
"Yup. They were in a pile of old brooms and other long, skinny objects. I think I even saw an old fishing pole. What's this 'lost legion' thing?"
The old charms professor sets the spear down gently on the floor and casts a few spells on it, smiling excitedly as he sees a rainbow of colored patterns flicker across it.
"The age matches, the look, and dimensions are the same, these are the real deal I do believe." He turns to the two gamers. "The spears of the lost legion were weapons taken by wizards after a battle in the sixteen hundreds, one of many that Binns likes to drone on about endlessly. It was a desperate act by what was at the time a desperate Goblin hierarchy that had realized that they were losing their war. In an effort to get as many goblins back to the bank as possible, the lost legion fought a rearguard action that cost the lives of all that had survived to that point, some six hundred I believe. They are considered sacred relics by many goblin families, and the recovery of one is usually a cause for celebration over and above simply regaining the goblin crafted item itself." He glances at them. "You do realize that the goblins consider that any crafted item that they take money for the use of is really only rented until the death of the one that paid them, correct? These, having never even been sold to a wizard, such a thing would be doubly true."
Dave sighs. "Yeah, we were hoping that maybe since the goblin that made it was dead, it could be a finder's keeper's kinda deal."
Filius chuckles. "No, no I am afraid not. However, depending on what you wanted to do with them the finder's fee for turning them into the bank may well be enough to simply pay them to make what you are looking for exactly, rather than having to modify these." He shrugs. "True, you will likely be unable to return them when your luck finally fails. But no goblin would blame the deceased for not returning their property, it is the ones who use it afterward that find themselves in trouble, and your children, should you have them, will likely be comfortably out of reach."
The two look at each other and shrug, then Mindy pulls out the completed Rune sets for the weapon and the control, rolling them out on Albus's desk. After explaining what they are looking to do and the inspiration for it, Flitwick looks dumbstruck. Pomona worried for them. McGonagall at something of a loss, having not been privy to the most recent Pensieve offering. And Albus simply winces at the reality that them looking into such things is actually a requirement in their lives. Flitwick is the one to actually respond.
"I know my runes well enough, and I can gather that having an example of something similar must have made it easier. But this is still remarkable. If you would be willing, I'd truly like to show this to Babbling. It is likely she can tidy this up for you, perhaps even manage to increase the power a bit, or add other useful abilities. I know she would love the challenge, she mentions often enough that her time teaching is fulfilling, but a tad boring as it doesn't stretch her abilities any."
Albus closes his eyes and thanks all the gods you would care to name that when they appeared in the alley they were taken in by wizards and witches rather than some other faction of the magical world. Their capacity to take something merely dangerous and turn it into a diabolical killer that is the antithesis of peace is simply extraordinary. His blood runs cold at the idea of goblins catching wind of this and making their own versions.
"Dave, Mindy... I have no right to make demands, but I would ask that if you go to the goblins with this, you do the rune modifications you are thinking about yourselves. Goblins and wizards have been largely at peace for some time now, and I can't help but think that them having access to something like this could only hurt that peace."
Mindy shrugs. "Sure. I mean, it's always easy to call it peace when you not only have the biggest stick, but you've taken away everybody else's sticks altogether. Don't get me wrong, I think you are probably right and we'll keep it to ourselves. But at some point, they are going to come up with something like it or even worse, and when that happens you'll all find out the difference between peace and just ruling through fear and discrimination. Which is pretty much what you've got going right now with the bulk of the other magical species around. I mean, in the scope of the damn movies you had Hagrid get expelled from school with no real evidence or they'd have done a hell of a lot more than expel him, thrown him in prison for no reason or trial, and then damn near lose his job, all just for being different. Goblins are banned to have wands, and Remus got fired because some jackass attacked him when he was a kid. Hell, even Fleur had to deal with a huge amount of crap from Bill's family, and you can't tell me that her Veela heritage didn't factor into that." She rolls her eyes. "Don't even get me started on the way a lot of people treat house-elves. Call it peace if you want and it isn't my job to tell you otherwise, but fuck."
The silence is oppressive for nearly twenty seconds, as that uncomfortable truth that they all know is brought out into the open to have their noses rubbed in it.
Finally, Filius shakes his head with just the slightest smirk. As a being of mixed race, he gets it from both sides and is far more familiar with it than most.
"While true, Albus is right. My family from that side truly doesn't need any help to get more aggressive than they already are. More to the point, I am not certain I want this rune scheme available to anyone, goblin or wizard. I'll need to swear Babbling to secrecy if we show her." He pauses for a moment as if tallying his schedule. "I can take you to Diagon Alley tomorrow if you'd like, and we can work this out with them. If all you want is similar spearheads, I would imagine that they would be willing to trade straight across for newer ones that don't have such a history behind them."
Nodding, Dave picks up the one on the floor.
"Yeah, that might do. But before we bother, can you tell us what the properties of them are? I mean, we could also go to non-magicals to get what we need. I only need a good quality metal, I can forge a weapon well enough on my own."
Pomona's mumbled response isn't lost on any of them as she stares at the duo with a combination of worry and exasperation.
"Of course he can. It begets violence and will lead to his death. Probably a grandmaster smith."
Dave shrugs uncomfortably. "No, nothing like that. I mean, I know my way around a blacksmith shop and I am decent at fabricating stuff but I doubt anyone would call me a master at it."
Filius chuckles at the situation.
"Sadly, I can't tell you what the metal is that they use now for standard weapons like these. It used to be steel. Very good steel, far better than any other race could produce, but simple steel that was enchanted for strength, to stay sharp, and to resist corrosion. They take a lot of pride in their craft though, and as muggles began to eclipse them the effort was made to stay abreast with them in terms of the metallurgy that goes into their materials. I can tell you with reasonable confidence that anything they give you will meet or exceed anything you could get from muggles if only because they would have seen to it they kept up."
The two look at each other for a moment, and then Dave speaks to Filius.
"Fair enough, when do you want to go?"
Filius smiles in excitement. "Just after breakfast should do nicely."
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After hearing what the older ones were actually made out of before the enchantments on them, they walk into the bank carrying all six. Filius grinning ear to ear with Dave and Mindy a little concerned about the fact that every goblin in the main area here has stopped to stare as they see them walking in. Muttering behind the counter picks up, and a few minutes later, as wizards and witches are beginning to get annoyed at this interruption of their business, an older goblin in a slightly nicer suit steps out from behind the counter and walks up to them.
"Filius Flitwick. You come in the bank with a wizard child carrying goblin-made weapons, unless I am much mistaken. What are your intentions?"
The part goblin couldn't smile any wider without a flip-top head. He bows, just slightly, and straightens back up.
"Grimknott. It is good to see you, I have too few reasons to enter the bank these days. These were found by the children in question. Suspecting what they might be, as my students, they brought them to me to be properly identified. I won't pretend to be a match for a true goblin master of the craft, but to my attempts at investigation, they seem to be spears of the lost legion. They happily bring them to the bank, asking only that the finders fee for a goblin heirloom be instead converted into a chance to use for themselves the modern versions, as they have been duly impressed with the skill involved in their construction. They are aware that upon their death, the ownership of the weapons will default back to the master that crafted it, and have no problems with such a thing."
The goblin looks at Filius a bit confused.
"Truly? They would give us back these for simply their weight in the standard arms that the guard of the bank is now issued?"
Mindy clears her throat and the two goblins turn her way.
Hoping she is doing it right, she also bows just slightly.
"Hello, Grimknott. I am Mindy McReady, and this is Dave Lizewski. We will accept that trade gladly, though if possible we would like to receive only three of the spearheads, and then for the other three, we would prefer a shield if possible. One that will be usable by him now, and will still be worthy of him when he has attained his full stature in a few years. It would need to customized somewhat. We will pay any difference in cost, should this prove to be more expensive than the trade would have warranted." She smirks. "He is stronger than he looks and tougher than he is strong, but he is fucking terrible at getting out of the way."
Grimknott is staring at them in more than mild curiosity, and half the bank is as well. As the whispers pick up and it is recognized that these two are in fact the ones the Daily Prophet spoke of that had killed the basilisk? That whisper transforms into a murmur, and eventually, the entire room is staring at the two.
This process takes about twelve seconds. Mindy and Dave are both looking more uncomfortable by the second.
Grimknott seems to understand this, and motions to a door behind him.
"We will adjourn to my office where we will wait for these to be identified. Trying to make any kind of deal before that would be a waste of time, and time is a thing we don't like to lose here in the bank."
The office they are brought to is fairly spartan, containing only a desk, a few chairs for guests, a filing cabinet, and a single set of cupboards.
Grimknott speaks to them once everyone is settled.
"Our craftsman will be here to identify these relics in a few minutes. Before he arrives, I want you to know that as you are not making a firm claim as to their authenticity, if they should turn out to be frauds you will not be in legal trouble with the bank. However, in that instance, you would then owe the goblin for his time. If they turn out to be authentic, we will take the cost of his expertise out of the finder's fee. One hundred Galleons a piece is the going rate for verifying an artifact in the bank. Do you accept?"
Dave nods, but can't help asking the question.
"So, I get it I think. But how would that be different than if I made a firm claim? Just out of curiosity."
Grimknott offers a toothy smile that could etch glass at twenty paces.
"The process would be the same, except the bank would foot the bill for the authentication. The important bit is that if it turned out that they were frauds, you would be spending the next ten years shoveling dragon dung for trying to steal from Gringotts."
Filius, who had already known the rules, smirks at the wide eyes of Dave and then laughs at the eye roll from Mindy. All he knows for certain is that if the bank did try to imprison these two, he would be taking a vacation. Peru is nice this time of year, he's been told. Grimknott speaks again.
"As this is the case, I need either the gold in question to be on my desk, or we need to do an inheritance ritual so the bank has your true names on file and a bit of history so we can collect later on if it is needed."
Filius gets an intensely curious look on his face and leans forward.
"Is the inheritance test still fifty Galleons per person, and using the same form it did when I retired from the Dueling circuit all those years ago? And is it still kept confidential?"
The goblin nods. "The test and the rules that surround it have not changed for more than four hundred years."
Filius laughs. "I will pay for their tests just to see the look on your face when you read it, Grimknott. I can think of nothing better than that to make my holiday brighter."
The goblin gets a confused look on his face but nods while he makes his way to the cupboards where the bowl is kept. Mindy looks at the goblin suspiciously.
"What is this about, Filius?"
The part goblin smirks at her.
"The test they use is a magical one that includes the recognition of any awards you might have earned through conquest. A combination of divination, a magical blood test, and slight runic form legilimency. In short, it lists the names, occupations, general capabilities, and total worth of anything with sentience that you've ever killed in combat so the goblins can make their inquiries to the parties in question. There is a finder's fee of course, but that is only fifty galleons and five percent of the monies and valuables they are able to collect. I had four to my credit at the time, though I denied the collection aspect. You don't have the right to collect when the occasional accident happens on the circuit. Part of the contract you sign to play the sport." He turns to them directly. "I can think of nothing, absolutely nothing better that we could do to get you two the respect of the nation that you deserve for being the warriors that you are."
Mindy and Dave both pale as the full implications become clear. Dave manages to stammer a whispered response.
"I have the six hundred. We can just go that route."
Grimknott makes it back to the desk and looks at the youth curiously, the bowl placed on the desk next to a stack of parchment about an inch tall.
Mindy shakes her head at the goblin and holds her hand out. "Let me guess. Blood in the bowl? Ends up on the parchment somehow?"
Grimknott nods in ascent.
"Yes. I have the ritual dagger ready."
Mindy shakes her head. "Depending on the size of the text and what exactly counts as sentience? I think you are going to need a lot more parchment, Grimknott. Sorry."
His eyes widening, the old goblin reaches down into his desk and pulls out a scroll. How long it would be completely unrolled is anyone's guess but a hundred feet or more wouldn't be an unreasonable assumption. He turns to Filius. "It's an extra twenty Galleons to use these. Each."
Nodding happily, the part goblin is practically bouncing in his seat. "I know. Add it to my bill."
In short order, Mindy has cut her hand, bled into the bowl, and a magical quill begins dipping itself between the bowl and the scroll, over and over again.
Six hours later, when Dave's is also done? A legend has been realized by the goblins of Gringotts, and Filius has managed to hurt himself he has been laughing so hard.
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Author's Note:
So yeah, that happened.
Anyway, not a lot to say about this one other than if anybody really wants to argue about whether or not the magicals in Britain tend to be at best callous to other magical races, I strongly suspect that you need a refresher into canon materials. It isn't just a fanfic thing, though I'll admit fanfic will often make it so much worse it's a mockery of the source material.
Thanks for reading, reviews are welcome!