The elf Winky had taken a shine to him and far exceeded expectations. She had a list of every family with an elf and their associations by the next morning and she had an uncanny ability to provide exactly the drink he wanted how he wanted before he'd even realised he wanted it. She wore his family crest on her fresh new uniform – which he'd provided with Hermione's protests in mind. It had really been rather easy to get her to accept when he'd informed the little elf that his main estates were in the mountains. He ordered her to wear a warm, clean uniform rather than be incapacitated by cold in a dirty rag.
His plans were coming along excellently; it had been rather easy to secure the loyalty of the younger Malfoy – he was intelligent enough to see the truth through Voldemort's lies, after all why would a halfblood be interested in pureblood supremecy. It was child's play to convince the impressionable young man to work for him instead.
The Malfoy boy had quickly and easily persuaded most of his Slytherins to see reason as well which gave Gellert a circle of allies with significantly better ideas that the brash Gryffindor bunch. With a little coaching he would have them effectively operating behind Voldemort's lines. The additional information they willingly gave him on Voldemort and his followers was also beneficial.
His next target was a line into the Ministry in the form of the Umbridge woman. Distancing himself from Harry and Hermione had gone a long way towards helping, especially when he dobbed in Ron (he'd never liked the obnoxious, lazy Weasley boy) as the one who had turned her hair blue. Weasley had received detention for a week, which also gave him a chance to see his handiwork in action with the blood quills.
Hermione and the rest of the trio were giving him strange and increasingly hostile looks, which he could easily narrow down to the fact he was hanging out with their enemies, although he didn't know whether they had found out that he was the one to dob in Ron. They shot him nasty looks in the dormitory, so he just avoided it, sleeping in the magic room on the seventh floor. It was an arrangement that suited him perfectly as it gave him more space to plan.
His arrangements with the goblins were also going excellently, which is why he had donned a heavy cloak and to meet with one of their chieftains. He left the castle with the other students for Hogsmeade, the crowd petering out as he walked further down the street. Past Zonkos, the Leaky Cauldron and the little cafe Tantie Baghilda had always liked, although it hadn't been quite to obnoxious back then. He ducked into an ally to magically draw his hair down to his chin and lighten it to wispy grey. Then he threw up his hood and shuffled into the Hog's Head.
Aberforth was the bartender, which he was relieved to have been forewarned of. Even so he still pulled his hood lower about his face when he ordered.
Less than a minute later he was discretely casting sterilising charms on his firewhisky and waiting for his Goblin contact. He kept a careful eye on the doorway, identifying everyone who came in and eavesdropping on conversations, places like this were treasure troves of information. The door opened with a bang, cool air blowing through and stirring his hood. He tugged it back down with annoyance, regretting picking a table so close to the door.
The new arrivals were incredibly out of place; Hermione's bushy hair would have stood out a mile even without their clean, fresh appearance and muggle clothes. Surprised and very curious, Gellert watched as they ordered butterbeers and took a seat at a table near the window. Just as they sat the door flew open again, allowing the entire clan of Weasley children in. They were followed moments later by a couple of Ravenclaw girls, then a Hufflepuff who looked around the place with a sneer. They were drawing the attention of everyone in the room by now, and by the looks of things they knew it because the trio kept casting nervous looks around the room.
His Goblin contact was late, but Gellert didn't mind as the meeting between the students began. It was worryingly easy to catch what they were planning as Hermione answered questions with increasingly short patience.
His contact arrived in another flurry of cold air through the doorway, stirring his hood again. The students fell silent for a moment as the cloaked goblin shuffled up to his table.
'Grindelwald.' The Goblin purred, rolling the i in a way that made him seem distinctly evil. Gellert waved his hand, pushing out the chair and handed the firewhisky over as soon as the Goblin was seated.
He managed to force his attention onto the Goblin, carefully considering each word and its possible meanings. He knew Goblins were experts when it came to taking liberties with contract terms, adjusting them to suit their interests.
'A return of three Goblin made pieces.' The Goblin demanded, withdrawing an inventory of one of his vaults from some pocket in its cloak. He pointed out three separate items – none of which Gellert saw much value in. He nodded as if the decision was hard to make.
'Two pieces.'
'Three, more if you argue.'
'Very well, three pieces but it will be this, this and... this. I want the vault to be untraceable.' He pointed out three different items, two of equal value but less use and a suit of armour that he knew would earn him the best service.
'I will have a contract written for our next meeting.' The Goblin agreed, then took a drink from the offered firewhisky. Gellert mirrored him, then they swapped glasses and drank the rest. The Goblin gave a feral grin as Gellert stood and left, taking the inventory with him. It would be useful to know what artefacts the various ministries had managed to get their hands on.
Hermione and her Gryffindor friends had already left and Gellert hurried around the corner after a figure in bandages that could have passed for a mummy if he'd gotten the drink right.
A pop and a slight distortion in the air and the figure stumbled, his rags unwrapping to reveal a tall gangly man – boy really – with acne splattered across his face and neck. He shuffled backwards, spluttering something about friends in high places as Gellert levelled his wand at him.
'Imperio.'