The goblin teller led Harry and Andromeda past the counters and down a corridor that, to her memory, no witch or wizard had ever been taken down. The gilded front of the bank faded into drab stone, grey and imposing. Rough bricks that had dirt or plaster smeared between them, shored up every so often with a pillar of stone or wood. Even more comforting were the impositions of the wall where it had collapsed and been repaired.
Despite their hesitance and doubt, their guide set a blistering pace as he navigated down passage after passage of identical grey walls. Harry and Andromeda, despite their longer lags, had to rush to keep up. They only had brief moments to look around and take in the changing architecture as the rough stone too faded away to more regal and gilded walls. Carved reliefs and frescoes of goblin wars and leaders started popping up.
They looked hideous to the humans, but that didn't mean the goblins couldn't find them beautiful. The most elaborate ones were almost always of some battle or execution, the stone and light arrayed in such a way that it appeared to move on its own and reenact the scenes. The Goblin slowed down some, consulting something on the walls every so often. The statues had also changed, ever so slightly- they now showed wizards and other humans in them. Of course, the humans were always subjugated and often being punished for their crimes, but it was nice to see their own kind again.
After another bout of wandering through halls and trying not to be intimidated by the art, the goblin let them into a stone room. It had no windows, which wasn't weird, but it was all stone. Stone floor, walls, table, chairs. Everything was hard stone. Behind them he closed the door, and Harry heard a grinding sound from the bolt sliding home.
"So what now?" he asks, turning to look at Andromeda.
"Now we wait. They wouldn't have brought us all this way back here unless they meant to do something with us." She replies, sitting in a chair.
"Something like kill us?" Harry asks.
"Of course not." She replies, "They'd have done that in the lobby."
There's no clock or sunlight to judge by, but it feels like they wait forever in the room. They hear nothing and nothing happens. Andromeda does take to passing on advice to Harry as she remembers it.
"Wands were banned in these halls by the concord of 1794- drawing one is punishable by death. You are allowed to defend yourself, of course. Goblins are a warrior culture and do not believe in—"
The bolt on the door cracks and the stone slab swings open slightly.
"-in laying down their lives without a fight." Andromeda finishes, quietly poking her head out of the door. "It's empty. Something is wrong. The enchantments don't fail like this unless something is very wrong. We have to get out of here."
Harry hurries behind Andromeda, the witch rushing without hesitation through identical halls. Somewhere they must take a wrong turn, as they start to hear the sounds of fighting.
Andromeda rounds a corner only to push harry back and retreat, "Four goblins fighting. Back." She whispers. They try another path, but there's no escaping the fighting, no path without resistance. Worse they can't tell who is who in these fights. All of the goblins are shouting and screaming in gobbledygook, which neither one of them speaks.
"We're going to have to fight." Harry says quietly as they rush around another set of hallways.
"It's too dangerous!" Andromeda responds, turning back to face Harry. A set of Goblin warriors step out from another hall as she turns back.
"Dammit." She growls, her wand flying into her hand. "Don't die!" she shouts to Harry. The warriors are on them in moments, and Harry doesn't have time to draw his wand before he's rolling from a sword. Andromeda is much better prepared, sending one of her attackers flying.
Harry fumbles out his wand and swishes it at the goblin, forgetting to say a spell. A shower of red sparks fly into the warriors face and he reels back. "Impedimenta!" Harry shouts, and the goblin slows to a crawl. The other one is on him and Harry has to dive away from the swings of his axe.
Twice more Harry is forced to roll before he hits the wall and has nowhere else to go. The goblin smiles and draws back the axe for the last swing-
"Duck!" Harry flattens as best he can and something hot flashes overhead. When he opens his eyes there's a black furrow carved in the stone above his head. The hall smells like burning meat. Andromeda helps him up and dusts him off.
"That was close." They rush down the stone halls, dodging patrols of goblins as best they can. As they descend down, lost in the warrens below, they start to find bodies. The goblin ones are bad, but worse are the handful of humans they come across. It's no one Harry knows, but still that anyone was caught in the attack is bad.
Twice more they have to face groups of goblins, and twice more they prevail without injury. But the third group they run into changes the game.
Harry didn't think this was any different than the last attack. Andromeda hit the group with a blasting hex, sending them flying, and he darted in to flank and stop them. But, as the blasting hex closed, the goblin closest batted it aside with his shield. The deflected hex hit the wall and blasted out a shower of rock. Harry was caught by the spray and fell. The four goblins charged Andromeda, the fifth coming to finish off Harry.
Harry had to do something, had to stop them from killing Andromeda, to save his own life, something, anything—The smell of ozone once more tickled Harry's nose and his hands sparked. The goblin warrior drew near but didn't see anything. He casually swung his sword down to lop Harry's head off, but the moment the steel was close enough the lightning jumped from Harry to the goblin. Harry shoved his way out of the rubble and thrust his hands out, bolts of electricity arcing into the foursome of armored goblins attacking Andy. Caught between the two of them, the squad fell in moments. Harry's lighting was only helped by their armor, while Andromeda's spells made quick work of exposed goblin.
"Nice party trick." She teases, scooping up a dirk from one of the fallen goblins and tossing it to Harry. "Just in case."
They continue on, since stopping to rest would almost certainly doom them. But the fighting and pace wear them out. Andromeda is the first to flag, and Harry slows to match her.
"We have to be getting close to the exit." Andromeda gasps, leaning on the wall for a moment.
"I sure hope so." Harry says, watching the tunnels for more goblins. It's a maze down here, a warren of stone corridors and dizzying heights, covered by thick track on which the carts ride.
Andromeda was wrong, horrendously so. They were not getting closer to the surface- quite the opposite in fact. Each turn and skirmish brought them deeper into the depths, closer to the real fighting. Figuring out what was happening was a delicate task, as neither spoke gobbledygook. Still, they eventually worked out that another branch of goblins was invading, trying to steal the fortunes contained within Gringott's walls. What this would mean for the families with funds stored in the vaults, they did not know.
And they did not wish to find out, but neither could they repel an army of goblins. The duo were struggling with even the scouts and raiding parties- a single unit of warriors would overwhelm them. Yet still, they had no choice but to pick a direction and see where it leads. Staying still would not be in their best interest. During a raid, policy was swing first question later.
Andromeda is about to slip past another group when Harry tugs on her sleeve and points. Huddled in an overturned cart is a pair of humans. They're hidden for now, but the group of fighting goblins is not ten feet from them. The chances of them surviving are slim to none if they leave. Andromeda would rather keep creeping along than get engaged and possibly injured, but the look Harry gives her, the mix of helplessness and hope swirled with determination and compassion, she can't deny him.
"This is going to be tricky, as we can't know who is friend and who is not." She whispers, "We get down there and draw their attention. Whoever attacks we take out. If they don't attack, we don't engage. You understand?"
"Yeah." Harry says, moving to drop down from the ledge they're perched on.
"Stop!" Andromeda hisses, pushing him back. "I'm going first. You're more important than me." She gathers her will and slides off the ledge, cushioning her fall with her magic. Landing in a puff of dust, Andromeda levels her wand and smirks, "Hello boys. Which way to the lavatory?"
Immediately, three of the goblins separate out and try to rush her, only for one of their enemies to swing his axe backwards and cut one down before diving under another swing. Andromeda swishes her wand for a moment, gathering the power at the end of her wand. The tip starts off orange and grows to red, then blue, violet, and finally white before she releases the stream at the rushing goblin warriors. The white stream of magic spews forth and coats the floor, rolling forward in a wave of superheated gas, washing over the Goblins legs. They scream, falling into the soup of plasma and their screams stop abruptly. Andromeda gasps and doubles over at the drain to her magic, forced to remember that she is no young witch. She looks up to see the fight going well or poorly. One side has a numerical advantage over the other and are slowly surrounding the other as they pick off fighters. The numbers dwindle until it's just one goblin with a sword surrounded by seven others. He's growling in their tongue, batting away their blades as they probe his defenses. The group gets smart and they start coordinating their attacks. Slowly, the lone goblins' defenses fall as he sustains more and more little wounds. Andromeda thinks it's almost over and relaxes for a moment only to have her heart dive into triple time. Harry rolls under the legs of one of the group of goblins and pops up in the middle of the fight, the sword of Godric Gryffindor in his hands.
Harry's heart races, the sword in his hands heavy and slick with sweat. He nearly dropped it rolling in, but he finally recognized the lone goblin.
"Griphook, down!" He shouts, swinging the sword wildly around him. Griphook does, and the other Goblins are surprised to see a human child appear in their midst, but they are seasoned warriors for a reason and block automatically. But their blocks do nothing as the sword of Gryffindor simply eats through their blades and slices along them. Two are smart enough to dive back and one is simply out of range. But four of the goblins surrounding Harry fall to the ground, mouths frothing as the basilisk venom infused sword slices them apart. If the sword wounds aren't enough, the venom soon finishes them off.
"Mr. Potter?" Griphook asks, leaping to his feet and lunging at a recovering attacker.
"Hi there." Harry says, clumsily trying to cut one of the goblins he didn't get originally. If it weren't to tense, the sight would be comical: a seasoned warrior of the goblin clans running from a human child struggling to swing his sword. But, with the sword unblockable, Harry has the advantage. Andromeda had picked off the other goblin that he missed. Griphook catches his opponent in a reverse double cut and walks to the Black Mistress, cleaning his sword as he watches.
"It is a strange day to be a goblin at Gringotts." He remarks, eyeing the track of the other magical who fled from their hiding place.
"He has so much energy; I figured he could use some time to run it out." She quips, following his gaze to the still ongoing chase.
"I must regretfully thank you for your assistance." He says, "If you had not intervened then I would not be talking to you and they would still be dead."
"It was Harry who jumped in there. He recognized you and leapt to your aid. Nearly gave me a heart attack." Andromeda says.
"Interesting. You let him charge in like that?" Griphook asks, rubbing his beard.
"He didn't give me much of a choice. What's going on in Gringotts?"
"Barrenwold, the German branch, is raiding. They seek to take our riches." Griphook says, glancing around to make sure they're unobserved first. "Humans are never supposed to know how we Goblins handle affairs. You being down here is dangerous."
"Harry must awaken his heritage before we depart. The house of Black is in danger of falling to our enemies." She replies, slyly griping her wand tighter and condensing her magic.
"I owe him a debt. I will help you reach the vaults. Number 14 and number 32 if I am not mistaken." Griphook says.
Harry lets out a cry of triumph, having finally overcome the fleeing goblin, who had tried to veer toward Andromeda and Griphook at every opportunity. Harry's longer legs had finally made enough of a difference to scratch the other goblin with the tip of the blade, which was enough for the venom to work.
"What's the story?" He asks, walking up to the unlikely pair.
"These renegades are coming from the deep roads, just above the origin vaults. To get to your vaults we have to pass through the main body of them. Our best bet is to reunite with the clan leader and push through with them." Griphook says.
"No." Andromeda shakes her head. "Too risky. You told me humans aren't supposed to be down here. How will we know we will be safe with your clan leader?"
"I am well liked enough to- "
"Nope. Not happening. Kid's too important." Andromeda says, glaring him down.
"Without more warriors, it is impossible to break through." Griphook says.
"Then you incite them to attack." Harry says, looking to Andromeda, "and we'll sneak along the side to the vaults."
"That might just work." Andromeda says thoughtfully.
"My plan is better." Griphook says.
"But I like his better." She says sweetly, "So, Mr. Well-liked, go rile them up."
He growls, but ambles off, sword bouncing off his back.
"So how do you intend to sneak over there?" Andromeda asks.
"The rails." Harry answers with a grin, "let's get this cart back on the tracks and we're set."
He and Andromeda manage to get the cart on the rails and Andromeda climbs in, looking over the controls. "Maybe this controls the speed?" she asks, pushing a lever that seems to do nothing.
"I've got this, Andy." Harry teases, setting the sword of Gryffindor on the floor of the cart and fiddling with the controls before turning around. "Hang on tight!"
"What? What do you mean hang o-" the rest of Andromeda's word are swallowed up by the massive gust of wind as they take off.
Harry hadn't listened, just drew his wand and gathered his power before flicking the wand away and screaming, "DEPULSO!" The cart immediately rocketed forward, the massive push proving Newton was one heck of a scary fellow. The backlash threw Harry into the floor of the cart, but he scrambles back up and eagerly looks over the edge.
They zip along the rails, rocketing mostly though inky blackness. The brief points of light are full of Goblins, be they fighting, resting, burying their dead or tending to the wounded. Great roars echo through the halls and the clash of metal rings from below them. As they rock up on two wheels around a curve, Andromeda is almost dumped out, but she clings on to the edge of the cart by her fingernails. Underneath them is a sea of Goblin warriors, camped out and dug in with massive tents.
"Whoa." Harry says, looking over the horde. As fast as they're moving it still takes a minute to pass over the gathered clans.
"Goblins self-organize into clans, who ally with one another and have ranks. Kind of like Pirate armadas back in those days. Each Clan is separate, but they band together to accomplish more. Gringotts is the ruling clan of the British Isles. They hold fealty from some of the mainland clans too. But they're being invaded by a rival clan, Clan Barrenwold, German goblins. Humans are never supposed to be aware of Goblin politics, but Griphook was not very secure with his thoughts." Andromeda says once she regains her seat and the cart settles down.
After another long pass through darkness, the duo burst back into a massive torch lit area. Far below is another horde of Goblins, with more streaming out of the darkness.
"Barrenwold, I assume." Andromeda says. "But we have a problem!" in front of them the track curves along the wall of the cavern before straightening out. But, right at the end of the turn the track is ripped apart, the metal torn and hanging limply. A large piece of the track is on the ground below.
"What do we do?" Harry asks, panicking.
"We might be able to fix it."Andromeda says, looking it over as they rush toward it, "Can you cast a reparo?"
"I think so." Harry says.
"It's our only shot." She replies.
"They'll know we are here." Harry warns.
"we don't' have a choice." Andromeda says, bracing to draw on her near empty reserves. Next to her, Harry mutters the incantation and wand movement, unwittingly fixing the small tears in their clothes and shoes from his leaking magic.
"On three. One. Two. Three."
"REPARO!" they shout, and the track groans as the metal is thrown back together. The spar flies up from the ground and smashes into place, rivets folding back over the beams and tightening as the track rumbles and the cart approaches. The last few bolts lock into place as the cart rumbles over the patch and past, the horde of goblins under the track erupting into more of an uproar as they watch the humans pass by.
"74. 67. 55. Harry, you know how to stop this thing right?" Andromeda asks.
"Not really?" he shouts back as the numbers on the vault doors dwindle.
"You really are a Gryffindor, aren't you!" Andromeda curses, racking her brain for a solution.
"31. We'll have to jump." Harry shouts.
"Are you crazy?" Andromeda yells, noting the 24 they just flew past.
"Yes!" Harry screams, leaping from the cart as they rocket by vault 18.
He hits the ground and rolls, crashing into the side wall with an oomph as the breath is driven from his lungs. Andromeda rushes over, having hit him with a featherlight at the last minute.
"Are you okay?" she demands, scanning him for injuries.
"I'm fine. Fine. Just winded." Harry wheezes, sucking in air.
"Never do that again, promise me." She demands.
"Never jumping from a moving cart again." Harry wheezes and she helps him to his feet.
"How'd you get off the cart?" Harry asks, leaning on Ms. Black.
"I apparated." Andromeda admits. "It was a risk, but I figured this deep the wards weren't very strong."
They stagger to vault 14, and Harry presses his hand on the door like she tells him to.
"Why isn't it opening?" He asks.
"You must not have been accepted by the family magic yet." She says. "Concentrate on your identity and try again." Harry does, but in the middle of his third attempt lights spring down the hall and the rattle of weapons sounds.
"Company." Andromeda says, sending out a ripple of magic that distorts the flat ground in front of them.
Harry tries one last time to connect to his family magics to no avail before turning to face the coming goblins. Andromeda is trying to hold them back, but there's only so much she can do against the onslaught. The entire tunnel is filled with marching goblins. And not friendly ones either. They bristle with swords and axes and chains. Armor rattles as Andromeda sends lances of lights and fire and water and ice hurtling down the tunnel. She has to duck and weave the return fire, rocks from slings and javelins, and even some arrows hissing past them. She's doing her best but they steadily advance, shields interlocked to protect against her onslaught. Harry turns back to try once more to unlock the gate when Andromeda gives a slight cry of pain and her presence fades. Harry whirls around to find her slumped on the floor, and arrow poking out of her shoulder.
The horde is rushing forward and Harry panics, running forward to stand in front of her, unconsciously calling the sword of Gryffindor to him. Harry raises the sword in front of him and fights to hold the blade aloft, the tip wavering and tracing circles in the air as he struggles.
"A Puny wizard. Look, he can't even hold up his sword!"One of the goblin jeers. They laugh but Harry doesn't move. "Run, little human." Still Harry doesn't move. He can't. He won't. His gaze hardening, he swears to not let one of them pass, not a single one. He will protect Andy or die here trying. One of the Goblins darts forward and Harry jumps, swinging the sword at him reactively. But the goblins already jumped back, and they laugh at Harry.
"Well, Grimclaw, think you can kill this insect in less than a minute?" one teases. A different Goblin draws his axe and steps forward,
"Two barrels says I can do it in half that." The goblin swings at Harry, who ducks the swing and lashes forward with the sword of Gryffindor. The goblin leans to the side and the sword whizzes past him, the goblin lazily hitting Harry with the butt of his axe. His nose bloodied, Harry rolls back up and lunges forward. The Goblin spins aside and swings the axe in a chop, aiming to bisect Harry at the waist. Harry drops his sword and falls, narrowly avoiding the razor edge of the blade. The goblin smirks, "Goodbye little wizard." He brings the axe up swiftly and crashes it down in an overhead chop. Much to his surprise, the axe stops inches above the boy, caught on something. A wind whips up, and slowly, the axe is forced back. Harry follows it up, buoyed by his magic into rising. His hair waves in the wind, robes whipping back and forth as it grows, strengthens, starts to swirl. Drops start to pelt the gathered Goblin horde as the winds grow harsher, the water droplets getting colder and firmer until they're pelting the Goblins.
Harry floats on a cushion of air, hands tensed as arcs of electricity bounce from his outstretched fingers. His eyes glow from within, and the winds only continue to strengthen. The lashing rain grows harder, hail staring to form from within the conjured storm, by the time the Goblin horde realizes what they're dealing with, it's too late. Harry, power looming and overflowing from within him, balls his fists and glares at the invading force. A long arrow flies out of the crowd and pierces the shroud of winds, only to be batted away by a motion too fast for the Goblins to see. The storm seems to hold its breath for a moment, and the horde starts to believe that this is the end, because no human mage could be this strong at the age, no human could possibly channel such magic and such fury. Then it all breaks.
The winds, carved from icy northern shores, full of ice and water and fury surge forth. Sparks crackle down from the feet of the young mage and ozone fills the air. With a mighty crack, a surge arcs through the ranks of the goblin invaders, frying the legions where they stand. The howling winds and pelting rain slowly force the Goblins back, one shaky step at a time. The energy of the storm, with nowhere to expand to is forced down the tunnels and out into the cavern of invading goblins. Icy winds and pelting rain send a shiver of fear down the spine of the invading commanders, and then the lighting strikes. Rolling waves of electricity wash through the packed masses, bounding from metal armor and down the shaft of swords. Goblins around the cave cry out and scream as they are bludgeoned, the swirling winds coalescing into a cohesive whole, a spinning vortex. The tornado rips right through the main camp, sucking away supplies and plunder and goblin alike. Into this charging mess of panicked and disorganized invaders crashed the Clans of Gringotts, for whom the storm avoids. Caught between freak weather never before witnessed by the majority of Goblins and the repelling force of the Gringotts clan, the most senior Barrenwold commander makes his decision.
"RETREAT!" he shouts, and he turns, only then realizing his forces had already been in retreat. Their will broken, and their advance halted, they poured back into the tunnels by the droves, tramping their comrades in their rush.
Griphook and his party of warriors advance slowly into the teeth of the storm, shields held in front of them. While not actively attacking them, the storm is a force to the reckoned with and they slowly edge forward, wary of flying debris and losing their footing. To be sucked into this maelstrom is to risk death. They edge around the bend and into the tunnel, amazed to find the massive storm coming all from one small human wizard. Griphook reaches out; eyes slitted against the pelting rain and grabs Harry's shoulder.
"It's over. They're gone. You are safe!" He shouts. For a moment, the boy does not understand. But then he closes his eyes, and slowly the storm abates. The rain peters off and the winds die down. Slowly, he sinks to the ground and finds his footing.
"I think you can open your vault now." Andromeda croaks up at Harry.