Ragnok, son of Ragnok, Director of Gringott's and ruler of the Goblin Nation in the British Isles, was surprised to find himself alone in the corridor outside the hospital wing. No guards, no tellers, no accounts managers, no clients. Even with the dramatic events of the evening, Hogwarts had an eerie quiet to it, far different from the low rumble of activity he had always associated with his home.

Word of the troll attack had reached him almost before it reached the headmaster - Harry had wasted no time in notifying him using a pair of enchanted mirrors. Foecleaver, one of his assistants and the manager of his son's accounts, had wanted to send a squad of warriors, just in case there turned out to be more than the one troll. Fortunately for all involved, Ragnok had talked him down.

GOBLIN WARRIORS INVADE HOGWARTS was not the headline Ragnok wanted to see tomorrow. The old goblin shook his head at the thought. Of course, "TROLL BREAKS INTO HOGWARTS, INJURES MUGGLEBORN" isn't a great headline, either, he mused.

With anyone other than Albus Dumbledore as headmaster, that might indeed have been the headline. But tonight was the tenth anniversary of Voldemort's defeat, so you'd need something more than an injured muggleborn to bump the usual boy-who-lived nonsense from the front page.

The fact that said muggleborn was rescued by that same boy-who-lived wouldn't even factor into the equation.

Ragnok watched as his son's head of house, Professor Filius Flitwick, spoke with the injured girl. She had been lucky - her only injury was a broken leg, and she received that only because the troll's club sent part of a sink flying into her. If his son's report was accurate, she could have gotten much worse.

Indeed, she could easily have been killed.

Harry had been vague about the girl, and more so about how he knew her whereabouts. From his telling, a boy in another house had criticized her and she had run off, weeping. The bathroom in which she was attacked was nowhere near the classroom where the taunting occurred, so perhaps another student had seen her? It still doesn't explain why Harry thought it necessary to sprint to the bathroom, charge in with blade in hand, and challenge a troll more than twice his size, all without backup and without notifying a teacher.

Ragnok sighed. He had almost missed the footsteps behind him. Almost.

"Greetings, Headmaster." said Ragnok.

"Greetings, Director Ragnok." replied the Headmaster. "I must admit, I am surprised to see you here this evening."

Ragnok turned to the headmaster, smiling with a cold, predatory grin. "By all accounts, Professor, it seems that this evening has been full of surprises." He turned his attention back to the infirmary, where Professor Flitwick was calming the injured student down. "You will forgive me, I hope, if I chose to see to my son's safety personally."

It wasn't fair, really. Dumbledore had had a very long evening, capped off by a search of the school to make sure that the troll really was alone. His fatigue and annoyance was balanced against the fact that he was standing in the corridor speaking with what amounted to a foreign head of state. A head of state who happened to be the adoptive father of the Boy-who-lived.

"It seems that Mr. Spellforged chose to forgo the assistance of the professors, in favor of a bold charge into danger." Dumbledore sighed, though Ragnok couldn't tell if the mannerism came from simple fatigue or genuine disappointment at the choice. "His training served him well, Director."

Ragnok nodded. "I will be sure to notify his instructors. They will be pleased."

"I am concerned, however," continued Dumbledore. "Harry's first reaction to danger cannot always be to stab it with his goblin knife. However elegant and well crafted your gift may be, it will not be the solution to every problem." Now, Ragnok definitely heard the thread of disappointment in the professor's voice.

"If my son's opening gambit was to stab his opponent, then you may be assured that he believed that to be the correct strategy. Had there been another option, Harry would have taken it without a second thought."

Dumbledore could not help himself. "Will every opponent of Mr. Spellforged find themselves dead, Director?"

It was a good thing that Ragnok had come alone - for a comment such as that would demand a strong response, had it been made in front of his men. The Director took a deep breath.

"Headmaster," Ragnok began, "Let us have no misunderstandings, here. I will repeat what I told you eight years ago, and what I again repeated in June. Harry Potter is a child of my clan, and the only son I will ever know. And as my son, he has been raised as a prince of the Goblin Nation. He has studied war, yes, as all of our sons must. He has trained many long hours so that his reflexes will be true, his muscle memory unmatched."

"But the Director of Gringotts is not some bloodthirsty Warrior King who cries out for the heads of his enemies. He is… I am a diplomat. A facilitator. A businessman. And you cannot do business with an opponent once you've slain them." His eyes met the Headmaster's. "If there is a peaceful option, you may be assured that Harry would find it."

The goblin chuckled. "I daresay, Professor, that you will already have found Harry solving disputes between students in the hallways. He's been like that as long as I've had the honour of knowing him. You've no doubt noticed that he is a very caring young man." Dumbledore nodded, saying nothing.

"So here we have a boy who learns that one of his housemates is missing, possibly in danger. He knows he has the training to deal with that danger, though perhaps he underestimated the size of that danger somewhat. And he also knows, from a credible source, that the danger is in another part of the castle." Ragnok nodded toward the infirmary, and saw Professor Flitwick approaching. "Yes, he should have told a teacher. But I would argue that the failure here isn't that he lacked trust in the teachers - I'm told that he and his head of house get along quite well. No, the failure is that the teachers are a valuable resource that he left unused. And that foolishness left him to challenge a troll alone."

Dumbledore looked at the goblin, but again said nothing.

"I will instruct my son to notify his head of house if he learns of any dangerous situations within these walls." Ragnok smiled at the Headmaster, and Dumbledore saw that this was the goblin's closing-the-deal smile. It meant that the discussion was ended. "I trust that will be sufficient to address your concerns, Headmaster?"

"Of course, Director." Dumbledore nodded, not wanting to further antagonize the Director. He was, after all, the parent of a student. He turned to Professor Flitwick, who had kept his distance during the last part of their discussion. "What news, Filius?"

Flitwick nodded to the Director, before addressing his Headmaster. "Miss Granger has a broken leg, but Madam Pomfrey should have that sorted by morning. I expect her to keep Miss Granger for an additional day after that, to monitor her. But if that was her only major injury, then it seems we were incredibly lucky."

"Indeed," said Dumbledore. "I trust she is resting well, then?"

"She will eventually, Albus. I believe she will have trouble sleeping tonight, unfortunately."

Ragnok tuned the professors out as they discussed the events of the evening. He instead looked back into the infirmary, and the bed near the end surrounded by privacy curtains. Inside, there was a young girl who had befriended his son, and who had probably had the scare of her young life this night. He shook his head, wondering where her parents were.

Dumbledore caught his attention again. "I must take my leave, Director Ragnok." He inclined his head in as much of a bow as any goblin could expect. "I look forward to our next debate, sir."

Ragnok grinned again. "As do I, Headmaster." With that, Dumbledore turned and walked toward his office. The Director, meanwhile, turned to the Ravenclaw head of house.

/Greetings, Filius Flitwick./ began Ragnok, using the Goblin tongue. /May your foes continue to underestimate you./

Flitwick bowed his head in response. /Greetings, Director Ragnok. May your gold flow from unexpected sources./

The Director laughed; the traditional greetings were much more fun when your companion was the slightest bit creative. 'May death claim your enemies' got old after the fiftieth time.

/I am surprised the young girl's parents have not arrived to see their daughter./ began Ragnok, nodding toward the infirmary.

Flitwick shook his head. /They are muggles, Director. I doubt they would be notified, certainly not if their daughter escaped permanent harm./

Ragnok's face registered his surprise - any Goblin parent would have been told of such an injury, if only so they could seek compensation. The Director shook his head, showing disappointment of his own.

/Professor, if that girl needs her parents here to help her heal, I would ask that you make arrangements to portkey them here at my expense./ Then the Director thought further, recalling how he had observed Flitwick trying to calm the girl down. /If she finds that she would benefit from a mind healer, I will make arrangements for the cost of that as well./

Flitwick nodded. /She will already have taken her potions for the night. I will speak with her in the morning, Director./

/Good./ The Director smiled, looking over at the Professor. /Come, then, let us walk to the entranceway, and you can tell me about my son and his friends./ The two began walking to the entrance hall, the corridor echoing only with the sounds of their footsteps and an occasional bark of goblin laughter.