Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.


Chapter 41 – Bill's Teachable Moment


The attack at the World Cup threw the wizarding world into chaos once more. That the Death Eaters had fled when one of their own had cast the Dark Mark into the sky didn't make anyone feel any better, though rumours abounded as to why. Sirius theorized that either Wormtail, or possibly even Voldemort himself, had gotten in touch to let the other Death Eaters know that his return was coming and so they felt safe revealing themselves again. However, while they may rejoice at the thought of their master returning, the reality was slightly different. All of the Death Eaters still on the loose had escaped Azkaban by claiming the Imperius curse and renouncing Voldemort. No doubt the dark lord wouldn't be happy about that, which explained why they'd fled when the Dark Mark had been cast; they were all concerned for their safety when he finally did return.

This theory was proven right when the first day back at Hogwarts the quartet saw Snape glaring their way and so after the welcome feast they headed up to their training classroom. Snape met them there shortly after and confirmed this – though he was loathe to say Sirius was right about anything – and also explained that it had largely been a drunken revel. The very day before the World Cup, Wormtail had indeed visited several escaped Death Eaters, Snape included, and told them that a plan was afoot to bring their master back and so to be ready for his summons. Those that had been at the World Cup had gotten drunk following Ireland's win and had, in their inebriated state, thought it a good idea to show themselves and have some fun like they would in the old days. Snape claimed to have learned all this from Lucius Malfoy, the one other Death Eater whom he had kept in touch with over the years, and that the elder Malfoy said he hadn't taken part. Snape believed him, largely because unlike most of their other comrades, Lucius wasn't stupid and knew that revealing themselves would bring more attention right at a time when Voldemort didn't want any; if no one knew you were trying to return to power, no one knew to stop you. He did warn them to keep a close eye out, especially on the other students, for no doubt many parents had informed their children the time of Voldemort's return was coming.

However, for all the forewarning there was actually very little that they could do, and so they continued to train. Unsurprisingly to the quartet, Bill joined Snape in teaching them. After the World Cup when he'd watched his two youngest siblings and their equally young friends take on Death Eaters, and quite effectively, he demanded answers. They had told him the truth, that they had been training since the Philosopher's Stone incident, and had included Ginny after everything in the Chamber of Secrets, but they otherwise brushed off just how they knew spells well beyond their year. Bill had played along for a time, but barely a week into the new school year he gained entry to Hogwarts and disillusioned himself, following the quartet right to their training classroom. His magical concealment, however, had not fooled Snape, who had him stunned and disarmed barely a second after entering the classroom, and long before Bill himself could even erect a shield.

"Bill?" Ron cried in surprise when Snape cancelled the disillusionment. The potions master scowled and cancelled the stunning spell as well.

"Mr. Weasley, explain yourself!" He demanded in his fiercest tone, one that had every student, and almost all former students, cowering. However, Bill was not one of them.

"Explain myself? What the bloody hell is going on here?" He demanded, picking himself up off the floor.

"We told you we've been training." Ginny cut in before Snape could explode, earning herself a glare for her troubles. "Well, Professor Snape has been the one training us." Having been found out there really wasn't any reason to hide the truth. Bill was silent for a moment and looked between the four teenagers and back to the professor.

"Aye, that would do it." He said. "I knew you didn't know all of those spells just by reading them from a book." Snape scoffed, in complete agreement with his former pupil.

"You're not going to tell mum and dad, are you?" Ron asked and Bill actually shuddered.

"Do I look like I have a death wish? Mum would go spare." He looked to Snape then. "May I stay and watch, sir?" He asked respectfully; even if Snape's temper didn't frighten him anymore he knew it was still best to tread with caution. "Perhaps I could even be of help. Curse breaking is known to have its dangers, after all, I might have some insight that could be useful." Snape's lips thinned but he nodded and Bill took a seat on one of the desks that was pushed up against the wall. He said nothing, nor did he try to interfere, as the training session continued. Partially this was because he was stunned. Snape was actually being nice, or as nice as Snape got, and he was taking the time to teach them properly, even answering several of Hermione's questions without snapping at her. It was a far cry from writing instructions on the board, telling them to get on with it, and then prowling around the room insulting every minute mistake made by anyone not in Slytherin. Finally the training session came to an end and Snape asked how they were getting on with their occlumency. The answer was the same as it was before – slowly – and it was here that Bill jumped in.

"Now this I can help with." He said. "We'll have to find a way to meet so I can offer my own training, but if they put as much effort into that as they do here then I'll have them up to snuff shortly." Snape raised an eyebrow.

"Pray tell, Mr. Weasley, how you intend to succeed when none of them, save Miss Granger, have shown a particular proclivity for occlumency? And so quickly, as you say you will." Bill tried not to smirk.

"I work for Gringotts, Professor, and the goblins trust very few wizards to work for them. Certainly they wouldn't trust one that couldn't protect their mind, and the goblins' secrets, from a legilimens. I had to learn occlumency quite quickly to have started working for them almost right out of Hogwarts."

"And we are to believe that you are some occlumency prodigy? You may have been studious enough to become head boy, Mr. Weasley, but occlumency is a branch of magic far beyond anything taught at Hogwarts."

"Yes, but-"

"Just get on with it, Bill!" Ginny growled and her brother took the warning seriously.

"While I am, as you said, quite studious, and did pick up occlumency faster than any other human employee in Director Ragnok's memory, I did have help." He paused and stared at the four teens, particularly his youngest brother. "What I'm about to tell you could cost me my freedom, possibly even my life. It was part of the contract I signed when I started working there that I would never reveal this, or the goblins can do what they want to me to ensure their secret is safe."

"Why in Merlin's name would you sign something like that?" Ron asked a valid question.

"Because at the time I honestly couldn't think of any circumstances where I would want to tell anyone. Of course, I didn't know then that You-Know-Who wasn't dead, nor that my baby brother and sister would be on the frontlines of a war, so I had no idea that it would become extremely important for them to be able to protect their minds from said dark lord and his Death Eaters."

"He's got a point." Said Ginny. "If you never think you'll want to reveal something in the first place you don't really lose anything by agreeing to dire consequences if you do."

"Exactly." Said Bill. "Which is why you'll learn quickly, to help protect the secret and keep your favourite brother out of trouble." He stared them all down, impressing on them how serious it was that they not tell a soul. "The goblins have a spell that opens the mind. While that might seem counterproductive to the goal of occlumency, it means that the skills you're practicing are that much easier to learn. A large part of occlumency, as I'm sure Professor Snape has told you, is to find a way to close off any parts of your mind you don't want anyone to get into through, essentially, visualization. Some people imagine having their secrets behind a locked door, or guarded by a dragon, others picture them lost in a blank void. On the surface this is easy to do, anyone can close their eyes and picture a dragon guarding a locked trunk, but in practice you need to tap into your magic and make it real. Not physically, of course, but should someone enter your mind you want your dragon to scorch them so they retreat, not for them to walk right past a picture in your head. It's a balance between creating a separate world you can enter, while at the same time knowing that world is inside you. That concept is hard to even grasp, let alone use, and takes a highly organized mind, which is no doubt why Hermione has been the one showing the most progress. The spell the goblins have does away with pre-conceived notions and the limits our minds unconsciously place on ourselves. It opens the mind to things we'd previously think difficult, or even impossible, which makes grasping difficult concepts much easier. "

"Of course!" Said Hermione, looking excited. "It takes away all the invisible barriers, those that our mind places on itself without us even knowing it, which then just leaves…possibility, for lack of a better word." Bill nodded.

"But how do the goblins have such a spell?" Ron asked, though they knew it wasn't out of any prejudice.

"Goblins may not be able to cast spells like wizards can, Ron, but they are still magical beings." Bill explained. "Many wizards forget that they, and many other creatures, still have magic because our definition of magic has shifted over time to almost exclusively consist of something a wand can produce."

"Mr. Weasley is correct." Snape joined in. He'd gotten used to such teachable moments with these four – usually brought on by one of Hermione's questions – and while still not entirely comfortable with Bill's presence, he knew from the moment the elder Weasley had entered this room that he wouldn't be going anywhere. "For centuries our ancestors understood that magic was a sentient construct that resided in all living beings and so did not require the use of wands, though magical objects of all sorts were certainly used as conduits on many occasions."

"Ollivanders may have been making wands since 382 B.C., but it wasn't until Hogwarts opened around the 10th century and magic began being taught in a formal setting that wands became the norm." Bill took over. "That was when wand movements and incantations became standardized across the board. It was far easier to teach every child the same thing then try and work with the dozens of different ways children had been taught by their families, which is the only way children learned up to that point."

"This became even more true upon the creation of the International Confederation of Wizards. Other wizarding schools may have emulated Hogwarts' approach to teaching a standardized method, but it was not necessarily the same method taught at Hogwarts. When the ICW was formed and international wizarding communities began interacting to form a larger wizarding world, it became clear that it was necessary to have certain things standardized on a global scale. It is why the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. exams were created. The wizarding world as a whole agreed that it was best to ensure that every witch and wizard, no matter where they came from, had a certain level of knowledge and skill."

"Of course that meant ensuring that everyone was learning the same thing, hence why everyone uses wands now and there is one correct way to cast spells." Bill and Snape had traded off their teaching with little trouble and it was a bit disconcerting to watch, though not for one bookworm, who was far more focused on the lesson then the people teaching it.

"But if every wizarding school in the world is teaching the same thing, then how come certain schools are known for a specific branch of magic? Durmstrang, for example, is known for teaching the dark arts, not just defence against them, something which is certainly not taught here at Hogwarts." Said Hermione. "And for that matter how are the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s standardized when not everyone takes the same exams? If the point was to ensure that every witch and wizard has the same level of knowledge and skill then what about if you didn't take a divination O.W.L., for example?" Snape groaned and took a seat, knowing from experience that they wouldn't escape until all of Hermione's questions were answered.

"You are forgetting that education has evolved since the exams were first created. At the time, in the mid 16th century, there were only six subjects fully taught here at Hogwarts-

"Transfiguration, potions, charms, herbology, astronomy and defence against the dark arts." Bill supplied, earning himself a glare for the interruption, though Snape moved on quickly.

"And as they were also all taught at every other wizarding school, the ICW decided that the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. exams would cover only those six core subjects."

"What about all the other subjects?" Ginny asked. The four had sat down as well, finding this history lesson far more interesting than anything Binns had ever taught them.

"Some, like muggle studies, didn't exist at the time, while others, like ancient runes and arithmancy, were considered premier courses, of sorts, and only taught to those who showed a strong intellect or would otherwise use them in their daily lives." Said Bill. "The average witch and wizard would have no need of them so it was considered a waste of time."

"As more subjects began to be taught regularly the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s expanded and stopped being about ensuring that every witch and wizard knew exactly the same thing, but that they would all be at a certain level in their chosen subjects."

"In other words to ensure that someone from Britain with an O.W.L. in arithmancy would have the same level of knowledge and skill as someone from Japan or South Africa with an O.W.L. in arithmancy." It didn't take long for Hermione to catch on.

"As interesting as all this is, what has it got to do with how the goblins' spell?" Harry asked.

"Ah, right. The point I was trying to make is that a wand isn't strictly necessary to cast a spell, all that is required is magic, which the goblins possess. Sure, they might not be able to cast spells with the ease of witches and wizards, nor is their magic such that they could use it for every day things, even if they were allowed to carry wands, but the point is that they can still perform magic. One of the reasons it is so secret is that the ability of other magical beings to cast spells has been forgotten to time and the goblins are desperate to keep people, especially the Ministry, from finding out that they can perform magic."

"Given the restrictions the Ministry has placed on them, and the long and bloody history between wizards and goblins that isn't a surprise." Harry muttered. "If the Ministry learned of it they'd no doubt try and stop them somehow."

"Exactly." Said Bill. "The other reason for the secret is that this particular spell means that just about anyone can learn occlumency. I don't mean have rudimentary shields that stop stray thoughts from escaping, most grown witches and wizards have that, but those same shields wouldn't stand a chance against legilimency, which the goblins are masters of." Four confused faces stared up at him, and even Snape sat up a bit straighter. "Gringotts was founded in a time when relations between wizards and goblins was at an all-time low, which is saying something given how bad relations still are today. Wizards taking advantage of goblins was the norm and unfortunately the goblins weren't numerous enough to really do anything about it. At least not openly. I don't know if the spell was created then or if it was known beforehand, but goblins at the time resorted to legilimency to ensure the wizards they dealt with weren't planning anything against them. If they were then they could be barred from Gringotts, or in some cases blackmailed."

"Blackmailed?!" Hermione cried.

"Yes. Don't get me wrong, the goblins take the confidentiality of their clients very seriously, but knowing their clients' secrets was, at the time, necessary for survival in some cases."

"And today?" Snape asked and Bill actually smirked.

"Today witches and wizards submit to legilimency every time they enter Gringotts," Snape jumped up, looking thunderous. "Legally. Did you ever read the contract you signed when you opened your vault?" That drew Snape up short. "It's there in the fine print for anyone to see, fortunately for the goblins wizards are very complacent and still, centuries later, think themselves above the goblins. Though it does help that there is no other wizarding bank so wizards see no point in reading the contract when they've got nowhere else to go. It's a running joke among the goblins that not only do wizards trust them with their wealth, but they do so without a second thought."

"Which still makes absolutely no sense." Muttered Hermione, the muggleborn never having understood that, having grown up with the existence of several banks.

"Perhaps, but the one thing wizards could never doubt, not now nor when Gringotts was founded, was a goblin's honour. That's why wizards were, and are, so comfortable handing over their gold. Goblins may be a warrior race and will not hesitate to exploit loopholes or stupidity, but no goblin would ever knowingly break a contract."

"There's a saying that Gringotts doesn't make bad deals. Most people assume it's because they always make money off a deal, and while that's true, it's also because their honour is such that it wouldn't allow them to." Harry might not be an expert on goblins, but he was a rare wizard that thought it prudent to at least learn something about those that ran the only bank in the wizarding world.

"Correct." Bill nodded. "The same can't be said for all wizards, though. While knowing their clients' secrets is no longer strictly necessary for survival, it has stopped many unscrupulous people from using them, gaining access to gold that's not theirs, or in some cases committing crimes. Now imagine if every witch and wizard knew occlumency."

"They'd be tricked left, right and centre." Said Ron, and Bill proudly noted his youngest brother looked disgusted. "Many witches and wizards wouldn't even think it wrong, because goblins are just beasts to them."

"It doesn't help that the Ministry classifies them as such." Ginny said, also with a look of disgust.

"No, it doesn't. Hopefully that will change one day, but for now they work within the boundaries that have been forced on them. Anyways, we've gotten very off topic" Bill brought the discussion back to its original purpose. "But you can't tell anyone what I've told you, not even you, Professor." Snape scowled but actually nodded.

"I will leave their occlumency training to you then, Mr. Weasley, though I will continue to test their shields." The potions master stood and went to the door. "Though I expect you to find a legitimate way into this castle next time. I won't even ask how you got in tonight." Bill didn't bother smiling sheepishly but full out smirked, so very reminiscent of the twins that Ron and Ginny actually wondered if perhaps the twins had learned that smirk from their eldest brother. "For now, though, it is almost curfew so don't dawdle or I will take points from Gryffindor." The four teens rolled their eyes but did as they were told and quickly made their way back to Gryffindor tower.


A/N - Review please!