August 8, 1993 12:44 PM

All Harry could do was stare at the spot where Daeiel had vanished into a cloud of dust, everyone in the lobby seemingly stunded for a moment at what they just witnessed. The goblins around the room didn't stay that way as their rage came full force that a wizard would even DARE attack them. They weren't the only ones however.

The dust seemed to clear after a few seconds, giving Harry a glimpse at what he had been dreading. The statue was face down on the ground, with a pair of legs sticking out from underneath the torso of it. The goblin he gave his life for, still staring in shock at the other boy's body.

Harry didn't know if it was because he had already come to like Daeiel, or if it was his "saving people thing" Hermione liked to remind him of. All Harry knew was he wasn't going to let this stand.

Turning he could see the man was holding the goblins at bay with a wall of blue fire, and everytime a goblin weapon tried to pass through it, it would glow hot a be repeled.

Wondering if spells would do any better, Harry started firing blasting cursed to knock over his opponent.

"Confringo!" he shouted, his spells hurtling toward his intended target, but they stopped short when the man merely conjured a shield to stop the spells in their tracks.

"You think you can best me boy!? Well, let's see wha-" the man screamed at him before being cut off by a loud roar that shook the room.

Everyone turned towards the sound to the corner of the room right as another loud CRACK! echoed across the lobby. Harry looked over just in time to watch a large chuck of marble statue shoot past him.

Daeiel was standing with a look of fury on his face, his eyes almost a bloody crimson. His hand had one half of the staue in it, before he roared once more, with a sound that only promised pain.

Sprinting directly at the flames, he was dragging the piece behind him. As if they were mere trash bags full of regular garbage. The man looked on in shock all the way up until Daeiel slammed one half of the statue on the flames, running over it with ease despite the burns that started to appear on his arms.

The man's eyes widened as he fired a quick curse, only for it to be intercepted by the staue. Which promptly slammed into him, and sent him flying. Hitting the wall near the entrance. The man tried to raise his wand once more, only for it to fall to the ground along with the top half of his arm when a goblin struck first.

He screamed before rolling away from the goblin warrior, whose glaive barely missed his head. As the man stood, Daeiel took both arms, and threw the piece of the statue he had. His legs crushed by it, along with the loss of his arm, the man could do nothing, but scream.

Harry fired a stunner at the man to stop the screaming, the goblins coming over to cauterize his arm. The ring of blue flames flickered out the moment Harry's stunner hit the man. The scorch marks stood boldly agains the otherwise perfect marble.

Looking to his right, Harry had just enough time to catch Daeiel as he swayed on the spot. Having to fight his urge to vomit at the feeling of Daeiel's burns, as well as the smell of burnt skin, Harry dragged him over to Griphook's desk.

"Mr. Potter!" shouted a voice behind him.

Harry turned, seeing not only Griphook, but both the goblin Daeiel saved and another who was taller. The goblin that was almost crushed had lighter hair than Griphook, and slightly longer ears, he was also wearing a fine suit, which looked almost odd to Harry on the goblin.

The other goblin looked downright terrifying. About 6 inches taller than the other two goblins, he also wore a very ornate armor. It was silver, with depictions of various battles that were highlighted with a blood red trim. Harry wouldn't be surprised if it had been dyed with actual blood, seeing the scars across his face that told of many battles.

"This is them, Lord Gnarlack," Griphook told the armored goblin.

Thinking they were being blamed, Harry stood in front of Daeiel in order to protect him.

"We had nothing to do with that idiot!" Harry denied indignantly.

The goblin in a suit merely chuckled.

"I would hope not, Mr. Potter, or that is the absolute WORST case of teamwork I've ever seen," all three goblins chuckled and grinned at him for that.

"Easy on the boy Gurgus, he has after all done us a great service," Gnarlack said still grinning. An eery sight on a goblin, Harry thought to himself.

"I believe your friend needs medical attention, we have a healer on sight," Gnarlack gestured towards a goblin off to the side.

"Don't bother," Daeiel grumbled beneath him. Looking down at him, Harry was shocked to see he'd woken up so fast. Seeing him close his eyes again, Harry did his best to keep him awake.

"Hey! Don't go sleeping on us now!" he started to shake his shoulder, but Daeiel pushed his arm away.

"Easy, Potter! I'm not sleeping, I take care of myself," he said before closing his eyes once more.

"We can heal your woun-," Giphook didn't get a chance to finish as Daeiel balled his fists, as if in pain, then began to groan like he was straining.

Very quickly, the goblins plus Harry could feel, and even see magic pouring off of the boys body. His burns began to shrink as if they were never there, but the process must have been painful as Daeiel's face was contorted with agony.

Just as quickly as it began, it stopped. Daeiel breathed hard while letting his arms drop loosely at his side. He stood up from the ground, holding his hand out to stop Harry when he swayed slightly.

"Was anyone else hurt?" Daeiel sounded as if he had just ran a marathon.

"No, only you, and the perpetrator sustained any damage," Gurgus told him with narrowed eyes.

"Alright, can I get what I came for so I can get on with my day?" Daeiel asked irritability.

Harry could only stare at him in shock. Not only is Daeiel still mainly focused on his shopping, he's acting like he didn't just take a marble statue to the back. On top of fighting with immense physical strength.

"What?" he asked Harry.

I'm really starting to regret intervening. Daeiel thought, he wanted to get out of here before people kept asking questions.

"That's our line! You just move something I think even Hagrid would struggle to move with one hand, after being crushed might I add, and to top it off, you healed yourself in moments!" Harry ranted off in a still shocked state.

"Look, what's done is done. The culprit has been caught, and no one is any worse for wear. What is there to talk about?" he said, getting more frustrated with each moment.

"There's the fact that you just preformed feats never even imagined by the magical world," Griphook spoke up with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sure someone has done something similar," Daeiel said irritably. They weren't going to get answers out of him.

As if you could even give them.

Griphook shook his head, chuckling to himself.

"Your lack of knowledge in terms of the Magical World shows, young man," Griphook replied with a grin. Before Daeiel could respond, Gurgus spoke.

"Before another argument begins, there's something else I want to ask. Do you know what a life debt is? Or how one is created?"

Daeiel shook his head,"I'm guessing it's a debt owed with the significance of your life?"

"Close," Gnarlack told him, "but not quite. It is a debt that is locked into one's magic. When the debtor is saved by an individual with the immediate risk to their life, the debtor is tied magically to repay that debt. They are compelled by their magic to do so."

"Compelled?" Harry asked thinking of some sort of mind control.

"Their magic will push them to help the individual in any significant way they can." Gnarlack told them.

Both Daeiel and Harry's eyes went wide at this.

"You mean, anyone can turn someone into what is essentially a slave simply by saving them!?" Harry asked incredulously.

"No, Mr. Potter, as the savior must have done it with the purpose of not gaining anything. And they must have come at the risk of dying themselves," Griphook told him.

"But I survived quite easily," Daeiel replied.

"Were you certain you would?" Gnarlack asked, as if he already knew the answer.

The boy's uncomfortable look, and the silence answered all they needed to know.

"I already knew about the debt, as I can feel it," Gurgus informed him.

"There's nothing I want from you," Daeiel immediately responded.

"You will be repaid somehow, Mr. Fenrir. Not only because of the magical debt, but it is a matter of honor to us goblins," explained Gurgus.

Grunting irritably, "Fine, we'll discuss it another time. Can I get what I came for now so I can be on my way?"

"Not yet,"the goblin chuckled at the inpatients of youth.

"How about we travel the alley, and we can discuss things? It will give Mr. Potter time to review his holdings," Gurgus suggested.

"How long can it take to go over one small vault of coins?" Harry said confused.

All three goblins began to laugh hard, but quickly stopped when they realized Harry was serious.

"Surely you are aware of your family vault, Mr. Potter!?" Gnarlack asked in an incredious tone.

"You mean the vault I get gold from for my school supplies? Yeah, since I was eleven," Harry told them. Confused on what they were going on about.

Gnarlack and Griphook both turned to Gurgus with a furious expression on their face, Gurgus though looked just as angry.

"How is it you haven't informed him of the existence of his other vaults!?"

"It is untrue! The initial letter was sent out on his eleventh birthday, and following staements were sent out each month since! The same as I have done for the last three generations of Potters! And the many ofgenerations before!" Gurgus explained furiously.

Gurgus then turned his attention back to Harry.

"Have you been ignoring all the missives I've sent you!?" the goblin asked, feeling disrespected. Daeiel could understand his anger. Like him, the goblins took their jobs very seriously. They even more so, because it was seemingly a meaning of honor that they had done everything correctly. The missives being ignored didn't just feel like scorn towards the bank, it felt like scorn towards the goblin himself.

Harry looked completely confused by the accusation, as if he was being drawn into a situation that had nothing to do with him.

"What!? No! I've only received a literal handful of mail over the last three years! All from close friends. And before that, I never received anything!" he defended himself.

As they all stared down each other, Daeiel noticed Gnarlack reach up, and hold his amulet. He couldn't be sure, but he thought he seen some kind of bird on it.

"The boy speaks the truth," Gnarlack said. "Though, it still begs the question to why his missives haven't been received."

Harry looked like he was handling it well so far, but Daeiel also thought he might get overwhelmed if pushed too much.

"How about we get some of our business done now while Harry reads through his holdings. If he has any questions, he can probably ask them. You would probably have an easier time finding the problem of Harry's missives if we're not in your way," explaining his thoughts quickly.

Not only could Daeiel give Harry some breathing room, but he could get this done in order to go home to his siblings. They were already going to be pissed when they learned what he had done to save Gurgus.

The goblins seemed to mull it over for bit.

"The idea has merit," Gnarlack told them, "if you are agreeable to the plan, you would have my permission to leave for the afternoon."

"Thank you my Liege, I will get to the bottom of this mystery as soon as possible," Gurgus bowed deeply to the taller goblin.

"To your vault then, Mr. Potter?"

"Yeah, sure," he nodded. Harry was looking slightly overwhelmed still, but was adapting quickly.

"What about me?" Daeiel asked.

"Well come along then, so long as Mr. Potter agrees?" Gurgus asked looking at Harry. The boy simply nodded his eyes wondering as if to look at his own thoughts, and straighten them out.

Going with them, Daeiel watched as they loaded into a cart. Thinking Harry wouldn't put himself in danger needlessly, he climbed in with them. Only to regret it the moment the cart shot off.

Normally, Harry enjoyed the cart ride down the tunnels of Gringots. Today, however, he had a lot on his mind. How could not know of his families vault? What else was he unaware of? Could he have had his parents belongings ages ago? Not for their monetary value, but for their sentimental value. As the only things he currently had that belonged to his parents were some photos in the album Hagrid gave him, and his father's invisibility cloak.

A strange muttering caught his attention as he looked to the cart driver. Gurgus was muttering to himself in his native language, still seemingly frustrated with Harry over his lack of knowledge.

"Who could've kept Harry's notices from being delivered to him, Gurgus?" Daeiel asked.

It was a good question, one that Harry himself would like to know the answer to.

"Without disclosing Potter family account information," he said with a pointed look at Daeiel who merely nodded respectfully, "the only people that could have stopped the letters from arriving were the ward controllers at each location you've resided in the past three years. One being Albus Dumbledore, who I believe is listed as your current magical guardian."

This Harry had no knowledge of. How long had Dumbledore planned on waiting before telling him that.

"The other would be Arthur Weasley at his own home. For what reason either would stop them, I do not know. Your muggle relatives are the most concerning as we cannot find any note of wards placed at their home in Surrey," speaking mostly to himself. The goblin was obviously trying to piece together a puzzle with pieces missing.

"But Dumbledore told me he place wards around my home using my mother's protection," Harry told them. "He's also a close friend of the Weasley's."

"Then why in Magic's name would he prevent us from doing our duty? From doing his duty as you guardian to keep you informed?" asked Gurgus.

"I- I don't know," Harry responded confusedly. He didn't know why he hadn't been told, but he planned to find out.