Fire and Cave:
It was now getting close to Harry's birthday and finally, he received a letter from Bloodaxe stating that the underground cave would be available on July the 31st. Harry decided that he was going to have his birthday party in a Goblin Clave, just for the experience of it. After all, how many people had partied underground?
The only requirement the Goblins had requested was a tour of some of his mature projects and any ongoing experiments. Bloodaxe would be present for the evening due to the danger of working with Fiendfyre. Harry found this agreeable – Bloodaxe had become a business partner and it seemed the Goblins were happy to support Harry unofficially. Harry also suspected that Ragnok may not have liked humans in general, but as long as Harry had planned to exact Goblin revenge by proxy, deals like these were part and parcel of that arrangement.
King Ragnok was merely protecting his business interests – Harry was moving the largest amount of galleons monthly and many Goblins suspected that once again, the Peverell Account would be integral to their success. Harry considered it to be a good friendly gesture and an indication that possible owed favour was implied. However, as long as profit was involved, The Goblins would always be straight up with him. Dumbledore was supposedly interested in Harry's well-being in the name of the "Greater Good", and look how that had turned out.
When Hermione had returned for their evening tinkering sessions, Harry had already been printing off a mask to wear for his meeting with Remus. Harry had spent the rest of the night implementing a voice changer for the helmet with random microcontrollers and other components from his parts bin. He had liked the design very much - It was an angular flattened skull that looked very menacing. Between the mask and his shiny new robes, he would look fantastic. Harry was aware that Hermione did art in her spare time, so he decided the painting and the highlights would be done by her.
Hermione and Harry later in the month had begun to work out the details of the 'Magic-to-Machine' interface. This was being handled early, in preparation for their meeting for Clementine. After some research, the question of emulating a mouse or keyboard via a microcontroller was not difficult. Many software libraries could provide the functionality. As long as Clementine could paint a keyboard into the picture frame, there would be no issue
"I want Invictus to trigger possibly a dot array. We can do 104 dots maybe on some part of the portrait and link all of them to photosensors. That would not be too hard. I think we have to make sure that every sensor, when light is applied, is sending the correct keystroke." commented Harry.
"Well, maybe I can just help you with the wires. Teach me to solder properly. You seem to have a talent for it." Hermione grinned.
Two weeks later, their strange amalgamation of fibre optic cables, photosensors and 3d printed parts was done.
It was the week of the 31st and they were working towards the 'assault rifle'.
"We can build a body for the proposed gun. Just in case, our assumptions pan out, we can install it. We will use a standard mechanical setup to connect any choice of power cell to a standard emitter. Mechanically adjustable." Harry suggested.
Are we carrying electrical stuff?" Hermione enquired.
"Yes, just cordless tools, soldering iron and the small, shielded lithium-ion power pack. Between that, the threaded rods, random hardware and the sugru we can make anything on the spot." Harry replied.
"Sugru?" Hermione questioned.
"It's modulable plasticine that sets hard almost like glue. I have tons of it around the shop. Excellent for small fixes. In case we need to hold something small. I use that instead of doing Transfiguration."
Friday morning, Harry appeared in Hermione's living room, after she explained that she was going into a Cave to experiment. Hermione had decided it was easier to deal with the issue, by being directly honest. After some bargaining with her mother, she then prepared for Grace to apparate her.
In a flash, Hermione found herself in a room with Bloodaxe. She began:
"Well met Master Goblin Bloodaxe. May you tear your enemies into bloody ribbons and send their remains home, in a matchbox. As for your profit, may it flow until you run short of parchment and your hands hurt from the effort of upkeeping the records."
Bloodaxe smiled. At that exact moment, Harry appeared with Grace, bringing the rest of the equipment.
"Welcome both of you. Not to worry about the greeting Harry, I know you well enough. I must profess I am excited to see what you have gotten up to. Let me get some help with moving these."
"Griphook, get assistance to get these loaded up. I want all of it on a cart. We are going to the Gurak tunnel – the primary excavation. This is by order of the King. I also want a security detail. You and four of your best." barked Bloodaxe.
Five minutes later, Harry and Hermione were in a cart on their way to one of Gringotts' oldest and deepest mines. As they arrived, Harry could smell the air. It seemed damp, dreary and warm. As they followed Bloodaxe, the security detail levitated their equipment. Bloodaxe then took Harry unto a small risen area, where everything seemed pitch dark even with the torches.
"Well Harry and Hermione, this spot is one of the first mines we dug in England many millennia ago. This little pocket is full of gold ore. It is essentially a 500 feet hemispherical cavern. We have reinforced the wall of the cavern and we continue to occasionally mine the gold that is trapped. The Stalactites contain small deposits of gold. We are not sure if magic is involved in the process or if the production is purely geological. What we do know is that we believe there may be other hidden minerals in here. We were hoping that whatever you are developing might eventually aid us in the excavation of the materials."
"Hmm. Unexpected but I like a challenge," said Harry.
"Hermione, we can't disappoint our Goblin friends after they have decided to lend us their wonderful cave for some experiments. We love experiments, don't we?" Harry exclaimed in an awfully sweet voice.
"No Harry that would not do. We will have to crunch the time. Shall we get to work then? Time for the flashlight?" Hermione replied through a lopsided smile.
Griphook and his unit looked at the behaviour displayed by the two young humans. For the first time, he began to feel a bit nervous. While they were not dangerous, there was something about their behaviour – they both seemed to possess quiet confidence in their abilities that was inspiring. As the brother and sister pair looked at each other, the warriors realised that they were easily tearing the situation apart tactically and were proceeding to figure out a plan of attack.
"Flashlight it is then. Griphook, I have a prototype lighting source that could light this place up like mundane Christmas. My only question is if you know a nice high flat place to rest it?" Harry enquired.
"I think I do, there is a nice flat ledge about 50 feet up. Not a hard climb for me at all." Griphook replied.
"Excellent. Come over here let me show you the setup." Harry then opened the case and took out a modified Xenon lamp while Hermione provided light. He had changed the enclosure to metal and there was a small lever to switch on the power cell. The tripod legs had been also grounded with antennas so that the lamp would utilise their new conductive earth circuits. Harry continued to explain the setup:
"Take the strap and go up with this device. When you are done, unfold the three legs, rest them level on the ground and then flick this switch. Yes, the light coming from it is a passive effect, that isn't the main light. Have fun. Carry these darkened glasses on you. Put them on before you flick the switch or you will damage your eyes."
Griphook took the device and began to make the climb. Twenty minutes later, he arrived at the top of the ledge. Truthfully Griphook was curious to see how much light this thing could produce. He had heard about the magical storage devices the boy had invented and decided to play it safe – the rumour was that the boy was quite capable. He gingerly put his hand on the switch and proceeded to put on the glasses. He also let his hand sit on the switch before turning his face and body away.
He then flicked the switch.
Griphook could not believe it. This thing, whatever it was lit up the cave in a soft but luminous white-blue light. Suddenly the huge cavern was clear. The area seemed to glimmer with jewels. Diamonds, Rubies, Sapphires and many deposits of Gold could be seen glimmering in the cave. The place was no longer a pitch-black cave and the place seemed beautiful in an unearthly way.
Harry took Invictus out and said "Hey gramps, look at our flashlight. Pretty good eh?" Harry said grinning.
"Oh, this is a sight I wished my mortal eyes could have beheld. My daughter would have loved this very much. It is quite beautiful. Harry and Hermione, well done on the Xenon lamp. Truly excellent work." Invictus commented.
"I must say Harry I can't understand how so much light can come from such a small device. Gringotts would be very interested in these, even if it was a rough 'prototype'. I would very much like an explanation." Bloodaxe said.
"Well honestly, I am surprised about the brightness, if I had to guess…." Harry then slowly blinked and slipped into his Mage sight. He saw one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.
"What I am seeing is that this place is a magical nexus, and all the gemstones are magnifying the light. I can certainly explain how the Xenon Floodlight works," replied Harry.
"Psssttt…thanks for suggesting we do this as a small sideline project it is dead handy today. Let us get the containment up," whispered Harry to Hermione. She was quite excited because this was her personally invented spell that was going to be used over a very wide area.
The Goblins watched on in amazement as Harry took a rather large object and hooked two coil looking structures into the ground. He proceeded to connect a cylindrical sized object to the device and disconnected a small handheld item. He then cast a very large shield momentarily and it faded out of existence. Harry then placed the handheld item back in the large object and flicked a switch. It was at this point that a huge shield reappeared. It was easily 40 feet tall and covered a rather large area in a hemispherical shape. The cave looked nothing like its previous appearance only half an hour ago. Griphook had finally arrived back from his descent.
Griphook and Bloodaxe observed as Harry took out a wand that he cherished. He took on a partially meditative state as he uttered "Evanesco." Bloodaxe was quite surprised when he felt the magic cascade through the air. Suddenly the stench was gone. The area smelled clean, exactly like the Gringotts Lobby. Hermione began to unpack the hardshell cases. That was when another similar device like the shield 'generator' had been unpacked. When Harry flicked the switch, a Protego shield appeared but it was now shaped like a table and a bench?
Harry and Hermione had repurposed the Protego Maxima shield and shaped it into portable furniture. Harry had modified the efficiency of the spell by imagining that atoms had been summoned into a continuous surface. Together with a B.M.P that was being charged regularly, for the last month, now they had a work surface.
A whole assortment of muggle and magical tools, along with various materials and custom experiments were now visible. But most incredulously, Harry and Hermione had unpacked an entire two cases worth of food, snacks, and drinks. Harry then put on a party hat and so did Hermione.
"Bloodaxe call the whole lot of them. We have plenty of food. They are invited to have something. Today is my 10th Birthday and I plan to be the first wizard to enjoy my birthday celebration in a Goblin excavation. Not even Draco and Lucius Malfoy are that good eh?"
Bloodaxe roared in laughter. Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were troublemakers.
"By the way, compliments to the chef. This food is the handiwork of Ms Singh's mother, Grandma Amba." Harry beamed, as he was quite proud of his grandmother's cooking.
The Goblins were rather surprised, but considering that Harry and Hermione loved breaking the rules, Bloodaxe just went with it. Griphook and his squad followed suit. Even more perplexing was that while Harry began sorting out his tools and was explaining his inventions, Hermione had busied himself by personally coming to the table and distributing the food and the orange juice. The expression on her face was a pleasant one and there was not an inch of malice or forced effort.
Her magic although faint, hummed in satisfaction, and this did not go unnoticed.