Author's Note: Thank you, livvylane and Son of Whitebeard, for reviewing! Unfortunately, I still get quite few feedback, so please review if you read my story! Thanks! And now, enjoy the sevenths Chapter!

"I gave the 'Daily Prophet' a long interview," said Urguk. "I condemned the assault on the Hogwarts Express and labelled Harry Potter 'a great goblin-friend'. That got us some sympathies back among the wand-carriers. Some of them are already talking about giving us Gringotts back."

"Ha! Now we want more," said Ragnuk. "But the interview was excellent, I admit. Who are currently our biggest advocates?"

"Donald Cresswell from the so-called 'goblin-liaison office' and Bill Weasley from Gringotts are defending us in public," responded Urguk.

"Excellent. Urguk, please send the Daily Prophet another statement; tell them that the goblins owe Macmillan and the Potter-Weasley family great gratitude for defeating Voldemort and that we would like to find peaceful compromises for all of our conflicts. Gorniak, you arrange the murder of Bill Weasley. That will confuse them completely and cause even more conflicts and chaos at the Ministry," said Ragnuk.

"Good idea," said Urguk, whereas Gorniak bowed and said, "yes, Ragnuk."

"Wait a minute," said Golod. "It won't be easy at all to kill Bill Weasley. After our assault on Audrey Weasley, they will be more careful. And Bill is certainly no easy prey. Besides, he even has friends among goblins. Do you really want to murder an exceptional wand-carrier like him?"

"Ah, well, sacrifices must be made," said Ragnuk, shrugging. "But you're right, it's risky. I will have my wand-carrying friend at Hogwarts alter the goblin's memory, who will carry out the deed. He will think that the French 'President Magique' candidate, Francois Simiol, was his employer. If he gets captured, the Ministry will face quite a riddle… A nice little conflict between British and French wand-carriers will come quite handy…"

"A wand-carrier altering a goblin's memory, with our approval. You're almost going too far, Ragnuk. But your plan is nice," said Golod. "This will cause a lot of chaos."

"Changing the subject, as you all know by now, we have found the Resurrection Stone with a new instrument called Magimeter, invented by Golod and his smiths," said Ragnuk.

"That is all good and well, but how do we use it? Are you going to sell it? We could realize quite a profit with it," said Urguk.

"Hm," said Ragnuk, "maybe. But actually, I had another idea what to do with it. It doesn't work for goblins; according to reliable sources, the Resurrection Stone can only be used by witches or wizards. We already tried it out, of course - nothing happens."

He threw an annoyed look at the stone lying in front of him, as if it had personally offended him.

"But let's not get distracted from our plan to capture Albus Severus Potter," he continued. "Our spies have evaluated the chance to abduct him violently; it seems unlikely that such a mission would succeed. My wand-carrying friend at Hogwarts also regards it as too risky and refuses to do it. Our best chance seems to be to lure him into a trap."

"I assume, you already have a concrete idea?" asked the chief smith, Golod.

"Yes, indeed," said Ragnuk, smirking. "And don't worry, the Resurrection Stone has a part in this plan as well."

O

Albus' Christmas hadn't been quite as nice as he had expected. After the horrific assault on the Hogwarts Express, Professor Arrington's crazy saving rescue operation and the resulting deaths of two students, he had been shocked, although he was physically alright. At the first nights after the accident, he had hardly slept. Fiendfyre was chasing him in his dreams, as were students falling out of a driving train.

Furthermore, his father had hardly been home. He had been present at the huge Christmas feast at the Burrow, though. The food had been great, and Grandma Molly had outdone herself in decorating the Burrow festively. It was a very nice distraction for Albus to see his whole family again, especially his grandparents, Molly and Arthur, and his father's godson, Teddy Lupin. Teddy, who was a Metamorphmagus and already out of Hogwarts, was doing his Auror training at the moment. He had always been like an older brother to Albus, so he was very happy to see him.

Still, the usually relaxed atmosphere had been somewhat muffled. His uncle Percy was still sorrowing for his wife Audrey, who had been killed by goblins. Uncle Bill, on the other hand, was extremely worried about the worsening relationships between wizards and goblins.

"The goblins won't accept having to abandon Gringotts just like that. It's not only a question of honour for them, but also a question of money. Macmillan's compensation will not nearly be enough in the long run."

His father, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione were very stressed because of the Fiendfyre incident, even though they did their best not to let it show.

All that had been three days ago. Since then, every day his father had left before Albus even got up and returned late in the evening. So, when Albus climbed out of bed today and stepped into the kitchen for breakfast, he was surprised to see his father standing inside making bacon and eggs.

"Albus! Good morning! I'm off today. Sit down! Breakfast is ready in a minute."

"So you don't have to go to the Ministry today?" Albus asked.

"No, I won't. Yesterday night I had a meeting with the Minister, Ron, Hermione, Professor McGonagall and so on, but I could hardly keep my eyes open. So I basically told them to do their worst and left."

"About time you did," said Ginny sternly, though the corners of her mouth were twitching.

"Yes, about time," agreed Harry. "Albus, I wanted to congratulate you properly for getting sorted into Ravenclaw. I think it's a great house for you; I hope you are comfortable there?"

"Sure," said Albus. "Ravenclaw is nice. But the rest of the family is in Gryffindor… Why not I? What is so different with me?"

Harry only laughed. "Well, if you ask me, it was high time a Potter or a Weasley got sorted into another house than Gryffindor. As for your question, Albus, I guess, you're just cleverer than the rest of the family…"

"WHAT?" said two voices in unison. Albus' siblings, James and Lily, had come in.

James was two years older than Albus. Although he could be very unnerving, Albus was very glad to have him as a brother. Sure enough, James teased him often and was an annoyingly good flier, but when Albus needed help with anything, James would always be there for him.

Lily, on the other hand, was two years younger than Albus. Quentin and Scorpius, who were only children, were always pitying Albus for having a little sister, but Lily Luna Potter wasn't the typical 'little sister' at all. She loved music and riddles above all; at Hogwarts, Albus had more than once wished she were there, when the polite female voice at the entrance to the common room asked a particularly difficult question. Thankfully, Scorpius had usually saved him. Although she would only attend to Hogwarts in two years, Lily was already able to control her magic to a certain degree. If Albus had to designate the cleverest person in their family, it definitely would be Lily.

"You don't count, Lily, darling," said Ginny. "Daddy only meant those of us who have already been sorted."

"Sorry, James," laughed Harry. "Albus, you will have to tell me everything about your time at Hogwarts today. What are your favourite subjects? How are the teachers?"

"Oh, that's easy," beamed Albus. "My favourite subject clearly is Transfiguration, and my favourite teacher is Professor Arrington."

Harry laughed heartily. "That was a joke, right, Albus?" he quickly asked when Albus looked puzzled.

"No, not at all! Transfiguration is great! The lessons were so easy that I even did my own research. In the last week, Professor Arrington admitted that I already knew everything he covered in his lessons and agreed to give me special tutoring!"

"Wow, you're a true Ravenclaw," said Harry impressed. "I, for my part, remember that I found Transfiguration always incredibly difficult. And did I hear that right, Arrington is going to tutor you personally?"

"Professor Arrington, darling," said Ginny chidingly.

"Yeah! When I told him I was already working on 'Protego', he agreed to teach me duelling, too! Professor Smethwyck would only let us fight doxies!" exclaimed Albus.

"You're already working on 'Protego'? Merlin's beard! Wow! That's great, Albus! Professor Arrington is really a very powerful wizard, he's well known even outside of Britain. He is the greatest Transfiguration master I know, and also incredibly skilled in Defence Against the Dark Arts. He even invented the Nullifying Spell, which is very important for us Aurors today. Yesterday, he lectured me about Fiendfyre, it was quite embarrassing. Still, sometimes he seems to be a little cold-hearted. And when I met him he never was especially - ah - cheerful. But you can be very proud that he thinks so highly of you, Albus," said Harry proudly.

"But you don't like Smethwyck? He used to be a great Auror! He's cool," said James. Albus shook his head.

"I never understood, why Tyron decided to retire from the Aurors and become a teacher. He is a warrior, not a teacher. His power is magnificent; we could really need him in the Auror office," said Harry.

"The other subjects are alright," said Albus. "Charms is a bit difficult; my Sunlight Charm got a little bit out of control. I even had to write lines for Professor Flitwick, something about brandishing my wand like a baboon a stick!"

Harry chuckled. "That's one of his favourite ones; I remember Seamus had to write the same. Don't worry, Albus, I'm sure you're going to manage Charms soon enough."

"Muggle Studies is interesting, though, and Professor Botwright is really nice," continued Albus. "And Uncle Neville, of course. Which reminds me, Dad, I have seen eyes behind a bush near the greenhouses. Uncle Neville told me it was a ghoul. But I don't believe that, as I found nothing about ghouls disguising as bushes in the library. Do you know anything about that?"

"Yes, Neville told me about it," said Harry carefully. "We weren't sure what it was, so we searched the school grounds. We found nothing, though. Probably it was just a wild animal. But, boys, there seem to stray some dangerous beings near the Forbidden Forest, so please stay away from there. Especially, never go around alone at the school grounds. But there is nothing special to worry about."

"Enough of that," said Ginny, suspiciously eyeing James, whose eyes were already glinting. "Tell me, Albus, dear, how are your classmates? Have you made friends?"

"The other Ravenclaw boys are all very nice," answered Albus. "My best friends are Quentin Simiol and Scorpius Malfoy."

A shocked silence followed.

"Scorpius Malfoy? Seriously? You didn't write that in your letters," said Harry. He didn't appear to be angry, but curios.

Ginny laughed. "Oh, that's just priceless. Harry Potter's son and Draco Malfoy's son become best friends. In Ravenclaw! That's great, actually! I have to tell Luna. Although she'll probably just stare at me blankly; for her no doubt it is completely obvious. So, Scorpius is nice, Albus?"

"Oh yeah!" said Albus relieved. "He's really funny, and he always solves the riddles at the Ravenclaw common room. Besides, he is fantastic at Potions and Herbology. Neville is his favourite teacher and Neville really likes him too."

"Well, I'm glad that your friendship isn't burdened by your fathers' history," said Harry. "And Quentin Simiol," he added, frowning. "That has to be Francois Simiol's son. He used to be the French ambassador in London."

"Used to?" asked Albus. "Not anymore?"

"No," answered Harry. "He runs in France for the post of the 'President Magique'. I hope they don't elect him; he is a radical pure-blood fanatic."

"Oh," said Albus. The more he heard about Quentin's father, the less he liked him. "Quentin isn't like that. In fact, he mentioned that he is afraid of his father and relieved that he isn't home for Christmas."

"How is Rose? It was quite a surprise she got sorted into Slytherin, wasn't it?" asked Ginny.

"She's fine," said Albus. "I see her quite often, along with Phobos Nott, who is also in Slytherin and very nice. On the other hand, Leon Strelka is really nasty. He always calls us 'pure-blood-princes'. We already had a pretty fierce duel."

"You had a duel already?" asked Harry incredulously. "Do you even know how to duel? But of course," he answered the question himself, "that's why you're already working on 'Protego'."

"Well, actually it was three against three," said Albus brightly. "Quentin, Scorpius and I against Strelka, Myers and Dindane from Slytherin. I used 'Expelliarmus', 'Locomotor Mortis' and 'Petrificus Totalus'. We managed to take down Myers and Dindane, but Strelka is already able to cast a shield charm. I would have gotten him too, but Hagrid intervened."

"Merlin's beard," said Harry. "First years certainly learn fast these days."

"Harry!" said Ginny angrily.

"I - I mean, that was very wrong of you, Albus, very wrong indeed," said Harry quickly. "You really should have gotten a teacher at once. You can't just go around and jinx people, in your very first year at Hogwarts!"

"I didn't 'go around and jinx people'!" said Albus indignantly. "They started it!"

"And regarding this 'pure-blood' issue," Harry continued, as if he hadn't heard his son's protest. "Do I take it right, that this Strelka is not from a wizarding family?"

"He is muggle-born, yes. And he always taunts Rose, Phobos, Quentin, Scorpius and me for being pure-bloods."

"A muggle-born in Slytherin! That's most unusual. But listen, Albus. Being a pure-blood or being a muggle-born makes no difference at all. No one is better or worse than the other. Regardless what they tell you, always remember that," said Harry, looking Albus deep in the eye.

"I know," said Albus. "There are nice muggle-born classmates at Hogwarts too. For example Adnan Whitaker, he's in Ravenclaw as well. By the way, it was him who beat me in the Quidditch tryouts. He was James' opponent in the first match, and it was a close race. But then one of Uncle Percy's mad daughters, Lucy, knocked him off his broom. He could have died, if Professor Arrington hadn't saved him."

"That was really a dirty foul from Lucy," said James. "Adnan flew really well, I'm not sure if I could have beaten him. When he fell towards the ground, I was really afraid he could die. He was unconscious, after all."

"Don't judge too harshly about those girls," said Ginny. "Remember, they have just lost their mother."

"Yes, but they have been creepy and weird ever since I can remember," said James.

"James!"

"He's right," said Albus. "Molly still isn't able to perform simple spells, and Lucy still makes things explode when she's angry. They are just scary sometimes."

"Let's not talk about that now," said Harry. "Let's just - " He broke off, and it was completely obvious what was distracting him.

A Patronus in the silver shape of a terrier had appeared in the kitchen. It opened its mouth and spoke with Ron Weasley's voice.

"Bill was attacked. It was a goblin again, Harry. One of his enchantments alerted Bill, though, and he managed to capture the goblin, alive!"

Harry leaped to his feet. "Merlin's pants! I'm so sorry, Ginny, but I think I have no choice but…"

"It's alright, Harry. Do what you must," said Ginny.

Harry nodded, went to the fireplace and vanished in the flames.

O

When Harry arrived at the Auror Office, Ernie, Hermione, Ron, Proudfoot and Bill were already waiting for him.

"Harry," said Ernie pompously, stepping forward to shake his hand. "As it seems, the riddle about all those murders is finally solved."

"No, it isn't," said Hermione at once, glaring at Ernie. "We know hardly anything until know, after all."

"A goblin attacked me when I was on my way to Gringotts today morning," said Bill. "He came from behind; however, after Audrey's death, I always cast a goblin-detecting spell around myself when I'm out in public. I knew I'd be a possible target for them, with all my relationships to goblins. Anyway, my enchantment alerted me, so I whirled around and stunned him. Then, I immediately brought him here."

"How did he intend to kill you?" asked Harry.

"With a knife," answered Bill.

"We already investigated it, Potter, I hope that was okay," said Proudfoot. "It's goblin-made; we suspect it is the same or at least very similar to the ones used for the other murders."

"Thank you," said Harry. "Well, then, let's interrogate him, shall we?" he added impatiently.

"That's kind of the problem," said Ron. "Veritaserum isn't working at goblins, and I don't assume he will talk voluntarily. We'll try, of course, but I doubt it. We were thinking about Legilimency, but there are some difficulties there, either," he finished, with an unsure glance towards Hermione.

Hermione cleared her throat. "In principal, Legilimency should work at goblins too, of course," she said. "We know, however, that a goblin's mind is somewhat different from a human's. Therefore, it won't be easy at all to extract the important information out of his mind. Always provided, of course, that he is no Occlumens."

"Very well," said Harry, frowning. "I suppose Ron and I will talk to him firstly. If he doesn't say anything, we will try it with the Legilimency. I can do it myself, or you do it, Proudfoot. Unless there is someone at the Ministry who has experience reading a goblin's mind, of course."

"Hardly," chuckled Ron. "But okay. Let's go, he's already in Interrogation Room 1."

Harry followed him into the room, whereas Ernie, Hermione, Proudfoot and Bill were watching from outside, through the glass.

The room was completely white. In the middle was a white table with three white chairs. On one of them sat a grim-looking goblin. Harry and Ron took the other two chairs.

"Please tell us your full name," said Harry.

"My name is Grubok," said the goblin.

"Profession?"

"I was a guard at Gringotts, until the Ministry decided - " he pursed his lips - "to illegally sack Gringotts."

"What have you been doing since then?"

"I have been searching for work," said Grubok. "Not easy to find, though, after your anti-goblin campaign."

"And you finally got hired by a bounty hunter, or what?" asked Ron.

"No," snapped the goblin.

"You tried to kill Bill Weasley," stated Harry. He kept his voice calm, but he was boiling inside. This goblin and his accomplices were murdering his family, and Grubok had the nerve to just sit there as if they just met for tea? "Why?"

"Because someone had to do it," said Grubok. "He is one of those wand-carriers who stole my job."

"Who is your principal?" asked Harry.

"I have no principal," said Grubok calmly.

Harry threw him an annoyed look. "Listen," he said. "There have been seven kills with goblin-made knifes like yours. Seven. And you want to tell me that this were all the deeds of single perpetrators?"

"No," said Grubok. "I can't speak for the others, I don't know about them."

Without warning, Harry drew his wand, aimed at the goblin and shouted, "Legilimens!"

Suddenly, memories were flooding through his brain. Tediously, he tried to array his mind and delve specifically into the goblin's. Grubok tried to resist Harry's invasion, but it was obvious that he was no skilled Occlumens, so he couldn't stop him.

The goblin's memories were quite confusing. Although he considered himself to be quite a skilled Legilimens by now, Harry recognized that big pieces were missing, whereas others continued to come to the surface. In the mess, he tried to find indications about Bill and the attempted murder. He skipped the Gringotts memories and concentrated on another picture that returned quite often. He frowned and watched it, highly focused. There was a man. He and Grubok seemed to be standing opposite, Grubok showed the man his knife. And the man said a name… 'Bill Weasley'. Again and again, 'Bill Weasley'.

The memory changed, and Harry interrupted the connection. He was very upset.

"Francois Simiol," he said quietly.

"What?" blurted Ron.

"It was Francois Simiol," Harry repeated, still disbelievingly. "He was the mastermind behind this attempted murder. Is that true, goblin?"

"Maybe. You seem to be sure enough of it, anyway," said Grubok, who appeared somewhat exhausted. Harry wasn't surprised at this, remembering his own Occlumency lessons with Snape.

Harry thoughtfully left the white room; Ron followed, with a bewildered expression on his face.

"Proudfoot, please take a look as well. We have to be absolutely sure," said Harry to his experienced Auror colleague.

Proudfoot entered the room and cast the Legilimency Spell on Grubok as well. After a few minutes, he returned.

"There is no doubt, I'm afraid," he said. "Francois Simiol gave the order to kill Bill Weasley."