Author's Note:
Many people are not giving me reviews, PMs or comments. Why? Do you not like this story? I promise you will like it, just encourage me to write more.
Anyway, reviews or not, I like this fiction too much to stop writing right now. So here goes...
CHAPTER 5: Helping the Unicorn kid to her Parents
Petunia's pov
As much as I enjoyed the honeymoon and being with my husband, we both missed the boys very much. They added the joy in life that no one else could replace. We were pretty excited to see their welcome and smiles.
The view our living room presented was so lively. Balloons all around, graffiti welcoming us, steaming pancakes served as breakfast, the walls completely decorated and boys standing by the table which held a cake.
"Am I dreaming?" Richard (Mr. Robin's first name) exclaimed, maybe because of the view. But when I smiled at him, I noticed that he was looking beside the boys. Aside from Paladin, there was a beautiful unicorn standing there, and I could practically feel happiness radiating from it.
"Oh My God! Is that is that….?"
"Mama! Papa! Meet our guest. She is a unicorn we unexpectedly saved from robbers yesterday."
"You…? What…? Where…?"
"Whoa Aunty, we will explain everything. Please, first cut the cake and have some breakfast."
I nodded and proceeded to do the same. I watched as the boys fed some carrots to the unicorn. Once the festivities were over, we all sat down together on the floor, humans, snake and unicorn.
My boys proceeded to explain what happened yesterday and how they helped the unicorn. I could not fault them at that; they did not go into danger knowingly. Then they explained what needed to be done. Richard looked at the unicorn,
"Can your parents come to any forest or a specific one?"
We watched the view where we could see unicorns standing beside a tree. One could vanish from one tree and appear beside another.
"So they can travel, but only near trees. Why so, why not directly here? Assuming, of course, that you cannot do the same yet as you are still young."
The next view was of a tree's roots deeply entwined in the ground.
"Oh, trees are deeply connected to the ground, more than anything else. And unicorns are too?"
She nodded.
"I guess we are going to the wildlife sanctuary again."
Duddley's pov
"WHAT? NO!" Mom exclaimed, making us all jump. "Not there again! I don't even like to think about it, let alone see it. I have a better idea. Let's go to into the magical world."
"Where!?"
"Oh I was thinking about it anyway. Rather than facing it all at once and learning everything anew, I think it is better if Harry learns about it from now itself. That way, neither he nor we would be fooled or cheated later."
"Brilliant idea, honey!" Papa kissed Mama.
Ewww! Not in front of kids!
He continued, "Do you know where there is a forest in their world."
Mama hesitated, "Well no, just the shopping district, but I am sure somebody can help us. Lily used to tell me that the way to their school was through a very big forest."
Harry finalized our plan then, "Okay! So this is what we will do. Mom's wards are on all of us, so nobody should recognize us, but we will still go in disguises into this shopping district. Hey!" he turned to the unicorn, "would you bear a closed box for the trip. Please it would be for your safety." The unicorn nodded reassuringly. Harry continued, "I will make sure to keep her invisible. Unless we find someone who helps us first, we will go into this bank that aunty described, where there are goblins. I have a feeling they will be better help and keep our secret too. Moreover they are not wizards. Then we can go into a bookstore to find what we can about the world's history and practices. Then we come home. NO loitering around. That's it." Then he looked up shyly, as if surprised to find himself finalizing a plan instead of the adults, "Sorry! Just got carried away. I just want her back with her parents and yet no harm to any of you. I cannot bear that."
I hugged him and kissed him on the temple, "It is okay. You are right and theirs is nothing wrong in being cautious yet confident. We'll do that tomorrow."
"Just think about it", Duddley added, "We get to see your world for the first time." Richard nodded too, excited.
The next day…
Richard's pov
Leela, my first wife, will always be cherished in my memories. I loved her with all my heart. But god has gifted me with a new family. A new extraordinary family, with a confident yet caring, loving yet self-dependant wife; with a son who is intelligent, active and with a big heart; and with a nephew who was charming, protective and smart. I am sure that he would prove to be a good leader if the situation calls for it.
Well, I must add the presence of Paladin, the snake, too. He was like the initiator for me into the secrets of existence of a parallel magical world, hidden for the non-magicals. This made life very interesting to know that magic was still a reality, and there exists centaurs, dragons, phoenixes, message owls,….. and unicorns. Well Petunia never told me about unicorns; apparently her sister never encountered one. This discovery was all boys.
And now, we three boys, with a crate of unicorn and snake, follow Petunia as she leads us into a… bar? The Leaky Cauldron. It was nearly empty, with a very few wizards sitting at different tables and two goblins sitting at one too. An old bald man was scrubbing a table and it was him that Petunia addressed.
"Excuse me, Tom?"
The old bald man looked up from his table polishing and nodded at her.
"Please open the way to Diagon Alley."
No questions asked, he did just that. He led us to a blank rectangle of wall in the corner that was made of only bricks. He tapped on the wall with his stick and went back to his work. As we watched, the bricks started moving and vanishing into themselves, and soon there was an archway. On the other side, was Diagon Alley.
Walking in Diagon Alley was like dreams, and I am sure even my imagination could not conjure such wondrous display. There were shops for cauldrons, flying broomsticks, owls, pets, potions and ingredients, wands, jokes and tricks, books, optician, and many more. But the most captivating was a majestic snowy white building towards which we were walking.
It was Gringotts, the wizarding bank run by goblins. And I got to meet the first goblin at the entrance. The goblin was about the same height as Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and very long fingers and feet. He bowed to us as we walked by. When I turned back to see if Harry was following, I saw him bowing back to the goblin and saying something. We three walked back to him, "Harry?"
"Common curtsies, Uncle. And you greet them by saying 'May your life always be happy and rich'. It is common goblin greeting if you have no familiarity."
I noticed the goblin looking at him in interest. I, myself, was a bit ashamed that I neglected something so ordinary in all this extraordinary. It was Duddley who responded first, "My apologies sir, I did not know the greeting and we should have never ignored. May your life always be happy and rich."
Petunia and I did the same and walked inside. I noticed one of the guards slipping away as we left and wondered if there were any repercussions we have to face for not greeting them. Inside the bank, it was beautiful. The walls were white with golden sculpting of intricate designs everywhere. There were many goblins seated in a line of high leveled desks full of parchments. Some of them had a line of witches and wizards. All the goblins were busy. Behind the goblins were a great door and a side door. In front of the goblins was a very large hall with many side doors, through which many people were coming and going with goblins as accompanies.
Harry walked forward to one of the empty desks, and it was then I remembered that Harry knew all this because he was with his parents for three years and still received letters from them on his birthday. He has at least some knowledge, I guess. He walked to the goblin, whose nameplate read 'Darkfang'. He bowed and greeted.
"Greetings Darkfang, may your life always be happy and rich. May goblins prosper beyond all binds."
The goblins remained impassive, but I could read a bit of surprise in his eyes.
"May your riches ever increase with us, young wizard. Name and purpose?"
"I want to meet Griphook if available. If not, I want to meet whoever is managing the relative accounts."
"And what is hidden behind the mask?"
"The true face."
Darkfang nodded and ringed the bell on his desk. A younger goblin scurried to him and he whispered in his ear. Harry smiled, nodded and bowed, "Farewell and may we meet again in greater riches and gladder hearts." We bowed to him too and then all went to sit in the waiting chairs by the wall.
"What was all that Harry?" Duddley asked.
"I remember all this from when I was young and with my parents. It was instinctual. Goblins are a different race and they have their own set of principals, culture, rituals and rules. All these, I practiced in my third year and Griphook, who is actually Potter's account manager and a close friend, taught me all this too. I seemed to have remembered everything."
Just then, another goblin approached us and we all stood up and bowed. Harry said the greetings, "Well met, Griphook, the head of your clan and beloved of my heart. May your heart remain bold, your axe strong, and your might high."
The goblin bowed back, "Well met indeed, part of my heart. May you always lead happiness wherever you go. Who are you here with?"
"Please meet my aunt by birth, Petunia Robin and my Uncle by bond, Richard Robin. This is my cousin, Duderson Peter Robin. There are two others, but they need privacy to greet you."
"Very well, follow me."
I was amused and respectful with a different culture. It was easy to deduce that this Griphook held Harry close to his heart. We followed him through a door in the hall and various narrow passageways which seemed to just fit whoever walked through. Magic! We finally came to a medium sized room which had chairs for all of us and a table laden with refreshments. He gestured us to our seats and the refreshments automatically loaded onto stone plates which floated to us and stayed in air.
"Please take our salt, bread and sugar, and pray we drop the formalities."
It seemed necessary to eat and drink them for some reason, so we did not hesitate to follow Harry's example in eating our fill. Finally the stone plates vanished and Harry stood up. The goblin smiled at him with his pointy teeth and hugged him.
"You remember well lad. And you have grown healthy. My thanks Petunia and Richard, you have cared for Harry well. Now, will you drop the glamours Harry?"
"Oh sorry!" And we were ourselves again and the crate was visible.
"Griphook, I need your help. But first, please promise me that you won't tell about this meeting to anybody even if you are not able to help."
"You have my promise."
"Thanks. Uncle, will you and Duddley open it?"
The look on the Griphook's face when he saw the unicorn baby was mixture of many emotions. Happiness, wonder and gratitude made up the positive ones while anger and disgust made up the negative.
"Who dared to separate a baby from the parents, that too a unicorn? Swear me that it is none of you Harry!"
"I swear on my magic and inheritance. We actually saved it." And the boys together told him the whole story. By the end of it, Griphook was calm and deep in thought.
"I agree. If they can capture her once, they will do it again if they see her. And we don't know who they are, so we need privacy. The best option would be a portal. But I need permission of our king Ragnok. Will you all accompany me?"
"Under glamour again?" Duddley asked.
Griphook shook his head, "This is the king we are talking about. Even if you do put the charms and glamour, it will all fall away the moment you cross the door to his room."
Harry and Duddley looked at each other and then Harry stood firm, "Convey my apologies Griphook, but please ask him to meet us in private, wherever it may be, without anyone else knowing."
"That is a high demand you ask for."
"We are here to save a higher life."
"Very well, I will convey your request and return soon. Please teach the greetings to your family, for it would do no good to treat the king common."
When he left, Harry turned to us, "I'm sorry I did not tell you before, but the goblin law says that only a goblin or his permission should teach anyone the greetings. They do it only to those who treat them with respect."
Petunia ruffled his hair, "I understand Harry. Now, tell us whatever you can tell us about these fascinating beings."
"The outside was all formality. Until a goblin says we drop them, we should not step outside it. The common greeting we did is for anyone whom you do not know personally. I told that to you, only after the guard had nodded at me to do so. If you had not come back to greet them after I had, they would have listed you amongst the ones they should not trust. The one I said to Griphook was a Greeting that two, who know each other well, decide between them. There is one for emergencies too, but no one else is supposed to know that. This is for identification and necessity. During formality, both sides can ask anything of the other and the other has to fulfill it. But the condition is that it should remain within the other side's ability and willingness. Otherwise they would simply turn their backs to you."
"Then how does it make it doing anything they ask of you?" I asked.
"Turning your back means that you no longer wish to communicate. There are no further arguments or coaxing. This is to ensure that whatever you are doing, you are doing of your own free will. So if you do any mistake, you cannot plead ignorance."
"That's a smart way." Petunia exclaimed.
"But what if we want them to do something?"
"You cannot do that. Not when you are still maintaining formality. But once you are given lease to drop them, then you can. Now, the King is the highest of the goblin hierarchy. Every goblin is compelled to follow him. He is the strongest and wisest, and no one is allowed to contest him."
"How is he chosen?"
"That I don't know. But it is not a descendant from family line thing. Even a pauper may become the next king. All I know is some magical ritual chooses him and that it may kill him too if he acts against goblin principles and welfare."
"Oh! Like election?"
"Not even. You don't apply to become king. You are chosen and you become. You don't have a choice. I will tell you the rest later, time is running out. This is the way you great the King…."
Harry had just finished explaining when Griphook returned. He was standing straight and stiff, and announced, "Stone yield and blade sharpen, the King approaches."
He did not make eye contact with any of us. The doors opened by themselves and another goblin entered. He was taller than Griphook and wearing golden bracelets on both his wrists and both his legs. Other than that, the only difference from other goblins was a chain of stone around his neck. From what Harry explained just now, we need to give more respect to the stone than the goblin himself, as that stone chain has been wrapped during the ceremony, presumably by magic or something similar. If that vanishes someday, he remains the King no more, but a common goblin.
All of us, even the unicorn and snake, bowed to the King and said, "May the spirits keep endowing strength, wisdom and purity to you and on all those you touch upon, King of goblins. Please accept our greetings and wishes for the welfare of all under you."
"Greetings fellow humans! May you be successful in your endeavors. Please rise and take your seats. Please accept my respect, O' snake, and may your health and satisfaction remain optimum. Please accept my greetings, O' unicorn young one, and my wishes to aid you in reaching your parents. May we always remain peaceful in all our meetings."
All of us nodded. It seems that Harry had opened Paladin's ability to understand speech once again, for he looked at me and said,
:: Please tell him this. 'May the land and stone and hill remain stable. I accept your greetings and give you the wisdom n' warning. One hath betrayed, One is planning to, and One is doing so. Measure your steps and prepare for a small fall, for you have caught only one in three all. The fall will raise the goblins to prosperity, miss it and you will have to go through doom. ::
I was shocked but relayed the news so. King Ragnok's eyes widened for a few seconds as he heard the… prophecy?... and settled again. He gave a short bow, "Thank you serpent. Now, what is the issue for which you require my presence as well as privacy?"
Harry explained the situation to him. The goblin did not waste time in giving assistance, "I feel honored to be able to help a child unicorn to the parents. Are you comfortable to travelling with Griphook? Very well, Griphook. Open the portal and help them with their task. I put the task of safeguarding them till they complete their tasks and leave the bank. Farewell, fellow beings, and may our meetings always be profitable."
After he left the room, Griphook left too and came back with two other goblins who were robed in white. They were priests, I learned later. They sat down on the floor facing each other a few feet apart and started chanting something. I did not understand, maybe it was their own language. Suddenly, a veil opened up between them and Griphook asked us to follow him. First Harry left with Paladin, then the unicorn, and then it was my turn. It felt like normal walking, but the moment I stepped through the veil, I was in the forest. My parents soon followed.
We all stayed put as the Unicorn projected the messages to her parents where she was. She allowed us to see what she was doing too. In a few minutes, two beautiful adult unicorns suddenly appeared in front of us. If you could say that the child we had till now was beautiful, innocent and pure, the adults portrayed those along with wisdom and strength, and I felt insignificant before them. The child ran to her parents and they nuzzled her in greeting. Then the father looked at us and gave a short nod. I could feel his happiness and gratitude. The three of them walked to Papa and Mama, and some feeling was projected to them. Mama had tears in her eyes as she knelt on her knees and papa had his hand on her shoulder, "Being able to see you is gift enough for us. Can we touch you, just once?"
In answer to her request, the mother unicorn walked to her and nuzzled her head in her outstretched palm, and the father unicorn did the same to Papa. They glowed for a moment and the glow transferred to my parents. After that, the unicorns faced Griphook with the same question.
"I am honored that you would think of me, but I am just a carrier. If you could give your blessings to the goblin nation, that would be considered the greatest treasure."
The unicorns nodded and closed their eyes. Griphook, when he glowed, fell on his knees in gratitude.
Paladin was next.
:: I know how hard being separated from family is. I was torn away from my mother, and then was welcomed into this family. Bless me with the ability to come to their aid when needed, that is all I wish for. ::
The same glow transfer happened here too and Paladin bowed to them. Finally, they turned to Harry and me. We looked at each other and smiled. I spoke first, "I have a loving family, great health, good education, and prospects in life I wish to work for my future. I get to see magical environment that no other non-magical ever could. Bless me guidance when in need, because I need ask for nothing else."
The glow that surrounded me filled me with peace and happiness so profound that my sight grew hazy with tears. Finally it was Harry. He was already kneeling before them and crying, "Can I hug you, little girl?" he asked the child unicorn. She stepped forward elegantly into his arms and he started crying. "Stay safe, stay happy and stay smart. You are the most beautiful and the purest I have ever met, just remember me for the kid who will always remember you in my heart, and what you stand for. Farewell." Then he stood up and walked with her to the parents, "Please take care."
The parents nodded and nudged the child. This time the young unicorn glowed which engulfed Harry in a bright flame. By the time it dimmed, only Harry was there, crying on his knees. Mama and Papa hugged him and we all left through the portal. Griphook bowed to us once we were alone, "Thank you for letting me be at such a wondrous reunion. And for the blessing we received too. Harry, understand that a young unicorn rarely gives a blessing, and when it does, it is unique. You all must have developed a strong bond with the child for them to give you blessings."
"I did not ask for anything." Mama interjected.
"And yet you received. You will find out what it was when the time is right. The unicorns understand magic and they may or may not have given us what we asked for. But know that they are blessings only, not any curses or tricks."
"Can I ask something?" I hesitated.
Griphook nodded.
"Did Paladin make a prophecy? Can he do that?"
"Ahh! I understand that you do not know. Yes, snakes can, in fact many other creatures, can make prophesies. Even you and I could have done that many times, guessing the results beforehand. Does not mean everyone are seers though. They are more advanced. That's why we have subjects like Divination or Forecasting, it is to understand when we are confronted with signs of a prediction, be it as simple as losing your money today. Why, even you people forecast weather based on movement of clouds, or think that you woke up on wrong side of bed when you are having a bad day, don't you?"
"But at least weather forecasting is scientific."
"Are they? Of course, you may be able to see visualizations, but how many times did it happen that the forecast was rainy and yet you had cloudy day only. Moreover, you are talking about now, but in ages before technology was developed, people still used to predict weather. It's all about signs and intuition. Perhaps one day we will able to predict when and how we are going to die without resorting to necromancy."
I raised my hands in defeat, "I yield! I do not even want to know what that is or what they do. Spare me."
We all laughed for a bit. Griphook learned of our intention to go shopping and suggested withdrawing some galleons from Harry's vault instead of converting our money. So we had the thrill of riding a Gringotts cart underground. It went so fast, faster than the roller coaster, and had so many twists and turns that I wondered how they even remembered where which vault was. When I asked him, the reply was pretty evil,
"We do. You don't. End of story."
"Then what if someone gets lost?"
"Then a dragon down there will have a tasty meal."
When we finally reached his vault, Griphook explained that this was his trust vault. His family vault would be available when he is adult, as well as other inheritances if he has any. Harry vault was stacked. Mama must have known he was rich, for Papa and I were wide mouthed. There were a big heap of bronze coins, a bigger heap of silver coins and a biggest heap of golden coins. Harry quickly collected a bag-load of them and we came back to the main hall upstairs. Before we entered, Harry bowed to Griphook, "May all our visits and transactions remain fruitful. Farewell"
"Farewell young wizard and his accompanists. May your wealth flourish and happiness stay with you."
Oh! Maybe it is re-establishing the formalities. We all bowed to him too and left to the bookstore.