Chapter 12

David went to the Snape house for Christmas; and discussed the Gryphon with his guardian.

"Grutch told Ellie all about it so he could truthfully say he only told his daughter; and she isn't coming with me so she can truthfully say she had nothing to do with it" said David.

Severus nodded.

"Well thought through…so tell me; it'll get your thoughts straight if nothing else."

"The unfortunate creature lives deep within the vaults, chained to a wall" said David "At the bottom of stairs that collapse if an authorised palm print is not placed there. And I'm afraid I'm going to have to do some unauthorised wand work and hope not to get caught for it being a place full of magic-casting adults."

"Hmm, not in the vaults; and your age tag will show up. Transfiguration, on the other hand, is an inwardly focused spell; that does NOT show up. I'd suggest that as your means of getting in; snake, or even spider, that can use the walls and not bother with the staircase."

"Yes, but how am I to get it out of its manacles and out?"

"Well I'd hardly expect you to be getting it out full sized and an obvious Gryphon underneath their noses" said Severus waspishly.

"Domine, you're brilliant; I need a shrinking solution of course, and… now I can't use Polyjuice potion on an animal I don't think; or rather, I don't know what the results might be; but if I then turned it to stone, we could restore it later? By being basilisk?"

"It sounds quite feasible; you'll have to act fast though. And carry it up in your serpentine mouth too. In your shoes I'd also carry a little potion of my own, an invisibility potion. It only works out of direct sunlight or any bright light and I've not got it to work for more than five minutes at a time and then not perfectly; getting enough demiguise blood to work with is hard, they don't like donating it and go invisible on me; and Krait's never seen one personally and that makes a difference to her apparently."

"She'd never seen a basilisk"

"No; but she IS Slytherin's heiress. And THAT makes a difference too in all sorts of ways. Oh – and have a spot of Felix before you start."

"Thanks Domine; you can't imagine how much help you are!"

Severus sighed.

"Well it's no good telling a Gryffindor that rescuing a Gryphon from Gringotts is the barmiest thing I've ever heard of and is utterly impossible; because you'll go ahead anyway. The only thing therefore feasible for me to do to keep my ward out of trouble and the good name of the school unsmirched by its head boy being arrested for theft in the depths of Gringotts is to help all I can."

"I hadn't thought of that…it'd get Albus into no end of trouble, wouldn't it?"

"Oh I expect he'd find a way to wriggle out….Lucius could actually take lessons from Albus in slipperyness, he's had to learn to be in protecting Harry from the ministry over the years. What's your excuse for being in Diagon Alley?"

"Buying potion ingredients for the Triwizard; I need certain things and I don't want to be a drain on school resources. You said you'd set up an account for me; and I didn't want to ever use it because I want to make my own way, but for this I think it's justified."

"And I think it's justified to use for your orphans too….even if Kinat has set up a fund from the sale of all that acromantula venom, little rascal!" said Severus. "I'll prepare you vials, learn them by colour, I'm not going to label them in case they get dropped. I'll use self-cleaning vials that won't leave traces once you've drained them. Don't act hasty on the way out, carry on as normal to buy your ingredients even if your miniature stone gryphon feels like it's burning a hole in your pocket."

"Yes Domine" said David meekly and patiently. Severus gave a lop sided grin.

"I know; you know all this. Knowing it and doing it in a tense moment are two different things. For what it's worth, I back you to act nonchalant far further that I would Harry. He looks guilty as a matter of course!"

"Poor Harry, he's spent much of his life being made to FEEL guilty almost as a matter of course" said David.

David drank his potion of Felix Felicis and entered the snowy white marble building with its big bronze doors, nodding politely to the goblin guard on duty; past the second set of doors with an ominously warning rhyme on it about what might happen to thieves. Its hints were somehow more ominous than something along the lines of 'trespassers will be eaten'. There was a long counter in the impressive marble antechamber with its plethora of doors, and bustle of goblins going about business, many sat on high stools at the counter. David picked a free goblin and presented his key.

"Griphook!" called the goblin.

David half expected to see Garjala's ferret; then remembered that she had named it for a Gringott's goblin.

Griphook hurried up and gave a half smile.

"Ah, Mr Fraser- the head boy at Hogwarts I believe? Your first visit here?"

"Being a scholarship boy I left my equipping to my guardian before; but I've had some money made over to me and I need some equipment for this Triwizard competition" said David. Griphook's face lit up.

"I've got a small fortune on you, Mr Fraser" he whispered "Enough to set me up nicely if you win…now I've seen you I reckon even more that you're going to… it ain't just the scar, Mr Fraser, it's that you walk like a champion!"

"Thanks, Griphook" said David, touched. "I don't actually know how much I have in the vault; can I stay to count it?"

"Course you can, Mr Fraser!" said Griphook "I'll have to leave you there, hope you won't be too nervous….nah, Triwizard champion ain't afraid o' being alone in the dark, you ain't going wandering off t' upset the guardian, after all!" and he laughed.

They passed into a narrow stone passage with railway tracks set in the floor and climbed into a small cart and set off at a rather extreme rate. There was an underground lake with stalagmites and stalactites. The cart seemed to know where it was going; David surmised it was partly to do with his key and partly to do with goblin magic that worked so well with simple technology.

At last they came to a sudden halt beside a small door. Griphook put the key in the lock and the door opened.

"All yours, Mr Fraser" he said "I'll be back when you whistle if that's all right; busy time of year!"

David remembered, it was Christmas; and some wizarding folk were still buying last minute gifts. Best time ever, save the beginning of a new school year; and even that might not be quite so busy!

Severus and Krait had put aside what David considered a far too generous portion; but it was at least credible that he would need a long time to count it. Griphook grinned.

"Should've brought sandwiches" he said; then he was rocketing away. David felt very lucky; he had heard the door was sometimes shut on people who wanted to spend time in their own vault. The felix was working! Quickly he shrugged into giant woodlouse form; somehow it seemed ridiculously appropriate! He scuttled out of the vault and on downwards. He knew approximately where to go – Grutch had told Ellie – and with the Felix coursing through his body he had an even better idea. He went unerringly in the right direction as fast as his many skittering legs could take him.

And there was the staircase that needed a palmprint; unless one went down the walls.

David ran; and there were the most secure vaults, and outside them a sad looking gryphon chained to the wall. David changed back where the stair finished, so he had not walked out into the Gryphon's chamber. That sort of thing was generally specified; by magical lines. Besides, it seemed the right thing to do; and felix was in charge of his feelings. One hour left of good luck. David got out the flit gun filled with shrinking solution; and squirted it at the gryphon which yelped, startled, then began to shrink. It ran out of its manacles, initially towards where the supposed attack came from, growling squeaky kitten growls as it shrank below the size of a cat. It realised suddenly how big its prey was and extended its wings defensively. They had been clipped, David noted disapprovingly. He changed again, sorry to frighten the poor beast; but it was not for long. David the basilisk went rapidly into David the big snake – the thoughts were less uncomfortable – and picked the stone gryphon up in his massively extendible jaws. And then he was on his way back up, faster than he had scuttled as a woodlouse, easily at home in the great body of a snake, his parseltongue blood rejoicing. David suppressed all that; good job he had been a woodlouse on the way down, being a snake felt almost as right as being a dog. Almost he hurried into the main passage; but something – felix – made him pause.

A cart rattled by, Griphook answering a complaining voice,

"Only one speed, so sorry!"

David did not think he sounded sorry in the least.

Quickly he headed for his own vault; lucky again, he had pulled the door almost to before he had left and Griphook was too busy to check. He slithered in, and transfigured back, pushing the stone gryphon well down into his bag, a muggle 'magic' bag with two compartments, to be shown apparently empty. Wizards found legerdemain tricks hard to comprehend. The other compartment he filled with a mix of coins; measured the stacks of coins with a practised estimator's eye and made a rapid calculation. He would not have to simulate a certain amount of awe to Griphook.

He put his head out of the door and whistled.

Almost immediately Griphook hurtled up the track with a rather green-looking witch on board.

"Ah, Mr Fraser, lock the door and hop in….all to your liking?"

"More than I anticipated by a long chalk…my guardian has been most generous" said David.

The witch, looking better for even a brief stop, looked at his scar and her eyes widened.

"You're one of the ones who fought You-know-Who!" she said.

"His name was Tom Riddle" said David, firmly.

"Oh THAT's what that little sod Kinat was about to want to enchant the wheels of the trucks for was it?" said Griphook "Nothing doing, I said, more than my job's worth."

Somehow David found it quite easy to take on board that Griphook was a bit of a jobsworth.

Half an hour of felix left.

He got to the end of the line and thanked Griphook.

The queasy witch had just stumbled away; and Griphook seized his hand, and shook it.

"You're a great man, Mr Fraser, a great man, polite to everyone, and a friend to goblins. A great man!" he reiterated.

David shook firmly back and muttered something self deprecating. Somehow he doubted Griphook would continue in that opinion if he learned that David was stealing the Gringott's gryphon.

He went through the marble hall that was the reception area and nodded variously to goblin guards on the doors and a few wizards and witches he recognised, and ran straight into Lucius Malfoy.

"Hello Fraser! You look guilty, robbing Gringotts?" said Lucius, laughing at his own joke. David laughed politely too, wishing Lucius in perdition for delaying his getaway.

Lucius shot him a brief searching glance.

"Much shopping?" he asked.

"Stuff I need to make potions for the next Triwizard test… I don't think I'm supposed to discuss it, Mr Malfoy."

"Well well, give me ten minutes and meet me in Florean Fortescue's for a cup of tea, hmm?" said Lucius.

It WAS good luck after all; Lucius was an alibi of sorts!

"Certainly, Mr Malfoy" said David.

He bought what he needed in the potion supplies shop; anyone might check what he bought and work out what he was using it for. He had a careful list to refer to as well and that was evidence too. And then he was meeting Lucius.

"You know, David my lad, you're near enough adult" said Lucius "I think it's well time to make you free with my first name; we'll be working together on so many things, won't we?"

"I hope so sir – I mean Lucius" said David.

"You'll be our advisor on muggle weapons; unofficially of course. Unless you want a post in the ministry" said Lucius.

"Not likely! It's full of ministers!" said David. Lucius laughed.

"Looking forward to teaching?"

"Right now I'm looking forward to completing this dratted triwizard" said David "It's an awful nuisance. I only signed up because Madam Spikenard saw me rescuing orphaned Rumanians – only she didn't have it such detail or we'd have done it before they ever got wrapped up in spider gunk. Helluva way to spend a year when I've better things to do. Still, I suppose the tasks are easy enough."

"They probably are to a seasoned veteran at that" said Lucius. "Do you need any help transporting anything that you may have on you anywhere?"

David grinned at him.

"How nice of you to trust me so absolutely Lucius!" he said "No, I'm all sorted out I think…I wouldn't mind leaving with you though; or perhaps you could drop me at Sev's if you have the car?"

"Not a problem" said Lucius. "Tell me all about it some day, hmmm?"

"Absolutely" said David. "And I look forward too to finding out what Draco found in Obscura Alley."

"You'll not be surprised to find that he suspects the denizen of 66b of muggle trafficking; but he wants more proof" said Lucius "He's been looking into my properties there; and my nephews and friends have been poking around too, I expect they'll have a tale or two! Shall we go?"

"I think so" said David.

There was as yet no outcry at Gringotts; presumably unless someone wanted a high security vault the theft would not be discovered until it was time to feed the gryphon.

And hopefully by then he would be well away and enough people had been left to do their own thing for him not to stand out. And Griphook would be unlikely to mention it anyway; because technically it was dereliction of duty. And Griphook was NOT the sort to own up to any sort of fault!

Lucius came in, ostensibly to see Severus, and David got out the stone gryphon.

"Excellent" said Severus "Once we're back at Hogwarts, we can restore him and restore his size and then let them prove the wild Gryphon in our forest is anything to do with one they lost. Hmm, poor condition, isn't he, and clipped wings…we can sort all that during the restoration; Krait will know what to do."

"Ingenious" said Lucius "If I ever fetch up in any prison – which going against Odessa is not impossible – I hope you'll be on hand to rescue me, David."

"Any time Lucius" said David, warmly.

"So, how's the business of sorting out house elf compunctions going, Severus? Lucius asked.

"It isn't" said Severus sourly. "We've managed by ritual and deep legilimensy to get rid of it in the elves we know personally – and those who are willingly free are easier to do – but it's deep, it's complex and if you ask me it was tied in by a fey or someone with knowledge of fey magic. Probably some dratted Malfoy."

Lucius pulled a face.

"That I'm afraid is probably true…. I have specifically ordered my house elves not to punish themselves, it's really…." His voice broke "I was amazed how grateful they were" he said.

"It takes a man to admit to being moved, you know Lucius" said Severus quietly. "You're a lot happier now than you've ever been, aren't you?"

"Assuredly" said Lucius "Especially as I'm still allowed to judiciously bully people….there's something very satisfying in watching pompous little jobsworths and little dictators leap to my command and grovel and arse lick and lose all their bubble of self-conceit."

"You're a bad man Lucius" laughed Severus "And very useful to have to set on people!"

"For all the world like a tame werewolf? Thanks Severus!"

Severus grinned, then sobered.

"I wish I could lick this elf problem though" he said "Krait's covered pages with arithmantic notes – at least it kept her from climbing the walls too much while she was laid up – and we've delved deep into the minds of house elves – and I'll thank you to keep that dirty remark lurking behind the smirk to yourself, Lucius, about Sirri; you can't talk about mistresses."

"No I can't can I?" said Lucius. "So long as my niece is contented with the matter it's none of my business. How did you get on with unfree house elves? I'm sure mine would be happy to volunteer for you to work on."

"Thank you Lucius; I'll bear that in mind, the Hogwarts ones are so happy they get jumpy about anyone suggesting they change their status…..Kreacher was dubious but he's learned to trust Sirius enough to let me remove it; said grudgingly that it didn't feel any different afterwards and he could still choose to punish himself if he felt like it so there. Sirius told him he was a loony and Kreacher managed to crack the sally that he got that off his master, which dig pleased him mightily as he didn't feel an urge to punish himself for saying it so he went off in high trig."

"Kreacher IS a loony" said Lucius "I always thought so when he would come to visit Narcissa when Sirius was in Azkaban. Merlin's beard, I just remembered Draco's crack about Starriest Crack being released from Astrakhan and so being temporarily without fur….have you heard his latest?"

"General Disorder? Yes, he likes to play with fire does your Draco, bless him; David here is Private Paartz."

Lucius grinned.

"I look forward to seeing what that stirs up….with luck they'll send a death squad so we can whittle them down a bit more."

"I think that was Draco's general idea" said David.

"Well, well, plenty to look forward to…. I'll send volunteer elves over to you, Severus; best of luck with your gryphon."

The Marauders had plenty to report too; they had been in Obscura Alley for several days with Draco but not with him, as Abraxus put it, in their dressed down guise, which meant hair brushed forward over the scars and unkempt looking.

"Which mum said isn't hard for small boys" said Abraxus "As though we were kids of eleven or twelve!"

"It's a prerogative of mothers to forget their babies grow up" said Krait serenely "At least your mum lets you go poking around in Obscura Alley and such; I bet Molly wouldn't have let any of her brood."

"Which is why Fred and George have enough knowledge about it to have hired a street stall there" said Hawke cynically "Difference is, we tell our mum what we get up to; the Weasleys don't; and I reckon our mum has more real peace of mind because she knows we DO share."

"Poor Molly" said Krait

"It was a helluva shock when the body fell out of the window though" said Romulus.

"He has a sense of the dramatic, doesn't he?" said Severus.

Rom gave a rueful grin.

"Well it was a shock for us, so I'm passing it on" he said. "It was from the upstairs of the haberdashers, where they make clothes; she was just a girl, a goblin girl. She'd died giving birth; but we managed to save the baby, she was half way out, but so much blood!"

"It was pretty awful, Krait" said Abraxus "She could have been saved if anyone had cared….. kid is a half-breed, we took her to Kinat's mum. Anyway, Draco took over the investigation as an auror and demanded us scuzzy brats to run errands for him… Draco is seriously all right… and it turned out she was giving birth at her sewing machine and when she stopped sewing to die, the bastards in charge just tossed her out of the window like so much trash….her dad, Dokan, has been blacklisted for taking part in protests, he's an accountant by trade and Gringott's wouldn't have any trace of protest attached to THEIR hallowed walls…. He's been subsisting by growing and selling vegetables because he's a gardener as a hobby, and his daughter Gejela went out sewing….she had an affair with some wizard, and he dropped her when she got pregnant. We called the baby Gejela after her mum, Kinat's mum's going to let Dokan visit his granddaughter but he'd find it hard to rear her….Krait, d'you reckon you could buy out the Carmichaels' nursery and employ indigent wizarding folk there? It's a bit run down because of Arthur's poor health and then him dying but….. and Dokan would be a perfect manager because he knows figures AND plants."

"Now THAT is an excellent idea" approved Krait. "Ten chocolate drops to Gryffindor….make that a packet between you."

"Then he could contribute towards little Gejela too" said Kinat, who'd been a little quiet "I had been wondering if I'd have to leave school after OWLs to get work to help the family budget."

"Kinat, I can always find enough to see all your siblings through school as far as they are capable of going" said Krait firmly "And if it troubles your parents, I'll let you pay it back between you after you have a highly paid job for the sake of having a ridiculous number of NEWTs."

Kinat hurled himself on Krait and hugged her.

He had been reared by his parents to be self sufficient; and to do what he could for neighbours, and he had been quite willing for the sake of this baby's survival to give up the school he loved: but he was glad not to have to.

"Besides" said Krait "Your parents are entitled to a grant from the orphan fund you set up with your most excellent acquisition of acromantula poison."

Kinat brightened. He had not thought of that!

"That wasn't all either" said Hawke "Though it was the most dramatic. Oh, we said hello to Kordach and met his oldest little girl too, she's cute. Kordach lives at number five. Dympna Burke lives in Obscura Alley too, did you know, for all her airs and graces? The right END of course, and pretending not to be a close neighbour to Kordach….there's a kid who wouldn't have had the chance to come to school that Burke was bullying and taunting, reckon she's about the same age or a year younger…. Same old story, father is married but not to mother, kept her until she started losing her looks and moved on when Cressida – Cressida Blunt is this kid's name – was about six. Her mother was an ill educated shop girl, but having been a scarlet woman, once she wasn't a kept woman any more the only job she could get was as skivvy to the Burkes 'cos they don't have any house elves; and they made Cressida skivvy too. Anyway, that's fixed, mum's taken her on as another shop assistant, 'cos business is good and she needs to think about expanding. So we'll be looking out for HER next year."

"And I say, dad" said Romulus "You know Mr Collins who writes in 'Transactions of the Learned Society of Potioneers?"

"Yes, we've corresponded a lot through the pages of 'Transactions'" said Severus.

"He lives at number six, almost opposite Kordach, and he was well pleased to meet your son and some of your most promising pupils" said Romulus.

Severus raised an eyebrow

"You lot introduced yourselves as my most promising pupils?"

"No, but we were chatting and he kinda made the assumption" said Kinat "Because we do actually know quite a lot really…besides, Domine, we ARE some of your most promising pupils."

"You are… and I'm glad it was you who met him not some of those who produce the more unwholesome concatenations" said Severus. "And I don't apologise for the phrase; it's too descriptive."

He got beamed at.

"It's a nervous sort of place, Obscura Alley" said Hawke "With shady types about, we even saw Mundungus Fletcher, with a load of dodgy cauldrons, but he vanished sharpish when the stall holder he was selling to got beaten up by a little old witch for selling her a cauldron so substandard it burned through before it even boiled…watching him running down the street with his head through the burned hole while she hit him over the head with a frying pan was extraordinarily amusing."

"Yes, there were aurors there taking half an interest in that, but they were there to arrest a hag for poisoning someone to order; his ghost was along to point her out" said Abraxus. "I should think that's a risk to take, in a world where people can become ghosts and lay information. It's kind of way beyond a dying deposition!"

"Most people don't become ghosts though" said Severus "Most drop beyond the veil without even thinking about it when they die; you have to have a real terror of death or determination to complete some mission to stay as a ghost; or else, like Myrtle, be so confused you don't realise you're dead until it's too late to take the quick path through."

"Glad she didn't" said Abraxus softly.

"The other small excitement was the Russian kid" said Romulus "He came and talked to us 'cos we're kids too and looked quite hard; he was getting some flak, 'cos he's big; he's a half giant and he heard there was one in England –he don't know the difference between England and Scotland – so we got Draco to take him up to Hagrid. His name's…..oh it's like Michael."

"Mikhail" said Hawke "Mikhail Seregin, but he answers to Mischa. Hagrid'll like to adopt him I should think."

"Mmm" said Severus "And let's keep an eye on him ourselves and give the poor child a few more social graces than Hagrid can manage."

"Hagrid's got the best social grace of being warm hearted, Domine" said David.

"The warmest heart in the world doesn't get you anywhere if you manage to irritate too many people and destroy your own cause" said Severus "Hagrid is his own worst enemy; his passion for dangerous animals has caused a lot of complaints to the school over time, and it reinforces the idea of half giants being thick and dangerous. Which is not necessarily so. And I KNOW Hagrid isn't dangerous; JADE is more dangerous then Hagrid. But he doesn't go out of his way to try to dispel the incorrect notions about him. Because he ISN'T very bright. All I'm saying is, let's give this child Mischa a chance to be more than Hagrid and be a better ambassador for his kind."

"Sorry, Domine" said David "I know you don't like Hagrid much."

"Hagrid exasperates me because I see a man who may not be very bright but who is bright enough to be more than he is, to make a better showing to outsiders. And part of me now accepts that he's happy enough as he is; but part of me also realises that deep down he's rejected some of civilisation because it rejected him when Tom Riddle managed to have him so unfairly expelled – and I am actually working on having his wand formally restored to him because the expulsion was unfair – but he doesn't go out of his way to help himself."

"I'll see if I can chat informally and help with that" said David "He likes me; I like animals too and he trusts me to help with them."

Severus nodded.

"Thank you David; I appreciate that" he said. "Any more I need to know about your alarums and excursions you repellent brats?"

The Marauders grinned.

"Apart from the stall selling illegal muggle goods charmed to be powered by wand not electricity?" said Abraxus.

"That's a neat idea" said Krait "Let's find out if there's a legal loophole in that and invest in research…. I'd love a magic powered hoover to help out Mimette with the cleaning of the house; and a toaster in Myrtle's loo for the MSHG would be a great idea!"

Severus groaned.

"Sometimes, Abraxus, you don't know when to keep your big mouth shut!" he said.

"Well I think a toaster for the MSHG is a brilliant idea!" said Abraxus "And in fact I'm going right back to Obscura Alley to buy one! Coming twin?"

"Every time!" agreed Hawke.

The MSGH was soon the proud owner of an eight-slice toaster wide enough, as Hawke proudly said, to take crumpets too, and that meant sixteen crumpets at a time.

Severus gave up.

Crumpets with cocoa made easily would actually be really rather convenient and nice.

The protest was for form's sake.

After all, if Krait was to invest in this dodgy business, it could at least be a bit better regulated and there was less likelihood of problems caused by wizards being harmed by improperly set up muggle equipment.

Severus checked the toaster out himself, however to make sure it really was safe.

He had no desire to have electrocuted children to have to deal with!

A few adjustments later and he was fully satisfied; and growled that he would have preferred them to buy muggle goods and let HIM do the adjustments.

The twins just grinned.