Sorry this has taken so long. Any excuse you've ever heard I'm using.
Chapter 26.
Cash.
"Do you think they saw us?" Harry asked as he crouched down besides Ginny leaning against the tail gate of the pick-up. He grimaced when his hand came away covered in a mixture of grease and mud. He quickly rubbed his hand down his leg. It wouldn't do to have his wand slip out of his hand at a critical moment. He couldn't believe he had to get involved in this sort of crap again. He was so sick of all this.
"Maybe," Ginny said rolling her eyes at the mess he'd made on his trousers.
"What! Dobby won't mind," Harry said when he saw the look. "We should move position, just in case."
"There are only four of them."
"Don't under estimate them. You're not totally fit yet." He moved along on all fours and took a quick look through the back windscreen of a dark red people carrier parked next door, which seemed to be just as filthy as the green pick-up he had moved away from. The three wizards and witch were running flat out towards the exit seemingly unaware that there was anyone else around to stop them.
"How far do you think the wards extend?" Ginny asked.
"I don't know, we'll just have to make sure they don't get past us and hope for the best. Wait until they reach the gate." Ginny gave a short nod and moved to the far side of the pick-up out of sight of Harry. He trusted Ginny impeccable in a situation like this, but he still wished she wasn't here. The thought of her getting hurt sent a cold shiver down his spine. He forced these feelings from his mind getting distracted like last time would only lead to trouble, and concentrated on the four people running towards them.
It was impossible to tell at this distance which of them was going to be the greatest threat. They were too far away and size and power had no relationship in the magical world. On the other hand if this got up close and personnel then Harry would definitely not want to tackle the wizard leading the group. He had to be a head taller than Harry was, so as far as he was concerned he was the first target of choice.
The next few minutes would have been a lot less fraught and the damage would have been kept to a minimum if Ginny's thought processes hadn't exactly mirrored his own. Two stunners slammed into the wizard's chest when he reached the gateway. He collapsed into a heap forcing the third wizard to jump over the prone body. Instead of it now being two on two, as he'd hoped, it was three on two instead.
The initial surprise had been lost, and there would be no easy hits from now on. Harry managed to fire only a couple more curses before he was forced to duck down as the car window next to him shattered, spraying him in a shower of broken glass. On all fours again he scrabbled his way back to the pick-up before leaping up again and trying a disarming spell. The wizard he was fighting though knew his stuff and deflected it away.
A quick glance showed him that Ginny was holding her own with the witch and the other wizard. All they had to do was hold them up before help arrived, but that looked like it could be a problem. The wizard facing him suddenly drew or conjured, a three foot long sword. Harry's school lessons in defence had been patchy, to say the least, but nobody had ever suggested what he should do in a situation like this.
A blast of flames would probably discourage the manic, but setting fire to a load of muggle vehicles would be a little had to cover up afterwards, never mind the treat of standing among exploding petrol tanks. He sent a blasting curse at the man hoping that would discourage him, but he deflected it away again, and for good measure swung the sword so it smashed into the tail lights of the pick-up inches from his neck.
As Harry fell backwards in shock he decided that the Statue of Secrecy could go hang itself and sent a column of flame back at him. The wizard dove to the left to avoid being fried. Thanks to the fact that Harry had been falling backwards at the time the flames shot into the air doing little damage to the nearby cars and the wizard. It was the clatter of the sword hitting the tarmac that alerted Harry to the presence of the wizard as he landed on the ground between the vehicles.
"Petrificus Totalus," Harry shouted sweeping his wand in a wide motion between the back wheels of the pick-up. The prone wizard immediately seized up and Harry allowed himself a sigh of relief. A female scream and the sound of more smashing glass, followed by two or more car alarms piecing the air told Harry that it wasn't time to relax yet.
Placing one foot on the tow bar he heaved himself into the back of the truck narrowly avoiding stepping on an up-turned rake. No sooner had he got in than he had to duck again as a light blue spell flew over his head. Without warning Harry felt inexplicable angry, about what specifically he had absolutely no idea.
"ENOUGH," he yelled, "put your bloody wands down NOW." Stunned by Harry's sudden outburst both the witch and wizard stared at him in shock. Even Ginny stopped the spell she was preparing to cast.
"Oh my god it's Harry Potter!" the witch exclaimed dropping her wand at the same moment.
"Drop it," Harry said once more. This time directed to the wizard. The witch had her hands covering her mouth while staring wild eyed at Harry. Slowly the wizard's wand arm lowered until finally he dropped the wand to the ground. His eyes never left Harry's, and Harry's never left his. With the car alarms continuing to wail away both of them waited for the other to blink. In the end it didn't matter.
With the racket from the car alarms Harry never heard Ginny cast the stunning spells. He just saw the red light hit the man who collapsed in front of him. The witch made a move to help him, but she hadn't moved two paces before she too collapsed stunned.
He'd never tried it before so it took Harry several goes before he successfully turned off all the alarms, and with a modicum of peace restored to the industrial estate Harry turned to Ginny.
"Why'd you stun them? They'd given up," he asked.
"Just following some advice someone once gave me," she answered casually placing her wand back in her pocket.
"Which is?" Harry asked once it was clear that she wasn't going to provided anymore information without prompting.
"The best time to kick someone is when they're down."
"Who the hell told you that?"
"Charlie did when I was about seven. I was having trouble with one of the boys in the village at the time. He was right then, and he was right now." Harry felt he should argue the point, but an image of the late Madeye Moody shouting 'Constant Vigilance' at him stopped him.
"You have a point I suppose. I once heard Dudley explaining to one of his friends that if you wanted to punch someone on the nose you should aim for the back of the head. So what are we going to do with this lot then?" Harry said indicating the four bodies strewn around the car park.
"It's all right some Aurors are heading over we can let them deal with it. I suppose we better find Kingsley and see if this was worth the trip."
"Oh I hope so I don't want to do this anymore," Harry sighed.
"Chin up Harry it won't take long." Ginny's though was wrong, neither of them retuned to Hogwarts until late afternoon, where they were immediately accosted by Hermione and Ron. Not wanting to discuss what had happened in the crowded halls of the school he led them to the privacy of their room.
"Well what happened?" Hermione asked the moment the door was shut. Harry didn't answer straight away but kicked off his shoes and collapsed into an armchair. The girls perched themselves onto the end of the bed, while Ron sat in the other armchair.
"We recovered a small portion of what was stolen, and we know where the rest is …"
"That's brilliant," Ron shouted.
"Hold on it's not that simple," Harry said before Ron got too excited. "We know where it is, but we can't get it until it arrives at its destination."
"Which is?" Hermione asked.
"Cuba," Ginny answered.
"But why can't we get it on route?" said Ron.
"Because it's heading there on eleven different ships all of them taking different routes, and arriving separately over the next six to seven weeks," Harry said.
"And if we assault one ship the others would be warned and change their plans and we'd run the risk of losing them for good. The magical world has no sea presence that would enable us to board them all at once," Ginny added.
"Which is why we've agreed that we have to wait until it all arrives in Cuba, but that brings its own problems," Harry said.
"What are those then?" Hermione asked.
"Both Ministries have refused to talk to each other for the last seventeen years," Harry said.
"Why?" Ron asked.
"Harry's fault," Ginny said.
"What do you mean it's Harry's fault!"
"They were big fans of Voldemort apparently," Harry said, "and when my mum killed him the first time they took exception and cut of all ties and nobody's bothered to renew them since." Harry had decided that he was never going to take credit for what had happened when he was a baby.
"Well we just go and steal the money back then," Ron said. "It shouldn't be too difficult if we know where it's going to be."
"We can't send Aurors into another country Ron," Hermione said. "It's an act of war." Harry could tell though that Ron wasn't bothered whether it was or not and to be honest nor was he.
"According to your dad this sort of dispute normally ends up being decided by the International Confederation of Wizards, but we've upset them too," Harry said.
"What bloody idiot did that then?" Ron snapped. "I bet it was that Umbridge cow."
"Ah no that would be me again," Harry said ignoring the giggles coming from Ginny. "I suggested that we shouldn't pay our arrears and demanded a thirty percent rebate for the last fifty years. The upshot is we'll receive no help from them."
"Then we do it ourselves," Ginny said.
"Oh come on Ginny the four of us can't do this on our own. We've been through this."
"It won't be just us, Neville and Luna will come and Professor Urquhart has demanded to come too."
"We have no idea how many people we'd have to go up against, but you can bet it'll be more than seven, and even if we did succeed what do we do with the gold. There's tons of the stuff." Ron's eyes turned glassy and Harry knew he was thinking of mountains of gold.
"Then we find more help from somewhere else," Ginny said. "We can't let them get away with this."
"I meant it Ginny. I don't want to do this any more. I'm sick and tired of fighting. It's time for someone else to …" Harry suddenly paused. "I'm an idiot. I'll be back later I've just had an idea." Harry leapt out of the chair rammed his feet into his shoes and headed towards the door.
"Where are you going Harry?" Hermione demanded.
"I told you I had an idea. I'll let you know if it pans out." Hermione looked outraged that he wasn't telling her what the idea was. Well he thought the shoes on the other foot now. It's about time she realised how annoying it was after all the times she had pulled the same trick on him and Ron. He didn't really have the time to explain anyway if he wanted to catch the person he was after.
XXXXX
The Easter break was over and it was dawning on Harry that this was the last time he would be travelling to Hogwarts on the train. He had left the prefects cabin wanting to stretch his legs and get away from Hermione who was in full exam mode. Unfortunately Ginny had somehow become infected with the same disease and nothing he did would distract her. Harry could only assume that all girls got like this when there were exams looming over the horizon.
He knew he should join them in their study session he had never had so much to do and so little time to do it in. Hermione's revision schedule would have given him about two hours a day to himself if he had followed it. That was barely enough time to wash and eat. He had sneaked a look at Hermione's schedule when she hadn't been looking and hers looked even worse. Even if he had wanted to, which he didn't, he would have been unable to follow it anyway. It seemed like every other day someone at the Ministry had a problem that only Harry could deal with, mostly because no one else would agree or deal with the request.
It ranged from needing permission to increase the size of the Flue Network, to issuing permits to allow the import of dangerous plants and creatures. When that request had come in he had nearly told them to ask Hagrid and Madame Sprout opinions. If he had though the country would have been overrun with dragons and other equally interesting creatures. Instead he told them to go away.
Despite his best efforts to stop them the press had started to call him the Acting Minister. Why when he was still quite clearly at school he couldn't image. The Wizarding World was so bizarre at times that it seemed anything was possible.
Ron had joked that Voldemort would be turning over in his grave if he could see what was happening. Hermione of course had said that he had been cremated to stop any rituals trying to resurrect him.
In fact if it hadn't been for Ron making jokes of the way events had turned Harry might well have fled to their private island and never returned. Returning to Hogwarts was going to be something of a release. The Ministry found it harder to bother him there, and so long as they kept clear of the library there would be less contact with a doolali Hermione.
He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts Harry nearly missed the forlorn sight of two girls sitting together in a compartment on their own. He'd already past them and he could have continued patrolling the train pretending that he hadn't noticed them, but invisible strings stopped him going any further. His conscious wouldn't let him. With a lump in his throat he slid the door open and stepped in.
"Hi girls," he said unsure of what reaction he was going to get. Hilary and Irene had been staring out the window at the rapidly passing scenery and didn't seem to have heard him come in.
"Oh hello Harry," Irene said. Harry had finally managed to tell them apart by a small mole just under her chin. The normal sparkle in her eyes was missing and her whole demeanour was one of defeat.
"Do you mind if I sit down?" Irene shrugged her shoulders while Hilary resumed watching the countryside flash by. Harry sat next to Irene and said nothing more. What could he say that wasn't patronising or inane. He'd been at the other end of loss and had people say various meaningless platitudes to him. He didn't want to be one of them. The minutes dragged past and Harry found himself staring at the scenery along with the twins.
"You don't have to stay here Harry we'll be fine," Hilary said breaking the silence.
"I know," Harry replied staying exactly where he was. He had decided that he was going to stay here and just keep them company. Words to help them deal with the death of their father didn't exist, at least not in Harry's vocabulary. If they demanded he leave he would go without complaint, but until then he was staying.
"Don't you have head boy duties to do?" Irene asked.
"Probably but they don't matter."
"Won't you get into trouble?"
"Only if Hermione finds out I'm skiving off, which isn't likely as she's busy revising."
"Shouldn't you be revising as well?"
"I do enough. You girls are all mad when it comes to exams. Even Ginny's going bonkers."
"We are not!" Irene said. It was the first time that either of them had shown any real emotion since Harry had entered.
"Yea you are." Harry said. Hilary turned away from the window and opened her mouth as though to say something, but then decided against it.
"You'll fail them, and then where will you be."
"Playing professional Quidditch."
"Really," Irene now sounded excited, "Who for?"
"The
Chudley Canons."
"Are you mad? They're the worse team in
the history of Quidditch," Hilary shouted.
"Not once Ginny and I are playing for them." He wasn't sure how he'd done it but some of their old spark seemed to have returned to the Widdick twins.
"You'll be playing with Ginny, cool," Irene said.
"Oh no," Hilary suddenly exclaimed. "You'll be wearing bright orange, yuk."
"That is such a girl thing to say," Harry said wanting to raise their blood pressures and forget their woes for a little while.
"There must be another team that'll take you," Hilary said looking appalled.
"We wanted to play together and the Canons was the only team that would agree to Ron's conditions."
"Ron! What's Ron got to do with this?"
"He's our agent."
"You're kidding," they both chorused. Harry couldn't keep the smile off his face. The old twinkle was back in both their eyes.
"But he's an idiot."
"You haven't signed anything yet, because if you haven't you can still get out of it."
"It's all a done deal."
"Oh Harry you numskull," Hilary shouted. "They'll have ripped you off. You should have taken advice."
"I'm touched by your concern, but you needn't worry. I'm being paid more than any other Seeker in the League. Ginny is the number two Chaser, and we both get a percentage of the teams profits, plus merchandising." For a moment both girls looked impressed, but Irene's face turned to disgust.
"But orange!"
"Girls you're all mad! All you can ever think about is clothes."
"But orange," Hilary insisted.
"They're changing the uniform as well," Harry said with a smug grin.
"Really?"
"To what?"
"Not sure to be honest. There will be some orange in it I'm told, but we've been promised that it'll be toned down. Ginny will make the final decision."
"They want you that badly?" Harry suddenly felt embarrassed when he thought about it. The Canons had given in to every demand they'd made, or maybe he was doing Ron an injustice and he really was a naturally gifted sports agent. His friend had never shown so much commitment to anything in all the time he had known him, until now. Not only that he had told him in confidence that Oliver Wood was close to signing with him, and wonders of wonders even Vicktor Krum was going to join his agency.
"Yea I guess they do, strange isn't it."
"No, no it isn't," Hilary said.
"You're a great person Harry."
"High praise indeed, now if you both find things getting tough this term come and talk to Ginny or me, but only if you want to that is." Both girls nodded and Harry was sorry to see the sparkle leave their eyes as he reminded them of what they had lost. "I promise that the ones ultimately responsible will pay. Their days are numbered."
"How long until …" Hilary asked.
"One way or another it will be over by the end of term. I'll let you know when that happens, but don't ask for any more details I can't give them." Both girls looked at each other and seemed to communicate without words.
"We trust you Harry."
"Thank you that means a lot to me." And it did, he found he needed their approval.
XXXXX
Returning to Hogwarts was something of a release. The Ministry found it harder to bother him there and so long as they kept clear of the library there was less contact with a demented Hermione. The exams themselves came as a relief from the hard graft of revision, and as each one was done the mood amongst the seventh years lightened as the reality of finishing school came ever closer.
As fate would have it Defence Against the Dark Arts was the very last exam, and the one he was most anxious about. Anything less than an Outstanding would be considered a fail in his mind, and no doubt the wider world would have something to say about it as well.
"How did it go Harry?" Urquhart asked as he closed the door on the classroom where he had just finished the practical part of the exam.
"Oh it went fine," he answered not really wanting to say that he had found it surprisingly easy.
"Don't be modest Harry you aced it and you know it," Ginny said. "If anything the examiners were intimidated by you. That grey haired woman dropped her papers twice while she was talking to you."
"You making that up Ginny she was just a bit clumsy."
"She lost her place three times and kept stuttering. She was fine until you turned up."
"Yea well it won't make any difference whether she was or not, and I don't care that's the last exam I ever intend to take."
"So you'll be celebrating then?" Urquhart said a smile on his face.
"Eventually, but there's something we need to do first. A little bit of unfinished business to take care of. Are you still interested in catching the Santangelo bothers Professor?"
"Damn straight, do you know where they are?"
"Oh yes, meet us in the Main Hall at eight o'clock. That will give supper enough time to go down. It's one hell of a Portkey to where we're going."
"Where's that then."
"All in good time Professor, all in good time," Harry answered enjoying stringing the Professor along.
"Well at least give me some idea of what I should wear."
"Well there shouldn't be any snow on the ground at this time of year, but you get the idea."
"A warm hat wouldn't go amiss," Professor Ginny added without twitching.
"Alright I'll see you in the Main Hall at eight then." The Professor turned away to greet another student who had just left the exam room.
"Do you think he'll bite?" Harry said.
"I doubt it. He'll probably ask Hermione," Ginny answered."
"You could be right."
"Sorry!"
"I meant to say you're right as usual."
"That's better."
"I can't believe no more exams, no more revising, and no more lessons."
"I think we should wait until tomorrow before we start to celebrate," Ginny said. "We still have a certain financial problem to sort out." A crowd of second and third years were passing either side of them, unashamedly staring at them both, making open talk impossible.
"Oh there's no need to worry about that it's all taken care of."
"Mmmm …" was the only reply he got.
"Look all we have to do is turn up. You know what's going to happen. Your biggest problem is going to be not getting sunburned."
"The best laid plans of mice and men …"
"That's the beauty of the plan. It wasn't made by mice or men."
"Oh ha, ha Harry, things can go wrong at any time." Harry looked at his watch and smiled.
"Not anymore it can't. If it looks like they trying to move the money then they'll move in early. Us turning up is just a courtesy anyway. Come on I'm hungry."
Despite his outward appearance of calm Harry was tense and nervous as he waited in the Main Hall for everybody else to turn up. The last three hours had rushed by and dragged all at the same time. The overwhelming feeling though was that after weeks of waiting it was going to be over one way or another in the next few hours.
"I thought I was going to be late," Neville gasped as he ran in from the school grounds.
"Plenty of time Neville, plenty of time, we're just waiting for Luna and the Professor to turn up and then we can go," Harry said. Ginny, Hermione and Ron had arrived at the same time as he did. He hoped they would turn up soon or Professor McGonagall was bound to turn up and ask awkward questions. She had been remarkable agreeable to all his comings and goings over the last few months, and he doubted any other student had been given such latitude in modern times.
"So where are we going?" Neville asked.
"What has nobody told you?" Harry said.
"Luna just said to be here at eight if I wanted to get revenge."
"She said that!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Yep."
"And nothing else," Harry said also surprised at what Luna had said.
"I didn't need to know anymore than that." Sometimes Neville's and Luna's attitude to life amazed him. Both of them saw everything in black and white and at times Harry envied them that simplicity.
In the end the Professor and Luna arrived together a mere minute before eight a clock. Luna seemed as usual only to be half in the real world, but she gave them all a broad smile which Harry was more than happy to return. The Professor though was carrying a large holdall bag.
"Are you moving out Professor?" Ron asked his eyes on the bag. It clunked loudly when the Professor placed it on the ground.
"Just a few items that I thought might come in handy should things get difficult," he replied. To Harry's disappointment he wasn't wearing any thick clothing so he had obvious not fallen for his rather weak wind up. He was still smarting from the Banshee teasing he had had to endure.
"We won't need it sir," Harry said removing the Portkey from his inside pocket.
"You can never over prepare Mr Potter."
"If that makes you happy sir, bring it along, but we shouldn't need anything more than our wands."
"Old habits die hard." Harry then decided that he really didn't need to know what was in the holdall, and hoped that whatever was in there was stable enough to travel by Portkey.
"I think we should go before we're stopped by any well meaning person. If you get my drift" Harry was anxious to be away and avoid a meeting with the Headmistress. "I'll explain everything once we get there."
The trip to Haven Island was as bad as Harry remembered it the other times, and it took several minutes for the seven of them to regain their equilibrium. Without saying anything Ginny staggered towards the house and Harry followed her. The others joined them on the veranda although it took Luna some time as she seemed fascinated by everything around her.
"Am I to understand that just the seven of us are going to capture the Santangelo brothers?" Urquhart asked looking around as though expecting a small army of Aurors to appear. "Do we know anything about what defences they might have, how many guards there might be, and the number of reinforcements that can be called up?"
"No."
"What do you mean no!"
"I mean I don't know the answer to any of your questions," Harry answered blandly.
"What kind of operation are you running here," Urquhart demanded. "I've stayed alive by going over every detail three or four times before I've committed those under my command."
"It's not my operation Professor that's why I have no idea what's going on. We weren't the only ones to suffer losses. The Goblins are running the show we're just here as a courtesy."
"I'm not sure I want to put my life in the hands of Goblins," Urquhart said.
"If there's any fighting to be done they'll be the ones doing it, so relax. They're thirsting for revenge, and I have no intention of questioning their plan and getting my head bitten off. You can always stay here if you want. I know we have some firewhisky around here somewhere."
"So what are we doing here then?" Urquhart asked ignoring the offer of firewhisky.
"We're here to administer a little justice. The Goblins have decided that Ginny and I were wronged first. They're more interested in recovering the stolen gold than justice."
"You intend to kill them?"
"No of course not, unless they give me no choice." Harry said standing up irritated that Urquhart could think him so cold blooded. "That's not who I am. We need to go and meet the Goblins that is if everybody's got over that Portkey?"
The Goblins had made a temporary camp at the far end of the island and Harry was shocked at the mess they had made of it. Huge stone bunkers were scattered haphazardly on the beach and further inland, and everywhere he looked Goblins were busy moving around with apparent purpose.
"Harry they've ruined it," Hermione said her dismay evident in her voice. "This was my favourite part of the island."
"It's only meant to be temporary. They said they wanted some secure storage for the gold before they return it home."
"It doesn't look temporary to me," Hermione said.
"I'm sure magic will sort it out in the end." Harry wanted to believe what he had just told Hermione, but the further he walked among massive stone vaults the less he believed himself. In some areas the bush had been completely cleared and palm trees had been crushed by the dozen. It was going to take years to return to its former glory if it was left up to nature alone.
"Don't worry about it Harry," Neville said. "Muggle plants are easy to replace with magic. It's the magical ones that are awkward." Harry was glad to hear that, especial from Neville. If he didn't know then no one did. Anyway the destruction of a few plants was an easy price to pay to get them out of the hole they were in.
"Well it's not the most important thing to worry about for now. I need to find Slipknot and then we'll know what the latest is."
"How are you going to tell which one he is?" Ron asked. "They all look the same to me." Ron naturally said this just a fraction too loud so that a number of the nearest Goblins glared at him.
"Honestly Ron you can be so rude at times," Hermione snapped.
"I'm rude! The Goblins are the rudest race there is."
"That doesn't mean you have to be rude back. Politeness cost nothing and I don't doubt that wizards were rude first." Ron just gave Hermione a pitying look as though she was horridly naïve, but made no further comment, which was just as well as Slipknot appeared from between two of the bunkers.
"Mr Potter are you and your associates ready?" the goblin asked. "The first wave has already gone in." Harry looked around and when nobody said anything he said.
"Just say the word."
"That won't be necessary. All those wanting to go should hold onto this rope and wait for the Portkey to activate. If any of you are unable to apparate you will have to find your own way back as this is a one way trip. It will be too dangerous to come back the same way with all the gold we'll be moving."
"Blimey nice rope," Ron said as he grasped it." The rope had thousands of thin strands of goblin gold inter weaved among the purple silken threads. Harry had to admit that it made a nice change from an old boot.
"We require its return," Slipknot said, "and for your own protection I suggest you kept together, anyone on their own maybe mistaken for an enemy. After all to goblins all humans look the same." He directed this last comment to Ron who had the good graces to flush red in embarrassment. Around the beach small groups of Goblins were disappearing into thin air. Harry had been feeling fine up until this moment, but his stomach now had other ideas. Once again he was leaping into the unknown. Ginny slipped he spare arm into his.
"You alright Ginny?" he asked.
"Of course I am. I'm with you." Harry had no time to dwell on what had happened when that had last been said to him. The all too familiar tug on his navel focused his mind on what they might soon encounter.
All of them landed without incident on a white sandy beach in front of a palatial colonial style mansion. It had been built on thick white pillars that Harry assumed was to protect it from high tides or storm surges. His first impression was that it made his bungalow look like a shack, and for a moment he wondered whether he should build something like this to replace it. He discounted it almost as soon as he thought it. Grand imposing buildings just weren't him.
"Mr Potter this way please," an unnamed goblin commanded. He then ignored them and headed towards the house not once checking that he was being followed. All of them were looking around expecting some kind of resistance but there was nothing except the harsh call of a number of birds inland. The beach was as quiet and peaceful as it should have been. He wanted to ask the goblin some questions, but it was clear from his demeanour that no answers would be forth coming.
Underneath the house was a staircase leading into the centre of the house and it gave the first sign that there had been any sort of resistance as a section of banister had been blasted away and was now lying on the concrete. At the top of the stairs were two goblins guarding a green door and each holding a wooden staff inlaid with silver runic symbols. Ron was forced to push Hermione past them as she attempted to study the staffs.
The room they entered was a plush dining room devoid of any windows. It was surprising cool and unstuffy despite that. Three smashed chairs were the only sign that anything violent had happened there.
"In there Mr Potter," the unnamed goblin said pointing towards a heavy burgundy coloured door. Harry felt a moment of trepidation just before he opened the door. Everything had been so easy up till this moment. Unless his luck had changed something was going to go wrong in the next few minutes. He hoped his luck had changed. It was about time it did.
The scene that greeted Harry as he stepped into the room made him smile and gave him a sense of relief that he hadn't felt since Ginny had come round after the death of Voldemort. Lying on the floor were the two bothers that had caused this years problems.
Both men were lying face down in the middle of the room surrounded by four goblins. The only visible restraint was a thick rope wrapped several times around their ankles. No-one said a word they all seemed to be waiting for him to make the first move.
Harry none too gentle turned them over with the aid of magic, and just stared at them. A tight knot inside him just wanted to kick them both until revenge and his underlying anger had been satisfied. The brother's faces looked calm as though they knew something that he didn't. Unfortunately for them Harry was well informed about everything except one thing.
"Have you found all the gold?" he asked Slipknot.
"We have Mr Potter in a secret chamber at the other end of the house. We are still counting it all. First estimates indicate that we might even make a small profit." Harry raised his eyebrows at the news. Knowing goblins a small profit actually meant a thumping load of cash. He knew that he would have to discuss with them where that profit went to, but now was the time. He turned his attention back to the prisoners.
"You two might have got away with it if you hadn't been so greedy. Didn't you realise that there would be no where you could hide that we wouldn't find you. You took so much that it left us no choice but to scour the world. In the end the trail you left was pathetically easy to follow. Your sister isn't too happy with you either. She ratted you out in a second."
"I suggest you leave Potter. Helps on the way and then you and your friends will spend the rest of your lives in a sweaty Cuban prison if you stay any longer," Vittorio snarled.
Harry's eyes remained locked with Vittorio's, but out of the corner of his vision he saw Professor Urquhart move to one of the windows and look outside.
No one else moved, or seemed bothered by the threat.
"You'll never move all the gold in time," Alberto adds.
"Oh don't worry about that we have all the time in the World. You should both be worried about what fate awaits the pair of you."
"I hate to rain on your parade Harry but I'd guess we have less than five minutes. There's a huge cloud of dust heading this way."
"That's more than enough time to deal with these two."
"So you're going to kill us in cold blood then. You don't have the balls," Vittorio said. Harry just smiled back.
"No maybe I don't, although Ginny might."
"So what're going to do then? Put us on trial," he sneered. "We'd be out in moments."
"What you think you're innocent!" Ron said.
"This is an illegal arrest. We'd have you for kidnapping."
"That's pretty rich considering what you're guilty of," Harry said still smiling, "but I made a deal with the goblins. They get to put you on trial first, and once they've done with you we get what's left." All four goblin guards grinned nastily and for the first time since entering the room the Santangelo brothers paled.
"You can't do that."
"Wizards have never submitted to goblin justice."
"There's a first time for everything," Harry answered.
"You can't be serious Harry?" Urquhart said tearing himself away from the window.
"Deadly serious Professor, and even if I wasn't I gave my word."
"We won't get a fair trial."
"That's not justice," was shouted at him from the floor.
"I guess not. Let's just call it rough justice shall we." Harry then pulled out two gold coins from his pocket and placed one each on the chests of the bound men. "Do you want to do the honours Gin."
"Thanks," Ginny touched each coin with her wand and both men vanished from sight.
"Harry the goblins will kill them," Urquhart said once more by the window. "You might as well have done the deed yourself."
"The Goblin's promised me in writing that they wouldn't."
"And you believed them!"
"Goblin's always keep their written promises. It's wizards who don't."
"So what's going to happen to them?"
"Hard labour for life, I expect after a few years of shoving dragon shit they'll have wished I'd killed them instead. Still they could always try tickling a sleeping one. That would soon end their misery." Urquhart was looking pensive and annoyed at the same time.
"Well if we don't get out of here soon we'll be doing hard labour as well. A half dozen trucks have turned up loaded with wizards." Harry finally walked over to the window and watched as the grounds outside became over run with bodies.
"Don't worry about it Professor, relax. The house has been put under the Fidelius charm. If you look none of them can see the house that they know is here. With any luck they'll think the brothers have conned them out of their share, and spend the next ten years searching the globe for them."
"Why the hell did you invite me along?"
"You asked to come."
"But I was expecting to finish what they started, not be a bystander. There was no need for me to be here."
"Oh there's a very good reason for you being here professor. We've all left Hogwarts without permission, but as we're with a teacher it doesn't matter."
"So I'm just your alibi."
"Yep that just about sums it up. Now I think it's time for a drink," Harry said spinning on the spot and apparated away followed shortly by all his friends.