A/N: Sigh. This arc, once again, just keeps expanding on me. Two more chapters after this one. They just keep writing and writing themselves as I go. I plan to finish in a certain number of words and they just demand more. Two more. I think. Blame FairyWm for the Snorcacks who are just too cute not to write about them.

Title: Pt4: Aphrael's Errands Continued

"The Lone Traveler: Young man who tried to change the past and save those he loved… plan failed and became the Lone Traveler, wandering through time and reality, making a difference wherever he went… very powerful… defeated a powerful Dark wizard styling himself a Lord… swept along the path he walked by a spectacular aura of blue light."

'Legends & Myths of the Wizarding World' by Gertrude Yolanda

FF St ID 2673584 – Chap 9 – The Professional Modified FF St ID – Chap 58 - Dunuelos

Harry grinned to himself sleepily as he remembered that third visit on his Errand list. While he got along well with Goblins in most universes (some were quite irredeemable and others were just too foreign in their values) their sense of self-superiority did grate on one from time to time. He made every effort to allow for their customs and beliefs – but they could still be annoying sods.

Errand Pt III (Cont).

The Goblin manager watched as Aphrael, after a quick wink, put her pan flute to her lips and began to play.

As she walked deeper and deeper into Gringotts, Harry and the Manager followed. Goblins appeared quite regularly and immediately recognized the nature of their visitor – no one made any attempt to stop them. Soon they were exiting the bank proper and moving along tunnels where the Goblins lived. Harry was a bit wide-eyed at the number of snorcacks that seemed to be coming out of … well, everywhere. They did not act controlled. They acted very much like the friendly creatures they were – they were just all following the sound of the pipes.

Harry was a bit amazed at the size of the chamber that Flute had led them to. It was apparent that the Manager knew of it – it appeared to be a center of the Nation.

Over the next twenty minutes of Aphrael playing, more and more Goblins showed up to fill the area. But what was more amazing were the several thousand snorcacks which come from every nook and cranny of the Goblin Nation. All seemed to congregate around and watch the little girl who danced and played.

The Goblins were amazed as she danced and played on nothing but air – about twenty feet off the ground.

When her grand piece finally finished, it ended on a tone of complete joy. She opened her eyes and looked around. Still standing mid-air, she bowed to her listening audience.

The Goblin nation, as one, dropped to their knees in recognition of her Divinity. She giggled as she walked down toward Harry and the Manager. She called out, "Sillies! You don't need to bow! We're just having fun!"

When she was down, she said to the manager. "I think there's about 10,000 or so snorcacks here. Harry will buy 400 breeding pairs at 500 Galleons each – that's 40,000 Galleons for 800. Will that be okay?" Aphrael asked.

The manager was sweating. "That's an acceptable price. It will take time to sort out enough pairs though."

Aphrael smirked. "Not really." She pulled something from her dress – which amazed those watching as her dress had no apparent pockets. "This is one of those trunks you make that simulates the outside. I grabbed one from the workshop of Sandknife. Where is he? Sandknife! How much for the trunk?"

A Goblin pushed himself forward until he was in front of the small Goddess. "This Trunk is 2000 Galleons, your Holiness. Since it is for the life of the purchaser and you will outlive us all, my family will not expect it returned."

She motioned to Harry. "Pay the good goblin! And the 40,000 for the Manager here too!"

Harry retrieved the trunk he had in his pocket and, using wandless magic, quickly retrieved the sums she spoke of and delivered them.

Aphrael said to the Artisan, "Oh. I did change it a little bit – I hope you don't mind. It's a bit closer to what we needed for this job."

Normally, telling a Goblin Artisan that their creation had to be changed to improve it would be considered a deadly insult because it implied that the Artisan did not have sufficient vision or skill. However, the rules changed a tad bit when a Deity was involved. "No, it is fine. May I see the changes?" the Artisan asked.

"Certainly! Harry, expand the trunk and open it!"

Harry tapped the trunk's lock using wandless magic and the middle section of the lip jumped up. What surprised the artisan was that the front section of the trunk popped out a bit – the middle of it formed another door which opened down.

Harry pushed the lid up and pulled the front down and now the trunk seemed to open into a dirt tunnel which, after about ten feet, traveled up into sunlight.

Harry, Aphrael, the Manager, and the Artisan walked in and soon found themselves on a large plain with hills here and there. There seemed to be burrows for small animals. It was covered in grass.

"The hills are more like the places the Snorcacks live in the tunnels. These wizarding tents have supplies for those who are taking care of the farms. Over there are fields with carrots, potatoes, turnips, parnsips, rutabegas, artichokes, sweet potatoes, yams, beets, onions, garlic, kohlrabi, yuca, celery root, turmeric, ginger, radishes, and horseradish – all marked and plotted out. All of them are things that grow in the ground which is what snorcacks eat. Umm Harry?"

Harry looked over and saw that Aphrael was now a study of shyness and innocence. He wasn't buying it but played along. "Flute?"

"I hope you don't mind, but …"

"But …?"

"I kind of pinched the Galleons from you during your last stop to pay for all of the vegetables and the tents and all of that. Is that okay?"

Harry laughed. "Since it will save me an enormous amount of time and effort, I don't think you will hear me complaining. How much did you spend?"

"100,000 Galleons. Between nine different Universes."

"Aphrael? I absolutely love you." Harry was quite sincere when he said this.

The little girl crowed and jumped into his arms to kiss his face all over. She lived for such statements of love when it was completely genuine and completely unplanned for.

When she was done reclaiming Harry's soul (as much as she could get away with without her Grandma complaining anyway) Aphrael dropped down and looked at the Goblins. "I think you can see we have the means to move them."

The Manager and Artisan nodded – both still utterly amazed at what they were seeing. Aphrael led them back out to the waiting Nation … and Snorcacks.

Flute started playing her pipes and curiously several Snorcacks – instead of moving forward – moved back to find one Goblin or another. Harry understood that Aphrael was only returning well-loved pets to their rightful caregivers.

While she was perfectly willing to demonstrate her power and show off a bit, she was a kind-hearted Goddess at heart.

The tone of her pipes changed and once again the Goblin Nation had opportunity to watch the Divinity Dance and Play upon the air. The Goblin Nation also watched as snorcack after snorcack jumped into the trunk. The Manager counted 817 – Harry started getting out his trunk again.

Aphrael stepped down and looked around, as Harry paid the final 8500 Galleons. She grinned at the Manager. "Of course, you will probably have to spend of the nice Gold you just got feeding the remaining snorcacks for a couple of days until they make their way back to their burrows and hiding places. Unless you think that I should be forced to return them."

The Manager swallowed. He finally saw the price he would pay due to his lack of faith. He accepted it – it was entirely his fault.

The group was interrupted by two young goblins – apparently brothers. "Divinity?" Aphrael turned and saw the young Goblin and the teenage goblin. "My brother and I have gifts for you."

Aphrael came forward and the young Goblin presented an entirely white Crumple-Horned Snorcack. "He insists that this one is for you to take home."

Aphrael excitedly accepted the small creature – she wondered who had talked about her penchant for collecting pure white examples of different species as pets. After hugging the small creature, she kissed the cheek of the small Goblin in thanks. The teenager pushed another item forward. "I have spent the last five years since I started learning stonework making this by hand. I did not know why, but it is apparent to me now that it is for you."

He raised his hand and those watching were startled to see a small statue in obsidian. The image that appeared was a small girl child in a simple dress, barefooted. The girl's eyes were closed and her face was a study of contentment and joy as she danced away while playing the pan flute.

Aphrael gasped. "It's beautiful!" She accepted the small statute, her eyes mesmerized by its perfection.

The Goblin teenager nodded to the Deity. "You honor us in accepting our gifts."

Suddenly, Aphrael jumped at the teenager and kissed his face several times, showing him her approval. She also stopped to kiss the younger one again. They retreated as soon as it was polite.

Aphrael gasped and then sighed. "Harry?" she asked with a petulant voice.

"Yes?"

"Someone cheated." She sighed again. "My entire desire for petty revenge in fun for them doubting you and I has been entirely taken away by the wonderful gifts." She looked at the Manager as though it was his fault and sighed again. "Go ahead and pay for the food to feed the rest of the snorcacks until they can return to their burrows."

The Manager appeared to be thinking quickly as the small Girl-Goddess capitulated in response to the gifts from two of his people. He would be rewarding those small ones with Gold for their part in placating the Deity and helping to sate her annoyance. But, at the same time, … he sighed in turn and smiled – and it held none of the avarice of the normal Goblin smile.

"Deity? I will accept half and count the other half as a lesson in humility I needed to learn on my part. We each pay half then and we call it even."

Aphrael gave the Goblin Manager a joyful smile and said so that all could hear it, "I approve of your people and I will put in a good word to Mab for your part in assisting me and mine."

The Goblins, as one, all bowed deeply in respect to the visiting Deity and her promise as regards the Goddess that they themselves worshiped. Aphrael surprised them all once more as she eschewed the use of her pipes to play because she was holding the white snorcack and statue to her. Instead she sang – but it was now obvious that the pipes she played were all for show as her voice alone carried the pure and joyful tone that they had thought came from using the instrument. She danced into the air and disappeared.

Harry just grinned at where she had disappeared from. Aphrael was always fun. He heard the clearing of a throat and turned. "Shall we complete our business?" the Goblin Manager said.

Harry just grinned internally. Divine visitation or no, Goblins were what they were and never changed.

Harry finally completed the financial aspect and received all the relevant paperwork and records. Included were several hundred copies of a booklet on the care and feeding of snorcacks.

In reviewing it quickly, Harry stumbled onto a section which made his eyes go wide. Suddenly he knew exactly where the snorcack breeding grounds had to be located. He sighed. This was going to mean even more work.

Harry had a sudden thought. "I may need another service."

The Manager was interested. "Oh?"

Harry sighed. "I have retrieved a fair bit of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts from the dimension where I was born and lived. I have been reliably informed that dimension is doomed – otherwise I would not have removed so much currency from it as I know doing so might create financial instability. An economy needs the currency that it has flowing so that it does not stagnate."

The Manager nodded. "True, true."

"Since we here have come to an understanding … I would deposit much of the currency that I have taken with you as this is a universe that I have been able to find repeatedly as needed. We shall make an exact record of how many Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts that I deposit. In the future, I will likely have need of retrieving them as needed in one place or another. If I start an account and use a portion to invest, with the understanding that I shall never remove more than I originally brought to other worlds, would you be willing to treat it like any other vault otherwise? Invest a portion to increase its value, protect it, etc."

The Goblin considered this. "And the profits shall not be taken to other dimensions?"

"No. I will likely come on occasion to place items I receive that I have no current use for or retrieve items that I might need in other places, but money wise, I will remove only that which I originally brought and no more. The purpose of ensuring there is a profit is to cover costs and to form an emergency reserve for you and I in the future. If Gringotts or a Ministry is in dire straights and the infusion of a loan might prevent catastrophe, I will allow it to back loans which will prevent economic collapse. But the principle of what I originally brought must never be lost or we could introduce more problems than we solve. Once the account is comfortably in the black and the original investment is repayed, lock away the original principle from further investment and work with the profit."

In the end, it took a meeting of the full Goblin leadership but the deal was done. Harry now had a place to store and retrieve things when needed which had been a problem in the past.

At Harry's suggestion, the family which had the two boys who gave gifts to Aphrael were picked as the direct Accounts Managers for this account. They considered it quite an honor.

Harry would later be amused when he realized he had effectively started the first Inter-Dimensional Savings and Loan: For some reason that particular universe tended to attract dimensional travelers like flies to honey. And Gringotts and the Goblin Nation prospered due to the increased business long after the Humans had mostly left the Earth for greener pastures.

Errand part IV

It was 24 February, 1995, the day of the First task, and Harry Potter, Lone Traveler, found himself in another part of the universe he was currently dealing with. He looked at the house he was about to approach.

Finally, he walked up and knocked on the door. The door opened and the owner said, "Can I help you?" After a moment though, the owner recognized the visitor and said, "YOU!"

Harry nodded. "Yes. Me. Can I come in?"

"Of course! Of course!" Xeno Lovegood retreated from the door, allowing his visitor to enter. This was a man he had not seen since 1982 – when they had arranged for that license. He had since faithfully worked to find the creatures in question because, even if he would profit from not finding them, it wasn't in him to give up.

Besides, he mused with melancholy, he didn't have much else to do with his life since he lost his precious wife and his daughter was off to school.

Harry sat down on the offered seat and looked around. At that moment he decided that it was entirely a good thing that as of tomorrow morning the Lovegoods would be hosting a devoted house elf. His natural legilemency proved the truth of what he suspected: Xeno Lovegood was stuck in the past and was barely holding on. His interest in creatures was weakening as he was becoming more and more obsessed with the Deathly Hallows to reach his late wife.

This would not do. This would not do at all.

Xeno asked, "So. What can I do for you? Come by to check on the search?"

Harry sighed. "No. We do need to talk about that – but we have several things to do first and I need you thinking clearly." Harry placed the trunk from his pocket on the table and stood up. "We need to visit a few places."

Xeno stood up, confused. "Oh? Where do we need to go?"

"You'll see." Harry grabbed his arm and prayed that this worked.

He had been in the associated afterlife of his own universe. He had never visited another. He was about to do something decidedly wrong or remarkably unique. He prayed that he offended none with his presumption – but it was the one thing that he knew would work. And so, holding his victim … er, passenger, Harry traveled …

And the two found themselves standing in front of a large house built like the Bishop on a Chess board. Harry supposed it was logical – on Earth it had been a Rook. Selene had obviously wanted something new. The door opened and the image of the woman he had met and saved in quite a few universes appeared. In her characteristic voice she said, "Thank you, Harry Potter, for bringing him. I will take care of it. I will have him ready to return in less than an hour." She turned to her still alive husband and her face took on a less than happy look. "We need to talk, Love."

At that, Harry calmly walked around until he found a bench. He sat down and pulled out the pamphlet regarding the snorcack and started reading.

Soon, however, he was interrupted by two visitors – he recognized both. He put the pamphlet away and greeted them. "Hello."

Death looked at Harry and said, "I know you have some flexibility in how you can interpret the rules, but isn't this … I don't know … a bit too far?"

God just calmly stood there, allowing the two to hash things out, a small smile on his face. Harry was amused that God was in his Goth Boy image.

Harry scratched his chin and considered it. "Yeah. I know. And it's not something that I do lightly. If you can see your way to ignoring it just this once, I'd appreciate it. But after considering all other options – I thought an hour now is better than seeing him come here naturally a year from now."

Death shrugged. "Such is always possible. Life and death are both part of the natural order."

Harry nodded. "But remembering that little girl I found huddled in the hallway – I will do everything in my power to prevent her from receiving any more pain until I know she has healed sufficiently. Like it or not – this is my choice." Harry took on a small smirk. "If you want to argue more about it, I'll ask Aphrael to come and talk to you on my behalf; I'm sure you would love arguing with her."

Death crossed his arms petulantly. "Fine. This once. Try to avoid this. I don't want to have to field requests for eternity for the same treatment." Death looked at God and said, "He really doesn't play fair. Threatening me with Aphrael? Eternity is too short to fight with that little Goddess. And you just can't win with her."

God gave death a smirk and said, "I told you that he will act as he feels correct. Free Will. There's a reason he was picked. Arguing with him will be almost as bad."

Death considered that and grinned. "Okay." Death sat down on a nearby rock. "I missed most of the meeting when she got the Snorcacks – a whole bunch of idiots from another world on a mass suicide trip. Tell me what happened! It's always fun watching Aphrael having fun getting over on idiots."

God, Death, and Harry sat around for a while enjoying themselves, recounting various stories and experiences. After about an hour, Selene Lovegood appeared again leading a chastised Xeno. "He's ready now. You can take him back. I'll be waiting for him when it's time. Hopefully he can find me a sister wife in the meantime because some of what I've seen when you are with two women looks quite fun."

Harry laughed. Selene was Selene in any world.

Death looked at Xeno and said with a harsh voice, "Are you ready to live your life with purpose? I can just as easily take you should you continue as you have been!"

Selene rolled her eyes and hit Death on the shoulder. "Stop being so mean! It's all taken care of. You can just stay out of it."

Death sighed and shook his head. "With some people, there's just no winning!"

Harry, grinning, said, "Just wait until you get their daughter to deal with. I envision you'll need to make a white flag or two which will get frequent use when Luna shows up in the afterlife."

Death's eyes widened. "Your daughter will have a long and healthy life! At least if I have anything to say about it."

Harry laughed. God looked at him and said, "Harry?"

"Boss?"

"Skip the Enterprise. I have a better solution."

"Where?"

"Remember that little boy and the old man you met on that rural road? The one where you talked about magic?"

Harry thought back. "Yeah. Garion and Mister Wolf." (Stories of the Lone traveler Chapter 13)

"Well it's actually Belgarion and Belgarath. The boy didn't know but Mr. Wolf was his ultimate grandfather – a few hundred generations back. The boy's Aunt is Polgara, Belgarath's daughter – and she's a better choice as she has done the procedure before. Just concentrate on the boy grown up and when he's visiting her and you should be able to get there. Stop back at the Rookery and pick two of the more friendly ones – Polgara just had kids and they will make wonderful familiars. I will ensure they live long enough for that purpose."

Harry was taken aback, but curious. "Wow. That actually sounds like fun. Thanks for the advice, Boss."

"No problem. I'll take this one," he pointed to a sulking Death, "and see if I can cheer him up."

Harry grinned. "Have fun with that. Just remember you're getting the rest of Riddle soon." At that, Death grinned again.

He turned to Xeno, who meekly moved forward under his late wife's steely gaze. "Ready?"

Xeno nodded. "Yes. I'll do as Selene says."

"Good."

Harry waved right before he concentrated and traveled …

Harry quickly entered the trunk he had left and, using a bit of dirt from the ground inside, transfigured a cage large enough for two snorcacks. "Okay!" he called out. "I need two snorcacks for two young magic users!" This approach was entirely on a whim – and somehow it worked.

Two snorcacks trotted out of a burrow in one of the hills and ambled right up to him. They looked at him expectantly. "Okay. Yeah. This is perfectly normal."

The two snorcacks were making sounds – Harry suspected laughter. He could just see the handiwork at play: God was not without a sense of humor. As further proof: As soon as he put the cage down and opened it, the two walked right in and made themselves comfortable.

Harry looked at them and shook his head. Sometimes his days got very weird. He turned and retreated and found Xeno waiting with a small amount of curiosity. When he saw the cage and the creatures, his eyed widened. "Those are …"

"Yep. And this trunk has a habitat for them and about 400 breeding pairs and a few extras. You're about to become a snorcack breeder – just as soon as we get you fixed up."

Xeno was in a daze as Harry once again grabbed him and, doing as his Boss suggested, traveled …