The Great Goblin Rebellion October 1991

What triggered a goblin rebellion in October 1991? Harry Potter's introduction to magical Britain goes differently, and Hagrid's trip to the secret vault…well, the cart gets tipped off the track completely.

Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling, the creative lady who shared her wizard and his life with the world. She's kind enough to allow others to play on her beach for a while.

&& FROM LAST CHAPTER &&

There was a sudden alarm in another level of the vaults that sent Steelcrusher and Poppins running along the tunnels. Outside the vault belonging to Bellatrix Lestrange (nee Black), four goblins and Cursebreakers cast several detection spells.

"The Phvyhgs-Sturrdel-Gryhiglzehwe has rolled in the dragon dung and danced on the stage at the Royal Albert Hall naked," one muggle-born wizard declared. "There's a horcrux inside this vault."

The goblins grew loud and the humans among them fell silent to not attract attention. The curses filling the air once again created a blue streak in the space above their heads and the Cursebreakers used wandless magic to shunt the wild, blue magic into the wards that protected the bank from magical attack.

The news was taken to Ragnock who threw knives and hatchets against the wood panelling in his public office for an hour while Steelcrusher spent the same hour pounding rocks into pebbles with an iron mallet that weighed as much as the goblin.

Andrew made his way back to his apartment, found Harry asleep in a comfortable chair.

"Harry, come on, let's get you to bed," Andrew said, helping the sleepy boy to rise from the chair. Harry was dressed in his pyjamas and a robe, Stuffy had the bed covers pulled back when Andrew led the boy inside the bedroom.

"Is everything okay?" asked Harry with a yawn.

Andrew hugged him and said, "The grownups will take care of everything. You just get a good night's sleep."

Without thinking, Harry hugged Andrew around the waist, climbed into bed, and let the Cursebreaker pull the covers up. The boy-who-lived fell asleep again before Andrew shut the door behind him.

&& SLIGHT CHANGE &&

In the DMLE offices, Albus Dumbledore began to understand the seriousness of the situation when Amelia Bones called Daniel Greengrass on the floo, asked him to join them in her office, and shared the recorded view of Professor Quintus Quirrell's attack and robbery in Gringotts.

"This is the DADA professor for Hogwarts?" asked the wizard, his wand in his hand.

Pointing at Dumbledore, Amelia replied, "Either it's Quirrell or some wizard named…"

"No! Don't say his name!" Dumbledore implored the witch while the unicorns continued their demolition derby.

Greengrass shouted, "Headmaster Dumbledore if that wizard is employed by you, you're an idiot! Come September, my daughter and her friends will not come to Hogwarts if that man is in the castle. And the other parents will make certain the paper hears about this!"

Alastor Moody waited until he was alone with Dumbledore – in a small, secure conference room to grill the headmaster. Dumbledore insisted on waving his wand to remove all listening and spying charms, revoke all runes, and try to bamboozle Alastor. The charms to confuse or wipe Moody's mind fell off the man's robes like water off a sheet of glass. And the muggle recording machine – a 'taped recorder device' – ran silently underneath the table.

"Albus, who is Tom Riddle? The name scared you more than anything I can ever remember."

"You mustn't say his name."

"Why?" asked Moody, watching Dumbledore carefully.

"There's a taboo that lets him hear you…find you."

Moody huffed, "During the problems with the Death Eaters, you always said we should use the Dark Idiot's name rather than You-Know-Who, even though we knew he'd placed a taboo on the name Lord Voldemort."

"That name gave the Dark Lord power because everyone feared him. It fed his darkness and power."

"So, who is Tom Riddle?" Moody insisted on knowing.

"I can't tell you that," Dumbledore replied again. "You must trust me, Alastor."

"Can't? Don't you mean you won't tell me?" Moody replied.

But then the Auror's mind made a connection between the facts, and he froze. Not taking his eyes off Dumbledore, his wand pointed directly at the headmaster's head, Moody moved to the door and fled. The Auror shut the door behind him and locked it.

Albus was able to unlock the DMLE locks without too much trouble. He stepped out into the hallway and found Amelia Bones with several Aurors waiting at one end of the hall. The path toward the elevators was clear, and Dumbledore strode toward them, not bothering to look behind at the Aurors who were sweeping the hallway and interview room for Dumbledore's spell and charms.

Director Bones cursed Albus Dumbledore for several moments but then stopped wasting time. She spoke with Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour, and they assigned several teams of Senior Aurors to begin the hunt for Professor Quirrell. Albus exited the elevator on the level of the ministry where the Atrium lay with the floo connections available to everyone. He vanished through the flames without speaking to anyone, his robes now shimmering silver, the colour unicorn blood, instead of lime green.

&& CHANGE && Daily Prophet Reports

On 3 August 1991, the headlines of the Daily Prophet asked, "What Happened to Harry Potter?" The lead article reported that multiple persons remembered seeing the boy-who-lived enter the bank with Hagrid. Merchants around the alley reported selling the young boy all the items needed for his first year at Hogwarts. Additional articles in the paper reported Harry's colour choices for his robes, regular clothes, socks, and underclothes.

A picture of the trunk reportedly sold to Harry Potter was printed – the most expensive trunk in the shop – and the proprietor sold three that same day. The next day, The Daily Prophet received a letter from Harry Potter (via a Gringotts vault manager), and the newspaper reproduced it faithfully on 5 August. The letter detailed Harry Potter's true experience in the trunk shop. While many purebloods agreed with the sentiment about 'mudbloods' and muggleborn, they kept their mouths shut when the majority of witches and wizards demanded the proprietor apologise (and all three trunks were returned for full refunds).

In another article in the newspaper, Mr Garrick Ollivander refused all comments about the wand that chose the boy-who-lived. Still, the wand crafter did remind everyone that a child needed to begin their instruction in magic with a wand that no one had ever used. He was quoted directly, "Family wands are good for backups after a wizard's magical core is mature, but until they are 17 years of age, a wizard or witch must have a new wand."

The reporters only learned about the meetings in Gringotts the previous afternoon when Minster Fudge and his Undersecretaries made statements about the robbery at Gringotts being the work of one individual, a wizard identified as Tom Quirrell. Fudge declared, "The goblins will pursue the arrest of this individual, but the Ministry and the DMLE will remain uninvolved. Goblin concerns – what happens inside Gringotts – are not the concerns of the Ministry for Magic."

Over the course of those busy days in August, many individuals came to the bank with leads on the whereabouts of Quintus Quirrell and his brother, Thomas Quirrell. However, nothing of any real value was learned. Other persons from the Ministry for Magic, reporters from the Daily Prophet, and Minerva McGonagall entered Gringotts and asked to speak with the Boy-Who-Lived. They were each disappointed to be turned away without a chance to talk with Mr Harry James Potter.

Albus Dumbledore never thought to ask the only person in Magical Britain who might have been able to pry some information from the goblins about the Boy-Who-Lived.

&& CHANGE && Goblin Information

Professor Filius Flitwick used the floo in his office to leave Hogwarts and travel to the Atrium in the Ministry for Magic. He knew the headmaster paid attention to every staff member leaving the castle and their destination. Once in the ministry, Flitwick made his way to the Department of Games to review his options for attending the Winter Duels in Vienna (invitation only) in December, the Miami Duelling Competition in spring (round robin), and the East Asia Open Wand tournament next summer. He'd placed second in the Andes Confederation of Wizards Competition this past July, and demand for his participation in duelling tournaments remained high. There were multiple wizards and witches in the department. Flitwick engaged in long conversations with many of them about their children or their own lessons under his instruction years earlier.

Reporters arrived and asked about Flitwick's thoughts about the duelling circuit for the remainder of 1991 and the beginning of 1992. After a long meeting with the Department of Games and even posing for photographs with several persons, Flitwick made his way to the Department of International Cooperation. The well-respected duelling champion provided a friendly report to Director Bartemius Crouch about the shaky relations between Magical Britain and several nations on the continent. Crouch, who despised all goblins, refused to give the half-goblin's information any value.

Then the diminutive professor made his way to the exit to the Muggle World. As required by law, he cast a strong glamour on himself to take the appearance of a small person. Once in the elevator to the telephone box, he cast several spells that removed tracking spells and added a very strong Notice-Me-Not charm. He wandered about London for almost an hour to make certain no one followed him before disappearing into the underground. Flitwick rode three trains for ten minutes each before walking across one platform and disappearing into a hidden doorway.

In the bank, the half-human was greeted warmly – he was a valuable source of accurate information for the Gringotts Bank, and while he was friends with many humans, goblins were his first family. His students were his second family, and he chaffed under the arbitrary decisions that Dumbledore seemed to make. The increasing frequency of these decisions concerned the half-human, but none of his fellow professors noticed or seemed concerned.

Today, a carefully worded notice in the Daily Prophet brought Filius to the bank via this secretive route. He found himself seated at the table with his cousin, Ironstream Black Vault Manager, and Steelcrusher, Head of Security, who wore gold caps on their teeth. Filius understood the purpose of the golden caps – when a goblin bit an opponent during a fight, the golden teeth were left behind to identify the opponents killed by different goblins easily.

'Biting is frowned upon in wizards' duels,' Filius remembered, but he smiled, imagining the look of surprise when he bit some of his different opponents.

"Cousin, I thank you for coming so promptly."

"Of course," Filius replied. "How can I help Goblins today?"

"There are many troubles this month for Gringotts," answered Ironstream.

"I am sorry to hear that. How can we make these troubles scream in pain and flee to remove the trouble from Goblins?"

Ironstream proceeded to tell Filius Flitwick about the identity of the burglar (Quintus Quirrell), the reward being offered by Ragnock to the goblin (or wizard) who apprehended the man and brought him to the bank. Steelcrusher hissed, "Alive, if possible, but if not, pieces totaling at least 75% of the whole will do so long as the head and face are intact."

"Quirrell? The muggle studies professor?" asked Filius. "I am surprised. I never believe anything printed in the Daily Prophet, and this time they got half the story right."

"Hasn't Dumbledore mentioned this?"

Flitwick shook his head. "Albus has been tight-lipped about the burglary at the bank, and he has said nothing about Quirrell since he announced the man would be the DADA professor beginning in September."

The goblins asked their informant to investigate the name Tom Riddle at Hogwarts and discover if there was a connection to Riddle. Then Steelcrusher spoke about the mysterious stone that had been stolen and the fact that the artefact left no traces or magical signature behind.

Flitwick asked about the steel bag in detail and informed them the bag was most likely a new magical device created by a Korean Wizard in the last ten years – a null-magic container.

"My contacts on the Duelling Circuit shared this information in return for a memory of duelling a particularly tricky Indian wizard two years ago. The ICW is keeping the lid on the existence of this material the Koreans created that can block out all magic. Dumbledore probably got his hands on one from the ICW," Filius explained. "And a stone fits with the obstacle course he has had me and the other professors create in the castle. He says he intends to hide a great treasure in the school this year to protect it."

Ironstream asked, "And you agreed to this? Do you remember Hogwarts is a school full of children?"

Grimacing, Flitwick explained, "Gringotts understands that I must agree to Dumbledore's orders, strange as they might be. If I protest too loudly, he will fire me. I can't get work with the Sturrdel wizards even after I put them on the ground in duel after duel. And Dumbledore believes he has been beaten down into submission."

"Forgive me doubting your honour, Filius Flitwick," Ironstream said.

Steelcrusher added, "The spy is always the loser in the war."

"Do you know what this stone is?" asked Ironstream.

"No, Albus refuses to name it, and the others go along with his decisions without question," Filius said. "But you have more to tell me than tales about a burglary and mysterious stone."

"Indeed, cousin," Ironstream continued. "The Phvyhgs-Sturrdel-Gryhiglzehwe that calls itself Bellatrix Lestrange hid a horcrux in her vault here at Gringotts."

The half-human sat perfectly still for a full minute, his heart racing as his lips parted to reveal his human-shaped teeth displayed in anger. "The Phvyhgs-Sturrdel-Gryhiglzehwe brought what into the sacred stones of Gringotts?"

"It brought a soul jar," Steelcrusher stated. Bellatrix Lestrange lost her designation of being a being with a soul when the goblins discovered the existence of the soul jar within the vault she rented. From that moment, Bellatrix would be referred to as 'it' – a thing without a soul.

Filius shuddered and prayed, "Oh, maker of heaven and earth, now I know I have a soul because it cries in pain to hear that such a thing exists and lies within the sacred stones of our home."

"Ragnock and the elders have not moved against the vault yet – they are debating putting out a death contract on it, the husband, and the brother in Azkaban," Steelcrusher admitted.

"Will Gringotts brick up the front of the vault?"

"No, the evil of a Horcrux will eventually spread and corrupt the very stones of the passageways. It is for certain that the gold and gems inside the vault are corrupted and must be destroyed."

Flitwick sighed. "This is too much!"

Ironstream said, "There is more, cousin."

"More?" asked the usually calm wizard-goblin.

"Harry Potter is here, safe and protected in the bank."

"Yes, I had heard that though Dumbledore swears you have him in a cell without food, water, and light."

"He is under the protection of the bank and in the custody of Andrew Poppins here at Gringotts. Nothing and no one will harm the boy."

"Poppins? He's still here?"

"Yes, and likely to remain through the whole of August to help the boy-who-lived adjust to this new reality of magic."

Filius nodded and waited; there was still more to come.

"When we found the Horcrux in the bank, the cursebreakers continued their search, and after a long night, they determined that another piece of the same soul as in the Horcrux was lodged in the scar on Mr Potter's head."

"What?" shouted Filius Flitwick, a goblin knife appearing in his hand magically. "Is Potter alive? What happened?"

&& CHANGE SCENE &&

In Andrew Poppins's apartment, Ironstream and Sowsbreath brought a new fellow to meet with Harry Potter, his guardian, Poppins, and his cousin, Andromeda Tonks. Filius knew Mrs Tonks by reputation as a formidable attorney and devoted mother of rising seventh-year 'Don't-Call-Me-Nymphadora' Tonks. He knew Poppins to be a powerful curse breaker in demand around the world to deal with Dark Wizards when they created problems with terrible curses or charms.

The boy seated in a comfortable chair with a large Eagle Owl perched on the back of the chair was the unknown. Yes, he had the messy black hair and green eyes reported to characterize Harry Potter, but the scar on his forehead was covered by a small bandage this afternoon.

Filius noticed that Poppins was tense and watched him closely. Andromeda was in full mother-goblin mode. If anyone dared to touch any of her pebbles, heads would roll rather than the round balls of stone that hatched into young goblins. And the owl kept lowering its head to stare deep into Flitwick's eyes. And finally, the boy-who-lived watched carefully.

"Lily," Filius said with as much warmth and gladness in his voice as possible. "You have the look of your mother about you, Mr Potter. Her green eyes could see everything from the first day I met her in my classroom."

"My mum?"

"Yes, Lily Evans, she was then. She wanted to know everything but understood that we had to progress from point A to point B before we could leap to point C."

Harry nodded because he understood the idea the small man was sharing. Pointing at Ironstream, Flitwick continued, "This is my cousin Ironstream, and he thought I should meet you today while I was in the bank for some family business."

Grinning quickly, Harry replied, "That's the excuse Cursebreaker Poppins uses for being here in London."

Andrew grinned for a moment, Filius snorted, and Andromeda glanced at the goblin Ironstream. Sowsbreath asked, "How do you feel this afternoon, Mr Potter?"

Harry touched the bandage gently and said, "I feel good. The healers were quick in the hospital and pulled out that thing. It kicked around some, but they had it in a jar really quick. My head doesn't ache, and I can see better now too."

Andromeda caught Ironstream's eye and hissed, "Yes, just think how quickly that could have been handled ten years ago if someone bothered to talk to interested parties."

Sowsbreath said, "Mrs Tonks, my colleague had no obligation to speak with you. The Black family turned their back on you years earlier."

"He made time to talk to Lucius Malfoy every quarter. That wizard wanted nothing but to loot the Black vaults. I wanted to help the legal Black heir!"

Harry and Filius looked equally confused until Ironstream admitted, "Mrs Tonks is correct. I behaved like a Sturrdel-Gryhiglzehwe and refused to meet with her. Malfoy kept pressuring me that his son would be the next Lord Black with Sirius in Azkaban and everyone else dead."

"But Harry Potter is the next male heir – his grandmother was the daughter of Lord Phineas Black," Andromeda stated. "Where the Malfoy boy's mother is the daughter of a daughter of Lord Phineas's son."

"It is confusing for me…and for Harry," Andrew said to interrupt the lecture. "But Mrs Tonks is Harry's closest living magical relative, and she will be his guardian at some point in the future. For today, he remains in Gringotts."

Sowsbreath directed the conversation back to the original purpose of the visit by saying, "Mr Potter, Professor Flitwick will be the instructor in the charms class you attend at Hogwarts. He is a renowned master of Charms and a duelling circuit champion among the wizards."

Ironstream nodded and asked, "What is it, Filius? Four-time European Circuit Champion?"

"Three-time European Champion and twice World Champion

"Wow!" Harry replied. "Do you teach any duelling at Hogwarts?"

"We have some classes when there is time," Filius explained. "Your cousin's daughter is one of my most faithful students wanting to learn how to fight."

Harry grinned, "Dora is supposed to visit me this afternoon with her dad."

"Miss Tonks is a very interesting witch," Filius said just before he noticed that the boy's hair had turned bright red and the owl was now a barn owl, like the common owls at the school.

His eyes sparkling with delight, Filius said, "And you've got some magic like your cousin! Excellent, Mr Potter! Excellent!"

Andromeda said, "But we're not going to tell anyone…not Dora and certainly not Headmaster Dumbledore."

"Do you plan not to tell Miss Tonks?"

"Not until Harry decides to tell the general population. My daughter went through a terrible first year at Hogwarts because everyone kept after her to show them different forms. Harry will decide when he tells anyone."

"And the owl's ability?"

"Hedwig…her name is Hedwig," Harry announced. "She's my familiar, and she wants to be able to hide in plain sight."

"She wants to hide…the owl wants?"

"Yes."

Flitwick grinned, showing all his teeth, and said, "Mr Potter, allow me to tell you about the four houses at Hogwarts. If you don't mind…if your guardians don't object, I hope to convince you to join Ravenclaw House in September."

Andrew Poppins said, "That's what we want to hear today."

After the goblin visitors left and Andrew and Andromeda walked to the lobby to meet and escort Ted and Nymphadora back to the apartment to meet Harry, Stuffy popped into the apartment with the Poppins medicine bottle to dose Harry with the daily teaspoon of medicine.

End of Chapter

Next Chapter, we begin to see what happened to Professor Quirrell while the goblins find more spoiled potions every time they deal with the Ministry for Magic.

Author Notes on Goblin Curses:

There are several goblin curses used in this story. They do not have English translations because they deal with human mating practices as imagined by adolescent goblins who have only met a few wizards and generally never seen a witch in their lifetimes.

Sturrdel: (Mild obscenity dealing with a wizard confusing mating with breathing).

Sturrdel-Gryhiglzehwe (Aggravated obscenity: A wizard confuses a boggart with a witch, attempts to mate, and asks a goblin for directions).

Phvyhgs-Sturrdel-Gryhiglzehwe (Most obscene: A wizard confuses one or more boggarts, or trolls with one or more witches, and attempts to mate with some level of success).

Phvyhgs-(Humorous obscenity: Human males approaching a boggart and attempting to mate).