Harry felt the familiar sensation of being squeezed through a tube as they apperated out of the manor and landed on solid earth and. He could smell salty air nearby; they must be near the ocean. He saw Nico on the ground taking in deep breaths of air; Harry remembered this was his first time apperating.
"Is everyone alright?" he asked, and everyone nodded except for Griphook, who merely nodded.
"Is this the right place Dobby?" he asked turning to the elf, but his heart nearly stopped as he saw Dobby swaying before him, Bellatrix's knife impeded deep into his chest
"DOBBY!" He cried, running towards the elf, "Dobby-no-HELP!"
Percy rushed over to his side and scooped up the elf, then began to run. Then, without hesitation, he jumped off the cliff and into the sea below, carrying Dobby with him.
"IS HE MENTAL!?" shouted Ron, peering over the cliff with Hermione in his arms.
"No." said Annabeth, a smile tugging at her lips, "He's a genius!"
Harry barley heard any of this, his mind so clouded with grief for the elf, and rage that Percy had just sent him to a watery grave. Then, out of nowhere, a huge geyser erupted from the sea, with Percy standing triumphantly onto, still holding Dobby. He stepped onto land and gently set down the elf, who stood up happily. Bellatrix's knife was nowhere to be seen, and Dobby seemed to be in perfect health! For a moment, Dobby just stood there, gazing at his unscathed chest in wonder, then, he ran towards Percy, joyous.
"Thank you sir! You has saved Dobby's life! Dobby is forever grateful sir! Thank you sir!" cried the elf; bowing so low his nose touched the ground. Then, he promptly stood up and hugged Percy around the waist. Annabeth walked over to Percy and held his hand, grinning.
"Nice job, Seaweed Brain." She said. Even Nico had cracked a smile. Harry and Ron, however, just stared open mouthed from Percy to the elf then back to Percy.
"But-What-how-?" Ron stuttered, but he was cut off from a voice farther away.
'Who's there?!" it said, "Identify yourselves!"
Dobby abruptly let go of Percy to see the figure the voice was coming from, while Annabeth, Percy, and Nico all drew their blades. The man speaking looked somewhat like Ron, with flaming red hair tied in a long ponytail down his back and freckles. He had many scars on his body.
"Bill! It's me, Ron!" said Ron running up to the man, Bill. But bill was still pointing his wand at Ron. Ron sighed, and then said.
"I'm Ron Bilius Weasley, second youngest child in the Weasley family, my patronus is a dog and I came to stay with you and Fleur a couple of weeks ago."
Bill quickly lowered his wand. "Ron! What are you doing here? Who are-?" He quickly stopped talking as he saw the half conscious and Hermione limp on the ground next to Harry. "Come inside." He said.
A few hours later, after Percy, Annabeth, and Nico had been introduced to Bill, Ron's brother, and his wife Fleur Delecour, his wife, Bill began to get curious about who exactly the half-bloods were.
"So, where are you from?" asked Bill over the dinner table. They were dinning with him as well as Fleur, Dean, and Luna. Hermione and were still too weak to come down and had their food delivered to their rooms and Griphook, who was in perfect condition, was too stubborn and haughty to join them and insisted he be brought his meals.
"We're from America, Long-Island" said Percy.
"I see," said Bill, "So why did you come to England?"
"Uh, we came here to help fight You-Know-Who." I improvised.
"Then we came across Harry, Ron and Hermione, and since then we've been helping them on their mission." Finished Annabeth.
Bill nodded, but eyed them suspiciously. "And how exactly did you 'come across' them?" he asked.
"We, uh-"
"Bill!" said Fleur in her thick French accent, "It eez' not polite to interrogate- uh-question ze' guests at ze' dinner table!"
Bill nodded and the rest of the dinner finished in silence except for the occasional small talk. Bill seemed friendly with Percy, Annabeth, and Nico when he showed them their room, but it was clear he didn't trust them when he pulled Harry aside for a private talk.
"Harry, I want you to know you can tell me anything" Bill had said to him quietly, "So I want an honest answer, where did those three come from?"
"I can't tell you that Bill, I'm sorry." He said.
"Just like you couldn't let any of the Order join your quest?" he asked, raising his eyebrows, "What allows these strangers join your mission, and yet not any of the Order?"
"They're…different Bill. Maybe someday I can tell you who they are, but now's not the time." Said Harry.
Bill sighed. "I trust your judgment Harry, if you think they can be trusted, that's your decision, but they seem awfully odd to me." Said Bill, "especially that Nico one, I just don't think you should let them in on whatever secret mission your doing, Harry."
"Thanks for the advice, Bill, but they're already in on it now, nothing's going to change that." Said Harry, before walking away to join Ron, Percy Annabeth, and Nico in Hermione's room.
"What were you talking about downstairs?" asked Annabeth when he arrived.
"Bill wants to know what's going on." Said Harry, "He doesn't trust you three."
"Quite understandably" said Percy, "If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't trust me either."
"Let's get back to the topic at hand." Said Hermione, who looked much better and was sitting up in bed. "Where's the next Horcrux?"
"In a place called Gringotts, in Bellatrix's vault." Said Nico without hesitation.
"That's what I thought too; by the way Bellatrix was so panicked when she asked me what else we had taken from her vault." Said Hermione.
"Speaking of that," said Percy, "Where did you get that sword? You didn't steal it from the vault did you?"
"No, the one in her vault is a fake." Said Harry "We found this one in the woods. Someone left it for us…" he trailed off lost in thought.
"I'm telling you two, it was Dumbledore!" Ron said suddenly to Harry and Hermione. Hermione rolled her eyes and Percy could tell this was an old argument.
"Dumbledore is dead, Ron." Said Hermione, "There's no point denying it."
"Come on Hermione; look at the facts, the silver doe that lead us to the sword, the eye in the mirror-"
"Harry admits he could have imagined the eye." Said Hermione, cutting Ron off "Didn't you Harry?"
"Yes," said Harry, "But I seriously doubt I did."
"I saw an eye too!" said Percy "It was bright blue, and I don't think two people could have imagined the same thing."
"There you go!" said Ron, triumphantly, 'Dumbledore's alive, and, helping us!"
"Well, uh, that eye could have been anybody! If someone's helping us, that's good but whoever it is, it isn't Dumbledore." Said Hermione. "As for the Horcrux, I truly hope it isn't in Gringotts-"
"It is." Said Nico, "I could tell she was concerned about a soul."
"Oh no, this is bad." Said Hermione, "How are we going to' break into Gringotts, it's never been done before!"
"It shouldn't be too hard" said Percy, 'Breaking and entering is elementary to us."
"But this isn't just any old muggle bank!" said Hermione, "This is the safest place to put something; it's guarded by spells, enchantments, even dragons!"
"Dragons?" said Nico, "Well that explains why I sensed a beast nearby."
"Is there something we could study the building by, a blueprint or map or something?" asked Annabeth. Percy smiled at this. It was so like Annabeth, when in doubt, turn to architecture.
"The place is huge; it spreads out all across England underground! No one knows anything much about it, much less how to navigate it." Said Ron "Except for the goblins. They run the place." he continued as an afterthought.
"Then we'll talk to Griphook." Said Harry.
"He'll never help us, Harry." Said Ron.
"I know I wouldn't betray my old work place." Said Percy.
"We'll just have to make him agree. He's the only way we have a chance of getting the second Horcrux." Said Harry.
"If he doesn't cooperate, we'll have to force him to help us." Said Percy.
"No, that's too risky." Said Annabeth, "if we force him to help, he'll not only have a grudge, but a huge tactical advantage."
"There are tons of ways he could expose or harm us if he wanted to." Said Nico, "Unless he willingly helps us, we've got no chance."
At that moment, Fleur came into the room, clutching a pile of laundry in her arms.
"Fleur, where's Griphook?" asked Annabeth.
"E' eez in zee' smallest bedroom." She said, her brow creasing at the thought of him. He had been a lot of trouble for her. They headed over to talk to him. Taking a deep breath, Harry knocked on the bedroom door.
"Come in." said his reedy voice. The room was dimly lit, the red cotton curtains casting a fiery glow over the tiny bedroom. Griphook was sitting on the bed.
"You are a strange group of wizards." He said finally after an uncomfortable pause.
"How so?" asked Harry
"You saved an elf" said Griphook, looking at Percy, "And a goblin." Turning his gaze towards Harry. "You brought me here, you saved me."
"I take it you're not sorry." Said Harry a little impatiently
"Oh no, Harry Potter." Said Griphook, twirling his long fingers through his beard, "But you are a very strange group of wizards."
"Well, Griphook, we need some help." Said Annabeth, "Help you can give to us."
The goblin gave no sign of encouragement, but continued to stare unblinkingly at the six of them.
"We need break into a Gringotts vault." Said Harry finally. The goblin remained silent for a moment, not a single emotion crossing his face.
"Break into a Gringotts vault?" he said at last, "It is impossible."
"No, it's been done." Ron contradicted.
"Yeah, the same day I first met you Griphook." Said Harry, "My birthday, seven years ago." Percy raised his eyebrows. So Harry had met Griphook before, what was his connection with him?
"The vault in question was empty at the time," snapped the goblin, and Percy understood that even though Griphook had let Gringotts, he was offended at the idea of its defenses being breached. "Its protection was minimal."
"Well, the vault we need to get into isn't empty, and I'm guessing its protection will be pretty powerful," said Nico. "It belongs to the Lestranges."
"You have no chance," said Griphook flatly. "No chance at all. 'If you seek beneath our floors, a treasure that was never yours-"
"Thief, you have been warned, beware.' yeah, I know, I remember," said Harry. Percy was confused at this, why would a bank have a trademark poem? Then, he just shook his head; these wizards did pretty strange things.
"But we're not trying to get ourselves any treasure; we're not trying to take anything for personal gain. Can you believe that?" Annabeth continued.
The goblin looked slantwise at Harry.
"If there was a wizard of whom I would believe that they did not seek personal gain," said Griphook finally, "it would be you, Harry Potter. Goblins and elves are not used to the protection or the respect that you have shown this night. Not from wand-carriers."
"Wand carriers." Percy murmured. He only just realized have only the wizards carried wands, though many other creatures were full sentient and clearly magical.
"The right to carry a wand," said the goblin quietly, "has long been contested between wizards and goblins."
"Well, goblins can do magic without wands," said Ron.
"That is immaterial! Wizards refuse to share the secrets of wand-lore with other magical beings, they deny us the possibility of extending our powers!"
"Well, goblins have magic that they won't share either," said Annabeth.
"That's right!" Said Ron "You won't tell us how to make swords and armor the way you do. Goblins know how to work metal in a way wizards have never - "
"It doesn't matter," said Harry, noting Griphook's rising color. "This isn't about wizards versus goblins or any other sort of magical creature-"
Griphook gave a nasty laugh.
"But it is, it is precisely that! As the Dark Lord becomes ever more powerful, your race is set still more firmly above mine! Gringotts falls under Wizarding rule, house-elves are slaughtered, and who amongst the wand-carriers protests?"
"We do!" said Hermione. She had sat up straight, her eyes bright. "We protest! And I'm hunted quite as much as any goblin or elf, Griphook! I'm a Mudblood!"
"Don't call yourself-" Ron muttered.
"Why shouldn't I?" said Hermione. "Mudblood, and proud of it! I've got no higher position under this new order than you have, Griphook! It was me they chose to torture, back at the Malfoys!"
As she spoke, she pulled aside the neck of the dressing gown to reveal the thin cut Bellatrix had made, scarlet against her throat. Percy didn't know what a Mudblood was, but it was obviously some kind of insult. He remembered when Fenrir was questioning Harry, Ron, and Hermione and had asked for their 'blood status'.
"Did you know that it was Harry who set Dobby free?" she asked. "Did you know that we've wanted elves to be freed for years?" Ron fidgeted uncomfortably on the arm of Hermione's chair. It was clear he hadn't been as enthusiastic about elves' rights as Hermione. Percy, Annabeth and Nico showed no attempt to imply they had any art of it.
"You can't want You-Know-Who defeated more than we do, Griphook!" finished Hermione.
The goblin gazed at Hermione with the same curiosity he had shown Harry.
"What do you seek within the Lestranges' vault?" he asked abruptly. "The sword that lies inside it is a fake. This is the real one." He looked from one to the other of them. "I think that you already know this. You asked me to lie for you back there."
"But the fake sword isn't the only thing in that vault, is it?" asked Nico. "Perhaps you've seen other things in there?"
The goblin twisted his beard around his finger again.
"It is against our code to speak of the secrets of Gringotts. We are the guardians of fabulous treasures. We have a duty to the objects placed in our care, which were, so often, wrought by our fingers."
The goblin stroked the sword, and his black eyes roved from the six of them and then back again.
"So young," he said finally, "to be fighting so many."
"Will you help us?" said Percy."We haven't got a hope of breaking in without a goblin's help. You're our one chance."
"I shall... think about it," said Griphook maddeningly.
"But-" Ron started angrily; Hermione nudged him in the ribs.
"Thank you," said Harry.
The goblin bowed his great domed head in acknowledgement, and then flexed his short legs.
"I think," he said, settling himself ostentatiously upon Bill and Fleur's bed, "that the Skele-Gro has finished its work. I may be able to sleep at last. Forgive me..."
"Yeah, of course," said Harry, but before leaving the room he leaned forward and took the sword of Gryffindor from beside the goblin. Griphook did not protest, but Harry thought he saw resentment in the goblin's eyes as he closed the door upon him.
Once they were outside the door, Ron burst into an angry tirade,
"The little git! He likes keeping us hanging! He's got it in for wizards!"
"Ron!" Hermione whispered, "He isn't deaf, he'll hear you!"
Annabeth sighed. "We're not going to get anymore out of him tonight." She said. "We should all get to bed, it's late." And with a hasty good night, they all went to their separate bedrooms.