The Founders' Intervention
By: Sheltie
I still don't own Harry Potter at all
Chapter 10
Snape was still on the run and he yet reached his home. It seemed everyone was on the look out for him, which made traveling that much more difficult. He was sweating now with fear that he might be caught. The mantra in his head was, 'got to get home, got to get home'.
/Scene Break/
Harry smiled for the first time since the attack.
"Thank you Ragnok" he said.
"It is no problem Lord Potter, we can't have a friend of the goblins get hurt and not do something about it" Ragnok said.
Ragnok had ordered Snape's vault to be taken and its money given to Harry for damages. Though Harry altered a bit and split the money between himself, Cho, and Flitwick since if it wasn't for Cho running for help he'd probably be dead and if Flitwick hadn't come he'd probably be dead. Also since Cho suffered from emotional distress from the attack it was only fitting that she get money for it.
It turned out that Snape had a ton of gold in a vault that he had kept hidden under another name that not even the goblins knew about until now. Along with the gold there were several notebooks on potions he was trying to improve or create. Hermione and Daphne dove at these and pored over them religiously.
Dumbledore tried to stop this, but wasn't able to since the Ministry was trying to do their best to appease Harry, the Boy-Who-Lived, the public wouldn't stand for it either. So Dumbledore couldn't do anything.
Harry was not only a Lord of the Potter family and the last of the line, but also a friend of the goblin nation and goblins take their friends seriously and they took the attack Snape did on Harry personally and did everything in their power to strip Snape of everything. Also, if Snape stepped foot on goblin soil then he'd be punished accorded to goblin law.
/Scene Break/
Back at Hogwarts Rowena was plotting more and more terrible ways for Snape to pay for hurting Harry. Her plans got more elaborate as they got more gruesome in details. Salazar was hiding from Rowena and Helga was doing her best to calm her friend. Godric was terrified of his wife and hid with Salazar.
"When I get through with him there won't be a greasy stain left to identify him" the originator of the house of the smarts said.
"Rowena, I know you're upset, but please think rationally" Helga said.
"I am Helga, I'm thinking rationally. I going to rationally feed that greasy snake his own bollocks" Rowena said.
Salazar gulped and crossed his legs tightly upon hearing this.
"Godric, please remind me of this moment the next time I annoy Rowena" the originator of the house of cunning said.
"I will as long as you do the same for me" Godric said.
/Scene Break/
Things in the school got back to normal, well, as normal as Hogwarts can get. Hermione led all the investigating of the chamber while the others followed her lead. Harry was still a bit stiff with his leg and Malfoy was mocking Harry about it.
"What's the matter Potter, can't take a little pain" Malfoy mocked.
Harry gritted his teeth since he was getting fed up with Malfoy's attitude.
"Bugger off Malfoy" Daphne snapped.
"Shut Greengrass, you should listen to your betters" Malfoy said smugly.
"Please Malfoy. If you want to go that way then you'd be bowing down to me and Harry since both of our families are more older and prominent than yours is" Daphne said.
"No one is more prominent than the Malfoys" Malfoy boasted.
"Please Malfoy, the Longbottoms are more prominent than your family. The Longbottoms along with the Potters are Ancient and Noble families" Neville said.
"You're just a squib, what do you know" Malfoy said.
"Malfoy, I'd hold my tongue if I were you" Harry hissed.
"Why's that Potter?" Malfoy asked.
"Because if you mess with the Longbottoms than you mess with the Potters. The Longbottoms and Potters have been allies for many, many years and will gladly stand by them in battle every time. So watch you mouth" Harry said.
Malfoy sneered and walked off.
"What an arrogant ponce. I wish we could do something about him" Susan said.
"I do too" Neville said.
"There might be a way, but I'll need to talk to the founders about it" Harry said.
With that they left and headed to the founders' chamber.
/Scene Break/
"You want to do what?" Rowena asked shocked.
"I want to know if getting Sirius out of prison early will disrupt the timeline anymore than we've already done?" Harry asked.
Rowena dipped her head and began to think. What Harry was asking was a big thing and needed careful thought before they acted. They all knew Sirius was innocent and that Pettigrew was living in reasonable comfort in Ron Weasley's dorm.
"Why are you asking this Harry?" Salazar asked.
"Malfoy. I know that the Malfoys get a lot of their money because the Blacks. Since Malfoy's mom married his dad they get an dowry that is paid every month. I want Sirius free and cleared so he can break the marriage leaving the Malfoys with less money. He could do the same to the Lestranges too" Harry said.
Salazar looked so proud of Harry that he leapt up and hugged Harry tight.
"I'm so proud that my teachings has made such an impact. I don't think I've ever been happier" he said.
Harry was freaked seeing Salazar act like this and hugging him so tightly. He looked to the other three founders for help.
Godric had an amused look on his face and looked like he wished he had a camera. Helga was shaking her head and Rowena was still in deep thought.
"Let him go Sal, please" Helga said with a sigh.
"Oh, right" Salazar said.
He let go of Harry and straighten his robes.
"Well done son" he said in a formal tone then sat down.
"Now you see what I went through" Daphne whispered to Harry.
"I know, and feel for you" Harry whispered back.
Neville chuckled at the whole thing with Susan covering her mouth to stifle the giggles that threaten to escape. Hermione just rolled her eyes.
Rowena stopped her thinking and began writing.
"You got a plan my raven sweetheart?" Godric asked.
"Yes I do Godric, and please never call me that again" Rowena said.
Godric frowned.
"What's the plan?" Harry asked.
Rowena showed that with the help from Amelia that they could show off that Sirius was possibly framed. With some help from the paper they'd make enough questions fly about that everyone would be pointing fingers and want to know the truth. This would then help to push a trial for Sirius. There was no guarantee that it would work and how quickly it would. But it was a plan.
/Scene Break/
Luna was wandering the halls when she came to a floor with water everywhere. She was curious and went looking for its source. What she was found was a flooded bathroom. She turned off all the sinks and looked around to see who had done it. That's when she heard someone crying.
"Hello, is someone there?" Luna called.
A ghost came out through a stall door and looked at Luna with an incredulous look on her face.
"What do you want?" she shrilled.
"Um, why have you been crying?" Luna asked.
"Someone threw a book at me, but why should they care. I am only a ghost. I can't feel anything" the ghost whined.
Luna knew who this ghost was. She heard of her from a lot of students in the school. This was Moaning Myrtle.
"I'm terribly sorry that someone threw a book at you" Luna said sincerely.
"Oh, and why is that?" Myrtle asked accusingly.
"Because it isn't nice for anyone throwing anything at someone ghost or not" Luna said.
Myrtle thought for a second then went back to moping about something. Luna blinked unsure what to make of the ghost. But she went to the stall that Myrtle had come out of and found a small leather book. She took it and dried it off with a spell then left. She didn't want to hear another sound of Myrtle's whining.
/Scene Break/
Luna showed off the diary to her friends and the founders. The founders shared a look, but said nothing. Hermione took the diary and looked at it.
"It's blank, there's nothing in it" the bushy haired girl said.
"Do you suppose the person never wrote in it?" Neville said suggested.
"It belongs to a T.M. Riddle. Funny, I don't know a student with a last name like that" Harry said frowning.
"It could be an older student?" Daphne suggested.
"No, we know most of the older students" Fred said.
"Yeah, never heard someone with the last name Riddle. I mean, we'd remember that" George said.
Fred nodded agreeing with his brother.
"Well then it must've belonged to a former student" Hermione said.
"I guess, but it feels like something familiar" Susan said frowning.
"You don't mean" Neville said.
"I think so Neville" Susan said with a nod.
It was found that Susan had a small sensitivity to certain magics. Rowena has been working with Susan to help focus this sense since it could be very useful in the future.
"So we have the same thing that the diadem was" Hermione said.
"I'm not too sure, but it feels like the diadem" Susan said.
"Well, what do we do?" Neville asked.
Luna took the diary and dipped a quill into an ink well and began to write.
"Luna, stop!" Daphne shouted.
Luna's words she wrote disappeared and then words in a different handwriting than Luna's appeared.
"What in Merlin's name was that?" George asked.
"No idea, but we must be careful since this is magic that we don't understand" Daphne said.
The others agreed.
The founders said nothing as this was going on since they didn't want to influence them at all. They were pleased at how cautious they were, but how they still never backed down from a challenge. It warmed their hearts knowing that what they had taught was being used.
/Scene Break/
Meanwhile a frantic student was tearing up their room looking for something important.
"Where is it, I have to find it. I have to" the student said in a panic tone.
The room was torn apart, but it wasn't found at all.
"Oh, what will I do?" the student moaned.
/Scene Break/
Amelia had every auror in her department looking for Snape. She wouldn't let them rest until the greasy potion master was found. She pushed them all. She helped motivated them by telling them that he had attacked the Boy-Who-Lived. This got the aurors going since Snape had done a very bad thing. He tried to kill their savior and that wasn't kosher. There was wanted posters all over with Snape's face on them along with a reward.
/Scene Break/
Snape finally made it home and breathed a sigh of relief. He checked over his whole house to make sure there wasn't any charms or spells on it. Once cleared he entered and locked the door behind them. The house was under his mother's maiden name Prince so it was safe for him to hide in for a while until he got the funds he needed to escape. But first he needed a good rest. He placed alarm charms all around the front door and then the floo. After he finished with that he went to bed for a good rest.
/Scene Break/
Dumbledore had a frown on his face since every letter he had tried to sent to his potion master was returned. He didn't understand why they were since he was sure he addressed them properly. He needed to find him and put him in a place that would be safe and only he'd know about. Then when all this nonsense was over with he'd bring Snape back to the castle and resume his duties.
/Scene Break/
The group was studying the diary since this one was different from the diadem and they didn't want to make a mistake. They had the diary under lock and key. The goblins were helpful and gave them a special mini safe. This safe was only used by goblins within Gringotts, but Harry was able to get one since he was a friend of the goblins. So they placed the diary in the safe every day they were done with it. They didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands.
"We have to destroy it" Neville said.
"I know Neville, but I think we should find out all we can from this Riddle guy before that. He can give us insight on certain things" Daphne said.
"But it's dangerous and I don't want it to hurt you or Hermione or anyone else" Neville said.
"Aww, that's sweet Neville. You care for me" Daphne teased.
Neville couldn't stop the red tinge that was creeping into his cheeks.
The two were in the greenhouses working on some plants that needed some pruning. Neville always volunteered for this and Daphne joined him occasionally. This was one of the times. They talked with one another and had a solid friendship between the two. Of course the twins joked that they were next in line to be a couple.
"Look Neville, we all know how dangerous it is. We've read the source material about Horcruxes and how bad they can be. We've always been careful in handling it, so you don't have to worry" Daphne said seriously.
"I know, I just don't want anything to happen to you all" Neville said sincerely.
Daphne smiled.
/Scene Break/
Snape awoke feeling refreshed for the first time in a long while. He changed clothes then began packing. He packed everything that was precious to him. He needed to get out of Britain since he knew not even Dumbledore could save him from this. Not that he cared what that old buzzard had to say anyway. So once he was packed he placed a glamour on himself and headed out. He was careful with his every step.
Soon I'll be out of here he thought.
/Scene Break/
"What an utter load of dung!" Susan shouted.
Harry, Neville and the twins rushed over to see what the commotion was about. They found a seething Susan, an angry Hermione, a cock headed Luna, and a frowning Daphne.
"What is it?" Harry asked worried.
"We know who opened the chamber all those years ago" Daphne said still with a frown on her face.
"Well who is it?" Fred asked.
"Yeah, don't leave us in suspense" George said.
"Hagrid" Susan said.
This shocked everyone.
"What, that can't be. Hagrid would never do that" Neville said adamantly.
"Yeah, the bloke's the gentlest person we've ever met" Fred said.
"He's also the biggest guy we've ever met, but he'd never hurt anyone" George said in full agreement with his twin.
"There has to be a mistake" Fred and George both said.
"I agree. Hagrid may like dangerous creatures, but he'd never do something like that knowingly" Harry said.
"So who do you think it is then?" Daphne asked.
This made everyone pause, but then Harry blinked and smiled.
"What's with the smile Harry?" Hermione asked.
"It's quite simply Mione" Harry said.
Hermione blinked. She hated not knowing something and this was one of those times. She began tapping her foot and glaring at Harry. She wanted an answer now.
"Harry James Potter" she growled.
"We ask Hagrid what he knows" Harry said.
/Scene Break/
Snape made his way knowing that he was being looked for. He made it to Diagon Alley then stepped forward into Gringotts. He made it to one of the tellers and placed his key on the counter.
"I want to make a withdrawal" he sneered.
The goblin looked at Snape with a passive face. What Snape wasn't aware of was that the goblin pressed a button to alert someone.
"Very well, come with me" he said.
Snape followed the goblin, but soon realized they weren't heading to the tunnels, but somewhere else. He got nervous and was soon to turn around and leave when he found a couple armed goblins right behind him. this wasn't good for him at all. Soon they made it into a very posh office.
"Mr. Snape, how fortunate you come to see us" the goblin behind the desk said grinning.
"I don't know what you're talking about? I am not this Snape" Snape said hoping to fool the goblins.
"Mr. Snape, your glamours don't work on us. The lights we have at the teller window are specially made to see through glamours of all kinds" The goblin said.
Snape gulped.
"Now Mr. Snape, you want to make a withdrawal. I'm sorry I can't do that since your vault has been seized and its contents disturbed to others" the goblin said.
"What? You dare to steal my gold" Snape said now glaring at the goblin.
"You, Mr. Snape, attacked a friend of the goblin nation and we goblins take our friendships very seriously" the goblin said returning the glare.
Snape's mind was in a swirl. The Potter brat is a friend of the goblin nation. How could that be? There hasn't been a friend of the goblins since the founders. How could the Potter brat pull that off?
"Now Mr. Snape, you are about to know what we do to people who attack our friends. Take him away" the goblin said.
Snape was hauled away kicking and screaming.
/Scene Break/
News of Snape hit Harry and he smiled.
"What's got you smiling Harry?" Susan asked.
They were in the middle of studying in the founders' chambers when Harry got the note.
"Oh, just Snape tried to get gold from his vault" Harry said folding up the note.
"Really, how'd he do it?" Daphne asked.
"He tried using a glamour. The idiot" Harry said.
Daphne snorted.
"The idiot" the Slytherin second said.
/Scene Break/
The talk with Hagrid was insightful and they found that Hagrid was wrongfully accused. This outraged the group and they vowed to do something about it. Susan told Hagrid she would talk to her aunt. They left feeling good about what they learned. But they still had a problem, who was ordering Nellie now? The diary was the key. They knew that, but they didn't know who had the diary before them. When the founders showed them the timeline that could've been it glanced at a few things and some of it they had forgotten. They weren't sure if this was what the founders had planned, but it didn't matter since they still had a mystery to solve.
/Scene Break/
Amelia got a letter requesting her presence at Gringotts as soon as possible. The head of the DMLE left the office and head to the bank. Once a the bank she was led into a room.
"Madam Bones, I'm glad you were able to come so quickly" Ragnok said.
Amelia was shocked to find Ragnok meeting with her. Not even the Minister could get a meeting with the most powerful goblin in Britain.
"The letter seemed urgent" Amelia said.
"That it is. We have in our custody Severus Snape" Ragnok said.
Amelia's monocle dropped from her eye.
"You do, how in Merlin's name did you pull that off?" she asked.
"Quite simply. Every wizard needs money if they are going to flee. So he came in wearing a glamour hoping he'd not get caught" Ragnok said.
Amelia shook her head. She knew that there was no spell on earth that could fool the goblins. They had every single safety precaution there is to not only protect themselves, but their customers.
"When can I have him?" the head of the DMLE asked.
"That won't be possible" Ragnok said.
Amelia was angry at this, but held her temper in check. She knew better than to demand things of the goblins.
"May I ask why?" she asked politely.
"Severus Snape has attacked a friend of the goblins. We don't take this lightly. We will punish him to the full extend of goblin law" Ragnok said.
Amelia gulped. The goblins had a nasty way of punishing those who broke their laws.
"And who may I ask is your goblin friend?" Amelia asked.
"Harry Potter" Ragnok said.
Of course Amelia thought.
Soon the two talked about what the DMLE could do in this situation and they came to an agreement.
/Scene Break/
The next day the newspaper was filled with Snape being captured. That Gringotts was the one who made the arrest and was holding him on crimes against the goblin nation. No mention that Harry was a friend to the goblins was there. Also there was an interview with Amelia stating she had a chance to interrogate Snape before he was brought to Goblin justice. What was told showed that Snape wasn't repented at all and how gleefully used his position as head of Slytherin to make things worse for the entire wizarding world. The number of potion master, aurors, healers, and other jobs that required potions highly had dropped since Snape took over as potion teacher.
The article and the accompanied articles had the three head of houses enraged. Dumbledore had his head in his hands as he tried to think of a way to save his potion master from the goblins and hopefully intact.
/Scene Break/
Harry and his friends read the paper and chatted about what it said.
"Looks like auntie squeezed as much information as she could out of Snape" Susan commented.
"It does, but it doesn't look like everything is here" Daphne said.
"She's right, I bet there are more stuff, but your aunt is holding that back for some reason" Neville said.
"I wonder why?" Hermione questioned out loud.
"Maybe we she can tell us" Harry said.
"What do you mean Harry?" Daphne asked.
"Harry has a letter from her" Luna chirped.
Luna was the only person aside from Harry to notice Hedwig deliver the letter.
"Before that it looks like you'll be chatting with Dumbledore" Daphne said glancing up at the head table.
Up at the head table Dumbledore was talking to Flitwick and it didn't look Flitwick was happy at all. The charms teacher then hopped off his seat and headed to Harry and his friends.
"Mr. Potter, the headmaster wishes to speak with you after breakfast" Flitwick said.
"Okay sir" Harry said with a nod.
"Be careful Mr. Potter" Flitwick said.
Harry nodded.
/Scene Break/
Harry entered Dumbledore's office and sat down waiting for his interrogation to begin.
"Ah Harry" Dumbledore said in his grandfatherly tone.
"Sir, what can I do for you?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore frowned. This wasn't how he had planned it.
"Harry, I was wondering if there was any way you could have a talk with the goblins in releasing Severus into my care?" Dumbledore asked.
"Why would I do that sir?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore frowned.
"Because Harry, he is a member of the staff and a good friend of mine" he said.
"You let good friends of yours fire spells at children?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore frowned even more.
"Now Harry, you need to learn forgiveness. It is the only way to the road to redemption" the old wizard said.
Harry snorted.
"What was that Harry?" Dumbledore asked.
"Sorry sir, but forgiveness is only a small step in the road to redemption. You must pay some sort penance for your crime" Harry said.
"But Severus has done that. He's a teacher here at this school. He imparts knowledge to those who seek it" Dumbledore said.
Harry sighed and shook his head wondering if those lemon drops the old man loved so much was laced with something that fried his brain cells.
"Sir, I know you have read about how very few potion masters, aurors, and healers we've had since Snape became potion teacher here. So I think it is reasonable to say that Snape has not done his part to earn his redemption" Harry said.
Dumbledore didn't like this at all. Harry was too cold. This wasn't good. He needed the boy to show mercy and forgiveness. That's was the only road of light. The path Harry was heading toward was dark and with no return.
"Sorry sir, but though the goblins are my friends I can't do anything about Snape. My hands are tied" Harry said.
"Very well, you're excused" Dumbledore said with a sigh.
End of Chapter
A/N: finally, I'm done with this chap. Lord, it took me so long to write this one I thought I would never seen it done. Well, Snape is taken care of now onto the Chamber. Will Harry have to kill Nellie or can he save Salazar's most precious? Find out next time.