Bloody Goblins – Lord Black strode into Gringotts, Harry, poly-juiced to look like a violet eyed, blond haired three year old tucked against his side. He may not be a convict anymore, but he and Harry Potter still attracted a lot of unwanted attention. Sometimes it was nice, and playing on sympathy was always a game he was good at playing, but sometimes you just have an errand you want to run in the time that it would take the average witch or wizard to complete. The goblin nearest to him raised one eyebrow as he approached, he knew the bemusing little creature could see right past his own façade and that of Harry, but he said nothing, just like Sirius knew he would. Elves and goblins were ever so powerful; it was fortunate indeed that elves lived to serve and wizards outnumbered goblins by astronomical numbers.
It was no secret that the oath of peace they had with the goblins was forever hanging precariously and another war would devastate both communities but that did not necessarily mean the goblins were not forever ready for one and waiting for a loophole in the contract. He had been brought up to distrust and after his friends landed him in Azkaban he was not going to start going back on that now. Smart as anything though, goblins, can't get anything past them, the community was better with them in it, but only if they remained allies. Another thing that was no secret was his wealth and power, the wizards were scared of him and the goblins knew to be wary too. "I would like an audience with Griphook, the manager of the Potter accounts, Silvertoe, manager of the Lestrange accounts, and an audience with Salvatore, manager of the Black accounts."
He raised a hand as the goblin opened his mouth to protest, "I know that Salvatore is a busy man as he is also the manager of the bank, and coming here to request a meeting on such short notice is uncouth of me I admit. However, I do not intend to order a meeting with him," he placed a diamond the size of a strawberry on the table, "I intend to pay for it." The goblin's eyes widened and he reached out to close his hand over the diamond, when it disappeared quite suddenly to reappear in the hand of the man before him, "I do not intend to pay for it in advance my good man. Do not take offense but I am afraid that I do not trust goblins."
The goblin before him simply grunted. "Then you are wise. If you will just hold on for a little while, Lord Black, I will summon them for you." Lord Black did as he was told and stood to the side with his son who had somehow managed to climb onto his shoulders in the brief time he had not kept his eyes on him. He was pretty sure he had polyjuiced him into a three year old boy and not a chimp but it was an interesting idea. Learning to be an animagus was difficult, took a long time and not to mention in most cases illegal as it was hard to get cleared. Yet taking polyjuice potion was fine, easy to brew, cheap to make in most cases for reasons not asked for to the best of his knowledge, not to mention so much easier to keep a secret and quicker.
The only problem with polyjuice potion was that it was only meant to work on humans and if you tried it with an animal you would probably turn into some sort of hybrid. The idea now he really thought about it was incredibly cool and a great prank to play on someone he hated. While he did not consider himself a potion master, he had brewed penseive. It was a common misunderstanding that penseive was consisted of entirely memories, but that was not true, it needed a substance to hold it together. Not only had he brewed it, but he had made modifications for his own use, and done the same with the aqua spell to make tea. That had been an entirely unnecessary endeavor but most welcome in troubling times even so and it was so much easier to modify a potion than a spell.
It was then testing the potion to make sure it worked that was the tricky part really. Perhaps it could be an occupation of prisoners, they could be his lab rats, if it worked they could go back to prison, and if it did not – well worst case scenario – for them – is that they eventually died for a good cause. Anything that bettered him, even if it was just his own amusement was a good and worthy cause. He fully intended to rule this world one day, once he had gotten rid of Voldemort and the possible ways he could come back, his death eater kingdom and all fear of him, there would be nothing standing in his way. He would destroy the minister quite easily once it was clear who it was that was cleaning up Britain when the ministry were too blind, too scared or too hungry for money to do their job.
No, not even he was going to be quite so dark, well he could, but it was too hard to keep such a thing secret from the bound to be disapproving public. He could not allow his ideas and secrets to be leaked out anyway. Still, he was caught with this idea of becoming an animal, or even a hybrid, it was something he was definitely going to test out, maybe on himself, if it was polyjuice it would wear off eventually. Perhaps he could make it his next ambition, a project, making a potion that would turn you into an animal of your choosing. His thought processes were cut off by the return of the goblin, "Silvertoe, Griphook and Salvatore will see you now, Lord Black." He eyed his pocket expectantly and Sirius sighed as he tossed the jewel to him.
"I give my thanks…?"
"Roundhorn, my Lord."
"Roundhorn, I wish you a good day." He did not look at him further; the goblin was too busy inspecting the jewel he had been given, that was all they cared about. He swept into the room where the goblins were waiting for him. He greeted them each in turn, nodding his head, adding the slightest bit more depth to his bow when greeting Salvatore. "The first thing I would like to bring up gentlemen, concerns the Potter vaults, this concerns Griphook I am led to believe."
"Indeed Lord Black, how can I be of assistance?"
"As guardian of the last Potter and the heir I request to be granted entrance so I can manage his accounts until he is of age."
Griphook looked at him for a moment before realizing that it wasted time going through anymore formalities, the man had enough money anyway and cared for Harry well it was clear to anyone. "Very well, shall I list what has been left to master Potter now?"
"If you will," he said as he sat down, pulling Harry down from his shoulders and seating him in his lap so he would not cause any trouble or embarrassment.
"The Potters left Godric Hollow, their share in the Leaky Cauldron, their apartment in Hogsmeade and all their artefacts to their son, one Harry James Potter. They also left the sum of 1 and a half million galleons, 25 sickles and 3 knuts. As his named guardian from the will you are granted access to the Potter vault." It came to no surprise once more that the goblins could see past his disguise in an instant, he had to sigh – he really had been that obvious?
"The next matter I would like to discuss concerns Salvatore and Silvertoe who is manager of the Lestrange vault if I am correct."
"This is correct Lord Black."
"Seeming as the Lestranges are either dead or insane and incarcerated-"
"The money does not go to you my Lord." Silvertoe looked perhaps a little too smug.
"Then do please enlighten me."
"The last living Lestrange's closest living relative."
"Her sister, Narcissa Malfoy, correct?"
"That is correct Lord Black."
"So I will need her permission to get into the vaults." He thought for a moment, he would much rather get this all over with today. Kreacher was his personal elf, and that meant he could hear him and would respond to him no matter where he was. "Kreacher," he did not need to say it louder than a normal speaking voice and with a pop he was beside him. "I need you to go and get Narcissa, the answers 'no' or 'later' are not to be accepted."
"Understood Lord Black," he bowed slightly and with another pop he was gone. Sirius turned back to the goblins, "he should not be more than two minutes, can I interest you in some tea?" He only got negative answers so he drew out a pencil from his pocket, transfigured it into a mug and filled it with sweet smelling tea, "then I hope you do not mind if I do." He took a sip, "you really should try some of my tea one day my good sirs."
He was waiting less than a minute when Kreacher returned, clutching the wrist of Narcissa, she was wet, her clothes stuck to her and she was flushed. It would seem he had sent for her in the middle of her having a bath. Sirius smiled at the sight and waved his wrist, drying her and her clothes and brushing her hair for good measure in one swift movement. "Ah Narcissa," he mentioned as if her being there was mildly surprising, "I'm glad you could come," he carried on as if she was there of her own volition. "I am glad we became allies, as soon ago as it was, for I find myself in need of your assistance already. As you know with recent deaths and incarceration of Bellatrix, the Lestrange vaults are now in your possession if you so will it."
"I do will it, my Lord," she replied icily, "and I shall not let you blackmail me out of it."
"Oh I am sure I could if I really wanted to," he said, because he felt as if he had to put that out there, it was true, he could, "but I am not going to. I have no wish for the blood stained money of that she-bat Narcissa," though if he thought about not all of the Black money was clean either, "I have plenty of my own. You can have all the money in there, down to the last knut, there is but one artefact I wish to own, surely you will grant me that." The woman viewed him for a moment before she decided, quite logically that it really was in her best interests just to go along with things. It would seem she was not completely hopeless after all.
"Would you like to retrieve this artefact now, my Lord?"
"I would."
"Then, Silvertoe, Salvatore, if you would lead the way."
The ride was just as dizzy as he remembered it to be; Harry on the other hand absolutely adored it and squealed the whole way as if it was some ride. "I always wanted to go on a rollercoaster dad," he said, "aunt 'tunia and un'le Vernon took Dudley to disney world once and they have loads and loads of rides, but I wasn' 'llowed to go," he said in his childish dialect as they sped along. He and Narcissa remained silent and unimpressed; they were far more used to the ride than the child with them was. As soon as the door opened to the vault the magic evident hit him like a revolving door slamming, 'there is a multiplication charm at work here.'
"Harry, stay with Narcissa," he ordered as he cast his eyes around the vault for the cup as he and Narcissa walked in. He progressed with caution, making sure not to touch anything accidentally, it would cause absolute mayhem, he enjoyed mayhem, but not when he was searching for something, the cup was probably the reason for the charm in the first place. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Narcissa reaching for a pendant; well it did all belong to her now, while Harry held onto her other hand obediently. Out of instinct he reached over and grabbed the offending hand before it reached its destination. He ignored the look of indignant outrage on her face of him daring to deny her anything; she'd had it perfected since she was nine years old.
"Do not touch anything without disengaging the charm, can you not sense it? There is a multiplication charm on everything in this room, if you want it, get rid of the charm first. It has been put on every item individually, so it will have to be removed individually." He knew that not everybody could sense charms at work as easily as he could but he did not bother to tell her this. His hand hovered over the desired item for a moment as he worked the charm away, "there all safe;" he picked it up and fixed it around his cousin's neck. He ignored Narcissa while he went deeper and deeper into the vault looking for the cup, being careful not to touch anything; Harry also knew better, he'd heard when he told Narcissa. Besides, he was a child, he knew not to touch what did not belong to him.
Narcissa was careful not to touch anything again without double checking to make sure she had gotten rid of the charm, not that she saw much else she wanted to take right then. As he was looking he must have been seeing more out of the corner of his eye than he thought he did, 'he is betraying you.' He whirled around to see the goblin shutting the door to the vault with a sneer on his face. He understood the reasoning of the vile creature, after all, he was a threat, should another war arise they would be crushed. They were scared of him, they were usually so confident in how much better than wizard kind they were and he personally caused them to reevaluate. He could not get to Harry, his cousin and through the door in time, "NO!" He roared – too late.
The fear of being locked in here terrified Narcissa, even with her all powerful cousin here to save her, she ran to the door, still holding Harry's hand and started to pound on it, begging to be released. He rolled his eyes at her overreaction, the goblins were smart creatures but he was a lot more powerful than they gave him credit for; he called for Kreacher calmly. No elf appeared. It would seem the wards around Gringotts was too powerful for Kreacher to hear him, which meant that it was too strong for him to apparate himself and two passengers out safely. Maybe the goblins were that smart... though it was not a good idea to do something that may spark a war, whether he and his passengers survived or not. "Calm down Narcissa," he said, "you are scaring Harry, I'll get us out."
It would not be too hard, all he needed to do was blast at the door, if he did so for long enough then it would let them out. Or he could just concentrate on it, send his magic at it for enough time and sort through the lock. He would only need a few minutes he was sure; honestly, if there was one group he thought he would never underestimate it was the goblins. "The air in here will hold out, I need to find that cup before I go." He started to look around, "just remain calm, everything will be ok, you just have to trust me." He tried to ignore her terrified pants as she tried to stop herself hyperventilating and get enough air. Harry, who was more than well aware of how powerful and reliable his father was, took his words without question.
The two of them ignored the now hysterical woman crying in the middle of the room about how much she was going to sue the 'no good goblins', that was if she ever got out of this 'hybrid of a hellion situation'. Sirius was hard pressed not to tell her that if she did not shut her trap, once he found a way out of this hybrid of a hellion situation, he would leave her here because she was driving him up the wall. "Stand aside Narcissa, all will be ok," he said when he noticed her nonstop crying was having an effect on the young child with them. He guided her out the way with his hand to get closer to the door but as she stumbled back, she tripped on her high heels which she wore everywhere and fell.
She landed on her back into a pile of magical artifacts, which immediately began to multiply. SHIT! He pressed his lips together to stop himself from swearing loudly. Sirius' eyes widened and he scooped up Harry and hauled Narcissa to her feet and handed the cub to her so he had his hands free to protect them, and get the cup which he now saw. He would shout at Narcissa later, maybe, she was busy shouting at him at the moment, as if this was his fault, the imminent danger had not pressed mute button at all it would seem. "Aren't you meant to be all powerful or something! Can't you stop it! Ah! Oh my god is that a skull, Sirius, that's a skull! Oh my god! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Help! Help! HELP!"
Merlin's beard woman, shut up! She banged on the metal door, "let me out! I'm warning you, there will be some serious consequences if you do not let me out right now!" Did she seriously just stamp her foot? She was wearing that look again even though the goblins were not around to appreciate it. "Help! I'm going to die! We're all going to die!" He leapt at the falling artifact, no longer caring what the woman was saying no matter how much he did not want young ears to hear them and he paid no mind to what he touched now chaos had erupted in the vault. He climbed over gauntlets and coins and grabbed the handle of the cup with one hand before leaping back to where his charges were cowering. It immediately started to spout replicas but he managed to keep hold of the right one.
"I don't wanna die," that one was Harry and Sirius grit his teeth wondering if telling the woman that she was going to die for upsetting his cub would just upset his pup more. He was whispering and whimpering as he spoke, clutching Narcissa tightly as she was the closest adult he had. Sirius should have taken Regulus with him, at least Harry would have had some additional protection, or just left the pup with him, but he had not counted on being in danger when visiting the bank. Could a father not take his son to the bank like anyone else? Harry had wanted to come; he thought the heir of the Potter line should be present when he heard what belonged to him – or at least what would belong to him one day soon. He was hard pressed not to stamp his own foot.
As he was stowing the cup into his coat he saw a replicated pile of artifacts about to topple over and hurt his charges. He jumped over with one bound, harshly pushed them against the wall and shielded them with his body, feeling gauntlets and coins hitting his back as they fell; in his panic it had not crossed his mind to cast a simple shield, he had to wonder why. "Stay close to me," he ordered quietly, he felt Narcissa nod against his back. "Inferni," he hissed, and a torrent of flames shot out of his hand and against the door, both Harry and Narcissa gasped, afraid, but stuck closer to him. The magic had weakened the door but it was not enough. 'Watch out!' his magic always knew what was going on, and he would be a fool not to listen.
He fell to the ground as if his legs had been swept out from under him without a second thought, dragging his cousin down with him as a huge sculpture shot over them and smashed into the wall. "It is always best to listen to my magic, even if I am not sure why such an order is being given," he said aloud. Narcissa was astounded at how he knew something was flying towards them, he would have cast a shield, but that impacted the door hugely. He cast a stronger shield as the artifacts grew so much he was running out of air to breathe. Sirius focused on the air around him, yes, that would work, "take a deep breath, both of you," he ordered and did the same himself. He'd never tried breaking out of somewhere so secure before, and not using such a method.
He let his eyes become half lidded and clenched his hands, drawing the air around him to his hands, from every nook and cranny. He looked at the door, his eyes like scanners detecting the weakest point from the sculpture and the fire, there, the junction between the door and the floor nearest the bottom hinge, he shot his hands out and all the air he'd gathered shot out and created a hole in the door, "there, run," he shouted, letting out his breath, giving the silent signal that it was ok to breathe again now, he grabbed Narcissa's hand as she had already picked up Harry, who was cowering against her. They burst out of the vault and onto the track; Sirius only had the time to take a needed deep breath before a deafening roar filled his ears.
He did not need to look around to find the source of such a noise before he pushed his charges back through the hole, there was just enough space in the vault left for them and cast a shield around them. Huge flames of orange and red curved around them, how had he forgotten about the blasted dragon? He was not sure if he had enough power for the wards to at least cause one of them to splinch if they attempted to apparate out of here, while the wards were stronger in the vaults, they were strong all around the bank and of course there was this dragon to take care of. The vault at least, it would seem, had calmed down somewhat as had his no longer hysterical cousin. He fixed Narcissa and Harry with a stern look, "stay here and away from the hole until I come for you."
He shot back onto the track and shouted to get the attention of the dragon so it stopped attacking the hole in the door of the vault and turned to the more vulnerable prey. The only vulnerable part to a dragon was its eyes, for even he was not strong enough to send the animal into a light sleep in an instant. He did not want to kill it or hurt it too badly, especially seeming as there was hardly anyone who was going to look after him so with expert precision he shot a powerful curse out of his palm and temporarily though painlessly robbed the beast of its most reliable sense. A muffliato spell at its ears robbed it off its sense of hearing and now that the poor confused animal was thrown completely off tangent, it did not fight the binding curses thrown at it next.
"Harry! Cissy! Come on!" The two appeared by the hole and ran over to him, fear still evident in their eyes. Now that the noise level was down, adrenalin started to leave their bodies and the placated dragon did not even receive a second glance from them as they both reacted in different ways. Harry breathed a sigh of relief, grinned and managed to scramble up to his father's shoulders, Narcissa, having never experienced anything quite like that in her life, simply froze and walked beside him quite rigidly as they followed along the tracks. At one point, Sirius ended up moving his son to his chest so he could hold him securely with one arm and he could offer the other to his cousin. They just needed to get to the less secured vaults so he would have the power to apparate.
They passed no goblins on the way as they trekked along the track and for that the Lord of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black was thankful for his anger may have seen him do something he'd later likely regret. When he felt the wards diminish enough for safe travel, he gathered his two charges in his arms and disappeared with an audible 'pop'.