Harry sat down beside Dobby's grave, thinking about his next move but he found that he couldn't because he found himself contemplating what had happened at the Malfoy Manor. Just the fact that Bellatrix found out that the sword in her vault was fake bothered him to no end. He the cup was in her vault and needed a plan to get it from there. He heard a noise from behind him and smiled when he saw that it was Ella who sat next to him. "It's beautiful here," he said.
"The house belonged to Bill's aunt. I was told that the Weasley children come here growing up. The Order uses it now as a safe house, at least for those who are left. It's not even safe for my family, despite the fact that we do our best," she responded.
"What's happening now?" he inquired.
"I know that the Volturi is scrambling around since we've killed their top guards at the Manor. My family and our allies are using this time to lay low and strengthen ourselves for the upcoming war," she told him.
"I don't want you to fight," he confessed.
"I know you don't, but I don't want you to fight, either," she said, "but would you not fight, if I asked you?"
"Probably not," he said, smiling. "I need to find a way to get the cup from Bellatrix's Vault but I don't know where to start or what to do."
"Inasmuch as I don't want you go do it, I know that you need to," she said, cautiously. What she said, peaked Harry's attention and turned to her to see what she has to say, "The goblin is here and can help you but I advise you to be very specific when you make a deal with him. He will not be forgiving if you don't fulfill your end of the bargain."
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
"I think you know," she said as she watched his face for any sign of recognition. When there was none, she continued, "You plan on using him to get into the bank but what about getting out of the bank?"
He had a blank face for a moment, "I hadn't thought that far yet."
"That's why I saying this now. Whatever plan you have in mind, find a way to ensure your safety when it's time to get out of the bank because if you don't, there's a high chance that he will leave you high and dry when you've given him your end of the bargain."
"Do you think you could come with us? I have some idea of what to do but I don't feel confident about following through," he confessed.
"Of course," she responded. "Also, I think it would be a good idea if I was in the room with you when you talk to him." Harry nodded. They both stood up and walked back to the house. When they got to the front door, both Hermione and Ron were standing by the porch.
"I will be talking with the goblin," he started off, "I am requesting your presence there with me, both of you."
"No need to ask, mate," Ron answered.
"Yeah, we'll both be there," Hermione agreed. "Will Ella be joining us?"
"Yeah," he nodded and went inside the house. When they saw Bill standing by the table in the kitchen, Harry said, "I need to talk to the goblin." Bill lead all four of them up the stairs, He made a motion for all four of them to wait, so that he could talk to the goblin first. They waited for a few minutes before Bill came out and moved out of the way for them to go into the room. Bill closed the door shortly after Ella entered the room, "How are you?" Harry asked.
"Alive," he said as he sat on the chair, eyes closed.
"You probably don't remember—" he started off
"That I showed you to your vault the first time you came to Gringotts?" he inquired. "Even amongst goblins you're famous, Harry Potter. You buried the elf."
"Yes," he answered.
"And brought me here. You are a very unusual wizard. How did you come upon that sword?" Griphook asked.
"It's complicated. Why did Bellatrix Lestrange think it should be in her vault at Gringotts?" Harry questioned.
"It's complicated," using the same exact words that Harry said.
"The sword presented itself to us in a moment of need. We didn't steal it," he informed him.
"There is a sword in Madam Lestrange's vault identical to this one but it is a fake. It was placed there this summer," he answered.
"And she never suspected it was a fake?" he asked as he sat down on the window ledge.
"The replica is very convincing. Only a goblin would recognize that this is the true sword of Gryffindor."
"Who is the acquaintance?" Ella asked.
"A Hogwarts professor. As I understand it, he's now headmaster," Griphook announced.
"Snape? He put a fake sword in Bellatrix's vault? Why?" Ron asked. Ella just shook her head as if she was telling herself that she knew better.
"There are more than a few curious things in the vaults at Gringotts."
"And in Madam Lestrange's vault as well?"
"Perhaps."
"I need to get into Gringotts. Into one of the vaults," he said.
"This is impossible," he replied.
"Alone, yes. But with you, no."
"Why should I help you?"
"I have gold. Lots of it," he offered.
"Harry, goblins have no interest in gold, they never have," Ella replied.
"Miss Cullen is correct," he agreed. "I have no interest in gold."
"Then what?" Harry asked.
"That," he motioned to the sword. "That is my price."
"That isn't Harry's to give nor is it anyone else's. You know that, Griphook, more than anyone," Ella replied. No one said anything to that.
"Are you thinking there's a Horcrux in Bellatrix's vault?" Hermione asked Harry.
"She was terrified when she thought we'd been in there. She kept asking you what else we'd taken," Harry confessed "I bet you there's a Horcrux in there, another piece of his soul. Let's find it and kill it, we're one step closer to killing him."
"What happens when we find it?" Ron asked "How are we supposed to destroy it now you've given the sword to Griphook?"
"I'm still working on that part," Harry said.
"Griphook, he gives the sword to you, it'll be your death," Ella said the moment she knew that Harry was still working on the plan. "Are you absolutely sure that the sword is your price?"
"Yes," he replied.
"And the price for taking him out of Gringotts?" she inquired.
"We never agreed to those terms," he replied.
"No, you did not, but I'm doing it now for all three of them," the three of them were looking at each other.
"Were you planning on leaving us the moment we gave you the sword?" Hermione asked. There was no answer from him but his silence was all the answer they needed to confirm his inaction to taking them out of the bank.
"Then my suggestion is this, you take the four of us to the bank and take us out safely, then we'll give you the sword. I'll be holding onto the sword. Anytime you need to use it, you ask me and you give it right back to me when you're finished," she said as she looked at Harry, who nodded. "The moment we are out of Gringotts, the sword is yours," she said as she looked at the goblin. "You remember the treaty that we have, goblin. You break it, and it'll be an all-out war between the two of us." Griphook hesitated then nodded. He knew that a vampire would never back out of his or her word, just as a goblin would do the same. Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked at each other and wondered what was going on but were afraid to ask, out of fear of Ella's wrath. Once the plan had been worked out, they left and were ready to see Ollivander.
Fleur came out of the bedroom and said, "He's weak." Harry nodded and the four of them went inside.
Ollivander looked at who had entered into his bedroom, "Yes?"
"Mr. Ollivander, I need to ask you a few questions," Harry said as he took a seat at the foot of the bed across from him.
"Anything, my boy, anything," he answered. He was more open to talking with Harry.
"Would you mind identifying this wand? We need to know if it's safe to use," he said as he showed Ollivander the wand.
He took it and examined it, "Walnut. Dragon heartstring. 12 and three quarter inches... unyielding. This belonged to Bellatrix Lestrange. Treat it carefully."
Harry took it back and gave him another wand, "And this?"
"Hawthorn. And unicorn hair. Ten inches. Reasonably pliant. This was the wand of Draco Malfoy," he answered.
"Was? Is it not still?" Harry caught on.
"Well, perhaps not, if you won it from him. I sense its allegiance has changed," he replied.
"You talk about wands as if they have feelings… can think," he replied as he took the wand back and set it aside.
"The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter. That much has always been clear to those of us who have studied wandlore," he explained.
"And what do you know about the deathly Hallows?" Harry asked.
"It is rumored there are three: The Elder Wand, the Cloak of Invisibility to hide you from your enemies, and the Resurrection Stone to bring back loved ones from the dead. Together, they make one the master of death. But few truly believe that such objects exist."
"Do you? Do you believe they exist, sir?"
"I see no reason to put stock into an old wives' tale," Ollivander said, trying to diffuse the line of questioning.
"You're lying," Harry said. Everyone could tell that Ollivander's shoulders sagged when Harry commented about the lie. "You know one exists. You told him about it. You told him about the Elder Wand and where he could go looking for it."
"He tortured me. Besides, I only conveyed rumors. There's… There's no telling whether he will find it."
"He has found it, sir," Harry informed him. He stood up and walked towards the door, "We'll let you rest."
"He's after you, Mr. Potter. If it's true, what you say, and he has the Elder Wand, I'm afraid, you really don't stand a chance," he said as if there was no hope left in all the world.
"Well, I suppose I'll have to kill him before he finds me, then," he replied.
The four of them went downstairs after talking with both of them. Harry felt like he needed air, so he went outside. Hermione was ready to go after him but was stopped by Ella, "Leave him be. He's frustrated, overwhelmed and unsure as what to do."
"We all are," Ron replied.
"Yes, but sometimes being alone with your thoughts can help dull the conflicted feelings," Ella said.
"What are we going to do now?" Hermione asked. "We really don't have a strong plan."
"You're right, we don't," Ella agreed, "but we do have something. We know that there is another horcrux in Bellatrix's vault and need to go there to get it." Ella looked upstairs and made a motion for both of them to follow her outside. They were walking towards to beach where Harry was and Ella didn't want to repeat herself twice. "Harry." Harry looked over and saw all three of them together, "There's a reason why I asked both of you to follow me. Goblins have sensitive ears and they can hear but not as well as a vampire."
"What's going on?" Harry asked.
"We're trying to get the details of the plan worked out," Hermione responded.
"Look, I can only go as far as to help you out at the bank, but after that you're on your own again," Ella said. "Alice says that there's a high possibility that we'll see each other again at Hogwarts. Not only Alice, but my family and the wizarding world suspects that the last battle will happen at Hogwarts."
"The only question that leaves is when," Hermione stated.
"Yes but I fear that it'll begin when all three of you return," Ella said.
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked.
"I know that you have two more horcruxes left to find. One of them in the vault and the other is unknown. When you know what it is and know where it is, you'll be coming back to Hogwarts to deal with You-Know-Who and Nagini. As far as to when you'll face them is unknown," Ella explained. Once the information was digested, Ella continued on, "Now, I have a plan that might help us get into the plan but as far as getting out, it depends on what happens when we get into the vault, but I do have several plans in mind but I'll keep them to myself in case the goblin decides to betray us. I happen to have a piece of Bellatrix's hair that can be put into the polyjuice potion that will allow you to turn into Bellatrix, Hermione."
"Why me?" she asked.
"The reason is this, the goblins at the bank and the Deatheaters believe that I am under Bellatrix's spell. She's been going around telling everyone how she kept me trapped in the dungeons of the Malfoy Manor. One thing is for sure though, is that she brings me out to the Gringotts because she needs money, more specifically, my money. The goblins at the bank cannot open my vault without my permission and yet, Bellatrix has no luck on getting my money out and there's a reason for that. I have a written contract with the goblins at the bank that under no circumstance will my vault be accessible to anyone if I am supposedly under any kind of spell. I made myself look like I'm under a spell every time I am there with Bellatrix. In order for Bellatrix to keep up with her appearance at the bank, I need to be there with you. Ron, I need you to dress up as a bodyguard for her. Harry, you'll be using the Invisibility cloak to hide yourself and the goblin. That's the best way to get inside the bank," she informed them.
"It'll take too long to make the juice," Hermione pointed out.
"Yes, I am well aware of that and I have some ready," she said.
"How did you know that this was going to happen?" Harry inquired.
"Alice," she replied. Harry, Hermione and Ron had forgotten about her visions. "So now, it's just finding the appropriate clothing and putting our plan into action. Despite the fact that the Potion is ready, I strongly recommend that we wait for at least two weeks because we don't want the goblin to be suspicious about what's going on."
All three of them nodded, "I couldn't help but overhear that you have a treaty with the goblin," Harry stated.
"Harry, the less you know about that, the better," Ella said, "plus, it doesn't help you with the bigger picture of finding the horcruxes and destroying them. Right now, not only myself, but the wizarding world needs you to focus on doing just that, more than anything else." She put both of her hands on his shoulders to emphasize her point and to make sure that he understood the severity of the situation. "Worrying about something minor about a treaty between a vampire and a goblin was and is unnecessary," she said as Harry nodded.
"I know but it's just that I need a distraction right now," Harry confessed, "I just feel like if I think about it for one more minute, I'll explode."
"Okay, we can talk about something else, just not that," Ella said. Harry agreed. All four of them decided to take a walk along the beach, "So what do you want to talk about?"
"How is your family? I feel like I haven't seen them in a very long time," Harry asked.
"They're good, stressed, but good," she answered. "They do miss you and worry about you. They knew that seeing you, even if it was for a few minutes was going to be few and far between. They have so many stories and gifts to give you, all three of you, really," she confessed. "We have them stashed, ready and waiting when the time comes, Alice especially. She can't wait to spoil all three of you again."
"How are Carlisle and Esme?" Hermione asked. "They remind me so much of my parents."
"They're good, as can be," she said, "They do worry about you, Hermione, especially after what you told them about what you did with your parents. If after everything is done, and depending on the outcome, they're willing to be your surrogate parents."
Hermione gasped and stopped walking and turned towards the beach. Ella motioned to both Harry and Ron to walk a bit away, so that she could have some private girl time with her, "I can't believe that they are willing to do that," Hermione confessed.
"That's a part of who they are, Hermione," she started to explain. "They care and love so deeply, just like I do with Harry. If there was anything that they taught us as they took me and my other siblings in were compassion and love and family. They want the same thing for you as I provided for Harry. It's one of the reasons why it's rare in the vampire community for a coven to be as big as ours."
"What do you mean?"
"Remember how we told you that we live off of animal blood?"
"Yes," she answered.
"Carlisle believes that because of that we are a cohesive unit and the fact that Carlisle and Esme taught us to show compassion and love. Just the fact that you already embody that with your smarts, it's no wonder that they want to take you in but only if you accept it. They would never force anything upon anyone against their will."
"I'd like that, but like you said, it all depends on what happens after the battle," she said.
"Good, let's join the boys before they interrupt," she said as she led Hermione to the boys.