Major Announcements in the A/N
CH10: Doing the Impossible
July 31st
8:32am
Gringotts Bank, London
Daphne
'Gods this cloak is cumbersome,' was the only thought she had as she stepped over the rubble of what used to be the entrance way of Gringotts Bank. Harry was already moving towards the left side of the commerce hall, just as they had planned.
The original idea was for Harry to respond to their attack, allowing Daphne's teams time to infiltrate the bank. However, upon further consideration, it was less suspicious that the 'Death Eaters' would show up in response to Harry's being there. And so she had fired the first spell, lethal but weak, slightly to the left but close enough to be convincing, a control that she knew others might lack.
A strong gust of wind had Daphne shielding her eyes behind her off arm, a signal that stage two of the plan was coming to a close. Two of her comrades just behind her spun to the floor convincingly, groaning and cursing the whole way down. This was how Harry made his exit, their choreographed fight allowing for such a maneuver. The unnatural wind kicked up more dust into the air, she only allowed herself a moment to watch Harry's silhouette disappear into the dust. His role was fulfilled, now for the hard part.
The doors to the inner bank were ripped from their hinges, crashing into the room behind them. 'The records room, as far as any unsupervised human is allowed in the bank.' Before her was a long desk spanning from wall to wall with a small gap either side for the person working the desk to get behind it. Just beyond the desk on the back wall was a revolving mechanism, one used to store all of the files the bank requires in a magically altered space. Fleur had said that the number of files Gringotts had was incalculable. The only way to use the device was to be taught a Goblin spell under a secrecy oath.
'A pity we can't search through these records, what manner of secrets have the goblins kept for themselves I wonder.'
The records room was simply a means to an end, their prize was much further into the bank. She did a final sweep of the room before moving on to the right side where a door stood ajar. Where her team would usually stack up on the door and bust through together, Daphne simply burst through with magic, her bombarda scattering the door to a thousand tiny pieces.
This room was smaller and through initial inspection told her that stage three was now complete; reach the tracks. Divided into two, the room had a track on each side but only one of them had a cart available. She heard the rest of her team shuffle into the cart bay and could almost feel the tension in the air.
"Is this the right side?" one of her comrades asked quietly.
"Silence," another hissed aggressively, reminding the first of the importance of their anonymity.
'Edrik's chasm, or rather; Gringotts' vaults,' Daphne thought as she looked down into the extensive network of tunnels and ravines that held the wizarding population's wealth. Floating candles lit the way down, loosely following the cart tracks, yet still she would wager that the bottom was far beyond what she could see. One of her compatriots stepped up beside her, she had to focus on their eyes through the mask to figure out what they were thinking. 'Remus is unsure, the intel didn't say much about the carts themselves, only the depth at which the vaults reside.'
She raised her hand and twirled her finger three times, silently signalling the rest of them to group up with her. There was only one way down and one way out and that was the cart that she found herself mounting with the rest of her squad. Three seats on either side, with one the middle to man the various levers and dials that controlled the movement. Fortunately for her, the levers were marked simply by a pair of arrows pointing forward and backwards.
Daphne did a final check on the others and, finding all of them seated and ready for her to move, pushed the lever on her right, forward. The cart lurched violently, sending the six of them down the tracks at breakneck speeds. 'Damned Goblins,' she cursed as she pulled the lever back until it was half way, which slowed down the cart to a more comfortable pace.
Now that they were no longer spiralling at speeds unknown, Daphne got a good look at her surroundings. 'There must be thousands of vaults down here, numerous in disuse,' she observed as they passed levels upon levels of vault doors sculpted into the side of the schism. 'Goblin metal is the only reliable way that wizards have an unalterable currency. And the Goblins seemed to have used that leverage fairly well, seeing as how it all ended up bank in their territory.'
Daphne stopped taking in the sights for a moment to check the depth gauge on the cart, watching as it ticked down methodically the lower they ventured. '400 metres, the final enchantment is just about….' The cart rounded a corner and right on time; the final thief's downfall. 'Clever,' she noted as they approached the waterfall-ward, 'intruders would be more worried about getting drenched than their disguise coming undone.' She looked up out of curiosity, only to find that the waterfall was either coming from nowhere, or somewhere so far up that its origin was indiscernible.
The magical waterfall washed over the team, each of them communicating their displeasure in varying degrees of annoyed groans and displeased grunts. But, their disguise held, for there was nothing inherently magical about the pieces of cloth they had donned for this excursion.
Under the pearly white mask covering her face, Daphne smiled appreciatively. 'No surprises so far, and now onto the main objective.' The cart rounded a corner in the cavern to reveal a wide opening in the ravine adorned with ancient architecture dissimilar to the flush white marble constitution of the upper levels. An ignorant person might lend credit to wizards for constructing these megalithic structures. The true story was much simpler, goblins, like any other race, had changed. Just as human ability to work materials improved so too had the goblins.
Down in those deep caverns, you could see the early attempts at intricacy in the black stone pillars erected in a circular formation to hold the rock ceiling in place. Many of the structures carved into the ancient stone followed the pattern of a ring of pillars around a detailed floor pattern. Daphne felt that the early goblins of Britain were influenced by Greco-Roman architecture, specifically tholos temples for their round shape.
As they grew closer to one of the platforms overhanging the chasm, a slab of the very black stone surroundings only discernible by its unnatural perfect edges, the cart slowed to a stop. The ancient house's vaults lined the back wall of the chamber in accordance with the circular shape. Above the vaults was another level with another set of vaults. This carried on for two more levels before the sleek carved rock returned to its natural rough surface. Daphne counted seven doors on the first floor, having to peer over a large lump of grey stone in the centre of the room to see a few of the doors.
'Seven doors, four floors, twenty eight sacred houses,' she calculated as her comrades began to disembark, 'made less sacred by their own doing.' Daphne dismounted the cart last, consciously making an effort to avoid her cloak getting caught in the goblin contraption. 'Discarding these infernal things could not come sooner,' she mentally complained.
"Take cover!"
Having been the last to get off the cart she was also the one most in the open. A brilliant orange wall careened towards her giving her only a moment to dive for one of the columns surrounding the vault chamber. What followed was an intense heat evaporating all of the moisture in the air aside from the sweat quickly coating the inside of her disguise.
'A dragon? Where in Merlin's name did it come from?' Given a moment to consider her question as she was not going anywhere, Daphne kicked herself for not realising what had been in front of her. 'An illusion… Harry would be impressed.'
The flames burned hotter than anything she had experienced before, scorching the very dust particles in the air. The stone column that she took refuge behind cracked and groaned under the sheer weight of the dragon's potent attack.
'Superior sight, destructive physical capabilities and a seemingly endless supply of devastating flames. By all accounts the apex predator.' She glanced to her right and saw one of her comrades frantically stomping their black cloak that had been clipped by the dragon's fiery assault. It was only a matter of time before the Ukrainian IronBelly fulfilled its duty of defending the vaults by sheer force.
"I will distract the beast," she yelled, "take the vaults." She couldn't tell how many had heard her plan, even if they nodded, the masks made it difficult to see. Yet she trusted, even if they hadn't heard her, they would seize the opportunity that she would present them.
Daphne looked around hoping to find anything solid to throw at the dragon's fiery maw however she found her only options being one of her comrades or a small wooden box beside one of the pillars adorning the circular chamber. More than disappointed with her abysmal selection of projectiles, Daphne pointed her wand at the box and flicked upwards to get it to levitate.
She halted her action to peek around the column she had sought refuge behind, thankful to see that the IronBelly had its sights on one of the columns to the far side of the room. 'Gods protect me from my foolishness,' she prayed before flicking her wand to the left, rocketing the wooden box directly at the dragon.
The box hit the IronBelly's hide and shattered on impact, showering the dragon with rotten wooden splinters and ejecting its contents onto the decorated floor. Golden trinkets fell loudly, clanging against each other and the ground unceremoniously. The dragon roared in outrage and swiped at the offending sound which only sent the sound reverberating around the chamber as the trinkets bounced freely. The IronBelly's anger faltered as it curled in on itself, clawing at its ears and skull.
'Thank you,' she thought as a reply to whichever higher power had answered her prayer.
"Go! To the vaults whilst we still can!" Kingsley unmistakably called out. His command was followed by the cacophony of rattled footsteps sprinting towards the vaults on the far side of the chamber.
Daphne stepped out from behind the pillar and assessed the situation before her. The dragon was in the middle of the chamber, still reeling from the sound that it had caused. Now that she could look at it properly, she identified that this Ukrainian IronBelly was much less of a threat than it should be. Its body was covered in scars that it looked to have created itself, its face was gaunt, as was the rest of its body and it was significantly smaller than what an adult IronBelly grew to be.
Daphne didn't bother taking the initiative, as long as the dragon decided to not attack her she would waste as much time as possible. She could hear the clanking of locks being engaged and clinking of galleons being plundered, soon enough they'd be richer than they'd ever dreamed.
"Remus!"
Daphne angrily cast her gaze to one of the vaults on the second floor where a figure in a black cloak was hurriedly throwing golden treasures from their vault onto the floor around them. Before Daphne could think to scold them for blurting out one of their names, the sound of rattling chains alerted her to a much more immediate problem.
The dragon had realised that the sound that had tormented it had ceased, leaving it to once again focus on its next meal. Her comrades' lapse in covertness had left the beast with an easy decision in picking which unlucky human to devour and was now on its hind legs to become level with the second floor.
Daphne's hand was forced as the dragon set its milky white eyes on the back of her squad mate. She thrust her arm at the dragon's widening jaw thinking, 'incarcerous,' and thick ropes exploded from her wand. They first passed over the dragon's mouth before steeply diving then wrapping around it closer to its nose than its eyes. A hasty muzzle, but it had saved a life, if only for a moment.
The dragon struggled with the ropes, attempting to pry its mouth free to cook the pesky human with its back turned to him. When that didn't work, however, the dragon got off its hind legs and returned to the floor, frustratedly swiping at the ropes with its front claws.
Daphne strafed wide to the left as the dragon smashed its head into the floor trying to find friction to pull the ropes off. 'Those ropes won't hold,' she assessed seeing the sides frayed and straining, 'and the beast is rageful.' She felt a spike of fear pierce her heart when the dragon angrily bashed its head into one of the ornate columns, causing chunks of black rock to crumble to the floor.
Her situation was regrettable, standing alone with little cover and even less options. 'Right then,' she steeled herself as the ropes slipped free and the dragon cast its wispy eyes her way, 'to slay a dragon.'
This time Daphne did make the first move, the possibility of being immediately incinerated proving to be a fantastic motivator. She pointed her wand at one of the large chunks of rock that had tumbled to the floor and swiftly summoned, then levitated it in front of her but slightly to the side so that she could still see the dragon.
She needn't have shown such hesitancy, however, for the dragon was already preparing to strike. With its gullet wide open and blazing pits illuminating the dark hole that was its throat, Daphne unleashed a banisher at the chunk of rock. The block crossed the distance in less than second but not fast enough to hide fledgling flames that promised an inferno had been imminent.
Yet she wasn't incinerated, for as quickly as the flames in the dragon's mouth rose, so too did they disappear as the large chunk of chiselled stone wedged itself between either oral commissure. The dragon's mouth had now gone from forcibly shut to indefinitely open in a matter of minutes, leaving Daphne with one less devastating offensive strategy to worry about.
'A healthy IronBelly would crush that like an egg,' she mused as the dragon tried to clamp down and free its frightful flames, 'but you are far from healthy.' Even the dragon's angry roar was caught in its throat, coming out as a low rumble. 'Eyes a milky white, irreparably damaged from captivity, all that is left is your waning strength.'
Turning side on, Daphne raised her wand and carefully took aim. "Relashio," she whispered, aiming for the chains wrapped around her target's neck, hoping to use them to restrain it. The spell missed and struck the dragon's back, shaving off one of the spikes protruding its spine. The small amount of fire escaping the marble blockage illuminated the primal hate in the beast's eyes.
"Hmm."
Her hum of displeasure predated the dragon's attack by a measure of seconds. With its flames stripped from it, the oppressed creature lashed out, crossing the distance to her and swiping at the air where her body had been a moment ago.
'Gods,' she mentally expressed, 'such speed!'
What it had in speed, it lacked in restraint, tumbling past its mark and crashing into another of the columns with a loud crunch. Once again its hide was showered in dust and rock but this time the cavern shook as the pillar was dislodged from its place between floor and ceiling. Daphne involuntarily took a step back as the pillar cracked and complained, leaning directly over the dragon and towards herself.
The dragon hadn't recovered quickly but immediately set its sights on her when it had. Knowing that its prey was fast, the dragon approached her slowly, its claws clacking on the stone floor as it crept forward.
'That's it, keep it slow,' she thought as the beast continued being oblivious to the column collapsing behind it. Her luck only grew when the dragon stopped in place and scratched the floor with its claws trying to intimidate its prey. Its accompanying screech, muffled though it was, abruptly cut off as the column-turned-club toppled over and smacked the dragon's skull.
Not one to leave a job half done, Daphne let loose a string of blasting curses at the pillars closest to the dazed beast. Like a lumberjack would a tree, she directed her assault in such a way that the columns would fall where she desired. As one, half a dozen pillars loudly faltered and pitched over the already struggling animal, entombing it in a coffin of etched black stone.
Daphne was as still as possible, with her head tilted to the side to better hear, she listened for any signs of life… from a safe distance. A breath, a whine, nothing. The dragon was either dead or unconscious and, as the adrenaline faded, an out of breath Daphne would be happy either way.
"We're finished."
Daphne turned around and saw the rest of her team making their way to the bottom floor once more. Curt and to the point, Daphne recognised Jessica Odgen's voice behind the mask of the person closest. Daphne had noticed how each of her comrade's magically extended pouches tied to their waists were now looking full and heavy. With their objective complete all that was left was their escape.
"Return to the cart."
Whilst the other six passed her by to get to the cart, Daphne took one final mournful look at the mess of finely crafted stone and wheezing dragon below a pile of columns. 'What a waste,' was her final thought before unleashing several blasting curses at the remaining columns supporting the chamber. She wouldn't undignify herself to sprint from the ensuing destruction but there was a certain haste in her step as she made it to the platform.
As the old chamber collapsed in on itself, Daphne climbed onto the cart. "Prepare yourselves," she warned and pushed the lever down fully to make the cart go back the way they came unnaturally fast. Even after a few minutes she could still hear clashing stone echoing up the chasm.
The ascent was much faster than the descent due to her command of the cart's speed. They rushed through the Thief's Downfall waterfall and past the preliminary sea of rockface vaults. "If we encounter resistance, stop for nothing," she commanded as the light of the cart bay peaked out of the stone. "The mission is not yet complete." However, Daphne's cautionary words were unnecessary. For when they had dismounted and hastily passed through the records room to return to the commerce hall, they encountered no efforts to detain or punish them.
'Curious.'
Waiting for the trap to be sprung, the seven of them hesitantly crossed half the length of the bank before picking up the pace for the final stretch. When they climbed over the rubble of the initial assault, they returned to the corpse laden street of Knockturn Alley and found comfort in the overcast sky of London, England.
'Not for long.' With an urgency born of the uncleanliness that her intention brought on her, she raised her wand to the sky and whispered the vile spell; "Morsmordre."
The skull and snake appeared in the clouds, a taunting green reminder of Voldemort's oppression. But today it underpinned a devastating blow against the creator of such an evil symbol. And as the seven black cloaked figures made their way to the apparition point, their pouches full of riches untold, they chanced a smile behind their masks for they had done the impossible.
AN: Evening all
Got another announcement on the website side of things; I completely overhauled my last one. New program, new domain, new style everything. Since links don't work on here, just type in "RevanchistVII" and you'll find it. There is a little more content on there and there's a lot more to come.
Now, the story…
Fortunately, this is a pretty surface level chapter. A little bit of action, a little bit of world building and barely a scrap of dialogue.
This is actually the first chapter with a single POV constrained to one point of time throughout the whole chapter for a long while.
I wanted to focus heavily on developing the goblin culture in this chapter because they play a role in later part of the story. So, you've got sprinkles of their magic, history and mystique as a teaser.
The dragon was always going to be a fight, without a Goblin to tell them about the torture bells they were never going to be able to figure it out. I settled on Daphne using her environment more than copious amounts of magic to highlight her intelligence a little more.
The consequences of these actions are far reaching and serious… I'm excited to share them with you all.
Another announcement to make is that this is the end of ARC 1: Early Victories and now that I'm at this stage I will be only posting when ARC 2 is finished. ARC 2 is nine chapters but I believe this will give me more opportunity to write and a higher mastery over plot lines. I know my updates have been infrequent, but this will make for a better story so that is the plan going forward.
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed :)
