Be Selfish

Chapter 15

The second the words left his lips Harry expected to feel deeply ashamed. To want to take it back, who wanted to admit to abuse? However, something within him seemed to uncoil, as a tenseness he hadn't been aware he was carrying begun fade to nothingness. He'd kept it secret for so long, convinced nobody would care…yet here he was. There were people who cared, people who wanted him to speak up. If he wasn't underground it would have felt like a breath of fresh air.

"Did you ever speak to Dumbledore in the first few weeks at Hogwarts?" the goblin king asked after a few respectful moments of silence. The respectful 'way' meant just understanding the gravity of what had happened. To what was happening at this point in time.

Harry scowled, just thinking about it, the runes were rather helpful. However, it wasn't like Harry would forget that. It had only been five years ago after all. Some things were just burned into his mind. "No, I spoke to him briefly at the end of the year. Whilst I was in the hospital wing, he came to see me to find out what had actually gone down with me and Voldemort."

Antonin twitched, his gaze sliding towards Harry, but otherwise didn't react.

"There was an incident with you and Dark Lord Voldemort?" the goblin king asked, leaning forward, it was very subtle but Harry noticed. "When you were eleven-years-old?"

Harry blinked, thrown by the question, "Uh, yeah?" giving them a befuddled look, what on earth? How could they not know? Nothing stayed secret at Hogwarts, it was known that Voldemort tried to steal the philosopher stone that year. "He went after the Philosophers stone."

Upon hearing that the room stilled, there wasn't even scribbling coming from the scribe. Nothing so dramatic as gasping or cries of surprise but their silence was just as effective as if they had. The goblins were a warrior race, they did not show much in the way of emotion. Depending on where they were in the country, they were far better at it in Russia say compared to Britain.

"The philosophers stone?" the curt growl wasn't a question, but a demand to know more. "Where were you exposed to such an item?" rather twitchy at the banal way the boy had spoken of such a sacred artefact. At his age he shouldn't have heard of it, let alone speaking so casually.

"Really? Rubeus Hagrid went up to the tellers asking for the 'You-know-what' in vault 'You-know-which' and proceeded to retrieve it while I was with him." Harry rubbed at the back of his neck self-consciously.

"Hagrid? A half-giant, the keeper of keys at Hogwarts at the time introduced you to magic?" was asked by the goblin king, beady eyes glimmering but not in tears but intensity.

Harry inclined his head, "I know, I suspect it was all done on purpose, to ensure I entered Hogwarts with an unprecedented awe of Dumbledore and the belief that Gryffindor was better than any other house at Hogwarts. Which worked all too well, when you add in the Weasley's using the muggle entrance for the first and only time. Hearing once more that Slytherin's were all bad and evil, and Gryffindor was the best."

Antonin scoffed, rolling his eyes, honestly, he couldn't say he was surprised that Dumbledore was working on Harry's reputation from the get go. Having lauded Gryffindor, he'd want his damn hero there no doubt.

"Truth was, I was meant to go into Slytherin," Harry added, speaking mostly to Antonin, "Can't say it was the wrong decision. It would have entirely depended on what my life would have been like there. I have no doubt many will have grown up hating me because I 'brought Voldemort down' and put an end to their cause." And it would be 'their' cause they'd grown up hearing all about it, it's only as adults you branch away from what they knew and formed an opinion of their own.

Antonin frowned, "Perhaps," not able to realistically deny it could have proven dangerous. Knowing Slytherins as he did, they'd have integrated themselves into his life, knowing he was going to have political clout that hadn't been seen in four decades perhaps longer. They would be stupid to deny themselves. Especially as pre-teens they will not have believed the Dark Lord would ever return. They would have sought out other means of power, to stand out from their peers. "I do believe you may have been surprised." Not stupid enough to dismiss the bad traits of his house but overall, they were very loyal to one another.

"We are getting incredibly off track, Lord Potter, and my time is very limited here." The goblin interjected seriously; he was the goblin king. It was pure curiosity that had led him to this, but he did have other duties he must oversee. He would do this to the best of his ability, and if they could bring Dumbledore down? Well, all the better.

"I'm sorry," Harry murmured, once again rubbing the back of his neck, his only sign of nerves.

"Dumbledore never told you that he had become your magical guardian? Had never made any attempt to get to know you before you begun Hogwarts?"

"Never," Harry declared emphatically.

"Did not have you tutored in magic?"

"Definitely not," Harry stated right away, his lips pursed as he thought on it.

"Never brought you to his office and educated you in preparation of your place in the magical world?"

"No," Harry shook his head once.

"Tell us more about the stone," it was a demand not a question, their reputation had almost taken a hit when the bank had been broken into. Actually, it had taken a hit, but the only saving grace was it had been emptied. They still had not established how it had been accomplished.

Harry frowned, "Like what?" it had happened, end of story, he really didn't want to bring up ancient history.

"Everything you know relating to that stone." The goblin king commended.

"Hagrid retrieved it, Voldemort tried to get it but it had already been removed. His weakened spirit returned to Professor Quirinus Quirrell, the former Hogwarts Defence against the dark arts professor who he was possessing at the time." Harry shrugged indifferently, used to his Defence professors trying to kill him. "We were given detention in the forbidden forest; Draco and I saw a shadow that I now know to be Voldemort. He was drinking on the blood of unicorns to survive. I presume he attempted to get passed fluffy at one point and failed, that was Halloween."

"Samhain, goblins do not use mundane customs and find it highly insulting." Antonin explained, not even wincing. They didn't care for human frivolities, especially muggle ones. He didn't even seem that perturbed by the fact they were taking about the Dark Lord or when he was at his weakest.

"Voldemort found out how to get passed fluffy by giving Hagrid what he wanted most. A dragon, or rather a dragon egg during a card game. Charlie Weasley took it to Romania though when he found out to stop Hagrid getting into trouble. Hermione, Ron and I conveniently overheard Dumbledore proclaiming he was having to go to the Ministry…and was going to go via broom."

The look everyone was giving him would have made a lesser wizard cower.

Albus Dumbledore did not ever need to go anywhere via broomstick. In fact, none of them could remember seeing Dumbledore arrive anywhere on a broom. He preferred floo travel, which given his age it was perfectly understandable. Each of them would prefer the easiest and quickest method possible. That and it gave him the most dramatic entrance possible, and Albus, do so love his dramatic entrances.

"I became convinced that the stone would be stolen that night by…" Harry flushed red, in genuine mortification here. "I thought Professor Snape was after it, only to realize once Hermione, Ron and I went through the traps that I was wrong. It was Quirrell, who housed the spirit of Voldemort on the back of his head."

"What happened?" the goblin scribbled on the parchment in front of him, it shouldn't have been possible for Voldemort to get in. The wards should have blared loud enough to wake the dead, for everyone, not just the headmaster. Ergo, the wards had been removed, or altered, neither were good, given the age of the wards.

Harry naturally was able to read what the goblin king was writing and wasn't remotely surprised.

He'd long ago realized he was just being used.

"The 'safety measures' Dumbledore had to safeguard the stone were games that first years could bypass. Two muggle raised and pureblood that…isn't academically inclined." Harry shrugged, "In the end I faced Voldemort on my own. I told Hermione to get back up to Hogwarts because Ron was unconscious and could be severely hurt. He took on human sized chess pieces, and was de-horsed from the Knight."

The impatient look on their faces were comical, but Harry wasn't going to say that. He did wonder if he could actually make them lose their patience with him.

"He'd taken up the task of playing chess that Professor McGonagall had set up earlier that year." He went on to explain all innocent like. Watching the subtle twitches of the goblin's eyes, this was farther fun he couldn't help but think to himself. Then again, he had always been one for taking amusement when he could, although it bordered sarcastic and caustic amusement.

Not that anyone knew, that was part of himself he kept locked down tight, barely allowing himself to think it.

"It was a close call, you know, I mean the game wasn't going in our favour, then Ron realized he needed to sacrifice…" Harry would have continued but the goblin prevented him.

"Yes, he sacrificed himself for the cause, you've said, what happened after that? Specifically with the Dark Lord Voldemort." The goblin stated firmly.

"I thought you'd last longer," Harry confessed under his breathe causing Antonin to bark out a laugh.

"Hopefully you won't do that with the Dark Lord," Antonin stated, he definitely wouldn't be impressed.

"Hopefully we won't meet again," Harry said dryly, he didn't want any of this, he just wanted to be left alone. However, Antonin had given Harry more hope than he scarcely knew what to do with. He'd intended on running if the opportunity arose, which he doubted, Dumbledore just continued to put him on tighter restrictions and watching him more closely.

To be able to stay in the wizarding world as a neutral wizard? It would be amazing, oh, he knew it would be really difficult, and he'd have a lot of people judging him but he didn't care. Nobody got on at other neutral wizards or witches. They shouldn't do the same to him, they would judge him though but as time went by, hopefully he would just be one of the crowd of neutrals. This war between Voldemort and Dumbledore was doing more harm than good.

Antonin inclined his head, understanding his reluctance.

"Alright, the mirror of erised was brought into Hogwarts. I encountered it during Yule. Then it was moved, Dumbledore told me that it 'didn't do to dwell on dreams and forget to live' he'd been there the entire time I was gazing into it." Harry stated firmly, "Dumbledore put the stone into the mirror, making it so only those that want the stone but not use it could retrieve it."

The goblins became impassive if possible, reeling over the news but as usual not showing it. Ragnarök did write upon the parchment once more, bringing that artefact from the DOM into a school full of children and allowing them to find it? Oh, he was done for, nothing would save him.

"Where the bloody hell did, he get his hands on such an artefact?" Antonin's voice boomed in his rage. He was seething over what he'd just heard, he couldn't believe it. The damage that could have been done to any number of those children! It had ensnared and bewitched grown men…children would be entirely helpless in the face of that thing!

"Voldemort told me if I gave him the stone, since he wanted to use it, he couldn't get it. He was smart enough to try and use me to retrieve it. He promised to give me back my parents. I knew it wasn't possible, so I said no. When Quirrell went to grab a hold of me, his hands begun to smoke, touching me literally caused him to begin burning from the outside in. when I realized what was happening, I grabbed a hold of his head, refusing to relinquish my grip. I knew I would be killed if I hesitated."

The goblins looked at Harry with new appreciation, as a warrior race, they appreciated ruthlessness. To think that a young boy of eleven killed his first enemy – Voldemort didn't count he wasn't strictly dead – it was impressive to say the least. He was a warrior, there hadn't been one like that in an age. Merlin, Morgana were ones such as he. The respect for the wizard rocketed sky high. Not only was he taking on Dumbledore – someone pretty untouchable by wizards' standards – but had killed to survive, in battle, of sorts.

"I woke up to Dumbledore telling me what had occurred after I passed out, that Quirrell had died, that the stone had been destroyed." Harry said succinctly. "Patted me on the head like I was a good dog for a job well done." Baring his teeth as if the thought disgusted him.

Antonin pursed his lips, unimpressed with the Dark Lord. He never lied, he never had a need to, but he'd promised a young child whose parents he killed to bring them back? Although, the Dark Lord could in theory bring them back, reanimate them, but never truly give Harry back his parents. Just how desperate had he been? How much pain had he endured? And how much of his mind had been eaten up by the agony of it? Did the Dark Lord even remember it?

"May we have the memories? Lord Potter? Any time he put you in danger and knew about it, any illusions to the facts will work wonders." Ragnarök asked, nobody would dare presume to take someone's memories, whether they were human or creature.

"Do they even accept memories as a means of verifying the truth?" Harry asked puzzled, and it was perfectly understandable. He proclaimed Sirius was innocent and the Minister thought him confounded, Dementors at Surry, he was liar…don't get him started on Voldemort.

"They never used to be," Ragnarök nodded his agreement, as if understanding Harry's thoughts. "New advancements are made every day, and there are now pensieve's fully capable of determining even the slightest altercation of memories. Even if one has been coerced, confounded or obliviated." Puffing up proudly, it had been them that made it, and they'd passed every single test the Unspeakables had made for them.

"How long has something like that been possible?" Harry asked, narrowing his gaze thoughtfully, he didn't think he was going to like the answer.

"Five years and counting," Ragnarök told him.

Harry gritted his teeth, giving a jerky nod, "I'll give you what you need, so long as you verify the memory, I give you with Sirius Black who's innocent and Peter Pettigrew the real guilty party and make sure the right people get it." Using that Slytherin cunning that not many knew existed. Furious over the fact he hadn't known that little piece of information. Not that Fudge would have let him, he'd been hell bent on seeing him expelled.

Too bad he couldn't sue the Ministry of Magic.

"You can," Ragnarök declared, perking up, a gleeful furl encompassing his stomach. Oh, it would be beautiful, hmm, he'd need to hear everything and then decide, but for Sirius Black's wrongful imprisonment? An heir? The only heir of the Black family? "Not just for Sirius Black's imprisonment but there are rumours about a trial you received for accidental magic…" trailing off, wondering at the accuracy of it.

"Full meeting of the wizengamot for using magic in front of my cousin who's known about magic his whole life." There was no denying the sarcasm in his voice this time. "The very same cousin that listened to a talking envelope from the misuse of magic office telling me I'm being expelled."

The unholy glee that lit the goblins face up told Harry things were about to get very interesting.

"If they're that impressed with that information, what do you think they'll think about the sixty-foot basilisk?" Harry said wryly, glancing at Antonin, fully comfortable with the wizard now, and had no qualms about being…conspiratorial with him.

Then there was that silence…again.

A/n – so shall we continue talking about it as they go through the process or will the next chapter be a short summary of all they discussed? I know that rehashing everything that happened can be boring but it also allows for reactions to be played out such as the goblins and Antonin of course which by the way I totally find fun even if there can be no real obvious displays of emotions ;) and if you've noticed the things against Dumbledore are continuing to pile up all the secrets he kept are about to unravel, will the goblins speak to other students from Hogwarts as they continue to mount information…R&R please and thank you for continuing to read my stories 3 you're all amazing your support has been phenomenal xx