Chapter 113, The Secret Of Gringotts

Gellert was quite full when he and Blaise Apparated home after the Cabal meeting. He was beginning to suspect that garlic bread may be addictive. There was no other explanation for why he'd felt the need to eat three slices with his meal. The feeling of contentment brought on by a full belly did serve to somewhat dull the thrill of the fact he believed he'd just discovered the ninth cabal, but the food would settle, and he was certain that his excitement would return soon enough. For now, though, he wanted to talk it over with Blaise in order to solidify plans on how best to proceed. This could happen in the comfort of their own library while the food digested.

"Mother! Father!" Blaise rarely shouted, so Gellert felt his eyes widening. The two had just Apparated in and stood together in the front hall. Knowing precisely what Blaise was on about caused Gellert's lips to twitch. He was just as eager for this parental reckoning as was Blaise.

"What," Sabra shouted back. "How did it go?"

"Library," Geo added. "We are in the library."

Blaise let out a breath, giving his head a disgusted shake as he stalked in that direction. Gellert followed wordlessly. "I do hope it is safe to enter," Blaise called out as they approached. "I wouldn't want to walk in on any dark secrets that you are clearly hiding or anything."

"What's he on about," Sabra asked.

"Who knows," Geo replied. "What are you on about, Blaise?" The short stocky Italian sat sprawled in his favorite chair near the fire, the newspaper open across his lap. Sabra sat to his left in the red velvet chair she favored, a thin book in her neatly manicured slender hands.

"Just look at them, sitting there quite as if they have nothing to hide," Blaise drawled. Gellert nodded sagely, for indeed they were sitting there, looking quite as if they had nothing to hide.

"What ever are you on about," Sabra demanded. "This is no longer amusing. Just have out with it. We aren't hiding anything."

"Is that so," Blaise asked. "Because we learned something today that we never knew. It was stated casually, as if public knowledge, yet we had no idea."

Geo arched his brows inquiringly. This caused Blaise's affronted scowl to deepen. "Want a drink," Geo wondered and both Blaise and Gellert shook their heads. Gellert had work to do once his food settled, and he wanted to keep a clear head for that. "Well am I going to need a drink because of whatever you are on about," Geo demanded.

"I should think not," Blaise replied. "It's only that you have been working for the cabal all along! I should assume that you are both aware."

"You mean the poisons," Sabra asked, clearly unconcerned and mildly bored.

"Yes!" Blaise nearly shouted.

Sabra sighed. She, like everyone else in the room, was accustomed to her son being very calm and collected, after all. Clearly she found the fact he was worked up to be taxing. "It is doing our family duty. It is simple and fast. I would hardly call it work."

"But you do it after complaining and insisting on how you wanted no part of the cabal. Both of you!" Blaise stared accusingly from parent to parent.

Geo shrugged. "We don't really have a choice. We don't mind that nearly as much as we'd mind actually attending meetings, participating even more actively, being an official part of making decisions and all that rubbish."

"It ensnares one like a fish in a net. A family net," Sabra said, making a face.

"But you supply them with poison to rub people out and that's not being a part of things in your eyes," Blaise demanded.

His vocal volume was clearly too close to a shout for Sabra's discomfort. Drawing herself up, she gave him her famous icy frown. "Do calm yourself, Blaise. That was never a secret. It's the same as having a store. If I sell poisons in a shop, I can't control what my buyers do with them. If we supply them to the family in order to be left out of things for as long as possible, it is a transaction of sorts, and one I never intended to hide from you. It never came up and you simply never asked. I honestly was not aware that you did not know, though, or that you would even care."

Geo nodded in agreement. "Supporting the family while taking a back seat is manageable for us. It is not a problem."

"But it isn't as if they allowed you to drop your family duties. If Gell hadn't agreed to take the position, you would've had to when Nonno retired or passed. Do you actually think otherwise?"

"Of course not, but father could've retired far sooner had he a mind to. He did not, as he knew well how uninterested I am. We had to give something, though, or my disinterest would've been more of a problem." He shook his head at Blaise. "I am truly baffled by your reaction, though. It isn't a big deal."

"It's more that we didn't know," Blaise said, giving a sigh and looking suddenly deflated. Walking across the room, he settled onto the sofa that he and Gellert usually shared. Gellert strolled over to join him, nodding.

"I must confess, hearing it from others, and so casually put, took us aback. It was rather a surprise."

"Well we are genuinely sorry," Sabra said. "We thought you knew."

"Yes, or that you wouldn't care, because it really isn't a big deal," Geo reiterated.

Blaise flicked an astounded glance to Gellert and sighed again. "Parents are weird."

Gellert chuckled. "Indeed they are."

"Also bloody insane," Blaise added darkly.

"Now, now," Geo said. "Compliments will not get you anywhere."

"I, for one, am not insane," Sabra huffed.

"Perhaps not," Gellert quipped doubtfully, because teasing the parents was a little fun. "But still..." He let the amusement slip from his face. "It was strange that neither of you ever mentioned the... family work you did for the Cabal. Especially when you gave me the book before my own initiation."

"We just didn't think about it, is all. We were thinking about you and your initiation, and it was hardly related," Geo protested indignantly. "It wasn't about us. It was your moment."

"True," Sabra nodded. "You boys are making much of nothing, and I, for one, have no idea why."

"Because we didn't know, and it likely showed in front of everyone," Gellert chastised as gently as possible. "And... I suppose it did not feel pleasant learning something like that from others when we would expect to learn it from you." Somehow it was oddly uncomfortable to express displeasure with the parents, but in this case, it could not be helped.

"They are going to insist on making a big deal out of nothing," Sabra sighed, looking to Geo as though she expected him to do something about it.

Geo directed a placating look at Blaise and Gellert. "We are very sorry. We did not mean to put you in an uncomfortable situation at the cabal meeting. We either forgot or assumed you knew. Honestly we did not consider it a big deal and did not believe you would either. You know Sabra's skill with poisons,and you are likewise aware that it is no secret to my family that hers was always in the business of poisons."

"What your father is far too politely saying for the third time, is, that if we forgot to mention it, it was not intentional and all the pieces were there if you both chose to bother putting two and two together," Sabra snapped peevishly.

"Thank you, Daddio," Gellert told Geo. He was at least being sincere and Gellert appreciated that. With this in mind, he shot Sabra a final look of reproach that she met with an unapologetic frown.

"Are the two of you getting careless? Truly it was no secret. Thinking for yourselves should never be under rated," she said. Gellert felt himself flushing in embarrassment as he struggled to hold on to his state of annoyance. Blaise sighed.

"Well do realize that we are apparently not thinking for ourselves, and do tell us anything else that may come up in the future before it does, please," he drawled.

"There is nothing," Sabra snapped.

"Good then," Gellert said, relieved and not bothering to hide it. "In a setting like the Cabal, the last thing I need are surprises if I can at all avoid them."

Geo nodded. "And we get that. We're really sorry."

"And insane," Blaise muttered. "If you really don't think that should've been mentioned..."

"It was obvious," Sabra said.

"I'd like to visit Gringotts before it closes," Gellert said, turning to Blaise. He'd wanted to come home first in order to unwind a bit as well as to talk over the situation with his partner, but with the parents here, talking at home would not be possible without making it clear that they needed privacy. This could raise questions which he did not wish to deal with.

For one thing, he did not know how much in the know the Cabal wanted the parents to be if they weren't a direct part of it on a regular basis. For another, he did not wish to embarrass himself if he happened to be wrong on his ninth cabal theory. Blaise knowing he was wrong was one thing, but the parents was another. It was probably silly, but there it was.

Ah well, he and Blaise had both needed their questions answered when it came to the parents and the cabal so the stop off at home had not been wasted. With that done, and his large meal no longer so heavy on his belly, he was ready for the next order of operations when it came to the mystery of the ninth Cabal, a mystery he truly believed he'd solved. He was eager to know if his belief was a fact, though.

"Very well." Blaise nodded and rose. "Shall we go now, then?"

"Yes." Gellert stood as well. "We should be back in time for dinner," he told the parents. They were likely to be home sooner than that, but he had no idea how long this conversation would take. If he happened to be wrong, not long at all. If he happened to be right, things could take longer. Then again, if the goblins did not wish to deal with his cabal, the conversation could still be a brief one.

The parents merely nodded, not asking any questions. Surely they supposed the two needed to go to Gringotts to deposit funds for their shop, which was a logical conclusion if incorrect this time. Taking Blaise's hand, Gellert Apparated them directly outside the bank. He would have to have the talk here that he'd planned to have at home. "I believe the goblins were once part of our cabal structure," he said. Blaise's eyes widened slightly.

"The ninth!"

Gellert chuckled in appreciation, pleased that Blaise had arrived on the same page of realization so quickly. "This ought to be interesting," he said, giving his partner an eager smile as he pushed open the nearest door.

"To whom shall we ask to speak," Blaise asked.

Gellert nodded. The question was a good one. Either all the goblins knew that they ran the ninth Cabal, or it was a closely guarded secret. Mag as well as Kreacher and Regulus were friendly with Griphook, so he should be a safe one to start with. He would know, or he would know who may know.

"Griphook I think," he said. "We shall ask him to take us to our business vault, then speak to him there." Blaise nodded, and they proceeded into the bank. There were so many goblins at desks, at least ten, and Gellert was suddenly uncertain which was Griphook.

Moving to the first desk he straightened his shoulders and met the goblin's eyes who sat there with a direct smile quite as if he knew just what he was doing. "We need to go into our bank vault for Enchanted Odds, and wonder if Griphook could take us specifically. If he is busy, we can wait." If the goblin claimed to be Griphook, Gellert would be embarrassed. He decided to quickly come up with a joke, indicating that he knew as much, but fortunately the goblin just nodded.

"Griphook!" The goblin's sudden shout nearly caused Gellert to start. "You're wanted special." That goblin would not cause Gellert to flush or to shift his feet in discomfort, or to look around to see how many people were staring, he vowed silently. Griphook approached, and the frown on his face made Gellert wonder if like him, the goblin felt embarrassed by the unnecessarily loud singling out.

That or he just always scowled. Most goblins seemed to, after all. Rather than putting Gellert off, this fact had always amused him. He tended to wonder what a person was thinking about when they looked that grumpy. Surely whatever it was was interesting. "They need to go down into their business vault and they'd like you to take them. Especially you."

The desk goblin smirked at Griphook in open amusement. Griphook shrugged as his scowl deepened. Turning to Gellert and Blaise, he nodded sharply and started away, leaving them to follow. Soon they were in a cart careening down the several floors to their Enchanted Odds vault. All the way down, Gellert couldn't keep himself from grinning. The wild ride was a treat, and he always enjoyed it. Even with the excitement of what he believed to be his new discovery, today was no exception. When the cart stopped, though, his mind returned at once to the matter at hand. "We didn't really need anything from our vault," he told Griphook.

The goblin paused with a key in the lock of the door to door eight-hundred-and-eighty-three, the vault for Enchanted Odds. Frowning over his shoulder at Gellert's revelation, Griphook demanded, "What is this about, then?""

Blaise waved for him to proceed with the unlocking of their vault's door. "Go ahead. We can still go inside for the sake of privacy."

Gellert did not speak until the three of them were inside with the heavy door soundly shut behind them."As you are friendly with Mag as well as Regulus and Kreacher, I believe you can be trusted," Gellert began after taking a deep, fortifying breath. He was about to learn something, or he was about to be disappointed. He savored the moment as much as he wanted to push through it to learn what was next to come.

"It's about what my family calls the Ninth Cabal. Most people don't even believe it is real. By most people, I mean the people in the eight wizarding Cabals." As he spoke, he carefully watched Griphook's face. His heart leapt to see a slight flicker around Griphook's eyes, though the goblin's mouth remained a hard, unyielding line. That sudden shift around the eyes could indicate that Gellert was indeed onto something. That or it could indicate the fact that Griphook had no idea what he was talking about and found his words odd and annoying. Gellert pushed on in order to discover which.

"The ninth Cabal specializes in magical buildings, and what is a more magical building than Gringotts with all its defenses and treasures? Why any dragon could drool with envy." There went that flicker around Griphook's eyes again. Other than that, the goblin made no indication that Gellert was correct or incorrect. The fact that he had not yet spoken, though, was encouraging. He had not interrupted to declare that he had no idea what Gellert was on about, nor had he demanded an explanation.

"I am aware of this, because I have recently been initiated into my family's Cabal. I assume your people are aware that my family helps to run the original Cabal from which the other eight... or nine, branched out." At that, Griphook gave a slow blink. Gellert took this as confirmation, and with a slight smile that he hoped did not look too openly triumphant, he pressed on. "As the new head of my family's Cabal, I ask you to speak to the head of yours. I propose a reunion, bringing the Ninth Cabal back into the fold. Considering that the other eight do not even believe you exist, I assume the breaking away of the ninth was a choice of goblins only and not over any direct issue with the other eight. I am guessing it came to be as a safety protocol during one of the goblin wizard wars, yes? During such times, it would likely be a thing of goblins not to trust any alliances with humans.

Griphook gave another slow blink before speaking. "So what? You expect me to vouch for you? Is that it?"

Gellert gave his best winning smile. "That would be nice."

"Why do you want to join forces with our kind," Griphook demanded.

Gellert shrugged. "Why not? We did it before. It does not appear to have ended badly, just sort of faded away from my understanding. I feel we could all be better together. Sharing secret knowledge with one another, banding together to become stronger, it should be beneficial to all."

Griphook gave another slow blink before sinking down onto a nearly thigh high sack of gold just inside their vault. "Have you been talking to Kereston," he asked.

Gellert felt his eyes widening in surprise as he shook his head. "No. We've both been rather busy of late. Why?"

"She did write about having lunch a few weeks ago, or perhaps it was last week, but we couldn't settle on a time. First she wasn't free, then we weren't," Blaise reminded.

"Ah yes," Gellert nodded, recalling that now he'd mentioned it. "What does Kereston have to do with any of this," he asked.

Griphook chuckled. "How long do you have?"