In a Vault

1st of June, 1997.

The air rushed past the cart as it dove deeper into the caverns under Gringotts. Heavy vault doors hid untold treasures within the cavern walls. From somewhere deep down a heavy roar could be heard. It sounded sad and Kato wasn't too happy about the existence of chained dragons guarding the vaults. He had spoken to several members of the Alfknif Clan about it, unfortunately, there was no other place for the dragons to go and most of them had gone crazy a long time ago.

Amelia Bones watched as Kato secured her vault. She had been late to the game, but she found his methods fascinating. The fact that he had taught several goblins how to do what he did also lent the whole thing some more credibility. Kato was no longer the only one who could add dragon tongue security to the vaults. His runes were still more powerful though. The goblins figured it was because he was Dragonborn.

"So that is all then," Amelia said as Kato handed her key back to her.

"That's it," Kato said.

"Relatively pain-free I would say," Amelia said. "I'll make sure to make a statement to the public. I can calm a few people down at least. The hysteria that the Prophet managed to stir up with all that misinformation certainly wasn't necessary."

"We aren't that worried about it, but still we would rather not have people try to take all their money out; it would get chaotic," Kato said.

Amelia nodded. People couldn't keep their treasures as secure as the goblins either; it would have been a field day for the more shady characters of the magical world. She would gladly try to avoid that mess. "Well, it is time for me to head back up," she said. "Have a good day Mr Peverell."

"Until next time we meet," Kato said. He was heading deeper to deal with a few more vaults.

"We'll be reaching one of the dragons," the goblin guide said. "This one has eaten several goblins. We usually approach him in a group to deal with him. I hope you know what you are doing."

Kato nodded slowly. He had talked to the Chieftain about this dragon specifically. If needed Kato would put this one out of its misery. Even if they found a way to get the dragons out of the bank, this one wasn't safe. It was an old Ironbelly. He had grown up underground and had never seen the sky. His wings were twisted and his scales were milky white instead of steely black. Kato drew his wand and turned it into his sword.

The dragon roared but his voice was twisted.

"Big one is folaas, wrong. Why?" Qozul asked.

"He has grown up in chains. Grounded, his teeth are sharp, but he is sahlo liiv, weak and withered."

"Big one is in pain," Qozul said.

"He is," Kato said. "I am considering ending it."

Qozul curled down closer to Kato. "Bye-bye," he said before hiding under Kato's collar. He understood what Monah wanted to do, but he didn't want to witness it.

Kato approached the dragon slowly. He raised a shield as it roared at him but no fire came. "Zu'u krosis," he said sadly. He moved out of the way as the dragon finally breathed fire then he rushed forward and slit through the thick hide of the dragon's throat. A soft glow spread from the dragon and engulfed Kato.

The goblin moved closer once it was clear that the dragon was dead. "They didn't lie when they said you could handle this," he said.

"Whose vault is this one?" Kato asked as he walked up to the door. His brow furrowed; there was something on the other side of this door that certainly did not belong.

"The Lestrange Family," the goblin said.

Kato nodded slowly. "There is a soul anchor in this vault," he said. "Let's say I don't remove anything from in there could I theoretically enter and remove the soul part of the soul anchor?" he asked.

The goblin tapped his chin as he considered the question. If Kato wasn't a member of their Clan he would have said no, but Kato was of Clan Alfknif so they could just say it was a necessary procedure to secure the vault. "Fine, but I'll have to keep my eyes on you," he said.

Kato would have chuckled if he knew this particular dwemer better. He walked up to the vault and touched the door. "Bex Vogron Staadnau," he shouted. The original locks on the vault doors were well made but had no protection against dragon tongue. The door clicking open echoed through the cavern. Kato let the door swing open all the way before stepping inside.

"I assume that your additional security makes that little move impossible," the goblin said.

"Yes," Kato said.

The vault was filled with coins and items. It was a mess. Kato stepped over the threshold and looked around. He opened his senses and scanned the room with his magic. Up on a shelf stood a small golden cup with a badger on the front. "Govey Sil Len Du Al," he shouted as he also cast Soul Trap. Sweat started dripping down his face as he forced the piece of soul out of its vessel before destroying it. He collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. He wasn't going to secure any more vaults today that much was certain. Slowly, he pulled himself back and exited the vault so it could be closed.

"I'll call for one of the others to deal with this one," the goblin said. He had followed Kato around enough to know that securing even up to fifteen vaults in a day wasn't hard for him. The fact that the wizard had collapsed from exhaustion told him that what he had done was hard to do, especially since he knew that Kato held no love for theatrics in matters such as these.

…

Harry returned to Hogwarts several hours later once he had eaten a hearty meal and rested some so Hermione wouldn't get worried again. She had enough other things on her plate with the exams. At least they weren't taking their NEWTs. Harry saw Ginny sitting by a table leaning over a book. He walked over to her. "Come on let's go out and fly some," he said. "You need to step away from that or you'll just overwork yourself." He could tell that Ginny wanted to argue with him, but she chose not to.

"Sure Cap, that sounds good," she said instead. To be frank she was ready to throw that book out the window. She was so damn grateful that her defence professor was Lupin. He was so much better than any other professor they had gone through over the years. Ginny smiled as the wind grabbed her hair. She followed Harry out over the forest. He was right, this was amazing.

They flew together until it was time for dinner.

After Ginny landed next to Harry she walked up to him and kissed him. She felt how he pushed her away gently. He was smiling, but she could tell that he felt uncomfortable.

"I like you Ginny, but I'm not interested in a relationship with you," he said. "You are an amazing friend. I don't want to hurt your feelings, but this is never going to work out."

As Harry walked into the school Ginny looked after him. Why had she done that? She loved spending time with Harry and she might have just ruined any chance they had of just being friends. "Dumb hormones," she cursed before following him. At least he wasn't acting any different towards her when she sat down with him. He even offered to help her study. Ginny swore to herself that she wasn't going to pine after him anymore. He had been clear enough. He wasn't interested. She sighed.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked as they headed back up to the tower.

Ginny didn't answer at first. She wasn't sure she wanted to talk about it. "I kissed Harry," she said finally.

"Oh," Hermione looked ahead of them at Harry's back. "I see," she said.

"He rejected me," Ginny said. "And now… now I'm worried he'll treat me differently."

"Not unless you make him," Hermione said. "Just put this behind you and look to the future."

"You know why he isn't interested in me, don't you?" Ginny asked.

Hermione grimaced. "I know why he isn't interested in a relationship right now," she said. "It isn't about you specifically. He rejects anyone who tries."

"Does that happen often?" Ginny asked. She felt better knowing that it wasn't anything specifically about her that Harry didn't like.

Hermione shrugged. "Every other week. There are some who just won't take a hint like Blaise Zabini from Slytherin. Though I don't know if he is actually serious or if that is just something he does anyway," she said.

Ginny gave Hermione a sceptical look. It felt better now that she had talked to Hermione about it. She guessed it didn't have to be such a big deal.

14th of June, 1997.

Tanya jumped out of the way as a ball of fire came sailing her way. She summoned ice spikes and threw them across the room in a wide arch. The ice melted and bolts of lightning danced through the air.

Tanya threw up a shield and moved forward. With a snap of her wand, she threw a slew of spells as the shield broke and she ignited one of her training dummies.

"Remember your footwork," Harry barked out.

Tanya stuck her tongue out at him before freezing another dummy. Her familiar capuchin jumped from her shoulder and pulled another dummies' head off.

Harry hid a smile. Tanya had come a long way. Another year and he could let her go on to mastering her own type of magicka. It was a good thing too since he wouldn't have time to teach her once he left school. He leaned back against the wall. He was going to be teaching Draco Malfoy these things. He somehow doubted it would be as easy as teaching Tanya. He had learnt a lot teaching her though. He knew when he could push and when he needed to back off. He was glad that Draco would not be his first apprentice. He chuckled. When he had realised that he technically already had an apprentice he actually made it more official. No one would know until Tanya left school, but she was his first apprentice and always would be. He was glad he hadn't pushed Neville and Hermione into learning magicka. Neither one of his friends had the time that needed to be put into the necessary self-study to spare. He considered whether he would or wouldn't eventually offer Gabrielle an apprenticeship as well. She had the aptitude and he wouldn't do it until she was older either way. Thinking about it he realised that Gabrielle was probably starting school come autumn. He would have to make it over to Fleur's at some point.

Harry cancelled the dummies and walked up to Tanya. "You did great," he said as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

Tanya smiled brightly. She had worked hard and it showed. She was happy that Harry was proud of her. "Could you fight them?" she asked. She loved watching Harry fight. She could learn so much just by watching him. He wouldn't always do it so she was hoping he would say yes.

Harry sighed. Puppy-dog eyes worked a lot better with the half-Khajiit appearance that Tanya naturally spotted. It was the ears. He was sure it was the ears. "Okay but just because this is our last session of the year," he said.

Tanya's ears dropped. She didn't want this to be the last session. "But there are weeks left," she said.

Harry smiled. "And I have a lot of things to do," he said. He reached up and messed with her hair. "I'll fight," he said. "Move over to the shield and jack them up."

Tanya smiled as she bounced over to the rune shield Harry had raised before she had started fighting. She grabbed the controls for the dummies and cranked their difficulty up to max. "No sword!" she shouted. She smiled as Harry got moving. He didn't stand still longer than absolutely necessary, but he also didn't move more than he needed to. Fire and ice danced over the floor. Spells flew in rapid succession. The dummies were tough at max difficulty. Tanya gasped as Harry was hit with a spell. She could see that he was bleeding, but that didn't stop him. He healed himself while moving out of the reach of the nearest dummy. He cast a point-blank lightning bolt at a dummy. It exploded and the pieces flew all around the room. Tanya clapped her hands rapidly as he destroyed another dummy. Harry was fearsome to watch. She knew that if the dummies were people he would still be capable of doing exactly what he did to the dummies even though he would prefer not to. That thought was frightening in a way. She bounced over to him once the last dummy hit the ground. "Can we have breakfast now?" she asked.

"Clean up first?" Harry asked.

Tanya's nose twitched and she nodded. "Yes, please," she said.

They picked up Natalie when they got to the common room. They got to the Great Hall later than usual so there were quite a few people there. They sat down near Hermione. Harry didn't say much as Tanya and Natalie started talking about all the things they wanted to do in the coming week. The owls flew in not long after they sat down.

A big brown owl landed in front of Harry and held its leg out.

Harry reached out and grabbed the letter tied to the owl's leg. It was heavy. The parchment was dark and it smelled faintly of manure. Harry pulled up a plate of food for the owl before opening the letter. It was addressed to Kato so it promised to be interesting.

Mr Peverell,

I write to you from the Romanian Dragon Preserve.

We have heard of your unique abilities

and would like to request your presence as soon

as possible. Should you live up to your reputation

we are willing to write a contract of employment

with you.

Yours Sincerely,

Wadim Albescu, Head of Sanctuary

Harry raised an eyebrow. The tone wasn't great for someone who wanted him to show up. The fact that they assumed he would want to work for them was cute. He looked over at Hermione and held the letter out to her.

Hermione looked at the letter. It was quite obvious that English was not this man's first language, but there was more to it than that. "At least you know Charlie," she said.

"True," Harry said. "I just don't know if it is such a good idea considering," he pointed back at the Slytherin table and Hermione looked over at Draco. "Why should that matter," she said. "He could learn from it. If there are dragons all around him he would be more inclined to learn wouldn't he?"

Harry laughed. "Sometimes I wonder if I might just have rubbed off on you a little," he said and smirked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "It is something you would like to do and it would give you contacts you need," she said.

Harry nodded. "I guess I'll let him know that I can show up on the first," he said. "I won't be rushing off just because he wants me to."

"It is good for people like him to wait a bit," Hermione agreed. "You, however, need to go through your runes before the exam."

Harry pretended to look miserable. "But 'Mione, I don wanna," he said childishly. If he had been standing he would have stomped his foot too just because he knew it irritated her.

"I hate you," Hermione said as she stood up.

"Love you too," Harry said. He lifted the owl up and brought him along. "I'll send my own owl with a response so you can rest for a bit," he said. He knew that Hedwig would love a long flight. He really needed to send more letters with her or find her a mate. He wrote his response and sent Hedwig off. He stood in the owlery looking after her as she became a small white speck against the blue summer sky.

22nd of June, 1997.

Alice smiled as Kato moved away from Frank. "It looks like there is little else I can do for you Frank," Kato said. "Now you need time to heal what can heal. I cannot promise that you will be fully recovered, unfortunately. You are probably not becoming an Auror again."

Frank nodded. "Thank you for being honest, Healer," he said. "And thank you for everything that you have done for myself and my family. We are deep in your debt."

"Don't worry about that," Kato said. "I helped because I wanted to."

"You have done so much more than any healer has to in order to aid a patient," Alice said. "You even let us live here. This is such a beautiful place."

"Thank you," Kato said. "I'm quite fond of it."

"There is so much we have missed," Frank said softly. "So much we need to catch up on and learn."

"A little bit at a time," Kato said. "And don't blame yourselves for what happened. It won't make anyone happy." He stood up. "Neville will be here in less than a week. Try to make the most of what you have. Don't be scared of asking him questions. The house will be yours and Remus will be staying here too. Take care of each other. Play with Leoline. Get some of what you missed with Neville. It is okay, just don't forget that you have him too."

Frank nodded. Even with all the memories he had been given of Neville, it was hard sometimes to keep everything sorted. He was so happy that Alice couldn't remember the attack because he could, and he would never be able to forget the chilling fear he had felt.

He hoped that Neville would never have to feel that way and he knew that people like Kato could make that happen.

Once Harry had left Ennerdale he wandered for a bit. Eventually, he found his way to the Forbidden Forest. He hadn't entered the forest since they cleared out the spiders. The things he had heard from Hagrid made him feel like a villain. He sighed heavily as he looked out over the destruction he had wrought. He had killed the spiders, but he had killed everything else that had lived there too. The grey ashen dirt under his feet was his fault. The trees, the bushes and all the innocent animals that had lived there were gone and could never come back. He had the power to do this and he had used it without thinking of what it would entail. He sank down on his knees. What could he do to fix this? It was all his fault he couldn't just leave it like this. Then the solution came to him. Neville would know what to do and maybe they could slowly bring back the forest that had once stood there.

He rose slowly and headed back to the castle. He had a feeling that Neville wouldn't be impressed with him.

Neville wasn't impressed; as a matter of fact he was pained. He understood why Harry had done what he did, but he had also expected someone like Harry to not mess up so royally. "You'll need fertilizer," he said. "To cover that big an area you'll need a lot of it."

Harry nodded slowly. "I'll see what I can do," he said. He really wanted to fix what he had ruined. They were leaving for the summer holidays soon and he at least wanted to be underway by then. "Thank you, Neville," he said. He needed to head to someplace that sold fertilizer.

"No problem," Neville responded quietly as Harry disappeared in a passing crowd. He sighed and hoped that maybe Harry would put less on his plate so he could actually focus properly next term.