Chapter 8: Griefing Greedy Goblins!

~289 AC~

"This wizard is out of his mind!" That was the only thing Urgok the goblin could think as he stood across from the little wizard who had summoned him from death; claiming that he was Harry Potter no less!

A name Urgok could've done without hearing for the rest of his eternal afterlife.

Harry Potter, a truly shameless wizard if he had ever met one.

It seemed like just yesterday when he and that buffoon of a half-giant had come to access his vault. If Urgok had known that the little wizard would carry out a break-in the likes of which Gringotts had never seen not even a decade later, he might've taken his head with his axe then and there!

Urgok had served as Head Goblin of Gringotts Wizarding Bank for nigh a century. As a descendant of Ragnuk the First, he had enjoyed many benefits. For his great feat of forging the Sword of Gryffindor, Gringott, the founder of Gringotts Wizarding Bank, had posthumously awarded Ragnuk by making the role of Head Goblin at Gringotts a hereditary one exclusive to his line.

While many of the goblin race had shifted to working in the finance industry and stopped practicing the art of metalworking due to the decreasing desire for steel in an increasingly more peaceful world, Urgok's family had kept to the old ways. There wasn't a goblin of Ragnuk's line around that didn't have at least a passing familiarity with metalworking.

As was tradition, Urgok had attained the position of Head Goblin after outperforming all of his kin by forging his own master-class metalwork in the form of his axe. It couldn't hold a candle to the Sword of Gryffindor, but what metalwork could? He had been proud at the time, but if he knew what he would've had to deal with in the future, he might've rejected the position.

Just a few months after the conclusion of the Second Wizarding War, more a skirmish by any real goblin's reckoning, Harry Potter had strutted into Gringotts as if he hadn't broken in recently with a cocky assuredness that only a wizard could possess. The guards so stunned by his confidence, they had failed to even try to apprehend him!

Urgok had been shocked, but in hindsight he shouldn't have been. As he would come to find out, despite all the cunning Harry Potter had showcased in his break in, his courage, recklessness really, far outstripped it.

What followed was a lengthy legal battle with Urgok at the helm. As Head Goblin, it was his duty to mete out justice to the law-breaking wizard; but it wasn't to be. Instead, Urgok found himself not only being able to gain just enough galleons to cover the damages caused by the break-in, but also being forced into a position where he had to make a promise to fulfill a favor for the blasted wizard!

Urgok didn't know if it was divine intervention or not, but Harry Potter had a talent for avoiding the consequences for his actions. Indeed, he seemed to somehow even benefit from them.

Threats of moving assets to gnomes or not, Urgok had no idea why he had made such a bargain.

The stress of the case had deteriorated his health, and his old age hadn't helped. Urgok had passed away a year after the case was closed.

His only solace was that he didn't have to fulfill the favor. It would fall to his descendants, but it wasn't his problem anymore.

Or so he thought.

"Prove it, wizard." Urgok had never paid much attention to how witches or wizards looked, but he was pretty damned sure Harry Potter was a lot taller, and didn't have red-brown hair or blue eyes.

"My backup vault password was 'Chudley Cannons suck', and the case number was X153B." Robb amazed himself with his ingenuity sometimes, no one would've guessed Ron Weasley's best friend to make such a password.

Urgok could only grimace at the little wizard's answer. The backup vault password was a feature they had started implementing recently due to too many people not being able to keep track of their keys. Harry Potter had jumped on the service. It seemed he couldn't even keep track of his vault key, feeble-minded wizard that he was. The case number had been private, too. Urgok had made sure of that. He didn't want his failure to extract more from the wizard exposed, so he buried the legal files.

However, despite this little wizard providing information that only Harry Potter could possibly know, Urgok wasn't having it. The idea of reincarnation wasn't particularly outlandish to magical beings, he just didn't want to uphold his end of the bargain. To admit his defeat.

"I don't believe you. Now send me back to my eternal rest, wizard. There's a great gathering going on right now, and I won't be the only dead goblin to miss it."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Urgok. A favor is owed, and it will be collected. And so, I won't be sending you back until you've fulfilled it."

"Wh-what?!" Sputtered Urgok. "What do you mean you won't be sending me back?!"

"It's as I said, Urgok. I summoned you here, and it is only through me that you can leave here. A favor is owed." Robb had declared, as he palmed a perfectly spherical stone with The Deathly Hallows symbol etched into it.

Robb had been surprised when he'd realized he could summon the resurrection stone. He'd expected it to be quite a bit later, but supposed that all the magic he'd been using lately had pushed the expected date forward. Once he gained the stone, a plan had hatched in his mind.

A plan to collect on his favor from the goblins.

Robb hadn't made much use of the resurrection stone in his life as Harry Potter. He had used it on more than one occasion to try to learn magic from witches and wizards of great renown who had passed away long ago, but as he had come to learn, deceased beings were rather whimsical the longer they had been dead. They had a light view of death and were starved for entertainment at the best of times, and so more than a few had tried to get Robb to do something ridiculously stupid that could've resulted in his death for a quick laugh.

While Robb wasn't such an asshole that he would summon random people and keep them here until they gave in to his demands, Urgok did indeed owe a favor. He was in the right here!

The little wizard's explanation sounded like hippogriff shite to Urgok's ears. Being able to summon the dead, and keep them summoned permanently against their will at that? It sounded outrageous, but if such a thing were possible, Harry Potter was certainly a shameless enough wizard to do it. Urgok knew so.

He had one more card to play, though.

"How do I know you haven't collected on the favor from my descendants already, Potter?" Urgok said with a sneaky smirk, as if he'd found a hidden weakness he could exploit.

"I'll declare a magical oath attesting to the fact I haven't. I even happen to have someone here that could help us with that. Sharley!"

At Robb's shout, a short, lithe form emerged from the shadows of the First Keep. "Yes, my lord?" Every word was agony on Sharley's lips. The smile the human had sent her way that seemed to say that he knew of her pain only sharpened it.

She had hoped to listen in on the conversation the human was having with whatever spirit he had summoned to try to find a weakness she could exploit, but to her ire, she could hear nothing until he shouted for her. Even worse, she couldn't even read the lips of the two. No doubt due to the human's magic. His applications seemed endless. Not even the last greenseer could hold a candle to him.

Not for the first time, Sharley pondered the limits of the Stark child.

"I have need of you. Our ghostly companion doubts my sincerity. You remember the oaths I had you make to me recently, right? We'll be doing something similar this time."

Sharley couldn't forget such an event even if she wanted to.

"Of course, my lord."

Urgok sneered at Sharley's appearance. "Enslaving magical creatures in your new life already, Harry Potter? You wizards are the same in every world, it seems."

Robb was offended at that remark, and couldn't let it slide. Urgok getting one over him couldn't be allowed. "Hey! She tried to make me a blood sacrifice to magical Orwellian trees!"

In any other moment, Sharley would've jumped in to defend her actions, but something else was on her mind.

Who is Harry Potter? And what does this spirit mean by other worlds?

"What is this spirit talking about, human? Who is Harry Potter? What about other worlds?" Sharley voiced her questions before she thought on them. The contents were too interesting to not be curious about, but she regretted doing so not even a minute later.

Robb turned to face Sharley, looking a little embarrassed. "Bugger, I've been a little clumsy lately. I can't believe I made such a blunder. Ron and Hermione would've been on my arse for sure! Sharley, you are not allowed to discuss or transmit the contents of this conversation or any other ones I have in the future anywhere, on anything, or with anyone else unless with my leave."

"Damn you, human!" Sharley seethed as his command caused a shift in her body. No doubt everything she heard or saw here or would ever hear and see around Robb would stay with her.

Robb had essentially turned Sharley into a house-elf with all the binding oaths he had made her sign and speak, albeit she was actually physically attractive unlike one. He had considered freeing her in the future if she showed a little good behavior and was honestly sorry for her little blood sacrifice plot, but she hadn't been making a very good case lately.

Robb laughed at Sharley's anger and turned back to Urgok. A pulse of magical power into the resurrection stone found the ghost gaining a measure of corporeality. Robb and Urgok gripped hands, with Sharley acting as the mediator.

"Did you ever collect on the favor me and mine owed to you, wizard?"

"I did not."

A flash of light, and then darkness. Urgok got his answer, and it was one he didn't like. Magic was sentient to a degree, so magical oaths and vows were a matter that focused on the spirit of the agreement rather than the letter of the law. Tricky wording was useless.

"What would you even ask of me, wizard?"

Robb had thought a bit about what favor he would ask of the goblin, but the answer was obvious, really. "I would have you teach me the art of goblin metalworking."

Urgok starred at Robb for a long moment. "Not in this world or the next, wizard!"

Robb threw his hands up in exasperation. "It's not the first time we've done this dance, Urgok! I'll see you tomorrow, then. With me, Sharley." Sharley melted back into the shadows as Robb headed for the door, wand in hand as he cast spells on the room. He gave Urgok one last smile that was eerily reminiscent of the one he'd given at the start of the break-in case, even if he did have a different face now.

"Wa-wait!" Stammered Urgok, as he suddenly found himself frozen in place. "What about the goblin gathering in the afterlife?!"

"I'm afraid you'll be missing that gathering, Urgok." And with that final statement, Robb closed the door of one of the many rooms of the much improved First Keep, sealing off Urgok's shouts of anger.

"Goblins sure are tough to deal with." Robb sighed as he treaded the halls of the First Keep. He knew Urgok wouldn't give in easily, so he'd designed a room specifically for containing spirits. Until he got his iron-clad vow from Urgok, that was where the goblin would stay.

Robb was very curious about the metalworking of the goblin race. Besides weapons and armors, they excelled in various crafts. Machinery was one thing that they excelled at, as he thought back to the cart they used to take people to their vaults. Because of their lack of wands, the goblin lifestyle was more similar to muggles than other magical beings. They were capable of magic, of course, but they couldn't hand wave away everything like witches and wizards.

While Robb had some expectations of Old Valyria and any knowledge he might find there on civil engineering, he kept them tempered. He knew the goblins had undoubtedly surpassed them in most aspects. Just comparing goblin-wrought silver to Valyrian steel had told him that much.

There was no way his parents or the blacksmiths of Winterfell were going to let him anywhere near a forge considering his age and size, but goblins were small beings themselves, so they had to have forges designed for his size.

Thoughts of metalworking came to a stop as he arrived at a certain room.

Inside it was empty save for a blue stone the size of a large egg at the center, secured on a pedestal. Robb had been weaving spells and storing magical power in it daily for a while, and it would see use soon.

One of the main questions that had plagued Robb's mind since he'd learned about this world was how to deal with the Ironborn, a people who showed reverence to their god through pillage and rape. They and the North had been enemies for thousands of years. Just learning the history of the Stony Shore had taught him that much.

Robb had decided to take a page out of Tom's book. He had always been brilliant at suppressing people through magical means.

The taboo spell he had made use of during the Second Wizarding War was genius, as much as Robb hated to admit it. He and the auror department had studied it to try to use it for catching dark wizards. One of the measures had been putting forbidden and highly dark magic under the powerful jinx. While it hadn't been very successful, only pushing dark wizards to become better at hiding and invent newer magic that couldn't be detected, Robb had learned about the spell inside and out.

And he would put all he learned into practice on this stone.

His plan was rather simple. He would make the Drowned God the target of his own taboo spell, focused entirely on the Iron Islands.

Part of the reason the use of the taboo spell was such a failure for the auror department was because for each word made taboo, the spells that could be cast on the one who broke it lowered in strength and quantity. Furthermore, it was a rather complex spell, so not many people could cast it. However, with just the Drowned God as the sole target of his taboo spell, Robb could have the people who broke it hit with all manner of spells.

The end of this Ironborn rebellion would be the perfect time to cast it. Robb would bet all his galleons that the Drowned God was very real, and its power would be at it's lowest once the Iron Islands suffered a brutal defeat. Some of its most fervent believers would be killed in the war. The people of Westeros were a superstitious lot, so something like the taboo coming into effect right after a crushing defeat would only be seen as a terrible sign.

Once his father contacted him through the enchanted parchment he had gifted him, Robb would take the blue stone he'd been filling with magical power and place it at the center of the Iron Islands under a Fidelius Charm. It would carry out the spells on anyone that broke the taboo.

Robb hadn't woven anything particularly malicious into it. Anyone who broke the taboo would find themselves afflicted with aches, pains, nausea, and headaches. Repeat offenders would find themselves shitting their breeches, and the worst of the worst would find themselves with a terrible case of the Slug-vomiting Charm.

This was only one part of his plan, though.

The other part involved confunding King Robert into bringing back Quellon Greyjoy's reforms. Robb didn't know much about his namesake, but from what he did know, he was merciful to his enemies. That was something Robb could appreciate, but he couldn't have that in this scenario. With the Ironborn weakened after their failure of a rebellion, there wouldn't be anything Balon could do if the king pushed for them. The Confundus Charm would make sure he did.

Coupled with having the more politically powerful Ironborn under the Imperius Curse, Robb was sure he could kill reaving culture in a generation.

While some would have derided his plans as half-assed with all the power he had at his disposal, he wasn't keen on personally killing what would amount to tens of thousands of people. Who knew what type of damage indiscriminate mass murder through magic could do to the soul? Robb had wanted to try this method first, but if it came down to it, he could harden his heart as he had done as head auror and do what needed to be done.

While Robb had lived on the soil of Westeros for almost seven years, his roots were of 21st century morality. However, he was undoubtedly changing. Seeing someone flogged would've bothered Harry Potter, but Robb Stark hadn't paid any mind to it for a long time. He had once used a Disillusionment Charm to sneak and see his father deliver the king's justice out of curiosity. The sight of a man getting beheaded would've upset Harry Potter something fierce, but Robb Stark hadn't felt much of a reaction at all.

He sometimes wondered what type of person he would be in ten or twenty years. Would he be the type capable of committing a massacre at the drop of a galleon? He didn't know, but that was a worry for future Robb Stark.

For now, he would have fun.

"Sharley! Go get me some iced milk!" Robb decided to a break from charging the stone. A growing boy needed his milk, after all. A figure came out of the shadows and made for the exit to fulfill her lord's order, but stopped as he called out to her once more. "Oh, and before you go, has there been any update on the task I set for you?"

"Hmph! It was a simple task for one as talented and skilled as myself. It's in the room you prepared." Sharley didn't want to admit that the enchanted equipment he had lent her had made the task much easier.

"Excellent. Let's go then." Having decided the stone had enough magic for today, Robb wanted to see the results of the task he had given Sharley.

Robb had been practicing skinchanging diligently, but had come to notice a slight problem that should've been obvious in hindsight. As you went into the animals, you would bring some of them back with you when you went back to your original body. He'd noticed a subtle urge to stare at the sky after a session of practice with Maester Luwin's ravens.

He could mitigate the majority of the side effects with his occlumency, but it made him curious. If that happened with ravens, what about other animals? Furthermore, was there an ideal animal?

Robb would sometimes sit with Jon and Sansa and listen to Old Nan's tales. One thing that stuck with him was her tales of wargs.

Mostly, why was there a special word for skinchanging into wolves? Robb couldn't help but be curious about what skinchanging into a wolf would feel like. But just any wolf wouldn't do. Robb was a descendant of the Warg King, his house symbol the direwolf.

Only a direwolf would do!

And so he gave Sharley a mission. Direwolves were extinct south of the Wall, but it was a different story north of it.

And who better for a search mission than someone who had lived on the land for centuries?

Robb had lent her some enchanted equipment and a few magical tools to do the job. One capable of sending off an overpowered stunning spell, and another that acted as a portkey for the First Keep.

In the room Robb had designated for Sharley, he was greeted with the sight of a stunned direwolf pup, fur the color of a deep black.

His task for her had been to find direwolf pups that had lost their packs, or had been left behind as runts of the litter. Robb had wanted a whole pack, but there weren't many direwolves left north of the Wall. It would take time for the numbers Robb wanted.

A rennervate and calming charm later, and he was faced with a pair of green eyes.

"Black fur and green eyes, huh? Reminds me of someone." The direwolf pup let out a soft whine. "I'm still going to need that milk, Sharley." At Robb's words, Sharley let out a huff and went to complete her task. "Now, what to name you, familiar of mine?"

A/N:

Some people in reviews have mentioned getting notifications for new chapters despite there not being any. I do edit chapters after I've posted them to fix grammar errors I missed initially, or to change a few minor things for better flow.

However, the site isn't supposed to send out update notifications for edited chapters, so I'm not sure why people are getting them. I assume it's something exclusive to mobile, or maybe a new bug.

That said, if that weren't the case, it wouldn't make much sense for me to abuse the notifications feature for people already following since I get nothing out of it. People can't follow a fic twice, can they? It doesn't put the story at the top of the updated ones, either.

I will try to do my edits in one go, since this notification thing seems to be a problem.