The next morning, Bloodthorne seemed impossibly amused.
"You would give us wands that are not wands," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Your Ministry would see you executed for such treason, you realize?"
"I was conducting an experiment," Hermione defended. She sniffed. "And nothing I gave anyone was illegal or a wand under any currently-existing legal definition."
"As you say." Bloodthorne grinned maliciously. "The Horde will be careful and give them no reason to suspect they would need change their definition, Hermione Granger."
As they entered the courtroom, there was a different air about the building this time. There was much gossip Hermione didn't understand, but a lot of goblins were looking at her.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked Bloodthorne, who smirked.
"Hermione Granger was known as the wizard who would trust the Horde with her gold," he told her. "Your loans would help us gradually claw our way back to prosperity. You were known among us already." His eyes gleamed. "But now, Hermione Granger, you would arm us. You would trust the Horde with magic, with weapons, and such a thing has not been seen in hundreds of years."
Hermione bit her lip, shrugging. "Good thing I'm considered a goblin ally, then?"
Bloodthorne let out a cackling laugh that chilled her blood, and Hermione decided she didn't really want to talk about it anymore.
Really, when Hermione first thought of creating the 'rods', she's been thinking of what Bloodthorne had said about their cities being in ruins. And then when she'd seen the lingering devastation, left over from Merlin knows which Ministry attack, her heart had wrenched and gone out to the goblins.
With rods, with a tool that could channel their magic, she hoped the goblins could learn spells like wizards did.
Levitation spells to help fix the pieces of their homes. Mending charms for their cracks and clothes. Water-making spells to help when they needed more concrete. There were so many basic things that could help the goblins so much, and if they had the proper tools and could learn…
That was her hope, anyway.
She'd brought several magical primer books to give the goblins, too, seemingly written for wizards struggling with basic spells. Hermione had wondered if they were intended for hedgewitches trying to learn, the way they were written – the reading level and word choice in the books was very simplistic, with lots of pictures and clear diagrams instead of wordy explanations.
Maybe wizard spells wouldn't work for the goblins. Hermione had no way of knowing, really, other than letting them try it. Maybe goblins would need to make up all their own spells, using some other root language to direct their intent – some ancient dialect of Goblidon, perhaps. It might take them years and years to come up with a system of magic all their own, to even be able to levitate things with their rods.
But she was determined to give them the chance to try.
The goblin with the golden wig emerged, holding the large sheath, climbing the stone podium before removing the giant gold sword.
"We reassemble as the Horde, and for the Horde, we seek justice," he said. "Together."
"Together." The collective response filled the room.
The judge slid the golden sword into place once more, letting it shine on the front of the judge's podium. Hermione wondered who had made the sword, and how long ago it had been made.
"Yesterday, it was established that Braincleave did knowingly and purposefully offer merchants more gold than the price of their goods in order to skip the line for such a good or to get more than the set allotment of such a good," the judge said. His beady eyes fixed on Moldedge. "It was also established that currently, this is not illegal. It has simply not been done."
Moldedge sneered at the judge. The judge sneered back.
"We would discuss the best resolutions for this issue," the judge announced. "Come! What would you have happen to Braincleave?"
To Hermione's astonishment, goblins from the gallery began to line up in the aisle, approaching the judge one by one to offer suggestions.
"Braincleave saw himself as better than the rest of the Horde, trying to skip the line," one goblin said, sneering at the defense table. "If he would be so much better than us, banish him. Leave him free to be better than the Horde elsewhere."
"Braincleave sought to destabilize the community," one goblin said, her brilliant jeweled markings winking in the light. "To balance his crime, he must instead work to stabilize the community. I would have him serve the collective community for a period to atone for his misdeeds."
One goblin seemed like a plant to Hermione, as he spoke in defense of Braincleave.
"Braincleave broke no law," he said flatly. "I would let him go free, and have the council do what they must so such a thing would not happen again."
The other goblins in the gallery disliked this, booing and hissing with narrowed eyes.
"Braincleave has transgressed against us, true, but he is not beyond redemption," one goblin said. "Let us send him into exile, so he might return someday after he has learned and dwelt on his crime."
One goblin was eyeing Hermione and she waited her turn, and soon enough, Hermione learned why.
"Braincleave was only able to do this through the gold of his loan," the goblin said clearly. She sneered, showing many pointy teeth. "I would have Hermione Granger revoke his loan and not give him another. Let us see how Braincleave attempts to bribe, then."
There was a murmur in the gallery at this suggestion.
What struck Hermione was none of the suggestions involved incarceration. All of the suggestions either sought to block him from committing the crime again, a way for him to make restoration to the community to make amends for his misdeed, a way for him to be rehabilitated (generally elsewhere), or some sort of general deterrence to persuade him and others not to do such a thing again.
None of the suggestions involved retribution of any sort, which Hermione found fascinating. She knew the goblins did have a sense of retribution – if she committed any sort of crime, the goblins would take it out on Bloodthorne in flesh and blood – but none of them seemed to think any of that would be helpful here.
It made Hermione think about the goblins and their legal system more than she thought she would. Braincleave had committed a crime of opportunity. Closing the opportunity would be most effective to stop him from doing it again, but the crime itself had already been done. Instead of taking revenge through retribution, making Braincleave perform an act of restoration or leave for solitary rehabilitation would make him make up for what he had done, not just be punished for his crime.
Though, Hermione was assuming exile and banishment were types of rehabilitation, forcing him to dwell on his crime and become a better person – a better goblin. For all she knew, maybe banishment was a death sentence to goblins.
Eventually the judge seemed to be satisfied with the list of suggestions that had been proposed, and he moved on to asking questions about aspects of each of them.
"If we would banish Braincleave," the judge said, "where would we have him go?"
Suggestions of 'elsewhere', 'the continent', and 'with the dwarfs' were called out, the last provoking deep sniggering from the crowd and a dark look to spread on Braincleave's face.
"With the dwarfs?" Hermione hissed to Bloodthorne. "Why's everyone find that funny? What's that mean?"
Bloodthorne's thin lips were twisted into a smirk.
"The Horde trades with the dwarfs. They mine metal, we smith it; they sell us raw materials, and we sell them finished goods. But it would be a great affront to the dignity of a goblin to mine his own ore," Bloodthrone said, his eyes glinting with mirth. "The strength of a goblin would pale in comparison to that of a dwarf, and the goblin would be shamed through his ineptitude."
"How would we have Braincleave work to serve the community?" the judge asked. "How would Braincleave make up for his act against us?"
Suggestions for this one were more varied and interesting to hear. One goblin suggested Braincleave work on collapsed collective buildings to restore them. Another suggested Braincleave be made a water goblin, tasked with collecting water for those too weak to seek it for themselves every day. Several suggested Braincleave work on the root farms, while several others thought to make Braincleave an insect-digger.
None of the suggestions seemed particular fitting to Hermione, but what did she know about it, she mused. Maybe working on the root farms was the perfect way for him to make up for his crime.
"If we were to send him into exile," the judge said, "what quest would we have him complete?"
Apparently exile, to the goblins, meant you were banished until you completed a task sent before you. Suggestions of the task to be set for him included 'retrieve a flask of water from the Pool of Healing', 'bring us a new river', and 'find a way so we might too have the sun'.
"'Have the sun'?" Hermione whispered to Bloodthorne. "What's that mean?"
Bloodthrone raised an eyebrow at her.
"You have noticed our light globes, now," he said quietly. "They are made with bioluminescent plants, insects, and magic. But they are not bright enough to allow any true plants to grow, only moss and roots."
"Not enough photons for much photosynthesis," Hermione said, nodding. "I see."
Bloodthorne gave her a strange look but continued on.
"The moss must be prioritized. It is what allows us to live and breathe," he told her. "Without it, we would suffocate and perish."
That explained all the moss coating the giant enclosure. It also explained why moss grew on some of the roofs of the small homes she had seen.
Hermione wondered if there would be any way for the goblins to make light with electricity. They didn't seem to use much magic, if any, so theoretically it wouldn't go haywire around them, right? But there was no evident way for them to generate it that she could think of – they had only slow-running streams at the edges of their Hold for water, there was no wind in the stillness of the underground, and burning anything for fuel would create dangerous amounts of carbon dioxide that might suffocate their entire cave.
Hermione sat back with a sigh. Logically, she knew she not every problem had an easily-apparent solution, and she shouldn't expect herself to solve every dilemma she encountered. That didn't stop her from feeling disappointed when she couldn't, though.
"We have heard many suggestions," the judge said after a time. He had a long scroll of paper with notes on it, so long that he had to stand to roll up. "We would take these suggestions and reflect on them. Tomorrow, we shall say what Braincleave's sentence would be." He set the scroll down, taking the hilt of the giant golden sword in his hands. "We shall contemplate this, and we shall seek justice in the morning together."
"Together," the goblins echoed, and the judge withdrew the giant sword and put it in the sheath.
Bloodthorne turned to Hermione, smirking widely.
"What havoc would you cause this afternoon?" he asked her. "Would you give out more not-wands in the streets? Would you give out blueprints to the Ministry headquarters?"
Hermione laughed, but she gave him a sheepish grin.
"I'm not planning on anything. I figured I'd just try and help with fixing some more houses," she told Bloodthorne. "Hopefully a relatively uneventful day?"
Bloodthorne's eyes gleamed.
"We shall see, Hermione Granger," he said, "if such a thing is even possible for you."
There was a crowd of young goblins waiting for Hermione at the mossy center of the city, for some reason – ranging from one to three feet in height. Their English was terrible and hard to understand, but Hermione laughed.
"You want me to what?" she asked again, and the answering babble she got back made little to no sense whatsoever.
"They want water."
Hermione glanced up to see a female goblin passing by, giving the children an indulgent smirk.
"Water?" Hermione repeated, blinking.
"They have seen the giant bowl you made and filled with water ereyesterday," she said. "They would have you make water for them, so they might play in it and bathe."
"Oh!" Hermione's eyes grew wide. "Um. If I do that, is there a danger they might drown?"
The goblin woman snorted.
"Goblings are not so stupid as to breathe water," she dismissed. "They would be fine."
Hermione turned to the goblin children.
"Is that right?" she asked. "You want to swim?"
Eager heads nodded all around her. Apparently, the goblings had a much easier time of understanding English than speaking it.
With that, Hermione set the children on a quest – to find flat, round objects with a bit of a rim that she could enlarge and fill for them. She doubted goblins had rubber or plastic down here, so she was hoping the goblings themselves could find something appropriate to substitute for a kiddie pool.
The goblin children brought back several containers for her, some of them repeating what the others had brought. Many of the children brought her a container that seemed like an odd sort of cup with an odd rubber-like cover on top of them attached with what seemed like a rubber band.
"What is this?" she asked, holding one up.
The children conferred, babbling, before a couple of the elder children did their best to explain.
"It collects," one gobling said. "Before and after sleep. For safety."
Hermione gave them a quizzical look. "Collects? Collects what?"
The goblin children opened their mouths at her, exposing many pointy teeth. Some of the smaller goblins didn't have as many pointy teeth, which made Hermione absently wonder what the goblins did for dentistry.
"I'm not following," she admitted.
One of the goblin children came forward and took back her container.
"Collects," she said. "See."
She looked at the container intently, eyes narrowing, a low growl forming in her throat. A few moments later, she moved quickly, biting the container's lid, and Hermione was astonished to see liquid drip down inside.
"Your venom," Hermione breathed. "I forgot you had that."
Two of the teeth the goblin had seemed to have grown larger than the others, now embedded into the lid and leaking into it. A few moments later, she lifted her mouth from the jar, spitting onto the ground before holding it up.
"See?" she said. "Collects. For safety."
The goblin children were all nodding. Hermione looked around at them all, wondering if the goblin parents collected the venom from their children so they wouldn't accidentally bite or lash out at each other during play. She had never seen an aggressive goblin, but that didn't mean such a thing didn't exist.
"I think this container's walls are a bit too high," she said, showing the goblin what she meant. "What else do we have?"
The winning container was a small tin. The lid screwed onto the bottom of the tin, and both the lid and tin themselves were wide and short enough to give Hermione the shape she needed.
"What is this for?" she asked.
The goblin children all said a word, repeating it at her confusion, before trying to figure out how to translate it. The only vaguely understood response she got back was 'spice', which was close enough. As Hermione unscrewed several of the containers, she wondered what the goblins did use for spices. Did they have salt somehow?
Over the next hour or so, Hermione enlarged several of the containers to the point where several goblin children could fit in each one, before filling them with water. She started with the smaller containers first, for the younger goblings, before filling the even larger ones for the older goblin children, who waited patiently for their turn, before finally jumping in with glee.
Hermione was bit woozy on her feet afterward – producing that much water had taken more out of her than she thought – but her core was equipped to regenerate her magic quickly while she took a break. She smiled, watching the young goblings play in the makeshift pools, splashing each other, their robes hastily thrown on the ground, leaving them wearing only some sort of orange covering on their bottoms.
…did goblins have diapers for their children?
Hermione smirked to herself. Of all the questions she'd never thought she'd want to ask…
The older goblin children too had shed their robes, but they wore bright red underclothes of some sort. Both sexes wore bottoms, either in a brief cut or small shorts. The male goblings wore a band of the same cloth higher up on their chests, while the girl goblings had two bands come up from the waist of their bottoms, crossing over their chest in an X and looping over their shoulders. The fabric looked almost like latex or vinyl, to Hermione's astonishment, and she wondered what it could possibly be made of.
An adult came over, looking at the pools of water with large eyes, before approaching Hermione.
"When they are done," he asked, "would you leave the water? We would use it for concrete or cleaning."
"Of course," Hermione said, smiling. That was easy enough and meant less clean up for her. "Might I ask you a question?"
The goblin inclined his head, and Hermione gestured at the children.
"What are they wearing?" she asked. "Are those underclothes?"
The goblin bit his lip, looking for words.
"Of a sort," he explained. "They would protect their modesty. The lower piece, it covers their…" He broke off, lost as he looked for the word, before dismissing it. "Like yours. The upper, their…" He broke off again, clearly frustrated with his lack of skill with English.
"Their nipples?" Hermione suggested.
"Yes." The goblin nodded with relief. "Nipples. These are covered until needed, when a child is born."
"But why do they have different cuts?" Hermione asked. "Is it a style thing?"
The goblin looked at her funny.
"It covers the nipples," he said again slowly, like she was stupid. "Here, for the boys—" He touched his own chest, twice, in the area covered by the male goblings' band "—and here for the girls."
He touched his chest again twice, in places that would be covered by the X of clothing the girls wore, before also touching his lower ribs twice as well, in the area covered by the lower part of the X, and Hermione's eyes widened.
"Ah, I see," she said, nodding. "Thank you for explaining."
The goblin smirked. "It is nothing. I would thank you for the water, instead."
Hermione frowned.
"Why is water so rare, here?" she asked. "I've seen the tunnels of Gringotts for the vaults. I wouldn't think constructing a water way would be a challenge for the goblins...?"
A dark shadow passed over the goblin's face, and he looked at Hermione with sharp eyes. It took him a long moment to decide whether or not to respond.
"The vaults and tunnels were made in a different time," he said slowly, "and this is not the original Goblin Hold." His tone was heavy, intimidating, and he gave her a sharp look. "I would advise you, wizard, not to bring up such things again."
Hermione swallowed hard. "Right. Sorry. Thanks."
The goblin seemed to dismiss her and went on his way. Somewhat shaken, Hermione turned back to the goblin children, who were shrieking in happiness. They had apparently learned how to cause very big splashes, which was much cause for excitement, and Hermione found herself smiling again easily.
They were kind of cute, really. Even with their sharp teeth and pointy ears and odd markings, the goblings still had an innocence about them that made her smile.
Hermione watched the gobling children play a while longer, quietly enjoying their happiness and joy, though she couldn't understand anything she overheard. Despite what the goblin woman had told her, she didn't want to leave them unattended. She would feel incredibly guilty if one of them drowned, and she wanted to make sure such a thing wasn't going to happen.
She was just wondering if it really was safe to leave them and go help someone elsewhere when she heard an angry shout behind her.
"Hermione Granger!"
Hermione turned.
There was a small group of adult goblins marching towards her on the road. They looked aggressive, and Hermione moved to intercept them in the road, away from the children.
"I am Hermione," she said, nodding to the goblins. "How can I help you?"
One goblin stepped forward, sneering at her. Other goblins nearby drifted nearer, hearing the shouts.
"You are trying to destabilize goblin society," he accused her. "You would have us think you a friend, when you are a foe in disguise."
"I am not!" Hermione was insulted. "I'm trying to help you, not harm you!"
"You lie," the goblin informed her. He turned to the collecting crowd. "I would prove," he announced grandly, "that Hermione Granger is no true friend of the Horde."
"And I would prove you wrong," Hermione snapped back, and the goblin grinned viciously at her.
"Then we have an argument," he said, and there was a murmur from the crowd as they stepped back, forming a ring.
Belatedly, Hermione realized this was exactly what Bloodthorne had warned her of.
She bit her lip, watching as the goblin across from her took off his robes, leaving him in dark shorts and a cloth band across his chest. Other goblins had assembled behind her, and it was with great reluctance that Hermione unbuttoned her own robes and took them off, carefully setting her sword and wand on top of them in a neat pile. She was left in a sports bra and muggle spandex shorts, both modest enough to cover her but clothing that left her naked enough to show she wore no enchantments. She left her shoes on, and for a moment as she looked down at herself, she thought she looked rather like a volleyball player.
"Begin your argument, then," Hermione snapped as she tied her hair up on the back of her head, wanting to keep it out of the way. The goblin grinned fiercely at her, before turning to the assembled crowd with open arms, gesturing.
"Hermione Granger would have us think she is a friend of the Horde, but Hermione Granger is a wizard." His eyes gleamed. "Wizards have forcibly repressed goblins over and over. Wizards have attempted genocide of the goblins. And wizards resent the goblins controlling their gold. Through this, we know that the wizards want to suppress and control the goblins through whatever means necessary."
His manner of speaking was different, Hermione noted. There were fewer polite 'woulds' and more authoritative statements, and Hermione could almost hear him listing the premises of his argument as he spoke.
"If suppression and control of the goblins are what wizards want, and Hermione Granger is a wizard, this is what Hermione Granger truly wants!" The goblin's voice was fierce, and there was a murmur in the crowd. "Her gestures of friendship are false, and they will give the Ministry the excuse they need to retaliate or strike preemptively. She would bring our ruin to our door with a smile, a false friend to us all."
There was a murmur in the crowd and many pairs of beady eyes looking at her. The goblin across from her sneered, and Hermione stepped forward, taking a deep breath.
"I refute your fourth claim," she declared. "Wizards do not resent the goblins controlling their gold."
The goblin sneered. "Prove it."
Hermione held up a hand.
"One: Wizards are lazy," she began, ticking things off on her fingers. "If they do not need to do a task themselves, they will make someone else do it. Do you deny this fact?"
The goblin sneered at her. "I do not."
"Two: Wizards in general see goblins as less than human and not as people," Hermione said, grimacing. "I will say nothing on the morality or correctness of such a belief, but do you deny that wizards look down on goblins?"
The goblin scowled. "I do not."
"Third: Keeping track of gold, counting, and digging underground tunnels with protections is a lot of work," she said, holding up a third finger. "It requires hard work. Do you deny this?"
The goblin glared. "I do not deny it."
"Then," Hermione said, folding her arms, "if we have established wizards are lazy, want to avoid hard work, and see the goblins as lesser beings they can make do tasks they do not want to do… why would you think the wizards would resent the goblins doing the thing they do not want to do?"
There was a murmur in the crowd, more pairs of eyes looking to her with less hostility now. Hermione looked out over the crowd.
"It is not right, and it is not true, but the wizards see the goblins running Gringotts as a service to them," she asserted. "The wizards do not think of goblins as a people of their own anymore, but as money servants to them. The last rebellion was centuries ago, and stories of such rebellions have largely faded to dull stories or legend among wizardkind." She shrugged her shoulders. "Wizards in general do not think of the goblins often unless the goblins make noise or try to rebel. They see them as subservient lesser beings."
"That is false!" the goblin spat at her. "We are no less than wizards!"
"I agree with you," Hermione said mildly. "But that does not mean the wizards do not believe goblins are less, even if you are not."
The goblin scowled at her, and Hermione raised her chin, glaring right back.
"My turn," she said. "I assert I am not foe to the goblin Horde. Here is my argument."
She shifted slightly, keeping alert and her eyes on her opponent as she began.
"If I were foe to the goblins, I would either work to weaken them, want to leave them weak, or betray their secrets to the Ministry," she said, holding up three fingers. "I am not working to weaken you; I have loaned the Horde gold to help repair your homes and businesses to strengthen you." She put one finger down.
"I do not want to leave you weak," Hermione said, putting a second finger down. "I have brought you basilisk meat to nourish your bodies, and I have brought rods and technology to help you strengthen yourselves. Neither of these indicates any desire to leave you weak, but, in fact, supports the exact opposite."
"And I will not betray your secrets to the Ministry," she said, putting the third finger down. "The Ministry has no idea I am here, no idea I have given you anything, and they will continue to have no idea about any of my involvement with anything. I would face condemnation by them if they knew, and I have no reason to risk any such condemnation when my friendship with the goblins is mutually beneficial like it is."
"So," she continued, "if I am not working to weaken you, I do not want to leave you weak, and I will not betray your secrets to the Ministry…" She made an obvious show of looking at her hand, which had no fingers on it up remaining. "…then where is your evidence that I am your foe?"
The crowd surrounding them let out a supportive murmur at this, a louder one than her opponent had drawn, and a glance around saw that the crowd had nearly doubled in size, making her more nervous than before. The goblin across from her glared.
"I refute your fourth premise, that you will not betray us to the Ministry," the goblin snapped. "All wizards are betrayers and cannot keep their faith."
"I refute your refutation," Hermione shot back. "You have not seen or met all wizards. Sure, some wizards are betrayers and cannot keep their word, but it does not follow that all wizards do so, so you cannot claim to know I would do such a thing."
"I refute your third premise," the goblin spat, glaring at her fiercely. "You allege these 'rods' would give us power and strength. These rods, in truth, will give the Ministry an excuse accuse us of improper wand use and oppress us once more!"
"I refute your refutation!" Hermione retorted. She was kind of getting into the rhythm of it now, a thrill of exhilaration going through her. "The definition of a wand is a magical animal core surrounded by a wood, used to cast magic. The rods have neither a magical animal core, nor are they made of wood. With neither criterion for a wand being met by a rod, they cannot be considered wands, and would not fall under the Ministry's wand ban!"
"Just because they would not legally fall under such a ban does not mean the Ministry would not use it as an excuse to attack us!" the goblin snapped back.
"Just because something could happen does not mean it will," Hermione shot back. "The Ministry could decide that goblins are a scourge on society and try to eliminate you all just because they feel like it. You cannot argue in unsupported hypotheticals and expect it to hold up!"
The goblin across from her scowled at her, eyes narrowed, showing many teeth.
"Wizards have forcefully oppressed us, time and time again!" he accused.
"And here I stand, helping you against them, giving you the power to protect yourselves and fight back!" Hermione cried. "How can you stand there and claim I am your foe when I would give you the means to seize your strength yourselves?
The goblin across from her snarled.
"I deny your arguments," he declared, eyes flashing.
"Well, I deny yours, too," Hermione said shortly, folding her arms. "You're wrong. I am not your foe."
"Then we are at an impasse…" the goblin said, crouching low to the ground and backing up, "…and we will see whose argument has the greater strength in the end!"
Hermione had only a moment to react as the goblin sprung at her, crashing into her and knocking her to the ground. It took a split-second to remember how best to fall, to let her hand take the impact first on the hard ground and roll her body into it, spreading out the damage, as the goblin attacked her with his claws.
His claws were sharp, cutting into the skin at her collarbones, and it was with a struggle that Hermione fought to grab his hands to stop the attack.
"Cut it out!" she snapped. "That hurts! You're only fighting 'cause you lost!"
"We will see whose argument has the greater strength in the end!" the goblin shrieked at her. "And so far, you are weak!"
Hermione saw his eyes narrow and his jaw swell, and in a panic, she recognized it from when the gobling earlier had shown her how their venom was extracted.
"No!"
There was a powerful burst of magic from her chest that flung the goblin off of her, sending him careening high into the air and landing hard on the ground several yards away. Hermione gingerly got to her feet, wiping her face free from the goblin's spittle, blood dripping down her chest.
"You claim your argument is the strongest because you have claws and fangs," Hermione snarled, approaching the goblin, who lay stunned on the ground. "Well, I claim that your 'argument' can't come close to beating me!"
With a furious gesture, the goblin was levitated into the air and held there, Hermione glaring at him, one hand in the air, holding him steady. The air elemental inside of her whirled, whispering to her that they could suck the air from his lungs, that they could make a tornado to send him spinning away, that they could do anything. The goblin glared at her, spitting once again, but a gust of wind splashed his spittle and venom back onto his own face.
It was with a great struggle that Hermione managed some semblance of restraint. Now that the goblin wasn't an immediate threat, her adrenaline was starting to wane, leaving her shaking slightly. With a pull on the earth elemental inside of her, there was a rumble as a column of dirt rose into the air, leaving circular indent in the ground around it.
"With a stagnant argument like that," she said, her eyes flashing, "I'll leave you to stagnate as well."
The column of dirt closed around the still-levitating goblin, encasing him in ground. Eyes wide and alarmed, the goblin started shouting, shrieking things in Goblidon, which Hermione ignored with a smirk. The pillar was nearly eight feet tall, she estimated, and only his head was sticking out. The goblins would have a challenge on their hands to climb high enough to safely dig him out. And she hadn't even drawn the goblin's blood in the process, she thought smugly - Bloodthorne should still be safe in his covenant.
When she turned away from her opponent, she saw the goblin crowd around her was watching with excited, bloodthirsty eyes, and Hermione stopped short. She had no idea what came next. Was there some ceremonial statement to declare to bring the fight to an end?
"I refute your claims in full," she said finally, looking back at her enemy, her voice loud. "I am no foe to the Horde, and my arguments have proven stronger and true."
She spat upon the ground, and there was a terrifying cheer from around her, goblins clacking their claws and shrieking. Hermione turned away from her opponent, leaving him there encased in dirt, and strode away determinedly, picking up her robes and shaking them off. Ignoring the noise around her, she slipped them on and buttoned them back up, re-sheathing her sword and wand at her waist.
"There are several hours until evening," she said loudly. "If you trust I am a friend of the Horde, and you would have me help you, step forward, and I will try."
Hermione spent the rest of the afternoon going around with a crowd of the goblins, helping them repair their houses, rebuild their fences, mend their clothing, and fill their buckets with water. Once it was discovered she could transfigure rock into differently-shaped rock, there were requests for small statues of armadillos and lizards, set to guard their homes. Each time she succeeded in helping a goblin, the others in the crowd let out a cheer, and she was pushed off to the next house, to help with the next challenge someone faced.
Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw several of the goblins that had approached her in the street with her opponent now examining the pillar of dirt carefully, talking together. An hour later they had brought what looked like a rickety ladder made from reeds to climb the pillar, with shovels leaning against the pillar to be passed to the top once someone could reach it.
At one point, shortly before dinner time, Bloodthorne stopped by, watching as Hermione helped fix a shattered window and enlarge a dented bin. She turned to look at him, expecting comment, but Bloodthorne shook his head in amusement.
"A relatively uneventful day," he said, smirking.
"Is this not peaceful and uneventful?" Hermione said innocently, gesturing to the home she was helping repair.
His eyes gleamed. "Skinbite would disagree."
"Skinbite can suck on a rock," Hermione said, tossing her hair. "I won the argument, and the argument-fight. As far as I'm concerned, he can wallow in his wrongness for the rest of his life."
Bloodthorne snorted.
"If he would ask for help and mercy," he said, "would you help him down?"
Hermione glanced back at the goblins attempting to help. Their rickety ladder had broken, and they were arguing and discussing what else do to.
"If he asked," she said finally. "Which I doubt his pride will let him do."
By the time it was full evening, Skinbite had finally been broken free. The ending solution had involved collapsing the pillar in such a way so the top of it would fall into one of the kiddie pools, lessening the damage from the fall Skinbite would take, and Hermione was darkly amused to see him come back up flailing coughing, soaked and still largely caked in mud.
That night, Hermione amused herself by replaying the incident in her mind, the image of his dirt tower toppling over into the pool, Skinbite emerging coughing and covered in mud, still glaring at the world. There was a faint smile on her lips as she levitated her bed until her magic ran out, replaying the argument and fight over and over in her head, pleased it had gone the way it did.
Goblin culture might be strange and foreign to her, but she thought she'd acquitted herself rather well.