After bidding farewell to Hermione, Harry made up his mind to leave Hogwarts and meet with the goblins. However, he was uncertain if the floo network at the Leaky Cauldron would work, so he decided to visit the headmistress's office. He intended to inquire about the floo network and request permission to use her office's floo. After a brief stroll, he encountered a gargoyle, who stepped aside without any delay, allowing Harry to proceed to Professor McGonagall's office. Harry then climbed the stairs and knocked on the door.
"Come in Potter," he heard a voice respond.
"Good morning, Professor," said Harry.
"And good morning to you, Harry," replied a very tired-looking McGonagall. "What brings you here?"
"I would like to use your Floo to go to Diagon Alley and Gringotts," Harry said.
"I see no problem with that, but may I ask why you want to go there? I was expecting you to rest for a bit," she asked.
"I want to go to Gringotts to try to make peace with the goblins and offer some reparation. Merlin knows I don't need new enemies now that I have defeated the first one," he replied.
"Wait, do you want to tell me that this ridiculous story about you breaking into the bank and flying back on the dragon was true?" she asked, astonished.
"Yes, and I will tell you what happened at the meeting with Kingsley and the rest of the Order."
"Dear Merlin, I thought that your father and godfather were giving me grey hair, but you are far worse," she told him, still in deep shock.
"Believe me, I really hope that I will not have to do stunts like this anymore," he said tiredly.
"Me too, Potter, me too. Go ahead, and good luck. If we do not hear anything from you until noon, I will send someone to check on you," she offered.
"Thank you, I appreciate that," with that, Harry said goodbye to his old head of the house and used the Floo to Leaky Cauldron.
As Harry stepped out of the floo, he saw Tom, who greeted him warmly and welcomed him back. The Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley were empty, except for Tom. Although the news of Voldemort's death had been announced, people were still afraid and uncertain, so it was no surprise that the Alley was deserted. Harry's thoughts were interrupted when he realized he was already in front of the bank. As soon as the guards spotted him, they went into defensive mode and started shouting in Gobbledegook. Within 15 seconds, he was approached by a dozen guards and an enraged old goblin who was clearly in charge.
"I can't believe you have the nerve to come back here, Potter. Not only did you break into the bank, but you also stole from another wizard's vault. And now you come back like nothing happened? You filthy thief! If you don't leave this second, I'll have my guards gut you where you stand!" The old goblin shouted at Harry.
Harry was enraged by the insults aimed at him. He had indeed broken into Gringotts, but now he was there to make amends and repay them. However, he decided that he would not allow himself to be insulted in such a manner.
"Listen to me right now. I came here to explain why we had to enter Lestrange's vault and to offer reparations for that. But now I see that coming here was a mistake. Instead, I should rightfully announce that you were actively supporting Voldemort and show the proof I have for that. I'm curious to see how people will react when they hear that you were silently supporting him and protecting him from being defeated," Harry replied angrily.
"What the hell are you talking about? We never supported him. You can't have any proof of that," the goblin said, enraged.
"Let's make a deal. We will come inside where you can hear me out, and we can try to resolve this situation peacefully. Alternatively, you can keep shouting at me, and the proof will be published in the next edition of The Daily Prophet," Harry told him, looking him straight in the eyes.
After a ten-second stare between them, the goblin replied, "Come inside now. You better not lie about that, or I'll gut you then and there."
Soon, Harry, the old goblin, and the guards found themselves in one of the conference rooms inside Gringotts. When they arrived, they were met by a group of angry goblins who started shouting immediately upon seeing Harry.
"What the hell is he doing here? And Barchoke, why did you allow him to enter the bank? I should kill you right after him!" one of the goblins shouted.
"My apologies Director, but he claims that he has undeniable proof that we were on the Dark Lord's side, and if we don't listen to him, he will announce it publicly. I decided to let him speak, as we both know what that declaration would mean," Barchoke nervously replied.
"He is lying! There can't be any proof, as we never supported him!" the Director barked at him. Then he looked at Harry. "What the hell do you want? You broke into the bank, stole the dragon, and now you will spread lies about us?!"
Harry decided to throw the destroyed cup at the Director's desk, which enraged him even more.
"So that's your proof?! The destroyed cup that you stole from us? You have one chance to explain yourself," the Director shouted.
"This cup, that was stored at your bank, was Voldemort's horcrux. The only way to kill him was to destroy all of them. So I had no choice but to steal it," Harry explained
As Harry stood before the Director and his goblin associates, one of the goblins approached the cup placed on the table. He placed his hand on the cup and began chanting. After a few seconds, he removed his hand and spoke with a deadly stare.
"The truth has been spoken, Director. This cup was indeed an abomination. It was destroyed just a few hours ago and was only a small part of his soul," the goblin said.
Harry thought he had never seen such anger in the goblins' eyes before. The moment they heard the goblin read from the cup, all hell broke loose. The goblins were up in arms, consumed by blind rage.
"BRING ME LESTRANGE ACCOUNT MANAGER NOW!" the Director shouted. "And bring me something strong to drink!" Two guards left immediately, while the remaining goblins sat down quietly at the table. They were still furious, but they knew the Director wanted to speak to Harry, and they didn't want to interrupt him and make him angry with them as well.
"Potter, are you sure that all of them are destroyed? How many he had created" the Director asked after getting back a composure
" They are, and he created 7 of them" Harry replied not knowing why they had been so angry
"SEVEN HORCRUXES! AND ONE OF THEM WAS INSIDE GRINGOTTS!" The director ranted until Steelcrush Lestrange's Account manager arrived, stopping the tirade
"You have one chance to explain to me, why there was a Horcrux inside of your client's vault?" He barked
Steelcrush's face went white as paper and he stammered "I swear Director I didn't know! I can prove this! I have documents created when the cup was stored, and the reading said nothing about that abomination!" It was widely known policy, that Gringotts scanned every artifact before allowing it to be stored in the vault
" Who examined the cup then!" Director asked
After checking the documents, Steelcrush replied weakly " It was Griphook, he examined the cup as he took Lestrange to her vault."
"So he was a traitor then." Said Barchok
Director replied with a simple "He was," before falling into deep thought. After a moment of silence, he spoke up again. "None of the information discussed in this room should leave. Please quietly investigate the Griphook family to determine if they had any involvement in the matter. Although I am confident that only he was at fault, we need to be sure. If my suspicions are correct, announcing his betrayal will not do any good. The traitor is now deceased, and publishing this information will only create problems in the long run. The only announcement that will be made is that Potter's actions were justified and that he has made amends with us. He is to be treated as a friend of the nation. You may all return to your tasks and begin spreading the news about Harry Potter. Barchoke, please stay behind. We need to have a conversation with Lord Potter."
After they used his title as Lord Potter, Harry left big sight of relive, as he knew that he was off the hook with them. He then waited for the Director to start speaking
" Lord Potter, I would like to sincerely apologize on behalf of Goblin Nation and Gringotts. We judged you, without giving you a chance to explain yourself. Because of that, we will not be seeking any compensation for the damages. We would like to also thank you for not only killing the Dark Lord but also, destroying the artifacts he created" the Director said looking at Harry apologetic
"Apologies accepted, Director. I hope we can simply move past this situation and conduct business as usual," replied Harry. He then decided to ask the question that had been on his mind for the last few minutes. "Director, could you please explain your reaction to the news about Horcruxes? I understand how evil of an artifact it is, but I feel that there is more to it."
"Please call me Ragnock, you have earned that. You are right, there is a bigger explanation, and I am not surprised that you are not aware of it, as wizards don't care about goblin culture or beliefs. To summarize, we goblins have five sacred things. We believe in the power of the four elements: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. We cherish them as we believe they are gifts from mother magic. But the fifth one is the most important: the Soul. For us goblins, there is nothing more important than the soul. Abominations such as Horcruxes, Dementors, or Inferi disgust us, and we fight them however we can," explained Ragnock.
Harry, having understood what had happened moments before, decided to ask about his second reason for his visit.
"Ragnock, if we're done discussing Voldemort, I would like to talk about my finances," said Harry.
"Before we move on, there's one more thing I'd like to know. What were the Horcruxes, and how were they destroyed?" asked Ragnock.
"The first Horcrux destroyed was a simple diary originally given to the Malfoys for safekeeping. Lucius only knew of one enchantment on the diary - that it would awaken the heir of Slytherin at Hogwarts, who would then purge the school of Muggle-borns. In an act of revenge, Malfoy slipped the diary into Ginny Weasley's cauldron, and she became possessed by it. During this time, the basilisk awoke and attacked students, but luckily, it only petrified them. The Horcrux was destroyed after I killed the basilisk and stopped the diary from sucking Ginny's magic to restore Tom.
The second Horcrux was the Gaunt family ring, which was destroyed by Dumbledore two years ago. He cursed himself with a withering curse in the process.
The third Horcrux was Salazar Slytherin's locket, which Ron Weasley destroyed using Gryffindor's sword. It was originally hidden in a magically sealed cave, but Regulus Black found out about the Horcruxes and wanted to destroy them. The locket ended up in Mundungus Fletcher's hands, who stole it from the Black family home. It then ended up in Dolores Umbridge's possession, and we stole it from her when we broke into the Ministry.
The fourth Horcrux was Hufflepuff's cup, and you know what happened with it.
The fifth Horcrux was Ravenclaw's diadem, which Tom hid at Hogwarts in the Room of Requirement. It was destroyed by Fiendfyre.
The sixth Horcrux is the weirdest one, as it was accidental. After he split his soul so many times, it became vulnerable, so when he hit me with the Killing Curse, the curse rebounded and broke his soul. One part of it went to Albania to rest and gain strength, and the other lodged itself into my scar. I didn't know any other way to destroy it, so I allowed him to hit me with Killing Curse again. The spell destroyed the Horcrux, leaving my soul whole.
The last Horcrux was his snake, Nagini, which Neville Longbottom killed during the battle.
Ragnock and Barchoke were astonished as they listened to Harry's story. After a brief moment of silence, Ragnock spoke up.
"Lord Potter, you are the most unusual wizard I have ever met. The entire wizarding world owes you a great debt for everything you have done. It is an honor to have you as our client."
"Thank you, Ragnock. I hope our cooperation will be fruitful for all of us. Is there anything else you want to know about the war? And please, call me Harry," Harry replied.
"Not at the moment, Harry. We can talk now about your finances," Ragnock responded.
Harry had initially planned to simply ask about his vault balance and whether any artifacts were left from Sirius. However, as always, his plan did not work out, and the information he received gave him an idea of what his future would look like.