John saw Harry catch Hermoine's attention. She gave a subtle nod and turned back to Teyla and the others.
Harry turned to Isaac. "Stay with Teyla. We'll be at Gringotts," he said softly. The younger man nodded acknowledgment. John's evaluation of Harry's real role in the governance of Domus Novae shifted. Harry wasn't just a civilian administrator for a regional government. He was Colonel Isaac White's superior officer which made him a general of some rank. Harry Potter was his world's counterpart to General O'Neill of Homeworld Security. John filed the observation for later.
Harry went over to the exposed wall beneath Slytherin's banner and placed his hand on one of the silver runes carved into the wall. A door sized opening appeared and John followed Harry through to the small room beyond. "Gringotts," Harry said aloud.
A door appeared where the opening had been before. Opening the door revealed a dark paneled hallway with large silver double doors at either end. The solid pair of doors were open to the outside and John could see poles with Wraith heads at the ends of the broad marble steps leading up to the doors.
"I thought Isaac was joking about Gringotts putting heads on pikes," John murmured as he and harry stepped into hallway.
"Oh no. The Goblin Nation takes attacks on their people and property very seriously," Harry said. "Although having Wraith heads here mostly tells their clients how seriously they take the Wraith threat. In olden days they'd have the heads of thieves up there."
"Do they get robbed often?"
"Maybe six times in the last six centuries. Attempted embezzlement is a lot more common a crime."
John noted the two armored beings stationed at the inner doors. They were taller than house elves at about four foot tall with pale skin, dark eyes, large pointed ears and noses. Their fingers were long and thin, the nails long and sharp. The two guards were wearing helmets so John couldn't see hair color. They were both carrying very serviceable looking pike staves. Equally serviceable swords and knives hung from their belts.
One of the guards nodded to Harry. "Welcome War Master. May your coffers overflow and your enemies die screaming on your blade."
"And may your enemy's gold flow to you and their blood flow thick on the ground," Harry returned a greeting. He gestured to John. "Major John Patrick Sheppard of the Taur'i requests an audience with King Ragnot."
The second guard spoke a few unintelligible words into what John assumed was their equivalent of a walkie-talkie. John took a moment to more thoroughly inspect the vestibule. A heraldic shield was hung over the closed doors with the motto 'Fortius Quo Fidelius'. 'Strength through loyalty' John translated, recalling his Latin classes from high school.
The inner doors had a poem engraved into them:
'Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.'
"Nicer than 'trespassers will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law', or 'trespassers will be fed to the dragon'," John commented.
Harry looked bemused. "They do have a dragon down there. Although I hope they're treating this one better than the one I met."
"A beast healer checks on the creature once a month," the closer guard grumbled. "And both dragon handlers are fully trained with current certifications. The beast healer has forbidden us to feed non-food creatures to the dragon. They make him sick. Wraith especially."
The inner doors opened. A stocky older man with a scarred face stepped through. Instead of robes he was dressed in an old fashioned black three piece suit with a white shirt and red and gold club tie. The man looked a bit like Ron, the bartender on Theros.
"Bill," Harry greeted him. "I thought you'd retired."
"Only from cursebreaking," Bill said with a laugh. "They kicked me up to 'special wixen client handling'."
Harry turned back to John. "William Weasley, retired Gringotts cursebreaker and brother to Ron, who you've met. Bill, Major John Sheppard of the Taur'i."
"Well met, Major," Bill greeted as he ushered them through the inner doors onto the banking floor. John ignored the tingle of the ward scan.
John stopped and stared. The banking floor was huge. There were at least a hundred tall teller stations in black wood along one wall. Most had balance scales on the desk tops and many stations had piles of coin on them. The opposite wall had black panel doors. The walls were marble with gold traces and huge crystal chandeliers hung from the high ceiling. The entire scene was one of Versailles palace opulence without the paintings.
"Some things you need to know about the goblins," Bill said quietly. "They look small and weak. They aren't. Individually, their magic is no match for a wizard's, but every single teller here is a trained warrior who is armed and who can and will slit your throat without a qualm if there's justification. Be honest, be respectful, and above all do not take offense. As a group, they respect few wand carriers."
"For good reason," Harry muttered.
Bill ignored him. "The key to remember is that despite their looks they are a warrior race. They scrupulously adhere to the letter of the law. They say exactly what they mean but you can't assume anything about what they don't say."
"So they're all contract lawyers specializing in fine print and omissions," John stated. "Sounds like exactly the kind of people my father would have traded me for if he'd had a chance. So, should we have a contract lawyer in on these talks?"
"We should be okay," Harry assured him. "Axe Lord Ragnot has informed us that he believes Atlantis's security is an essential part of our own."
Bill led them down a long hallway lined with more doors. John felt the tingle of another ward scan as they walked through the silver door at the far end.
Inside was a far less ornate office. The walls looked to be granite and had edged weapons of varying types on display. Like the pikes and swords of the guards, these were beautifully made yet simple and utilitarian, meant for battle, not ostentatious display. However, the blades didn't look quite the right color for steel.
Two armored goblin guards stood at either side of a granite topped desk.
But it was the being seated behind desk that commanded John's attention. A goblin like the guards and the tellers outside, but larger and more muscular with a deeply scarred face. He, John assumed the being was a 'he' since they were supposed to be meeting the king, was wearing a black suit but instead of a tie, he was wearing a finely crafted torc of woven silver and gold.
Bill stood at attention. "The War Master and Major John Sheppard of the Taur'i," he announced. "Axe Lord Ragnot of the Goblin Nation."
"I see you admire the blades," Ragnot said. His voice was a deep rumble.
"They're beautiful," John said.
"These are the warrior weapons of my predecessors," Ragnot said. "Goblin-wrought silver never tarnishes, never corrodes. Weapons are capable of absorbing properties from blood they have taken that make them stronger. Goblin silver is never sold. If an item is commissioned they pay for the work to make the item but we consider the silver to be on loan."
"It would be nice if the real Sword of Gryffindor could be displayed at Hogwarts," Harry said a touch wistfully.
"The Sword of Gryffindor is meant to be used, not merely gawked at, War Master," Ragnot chided. "The day the War Master of the Magi truly needs it, it will be in his hands."
Ragnot peered at John. "Now, what can the Goblin Nation do for the War Master of the Magi and the War Master of Atlantis?"
"I'm told your people are experts in security…" John began.
The next few hours were a blur for John. Ragnot considered Sateda too well known to be a good portal bunker site but agreed to have his people build a secure bunker on a planet that had been uninhabited and without a portal since before the Alterans abandoned Atlantis. Exactly which planet would be determined later. A team of his people would be allowed on Atlantis to evaluate the city ship's security protocols and make recommendations. In turn John agreed to convince Elizabeth into including the Goblin Nation in their negotiations with the Magi.
Then a Goblin healer and a Goblin ward master were brought in.
"We use runes to access portals," Harry explained. He held out his arm to show a small black star tattoo on his wrist. "Magical humans, goblins, and house elves all have enough magic to activate the portal rune to dial a portal. We don't need to use the Alteran Portal Activation Device. We don't know if that will work for you and your people. Also we have blocks in place to keep our home address from being taken from our minds. You can't tell someone what you don't know."
"So now I get a tattoo and we test if I can use it? And if I can't, Rodney will need to get creative."
"In theory you could use an amulet," Bill said. "Downside there is it would need to be recharged after every use and it could be taken from you."
"We already have that issue with our radios and other things," John pointed out. "Batteries die, radios get broken or go missing…"
The Goblin ward master, Grimknife, spoke. "It would be better to set magical wards once we have determined how Atlantis' security protocols compare to what was found at the Glastonbury outpost. The most urgent security item for Atlantis at this time is to move it to a different planet with a strong magnetosphere and good sized oceans. The Wraith know where it is in space and too many people know its portal address."
John sagged in frustration. "We only have one ZPM and it's partially depleted. Atlantis isn't going anywhere until we find more ZPMs and we can get her space worthy."
"You mean potentia?" Grimknife asked.
John nodded.
Harry looked like he wanted to say something but Ragnot was the one who spoke up. "Your people have survived the Genii and the Wraith with only a fraction of the power the city needs to operate properly?"
"Uh, yeah."
Ragnot laughed. It was a deep belly laugh. "The Taur'i on Atlantis appear to be as insane as you are, War Master Potter. They have declared war on the Wraith armed with little more than knives."
"Never tell us something can't be done since chances are we're already busy doing it," Harry remarked with a chuckle.
Ragnot's expression became more serious. "Healer Brightblade, War Master Potter has requested for an inheritance and magical health test for War Master Sheppard. In the interest of amity we will be waiving the cost of the tests for all Taur'i currently residing in Atlantis."
Brightblade simply nodded and pulled a parchment out of a robe pocket along with a small silver knife. "We need seven drops of blood on the parchment." they said, handing John the knife.
The blade caused no pain when he sliced open a finger and dripped the blood on the parchment. Then, to his surprise, the cut sealed up without leaving a mark.
As he watched, the blood moved across the parchment leaving words as it went.
John was familiar with his own family tree, his mother'd had a fascination with genealogy, but he was surprised at the detail in the parchment. Even more surprising were the names listed on his mother's side six generations out. Javan Wyllt, son of Myrddin Wyllt, Alteran.
"Not Myrddin Emrys," Ragnot commented. "Not a member of the House of Emrys. Not magical."
"He has an Alteran core, not a magical one," Brightblade said. "The fact that the health test can discriminate between the two types of cores indicates they are different, but I don't know exactly how they are different. This test also indicates his core is partially blocked."
"And what does that mean?" John asked.
"When a magical core is blocked it means that the magical affected cannot access all the energy available for the aspect that is blocked," Brightblade explained. "Legally, the only persons allowed to place blocks of this kind on magicals are healers and only for developmental or therapeutic reasons. In your case, telepathy and telekinesis are blocked to varying degrees. It also appears that the blocks are degrading naturally. Have you discovered your connection to the city has gotten stronger over time, or you can sense other people's motives better than you used to, or if you're looking for an object, it's right at hand?"
"Yes," John admitted nervously. He hadn't told anyone about his connection to the city, how it sang to him, and indicated where the worst problems were. It was subtle and he had assumed it indicated his growing familiarity with the city. He also hadn't mentioned being able to read the intentions of prospective trading partners a lot better. Not foolproof, otherwise the Genii wouldn't have gotten the drop on him when they did.
"So, you expect my Alteran abilities will increase over time?" John asked.
"Yes," the healer said simply.
"What about people who have been given the Alteran gene artificially?"
"I do not know," Brightblade stated. "I am not certain how such a thing could be done."
"Our chief medical officer is a geneticist and he developed a way to change a person's DNA so they can use Alteran technology. It doesn't work for everybody," John stated. "And I don't know why I'm telling you all this."
"The anti-mind affect ring blocks us from trying to read you, or using spells to affect your mind," Harry explained. "It doesn't stop you from reading others."
"So I'm picking up that your people need this information. Really need this information," John said. "Access to our CMO and Atlantis' medical facilities is part of the trade package. Not sure how he'll feel about that. Not sure how he'll feel about having people keeping an eye on his work."
"Will that be a problem?" Ragnot asked.
"No one in Atlantis has the skills or knowledge required to actually oversee his experiments. If he gets an idea, say a virus that can nullify the Wraith, he'll present a brief overview to Doctor Weir, Doctor McKay, and me for approval to go ahead. But it's nothing like a real oversight committee. I'm not sure there was even a review before he got an official go-ahead for testing the ATA gene therapy on humans."
"But at the security level he works at, who would have had the skills to actually make a judgment call?" Bill asked.
"Nobody at all. On the bright side, Carson isn't likely to turn down a medical challenge," John stated. "So, you need Carson's help on something important and I'm betting that once Atlantis' location and security are squared away with your help, you're going to want some proper warships so you can actually take out hives."
"What we will want will need to be fast and stealthy," Harry said. "Doesn't have to be big if we're taking out hibernating hives. Our currently strategy is to hide or evacuate people until the Wraith decide there's nothing to cull. You saw that on Theros. Eventually they will go into hibernation to keep from starving."
"And once they're in hibernation, they're easy targets." John paused, contemplating other possible strategies. "Carson was working with the Hoffans before they got wiped out, plus what they had wasn't going to work. He's also mentioned an idea he has to make a retrovirus that would revert the Wraith into humans."
"The Wraith were never human," Brightblade stated. "They were an experiment in immortality that didn't work as expected. In fact, we believe the Iratus bug's venom's ability to cause genetic changes in its victims was part of that experiment. But as far as we can tell, the humanoid progenitors of the Wraith were Alteran."
"So, another case of Alteran scientists not taking care of the mess they made? And experimenting with volunteers who probably didn't know what they were getting into?" John was becoming less and less enamored with the Alterans and their cavalier attitude about cleaning up their messes. Elizabeth was going to be very, very disappointed with them.
"Because what you're saying is we have to take the Wraith out completely. Commit genocide," John added.
"The alternative would be to figure out how to allow them to feed on non-sentient animals or allow them to feed without killing their sentient victims," Harry said. "But I'm not seeing either of those as being a viable solution. You've heard of the Cleansing?"
"A little."
"The Cleansing was a traumatic, horrific event for us. Terrorists used bribery and terror to take over the magical British government," Harry began. "One of the terror weapons they and the government they overthrew used was a creature called a 'dementor'. It was a demon, half material and all evil. It ate good feelings, good thoughts, leaving the victim in extreme suicidal depression. It could also literally suck the soul right out of a person, leaving them nothing more than a breathing husk that would die within a few days.
"One of the Old Ones, one we call Hecate, answered the prayer of a terrified child being threatened by a dementor and wiped them from the universe. She also burned alive any terrorist that had accepted the slave mark their leader put on them. Burned them alive and burned them to ashes. Anyone who had been knowingly following his agenda without being marked had their magic ripped from them. We lost a lot of old families that day."
"What was the leader's agenda that Hecate reacted to so… thoroughly?"
"The murder of every magical with a non-magical parent and the enslavement of every single non-magical person and every non-human magical on the entire planet," Bill said.
"I'm pretty sure a sniper can take out a magical bad guy," John commented.
"And I'm really sure a couple of big nuclear armed drones would have been able to take out any magical enclave on Earth, including Hogwarts and Gringotts," Harry said. "We have better defenses now."
"Who finally killed the leader?"
"I did," Harry said quietly. "I was seventeen years old and I had been told repeatedly by someone I'd been programmed to trust that it was my duty to die to take him out. I didn't die. But he did."
"Please tell me the person who put you in that position didn't make it through the war?" John demanded.
"He didn't," Harry stated. "In fact his battle plan included sacrificing himself so I could get ownership of a weapon powerful enough to take Riddle out. Although there are still a lot of people out there who are certain Dumbledore had plans for a less permanent death than the one he got.
"But to get back to the Wraith. Hecate committed genocide on behalf of my people, although I'm pretty sure if asked, she would say she considered it pest control. The Wraith are as 'unnatural' as the Asurans or the replicators. And I really doubt anybody is going to claim the Asgard are committing genocide against the replicators."
"Maybe if we can get them beaten back, one of the other options might look better to take to the bargaining table with them," John suggested. "Doctor Weir is a diplomat. Extermination isn't going to be an option with her unless something else changes."
"We can work with that," Harry assured him.