As Saul Croaker entered Gringotts Bank, he couldn't help but scowl at the level of opulence that surrounded him; perhaps it was because he was born to a poor family and hadn't been raised to view gold with the same level of respect that many Purebloods did. Personally, Saul found the level of devotion that some of his kind, and the Goblins especially, viewed gold as distasteful.
Quickly stepping up to a free Goblin, who was quietly counting tiny rubies and marking his count in a book before him, Saul cleared his throat and waited for the banker to acknowledge him.
The Goblin looked up at Saul with a sneer before returning to his count; after a few more moments of silence, the Goblin finally swept his clawed hand across his desk, sweeping the rubies into a leather pouch that he placed on a brass scale. As Saul watched with growing aggravation, the Goblin nodded once at the scale once it was perfectly balanced; the Goblin then pulled the leather pouch off the scale and handed it to another waiting Goblin who quickly grabbed the bag and vanished into the door behind the pair.
"Welcome to Gringotts," The Goblin growled, finally acknowledging Saul's presence, "Can I help you?"
"I need to speak to your manager," Saul replied at once, causing the Goblin to sneer,
"The Manager is not taking visitors at the moment. I'm afraid you'll have to schedule an appointment."
"Oh, I think he'll see me," Saul replied coldly, "Especially when he hears what I am here regarding."
"And just what would that be?" The Goblin sneered,
"Horcruxes," Saul replied, relishing the way the Goblin's eyes widened in horror as the blood rushed from his face.
"…. Very well… Please wait here."
Without another word, the Goblin jumped from his seat and quickly entered the door behind him, leaving Saul grinning at how a single word could have so much weight.
A few moments later, the Goblin returned, wearing an angry yet fearful expression that made one of Saul's brows rise thoughtfully.
"Manager Ravager will see you now, sir," the Goblin growled, holding the door open for to enter, "Please follow me."
With a quick nod, Saul stepped behind the desk and walked through the door, the Goblin following behind him; once the banker had shut the door, he quickly stepped past Saul and made his way down the hallway.
As they made their way down the hall, Saul couldn't help but marvel at how quiet it was, their footsteps the only sound present as they made their way to the Manager's office; as they walked past various rooms, Saul caught further glimpses of exactly how wealthy Gringotts was. One room had a Goblin sitting behind a desk, picking up emeralds the size of softballs, placing them on a brass scale, and weighing them before carelessly throwing them into an enormous bag that lay on the floor beside him as he wrote something into the ledger that lay open before him.
Another room that Saul and his guide passed, showed a weeping woman seated before a Goblin who appeared to be trying not to smile at her,
"I'm sorry, ma'am," Saul heard the Goblin growl, "But you signed the agreement when you took out the loan, a loan on which you have missed three payments, I might add. You have until tomorrow to vacate your home, after which it will become the property of Gringotts Bank."
Saul shook his head as he continued on, the sounds of weeping growing dim as they continued toward their destination; it seemed there was no end to the Goblins' heartlessness. Their love of gold and wealth was all-consuming, it seemed to Saul, and, personally, nothing would have given Saul more pleasure than to see the Goblins left bereft of it, as they had done to so many in the past. Let's see how arrogant they are, then.
As they approached the Manager's office, Saul couldn't resist rolling his eyes in derision at the attempted intimidation. The door looked to be made of ebony wood, with a large blood-red half-moon window in the center, upon which was written in swirling letters: Ravager. Branch Manager.
The Goblin quickly delivered three knocks on the wooden door and then stepped back a respectable distance and waited; a few seconds later, a deep voice bellowed from within,
"Enter!"
As the pair entered the office, Saul found himself pleasantly surprised, half expecting to see further attempts at intimidation or opulence; instead, Saul found himself standing in an almost plain-looking office. The room was of moderate size, with several bookcases on the left side of the room, while a large and ornate fireplace crackled on the right.
A length of purple carpet led from the office door to the large desk, which had two simple chairs before it; the desk itself was large and as black as the door from which Saul had entered. Several baubles and a stack of paperwork sat atop the desk, while a large glowering Goblin sat behind it, hands clasped before it as it chewed on a smoking cigar, while Saul stared. Two guards stood behind the Manager, wearing silver armor that looked like they belonged in the medieval ages, and holding large spears.
The Goblin Manager was far larger than the one who had escorted Saul to the office. He was wearing what appeared to be an expensive black suit with a blood-red tie, while several jeweled rings sat upon his clawed fingers. A large scar ran diagonally across the Goblin's left eye, the eye itself milky white while the other glared out at Saul angrily; all-in-all Saul could respectfully agree that this was a Goblin that shouldn't be taken lightly.
"Wrathbone, here says that you have information for me," Ravager growled, taking the cigar from his lips and flicking the ashes into the nearby tray, "Regarding Horcruxes. Our people long ago deemed those abominations an affront to life itself and have vowed to see them all destroyed. So, if you know the whereabouts of one, I would greatly appreciate knowing its whereabouts."
"May I sit?" Saul responded, causing Ravager to glower for a moment before nodding; quickly taking a seat, Saul took a deep breath, relishing the annoyance he could feel coming from the Manager. Let them wait, as they had made him wait; arrogant little shits.
"Well?" Ravager demanded, "Do you know where one of those abominations is or not? I'm very busy, and those who waste my time tend to suffer for it…"
"I do indeed know where one is, but before I give you its location, I need some information," Saul replied, causing the Goblins to glower angrily.
"Hmm, and what's to stop me from ordering my guards to simply beat the information out of you…?" Ravager asked, causing Saul to smirk back,
"You think you're the first to threaten me? You're not even the hundredth, sir. And who's to say that whatever information I give you will be the truth? I could say anything to make the pain stop, and you would never know if what I say is true."
"True enough," Ravager smiled, finding himself rather liking the fearless wizard before him, "But, I could have my guards force Veritaserum down your throat. Then you'd tell me whatever I want…"
"No, I wouldn't," Saul smirked back. "Unspeakables are required to drink Veritaserum like its water to build immunity. We can't be expected to do our job if anyone can pull secrets from us, can we?"
Ravager felt his grin growing at that, causing Wrathbone to stare in confusion between his Manager and the wizard speaking to him in a way that no one else in the bank would dare to.
After several tense moments during which Saul and Ravager stared at one another, the Manager suddenly began to chuckle, sounding like shifting stones, as he once again flicked his cigar into the ashtray.
"Very well, then… Ask your questions, wizard."
"I've encountered an impossibility," Saul replied, "A Horcrux placed into a living being. Namely, a child."
The office grew deathly silent at that, as the Goblins stared at Saul like he'd suddenly grown a second head and began a duet; Ravager's cigar hung limply between his lips.
"Impossible…" Ravager whispered, "Such a thing has never been done in the history of their existence…"
"Nevertheless, I can attest to encountering one. Now, I know that the ordinary method of destroying a Horcrux is to also destroy its container but considering the fact that I've no interest in using Fiendfyre on an innocent child, I was hoping you could aid me in finding some way of removing it from the boy before we destroy it."
"What monster would subject a child to such evil?" Ravager snarled, his clawed hand curling into a tight fist.
"Voldemort," Saul sneered, causing the Goblins to growl angrily so that the office sounded like it was suffering an earthquake.
"Of course…" Ravager sneered, "That idiotic upstart would be responsible for something as heinous as this…"
"Not a fan, I take it?" Saul replied,
"He's the one who took my eye," Ravager growled back, "He wanted control of Gringotts, and demanded I submit to him. Naturally, I promptly told him where he could shove his threats. And he took offense to that…"
"I imagine he did…" Saul chuckled,
"Yes, well, afterward, he conspired with a few of my brethren to assassinate me and have me replaced with someone more 'like-minded.' As you can see, he failed, and the conspirators were sealed alive in one of the empty vaults to starve to death as punishment for their stupidity."
"Sounds fair," Saul nodded, causing Ravager to smirk at the wizard's bloodthirstiness,
"I checked the vault not long ago, just to see if anyone was still alive in there…"
"Was there?"
"Of course not," Ravager scoffed, "However, it did appear that they resorted to cannibalism before the end. Serves them right."
"Oof, dark…" Saul responded, knowing Ravager was trying to make him queasy, and determined not to give him the satisfaction.
Seeing that he wasn't making Saul as uncomfortable as he would have liked, Ravager smirked again and continued,
"But, we're getting off track. There's never been a case of a Horcrux being placed into a living being, removing it may be impossible, to be perfectly honest."
"For both our sakes, I hope not…" Saul replied,
"Oh? And why is that?" Ravager asked, intrigued,
"Because the child in question is Harry Potter, or Weasley as he likes to be called…"
Ravager froze in the act of flicking his cigar into the ashtray, a look of surprise on his face,
"You're joking…"
"I never joke," Saul replied, "Never."
"Hmm, in that case, we DEFINITELY cannot just kill the child…" Ravager said thoughtfully, rubbing his clawed hand under his chin for a moment before pointing at Wrathbone,
"You! Go and get Carnage and have her bring her scrolls on Horcruxes! Let's see if she can find us an answer to this problem."
"Yes, sir!" Wrathbone replied at once before turning and sprinting out of the office,
"I take it this… 'Carnage' is someone with a more intimate knowledge of Horcruxes?" Saul asked,
"Indeed," Ravager nodded, "Her clan has spent nearly two thousand years hunting the damn things down and recording everything they've ever learned about them. Including how to destroy them. If anyone would know how to separate them from their container, it would be her and her clan."
"Very good," Saul nodded.
Several minutes later, three loud bangs echoed in the office as someone knocked hard on the office door,
"Enter!" Ravager cried out, making Saul wince at the sound.
Wrathbone entered first and quickly stepped aside for the Goblin following him, who Saul guessed was this 'Carnage' character; honestly, these Goblins had the strangest names.
Carnage was a few inches taller than Wrathbone, with cool blue eyes, and, to Saul's surprise, had long black hair that hung to her shoulders, from which her long pointed ears poked through, which had several gold piercings; she was wearing a flowing purple cloak and was holding several scrolls under her right arm. As Saul continued to stare, he was forced to admit that she was quite fetching in the Goblin's brutal sort of way.
"Alright, what's the emergency?" Carnage demanded in a high voice that made Saul's brows rise in surprise, "All this one would say is for me to grab my scrolls on Horcruxes and come to your office immediately. Have you found one of those abominations?"
"Go back to your duties," Ravager said to Wrathbone, who immediately bowed and exited the office, snapping the door closed behind him.
"Well?" Carnage demanded again,
"Yes, we've discovered a Horcrux," Ravager replied, "It belongs to that bastard, Voldemort. But we've encountered a problem."
"What kind of problem…?" Carnage replied, taking a seat opposite Saul's chair and placing her scrolls on her lap.
"It would appear that Voldemort decided to make a human into his Horcrux. A child."
"He did WHAT?!" Carnage roared, her voice nearly shaking the office as she jumped to her feet, the scrolls falling to the floor as she slammed her fists into Ravager's desk, "And the child survived?"
"So it would seem," Ravager growled,
"That monster!" Carnage raged as she began pacing throughout the office, "That vile, monstrous bastard! How dare he condemn a child to house such evil! If I ever get my hands on that wizard, I'll make him beg me to kill him!"
As Carnage paced, she continued to growl out insults and threats of all she would do to Voldemort should she ever get her hands on him, some of which even made Saul's brows rise at the level of violence.
"Yes, yes," Ravager sighed with a warm smile at her bloodlust, waving his hand for Carnage to retake her seat. "Enough of that. We need to find some way to remove the abomination from the boy as soon as possible. Then we can send another of those things to hell where it belongs."
"The sooner the better," Saul added, "According to Dumbledore, the boy is already in danger of the soul taking over and possessing the boy."
"What?" Carnage demanded,
"There was an incident at Hogwarts," Saul replied. "Apparently, Voldemort's Horcrux tried to possess the boy, and the child had to be stunned. Dumbledore believes that Voldemort made the boy his Horcrux when the child was a baby, where it has sat dormant ever since. He's not sure what caused it to awaken and try to possess the child, but the Horcrux came dangerously close to succeeding."
"Where is the child, now?" Carnage demanded,
"In the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts, under heavy sedation," Saul replied, making the Goblins nod approvingly.
"Good. The last thing we need is that monster's soul possessing the child and regaining his powers…" Ravager sneered, "One attempted magical coup is enough, in my opinion."
"So, is there any way that you know of to remove it?" Saul asked Carnage, who had begun picking up her scrolls and stacking them on the desk before her.
"There's never been a recorded case of any living creature being used to house one of those abominations," Carnage replied, opening one of her scrolls and quickly reading before tossing it back on the desk and grabbing another, "Perhaps one of my ancestors might have some idea. I will have to comb through my clan's records and see what I can find."
"We must move quickly," Saul replied. "Dumbledore has managed to keep the boy's condition secret, but we've only a week before school resumes, and questions begin to be asked that Dumbledore can't answer. If the Ministry discovers the boy's condition…"
"They'll kill him, yes…" Ravager growls, "And you people call US the barbarians…"
"A week…" Carnage hissed thoughtfully, "Very well, then. I hope you both don't have any plans for the next few days, because there are close to a thousand scrolls to comb through, and you're going to help me do it."
"Now, see here!" Ravager growled, coughing in surprise at Carnage's words and temporarily disappearing behind a veil of smoke, "I'm the branch Manager here! I don't have time to be combing through dry bits of parchment!"
"I have no such obligations," Saul replied as Carnage glared at Ravager, "I'll be happy to render any aid I can."
"Very well," Carnage nodded, "However before you can touch a single scroll, you'll need to sign a magical contract not to tell anyone what you read."
"Surely that's not necessary," Saul frowned, as an Unspeakable he hated placing such limitations on himself.
"If you think I'm going to allow you to read two millennia of my clan's records without ensuring you keep it to yourself, you're mad!" Carnage snapped, "There are secrets within some of these scrolls that your kind should never have access to!"
For several tense moments, Saul and Carnage glared at one another before, finally, Saul sighed in exasperation and shook his head at the things he did for Dumbledore.
"Fine… I'll sign your damn contract. If it frees the boy from that thing, I suppose it's worth it…"
"Quite the altruist…" Carnage smirked, "I'm surprised, considering your reputation…"
"Oh, don't misunderstand me," Saul smirked back, "I'm a right bastard, and my reputation is well earned. But I suppose I can afford a bit of selflessness every now and then… This should fill my quota for the next decade or two."
"Good," Ravager chuckled, "Now, get out of my office, the both of you. I'm a busy Goblin, and you've taken up enough of my time."
"Pleasure doing business with you, then," Saul snorted as Carnage began pulling her scrolls back into her arms; Ravager didn't respond, simply took a deep drag from his cigar and blew the smoke at Saul, making the man's eyes water for a moment as the Goblin grinned.
Once they were out of the office, Carnage slammed the door behind them, shaking the glass; from within, Saul could swear he heard Ravager roaring with laughter. He shook his head at the Goblin before turning back to Carnage, who was glaring at the door murderously.
"Well then, shall we?" Saul asked, making Carnage turn to him,
"Follow me, and try to keep up," Carnage snapped back, "We have much to do, and very little to do it in."
As Saul followed Carnage down the hallway, he couldn't help but smirk at the Goblin's back; though he would never admit it, he rather liked Carnage's approach to things; it reminded him of himself in a way.
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Author's Note:
1.) Daniel6- Thank you very much for your kind words. TBH, I never really liked Dumbledore in canon, he's far too willing to use people like pawns, and the way in which he used Harry has always greatly annoyed me. In my story, Lily was not an Unspeakable, but she was head hunted by Saul to become one. If she had lived, perhaps she would have been one after the war.
2.) Ghostwriter- Thank you very much, glad you're enjoying the story!
3.) Monster King- Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying reading :)