The Amulet

The ruby amulet felt heavy in Severus’s palm, his fingers gripping and releasing the edges of the large stony disk as he slightly tossed it and tested its weight again.

It was a bit heavy, but would it work?

“This would protect the wearer from all curses? Even the killing curse?”

The goblin stepped forward to peer at the object in his hands again for verification. Severus presented the object to the goblin but the creature did not reach to touch it, instead it curled its hands against its chest in aversion. After a few moments, the goblin nodded.

“Yes, that is correct.”

Severus gave a sigh in relief and went to pocket the amulet.

“But,” the goblin spoke, and Severus froze, ears prickled listening intently. “It only works for the heirs of the family. It’s tied to blood.”

The death eater now spy growled in irritation.

So it was useless then. Just when he thought the Prince family vault finally had something worthwhile, they altered something that could save lives only to fine-tune it to suit the family. It would explain why they were so set on remaining purebloods and were quick to disown their only heir once she married a muggle. Severus scoffed. What good it did for them. They could never have anticipated that he would have the heir to the Malfoy family assisting him after their deaths to reclaim the Prince's legacy as his own. And what did the Prince family have to hide? Absolutely nothing!

Severus eyed the bareness of the vault he stood within, as vast as it was, it was nearly empty. There were opened trunks filled with trinkets, jewelry, clothes, and half-translated books from an unknown language. Overall, the sum of coins amounted to barely anything, and it disappointed Severus as much as it did Lucius when they first opened the vaults, for very different reasons of course.

The dark locks of his chin-length bowl cut curtained his face as he looked down at the amulet, his grip slackening in disinterest and he sighed loudly. He repeated his earlier observation, “So, it’s useless then.”

From his peripheral, he could see the goblin’s ears curve downward and its face scrunch up in confusion. The creature spoke very slowly as if carefully selecting his words. “All magical beings have ways to continue the line.”

Severus tilted his head in interest. “Please, do tell.”

There was a peculiar look on the creature's face, he couldn’t quite determine what it was but he could only assume that the goblin was having an internal battle with itself. He could only assume what was crossing through the goblin’s mind. These were trying times, The Dark Lord was at the peak of his power and was predicted to soon set his sights on the Ministry. He’s already deployed spies to worm their way in and shake the very foundation it stands on, both politically and literally. The magical community as a whole were frightened, it didn’t matter the species. So many were dying, and many have already died. If there was an end to this war, there might not be a magical community left to live on. Severus stamped down the guilt that welled up within him at the thought. Yes, he made mistakes and he was fixing it now or at least trying to. The goblin seemed to come to a decision and firmly nodded to himself.

“There are blood rituals to establish a kinship between non-relations, it is separate from the documents and prerequisites needed by The Ministry.” The goblin peered up to see if Severus was paying attention, and in response, the man raised a brow for it to continue. The goblin cleared it’s throat. “There are several and they vary in difficulty, but intent matters and that simplifies things.”

Severus’s head ached, trying to understand the deeper meaner in the goblin’s words. He needed the oversimplified version. He was running out of time. “What do I do then? Bleed on the person I want to be protected and I hope it’s enough that it would trigger the amulet’s magic.”

The goblin frowned at his tone. Severus backtracked mentally and tried to rein his impatience and agitation. He tried again, adding some honesty. “Please,” he pleaded, “I don’t have a lot of time. I just need this to work.”

The goblins dark beady eyes had a malicious gleam suddenly. Severus reminded himself that the goblins were no friends to wizards and witches. Showing any type of vulnerability would trigger their predatory nature. He gulped.

“There is one ritual that has been lost to wizardkind. The effects are instantaneous, the results would more than meet your amulet’s requirements.” The goblin spoke low, just barely above a whisper, as if it were sharing a secret, Severus found himself leaning forward just to hear it. The person you chose to be your heir, regardless of age would be yours in all ways. You would replace the father’s blood with your own, it would be as if you assisted in the procreation.”

Instantaneous? He would be a father overnight? He wasn’t sure how he felt about that but based on his mixed emotions it eliminated another he planned on giving it to, but if he saved one, the other would surely follow. It wasn’t like he had many options. Besides, this would be the backup plan in case all else failed. He may not end up using it at all.

“What do I have to do?”

Severus shivered when the goblin exposed his sharp pointy teeth in what he could only assume was a smile.

“A magical contract.”

That was unexpected. “A what?”

The goblin elaborated. “In exchange for your blood ritual, we would do a magical contract.”

Severus frowned. “What does this contract entail?”

The creature nodded, pleased. “You bring back any goblin-made weapons.”

The man’s dark eyes narrowed and he scowled. “I’m to be your thief am I?”

What would goblins need weapons for? To fight against the Dark Lord? But wait, weren’t they neutral? Severus’s mind raced and his eyes widened at a stray thought. What if the goblins were waiting for the wizarding war to end only to start their own when they were most vulnerable.

Severus sighed. No use thinking so far into the future when he didn’t know if he was even going to live that long. “I must admit, that I’m not that knowledgeable in the different metals to be able to discern what is goblin made or not. Is there one, in particular, you would like me to find, or do you want me to steal from every wizarding pureblood family accruing years I would need to serve in Azkaban?”

The goblin wasn’t paying attention, thoughts drew it in and something Severus said must have triggered it.

“In your account, you’re listed to be pending employment within Hogwarts.”

What was he getting at? “Yes.”

“There is a sword stolen by Godric Gryffindor that may be found there.”

Figures. Gryffindors have the capabilities to bully, why wouldn’t they house thieves. And they say Slytherins are bad…

“How am I supposed to know where it is? There must be thousands of suits of armors with swords within the halls alone.”

“The sword will come to you.” The goblin gave him a piercing look. “Have you decided whether you agree to the terms?”

Severus thought. He was able to negotiate to steal only one sword for the blood ritual. Is it really stealing though if it was the goblins’ already? Severus exhaled. What was he getting himself into?

“Fine.” He presented the amulet to the goblin who recoiled from it. Interesting. “What do I have to do?”

“Please pocket your trinket and I will show you.” Severus did as he said, the goblin reached for his hands. He hesitantly placed them in the creature’s long fingers and was surprised by the magical current that arced when they touched. The man looked at the goblin to see if this was a normal reaction, but the curious look on the creature’s face signaled that perhaps it wasn’t. “Do you Severus Snape agree to bring back to the Gringotts Goblins the sword that was manufactured by Ragnuk the First and taken by Godric Gryffindor in exchange for a Blood Ritual.”

Severus narrowed his eyes. “No.”

The goblin’s slanted eyes lit up in anger and just as it was about to pull its hand back, Severus spoke, “I, Severus Snape, agree that in exchange for an instantaneous Blood Ritual that allows me to magically make a preexisting child into my own flesh and blood-“

The goblin's face lit up in understanding and his smile returned.

“-I would bring the sword manufactured by-“ Severus stopped, not recalling the name.

“Ragnuk the first.”

“Ragnuk the first,” Severus parroted, a blush coloring his cheeks. “taken by Godric Gryffindor to the Gringotts Goblins.”

A warmth settled in their palms and thinking they were done Severus started to pull away. The goblin held on and flipped his hands until both were palm side up, the creature’s thumbs curving until their sharp pointy nails pierced the sensitive flesh speaking a guttural tongue that Severus could only deduct to be the goblin language. He stayed still uncertain if this was part of the magical contract, uncomfortable that he couldn’t understand what was being said but he tried to calm himself, unlike with a wizard's unbreakable vow, he wouldn’t lose his life or magic in this, and he was certain that what he verbally agreed on would not be altered by anything the goblin says. He watched both horrified and repulsed when the goblin bit its own lip mixing it with its own saliva and spitting it within the palm of his hands. He began to resist out of revulsion, but as the excretions sank into his skin, magic arced and buzzed in their hands and he instead began to pull away because of the sharp pain working its way through his nervous system. The goblin seemed amazed by the light show and didn’t even notice that Severus was resisting.

Of course, metal workers are strong and regardless of their size Goblins are capable of great physical feats.

Severus continued to resist anyway as the sharp zap of magic worked its way up to his head. His vision darkened and static roared in his ears, as the pain began to overwhelm him, and just as suddenly as it came, it stopped. Severus gasped. The sound of a faraway cart as it propelled its passengers to their vaults could be heard at a distance, his eyes focused on the grey slanted eyes in front of him, peering at him in interest.

Severus felt compelled to ask, “Did it work?”

He must have said it out loud because the goblin conjured a knife and it twinkled into existence. Upon its arrival, a prickling feeling settled under the skin of his palms and his fingers twitched like antennas honing into the knife. Before he could blink, the knife appeared in his hands and the feeling settled.

“It worked,” said the goblin smugly. “You should be able to find the sword now.”

“How?” Severus sputtered out, baffled.

The goblin gave him a considering look. Its long fingers uncurled exposing the palm and the knife reappeared in its hand and promptly disappeared.

“Tell me, wizard,“ the creature asked. “Do you feel any different?”

“What am I supposed to feel?” Severus automatically asked, feeling a bit of panic starting to rise at the unexpected turn of events.

“Try.” The goblin nodded as if nudging him to attempt to discover what the difference within himself was.

Severus internally fought to raise his occlumency shields to reach some semblance of normalcy before expanding the awareness of his mind throughout his entire body. The first thing he noticed was how alive his body felt. He could feel something within him flow throughout his body. Was that his blood? As his attention focused lower he caught a warmness, and a sharp metallic smell that was so strong he could taste it. He reached into his robes to pull of the source and his hand met with the amulet, and immediate warmth filled him once again, centering at his chest. He didn’t feel like this before when he held it. As he brought it out to see if anything physically changed the ruby color of the medallion glistened as if it were a coin caught in the sunlight.

How curious.

“Ah, so you felt it too.”

“Felt it?” Severus was barely paying attention. There was something about this that felt foreign but familiar.

“The power that emanates from that amulet.”

 Severus nodded absentmindedly.

“It tastes of many metals. The smell, the sharp smell of alchemy.”

Dark looked up and met grey. “Alchemy?”

The goblin nodded solemnly. “Pure elements transformed and enchanted to suit your family’s needs.”

Severus stared at the amulet in awe. He had no idea.

The goblin nodded to Severus and stepped out of the vault.

What other things within the vault had he overlooked? Wait. Where was the goblin going?

“Wait!” Dark hair flapped at the side of his face as he jogged back to the cart, the vault sealing behind him. “What about the ritual?”

“What about the ritual?” The creature sounded insulted. “You agreed to give us the sword for the ritual. Once you procure the sword, we will give you the ritual.”

Severus exhaled loudly. “I suppose I better get going then.”

The goblin seemed surprised by the response, but quietly boarded the cart and the wizard followed suit.