The Amulet

On the outskirts of Hogsmeade, outside a quaint cottage, all matter of furniture and chests were piled high. A few of locals stood a distance away already gossiping about their new neighbours. Their eyes were crazed and excited as they exchanged stories they overheard. They were so engrossed in chasing the latest, juicy tales of their new occupants that they missed the unmistakable crackle signalling an apparation would occur within their vicinity.

A deafening crrrraack sounded, just as a plum of dark smoke appeared within the small crowd, and the locals cried in alarm as they stumbled backwards to get out of the way.

A dark goblin stood amidst the smoke, seemingly already aware of the small populace gathering in front of the cottage by the ready glare it shot threateningly at the locals. The locals immediately dispersed, grumbling under their breaths amongst themselves about the rudeness of goblins.

The lone goblin stood in place, posed as if to attack or run away, relaxing his tense muscles the more distance the villagers created as they walked back to their homes and closed their doors. The goblin lingered for several seconds, scanning the area with his green, beady eyes before relaxing his posture entirely and stroking a hand down his pressed, white uniform as if to check all its gold buttons were fastened. The goblin let out a long breath before delving his hand in his small pocket of his top and with a pinch of his fingers and collected seemingly nothing at all and threw it in the direction of the pile of furniture. As if by magic, a large vanity grew in place on top of the pile, its weight teetering the mound slightly to the right.

Uncaring, the goblin turned to walk through the entrance of the cottage while simultaneously enlargening a chest he plucked from the confines of his front pockets. The red door opened of its own accord, inviting the goblin to step further in to its deceptively large rooms inside. Within the first step, a train of toys zoomed past the goblin to wait patiently for the door to open at the end of corridor before disappearing behind it. Before he take another step, a tea tray with a kettle in process of pouring tea into one of the cups raced out from what he assumed was the kitchen and nicked one of his long pointy ears as it passed. The goblin let out a string of curses in his own guttural tongue as he massaged the tip of his right ear.

A head popped out from the kitchen, “Oh! Sorry!”

Lily made her way out, crouching to match the goblin’s height as she came nearer to assess the damage. “Are you alright?”

The goblin eyes widened slightly as the woman drew closer. He regained his bearing with a clearing of his throat, his posture rigid and professional as he faced her. “That was the last of the furniture in the Potter Vault. Would you be needing anything else today?”

Lily stopped just short of him in surprise at his cool voice. She subconsciously raised a hand to place it delicately to her collarbone. “N-No.”

“If that is all, please direct me to Mr. Snape for his delivery.”

The room was silent except the bustle of the multitude of household items trailing around mid-air trying to find a place to settle. Lily appeared to be torn between another apology and fulfilling his request but refrained from the former when the goblin raised a brow condescendingly at her.

“Right,” she pointed down the long, dark corridor. “Just down there, to your left. He’s is in the sitting room. I’m afraid you came in through the back entrance.”

The goblin spun in place without another word and headed down the corridor not appearing to notice or care how rude he was being as Lily returned to the kitchen deep in thought. As the goblin neared the entrance to the sitting room, he slowed when he overheard a weary voice of an elderly man.

“-he lies in wait. Remember, Severus, they don’t know Voldemort still lives.”

A younger, sardonic male voice responded. “Don’t you mean the Ministry is refusing to acknowledge the possibility the Dark Lord still alive?”

“I try to give them the benefit of the doubt.”

“You can’t possibly mean that.” The scraping of a chair being pushed back could be heard. “Don’t let your hopeful disposition colour your worldview. There are lives on the line, Dumbledore!”

“I understand you feel very strongly about this.” Dumbledore said calmly. “What evidence do we have to show otherwise?”

The wooden floors protested with every step taken as the footfalls drew closer towards the goblin. The goblin pressed himself against the wall, his tan skin camouflaging nicely within the shadows even though his ivory white uniform gave him away. The footsteps stopped just short of the entrance, and a long shadow was cast on the walls of the corridor from a lantern within the sitting room.

“The Death Eaters.” Severus could be heard clearly, his voice echoing with finality in the corridor as he pivoted to return and stand in front of Dumbledore. “All the Death Eaters still have their mark. You knew it. They knew it. Every witch and wizard out there with any type of magical upbringing knows that if a charm like that fades, the caster has died. It hasn’t faded. The Ministry used the mark as proof to imprison the Death Eaters, why else would they choose to ignore the fact that the very mark signals the Dark Lord still lives.”

Someone let out a long stressful sigh.

“I had hoped… I was certain we had a capable Minister. What is Bagnold doing?”

Severus scoffed. “Targeting you apparently.”

Dumbledore hummed in agreement. “But to what end?”

A contemplative silence settled in place where only the clinking of china could be heard where someone was presumably drinking tea.

“What if it’s not the Minister at all, Dumbledore? The Dark Lord still has unmarked supporters. It wouldn’t be that far of a reach to say that they’ve been planted within the Ministry. I mean, there had to be a reason Crouch Sr was sacked as quickly as he was.”

An amused chuckled could be heard. “I think Barty put more than just his foot in his mouth. His dismissal is no surprise.”

Severus let out an aggravated growl.

“I didn’t say it may not have been Voldemort’s supporters, Severus. I just said his dismissal was not surprising. How can I ignore what came of it? The Prophet’s story on it was very insightful.”

“Yes, yes. Those poor Death Eaters sent to Azkaban without a trial. Nevermind that it was I brought them in. I can confirm that every one of those marked were clearly devoted to the Dark Lord.”

“Careful, Severus. With your wording you count yourself as those accused.”

“I know that!” Severus snapped. “I can’t ignore my idiotic past but unlike them I’m not claiming I’ve been placed under the Imperious Curse, nor do I have a family with financial and societal backing to fight on my behalf for a retrial.”

“I can’t help but think you still seem a bit bitter about that. You may not have a supportive family, but you had me.”

“Had being the key word here.” Severus began to pace. “I’ve sullied your reputation. The prophet is crying foul play. They say you abused your power and manipulated the court system. They’re even accusing you of going so far as to pull strings to get me hired at Hogwarts. The Board of Governors are furious. It’s you versus the Ministry now.”

“It was Barty’s last ditch effort before he left, I’m afraid.” Dumbledore sounded unphased, speaking in a bored tone as if he were talking about the weather. “I’m surprised there were so many to jump on board when the Wizengamot was so supportive during the trial. I suppose the Ministry isn’t just made up of the Wizengamot.”

“You fool!” Severus stomped his foot as he faced Dumbledore. Hands up conveying with it the depths of how he felt. “Don’t you understand the severity of it? If you leave the Ministry there will be no one to defend it when the Dark Lord returns. You were the Ministry’s last defence during the war and here they are chiselling away at you while things are being set in motion to prepare for his return. If they take you from Hogwarts as well, that leaves a gaping hole for the Dark Lord’s supporters to fill it. Can’t you see that?”

The silence that followed was filled with gentle sips as Dumbledore drank his tea. Severus sucked his teeth in annoyance.

“Calm down, Severus. I don’t have to be present in the Ministry nor the school to be able to defend it. I find that delegating my work throughout the Order members to work just as well.”

“Who is in Hogwarts?”

There was a pregnant pause.

“Hagrid? You’ll trust Hagrid?! The Dark Lord will hear of all your plans by daybreak.”

“Settle down. Settle down. I have more Order members than just Hagrid in Hogwarts.” Dumbledore cleared his throat. “You seem to have forgotten to include yourself.”

“I’m still going?” Severus asked weakly.

There was the sound of someone shuffling in their seat. “Yes, I need you to be at Hogwarts where I cannot and be my eyes and ears.”

“But they know… I’ve been outed. They know I’m spy. They’ll keep mum around me.”

“That may be so, but I firmly believe that you know the inner workings of the Slytherin House to be able to find patterns in the crumbs left behind, to forewarn us of any plans in the future.”

“You expect a lot out of me.”

“It’s more than just your life on the line, Severus. You will exceed my expectations, as you have always done.”

“You can’t just-“

“I have and I will.” The air was heavy and tense in the pause it took for the topic to change. “I think there’s more at play than Voldemort’s supporters. I know you have your reasons, Severus, and I don’t discount that but all signs point to another faction using this mess to their benefit.”

“Who do you have in mind?”

“I can’t say for sure but there’s been unusual reports. Houseelves disappearing, Dementors straying from their posts in Azkaban making their way up north, Goblins rioting-“

“Goblins always riot. Why would this be any different?”

“Ah, yes. Perhaps you may have missed the news in the chaos of trying to secure a home. Most recently, a Goblin whose name was struck from the records had escaped Azkaban. The Daily Prophet named him under his prison number with no pictures supplied to the public. It was reported he was caught illegally trading goods in exchange for wands in Knockturn Alley.”

“A goblin? Now that you mention it, I recall there was a goblin being processed at the same time I was in Azkaban.”

“It could have been the very same. That’s not what I find so unusual.” Dumbledore took another sip of his tea. “The goblin was caught in broad daylight. It was a blatant disregard of the laws in place to prevent that from happening. It appeared that they have been trading for quite some time and for some reason or another, they slipped.”

“Are you suggesting the goblin purposely got himself caught?”

“I have my assumptions but there’s no clear evidence to support it. The cherry on top of all this is what the Ministry has done.”

Severus sounded intrigued. “What did they do?”

“Nothing. An Official from Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures commented that the Ministry has dismissed all charges in good faith. When inquired on whether the decision had anything to do with the Brotherhood of Goblins (B.O.G.) and their recent riots, the Official declined to answer further questions. At least, that was what was reported by the Daily Prophet. My sources don’t tell me much else.”

“Hmmm, that is interesting. Have the Goblins banded with the Dark Lord?”

“The goblins have remained neutral throughout the war. I don’t see why they would suddenly have a change of heart after having so many goblins died by the hands Death Eaters.”

“I see… A possible third faction?”

“Probably more.”

Severus let out a stressed sigh.

The goblin stayed in place until the conversation turned to much safer topics and didn’t move until Dumbledore began to drone on and on about Severus getting into Slughorn’s good graces again to sway him into the Order. The goblin chose that moment to enter without warning. He walked right in and deposited a large mahogany chest by Severus’ feet much to the men’s surprise. Dumbledore in particular turned ashen as his blue eyes glued themselves to the back of the goblin’s head.

“As requested, your chest.” The goblin sneered.

Severus carefully picked the chest up and opened it to reveal rows of books in varying conditions. “Is this all?”

The goblin didn’t answer and instead procured a roll of parchment from thin air.

Severus ignored it in favour of turning his attention to Dumbledore instead. “I apologize, Headmaster. I have some business to attend to, I will have to cut our meeting short.”

Dumbledore tore his eyes away from the goblin to give Severus a small smile. “Of course. Of course. It’s my own fault for dropping in unannounced in the middle of your move. I must say, what a lovely place you’ve found at such short notice.”

“Thank you,” said Severus non-committedly as he pulled a book from his chest only for another to take its place. He disregarded the blatant looks Dumbledore kept shifting to the goblin behind his back as if to inquire what a goblin was doing there, in his new home, delivering a chest, or it could have been a warning to be weary of the goblins.

Severus seemed unexpectedly engrossed in his whatever was in his chest and chose that moment to inventory it as Dumbledore shot him one last fleeting glance before tossing powder into the floo and disappearing behind its flames. Severus waited until the fire died down, before his wand was suddenly in his hand, arcing it towards the floo to ward it before pointing at the goblin.

“What have you done to me, Heelgrip!”

The goblin staggered back in shock before he regained his bearings and raising his hands in a placating manner. His smile turned predatory, his razor sharp teeth exposed when his eyes saw Severus’ wand shake in some indistinguishable feeling.

“Yes, Mr. Snape.” With a snap of his fingers the roll of parchment disappeared and he replaced Dumbledore in the armchair across from him. “Let’s talk.”