Goblin Friends
De Amore Et Bello
Chapter 8
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Previously on De Amore Et Bello:
“When did you do one of these rituals? You had literally no time.” Percy points out, watching as Harry averts his eyes, grinning mysteriously.
“A magician—or in this case a wizard—never reveals his secrets.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense! If you don’t reveal the way you can do something, then—”
“It’s a muggle saying, Draco.” Charlie says in amusement, sending Harry an exasperated look that Harry laughs at. Bhaftaaz tells them to be quiet and that the ritual is starting to begin. Harry waits for a long moment, waiting for something to happen. When nothing does, he lifts his head a little to look around him and sees that the others are all asleep.
He sighs and leans back, getting hit with a wave of fatigue suddenly.
“Well, I wasn’t expecting that—” Harry says sluggishly as his head slumps, eyes closing.
He certainly doesn’t expect everything to go black so quickly.
🍺⚡💥
Sunday, September 8th, 1977
Harry blinks himself awake and stares at the ceiling for a long moment, wondering where he is. There’s a clear feeling in his head, his mind more uncluttered than it’s ever been. His shoulders feel lighter than he can remember and his body less tense. He sits up and stares at the room he’s in. It’s Gringotts. As he sees the winding patterns on the wall filled with ancient runes that contain goblin magic, all the memories of the previous day come back to him. Going to Gringotts, finding out all the blocks and compulsions in him, the love potions and finding out Sirius Black was his soulmate. Finding out that three thirds of the four marauders where the groups soulmates.
A goblin comes into the room, one different from the room where Harry had fallen unconscious and collapsed on the bed, walking over with a tray in his hands. He places it on the end of the bed and eyes Harry critically, looking for anything wrong. “Queen Bhaftaaz says to eat and send out your magic once you’re done. A goblin will lead you to the other time travellers in the meeting room. You’ll take your Lordships and Heir rings there.” Harry stares at him for a long moment, lips parted in surprise. The goblin nods and turns, leaving the room.
Harry regains himself and drags the tray closer to himself, folding his legs beneath him as he examines the food. It simple; bacon and eggs with some toast. There’s a glass of orange juice. Seeing a note, he grabs it, unfolding it. ‘Hadrian, the food is clean, but the juice contains some nutrients potions and a rejuvenating potion to help your magickal core stabilise itself. Your magic may be slightly uncontrollable, especially when dealing with strong emotions, so be warned. Queen Bhaftaaz of the Goblin Nation’.
Sighing Harry places the note down. Great, another thing to put an object in his path. Harry devours the food, drinking the orange juice. Despite the potions in the juice, it doesn’t taste any different. He feels instantly better, more settled. He feels better tethered to his magic, less like he’s floating in the air, instead like his feet are on the ground.
When he’s finished, he sends out his magic. Seconds pass and the door creaks open before a goblin enters, a different one than the goblin that’d taken in the tray. Another goblin enters, grabbing the empty tray and leaving without a word. Harry stands, wiping himself of crumbs and staring down at his clothes. They’re different from the ones he’d entered the bank with; it’s a long t-shirt that goes to mid-thigh and some baggy tracksuit bottoms with warm, fuzzy socks. He shifts, smiling a little.
“Follow me, time traveller.” The goblin remaining commands. Harry’s face twists a little, but he obeys nevertheless, glancing around himself as he rushes after the fast walking goblin. They come into a huge room, looking much like the ballrooms in pureblood manors. The only thing different is that there’s a long winding table where the goblins no doubt make business deals and conjoin there to discuss the future of the Goblin Nation. At the front of the table, there’s a throne, much like the golden one King Ragnok had summoned to listen to their explanation of why they were in the past.
To the left, there’s another type of throne. It’s silver and has liquid titanium running through it, making it shimmer with a type of gleam. It’s fitting for a Queen, Harry thinks. Smaller but no less important nor expensive. Perfect for Queen Bhaftaaz of the Goblin Nation. The others are sprawled out on the table, looking more healthy and awake than they’ve ever been. There’s a healthy flush to Draco’s cheeks, his pale skin less sallow and more bright. The Weasley’s hair seem much more red than the orange of Molly Weasley, probably due to the Prewitt twins DNA. From glimpses of photos in the Burrow, though little they had been and the picture of the Order of the Phoenix, the Prewitt twins had seemed more alive than Molly Prewitt had been, much more vibrant than there elder sister.
Harry settles himself next to Draco, on the right of the Goblin King. Bill shifts a little and turns his eyes to where the two royal goblins are sitting. “I was wondering something. Why is it that we came back to the past where some of us are in our twenties, but no one questions that we were sixth year students? I mean, we definitely don’t look like students nor teenagers.”
“Simply?” Ragnok says. Bill nods. “Lady Magic. When you came back, she aided you by making your outside appearance look like teenagers until you came to Gringotts to get a purge. After you went through the cleansings, Lady Magic reduced your age and physical appearance to what it should be. To yourselves, you looked like your previous age you were in the future, but now you look like the teenagers you’re supposed to be.”
“Huh.” Charlie mumbles, glancing down at himself. Ragnok’s right, he’s less chiselled but he still has the burns and the scars, the tattoos and everything he had in the future. His face looks younger. Now that he’s looking closer, Harry realises that everyone looks closer to the age of sixteen they’re supposed to be. Ragnok smooths down their inheritance tests onto the table and examines them.
“So, your Lordships and Heirships. Sadly, the ones that are already in use you cannot use unless you want the families to know that you’re time travellers from the future.” Ragnok says.
“What’re the Lordships we can take?”
“For the Weasley-Prewitt’s, you can take the Hufflepuff Lordships and all the others can take their Heirships. For the twins, you’d take the Pendragon Heirships. Mr Malfoy, you’d take the Gaunt Heirship because Tom Riddle would take the Lordship. As for Mr Potter, you’d be able to take the Gryffindor Lordship, the Ravenclaw Heirship, the Pendragon Lordship, the Slytherin Heirship, and the Peverell Lordship.” He lists. Harry’s eyebrows rise and he nods as Ragnok summons a goblin and barks at them to get the rings for the different houses.
When the goblin comes back, he places a range of boxes in front of the King. Ragnok dismisses him and he bows, leaving with a glance at the others, the door slamming shut behind him.
“Younglings,” Bhaftaaz speaks, “you need not take the Lordships and Heirships now. Gringotts shall be open to you whenever you need it. These rings are a big burden to bare.” She says, hand coming up to rest on the closest box, the colour a dark crimson. “If you do take the rings, know that Gringotts is behind you. From this day hence, you shall be Goblin friends.” Magic swirls around the time travellers. Draco laughs in elation and the twins grin mischievously. Harry meets Ragnok’s eyes and nods, inclining his head in respect. He isn’t expecting Ragnok to smile and repeat the gesture.
“Be that as it may, Queen Bhaftaaz, we would like to take the rings. They offer us protection.” Harry says. Bhaftaaz frowns but recedes. They get handed their respective rings and Harry takes in the five boxes in front of him, deciding to push the Lordships to the back and pulling the Heirship rings closest to himself.
“If I may ask, who is the one taking the Hufflepuff Lordship?”
“Me.” Bill says. “Though can I abdicate to my father once we tell him of the situation in the future? And I can take up an Heirship instead?” Bill inquires. Ragnok hums thoughtfully.
“I believe so. That is if the Hufflepuff ring excepts him. He’d need to be rid of compulsions and potions for that to work. Those types of magic can have foul complications when coming in contact with the rings magic.” Bill nods, sliding the box open. Harry slides on the Ravenclaw Heirship ring first. There’s a pause before blue magic erupts from the ring, wrapping around his hand and wrist, seeping into his skin.
“That is a sign the ring has accepted you, Mr Potter.” Bhaftaaz says, noticing his confused and surprised expression.
“Call me Harry or Hadrian, Queen Bhaftaaz.”
She smiles. “Then it’s only fair if you call me Bhaftaaz. And my husband Ragnok. You’re Goblin friends, we have no room for titles.” She tilts her head and the other grin and offer her and her husband their names, the royal Goblins accepting and smiling back. Harry grabs the Slytherin Heirship ring. Immediately, green magic bursts out and wraps around him, going further, up to his elbow, pressing into him. His magic thrums in content. Grinning he looks to the Heirship boxes to push them to the side when he sees they’ve disappeared.
“The boxes return to the vaults once the rings have been accepted. If you die and your ring hasn’t been accepted, the ring will automatically return to the bank into its rightful place which helps against line theft. The rings can help access your accounts, even if the wearer is not bonded to it. Say if the ring rejected you right now, all it would do is disappear with the box back into the bank, awaiting the next tryer. There’s no pesky attack or defence magic like some wixen believe.” Ragnok explains. Harry twists the rings to look at them further. The Ravenclaw Heirship ring has an eagle on it, devouring a small mammal. The Slytherin Heirship ring has a two snakes wrapped around each other, eyes glinting with small emeralds for eyes. The Ravenclaw Heirship also have jewels; two sapphire diamonds as eyes as well.
Harry grabs the Gryffindor Lordship ring, putting it on. Red magic erupts and seeps into him, only going up to the end of his hand. The Peverell Lorship ring is next, this time a crimson red, whereas the Gryffindor one had been like a summertime red—the colour of autumn leaves—and travels all the way up his two arms, swirling for a moment. It feels like he’s drank two cups of coffee with six shots of expresso in each. Any sign of tiredness is gone. Finally, the Pendragon Lordship is put on. Golden light bursts out of the ring, wrapping around Harry, travelling down his whole body. It thrums with adrenaline and even when the light fades five minutes later, the others shielding their eyes, the feeling hasn’t left.
“What the hell was that?” Percy breathes. Ragnok beams, clapping his hands.
“The Pendragon Lordship. You, Hadrian, are now Lord Pendragon, which is as you know a royal line. Like I am King of the Goblin Nation, to a certain extent, you are King over certain areas of the wixen world.” Harry’s lips part in surprise and he stares down at his hands, where it seems like liquid gold is running through his veins before they fade, and normal skin is staring back at him. “King Arthur was a Pendragon and when he married and bonded with Merlin Emrys, they conjoined their lines. The Emrys line isn’t separate like some believe but joined with the Pendragon line, referring to Arthur’s name since he married into the house of Pendragon. Right now, Emrys is more like a title for a powerful wixen unlike Pendragon, which is the Royal House of wixen.” Ragnok says, sweeping his hands through the air and gesturing to Harry.
Harry sighs and fiddles with the rings on his fingers for a moment before he looks to Ragnok. “How long do we have before we have to go back to Hogwarts?”
“As long as you wish, Hadrian. At any time. Your Professor never specified when we’d have to call for them.” A shark like smile graces the mans face and Harry grins back. He stands, grabbing his wand that the goblins had put in his pants pocket. Bhaftaaz smiles and waves a hand and all their wand holsters, and any missing wands sit there. They thank her and Harry pulls on his holster, flicking his wand. The black board that was on the wall in the room of requirements materialises into being where all their writing is. Harry pushes his wand against his lips, tapping thoughtfully.
“What is this?” Bhaftaaz asks, peering at it, using her magic to drag it closer.
“This is some of the timeline we’ve managed to piece together so far. And there,” he walks over to the board, gesturing to where a line of people are, “are their believed type of core and then who we believe is working with or against us. Some may need to get cleansings so if we turn up at the bank with someone, it’s probably going to be for a purge. You can retract it from the Pendragon account if needed—”
“Nonsense, Hadrian. You’re Goblin friends.” Bhaftaaz waves away. Harry grins sheepishly at her, rubbing the back of his neck. Bhaftaaz giggles and takes a closer look at the people. “Orion Black. We’ve got letters sent and sent back unopened from him. Perhaps he should be the first to be cleansed? After all, he is a Head of the Black house as Arcturus deferred to him as he was getting on in old age. This way he doesn’t die and can banish his wife from the family.” Harry hums and nods.
“That would be perfect actually.” Harry says. Bhaftaaz grabs a piece of parchment and begins writing, flicking her wrist. It goes up in flames.
“Fire message. Easier. And less likely to be caught and read.” She says at Charlie’s curious look. “Since you are good with the element of fire, fire messages should come easy to you, even if you do not know anything else. I shall teach you after, you and Fred.” Fred fist pumps the air, and she giggles at his theatrics.
They continue going over the bullet points and sooner than Harry would like, Ragnok summons Professor Slughorn and requests the Professor that every other week the seven shall come to Gringotts for meetings and that instead of Slughorn, Professor Flitwick should accompany them instead. Slughorn goes to answer and refute, but Ragnok tells him its none negotiable and that if Headmaster Dumbledore refuses, its an act against Goblin Nation, meaning war. Slughorn pales and nods.
Everything is much easier after that. They go through the floo and Slughorn hastily heads up to the Headmasters office to inform him. Fred and George heads off to the Slytherin common room, telling the others that Fred is going to work on his fire messages. Charlie rushes after them once hearing that and the trio chatter as they turn the corner. Percy and Bill head to the library, talking amongst themselves about their classes. Percy says something about his piece of homework due to week after.
“So, I need you to come with me to the Gryffindor common room. You’re going to tutor me about pureblood traditions, so that I know what the bloody hell I’ve got myself into.” Harry grabs Draco and drags him off. Draco fights him before falling silent, grumbling, and shooting side glares at Harry who ignores him. I’ll get him a gift later, Harry thinks, his mind a one track record as they walk up the stairs.
He needs to know everything about the Houses he’s accepted. Especially as he’s taken Lordships in three of them and it comes down to him to make sure he doesn’t tarnish their names.
Already, he’s feeling the pressure and he hasn’t even done anything yet.