10 No Execution Necessary

Saturday November 19th 9:27am.

Sitting at a small, but decorative, conference table Harry couldn't help but fidget in his seat. From everything he had been told about the goblins they were not fans of magicals, especially British wizards and witches, and given how cagey the lawyers sitting at the table with him had been since he arrived ten minutes previously, he doubted that this summons was a good thing. After all he didn't have access to his account yet so this couldn't be about usual bank business.

It also didn't help that nobody had said anything since they were seated at the table over 5 minutes ago. This was one factor that Harry was able to change, and he was planning to.

"How have you been Alest, Daffodil and Jebsis?" The young man figured that there was a reason they hadn't discussed business so far and would be unlikely to start now so decided to go for small talk.

"I have been good, Harry. I hope that you have been as well?" Daffodil was nice enough to reply to the boy, the others just politely smiled and nodded at him. After all to them he may be a client, but he was still only a child, not their usual sort of customer. At times it felt like they were patronizing him.

"Well apart from the stress of being entered into a deadly tournament against my will… I have nothing to complain about. In fact it has been an interesting week, with many surprises." He couldn't help but raise his eyebrow at her to reinforce the fact that this meeting was one of the surprises he was talking about. At least she had the decency to look apologetic for the lack of information that he had been provided with to this date.

Her reply was cut off when the door was opened and four goblins marched in, only one of who was recognised by Harry. Alongside Findore, Harry's account manager, was an older goblin who seemed very angry to be in the presence of humans. Or was it just because of him? The most intimidating of the new entrants were the two goblin guards who entered and chose to stand on either side of the door. They were both in full armour, carrying a vicious looking poleaxe each with a sword at their waist.

"Mr. Potter thank you for coming in on short notice. Earlier this week by complete accident we came across some information regarding you, well Riptooth here did." As he said this Findore indicated to the older goblin who had sat next to him on the opposite side of the table to Harry and his legal team. "It took my days to persuade him to allow this hearing, rather than simply confiscating your vaults and banning you from the goblin nation for life."

Harry's gasp and shocked face stopped the goblin from continuing. While Findore had given the boy the benefit of the doubt, with his usually respectful attitude to the goblins of Gringotts, his genuine reaction of shock at the earlier words went along way to convicting the account manager as to a lack of willingness by Harry to steal from the Goblin Nation.

"Riptooth is in charge for the group responsible for tracking any and all goblin artefacts that are lent to humans, or tracing the location of any stolen artefacts. He heads the British Gringotts Artefact Recovery Unit, or GARU for short, and it was in that role that you recently came to his attention. I will allow him to control the conversation from here." With his piece said, Findore turned his attention to his colleague.

"On the 29th of May 1993 you obtained a goblin artefact that you held no claim to, and have failed to bring it to the bank it the proscribed 6 month period for such items. With this evidence I call you thief. The penalty is 200,000 galleons and banishment from the Goblin Nation, or death." With his piece said the goblin stood up, and turned to leave, wanting to get away from the criminal as quickly as possible.

"Wait Mr. Riptooth! I haven't stolen anything from the goblins, or anybody, and I think I would remember having a goblin artefact. You must be mistaken, it wasn't me!" Harry frantically tried to explain his innocence to the goblins.

"We received no notifications about this acquisition and the proscribed period of leeway in returning it to the Nation. Did you send it to Mr. Potter directly?" Like any good lawyer Jebsis Welch was quick to jump to his clients defence.

"No letter on this matter was sent out because we only discovered that the event had happened this past week, and given the amount of time that has passed since the event the only reasonable explanation is that your client intentionally sought to deceive the Nation." His disgust at Harry and his actions was so evident in his face that even the humans in the room could see it. "At don't try to deceive us further Human, we led a very thorough investigation and are confident it our findings. You obtained the artefact commonly known as the sword of Gryffindor amongst humans, or Knarfulk-Gur-Silverhand by the Nation, on the 29th of May 1993." This part was directed at Harry.

"I don't have the sword of Gryffindor! I've held and used it, on the date you mentioned I think, but it came to me at a time of need, and after the whole business with that damn Basilisk I never saw it again." In his rush to prove his innocence he probably shared more than he should have.

"Wait what Basilisk?" Almost every being in the room reacted at the same time. In fact Harry was sure the only two people who didn't speak up were Daffodil, who looked way to shocked to speak, and one of the goblin guards who was better at hiding his shock then the other. 'Probably been at this longer than his friend.' Harry thought to himself.

"I guess I should tell you all the story then. In my second year somebody released Slytherin's monster upon the school. At the end of the year a series of events led to me being out of my depth completely. I was in the Chamber of Secrets, alone, facing off against a Basilisk, with only my wand and a small arsenal of spells at my disposal, all of which didn't affect it in the least. Out of nowhere Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, appeared dropped the sorting hat and started attacking its eyes. Pretty useless right? I mean blinding it was helpful, but it was still a giant bloody snake, and snakes use their tongues to hunt prey don't they? It was also one of the most venomous creatures on the planet. And what was the sorting hat supposed to do? Until I saw something shining in the hat, and pull out the sword. One thing led to another and I killed the Basilisk with the sword, getting myself but in the process. Fawkes saved my life by crying in the wound but I still passed out. Next thing I know I was in the infirmary. Without the sword. I haven't seen it since and don't know what happened to it, but would guess that maybe the headmaster has it?" While it was a much abbreviated story, Harry thought that it was all that they needed to know about the horror show that was his second year.

The two parties started having whispered conversations amongst themselves, the lawyers together, and the two goblins seated at the table. Harry and the two guards however were stuck only catching glimpses of the conversations as they were excluded. This continued for several minutes before an accord was met and the turned to each other ready to negotiate with the new information presented to them.

"If the sword appeared to young Mr. Potter in such a manner, he is not in violation of the Goblin Artefact Protection Law, would you not agree Riptooth?" Jebsis was the first to speak.

"Yes. No execution necessary." The goblin almost seemed disappointed that the human would not be receiving death as a punishment. "I will go talk to Dumbledore and find out what has happened to Knarfulk-Gur-Silverhand." With that he left, not even bothering to say goodbye to those in the room.

"No about this Basilisk, how large was it? Have you had it rendered? Are you aware how valuable a Basilisk can be?" The questions tumbled out of Findore's excited mouth. He looked at the boy expectantly, waiting for his questions to be answered.

"No I wasn't aware it was valuable, and what does that have to do with me? What do you mean by rendered? And I was a bit busy to measure it, but I would guess like 20 meters." Harry was confused by the relevance of all the questions.

"The Basilisk is a very rare, very dark, very dangerous creature, rated as a level 7 beast by the ministry, which I'm sure you are aware is the highest level. As such any individual who kills one has the right to claim the remains and any profit that it may generate. While I am unaware as to the going rate for the different parts of a Basilisk, one that size should generate you a considerable profit." This time it was Daffodil who explained what was happening to Harry. "The reason Findore was asking is because if it hasn't been rendered, which it sounds like it hasn't, he will offer the services of the goblins. For a fee of course."

"Yes, we are very reasonable. 7% of all income generated goes to the bank, and while I doubt it was 20 meters long, not because I doubt you but adrenaline makes humans mistake what they see all the time, it should still earn you several hundred thousand galleons. That will earn the bank a sum in the 5 figure range, and me a bonus of several thousand galleons myself, for bringing such a service to the bank." Like all goblins Findore loved gold, especially earning it with no real effort on his part.

"4%." Jebsis was quick to counter before Harry could say anything, especially agree to the figure. While 7% was fairly competitive, if he could save his client several thousand galleons he was obliged to do so. Especially if his firm was compensated for doing so. It wasn't unreasonable to earn a thousand galleon bonus from Mr. Potter if he saved him 4000 was it?

"Mr. Welch, you know I cannot offer a discount for a different brand of Gringotts, but I will go get Hackblade and he will enter into negotiation with you." Findore stopped near they door to share some words in Gobbledegook with the guards before they all left.

"Mr. Potter, are you willing to sell the Basilisk?" Receiving a nod from Harry Alest continued. "Then please trust us to negotiate on your behalf."

"Sure, but can you acquire me some sets of Basilisk hide armour? Three of them if you can, I may end up needing them during this tournament." With his piece said, and receiving conformation from the trio, Harry set back to watch the proceedings.

It was barely a minute later that an excited goblin wearing what appeared to be a leather apron came rushing into the room. "I hear that one of you has a beast to render?" 'At least he loves his work' Harry couldn't help but think of the exuberant goblin.

"Young Mr. Potter here played a Basilisk a little while ago and we are wondering if you are willing to render it. It may be as large as 20 meters." It was Jebsis who started the discussion.

"A 20 meter Basilisk? Quite a feat Mr. Potter! What a warrior you must be." As he said this he reached out to shake Alest's hand.

"Ah, I'm not Mr. Potter, that is." Alest Ollivander laughed as he pointed to Harry. This shocked the goblin but he recovered quickly.

"Amazing Mr. Potter, absolutely amazing! A 20 meter Basilisk, at such a young age? Extraordinary!. You are about to become a very wealthy individual! I can't give you an estimate without seeing the beast, but it will be worth a fortune." He devolved into muttering to himself in a weird mix of English and Gobbledegook as he calculated what he would need for such a job.

"Hackblade, we understand that the usual rendering fee is 7% at Gringotts?" Receiving a nod from the goblin, Jebsis continued as Findore reentered the room. "Given the size and value of the creature, and the amount of income this will generate for the Nation, we believe that a 4% fee is much more reasonable."

This stopped the goblins mutterings dead, as he appraised both Jebsis and Harry before speaking. "That is impossible, given the risk that even a dead Basilisk posses to my team, and the size of the required team for such a beast, 4% is undoable… 6% however I think I can arrange." Even for a goblin who didn't work for the financial side of the Nation negotiating was second nature.

"A beast that size will generate at least 10000 galleons for the Nation, your cost won't be more than 4000, making a profit of 6000 at 4% of the total. 5% fee, and five suits of self sizing Basilisk skin armour for Mr. Potter, made by a top goblin armourer." This time it was Alest who brought forth the counter argument.

Hackblade thought over the offer for a moment, ran a quick calculation over his, and the banks, profit for such a job and smiled. "5% and three suits." After all those two extra suits would be worth several thousand galleons at least.

"Deal." Jebsis happily said, before reaching into his briefcase and pulling out a piece of parchment. Writing on it for a minute, he handed it to his colleagues who proofread and checked his work, before handing it to the goblins. A minute later both goblins, the three lawyers and Harry had all signed the contract and settled in to discussing the details of the rendering.

"Given that it is at Hogwarts, it will best to wait to the winter break in a little over a month to render it if that works with you?" It was the first words Harry had spoken during the negotiations.

"That allows me to prepare my team, and put feelers out in the markets so as to find out where will give the best profit margins." Hackblade seemed very happy, not that Harry could blame him.

"I would also like to open a new vault, if that is possible, to put the profits in." With this Harry turned to Findore.

"Of course Mr. Potter, the usual fee of 40 galleons to open a vault will be charged to you, with a 10 galleon fee for the key keyed to yourself, but you most certainly can afford it. After we are finished here I will go see to it and if you come to my office 10 minutes after that I will have it all sorted for you." After all it wasn't that unusual for clients to want more than one vault. Humans could be weird.

After ironing out the rest of the details, the goblins left allowing the humans use of the room for 10 minutes to discuss business. After all it was going to be a very profitable day for the Nation, and it pays to be nice to those who will bring you much business.

"I know that you had some other stuff to tell me, but first I require you to find out some stuff for me. I need to know if Penelope Clearwater, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Colin Creevey and Argus Filch have vaults at Gringotts, and everything you can about Myrtle who died at Hogwarts when the beast first was let loose on the students. Can you do that?" At Daffodil's nod he handed proceeding back over to them.

"We understand that you have a… Lets call it a less than favourable view of the Malfoy family, do you not?." Waiting for Harry to indicate that this was true, Alest planned how best to proceed. "For years Lucius has wanted to get onto the Wizengamot, but even with all the galleons he throws around it has been denied to him. He came close at the end of the war, but then his involvement with the Death Eaters came out, and while he avoided any punishment, members of the 'Mot decided it was best not to elect him to it. It now appears that they believe it has been long enough that they are willing to put his name forward and it just happens that the date coincides with our plan. This does not change our plan, but provides us with an opportunity for you to obtain a bit of vengeance, and prove to everyone that you are ready, and just how powerful you can be. Here is the plan…" As he continued, Harry couldn't help but let his grin grow wider and wider.

A/N: Here you all go, another chapter up