39

Chapter 39: The Calvary Arrives

Dobby paused in his task and grit his teeth in anger as the sounds from the chamber down the hall once again assaulted his ears.

How he wished that he could help the poor soul that his master was currently abusing.

Casting his gaze over to where Opal was scrubbing at the floor Dobby could not contain the wave of pity that welled up within him. With each sound emitted from the chamber Opal would wince and shake harder than before.

Opal hadn't been the same since being punished by their mean master, if she wasn't doing her chores she would be curled up in the nest sobbing.

Thankfully, their master had been too busy to punish them again.

Master had spent a lot of time down in the chambers making cells of some sort. Whenever Dobby was able to he would sneak down and listen to Master mumbling to himself. Such cruel things Master would say too...

A cage of silver for a wolf man, a cage directly across for his mate to witness the horrors that awaited the wolf man.

Even worse than that, however, was the... Room, that Master had made for Emerald Boy.

Dobby wasn't sure who this Emerald was, just that Master sometimes called him, 'his Boy'. Dobby hoped that Emerald Boy never wound up in Masters care...

Charlie leaned back on the bed exhausted, he wouldn't give Harry up for anything but sometimes his little could be quite a handful.

The poor boy had just been woken up by a rather horrible nightmare about his past. Charlie had nothing against muggles, nor could he be considered a violent man. However, his perfect little mates despicable relatives were certainly an exception to that.

At least this time Charlie had made sure that Harry had taken a dreamless sleep potion so that he wouldn't have to worry about any nightmares happening this time around.

With another sigh Charlie began the rather laborous task of extracting himself from Harry's hold on him, grinning when Harry instead clutched a pillow to himself with a contented sigh.

After pressing a quick kiss to his mates' cheek Charlie made his way back out to the others.

"I still don't understand!" Molly said with an exhausted sigh. "I thought that the goblins put protections on him? How was this able to happen when they had a plan?"

"It must have been an oversight Molly," Remus soothed from his position on the newly transfigured couch.

"When everything was being set up we were all so focused on Dumbledore that we didn't put much worry in anyone else being a major threat," Sirius sighed tiredly as he absentmindedly patted Molly's thigh in comfort. "We should have learned after what happened at Yule..."

"Sirius, do not beat yourself up over that again," Remus said, leaning his lanky frame over Molly's to better reach his mate.

"And what exactly happened during Yule?" Amelia asked curiously, he arms crossed as she looked at the assembled group.

"On the way home for the winter halls," Sirius began with an exhausted sigh, leaning to rest his head against Molly's shoulder in an effort to seek comfort. "The twins had decided to pull a prank and it backfired spectacularly. Harry wound up magically trapped under some mistletoe and everyone on the train took that as an excuse to fucking molest him."

"Why wasn't I informed of this!?" Amelia said, eyes wide as she began to turn to her colleague and tell him to begin drawing up the necessary paperwork.

"Because Harry is far too good for his own good," Remus sighed leaning over to poke Sirius' cheek. "He refused to file complaints and when we tried to insist he went near catatonic. We eventually just dropped it so that Harry would be even more upset. The goblins charged each of the families involved a rather hefty fine though... Harry tried to get them to let it go too but they claimed that the protections they gave him would do something to punish them if they didn't."

"What did they fine the families?" Amelia asked as she stood up from her seat and moved to lean on the wall.

"Around two hundred galleons each, I believe that they charged the one who started it all about five hundred." Sirius said simply as he once again sat up, bringing a hand up to tiredly rub at his face.

"What kind of protections did you procure from the goblins exactly?" Madame Bones asked from her new position against the wall, scanning the grounds from one of the large windows lining the infirmary walls. "Their protections are not always ethical, nor are they cheap."

"The goblins layered monitoring charms over Harry, they also tied something capable of breaking through wards," Remus explained with a tired sigh as he sank into the couch further. "The monitoring charms are continuously going but the alarm was only set to go off if Dumbledore or his magic was involved in anything harmful or distressing."

"That is quite the magic, and what precisely did this cost you all?" Amelia asked, her eyebrow raised and a stern set to her lips as she gazed at them all. Surely they wouldn't be able to afford the price that the goblins would charge. The Weasleys were just beginning to gain back some of their family money and Sirius... Well actually he probably could afford it.

"No cost at all," A new voice growled from the direction of the hearth. All figures within the room spun, wands drawn and pointed at the smoldering ashes shaped into the face of Griphook. "Now, if you would, myself, a healer, and several guards require access to the school. I felt that given the situation, requesting entry would be the better option as opposed to simply showing up. Now, if you will?"

Silence greeted this request for several seconds before Poppy bustled into activity moving forward to allow entry to the contingent of goblins. As the flames roared to life a group of twenty goblins passed through. At the front there was Griphook, attired in a rather dashing suit and tie, a pinched look of aggravation over this situation upon his face. Next came a goblin who was most likely female, had longer hair which was pushed away from her face and braided down her back, she stood slightly shorter than Griphook had and was dressed in dark green robes. Behind the two there stood a rather large group of goblins who were taller and burlier than the previous two. These goblins stood a few inches taller and held far more muscle, they were dressed in dragon hide robes and carried a plethora of weapons ranging from a medieval mace and swords to bows and arrows, daggers, and even what appeared to be a whip.

"Now then," Griphook said simply as he calmly brushed a bit of ash from his lapel. "Time to get to work."