Tap. Tap. Tap.
The clanging sound of metal against metal filled the dimly lit room. A hot fire roared throwing the light of its flames into the shadows of dark corners. A bent back toiled laboriously over his task. This was all occurring in a small room tucked away in a secret place.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
A boiling black cauldron steamed and bubbled. Metal pieces were scattered across the grimy floor. A tiny brown hand grabbed for a chisel, as pointed ears caught the loud crackling of the fire.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Time passed and the roaring fire began to wane and die. The bent back finally straightened. The chisel was set aside and a sigh could be heard. As the last flames of the fire licked at the fast disappearing log, a voice spoke, “Ah… if only Tolman was here. He would be so proud of my work.”
The dark skinned creature then shook his head in shame as he realized that this could not be further from the truth. His brother lived up to his name, Tolman the Greedy. It was because of his brother’s greediness that Telford was where he was now.
Telford sighed heavily again. He knew his brother had a problem, but he had always ignored it. He always allowed Tolman to do as he pleased, but not this time. This time he went too far. It was up to Telford to do what he could to make it right. Telford then stood back looking up at his gleaming golden masterpiece as a smile worked its way across his rugged features. Redemption might be his after all.
Hermione opened the door to Bill’s office and quickly walked into the room with Ron and Ginny following closely behind. “What do you have for us, Bill? Please tell me its good news.”
Bill looked up from his desk and quickly stood. The nervous look on his face did little to reassure Hermione. “I’m glad you’re here. Please sit down,” he waved a hand in the direction of four chairs, which stood in front of the desk.
Ron and Ginny took seats, but Hermione refused to move. “What’s going on?”
Bill looked to the office door like he was expecting it to open again. “Where’s Harry?”
“Snape’s trial,” Ron said as he slouched in his chair.
Bill scratched his head. “Is that today?”
“Yes, don’t you remember Dad telling you last week?” Ginny asked.
“Yeah, I just… it’s been a crazy morning,” Bill sat down behind his desk. He looked toward Hermione noticing that she had yet to take a seat. “Please sit, there’s a lot to discuss. Unless you want to wait for Harry?”
“No, that’s not necessary. What did you find out? I’m guessing, judging by the expression on your face when we walked in, that you have some bad news,” Hermione replied abruptly, as she remained standing.
Bill sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “Yes, I do. I’m afraid the suit Horcrux has gone missing, along with Telford.”
Ron and Ginny flew from their seats. “What?” three voices shouted as one.
“How could this happen?” Hermione demanded, as her eyes flashed with anger.
“I don’t know. We are still looking into it,” Bill tried desperately to explain to the agitated people facing him, but it did little good as the angry looks became even more hostile.
“What do you mean, you’re ‘looking into it’? I thought you said security wasn’t a problem?” Ginny shot Bill a deadly look that made him visibly flinch.
Ron didn’t wait for his brother to answer before he shot off his own questions, “When did it happen? Who did it?”
Bill held up his hands, “Please, one at a time. I’ll explain, everything I promise. Hoto should be here any minute, and he can tell you exactly what happened.”
Hermione threw up her hands in disgust. “I can’t believe this! We were getting so close and now… now…”
“Now is not the time to despair. Now is the time to act,” a squeaky voice spoke from behind Hermione.
Surprised, she whirled around to see Hoto standing in the office doorway, “How did this happen!” Hermione placed her hands on her hips and turned her glare to the waist high goblin.
Hoto entered the room and closed the door behind him, a look of shame on his face.
“I am sorry for this occurrence. I assure you that if I had know Tolman would take it that far…”
“That far? So you knew he might do something like this,” Hermione goaded.
Hoto spread his hands out in front of him in an apologetic gesture, “He has a reputation for being… a haggler, but I talked to him before the deal was made. He assured me this would not happen.”
“Some reassurance,” Ron grumbled, as he sat back down.
“How do you know that Tolman was the one responsible for the Horcrux going missing?” Ginny asked.
“Because another has witnessed Tolman’s betrayal.”
Hermione’s eyebrow went up at that, “Who is this witness? May we speak with them?”
“Certainly,” the goblin snapped his fingers and another goblin materialized out of thin air.
Hermione recognized the second goblin as Griphook the bank’s tram operator. The goblin was short for his race, and his bowed head did little to help his diminished stature. Griphook studied the ground intently as if afraid to look anyone in the eye.
“Griphook, tell them what you told me,” Hoto encouraged the tiny goblin at his side.
A moment passed before Griphook finally began to speak. “I-I-I was doing my job as normal. When I am not transporting customers to their vaults, I check vault security. I was checking the security on vault number 433 and… and I heard angry voices. I went to see what was going on, because I knew that there were no customers and that the goblin workshops are all on the lower levels. I got to vault 435 and I saw… I saw…” the goblin’s head bowed even deeper as he was unable to continue.
“What?” Hermione questioned, “What did you see?”
Griphook’s head slowly began to rise and for the first time Hermione looked into the large brown eyes of the small creature. The shame and remorse that she saw there was nearly overwhelming.
“I saw Tolman and another… a dark cloaked human, in vault 435, which had been abandoned years ago. Through the crack of the vault door I could tell that they were alone. They were haggling over something. I couldn’t tell what, but they were both getting very upset. Then, very suddenly, the cloaked man pulled out a wand and pointed it at Tolman. The man motioned for Tolman to lead him somewhere. They started for the door and I quickly backed away and tripped. I-I-I don’t remember anything after that. I must have blacked out when my head hit t-t-the wall,” Griphook bowed his head and studied the floor once again.
The room was quiet for a moment as they all took in what Griphook had said.
“What does this mean? Who was the cloaked man?” Ginny asked.
“We believe him to be a lower level Death Eater,” Hoto explained.
“Death Eater!” Hermione, Ron, and Ginny exclaimed as they look at each other in concern.
“I don’t understand. How did a Death Eater get into the vaults without being detected?” Hermione asked. “I thought they were well protected.”
“Tolman must have let him in,” Hoto said shaking his head. “I never thought I’d see the day that goblins would once again work with that madman Voldemort. I would think that after our losses in the last war…”
Hermione cut him off impatiently, “Hoto, please focus here. It’s very important. Do you know where the Death Eater could have taken the Horcrux?”
“I can do better than that! I can show you.”
“What? How?”
“Tolman is no fool. He suspected that the Death Eater might trick him, so he put a tracer on the Death Eater. One of those Shadow thingies.”
“Shadow Scouts!” Ron exclaimed. “My brothers made those. What are goblins doing using them?”
Hoto shrugged. “Just because we do not socialize much with wizards doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate a good invention made by them.”
“That’s all well and good, but can we please get back on topic,” Hermione demanded, stamping her foot on the wooden floor.
“Yes, of course. We know all of this because Tolman confessed to what he had done before he died. It seems the Death Eater hit Tolman with a terrible curse that was fatal, but slow to take its course. That’s not all. We know the identity of the Death Eater. Tolman told us this as well,” Hoto stopped and looked to the other goblin in the room.
Griphook was still studying his feet very closely. Hoto cleared his throat and gestured to the door, “Thank you, Griphook. You may leave now. Your assistance is no longer required.”
The smaller goblin nodded and left the room. As soon as the door shut Hermione was quick to speak up, “Who is it? Who is the Death Eater?”
Hoto shook his head, “We don’t know much about him. All we know is that he has been a part of Voldemort’s service since before the first war. We also think he may be a lower level Death Eater, and an ambitious one at that. His name is Antonin Dolohov.”
Hermione stiffened at hearing that name, Dolohov. Her chest burned with fire and pain as she remembered being hit by a curse that had almost killed her. She knew who he was all too well. The faint scar on her chest was a constant reminder of him. The though of having to face Dolohov again sent a shiver through her body.
A thick silence hung in the room for quite sometime before a confused Hoto spoke up. “I’m sorry. Did I say something offensive?”
Ron cleared his throated and sent a nervous glance toward Hermione. “Let’s just say we’ve dealt with Dolohov before.”
Hoto raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
Ron nodded. “In our fifth year, at the Ministry of Magic.”
“I see,” Hoto cleared his throat again and continued, “Will this be a problem?”
“No,” Everyone turned to look at Hermione as she spoke. “No, it won’t be a problem at all.”
“Hermione, maybe we should wait for Harry on this one,” Ron whispered.
The bushy haired girl straightened her shoulders and held out her hand to the goblin. “May I have the Shadow Scout please? The three of us will handle it from here.”
“Hermione, Ron’s right. We should wait,” Ginny said quietly, obviously worried about her friend.
“And I said no,” she spat. Shadow Scout in hand, Hermione walked briskly to the office door. She opened it and looked back. “Well, are you two coming or not?”
The tall man looked at his reflection in the hallway mirror in admiration. His long dark hair was slicked back and handlebar mustache curled up on the ends. A sly smile worked its way across his dark complexion.
Antonin Dolohov was about to get what he finally deserved. What he had worked so hard for all these years. He was finally going to get the recognition that was rightfully due him. The Dark Lord could not deny him this time.
Antonin straightened his dark robes one last time and stepped away from his reflection. He found his way to a portrait of his long dead father who he looked nothing like, which was more than okay with Antonin. He reached up and lightly touched the pocket watch the burly man was grasping. A grinding noise sounded behind him and he turned around, but not before giving his sneering father a nasty glance of his own.
“Good riddance, old man,” Antonin smirked as he turned to a dark opening in the once blank wall.
He then pulled out his wand and lit it as he descended the dark stone staircase. He tightly hugged one side of the large stone walls as he went further into the darkness. The slippery surface of the stairs made him cautious as we walked slowly around the spiralling depths until he finally reached the bottom.
Three doors lined the circular room. Antonin walked to the middle one and pulled a large metal ring of keys from his robes. The lock clicked as he inserted the key and turned it. He pushed the door open and stood in the doorway of a darkly lit room.
At first he did not see his prisoner and was alarmed, but he stepped further into the room and noticed a small bundle of blankets huddled in a far corner. Antonin grinned to himself at his ingenuity at double-crossing the inferior race of goblins. He really didn’t understand why wizards feared them so much.
He continued to grin as he stepped further into the room and made his way to gleaming metal. Antonin stood in awe of how the suit of armour before him seemed to give off its own light. It glistened in radiance, as it stood there motionless. At six foot three, Antonin was dwarfed by the towering suit overhead.
Antonin stretched out a hand and lightly touched the suit’s breastplate where a gaping hole was the only blemish in the golden metal work. He wondered fleetingly what had caused the damaged, but it really didn’t matter. What mattered was that he had something that Harry Potter wanted very badly, and the boy would be sure to come after it.
A low chuckle escaped his smiling lips as he imagined what his Master would say when he, Antonin Dolohov, delivered his Master’s most hated enemy to him bound and gagged. After so many years of service, he would finally be his Master’s right hand man. Antonin could just see the disgust on his fellow Death Eaters faces, especially Bellatrix. The elation bubbled up through him as he let out a loud and triumphant laugh at the smirks and jealous stares that were sure to follow him.
After the thrill of his impending victory subsided somewhat, Antonin whirled around to exit the dungeon. He had work to do and traps to set. He knew it wouldn’t be long until his prey came to him. He made sure that he left a trail for the boy to follow, but not too obvious of course.
The Death Eater quickly exited the room, closed the metal door behind him and locked it. He then began the long spiralling ascent back up the stairs, confident of his plan. In his elation, Antonin forgot to check on the prisoner. If he had not been so sure of himself and his plan, he may have noticed that the dark corner holding the small body wrapped in blankets was now empty but for shadows.
The small stone in Hermione’s palm grew red hot as they approached the large mansion. 55 Willow Tree Ave. a small sign read on the massive iron-gate. “This is it. This is the Dolohov residence,” Hermione breathed.
“It looks more like a castle,” Ron said beside her.
He was right. The building was a massive stone structure. It had at least eight floors with arched windows that where large enough for a person to walk through, and several towers that loomed into the dark blue sky. The sun overhead shown onto the stones of the structure making them gleam brightly against the green countryside. This place certainly gave Hogwarts a run for its money.
“Where do we look first? The suit could be anywhere in there,” Ron asked.
“We follow the Shadow Scout,” Hermione replied as she boldly stepped forward and went to open the massive gate.
“Ah, Hermione, don’t you think we should be care-” but Ginny’s warning was too late.
As soon as Hermione’s hand touched the black surface of the gate a bright light whirl around her. She could feel herself moving through the air and realized that someone had turned the gate into a Portkey. Soon she landed heavily on a hard surface and adjusted her eyesight to the blackness that surrounded her. A deep laugh made her lookup, and terror ripped through Hermione as she saw the familiar face above her.
“I’m surprised to see you. I was expecting someone else. No matter, he will definitely come now that I have you,” The face above her grinned widely making her stomach convulse in disgust. She only hoped that Ron and Ginny were faring better than she was.
“Hermione!” Ron screamed. He raced forward, but was too late. Hermione was gone. Anger and fear pumped through Ron at the desperate situation. His body was paralysed in terror. “Where is she? Where did she go? We have to find her,” Ron cried heatedly whilst edging closer to the spot where she had once stood.
“Calm down. We’ll find her,” Ginny soothed, but her voice betrayed her true feelings of fear.
Ron lifted his head and scrutinized the black gate in front of him, “We have to save her.”
“Don’t touch the gate. I think it’s a Portkey,” Ginny warned.
Ron ignored his sister’s warning. He squared his shoulders and stretched out a hand to touch the dark metal, but was stopped by a voice.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
It had been hours since Antonin had completed the finishing touches on his traps. He impatiently paced the room wondering if he should have done more to lure the Potter boy to him. Patience had never been his strength.
Antonin had passed over the same spot on the crimson coloured rug once again when he was startled by a shrill noise. It was the alarm system he had recently installed telling him that someone had tripped one of his traps. Finally!
Antonin raced from the room and made the long plung down to the basement. Once down the stairs, he pulled out a key and unlocked the door on the right this time. As the door swung open his eyes searched the room before him. He was both surprised and disappointed at what he saw. His disappointment slowly turned to excitement as he recognized the brown haired girl before him. A sly smile worked its way across his face, “I’m surprised to see you. I was expecting someone else. No matter, he will definitely come now that I have you.”
The girl shirked away from Antonin as he stepped further into the room, “I remember the last time we met at the Ministry of Magic two years ago. I’m intrigued that you are still among the living. Most people would have been killed by that spell.”
“Maybe you didn’t cast it right,” the girl spat as she bravely met his gaze.
He was impressed by her courage, but keep his emotions in check as he pulled out his wand. “Tell me where your friend, Potter, is and maybe you will survive this time as well.”
The girl’s only response was to meet his penetrating glare and a small smile played across her lips, as if she knew something he did not. Her behaviour unnerved Antonin, but he still kept his face void of all emotions. A slight twist of his wrist and he sent a spell hurling towards the girl. This would loosen her lips.
The girl’s shoulder was slashed open and a dark shade of red began to soak her blue T-shirt. She let out a scream and fell to the floor. Antonin watched the girl’s shoulders move up and down in a sob. He moved closer and knelt beside her. He gently brushed hair from her hidden face and whispered into her ear, “Tell me what I want to know and the pain can stop.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
Ron wheeled around and went for the wand in his coat, but stopped when he saw who had spoken. Ron had only met him once before, but the scar across the goblins cheek was hard to forget. “Telford?”
The goblin bowed his head in acknowledgement. “It is I.”
A look of confusion crossed Ron’s face. “How-”
“I escaped,” the goblin finished before Ron could even finish his sentence. “There is a back way into the mansion that won’t trip the Death Eaters traps.” Telford turned and stretched out a knobby finger off toward the long brick wall that stretched as far as they could see.
“Do you know where Hermione might have gone?” Ginny asked.
“Come, this way,” the goblin motioned as he began to follow the wall. “What you seek is this way.”
Ron looked at Ginny who shrugged her shoulders. “What do we have to lose?” She turned to follow Telford.
Ron hesitated a moment and glanced once more at the spot that Hermione disappeared from. Shaking his head he put one foot in front of the other and followed his sister.
Several minutes later after the wall had finally come to an end, the three of them stood in front of large tree. The base of the oak was massive and the branches looked very old. Telford placed a hand on one of the trees many knots and, before Ron knew what was happening, a small door opened in the trunk. The goblin stepped aside and motioned Ron and Ginny towards the opening.
“How did you know this was here?” Ron gasped in amazement.
A small smile cracked the chiselled features of their guide. “We goblins are schooled at an early age at the art of secrets. There aren’t many tricks we haven’t seen.”
Shaking his head, Ron stepped into the tree. Once his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he looked around. He was amazed at how large the inside seemed to be. It was easily the size of his parent’s kitchen and living room at the Burrow near the base. The tree then began to taper until at the very top the circumference was no larger than his arm. Small holes were scattered up the height of the trunk giving them more than enough light to see clearly. He noticed a ring of gold painted in the middle of the room’s floor and stepped towards it.
“The circle is the way in,” Telford instructed.
All three stepped into the circle and Telford whispered something softly. Ron was about to turn and ask what the goblin had said, but was stopped as he felt a sudden movement pull him downward. Ron let out a shriek as he felt himself fall. He tried to grab a hold of something, but there was only darkness. Cold air blew all around him and it seemed like a lifetime had passed by before he felt himself slow to a complete stop. To his surprise he had remained standing. His breathing was heavy as a light came on, suddenly blinding him. He put up a hand to block the light. “You could have warned us it was going to be like that.”
“Why? So we could miss your lovely scream,” Ginny replied as a wicked smile played across her lips. “Lets just hope you didn’t give our presence away.”
“It wasn’t a scream,” Ron replied angrily.
“Really?” She raised an eyebrow and turned the goblin. “What would you call it, Telford?”
The goblin shrugged. “It sounded like a scream to me.”
Ginny giggled at her brother’s obvious discomfort. Ron quickly changed the subject. “Where are we anyway?”
“In the lower levels of the building. This way,” Telford motioned to an opening several feet away.
They travelled through hall after hall each one looking just like the one before. After over an hour of this Ron was beginning to wonder if Telford actually knew where he was going.
Eventually the three of them ended up passing through a small door that led into an antechamber. It wasn’t very large. Ron could see two other doors across the room and a spiral staircase that hugged the wall as it curved its way upward. As they stepped further into the room a terrified scream made them stop in their tracks.
Ron recognized it as Hermione’s. Before he knew what was happening he propelled himself forward. He stopped in front of the door and could plainly hear her crying on the other side. He pulled out his wand aiming it at the door and yelled, “Bombarda!”
The door in front of him went flying from its hinges. Ron stepped through the gapping hole of the blasted doorway to see a man standing over Hermione. She was on the floor and blood was flowing freely from her left shoulder. Anger like no other coursed through Ron as he took aim on the Death Eater and shouted the first curse that came to mind, “Sectumsempra!”
A large gash ripped through the Death Eater’s skin and clothing on his left shoulder making the man scream in pain, while blood began gushing from his wound. Dolohov clasped to the ground clutching his arm.
Ron knew that Hermione would scold him for using one of the Half Blood Prince’s spells, but he didn’t care. All he cared about was Hermione and her safety. He rushed to her side casting a healing charm on her arm. The bleeding stopped, but from the amount of the blood on the floor he deduced that she had lost quite a lot already.
“Come on. Lets get you out of here,” he pulled her gently from the floor.
“Thanks,” she whispered.
They started to slowly walk back to the antechamber when he heard Hermione shriek his name. She then yanked the wand from his grasp and aimed at something over his shoulder. Ron turned to see Dolohov fall to the ground once more, this time bound and gagged.
He smirked at the Death Eater and steered an exhausted Hermione towards the door. “That’s what you get when you mess with a Granger,” he looked down and met her weak smile. Merlin she was beautiful! He thought to himself as he wiped a smudge of dirt from her forehead and kissed it.
Voices floated through Hermione’s pounding head as she drifted in and out of consciousness.
“How is she?”
“She’ll be fine. I have a blood replenishing potion for when she wakes.”
“You keep those on hand?”
Hermione opened her eyes slowly. At first everything was a blur until her surroundings slowly began to come into focus. She was back at Bill’s office lying on the desk.
“Sure why not? You never know when you might need it.”
She tried to sit up, but the sudden motion made her dizzy.
“Whoa, easy. Here drink this,” Bill replied as he put something to her lips.
Hermione gingerly took the potion bottle and titled her head back. The hot liquid slid down her throat leaving a tingling sensation that spread through her body. She immediately started to feel better. “Thanks,” she replied as she handed Bill back the bottle.
“How do you feel?” Ron asked hovering over her.
“Fine.”
“I want to apologise for all of this. It is my fault and I am sorry,” Hoto replied, bowing.
“You didn’t know this would happen,” Hermione replied as she swung her legs over the edge of the desk and sat up.
“It doesn’t matter. I am still at fault, because you entrusted me with a secret. I will do whatever is necessary to make it right.”
“It sounds like you have something in mind,” Ginny observed from across the room.
“We goblins have been wary about getting involved with this war. Choosing sides will hurt us no matter who we side with. Tolman’s betrayal has shamed us greatly and we feel we must atone for this somehow. So if you ever find yourself in need of an ally we are here,” Hoto bowed deeply to the people in the room.
Hermione was touched by the goblins gesture and the feeling of mistrust against the goblins that had started to form earlier began to slowly subside. It was replaced by a growing feeling of elation. They had another ally against Voldemort. Out loud she said, “thank you, Hoto. Your gesture is appreciated.”
Hoto nodded his head and Hermione could see relief soften his face. “I will leave you now. If you have need of my service or any other goblins, simply inform Bill. He will contact us.” He then turned and left without saying another word.
The room was quiet for a moment and then Ron broke the silence, “That was an unexpected turn. Wait until Harry hears about this.”
Bill nodded his head. “So what happened to Dolohov?”
Ron was the only one to offer an answer. “We don’t know. Hermione and I left him in on of the rooms bound. Once in the antechamber, we found Ginny and Telford in the other room with the suit Horcrux. That’s when Hermione fainted, so we brought her back here. Before we left Ginny checked the room where we left him, but he had disappeared. We searched around for a little while, but came up with nothing. He could have gone anywhere. That house is gigantic. There are hidden passages and trap doors everywhere.”
“So he got away,” Hermione groaned, as she rubbed her aching head.
“Do you think he’ll tell Voldemort about the suit?” Ginny asked.
“I don’t know,” Ron shrugged. “If he does, he’ll have to admit to what he did and his failure. That may not go over very well with his master.”
“So you think he’ll stay silent?” Bill inquired, a concerned look on his face.
“Let us hope Dolohov has good enough sense to keep his mouth shut,” Ron replied.
“Let’s hope,” though Hermione didn’t sound very convinced that he would. “Bill, can I get some parchment and a quill?”
Bill opened his desk, pulled out the requested items, and handed them to her. She then scribbled a quick note and handed it back. “Can you have that sent to Headquarters? Harry needs to know what has happened.”
“I wonder how the trial is going?” Ron asked no one in particular.
“Not well, I’m sure, “Ginny replied.