Some notes, and completed chapter 2 of A Little Greed.

1 files changed, 176 insertions, 19 deletions

diff --git a/novellas/a-little-greed/02-honor.mdwn b/novellas/a-little-greed/02-honor.mdwn
index 88337c9..b16f35c 100644
--- a/novellas/a-little-greed/02-honor.mdwn
+++ b/novellas/a-little-greed/02-honor.mdwn
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ more curious and inquisitive than any of his peers; he had easily risen to the
 challenge and excelled beyond any expectation.
 
 Under glamours to appear as a Goblin to the foolish wizards, he had already
-worked as a teller on the main floor of Gringotts, and spent time apprenticed
+worked as a teller on the main floor of Gringotts, and spent time apprenticed in
 several different departments. Sharpaxe held no doubt that he would make a fine
 foreman or subchief someday, responsible for millions of galleons in assets.
 With luck, and his longer lifespan, he could easily be a department Head. Harry
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ Everyone knows this. But the Wizards do not trust in honor, and demand our oaths
 be contracts with magic.»
 
 This was true. Amongst the Goblins, oaths were simple and direct; a common
-farewell was «On my honor, I have not lied to you today.» But by treaty, any
+farewell was «On my honor, I have not betrayed you today.» But by treaty, any
 oaths given to wizards in Britain must be sworn on blood and magic; every
 contract was presented with the oath, "I swear on my blood that I have not
 deceived you or I shall die within the hour; so mote it be." The magic of the
@@ -163,6 +163,18 @@ some 6 years to make up in his practical education in magic, but with the theory
 already behind him, he made rapid progress. Harry was ecstatic; he would not be
 some weakling wand-waver, but could wield magic on his own power alone!
 
+For all his relative weakness, Harry had no less of the Goblin lust for battle.
+He discovered at the age of 6 that he had the talent of speaking in
+parseltongue, and less than a day later discovered that this talent was not
+sufficient to allow a 6-year-old Human to defeat a rockwyrm four times his
+height.
+
+Although his attempt to command the rockwyrm failed, he *was* able to
+communicate with it. Negotiations commenced, and after promises of meat and
+worthy battle, a bargain was struck. Harry arrived at the next month's
+underground hunt mounted on his first familiar, happily informing his father
+that the 40-meter-long rockwyrm's name was most closely translated as «Bitey».
+
 Harry was also a dutiful student of politics. He understood his role in the
 Goblin nation: assist the reputation of Gringotts with his fame, grow to be an
 asset by becoming fully-trained as both a Goblin and a Wizard, assume his
@@ -196,7 +208,12 @@ his wizarding studies early; Harry resented learning wand-magic, but was no less
 skilled for all that, and reluctantly agreed that he was a better asset knowing
 both true magic and wand-waving.
 
-Memories donated by human cursebreakers proved to be excellent teaching aides.
+Memories donated by human cursebreakers proved to be excellent teaching aides,
+both for their content of magical education and the background context of life
+at Hogwarts, where Harry would eventually attend. Harry spent his free time
+devising methods to kill each of the professors who taught there. He felt it
+unlikely to need such a thing, but contingency plans were better made and
+unneeded than unmade and needed.
 
 <hr />
 
@@ -210,21 +227,161 @@ Harry greatly enjoyed the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, which he saw many
 times. He watched Labyrinth once, and the resulting anger-induced accidental
 magic very nearly burned down the theatre.
 
+The Potter accounts were soon invested in the muggle film making industry, most
+notably Lucasfilm; investments that paid off quite well over the years. David
+Bowie received what he assumed was a very strange fan letter informing him that
+he was now banned for life from the Goblin realm.
+
+Harry's visits to muggle London also served to widen the variety of food served
+within the mines of Gringotts. Goblin delicacies were largely inedible or
+poisonous to Humans, and while it had been acceptable to instruct Human
+employees to provide for their own meals, that was not an option for Harry.
+Goblins, as it happened, found Indian cuisine an acceptable (and much less
+expensive) alternative to Basilisk meat.
+
+<hr />
+
+Gradually, a shift began in the overall business strategy of Gringotts.
+Previously, the Goblins had aggressively limited their exposure to nonmagicals;
+memories of wars from before the Statute of Secrecy did not encourage
+interaction with muggles. Petunia Dursley's blatant hatred of wizards had
+somewhat endeared muggles to Ragnok, however, and he began to look at them in a
+new light.
+
+Certainly the muggleborn wand-wavers tended to be politer and more respectful
+when in the bank. And the investments and culinary discoveries Harry had made in
+London had proved worthwhile. Perhaps some old traditions of isolation deserved
+reconsideration.
+
+The muggle economy was *enormous* in comparison to that of wizarding Britain. In
+London alone, more wealth changed hands in a day than all of Gringotts saw in a
+year. This was an opportunity for profit, and an opportunity for a degree more
+independence from the foolish wand-wavers.
+
+Gringotts made discreet inquiries towards squibs known to be working in muggle
+banking institutions, and gradually some informal partnerships were established.
+Gringotts would invest more and more heavily in the muggle world, in addition to
+providing subtle security for their partners and acting as a mining concern and
+provider of rare minerals.
+
+Approaches were made to the muggle Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. She was,
+by treaty, aware of the wizarding world, and supposedly kept up-to-date on
+wizarding affairs by the Minister of Magic. In reality, she had never even been
+introduced, and only knew Cornelius Fudge's name because of the very limited
+profile compiled by her security teams.
+
+Needless to say, she had a healthy dislike of wizards. Ragnok got along with her
+famously, and an agreement to allow the Goblins to make limited introductions
+and integrate with the muggle economic machine. In return, Gringotts was happy
+to share some of its intelligence with the muggle government, and through use of
+glamours give the occasional MI5 official a tour of wizarding Britain, or give
+the occasional dignitary a dragon ride.
+
+In less than 10 years, Gringotts was on infinitely better terms with the Queen's
+government than the Ministry of Magic.
+
+Gradually, the wealth of Gringotts was diversified. No longer would it be tied
+to magnificent piles of gold and silver; Ragnok himself was instated as the 37th
+partner of the Baillie Gifford investment firm, which immediately began a
+progressive and strategic reappraisal of Bank assets and services.
+
+By an old treaty with the Ministry of Magic, Gringotts was allowed to charge
+different rates to purebloods and non-purebloods so long as "those of the most
+noble bearing and lineage are not negatively affected." Obviously, this had been
+intended by the Wizengamot as a means to further disadvantage muggleborns and
+halfbloods. Gringotts' previous stance had been to not exercise this clause; the
+Goblins were magnanimously equal in their dislike of all wizardkind.
+
+Now, Ragnok had decided to exercise that clause. The appropriate standard for
+"most noble bearing and lineage" was chosen to be the inarguably qualified Queen
+Elizabeth Alexandra Mary of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Windsor
+(muggle). With a legal cause for discrimination against pureblood wizards now
+established, Gringotts began a slow and systematic process of manipulating
+exchange rates and loans to shuffle money away from the ruling oligarchy and
+towards the progressive and disenfranchised elements of wizarding society.
+
+By the time Harry Potter was to ascend to his seat in the Wizengamot, Gringotts
+expected society to be well-prepared for him to enact sweeping reforms. If
+nothing else, the deflation they were causing among the conservatives would make
+bribes easier for any progressive faction.
+
 <hr />
 
-> I'd like to add a few more things to this chapter.
->
-> * Something about Goblin food.
-> * Some mention of Goldknife the healer.
-> * Name a few Goblin peers of Harry's age.
-> * More description of the environs of the mines.
-> * Maybe introduce some of the attempts to gain more political power for Harry.
-> * Parseltongue.
-> * Another profit-making scheme of Harry's.
-> * Mention Dumbledore holding the Potter vote's proxy?
-> * Harry working as a Teller, interaction with Malfoys?
-> * Meetings with muggle-born children, to establish some sort of respect?
->
-> My goal length needs some 1500-1600 words. I suspect with these I can fill it
-> to that length; I'd like this chapter to be the complete raised-as-a-Goblin
-> chapter so I can dive straight into Hogwarts stuff with chapter 3.
+Shortly before his 9th birthday, Harry completed his education as a Goblin and
+formally underwent his Ascension to Adulthood, along with some 14 peers of his
+age group. Harry was apprenticed to Healer Goldknife, it being felt that
+experience with Human anatomy would be the most useful skill he could learn in
+his remaining time before Hogwarts.
+
+The Ascension had other ramifications. As an officially-recognized adult member
+of Goblin society, Harry was now by treaty recognized as an adult in wizarding
+society as well. He could not yet claim his seat on the Wizengamot, as that body
+was specifically limited to persons at least 18 years of age, but his
+emancipated status did allow him to assign a voting proxy.
+
+A proxy that was currently filled by Albus Dumbledore, one of the most
+conservative members.
+
+Unfortunately, as two years still remained before Harry would be revealed to the
+wizarding public as a Goblin, no attempt could be made to change the proxy
+without revealing far too much too soon. But in the mean time, preparations
+could be taken so that an adequate proxy would be ready to claim the seat as
+soon as Harry entered Hogwarts.
+
+Oaths of secrecy were sworn, payment was arranged, and training was scheduled
+for the proxy-to-be. Meetings were held with Harry, Ragnok, and representatives
+of Her Majesty's Government to ensure that everyone was on the same page as far
+as policy decisions and treaty obligations. Security would be needed, which the
+Goblin nation would happily provide. As it happened, the biggest sticking point
+would be the dress code.
+
+<hr />
+
+Wand magic was not well-regarded by the Goblins, and Harry was no exception.
+While it was certainly more powerful than the wandless art that Goblins
+themselves pursued, that power came with a dependency on some *stick*, rather
+than from discipline and self-improvement. Harry would learn it because it made
+him a better asset to the Bank, but he didn't have to enjoy it. Still, with
+power comes opportunity, and there was one opportunity afforded to wand-wavers
+that *every* Goblin envied.
+
+With a wand, you could create a horcrux. With a horcrux, you couldn't completely
+die.
+
+Harry had decided to pursue this priceless opportunity as soon as possible.
+
+With permission from Ragnok, Harry had selected Wardstone Six as his potential
+horcrux. Of all the 13 Great Wardstones which anchored Gringotts to the magical
+fabric, Harry had always felt a particular affinity towards Six; its particular
+balance of magic seemed to call to him. The Great Wardstone was the closest an
+object could be to invulnerable, and with part of Harry infused in it, the wards
+it provided for the Bank would see a massive increase in strength.
+
+To build a horcrux requires a sacrifice; something must be given up that is so
+fundamental to the wizard's soul that it strains to escape. Tom Riddle had used
+cold-blooded murder to shatter his very humanity itself. A powerful sacrifice,
+and one that had probably driven him to insanity.
+
+Harry, working with the very best of the Goblin cursebreakers, meticulously
+constructed the ritual circle he would require at the base of Wardstone Six.
+Stripping naked, Harry knelt at the center of the circle, with the glowing
+boulder of rune-covered obsidian held aloft above him by the massive currents of
+magic that pulsed through the Bank.
+
+Sharpaxe approached.
+
+«Harry Potter, as you are now an adult, the Potter accounts have been opened to
+you. How may Gringotts serve you today?»
+
+Harry paused only briefly, contemplating what he was about to do. Pushing his
+magic through his wand and into the ritual circle to complete the circuit, he
+spoke, «Donate half my assets to the British Red Cross.»
+
+A dark flash tore across Harry's body, ripping a scream from his chest as he
+doubled over in pain. Simultaneously, Wardstone Six released a blinding light
+and an intense sense of greed filled the chamber. Goldknife approached to remove
+Harry's now-unconscious body for healing, while the other Goblins prepared to
+reseal the area. Harry had successfully created his horcrux.
+
+That night, Harry cried himself to sleep. Not from the pain, but from the
+knowledge that never again would gold feel quite as sweet in his hands.