path: root/novellas/a-little-greed/02-honor.mdwn

[[!meta title="Chapter 2: Honor"]]

Harry was not a normal child.

Sharpaxe had done all he could for the boy, but he would simply never be more
than adequate as a fighter. He was fearless and cunning, true, and his height
and reach did him credit, but his body fundamentally lacked the speed and
strength of a true Goblin warrior. Against animals, certainly, he won far more
often than he lost; the boy had acquired a handsome collection of trophies. But
against his peers, his only hope was exploiting the environment and taking them
by surprise.

*Trickery,* that's what it was. He was good at it, but it wasn't the way battles
should be fought. Goblins wore their intentions on their sleeves, and Harry was
far more subtle than any other in his clan.

There was an old Goblin saying, «Every father learns his son is not a Warlord.»
Sharpaxe, perhaps, learned this somewhat earlier than most.

In other ways, however, Harry was a unique delight to raise. Goblins lived their
lives quickly, and Sharpaxe had feared that Harry would not be able to complete
his education with his peers at the age of 8. But Harry was intelligent, and far
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
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
would certainly bring honor and glory to his clan.

<hr />

Harry's inquisitive nature and cunning had already reaped dividends. At the age
of 7, Harry and his classmates had been taken to see the execution of a
criminal; some worthless thief named Lacksack who had been caught attempting to
steal from a vault. Harry had interrupted the proceedings with what would be a
defining question for the future of Goblin society, «It's wrong to kill him,
when there is money to be made, isn't it?»

Every eye turned to face Harry. Ragnok, presiding over the execution as was his
duty, considered the young Human carefully. After a moment, he responded, «How
can money be made from a thief? He has no honor, no value.»

«We can make money by his lies.» An uproar swelled in response to this; money
from lies? Unthinkable!

Ragnok quieted the assembly shortly, and demanded simply, «Explain!»

«We Goblins,» here Harry included himself, «do not lie. Our oaths are our honor.
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
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
oath would ensure its truth; either the Goblin who swore it was truthful, or
they would die. Goblins universally resented such a slight against their honor;
no Goblin would willingly be called Oathbreaker!

Harry continued, «Lacksack's life is already forfeit. Instead of executing him,
use him to present a false contract to a wealthy client. The lazy wizard will
not read the contract, as they never do, Lacksack will swear on his blood, the
wizard will sign, and Lacksack will be gone from the room before he dies. Goblin
honor is retained; the oath is true, it is not our fault that the foolish wizard
will assume Lacksack would not willingly die.»

A genuinely new idea to the Goblin mindset. There was little honor lost in lying
to a wizard; they showed by their treaties and their laws that they had no honor
themselves. The mechanics of the treaties would seem to prevent such deception,
but Goblins knew a loophole when they saw one, and this was an interesting
opportunity.

Ragnok turned to Lacksack and pronounced, «You have shown yourself to be without
honor. You have brought shame and disgrace to your family and your clan. This
child offers you an opportunity to die a warrior's death in service to your
Bank. Would you die this way?»

The condemned needed little time to consider such an obvious question. «I would
die a warrior's death, and bring what little honor I can back to my name.»

«Then so be it. Lacksack, you are the first Liar of Gringotts. You are released
to your family until a client is chosen for your task.»

Harry was proud to have found profit for his Bank.

<hr />

Albus Dumbledore strode in to Gringotts bank early Saturday morning. He had to
renew the loans Hogwarts established for its incoming underprivileged students
and collect the various forms and monies needed to cover operating costs for the
new term.

The teller acknowledged his request to meet with Culthok, the Head of Hogwarts
Accounts, and directed him to a conference room. Shortly thereafter, Albus was
mildly surprised to see a Goblin he did not recognize enter with his documents.

"Who are you? I was to meet with Culthok."

"My apologies, but Culthok is unavailable today because of an internal matter in
the Bank. I am Lacksack, and I am authorized to handle your needs today."

"Very well, I assume everything is just as it was previously arranged last
year?"

Goblins were conservative when scouting unknown territory; the changes in the
contract reflected this. A slight increase in interest rates on the loans, and a
single fee duplicated. Nothing that could not be blamed on incompetence in
transcription on Lacksack's part should the deception be caught.

The briefest of scowls appeared on Lacksack's face, but he knew his duty to his
Bank. He had failed once; never again. "Yes. Here are the contracts for you to
sign. I swear on my blood that I have not deceived you or I shall die within the
hour; so mote it be." A brief flash signaled magic's acceptance of the oath.

Satisfied, Albus picked up the blood quill and signed each contract. Less than
ten minutes later he left the bank, pleased that the Goblins had not complained
about their lack of profit on the treaty-mandated Hogwarts loans. If only
Culthok could be unavailable more often!

Lacksack staggered as he exited the conference room, his blood already starting
to boil in his veins. Ragnok awaited him in the office across the hall, and
presented a goblet of fine screechnap wine, the traditional gift to a Goblin
retiring from active duty in the bank. Lacksack drank, and sat to await his
death. He had regained his honor; the first Liar had brought profit to his Bank.

<hr />

As Harry had predicted, the subtle changes were unnoticed, and Gringotts
profited by the lie. A new weapon was added to their banking arsenal, to be used
only with care and restraint lest it be discovered. Only the largest and most
bureaucratically enfeebled clients were targeted, and only meager gains were
sought. Even so, Gringotts profited. What few criminals there were in Goblin
society soon found themselves in cells instead of bloody arenas, awaiting not
execution but the opportunity to regain a little of their honor as Liars. None
refused.

Harry, too, profited. In thanks for his service to the Bank, a very small
percentage of all Liar-derived profits was directed to his accounts. Sharpaxe
was pleased to be able to reward his son this way. Harry had shown he could use
his uniquely Human perspective to bring profit to the Bank; such behaviour
should be encouraged.

<hr />

In other ways, Harry's curiosity was a burden on Sharpaxe. He deeply yearned to
learn the arts of warding and wardbreaking, but Goblin cursebreakers found his
magic unsuitable, and none of the Human cursebreakers were trusted with the
knowledge of Harry's presence within the bank. There was little consensus on the
nature of Harry's magic; it was known that wizards did not train their young
until years later, so Sharpaxe could not say if Harry's inability to perform the
Goblin wards was inherent to his species or merely a factor of age. Harry
stubbornly persisted in his attempts; determined to learn one way or the other
whether he could perform the magic he envied in his peers.

At the very late (by Goblin standards) age of 9, Harry was rewarded for his
diligence by his first non-accidental magic. It was a weak anti-theft ward,
pitiful by Gringotts standards, but true Goblin magic nonetheless. Harry had
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!

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
position as the Potter of Potter, claim his seat on the Wizengamot, and become a
voice for the Goblins in government. Along the way, he was to collect allies
and, if possible, additional proxy votes or other forms of political power.

Unfortunately, Harry himself could not be present at Wizengamot meetings; he was
too recognizable even without his scar glamour, and any attempt to more
completely disguise his appearance risked detection by the Ministry wards.
Harry's education would have to be completed by proxy; a muggle-born witch,
dissatisfied with her job opportunities and selected on the basis of being
unlikely to betray the Bank, was hired to dress as a reporter and sit in on as
many Wizengamot sessions and Ministry meetings as she could, then extract her
memories of the events at Gringotts. She knew she was something like a spy, of
course, but the material she was collecting was technically public knowledge and
the Goblins both paid well and never insulted her parentage.

Eventually, other sources were acquired for Harry to consume. A promising new
cursebreaker, one William Weasley, was asked to describe before a panel of young
Goblins (including one under very heavy glamours who asked the most remarkably
astute questions) everything he knew about the Ministry and the Ancient and
Noble Houses. Bill enjoyed the experience completely, and agreed to talk to his
old neighbors Xenophilius Lovegood and Daedelus Diggory about coming in to do
the same, all in the name of interspecies relations, of course.

Harry spent many hours in the Potter family vaults, reading the lore and
journals of his family. His mother's wand, recovered from the wreckage at
Godric's Hollow, was found to be an acceptable match and allowed him to begin
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.

<hr />

While the Goblins wished to maintain Harry's persona as mythically isolated from
the wizarding world, it was still desirable to fan his fame with occasional
Potter sightings. As the story spread by Albus Dumbledore was that Harry was
safely hidden in the nonmagical world, Sharpaxe generally encouraged Harry to
explore nonmagical London, as long as he was suitably far from Diagon Alley.

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.

<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?
>
> 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.