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

[[!meta title="Chapter 2: Honor"]]
[[!meta date="2012-03-19"]]

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 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
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 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
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 screechsnap 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!

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
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,
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 />

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.

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 />

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 birth mother's 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.