Harry Potter The Final Straw

The moment the goblin focused his attention solely on Harry Dora struck. Her wand stabbed out as she muttered, "Imperio." The goblin's face went slack as the curse took hold. Formulating a plan of attack, she stepped into the goblin's line of sight and whispered, "Act like nothing is out of the ordinary. Return us to the surface then return to your post and perform your duties normally for the next fifteen minutes. At that point, you will take a break and head towards Knockturn Alley and wait for me."

Obediently, the goblin climbed into the cart and once they were all seated, he took them back up to the surface.

Harry and Dora didn't say a word for the rest of their time in Gringotts. Once they were outside, she flashed the trouble signal and began heading for the rendezvous point with her mum so she could get Harry out safely.

Ted was closest to the entrance of Knockturn Alley and it was his job to deal with any tails that followed Dora and Harry from the bank if necessary. Not seeing anyone following them out, he disillusioned himself and stepped into the shadows to wait.

He didn't have to wait long, a goblin came trotting out of the bank and was heading straight for his position. Instinctively, he knew that the goblin was the tail and he would have to capture the beast. As he was readying himself for a fight, he was shocked when the goblin stepped into the entryway and just stopped like he was waiting for someone.

Looking around to make sure no one was looking; Ted silently stunned, bound, and disillusioned the goblin before making his way towards the Apparition Point with his prisoner.

Goyle, Sr. was heading up from Borgin and Burkes when he saw the telltale red flash from a stunner. Spell fire was nothing new in Knockturn Alley but when the victim disappeared before his eyes and he couldn't see the attacker, he knew something was out of the ordinary.

Since he was unable to see who was stunned or who had done the stunning, he hastily set a minor Trespassing Ward across the section of the street to alert him when his invisible mystery person was walking by. Fifteen seconds later, something tripped his ward. Goyle, Sr. immediately sprayed a jet of water from his wand across the width of the alley to locate the invisible people.

Ted was so focused on escaping with his prisoner that he didn't notice the ward until it was too late. The moment he felt the spray of water hit him; he dropped the bound goblin and rolled away from the jet of water.

Goyle saw one shape fall to the ground in front of him and not move. He was momentarily shocked when a trussed up goblin appeared in front of him. He knew that the goblins sold information to Malfoy on a regular basis so it was a good bet that whoever had captured the goblin was part of Dumbledore's Order.

Not wanting to suffer the punishment if he let the goblin fall into the wrong hands, Goyle aimed his wand at the still unconscious creature and snarled, "Reducto." The upper portion of the goblin was decimated in a shower of blood that soaked the cobblestone street and the steps to a couple of nearby shops.

Ted stared in mute shock at the goblins remains before more spell fire flashed, causing him to flatten himself even further into the street.

Goyle, Sr. never saw the spell that rendered him unconscious as he fell to the ground in a boneless heap.

"Give me a hand will you?" Remus grunted to Ted as he hoisted Goyle's dead weight up.

Ted complied immediately and they half carried, half dragged, the unconscious Death Eater towards the Apparition Point as fast as they could. The moment they reached the spot, they turned and vanished with their prisoner leaving the dead goblin behind.

Andromeda and Sirius whisked Harry out of Diagon Alley and into muggle London while Dora doubled back towards Knockturn Alley to make sure that her father seized their quarry and escaped safely.

When she arrived in Knockturn Alley, Dora found a crowd milling about a dead goblin. She whipped out her Auror Badge and yelled, "Everyone back away from the body!" When people didn't move fast enough for her liking, she barked, "Now!"

Once everyone was far enough away, she pressed the tip of her wand to her badge to send an alert to the Auror office that she needed assistance. While she waited for back up to arrive, Dora began checking for other signs of blood or a struggle.

She was relieved when she didn't find anything that indicated that her father or Remus had been injured. Her fears temporary allayed, she began interviewing the denizens of Knockturn Alley for anyone that might have witnessed the altercation. Unsurprisingly, she didn't find anyone willing to admit to seeing what happened even though she knew that at least a half a dozen people had to have seen something.

Her back up arrived fifteen minutes later, unfortunately it was in the form of two known Fudge flunkies. Aurors Dawlish and Stevens took stock of the scene and then walked over to Auror Tonks.

Just as Dora was about to go over her findings, Dawlish snapped, "You had us come down here for a dead goblin? I've got better things to be doing than checking into the death of every non-human species that you see fit to associate with."

"You moron!" Dora snapped back before continuing in a more professional tone, "That goblin was killed by a wizard. Don't you think that should be cause for concern?"

Dawlish was getting a little hot under the collar and his cheeks were flushed in his anger over being called out publicly. Dismissively, he said, "One less goblin doesn't mean a thing and you don't have any witnesses or suspects that say otherwise, do you?"

Her less than professional reply was mumbled so quietly that it was lost on the wind. Gathering her composure, Dora said, "Well, since you feel justice has been served, I'll let you handle the scene while I tell the Director the bad news." Without waiting for a reply, she stalked off towards the Ministry to make her report.

Arriving at the Ministry, Dora headed down to the Law Enforcement offices to give her report to Amelia. Hopefully, her superior would understand the deeper ramifications of what had led to the goblin's murder.

Knocking on Amelia's door, Dora waited until she was ushered in and the Security Charms were cast before getting down to the details.

"We have a problem with Gringotts, ma'am." Seeing her superior's curious expression, she quickly continued, "I took someone to Gringotts today under disguise and they recognized the person immediately."

"We always suspected that they were able to identify clients in their bank. Why is this a problem?" Amelia asked politely.

Dora peered over at her superior before deciding that it was honest curiosity and not disinterest before replying evenly, "Because someone just killed the goblin that I was about to interrogate in Knockturn Alley."

Amelia reached up, removed her monocle, and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. Tiredly, she said, "The last thing that we need is open warfare with the goblins. Too many people have all of their family's gold, heirlooms, and important papers in one of their vaults."

Giving the younger woman sitting across from her a measuring stare, she asked pointedly, "Who were you escorting to the bank this morning and why?"

Stalling for time, Dora said, "We were removing large amounts of gold in case Gringotts fell or they sided with Voldemort."

"Stop stalling, Auror Tonks, and answer the rest of the question." Amelia ordered in her no nonsense voice.

....

Want to read ahead by more than 60 chapters. Then Join my Pa*treon right now before it's too late.

Link: pa*treon.com/Lotus_Lover (Remove the *)

Even Free members can enjoy 2+ advanced chapters FOR FREE.

Join Right Now