Chapitre 4: 4
It was that night, and the time was approaching midnight. The Dursleys, having been warned by me, had gone to visit relatives, and now I was alone at home, sipping tea in an armchair.
Outside the window there was a deafening roar of thunder and flashes of lightning. The setting was not for the appearance of a good giant, but of a bloody villain or madman. How could canon Harry not see this?
Now, however, Hagrid must go to my obstacle course and, knowing his difficulties with magic, it will be a real test for him. But the rain had upset my plans a bit, with a good two-thirds of the traps covered in mud and water. So he should be able to get to the door, and even inside. But here's where he'll find something interesting. There's a powder I've developed from a mixture of drugs and chemicals. It has a powerful effect on the target, throwing them into an illusion that can be easily controlled by psionics. A kind of substitute for genjutsu. I could have acted directly, but why create questions that would make me lazy to answer later? You sniffed some crap and came here, what's that got to do with me? I didn't even know about magic before you came!
This is the official version, as well as a dozen other alternate versions.
By the way, I have changed the rune lock on DDD's observation marker, and he is now quite capable of seeing me, but what will he see? A child left home alone on his birthday? Let him watch, it's no big deal.
When I heard the rumble outside the windows again, I felt the presence of someone unregistered on the property. There he was, the big, scruffy, dorky woodcutter Hagrid!
He didn't hesitate to open the gate and step inside, only to collapse heavily into a burlap sack torn by the impact, hidden under the grass. And he was covered from head to toe in white powder. More importantly, he had inhaled a lethal dose of that very powder. You don't need to be afraid of overdosing, by the way. This drug does nothing to kill you. It only prolongs the hallucinations.
The giant got to his feet, shook himself off, sneezed deafeningly and continued on his way to the veranda. But there was another surprise waiting for him. The floor collapsed beneath him and he found himself in the hole I had dug. It was nothing unusual, the planks were worn, the hole had been washed out by the sewage, and the planks may not have been designed for the weight of the giant. And he weighed a lot. At least three hundred kilos, if not more.
The second trap was designed for a simple delay, so that the drug would have had time to take effect the moment the ranger entered the door.
By the time he got out, cursing the flimsiness of Muggle things and buildings, the drug was already in his bloodstream and starting to work. But I didn't let him see much with my psionics yet. The real world, if only.
As soon as he knocked on the door, I triggered the made-up image. I opened the door and quietly closed it behind the giant who entered, his eyes misting over.
He walked over to the thoughtfully spread cloth and sat down, then lay down, watching in his mind the perfectly standard greeting from Harry and the Dursley family.
The runes, still at the entrance to the giant's room, also started a film, but for Dumbledore. I myself, after closing the doors, went back to my chair and sat down, returning my cup of hot berry tea.
What does Hagrid see now? Well, I think every reader of both books and fanfics knows the canon of his arrival. Or the film, not much difference.
With a snap of his fingers, he takes the cake out of his pocket, picks up the crumpled pastry and with a second snap of his fingers, returns it to its normal appearance. A simple spell, in fact, and one that I am quite capable of performing non-verbally and without wooden crutches. I wonder if wands would even work on me with my rebuilt Core.
I sipped my tea with a sigh and thought about my life as it was, incomprehensible. And most of all, the morality of what I'd done to Harry. But when I tried to talk to him, he flatly refused to go back. He was fine in the dream world I had given him as a substitute. I told him the truth when he asked me why he was still alive: as soon as his soul left my body, I would be turned back to stone and transported to the Netherworld to find a new host. So, out of the goodness of his heart, he gave me his body for the duration of his life. After all, he wanted to die anyway so that he could see his family and loved ones. And I gave it to him, albeit in this form. So he is satisfied and has no claims against me. Still, my conscience sometimes scratched a piece of my soul. Rarely, though, and only in relation to the main soul of the body, but it scratched!
Sighing and returning to my thoughts of what was going on, I looked at Hagrid blowing bubbles from his mouth. Well, he was happy now, dreaming of a vast and fabulous world of pink and more than just ponies. One of the shards lives in that world and keeps spitting on the world he hit. Well, we don't like this world. We just don't!
Leaving the happy giant in his dream world, he went to sleep.
In the morning, Hagrid woke up embarrassed and apologised, but I didn't care. You know how it is when you're not in the mood in the morning? No mood at all, no anger, no joy. Empty.
So when Hagrid started telling me what a hero I was, I just sighed at the fucked-upness of the situation and continued to devour my breakfast. By the way, my eyes weren't green like Canon Harry's, and here, Hagrid said, my eyes weren't my mum's, they were my dad's for some reason. Why on earth would he do that? But never mind.
After breakfast we went down a sloping alleyway through Hagrid's Hole Bar, where Hagrid informed everyone that Harry Potter himself was here with him!
Many people shook my hand, tried to tap me on the shoulder, but missed. And when they hugged each other, I slapped the eager ones with psionics and looked at the stuttering professor in the turban with the smell of garlic all around him. Here's an interesting fact: vampires are not afraid of garlic. Sunlight is dangerous for them, but only until they grow up. And silver, because vampire blood contains a virus that silver kills. Of course, vampires can vary from world to world, but still... in one such world, a shard has taken possession of a silver-haired man of about twenty-five, who is a Krusnik. A creature that hunts the vampires that have terraformed Mars and Earth itself through the fires of war. She hunts them because of their thirst for blood. Just as vampires hunt humans, the Crucible hunts vampires. But it doesn't want human blood.
But I digress. We'd already passed through the wall and into Slanted Lane, a small town of wizards in a town of simpletons. For the lane took up too much space, consisting of several blocks: a residential block, a market block, a lute block with its own shops and apartments.
A large number of mages walked up and down the street, dressed in robes of various colours and styles, but the usual black or brown predominated. They showed the children around, buying them necessities for their studies and simply spoiling them with magical goodies.
Harry stared in fascination at this corner of the world inside me, sighing in admiration from time to time as he saw people flying across the street on brooms and carpets or, lo and behold, there was even an old lady flying in a mortar.
Passing the drugstore, he stopped, feeling something... familiar and trembling. He wanted to break out of the circle of torment. What was it?
But Hagrid, who was pulling me towards the bench, wouldn't let me find out. I'd have to go back with the money and see what I was being drawn to.
The entrance to the bank was quite ordinary, to be honest. There was a sign above it warning everyone that it was expensive to steal here.
A bored goblin in gilded armour stood at the entrance. I followed the giant into the bank and turned to the goblin.
- Siik Tu Daw hee nraketz srova? - I decided to check something out, as one of the shards had revealed some interesting information about these local goblins. Well, what if? At this phrase, the goblin jumped up as if stung and stared at me, looking around in fear. The phrase I had spoken meant: "Greetings to the race of gold guards, may your gold not go to the undeserving.
- Tiik, tu dav he Srova? Alaric Duri ma scom? - replied the trembling goblin. And he answered me with this: "How do you know the language of the True Dragons? Who told you, and how do you know this language?"
- Mrahe, Ruuk de Virk maite Dowa Duri? (No one, why tell the True Dowa how to speak his language?)" the goblin almost fainted at the last sentence. I did, and immediately he ran to the door, opened it for me and politely invited me to enter, which I did with a stately (I hope) chin thrust. As soon as I entered, Hagrid started to wave at me, but immediately looked around the hall in surprise and frowned in confusion. And a goblin in armour hurriedly pointed me to the door, which said in English that entry was for verified V.I.P. customers only. But the goblin immediately opened the door and bowed to me to enter, which I did.
Inside, near a sturdy desk piled high with documents, stood a goblin in livery with glasses on his large nose. He had an important look on his face, but bowed to me as soon as I entered.
- Dowa, mere Ale Drak Atof? (Greetings, dragon descendant, what brings you to the undeserving?)
- Dirik, Drak Ale mre Crowe? Ale secren to Maarque Ze de Dove? (Goblins are not undeserving, just greedy by nature. And we're so alike in that... and I've come to see if you honour the dragon's staff).
- Dowa Duri asshaak do Khron! (The lords of the sky will always be honoured by us! We even keep their lesser brethren here in the dungeons to protect rare species from extinction).
- Commendable," I switched to English. - But what can I count on when I'm your client?
- All our support and help," the goblin in the livery replied immediately. - However," the goblin hesitated. - You'll need proof that you're related to the Dragonborn.
I grimaced, which the goblin noticed, and he frowned.
- I need something for this," I waved my hand. - You can take the value of these items from Harry Potter's safe.
- And what would you need? - The goblin scrambled to his feet.
- A dragon's bone, a dragon's heart, and preferably at least nine pieces from different specimens.
My interlocutor nodded, and the armoured goblin behind me disappeared in search of the right ingredients.
I sat down on the offered chair and rested my chin on my crossed fingers. The armoured goblin returned to the table and climbed up the steps to the chair in an odd way.
In less than five minutes, the same goblin in armour entered the room and laid out on the table what I needed. Nine bone blades from the dragon's tail and nine fresh hearts in a special vial.
The livery goblin pointed to what I had brought and I took the first vial, opening it to feel the same sensation I had felt outside the apothecary. Immediately, a sprouting claw on my hand pierced the first heart, and I took the bone that belonged to that dragon, only to have both goblins exhale in shock a moment later. For suddenly there was a wind in the room and a strange magical glow that penetrated me without a trace.
Such a spectacle of light continued for nine times until the last bone in my hand turned to ash.
- Where can I prove that I belong? - I smiled through every tooth. The goblins swallowed in unison, and the one in the armour opened a hidden door that led to a long corridor with a doorway at the end.
Entering it, he looked at the target and exhaled a phrase:
- Fus-Ro-Da!" The resulting force wave immediately went down the corridor, knocking the dust off the stones of the wall and reaching the target, blasting it to hell. Inside I heard, "Holy shit!"
I turned to see two grey-haired goblins.
- Was that enough of a demonstration?
The goblins, awakened by my voice, immediately fell to their knees.
- Orders, Lord and Maker.
- I don't need anything special," he shook his head and gestured for them to stand. - Just this. When we get down to Harry Potter's safe and get everything we need from there, I need you to transfer the rest to the new safe. Also, get me the expense accounts from that safe for the last eleven years. Also, empty all safes that are to go to me when I come of age and transfer their contents to the new safe. All property belonging to Rod Potter is to be administered by your bank and your nominated solicitor. What has been destroyed is to be rebuilt with the funds in my account and put to work. There is no reason for the property to sit idle.
- Done," replied the goblin in livery, writing down my orders in a notebook.
- By the way, what have I got?
- From Rod Potter it is: Potter Manor, abandoned, the house in Godric's Hollow, ruined, some shares in a few Muggle companies. But they're in decline.
- Good. Manor to be restored. Restore the house, rent it out. Work up the stock, invest two thousand galleons each in the companies, and send in specialists to improve their operation and development. What kind of businesses, by the way?
The goblin called up a scroll with a snap of his fingers, unfolded it and began to speak.
- An electronics company. Strangled by its competitors. The Smiths' textile company, effectively dead. A few small factories making stationery. With investment, textiles and stationery will last another two years. The engineering business is harder, we don't have the expertise.
I nodded and walked back into the office, putting my briefcase on the table and pulling out a pile of papers.
- These are my plans for investing in and running some of the companies I wanted to buy shares in. Take these sketches of mine to work, patent technology, launch new clothing brands and the like. Everything is detailed in the documents.
The goblin nodded and immediately found himself at his desk, carefully beginning to study the documents. After an hour he was distracted by them and could only say:
- This is brilliant! Can our community invest in these industries and make a profit?
- If you want to, yes. But no more than a quarter of the shares. I should have fifty-one per cent. The rest is for cover," the goblin nodded several times, and a moment later a dishevelled young goblin ran out of a nondescript doorway, was handed the papers and sent back.
- As always, it is very profitable to do business with your kind," the goblin rubbed his paws. - And the quality of the papers is astounding, as is the elaboration of patents and technology and marketing. Marketing in general is beyond praise, can we buy some ideas for our bank from them?
I thought and nodded, and the goblin just lit up like a light bulb.
- Twenty percent," I said, and the goblin disappeared instantly.
- You really want to bankrupt us!
- Just don't start with the hungry clan thing," I sighed.
- You're right! If I go along with this, you'll be sending me and my poor clan out into the world! And we have many children to feed, clothe and educate.
- Fifteen. And that's my final word. Or do you wish to negotiate with Dov? - The goblin choked on the last sentence, then nodded and called a pile of documents to the table.
- Agreed. Now we must sign the documents.
It took me hours to escape the clutches of this born bureaucrat. How tired I was of signing and carefully reading each document, making changes and almost fighting with the goblin. But in the end, we were both happy with the result.
As I left the room, I was surprised to see that the clock in the hall showed that only fifteen minutes had passed since I had entered the bank! So this room was in its own time barrier. That's handy, because it would have been difficult to explain to the forester where I'd been for hours. By the way, the goblin and I met at the end of the conversation. His name was Helly Gringots. Of the Gringotts clan.
After wandering around the hall looking lost for a while, I finally met the panicked giant, and after many questions on the subject of "Where have you gone, Harry? We went for a ride to the vault.
I got high, the goblin was extremely polite to me and, seeing how much I was enjoying the ride, even drove past the dragon caves, which I enjoyed looking at and even said hello to, eliciting surprised whistles and growls in return.
When we got there, I was so happy because the real Harry inside me was joining me on my little adventure. It's not often you get to enjoy life and childhood so much.
I took two hundred galleons from the safe and went out. Hagrid also took a pile of coins, but no gold, just kanats and shekels. Embarrassed, he muttered that he would return what he had borrowed. As I listened to him mumble, I suddenly felt a little sorry for him. After all, he had taken a modest sum and promised to pay it back. And it is easy to help him pay it back, because he has many things to earn money with, he just does not understand them. For example, my textile company could use some Acromantula web fabric to make some truly incredible outfits for the rich of the world. And this good-natured boogeyman will probably be tricked by the good white wizard Albus and won't get a penny. Even acromantulas could and should be legalised in this way. Let them work by excreting the web and in return they get peace of mind and food. Why not?
And Hagrid would benefit and enjoy helping his pets. And the other animals of the Forbidden Forest are more than willing to let him in, which means you can get: moulting unicorn skins, feathers from magical birds and many, many more things that will be worth a fortune in both the magical and ordinary worlds.
He looked at the giant and rubbed his palms together. We'll just have to get him involved, but I don't think that will be too difficult. Heh. And if anything, they can try to get to me through Gringotts, where I'll be doing my business. Those little runts won't betray me, for the world they once fled was only abandoned by Dov, who created a race of goblins to handle the treasures. Good luck to them.
Outside the bank, Hagrid showed me Madam Malkin's dress shop and excused himself to the bar for a few drinks. He was dizzy from the ride in the goblin cart. So I let him go, assuring him that I was perfectly capable of shopping for robes myself.
He apologised and walked away, looking back at me all the time. I boldly stepped into the shop, where I was greeted by Madam Malkin herself and the curious gaze of a boy my age with platinum hair. Whoa! It's Malfoy!
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone