Hermione Granger and the Year Hidden from Hogwarts

Chapter 23

Hermione Granger and the Year Hidden from Hogwarts

Harry Potter Fanfiction

Chapter 23

A/N: Another chapter! If any of you were reading my replies to reviews on AO3, you might know this was supposed to be the big reveal, however, the goblins got away from me, and now we have this elaborate underbelly that had to be explored. Honestly, it was like herding a group of cats!

April 25th, 1992

Wudrok nodded, pulling a sheet from his desk. "Of course, you would just have to sign here agreeing that one Filius Flitwick has all power and authority to speak and make decisions on your behalf as a minor until the time you are able to make such decisions on your own as an adult."

Hermione blinked. "That's it? That's the big ritual?"

The goblin gave her a gimlet look. "Do not make the mistake of underestimating Gringotts' contracts. All are legally binding and unbreakable."

"No, not that, it's just that, when you described it as a 'ritual' I thought there would be more to it than just signing my name on the dotted line."

Her attempt at levity went over the goblin's head. "Rituals have fallen to the wayside with wizardkind in recent years. We commission elves to create these documents and imbue the power of the rituals into the very fibers of the paper."

"Elves?"

"Not like the House Elves wizards would have bastardized and cursed into but a shade of their former glory. No, natural elves perform ritualistic magic second to none, and Gringotts employs the best. These need only a blood signature to activate."

There was too much to unpack in that explanation, and she swore to hurry this along. The sooner she got her hands on some books, the sooner she could stop bumbling around. She took the black quill without argument and signed, wincing at the sting and glad Flitwick had warned her about it.

He followed suit, his name below hers, and the paper glowed gold.

She felt a tickle around her wrist and desperately wanted to switch to metavision but restrained herself. It was likely the bond of the contract. If she studied witches and wizards and creatures, would they all have various tethers to one another?

Now wasn't the time to find out. She'd already blundered enough with her ignorance.

"Excellent," Wudrok beamed at the completed paper, snapping his long-nailed fingers and vanishing it off somewhere. "Now, we would move onto the main feature. The matter of your blood tests, Miss Granger."

Flitwick cleared his throat. "As Goblin Spokesperson of Granger, I would inquire if you ensure to follow proper protocol and draw up the correct nondisclosure agreement forms. Also, I would insist on a Release of History."

The first document Flitwick mentioned didn't seem to ruffle the goblin at all, in fact, it seemed to have been some sort of test that Flitwick passed with flying colors. However, the second mentioned form sent Wudrok hissing.

He spoke in grating, guttural sounds, and Hermione had to quickly spool up the translation magic to catch the end of Wudrok's shout.

"—to a witch? You would shirk our culture, but to betray the secrets of our nation in such a way is the highest form of treachery, subject to punishment!"

Her heart skyrocketed.

Flitwick kept his cool though, a contrast to the nervous, anxious wreck he'd been when they were left alone. "My nation? That is rich. Would my people accept me if I strolled into the stronghold, I would wonder? My whole life, I've never fit in one place or the other, and now you would use the very heritage that alienates me from both species to instill some sort of loyalty? No, I think not."