The Darkest Star | Sirius Black |

11

'BREAK-IN AT GRINGOTTS !'

'In what was the early hours of today morning, a masked intruder has been reported as to have broken in and out of Gringotts, the famed Wizard Bank. Though the Administration assures the public that nothing of value was missing, the public remain skeptical wondering whether the bankers are trying to cover up some serious robbery in order to avoid panic among the masses. The Ministry of Magic is working in tandem with Gringotts in order to get to the bottom of this.'

'Meanwhile, a senior official from Gringotts, who will remain unnamed, was quoted saying "There has been no break-in or break-out at our bank as our security measures are top notch. Even if someone managed to in fact break in to the bank, there is no way they can get out without being caught. I believe this is a ruse by our competitors to discredit our bank and our Goblin race in general. They are trying to sow mistrust in to the public mind about us, Goblins. We have been running this bank for centuries now and never before has there been such an incident. This is nothing but a feeble attempt by certain parties, and we are aware who, to completely tarnish our reputations."

This statement has just added fuel to the fire that has been raging in recent weeks, ever since the Ministry of Magic proposed that Wizards should occupy top positions at Gringotts.

In other news, two highly ranked goblin officials from Gringotts were found dead, at their respective homes yesterday. In times such as these, one cannot help but wonder if this is a mere coincidence or there is something more to their deaths as these two had been key participants in the demonstrations held a week ago, opposing the Ministry of Magic's proposal.'

Dumbledore stopped reading the Daily Prophet at this point and stretched his arms. He had been expecting something like this to happen for a while now, but it had come to transpire too quickly for his liking. He let out a huge sigh as he turned to the magnificent bird that was perched upon its stand, preening its feathers.

"Fawkes," he called out softly. "I need you to deliver a message."

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The man was limping as he slowly made his way through what once had been a splendidly kept lane, lined with meticulously trimmed hedges and winded somewhat in an upward direction towards a huge, grandiose mansion. Now, the lane was just scattered with dried leaves, the unkempt hedges had overgrown and were now sprawled all over the path providing a rather tiring experience for those who traversed through it.The night was extremely cold and he cursed himself for not wearing anything warmer. He trudged along as quickly as he could, feeling his robe pockets to make sure that the item, he had taken great lengths to steal was indeed intact. Satisfied with the tiny bulge, he stopped short just in front of the mansion, his eyes lingering on one side of the roof which had been severely damaged. He pulled out his wand and muttered a silent spell and continued to walk towards the door. If anyone had been watching him, he would have been visible for a moment and the next, he would have suddenly vanished.

When he entered the mansion, a pungent smell coupled with dust, immediately hit his nostrils, causing him to cough in to his hand. 

'They have been here for days! Can't they at least clean the place?' he cursed in his head.

Composing himself, he then proceeded along a narrow corridor which was lighted by a solitary lamp and entered the dining room where the rest of his colleagues (if one could call them that) were sitting.

"Ah Severus! You are here at last!" said Antonin Dolohov, who sat beside the head of an extremely long table. A partially broken chandelier, hung above them providing them with enough light to see what was on and beside the table but darkened towards the corners of the room.

Ever since the Dark Lord fell and most of the Death Eaters had been rounded up, some of them had managed to blend in to society majorly due to their immense wealth and influences within the Ministry. People like Malfoy, Avery, Rookwood, Selwyn and many more had bought their freedom with a mixture of money and lies. Of all the wealthy families, only the Lestranges were now imprisoned in Azkaban as they had been crazy enough to attack and in some cases kill people in broad daylight.

But when it came to people like Dolohov and Snape himself, they did not have the luxury of wealth or the family name to buy their freedom and hence had to live in hiding. 

Snape nodded in acknowledgement at Dolohov and proceeded to sit at the table, in his assigned place which was two seats away from the head, opposite to where Dolohov was seated. They had always left the head seat empty in honour of the Dark Lord. As Snape sat down, he came face to face with Barty Crouch Jr. who was eyeing him with a peculiar expression. Crouch Jr. had been condemned to Azkaban by his own father along with the Lestranges for the murder of Alice Longbottom and multiple other atrocities. But somehow, he had escaped and when he returned, he had brought with him a strange man, who called himself Leriuk.

It was at this man on whom Snape's beady, black eyes lingered. The man was mute and communicated only by nods or shakes of the head. If ever an extra vocabulary was needed, he resorted to drawing in the air with his wand but the most eerie aspect of Leriuk was that, he wore a mask that covered his entire face. He always had his hood up and would immediately disappear after their meetings.

The main reason they had allowed him inside their meetings was the fact that this man had offered things only possible by the Dark Lord himself. He narrated to them several bits of information which aligned with what they knew of the Dark Lord. Moreover, he had provided them with so many other strategies which had been key to their rebuilding. He had made all their doubts vanish in a very short amount of time.

Proclaiming to be a past associate of the Dark Lord, he had stated that he was the contingency plan that the Dark Lord had set up, in case anything befell him. He had even shown them magic which they had seen only the Dark Lord perform, and step by step, they began to trust him. They were careful never to discuss any important strategies in his presence however, there were days when his presence was very useful. Today was such a day.

The Death Eaters had been preparing for a war against the Ministry of Magic, the likes of which had never been seen before. With the help of Leriuk's strategies, they had managed to convince various supernatural beings to support their cause. The giants, trolls and vampires had immediately sided with them. They had been downtrodden by wizardkind for too long and they leapt at the chance for retribution even though they were aligning themselves with the very beings who were discriminating against them. But the problem was, giants and trolls were few in number as opposed to wizards and it wasn't possible for them to fight against the entire Wizarding Community of Britain. Vampires could operate only under the dark and they weren't very common in these parts either. Emissaries had been sent to the werewolves as well as the goblins but that had resulted in nothing positive.

Until now.

Over the recent months, the goblins were being targeted by the wizards. Despite being considered an inferior race, the wizards of the past had actually understood the significance of having them as allies. They were not hand-in-hand comrades but at least they weren't enemies either. However, the current administration seemed to have forgotten all this by passing laws that continued to undermine the power which the goblins held in the community.

"You are just in time, Severus. Our guests are expected to arrive very shortly," said Dolohov, causing Snape to look away from Leriuk.

"Everything go well?" asked Crouch, in a snide voice.

Snape grimaced at the tone but maintained his composure. "Almost lost a leg," he replied, absent-mindedly rubbing his left knee. "But the package is secure." He tapped his pockets.

"Very good, Severus. You are as reliable as always," said Dolohov.

After Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy had taken over as kind of a temporary leader of the Death Eaters. However, in his absence, Dolohov took over. After all, he had been one of the few in the Dark Lord's inner circle.

"Well, come on then. Let us see it!" exclaimed Crouch in eagerness.

But at that point one of the Death Eaters, who had been on watch, entered the room.

"They have arrived, Mr Dolohov, sir," he announced.

Dolohov smiled. "Excellent." He glanced at Crouch. "I guess all of us have to wait to get a glance at the package."

Crouch scowled.