The Darkest Star | Sirius Black |

12

The three goblins stared at them with sombre expressions.

They had taken their seats at the far end of the table, in the direction opposite to where Dolohov was seated. Among them present, were two male and one female goblin. The goblin at the centre was middle-aged and was bald but he had a short, thick beard, black with tiny streaks of grey. This was Rorshach, the Goblin Chief or Yfirmadur as he was referred to, and the chosen representative of the Goblin Community in the Wizarding World.

He was an extremely wily person and rumours had it that it was his ancestor, who had worked from the shadows during the establishment of Gringotts and had a huge hand in helping to monopolise the Wizard Banking Sector. Consequently, every person in his family had always held a position in the shadows, dictating the activities and agendas of the Goblins but he was the first person to hold a position in public and for that, he was called Rorshach the First.

He was flanked by his children, twins the both of them, and his most trusted advisors. They looked eerily similar to one another save for the lack of facial hair on the female and were certainly, almost three decades younger than their father. They even wore similar patterned robes.

Rorshach believed that blood was always thicker than water and hence did his best to place members of his family in key positions inside the Wizarding World. Both his children Revik and Reyna, were a part of the seven member board that headed Gringotts.

"We thank you Mr Dolohov for welcoming us in to your quarters," said Rorshach, in perfect English.

The fact that they were extremely well dressed (for goblins at least) and appeared so well cultured did not diminish the fact that they looked very similar to the slaved house elves which most of the men and women seated at that table found difficult to overlook.

However, Antonin Dolohov wore a pleasant smile on his face looking as if he had won a million galleons. The others, as expected wore mixed expressions (some stoic, some disgusted and some curious) waiting for, according to them, the beings of a lesser race to speak.

"The gratitude should be ours, Respected Yfirmadur," said Dolohov.

There were a few scowls at the table upon hearing Dolohov speak with such reverence, but he didn't seem to notice.

"We have re-evaluated your proposal, Mr Dolohov and we think that this time, and only this time, our interests might align together," stated Rorshach.

Dolohov nodded but remained silent.

"But you must understand, to make an alliance such as this, you ask a great deal from us. We have been subjected to a lot of horrors, ranging from slandering, to torture, to mass murder in the past, even during the time of your Dark Lord."

Dolohov nodded once again.

"I admit that the Dark Lord had at times, been no different than your oppressors of centuries, but he did not seek to eliminate or even subjugate the entire Goblin Race. However, you of all people know that in a tree there will always be one or two decaying branches. The Dark Lord merely chopped of those branches so that the tree could continue to be healthy. He never sought to demolish the entire forest let alone a tree which your oppressors are actively trying to do so now," retorted Dolohov in a silky voice.

Rorshach seemed to contemplate this for a moment.

"You may be right, Mr Dolohov and I may be right too, however, I believe that this is a time to put our past grievances behind us and look towards a better future."