Harry Potter and the Manipulator of Destiny (Completed)

Chapter 4: Of Wizards and Goblins

Harry spent the rest of Thursday remembering Sirius. He went downstairs and did chores around the house to keep his hands busy, and indulged in a day of nothing more taxing than recalling the all too brief time he spent with his godfather and listing the things he missed about him the most. It was far from depressing – it was a time of healing and moving on. Harry looked forward to the painting arriving, and frequently found himself glancing through the windows for owls, though he seriously doubted the goblins would send him anything in that manner now.

Friday broke dark and wet, with the rain beating against his windows in hypnotic pounding. Harry smiled and traced a stream of water down the cold glass with a fingertip. It was a perfect day for reading and studying. He beat everyone to the shower, dressed quickly, and made coffee for the house. Harry didn't like the Dursleys, but with everything else going on, he vowed to try and get along with them to the best of his ability. He made breakfast and set out a pleasant enough looking table, so by the time his Aunt and Uncle stumbled downstairs, they were surprised to be greeted by the welcome smells of food to see them on their way to work. Harry didn't say a thing, but served them with a polite smile, handed the paper to his Uncle as he walked out the door with a grunt, and was amused to see them both shooting strange looks at him.

Harry washed up, dusted downstairs, and indulged himself with scanning the area for auras. Sure enough, in the parlor in a rather central location to the house, was a china vase that Harry never really paid attention to except to dust once a week, that emitted a huge blood red aura. "That can't be good" he thought to himself. "If blue is loyalty, I'll bet anything that red is hatred. I can't wait to ask Griphook about this."

He headed up stairs, passing Dudley in the hall. "Dudley, I left your breakfast on the table – it's still warm. Just leave the plate next to the sink." His large cousin gaped at him, but headed down, while Harry shut himself into his room, and curled up on his bed with the book from Griphook. He rubbed the Potter ring and glanced around the room, frowning at the blue sneakoscope contained within it's barrier, and noticed that many of his school books (the goblin book in his hands included) glowed a gentle green, and his wand laying on his night stand had a strong golden aura.

Harry spent the next few days absorbing the book. Although he wasn't as fast a reader as Hermione, this really grabbed his interest. 'Goblins Through Goblin Eyes' seemed to be written for people like himself – non-goblins who were sincerely interested in the culture. It covered history, life style, politics and magic.

Goblins were certainly a war-like race, and highly intelligent. They had methodical brains that thrived on strategy, statistics, math, and logic. Art was mostly foreign – tapestry weavings and armor forging, which was surprisingly (to Harry) done by the women. Music tended to be very rhythmic – the sort of stuff you would march to war with. For centuries they held their own against the giants and other fearsome species in the world, until man entered the world. The humans bred like rabbits in comparison to the goblins, but also brought a calming influence to the world with their poetic, philosophical way of looking at things.

As humans started to take over the earth, by sheer numbers alone, the goblins were faced with the choice to fight or blend in. They chose to use their natural abilities to blend in, and quickly took up the role of bankers and accountants for the wizarding world. Muggles could not accept them – felt they looked too demonic, and wizards are notoriously bad with math and needed them.

Goblins never gave up their war skills, however. They live in deep caverns underground rarely visited by other species. They haven't fought in years, but keep their own army and release pent-up aggression through hunts and aggressive business transactions. Vegetables are not in goblin diets, except for a few roots and tubers used to thicken stews and soups. Every goblin male is a warrior first, and he never forgets it.