This Means War | Draco Malfoy [5]

Chapter 16 ~ Serious Talks

The four of us went downstairs and found Bill Weasley in the kitchen with Fleur and Luna.

"We need to speak with the goblin," I told him.

Bill led us back upstairs and inside the room Griphook was staying in. After we walked in the room, Bill left us alone with Griphook, shutting the door behind him.

"How are you?" Harry asked Griphook.

"Alive," he stated, not turning around to face us.

I scratched the back of my head, feeling a bit awkward. "You, uh...you probably don't remember--"

"That I showed you and your brother to your vault the first time you two came to Gringotts?" he finished for me. "You two are famous, Harry and Maxine Potter, even amongst goblins."

"What a shock," I said sarcastically, walking across the room and looking out the window.

"You buried the elf?" he asked.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, we did."

"You two brought me here," he said.

"Yes," Harry spoke up.

"You two are...very unusual," he told us.

"Well, we're not exactly normal, especially Harry over here..."

"Shut up, Max."

"I'm just saying..."

"How did you two come by this sword?" Griphook asked us, pointing at the sword that was leaning against the wall beside me.

"It's complicated," Harry and I said at the same time.

"Why did Bellatrix Lestrange think it should be in her vault at Gringotts?" Harry questioned.

"It's complicated," Griphook replied, mocking us.

"Well, the sword presented itself to us in a moment of need," I answered. "We didn't steal it."

He stared at me for a moment, then spoke up again. "There is a sword in Madam Lestrange's vault that is identical to this one, but it is a fake. It was placed there this past summer."

"And she never suspected it was a fake?" Harry asked.

"The replica is very convincing," the goblin explained. "Only a goblin would recognize that this is the true Sword of Gryffindor."

"Who's the acquaintance?" Hermione asked him, referring to the person who placed the fake sword in Bellatrix's vault.

"A Hogwarts professor. As I understand it, he's now headmaster."

"Snape?" Ron inquired. "He put a fake sword in Bellatrix's vault?"

"Wait, why would Snape, of all people, put a fake sword in Bellatrix's vault?" I asked. "I thought him and Bellatrix were on the same side."

"There are more than a few curious things in the vaults at Gringotts," the goblin said to the four of us.

"And in Madam Lestrange's vault as well?" I piped up, raising my eyebrows.

He stared at me. "Perhaps."

"We need to get into one of the vaults at Gringotts," Harry blurted out, walking up beside me.

"That is impossible," Griphook said.

"Alone, yes. But with you, no," I said.

"Why should I help you two?" he asked us.

"We have gold. Lots of it," Harry said.

"We do?" I asked in a whisper.

"I have no interest in gold," he told us.