Guys finally my Pa*treon for this story is live.
Link: pa*treon.com/Lotus_Lover (Remove the *)
Join Right Now
...
Harry opened the door slowly, not knowing what he'd find. Barchoke had said his old boss, Hammerhand, had been kept to an office by himself and away from the goblins who lived below ground after his family managed to win compensation from the bank for his injury. He had also warned him the familiarity Hammerhand had with his family might cause a bit of distress, so he should be mindful to play along.
What he hadn't expected was the sheer number of papers strewn about the room. Parchment was stuck to every available surface, some with large strange symbols, others with rows of numbers, while others had pictures of animals in various states of dress. Stags and snakes seemed particularly popular. Snakes with beards.
A goblin with thin wisps of white hair sticking up in every direction sat at the completely cluttered desk and was clothed in a thin dirty robe which reminded him forcefully of Dobby. Hammerhand seemed intent on his latest picture. The sound of the door must have alerted him for it was less than half open when the mad old goblin looked directly at him.
"James!" Hammerhand cried, mistaking Harry for his father. The goblin quickly ran around the desk to take his hand and sending papers fluttering along behind him. "Come in, come in!" the goblin said with a mad grin as he pulled him into the room. "Here, take a seat and tell me what's been going on."
Hammerhand tossed a stack of parchment out of the room's single visitor's chair and plopped Harry down upon it.
"Here for a bit of spending money, eh?" the old goblin said jovially. "You'll not get a knut without your father's say if you've gone over your allowance, young man," he laughed. Harry looked into his eyes, the lights there dim and disjointed.
"How are you feeling, Hammerhand?" Harry asked.
"Oh, fine, fine. Can't complain," the old goblin replied with a wan smile and vacant face.
The old Account Manager looked down at the shoe box in Harry's hands and tutted.
"James, James," he said. "A present? You've gone to presents now? I've told you before, new robes and a flashy broom is no way to woo a witch. Certainly not a witch worth wooing. Please don't tell me it's for her."
"Er- No, sir," Harry said, thinking quickly. "It's for my father."
"Oh yes," Hammerhand said somberly. "Terrible thing, that. I suppose anything that makes them happy in what time they have remaining-."
The dam finally broke and Hammerhand started to wail.
"Why, James, why?" the old goblin balled, clutching to the front of Harry's robes as tears ran down its cheeks. "Why did they have to die?"
"It's-It's okay," Harry tried to comfort the distressed old goblin. "It's just their time."
Harry looked over to Barchoke, silently asking for help.
"Too old!" Hammerhand wept. "Too old, too soon."
Barchoke reached down to the floor and picked up a stack of the parchment Hammerhand had sent flying to make room for Harry to sit.
"Sir," Barchoke said eagerly as if he had just come in. "I've got the file you wanted to see."
As quickly as that the old goblin was back to the way he was before his outburst.
"File? Oh! Barchoke! Come in," Hammerhand said. "Where have you been? Go make yourself useful and get young James here some tea."
"I'd love to, sir," Barchoke said, playing along. "Lichfield wants me to run him through something in Legal first though."
"Hm? Legal?" Hammerhand asked with a finger to his lips, looking for a moment very much like Barchoke. "Yes, I suppose it must be important if Lichfield's harping on about it. Very dedicated man there. We can catch up when you get done, James," he said to Harry and patted him on the arm. "And we can work on this Lily problem of yours. Throwing money about is not the way to get her. You just have to be you, James. That should be enough for her."
It was with a knot in the stomach Harry realized the old goblin had been talking about his mother the whole time.
"I'll keep that in mind, sir," Harry said.
Harry turned to go but Hammerhand grabbed him his robes and held him close, so they were eye-to-eye. The goblin might've been old but his grip was as iron hard as his name implied and his eyes were no longer dim but sharp with a different kind of madness.
"I tried to warn them," Hammerhand said gruffly. "But they wouldn't see."
"Sir?" Harry asked as he tried to peel the old goblin's hands off him.
"The figures and the sums," the Account Manager whispered. "They're not there. The snake. The snake took them! I don't like him! He took them!"
"I don't like him either, sir," Harry said, seeing one of the snake pictures on the wall. A snake with a long white beard.
"I tried to warn them," the goblin said again as Barchoke tried to separate them. "But they were as dumb as a door!"
"Sir!" Barchoke shouted. "Legal? James needs to go to Legal now."
Hammerhand's grip relaxed.
"Legal? Yes, yes," the goblin said with a wave. "Then why is he still here? I swear, Barchoke, you must be more diligent."
Hammerhand took up a handful of parchment and returned to his desk as Harry and Barchoke slipped back outside. Just as the door closed there came a cry from the other side. "As dumb as a door!"
"So you find what you were looking for?" a gruff voice asked behind him.
Harry turned to see Lichfield standing by the wall.
"Yes," Harry said. "I know who has the Key."
"We're really going to feel as dumb as a door when you tell us, aren't we?" Barchoke asked, his Concealer back in his hand.
"You could say that," Harry said.