Harry Potter and the Artificer Legacy Chapter 77 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Harry Potter and the Artificer Legacy! With Ragnok Gringott dead, slain by Dwarf King Drasurd Erdunn, the Goblin horde outside of Gringotts has been wiped out and London is being protected by temporary Anti-Goblin Wards. The military, police, and emergency services will be working to save those that can be saved, restore order, and start the process of clean up and rebuilding. Meanwhile, the Magical will be storming Gringotts to wipe out the remaining Goblins. The Erdunn Dwarves may finally reclaim the tunnels that were stolen from them so long ago. But what’s to come after all of this?

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter 77 – Old Tales and Reclaimed Birthright

Harry and Dumbledore stood off to the side of where a group of Healers from St. Mungos had setup a relief station to treat the multitude of injured people form the Goblin attack on London. While the Healers worked to save lives and treat injuries, many Non-Magical first responders were also helping and setting up various other relief stations with the help of small groups of Healers too. Far too much of London had been attacked, and far too many people hurt, badly injured, or on death’s door for any single relief station or hospital to handle alone.

“What did you want to talk about, Dumbledore?” Harry asked his former Headmaster curiously.

“Firstly, I’d like to ask if you and your family are alright.” Dumbledore gave Harry a genial smile, but the concern for the mental and emotional wellbeing of three of his former students and Fleur, who was still rather young compared to Dumbledore, was clear in the man’s eyes. Eyes that notably lacked any trace of the small ‘twinkle’ they often held.

Harry thought about how to answer that for a moment before he spoke. “We’re alright currently. Occlumency is a permanent part of our way of using wandless magic. We’ll process everything over time once this rebellion is finished.”

Dumbledore nodded, once more curious about the method of wandless magic that Harry had either developed or figured out (and with how secretive some Wizards and Witches were with their Magical discoveries it was usually foolish to assume that anyone in the modern era had figured out something completely and wholly new in the realm of spellcasting), but knew the young man before him had made it a Family Secret and wouldn’t tell him. “I see. If you ever need a listening ear, my Floo is always open.” He managed a slightly more jovial smile for a moment. “Or perhaps my Floo and my Peony Communications Mirror, I should say. They seem to be very popular nowadays.” Dumbledore hinted at potentially buying a Communications mirror for himself.

“We’re doing well enough.” Harry returned the half-smile with one of his own. It was obvious that Dumbledore was trying to help Harry not think about all of the Goblins that he’d killed today. “Was there something else you wanted to speak about?”

“Yes, though I’ll be brief as I do not believe that we have much time left before we’ll be moving to Gringotts.” Dumbledore said as he looked at Harry with a small grimace on his wrinkled face. “In regards to what happened during the incident with Voldemort and the summoned demon… I had a few questions about the battle, as I had long suspected that Voldemort had performed horrid Magics to protect himself from death.”

Harry was confused, and looked it, for a moment as he thought back to the battle with the massive demon and Voldemort. “Are you referring to how Voldemort seemingly came back to life multiple times, even after taking damage that clearly killed him?”

Dumbledore nodded once. “Yes, but while the Magic that I believe Voldemort used could prevent him from passing on so long as certain items existed to anchor him to this world, it should not have been able to return his body to life.” That information was very different from what he’d managed to find about Horcruxes. ‘I never even found out all of the items that Tom may have used for his Horcruxes before he met his death.’

“Fleur brought us the idea that Voldemort was similar to the Lich of legends.” Harry told Dumbledore, not seeing any reason to keep it a secret since Dumbledore clearly knew even more than Harry himself about Voldemort’s situation. “Given that he was able to restore himself from death five times in our battle and his execution was the sixth death he faced, I believe we dealt with all of his phylacteries. Seven, counting the diary from my second year, seems like a number that Voldemort would go with for his attempt at immortality; but I’m sure you’d know him better than I do.” Harry looked straight into Dumbledore’s eyes, silently telling the much older Wizard that he was certain that Dumbledore knew far more about Voldemort and his phylacteries than he’d ever shared with anyone.

Dumbledore was silent for a few seconds before speaking again. “Seven would most certainly be a number that Voldemort would use, given its importance in many forms of Magic.” The less people that even knew the term ‘horcrux’ the better, in Dumbledore’s opinion.

Seeing that Dumbledore wasn’t going to say anything else about the matter, Harry’s eyes drifted down to the oddly knotted wand, or where he ‘felt’ it was on Dumbledore’s person. “If you’re done asking about Voldemort, may I ask you a question, Dumbledore?”

“Yes, of course.” Dumbledore was more than fine with moving their discussion along from the current topic.

“Can I ask to see your wand?” Harry looked directly at Dumbledore’s sleeve, where the wand was secured beneath the cloth, ready to be drawn in an instant.

Dumbledore was now unsure if he was happy about the change in topic. “May I ask why you want to see my wand, Mr. Potter?”

Harry touched his Invisibility Cloak, bringing it over his shoulder partially from where it was hung over his back like a cape at the moment. That was how he wore it along with his Regalia, just so that he could swiftly be invisible when he wanted to be, but wasn’t invisible at all times. “Because it gives me the same feeling as my cloak…and I’ve never heard of a Wand Artifact before.” His green eyes lit up with interest.

“Artifact?” Dumbledore looked perplexed for a brief instant. He’d followed the legend of the Deathly Hallows in his youth with Gellert. That the Elder Wand had found its way into Gellert’s hands and he’d then taken it after defeating the madman that Grindelwald had become in 1945 had been one-third of a lifelong goal completed. But he’d never once heard anyone claim that the Deathly Hallows were Artifacts. Given the Tales of Beedle the Bard…the one that made the Deathly Hallows was Death itself.

“Yes, just like my Invisibility Cloak that never loses its Magic, unlike normal ones.” Harry let the cloak fall over his shoulder to rest on his back again. “The fact that they ‘feel’ the same to me would imply that the same Artificer crafted them. It’s quite a surprise that Wandlore and Artifice were mixed, especially given how closely Wandlore is guarded by skilled Wand Makers.”

Dumbledore silently debated with himself for a moment before drawing the Elder Wand. “I don’t suppose there’s any harm in letting you look at my wand for a moment, Mr. Potter.” He held the wand out for Harry to inspect.

Harry gently took the wand after getting permission. He immediately focused and began to ‘commune’ with the Artifact, hoping to discover some of its features. “Hmm… That’s interesting.” He mumbled quietly with his eyes closed. The feel of the Magic was odd, and yet vaguely familiar. Harry attributed this to the Wand being made by the same Artificer that made his Invisibility Cloak. ‘Elder Wood… Some kind of hair in the core… Not sure what that is…Wandlore specific, I’d guess?’ Harry didn’t know what the odd feeling, which he could only describe as ‘waiting’, was about, but felt as if it had something to do with how the Artifact Wand was constructed. ‘You’re resistant to Magic that your not familiar with, huh?’ Harry hummed thoughtfully as he tried to push a tiny bit of his mana into the Artifact, only for it to be rebuffed. “A wand that will only work for one person… That almost sounds like that story from Beedle the Bard.”

Dumbledore didn’t flinch, nor did his facial expression change, but his absolute lack of expression is what tipped Harry off that something was amiss.

“No way…” Harry blinked, looking at the wand in his hands in disbelief and then at Dumbledore with some surprise. “This is the Elder Wand? The Death Stick? The wand said to be crafted by Death itself?”

“Yes.” Dumbledore carefully took the Elder Wand back.

Harry looked blankly at the wand for another moment before he snickered a little. “Did you track it down for the same reason that most people go looking for it? The unbeatable wand aspect…or the Master of Death mentioned at the end of the tale?”

Dumbledore said nothing, but did look mildly confused by Harry’s snickering.

“Sorry if this ruins part of the mystique of the, so-called, Deathly Hallows. But these’re just Artifacts, and all Artifacts are made by mortal hands.” Harry gave Dumbledore a half-smile filled with mirth. “This cloak,” He patted the shimmering cloth hanging from his Basilisk Scale Mail. “That wand,” Harry pointed at the Elder Wand in Dumbledore’s hand. “And whatever manner of Artifact that ‘Resurrection Stone’ is… They were all made by one person, a very skilled Artificer, most definitely. But even having all three, they’re not going to grant someone mastery over the concept of and reality that is death. After all, a powerful wand can help protect you, an invisibility cloak can hide you, and if the story is true, talking with the dead can give you knowledge you wouldn’t otherwise have. But none of that implies that you can become the ‘Master of Death’ as if it was a corporeal being that one could command.” Harry chuckled with a shake of his head at the absurdity of such a thing.

Dumbledore hummed for a brief moment before speaking. “I never considered the ‘Master of Death’ portion to mean controlling death, myself. It is a popular interpretation of the story though. But when I first set out to try to find the Deathly Hallows I was much younger, foolhardy, and after a time…guilt-ridden.” Dumbledore shook his head once and gave Harry a slight smile. “I’m glad that I was able to indulge your curiosity, Mr. Potter.” He stowed the Elder Wand away again.

“Thank you for your time, sir.” Harry nodded once, his own small smile meeting Dumbledore’s. “If you happen to still be looking for that stone and find it, I’d love to look it over too. I have a bit of a hypothesis about how it operates and I’d love to know if I’m right.”

“If the Resurrection Stone should ever make its way into my hands, I’ll be sure to contact you, Mr. Potter.” Dumbledore actually let out a slight chuckle of his own.

The two prodigious Wizards, even separated by a century between their births, could understand each other in matters of Magic. When doing so, they could both, however briefly, forget about the upcoming battle.

“Harry, We’re about to move out.” Tonks said as she approached Harry and Dumbledore. “With some help form King Drasurd, I managed to get appointed as the liaison between the Ministry and the Erdunn Dwarves, at least for now.” She gave a nod to Dumbledore. “Thank you for arriving so swiftly, Headmaster.”

“I haven’t been your Headmaster for a number of years now, Miss Tonks.” Dumbledore smiled slightly at Tonks. “But I couldn’t stand back and allow such an atrocity to happen. I’m only glad that we managed to get a handle on it as fast as we did. Had the Goblins become entrenched in London, I hesitate to think what it would’ve required to remove them.”

All three of them knew that it would most likely have been writing off the city as ‘lost’ and then the military would’ve dealt with the situation with overwhelming force and every weapon, vehicle, and ordinance available to them. After all, the air was currently filled with military helicopters. Many soldiers and armored military vehicles had nearly flooded London in the time since the initial attack and the end of the attack on the surface with the death of the Ukrainian Ironbelly, Ragnok Gringott, and the Goblin horde of Gringotts. Now that London was under control, the final phase of stopping this rebellion could begin.

-Gringotts Bank ~ Later-

BAM

The sealed front doors of the bank nearly exploded inward from the force they’d been hit with.

“Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!” Drasurd bellowed powerfully, having used the Sword of Erdunn’s power in combination with his own to breach the doors.

“Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!” The Dwarves of Erdunn called back, all of them fully armored and wielding shields, axes, thunder lances, swords, and hammers as they marched into the large marbled teller area of the bank.

But there were no Goblins here.

Harry stepped forward and swung Aethereum, unleashing a barely visible distortion through the air that passed over the floor, walls, teller windows, and everything else within the area. A few things briefly had wisps of Magic be stripped from them by Aethereum’s power, but nothing else happened.

Drad kneeled down next to Drasurd and placed his hand on the marble floor, closing his eye for a second. “There all below…in our tunnels.” He opened his eyes and stood up again. “I can’t get any further information, my King. The Magic of the Goblins clings to the tunnels and disrupts my ability to ‘see’ through the stones.”

“You’ve done well, my son.” Drasurd didn’t hold the lack of information against Drad in the slightest. “We march!” He declared and all of the Erdunn Dwarves called back.

“We follow the King!” The call was loud and strong.

Getting into the tunnels reminded Harry of the first time that he’d ever been here, way back in his first year at Hogwarts. The tracks and carts were still the same, and Harry now wondered if they were actually Dwarven make or Goblin.

“Brother Potter, if you would?” Drasurd requested, his eyes sharp as he looked for any trace of Goblins hiding behind Magic.

“Of course.” Harry swung Aethereum again, the wave of barely visible power racing down the corridor and stripping all the Magic away in a thick mist that dispersed a second later.

Now that the Magic was gone, Drasurd placed his hand on the stone wall and murmured something in Dwarvish under his breath.

Rmmmbbbllleee

The rail and carts were pushed to the side as the stone from the wall and floor merged and formed a solid path where the railing used to be. With a solid floor to walk on, the Erdunn Dwarves marched deeper into the tunnels.

“Things are going quite well.” Fleur mentioned from just behind Harry.

Penny agreed with a nod. “Almost too well. Are the remaining Goblins not going to fight back?”

“I doubt they’re going to give up a single Knut without a fight.” Tonks said with a small snort of disbelief. Goblins were far too greedy for this to end peacefully.

Harry was focused on his own task of stripping away all of the spells, wards, and enchantments on the tunnels as he followed behind Drasurd and Drad. But a part of him marveled at the ancient Dwarven tunnels still recognizing the ones that made them so long ago once the Goblin Magic was stripped away. Drasurd, as King, had full control of the tunnels if he desired it. As they continued deeper, Harry’s main role was to destroy the Goblin Magic and allow Drasurd to take control of the tunnels once more.

“Gurakh rul maurda!” A Goblin called out from further down the tunnel.

The Dwarves in the front quickly formed a shield wall with a slam of their mighty shields against the floor.

Wsh

Wsh

Wsh

Wsh

Wsh

Wsh

A hail of metal bolts slammed into the unmoving shields and clattered to the stone floor.

“Thunder lances!” Drasurd ordered powerfully.

The black rods with the white quartz on top were placed between the Dwarves holding the shields, the quartz tips a short distance beyond the shield wall as they sparked.

Krakboom

Krakboom

Krakboom

Krakboom

Krakboom

Bolts of lightning blitzed down the tunnel and into the darkness, illuminating it for a fraction of a second.

“Graaauugghh!”

“Arrgghhh!”

The pained cries of many Goblins echoed in the tunnels.

The formation marched forward behind the protection of the shield wall. Only to come upon a small group of dead Goblins, their bodies smoking from the lightning they’d been hit with. None of them were wearing the armor that had given the horde above such resistance against Magic. It appeared the Goblins hadn’t expected their horde to be defeated and had only left a precautionary force behind to protect the tunnels.

“Toss them aside. We continue our march!” Drasurd ordered and the corpses were kicked off the edge of the stone pathway to fall into the depths. The Dwarves could always find and burn the corpses later after they’d reclaimed the tunnels.

The first vaults appeared as the force continued deeper into the uppermost tunnel. Drasurd placed his hand on the first vault door only to grimace in a mixture of disgust and anger. “Filthy Goblins, staining our handcrafted vaults with their putrid Magic.” He looked at Harry after taking a few seconds to calm down. “Crother Potter, if you could?”

“Of course, King Drasurd.” Harry tapped the vault door with Aethereum and felt the Magic disperse. “Done.”

Drasurd placed his hand on the door again and nodded a moment later. “Aye. The vault is clear now.”

Harry, Tonks, Fleur, and Penny heard a small ‘clank’ from the door and the force moved onward to the next vault door. Harry dispersed the Goblin Magic on this one as well, but Drasurd didn’t touch the second vault door. It seemed the Dwarven King had learned what he needed to from the first one. As they continued deeper, Harry tapped Aethereum against each vault door to remove the Goblin Magic from them, one by one.

“Hold!” Drasurd’s sudden order saw the entire formation stop in their tracks instantly. The large force went quiet as Drasurd held up his hand. In the silence a faint grumbling and growling could be heard. “Stand aside.” Drasurd ordered and the shield wall parted for him as he drew the Sword of Erdunn. Fire alighted along the length of the blade as the rubies in the handle shone with a flame-like light. “Humph!” Drasurd thrust the sword forward, reminiscent of Harry’s own moves while fighting the Goblin horde on the surface, and a massive firestorm roared down the tunnel for several long moments. With a wave of the sword, the flames vanished and Drasurd looked into the darkness. “Drad.”

Drad placed his hand on the stone wall and closed his eyes. “No movement, my King.” He opened his eyes and moved to stand next to his father again.

The force marched forward, Harry removing the Goblin Magic from every vault and the tunnel before they passed through the darkened area. The tunnel became a bit brighter right away, though still shadowed. Seeing the charred husks of a large group of Goblins, smoke still rising form the corpses and several flames still burning on clothing here and there was an unsettling sight.

At least for the humans among the Dwarven force.

“GULAHK!!!” A screeching cry rang out from deeper into the depths of the tunnels.

“We’ll move in formation!” Drasurd called out as the Dwarves got behind their shield wall. “Brother Potter, Miss Tonks, Miss Clearwater, Miss Delacour, could we get some light?”

Multiple bright Lumos Charms filled the air, all of them hovering just below the ceiling, illuminating the tunnel and the vast cavern that it opened up into a moment later.

“Gaaaauuuhhh!!!” The Goblins that were revealed, what had to be a hundred at least, screeched and snarled at the Dwarves and those with them.

Wsh

Wsh

Wsh

Wsh

Wsh

Wsh

Wsh

Wsh

Wsh

Wsh

Wsh

Wsh

The wall of metal bolts that headed for the Dwarves and their allies glinted brightly in the light of the multitude of Lumos Charms.

“HAH!!!” Drad and three other Dwarves, all with Earth Shapers on their right arms, jerked their hands and arms upward. With a rumble the stone warped and formed a thick wall between the force and the incoming projectiles.

The loud clanging of metal on stone followed for a moment afterwards.

“Projectiles!” Drad ordered and the other three followed his lead.

Crack

The stone wall shattered into rocks, each the size of a softball, and the large chunks of stone were launched like bullets at the horde of Goblins.

“Auugkh!”

“Kreaaugh!”

“Awwkh!”

“Guagghh!”

The Goblins were smashed by the fast-moving, heavy projectiles and blood painted the stone floor and walls in gory splashes of red.

The Dwarves marched forwards, their heavy iron boots resounding in the massive cavern. The Goblins that had survived the barrage of stones were quickly overrun. Axes from the shield-bearing Dwarves split Goblin heads as if they were melons. Heavy iron and steel hammers crushed any Goblin that tried to attack the formation from the sides. In only a few minutes, the entire cavern was cleared of Goblins.

“Ugh… The smell…” Tonks wrinkled her nose at the stench of blood and dead Goblins.

“It is very repugnant.” Fleur agreed, covering her nose with her hand.

Penny leaned closer to Drad. “How many levels and tunnels are there?”

Drad thought about it for a moment, having to recall his lessons from youth about what Baraz Irkul, the Dwarven name for the tunnels of London, had been like before the Wizards and Witches of the day had forced the Dwarves out and the Goblins took over. “Should be several levels deep and the tunnels branch out a good distance in every direction. If this is the level of resistance that’s left, it should only take us two days…maybe three...to exterminate the Goblins and reclaim everything with Brother Potter getting rid of all the Goblin Magic.”

“Three days?!” Penny exclaimed at the time that they’d be down in the tunnels.

“We should probably aim for two days, if possible.” Harry said, fully agreeing with Penny’s shock at being down in the tunnels for three days.

Fleur nodded quickly, her long silvery blonde hair swaying from the motion. “Yes, we should aim to be thorough, but quick.” It was clear that Fleur wasn’t a fan of being down in the tunnels with the stench of Goblin and who knew what else filling the air.

“The Aurors have the bank surrounded and I’m supposed to send back updates with the Paper Plane Charm every hour.” Tonks reminded them that she had the worst of it since she was going to be ‘on-the-clock’ the entire time. “I’m going to have to explain what’s going on and hope they can send some supplies down here to us.”

As the group entered the next tunnel that branched off from the huge cavern, they left a group of Dwarves behind to guard the entrance and the pathway back to the surface. Should any Goblins attempt to flee, the group guarding the path would either exterminate them, or hold them back while sending word for the main force to return as fast as possible.

While walking the second tunnel, Harry would clear out the Goblin Magic with Aethereum. The tunnels were stripped of the Goblin Magic in thick mist-like clouds, while each vault door was cleared with a tap from Aethereum and a small pulse of mana.

“There’s no Goblins in this tunnel?” Drasurd sounded surprised as the end of the tunnel came into view, a vault door marking its end. “Did they only defend the central cavern and the tunnel leading to it?”

“Surely they didn’t leave such a small number of Goblins to defend the tunnels?” Drad seemed perplexed by the lack of resistance. “Should we check the vaults on the way back, my King?”

Harry looked thoughtful. ‘Could the Goblins really hide in the vaults?’ Surely the Goblins accessing the vaults freely would violate some kind of magical contract that they’d made with the Ministry in the past. ‘Common sense may not be so common amongst some Wizards and Witches, but even if they gave Gringotts control of the money, there’s no way that the ‘better than you’ Purebloods would let the Goblins enter the family vaults without a member of said family making a visit themselves…right?’

On the way back, every vault was opened and looked inside of, though Drasurd and the other Dwarves made sure not to touch a single thing within, just in case of some type of protection placed on them by the one using it.

Not a single Goblin was found.

“They must be deeper.” Drasurd said once they returned to the central cavern. “The oldest and highest security vaults with the most valuables are in the deepest levels. We’ll continue to check every tunnel thoroughly, but be prepared for heavy resistance at each floor’s central cavern!”

“Yes, my King!” The Erdunn Dwarves said in unison, their deep voices making an echo in the cavern.

Each tunnel on the first level was checked, and not a single Goblin was found. The benefit of the situation being that they cleared the level faster than expected. The detriment was that they’d be looking at heavy resistance at each floor’s main cavern with an unknown amount of Goblins.

“Each level is smaller than the one above it.” Drad explained to Harry, Penny, Fleur, and Tonks as they finished inspecting the last tunnel of the first level. “It’s like an inverted version of a pyramid from Egypt. Back when we Dwarves owned these tunnels, very few Witches and Wizards of the day could afford to use our deepest vaults. Most didn’t have enough money or valuables to need them either, so the first level is the largest with the most basic of vaults.”

“Clearing the lower levels of Goblin Magic should be faster then, but I bet the amount of resistance will be the fiercest at the bottom.” Harry said with a hum.

Tonks finished writing her report and tapped it with her finger. The paper folded itself into a paper plane and then flew off towards the surface and the waiting Aurors that had the main floor of Gringotts locked down. “We should help out on the main caverns if that’s where the most resistance is going to be.”

“With all of us working together, plus Harry’s sword, it should drastically reduce the time spent fighting.” Fleur agreed with Tonks.

“That’s up to King Drasurd though.” Penny reminded them both. “These tunnels belong to the Erdunn Dwarves. They all want to fight for them and reclaim them with their strength. They may only except so much help from us.”

It was Drasurd that spoke up in response, surprising them all that he’d been listening. “We would not deny our sworn brother and his wives if they want to help us reclaim our stolen birthright.” He looked over his shoulder at the four of them with a slight smirk. “After all, only a fool let’s pride get in the way of success.”

Harry, having the most experience with the Dwarves of Erdunn, grinned at Drasurd. “Is that a bit of Dwarven business acumen that you’re sharing with us, King Drasurd?”

“Aye. I won’t even charge you for it, Brother Potter.” Drasurd chortled as he faced forward again.

-Next Day-

“GRAAAUUUHHHH!!!” A large Goblin screeched and let loose three metal bolts at the Dwarves from a small outcropping of stone situated higher up on the stone wall.

Wsh

Wsh

Wsh

Clang

The bolts impacted the heavy iron shield wall of the Dwarves and bounced off.

Krakboom

A blast of lightning from a thunder lance hit the Goblin, sending it screaming to the hard stone floor below with a nasty thud as sparks arced off its body for a second longer before vanishing.

“KROAH GRUTEP!!!” A large armored Goblin bellowed out from behind a horde of other, smaller armored Goblins that were firing more metal bolts at the Dwarven formation.

“Enough of that!” Tonks clapped her palms together in front of her, both arms fully extended. A wave of force smashed through every Goblin in its path, sending them flying, before knocking the large Goblin into the wall.

Fleur, not one to let the opening pass, conjured a swarm of bright purple orbs and launched them all at the staggered and downed Goblins. “Vanish!”

The Goblins did just that, their bodies disappearing into blood mist as the orbs exploded on contact. Only pieces of their armor survived, but it all became shrapnel that tore through their fellow Goblins.

Wooooooooo

A whistle of wind was heard in the cavern during the brief lull in the fighting that Fleur’s spell had caused.

Splat

The still standing Goblins fell into bloody chunks, their bodies, where their armor didn’t cover, had been sliced through cleanly.

“Was that the last of them?” Harry asked, Aethereum held to the side from his previous swing.

“Just the wounded to finish off.” Drad said as the Dwarves advanced onto the dying Goblins with axes and hammers.

In short order the Goblins were finished off and the final level seemed to be secured.

Thump

Until something heavy nearly shook the ground.

Thump

“What in the world?” Penny gaped t what emerged from the darkness of one of the four tunnels.

Thump

The thing looked vaguely like a dragon, though the face was distinctly more demon-like. It was massive with skin the color of blackened stone. The creature appeared bipedal with large wings on its back and a tail swaying behind it. Two thick and powerful arms with grasping hands and wickedly sharp claws hung down to almost the strange creature’s knees.

Thump

“There’s another one!” Fleur called out.

Thump

Behind the force of Dwarves, emerging from the opposite tunnel from the first, was an identical creature, catching them in a pincer maneuver.

Thump

“We never had anything like these within Baraz Irkul to my knowledge.” Drasurd said clearly, his voice carrying in the suddenly quite cavern. “The Goblins must’ve brought them in, like the dragon from before.” He readied the Sword of Erdunn as he stared the strange creature down.

Without a roar, a growl or any sound at all, both of the strange creatures lunged towards the Dwarves.

Bang

Bang

The shield walls were both knocked asunder in an instant. The mighty shields of the Dwarves flying through the air to crash loudly on the stone floor.

“Ack!”

“Damn it!”

“My arm!”

“Hold them back!”

Krakboom

Krakboom

Krakboom

Krakboom

The lightning from the thunder lances shook the air as bolts slammed into the two strange creatures.

“The hell?” Harry looked on in surprise as the lightning seemed to flow around the creatures, not able to get past their black, stone-like skin. “Magic resistant? Or just lightning resistant?”

“Burn!” Penny conjured a massive fireball above her head and launched it at the huge creature behind that had come from behind the group.

BOOM

The creature charged through the fire straight at Penny without a sound other than the heavy stomps of its clawed feet on the stone floor.

“No you bloody don’t!” Tonks framed the creature between her hands. “Cube!”

The creature bounced off the wall inside the immense Cube spell that Tonks had conjured. It still didn’t make a sound, didn’t even seem hurt, despite the fact it had literally bounced off the wall face first.

The creature raised its left arm, holding it off to the side and then clawed through Tonks’s spell, shattering it apart.

“How?!” Tonks gaped at what the mysterious thing had just done.

“HOAH!!!” Drasurd swung the sword of Erdunn, a powerful cleaving force flowing the path of the blade.

Ching

The first odd creature stopped in its charge, the blackened skin letting off a brief spark from the force hitting it. The thing immediately continued charging the instant the force stopped holding it back. The long arms swiped at Drasurd from both right and left simultaneously, looking to tear the Dwarf King apart.

“Dad!” Drad had a shield and panted his feet strongly as he blocked the right claw.

BANG

Drad’s boots tore two trenches in the stone floor from the force and the shield dented so badly that it practically folded over the claws slamming into it.

“GAUGH!” Drad cried out in pain as he felt his left arm break. Dwarves prided themselves on their robust and durable bodies, for their strong bones to break was a rare occurrence, but Drad was going through it for the first time in his life today.

“NNNGGGHHH!!!” Drasurd grunted out as he struggled to hold back the left claw with his shield. Even after dispersing the majority of the force from the strike, the weight of the limb was incredible!

Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank

A dozen massive, thick, steel chains snaked along the ground and wrapped around the creature putting pressure on the Dwarf King and Dwarf Prince.

“Back…away!” Fleur forced the chains wrapped around the unknown creature to drag it backwards against the stone wall. Her willpower was actually struggling against the odd thing’s sheer strength, much to her shock. With a quick transfiguration, the ends of her conjured chains turned into immense screws and drilled into the wall. Through the dust and debris, the creature was chained to the wall and held tightly. “Hah…hah…hah… Wat are youz?” Fleur’s accent thickened a bit as she tried to catch her breath. She’d never experienced such a struggle just to move something she’d conjured before.

WOOOOOOOOSSSHHH

The icy gale that Harry unleashed from Aethereum howled as the strange creature that had torn its way through Tonks’s Cube spell was covered in ice. “Freeze over and die already!” He almost growled at the unknown creature that had threatened his loved ones.

Thump

Thump

Thump

The creature didn’t freeze over, however. Instead it took steps closer and closer to Harry as the ice built up across its body, only to shatter a second later, over and over again.

“How the fuck?!” Harry cursed as the creature continued to move forward, seemingly unbothered by the ice and chill at all.

Krakboom

Krakboom

Krakboom

Krakboom

More lightning from thunder lances blasted the slowed monster, but it only stuttered a single step before continuing to push through the veritable blizzard that Harry was unleashing upon it.

Drasurd checked on Drad as the strange monster struggled against the massive, heavy chains holding it against the wall. “You need to retreat, my son. You’re in no condition to fight with your arm broken like that.”

Drad, much like his father and grandfather, was stubborn though. “I’ve still got my good arm!” He forced himself onto his feet with a grunt of pain.

“Don’t be a fool!” Drasurd said with a clear and powerful authority in his voice. “The line of Erdunn hasn’t been broken since it began! We cannot afford to lose you!”

Fleur continued to apply more and more metal restraints to her chains, nearly stapling the struggling creature to the wall with thick iron horseshoe-shaped bars that she sank into the stone with force. “I don’t know how long this will hold!” She interrupted Drasurd and Drad. “We need to find a way to deal with this thing!”

Drasurd pushed Drad backwards with his shield, a look shared between father and son for a moment. Drad bit out a curse as he stepped back, nearing the tunnel that led down to this cavern, and back up to the previous level. “If it’s alive, then the Sword of Erdunn can slay it!” Drasurd charged forward towards the trapped beast and swung with all his might at its leg.

Clang

The blade bounced off the blackened, stone-like skin with a strong reverberation that put the ‘pins and needles’ feeling into Drasurd’s hand.

“Impossible…” Drasurd’s eyes widened, not seeing a mark on the skin at all. ‘Basilisk venom can kill any living creature…but if I can’t cut its skin, then I can’t use the venom!’ Drasurd prepared to swing the Sword of Erdunn again, but before he could swing, the creature forced its way free of all the restraints Fleur had conjured.

CRACK

The entire stone wall shattered as the trapped beast used its strength to tear its way off the wall. The heavy thuds and clattering of thick iron slamming into the stone floor was loud in the bottom cavern.

Water formed around the monster’s head and it didn’t move for a moment. The sphere of water showed no signs of agitation at all on its surface. Fleur blinked in confusion as the creature didn’t try to escape from being drowned. The next second and it lunged towards her, its claws looking to run her through.

“HUUUAAAHHH!!!” Drasurd swung the Sword of Erdunn along the ground and a wave of stone rolled forward like a wave, throwing the creature of its feet and into the far wall.

“They’re not alive…” Fleur realized even as Drasurd rushed to her side.

Drasurd looked perplexed by her words. “What do you mean, girl?”

Fleur looked like she’d had an epiphany as she used a wandless Sonorous Charm on herself. “THEY’RE NOT ALIVE!!! THEY’RE GOLEMS!!!”

“Golems?” Penny blinked as she’d wrapped up the legs of the creature that she, Harry, and Tonks were facing in thick adhesive that stuck the legs together and the feet to the floor.

Tonks looked shocked. “No wonder they don’t make noise or react to anything!”

“Fleur you’re brilliant!” Harry swung Aethereum at the heavily slowed golem that was struggling its way out of the thick adhesive with its supernatural strength. The huge distortion in the air swept over the golem and it went still. “Just have to get rid of the Animation Charm on them!”

That was proven wrong when the golem started moving again and managed to get one of its legs unstuck.

“That should’ve worked!” Harry nearly balked at the continued movement of the automaton.

The trapped golem spread its large wings and flapped them powerfully, kicking up a strong gale that Harry blocked with a large Protego from Aethereum.

“Shite!” Tonks backed off a bit and saw Fleur and Drasurd piling on as much earth as possible to try and trap the golem they were fighting with. “How’re supposed to stop them?! They’re basically immune to Magic and they don’t break no matter how hard we hit them!” She still sent a massive wave of force at the golem that she, Harry, and Penny were trying to deal with, making it stagger back a step and stopping its powerful wingbeats.

Penny conjured more rubber adhesive and dropped the huge mass onto the golem’s wings, upsetting its balance further and making it fall down, sticking both of its wings to the floor. “Golems…that’re impervious to Magic after their creation… Why does that sound like I’ve heard of it somewhere before?” She tried to go through the vast amount of knowledge that she possessed, trying to recall why such a description rang a tiny bell in her memory.

Fleur transfigured the stone wall above the golem that she and Drasurd were trying to deal with into lava, the molten stone poured down onto the demon-like automaton and buried it even as it tried to claw its way towards them through the mounds of stone that Drasurd was hitting it with, burying its legs and slowing it down. Seeing the golem’s head emerge from the lava, its own stone body not melting in the slightest, Fleur bit out a curse and Veela Fire snapped to life along her arms. With an almost bird-like screech, she bathed the golem in the intensely hot fire, making the molten rock boil fiercely.

Harry, Tonks, and Penny had never seen Fleur snap like this before and it spurred them into more powerful action. The ground beneath the struggling golem shifted into a soupy, cement-like mire that the golem sank into quickly. With a grunt, Tonks undid her Transfiguration and locked the golem into the ground. Harry brought Aethereum down and the blade made contact with the golem’s barely exposed head. A blast of the distortion washed over the area and the golem went still again.

Penny, seeing the golem unmoving took off towards the tunnel that it had emerged from. “I think I know how to stop them!”

“What?!” Tonks looked at Penny in confusion.

“Dwarves!” Penny called out to the Dwarves that were still able to fight, though that number had been drastically reduced. “Go down the tunnel that the other golem came from! There should be a large stone with glyphs etched into it! Smash it to pieces!”

“Yes!” Drad was the one that spoke up, his powerful voice making the other Dwarves move quickly. “We’ll destroy it! But what is it?!”

Penny yelled back just before she vanished into the dark tunnel. “They’re not normal golems! They’re GARGOYLES!!!”

Harry went still at hearing the term, his own mind going back to a memory from Hogwarts. In his third year, Lupin had given the class lessons on older forms of Defense that had been employed to protect people and places from Dark Forces. Golems were featured in the chapter as protectors of people. But it was as they briefly went over golems that the topic of Gargoyles had come up. Unlike golems that protected people, Gargoyles protected places, the places in question being wherever their pedestals were set up. Gargoyles were used as a last resort because they only protected places specifically, not the people within them. Activating a Gargoyle while those you wanted to protect were still around was foolish as the creations couldn’t distinguish friend from foe, they only defended the location. It was why they were most often placed at locations that surrounded the actual place that the Wizards and Witches that used them wanted to protect.

Penny had the same lesson from Lupin, so the fact that she remembered such a brief overview so readily was honestly amazing.

-First Tunnel-

“Run! We have to find this stone!” Drad urged the other Dwarves as they rushed down the darkened corridor.

“Yes, my Prince!” The other Dwarves yelled back as they rushed as fast as they could, all of them carrying their large, heavy hammers to shatter this supposed stone with.

A faint glow in the dark caught Drad’s attention and he rushed towards it. There, at the end of the tunnel, was a huge rectangular cube of stone with glyphs glowing a light purple color. Not wasting even a second on words. Drad hefted the large hammer that he’d picked up and swung it with all the force he could exert with just his right arm.

BANG

The sound was loud in the tunnel, but the pedestal barely cracked.

“YAH!!!” The other Dwarves roared as they hefted their hammers high and bashed the stone pedestal over and over again. Tiny cracks formed in the surface from the constant hammering. Those cracks started to spread and deepen as the Dwarves let out powerful bellows and smashed the stone even harder.

“FOR KING DRASURD!!!” Drad roared as he slammed his hammer down again and the pedestal split in two.

The other Dwarves slammed their hammers down onto the two pieces and the stone finally shattered under the immense physical abuse that only a group of Dwarven warriors could unleash.

-Second Tunnel-

“Where is it, where is it?!” Penny repeated to herself over and over again. She ran as fast as she could, even as her breath got harsher, her lungs struggling to take in air, Penny continued to run faster. “There!” She saw the faint purple glow of a few glyphs and had to nearly skid to a stop to not run into the pedestal. “It’s immense…” Penny figured it would be, given the size of the Gargoyles, but it was almost up to her waist in height alone, not to mention its length and width. “Focus…” Penny narrowed her eyes and placed both of her hands on the pedestal. The stone began to vibrate, making the dust and grit on it shake and start moving away from Penny’s hands. “Break…break…break…” She chanted as she forced more and more mana into her spell. The glyphs on the stone glowed brighter and then dimmer, over and over again as Penny’s mana began to overload the pedestal. “BREAK!!!” Penny shouted at the stone.

Crack

The pedestal split in two right between Penny’s hands. A rush of force escaped the stone, blowing Penny’s hair back and nearly taking her off her feet as the two heavy pieces of stone were forced away from each other from the overload of mana. The glow of the glyphs faded, leaving Penny in the near darkness as she caught her breath.

“Where…did the Goblins…get these from?” Penny asked as she breathed in and out heavily.

It was a fair question, given that Gargoyles hadn’t been used since Warding had taken over the vast majority of protection of magical homes and places.

-Bottom Cavern-

The gargoyle that was still trying to claw its way towards Fleur and Drasurd stopped moving entirely.

Drasurd stopped swinging the Sword of Erdunn to stare at the still Gargoyle. “They did it…” A smile broke out on his face in pride for what his son and his men had done. “They did it!”

Harry and Tonks both let out a breath as well, the Gargoyle they’d been holding back and halfway torn itself out of the ground when it suddenly stopped moving.

“Thank Merlin…” Tonks exhaled heavily.

“What is this Gargoyle made out of?” Harry wondered as he placed his hand on the black stone. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

The question would go unanswered for now as those in the cavern quickly welcomed back the ones that had raced down the tunnels to destroy the pedestals.

After a short celebration, Drasurd stood before his injured and weary warriors. “Without all of you, we never would’ve won this battle for Baraz Irkul! But this day I, King Drasurd, declare that the Dwarves of Erdunn have reclaimed our birthright!”

“OOOOUUUAAAHHH!!!” The Erdunn Dwarves, even the injured ones, cheered loudly as they rejoiced finally getting back what had been stolen from their ancestors so long ago. The place that had once made the Dwarves a fixture in Magical culture on the British Isles was now theirs again, and with it, they could finally come back from the fringes of society and be a pillar of the Magical Community once more!

“Brother Potter! Join the celebration!” Drasurd called out to Harry with the largest smile that Harry had ever seen on the Dwarf King’s face. “You’ve helped make all of this possible for us! Our bloodlines will forever be brothers!”

Harry chuckled as he walked over, bringing Tonks, Fleur and Penny with him as the cheer and joy in the air nearly filled the entire cavern. Harry could only imagine what would happen after this, but he very much hoped to have some downtime again soon.

‘I really want to work on some of the ideas I’ve come up with some more.’ Harry thought to himself as he held his loved ones close, shared soft kisses, and just enjoyed each other’s company, knowing that they were safe and unharmed.

-End Chapter-

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Baraz Irkul, the tunnels beneath London, the Erdunn Dwarves birthright, has been reclaimed! OOOUUUAAAHHH!!!

Now the Magical within Britain have to contend with what this sudden Goblin Rebellion has done to the relationship between Magical and Non-Magical in the UK.

Fucking Goblins…

Sirius and Marlie aren’t going to want to let Harry out of their sight once they get ahold of him after all of this. It’s certainly not what you want to come back to straight after your honeymoon!

Will Harry and Family get some time of peace and relaxation before anything ELSE blows up and causes a major incident?

What will come next as this story winds down to its conclusion?

Keep reading to find out!

Current Mana Levels

Harry – 41,004

Tonks – 31,198

Penelope – 25,062

Fleur – 25,306

Dumbledore – 41,310

Drasurd – 63,972

Until I get your reviews, later!