21 21. Goblin’s Greed. 

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"Wuf wuf wuf wuf wuf wuf… Wuf wuf wuf wuf wuf…"

Koko, the goose, snored with his strange low barks like a little puppy while being snuggled beside Happy's feet on the blanket. His tiny webbed feet kept kicking as if he was chasing something.

It was nighttime, as evident by the bright moonlight shining from the window.

Whoosh!

"Happy! Ron! Wake up! You got to see this!"

Happy grunted and woke up, "Ugh… Can't you wait until the morning?"

Happy laid back again and tried to continue his sleep.

"No, I can't! It's too magical!" Harry exclaimed and tried to drag Happy out of bed. He could have gone with just Ron, but he wanted Happy since he was well-informed about strange magic that he didn't know about.

Annoyedly, Happy got up, put on his slippers, and followed Harry. It was hard, but somehow, all three huddled under Harry's invisibility cloak. As for Koko, he was a duck, so he freely and openly followed them to their destination.

Eventually, they arrived inside a strange room that seemed like a storeroom. Harry dragged them in front of a large mirror there and pointed, "Look! It's my parents!"

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed at that instant. "This is… I'm a head boy, and I'm holding a quidditch cup. I'm quidditch captain too! And who is that pretty girl hugging me? I… look good. I think this mirror shows the future."

As Harry's face fell, Happy interjected, "No, it shows what your heart desires the most. Just like I see my parents in the mirror, Harry sees them too...And stop gloating, Ron."

Happy didn't clarify, however, that he saw his parents from his real world, not the animals he shared blood with currently. They were both holding him tightly, smiling at him. At first, he choked up, but he swallowed back the whimper in his tone.

"How can you be so sure?" Ron asked, wanting to believe this was the future.

"Look up there. Read it backward, and skip the first letter while making words. It may look like some magical chant, but it simply says, 'I show not your face but your heart's desire.'" Happy pointed.

Harry was quick to grasp, "You're right… This is just what we... desire."

Happy saw his family silently after that. The faces of his mom and dad were as clear in his mind as the day he died. But, in this case, they were smiling, as that's what his heart desired to see.

'I hope you two are well, Mom and Dad. Your Happy is very happy here.'

Happy then consciously changed his mind and started craving a cheeseburger, "Ah, now I see a mountain of cheeseburgers. This mirror is amazing! If one didn't know that this only showed desires, someone could go insane trying to chase what this mirror shows."

"I still see my parents," Harry muttered.

"Then try to think about something else that you want. Such as… Snape looking like a clown. Don't we all wish to see that?" Happy advised.

Harry closed his eyes and tried to picture it in his mind. Soon, a smirk grew on his face. "It worked… but he looks even scarier now."

"Haha, I just imagined Ron in baby diapers, crying." Happy added.

"Oi!" Ron barked, even if he couldn't see it.

"Pfft… Let me try that." Harry slowly forgot the depressing memory and started having fun with his two friends.

Although Harry still desired to see his parents in the mirror, since he never really had a personal memory of them in his life, he was able to forget the pain.

After a short while of playing around and seeing what other images the mirror could show them, they soon returned to their rooms and slept soundly.

....

The idea Happy had about using the Room of Requirement to multiply food was too revolutionary, and he wished to research the limitations of the room before doing anything further. So he headed to the room of requirement the first thing the next day.

This time, before entering, he wished for something dangerous, "A path for me to enter the Chamber of Secrets."

He walked back and forth a few times, and eventually, the gate of the room appeared. Excited, he quickly jumped inside. But all he found was an empty room with a big open pipe's entrance on a wall. He carefully looked inside, wondering if it might really lead him into the chamber with the snake still in there.

Chanting the name of Grandpa God, he proceeded to enter it carefully and glanced inside. His eyes widened at the sight soon enough as there was a big round gate with snake patterns on it. "T-This… is amazing… The room can lead me to the locked door of the chamber. Since only a parseltongue can open it, I don't think I can enter inside."

Happy wasted no time retreating as he had no idea where the Basilisk lived. He didn't want to mistakenly look into its eyes and end up dying.

But doing that experiment proved something to Happy. 'So the room can show me all the pathways, but what's the limit? The school is more than a thousand years old. How many secret pathways exist here?'

Quickly, Happy walked out of the room and changed his desire, "A path to Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Again, the gate appeared, and Happy entered. But, sadly, this time, it was just an empty room with no doors or secret passageways around.

"I guess the room can't create things out of thin air. Crossing the Atlantic is nigh impossible with apparition anyway."

Clank!

"Hmm?" Happy suddenly stumbled on something with his foot, prompting him to look down.

"A wooden horse?" He noticed a small toy on the ground made of wood.

That instantly got Happy's mind thinking, "C-Could this be some sort of a portkey to that school in America? That would make sense. Hogwarts is ancient, and some wizards must have made this in the past and left it or stored it somewhere in the school."

Happy slowly started to realize the treasure he had found. However, he didn't know about the passcode to activate the portkey.

"Interesting…Then…has Dumbledore placed the sorcerer's stone inside that mirror by now? The movie or the books didn't give an exact time. But he should have since the new semester is about to begin."

With a new interest in mind, Happy left the room and pondered about the new destination, 'The room where Mirror of Erised is kept.'

Then he started walking back and forth.

"Mister Lestrange! What are you doing on the seventh floor?"

All of a sudden, Happy shrank his neck and halted moving back and forth so the door wouldn't appear, "Ah… I just came here to get some fresh air and think about things, Professor McGonagall."

"Then you should go to the grounds outside."

Happy agreed, "Yes, I will keep that in mind. I will go and look for my friends, Professor."

'Ugh… I'll try it again later.'

…

At Gringotts Bank.

Briprock was thrilled to learn about the valuable properties of Happy's blood. He envisioned himself swimming in gold coins once he sold this information to the highest bidder.

Indeed, his initial plan was to do something about it himself. However, he soon realized that harming Happy would attract not only the attention of the bank and humans, but also the wrath of pureblood fanatics who hold the Lestrange name in high regard. As a result, Briprock abandoned his initial plan.

Briprock sat at his desk in Gringotts Bank, staring greedily at the vial of Happy's blood. He pondered his options for a moment, but then decided that he needed someone more experienced than himself to help him get the full value of the blood. Briprock's mind immediately went to Griphook, the goblin who was known to be the best in the business.

With that decision made, Briprock quickly left his desk and made his way to Griphook's office.

"Griphook, I have something valuable that I need your help with," Briprock said, trying to hide the eagerness in his voice.

"What's in it for me?" Griphook replied, giving Briprock a sly smile.

"I'll give you a cut of the profits,"

Griphook eyed him for a moment, his dark gaze scrutinizing the scheming little goblin.

"Deal," Griphook blurted as he extended his hand to seal the agreement.

.....

Later in the day, while Briprock was on duty in the bank, Griphook acted nonchalant as he helped him with some inventory, finding some time to talk, just the two of them.

Soon enough, they were in the depths of Gringotts, riding the cart while hatching a plan. Griphook, intrigued by the potential value of information about Happy Lestrange, asked, "I've heard rumors about the Lestrange boy. He's lucky they didn't lock him up for being born a Lestrange."

Briprock's eyes turned even shadier, "Yes, he's a lucky little bastard. His blood is literally Felix Felicis!"

Griphook leaned forward, his sharp eyes locked onto Briprock. "Are you fully sure about the information?"

Briprock nodded, his voice hushed. "I am. I got his blood sample and tested it myself. He's a walking vault of gold, Griphook."

Griphook rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "This is big, Briprock. Very big. With this information, I could make a fortune selling it to the highest bidder. But I have to be careful. I can't let anyone else know about this for now, especially not the boy himself. If the wrong people find out, they'll stop at nothing to get their hands on him. I might lose my chance."

"What do you m—"

"Thank you for the gift!"

Bam!

Before Briprock could say anything about the odd phrasing of his words, Griphook pushed him off the cart.

Falling from the cart was a death sentence, and it was a common accident that most ignored. As the poor goblin plummeted into the darkness of the caves below with diminishing screams, Griphook's sinister grin only grew bigger.

"You know us Goblins, Briprock...Gold is everything."

....

Later that night, Griphook arranged a meeting with a man in a seedy tavern in Knockturn Alley, ready to make a fortune from Happy's blood.

In a private room, Griphook sat alone with a frown on his face. He grunted to himself from time to time, cursing the human wizards, "Never on time… Pathetic wizards."

Knock!

But soon enough, the door to the private room opened at that instant, and a hooded man walked in. Only after the door closed, the man removed his hood, revealing his sharp and widely known facial features.

"What is it? I don't have time to waste with a mere bank clerk."

Griphook, too proud of himself, stayed seated and greeted the man.

"Lord Lucius Malfoy... let's talk gold."

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