Ch 14 pt 1

After Rita and Bozo left Hogwarts and the Chamber of Secrets to work on their story, and with Harry and Hermione off on their own pursuits, Gilderoy sauntered up Diagon Alley at midmorning to Gringotts, nodding to his many fans, basking in the glory that was his due. All the attention still made Harry nervous, of course, but not nearly as much as it used to. He knew and understood that he would never be "just another face in the crowd." On the other hand, it was nice to know that so many people cared about him. Yeah, that could change quickly, but as long as he took the right measures in advance, it would never happen. He had to pace himself and the revelations he made — not too much too fast. And this year was turning into quite the goldmine of breaking news stories that featured him!

His future security was well and truly assured by things that he had done this year, that were his accomplishments, and not life stories stolen from others. In that vein, Fleecem, Cheatem, and Beatem had started approaching all the people he had wronged and begun setting things right. The villager who had provided the basis for Wanderings with Werewolves found himself the recipient of a "lost" cousin's bequest that significantly improved his home and life, providing a solid old-age security that had been noticeably lacking. He was the richest person in his village and would never again know want. He also received a modest sack of galleons from Lockhart thanking him for his assistance in tracking down the Werewolf. The man would have nothing to say but praise for Lockhart when someone finally tracked him down and asked some questions.

The woman who had inspired Holidays with Hags had a similar bequest, including providing for schooling for her children, and grandchildren, to either Hogwarts or university, whichever was applicable. And a sack of Galleons, as well as a personally autographed complete set of Lockhart's books.

Gilderoy could easily retire the rest of his debts to those he had harmed with only a small portion of the funds looted from the Malfoys. His next two books, Burrowing with a Basilisk and Restraining a Rat, would be best-sellers and easily replace those funds. And push him up the list into the top five richest Wizards in England.

And the revenue from the Basilisk ingredients would only add to his wealth and prestige.

As he entered the bank, a Goblin looked up from his desk and made a motion to another. Before Gilderoy could even get to a counter a Goblin came up to him. "Mr. Lockhart," he said, before turning on his heel and briskly leading the Wizard through a door at the back of the bank and to a small room. "Would you like tea?" the Goblin asked cordially.

"Ah, yes, please."

Harry/Gilderoy looked around. Instead of a sparse stone room, this one was richly appointed in wood with animals-skin rugs underneath well-crafted tables and chairs. His last visit, while nice, hadn't been nearly as pleasant. The Goblins had kept to their reputation as insulting and touchy little bastards that time. But this?

Interesting how simply having ten or so tons of galleons changed their attitude. Or was it the sneaky and underhanded way he had acquired those galleons? It was difficult to tell which they respected more.

He had no sooner sat than a Goblin hurried in with a tray and set the table beside Harry/Gilderoy with cups, kettle, and a plate of biscuits.

Definitely not your ordinary Goblin approach to business.

The Goblin hadn't even reached the door to leave before another came in.

"Mr. Lockhart," said the Goblin as he came over. "I am Ragnurk, your account manager. What can Gringotts do for you today?"

"Ragnurk, my friend!" — no, he wasn't. No Wizard was a friend to the Goblins, according to them — and he hadn't known he had an account manager. "I need a team of professionals to render a rather large magical animal into potion ingredients."

"What kind, how large?" The Goblin sat and pulled a quill and roll of parchment from his pocket.

Harry squashed the Gilderoy urge to wax poetic. The Goblins preferred to get straight to business, no dilly-dallying around for them.

"A Basilisk. Sixty feet plus. Dead. Killed yesterday morning. Very little damage."

The Goblin stared at him. "A Basilisk." He stared a bit more. "Sixty-foot." He frowned. "How killed?"

Gilderoy beamed happily, "I shan't bore you with the full story, but I finished by giving it a sword thrust through the upper palate of the mouth into the brain."

The Goblin sat back in his chair. "Gringotts does not take kindly to jokesters or pranksters."

"I can provide a memory of the creature if you have a pensieve."

It took less than five minutes to verify his story. Just a short montage of the snake chasing him — no signs of the roosters! — him running with the sword, him pulling the sword out of the snake's mouth, him staring at the dead snake from a distance.

The Goblin stared almost respectfully at Lockhart.

"We can have a team assembled shortly. The split will be fifty-fifty."

Harry laughed delightedly. The haggling was long, but ended with a much better eighty-twenty split. Harry would keep half the skin, three ounces of venom, a quart of blood, five of the teeth (not venom fangs) and a single three-ounce vial of each of the other parts of the snake used in potions. All based on his estimate of sixty feet. Shorter would decrease his portions, longer would not change them. The estimate on the value of the snake at today's prices was well over one million galleons. Wow! That alone, when added to his current balance, made him the richest Wizard in the Kingdom.

By the time they finished, the team was ready and Gilderoy showed them the portkey destination via pensieve. They appeared directly in The Chamber of Secrets.

He left the experts to their job and spent some time talking with Myrtle before heading off to a late dinner. The Goblins had said they should be finished by dawn. The Castle's protective enchantments did not extend to where the Chamber lay under the lake, and thus the Goblins could freely portkey back and forth as they needed during the night.

Gilderoy was a bit surprised that he managed to pull off the operation without any reaction from the Headmaster.

Saying that there was no purpose to having the professors and students so widely separated when there were so few around, the Headmaster had moved the House tables to sides and placed a single round table in the Great Hall yesterday. The students straggled in — there were only six total — and joined Gilderoy, McGonagall, and Flitwick for dinner. Snape was eating in his office, the blue-eyed blonde Wizard presumed. The other professors were either with family or out shopping for presents.

The Wizard was still amazed that no one had noticed either Rita or the Goblins' presence on school grounds. Dumbledore must truly believe in the effectiveness of the school's protective enchantments to keep dangerous creatures, both monsters and human, from the school. How that fit with the Troll and Quirrell-mort last year was an interesting question. Had the Headmaster disabled the protections? If so, that easily explained why he had not noticed Gilderoy's extra-curricular activities. Nor noticed so many of the things that had gone wrong in Harry's previous life.