Harry Potter woke up feeling strangely tired. He rubbed his crusty eyes and looked around his room in an effort to orient himself. The drapes were shut, so he had no idea what hour it was but he hoped he didn't miss his appointment with Ragnok. With heavy steps, he walked towards the shower.

It was strange, he decided, to feel so drained yet relaxed. He barely had energy to get dressed, but the constant stress that was tormenting him for the last months disappeared. He felt light, almost giddy, with a strange sense of calmness that made him want to stay in his room all day long. However, he had things to do.

Harry walked towards the dining room in hopes of finding someone in the house and not wanting to bother any of his elves. Much to his relief, breakfast was still being served, though a few people were missing.

"Harry!" Theo greeted enthusiastically.

"Morning."

"Hey, are you okay? You're always the first one to be up," Hestia commented, trying to look casual, but her pinched eyebrows betrayed her worry.

"I talked with Sirius until late. Where's Fleur?"

"She went out with Lizzy and aunt Eleadora, something about showing her around," a bleary-eyed Terrence muttered.

Harry allowed the conversations to flow around, deciding to focus on eating his breakfast instead. Though he was entertained by Flora stealing Terrence's pancakes and the boy looking confused every time he tried to grab food from his empty plate. It was a calm meal that only served to soothe him further.

"Good morning master!"

The familiar voice made Harry look to the side. Ella was smiling at him, lifting slightly the tray of cookies she was carrying.

"I just finished baking this for you, try one!"

Harry resisted the urge to grimace at the offer. During his youth, he had a limited access to treats, which perhaps caused his dislike for them. The scent of ginger hit him when he reluctantly raised one, giving Ella a pained smile that turned more genuine at the memories this particular scent brought.

Since he met Elizabeth, she loved these cookies so Harry managed to buy her a few from a nearby bakery during the holidays. She would always try to share, however, he enjoyed seeing her happy much more than he wanted to try one so he rejected her offers. It was strange to have someone baking them only for him, it almost felt wrong. He noticed Ella's expectant gaze and took a tentative bite.

It was not bad, he decided. Actually, it was pretty good. It was not overly sweet and the ginger gave a pleasant bite to the treat.

"I really like it," he told his short friend, who beamed at him.

"I am so glad! I worked so hard in this recipe because Master dislikes sweets," Ella said, trying to hide her tearing eyes.

"Thank you, Ella."

Harry smiled at his loyal friend, who left after giving him a wide smile. He took a moment to enjoy his last minutes of peace before facing his responsibilities.

Ragnok was reading the report Fogs handed him. Considering this was the full report and not the watered-down version that was handed to the Minister, he could announce with a certain degree of pride this was the second time reading the blasted thing. Sleep is for the weak! A phrase Ragnok liked to repeat whenever he was forced to forgo his invaluable slumber. Fortunately, goblins needed fewer hours of rest than humans did. Otherwise, he shuddered at how hard his already laborious work would become.

He shook his head and took another sip of his beverage to clear his mind. The results of the analysis of Hogwarts were quite unnerving, to say the least. Basically, the castle was defenceless against any kind of attack. The wards that once made the place famous wouldn't even be able to stop an idiotic troll! If that was not enough, there were more disquieting news. The castle itself was a time bomb.

Ragnok knew magic was sentient, however, not even he knew to what degree. Hogwarts was enchanted to protect the students, but what happens when all the capability to protect was taken away from her, by either time or ignorance? Simple, magic tried to compensate by overcharging the rune stones, which in turn caused the magic to be unstable. That was the same reason why the stairs would move, taking the students to a random location instead of their destination, disregarding their safety in the process. Also, the reason why so many incidents took place inside the castle. Sooner rather than later, the magic would be so unstable the castle would not be able to differentiate between friend and foe. No student would ever be safe inside Hogwarts. Fortunately, there was still time to fix the situation. Unfortunately, that was not his main concern.

There was something in the Forbidden Forest. Something dangerous enough to cause the inherent magic of the place to turn violent. This is what really worried Ragnok. What could have ever caused gentle Mother Magic to become violent? Decisions need to be taken soon because, whatever it was, it was lethal.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when someone knocked on his door, pushing it open. Was it nine already? Time flew by when one was frowning at headache-inducing information indeed. Ragnok nodded at Sharpclaw and was about to greet one of his favourite humans until he actually caught a glimpse of the boy. Harry Potter looked different... The boy's posture was far more relaxed, but that was not it. Aha! His young friend finally stopped putting on his face that strange concoction humans liked to wear in an effort to look less hideous. Poor creatures, they really were hopeless in aesthetical related matters.

"Hello, Ragnok, it is good to see you again."

"Harry, I would like to say the same, but most of your visits involve an awful amount of paperwork. So, how was your ball?" he asked, a smile spreading on his face when the boy grimaced.

"Sometimes, I really hate you," Harry grumbled, handing him a heavy sack of galleons. "One day, I'm going to find your informant inside the castle and win a bet for once."

"Someday. Hopefully, once you graduate," Ragnok retorted, tossing the bag into one of his drawers and gloating on his victory. "That is enough pleasantries, there are more pressing matters to discuss."

"I am guessing that the report was bad."

"Bad doesn't cover it, have a look." Ragnok handed the teenager the thick folder, only receiving an incredulous look in response. "There will be time for reading it later. Miss Adams gave me her personal recommendations on what should we take care of first, read this."

He handed his client a single paper where the two most important matters were written and waited for the boy to finish reading.

"Ragnok, send a group of your best curse-breakers and trackers to the forest," Harry said, frowning at the folder he was leafing through. "You know money will not be a problem."

"It will be done," he nodded, writing on his reliable black notebook. "I was wondering if you could perhaps donate some Madagascar Tree roots from your greenhouses, it will be offered to the centaurs as a sign of peace."

"You have carte blanche, no need to ask," Harry said absentmindedly, turning the pages of the thick folder until he reached the one he desired. "I think that whatever is hidden inside the forest may be related to that strange room I told you about."

"The one with fairies?"

"The same one. Luna believes time-turners have to be destroyed so we have access to that room and she has not been wrong before."

"And what makes you think the forest and that room are related?"

"Look at this," the boy said, signalling the graphic of magical wavelength fluctuations in the forest. Ragnok was about to ask for more proof until Harry turned the pages and signalled a similar graphic belonging to the restricted section of the library, where that infamous fairy room was found.

"Wait a minute," Ragnok muttered and his frown deepened as he frantically turned the pages of his own folder, finally finding the one he was looking for.

He didn't know why his heart started beating faster when the graphic on the page mirrored the previous ones, though it signalled a different place of the castle.

"I have never been in this part of the castle, but we'll see what is hidden there," Harry said, at last, eyeing the notes that the analysts wrote about the place. "I'm guessing that is one of the rooms that Hogwarts is trying to hide. What do you think, Ragnok?"

"...There have been rumours," he began explaining, still frowning at the folders. "These rumours have been circulating around for centuries. It is said that Hogwarts is not only used as a school, but also as some kind of vault for dangerous magical artefacts. Personally, I've never believed them because the Department of Mysteries is used for that purpose, but I'm no longer so sure."

"And we are back to the Department of Mysteries," Harry sighed, "everything seems to be leading us to that place. In any case, I will tell you whatever I find in that new room. When will the runemasters begin working in the Rune Stone Vaults?"

"Once the Holidays are over. They would have begun working sooner, but they are taking their time to examine all the runestones you found. Good thing too, replacing all the stones the castle needs would cost a small fortune."

"Justin was the one who found them," the boy said, smiling a little. "I was just going to tell my elves to throw everything."

"Any other interesting things in those storage rooms?"

"Not really. There were many trinkets mixed with the stones, nothing interesting aside from a few old books."

"I guess that the only thing we can do is wait and see, Harry."

"So, how is the business going?" At the question, Ragnok perked up. Talking about money always raised his spirits.

"Exceedingly well, actually. The international branch offices of Mirror Summons are about to pay their investment and the ones in the Asian Empire and the Tribes are already generating profit. Everything else is going fine and I would even suggest expanding the other businesses after a market analysis. However, I think it would be good starting in the countries that follow the same mentality as this one, that way we won't have much competition."

"We would need to talk about this with Ploutos and Miss Blair. If we expand ourselves we will need to find reliable employees and I don't feel comfortable with the idea of sending my elves abroad."

"That is fine, this is a decision that should be considered carefully because it will be a heavy investment. I will make an appointment for this."

"Thank you, Ragnok... How are the talks going with the dealer?"

The man couldn't stop a wide grin from appearing at the question. "He owes Gringotts more than only gold so he is keeping his head down. My cousins in the Tribes are only waiting for you to arrive in order to finish sealing the agreement."

"I am trusting on their discretion, or else I might be banned from entering the country again," the boy commented, amusement sparkling on his eyes.

"Goblins are loyal and you were already declared a friend of our nation. Besides, my cousin is really happy with the small commission he is getting from the deal."

"So that is what they are calling it these days, in my times we called it fraud," the boy muttered with no real heat behind his words. "I guess that is all for today. Shame, I was ready to spend most of my day talking about the results of the analysis."

"Don't worry, once you read the full report we will have a meeting with all the staff," Ragnok commented, smirking at the boy's almost imperceptible grimace.

Harry was about to retort when he felt his communication crystal vibrate. Curious at the unexpected call, he pulsed his magic to answer.

"Harry, there was an attack in Saint Mungo’s, Sagrav is dead. Moody already closed off the hospital, no one can get in or out so I won't be arriving until late. You have to go right now to the classified archives of the Ministry. Tubby found what we were looking for but it can't be transported so find a way of copying it. I have a really bad feeling about this, please hurry up," Marcus almost yelled through the crystal and cut the communication.

Harry only frowned, there was definitely something going on.

"I guess you have to leave so the visit to your family Vault will be postponed. I will tell your elf about the upcoming meetings so don't worry about anything."

"Thank you, be ready for the twenty-seventh... Ragnok, I think it is time to send an especial group to contact the Gurg, we will need to keep them out of the conflict. I have the feeling our problems are just beginning."

"I do too, Harry. I do too."

Ragnok could almost feel it in his bones. War. It was looming on the horizon, and this time, the Goblin Nation would make a stand. He took out his reliable black notebook and wrote two words that would soon be read by all his kin.

To arms.