Deep within Gringotts, Barchoke wiped his shaven head as Severus Snape came out from under the effects of the Veritaserum he'd been dosed with. For a human whose job it was to prepare potions, for some reason he was loath to put his faith in them when it came to questioning. After dealing with Dumbledore though Barchoke wasn't taking any chances. Veritaserum, Truth Quills, and Memories: the three nails for Dumbledore's public crucifixion.
The human had been intelligent though, probably knowing it'd take what he most wanted to avoid if he were to avoid… what he most wanted to avoid… Goblins weren't fools though; the Purging Potion and Veritaserum he'd brought with him had been switched with some of their own make. The human had probably known they would be and only brought them to offset any balance against him if their subsequent testing proved them just as good, if not better, than the ones they'd used.
That had been the whole thrust of the meeting: rectifying the balance. It was why Auditor Axegrind had been brought in and why they now had ten years of Personal Account Statements and a detailed listing of rare and expensive potions ingredients, their estimated value, and potential buyers for them to go through. Snape had put everything he had of value on the table and said, essentially, "Take it all."
Yes, the human was wily.
It was the kind of exchange goblins were always wary of because it was never certain what the other side was trying to buy. It left them uncertain as to what questions to ask too, though "What do you hope to gain by this?" was always top of the list, even if the answer was invariably, "I want you to leave me alone ."
The questions had been direct, pointed. They wanted to know where the money had come from, where he had been told it'd come from, and what it was for, though only the second part was particularly important to them. The last part, why Snape had been paid so well, had them wondering if Dumbledore was insane or as clever as they come.
Albus Dumbledore had a repentant pet Death Eater on the Hogwarts payroll for more than ten years and had been paying him to be his personal spy in case the Dark Lord ever returned. That was insane. The payments always coming from "donations" from phantom accounts which disappeared as soon as you looked for them? That was clever.
It was times like this Barchoke wished he had a wizard's knowledge of magic. A wizard's magic was practical, theoretical, or mathematical in nature while a goblin's magic, such as it was, was instinctual and crafty. Magic, for a goblin, literally had to be worked into an object though how was never quite clear, even to them. That was why the goblin race had always wanted wands. With wands the magic simply was, the instinct directed by thought rather than craft. And with a wizard's way of magic too-
With Lester distracted with the Figg woman the Overseer was on his own, at a loss since he didn't know what other questions to ask, and would've struggled to understand any answers that would've been given even if he'd had the questions to ask. In the end he had no other alternative but to add a binding stipulation to come in should they have any more questions before they allowed him to go.
"The last part," the potions professor said, referring to the Auditor's final question: 'Why did you want to work for Dumbledore against the Dark Lord in the first place?' while his hands flexed beside him like he wanted to go for throats. "That will not be repeated outside this room."
It was Auditor Axegrind who spoke to the implied threat.
"It will be repeated anywhere we damn well please and as loudly as we choose," the goblin in black barked back at him. "It's not like anyone would believe it, even if we did. 'Master, could you please try not killing this one, I'd like to keep her as a pet. Kill the kid though, ' is hardly an expression of love. Now get out," he dismissed the human with a wave.
The presence of armed guards and him having no wand probably had more to do with his quick exit than anything else.
Severus Snape had loved Lily Evans? Who cares?
"Overseer Barchoke," a lowly cart operator said from the door. "There is a floo-call for Litigator Lichfield, but he still doesn't want to be disturbed. It's Deputy Headmistress McGonagall."
"Tell her to come in," Barchoke replied. "When she does, I'll pry the man out of there if I have to."
Having never had the excuse to go outside during a storm Barchoke didn't know if this was true, but the human expression 'when it rained, it poured,' seemed appropriate.
...
Severus stood naked and exposed for all Diagon Alley to see, or at least he felt it so. He pulled his cloak around him more tightly and tried to look at things objectively as he walked back to the Leaky Cauldron. Not all of his secrets had been laid bare, only the ones he never wanted anyone to know, and those were the ones the goblins had so laughingly tossed back into his face as being worthless.
He'd been hoping to go through the questioning without the use of veritaserum, or at least to have the questioning done with the supply he'd brought. He had no doubts as to the quality of potions he made, and he had been diligent that his vertiaserum was of the finest quality imaginable, for only the highest quality would leave the one who imbibed it truthful yet without the dream-like state where they volunteered too much information.
Had he been able to take his own potion he would've been free to truthfully tell them when what they had asked had no baring on Albus Dumbledore's abandonment of the boy. They'd taken his potion to reimburse themselves for the vile swill they'd used on him which had left him in a near catatonic stupor. Even with Occlumency skills as refined as his there was no defense against veritaserum. How could your mind be coherent enough to mount a defense when the potion's magic was seeping through your veins to assault the brain directly?
As it was, the questioning could've been worse. It wasn't over, true; he'd feel compelled to return if they summoned him for more questioning, but it should be over for now. The goblins had been strictly focused, for the most part, wanting to know what he knew of the abandonment - which was negligible - and Dumbledore's financial misdeeds - which he knew only slightly more of, though only through piecing things together.
Severus had never bought the Headmaster's line of "unnamed benefactors" having been impressed with his role in the war and wanting to show their continued appreciation by donating to a private fund so he could acquire the quality and rarity of supplies he was always after for his own research. Whenever he had tried to find those "benefactors" though they'd slip away like ghosts, so in the end he'd simply made use of the money some fools would leave for him. Never had he thought it'd been pried from Potter's cold, dead hands.
He was why the potions master had gone to Gringotts today. If anyone was capable of reaching out from beyond the grave to drag others down with him it was James Potter. He'd done so with his one-time cohort, Sirius Black, for his betrayal, and now there were goblins involved. Severus knew that returning every illegal Knut he'd been given, even showing the investment had turned a profit, was the only way to avoid a similar fate. After all, nothing was more important to Severus Snape than Severus Snape and as far as money was concerned, he and Potter were square.
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