"Please, Madam, you must understand that proper procedure must be followed," the poor Goblin said, mopping his brow. "I understand your frustration, and I apologise for wasting your no doubt valuable time, but to access your safe, as per your own instructions, I must first obtain permission from my superiors."
For the time being, Oleandra was fairly certain she hadn't aroused suspicion; acting rudely towards lesser races and being needlessly obstinate was very much in line with Bellatrix Lestrange's character. Even so, she was well aware that if she continued to insist and attract attention to herself, her disguise would be compromised.
"Fine, if you must," Oleandra snapped.
Having already fooled the clerk with her disguise, she had ritually secured the right to steal one thing from him with her Fairy magic. Pretending to wave away an imaginary fly, she seized the invisible thread of magic protruding from his nose and pulled, tearing away with it his work ethic and his professional pride.
"…actually, never mind," the Goblin said, hopping down from his stool and vanishing behind the tall counter. "Come on then, let's get this over with," his disembodied voice called out, "As long as I'm getting paid at the end of the month, I really couldn't care less."
Naturally, Oleandra could have used this magic to dig herself out of this predicament and leave Gringotts without arousing suspicion, but the mystique surrounding the Lestrange Vault had piqued her curiosity.
As they say, in for a Knut, in for a Galleon!
Listening to his footsteps as he trotted along behind the long counter, Oleandra met the clerk a few steps later at the other end, finding him yawning broadly. Looking as though he would much rather be doing anything else than guiding a bitchy Witch to her misbegotten fortune, the Goblin gestured for her to follow, and they set off towards the doors leading out of the hall, of which there were far too many to count.
"Wait, Gornuk!"
The clerk, whose name was apparently Gornuk, turned to face the elderly Goblin shuffling towards them in a bespoke suit. Though it fitted him perfectly, he still looked rather comical in the child-sized apparel.
"What is it now?" Gornuk sighed, rolling his eyes at him. "Am I not licking the oh-so-mighty Witch's boots enough for your liking, you uptight arse?"
The wrinkled Goblin's jaw dropped in shock.
"Rarely have I ever…" he stammered. "…such disrespect from a junior associate! I'll see you flogged…"
"I suppose it's your prerogative, if that's what you're into, but I, for one, have had enough!" Gornuk said, his voice rising with his every word. "Look at all these humans strutting around like they own the place, even though Gringotts is supposed to be ours!"
Every eye in the hall was now upon them. The Goblins weighing gemstones or handling parchments at the counter, the pompous Wizards and Witches here to make withdrawals or take loans that the Goblins could no longer make predatory (very tragic) … there was not a single sentient being who was not watching.
"I say we're done taking orders from the humans!" Gornuk roared. "It's always the same! A Dark Wizard rises, seizes control of their world, and suddenly the humans forget every debt they owe us— as though getting overthrown wipes the slate clean! It happens every few centuries, like clockwork, so why do we still trust them to honour our contracts? They would oppress and enslave us as they did the House‑Elves— and they would succeed, if we keep bowing our heads to them. To that, I say—NO!"
Cheers rose from the younger Goblins.
"H-Have you gone mad, G-Gornuk!?" the old Goblin stammered.
He glanced fearfully at Oleandra, who was just as gobsmacked as he was. No pun intended.
"No, it is we who have gone mad!" Gornuk cried. "To let these beings, who were only mere apes until a few hundred thousand years ago, walk all over us!"
Oleandra frowned. Clearly, she had stolen more than just Gornuk's work ethic… his temperance, perhaps? Stealing abstract concepts was rather difficult, she was now realising, but stealing a few of his memories to skip through the bureaucracy, as she had from that Muggle innkeeper two years ago, wouldn't have worked on a Goblin, what with their legendary love of bookkeeping.
"Hear, hear!" another young Goblin employee cheered.
"He's right!" called another. "I'm done bowing and scraping to the humans!"
"I SAY WE REBEL!" Gornuk cried. "SEND VOLDEMORT A MESSAGE BY SENDING HIM HIS FAVOURITE'S HEAD!"
Oleandra offered a silent prayer to the Hogwarts students of the future, who would have to memorise a brand-new Goblin Rebellion of '97 in their History of Magic lessons.
"GORNUK! GORNUK! GORNUK!" the younger Goblins chanted.
"You're fired, Gornuk!" the old Goblin said shrilly. "Fired, I tell you!"
Gornuk clenched his fist in victory.
He no longer had to drag himself to the job he hated or bend over backwards to please those pompous superiors he despised. Unfortunately for him, though, Oleandra mistook his movement for an attack and sent him crashing into a wall with a single flick of Dolohov's wand.
A shocked hush descended over the bank… and then, there was chaos.
"Martyr!"
"DOWN WITH THE HUMANS!"
"REBELLION!"
Those among the Goblins who could wield magic summoned spheres of crimson lightning or fire in their palms, while those who could not— the untalented and the Goblins' equivalent of Muggles— rushed to arm themselves, seizing Goblin‑silver halberds and lucernes from beneath their desks and counters.
"KILL HER!"
Without hesitation, Oleandra scooped the elderly Goblin under one arm and sprinted through a doorway ahead, only to find a set of rails— but no cart. She slammed the door shut behind her and sealed it with a sharp "Colloportus!"
Oleandra jabbed her wand against the elderly Goblin's temple.
"Call a cart," she hissed.
The door shuddered as the Goblins started attacking it with their weapons, but for the time being, Oleandra's spell held… but she could not say the same for the Goblin, who had fainted from the shock, foaming at the mouth.
"Typical," Oleandra muttered, tightening her grip on her hostage.
Wooden splinters struck her back as several gleaming blades punched through the door; a simple Locking Charm was no match for Goblin Silver.
"Raidhu!" Oleandra called, invoking the riding rune.
Left with no other options, Oleandra hopped onto the rails and started grinding along them like a skateboarder on a ramp. Suit the Lethifold was still quite young, so, as much as she would have loved to fly down, it would not have been able to carry one and a half people very fast…
"And here we go!" Oleandra cried to the unconscious Goblin under her arm as they approached a sheer drop where the rails turned nearly vertical. "I hope for both our sakes that Raidhu's power doesn't run out before we reach the bottom!"
As long as she cast her spell before going underground, the rune's magic ought to persist despite losing contact with the stars above… in theory.