"The other piece of magic is just as dark, if not darker than the first." The goblin explained grimly. "There appears to be what we call a 'horcrux' lodged behind your curse scar."
"And that is?" Harry questioned, though already knowing the answer.
"To put it simply," Ragnok answered, "a 'horcrux' is a soul fragment which is not native to your body." Harry stared at him in sheer horror.
"A soul?!" He exclaimed frantically. "I have someone else's soul in my forehead?!"
"Calm yourself, Harry," Ragnok reassured him, "you need not be so worried. It is only a weak, broken shard, not a complete soul, so the danger to you is minimal. This is also something our healers can remedy quickly and easily." Upon hearing that, Harry took a calming deep breath and closed his eyes.
"It can be removed without hurting me?" Harry asked, to which Ragnok nodded. "Right, ok, nothing to be too worried about then, right?" Again, the goblin's shared a look.
"Yes and no," Ragnok replied. "The worry is not so much the fact it was there, but rather to whom the soul belongs..." Harry frowned at the explanation.
"And who does the fragment belong to?" Harry asked curiously. Ragnok did not reply immediately, formulating his words, before continuing.
"How much do you know about the night you received your curse scar?" Ragnok asked evasively.
"Not much," Harry replied, "my relatives told me I got it in a car crash that killed my parents, but Mr Hagrid told me I got it from a dark wizard..." Ragnok nodded.
"Yes, the dark lord Voldemort," he continued grimly. "From what we could gather, he became inordinately interested in the Potter family during the war. For what reason, we do not know. However, on the night of All Hallows' Eve 1981, he attacked your home with intent to destroy your family." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "We do not know what transpired during his attack. However, it ended with the death of your parents, the infliction of the scar on your forehead, and the death of Lord Voldemort...or so we thought." Harry's eyes widened with that last throw-away remark.
"Wait," Harry exclaimed, "do you mean to tell me that the soul in my scar, is...His?" He finished, sotto voce.
"We believe so, yes." Ragnok replied grimly. "He is the only one dark enough and with sufficient opportunity who could have cast it. As long as he has a soul fragment bound to the mortal world, he can return." Harry fell silent for a time, silently processing this information, before looking up at the Director.
"Can you destroy it?" He asked, steely eyed and firm. "If we destroy this fragment, we destroy him, right?"
"Yes, Harry, we can destroy it." Ragnok said, a little taken aback by the change in the young boy. "However, this might not be the only horcrux the dark lord made before his defeat. If there are more..."
"He can never die..." Harry murmured, before his jaw tightened. "Unacceptable." Ragnok stared at him, trying to decipher the meaning of his last word.
"Harry?" Ragnok questioned. Said wizard shook his head in response.
"He harmed too many innocent people the first time, my family included," Harry ground out, "I will not allow him to survive. Voldemort must be destroyed." Seeing the fire burning within him, Ragnok smiled and nodded.
"You have the heart of a warrior, young Harry," Ragnok replied respectfully, "and you are correct, of course. The dark lord must not return. You are young, however, only just about to take your first steps in learning magic. This fight is not yours..." Harry shook his head in disagreement.
"It is my fight." Harry replied determinately. "It became my fight when he murdered my parents and tried to murder me!" He sighed lightly. "That's not to say I intend to start chasing Voldemort down right now. But if an opportunity arises to destroy more of these items..." his eyes glinted dangerously, "then I will take it." The Director stared at him appraisingly for a moment, before smiling
"As I said," Ragnok repeated, "you have the heart of a warrior." At that, he fell silent, looking as though deep in thought. Harry allowed him his ruminations for a time, before speaking.
"Ragnok?" Harry called. The goblin snapped back and focused.
"The Goblin Nation remains strictly neutral," the Director began, seemingly changing the subject, "and will not involve itself in wizarding affairs. To do otherwise, no matter how noble the cause, would jeopardise our people..." Harry nodded understandingly, though inside his heart was sinking. This was a refusal of aid, it must be.
"I understand," Harry said softly, ruthlessly attempting to clamp down on his disappointment. The old goblin however, placed a clawed hand on his shoulder.
"That being said," Ragnok continued, a sly smile on his face, "Gringotts Bank specialises in the containment and destruction of dark artefacts, and we would be most remiss if we did not offer our assistance in this area to one of our high profile clients..."
As his words slowly settled into his mind, a large smile grew across Harry's face. This was perfect, almost beyond expectations. The goblins would not ally with him, not that he expected them to, but they would help destroy the horcruxes. All he had to do was find them, and send them to the bank.
"That's brilliant!" Harry exclaimed, offering his hand to him as he grinned widely. "Thank you so very much, Ragnok." The goblin smiled back and accepted the handshake.
"You are most welcome, Harry."
With the issue settled, they turned back to the matter at hand. The healers were quickly sworn to magical secrecy on all that had been discussed and the hidden threat behind Harry's scar. The offending fragment was removed in short order.
Surprisingly to the young wizard, as the horcrux was detached Harry felt nothing but a mild tingling in his scar. The healers implanted the shard into a scrap piece of parchment, and Ragnok assured Harry it would be destroyed by the end of the day. Harry had smiled as he looked down at the ragged piece of parchment, thinking it a rather fitting and ignominious end to the soul piece that had been such a burden on him. As a final added bonus, with the soul removed, the infamous lightning bolt scar could be and was fully healed.
The undoing of the dangerous legilivultus mind-magic came next, and was also finished quickly and easily. The healers had told Harry that this form of magic was normally nigh impossible to detect, and only very advanced diagnostic spells could reveal it. Happily, following the detection of the soul piece, they had used those spells and stumbled across it while trying to learn more about the horcrux.
"Truly, a stroke of luck!" One of the healers had exclaimed. As Harry knew, however, luck had nothing to do with it.
While the mind-magic was extremely hard to find, its very nature meant that it was easy to reverse. The magic acted as a nudge in a given direction, carefully developing the mind of an individual to the designs of the caster. The effects were gradual, slowly becoming stronger and more pronounced the longer the magic remained. This cumulative aspect of the spell helped make it so hard to detect, as the changes were so measured and steady, that it would seem to be just the natural inclinations of the individual's personality.
Truly, an insidious piece of magic.
Interestingly, according to the healers the magic had barely started to affect him, leading them to conclude that it had only been cast recently. The fact that he had only just returned to the magical world after living in hiding for ten years, left a short list of suspects. Of course, Harry knew full well who had cast the spell. He did wonder, however, when Dumbledore had cast it on him, since he had no recollection. Regardless of his suspicions, however, the magic was easily undone once discovered.
After agreeing to return to the bank daily to receive treatment for his injuries, Harry bid farewell to Ragnok and had returned to the Bank's lobby. Hagrid was quickly retrieved from the seating area where he had been nodding off, and they were escorted to the mine carts by a goblin Harry recognised as Griphook.
As the goblin invited them to clamber aboard, Hagrid looked very uneasy and eyed the cart uncomfortably. Noticing the half-giant's reticence, Harry had to hold back a smile. He knew full well how much Hagrid disliked the mine carts, remembering his reaction from the first time around.
"You alright, Hagrid?" Harry asked innocently, genuinely concerned for him. Said man shuddered as he stared at the cart and shook his head.
"I'm alright, Harry," Hagrid replied, offering a weak smile, "jus' these carts don't agree with me much." Turning his attention to the goblin, he continued. "Don't suppose we can go a bit slower this time, can we?" Griphook shook his head.
"There is only one speed," the goblin said with finality.
With a long suffering sigh, Hagrid reluctantly climbed into the cart, quickly followed by Harry. Once he was satisfied that they were both in safely, Griphook nodded to himself and pulled what looked like a handbrake lever.
Almost immediately, the cart lurched forward and shot off down the tunnel. As the sensation of travelling at speed washed over him, Harry let out a whoop of delight and held his arms up in excitement. He had forgotten just how much he enjoyed riding the goblin mine carts. They were unmatched in their sheer straight line speed, apart from the fastest broomsticks on the market, and it reminded Harry greatly of the rush he felt playing Quidditch at Hogwarts.