19:58, Friday, September 2nd 1994

"Good, Percy, you're here," the professor said with a glass in his hand. "You're cutting it a bit too close for my liking."

"Better late than never, sir," I replied.

"The goblin representative will be here any moment now. Remember to be on your best behaviour," Professor Flitwick said as he placed the glass down. "Lower your head when you see them, and kiss their hand if they leave it outstretched. Understood?"

"Understood."

The dimly lit room crackled with the flames of the Floo fireplace, casting dancing shadows across the stone walls. As the embers swirled and sparks flew, three goblins emerged from the flickering flames, their figures obscured by the billowing smoke.

When they stepped forward, leading them was a young goblin prince adorned in regal attire, the symbol of his noble lineage emblazoned upon his chest. Following closely behind the prince was a towering goblin clad in ornate armour, his grip firm upon the hilt of a gleaming blade. Bringing up the rear was a wizened goblin adorned in robes of rich velvet, his brow furrowed in deep contemplation.

"No, no, no. No need to bow," the price said with his right hand placed on his heart. "For two distinguished individuals like you, there is no need to bow."

"But your highness, that is highly improper," the advisor said.

"Be quiet. I am speaking," the prince said while glaring at the advisor. "Please excuse the rudeness of the Royal Advisor. Mordi has a stick up his arse for formalities. We have not introduced ourselves yet, have we? I am the Crown Prince Zorak, the second of my name. This is my guardian, Grumthar the Grumpy. And the rude little one is the Royal Advisor, Mordrek III."

"It is an honour to be in your presence, you highness," Professor Flitwick said as he stood up from his bow. "Allow us to introduce ourselves. I am..."

"There is no need to introduce yourselves. I know who both of you are," the prince said. "You are Flitwick. Half-goblin and the one who has brought honour to our kind. Your service will always be remembered."

He turned to face me, placed his right hand on his heart, and gave a slight bow. "As for you, human, I owe you a life debt. My wife and I have been trying for an heir. We tried everything. Rituals, sacrifices, the occult, and even praying to all the gods Nothing worked. Your potion did, though. I now have a beautiful girl and a very handsome boy."

"Congratulations to you, your highness," I said as I bowed. "I didn't realise that my potion had made its way to the Goblin Nation."

"It hasn't. I had to pay a pretty galleon for it," the prince said with a grin. "Enough with the small talk. Let us get a drink, sit down, and discuss business. The little one is getting a little bit angsty."

The professor led them towards the centre of the room and sat them down. The prince and the advisor sat down, with the guard standing behind them. He poured them drinks before sitting down next to me. The advisor cleared his throat and opened his notebook.

"I must remind you, we are not here on official business. This meeting never happened, no matter the outcome of our discussion," the advisor said. "Initially, this meeting was meant to be between the three of us. The Crown Prince insisted on coming along after he found out who I was meeting."

"Yes, I could not believe my father did not tell me we had a meeting arranged with my favourite human and half-goblin."

"Ignore what he says. His contributions are irrelevant in this matter," the advisor said as he placed a sapphire on the table. "We have found a solution to your problem, and we would like payment."

"That can be negotiated," I replied.

"In return for the gem,..."

I immediately cut him off. "The gem was ours to begin with."

"Right, my mistake," the advisor said with a grin. "We will be giving you a crown made from steel with enchantments to enhance the gem's effects."

"How long have you had the gem?" The goblin did not reply. I asked again, "How long have you had the gem?"

"17 months."

"In those seventeen months, you did not copy the runic matrix of the gem?"

"I prefer not to answer."

"I'll take that as a yes. That means you have the capability to recreate it in the future. That is simply not enough."

"Hypothetically speaking, maybe we have copied the matrix. There's this foreign section we can not decode. It is useless to us."

"But you still have it?"

"Yes."

"So you could make it if you decode it?"

"Maybe. Yes, we could."

"A crown made from steel is not enough."

"A crown made from Goblin Silver. Would that satisfy you?"

"Are you speaking about the same thing?" I questioned him. "Once my friends and I died, you would have the right to reclaim the diadem. We can not have that. I want the crown to made out of steel but I want the method of making the crown out of any magical metal."

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"There are a few families that have access to magical metal, and even fewer are willing to give some to outsiders. Are you sure you want this?" the goblin asked as I nodded. "Fine, you get the method of creating a crown from magical metal."

"That does include the enchantments and your best efforts?"

"The enchantments will be included; as for effort, that depends on the balcksmiths and enchanters," the goblin said, writing it down. "Now, for our payment, we would like you and your friends to swear an oath that nobody on this planet will learn of our methods for you."

"Easily arrangeable."

"We would also like you to advocate for the right of Goblin-kind to use wands."

"That's impossible. No one will ever let that happen," I said. "I could advocate for half-goblins to use wands and have half-goblins join my partition."

"What partition?" the prince asked.

"I'm partitioning for the right to education for those of Veela and Vampiric decent."

"No Lycanthropy victims?" the prince asked.

"We already had some students who allied with Lycanthropy before. Not that the student body knew. And those that knew were silenced," I said as I poured some apple juice into my class as the prince looked at me with wide eyes. "That's how I got it past Dumbledore. Surprisingly, Professor Prince was quiet helpful."

"I think that's reasonable," the prince said while nodding. "What do you think, advisor?"

"I see no problem with it," the goblin said while writing it down.

"Could I potentially get a name?" the prince asked.

"No," I said sharply.

"It doesn't hurt to ask."

The advisor cleared his throat, and attention returned to him. "For our final request, you will foot the bill for all our attempts at making the crown."

"I will do no such thing."

The prince held out his hand and stopped the advisor from talking. "They will not foot the bill. The Crown will foot it; however, I would like a favour from you, professor."

"As long as it is not too out there, I don't have a problem," the professor said.

"If my children have a speck of magic in them, I would like you to be their godfather."

"It would be an honour, my prince," the professor said, jumping up and bowing.

"Sit, you have not heard the rest," the prince said as he waited for the professor to sit down. "You will teach them all you know. Your duelling skills and technique. Your experimental spells and research. Everything."

"I would gladly do it, my prince," the professor said again.

Annoyingly, the advisor cleared his throat again. He continued writing. The advisor's quill scratched across parchment, the sound amplified by the thick stone walls encasing them. Percival met Flitwick's sidelong glance, a crease forming between the professor's brows.

"To conclude, we, the Goblin Nation, will create a crown from steel and give you the method of recreating it whole. We, the Goblin Nation, will also cover the entire bill for the research and development of the crown. You, Percival Laurentis Gustavus Ebonwood, will add half-goblins to your partition and advocate for half-goblins to receive wands. You, Percival Laurentis Gustavus Ebonwood, and your friends will swear an oath so that nobody on this planet will discover our methods. You, Filius Flitwick, will assume the position of godfather to the Crown Prince's children and teach them everything you know. Is that correct?"

"Will we be seeing a legal document for this agreement?"

"This discussion never happened," the advisor said with a grin. "But we may misplace some legal documents inside your vaults."

"Thank you."

"No need to thank us. This was strictly business," the prince said as he stood up. "Now that our business has concluded, we must be off. Thank you for the hospitality."

"It was an honour to host you, my prince," the professor said as we both gave them a small bow. "I hope to see my godchildren soon."

"You will see them very soon," the prince said as he walked towards the fireplace with his guard and the royal advisor following behind him. "Until next time."

"Farewell, half-goblin and human. I hope we can meet again in a more official capacity," the advisor said as they walked through the flame.

"Well, that went better than expected," I said. "I thought they were going to rip me off."

"Oh, they did," the professor said. "But you could reverse engineer their method and create your own. And you could distribute that. Just food for thought. I am awfully tired. I'll see you again tomorrow. Close the door when you leave, and good night."

"Goodnight professor."