Every surface he saw was polished so much that it shined. Everything was so immaculate even the Dursleys would be tripping over themselves for the chance to eat off their floor. Harry heard the faint tinkling of water coming from somewhere which added to the cooler feeling of wherever he was and had a pleasantly soothing effect on his stomach.
"My office is this way, Mr. Potter," Barchoke said as he gestured to the hallway proper.
Harry was glad to hear their steps ring out properly when they walked and to see there were actual signs of life on this level. Small groups of obviously senior goblins conversed amongst themselves, occasionally giving him a second glance. The hallway they were in opened up around a small indoor courtyard, at the center of which stood the fountain he had been hearing.
While it didn't spout water up three floors it certainly was a spectacle all its own. The statue at the fountain center was a dense dark granite. Rather than slowly sculpted or gradually grown out of the stone as all the other reliefs had been, this one looked to have been hacked and beaten until the rough figure of what it was supposed to represent had started to take shape and then left unfinished as if the stone itself had committed some sort of crime.
The rough-cut and half-formed figure of a goblin was on its knees, face twisted in tragedy, water trickling from its eyes as it cried out in defeat while before it an exquisitely carved sword - the only part of the statue that resembled anything near the other finished works - was embedded into the statue's base, around its tip the splintered remains of a wand were depicted. At each corner stood a stone representation of a goblin's severed head, water trickling from nose, mouth, neck, or ears to simulate the crying goblin's ultimate fate. In severe gouges between them were carved phrases like 'Humbling the Halfwit,' 'Pride Before Fall,' and 'Thieves Turn Tides.'
The Overseer seemed strangely at home with the gruesome display as he didn't even remark on it as they passed. The other goblins didn't pay it any mind either as they walked between their offices, going in and out of various side hallways labeled such things as Confidential, Corporate, Personal, and Dodgy. His goblin guide took him down one such hallway. His was labeled Hereditary and would take them back towards the front of the building, unless Harry had been turned around completely.
The Overseer's office was at the very end of the hall. To say it was oddly shaped would be to put too fine a point on it since the whole room seemed to be built on odd angles. On either side of the door the walls flared out only to turn on a sharp right angle and head back in again. Rather than meeting at a precise point the walls - which were mostly windows - curved inward again so that the room's shape resembled a dulled misshapen spear point.
"Go on and take a look," the goblin said, gesturing to the windowpane making up the room's rounded edge as the goblin himself went to root through some old cabinets on the room's right side. "Odds are you won't be seeing the inside of this office again."
Harry found he had been right, they were at the front of the building again, with the Overseer's office forming part of the wedge-shaped edge of the building as it thrust its way out into the street below and Diagon Alley split around it. The window itself did present a rather unique view of the tiny little ribbon of wizarding London. With a good view of muggle London spread out beyond the alley's border, even seeing the comforting view of the tiny shops lost to time and the stream of witches and wizards going about their daily lives made for an unsettling combination.
In his mind Harry suddenly got the image of a colossus; feet planted wide in defiance, lord of all he surveyed, firmly rooted in both worlds and ready to take on all challengers. Having seen a tiny bit of the wizarding and muggle worlds, Harry wondered if this was the goblin world he was looking at. He suddenly felt every inch the twelve year old boy that he was.
"Now," the goblin said, drawing Harry's attention back to the present. "Now that we've got a bit of privacy we don't have to stand so much on formality." He was sitting at a sturdy mahogany desk which took up almost the entirety of the room's left side and had one of those nice leather chairs that swiveled. Harry resisted the urge to ask how the little goblin's feet reached the floor to swivel it.
The most peculiar thing about the office wasn't the bizarre shape or disjointed view but the odd snow-globe now sitting amongst the Overseer's files and folders on his desk. Unlike any other snow globe Harry had ever seen this one didn't have a happy little village with glitter swirling around it but a fashionably-dressed olive-skinned couple dancing scandalously close to each other. It was very much like a television stuck inside a crystal ball only without any sound.
"Since this Investigation and Audit are the result of your Inquiry, it entitles you to what answers we have," the goblin started in a very business-like tone that had Harry thinking the Overseer was actually quite comfortable with formality.
"It is by no means a complete picture; we're actually hoping you might be able to fill us in on some of the important points. Feel free to take a seat," the Overseer gestured to a pair of goblin-sized chairs that faced the rounded-end bank of windows, "this will probably take a while."
Harry pulled one of the tiny chairs closer to the desk and tried to make himself look comfortable.
.....
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