Wizarding London

Newly released from Azkaban, Draco Malfoy walked purposefully toward Knockturn Alley’s most prominent night club, Ignis Fatuus. He entered the establishment, nodded to a few people and slipped into the back room.

Inside the room there were six people sitting around the table betting on a game of Exploding Snap. When Draco entered the room, a dark-skinned man with almond eyes was running the table, he looked up, a look of recognition crossed his face.

“Mr. Zabini,” Draco greeted.

“Mr. Malfoy,” he replied. “Going to join us?”

Draco sat down, signaling his acquiesce.

“So, Mr. Malfoy, what do you do for a living?” asked a man sitting across the table. “If you don’t mind my asking.”

“If I don’t mind your asking,” Draco drawled. “I just got out of Azkaban.”

“How’d you get in there?”

“I stole things.”

“Oh,” the man said. “Like what?”

“Goblin-made tribal masks,” Blaise piped up.

“Are there any money in those?”

“Some,” Draco replied.

“If you can move ‘em,” Blaise threw in.

* * *
Leaky Cauldron

In a dark, isolated corner, Draco and Blaise sat at a table drinking Ogden’s Firewhiskey.

“So, you got a plan now that you’re out?” questioned Blaise.

“Are you kidding, I’ve been a free wizard for less than an hour. Of course I’ve got a plan,” remarked Draco.

“Let’s hear it.”

“Vault number 711,” Draco simply stated.

“Are you nutters? That’s Potter’s vault.”

Draco nodded in response.

Blaise continued on as if Draco doesn’t exist, “That vault’s in Gringotts. You prat, Gringotts is impossible to break into. Are you so eager to go back to Azkaban?” Blaise paused in his rant for a minute, as if in thought. “Alright, sounds good.”

* * *
Malfoy Manor

Lucius Malfoy, Draco, and Blaise were talking over lunch in the gardens.

“So let’s cut to the chase, what do you want?” Lucius asked

“Father, we’ve got a proposition for you,” Draco calmly announced.

“You need money.”

“Backing,” Blaise corrected.

“For what?” he drawled.

“A job,” Draco supplied.

“Involving?”

“A vault,” Blaise contributed.

“The last person who tried to rob Gringotts had Voldemort sticking out the back of his head. The person before him, was burnt to a crisp by the guard dragon’s fire. The person before him didn’t even make it to the vault,” Lucius replied sardonically.

“So that makes it a challenge.”

“An improbable challenge,” quipped Blaise.

Draco shot him a glare. “Well, thank you for your words of encouragement, Father. We’ll be leaving now.”

“One last question,” Lucius stated curiously. “Whose vault?”

Draco turns to Blaise. “Which vault was it?”

“The... uh... Vault 711.”

“Harry Potter’s vault?” he asked, incredulously. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

Draco and Blaise continued out the door with a quick ‘thank you’ thrown over their shoulders.

* * *
Blaise’s flat

“Bill and Fleur Weasley just had their first child and Marcus Flint is providing a suitable substitution,” Blaise said. “What about distractions?”

“Weasley twins-” Draco started.

“They won’t want to steal from Potter they like him,” Blaise interrupted.

“Au contraire, my friend. They like me better,” Draco commented. “As I was saying, the Weasley twins can provide distractions through their jokes and their arguing. But, they can also supply us with our get away. I have learned that their father recently gave them a flying muggle car. Magical surveillance?”

“Neville Longbottom. He is the best there is out there.”

“So, Blaise, how are his nerves?”

“They’re fine... Who’s on destructive and protection spells?”

“Theo Nott’s in town, but here might be a slight problem in availability. He’s involved in another job.”

* * *
Parkinson Vacation Villa

Theodore Nott and a crew of four other men advanced upon a private collection of elvish jewelry. With a flick of his wand, Theodore blasted through the glass case without harming anything inside. But the moment he did so, an ear piercing alarm sounded.

“You tossers! You had one job to do!”

Aurors swarmed the area and their hands were magically bound behind their backs. Outside the building, Theodore was being frisked by a rookie Auror when Blaise showed up in a set of black robes, flashing an Unspeakable badge.

“This one’s known up and down for the praemius curse. Have you checked him for alternative wands?” The Auror stepped up to search him, but Blaise pushed him out of the way. “Never mind, I’ll do it you go find Griggs.”

“Who?”

“Just find him, will you?” The Auror walked away in search of ‘Griggs’.

“Hey Theo,” said Blaise.

“Hey Blay,” responded Theodore.

“How quickly can you do put something together?”

“Its already done. Where’s Draco?”

“Waiting around the corner.”

“It’ll be nice working with proper villains again.”

* * *
Quidditch Stadium - Puddlemere United v.s. Chudley Cannons

“Who’s our stunt man?” Draco questioned Blaise.

“Woman.”

“Well, who is it?”

Blaise pointed to one of the moving players, “The one on the broom.”

Draco glared, “That narrows it down.”

“It’s Cho Chang, the seeker for Puddlemere United.”

* * *
Outside the Stadium

“ We need Snape,” stated Draco.

“He got out of the game a year ago,” Blaise informed.

“You don’t quit religion.” countered Draco. “You could ask him.”

“Hey, I could ask him.”
* * *
Pub in muggle London

“Snape makes ten, that oughta do it don’t you think? You think we need one more? You think we need one more. Alright we’ll get one more,” Draco conversed with himself, as Blaise sat with his head resting on the bar.

* * *
A busy street in Hogsmeade

Gabrielle Delacour swept past several high class members of English wizarding society, hands brushing lightly against their cloaks. After making her way out of the masses, she looked down into her hands, finding trinkets and galleons galore. One object stood out amongst the wealth. In her hand was a business card with ‘Nice swipes. Hogs Head Pub.’ She flipped the card over, it read Draco Malfoy in an emerald green cursive scrawl. The blonde peered questioningly around her before ducking into the pub.

“Who are you?” Gabrielle inquired.

“A friend of Polli Delacour’s,” Draco responded. He placed his hand on the table, sliding back to reveal a Chocolate Frog card. “It’s a portkey. A job offer. Take it or leave it right now.”

She smiled her acquiescence.

Preparing the plan

Malfoy Manor

The team had arrived and everyone was eating and drinking out by the gardens. Draco and Blaise came out of the Manor to welcome them.

“We are here to discuss a highly dangerous and Azkaban-worthy job. Now if highly dangerous and Azkaban-worthy isn’t your cup of tea, then leave. Everyone else inside.”

Once Draco had said this, Gabrielle stood up and began to make her way to the apparation point. Lucius walked up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned questioningly.

“You’re Polli Delacour’s daughter, correct?” Without giving her a chance to respond, Lucius continued. “She is quite the woman. You should stay where you are.”

Lucius turned on his heel and walked over to Snape. Draco and Blaise were talking to Theodore and Marcus, while the Weasley twins joked around with Neville. Blaise stepped away from the group.

“Okay everyone, let’s go up to the manor and talk plans.”

Dinning Room

“Ladies and gents, Diagon Alley, otherwise known as the most profitable shopping strip in the Wizarding World and the home of Gringotts Bank. Gringotts houses most of the galleons in the world,” Draco stated matter of factly.

“Vault 711. This vault lies 567.4 meters under the earth. It is located in the most securely guarded area of the bank. It is safeguarded by dragons, goblins, and some of the most advanced wards--both light and dark magic,” Blaise continued.

“We are going to rob it.”

“Smash and grab job, huh?” Gabrielle asked, sarcastically.

“Its a bit more complicated then that,” Blaise told her.

“Well, yeah.”

“Luckily for us, we have an insider, Marcus Flint,” Draco said, getting the group back on track. “Bad news first. It’s Harry Potter’s vault.”

“Which means that there is even more security on this particular vault,” Blaise interjected.

“First we have to get into the security cages, which takes more than a smile. Next, through these doors, with a combination of wards that are changed every 12 hours. Next, we need to get into the catacombs and here’s where it gets tricky. The carts won’t move with out authorized wand confirmation...”

“Which we can’t fake,” Blaise supplied.

“And magic identification from the Gringotts employee within the cart and the head security guard in the offices.”

“Which we won’t get.”

“The cart track is rigged with magical detectors.”

“So even if we override those wards, the catacombs will shut down and we’d be trapped.”

“Once we get through the catacombs, its a piece of pie. Just two guards with wands and permission to kill, a dragon, and the most elaborate vault ever conceived by goblin which requires a goblin to open. Any questions?”

“Why don’t we just tunnel our way in?” Cho asked.

“There are sensors monitoring the ground, if a kneazle was nesting there, the goblins would know.”

“You said something...” George started.

“...about good news?” Fred finished.

“Yeah. Potter makes about 20 million galleons for each of his investments. He’s got quite a lot of those. He puts every single knut away that he doesn’t need to live on. He’s been investing for years and expecting a big payroll from a new investment. That puts the total over 150 million galleons the night we’re going to rob it. Divide by 11.”

“Say we get into the security cages, through the doors, into the catacombs, down the cart we can’t move, past the guards with the lethal wands, the dragon, and into the vault we can’t open...” Snape started.

“Without being seen by the surveillance charms,” Blaise interrupted.

“That too,” Draco said.

“Say some miracle we do all that and stay alive, you expect us to walk out of there with 150 million galleons?” Snape asked incredulously, sarcasm evident in his voice.

“Yeah,” Draco and Blaise stated simultaneously. There was pause where everyone thought about what Draco and Blaise expected them to do and what they would have to accomplish.

“First Task,” Blaise started. “Reconnaissance.”

“I want to know everything that goes on inside Gringotts. Information on every goblin and wizard that works in that building from level of security clearance to kids birthdays to secrets they don’t to get out. I want to know every person that does business inside of Gringotts and what their business is and Potter entire financial history,” Draco explains.

“What he said,” Blaise said to the others and especially Marcus.
* * *

Gringotts

Marcus headed into his office, while listening to everyone’s conversations.

“That Katie Bell, she walked in here the other day and man she was fine,” a security guard said to another. “I think she digs me.”

“How would you know?” the other guard asked.

“She asked me to escort her to her vault.”

Marcus snorted. Katie was in no way interested in that low-paid loser, at least she better not be. He made a mental note of the guard’s crush on his Katie, it may actually be useful and not just his jealousy taking over.

* * *
Malfoy Manor’s Dining Room

“Second Task,” Blaise stated. “Geography.”

“Know every exit, entrance, hallway...” Draco started.

“Especially since the catacombs are built like labyrinths,” Blaise cut in.

* * *
Gringotts

Fred and George were staked out in the atrium of the bank, watching as guards passed through the catacomb doors.

“He went through at 10:44 AM,” Fred announced.

“10:46, get a watch that works,” George replied.

* * *
Malfoy Manor’s Dining Room

“Third Task, power,” Blaise said.

“Your turn, Theo. Take care of Diagon Alley,” Draco ordered.

“You want broke, blind, or bedlam?” Theo asked.

“How ‘bout all three?” Blaise suggested.

“You got it, Blay.”

“Fourth Task, surveillance,” Blaise said, moving on.

“The goblins and security wizards have an eye and ear on everything, so we want an eye and ear on them. Longbottom?”

“I’ve managed to piggyback on their surveillance charms. I applied them to my new invention. Its a cross between a Molly Weasley-like clock, which will feature all of us, and a monitor screen. We’ll be able to check on everyone in Gringotts and specifically on our team,” Neville explained.

“Fifth Task,” stated Blaise. “Construction.”

“To successfully pull off this job, we need to make an exact working replica of Gringotts’ catacombs and Potter’s vault.”

“Sixth Task,” Blaise continued. “Intelligence.”

“We need to know exactly what goes on in Potter’s life, especially the business aspect. Gabrielle, you need to learn to love Potter’s shadow,” Draco instructed.

“Wait, “ Gabrielle interrupted. “All I get to do is watch the guy?”

“You need to learn to walk before you can crawl.”

“Reverse that,” Blaise cut in. “Seventh Task, transportation.”

“Fred and George have graciously allowed us to use their newly acquired car. In addition to these we also need some vans.”


Muggle Car Dealership

“$18,500 each,” the dealer said firmly.

“You’re sure?” Marcus asked. Seeing the dealer nod his head, Marcus reached for the dealer’s hand. “It was great doing business with you.” Marcus gripped the dealer’s hand tightly. “Wow, these are some soft hands. Do you moisturize?”

“Pardon?”

“I’ve tried so many lotions. I even went fragrence free for a year,” Marcus rambled as he gradually increased the pressure on the dealer’s hand. “My sister uses Aloe Vera and a little sunscreen mixed in. Ideally, we should all wear gloves to bed, but that cuts into... my social activities, if you know what I mean. I’m not into the traditional remedies.”

“Let me tell you something,” the dealer cut in, wincing from pain. “If you paid in cash now, I could lower the price to $17---” the dealer paused, grimacing when Marcus squeezed his hand. “--$16,000 each.”

“It was good doing business with you,” Marcus stated calmly.

Malfoy Mannor’s Parlor

Severus was standing in the middle of the parlor, being fitted for the latest wizarding robes.

“What is wrong with black, pray tell?” Severus asked sardonically.

“White is flashy, perfect for Lyman Black,” Draco said smoothly. “Gentlemen would you excuse us for a moment.” He waited until the tailors left before continuing. “Severus, are you sure you’re ready to do this?”

Severus turned and glared at Draco.

“If you ever ask me that again, Draconius, you will not wake up the next morning.”

“So... Mr. Black will be accompanied by his two body guards, Fredreich and Georg Von Weiss,” Draco continued.

“Who’s Lyman Black?” Fred asked.

“A long lost Black relative who has access to the Black Family vault.”