It was clear that such a strategically important location would be heavily guarded. Even disguised as goblins, Draco Malfoy and Lenore Tepesh knew they couldn't waltz in without proper identification; doing so could trigger an alarm, bringing down a swarm of goblins upon them.
"Damn it, Harry, any bright ideas?" Draco muttered, eyes darting around from behind a rocky outcrop, searching for a weakness. "Looks like we're stuck."
Lenore silently assessed the five or six goblins on guard. A frontal assault was out of the question. Silently taking them out was also impossible; there were simply too many, and they'd surely be discovered.
Her gaze fell upon a pile of large metal components some twenty or thirty meters away. An idea sparked.
She picked up a rock and hurled it with all her might at the metal pile.
Clang!
The out-of-place sound echoed through the cavernous space.
Alerted, the goblin guards turned toward the noise, but saw no fellow goblins nearby. Grumbling, they hefted their sledgehammers and trudged over to investigate.
Just then, a voice called out from the passage behind them.
"I'll check it out. Probably just another parts delivery," a lazy goblin drawled, ambling forward, sledgehammer dragging. Unlike the metal pile itself, the passage offered no place to hide.
He continued along the tunnel, frowning at a minecart in the distance.
"That minecart wasn't there before, was it?"
He turned his head, only to stare at the sight of two unfamiliar goblins. "Who are you?"
"Hey! Sir! Come quick!" Lenore said, clenching her right fist and covering it with her left as if struggling to contain something inside. "Look what I've got here!"
"What is it?" the goblin guard asked, his curiosity piqued. He took a step closer. In that instant, the unfamiliar goblin removed her left hand, revealing a right fist that was rapidly enlarging as it rocketed towards the guard's head!
Bang!
Thanks to Lenore's strength and the direct hit to the forehead, the goblin guard didn't even have time to cry out before he collapsed.
"Wow, Harry, you're really skilled," Draco drawled, stroking his chin. "Filch must have a tough time with you."
"Stop talking nonsense!" Lenore snapped, already stripping the unconscious goblin of his armor. "You wear it, or do I?"
"You wear it?" Draco wrinkled his nose at the discarded goblin guard. "I find this shorty's body reeks of sweat."
"Sensitive!" Lenore retorted, wasting no time in pulling on the ill-fitting armor. The Dark Lord's mission came first, and she wouldn't let something as trivial as body odor deter her.
The second-in-command still held too much authority within the Death Eaters. While Lenore might not necessarily lose out on loyalty, she couldn't guarantee she'd win against those fanatics. But in terms of the most outstanding Death Eaters, the second-in-command felt she was undoubtedly the best.
...
The remaining goblin guards were still meticulously inspecting the hundred-square-meter pile of metal parts.
Out of the corner of their eyes, they saw their colleague leading another goblin away.
"New guy. I'm taking him to his workstation," the approaching goblin grunted.
Satisfied, the guards went back to their inspection. Some of the parts were quite important, after all.
Once they were out of sight, "Lenore," clad in the guard's armor, and "Draco" breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness for the distance, or that voice imitation would have been impossible."
Heaven only knew how nervous "Lenore" had been, mimicking the unconscious commander with her shaky voice.
"Quiet, and hurry up," "Draco" urged in a low voice. "It'll be bad if that guy wakes up!"
"Lenore" nodded, but her short goblin legs made rapid progress difficult.
Fortunately, the unconscious guard was unlikely to wake up soon, and "Lenore" had assumed his identity, so the others wouldn't suspect anything immediately.
...
They passed a throng of goblins. Some carried heavy loads, some drove carts, and others, like them, carried nothing.
"Draco" observed the goblins with interest. Most were assigned to transporting parts and assisting with other tasks. A smaller group, blessed with superior forging skills, oversaw the construction and forging of specific products, and the rest were primarily responsible for assembling the forged parts.
The finished products were large, goblin-forged machines: drilling rigs, transport planes, and war chariots, for example.
"These guys," Lenore smacked her lips, swallowing unconsciously. "They really want to rebel." She'd decided the moment she got back to Hogwarts she'd bring her men to wipe this place off the map.
Few goblins greeted them. They seemed aloof, or perhaps too preoccupied with their own affairs. This was a blessing in disguise, as Lenore dreaded bumping into a goblin she was impersonating or a goblin guard she knew.
Fortunately, such cliched plot twists never transpired.
The journey was smooth until they reached the fork in the road and were stumped.
"So many tunnels, damn it! How am I supposed to know which is which?" Draco gritted his teeth. "Scarhead, which way?"
He had long since developed a simple system: if Tom was there, he'd ask Tom; if Tom wasn't, he'd ask Cassandra and Co.; if none of them were there, he'd ask Harry; and if all else failed, he'd figure it out.
"Should we split up? No way! Without mutual support, if we're discovered, one of us won't escape."
And the idea of one being discovered and the other rescuing them never crossed his mind. He wasn't a novel's protagonist; he couldn't just rescue people on demand. If one was discovered, the other would follow sooner or later.
These damned goblins wouldn't let them leave this underground world.
Splitting up meant getting picked off one by one. It was better to stick together and, if the time came, work together to break out.
"This way!"
Gritting her teeth, "Lenore" randomly pointed in the direction with the most goblins. It wasn't a guarantee, but anything requiring this much manpower was definitely a large order!
She was about to lead the way when "Draco" grabbed her shoulder.
"Lenore" turned back in confusion, only to see "Draco" pointing at an empty cart not too far away.
Following his gaze, she saw that most of the goblins traveling through "her" tunnel were driving carts laden with spare parts.
---