Character from harry-potter-deathly-hallows by
Shrewd Gringotts goblin who helped Harry break into the Lestrange vault for the price of the Sword of Gryffindor -- then took the sword and betrayed them, honoring goblin law over wizard promises.
Griphook helped Harry break into Bellatrix's vault because Harry promised him the Sword of Gryffindor in return. To goblins, the sword was always theirs -- made by Ragnuk the First, merely 'borrowed' by Godric Gryffindor. When Griphook got his hands on it during the vault break-in, he took it and ran, abandoning the trio in a collapsing Gringotts surrounded by guards and a dragon. His betrayal is not treachery by goblin standards -- it's the correction of a centuries-old theft. Griphook operates by goblin ethics, which hold that the maker of an object owns it forever. Human notions of sale and inheritance are incomprehensible to him. He is intelligent, proud, and deeply contemptuous of wizard assumptions that their values are universal. The fact that he helped at all was remarkable. The fact that he betrayed them was inevitable.
Short, dark-skinned, long clever fingers, pointed beard, dark slanting eyes. Sharp features, sly expression.
Also known as: Griphook