GSI – Goblin Scientific Investigation

GSI – Goblin Scientific Investigation
A Short History

For centuries the traditional professions for the Goblin community was in the metal working trades and of course in financial field, primarily banking.

In the New World, that paradigm began to change in the early nineteenth century with the graduation from Boorworms Academy of Magic of a young Goblin, Alfred Bonnphult (Chaska House- Class of 1811.)


After his studies at Boorworms, Alfred begged his father Erastus Bonnphult a goblin iron baron, to let him study science at a muggle university. Alfred’s proposal was that goblin manufacturing methods might be improved using muggle science. After much consideration the elder Bonnphult consented and Alfred applied and was admitted to the college of William and Mary in Virginia. Of since many of the early institutions of higher education were organized in the midst of colonial poverty, the financial gifts from the Bonnphult family during Alfred’s undergraduate tenure at the institution gave the student an unprecedented edge and appreciation by school administration.

While at William and Mary, Alfred was introduced to the muggle concept of the scientific method. Logic is not a strong trait in the wizarding world, so needless to say, Alfred was fascinated by this concept of muggle logic.

Alfred learned that the development of the scientific method is inseparable from the history of science itself. Ancient Egyptian documents, such as early papyri, describe methods of medical diagnosis. In ancient Greek culture, several basic elements of the inductive scientific method were described. The modern scientific method was arguably first developed in Muslim science, where significant progress in methodology was made, especially in the works of Alhazen in the 11th century.

Alfred began applying the scientific method to metal working problems and began writing home to his father with proposed solutions to process problems that had long plagued the goblin metal working establishment. These improvements gave his fathers operations a competitive edge and the over-all Bonnphult holdings increased in value to the delight of his relatives.

After Alfred graduated from William and Mary in 1815, he returned to his father’s home and began applying full time his powerful muggle education to the problems of his families businesses. Upon the passing of his father in 1890, Alfred was elected by his family’s consortium as the lead business officer position which he would successfully held until his own passing in 1947.

During his life Alfred Bonnphult, maintained a strong interest in muggle sciences and the literary arts. In 1887, he became an immediate fan of the fictional creation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, that of Sherlock Holmes. Alfred became intrigued with the fictional but brilliant London-based detective, Holmes being famous for his intellectual prowess, and is renowned for his skillful use of deductive reasoning and astute observation to solve difficult cases.

As a hobby, Alfred began to consider the Holmes method for the solving of mysteries within the magical community. After all, the aurors of both the British Ministry of Magic and the aurors of the United State Department of Magic most certainly lacked for scientific skills and logic; no place was this better understood than in the goblin community. For all their high skill with metals and with high finance in the wizarding community, the sad truth was that magical law enforcement was disappointing in their ability to capture perpetrators of ordinary non-magical crime. Worse yet, the magical law enforcement could care less about the goblin community.

In 1900 Alfred Bonnphult, established an endowment for goblin students to attend muggle universities like he did, with the express wish that the students pursue a career path grounded in the art and science of criminal investigation, both magical and non-magical. Bonnphult’s idea was to establish and build a specialized core of goblin investigators who would be able to scrutinize criminal activity for the benefit and protection of goblin personal and business interests.

In 1904 the first five goblin investigator candidates graduated from their muggle universities and each joined the Pinkertons via an arrangement with the Bonnphult Holding Company in order to gain real muggle world experience. After a few years of seasoning in the muggle security company, the first goblin investigators received a substantial grant from the Bonnphult foundation. In 1910, the Goblin Scientific Investigation service incorporated as a Magical Private Investigation agency and championed the legal rights of goblins in both the muggle and wizarding world.

It should be noted that in the late 1940’s the GSI was officially credited by the U.S. Department of Magic with various wartime contributions in the war against the Axes.

An Old Problem and a New Solution
What’s generally not known, is that when a metal magical item is made, the Goblin craftsman considers the item his, period. If the item was commissioned by a witch or wizard, the magical item is still considered by the Goblin craftsman as his property, with any commissioning fees being simply a long term lease. The craftsman expects to get the magical item back when the commissioning witch or wizard expires. The problem starts in when the deceased witch or wizard bequeaths the item to a family member, a friend or some impersonal magical institution. The Craftsman has a difficult time getting the items back with little sensitivity from the wizard community and considerably less from the wizard courts.

A Modern Recourse
Since the turn of the 20th century, New World Goblins have had one rather unorthodox recourse that has proved very effective in terms of retrieving loaned goblin magical items upon the death of its “owner”. After the founding of the Goblin Scientific Investigation (GSI) in 1910, a grieved Goblin craftsmen hired the Private Investigators of GSI to try and retrieve several lost magical items from the estate of a deceased wizard. After some muggle like legal babble from the detectives to the family and a bit of Mike Hammer tough guy style intimidation, the items in question were given to the investigators. It goes with out saying that the word got around fast in goblin crafting circles. Goblin Craftsmen began establishing long term contracts with GSI for the prompt retrieval of their property as “the renters” expired.

By the 1950’s GSI, had an entire division of the company GSI-RR dedicated to the business of retrieval and repossession. Not only did GSI win huge amounts business recovering magical items but they also managed to win considerable business in the muggle world in the automobile repossession business. Of course it should be noted that many of the muggle finance companies using their services were Goblin owned.

Over the years, GSI has developed and perfected many advances magical and muggle forensic techniques. Now with a combined experience spanning over several hundred years, the investigators of the GSI are without a doubt the finest criminalists in the world.

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Boorworms Academy of Magic: Homecoming Weekend
A LARP Gaming Event by Linda Poore and Cheryl Costa
March 1st, 10am – 5pm
Exclusively at Intercon-H Feb29-Mar2 - 2008
Chelmsford, MA
Boorworms Academy of Magic
Teaching the Magical Arts since 1695