Chapter 43: Now I Can Fight Rightfully!

After leaving the pet shop with lingering reluctance, Annie followed her new friend Hermione. The two walked straight down the main street of Diagon Alley until they reached the middle, near the intersection with Knockturn Alley. This was Gringotts Wizarding Bank, a towering white marble structure that occupied the largest area and was the most distinctive building in Diagon Alley.

Before the entrance of Gringotts, Annie blinked. She furrowed her cute little brows, looking at the strange building with suspicion, because there was an aura inside that she didn't quite like. It seemed very similar to a certain creature she loathed; the sensation was simply too unpleasant!

Despite her inner distaste, Annie knew she had to go inside to exchange money. Besides, Hermione, walking ahead, had already turned around several times to urge her on. After a moment of thought, Annie decided she would just go in and endure it.

Following behind Hermione, Annie passed through the bronze doors and then through a second set of silver doors before entering a spacious marble hall. About dozens of goblins sat behind high, long counters; some were busy scribbling entries into large ledgers, some were weighing coins on scales, and others were using magnifying lenses to inspect gemstones. Several adult wizards stood in orderly queues before the counters, waiting to conduct their business.

*As expected, they are these disgusting monsters...*

When Annie saw the creatures at the counters, a sense of realization washed over her. Even outside the building, she had sensed that aura she hated! It was an aura of insatiable greed; she knew it would be these ugly, greedy creatures! These little goblin monsters also existed on the continent of Valoran, though these ones looked slightly different from the ones Annie knew, their essence was fundamentally similar.

"Tch! Why do these short little monsters get to sit on such high counters?"

Approaching an empty counter, Annie muttered discontentedly. These counters were far too high! They were at least 1.6 meters tall; even an adult wizard would likely have to look up at those despicable goblins. She truly didn't understand how the wizards here could allow such greedy monsters to manage their wealth.

Annie detested these lowly creatures, especially the way they looked down on her from their high perches. In her eyes, they were nothing more than vile, filthy monsters—how did they dare? If this were Valoran, any creature that dared to look down on a mage with such an attitude would have long since been incinerated by a temperamental mage. Looking at the wizards queuing so obediently, Annie couldn't understand why they could tolerate them.

"Shh! Quiet, Annie," Hermione hurriedly signaled her to lower her voice, desperate not to be overheard by the goblins above.

Having visited Gringotts many times, Hermione knew that these goblins were not particularly friendly to wizards. Right now, she felt it was more important to exchange the Galleons quickly; there was absolutely no need to provoke them.

"I'd like to exchange one hundred and fifty pounds for Galleons, please!" After reminding Annie, Hermione turned and stood on her tiptoes, struggling to hand over several pound notes.

However, the goblin at the counter did not take the money immediately. Instead, it lowered its head and stared down at Annie with a sinister, piercing gaze for several seconds.

It had heard what Annie just said. Seeing the girl's defiant expression, Annie didn't hesitate to glare back. *So what if you're standing high? You short little monster, if you dare jump down, I'll definitely be taller than you!*

After a long while, seeing that it couldn't do anything to little Annie, the goblin finally gave up.

Yet, it waited until Hermione's hand was nearly aching from holding the money out before it finally turned to glance at her. It deliberately stalled for even longer before slowly and methodically taking the banknotes. After a moment, it coldly pulled a small pouch of Galleons from beneath the counter and tossed it to Hermione. Its arrogant, disdainful expression nearly made Annie explode with rage.

Hurriedly catching the tossed pouch, Hermione stuffed it into her satchel and tucked it away carefully. She then signaled for Annie to produce the coins she wanted to exchange, but since the coins were too many and too heavy, Hermione didn't have the strength to hand them up.

Fortunately, the clever Miss Granger knew high-level spells like the Levitation Charm. She pulled a short wooden wand—the kind Annie had seen before—from her pocket and whispered toward the large bag of coins: "*Wingardium Leviosa!*" The bag of coins drifted slowly upward, floating all the way to the counter in front of the goblin.

*Huh?* Seeing this girl named Hermione perform magic like that gave Annie a sense of novelty.

If she wasn't mistaken, it seemed the spell was completed through a combination of three elements: hand gestures, the incantation, and the help of the wand. But was it really that much trouble?

"Excuse me, could you please help us exchange all these coins into Galleons? Thank you!"

Hermione put her wand away, feeling quite proud of herself. She was very satisfied with her performance of the spell. She was only preparing for her second year, yet many older students might not even be able to cast this spell as well as she did!

Hearing that they wanted to exchange a large bag of coins, the goblin did not neglect them this time. It quickly stood up, reaching out its short, stubby hands in a comical manner to grab the large bag that was nearly as tall as itself. When it opened the mouth of the bag to look inside, its ridiculous large eyes flashed with golden light, instantly widening even further! Then, as if thinking of something, its eyes darted around for a moment before it quickly retied the bag.

After tying the bag, it leaned forward to carefully scrutinize the two little girls under the counter, its pair of shifty, deformed large eyes seemingly calculating something. At the same time, it glanced around at the surrounding crowd; seeing that not many people had noticed, it thought for a moment longer.

As if having made a decision, it narrowed its eyes and quickly cast a spell on the bag of coins, making the entire bag vanish. It was unclear where it had hidden it. After stowing the bag away, it slowly sat back down in its original seat at the counter and continued writing, as if nothing had happened.

"Excuse me! Are our Galleons ready?" After waiting a long time, an impatient Hermione spoke up when she saw the goblin ignoring them.

Logically, it had been so long, the coins had been taken, and it seemed to have written quite a bit; surely the transaction was complete? So where were the exchanged Galleons? Where was the proof of deposit? Or a check would do, if Gringotts offered such a service.

Upon hearing Hermione's question, the goblin merely tilted its head and gave the two girls a mocking glance before looking away, picking up its quill to continue its performative writing in the large ledger.

If Annie were to use Legilimency on it now, she would certainly find the goblin thinking disdainfully: *Coins? Hmph! Still want coins? I haven't seen anything, let alone that large bag of coins from an unknown source! What naive little girls. Humans are truly too stupid! Heh... I just love such fools! To think they'd bring me so many glittering treasures—let there be even more of these stupid wizards!*

"Hello! Respected Mr. Goblin, where are our coins? Where are they now? I think it has been long enough that you should have finished the exchange!" After waiting even longer and seeing no reaction, Hermione began to recall some unpleasant rumors. Consequently, she hardened her tone and began to demand answers.

"Coins? What coins? Human girl, weren't those dozen or so Galleons already exchanged for you? I saw you put them in." The goblin looked at Hermione with feigned impatience, then extended a thin, bony finger, gesturing for her to check her satchel.

"A... a dozen Galleons?" Subconsciously, Hermione felt inside her satchel as prompted. It felt hard inside—those were the one hundred and fifty pounds worth of Galleons she had just exchanged.

Hermione froze in confusion for a long moment. It wasn't until she realized the goblin's true intention that she reacted instantly! She looked up at the goblin with eyes full of disbelief.

*My God! Oh, Merlin's beard! It—this goblin! It actually dares to rob them of their coins in broad daylight? No wonder it took so long; it never intended to exchange those coins honestly! Those thousands of coins have already been hidden and embezzled by it? This shameless thief! This despicable robber!*

"You! How dare you do this? You stole our coins! You robber, you despicable goblin, thief! Thief!!" Hermione felt like she was going to collapse.

She had actually been robbed of a massive bag of coins by a goblin inside a wizarding bank! Those coins were worth at least several thousand Galleons; they couldn't just vanish like this. Thus, she began to scream at the top of her lungs.

Her voice immediately drew the attention of the surrounding wizards and the goblins at other counters! Although they didn't know what was happening, they all turned to look at the two little girls standing by the counter and the goblin employee whose expression was shifting unpleasantly.

Annie, who had been curiously observing the architecture and layout of the hall, also turned her head in confusion upon hearing Hermione's scream. Annie had no idea what had just occurred; she hadn't been paying attention to this side of the room.

In the end, it was Tibbs who privately and gloatingly tipped her off: *That stupid, death-seeking goblin just embezzled her wealth. Um... that's basically the situation.*

Annie finally understood what had happened, but she wasn't overly angry. Being fearless, she wasn't in a hurry to act.

Regarding wealth and coins, she didn't actually care that much. She was merely a bit puzzled: *Do they think I'm that easy to bully? Or do I just naturally have a face that looks like a coward who loves being picked on? Ha! This is interesting, truly interesting!*

Then, looking at that arrogant, short, ugly goblin standing on the counter, Annie felt even more displeased. Since when did such low-life scum dare to try and bully her? As it turned out, her long-standing hatred for these creatures was not without reason.

"Watch your language! Little girl, some things should not be said recklessly. Otherwise, the consequences will be severe!" The goblin stood up with feigned displeasure, walked to the edge of the counter, and lowered its head to warn Hermione in a malicious whisper, hoping she would behave herself—otherwise, hmph!

"You did! You took our coins and didn't exchange them for Galleons! You are a thief! A robber! A thief!!" Seeing that the goblin was still playing dumb, Hermione began to shout in fury.

She had only come to Gringotts to conduct business, yet she never expected to be robbed by the bank itself! If she told this story, no one would believe it. Yet, this was exactly what was happening right under her nose.

"Guards! Guards! Come here! Arrest them and take them to the Ministry. Charge: disturbing the peace at Gringotts! Let them handle this seriously!" The goblin did not want to get further entangled to avoid unnecessary trouble. Seeing that warnings were useless, it immediately snapped its fingers to summon the bank guards.

Two guards wearing crimson and gold uniforms, who had been standing watch at the edge of the hall, approached immediately upon hearing the call. One tall human wizard guard stepped in front of Annie and Hermione, blocking their view and creating a sense of physical intimidation. Another goblin guard stood behind them, forming a tactical encirclement.

These human guards were mostly adult wizards newly hired by the goblins, possessing strength not inferior to ordinary Aurors. They had powerful magic and quick reflexes, capable of both basic defense and assisting goblins in handling disputes between wizards and the bank. Gringotts employed many such guards.

"You two! Please cooperate with our work." The human guard in front stared expressionlessly at Hermione. As for the smaller Annie, he ignored her entirely; he didn't think a little girl could cause much trouble. Instead, he focused on the ten-year-old girl who looked like a student, as she might know several spells.

"You... you actually dare!" Hermione was so angry she could barely speak.

Inexperienced and only twelve years old, she was currently receiving a harsh lesson in the cruelty of reality! Consumed by rage, she prepared to pull the wand from her pocket to teach that hateful goblin a lesson.

Seeing Hermione's movement, the two guards exchanged a glance. The human guard in front stepped forward quickly and firmly grabbed Hermione's hand, while the goblin guard behind immediately pressed his hand onto the slightly shorter Annie's shoulder. They intended to forcibly escort the two girls out; since they were just children, they didn't plan to use wands immediately.

"Little girl, I am warning you one last time! Come with us to the Ministry quietly, or don't blame us for using spells." After grabbing Hermione's hand, the human guard stared coldly into the girl's frightened eyes, while his other hand swiftly snatched the wand from her pocket—the very wand she had intended to use.

The other goblin guard didn't care about such things; goblins were notoriously unfriendly to humans! Thus, it applied pressure, intending to pin Annie to the floor and bind her to be taken away. Perhaps it could even add another charge to these two human girls: attempting to use a wand at Gringotts with malicious intent!

"Waaaaah!!"

The goblin guard who had reached out to press Annie's shoulder was about to push hard when it was suddenly ignited by the raging flames erupting from Annie's body. The fire that left her body immediately spread toward its shoulder like magical fire.

The goblin let out a piercing scream, stumbled back several steps, and then fell to the ground, rolling around. It seemed it was trying to use this method to extinguish the terrifying flames on its body.

"You... you filthy monsters! You actually... dared to steal my money?!" Annie lifted her head, her small face tense, speaking one word at a time. More importantly: that goblin behind her actually dared to put its filthy hands on her shoulder?

As soon as she finished speaking, roaring red flames began to continuously erupt from Annie's body. Two eyes, which had become glowing red like molten lava, swept toward the goblins standing on the counter.

Annie had actually been annoyed by those hateful goblins for a long time! Now, she had finally found an opportunity to lash out. *Haha! Come on then, stand up high, go ahead and rob me!*

"You are seeking your own deaths!!!"

(End of Chapter)