Chapter 45: There Must Be Some Rogue Seeking to Harm This Old Man

“Oh! Merlin's beard! Can someone tell me what on earth is happening here?” An old man with a long white beard, wearing brown traveling robes and a pointed wizard's hat, pushed open the heavy doors of Gringotts and stepped inside with a hurried, wary expression.

The Gringotts lobby no longer possessed its usual atmosphere of prosperity and solemnity. Instead, it was littered with the traces of a fierce battle: broken tables and chairs, and shattered, overturned marble pillars.

A massive hole had been blasted through the wall near the ceiling, right through the large floor-to-ceiling window. Piles of broken masonry and glass shards lay scattered across the floor. Furthermore, the air was filled with a scent that felt strangely familiar and comforting to Dumbledore, though he couldn't quite place where he had smelled it before.

A large group of Gringotts goblin employees, who should have been at work, were wailing softly. They were bound by feet with flame-red magical ropes and hung upside down in mid-air in the middle of the lobby. None dared to struggle, and none dared to attempt to untie the magical bindings.

Other Gringotts guards and dozens of Ministry of Magic Aurors were similarly bound to several relatively intact marble pillars by the same red magical ropes, looking disheveled and defeated. Some had already lost consciousness, while others hung their heads in frustration, not daring to move an inch.

Dumbledore also noticed some strangely posed human statues on the ground nearby. He didn't recall Gringotts ever having such statues in the lobby; perhaps the tasteless goblins had recently acquired them?

The only one not bound was Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, who was trembling and keeping his head low like a terrified little chicken. He stood to the side, looking utterly soul-shaken and speechless. His oversized wizard's hat obscured his face so much that Dumbledore didn't even recognize him at first glance.

At the far end of the hall, the entrance to the Gringotts vaults was a complete mess!

The floor there was covered in bricks and other unidentifiable debris, as if something massive had burst through from the inside. In a corner toward the back of the hall lay... er? A burning dragon skeleton? And what on earth was that flaming giant bear sitting atop the dragon skull?

Seeing the burning dragon skeleton, Dumbledore finally had an epiphany. He remembered the intense aroma he had smelled upon entering: it was the smell of roasted dragon meat! That was it! That familiar, charred scent!

Professor Dumbledore was quite nostalgic for this particular smell. In his younger days, under the guise of researching the various uses of dragon blood, he had slaughtered several dragons. Back then, skinning, tendon-stripping, and bone-extracting not only earned him a fortune but also allowed him to enjoy quite a bit of dragon meat.

Thinking back, he felt a wave of nostalgia. No wonder the scent felt so familiar the moment he walked in! But, *ahem*, there was no need to mention the past; it was merely the recklessness of youth. He, Albus Dumbledore, had long since retired from such activities. He was a man of status now; how could he possibly engage in such things?

This was the scene encountered by Albus Dumbledore—Headmaster of Hogwarts, widely recognized as the greatest wizard of the age, recipient of the Order of Merlin, First Class, founder and leader of the Order of the Phoenix, Chairman of the International Confederation of Wizards, and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot—upon entering Gringotts Bank.

Originally, Dumbledore had no intention of visiting Gringotts today. According to his schedule, he wouldn't need to visit for a few more days to withdraw some money and deposit some important items, but certainly not today!

However, just as he was preparing for afternoon tea, he received an urgent message stating that a major incident had occurred at Gringotts and that the most powerful White Wizard needed to lend his assistance! Thus, he had reluctantly disrupted his schedule and Apparated to Diagon Alley to see what was happening.

Little did he know that pushing open the doors would reveal such a sight.

The first glance at the scene had sent a shiver down his spine! For a moment, he had thought that Voldemort—that little Tom—had resurrected! However, he knew that was unlikely. At the end of last term, that rebellious Tom was merely a pitiful ghost; how could he have resurrected so quickly? Even if one gave him a hundred Philosopher's Stones, it wouldn't be possible. Rebirth wasn't like character creation in a game; the required procedures and potions were incredibly complex.

"Is that you, Fudge? You're here too? Tell me, what exactly happened here?" Having failed to grasp the situation, Dumbledore finally spotted the trembling Minister for Magic by the door. Even as the Minister, why did he look like a wronged, timid wife? Dumbledore had almost failed to recognize him.

Fudge noticed Dumbledore, but he didn't dare answer directly. Instead, he timidly glanced up at the little girl standing in the middle of the hall. Fudge had been terrified; that little girl's strength was truly horrifying! He couldn't even imagine that such a person existed in the world.

Thinking back to when he first received the distress call from Gringotts, Fudge had naively assumed it was just a few Dark Wizards acting out of boredom or madness, perhaps wanting to steal some gold. He hadn't taken it seriously at all! In his view, Gringotts was not an easy target.

But adhering to the principle of official duty, since such a massive incident had occurred and the goblins had requested aid, Fudge, as Minister, felt he had to take it seriously. Therefore, he had immediately led dozens of Aurors on duty at the Ministry and Apparated to the scene.

But who could have guessed... *Sigh!* Now, thinking of it brought Fudge nothing but tears! Just moments ago, after arriving and assessing the situation, his dozens of Aurors had launched a simultaneous assault on the little girl. At the same time, Gringotts had released its ultimate weapon: the ancient White Dragon guarding the vaults! And then? And then that was it. There was no "then"!

The ancient White Dragon had barely managed a roar before being overturned by a magical creature thrown by the girl, and was sliced to pieces in a few strokes! Then, it was slowly burned into the skeleton seen before them by the flames of that magical creature—flames even more terrifying than Fiendfyre. That magical creature was currently sitting on the dragon skull, watching the show! That was the ferocious flaming giant bear over there! Otherwise, where did he think the lingering smell of roasted meat came from? It was the bear's handiwork! It was too brutal; before they could even hear a sound, an ancient dragon was simply... gone.

The Aurors were in even worse shape. They had barely drawn their wands from their holsters to prepare for an attack when they were inexplicably disarmed. Then, like toothless tigers, they were easily bound to the pillars by those red magical ropes that appeared out of thin air. They hadn't even managed to cast a single spell before being completely wiped out!

Merlin's beard! Those were dozens of powerful Aurors! Plus a mighty ancient White Dragon! Such a powerful combination couldn't even last three seconds? Even at the height of his power, the Dark Lord probably wasn't half as ferocious as this little girl!

Setting the dragon aside, just consider the Aurors!

If the Dark Lord had dared to challenge dozens of Aurors alone, Fudge would have taught him a lesson in minutes! No one could defeat dozens of Aurors single-handedly—not Dumbledore, nor the Dark Lord. They didn't have that kind of strength! But now? This seemingly harmless little girl had done exactly that, and with ease! So, how could Fudge not be terrified?

Following Fudge's fearful gaze, Dumbledore finally noticed the two little girls standing in the center of the hall. One of the smaller girls was roasting a strange piece of meat over a crackling fire. Dumbledore recognized the meat instantly; he was very familiar with it! And the things the girl was tossing into the fire... *Hiss!* They looked so familiar. Could those pieces of wood be... a pile of wands? What a waste! How many Galleons was that worth?

Then, as Dumbledore focused his senses on the girl, he was completely stunned!

He had just sensed an extraordinary, massive surge of magical power emanating from the blonde girl. In that instant, the well-traveled Dumbledore even thought he was looking at the God of Magic!

Dumbledore had never imagined a wizard could possess such a level of magical fluctuation; it simply didn't exist in the wizarding world! Even if Merlin were reborn, he could not reach this level! Let alone Dumbledore himself, or that rebel Tom.

Realizing the terror of the girl before him, Dumbledore's first thought was: *Some rogue must be trying to assassinate me!* This girl was not someone he could handle!

Who could it be? Who was using her as a weapon? Could it be this ungrateful wretch, Fudge? Surely he didn't have the guts. Or perhaps the remnants of the Death Eaters under Tom? That was possible. Wait! Who exactly sent the message that tricked him into coming here? Dumbledore decided that once this was over, he would have to investigate thoroughly.

Dumbledore adjusted his half-moon spectacles, quietly wiped away a bead of cold sweat, and loosened his grip on the Elder Wand hidden in his sleeve. He no longer had the desire to fight, nor did he dare! Perhaps he shouldn't have come today? This was not something he could easily intervene in; one wrong move and his life might be forfeit! If he pretended he had walked into the wrong room now, would it be too late?

Wiping his brow again, Dumbledore finally found the composure to shift his gaze to the other, taller girl. Oh! Thank goodness! This taller girl seemed more normal; her magical fluctuations were similar to any other child her age. Hmm? Why did she look so familiar? He quickly adjusted his glasses to look closer.

"Miss Hermione Granger! Is it you? What are you doing here?" Upon discovering that the girl beside the other child was his student, Dumbledore finally breathed a sigh of relief.

An acquaintance! An acquaintance is good! An acquaintance means there is still room for negotiation!

To Dumbledore, no matter how bad a situation was, he wasn't afraid—he was only afraid when there were no acquaintances! If there wasn't a single person he knew on the opposing side, there might not even be a chance to negotiate, and that would truly be the end of him!

But now, things were clearly much easier. The cunning Dumbledore noticed that his student seemed quite close to the other girl; they were standing together, so they must know each other. That made it easy; he already had a plan to resolve this mess.

"Professor... Professor Dumbledore?" Hearing someone call her name, Hermione finally snapped out of her stunned, numb state.

The events of today had been so volatile that she had been in a state of shock until just now. However, Hermione knew she was in deep trouble!

At the thought of this, seeing her familiar Headmaster, Hermione's voice broke into a sob; she was on the verge of wailing! You must understand, she was only a twelve-year-old girl! Today she had roasted goblins, captured Aurors, and smashed Gringotts to pieces—how was this supposed to end?

"Now, now, Miss Granger! Don't cry. Can you explain in detail what happened here? And who is this with you?" Dumbledore reached out and gently patted Hermione's shoulder to comfort her.

When he noticed Annie frowning and staring at him suspiciously, Dumbledore was so startled he nearly pulled his hand back and fled! He truly wanted to shout: *This has nothing to do with me! I was just passing by and thought I'd come in to mediate! If you won't listen and want to fight, I'm leaving immediately! I'm not even that close to them!*

"Ugh... okay, okay, Professor!" Hermione sobbed for a moment, wiped the tears from her cheeks, and then gave a rough account of what had happened.

"I see... I understand!" Once Hermione had finished explaining everything from beginning to end, Dumbledore finally regained his composure.

Dumbledore felt that once the situation was categorized, it would be much easier to handle. He mentally reconstructed the timeline: This girl, Annie, came to Gringotts to exchange ancient gold coins. The goblin employees, driven by greed, tried to cheat the girl out of her hard-earned money! Then, the conflict erupted. Most importantly: the goblins' fists were not as hard as the girl's, and in the end, she burned one goblin guard to death, burned the greedy goblin employee to ash, turned an ancient White Dragon into a skeleton, damaged property and buildings, and broke or burned several wands. Yes, that was essentially how it went.

Excellent! Dumbledore had sorted it out. In his view, from start to finish: the girl's actions were entirely reasonable and legal acts of self-defense; she bore absolutely no responsibility! The Gringotts employees, driven by greed, bore the primary responsibility! And the Ministry, for acting without investigating the truth, bore only secondary responsibility!

Yes, that was exactly how it should be handled. That was his decision. Perfect! Dumbledore nodded inwardly at his own conclusion. If anyone had an objection, they could take it up with the girl; don't come to him! Does he look like he has nothing better to do? He was a very busy man!

"Then this will be easy!" Dumbledore satisfiedly extended the Elder Wand and gave a flick toward a goblin hanging in the air, rescuing the Gringotts goblin leader, Bogrod. As for the other hanging goblins? What was it to him? Let them hang! It wasn't like they were going to die. If they got a brain hemorrhage from hanging too long, they could just take more medicine!

"Bogrod, did you hear everything Miss Granger just said?" Dumbledore narrowed his eyes, signaling the goblin leader to take responsibility and admit his mistake immediately. Otherwise, Dumbledore would simply wash his hands of the whole affair.

"I... I heard clearly. This was our mistake! On behalf of Gringotts, I express my sincerest apologies to Miss Annie. Furthermore, Gringotts Bank is willing to compensate you ten times... no! We are willing to compensate you a hundred times your losses!" His fists were no match for the girl, and the help he had called was useless. Combined with the fact that he was clearly in the wrong, the exhausted Bogrod finally surrendered.

As for the dignity of Gringotts and the goblins, that had long since been tossed into some forgotten corner. Was dignity more important than his life? For Bogrod, that was an easy distinction. Now that someone had finally arrived to mediate, he had to prioritize staying alive.

This whole mess was actually caused by that damned Larceny! If only it had died sooner; otherwise, after this, Bogrod would have hunted its soul down to scatter its ashes! It was bad enough that the bastard was dishonest, but now he had to take the fall for it?

"So, your name is Annie, right? You can call me Albus Dumbledore. It is a pleasure to meet you. Oh, I almost forgot to ask—how many ancient gold coins did they cheat you out of in total?" Seeing a perfect solution, Dumbledore felt a sense of profound satisfaction. It seemed his reputation was quite useful; he could get along anywhere.

"Oh! About this much!" Seeing that the white-bearded old man seemed to know her big sister Hermione, and not wanting to keep fighting endlessly—which was quite boring—Annie decided to go along with it. However, compensation was a must, so she held out her small, tender palm.

"Oh? Only fifty gold coins? That's not much at all! This is a simple matter." To steal a mere fifty gold coins? These Gringotts goblins were really going downhill. They probably thought these two little girls would be easy targets, but look at the result! Dumbledore suddenly felt the goblins deserved the beating; his own appearance fee would likely be higher than fifty gold coins!

Hearing that it was only fifty gold coins, the goblin leader Bogrod, who had been sitting on the floor, finally felt his heart settle! A mere fifty ancient gold coins—even at a three-to-one exchange for Galleons, a hundredfold compensation would only be fifteen thousand Galleons. For the wealthy Gringotts, that was nothing, mere pocket change!

Bogrod felt that this small amount probably wouldn't even cover the cost of repairing Gringotts. It was all that damned Larceny! To cause such a massive loss to Gringotts over a mere fifty gold coins? If the dragon was included, the loss would be astronomical!

"No! That's not right, Professor! It wasn't fifty; it was at least five thousand! Maybe even more! Because there was such a large pouch! And the pet shop owner can testify; she was the one who suggested we come to Gringotts to exchange it." Hearing Dumbledore say it was only fifty, Hermione grew anxious and shouted to correct him, using her hands to gesture the size of the pouch.

Hermione couldn't afford to be calm. If they actually tried to settle for fifty coins, little Annie might end up fighting the goblins all over again. Hermione had had enough for one day; she didn't want to stay here in fear! She just wanted to get out, find her irresponsible father, and go home as fast as possible! Oh, and before going home, she had to pick up her cat; even now, Hermione didn't want to break her promise to it.

"How... how much? F-five thousand?! That many?" Dumbledore was slightly taken aback by the amount!

If that was the case, it made sense.

No wonder that suicidal goblin dared to act. Dumbledore thought that if it were him, he might even be tempted. What was his annual salary again? A few hundred Galleons? Probably less than a thousand? *Tsk tsk!* A little girl was richer than him... but what did that have to do with him? He wasn't the one paying!

"Bogrod? You heard that too, right? Any objections? If you have any, speak up now." Dumbledore began to look at the goblin leader on the floor with a hint of schadenfreude, mentally calculating how much Gringotts would have to pay if it were five thousand coins.

"N-no objections!" The goblin leader bowed his head deeply.

Merlin's beard! If that were the case, Gringotts would have to pay a full 1.5 million Galleons! Bogrod felt as if he could hear his own heart breaking. 1.5 million Galleons... that damned, cursed Larceny! Even though it had been burned to ash, Bogrod felt an urge to find its soul and torture it for ten thousand years.

"And you, Fudge!" Dumbledore suddenly turned to the Minister for Magic, who was still in a daze. "This matter is now concluded. Everything that happened today ends here. I assume the Ministry has no objections?"

"Objections? No, absolutely none! I second it! I agree!" Hearing Dumbledore's words, Fudge snapped out of it and immediately raised his hand to show his agreement. He had wanted to leave this hellhole for a long time; he didn't want to stay another second!

At first, he thought coming here would be a chance to catch some thugs, earn some merit, show his face, and get in the newspapers. But now? He had gained nothing and only brought shame upon himself!

Furthermore, his Aurors had lost dozens of high-performance wands! That was also a huge sum of money!

He couldn't let the Ministry foot the bill for that. Fudge decided that once this was settled, he would immediately send someone to lecture that goblin leader; they had to bleed for this. Besides compensating the Ministry's losses, they should also pay him a sum for mental distress! And of course, he would make sure the Aurors were compensated too; as Minister, he couldn't keep all the benefits to himself.