Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 530 United Magic Army

"Those fairies must be insane!" Mrs. Weasley asked in shock.

Even the others couldn't help but put down their cakes, staring at Lupin in shock, seemingly waiting for him to continue.

Everyone seemed to be listening to some strange, unbelievable story.

“Yes, they really have gone mad.” Lupin picked up a drink from the table, whose owner he didn’t know, and gulped it all down in one go.

"To be precise, the goblins were quite polite at first." Lupin didn't know what words to use to describe it. "They were naturally very angry that their gold coins had been stolen, but perhaps because of the strange power that Tiera displayed at the Cornelius Magic Ceremony a few days ago, they were somewhat wary. Therefore, at first they sent a negotiation team consisting of five goblins and three wizards, hoping to persuade Tiera to release the gold through negotiations."

“Of course, the result was not ideal,” Lupin said. “To be precise, the result was far from ideal.”

"Is Tierra refusing to return the gold?" Hermione asked anxiously.

“No,” Lupin glanced at Hermione, then gently shook his head. “He agreed to return the gold.”

"What? He... wait, he agreed to return the gold coins?" Hermione said, bewildered, then asked again, puzzled, "He agreed to return the gold coins!?"

"Then why did he go through all that trouble to move so many gold coins to the Ministry of Magic?" Hermione asked.

“He agreed to return the gold coins, but on one condition,” Lupin sighed. “The condition was that Gringotts be incorporated into the British Magical Union, becoming a banking institution under the British Magical Union’s Treasury, and subject to the direct leadership of the British Magical Union.”

"What?" Hermione almost screamed.

Everyone else had the same expression as Hermione.

“What is Tyrell thinking?” Mrs. Weasley asked, seemingly incredulous. “How dare he make such a request?”

“Tierra’s reasoning was that Gringotts is an overseas organization, and in the past few disturbances caused by Voldemort, Gringotts demonstrated its clearly incompetent defense capabilities and worryingly wavering attitude. After deliberation at the high-level meeting of the British Magical Union, it was determined that Gringotts was a huge threat to the lives and property of the British magical community. Therefore,” Lupin took a deep breath and continued, “after joint review and decision by the high-level meeting of the British Magical Union, Gringotts was ordered to rectify its practices within a specified period and be incorporated into the banking department under the British Magical Union’s Treasury.”

"Did the goblins at Gringotts agree?" Ron asked, as if listening to a story.

“Of course not!” Hermione said.

“Gringotts did not agree,” Lupin said. “In fact, they demanded that Tierra return the gold coins as soon as possible, and then they would withdraw directly from the British Ministry of Magic.”

“In the words of the leading goblin, Greg, ‘Since you don’t trust us, we’ll leave England, and you don’t need to worry about us betraying you,’” Lupin said.

Did Tierra agree?

“He agreed,” Lupin said, “and readily agreed to the Gringotts goblins’ demand for the return of the gold coins.” “Agreed?” Harry asked, puzzled. “Then why is there still a war?”

“Because Tierra requested Gringotts to submit a detailed statement of income,” Lupin said.

"Income details?" Harry asked. "Why do we need income details? Is it just to buy time?"

"No, no, it's not about stalling for time!" Hermione suddenly shouted, standing up excitedly. "I know what Tyrell is up to!"

"The newly enacted Economic Law of the Magical Federation clearly states that the Magical Federation has the right to confiscate the illegal gains of any individual, organization, or institution," Hermione explained excitedly.

"That means..." Harry realized as well.

"In other words, Tyrell's demand for their income details stems from her certainty that not all of their income is entirely legal," Hermione continued to explain.

“I bet even those goblins don’t know exactly how much gold is in their vaults,” Ron interjected.

“No, Ron, it doesn’t matter how much gold was originally in the vault,” Hermione said. “Now that pair of gold is in Tiera’s hands. Tiera can say how much gold there is, and that means if Tiera wants to, she can easily take away hundreds of millions of Galleons.”

"Hundreds of millions!?" Ron exclaimed, dumbfounded. This number was astronomical for Ron, who was always bad at math. "My God, how much is that?"

“For us, it’s an astronomical figure, but for Gringotts it might just be the amount of a small lake scooped from the ocean. You saw last week’s newspaper, didn’t you?” Hermione said. “I think it was last Tuesday or Monday, the front page had Tierra’s photo of all the gold in Gringotts’ vaults—”

"There is an endless golden ocean there, capable of rippling waves, probably numbering in the hundreds of millions!"

“Yes,” Lupin said.

"So, did Gringotts submit it?" Ron asked, "that income statement?"

“How could that be?” Lupin said. “If even you can figure it out, how could those money-grubbing goblins in Gringotts not understand?”

“They knew perfectly well that Tiera’s demand for a detailed statement of income meant she was determined to embezzle a huge sum of Galleons,” Lupin said. “This was something the goblins of Gringotts would absolutely not allow. They would not give up even a single gold coin, so they all rushed back to Gringotts on the very night the negotiations broke down.”

"And then?" Hermione asked nervously.

"Then... sigh." Lupin sighed helplessly before continuing, "Then the goblins of Gringotts from all over the world united with the Magical Union of America, the French Ministry of Magic, the German Ministry of Magic, the Austrian Ministry of Magic, the Hungarian Ministry of Magic, the Swiss Ministry of Magic, the Brazilian Ministry of Magic, the East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, the Spanish Ministry of Magic, the Indian Ministry of Magic, the Egyptian Ministry of Magic, the Icelandic Ministry of Magic, the Danish Ministry of Magic, the Australian Ministry of Magic, the New Zealand Ministry of Magic, and other magical societies from fifty countries and regions, and together formed a United Magical Army. They issued a declaration of war to the Magical Union of Great Britain, demanding that the Magical Union of Great Britain return the gold coin placed in the deepest part of Gringotts."

"According to intelligence, the United Magical Army is currently gathering towards the Strait of Dover in France and will likely be assembled within a week. They have declared that if the British Magical Federation does not return the Gringotts gold coins within a week, they will immediately launch an attack."

(End of this chapter)