Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 531 New Labor Law
"What?" Hermione stood up in surprise, so fast that she knocked over the cup in front of her.

Fragrant fruit wine was spilled all over the table.

But no one seemed to see it, or perhaps no one had the inclination to clean up the scattered, escaped fruit wine.

“They…how could they…how could they?” Hermione asked, puzzled. “I…I mean…how could those goblins at Gringotts be able to organize a magical alliance? Aren’t they the bank of the wizarding world?”

“No, Hermione, you don’t understand. They’re not just the bank of the wizarding world,” Lupin said. “They’re the creditors of the entire wizarding world.”

"What do you mean?"

"Although no one has ever compiled statistics... it's safe to say that the goblins of Gringotts control at least sixty percent of the wealth in the entire wizarding world," Mrs. Weasley explained, regaining her composure. "This includes, but is not limited to, gold coins, land deeds, property deeds, plantations for producing magical herbs, farms for breeding magical creatures, and patents for producing various potions and magical items."

“What?” Hermione exclaimed in surprise, “So many!”

“Yes.” Lupin nodded. “To be more precise, the offices of the Magical Institute of America, the French Ministry of Magic, and the underground offices of the German Ministry of Magic, the Hungarian Ministry of Magic, the Spanish Ministry of Magic, the Austrian Ministry of Magic, and our British Ministry of Magic are all Gringotts properties. They are rented out by Gringotts to the various national ministries of magic, and the annual rent is only a symbolic one Galleon, one Silver Sickle, and one Bronze Nutter.”

“In addition, Gringotts is responsible for producing 30 percent of the magical animal materials, 70 percent of the magical plant materials, and 20 percent of the everyday magical items on the market today,” Lupin said.

"So... if Gringotts wanted to... they could disrupt a country's wizarding economy anytime, anywhere?" Hermione said. "That's terrifying."

“That sounds like something Tierra would do,” Sirius Black chimed in. “While I don’t like those goblins at Gringotts either, Tierra has really messed things up.”

"So Arthur and Bill have been busy with this?" Mrs. Weasley asked nervously. "Is Tyrell really preparing for war? Does he really want to start a war?"

Mrs. Weasley was so frightened she almost screamed.

“No…” Lupin said strangely, “Tiera…Tiera’s attitude is very strange…he…he is not preparing for war.”

"What do you mean?" "Mr. Weasley has just been appointed director of the Bureau on the Abuse of Muggle Artifacts, but... but... Tyella plans to introduce products like cell phones, computers, and typewriters to the wizarding world... Mr. Weasley is currently testing the performance of these Muggle products..." Lupin said somewhat helplessly, "and he seems to be very... very enjoying it..."

"Of course he's enjoying it!" Mrs. Weasley roared, half amused and half angry, slamming her hand holding the cake knife on the table. "If you went to our garage, you'd see how much Arthur loves those Muggle gadgets! So that's why he's been working overtime every day these past few days and not coming home—all for these things? I've been worried about his safety these past few days! I'll give him a good thrashing when he gets back!"

"And what about Bill?" Mrs. Weasley asked again. "Is Bill also tinkering with those gadgets with Arthur? After all, since Gringotts are going to war with us, they must have completely withdrawn their operations from England. Bill must not have a stable job now. I know that Bill, like his father, likes those Muggle gadgets."

“Bill is the newly appointed Deputy Minister of Finance of the Magical Union. He’s helping Tierra XIV, Tierra XVII, and Tierra XIII deal with the gold and has taken over Gringotts’ factories left in Britain,” Lupin said with a complicated expression. “According to the Tierras’ ‘Werewolf Employment Act,’ ‘House-Elf Employment Act,’ and ‘Dark Wizard Labor Reform Act,’ Bill, along with a house-elf named Dobby who defected from the Malfoy family, are providing on-the-job training to dark wizards in Knockturn Alley, werewolves that no one wanted to take in, and house-elves confiscated from pure-blood families and Gringotts’ house-elf shops.”

“Now, some house-elves, werewolves, and dark wizards have joined the production, supporting some factories that produce everyday consumable magical items.” Lupin shook his head helplessly again. “These factories in Tiera are not for profit at all. Therefore, while lowering prices, Tiera has also paid higher wages to the wizards and house-elves in the factories, given them better treatment, and even provided them with free room and board. Of course, except for that house-elf named Dobby, the other house-elves have refused to accept wages.”

"So, to make house-elves more accepting, Tiera changed the form of their wages," Lupin explained. "He converted their wages into 'work points,' with one work point equal to the purchasing power of one Galleon. He presented these work points as a reward for the house-elves and encouraged them to use them for purchases."

"That's fantastic! That's amazing!" Hermione exclaimed, almost with tears welling up in her eyes. "Tierra has thought of everything so perfectly!"

"Hmph, a tactic of winning people's hearts," Sirius said coldly. "He's thrown the entire wizarding world into chaos because of this little favor."

“No, Sirius, you don’t understand. You have no idea how miserable those werewolf wizards who struggle to survive in Knockturn Alley are.” Lupin sighed calmly, then said, “To be honest, I’m very grateful to Tyella for that. In the past, the wizarding world discriminated against werewolves. The Ministry of Magic established the Werewolf Registry to monitor us all the time. Umbridge even enacted an anti-werewolf law, prohibiting any wizard who was proven to be a werewolf from obtaining employment. Because of this law, most werewolf wizards were poor their whole lives.”

Sirius pursed his lips helplessly, but didn't say anything.

"What did Dumbledore say?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "Such a big matter, Dumbledore couldn't possibly ignore it, could he?"

“Dumbledore…” Lupin sighed and said, “Dumbledore just doesn’t care about this matter.”

"What?" Almost everyone exclaimed in surprise.

(End of this chapter)