A day at Hogwarts.

Chapter 550 Another Stab in the Back
In Diagon Alley, shop owners often gather at the Leaky Cauldron after dinner for a drink, a chat, and to exchange news.

Just as everyone was having a pleasant conversation, a startled exclamation shattered the peaceful and harmonious atmosphere.

"A massive explosion has occurred at Hogwarts!"

The crowd erupted in uproar; this was no small matter.

The man looked at the communication notebook again and said, "It's the Gryffindor boys' dormitory."

A sigh of relief filled the bar as everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"It must be Simo again."

Many people looked at Lady Finigan.

Mrs. Finigan shrugged.

Just then, someone entered the bar, exclaiming in horror, "Oh my God, this is terrible, absolutely terrible!"

He sat in his usual spot, his body trembling uncontrollably.

Someone asked, "Mr. Ollivander, what happened?"

Ollivander took his usual bottle of wine, took a big gulp, and said, "Just now, a dark wizard in Knockdown Alley saw a goblin being tortured horribly on the ground. The dark wizard was horrified by the goblin's miserable state and immediately notified the Aurors."

The bar erupted in a commotion as everyone discussed how someone could scare the dark wizard of Knockturn Alley so badly that he had to seek out an Auror.

Some people said, "What kind of person is this, torturing a fairy?"

The others were also puzzled; now that the fairies had rebelled, who would be a threat to them?

Ollivander took a couple more sips, calmed himself down, and continued to reveal: "Actually, this isn't the first time. I've heard that Gringotts goblins have been tortured several times before. Today, someone just told the Aurors about it."

Another gasp escaped the crowd. Everyone was on edge, as they all worked in Diagon Alley. What if it was their turn tomorrow?
Just then, Jack cast the Imperishable Curse on Rita Skeeter.

He also had to stay at the Daily Prophet to make sure the news made the front page.

The next morning, the students of Hogwarts went to the dining hall for breakfast.

Charles looked ashen-faced, as if he didn't want to acknowledge anyone who called him.

As they came downstairs, Krum asked with concern, "Charles, I heard that you were blown into the lake when you jumped out of the window last night, and skipped more than a dozen stones?"

Charles was very upset. He had only made up an excuse about falling into the lake last night, but it had become the talk of the town.

He didn't want to talk to Krum, but then Fleur came over and asked, "Charles, I heard you were blown into the lake last night and drifted from one side to the other?"

Charles said speechlessly, "I was bombed all the way to Switzerland."

"Looks like you've been stopped by the Alps," Krum said seriously.

Charles looked at him in surprise. So you can tell jokes too, huh?

While having breakfast, Seamus and the others returned from the school infirmary. Many students stood up and applauded the heroes who blew up the castle. Fred even presented them with a bouquet of sausage flowers made from fried sausages.

The new headmaster of Durmstrang, Agard, said to Dumbledore, "Hogwarts is so tolerant of its students."

Dumbledore said with a hint of helplessness, "We can't exactly send him out to cause a ruckus in the streets."

Agard thought he made a lot of sense and that he was indeed a veteran in the education system, someone worth learning from.

After breakfast comes a shower of owls, most of whom are now newspaper deliverymen.

When the Daily Prophet arrived, many people exclaimed in shock, saying that today's front page headline was terrifying.

Charles frowned, feeling Dumbledore staring at him, and then looked puzzled.

Hermione exclaimed incredulously, "Gringotts vault has been robbed!"

"My God, someone actually tried to take advantage of Gringotts, and they actually succeeded!"

Charles was at a loss for words.

He knew the inside story; Grindelwald had left traces that Dumbledore discovered, and Dumbledore had come to him about it.

Charles figured that the timing of this revelation was probably related to Gringotts trying to get him to do business with them.

Now that everyone knows Gringotts is no longer safe, Farbatton Castle has no reason to open its vault in Gringotts.

If Gringotts still wants this business, there's probably only one way: prove that Farbatton Castle is even less secure.

Charles understood the old men's plan: to stab Gringotts in the back again and see how Gringotts would respond. He needed to do his job well.

After breakfast, Dumbledore intended to talk to Charles, but in the end he just sighed.

He had realized that there was an unseen hand manipulating things behind the scenes, something beyond his control. The matter quickly spread overseas, and that very evening Gabrielle asked Charles if he had any money deposited in Gringotts and whether he wanted to put it in his own money box.

While British wizards were still discussing it and foreign wizards were still watching the spectacle, an unexpected second blow came.

That day, Xiao Ma kept saying, "Yes, Gringotts didn't honor the contract at all. They didn't compensate me for my silk tent with a courtyard that burned down last summer. It had seventy-two rooms, thirty-six bathrooms with bathtubs, and a dance floor that could accommodate more than a hundred people!"

“This is an insult to the Malfoy family, and I’m preparing to take it to Wizengamot!”

This time, Malfoy received support from students in the other three houses, which was unusual.

While everyone was doing their homework in the common room that day, Hermione asked Charles, "What did Malfoy talk about today?"

Charles said, "It might be related to what happened during last year's Quidditch World Cup."

Hermione never expected to get involved in this.

"Last year, we bought Gringotts insurance for our tent," Seamus said dejectedly. "It's not just wizards in Britain and Ireland who buy this insurance; wizards in many countries buy it too, and my tent did too."

"As you know, there was a fire at the camp that day, and almost all the tents were burned down."

"According to the contract, Gringotts should compensate us, but they have been dragging their feet until now, always making excuses to avoid it."

“My mother was furious. If she wasn’t worried about me going to Azkaban, she would have made me blow up Gringotts.”

Hermione exclaimed in surprise, "Is that so!"

Parvati said, "Yes, my tent didn't lose money either."

Charles said to Seamus, "Go ahead and bomb it. I have friends in Azkaban who can take care of you."

Simo rolled his eyes at him.

To everyone's surprise, Krum actually stepped forward and poured gasoline on the fire that was burning Gringotts.

Speaking in British and Bulgarian newspapers as the Seeker for the Bulgarian national Quidditch team, he argued that Gringotts' default on its debt damaged the image of Quidditch and the Quidditch World Cup, and supported Draco Malfoy's lawsuit.

The champion team, Ireland, subsequently issued a similar statement.

The victims of that incident came from all over the world. Most foreign wizards didn't have the energy to argue with the goblins, so they just accepted their fate. This time, with Malfoy leading the charge, everyone else followed suit.

Dumbledore had to take some time to visit the International Federation of Wizarding Societies and agreed to form a special committee to handle the matter, with Fudge taking charge.

Ginny, holding the Daily Prophet, said, "Percy is going to be ecstatic this time."

Ron looked at the photo and said, "Look at him, grinning like an idiot, his mouth is practically reaching his ears."

Fred and George both complained.

After Fudge took control of the special committee, he immediately appointed Percy as its secretary-general.

Hermione noticed Charles's worried expression and asked, "Charles, are you worried about Percy?"

She remembered that Percy was still Charles's subordinate.

Ginny said to Charles, "Charles, could you please persuade Percy not to get so close to the minister? I heard that Professor Dumbledore and Fudge had a very unpleasant conversation at the International Federation of Wizarding Societies meeting, and Mother is very worried about Percy."

Fred and George nodded.

Recently, a story has been circulating in the Ministry of Magic: Dumbledore advised Fudge not to push the goblins too hard, lest he drive them to launch a new goblin rebellion, but Fudge firmly refused.

Charles sighed; the attempt to mend the rift between Dumbledore and Fudge had failed.

If it weren't for Voldemort, Dumbledore might not have said those words to Fudge, but he was worried that the goblins would side with Voldemort, so he chose a conciliatory approach.

But Fudge had already made up his mind to mess with fairies, so how could he miss this opportunity?

It's normal for negotiations to break down in this situation.

This collapse could trigger a chain reaction, and the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for the next school year will likely have to be replaced by someone from the Ministry of Magic.

Charles said, "Percy told me about this, and I support him taking on this role."

The Weasleys were immediately rendered speechless.

Charles didn't want to explain further, and simply gave Percy two sentences:

"You deserve credit for our success."

"Defeat, the enemy was too evil."

Percy understood immediately, but his younger siblings probably had a harder time grasping it.

(End of this chapter)