Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 268, Section 267: The Destruction of the Golden Cup and the Great Devastation of Gringotts
“I bet you don’t know, Harry,” Dumbledore said with a smile, turning his head with a youthful face and winking. “I once used a Confusion Charm on a young Ms. Marchban during the NEWT exam, and she didn’t realize it until the exam was over.”

“Then you really are… Gryffindor.” Harry gave Dumbledore a strange look. If that’s the case, the old man’s personality when he was young was indeed completely different from his current one.

Bogrod placed his hand on the door, and the vault door vanished, revealing a hole filled from floor to ceiling with gold coins and goblets, armor, the fur of various strange animals with thorns or drooping wings, potions in jars, and a skull still wearing a crown.

It's not just common treasures like gold and jewels; it's also about all sorts of magical items, magical materials, and magical books. These are the real differences between ordinary wizards and true pure-blood nobles.

"Fluorescence."

Dumbledore lit his wand and illuminated the vault, where Harry saw another sword on a high shelf.

"The Gryffindor sword?" Harry said with some surprise. "It should be a fake, but why would a Slytherin noble collect a replica of the Gryffindor sword?"

After officially becoming headmaster, Harry had already seen the last of the founder's relics that was not corrupted by Voldemort into a Horcrux and kept in the Sorting Hat.

It's quite sharp.

“It is indeed a replica, but it should still be made by goblins, so it still has some value.” Dumbledore nodded slightly as he began searching for the small golden cup among the piles of treasures and shelves.

“Be careful, Harry,” Dumbledore said seriously after bending down and gently tapping a huge ruby ​​with his wand. “Don’t touch these things. They are enchanted with the Fireball Charm and the Copy Charm. If you touch them, they will burn you and then quickly copy you, and the copies will be worthless.”

"So you mean we can only see with our eyes?"

“Yes, there isn’t that much time to break the spell,” Dumbledore shrugged. “I suspect the goblins up there won’t be long before they realize we haven’t gone to the vault we’re supposed to go to. Vaults like the Lestrange family’s are always worth watching when they’re opened.”

"That's a bit difficult."

It was indeed quite difficult, because the mountain of treasure completely filled the entire vault, and Harry and Dumbledore couldn't see the things piled up at the back of the mountain of gold from their current position.

“Remember this,” Dumbledore reminded him, “a very small golden cup, about the size of a palm. It has a badger engraved on it and two handles—”

"Found it!" It didn't even take much effort; Harry's wand landed on the top of the stacked shelf next to him, where a small golden cup was placed, and you could even see the little badger on it in the light.

"A golden cup flies in!"

Nothing happened. Clearly, the anti-flying spell was an essential element for these treasures.

Meanwhile, faint noises and clanging sounds could be heard coming from the underground passage that should have been quiet outside, just like the sound of Bogrod using that metal tool to scare away the fire dragon, along with the sound of water.

"They've opened the Thief-Proof Falls," Dumbledore suddenly said. "Being able to wash away all spells and magical disguises means they've discovered we've opened the Lestrange family's vault."

“Then let’s hurry,” Harry nodded. He took a wooden stick out of his pocket, and then, with the help of a Transfiguration Charm, the stick began to extend and eventually landed where the golden cup was, hooking its handle.

Just like riding a slide, the golden cup slid all the way to Harry's side without him touching it directly. The wooden strip then turned into a rope and hung the golden cup up.

“It is indeed the Hufflepuff Cup,” Dumbledore said casually, showing no concern for the large number of goblins arriving. “However, we have an even faster way to verify it.”

“Yes,” Harry said, taking his warhammer out of his dragon-skin pouch. It wasn’t his imagination; he had done this far too many times in the last six months.

Raise the hammer, then lower it.

A large amount of dark gray, blood-like smoke, accompanied by a piercing scream, gushed out from the crooked spout of the golden cup. This was Voldemort's last Horcrux—at least the last Horcrux for which Harry and Dumbledore had been able to find any clues.

The diary, Ravenclaw's crown, Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup, the Resurrection Stone... and finally, a soul that had long since died in Azeroth.

Six pieces.

“Unfortunately, we can’t verify from Voldemort’s main soul whether he is truly dead,” Dumbledore sighed with slight regret. “Can you divine whether he has any other Horcruxes?”

“It should be possible,” Harry thought for a moment and said, “Then let’s take the Golden Cup back. So far we have five Horcrux fragments, all of which have a very close connection with Voldemort. Through this connection, we should be able to perform a successful divination.”

“That would be perfect,” Dumbledore said, looking relieved. “At least for me…it would be perfect.”

For Dumbledore, the best ending was to resolve the Voldemort problem while he was still alive, rather than leaving it to future generations.

“I have a question. The Lestrange family is all gone, right? After Bellatrix died,” Harry suddenly asked, “Then all this treasure will just be left here forever? What will the goblins do with it?”

“According to the goblins, these treasures will be kept in Gringotts forever… but you should also know how the goblins view treasures,” Dumbledore said with a smile.

“All the world’s treasures belong to them, and everyone else is just temporarily holding them in trust,” Harry laughed.

“That’s right, so do you want to take some with you?” Even though the sounds of the goblins shouting and fighting were getting closer, Dumbledore showed no sign of panic. He simply gestured toward the vault, “I’m sure the Lestranges won’t mind their wealth being used for something more meaningful.”

“No joke,” Harry shrugged. “Then I’ll decorate it; the Earth Ring will need it when they need people.”

Adventure, slaying enemies, dividing the treasure—Harry was all too familiar with this routine.

"They're there!! Hurry! Hurry!!!" The fairies had already noticed the figures on the platform. They were holding torches in one hand and swords in the other. Although they were a magical race capable of casting spells, they looked like some kind of cold weapon warriors for some reason.

“Alright, let’s go,” Harry said as he stepped out of the vault.

"Only this much?" Dumbledore said with some surprise. "I must remind you, Bruce, such a good opportunity will not come again."

“Thanks for reminding me, Carl. I took your share too.” Harry had already stepped into the cart. “Consider it a souvenir, fulfilling a dream.”

"Ha ha," Dumbledore laughed. "Then let's set off."

Dumbledore's mental state...is better than ever before.

He was as nonchalant as if he had removed a 1 from his age; not 112, but 12—the kind of 12-year-old who'd shout about blowing up the school.

However, today Dumbledore isn't going to blow up the school, but the bank.

Banks for minority groups.

This time, the old devil Bogard didn't need to get in the car. After Harry and Dumbledore were seated, Dumbledore tapped the side of the car with his wand, and the next second, the car sped off as if it had been fitted with a flamethrower, heading back the way they had come, towards the fire dragon!

"Do what you want, Bruce! Don't say I didn't give you a chance!"

Without needing any further prompting, Harry swung his wand directly at the dragon, or more accurately, at its hindquarters—the two heavy shackles tightly binding its hind legs, and the massive stakes bound by thick chains—*snap*!

The shackles and chains strong enough to bind an adult fire dragon were transformed in an instant into a cluster of flowers radiating blue light.

"Beautiful Transfiguration! Bruce!" Dumbledore laughed loudly. "That's worth at least fifty points!"

"Then Hogwarts will get you fifty points!"

Harry couldn't help but laugh, because the two of them were now sitting in this speeding car, and the speed, the whistling wind, and the thrill made him feel as if his rusty bones were coming back to life.

Harry realized that this dog must have been bound since it was a cub and forcibly trained to back down at the mere sound of metal clanging. It had lost the imposing and domineering presence of its kind and was more like a pitiful watchdog... even worse than a watchdog, at least a watchdog can see the sunlight and run around on the ground.

Harry didn't like the sight.

Because of his former green dragon companion and now Angry Horn, Harry actually has a rather good impression of dragons. He doesn't want to see a free life bound here for the rest of its life, even if this fire dragon can't speak and may not even understand that Harry is trying to liberate it.

Its eyes were failing; years of living underground in the dark had caused the dragon's eyes to atrophy, leaving it unable to see. Its scales had also become pale and loose due to lack of light.

The painful training it suffered in its youth made it afraid to leave this place even for a moment. The sound of the metal plates that the fairies kept shaking made it frantically breathe fire, but it didn't realize that its backward shrinking action had actually torn the flower bushes wrapped around its body to shreds - that is to say, the chains and iron stakes were no longer a problem at this moment.

The fairies' eyes were perfectly fine, so they could clearly see that the fire dragon had broken free of its restraints. This realization made many of them forget to continue shaking the metal plate, and their raised swords unconsciously drooped down.

Some fairies have already begun to retreat in small steps; many more are simply too late to react.

"Bruce!!!"

The clanging and clattering of the approaching cart crushing the tracks, along with a long shout, made the goblins somewhat aware of the situation. Harry, however, had no time to respond to Dumbledore; he simply raised his wand—*sizzle!*

Like tearing a piece of cloth, Harry tore a small wound on the dragon's rear end.

It wasn't big or deep, but it was enough to make the fire dragon lose its mind due to pain.

If the fire dragon hadn't realized it was free before, then when it subconsciously ran forward a few steps because of the sudden pain and wasn't held back by anything, even the most foolish brain would have realized what was going on.

The fire dragon roared and howled. It suddenly stood up, and the fairies crawling on the platform looked as tiny as biscuits in front of it. Then it suddenly spread its wings and tried to fly in the underground cavern—or rather, glide, towards the tunnel exit!

"Stay close to it, Carl!" Harry shouted. "It'll save us a lot of trouble!"

Things went much more smoothly than Harry had anticipated. He and Dumbledore arrived at the deepest vault of Gringotts as easily as if they were strolling in their own garden, found Hufflepuff's cup without any difficulty, and then destroyed yet another of Voldemort's Horcruxes without a ripple.

Even though the goblins had already realized something was wrong and sounded the alarm, Harry and Dumbledore didn't need to worry about the trouble of fighting, because the fire dragon was their vanguard in leaving Gringotts, and it smashed through like a bowling ball.

The constant stream of fairy reinforcements, the enormous stalactites or rocks—none of them could stand in the way of this fire dragon's brute force.

The goblins who had come down earlier had already scattered and fled. They had no intention of risking their lives for Gringotts, or for other people's property. The goblins on top, however, could not come down now. On the contrary, they had to run away desperately, at least to avoid being ground into pieces by the dragon like a grinder for soy milk.

Following the long tunnel, the fire dragon struggled to crawl outwards, widening the tunnel by at least two times. Dumbledore and Harry followed behind the dragon in a small cart, their only concern being to avoid being hit by the dragon's spiky tail.

Not to mention that in some really narrow places, Harry and Dumbledore would use spells to clear a path for it. The Shattering Charm and the Softening Charm made the dragon completely unaware that it would actually get stuck—it had already realized that someone was helping it, right behind it.

(End of this chapter)