At the headquarters of Future World, Felix, Sirius and Lupin were scattered in three corners of the office. Felix was half lying on the sofa reading a newspaper, Sirius was leaning against the door frame and throwing a ball of yarn, and Lupin was sitting behind his desk, facing a thick stack of documents.
"Did she say that?" Felix was reading a newspaper from more than ten days ago, which contained an obituary signed by Elphias Doge, and his finger stopped in the middle.
"You gave her inspiration." Sirius said absentmindedly, staring out the window, "That public appearance made Amelia realize the role of students in school, and she thought she could give it a try - last time she brought a group of Aurors, the goblins almost released the dragon under the vault."
"Is the situation so serious?" Lupin raised his head and asked seriously.
"I don't think they dare, but the appearance of the Goblin Brotherhood makes things complicated." Sirius said with a gloomy expression. He participated in the negotiations last time, and the two sides were on the verge of a fight. "Their spokesman, the one called Cross-Eyed Bode or something, demanded the formulation of a new "Goblin Rights Act" and talked about the great history of the Goblin Kingdom during the negotiations. A certain king beat the wizards to a pulp. "
Goblin Kingdom? Felix thought about it. This is basically a term that only exists in books and test papers.
Because goblins are different from humans in appearance, they actually appeared as a group earlier than wizards. Although it is a kingdom, it is not much different from the centaur tribe and the mermaid tribe. There may be more than a dozen goblin kingdoms in the same period in ancient times.
But unlike other magical races, goblins are more enterprising. Not only have they developed their own language and magic system, they also appear as superb metalsmiths, exchanging what they have with wizards, learning and imitating the excellence of wizards.
It was not all smooth sailing for wizards to have their current dominant position in the magic world. They have faced challenges from many races, and some have even disappeared forever in the long river of history. Among them, goblins have been the longest-lasting fighters, with rebellions breaking out in the 17th and 18th centuries, and only stopped in the past 100 years.
Therefore, in general, wizards have not had an absolute advantage over goblins for a long time, and this has a lot to do with the non-magical world - with the improvement of productivity, ordinary people have experienced several population explosions in the past few hundred years, and the number of wizards has naturally increased.
"…There are many such organizations in the wizarding world, and many of them were founded by wizards." Lupin said calmly: "For example, a witch named Heliotop Willis came to me to promote her troll security services. She is also the leader of a troll rights organization."
"Troll rights organization?" Felix asked curiously, "Can they read the organization's charter?"
"Obviously, that woman did it for them," Sirius laughed like a bark, "The trolls just need to stand behind her with sticks."
"Or stand behind the goblins." Lupin continued, "I rejected her. We have our own defense system. She revealed that the next step will be to discuss cooperation with Gringotts."
"Wish her good luck." Felix said, he held up the newspaper, and his light blue, penetrating eyes moved in the direction of Gringotts. His eyes seemed to be the same color as the sky.
In Gringotts, which was separated from them by several streets and far away from Sword Castle, Ms. Bones and several students sat on one side of a long table, and on the other side were twelve goblins in suits and ties.
One of the goblins was holding a magnifying glass and carefully examining a crude and quaint plate.
Ms. Bones had a calm expression. Hermione sat on her left. Her hands under the table were shaking slightly because of nervousness. Her eyes kept moving back and forth between the goblins and the thick documents in front of her. On the right of Ms. Bones was Harry, and the next seat was Draco Malfoy. Ms. Bones chose him against all odds when she came to school in the morning.
Her reason was that Malfoy's ancestors had facilitated negotiations between goblins and wizards, and Lucius Malfoy knew a lot of secrets that might come in handy.
They had their backs to an area that looked like a window. The place where the window should have been was now empty. It was even darker outside. There was a faint roar coming up from the ground, which made people's scalps numb.
"The workmanship is terrible, there is no beauty at all," the goblin holding a magnifying glass kept finding faults, "It can't be compared with our carefully crafted silverware. However, there is no doubt that this is an antique with a long history, and the clay used seems to be a little special. Gringotts is willing to buy it for fifty Galleons." "
It's not for sale."
Ms. Bones said with a sigh of relief, and then she realized something. The plate is real, and the wizard's relics are real. She suddenly gained a lot of courage in her heart.
"... Strange, I can't tell the source," the goblin said puzzledly, "The goblins have records of soils from all over the world, but the soil used in this pottery plate contains some special ingredients. It is not yet certain what role it plays in forging. Where did you get it from?"
Ms. Bones smiled slightly, "You are right, Nagnok. This was brought back by Felix Hep from the moon. He was lucky to discover the relics of ancient wizards."
The goblin Nagnok stared at her, "You mean this thing is from the moon?"
Ms. Bones nodded reservedly.
The goblins whispered.
A goblin with cross eyes said with an unpleasant expression: "I don't believe it! Let me check it again!" He jumped up from the chair. Although the goblin was short, his fingers were very long. At the moment when his nails touched the plate, Harry, who was sitting opposite, suddenly stretched out his hand and the plate moved away from the goblin.
"Bodrick, don't make trouble!" a goblin scolded angrily.
Cross-eyed Bodrick scooped up a ball of air and sat back in his chair unwillingly.
"Mr. Harry Potter," the goblin who had just spoken out to stop him greeted coldly, "it seems like it was just yesterday when you first came to Gringotts.
Harry carefully distinguished the goblin's face. In his opinion, goblins all looked the same, with only differences in beards and hair, a bit like the dolls sold in Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Well, they were semi-finished products without hair glued on...
Since this goblin mentioned the first time he came to Gringotts - "Mr. Griphook? "Harry racked his brains and said tentatively.
Griphook nodded.
Madam Bones turned a blind eye to what had just happened and said calmly: "We can talk about business. You should know why I am here.
Although goblins and wizards belong to different races and sometimes have disputes, the two sides are in fact interdependent and are part of the magical world."
"Huh! Who knows if you have come up with new means of deception?" Bodrick shouted.
"It's not impossible." said the goblin sitting in the middle. He seemed to be the oldest. For goblins, the older they are, the stronger their casting ability and the higher their status - this may be one of the few systems inherited by the goblins from the Goblin Kingdom.
"But we require wizards to take the rights of goblins seriously. This includes that goblins must be absolutely equal to wizards in all situations, that goblins have the right to carry and use wands, as well as the right to settle down and participate in the upcoming Muggle negotiations." The old goblin spoke for a full ten minutes before stopping. "
Oh, and cancel that stupid goblin liaison office!"
Ms. Bones raised her eyebrows.
"I don't know when you added a dozen more requirements, and I thought you were satisfied with Dirk Cresswell's work ability." Dirk Cresswell is the director of the Goblin Liaison Office, responsible for communicating with goblins. He was in charge of the last negotiation.
"Goblins don't need wizards to dictate their economic affairs." The goblin said as a matter of course.
Draco Malfoy made a loud "snort".
"Boy, I don't care about Malfoy," the cross-eyed Bodrick immediately threatened: "Be careful or I'll feed you to the dragon. "
Draco's face turned pale. He narrowed his eyes and said slowly in a long tone: "My father once said that there is a blind Ukrainian iron belly locked under Gringotts...but you would never dare to let it out. "
"I'm waiting for you to say something." The goblin said provocatively.
"Sitting opposite you is the Minister of Magic. If you do this, it means war between wizards and goblins," Draco Malfoy said with a gloomy smile on his face. "I hope you do this. I guarantee that within an hour, the goblins here will become history. "
The goblins shouted angrily, and several of them pointed their fingers at Draco. His face turned even paler. From the goblins' movements, Harry recalled the house-elf Dobby who was about to cast a spell. He drew out his wand with a "whoosh" and the spell was ready to go.
Although he had not been assigned a task when he came, he positioned himself as a guard for the negotiations.
Hermione had looked through a lot of collected information at the Ministry of Magic that morning and had talked with Ms. Bones all the way. Harry hardly needed to get involved in the specific details of the negotiations - he was very self-aware. Judging from the results of the History of Magic OWLs exam, he had basically answered all the questions related to goblins incorrectly. Therefore, Harry was very surprised that Malfoy, who had always been timid and cowardly, dared to take the initiative to provoke on this occasion. He stood up and approached the goblin who was speaking, looking fearless. But the next second, Harry suddenly realized.
"Felix Hep. "Draco uttered a name.
The name seemed to have magic power. The light on the goblins' slender fingers dimmed a little. Seeing this, Draco showed a confident smile on his face. He made the right bet, and his father was right! This group of arrogant long-eared goblins are afraid of the professor.
In the eyes of others, Professor Hep is an extremely alternative existence. He has risen like a star, but there are few people who really understand him.
The broken window behind them still faintly heard the roar of the dragon, but this roar could no longer move them. Draco's words seemed to have produced a magical chemical reaction.
Ms. Bones restrained the smile that was about to appear on her face. She had long been disgusted with the goblins' arrogant attitude, but she had to tolerate it for the sake of the overall situation. Who knew that these goblins would go too far and use her humility as a condition for negotiation, which can be seen from the fact that they added more than a dozen additional requirements.
"Mr. Hep has a lot of things to do," Ms. Bones said gently, "I won't disturb him with these trivial matters unless it is necessary. As you said, the negotiations are imminent and we don't have much time left. "
She turned to look at Hermione.
Hermione cleared her throat, "Everyone - um - goblin gentlemen, why don't you listen to the charter of the Pan-Magic Alliance? Although it regulates the obligations of all parties, it is more about rights and interests. Once the alliance is established, the power of the magic world will be united, not only can cooperation be strengthened, but if the wizards and the Muggle government negotiate successfully, the goblins will also enjoy a series of benefits. Oh, I have a reliable source. Silverware made by goblins is very popular even in the non-magical world."
The goblins looked at each other.
The negotiations continued, and for the next two hours, Hermione talked endlessly about the benefits that the Pan-Magic Alliance brought to the goblins, and some goblins softened their attitudes. Hermione took a breath and continued:
"The goblins have not lost anything. On the contrary, this unprecedented crisis has served as an opportunity for wizards and goblins to have a reason to negotiate. No one wants any accidents to happen at this juncture, so both sides will inevitably show their utmost sincerity. But if someone or the goblin is stubborn and refuses to compromise on his own interests," Hermione raised her eyebrows and said sternly: "Goblins are not afraid of war, and wizards are even less afraid of war."
"Do wizards want to destroy their own economic system? "A goblin said with a grim look.
Hermione looked at Ms. Bones, who was leaning back in her chair and had no intention of speaking, so Hermione said seriously: "Maybe the wizarding world will be in chaos for a while, but the trouble will be solved soon. For example, Future World Company has more than two thousand employees around the world, and they can replace Gringotts at any time. "
"Not to mention, the currency forging technology and anti-counterfeiting technology that the goblins are proud of - for a real great wizard, it is only a matter of time to crack them. "
The goblins shouted at her loudly.
"Goblins will not be equal to wizard slaves!" another goblin shouted.
But Ms. Bones was not surprised but happy, which meant that the negotiations had entered the substantive stage.
"House elves are not slaves," Hermione said, "at least they have not been legally for a long time. The house elves of Future World and Hogwarts have unanimously agreed to join the Pan-Magic Alliance. In the next step, the Ministry of Magic will gradually clean up the house elves in the hands of the ancient families. They will be freed from the heavy and trivial housework and unfair treatment and engage in more meaningful things. "
"Those families are willing to hand over their slaves? "A goblin shouted, and he looked at Draco.
"The fools who don't know the current situation are all in Azkaban," Draco sneered, "the fate of those people will be the same as their master Voldemort." Well, the Malfoy family must be separated from the Death Eaters. He practiced for a long time before he could fluently say the name of the Dark Lord.
"What if there are house-elves who don't want to be free?" The goblins asked. They knew something about the status of house-elves.
"The Ministry of Magic will not be one-size-fits-all. They will make a break for those friendly families," Hermione said, "but at least the newly born house-elves
will be protected by the Pan-Magic Union.
The goblins whispered to each other. They saw that the wizards were determined to reform. The wizards gave up a large part of their interests. Although this part of the interests still remained in the wizarding world, the practice of taking food from the mouths of ancient families still shocked the goblins.
At this time, Draco stepped on Harry under the table. Harry turned his head and Draco pouted at an empty seat opposite.
The goblin with a strange name disappeared? Harry thought, he also saw Cross-Eyed Bo Derek leave halfway, and didn't think anything was wrong, but Draco Malfoy reminded him.
The cold wind behind him made his hair stand up.
Harry approached Ms. Bones quietly, his lips moving, "A goblin is missing."
Ms. Bones nodded carefully.
Suddenly, a deafening dragon roar came from the ground to their ears, and the room suddenly became quiet. Harry stared at the goblins' faces carefully, and
they didn't seem to know what was happening. Then the table began to shake, and the rumble of the stone pillars collapsing mixed with the dragon's roar, which was creepy.
Harry was the first to react, jumping up and taking the container on the table in his hand, and Hermione stuffed it into the beaded bag. Then they quickly retreated to the corner, and Harry stood on the outer layer to support the magic barrier.
There was a tooth-grinding creaking sound. Harry's eyes passed over the chair he had sat on before and saw a cloudy pink eye. "Dragon, dragon,
dragon," Draco stammered, gray-white scales and spiked wings slid past their eyes, the walls were squeezed and deformed,
and dust was raised high.
From far away, goblins screamed in panic.
The goblins in the house ran outside. Harry and his friends followed them and came to the main hall of Gringotts. They were stunned by the scene before them
—a large hole was broken in the high, exquisite ceiling. From the hole, they could see a huge gray dragon flapping its wings. It kicked hard and broke half of the ceiling. Then the dragon did not stop, but let out an extremely excited roar, spread its wings and rushed into the light blue sky.
Some broken bricks and glass fell down.
The goblins staggered here and there, like potatoes randomly placed on the dining table. There were more than a dozen sharp goblin daggers stuck in the ground, which were enough to break the dragon's defense.
A goblin was shouting in some strange language, and Harry realized that it was goblin language.
"What's going on?" A goblin participating in the negotiation asked in a gibberish.
"Bodrick broke into the bottom floor of the vault without permission and took away the jingle piece that controlled the dragon, hoping to untie some of its restraints. But he was careless, and the dragon rushed over and swallowed him into its stomach, then broke free of the remaining chains and flew away." A goblin reported.
The goblin elder's face was so gloomy that water could drip.
He instantly realized that Cross-Eyed Bodrick was going to use the dragon to disrupt the peace talks. Bodrick certainly wouldn't be stupid enough to let the dragon attack the Minister of Magic, but it was still entirely possible to create a riot, interrupt and postpone the negotiations.
At least on the surface, the wizards couldn't afford to waste time. The more they delayed, the better for the goblins.
"Why did the dragon suddenly go crazy? And how could it break free of the chains made by the goblins?" Ms. Bones asked loudly.
No one answered. Because they had to receive people from the Ministry of Magic, Gringotts even closed its banking business today, and the door was completely blocked, which basically ruled out the possibility of outsiders sneaking in. The goblin elder found himself in an extremely troublesome situation.
Fighting, can't be done, there is no way to fight, the previous threats are still vivid in my mind; telling the truth is even more stupid, goblins don't do stupid things. Ms. Bones also had a gloomy face, standing in the hall and thinking quickly.
"If I'm not wrong--" She took a deep breath, "the goblin accurately prepared a dragon to deal with us, but the dragon lost control and suffered the consequences?"
"No!" The goblin elder denied it flatly.
"Otherwise, how did the chain break? Can't you control the guards guarding the vault? How can we believe that you can protect wizards' property?" Ms. Bones pressed on step by step.
"The dragon is old, and we are planning to replace it with other creatures, so we may neglect its management." The goblin elder said immediately, "but Gringotts is still the safest bank in the world."
"This set of rhetoric is completely insincere.
"At least it won't affect the next negotiations." The goblin elder said to the crowd who were watching and pointing from the street.
Felix put down the newspaper and stood up from the sofa, "I'm leaving. "
"Amelia hasn't come out yet." Sirius said in surprise.
"An accident happened in Gringotts, but I don't think it will affect the negotiations." Felix said, he looked at Sirius and Lupin, "Please help, Severus will come to Sword Castle in a few days to preside over the simplification of potions, and I don't want to hear any of you fighting."
"You can't just say this to us!" Sirius complained.
Felix shrugged, and the uproar outside had already reached the inside of Sword Castle.
"Why don't I just put 'No Fighting' on the back of each door?"