Unlike most times, there were only two people here today, Dumbledore, who had retired, and Snape, who had just finished a Death Eater meeting.

"That Oren took a gold cup from the vault."

"Golden cup." Dumbledore raised his eyebrows when he heard Snape's words. "Horcrux?"

"Don't you know whether it is a Horcrux?" Snape couldn't help but said, "The Hufflepuff cup is in Kyle's hands, and he didn't even hide it.

"So Tom didn't know the Horcrux had been stolen?" asked Dumbledore.

"I, don't know." Snape thought for a moment and shook his head.

"From what I have heard, the Dark Lord was furious with Bellatrix and even punished her with the Cruciatus Curse.

"The reason for this is that she lost something, something important hidden in the Gringotts vault."

"Although the Dark Lord didn't say it explicitly, it should be the Hufflepuff Cup."

Snape continued, "The Dark Lord was not convenient to show up at the time, so I went to Gringotts... Kyle and the dog were too careless. They didn't even erase the goblin's memory after taking the things."

"So, you helped Kyle?" Dumbledore's eyes flashed with a hint of ridicule. "It seems that even though you don't say it, you still care about him in your heart. Is it because of Miss Prince?"

"Shut up!"

Snape exploded instantly and said angrily: "I care about Kyle? Are you kidding me!"

"What happens to those two people is none of my business. I just don't want them to ruin my original plan and cause me trouble!"

"Is that so?" Dumbledore did not continue to provoke Snape, but nodded obediently, "Go on."

"There's nothing more to say after that." Snape took a while to calm down.

"I don't know what Bellatrix did afterwards, she earned the Dark Lord's forgiveness, and that was the end of it."

"I guess Miss Lestrange must have told a little lie," Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Impossible, no one can deceive the Dark Lord." Snape blurted out.

"Really?" Dumbledore looked at Snape without saying anything.

Snape's eye twitched.

Yes, this traitor has deceived the Dark Lord many times.

"Tom couldn't have gone to Gringotts to check it out himself. It must have been discovered by Miss Lestrange. She didn't know how important that thing was to Tom, so she let it slip."

Dumbledore narrowed his eyes, recalling what Snape had said to him before.

"Then you went to Gringotts and tampered with the goblins' memories, making them forget Kyle and Sirius, and at the same time helped Miss Lestrange."

"I help her?" Snape frowned slightly, somewhat confused. "I just want to put all the blame on her."

"That's just your idea." Dumbledore said with a smile, "Since no one has ever been to the Lestrange vault, is it possible that the things are still there and she just saw it wrong?

"I think it's very likely, and she must have been to Gringotts again."

Snape said nothing, acquiescing.

For a while, Bella did go to Gringotts regularly, but she wasn't punished anymore after that.

"The Death Eaters are loyal to Tom, but they don't mind a little lying if necessary."

Dumbledore looked deep in his eyes and said calmly, "Tom is too arrogant. His split soul has made him lose the judgment that a normal wizard should have. I'm afraid in his eyes, Miss Lestrange would never dare to deceive him.

"I'm afraid he still believes that the Horcrux is still in the Lestrange family vault, but this is also a good thing for us."

Snape still didn't speak. Although he didn't quite agree with what Dumbledore said, he also knew that Dumbledore knew the Dark Lord better than he did.

And Bella is already dead, so the truth doesn't matter.

"Let's go and check on Kyle." Dumbledore stood up and said, "He must be terrified."

"I don't want to expose myself for the time being." Snape said directly, "Besides, I don't think Kyle would be scared if he encountered a Death Eater when withdrawing money.

"Instead of worrying about him, you should worry about the goblins in Gringotts."

After saying that, Snape left the room without looking back.

Dumbledore did not try to persuade him to stay. It was really not appropriate for him to appear outside Hogwarts at this time.

After leaving number twelve Grimmauld Place, Dumbledore went straight to the Ministry of Magic.

"Oh, Headmaster Dumbledore, it's great to see you here." Someone who recognized him came forward to greet him.

"Long time no see, Bob." Dumbledore said with equal enthusiasm: "But I am no longer the headmaster, so you can just call me by my name."

"Well, Mr. Dumbledore," said Bob, "how can I help you?"

"I do have one thing I want to ask you." Dumbledore said, "Mr. Chopper is at the Ministry of Magic right now, right?"

"Chris?" Bob thought for a moment. "He's not in the Ministry."

"No, it's his son, Kyle," said Dumbledore.

"Oh, you mean him? He's in the Auror's office, but..." Bob looked at Dumbledore hesitantly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Bob shook his head. "I'm just curious, is he really Chris's son?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, "Bob, you should be thankful that Diana isn't around."

Bob shuddered.

If Chris heard this, he would at most smile and would not be angry. But if Diana heard this, he would most likely be hung on the tallest tower in the Ministry of Magic tomorrow.

Fortunately, the Department of Mysteries has been quite busy lately.

"No, I mean, his personality is very different from Chris's, and the same goes for Diana." He lowered his voice. "This is the first time I've seen someone make a goblin so angry... They almost fought several times. That Kyle, is he really a Hufflepuff graduate?"

"I promise," said Dumbledore. "But there are always one or two special students in every house, right? But he is also a true Hufflepuff."

Bob gave a dry laugh.

"Thank you for telling me the location."

After saying goodbye to Bob, Dumbledore took the elevator and arrived at the second floor of the Ministry of Magic, greeting everyone along the way.

So many people know him that they always come up to him to say hello and ask about his recent plans.

Of course, it may be that saying hello is just a casual thing.

But being too enthusiastic was a little overwhelming, and it was not until Mr. Weasley walked into the elevator that Dumbledore had some time to catch his breath.

The elevator stopped on the second floor, and as Dumbledore walked out, he heard a familiar voice.

"I'm telling you, six thousand three hundred and fifty Galleons, that's my hard-earned money, you must pay me back in full, not a single kart less!"

The sound was so loud that it could be heard by almost the entire floor.

Compared to his surprise, the other people in the elevator were much calmer.

"They've been arguing for two hours now." Mr. Weasley sighed. "In order to prevent them from fighting directly in the Ministry of Magic, Scrimgeour didn't go anywhere and stayed by the side the whole time."

Dumbledore began to believe Snape's words.

As he reached the door of the Auror's office, the voices grew louder.

When I opened the door, I saw a man wrapped in bandages standing on a chair. He said in full force: "And you tried to frame a law-abiding wizard, the mental compensation must be no less than 2,000 Galleons.

"Also, because of your negligence, I was tortured by the Death Eaters for half an hour. It is reasonable to ask you for one thousand Galleons for medical expenses.

"Well, I'll round off the compensation to 10,000 Galleons."

"How can you round off the number like that?" The fairy on the other side was so angry that he was shaking all over. "The rounded number should be 9,000 Galleons, right?"

"Okay, no problem, then I'll take your request of 9,000 Galleons."

"No, you're lying to me!" The fairy also realized what was happening, his face flushed, "Impossible, stop dreaming!"

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but to Dumbledore the goblin’s head seemed even bigger, like a potato on a fork.

Finally, it got so angry that it even jumped up and wanted to hit Kyle.

"Still want to hurt people? I'll fight you to the end!" Kyle began to roll up his sleeves.

Scrimgeour next to them reached out his hand skillfully and separated them.

this……

Dumbledore smacked his lips, feeling that he had come at the wrong time, but it was too late to leave now.

"Principal Dumbledore...ah, sir." Scrimgeour seemed to have used Apparition and appeared in front of Dumbledore in a second.

"Tea? Or butterbeer?"

Is this Scrimgeour?

Dumbledore was a little absent-minded, and suddenly wondered if the head of the Auror Office in front of him might have been impersonated by someone else using Polyjuice Potion.

The normal Scrimgeour wouldn't be so polite.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Goblin." Dumbledore interrupted it, "I'm no longer the headmaster. I'm just an ordinary retired old wizard now. I may not be able to help you."

The fairy choked and her whole face turned purple.

On the other side, although Kyle was surprised why Dumbledore came over, he didn't care. He waved his hand as a greeting and continued bargaining with the goblin.

"That's impossible? I haven't even considered the others."

"What's going on with that dragon? You guys at Gringotts are so powerful. You openly violated the Ministry of Magic regulations by raising a dragon. What do you want to do? Are you trying to start a rebellion?!

"Of course, this is not my responsibility, but you should be held fully responsible for the damage caused by the dragon. The losses of merchants in Diagon Alley, the burned houses and goods, are at least 30,000 Galleons!"

"Impossible! Impossible!" The goblin's head grew bigger.

"Impossible? Then let's just do business as usual."

Kyle took a sip of butter beer and said, "Should I go to the Department of Magical Action Management and Control right now, or just ask the Auror next to me what the crime of raising a dragon privately is."

"A fine and three years in Azkaban," Scrimgeour said at the right moment.

"Did you hear that?" Kyle raised his eyebrows. "Just a reminder, all goblins who know about this will be imprisoned. You, Gringotts, will be closed for three years!"

"You...you..." The goblin began to tremble, "treacherous wizard, you two are in the same group!"

"Insulting wizards?" Kyle's face changed. "Can you speak for all goblins?"

Bogrod felt a sudden chill all over his body and closed his mouth tightly.

This matter can be big or small.

To put it mildly, it was just a careless remark and he just waved it off, but to put it seriously, it was out of bounds, especially after the fire dragon raised by the fairy was exposed.

When people mention fire dragons, the first thing that comes to mind is war machines. Even if the goblins don't have this idea and just simply want the fire dragons to guard the vault, who would believe it?

After all, the goblins had launched a rebellion.

If the goblin really keeps holding on to the wizard, he will have to give an explanation, and there is no doubt that Bogrod will be the one to give the explanation.

…

During this time, Dumbledore also learned the whole story from Scrimgeour.

The first thing is Kyle's terrifying bandages... His first stop after leaving Gringotts was actually St. Mungo's, but he was driven away by the dean because he was too loud when arguing with the goblins.

Then they came to the Ministry of Magic.

"So you're saying that Kyle is all right?" asked Dumbledore.

Scrimgeour turned his head unconsciously.

"It's okay, they can't hear it." Dumbledore waved his hand.

Neither Kyle nor the goblin looked here.

"That's right." Scrimgeour nodded. "There's nothing wrong with it. Those bandages are just for show."

"I heard them say just now that Kyle wants the goblins to pay 10,000 Galleons in compensation? What's going on here?"

"It's like this..." Scrimgeour said, "Kyle went to withdraw money, and he was greeted by a Death Eater who turned into a goblin. Then he said that the money he had just withdrawn was robbed, and asked Gringotts to be responsible."

At this point, Scrimgeour's face couldn't help but twitch.

"In addition to this, he also demands that Gringotts be held responsible for the damage caused by the dragon and that he pay Diagon Alley a total of 50,000 Galleons in compensation."

"The goblin agreed?"

“How could those greedy guys agree to this?” Scrimgeour shook his head. “Otherwise, why would they have been arguing until now?”

"Tsk." Dumbledore pursed his lips and moved his fingers slightly.

Kyle and the goblin's voices were clear again.

"How do you prove that the Death Eaters took your Galleons!"

"Didn't you check it three times?" Kyle said irritably, "I only have five Galleons left. Where are the remaining Galleons? It's impossible that they grew wings and flew away.

"If I hadn't helped you goblins guard the vault, my Galleons wouldn't have been robbed. I didn't expect you guys to be such an ungrateful bunch."

"Forget it." Kyle suddenly waved his hand in a somewhat bored manner, "Since you don't want to compensate, let's just do it in a businesslike manner. The Auror is here, so you can explain the dragon issue first."

Scrimgeour immediately moved closer and put on a serious face.

"us……"

"Don't say it's for protecting the vault." Just as Bogrod was about to speak, Kyle beside him spoke quietly.

"If this is really the reason, you could have reported it to the Ministry of Magic and the Dragon Sanctuary. They would not have objected, but you didn't.

"Ukraine has an iron belly... In peacetime, they guard the treasury, but in times of unrest, you can't say for sure."

“You, you…” The fairy’s eyes turned red, “That fire dragon can’t escape!”

"Can't escape?" Kyle raised an eyebrow. "What's that flying over Diagon Alley? A warthog?"

"It can't break free of its chains!" the goblin shouted. "I guarantee it."

"What do you mean?" Kyle glanced at it. "It can't break free. Did I open it for it?"

"Do you want to get your brain back from the troll? I released a fire dragon while dealing with the Death Eaters to make things more difficult for myself?"

The goblin's chest heaved violently. Kyle had said all its words. What else could it say?

The fire dragon is of course there to protect the vault, but it needs to be absolutely obedient, which involves some necessary measures... training.

That's how it got the scars on its body. By torturing the dragon and making it feel scared, it achieves the purpose of controlling it.

But there is no way that the Fire Dragon Sanctuary would know about this; they would definitely not agree.

Although some people knew that there was a fire dragon in Gringotts, due to the strength of the goblins, most people turned a blind eye.

Who could have thought that this fire dragon would actually run away... This also brought the originally private matters to the surface.

As for who released the dragon... the dragon must have been released by someone, either Kyle or that Death Eater, there is no doubt about that.

But Kyle's reasons were so convincing that it couldn't refute them at all. The Death Eaters had run away again, so the goblin had no right to argue.

In addition, the people in the Ministry of Magic were playing dumb. It went without saying that they were also planning to take a piece of meat from Gringotts, and the person in charge was also Kyle.

Bogrod is not stupid, he can see it, but there is nothing he can do. It's Gringotts' fault this time. Not only did they fail to recognize the Death Eaters disguised as goblins, but they also caused such a big mess afterwards.

It just felt a little tired.

Scrimgeour cleared his throat. "Mr. Bogrod the Goblin, could you please explain dragons..."

"Gringotts is willing to compensate." Bogrod suddenly said, "We are willing to pay 10,000 Galleons to compensate for the losses of Diagon Alley."

"No, ten thousand is too little." Kyle shook his head, "At least twenty stores have been damaged to varying degrees, and the people from the Ministry of Magic are also responsible for tracking down the whereabouts of the dragon.

"What if this leads to a shortage of manpower and the Death Eaters take the opportunity to cause trouble? The manpower and material resources involved, plus the invisible losses, ten thousand Galleons will not be enough. At least fifty thousand will be enough."

"That's impossible. Twenty thousand Galleons is our bottom line."

"One price, 40,000. Just consider it as making friends."

"Twenty-five thousand. Don't go too far."

"Thirty-five thousand. It can't be any less. You have to think about the Aurors too." Kyle looked at Bogrod, who was also looking at him.

The atmosphere became increasingly solemn.

I don't know how long it took, but the man and the fairy spoke almost at the same time.

"Thirty thousand!"

"Thirty thousand."

…

"make a deal!"

Speaking at the same time again, Kyle and Bogrod quickly reached an agreement.

While they were talking, Scrimgeour had withdrawn again and stood by in silence.

Dumbledore was a little confused... this was not like Scrimgeour's style.

As if noticing his confusion, Mr. Weasley, who had been ignored since he came in, leaned over and spoke in a low voice.

"This part of the compensation will be paid by the Ministry of Magic."

Dumbledore suddenly realized that it was no wonder that they were arguing like this. There was only one person, Scrimgeour, from the Ministry of Magic, and he didn't do much.

But this shouldn't be the case. When did Scrimgeour become so easy to talk to, even actively cooperating with Kyle.

"The Auror Office will get 50% of the money," Mr. Weasley continued.

(End of this chapter)