The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 692 The Secret of Gringotts
After Ryan finished reading the newspaper sent by Rose Crystal, he rarely mocked the two fairies on the opposite side. However, before the two fairies who looked about to explode asked, Dirk asked curiously: "Commander, what happened?"

"Take a look at these newspapers. I really didn't know that the independence and freedom of the fairies were so hypocritical." Ryan said as he handed over the newspaper in his hand, and then started chatting with Rose Crystal.

In front of these guerrillas, Ryan did not hide the existence of Rose Crystal. On the one hand, Rose Crystal played a big role in the previous operation, and it was difficult to completely conceal her whereabouts. On the other hand, he always regarded Rose Crystal as his own family, and this was also a good opportunity for her to act openly.

As a result, Ryan found that the appearance of rose crystal did surprise the guerrillas, but that was all. Later, he learned that for the guerrillas, it was expected that Ryan, as an alchemist, would create a puppet with his own consciousness. As a group of wizards who had little knowledge of alchemy, they thought that rose crystal was no different from the Sorting Hat, except that they looked different.

This made Ryan's previously prepared explanation about the origin of rose crystal completely useless, but on the other hand, rose crystal also integrated into this world more easily than expected.

Dirk quickly finished reading the newspapers, with the same surprised expression on his face. However, he said nothing and passed the newspaper to the next person. A few minutes later, everyone in the tent saw the contents of the newspaper.

"How is this possible?" Finally, they handed the newspaper to the two goblins. After reading it, the two goblins opened their eyes wide at the same time, and the newspaper slipped from their hands and fell to the ground. "How could Gringotts give such an order? Are they crazy?"

On the newspapers that fell to the floor, both the British Magical News published in Hogsmeade and the Daily Prophet published in London had the same headline written in large bold font on the front page: "Gringotts announces that it will cooperate with the Ministry of Magic in London to seize and confiscate the wealth stored in Gringotts by all those who resisted in Hogsmeade."

The wizards present did not react much. The wizards who had fallen into this state were basically not born in ancient magic families. Therefore, they did not have much savings in Gringotts before. For them, even if their savings were confiscated by Gringotts, the loss would not be big. At the same time, as they grew up in the Muggle world, they did not think there was anything wrong with the act of confiscating enemy funds during war.

However, this news was hard for the goblins, especially the extreme goblins like Griphook and Gornuk, to accept. This meant that Gringotts, which had always been neutral, was finally controlled by the Death Eaters. The thing they least wanted to see happened. All the previous preparations seemed to be useless.

The two fairies hugged each other and cried bitterly. On the one hand, as extremists, they could not accept this fact. On the other hand, this meant that their previous sacrifices had become meaningless. They were now crying bitterly about their future, which seemed to be a dark fate.

"How could the goblins suddenly surrender?" Hermione, who was sitting next to Ryan, asked him through the Phoenix Mark. "You know, the goblins in Britain have launched so many rebellions, how could they so easily accept the orders of the Death Eaters this time?"

"I think there may be two reasons." After taking a look at the two goblins hugging and crying in the tent and the wizards whispering, and realizing that none of them noticed him, Ryan also explained to Hermione through the Phoenix Mark.

"First, after such a long war, the goblins now are no longer the same as they were in the past. Wizards have lost their fighting spirit in the long peace. The goblins are similar. Even if they realize this and try to retain their fighting spirit, the long period of peaceful life will eventually make them lose their spirit of daring to fight to the death."

"Of course, this is also related to the actions of the wizards." Ryan pointed out a key point. "After many goblin rebellions, the goblins' Gringotts became the only financial institution in Britain and even Western Europe. In 1865, the Ministry of Magic even agreed to let the goblins completely control Gringotts. With Gringotts, a bank that controls the finances of Britain and even Europe, the goblins' resistance spirit was greatly eroded by these wealth. In addition, through the monopoly of the financial industry, the goblins also obtained the rights they had longed for, thereby reducing the conflicts with wizards."

"You're right." Hermione suddenly thought of some knowledge. "Gringotts may not be as old as we thought. Only when the economy develops to a certain level will it need something like a bank. Therefore, I even suspect that the establishment of Gringotts is related to the wizards' desire to appease the goblins." "To be precise, one of the important reasons why wizards let the goblins control Gringotts is to appease the goblins and at the same time wear down their fighting spirit." Ryan replied, "This is one of the reasons why the You-Know-Who was able to seize control of Gringotts through intimidation this time."

"So what's the other reason?" Hermione asked curiously. "You just said there were two reasons why the goblins followed the orders of the You-Know-Who. You mentioned one reason, so what's the other reason?"

"That is the Hogsmeade branch of the Celestial Empire Alchemist Bank opened in Hogsmeade. Of course, in order to localize the bank, Xiong Guangsu suggested naming the bank something like the British Wizarding Bank, and they may further reduce their shareholding."

"It sounds like a good idea, but it has little to do with the issue we are discussing!" Hermione said somewhat puzzled.

"No, no, no, there is a connection." Ryan turned to Hermione and smiled, then continued through the Phoenix Mark. "It turns out that Gringotts has always had a monopoly in the UK and other places affected by the influence of the British wizarding world. This monopoly not only brought money to the goblins, but also brought power. But now, competitors have been introduced to the UK."

"Because of the threat from You-Know-Who, the goblins now have no way of coming to Hogsmeade to compete and drive the future United Wizarding Bank of Britain out of the UK. So for them, the only way to eliminate the threat of competitors and maintain their wealth and power is to completely surrender to You-Know-Who and then unite with You-Know-Who to eliminate us."

"What about Gringotts in the United States?" Hermione asked in confusion. "Didn't we know a while ago that Gringotts in the United States was the most important financial provider behind the Death Eaters? Wouldn't they come out to help through Gringotts?"

"How is that possible? Although Gringotts USA still has the Gringotts sign, they are two completely independent banks." Ryan told Hermione the information he had obtained from chatting with the Weasley brothers. As a large family in the wizarding world, many members of the Weasley family have immigrated to North America, so naturally they also have a deep understanding of the American wizarding world.

"Don't forget, one of the most important supporters behind the Death Eaters this time is Gringotts in the United States. Unlike here, Gringotts in the United States is controlled by their Magical Congress, and their actions often represent the will of the American wizarding world. For example, this time they provided funds to the pure-blood families in the British wizarding world, which was actually to weaken the British wizarding world and even the European wizarding world in order to gain leadership in the Western wizarding world."

"Of course, it's because Professor Dumbledore is still alive. To be frank, it's because of my rise. The Americans don't want to be the first to fight. Just like the two world wars, they only want to use money and resources to make us kill each other, and then come out to completely dominate everything when we are all weakened."

"That's why you destroyed those manors before, right?" Hermione reacted. "You're creating bad debts for those American wizards, causing them to continue to suffer losses."

"Yes, the completely destroyed manors and plantations mean that the money they loaned will never be recovered. After the losses reach a certain level, the American wizarding community will most likely choose to stop the losses in time. After all, according to their goals, they don't want to get involved too deeply in this situation, and they don't want to be dragged into this war." Ryan nodded and replied.

(End of this chapter)