Hogwarts: Oh no, I've become Voldemort!

Voldemort could not tolerate something so beyond his control. So he once again risked leaving Albania, intending to see if the resurrected soul was truly himself.

If so, and the other side is willing to submit, then they might be able to join forces against Dumbledore. They could rule Britain, conquer Europe, and even the whole world!

All Muggles and all wizards must submit at his feet.

The world is vast, and Voldemort wouldn't mind dividing a small portion of it for another version of himself to rule.

But what if the resurrected soul is unwilling to submit to me—

He would never allow an existence beyond his control.

In fact, Voldemort already had some suspicions. If the soul that had been resurrected from the diary was truly willing to submit to him, then that soul would have already gone to Albania to bring him back to this world.

A crimson killing intent flashed in his eyes.

Voldemort sat there for a while, but didn't stay long. He pretended (or rather, pretended) to be a wizard who was very interested in ancient magic. Before leaving, he paid Aberforth some money to keep an eye out for news about Tom Riddle or ancient magic.

Then left.

The body he possessed was teetering on the brink of collapse, requiring constant replenishment of its life force. This is why he immediately asked Aberforth for dragon blood upon entering. And unlike with Quirrell, who mostly acted independently while he slept, Voldemort intended to do it himself this time.

Now, he needs to rummage through the alleys for something to replenish his energy. Ideally, he'd have unicorn blood, but that's too rare; dragon blood would also be a good source of vitality.

Voldemort pushed open the door; it was still raining outside.

It was dark when he looked up and then vanished in a flash.

A moment later, a majestic eagle with golden wings flew in from the horizon.

Cyrus walked through the rain, unaware that he had almost brushed past Voldemort.

He cast a spell on himself to make himself immune to fire and water. Taking advantage of the dim weather and the sound of rain, he folded his wings and landed under the eaves of the Pig's Head Bar, his golden pupils shining like lights in the rainy night.

He stared at the bloody, horrifying pig's head. Years of sun and rain hadn't made it rot or shrivele; it must have been enchanted, or perhaps it was simply the head of a magical pig.

The Pig's Head Bar has a long history, at least several hundred years. But the head looks like it was just hung up not long ago.

Cyrus felt a little nauseous, but still carefully examined every corner of it.

Finally, he found something strange inside the pig's mouth. He hooked it out with his claws, and a golden key fell out. The end of the key was semi-spiral, resembling both smoke and flame.

It is a mark of ancient magic.

Looking back, Cyrus still felt a little surprised. Not long ago, he had been living in the Pig's Head Bar every day, walking under that horrifying pig's head every morning and night. He never imagined that the key he had been searching for for so long would actually be here.

Now, it's time to go to Gringotts.

Thank you to the Mysterious Bandaged Man for the 500-point donation, and to the Buddhist Worldly Encounters and the Musician Seven's Strongest Heroic Spirit, Astolfo, for the 100-point donation. Thank you, bosses!

Chapter 130 Gringotts

Before heading to Gringotts, Cyrus planned to buy a few things.

He transformed, slipped into a shop, and bought a chest with some Galleons. Like most wizarding chests, this one was enchanted with a Threadless Stretch Charm. The chest was surprisingly spacious inside.

However, Cyrus felt it was still not big enough.

He needs a wilderness, he needs mountains, he even needs sunrise and sunset.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to put the fire dragon he had obtained into the box. In fact, up until now, the fire dragon was still being kept by Cyrus in a mountain range.

“I’ll have to modify it myself,” Cyrus sighed.

It wasn't difficult for him, just troublesome. He put it aside; clearly, there were more important things to do right now.

He went to the Leaky Cauldron, found the old wizard named Tom, booked a room, put the trunk inside, and ate something. Then he returned to Diagon Alley through that wall and headed towards Gringotts.

Gringotts is the most prominent building in Diagon Alley.

Clearly, the fairies believed they needed to use gold to demonstrate their wealth.

Of all the shops in Diagon Alley, it was the tallest and all white, with walls that looked like they were made of white marble and doors that were made of bronze that gleamed in the sun.

In Gringotts, even a waiter is dressed very elegantly. The short goblin standing at the door wore a scarlet uniform with gold trim, and he certainly looked like a proper goblin.

As Cyrus approached, he bowed to Cyrus, but said nothing in welcome.

Gringotts' floors are also white gold, making it look less like marble and more like flawless white jade. After passing through the bronze doors, there is a second door, this one in silver with inscriptions on both sides.

Although Cyrus was visiting Gringotts for the first time, he already knew the texts by heart and paid them no heed—he had come for wealth that did not belong to him.

However, on the other hand, he does have the key to vault number 12.

Beyond the silver gate lay a vast marble hall, where hundreds of fairies sat, all dressed in suits and seated on high stools, allowing the shorter ones to look down upon any wizard who came in.

It wasn't looking straight ahead, but looking down. This was clearly the arrogance of a fairy.

Cyrus found their behavior utterly ridiculous.

As the losers in the struggle against wizards, they seemed to think that this would restore their self-esteem and allow them to trample wizards underfoot.

However, on the other hand, there are so many demi-human races, centaurs, giants...

They possess power far greater than fairies, yet their lives are wretched in comparison. Their insatiable greed, despised by others, has undeniably provided them with a comfortable existence, to the point that many fairies even harbor a sense of superiority, looking down on wizards and considering themselves more noble.

Facts tell us that to gain our rights, we must fight a bloody battle.

And it continues!

From this perspective, Cyrus actually admires them, but their positions are different. People are always hypocritical. As a human being and as a wizard, he naturally stands from the wizard's perspective.

"Welcome, sir—" a fairy waiter approached and bowed slightly.

“I need to go to Vault 12.” Cyrus’s words caused the waiter, or rather, all the fairies in the hall, to pause in their tracks.

The rustling sound of the quill pen writing on the parchment disappeared, and the fairy who was placing the jewel on the scales stopped what she was doing. The scales tilted, and a ruby ​​the size of a pigeon's egg rolled all the way to Cyrus's feet.

The fairies quickly exchanged glances and soon returned to their previous state.

"Where are the keys, sir?"

Cyrus handed him the key to vault number 12.

The waiter handed the key to a genie wearing a single lens who sat in the center of the hall. The genie looked rather old, with a white beard. He scrutinized him carefully for a long time before speaking:

"The key is real, the pull tab—take him there!"

Then, a fairy that Cyrus knew very well came out. He had a high forehead, gray hair, and was only up to Cyrus's waist.

“This way, sir.” Pulling the ring led Cyrus toward a platinum door. There were many similar doors here, each looking almost identical.

Seemingly noticing Cyrus's confusion, Pull Ring explained, "These different doors lead to different underground areas. Of course, there's actually only one space, but the tracks are different. Vault 12, being an ancient vault, is at the very front."

He led Cyrus to a door that was quite far ahead. At that moment, Cyrus noticed several fairies leaving in a hurry, their eyes glancing at Cyrus from time to time.

Pulling the ring opens the door, revealing a completely different interior from the opulent Gringotts. Beyond it lies a vast, dark, and damp underground cavern, with black tracks coiling around the rock walls like giant serpents, extending into different caverns.

"Get on." Pull the ring and a trolley that could slide on the track arrived. It had no safety measures on it and looked like an old, dilapidated thing used to transport goods in a mine.

Gringotts charges a management fee for every vault it opens. The goblins use that money to keep dragons, set up anti-theft waterfalls, and do a lot of security, but they don't care at all about the depositing experience.

The main point is that it just needs to work.

Cyrus and Pull Ring stepped onto the trolley together. A long handrail was fastened down, serving as the only safety measure. Pull Ring pulled the lever, and the trolley started moving on its own.

It was incredibly fast, leaving a trail of fire on the tracks with its iron wheels and making a tremendous noise.

Cyrus felt like he was on a roller coaster, about to be thrown off.

He felt he had been in the car for at least ten minutes, to the point that he began to wonder just how deep the ground beneath Gringotts really was. He felt he had pushed the car for at least ten kilometers.

They probably dug up the entire underground of London.

But then again, it could also be the Unseen Stretch Charm. After all, Gringotts wasn't originally controlled by fairies.

Just then, a large splash of water suddenly hit Cyrus's face. Cyrus quickly lowered his head and covered his face with his hands. He could feel his wet features returning to their original handsome appearance. Fortunately, the cave was dark, and the pull ring's attention was focused ahead, so he didn't notice.

“Excuse me, sir, this is the Thief-Proof Waterfall, one of Gringotts' protective measures, which can wash away magical power,” Pull-Ring said. He didn’t seem apologetic for getting his customer wet at all; on the contrary, he seemed quite pleased with himself.

The anti-theft waterfall is indeed a brilliant invention.

"Can any magic wash it off?" Cyrus asked, calmly wiping the water off his face.

"what?"

"I mean, even the killing curse's magic will be washed away?"

The ring shuddered and replied sheepishly, “No, sir. It’s mainly against Polymorph, Confusion, and Imperius, to prevent us from being controlled by malicious wizards.”

He turned to look at Cyrus, seemingly afraid that Cyrus might do something irrational. Fortunately, Cyrus had already changed his expression back by then, so he didn't notice anything amiss.

“Even magic is not absolute, sir.”

They ended their less-than-pleasant conversation. Midway, the pull-ring stopped once to inform the goblin guarding the ancient vault before continuing on its way.

After an unknown amount of time, the pull ring activated the brake.

Cyrus felt the wheels beneath him being forcibly braked, but the car continued to move forward rapidly due to inertia. The sparks generated by the friction between the wheels and the rails resembled the tail flames of a comet.

"Zi-"

The sharp sound pierced the eardrums.

"arrive!"

The car stopped. The pull ring jumped down and landed on the metal support platform.