A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

Harry scrutinized the goblin's face. To him, goblins all looked pretty much the same, differing only in their beards and hair. It resembled the dolls sold at the Weasley Studios of Wizardry—well, unfinished products without hair attached…

Since the goblin had mentioned his first visit to Gringotts—"Mr. Grip?" Harry racked his brains and tentatively asked.

The pull ring nodded.

Ms. Burns ignored what had just happened and said calmly, "We can get down to business now. You should know why I'm here. Although fairies and wizards are different races and sometimes have conflicts, they are actually interdependent and are both part of the magical world."

“Hmph! Who knows if you’ve come up with some new tricks to deceive us?” Bodrick shouted.

“It’s not impossible,” said the fairy sitting in the center. He seemed to be the oldest. For fairies, the older they were, the stronger their forging ability and the higher their status—this was probably one of the few systems that fairies inherited from the fairy kingdom.

“But we demand that wizards recognize the rights of fairies. This includes fairies being absolutely equal to wizards in all circumstances, fairies having the right to carry and use wands, as well as the right to settle down and participate in the upcoming Muggle negotiations…” The old fairy spoke for a full ten minutes before stopping.

"Oh, and we should also shut down that stupid fairy liaison office!"

Ms. Burns raised her eyebrows.

“I didn’t know you had added a dozen or so new requirements, and I thought you were satisfied with Dirk Claysway’s work.” Dirk Claysway is the director of the Fairy Liaison Office, responsible for communicating with fairies. He was in charge of the last negotiation.

“Fairies don’t need wizards to interfere in their economic affairs,” the fairy said matter-of-factly.

Draco Malfoy let out a loud "hiss".

“Kid, I don’t care about Malfoys,” the cross-eyed Bodrick immediately threatened, “Watch out or I’ll feed you to the dragons.”

Draco's face paled. He squinted and said slowly, drawing out his words, "My father once said that there's a blind Ukrainian iron belly locked up beneath Gringotts... but you would never dare to release it."

“I’m waiting for you to say something,” the fairy said provocatively.

“Sitting across from you is the Minister of Magic. If you do this, it will mean war between wizards and goblins,” Draco Malfoy said with a sinister smile. “I wish you would. I guarantee that within an hour, the goblins here will be history.”

The goblins roared angrily, and several of them pointed their fingers at Draco, making him even paler. Harry, recalling the goblins' actions, remembered how Dobby the house-elf was about to cast a spell. He drew his wand with a "whoosh," ready to unleash the spell.

Although he was not assigned any tasks when he arrived, he saw himself as a protector in the negotiations.

Hermione spent the morning at the Ministry of Magic reviewing a large amount of collected materials and talking with Madam Burns the entire way. Harry hardly needed to get involved in the specific details of the negotiations—he was well aware of his own limitations; judging from his Magic History exam results, he had answered almost all the questions related to goblins incorrectly.

Harry was quite surprised that the usually timid and cowardly Malfoy dared to provoke the goblin in this situation. Malfoy stood up and approached the goblin who was speaking, looking completely unconcerned. But the next second, Harry suddenly realized what was going on.

“Felix Hyp.” Draco uttered a name.

The name seemed to possess a magical power; the light on the goblins' slender fingers dimmed slightly. Seeing this, Draco's face broke into a triumphant smile. He had bet right; his father was right! These arrogant, long-eared goblins were afraid of the professor.

To others, Professor Hyp is an extremely eccentric figure; he rose to prominence like a comet, but few truly understand him.

The roar of a dragon could still be faintly heard coming from the broken windows behind them, but it no longer moved them. Draco's words seemed to have created a magical chemical reaction.

Ms. Burns suppressed the smile that was about to appear on her face. She had long disliked the angels' arrogant attitude, but she had to tolerate it for the sake of the bigger picture. Who knew that these angels would take advantage of her humility and use it as a bargaining chip, as evidenced by the dozen or so additional demands they made.

“Mr. Heap has a lot to do,” Ms. Burns said gently. “I won’t bother him with these trivial matters unless absolutely necessary. As you’ve said, negotiations are imminent, and we don’t have much time left.”

She turned to look at Hermione.

Hermione cleared her throat. “Gentlemen—um—Mr. Goblins, why don’t you listen to the charter of the Pan-Magical Alliance? While it outlines the obligations of each party, it focuses more on their rights. Once the alliance is established, the magical world’s power will be united, strengthening cooperation. Furthermore, if the wizards successfully negotiate with the Muggle governments, the goblins will also enjoy a range of benefits. Oh, and I have reliable sources; goblin-made silverware is quite popular even outside the magical world…”

The fairies exchanged glances.

The negotiations continued, and for the next two hours, Hermione spoke at length about the benefits the Pan-Magical Alliance would bring to the goblins, causing some goblins to soften their stance. Hermione took a breath and continued:

"The goblins haven't lost anything. This unprecedented crisis has instead become an opportunity for wizards and goblins to have a reason to talk. At this critical juncture, no one wants any accidents to happen, so both sides will inevitably show their utmost sincerity. But if someone, or a goblin, is stubborn and refuses to compromise in the slightest for their own interests," Hermione said with raised eyebrows and a stern attitude, "goblins are not afraid of war, and wizards are even less afraid of war."

"Does the wizard want to destroy his own economic system?" a fairy said with a grim expression.

Hermione glanced at Ms. Burns, who was leaning back in her chair, not showing any intention of speaking. So Hermione said seriously, "The wizarding world may be in chaos for a while, but the trouble will be resolved soon. For example, Futureworld has more than two thousand employees around the world, and they can replace Gringotts at any time."

"Not to mention, the fairy's proud currency forging and anti-counterfeiting technologies—it's only a matter of time before a true archmage can crack them."

The fairies shouted at her.

“Fairies are not on par with wizard slaves!” another fairy exclaimed.

But Ms. Burns was not surprised but rather pleased, which meant that the negotiations had entered a substantive stage.

“House-elves are not slaves,” Hermione said. “At least not legally for a long time. The house-elves of the future world and Hogwarts have agreed to join the Pan-Magical Alliance. The next step is for the Ministry of Magic to gradually clear out the house-elves from the hands of the ancient families. They will be freed from heavy and tedious housework and unfair treatment, and will be able to do more meaningful things.”

"Are those families willing to hand over their servants?" a goblin exclaimed, looking at Draco.

“All the fools who don’t know their place are in Azkaban,” Draco sneered. “Their fate will be the same as their master Voldemort.” Yes, the Malfoy family must be separated from the Death Eaters. He practiced for quite a while before he could fluently pronounce the Dark Lord’s name.

"What if a house-elves doesn't want to be free?" the fairies asked, as they knew something about the state of house-elves.

“The Ministry of Magic won’t take a blanket approach; they’ll make an exception for friendly families,” Hermione said. “But at least newborn house-elves will be under the protection of the Pan-Magical League.”

The fairies whispered among themselves, realizing that the wizard's will to reform was very firm. The wizard had given up a large portion of his profits, although these profits were still retained in the magical world. The fact that he was taking food from the mouths of ancient families still shocked the fairies.

At that moment, Draco stepped on Harry under the table. Harry turned his head, and Draco gestured with his lip toward an empty seat opposite him.

"Where has that goblin with the strange name gone?" Harry wondered. He had also seen the cross-eyed Bodrick leave halfway through, but hadn't thought anything of it. However, Draco Malfoy reminded him.

The cold wind behind him made his hair stand on end.

Harry crept closer to Mrs. Burns, his lips moving slightly, "A goblin has disappeared."

Ms. Burns nodded carefully.

Suddenly, a deafening dragon's roar echoed from the ground, plunging the room into silence. Harry stared intently at the goblins' faces; they seemed equally bewildered. Then, the table began to tremble, the rumbling of collapsing pillars mingling with the dragon's roar, creating a chilling atmosphere.

Harry was the first to react, jumping up to grab the container from the table, which Hermione then stuffed into her beaded pouch. They quickly retreated to a corner, with Harry standing on the outer edge to create a magical barrier.

A sharp, teeth-grinding crunch. Harry's gaze swept past the chair he had been sitting in and fell upon a cloudy pink eye. "Dragon, dragon, dragon..." Draco stammered, as greyish-white scales and spiked wings slid past their eyes, the walls distorted by the pressure, and dust billowed high into the air.

From afar came the frantic screams of fairies.

The goblins in the room ran outside, and Harry and his friends followed closely behind, arriving at Gringotts Great Hall. They were stunned by what they saw—a large hole had been torn in the high, intricate ceiling, and through the opening, they could see a massive gray dragon flapping its wings, kicking off half of the ceiling with a powerful stomp. Then, without pausing, the dragon let out an extremely excited roar, spread its wings, and soared into the pale blue sky.

Some broken bricks and glass fell down.

The fairies lay scattered about, like potatoes laid out carelessly on a table. A dozen sharp fairy daggers were stuck in the ground, sharp enough to pierce through the dragon's defenses.

A goblin was shouting in some strange language, and Harry realized it was goblin language.

"What's going on?" one of the fairies involved in the negotiations asked in a garbled voice.

"Boderick broke into the lowest level of the vault and took the jingle piece that controlled the dragon, hoping to loosen some of its restraints. But he was careless; the dragon rushed over and swallowed him whole. Then, the dragon broke free of its remaining chains and flew away," a goblin reported.

The fairy elder's face was so gloomy it could drip water.

He instantly realized that the cross-eyed Bodrick intended to use the dragon to sabotage the peace talks. Bodrick certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to let the dragon attack the Minister of Magic, but creating a disturbance, interrupting and delaying the negotiations was entirely possible.

At least on the surface, the wizards can't afford to waste any more time. The longer they delay, the more advantageous it is for the fairies.

"Why did the dragon suddenly go mad? And how could it possibly break free of the chains forged by the fairies?" Ms. Burns asked loudly.

No one answered. Gringotts had even closed its banking services today to receive people from the Ministry of Magic, and the doors were completely sealed, effectively ruling out any possibility of infiltration. The goblin elder found himself in an incredibly troublesome situation.

Fighting is impossible, and there's no way to fight back; the previous threats are still fresh in our minds. Telling the truth would be an utterly foolish thing to do; fairies don't do stupid things.

Ms. Burns, with a similarly somber expression, stood in the hall, rapidly calculating.

“If I’m not mistaken—” she took a deep breath, “that demon precisely planned to use the dragon against us, but the dragon went out of control and suffered the consequences?”

"That's not true!" the fairy elder categorically denied.

"Otherwise, how did the chains break? Can't you control the guards protecting the vault? How can we trust you to protect the wizard's property?" Ms. Burns pressed on.

“That dragon is old, and we’re planning to replace it with another creature, which may have led to some neglect in its management,” the goblin elder said immediately. “But Gringotts remains the safest bank in the world.”

"This argument is completely insincere."

"...At least it won't affect the upcoming negotiations." The fairy elder said, staring at the crowd that had gathered from the street, pointing and whispering.

……

Felix put down his newspaper, stood up from the sofa, and said, "I'm leaving."

"Amelia hasn't come out yet," Sirius said in surprise.

“There was an accident at Gringotts, but I don’t think it will affect the negotiations,” Felix said, looking at Sirius and Lupin. “Give me a hand, Severus is coming to Sword Keep in a couple of days to oversee the potion simplification project, and I don’t want to hear any of you fighting.”

“You can’t just say that to us!” Sirius cried out.

Felix shrugged, by which time the commotion outside had reached inside Sword Castle.

"Why don't I just put 'No Fighting' signs on the back of every door?"

Chapter 697 The Man in the Painting

The dragon flapped its wings with delight, rising higher and higher, letting out excited panting sounds.

"You want to fly?" Felix muttered to himself on the dragon's back. "Then fly, I'll show you the way."

His words were conveyed to the dragon beneath him in a peculiar way. The dragon let out a triumphant roar high in the sky, then flapped its wings, bathed in the golden light above the clouds, and flew towards Hogwarts Castle.

Meanwhile, the wizards in Diagon Alley were still trying to figure out what had happened.

A few minutes earlier, a huge hole suddenly exploded in the roof of Gringotts. The enormous roar instantly attracted the attention of half the street. They all turned their gazes and witnessed a scarred old dragon crawling out of the hole. First, it poked its head out, then its bloodied wings and claws wrapped in chains. The dragon lay on the roof, tilted its head back, and remained still for a few seconds, like a strange, giant decoration.

Fred and George stood on the second floor of the Weasleys Wizarding Arts and looked out in surprise.

"Is that the dragon guarding the treasury? I've always wanted to see it with my own eyes."

“Oh, come on, our family vault isn’t worthy of being guarded by a dragon—wow! It looks really cool, how about we rent the Fire Dragon Magic Lamp from Lupin?” one of them suggested.

“I like the idea,” another similar voice said. “It has to be over twenty feet tall. I remember Professor Hyp demonstrated it at the Quidditch World Cup and haven’t seen it since. It’s such a waste.”

More than thirty Aurors appeared; they had been waiting nearby, but none of them made a move. The dragon raised its head and breathed out a ball of fire, causing the people in the street to scream in terror as they stumbled and ran away, fearing they would be caught in the blast. But the dragon stomped its foot hard, using the momentum to spread its blood-stained wings and take flight. It soared higher and higher until it became a black dot.

Not long after, Ms. Burns emerged from inside, unharmed, and calmly directed the Aurors to take over the scene.

The large hole in Gringotts' roof was quickly repaired, and Ms. Burns turned back as if nothing had happened, except that two more Aurors had appeared at the entrance of Gringotts Bank.

Fred and George withdrew their satisfied gazes and descended the stairs. The shop was overflowing with a dazzling array of goods, filled with noisy, moving trinkets, but now it was deserted—all the customers had gone to see the spectacle. The two looked out the window through the posters on the windowsill, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke at the same time.

"Joint Announcement from the Ministry of Magic and the Future World—"

"What do you think of that notice—"

The two blinked and laughed.

Early this morning, Ministry of Magic staff delivered a notice to every shop in Diagon Alley, inviting all shop owners to Sword Keep this weekend to discuss important matters. However, they already knew the inside story. Penelope (the twins now adore her, affectionately calling her 'Percy's Explorer') revealed that Percy had been busy finalizing a lengthy report about the future of the wizarding world and trade plans with Muggles, covering a wide range of goods including potions, books, magical items, clothing, and food.

This is a massive project involving many aspects, with so many details and minutiae that it could overwhelm a first-time reader.

“This matter involves Future World Corporation, and I asked Lupin to take charge of this part of the work,” Penelope said irritably. “Otherwise, I might not see your brother for years… Oh, what am I doing now? Finding fault with his report, of course!”

“Clearly, she’s enjoying it,” Fred concluded.