"Unbelievable."
A wizened goblin with a white beard slowly put down his glasses, a hint of exhaustion on his wrinkled face as he carefully placed the yellowed parchment back onto the center of the stone table.
This was a semicircular stone table. Around its curve sat seven goblins of considerable age.
The goblin who had spoken just now was one of these elders. He exchanged glances with the other six goblins, and solemnly nodded. He and all the other six goblin elders of Gringotts had reached the same conclusion.
This was the property deed for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, or perhaps one could call it the property deed for the castle of the Slytherin family, said to have been lost or hidden long ago.
"Human girl, I don't quite understand your intentions."
One of the goblins clasped his hands together and rested them on the stone table, his deep eyes staring at the silver-haired girl on the other side of the stone table as calmly and proudly spoke, "As you see, this is a property deed of the Slytherin family, but your surname does not seem to grant you the legal right to inherit or handle this astonishing treasure."
"Correct, but alas, from what I know, the only surviving descendant of Salazar Slytherin, the last member of the ancient pure-blood Gaunt family, Morfin Gaunt, died while imprisoned within Azkaban."
Alina raised her head, her lake-blue eyes calming meeting the elder goblin's stare as she calmly replied.
"Oh? Is that so? What a pity."
The goblin gave a noncommittal nod with no sign of regret to be seen on his face, and then he snapped his fingers.
Several seconds later, a young goblin came in and whispered into his ear. The elder goblin's brow relaxed, his wrinkles easing as he spoke in an interested tone. "It seems that Mister Dumbledore has considered everything. What is it you have in mind?"
There was no doubt that the goblins had used their own special channels to verify Alina's words, but they had clearly regarded all of this as part of Dumbledore's plan. After all, there was no way a girl who wasn't even ten years old yet could know so many secrets.
Alina neither confirmed nor denied these words. She cutely said nothing for a few moments, pretending like she was trying to remember what she needed to say. Slowly, she said, "According to the ancient laws on contracts, in these circumstances, as a related third party to the property deed, Hogwarts possesses the right to deal with the land.
"Ah, yes, yes. We have a deep understanding of his law."
The goblin nodded in praise; then he shrugged his shoulders. "If Mister Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, had come himself, there would naturally have been no problem. But an ordinary student of Hogwarts lacks a little something.
"It's not one of those boring paper certificates from the Ministry of Magic, you understand..."
The elder goblin squinted, extending his shriveled index finger and thumb as he gestured in the air and softly spoke. "I mean, something magical. Hogwarts isn't one of those silly stone houses Muggles build by piling up bricks."
It had finally appeared. Before she took on this final barrier between her and obtaining the trust of the goblins, Alina nervously breathed in. She raised her left hand, showing its back to the goblin elders as she coldly spoke.
"A vow, one directed by Dumbledore, one is linking me together with Hogwarts, an Unbreakable Vow with my life on the line. Is that enough? Professor Dumbledore naturally has his reasons for not coming."
Unlike before, only one vow mark on Alina's left hand lit up, and one could keenly sense the magic on this mark. A glossiness appeared on the edge of the parchment on the table, the source of the heat Alina felt around her chest every time she activated this 'stigmata.'
This sudden brightness caused the goblins to cover their eyes, and then they glanced at each other and began to talk.
Their many years of experience allowed them to immediately recognize the two magics intertwined in the mark and sense the weak connection the girl had with Hogwarts.
Ten seconds, twenty seconds...
But it also could have been one second, five seconds...
In short, it felt to Alina like a long, long time had passed until the goblins seated behind the stone table stopped talking.
"Human girl, ah, I mean, Madam Alina Kaslana."
the oldest of the goblins softly coughed as he spoke in a respectful tone. "Gringotts is happy to serve you. Now, we need to discuss the details of this loan, which has Hogwarts as the security. The first topic is the currency the loan should be in..."
As the goblin spoke, the others began to put on their glasses and prepare papers to record the details.
Success!
Upon seeing the reaction of the goblins, Alina immediately relaxed. She inadvertently stroked Food Reserve a little too hard, causing the slumbering owl to wake up.
Gu!
"Mm?"
The old goblin who was beginning to write down the basics of the loan raised his head, his sharp eyes looking over his glasses at the girl.
Gugugu~
A string of curious sounds could be heard, which caused all the goblins to raise their heads and curiously look at its source.
"My apologies. I've been rather busy, so I didn't have time for dinner...perhaps?"
Alina hugged Food Reserve and tried her best to suppress her gurgling stomach, her face blushing in shame.
Now that she thought about it, she had been so busy rushing around today that she had only eaten one and a quarter ice creams the entire day. (Recalling this made her grind her teeth)
And once she had entered Gringotts, she had been tense the entire time. Now that she suddenly relaxed, she felt a frightening sense of hunger that was about to melt the walls of her stomach.
"Oh, our deepest apologies, this was incredibly rude of us. Please, help yourself."
An elderly goblin dressed like a butler standing to the very right elegantly shook his head and then clapped his hand.
A moment later, a white tablecloth appeared in front of Alina, carrying an exquisite plate of cookies and cakes. A pot of hot black tea appeared at the girl's right hand, comfortably within reach. Right in front of her, a menu written in English on a scroll appeared.
"The next request might be a little presumptuous, but if possible, could you talk while eating? After all..."
The old goblin awkwardly rubbed his palms as he cautiously asked.
"Time is money, my friends. There's no problem at all!"
Alina immediately nodded her head, interrupting the elder goblin's polite words and going straight into the main subject. "With each passing second, I can see cute Galleons flying away. So what are we waiting for?"
All the pieces had been played. Even if the Soviet Union didn't collapse, as someone who had been reborn, Alina felt no fear.
That gradually weakening bear was merely the easiest piece of meat in this momentous period. She had countless plan Bs. All she had ever needed was the strength to shake the world.
The silver-haired girl took a piece of mousse cake with her fork and stuffed it in her mouth, her eyes squinting in joy.
And now, the feast had begun.