"Sir, Dementors are not allowed inside Gringotts." A goblin dressed in a red robe trimmed with gold stood in Tom's path, speaking with a polite yet firm voice.
Tom looked down at this small goblin.
"Since when does Gringotts have that rule?"
"It has always had it, sir."
Since Dementors had never visited Gringotts before, the goblins could speak without any basis. If Tom insisted, they would promptly show him a printed copy of the regulations to ensure he complied with the rules.
"Well, maybe now is the time to change it." Tom shook his head, refusing to argue with the goblins. He waved his hand, and several Dementors descended to the ground, easily restraining the entrance guards.
The goblins were short in stature, while the Dementors were exceptionally tall, so the combination of both had a special comedic effect. In the hands of the Dementors, the Gringotts goblins looked like simple dolls.
"Let us go, stop!" The goblin who was captured struggled with all his might, but the Dementor's arms were like iron shackles, holding him in place. He attempted to kick, but his small legs barely did any damage to the Dementors.
Tom gestured for the Dementors to follow him and ostentatiously entered through Gringotts' white marble stairs, venturing into the bank's entrance. The Dementors followed him silently as they explored the immense treasure in front of them.
It truly was a treasure!
For Dementors, gold and silver held no meaning. What they truly valued was the endless emotion emanating from Gringotts, something called "desire."
Wizards believed that Dementors only fed on happiness, but the truth was that they fed on other emotions as well. In the harsh environment of Azkaban, they couldn't afford to be picky about their food.
The Dementors behind Tom were eager, inhaling and exhaling the air, rapidly covering Gringotts in a white mist.
Behind the first bronze door was another one made of silver, engraved with an inscription:
[Enter, stranger, but beware of greed and what befalls those who desire too much. He who takes what does not belong to him from our underground vault, thief, has been warned, and beware, you shall not gain treasures, but curses.]
Upon reading this, Tom snorted coldly. Today, he was going to take what didn't belong to him from the underground vault. He would like to see what curses Gringotts could bestow upon him.
It was Voldemort's Horcrux!
Even if the goblins tried to stop him, he would obtain what he sought.
Furthermore... a malicious gleam shone in Tom's eyes. Gringotts housed countless vaults, in which wizards stored their money and other valuables under strict custody and several kilometers underground. Only the goblins knew the location of these vaults, and when the last heir of a family died, what happened to the family inheritance? Weren't the goblins the ones who decided how much gold was in those vaults sealed for centuries?
That was the problem.
Gringotts lacked necessary oversight. While the owner of the vault was alive, everything was fine, but what happened with extinct families?
When the last heir of a family died, what happened to the inheritance? How much gold was in the sealed vaults that no one could open? In fact, properties buried in those vaults had become the goblins' treasures.
In fact, all the wealth of the wizarding world flowed into Gringotts. The goblins controlled the issuance of coins and dominated the banking business. In other words, wizards worked for the goblins.
Wizards earned, spent, and then left the rest of their money and profits in Gringotts. Gringotts had created a cycle that kept all wizards dependent on the galleon, sickle, and knut.
Tom didn't understand much about economics, but he instinctively felt that it wasn't a good thing for wizards. If it weren't for the fact that wizards had absolute military strength, a simple case of inflation would have ruined them.
Before, they might have bought a Nimbus 2000 broomstick with two hundred galleons, but now they could only buy a butterbeer with the same amount of money. That had already happened in the non-magical world.
The goblins only needed to mimic their non-magical counterparts to easily reap wizards.
Passing through the second door, Tom entered a large marble hall. On normal days, there would be hundreds of goblins sitting behind counters, serving customers from high stools. But today, in this tense atmosphere, the goblins had abandoned their tasks and were watching him and his unexpected companions vigilantly. The wizards who had entered the bank before had hidden in a corner to watch the spectacle.
"Gringotts does not welcome creatures that do not follow the rules; you must leave! Aurors are already on their way." An older-looking goblin approached Tom and scolded him loudly.
"We are here to conduct business," Tom suddenly replied.
Goblin: ???
Tom repeated it twice, seeing that none of the goblins responded, he dragged the almost unconscious Rabastan to the counter.
"I want to enter the LeStrange vault. This is Rabastan Lestrange, the heir of the Lestrange family."
All the goblins behind the counter fell silent. Finally, the oldest goblin couldn't believe it and exclaimed, "That doesn't make sense! You bring someone with you and pretend to enter a vault that has nothing to do with you!"
"I can wake Mr. Rabastan up; he will want to enter his own vault to retrieve something."
"Neither is that possible! We are not blind; you are coercing Mr. Rabastan," thought the old goblin who was dealing with someone completely unreasonable.
"Private property is sacred and inviolable!" With that, the old goblin's face seemed to be enveloped in a sacred light.
"Even if that property contains illegal objects?" Tom countered without hesitation.
The sacred light on the goblin's face shattered, wavered for a moment, and then firmly expressed that the legality or illegality of the objects was a matter between wizards and the Ministry of Magic. Gringotts only took care of guarding the property of wizards, and they didn't concern themselves with anything else.
The goblin's unwavering stance frustrated Tom a lot.
He wanted to directly eliminate this annoying old goblin, but he didn't want to resort to violence. For him, using force could quickly achieve his goals, but it was too conspicuous. Besides, relying solely on violence made him look like a noseless bald guy.
If that was the case, then he would have to use that trick. But for this trick to work, he needed a little cooperation...
Just at that moment, Scrimgeour and some Aurors rushed in.
"What are you doing?" The Aurors drew their wands and pointed them at the Dementors, showing great tension.
For the Aurors, today had truly been very eventful. First, the Minister of Magic personally led an attack on a Death Eater hideout. Luckily, there were no major issues, and the Death Eaters had fled when the main troops arrived. But just as they returned to the office, they received news that the Dementors from Azkaban had surrounded Gringotts for no apparent reason.
So they couldn't even take a sip of water and came running here. This time, it wasn't like the last time, as the main Dementors were here. If a conflict broke out, the Aurors would be the first in the line of fire.
Seeing the arrival of the Aurors, all the goblins present felt relieved. In their view, with the Ministry of Magic's intervention, the Dementors would obediently leave.
Unfortunately, they couldn't see the malicious smile hidden behind Tom's mask. His trick would only work if there was enough of an audience present.
Tom voluntarily stepped forward, and as someone approached him, the Aurors became even more nervous, even raising their wands towards Tom.
They knew that this was the so-called "King of the Dementors" from the legends, and facing him, a "human," caused them a great deal of anxiety. Scrimgeour stared at Tom intently, not letting his guard down.
He said word by word, "Why do the Dementors want to enter the Lestrange family vault?"
"The Lestrange family has a close connection with the person who attacked Azkaban. Therefore, we need to seal their vault, cut off their financial support for that person, and we also suspect that the vault may contain the objects entrusted to the Lestrange family by that person."
The "man" mentioned by Tom was clearly known to Scrimgeour. Upon hearing Tom's words, he felt tempted for a moment.
He even thought that the Dementors' claim was reasonable.
"Dementors are not interested in money; they can be entirely trusted. We are not coveting your family's wealth; we are just seeking justice," Tom said while looking at the old goblin, squinting his eyes. "Is it possible that you have been preventing us from entering the Lestrange vault because there are hidden secrets you don't want us to see? For example, a vault that seems large but has actually been completely looted?"
Tom's words had a significant impact on the goblins present, and many of them were left stunned. The old goblin began to angrily curse, "It's impossible for Gringotts to divert depositors' funds! We..."
"Then show us the evidence!" Tom mocked, "You constantly talk about not diverting funds, but you prohibit us from verifying it; your actions seem not to support your words."
The old goblin felt as if he had been choked, and he suddenly became speechless.
Tom's words prompted reflection among the other wizards present, whether it was the Auror who had come to mediate or the common wizards who had accidentally become involved. They were all wondering: What would they do if Gringotts had indeed diverted their money?
They questioned themselves if they remembered exactly how much money they had in their vaults. Even if they did, counting a pile of a thousand Galleons and a pile of nine hundred and ninety-nine Galleons practically wouldn't show any difference at a glance. Besides, there were Sickles and Knuts that further complicated things. Just thinking about how much money they had in their vaults was mind-boggling.
Who could guarantee that the amount of coins in their vault matched exactly what was listed in their account statement? Seeds of doubt were sown in the minds of the wizards. More than one person began to recall the last time they entered their vault to withdraw money.
After considering it carefully, they started to doubt: Am I missing money? Were there really a hundred Galleons in that pile of coins? And yes, I feel like those coins have shifted places...
Spreading rumors is easy, but debunking them is exhausting.
The goblins were in a dilemma. On the one hand, they didn't want to allow other wizards into the Lestrange vault, but on the other hand, rumors were spreading rapidly, and both problems were extremely difficult to handle.
Perhaps only the high-ranking figures can make a decision. Finally, the goblins chose to let the top executives of Gringotts make a decision.
At that moment, the office of the Director of Gringotts was in full chaos. Several high-ranking and powerful goblins were heatedly discussing, trying to outvoice each other to win the argument.
"Let them see it; we haven't misappropriated the Lestrange gold. We are honest and have nothing to hide. If we allow those damned dark creatures to take a look, that masked man's excuses will be exposed," a goblin with a top hat and a monocle said loudly.
In front of him, a burly goblin had a different opinion and stubbed out his cigar in the ashtray. "We can't break the rules and allow these people with no connection to the Lestranges to enter the vault. This would be a devastating blow to our reputation. What will the other pure-blood families think if we allow it?"
"Ragnok, was it you who diverted the Lestrange gold?"
"Slander!" The burly goblin pounded the table with his fist, making the glasses jump.
"Enough!" The leader of the goblins, known as the god of investments and the Director of Gringotts, intervened. He made a definitive decision and allowed the Dementors and Aurors to enter and oversee the counting of the Lestrange vault.
"Director," Ragnok tried to resist, but the Director's decision was already made.
"Resolve this quickly, check the Lestranges' accounts, and don't cause any trouble," the Director warned them. Being an elderly creature with extensive experience, he knew that the priority was to maintain stability and calm the situation. Many times, noise and loud arguments could lead to unexpected gains. Tom had used this tactic to achieve what no negotiation could have accomplished.
Ragnok showed an expression of despair. He didn't expect that they would actually have to count the gold in the vault!
After receiving the order from the directors, the Gringotts lobby became bustling again. The goblins hurried to the archives, retrieved old account records, and calculated the balance and the number of precious objects in the Lestrange vault.
Upon hearing the news, Tom smiled.
He told Scrimgeour, "The wind can enter, the rain can enter, and I can enter too. No bank is absolutely neutral."
As long as the pressure was strong enough, banks would always yield.