"Can you put the goblins in their place, Piers?" Yvonne mused.
If he remembered correctly, one of Voldemort's other Horcruxes, Hufflepuff's Golden Cup, was in Bela's vault.
Pierce wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and said, "Sir Harls, goblins are different from other magical creatures. They are surprisingly united and difficult to deal with. They run a number of banks and control nearly all of Europe's finance, but…but I will try to put pressure on them as soon as possible…it may take some time."
Ivan shook his head in frustration. "Use your head, Pierce. From another perspective, this is actually an easy fix."
"Don't forget, these are desperate times, and an important place like Gringotts must need the protection of the Ministry!" Ivan warned.
However, these greedy goblins would never allow the Ministry of Magic to interfere with Gringotts unless they were in mortal danger…
Pierce frowned and was about to retort, when he thought better of it and broke through the mental trap of using his power to pressure others.
It didn't matter if they didn't have a life-or-death crisis; they could have created one, such as a group of vicious Death Eaters to cause trouble and scare off the greedy goblins.
They will only need the help of the Ministry of Magic if they know they are weak…
"I see what we have to do, Sir Harls," Pierce said excitedly. As Minister for Magic, he would certainly like to get his finances back from the goblins.
Due to Pierce's trust in his abilities, Ivan did not pursue the details of the plan. If he could not handle such a small matter and needed Ivan's help, there would be no need for him to be Minister for Magic.
"Work hard, Pierce—oh, no, I mean Mr. Minister! All for the sake of defeating the Dark Lord!" Ivan stood up, patted Pierce on the shoulder, then went to the fireplace in the Minister's office, grabbed a handful of Floo powder and threw it.
A ghostly blue flame rose, and Ivan disappeared into it.
Pierce let out a slow sigh of relief as he watched Ivan leave and slumped into his chair.
To defeat You-Know-Who?
'Are you kidding?'
It's more like you're trying to control a demon…
The Dark Lord had it bad enough…
Pierce grumbled to himself as he picked up the communicator on the table and ordered, "Get the editor of the Daily Prophet over here!"
… .
Early the next morning, thousands of owls carrying envelopes spread the news of the attack on the Ministry of Magic around the Daily Prophet's grounds!
All the wizards who got hold of the paper were so shocked by the news that they almost dismissed it as a bad Hallowe'en joke.
After all, for more than half a year, the Daily Prophet has been telling them that the wizarding world is peaceful, that You-Know-Who does not exist, and that it is Dumbledore's fault for mistaking Harry Potter's dreams for real.
After more than half a year of constant brainwashing, this notion had been ingrained into their minds, but today the Daily Prophet's news took a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn, suddenly telling them that Dumbledore was telling the truth and that You-Know-Who really existed!
Not only that, but the Dark Lord himself attacked the Ministry with a large force of Death Eaters, causing hundreds of casualties and killing the Minister in public?
Most people's first reaction to the news was disbelief, but the Daily Prophet's four pages contained a large number of pictures as evidence.
Screeched statues of wizarding brothers, a ruined meeting hall, an atrium strewn with rubble and bodies… the images were so real that they captured the despair of every wizard who read the newspaper, drawing out their deepest fears.
Fifteen years ago, the mysterious man who frightened everyone in the wizarding world into silence was back!
… .
At the same time, inside Riddle House, Lord Voldemort was glaring at the twenty Death Eaters standing before him.
"Can anyone tell me what's going on?!"
The Death Eaters were too afraid to reply, their eyes darting to the Daily Prophet in the middle of the table.
Snape broke out in a cold sweat. This was an important plan and Voldemort had not told him about it. This was an extremely dangerous sign… Had his cover been blown?
"Master, a moment's loss is nothing. In fact, your plan was perfect. If not for the traitor, the Ministry would have been yours!" Fenrir Greyback replied cautiously.
The rest of the Death Eaters also joined in the flattery, while berating Lucius Malfoy and the others for being traitors.
However, to their surprise, Voldemort's face darkened and he shouted at them to stop.
"That's enough! Shut up!"
The noisy hall instantly fell silent, and the Dark Lord's hot, angry Dark Mark stuck to their arms like a branding iron, causing the Death Eaters to bristle with pain.
What was this? It was one thing for the Dark Lord to lose the battle, but he had to vent his anger on them.
With Legilimency, Voldemort was able to read their minds, and his anger grew. He turned to Peter and asked sternly, "Wormtail, tell them, what was the task I assigned you yesterday?"
"Master, you… you wanted me to sneak into the prison and rescue Bella and the others while the Azkaban guards were changing shifts…" Peter stammered, his small eyes filled with fear.
"And? Did you get him back?" Voldemort's tone was growing harsh.
"I reported to you that Bella was gone by the time I got there, and I thought…I thought the Dementors had deserted their posts and given them an early opportunity to escape…Antonim was always clever…" Peter knelt down, trembling slightly, and crawled quickly to Voldemort, pleading. "Master, I don't know, Master…"
"So not only did you fail the mission, but you came back with false information, correct?" Voldemort's face was twisted to the extreme. He looked coldly at Peter and waved his wand without hesitation.
"Crucio ~ (heart-wrenching)"
"Ah!" Peter curled up in pain and rolled on the ground, shouting, "Master, I don't know anything. It's Malfoy! He must have given us away…Master!"