She didn't think Voldemort kidnapped Harry just for fun: "He must have had some purpose!"
"What purpose could there be? Harry defeated him, so he bears a grudge!" Ron said matter-of-factly. "Doesn't the Dark Lord want to kill Harry?"
"But if he just wanted to kill Harry, Peter Pettigrew could have strangled him in his sleep!" Hermione exhaled warm breath into her palms and continued, "The Dark Lord can't touch you, right? You're actually very dangerous to him, but he still kidnapped you. This means he must have wanted to achieve some goal through you. Do you remember anything he said?"
Hermione was indeed very clever. She thought of something that even the professors hadn't considered.
Apart from Cyrus and Dumbledore, no one else knew the truth.
Harry tried to recall the scene, but he shook his head helplessly: "He said that once he resurrected, he would personally kill me in front of all the Death Eaters to show them that the Boy Who Lived was just a hollow name."
"Alright, now we understand. He just wanted to make a statement," Ron said. "Losing to a baby made his followers lose faith in him."
"Is that so?"
Ron's explanation wasn't wrong, and it was indeed one of Voldemort's plans.
However, Hermione still felt something was amiss, as if she were missing something crucial. But without knowledge of the Horcruxes, she couldn't imagine that Voldemort wanted to use Harry's blood for his resurrection.
"Forget it. By the way, what gifts did you receive?" Hermione asked, referring to the gifts from Cyrus. "I got a book filled with spells that aren't in any of our textbooks!"
She was thrilled!
"Only you would be happy to receive a book," Ron laughed. Giving someone a book was like giving a child homework for the summer.
Then he showed off his own gift: "He sent me an owl!"
Ron was very pleased with his gift, not just because he didn't have a suitable pet, but also because Cyrus remembered that he lost Scabbers.
It felt good to be remembered. At home, he was often the one overlooked after all.
"I got a photo album filled with pictures of my mom and dad," Harry said, smiling brightly at first, then a bit puzzled. "Though I don't understand why several of the photos have been torn out."
"Ginny got an alchemical tool, which I thought was pretty interesting. But it doesn't really matter what Mr. Cyrus gives her," Ron said. "She's been chatting with Mr. Cyrus every day lately, although Cyrus hasn't responded much after the first day."
"What!? I'm going to check it out!" Hermione exclaimed.
At the mention of chatting, she leaped up like a rabbit, leaving Harry and Ron behind.
The two boys looked at each other, bewildered.
"But Mr. Cyrus doesn't even respond to the words," Ron shrugged.
Cyrus had his reasons for not responding to Ginny.
Now he was back at Malfoy Manor.
Lucius had just seen off one troublesome guest, only to welcome another.
Lately, the Malfoy Manor had been bustling with visitors. Regardless of blood status, anyone with some money wanted to inquire about the wizard bank.
And these people happened to be those in power within the wizarding world, including many officials from the Ministry of Magic.
The Malfoy family had always been influential, with close ties to these powerful officials.
In the past, Lucius would use his money to build relationships. But now, the situation had reversed.
All of this started after Harry was rescued.
Harry took a day to follow Cyrus' advice, stating his intention to deposit the Potter family's wealth in The Wizard Bank. He expressed great confidence in the bank's security and questioned the repeated attacks on Gringotts.
Harry's influence was undeniable. At least until the Ministry of Magic fully discredited him, every wizard who wasn't a Death Eater admired the Boy Who Lived.
The impact of this advertisement was immediate.
When Lucius first heard the knock on the door, he assumed it was another wizard coming to discuss opening a vault.
However, when he opened the door and saw Cyrus' familiar face, he was so frightened that he nearly collapsed.
Narcissa had relayed everything about Draco's situation to him without omitting any details.
"Master..."
Cyrus had long forgotten about that incident. He was here to instruct Lucius to procure some magical creatures.
"Lucius, how is the progress with the bank?"
"Everything is going smoothly, Master!" Lucius responded nervously, "More and more wizards are starting to deposit money with us. However, the goblins are unlikely to let this go easily. I've heard that they've already made several protests to the Ministry of Magic. I'm worried..."
"Of course, those creatures value money more than their own lives. Forcing them to make concessions is like flaying them," Cyrus scoffed, fully understanding Lucius' concerns.
"Don't worry, the goblins won't cause much trouble."
First, a large number of goblins were killed at Gringotts, and then after Voldemort took control of Ranrok's body, he took away a significant portion of the goblin's combat strength. Now, there were not many of those ugly creatures left in Britain.
The useless goblins at Gringotts, who were not skilled in combat, could only wail at the Ministry of Magic.
Heh! What else could they do?
"But with the wealth they've accumulated over centuries, they might be able to hire quite a few helpers..." Cyrus thought for a moment and decided to leave Lucius some insurance against goblin tricks. "Where is the location of the vault now?"
"In another secret family estate, I used spells to expand a temporary space," Lucius quickly said. "Master, I think in the future, we can directly take over Gringotts."
"Of course, these tasks will be yours to handle." Cyrus had come to understand.
For a person like Lucius, sending him into battles would only result in failure; he might not even come out ahead in a fight with a few students. However, when it came to managing wealth and engaging in speculative activities, the Malfoy family were top-notch.
With some gold spent to grease the wheels, eventually, all that money would flow back into his own pockets.
"I'll leave you with some guards, enough to fend off a small army." Cyrus used ancient magic to conjure a group of stone guards.
These guards were much stronger than those created by ordinary Transfiguration spells and had self-healing capabilities.
With about ten statues together, they could even hunt dragons if needed!
"Leave some in the vault and some in your manor. You should also take good care of your own and your family's lives," Cyrus said kindly.
Lucius, having worked under Voldemort for so many years, had never heard such words and was momentarily moved.
"Master..."
"Alright, now I need you to find a way to get me a batch of magical creatures, as many different kinds as possible," Cyrus instructed.
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