Chapter 231 - 231: The Bottle of '82 Lafite

Words : 1938 Updated : Oct 11th, 2025

The first thing Edward noticed was Dumbledore's left hand behind his back clenching into a fist—Good, I was worried you wouldn't get angry. Hit him! Knock him with your wand! Curse him! Crush him! But in the end, Dumbledore relaxed his fingers and said in a flat, emotionless voice, "The item in the Lestrange vault is connected to Voldemort. That means you goblins are helping him safeguard something that endangers the entire wizarding world. Am I to take it that the goblin race has chosen to side with Voldemort?" "..." The old goblin froze for a moment, then quickly replied, "Sir, what are you saying? Goblins never take sides. We just want to run Gringotts properly. We don't want to get involved in anything else—and we won't." "If you continue making such baseless accusations, I'll have to ask someone to escort you out!" Dumbledore smiled, "No need. We'll leave on our own. Come, let's go." As soon as the two turned away from the counter, they heard the old goblin laughing mockingly without the slightest attempt to conceal it, and the surrounding goblins all cast hostile looks in their direction. "Whew—" The moment they stepped out of Gringotts, Dumbledore let out a heavy sigh. He turned to Edward and said, "I went through his memories. There's nothing indicating cooperation with Voldemort, or involvement in the Azkaban attack." "That old goblin—is he one of the heads here?" "More or less. The goblins at Gringotts listen to three elders. If even he doesn't know anything, then…" Before he could finish, Edward interjected, "Could it be advanced Occlumency? Or maybe the memory's been erased?" "What makes you say that?" Edward held out his palm. A gold coin lay there, head side up. "Divination told me." "..." Dumbledore was silent for a few seconds, then muttered, "Divination really is useful. I'm starting to regret choosing the Mystery Pryer pathway instead." "Uh, well, Mystery Pryers can also use some divination techniques—especially at the higher Sequences, like Clairvoyant. They're even more powerful." "Oh, then I'll definitely have to look into that sometime." Dumbledore gave a sly wink. "Alright, I've already given them a chance. Now let's do things your way. I'll cooperate." Edward cracked his knuckles, "Excellent! First, we'll need an alibi. After all, it'd be pretty suspicious if Gringotts got hit right after you were kicked out. Even if we disguise ourselves, the timing would be too much of a coincidence." "Oh, I really don't like the phrase 'kicked out.'" Dumbledore sighed. "So what's your plan?" "Simple. We find people we trust and have them transform into us. While we're in action, they just need to appear in front of plenty of witnesses." "Quite straightforward." He nodded slightly. "Then let's begin!" ——— 2:00 P.M. Edward stepped into the second-year classroom to teach a Transfiguration lesson. Ten minutes later, Dumbledore and Umbridge had a fierce argument in front of dozens of witnesses. At that same moment, two well-dressed, old-fashioned gentlemen walked into Gringotts carrying leather briefcases. "Welcome." Two goblins standing at the entrance bowed slightly, and one of them led the men to an available counter. "Oh? You two look unfamiliar." The goblin attending them removed the magnifying lens from his eye and asked carelessly, "What business can I help you with today?" Edward placed the briefcase on the counter and said in crisp American English, "I've heard Gringotts is the safest place in the wizarding world." "Of course. That goes without saying." "I'd like to rent a vault—to store our money." "Oh? What size vault? And how much are we talking?" The goblin glanced briefly at the briefcase as he spoke. Edward opened the case, revealing a small mountain of Galleons and glittering jewels. Dumbledore opened his own briefcase as well, showing off stacks of golden coins. "Oh, my goodness!" The goblin immediately stood up, his eyes full of greed. Years of handling gold and jewels had trained his eye—this was all genuine, high-value treasure. Clack! Both briefcases snapped shut at the same time. Edward said haughtily, "So, what kind of vault do you think we should rent?" "Why, the highest-tier vault, of course!" The goblin became instantly enthusiastic. "Forgive me, this sum exceeds my authorisation limit. I'll have someone prepare a VIP room for you at once." "Good. And bring me a bottle of '82 Lafite." "No problem at all." Dumbledore whispered, "'82 Lafite…Is that a type of red wine?" "That's right. I re—ahem, I just recently heard about it. It's one of the most prestigious wines in the world." Edward didn't actually know much about wine. The only one he could name off the top of his head was this one—a wine with only about 180,000 bottles in existence, and yet somehow, 200,000 bottles were sold in China every year. Heh. "From the Muggle world?" "That's right." Soon, the goblin scurried back, grinning. "Gentlemen, this way, please." He led the two of them through a magnificent doorway into an opulently decorated room. Everything in the room—from the carpet and the paintings to the furniture—exuded wealth and luxury. The only oddity was that all the tables, chairs, and sofas were unusually low, clearly designed for goblins. This was, after all, a negotiation chamber between goblins and VIP clients, yet they still refused to offer furniture suited for human wizards. A subtle show of dominance, perhaps? "Welcome, gentlemen." Three elderly goblins were seated on three separate sofas. One of them was the goblin named Claw, whom they had met earlier that morning. The other two looked even older—one seemed half-asleep, while the other puffed calmly on a cigar, looking every bit the mafia boss. "You're from America?" the cigar-smoking goblin asked. "That's right," Edward replied casually, enlarging one of the tiny sofas to human size and sitting down beside Dumbledore. That simple spell immediately made the drowsy goblin snap open his eyes. "May I ask how you came by the gold and jewels you wish to deposit?" Edward snorted coldly. "None of your business. What, if I told you they were obtained through shady means, you wouldn't take them?" "Of course we would," the cigar goblin said with a chuckle, tapping ash from his cigar. "But in that case, we'd have to charge you an additional service fee." Edward shot to his feet, furious. "Are you screwing with me? Forget it—deal's off!" Still smiling, the goblin replied calmly, "In that case, I can't guarantee there won't be Aurors waiting for you when you leave Gringotts." "…" "One half." The drowsy goblin raised a finger. "We want half the deposit amount as a service fee." "You might as well be robbing us!" "Oh no, not at all," said the cigar goblin, grinning. "Robbery is illegal. What we offer is legitimate business. If your money has a clean origin, just show us the proof. If it doesn't, then passing it through our hands will make it clean. That's in your best interest too, isn't it?" Goblin Claw produced a pre-prepared contract. "This is the agreement. You may review it." Edward took the contract and glanced at it, then looked over at Dumbledore. "This is daylight robbery. Are goblins always this charming with their clients?" "Hm, maybe they just think American wizards are easy marks." "???" At that moment, the cigar goblin stubbed out the rest of his cigar with unnecessary force and said cheerfully, "Time is money. Either pay the price and launder your funds, or walk out and face the Aurors. Your choice." "…" Edward scratched his head and muttered, "Is your spell ready yet?" Dumbledore smiled faintly and gave a gentle wave of his wand. "From this moment on, no one can interrupt us for the next twenty minutes." The expressions of the three goblins changed drastically. "What are you doing?" one of them shouted angrily. The next instant, all three goblins launched attacks: one conjured roaring fire, another unleashed a surge of lightning, and the last one fired an Avada Kedavra curse. "Distortion." The three spells reversed mid-air. The goblin who cast the fire was engulfed by it; the one who cast lightning was wrapped in crackling arcs of electricity; and the one who fired the Killing Curse was hurled backwards, slamming hard into the wall. Surprisingly, he survived. As the flames and lightning faded, the two goblins were left barely clinging to life. Gasping, they cried out: "W-Wait! Don't kill us—we can still negotiate!" "We'll talk! We'll talk!" Heh. I liked you better when you were smug and arrogant. The room twisted and morphed—spiked vines erupted from the floor, entangling the goblins and suspending them in mid-air. Then, the vines transformed into large hands that slapped them across the face again and again. "I've had it with you bastards! Even if I really did come here just to make a deposit, I'd want to kill you by now!" The goblins' faces were quickly swollen and bruised as they whimpered: "We can talk! We really can!" "Good. Then let's talk." Edward crossed his arms. "Why did the goblins attack Azkaban?" "W-What?!" The cigar goblin stared in disbelief. "We never attacked Azkaban!" "Are you working with Voldemort?" "No! Absolutely not!" "Are you planning something with the Death Eaters?" "I—I don't understand what you're talking about!" Edward glanced at Dumbledore. "Anything else you want to ask?" Dumbledore shook his head. "I've already seen everything I needed to." "Alright. No need to waste time then." Edward stunned all three goblins with Stupefy spells, then pulled out the necessary materials and set up the ritual. Slouching back on the couch, he began to chant in Ancient Hermes: "The reason why the goblins cooperated with Voldemort." He closed his eyes and entered the dreamscape—but it was pitch black. He saw nothing. Time passed. Still nothing. Opening his eyes, Edward frowned. "It failed. Could it be the goblins didn't cooperate with Voldemort? But then what about this morning's divination?" Dumbledore thought for a moment. "Try asking about their cooperation with the Death Eaters instead." "That's different?" "I believe it is." Edward nodded and tried again: "The reason why the goblins cooperated with the Death Eaters." He once again entered the dreamscape. This time, he saw them—a mass of grotesque, squat, naked goblins crawling out of the darkness. Then, they fell to their knees, prostrating themselves in mad devotion toward the shadows beyond. "Isn't this the same vision I saw during our trip in Switzerland?" The vision shattered and shifted. A one-eyed elder goblin with a long, tangled beard held a wand aloft, madness blazing in his gaze. "This time, we will reclaim what rightfully belongs to us...We goblins are the true rulers of this world!!" The cigar goblin bowed deeply. "We await your orders, sir." The one-eyed goblin struck his wand hard against the ground. "Until the time comes, I want you to forget this meeting. When I sound the goblin horn once more, your memories will return—and you will help me eliminate anyone who stands in our way!" ——— [Note]: 140 Powerstones for an Extra Chapter tomorrow. Go, VOTE! And if you are like me and want to read 40 Chapters in advance of the current story right now, you can support me on my Patreon. Thank me later~ Link - (P)atre(o)n.c(o)m/ Iseeblack [Remove the brackets]

Chapter 231 - 231: The Bottle of '82 Lafite

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