Chapter 691: A Chance Encounter
Chapter 691: A Chance Encounter (Please subscribe, favorite, and vote)
"Introduce yourselves and explain why you’re here", Liam said after hastily finishing his breakfast to the two captured Goblins. "If I remember correctly, you usually spend your time counting gold at Gringotts or mining various ores in your underground mines to craft magic items. So, I’m curious why I’d run into you here today."
"My name is Gornuk, and the one beside me is Ragnuk. Honestly, we don’t want to do this. For us, the sound of gold coins clinking in the vaults or standing by blazing furnaces is far better than wandering in the wild", the higher-voiced Goblin said. "But now, we face a life-threatening situation, so we have no choice but to wander like this."
"Life-threatening? What a joke", a Guerrilla Fighter listening in remarked. "If I’m not mistaken, Goblins generally support the Dark Lord. Like now, Gringotts has almost stopped providing services to us. In fact, Gringotts has become a financial institution exclusively for the Dark Lord’s side."
"You’re mistaken", the deeper-voiced Goblin replied. "We don’t favor either side; this is a Wizard’s war."
"But why do you appear to be supporting the Dark Lord?" Derek asked. "From my past experience, you were indeed neutral, as you just said. But now, it’s clear that Gringotts has become an accomplice to the Dark Lord and the London Ministry of Magic."
"Only a part of the Goblins", Gornuk said, looking visibly angry. "I refused a demand I found insulting, and now my life is in danger. But even so, I will stand by my principles."
"An insulting demand?" Liam asked, curious. "What kind of demand made you so firmly refuse?"
"Something that goes against the dignity of my race", the Goblin replied, his voice becoming even more gruff and inhuman. "I’m not a House-Elf; I won’t kowtow to Wizards or follow their every command."
"And what about you, Ragnuk?" Liam turned to the other Goblin, Ragnuk, whom he had never met but knew to be the one who had taken Harry to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone. Given that he had access to the most secure vaults, Ragnuk must have been a high-ranking official at Gringotts, possibly even a core member.
"Similar reasons", Ragnuk said. "Gringotts is no longer under the sole control of my race. I don’t recognize Wizards as my masters. As a result, I’m being hunted, not just by Death Eaters but also by some of my own kind."
"Yes, if it weren’t for those who disagree with us, we could have stayed safely in the Goblin caverns instead of wandering like this", Gornuk said angrily. "Back in the worst of times, no one could breach the Goblin caverns."
"So, the London Ministry of Magic, the Death Eaters, or the Dark Lord now control Gringotts in Britain", Hermione quickly deduced from the Goblins’ words. "And most Goblins have chosen to cooperate, leaving those who refuse to collaborate, like you, to go into exile."
"Hermione is right, even if you don’t want to hear it", Liam said, holding up a hand to stop the Goblins from interrupting. "If the Goblins who advocate cooperation with the Death Eaters weren’t in the majority, you wouldn’t be in this situation, forced to wander."
"Those with wands, you don’t understand everything", Ragnuk said, clearly upset. "For us, maintaining independence and freedom is paramount. It’s a process that requires sacrifices. While I hate the Goblins who drove us out, I also understand why they did it."
Liam immediately grasped the thoughts of the British Goblins. Gringotts didn’t want to suffer heavy losses by opposing Voldemort, but they also didn’t want to appear weak and vulnerable to the outside world.
In this situation, sacrificing a portion of the Goblins to maintain control over Gringotts was a necessary compromise. The Goblins were confident that the Death Eaters lacked the strength and knowledge to take over Gringotts’ complex operations in the short term. For the Goblins, whoever came to power, they would still need the Goblins to keep Gringotts running.
And this time, the extreme faction within Gringotts was naturally thrown out as a scapegoat. Their previous disdain for Wizards had already placed them high on Voldemort and the Death Eaters' elimination list.
After all, with the Death Eaters' usual habits, non-human intelligent beings were already at the bottom of their contempt hierarchy. And these Goblins, who refused to kneel and lick their toes, were naturally the top priority for elimination.
Gringotts would not let a small group endanger everyone, so they promptly expelled these extremists. They even sent a few Goblins to hunt them down to show that they had no connection to them.
"What does 'wield a wand' mean?" Liam was pondering when a Guerrilla Fighter asked. The surrounding Guerrilla Fighters also perked up, as most Wizards here were Muggle-born or Half-bloods, who had grown up in the Muggle world and were unfamiliar with the basics of the Wizarding World. Not to mention, this piece of knowledge was something even many Wizards who grew up in the Wizarding World didn't know.
"The right to wield a wand", the Goblin seemed unbothered about sharing the meaning. Griphook murmured, "It's something Wizards and Goblins have been fighting over for a long time."
"More specifically, Wizards and Goblins within the European cultural sphere", Hermione added. "As far as I know, Wizards in Africa don't use wands, and intelligent beings in China often have their own spellcasting magical items."
"Additionally, Goblins can cast spells without wands", someone chimed in. "So not having a wand wouldn't hinder your life."
"Don't bring that up", Griphook looked angry. "Only Wizards in Europe and America refuse to share the secrets of wand lore with other magical beings, preventing us from expanding our influence!"
"Speaking of secrets, isn't knowledge sharing mutual?" Liam asked. "In China, intelligent beings and human Wizards exchange knowledge to gain the secrets of human spellcasting and the creation of magical items. But you Goblins, you refuse to contribute anything and just want to get everything for free."
"That's true, Goblins don't share their magic", Derek Crimp, the former Goblin liaison, said. "They never tell us how to forge swords and armor or the special methods for smelting metals, even the minting of Galleons. You should know that the Panda People in China generously shared the method for creating New Galleons with us right after establishing the bank."
"Shut up", Griphook's eyes blazed with anger, as if they could set the entire tent on fire. "What's the difference between you and the Dark Lord? You all seek to dominate us and take our things."
"Heh, your things—" Derek's anger was also provoked. "The rightful master of any item is its creator, not the buyer. Any item made by Goblins, in their view, should belong to them. Even if Wizards have paid for it, Goblins see it as a rental. They believe that after the original buyer dies, the item should be returned to the Goblins. Passing it down from Wizard to Wizard without further payment is no better than theft."
The tent immediately buzzed with whispers. Most of the Wizards here, although they didn't own the luxury Goblin-made items common in the Wizarding world, found the Goblins' definition of ownership unacceptable.
Just as the two Goblins were about to explode, Rose Crystal flew in from outside, holding a few newspapers. She quickly sidestepped the others and whispered something in Liam's ear.
Liam's eyes widened instantly. He then took the newspaper and read it carefully. After finishing, he looked up at the two Goblins, who were red-faced with anger, and said, "You were just talking about Goblin independence and freedom, but it seems the situation isn't as you described."
(End of Chapter)
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