Gringotts.
Ragnok walked ahead nervously, three figures shadowing him closely like specters.
He picked up a small jangling bell and shook it—ding ding ding—the crisp sound making the nearby Australian Opaleyes back away in fear.
They arrived in front of the Lestrange vault. Ragnok reluctantly reached out and slid his finger across the door.
"Hurry up and open it!"
A voice full of hostility rang out. Ragnok was hit by a red spell and cried out in pain.
"Calm down, Bellatrix," Amycus Carrow tried to rein in the frenzied woman.
Bellatrix looked somewhat like Narcissa, but her entire aura radiated madness.
Over a decade in Azkaban had taken her already unstable personality and twisted it into something even more terrifying. She twirled her wand and pointed it at Amycus, screaming, "Shut up! You don't get to tell me what to do!"
Amycus gritted his teeth, suppressing his anger as he said coldly, "Everything we're doing is for the Dark Lord. If it weren't for your insistence on coming to check—"
"I need to confirm whether it's still here or not." Bellatrix didn't respect anyone besides Lord Voldemort.
Something seemed to occur to her, and a look of horror flashed across her face. "That—that boy, he stole my sword."
She stammered the words, then her expression shifted again as she turned on Ragnok, roaring, "Open the door, now!"
Ragnok really was out of luck—he'd been taken hostage by these Azkaban lunatics.
He recalled that young Lestrange man from last time, and a bad feeling welled up in his heart.
Bellatrix was a madwoman—if anything went wrong, he'd likely be dragged into it as well.
The mechanical clinking of gears sounded as the lock turned. The Lestrange vault opened.
Bellatrix shoved Ragnok aside and stepped in first.
She was, after all, the rightful owner of the vault and had no need to fear the Fiendfyre Curse or the Replication Curse.
"Don't come in!" she warned her companions as they started to step inside.
Amycus looked displeased, but Bellatrix paid him no mind.
Her gaze swept to the spot where the sword of Marvolo was supposed to be—empty.
Her expression turned panicked.
"It's been stolen after all."
She took two steps back and leaned against a table.
That day, she had originally planned to visit her old enemies—the Longbottoms whom she had once tortured.
But what she saw instead was the supposedly insane Longbottom couple alive and kicking. Not only that, she saw another person.
She would never forget that scar.
That lightning-shaped scar—it was him, the one who brought about the Dark Lord's downfall.
Bellatrix had wanted to kill Harry Potter, but just before making a move, she saw what that little Longbottom brat was holding.
In that instant, panic gripped her.
Only those closest to the Dark Lord were privy to certain secrets, and she immediately thought of the other item in the vault.
If that was missing, even the Dark Lord's most trusted would fall from grace.
She couldn't imagine a life scorned by the Dark Lord. She had to be sure—sure that the item was still there.
To do so, she came to Gringotts, risking exposure to the Ministry of Magic.
She did have a second option—sending someone else.
But none of them were trustworthy. Not even her sister Narcissa's husband, Lucius, despite his declared loyalty.
She had to verify it herself—that the secret remained hidden.
With the others kept outside, she raised her eyes. There, prominently displayed, was the cup.
She clambered up the mountain-like shelf, using both hands and feet, throwing image and dignity aside.
Finally reaching the top, she carefully cupped the goblet in both hands.
"Ahh~~ Dark Lord…" she murmured, eyes filled with devotion.
This was the Dark Lord's trust in her—she absolutely could not betray it.
Her fingers stroked the goblet, but the look of obsession on her face suddenly froze.
She turned the cup over, and a line of words appeared on the inside of the goblet.
"Do you like the gift I gave you?"
"Huh?"
The goblet in Bellatrix's hands began to sear with heat.
A burst of intense light exploded from the vault, and outside, the Death Eaters and Ragnok's faces changed dramatically.
The Australian Ironbelly, originally bound by chains, let out a deafening dragon's roar.
A crack split across one of the chains, and with a violent struggle, the dragon shattered its bindings.
BOOM!
All the fake treasures in the vault—disguised bombs—detonated at once, setting off a roaring chain reaction that surged outward.
The massive shockwave swallowed everything in an instant.
After the flash of white, flames and smoke engulfed Gringotts.
A horrifying fissure split open the mountainside, stretching all the way upward.
In the middle of the ruins, Bellatrix, who had no good flesh on her body, used magic to protect herself at the last moment, but was still blown to only one breath.
Amycus Carrow lay outside—one of his arms blown clean off.
Another Death Eater had been directly engulfed by the blast, his body torn apart into pieces, dead beyond saving.
Ragnok had been struck by a massive chunk of debris, his head bleeding profusely—but because he'd been slightly on guard, he ended up the least injured of them all.
Before he could even feel relieved about surviving, a deafening dragon's roar made his blood run cold.
"ROAAAAAAAAR—!"
The Australian Ironbelly, now freed from its chains, let out a sky-shaking howl.
The explosion had blasted a massive opening in Gringotts, and the dragon soared out of the gap.
The main hall of Gringotts had been reduced to rubble, and some goblins had just approached the hole to investigate when—RoooOOOOOooooaar!!
The Ironbelly burst through, opened its jaws, and unleashed a torrent of fire-breath back toward Gringotts.
All of Diagon Alley saw it: a fire-breathing dragon soaring out of Gringotts, plumes of thick smoke billowing from within, even alarming the Ministry of Magic.
A large force of Aurors quickly descended on the scene.
Amycus, less injured than Bellatrix, had been buried under a cloud of dust.
When he came to, he let out a gut-wrenching scream.
His right arm had been blasted off, hanging on by a mere flap of skin.
He immediately reached for his wand, desperate to escape.
Just as he found it buried under the rubble, before he could even run, the wand flew out of his hand and was yanked backward.
"I believe it's been a while since we last met, Amycus Carrow."
Arriving with the Aurors, Piers disarmed Alecto, covering his mouth and nose with a handkerchief to ward off the dust in the air.
A glint of surprise flashed in his eyes—what luck!
He'd just bagged himself a Death Eater.
He was about to say something when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted someone in what used to be the Lestrange vault—a figure burned all over with Blast-Ended Skrewt venom, bones practically shattered.
A windfall! Not one, but two dropped from the sky! Hah!
Delighted, Piers stepped forward and stood over the figure.
The burns were extensive, but half the face was still recognizable.
With a beaming smile, he greeted her: "Bellatrix Lestrange."
Bellatrix turned one bloodshot eye toward him, and Piers said with mock regret, "You used to be quite the beauty, you know."
Bellatrix rasped from her throat in a hoarse whisper, "Master..."
"Master?"
Piers's sense of triumph turned to horror as he looked up and saw a figure in a black robe.
Pale skin, snake-like slitted eyes, and that forbidding nose.
Piers shrieked, "It's you!"
The Dark Lord's arrival caused him to take a few steps back. Voldemort's expression was dark as a massive serpent of flame rose from Gringotts.
The black robe cloaked Bellatrix Lestrange as the fire snake swiftly ascended into the sky and disappeared.
"Everyone, stop that fire serpent!" Piers shouted, abandoning caution.
The snake engulfed an Auror—Piers's heart pounded in terror as he rallied his comrades to fight.
All their wands pointed downward in unison.
"Finite Incantatem!"
Golden shield walls erupted from the ground, forming a barrier to block the serpentine inferno.
The fire-snake hissed and battered against the magical walls. Piers roared, "Hold the line!"
Voldemort's power was immense—even a single spell from him had the potential to annihilate everything.
Nine Aurors cast together, but still couldn't put it out.
As the blazing heat threatened to break through, more voices sounded outside Gringotts…
Profound chaos had begun to unfold.
"Finite Incantatem!"
The leader was Tommy, who came with the security team.
Both sides worked together to suppress the flames for a short time.
Old Barty came here and drove away the goblins who shouted that the Ministry of Magic had no right to enter the private vault of Gringotts. The newly appointed Minister of Magic had not slept well for a month.
With dark circles under his eyes, the newly appointed Minister of Magic uttered the Aguamenti spell, summoning Gringotts' magical waterfall to envelop the fire serpent.
Thanks to everyone's combined efforts, the fire was finally extinguished.
The sky turned ominously dark.
Hit squads and Aurors formed a containment perimeter around Gringotts.
Voldemort did not take Amycus with him as he left—Amycus was chained and escorted away by the Aurors.
Piers cautiously approached the grim-faced Minister Cuffe and said softly, "That man—he appeared."
Minister Barty's expression darkened further as he asked in a deep voice, "What happened with the explosion?"
Piers relayed what he'd learned from Ragnok under questioning: "The goblin Ragnok was taken hostage by Bellatrix and other Azkaban escapees. After he opened the Lestrange vault, a massive explosion was triggered soon afterward. Also," he added, "the goblins protested en masse—the Ministry's intervention in Gringotts did not sit well with them."
"Hmph, greedy lot," Minister Barty snorted coldly. "Many muggles have seen the fire dragon emerge from Gringotts. Under wizarding law, that is illegal dragon breeding."
Piers's eyes lit up—only the Minister could pull a move like that, flipping the situation in an instant.
"And... the reporters?" he asked.
"Not the right moment yet," Minister Barty replied vaguely.
Piers, being a good subordinate, understood his cue and prepared to go handle the press.
"Thanks to your Silverhand Security detail for the assistance," Barty said, shaking Tommy's hand.
His expression lightened slightly. He lowered his voice and asked, "Where is… Sir Silverand?"
Tommy kept her expression neutral and replied with a slight smile, "My lord has many matters to attend to."
Barty nearly pressed on but stopped himself—he couldn't bring himself to ask about his own son.
"Kingsley, gather statements from the goblins," Barty commanded the black wizard.
Kingsley didn't react outwardly. He had been trying to edge closer to hear what was said earlier.
Given the order, he made his way into Gringotts to speak with the goblins, who were notoriously hard to deal with.
Elsewhere in the crowd, some bystanders paused to watch.
Diagon Alley was always lively—especially in daytime.
Tonks and Lupin exchanged concerned glances as they worked on the perimeter. Both wondered what serious incident had taken place.
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