Chapter 576: Chapter 485: Third Party Involvement
It's like a setup from the start.
If only one Death Eater had died suddenly in Azkaban, the Goblins could slowly transfer his assets to themselves and pocket the stuff—but this time, it's too much. You have to know, those wealthy nobles have far more assets than just one or two warehouses under their names—
Moreover, William helped several families go extinct directly this time—like the Lestranges...
Among the Sacred Twenty-Eight, six families were completely wiped out that night, and the vaults in Gringotts under their names were as numerous as stars. The moment they learned this news, the Goblins at Gringotts realized one thing: they couldn't pocket all the assets this time because those bastards at the Ministry of Magic definitely wouldn't turn a blind eye.
Although it's written in the agreement that all the vault contents would belong to the Goblins after the owner's death, rules couldn't bind hearts darkened by greed.
Those human wizards would definitely find ways to grab a cut, and taking money from Goblins is more painful than killing them.
So, the Goblins decisively sold most of the untraceable and unrecorded, obscure collectibles cheaply before Fudge realized it—they didn't care about the rest; just turn them into shiny Galleons first!
The Goblins first held a few small auctions, but the effect was apparently poor. Eventually, they simply set up stalls on the roadside, and numerous Pure-Blood families' collections became street goods. William even casually picked some old books; after all, such things weren't valuable in the Goblins' eyes, and solitary copies recorded with many lost Dark Arts spells even started to be sold by weight.
"...I should have looked carefully at that time, that damn Golden Cup must have been in that pile of junk."
William squinted his eyes, his mood turning from sunny to gloomy.
"It's not necessary to chase after what's past, William."
Dumbledore chuckled and shook his head, "Instead of regretting past mistakes, it's better to think about how to do better afterward..."
"I'm not a minor, Dumbledore, is your way of enlightening me a bit... childish?"
"Is it? William, though you're my senior, your actual experiences are a hundred years less than mine—"
"So this is the life experience you've summarized over a hundred years?"
"Certainly not just these—"
Just as Dumbledore nodded gently and was about to continue his philosophical exposition on "letting go of the past and focusing on the future," the wooden door of the office was suddenly slammed open from the outside, and Sirius, like a black whirlwind, rushed in—
The man's face was ashen, his hair even more disheveled due to running, and the hem of his Muggle-style coat was dusty. Following closely behind him was Lupin, who appeared calmer than Sirius, yet his tightly furrowed brows and heavy breaths indicated he wasn't much better off.
"Dumbledore! William!"
Sirius's voice was somewhat hoarse, laden with panic that was entirely beyond words, "Kreacher! That damned House-Elf—it's gone! Disappeared!"
"..."
"Lupin, you tell it."
After waiting ten seconds and seeing Sirius still wide-eyed and with no intention of continuing, William turned his gaze to Lupin.
"We suspect... there's been a burglary."
Lupin ceased his chest-thumping to regulate his breathing and quickly spun a tale, "We went to the old Blake residence as planned, but upon entering, by the House-Elf's habits, it would definitely appear at the door, yet..."
"Yes, logically, even if it was pickling slugs, it would roll out immediately to scold me a few 'dirty traitors' or curse me to die soon! But this time—nothing, not a peep, the house was dead quiet—I have indeed been away for some time, but that's no reason to leave!"
"For some time? How long?"
"...Two years."
"So, you've only been back that once?"
William squinted his eyes—two years ago, he chased the sneaking Sirius intending to infiltrate Hogwarts to capture Peter Pettigrew all the way to that old mansion. At that time, the split form of Apparition nearly cleaved Blake in half, and then, they stayed there for a night. When William entered, he inadvertently broke the Fidelius Charm there...
Oh...
Later, they got too caught up verifying the truth of Blake's words and forgot to fix it.
And... they never thought of it again.
"The whole house was emptied; even the floorboards on the first layer were pried clean—there was a thick layer of dust on the ground, and when we arrived, a few Muggle kids were exploring inside, clearly seeing it as some kind of ghost house—"
Lupin continued providing details.
"...Principal Blake?"
Dumbledore turned his gaze toward a not-so-distant portrait, in which the sharp-tongued elderly man in a robe shook his head, "I wouldn't go back without a reason... Would any normal person want to stay there and listen to an old, almost dying House-Elf's nagging?"
The rationale for Headmaster Blake's ignorance was reasonable.
"Could it have been those people?"
Dumbledore began pondering, looking at William, clearly wanting to hear his speculation.
"If the place reached a point where Muggles see it as a ghost house, then it's definitely not a recent occurrence. But if those people already had the Pendant Box, they'd surely not have needed to go to that cave—clearly, there's likely a third party involved in this whole incident."
William propped up his chin, offering an answer after a brief contemplation.
"So what should we do? Probably like we speculated before, maybe Tom with the Golden Cup senses the other Horcruxes—"
"But, they aren't the only ones with Horcruxes—"
William squinted his eyes, "They have the Golden Cup, but I have a Diadem, a ring, and even a snake—" saying this, his eyes slightly lit up, "Wait, since I have so many baits in hand..."
"You're thinking of fishing again? William, using Horcruxes as bait is definitely not a good idea—"
"But the bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish—"
...
"..."
Watching the gap that somehow appeared in the cage, Nagini flicked its tongue—gazing at the light symbolizing freedom outside the gap, the snake fell into its reflection regarding its long serpent past, held its head high, and after thinking this simple yet slow way of thinking for a long time, finally made a choice—
Nagini turned in another direction, coiled up, and decided to continue sleeping.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone