Diagon Alley Thestral Carriage Station.
This station was just behind Gringotts, convenient for large families to consolidate their funds here and then deposit the glittering Golden Galleons into Gringotts' underground vaults.
Selenis Gray was the niece of the family head, Bode Gray. Despite being a woman, her abilities were outstanding, so Gray had placed the family's financial authority in her hands.
She was currently pacing anxiously back and forth in the station lobby.
Usually, by this time, the four carriages from various locations would have already arrived at the station. She should be in the station's VIP room right now, counting the Galleons.
However, it was now half an hour past the scheduled time, and not one of the four carriages had arrived!
This was clearly not normal.
A male wizard with a beer belly, a greasy face, and wearing a brand-new embroidered wizarding robe ran over anxiously.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and, forcing himself to remain calm, said to Selenis:
"Miss Gray, it has been confirmed. The sixteen Thestrals that returned empty just now are indeed the Thestrals responsible for your family's chartered carriages. It is highly probable that something has happened to those four carriages."
"Impossible!"
Selenis was furious. "Four carriages, departing from four different locations! How could they all have accidents at the same time? Check again!"
She projected an imposing aura, but her heart was already cold as ice. She was putting on this display merely for the sake of claiming compensation from the station later.
Incidentally, the Thestral Carriage Station was Ministry of Magic property...
Regardless of whether it was possible or not, it had already happened.
The carriages their family had chartered were in trouble!
...
...
Audrey pushed open the door to their home and bounded up the stairs.
Rick was still in the workroom, diligently revising the musical score. Hearing the noise, he turned his head and asked, "Audrey, you're back?"
"Yes, brother!" Audrey's voice bounced, like a happy sprite frolicking among flowers. "There were so many little animals. I had so much fun!"
"As long as you had fun," Rick hesitated, then asked tentatively, "You wrote this song. Do you want to revise it with me?"
Audrey shook her head. "I just hummed that song randomly. I don't remember if I know how to compose music, so brother, don't pin your hopes on me!"
"Alright then. Go to your room and rest. If you're bored, come downstairs and watch TV, although the programs now aren't very..."
Before he could finish, Audrey had already dashed into her room, closing the door with a "Bang."
"...aren't very good."
Insisting on finishing his sentence so he wouldn't seem so awkward, Rick shook his head and threw himself back into the world of musical notes.
Audrey locked her door, her little heart thumping wildly.
She sat on the floor and, all at once, took out four boxes.
She opened the lids one by one, and the glittering golden light nearly blinded her.
'So happy!
I'm really so happy!
So happy I could fly!
My little money! My little money has come back!'
'One, two, three...'
'...Six thousand nine hundred forty-three, six thousand nine hundred forty-four!'
Nearly seven thousand Galleons!
She was rich!
Audrey hummed a little tune and began counting again from the top.
"Oh, we common folk, ah, are so happy today,
Oh, we common folk, ah, are so, so happy today!"
The more Galleons she counted, the happier she became, and her singing grew louder, until even Rick in the next room heard it.
'Audrey's creative talent is really... In just this short time, she's created another new song.'
'This song is very cheerful, but the style is a bit... strange...'
'It doesn't sound like English? What language is this? Chinese or Japanese?'
'Aiya, I can't get distracted. I have to finish revising "picture to burn"! We have to record it in the next day or two!'
...
...
Gray Manor.
Bode stood at the window, his face ashen with fury.
Selenis stood behind him with her head bowed, anxious.
"You're saying all four of our chartered carriages were attacked by fire dragons, the Galleons vanished, and all our people fell to their deaths?"
"Yes, Uncle. That is the conclusion from the Ministry's investigation."
"Absurd!" Bode flew into a rage. "That is utterly preposterous!"
"Fire dragons? Attacking our carriages simultaneously? And you're telling me it was fire dragons?"
Bode forcefully struck the floor with the end of his cane, the marble tiles thudding loudly.
Selenis asked cautiously, "Could it have been a certain faction?"
Bode exhaled heavily. His breath fogged the glass window, instantly freezing into a patch of frost. "To my knowledge, there is no faction in the British wizarding world that can control four fire dragons to attack Thestral carriages simultaneously!"
Selenis said, puzzled, "What about a family like the Malfoys, one that has a dragon-breeding farm?"
Bode looked back at his niece with disappointment. "The dragons on dragon farms are like cattle and sheep in a pasture! They are food! Materials! They have no way of making fire dragons obey their commands!"
"Furthermore, the large dragon-breeding farms are all outside the British Isles. Do you think it's possible to smuggle four fire dragons in without anyone noticing?"
Selenis muttered under her breath, "It's possible. You just have to bribe the relevant people at the Ministry, right?"
"Stupid!" Bode roared. "Pay a huge price to bribe the Ministry, go through all the trouble of smuggling in fire dragons, just to rob us of a measly few thousand Galleons?"
Seeing her uncle's fury, Selenis quickly shut her mouth.
'Although, for the sake of hatred, people really would spend a huge, cost-is-no-object price on revenge... but our family has always been low-key. The only one who has a grudge against us right now is that little runaway Lestrange girl.
Uncle has a point. It's very unlikely it was fire dragons.
Either someone in the Ministry is targeting us, or someone bribed the Ministry.
There is no other possibility.'
Bode raged for a while, then calmed his emotions slightly. "Still no news on that little girl?"
Selenis nodded. "The Aurors still have nothing."
"That won't do. Hydrus must die."
"Yes, Uncle..."
Bode saw Selenis's troubled expression and snorted coldly. "Whether it's the matter of the carriages or the matter of Hydrus, neither can bypass the Ministry."
"Go to Gringotts and withdraw three thousand Galleons."
Selenis nodded. "All of it to smooth things over with the Ministry?"
"Yes, all of it," Bode said angrily. "That bunch of vampires! They've been coveting the Lestrange fortune, so they use these shady tactics. If we don't feed them, what happened today will happen a second time, and a third!"
"After you give them the money, press them again. The murderer who killed our kinsmen must be brought to justice as soon as possible!"
Selenis was a little uneasy. "Uncle, isn't three thousand Galleons a bit... little?"
"Little?"
Bode slammed his cane heavily on the floor. The tip erupted with countless electric sparks, a frightening sight.
"They've already eaten nearly seven thousand of our Galleons today! I'm giving them another three thousand. What more could they be unsatisfied with?"
Bode was like an enraged lion, the gray hairs on his head standing on end. "Ten thousand Galleons! That's ten thousand Galleons!"
Selenis quickly agreed. "Yes, I understand. I'll go to Gringotts right now."
Selenis retreated. Bode looked out the window again.
The early September weather was still hot, but the frost on the windowpane showed no signs of melting...
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