The summer vacation passed quickly.
With three weeks left before the start of the school term, Sherlock and Hilke headed to Diagon Alley together.
Although Hilke had bought the yard next to his, she had spent less than half her time actually living there.
Sherlock had specially prepared a room for her in his home and let her stay there, even covering all three of her daily meals.
Just as Sherlock had promised Eddie at his grave, he would do his best to take good care of the former Amy, now Vera, helping his friend make up for his negligence as a father.
During this summer vacation, it wasn't Sherlock's first time visiting Diagon Alley; in fact, he came very frequently, roughly once every three days.
Today, Hilke suddenly suggested that she also needed to purchase some things, so the two travelled together.
After entering August, more and more young faces began appearing in Diagon Alley.
With not much time left before the start of term, the young Wizards had to quickly purchase the various books and stationery they needed for school.
"I need to go to Gringotts to pick up some things. Do you want to come with me?" Sherlock asked.
Hilke shook her head.
"I won't go there. I'll just buy some things on the street."
Sherlock naturally had no objection to this.
"Then let's meet up at the Leaky Cauldron later."
After agreeing on a time, the two parted ways on the main street of Diagon Alley.
Sherlock didn't head straight to his destination. Instead, he found a secluded corner and put on the mask he had prepared in advance, transforming into a member of the Lestrange Family before walking straight into Gringotts in the centre of Diagon Alley.
As soon as he entered, Ragnuk saw him and put on a pained expression, clearly feeling some resistance, yet he still came forward to greet him.
"Mr. Lestrange," he called out with a bow.
Sherlock looked down at him from above.
"I'll have to trouble you again today, Ragnuk."
Even with ten thousand points of dissatisfaction in his heart, Ragnuk still said politely,
"Serving our clients is our duty."
But at this moment, he couldn't help but grumble a little.
"However, Mr. Lestrange, if you have any needs, you can raise them with us. As long as it's possible, we will satisfy them."
Sherlock gave a cold laugh.
"Do I need your help to find something in my own family vault?"
"Gringotts offers a service to inventory assets for customers. If you need it, we can provide you with a list of your vault's assets in just one day."
Ragnuk spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly.
However, Sherlock let out a sneer and mocked,
"Then why don't you tell me the fee for this service? Let me guess how much the service fee is—has it already risen to five percent?"
Ragnuk lowered his head and said,
"Five percent isn't much, sir. For this small reward, you can have the wealth your family has accumulated over thousands of years at your fingertips. It's quite a bargain."
"Tell that to a fool, and even a fool wouldn't believe it," Sherlock snorted coldly. "Besides, no matter how good your reputation is, it's not worth my complete trust. There haven't been few Goblins caught for committing crimes outside these past two years."
Hearing him say this, Ragnuk's dissatisfaction was plain to see.
"You may question our fees, but please do not question Gringotts' integrity, sir."
Sherlock waved his hand dismissively.
"In that case, stop wasting my time with this nonsense and just do your job. Now, take me to the vault."
Ragnuk had no choice but to lead him onto the underground tunnel cart for the thirteenth time in less than two months, heading towards the Lestrange Family vault.
After opening the vault door, Ragnuk stood guard outside as usual, while Sherlock entered alone.
The gold and silver treasures in the vault had clearly diminished significantly by now.
This was the result of Sherlock's thirteen trips to Gringotts.
After studying the Duplication Charm and Fiendfyre on those treasures, he determined that these spells were anchored to the entire foundation of Gringotts.
Within the Goblins' territory, there was basically no way to dispel these two curses, but as soon as the items were taken out of Gringotts' range, the spells would fail on their own.
To have the Goblins help pack up all the treasures in the vault, the prerequisite was that he personally had to cancel the magic on these treasures that prevented anyone but a Lestrange Family member from touching them; otherwise, other Goblins had no right to touch these treasures.
This included the inventory service Ragnuk had proposed in the hall—to count the quantity, type, and value of these treasures, Sherlock would also need to personally cancel the protective magic in the vault.
For Sherlock, who was pretending to be a Lestrange, he naturally couldn't do that.
He could only use this slow method, taking a portion each trip. Once taken out of Gringotts, the magic on them would automatically dispel.
To this end, Sherlock had specifically spent a large sum of money to buy seven or eight pouches enchanted with a reinforced Undetectable Extension Charm, though this money was basically all earned back on the very first trip.
The Lestrange Family vault was like a mountain of gold, and Sherlock was tirelessly planning to hollow out this golden mountain.
The Ministry of Magic had no way to freeze or seize the property of these people, so Sherlock felt no psychological burden.
Not just the Lestrange Family's property—if he had the chance to take their lives, he would do so without mercy.(TN: I completely support robbing them.)
Using Control Magic, he skillfully filled the pouches he brought, and another large portion of the various treasures in the vault disappeared.
Sherlock estimated the remaining amount in his mind; it would likely take another twenty or thirty trips to completely empty this place.
However, he wouldn't be in such a hurry going forward. Ragnuk's words today had already revealed his impatience. If this continued, there was no telling when the Goblins might become suspicious.
In any case, the Lestranges were all still locked up in Azkaban, and Sherlock understood the wisdom of a steady, long-term approach.
After packing the items, he deliberately stayed in the vault for a while before walking out and returning to the hall with Ragnuk.
"I don't think I'll be coming back for a short while."
Hearing his words, Ragnuk was first stunned, then immediately reacted, an unmaskable joy appearing on his face.
"Ah, Mr. Lestrange, have you already found what you were looking for?"
"I've only found one for the time being." Sherlock turned to leave Gringotts. "If I have a need later, I will come back again."
Ragnuk's excited face visibly stiffened, but watching Sherlock's receding back, he still let out a long sigh of relief.
Regardless of what happened later, at least sending this plague god away for now was enough.