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"Transform!"
Upon arriving at Diagon Alley, George used his transformation magic to completely change his appearance. With confidence, he walked straight into Gringotts.
Having learned transformation magic from Fairy Tail, he was now capable of a full-body transformation.
As long as the size difference wasn't too drastic, he could become anyone—or even anything—making him a magical version of the "Seventy-Two Transformations."
However, he had yet to reach the highest level where transformation didn't affect his combat strength, but that didn't matter much.
Even if his power wasn't at its peak while transformed, it was still more than enough to handle any situation in this world.
After all, even a sick and feverish adult could easily take on a group of elementary school children.
Under the guidance of a goblin receptionist at the entrance, George—disguised as an unfamiliar adult wizard—arrived at a counter manned by an elder goblin.
"Sir, how may I assist you?"
"Soul Detachment!"
George silently chanted a spell in his mind, using the Imperius Curse to take control of the goblin.
"Take me to the Lestrange vault."
"You'd like to see the Lestrange family vault? Oh, of course! Please, follow me."
The elder goblin, affected by the Imperius Curse, wore an unnaturally wide smile. After instructing a nearby younger goblin, he led George toward a doorway in the main hall.
The younger goblin was slightly puzzled as to why the elder was personally escorting a client, but didn't dwell on it and simply took over his post.
Beyond the hall's doorway was a rough stone corridor lit by burning torches and lined with small carts.
Following the elder goblin's lead, George climbed into one of the carts, which sped off deep into the underground vault system.
Since none of the goblins at Gringotts had noticed anything amiss, magical security measures like the Thief's Downfall had not been activated. As a result, they reached the deepest level of the vaults without any trouble.
"As expected of one of the oldest families—even a dragon guards their vault."
After disembarking and walking a short distance, George came face to face with a massive dragon chained in place. Behind it were five of Gringotts' most prestigious vaults.
The dragon slowly opened its eyes and glared at them. Just as it was about to roar and unleash its fire, it seemed to sense something from George. Its body instantly stiffened.
Then, trembling, it cautiously backed into the furthest corner that its chains would allow, lowered its head, and covered it with its wings, shivering in fear.
George wasn't surprised. He motioned for the goblin to continue leading the way to the Lestrange family vault.
There was no need to mention that in his dragon form, he was several tiers above this one.
Even in his current human form, his identity as a Dragon Slayer—along with the aura from having slain many dragons—was more than enough to terrify the dragons of this world.
"Open the door."
At George's command, the elder goblin approached the Lestrange family vault, placed his hand on the door, and the vault entrance vanished, revealing a tunnel.
Each Gringotts vault door was enchanted with goblin magic and could only be opened by goblins. If touched by anyone else, the door would absorb them and trigger an alarm.
With a wave, George dismissed the goblin and entered the tunnel alone.
"Filthy rich!"
The vault was packed from floor to ceiling with Galleons, along with golden goblets, finely crafted silver armor, and pelts from rare magical beasts—some with spines, others with wings—all of immense value.
Rows of elegant bottles filled with high-grade potions lined the walls, and deeper inside was a skull still wearing a priceless crown.
George had made a lot of money through magical beasts over the years, but compared to the Lestrange family's vault, his fortune was nothing.
The wealth of the oldest pure-blood families truly wasn't a joke.
"Fiendfyre and the Gemino Curse?"
As he reached out to pick up a golden goblet, it instantly turned red-hot and duplicated into over twenty identical copies.
To prevent theft, the Lestrange family had placed both Fiendfyre and the Gemino Curse inside their vault.
Once a thief broke through the vault door, everything they touched would either burn them or multiply uncontrollably—until they were buried alive under mountains of treasure.
"Finite Incantatem!"
With a wave of his hand, George dispelled all the Fiendfyre and Gemino Curses within the vault.
Compared to "Finite", which is more effective at breaking individual spells, "Finite Incantatem" worked better for nullifying wide-area enchantments.
"Since there's no one left to claim it, I'll just accept it myself."
He retrieved a small box from his storage space and directly absorbed everything in the vault into it—including Hufflepuff's cup.
The only surviving member of the Lestrange family was Bellatrix, who, as a fanatical follower of Voldemort, was currently imprisoned in Azkaban.
Under normal circumstances, she would spend the rest of her life there.
After her death, all of the Lestrange family's assets would naturally become the property of Gringotts.
Rather than letting Gringotts benefit, it might as well be him.
And if Bellatrix somehow escaped from Azkaban in the future, then even more reason to take the vault's contents now—there was no way he would leave such wealth for Voldemort.
After emptying the Lestrange family vault, George ordered the elder goblin to close the door. The two returned to the surface by cart.
Once back, George erased the goblin's memories of what had just happened and replaced them with a mundane recollection of assisting a regular client with a withdrawal. Then, he left Gringotts as calmly as he had entered.
He wasn't concerned about whether Gringotts would later discover the theft due to the goblin's unusual behavior.
At worst, the event might make a brief appearance in The Daily Prophet, much like Quirrell's failed attempt to steal the Philosopher's Stone three years ago. But George figured that even if the goblins realized the vault had been looted, they wouldn't publicize it.
If word got out, it would cast doubt on Gringotts' security, and people might stop trusting the bank with their money—potentially destabilizing the wizarding economy.
Besides, the stolen vault belonged to the Lestrange family, and no one was legally eligible to access it anymore.
After leaving Gringotts, George reverted to his original appearance and returned to his shop in Knockturn Alley.
But someone was already waiting at his door.
"Minister, what brings you here?"
Indeed, standing at the entrance was none other than Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, accompanied by several Aurors assigned to protect him.
As soon as he saw George, Fudge's face broke into a falsely warm smile.
"George, I was waiting for you. There's something I'd like to discuss with you in advance."
"Then please, come in."
George's eyes flickered with curiosity—he had a good idea of why Fudge had come in person.
Smiling, he opened the door and invited Fudge and the Aurors inside.
(End of Chapter)