Gifts and Parting (Seeking Collections!!!)

"A thousand apologies!"

Before him, a row of goblins bowed in apology.

But Cypher's anger still simmered, hard to quell.

What was this about?

Gringotts was the Wizarding Bank—how could it be doing insurance business for the Ministry of Magic?

And sure enough, the intruders hadn't chosen to attack the Ministry; instead, they'd tunneled straight through Gringotts.

If that were all, it might be bearable.

But he had been inside.

If he hadn't known "Mage Hand."

If the intruders had had more time, his life would have ended right there!

Unfortunately, he lacked strength and had no backing.

These goblins were only polite on the surface; from their eyes, Cypher saw not a shred of remorse.

"Is an apology all it takes? How are you going to explain this to my grandfather?"

Iris, having tidied herself up with cleaning charms and the like, demanded of the lead goblin with displeasure.

The lead goblin thought to himself that while Iris's family now consisted only of her and her grandfather, they had once been a distinguished Pure-blood family.

A mere apology was far too shabby.

With that in mind, The goblin's expression turned respectful, but his tone was dismissive.

"Very well, I'll take it upon myself to give the two of you one thousand Galleons each as compensation."

"You!"

Seeing this, Cypher could tell Iris had no way left to pressure Gringotts.

"Fine, give us the money, and we'll leave immediately! This afternoon's incident never happened!"

Cypher pulled the flushed-faced Iris behind him and said in a firm tone.

"This young sir is much more reasonable!"

The lead goblin put on a professional smile.

"This isn't the place to talk. Let's put some distance between us and talk as we walk."

Cypher knew Iris must be feeling terrible inside.

As soon as they stepped out, he took the initiative to speak, hoping to lift her spirits.

"This way—you need to buy a bag to carry things."

Iris's tone was calm, but there was no doubt she was stewing in silence.

When he could no longer see the gates of Gringotts behind them, Cypher moved closer to Iris and slowly explained his reasoning.

"I don't know what your family situation really is, but if Professor Dumbledore really is your grandfather—even if not by blood—the goblins wouldn't have treated us like that."

"Of course, I'm guessing your family was once prominent, or else that goblin wouldn't have offered us gold coins as compensation."

"Lastly, I don't know if the goblins have the nerve to attack innocent wizards, but even if they can't, we can't risk them spending money to hire Dark Wizards to get rid of us."

"For that last reason alone, taking the money and smoothing things over was the best choice we had at the time."

After hearing Cypher's words, Iris remained silent.

She walked with her hands behind her back, head down, occasionally kicking pebbles out of her path with her toes.

Just as Cypher was wondering whether he should say something more to comfort her, She suddenly spoke.

"Actually, my name is Iris Fergus. The Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts is my grandfather."

"I grew up in the castle. But my grandfather was always busy with work, so Professor Dumbledore raised me."

Cypher wisely didn't press further.

After a moment of silence, Iris continued.

"Our family began to decline during the Wizarding War over twenty years ago. Now, of the once-great family, only the two of us remain."

"What about your parents? Where did they go?"

Cypher was puzzled. By age, Iris's parents should have survived the previous war, but from her tone, it seemed she had never met them.

"More than a decade ago, my parents gave birth to me and then died in the battle against Grindelwald in Paris."

Cypher thought for a moment. More than a decade ago seemed to be around the time of the second Magical Creatures incident.

"Père Lachaise Cemetery?!" The words slipped out of him.

Iris, walking ahead, paused mid-step. She turned her head, her beautiful eyes filled with surprise as she glanced at Cypher, then nodded.

"Yes."

"Sorry for bringing up painful memories."

"It's fine..."

Another long silence stretched between them. The cheerful shouts and clamor around them clashed sharply with the two figures trudging along with their heads down.

"We're here!"

Iris stopped in her tracks and said.

Trolley's Backpacks

Cypher glanced at the shop's sign, reciting the name in his mind.

This time, it was him who took the initiative to pull Iris's hand and lead her into the store.

Pushing open the shop door, his eyes swept over the dazzling array of backpacks before him, and he immediately took a liking to a black one.

Just as he stepped forward to take it down and try it on—

Iris let go of Cypher's hand.

She walked over to a sky-blue waist pack, stood on her tiptoes, and lifted it off the shelf.

Coming before Cypher, she made a move to put it on him.

Seeing Iris's firm attitude, Cypher had no choice but to comply obediently.

"Boss! How much!"

After circling around Cypher once, Iris was very satisfied.

She turned and called out to the boss, who was propping his chin on the counter, watching the show.

"Eight hundred Galleons!"

The boss said teasingly. He could tell from Cypher's clothes that he wasn't well-off, but business was business—he couldn't just give things away for free, could he?

Guessing what the boss was thinking, Cypher could only smile bitterly to himself.

Iris, if it weren't for the compensation of a pile of Galleons I got from Gringotts, I really wouldn't have the money to buy such an expensive item.

"Quite reasonable."

Iris nodded, saying nothing more.

Even though the waist pack wasn't covered with powerful protective magic or anti-theft spells, Just based on the description—that it had been enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm and a Weightless Charm—it was enough to be worth the price.

"Consider it a gift for our first meeting!"

With that, Iris stepped forward, pulled out Galleons, and paid.

Cypher understood: this was Iris's symbolic way of repaying the debt of being protected by him.

This would ease Iris's conscience a little, so Cypher said nothing more.

Stepping out of the shop, the two continued walking down the street in silence.

"Iris, how about we take a look at those Enchanted Paintings?"

"Sure!"

"Iris, want to buy some candy?"

"Mm!"

"Iris, how about we check out the broomsticks?"

"Hmph~"

Cypher was a bit troubled, but Iris genuinely seemed to be in high spirits.

For that reason, he could only silently lament in his heart.

Don't try to guess a girl's mind!

A temporary parting is only for a better reunion.

As evening approached, a few stars were already visible in the eastern sky.

The two returned to the Leaky Cauldron, where they had first met.

Iris transferred all of Cypher's belongings into his waist pack.

"When you get home, remember to have your owl write to me."

Before Cypher could even ask where Iris lived, she suddenly stepped forward and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

Then, ignoring him standing there frozen in place, she turned and, without looking back, hurried to the Leaky Cauldron's fireplace.

"Hogwarts!"

In a burst of flames, Iris vanished before his eyes.

Cypher felt a strange mix of loss and a little secret joy.

But all those feelings disappeared the moment he walked out of the Leaky Cauldron, called his Snowy Owl to perch on his shoulder, and faced reality.

It was so late that the buses heading out of town had already stopped running.

How was he supposed to get back to the orphanage?!

Cypher slapped his forehead hard!