"We are terribly sorry!"
A row of Goblins bowed before him in apology.
But Cypher still could not quell his anger.
What kind of nonsense was this?
Gringotts was a Wizarding Bank. How could it be handling insurance business for the Ministry of Magic?
Sure enough, the intruders had not chosen to attack the Ministry of Magic. Instead, they had thoroughly breached Gringotts.
That alone would have been bad enough.
He had been inside.
If he had not known Mage Hand—
If the intruders had had enough time, his life might have ended here!
Unfortunately, he was not strong enough, nor did he have anyone backing him.
These Goblins were only polite on the surface. Cypher could not see the slightest hint of remorse in their eyes.
"Does one apology settle everything? How are you going to explain this to my grandfather?"
Having tidied herself up with a Cleaning Charm and the like, Iris questioned the leading Goblin indignantly.
The leading Goblin thought to himself that although only Iris and her grandfather remained of her family—
They had once been a distinguished Pure-blood family.
A mere apology was indeed rather shabby.
At that thought—
The Goblin wore a respectful expression as he spoke with contempt in his voice.
"Fine, then. I'll make the decision and give each of you 1,000 Galleons as compensation."
"You!"
Seeing this, Cypher could tell that Iris had no way to pressure Gringotts any further.
"Fine. Give us the money, and we'll leave immediately! We'll pretend this afternoon never happened!"
Cypher pulled the flushed Iris behind him and spoke firmly.
"This young gentleman is much more reasonable!"
The leading Goblin put on a professional smile.
"This isn't the place to talk. Let's get farther away and talk as we walk."
Cypher knew Iris had to be feeling awful.
The moment they stepped outside, Cypher took the initiative to speak. He wanted to help lift Iris's spirits.
"This way. You need to buy a bag to carry your things."
Iris spoke calmly, but there was no doubt that she was sulking.
By then, the entrance to Gringotts was no longer visible behind them.
Cypher moved closer to Iris and slowly explained why he had acted as he had.
"I don't know what exactly is going on with your family, but if Professor Dumbledore really is your grandfather, even if he isn't your biological grandfather, the Goblins wouldn't treat us like this."
"Of course, I'm guessing your family was once quite illustrious. Otherwise, that Goblin wouldn't have offered us Galleons as compensation."
"Lastly, I don't know whether the Goblins are capable of harming innocent wizards. Even if they can't, we can't gamble on whether they might pay Dark wizards to get rid of us."
"Based on that point alone, taking the money and letting the matter rest was our best choice at the time."
After listening to Cypher, Iris remained silent.
She walked with her hands behind her back and her head lowered, occasionally kicking away pebbles in her path with the tip of her shoe.
Just as Cypher began wondering whether he should continue trying to comfort her—
She suddenly spoke.
"Actually, my name is Iris Fergus. Hogwarts' Deputy Headmaster is my grandfather."
"I grew up in the castle. But my grandfather was busy with work every day, so Professor Dumbledore was always the one who looked after me."
Cypher wisely refrained from asking further questions.
After a moment of silence, Iris continued.
"Our family began declining during the Wizarding War more than twenty years ago. Now, only the two of us remain."
"What about your parents? Where did they go?"
Cypher was deeply puzzled. Judging by her age, Iris's parents had clearly survived the previous war, yet from the way she spoke, it seemed she had never met them.
"More than ten years ago, after giving birth to me, my parents died fighting Grindelwald in Paris."
Cypher thought about it. More than ten years ago seemed to be around the time of Fantastic Beasts 2.
"Père Lachaise Cemetery?!" The words slipped out before he could stop them.
Iris halted in front of him. She turned around, her beautiful eyes filled with surprise as she looked at Cypher, then nodded.
"Yes."
"I'm sorry. I made you think of something painful."
"It's all right..."
Another long silence followed. The cheerful cries of vendors and the sounds of people playing around them seemed utterly out of place beside the two of them walking with their heads lowered.
"We're here!"
Iris stopped and spoke.
Trolley's Backpacks.
Cypher glanced at the shop sign and silently read it to himself.
This time, he took the initiative and pulled Iris's hand as they entered the store.
Pushing open the door, Cypher looked at the dazzling array of backpacks before him and immediately took a liking to a black one.
Just as he stepped forward to take it down and try it—
Iris let go of his hand.
She walked over to a sky-blue waist pouch, stood on tiptoe, and took it down.
She came before Cypher and made as if to put it on him.
Seeing Iris's determined attitude—
Cypher could only cooperate helplessly.
"Boss! How much is this?"
After circling around Cypher once, Iris looked very satisfied.
She turned and called out to the shop owner, who was leaning over the counter with his chin propped in his hand, watching the show.
"Eight hundred Galleons!"
The owner said teasingly. He could tell Cypher was poorly dressed, but business was business. He could not simply give things away for free.
Guessing what the owner was thinking, Cypher could only smile bitterly to himself.
Iris, if we hadn't received those Galleons from Gringotts as compensation, I really couldn't afford something this expensive.
"That's quite reasonable."
Iris nodded and said nothing more.
Although the waist pouch was not covered in powerful protective magic, nor did it have a spell to prevent theft—
The fact that it had been enchanted with the Undetectable Extension Charm and the Weightless Charm was enough to make it worth the price.
"Consider it a gift for our first meeting!"
With that, Iris stepped forward and took out Galleons to pay.
Cypher understood as well. This was Iris's symbolic way of repaying him for protecting her.
Since it would make Iris feel a little better, Cypher did not say anything else.
After leaving the store, the two continued walking down the street in silence.
"Iris, shall we take a look at these Enchanted Paintings?"
"Okay!"
"Iris, shall we buy some candy?"
"Mhm!"
"Iris, shall we go look at flying brooms?"
"Hmph~"
Cypher was somewhat troubled, but Iris did seem genuinely interested.
All he could do was sigh to himself.
Never try to guess what a girl is thinking!
A temporary parting was only for the sake of a better reunion.
As evening approached, a few stars had already appeared 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 pouch.
"When you get home, remember to have your owl write to me."
Before Cypher could ask where Iris lived—
She suddenly stepped forward and lightly kissed his cheek.
Then, without paying any attention to the stunned Cypher—
She turned and jogged toward the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron without looking back.
"Hogwarts!"
In a burst of fire—
Iris vanished before his eyes.
Cypher felt unexpectedly lost, yet also secretly delighted.
But all those feelings vanished when he walked out of the Leaky Cauldron, called his Snowy Owl over, and let it perch on his shoulder.
When he faced reality—
The buses heading out of the city had already stopped running so late at night.
How am I supposed to get back to the orphanage?!
Cypher smacked his forehead!
Before you continue