A Break-in at Gringotts?

Draco was in a good mood, which allowed Allen to sit in the Common Room and receive the letters that kept arriving.

He received a letter from the [Muggle-born Young Wizards Liaison Committee]. This time, the envelope was gold with black stripes, sealed with wax as usual.

His slender fingers opened the letter, revealing elaborate lettering traced in dark green ink-

[Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince:

We have taken the liberty of adopting the name Liaison Committee.

After discussion, we have decided to hold tomorrow's gathering in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts-this room is on the Seventh Floor of the castle, opposite the tapestry of trolls clubbing Barnabas the Barmy.

I, Diana Sharp, will await your arrival at the entrance to the Seventh Floor.

We have also settled on the following agenda:

1. Introduce you and the committee's purpose

2. Read out the committee's provisional rules

3. Discuss the committee's official seal

4. Have dinner together

We look forward to tomorrow!

Yours loyally,

The Liaison Committee]

Allen chuckled softly. It seemed Miss Diana Sharp had already secured the leading position among the organizers.

Just look at this letter: concise and crisp, with the agenda clearly laid out-even more efficient than Parliament, whose members were always bickering and passing the buck.

Sharp...

Could she be that Earl's daughter?

Allen pondered for a moment, then gently folded the letter and slipped it back into its envelope.

It seemed that even after becoming young wizards, his subjects remained as devoted to the Royal Family as ever.

Whatever the case, having such a loyal and capable committee chair was certainly a stroke of good fortune for him.

He was already looking forward to tomorrow's gathering!

Tita stood on the arm of the sofa, watching him. She called twice, then fetched the newspaper he had yet to read in her beak, tilting her head in reminder.

Allen laughed. "Thank you, my dear little girl!"

He quickly wrote his daily report to Edward, remembering to fold the letter asking about a psychologist separately. He slipped it into an envelope reserved for the Royal Family, sealed it with wax, and handed it to Tita.

"Good girl. Thank you for making the trip."

Tita nuzzled his slender fingers, took the envelope in her beak, and flew out of the Common Room.

Only then did Allen have time to read the newspapers. Perhaps he should have Tita deliver them to the breakfast table rather than his Bedroom?

He opened the Daily Prophet and began reading, his gaze sharpening.

A break-in at Gringotts?

[The investigation into the unlawful intrusion at Gringotts on July 31 remains ongoing...

It is widely believed to have been the work of unidentified Dark witches or wizards.

The goblins of Gringotts reiterated today that nothing had been stolen. The underground vault searched by the intruder had, in fact, been emptied earlier that day.

A goblin spokesperson for Gringotts stated this afternoon: "We will not disclose what was stored in the vault. It would be best not to interfere in this matter."]

The blond Crown Prince gave a faint, mocking curl of his lips. Was this what the wizarding world meant by the safest places?

The Dark Lord had slipped into Hogwarts, and someone had broken into Gringotts and got away without being caught.

One might still be undiscovered; the other had been discovered, yet everyone kept their mouths shut.

Allen keenly sensed that the Ministry of Magic might be even more useless than Number Ten on a certain street.

Even if Gringotts was goblin territory, it was wizards' property that had been threatened.

Just look at this. For a public incident this serious, even Number Ten knew to issue a statement and launch an investigation promptly, yet the Ministry of Magic hadn't issued so much as a notice...

He really should not have expected anything from these politicians.

After all, there was a difference between people who got things done and people who made speeches. Unfortunately, most of Parliament consisted of the latter. And by law, all they could do was sign these fools' appointment papers.

Allen grew even more displeased.

He quickly scanned the newspaper's remaining pages, ignoring a mass of advertisements and a host of trivial little matters.

He folded the newspaper, marked it with the date, placed it in a newspaper folder, and stored it in his "Small Mobile Magical Library."