Gringotts

Having successfully weathered the crisis, Bell decided to accompany her mother and sister to Diagon Alley for a shopping trip the next day.

As for William? He has so much work to do; if he doesn't go, are you suggesting Elena do it?

After breakfast, the three of them set off in their Flying Car. Come to think of it, this was only Bell's third trip to Diagon Alley. Aside from the two times he went to buy Wand, Bell had always instructed Lim to buy textbooks, magical materials, and so on. Hermione probably went to Diagon Alley more times than he did.

Speaking of Hermione, the Little Witch had previously invited Bell to go to Diagon Alley to buy textbooks and other supplies for the next term. However, Bell was busy studying Alchemy at the time and wasn't sure if he would go shopping in Diagon Alley after returning home, so he regretfully declined Hermione's invitation. The Little Witch was quite unhappy about this; it's unclear whether she's in a better mood now.

Upon arriving at Diagon Alley, Bell suddenly realized that he had never been to Gringotts, so he suggested to his mother that they visit the Gringotts.

Elena, who hadn't really intended to buy anything and was simply there to accompany her son and daughter, agreed without any hesitation.

The three walked to the Diagon Alley, where a tall, white building stood.

Two Goblin guards stood at the entrance of the building, protecting Gringotts. As for how effective they would be... well, that depends on the individual.

Another point worth mentioning is that Goblin are truly ugly. Bell thinks his own House-elf are much cuter than Goblin.

Upon entering Gringotts, a Goblin dressed in a neat suit immediately greeted us.

"Hello, Your Excellency Mrs. Menethil, I am Bere, the Hall Manager of Gringotts. How may I help you?" Bere said respectfully with a bow.

Bere is one of Gringotts ' hall managers, and he enjoys his job because it's easy and exposes him to tons of Galleon. He'd be even happier if those adorable, glittering little golden creatures could become his.

The lobby manager's job is to specifically receive distinguished guests who have their own private vaults in the Gringotts underground.

As for these poor bastards coming and going in the hall?

If you have a question, why don't you go to the counter and ask?

Distinguished guests with their own private vaults are rare. The longest Bere ever went without a single guest was a whole week; he simply drank tea and read the newspaper each day.

But that doesn't mean the job is easy. Bere never slacks off in this position. He meticulously grooms himself every day, ensuring that distinguished guests have no opportunity to find fault.

You see, he had worked incredibly hard to get promoted to lobby manager, defeating several competitors and even sacrificing some precious little treasures before finally securing the job. If he were to be replaced by another Goblin due to a moment of carelessness, he would surely regret it to the point of wanting to drown himself.

"Yes, I want to go to the underground vault."

Elena took out a gold key and handed it to Bere.

Bere took the key, examined it carefully, and then returned it to Elena.

"Please come this way."

Led by Bere, the three of them boarded a minecart. Bere pulled the handle on the minecart, and it sped off.

Gringotts ' underground is extremely complex. If Bell were left here and forbidden from using magic, the somewhat directionally challenged Bell would probably never be able to find his way out.

Sitting in the bumpy mine cart felt a bit like riding a roller coaster. Bell didn't like it, but Shanna seemed to find it quite amusing.

Bell looked up and surveyed Gringotts ' underground, but after a while, he grew somewhat bored. All he could see were dimly lit caves, and more dimly lit caves. Perhaps to increase the security of the underground labyrinth, these caves were all built almost identically.

About 20 minutes later, after they had gone some distance underground, and Bell was almost asleep, the minecart finally stopped.

After getting off the vehicle, they were confronted by a massive stone gate that looked incredibly sturdy. Bell could sense the intense magical energy emanating from the gate, indicating that it must have been enshrined with powerful Protective Magic.

"Have you ever thought about improving the user experience?"

Bell rubbed his buttocks and back, and asked the Goblin beside him, "The experience just now was really not good."

What do you mean?

Bere looked at Bell with some confusion.

"The minecart isn't a great ride. Have you considered switching to Flying Car?"

While offering his suggestions, Bell also took the opportunity to criticize his own Flying Car and expand its market. He silently gave himself a thumbs up and firmly remembered his words.

If William complains to him again next time, saying he doesn't care about his work, he can use today's incident to confront his own father.

Keep in mind, he's only a 12-year-old! How could he possibly understand things like markets and trading?

"This is not something I can decide, but I will relay your request to my superiors."

As he spoke, Bere took the key from Elena again.

Reaching the gate, Bere tapped the doors in a specific order with his fingers. Magic emanated from his fingers, spreading along the gate and revealing a keyhole near the bottom.

Bere inserted the key and gave it a gentle turn. With a rumble, the door slowly opened.

Standing outside the door and looking inside, all you can see is darkness; you can't see anything else.

Bell followed Elena into the doorway, when a dazzling golden light suddenly appeared, making his eyes uncomfortable.

The spacious vault was filled with Galleon and all sorts of Gemstone, giving it a truly awe-inspiring appearance at first glance.

"How about that? Isn't our family's vault amazing!"

Elena looked at her children with pride, anticipating their reaction.

Unfortunately, neither Bell nor Shanna reacted much.

After her initial shock, Shanna quickly regained her composure. In the little girl's mind, no amount of gold could compare to a single hair on her Gege's head.

Bell, on the other hand, walked around the vault, looked around carefully, and then nodded.

"That's right, there's nothing useful left here to gather dust."

Elena was speechless. She really wanted to pry open Bell's skull to see what was inside.

What do you mean there's nothing useful? Aren't all these Galleon useful enough? You know, we have so many subordinates at home, and their annual expenses are less than a tenth of this.

After casually grabbing some Galleon from the vault, the three of them rode a minecart back to the surface. Once outside Gringotts, Shanna tilted her head and curiously asked her Gege a question.

"Gege, why are there so many Goblin in Gringotts?"

"Because Gringotts is run by Goblin, and most Goblin work Gringotts."

"But why should we entrust our Galleon to the Goblin for safekeeping? I've heard that Goblin are very greedy. What if they take our money and then refuse to return it?"

Bell scoffed.

"Not returning it? Shanna, you must understand, wizards are the rulers of the Magical World. We hold absolute dominance, and all other creatures depend on us for survival. If the Goblin dare to take the wizards' money and not return it, the enraged wizards can wipe them out in just a few days. As long as we can maintain our strength, we will never have to worry about the Goblin causing trouble. No matter how greedy they are, no matter how much they love gold coins, if they don't want to die, they'll have no choice but to obediently hand it over."

Many people are puzzled as to why the only bank in the wizarding world is managed by Goblin. Aren't the wizards afraid of being controlled by the Goblin?

The answer is, "No! Who's afraid of their own guard dog?"

The powerful wizard didn't care about money at all.

To give a simple example, Voldemort never worried about running out of money; returning to Gringotts felt like coming home. The Goblin there were all incredibly talented, with charming voices, and most importantly, remarkably warm and welcoming. Whenever he confided his minor troubles to Goblin, these seemingly unattractive but exceptionally kind-hearted creatures would eagerly stuff handfuls of Galleon into his pockets—he couldn't refuse them.

As for where this money came from?

Who cares? And who dares to care?

The weak wizards care about money, but unfortunately they can't do anything about it.

Wizards could certainly choose to build their own bank. However, setting aside the sheer amount of manpower and resources required to construct a defensive facility like Gringotts ' underground labyrinth, what good would it do to hand over Gringotts to the wizards to operate? They'd be considered excellent if they didn't bankrupt themselves.

It's important to know that Hogwarts doesn't teach finance.

As for arranging for wizards to study finance?

Only a brain-dead wizard would do something like that. Why waste time studying finance when United States could spend it learning magic? Wouldn't it be better to become stronger? What if you accidentally become as powerful as Dumbledore? Then you could have anything you wanted!