Chapter 29

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A Tale of Diplomacy



Having spent the summer months in pursuit of an elusive bank robber with nothing to show for his efforts, Harry was left feeling frustrated. Two further robberies had been committed during the time, and still, he had no idea how such a thing had been done.

The goblins were as flummoxed as him, though they were much more furious with what they believed was a wizard that would dare carry out these acts against them.

They had been none too accommodating to Harry either when he had arrived on the scene to carry out his investigation. Not that there was anything to see other than a sizable space where there stacks of galleons had been stored in the master vault.

Not even the locks had been tampered with in any way.

How the vault had been accessed was the biggest mystery of all.

There was no magical trace to follow, nor any sign of anyone having even been there.

Whoever was behind this spate of robberies was good, worryingly good.

"So, there's nothing at all?" Charlus asked.

Harry shook his head.

With his own ideas running dry, Harry had explained the problem to his friends who were as baffled as him.

"That's not possible," Minerva broke in. "There has to be some sort of trace left behind."

"If Harry hasn't found it, then there is nothing to be found," Tiberius replied. "You know what he's like. He'd find it if it was there."

"True," Charlus sighed, "but if there's no trace, then how is it being done?"

"I was hoping you lot might have some ideas," Harry mumbled. "Anyway, how are things up at the castle?"

"As busy as ever," Minerva said tiredly. "The first years are excitable, and the seventh years are a bag of nerves. Nothing new."

Some things indeed never changed.

"This is a nice house," Poppy commented, "not where I'd have expected you to live, but nice."

"There's nothing wrong with Godric's Hollow," Charlus defended. "Where did you expect him to live, in a castle?"

Poppy shrugged.

"With how much money he must be making from just his chewing gum investment, he could probably afford it. That stuff is selling out everywhere."

"Really?" Harry asked, surprised.

Poppy nodded.

"She's right, Harry. The professors have been complaining about the bubbles being blown in their classrooms," Minerva explained.

Harry hummed as he summoned his latest, unopened statement he'd received from Gringotts in his absence.

With a frown, he read the missive, his eyes widening as he took in the balance.

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