Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 533 Inflation
"So... the British Magical Union is still refusing to return Gringotts' gold coins?"

After reading the letter his secretary handed him, George Romney, president of the Magical Association of America, said something as if he had expected it.

“In that case, we have no choice but to fight,” George Romney said with a smile, then stood up from his office chair, turned around, went to the liquor cabinet behind him, and took out a bottle of champagne—

"Tommy, go get a glass and have a drink with me," George Romney instructed.

“But Father… I don’t understand?” Tommy Romney, the secretary to the president of the Magical Society of America and George Romney’s youngest son, asked in bewilderment, “Your actions make it seem like war is a good thing.”

“Of course it’s a good thing,” George Romney explained with a smile. “Also, you should call me ‘sir’ at work from now on.”

"Yes, sir."

“But…but Father…Sir, won’t many people die in war?” Tommy Romney said nervously. “Especially since we’re facing a monster like Tiera. Aren’t you afraid he’ll…assimilate everyone?”

“Hehehe…” George Romney chuckled softly, just like his polite smile when he disagreed with different opinions at the banquet. “Tommy, Tommy, you are still too young and too easily deceived.”

“Please enlighten me, sir,” Tommy said.

"What do you think Tierra is?" George Romney countered.

“Um…yes…he’s a god.” Tommy answered cautiously.

"Hahahahahahaha..." George Romney suddenly burst into laughter, no longer the smug, arrogant fake laugh, but the unrestrained, heartfelt laughter.

“Oh, son, son, you are still too young to be deceived by such a clumsy lie.” George Romney stopped laughing and began to patiently explain, “There is no such thing as a godhood ritual.”

“What happened at Connelly Fudge’s inauguration was a carefully orchestrated farce,” George Romney said. “Give me a bottle of Polyjuice Potion and I can put on a show for you too.”

“Clearly, Tierra is some evil force in the British wizarding world… I think it’s a puppet put forward by Voldemort, or even less than a puppet, just a symbol, an image,” George Romney said. “Just a tool Voldemort used to further rule and unite the British wizarding world.”

“Oh…” Tommy Romney suddenly realized, “So there was no resurrection at all?”

“Of course!” George Romney said with a smile. “He was killed by Voldemort. Who can say for sure whether he was really dead at the time? Maybe he wasn’t dead at all, and what was thrown over was just a corpse that had drunk Polyjuice Potion. There’s no such thing as resurrection magic in this world. It’s all just a performance by people.”

"But sir, I still don't understand how they managed to move all the gold coins from Gringotts' underground vault?" Tommy Romney asked. "It's said that Gringotts' main vault is located in an underground world known only to the goblins. Even if the goblins wanted to enter, they would need to apply a week in advance. How could Tiera have taken all the gold coins in a single raid?"

"Who knows?" George Romney waved his hand, seeing that his son hadn't yet gone to get the scallop cup.

Two slender wine glasses flew out of the glass case near the chairman's office door and landed steadily on George's desk. "But this was absolutely a terrible move." George poured himself a glass, then poured one for his son. "I'm not saying he should have stolen all of Gringotts' gold coins; quite the opposite. If he had only stolen the gold coins, it would have been a brilliant move. But what he shouldn't have done was publicize it. He should have secretly, discreetly moved all the gold coins from Gringotts, instead of making it public."

“I don’t understand, sir,” Tommy asked, bewildered.

“Inflation,” George uttered a single word. “Gold coins or currency alone, without the support of corresponding materials and goods, do not benefit the social system at all. Excessive issuance of currency will lead to inflation, which in turn will trigger a series of social upheavals.”

“In other words… such a large influx of Galleons into any country or society would cause irreparable and devastating damage to the local economy. It is a deadly weapon that can easily destroy a country without firing a single shot.” ​​George sighed. “This is also the most crucial reason why we are attacking the British Magical Federation.”

“Of course, that’s why the various factions in the wizarding world still allowed Gringotts to control the economic lifeline of the wizarding world after the goblin rebellion,” George said. “Because apart from goblins, who are greedy and would never let go of a single gold coin, it would be a worrying thing for anyone to have such a large amount of Galleons in their hands.”

“It would be better to let the fairies control it, since no matter how much Galleons we have, it won’t be of any use to us.” George Romney then smiled helplessly. “But now, unfortunately, and fortunately, this Galleon money has gone out of control and has fallen into the hands of that foolish Dark Lord.”

"So we can't just wait for him to come and destroy our economy and disrupt our society with those Galleons before starting a war. By then it will be too late," George said firmly. "His refusal to hand over the Galleons means war."

"This is a major crisis for the magical world!" Tommy exclaimed in alarm. "Then why are you opening a champagne to celebrate, sir?"

“While not all of those Galleons can enter the market, that doesn’t mean we can’t let some of them end up in our pockets first.” George Romney swirled his champagne glass, then downed it in one gulp, and said with a smile, “Mr. Juan, the head of Gringotts America, must be inside the building by now, right?”

“Yes, sir,” Tommy said.

“Go ahead, go and call him in. It’s time to talk about payment,” George Romney said with a smile.

……

Similar things happen in the offices of the presidents and ministers of various ministries of magic around the world.

Almost simultaneously, while those at the very top of the magical world's pyramid were exchanging the safety of their lower-ranking soldiers for personal gain and filling their own pockets, an old and gaunt figure teleported to Hogsmeade Village and ascended the stone steps to the gates of Hogwarts.

Not knowing how to attract the attention of the people inside Hogwarts Castle, the figure drew his wand, preparing to cast a blast spell at the gate.

But before the magic could gather at the tip of her wand...

The doors of Hogwarts opened automatically.

"Please come in, Mrs. Rosie." Tierra's voice echoed through the empty campus.

(End of this chapter)