Seeing that he had figured it out, Lockhart took no time to persuade him: "That's what happened, my friend, I think you must have been used by this guy. Who told you goblins to never communicate your financial status with each other? What about?"

Lockhart hoped this would make Ragno a little more sober, but he clearly overestimated the goblin race's obsession with money and the level of their unity.

"No, I have to ask Bagman to pay back the money quickly... By the way, Gilderoy, don't make any noise about this, let Bagman pay back the money owed to me first, and then he will pay anyone he asks to borrow it. I don't care, okay?"

Ragnor took Lockhart's hand as he spoke, with a pleasing look on his face, trying to win over him.

At this moment, Lockhart was suddenly able to understand the rich people, bankers and heads of financial trading institutions within the "square mile". These people, like Ragno, are probably making such "difficult choices all the time". "Bar?

"It's hard to do." Lockhart sighed and pinched it. "My job is to find out how much money Chief Bagman has misappropriated that doesn't belong to him, but I still don't know what he owes. how much you."

"Not much, it's only 1500 Galleons, and I only need 40% of his interest for half a year... You know, this is not even a fraction compared to our transaction." Ragno defended himself. road.

Lockhart did not expect that the increase in the appetite of the goblins was actually related to himself.

If Bagman is indeed running this kind of Ponzi scheme, then it is understandable that the entire goblin world in the original book refuses to believe in wizards anymore.

As Lockhart can imagine, there must be a lot of goblins who had a debt dispute with Bagman, which led to this national confrontation between goblins and the Ministry of Magic.

And without reminding themselves, the goblins probably didn't figure out what kind of trick Bagman was doing until the end, so the loss must be heavier than now.

Save others by yourself, if half of the residents of a small country are deceived by a financial liar, and the liar is sheltered in places such as the US Financial Asylum Bureau, then this country will probably also have a bad relationship with the whole country and the United States.

...maybe only the Philippines is an exception.” Even if the Marcos family’s hard-earned 300 suitcases were seized by U.S. customs, Filipinos still call Americans dads.

Before leaving, Lockhart was stuffed with a bottle of whisky in his hand, and according to Ragnot, the alcohol content of this wine was as high as 92% - a maximum of two spoonfuls for individuals, belonging to Bruchladich, Scotland." Business Card Products\"

His intention to bribe Lockhart is also obvious—that is, to let him release the news a little later, so that he can quickly realize the creditor's rights.

In addition to Gringotts goblins such as Ragnor and Gonuk, there are also many goblins outside who have borrowed money from Bagman, such as Red, Boderick and the like.

Although Ragno didn't know how much they lent, but as far as he knew, the interest they borrowed was usually not less than 40%, so Lockhart only needed to ask two or three goblins how much they borrowed. According to the order in which they borrowed the money, you can know how much Bagman's scam was getting into.

"That guy is also involved in gambling." Ragnor also told Lockhart a big news, "Some of the same family opened gambling, and the Bagman guy is still a regular.

Although he didn't explain the words, Lockhart could also guess that there must be something wrong with the Bagman guy.

Bagman is addicted to gambling and is a standard gambling dog. If someone wants to use this to get him into debt crisis, it is really not difficult.

No matter who it is, as long as he controls Bagman, then his status as the head of the Magic Sports Department will become profitable again, and the game designer behind him can use Bagman's hand from now on. to control some important sports games.

Recalling that Crouch used the position of director to "fish" himself, Lockhart decided that he must find out the person behind him. If there is no one behind him, then he will do it himself.

Because Lockhart suddenly discovered that Bagman might also have some use for him.

Chapter 232 Offense and Defense within the Ministry of Magic

No matter how many thoughts Lockhart had in his mind, he was still conscientiously completing the task that Crouch gave him.

Ragno lent him 1,500, and agreed to repay the principal and 40% interest in half a year; Gonook lent him 1,800, and agreed to 30% interest in a quarter; Reid had gone to the United States, so he couldn't find out, but he probably wouldn't. It would be less than 1000, and Boderick borrowed Bagman 1300... There are a dozen or so, and it looks like he owes 150,000 to 20,000 Galleons, and this does not include the money he owes the wizard. "

Crouch was very satisfied with Lockhart's efficiency: "Bagman's salary is 30 Galleons a week, which is only 1,600 a year, and he can't afford it even if he doesn't eat or drink for ten years.

"Yeah, in this case, it's not surprising that he will do anything to raise money, and the money is too much, the Ministry of Magic will never pay for him, and neither will our department." Lockhart Special decided to speak up in front of the ugly.

"Yeah, I didn't expect him to borrow so much." Crouch also hesitated, "It seems a little worthless to spend so much money for a director."

"Especially when most of our money is still in the wells," Lockhart added.

Crouch nodded, agreeing with Lockhart's words.

"If that's the case, then don't buy him." Crouch decided simply, "Let him stab the basket big, and then we use it to hit Fudge. It's best to find evidence that he embezzled public funds..."

Lockhart was a little surprised: "Is the evidence not enough now?"

"Not enough, no matter how much money you owe, it's just a matter of his personal morality. This is far from enough. Besides, there are too many retired stars who don't pay attention to their property. We want to win

He had to prove he was derelict. ' said Crouch, tapping his quill on the table.

Lockhart looked unbearable: "Is this not a good thing... I mean, if something happens to him, the image of the Ministry of Magic will also be damaged, and we will have to deal with goblins..."

Crouch sneered: Ur doesn't understand, Gilderoy... Bagman had a chance to be one of us when he just retired, but drinking and gambling harmed him, he didn't take advantage of the most famous and financial It's time to be "aggressive," so he's already lost this opportunity, understand?"

Lockhart's eyes flickered a few times, then nodded firmly.

"Very well, you are a smart person, I know you will understand." Crouch stood up and patted Lockhart on the shoulder: "But you are different from Bagman, you know exactly what you want, It's also very clear what to pay for that, and it's been doing really well so far...I think you'll be in a new circle soon."

\"You mean?" Lockhart pretended to be excited.

"Yes, that's what you think." Crouch dropped a sentence lightly, and then signaled that Lockhart could leave.

After Lockhart walked out of the office, the excited expression he had just pretended evaporated from his face.

\"Bah, who cares about what you give." He cursed secretly, "Can't you take it yourself?"

Only these pure-blooded families still take themselves seriously, right?

But having said that, Mr. Crouch is in a good mood recently, and he talks more and more.

Even when he was in Hogsmeade, Crouch still looked like he was thinking about when to retire, but Fudge's impatient performance instead activated the old man's power.

Power Desires... tsk, Fudge's an idiot too.

After getting the information from Lockhart, Crouch was obviously relieved to Lockhart a lot, not only gave him more authority, but also accelerated the movement of controlling the sports department.

He publicly proposed to the Ministry of Magic to run a "Quidditch lottery"

"...The phenomenon of illegal gambling is particularly serious now, and it occupies a lot of energy and financial resources of wizards, which is not a good thing. So I suggest that instead of letting lawbreakers use gambling to plunder people's wealth, it is better for the Ministry of Magic to coordinate the operation. The benefits will also ease our financial pressure."

Crouch's words caused an uproar within the Ministry, and Fudge was on edge.

He couldn't openly oppose the proposal, because there were already many staff members at the Ministry of Magic who were excited about Crouch's proposal.

From a Muggle point of view, Fudge is not only a politician, but also a bureaucrat, and a bureaucrat who has done it.

As the top of the pyramid, he enjoys the best of the benefits of the Ministry of Magic's system, but it also means that he must be accountable to the entire Ministry of Magic's civil servants.

If the gaming industry were to be owned by the Ministry of Magic, the newly established department would immediately relieve the employment pressure of many children from pure-blood wizard families, and at the same time, a more substantial finance would allow the finance department to vote firmly in favor.

For a Muggle government, the most important ministries are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Treasury: the same goes for the wizarding side, and if both the foreign and the treasury support the proposal, there is not much room for Fudge as a minister to refuse. .

-On the one hand, it can expand the number of people it controls, and on the other hand, it can increase the departmental budget. As long as the finance side proposes another proposal to raise the salary of the Ministry of Magic staff, no department will probably refuse.

Fudge felt helpless, but there was nothing he could do.

As Jim Harker said: "I'm the prime minister of a country, so I can't make any decisions."

Didn't this **** Crouch say he was going to retire? It was just a trick! Fudge secretly hated.

In desperation, Fudge had to resort to the most helpless method among the politicians' methods - procrastination.

"Director Crouch's suggestion is very pertinent and very feasible. However, the most important task of the Ministry of Magic now is to run the Quidditch World Cup final this summer, and this autumn's Triwizard Tournament, in this It's a little out of place to discuss this matter at the gate, and I suggest that we wait until the end of the year to discuss this topic, so as to provide a reference for us to formulate next year's budget."

Even if he knew that Fudge was talking nonsense, he was a minister after all, so he still had to give some face.

After his statement, the topic of discussing sports lottery slowly cooled down, and everyone officially began to enter the work rhythm of the World Cup.

Lockhart was also told that when the Quidditch World Cup final was held, he would have to be present to accompany foreign guests.

Because he is both an "internationally renowned wizard", a member of the Wizards Federation, and a staff member of the International Cooperation Department for Magical Affairs, he is destined to be unable to escape this matter.

Of course, given Lockhart's character, he wouldn't run away either.

Chapter 233 Major events decided on a small scale

After witnessing his godson win the Quidditch House Cup and getting his new oak wand, Sirius Black has only one last thing left on his mind.

That was adopting Harry.

After carefully testing Harry and getting a positive answer, Sirius cheerfully submitted an application for registration to the Ministry of Magic.

But what he didn't expect was that the Ministry of Magic formally approved the registration, but at the same time refused to let Harry live with him

Sirius was furious and rushed straight into Lockhart's office to make a fuss

Lockhart was also helpless, because firstly because it was out of his control, and secondly because he didn't want Harry to live with Sirius in Dumbledore, not someone at the Ministry of Magic.

As far as Lockhart knew, Dumbledore used his rare influence to exert pressure within the Ministry of Magic to remove the custody of Sirius.

"Lily Potter left behind a blood magic to protect Harry from evil." Dumbledore explained, "So even if he doesn't want to, he must live with that Muggle family for a full period of time every year, until adulthood

In this regard, wizards from ancient pure-blood families can understand, because these families have blood magic used to protect their heirs, and the same is true of Potter's family.

So, they didn't mind giving Dumbledore a face.

It doesn't cost them anything to make a decision, but they take the pressure for it

It was Lockhart.

No matter how noisy Sirius is, Lockhart can't give him this right. He can only wait until he finishes the trouble, and then instruct him to go to Hogwarts to find Dumbledore.

Sirius did go, but after half a day, he returned to Hogsmeade in a dazed way, and he didn't know if he was scolded or something.

In short, Sirius was not allowed to take Harry out to play except in the second month of summer vacation and Christmas break every year.

According to Lockhart's later inquiries from Snape, Dumbledore said something like "you're still a child yourself" to Sirius very bluntly, choking him enough but unable to refute it.

"I'd say it's better for him to stay in prison, at least where he can be taught how to behave," Snape added with schadenfreude when he handed Lockhart the potion he ordered.

Because Snape couldn't adopt Harry himself, he couldn't take care of others. If Sirius finally succeeded in adopting Harry, Snape would probably be furious behind his back even if he didn't say it outright.

Since there was no way to get Harry into his own home, Sirius had no reason to stay in Hogsmeade.

After he said goodbye to Harry, he grabbed a new oak wand custom-made from Ollivander, got on the Wraith motorcycle he had just bought, and flew into the sky.

According to him, his destination was Paris, France.

He slapped his **** and walked away, but Lockhart had to stay in Hogsmeade to do his final work.

Because the Ministry of Magic was understaffed, he also had to assist his colleagues in the Sports and Transport Divisions to count the number of people who were going to go to a Quidditch match, so that they could arrange for port keys or something.

Lockhart has nothing to complain about, because the Ministry of Magic has a lot to do with it

No deal.

This is also a tradition in the magic world. As long as a major project is involved, the staff of the Ministry of Magic need to be dispatched in full force. Not to mention that Lockhart's authority is somewhat related, even a few departments that are completely irrelevant need to be temporarily Come and help.

It's not that the Ministry of Magic doesn't want to have clear lines of authority, it's that the Ministry of Magic has too few people. Of all the departments, only the old pedants of the Department of Mysteries didn't need to be dispatched very much, and everyone else had to be prepared to be temporary workers.

But it is precisely because of this that even if the Ministry of Magic is financially tight, the size of the team still needs to be expanded.

Lockhart smiled smugly when he saw the budget allocated to him for the month by the Magic Department.

It may be because he can win too much, or it may be because of someone on him, the Ministry of Magic still hasn't cut the funding of their department under the background of reducing the budget.

Although Lockhart is not short of money at all now, that does not mean that he will actively ask for a reduction in funding.

As an old bureaucrat, he is well aware of the principle of "promise is not allowed". Today he sends a kind heart, but tomorrow if he wants to increase the budget, it will be as hard as the sky.

But with the Ministry of Magic's budget so tight, if he wanted to raise money for the Ministry of Magic's bull," he would probably have the least resistance.

... Now that the new houses in Hogsmeade are almost done, it's time to put them to good use.

To this end, Lockhart issued an official document and formally proposed to the Ministry of Magic a plan to introduce a group of Muggle tourists to Hogsmeade, and the purpose of doing so was to "test new facilities"

"We need someone to experience our facility," Lockhart told Crouch. "If Muggles who don't know magic don't feel inconvenienced living here,

Not even sorcerers.

Crouch did not read the obvious reasons that Lockhart wrote in the official document at all, but tossed it aside and directly asked Lockhart the purpose of doing so.

\"It's for the money, of course," Lockhart said. \"The Sniff Drilling Company is willing to pay an upfront payment to pay for these tourists' itineraries."

Crouch was even stranger: "What's the point of you doing this? Freeing money from left hand to

right hand. "

"It's a lot of trouble just going from left to right, and not all of it," Lockhart admitted halfway.

\"what else?"

"I really didn't lie, it was to make money." Lockhart looked innocent. Crouch clearly didn't believe it, but he had other options.

\"Probably you don't know, I also have shares in the sniffing and drilling company." He half-smiled: "Can I ask as a shareholder why we have to pay this extra fee?"

Lockhart was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect that the other party was waiting for him here, and this question was not so easy to answer.

"Uh...actually...the group of people I invited are well-connected on the Muggle side." Lockhart had to tell Crouch a part of the truth.

"Connections?" Crouch raised his eyebrows: "I remember we are the big clients with resources. You actually want us to please the people who work for us?"

\"Because it involves investing, not just buying and selling our goods."