20 20. Bloody Problem

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It was still early in the morning, so Happy decided to take Koko to the seventh floor as there was a room he wanted to check.

He walked back and forth before an unsuspecting wall and thought about pizzas, burgers, and some buttered chicken. He really craved some good diversity in the food, as he had grown bored of the same medieval European cuisine.

After a while, a magical door appeared in front of him. He quickly entered to see with massive expectations.

"My food...Where?!"

It was all empty, and all he saw was a cave entrance at the other end of the room.

"Sure enough, the cave to the Hog's Head pub appeared. It seems Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration is real. But food can be multiplied or enlarged if I remember correctly. This means… This room can solve world hunger?" Happy wondered, tilting his head and thinking deeply about something serious, as rare as it was.

Just to fulfill his curiosity, he decided to try it. He took out a corn he had gotten Koko to steal from Hagrid's little garden.

"Let's see." He placed the whole raw corn on the floor and left the room. Then, after he arrived outside and the door vanished, he started to walk back and forth while thinking as precisely as possible.

'Show me the room where I put that corn. Magically multiply the amount of corn by ten thousand. If that's not possible, then increase the number to a significant amount that is possible. Place a large signboard on the ceiling indicating the current number of corn stored in the room. Lastly, I need the room to be modified to ensure the corn can be preserved indefinitely.'

Whoosh!

Happy opened the door after taking a deep breath.

"Here goes no—"

His words got stuck, and his jaw fell at the scene. There was a massive hill of raw corn in the middle of the room, and the signboard on the ceiling clearly showed the number ten thousand, written in black ink.

'This is madness! If I had placed ten corns here, then multiplying it by ten thousand would have given me a hundred thousand corns. I can perhaps be more specific and multiply it according to weight. This can change the whole world…Wait! Do elves use this to refill the Hogwarts kitchen pantry?

'Dobby knew about this place, so others likely know about it too. It makes so much sense now why the food is so repetitive! My god!'

Happy's mind got filled with so many possibilities. But he soon realized he had a problem. "Ugh… What do I do with all this corn now? Sell it to muggles? But how? Portkey won't work inside the school…Unless Professor Dumbledore agrees to it."

Thud!

"You can go ahead and do it, Mister Lestrange."

Happy jolted and took out his wand, only to lower it a moment later. 'How did he enter without knowing what I specifically asked the room to be?'

"P-Professor? Y-You… I was just…"

"Now then, no need to be alarmed, Mr. Lestrange. Your ideals are quite lofty and admirable, and I must say I am quite impressed. Most who come across this place are often driven by their own selfish desires, seeking to gain wealth or power. But your noble idea is a rare and commendable thing." Dumbledore spoke as he entered the room.

Happy was startled and quickly clarified, "I was just…thinking, Professor. I didn't intend to do anything yet.'"

"I am aware of that, and I must admit that I was mistaken about you. You have repeatedly demonstrated your clear intentions and your deviation from the rest of the Lestrange family in Azkaban."

Happy felt strange, as he knew Dumbledore would never say something like that to a child. 'Is he testing me?'

Happy nodded, "They did something wrong and suffered the punishment. I assure you, Professor, I hold no bad thoughts. I don't believe in pureblood theory, nor the concept of 'blood purity makes one stronger'. Hermione Granger is a good friend of mine and living proof."

Dumbledore rubbed his beard and nodded as he turned around.

"Certainly, Mr. Lestrange. Now, I believe it's time for lunch, so let's close this place. In regard to your admirable idea, I suggest that you create a detailed plan and then come to me. I will do what I can to assist you in transferring the food. However, the rest of the process will be up to you...if you are up to the task, that is."

'He doesn't believe I can do it?' Happy felt so, judging by Dumbledore's tone.

But, thankfully, he didn't have to accompany the headmaster for long as he soon ran away towards the Great Hall for lunch. It was Christmas, and the food was slightly more extravagant, albeit mostly the same as usual.

And still, Happy enjoyed himself that evening.

Despite the sparse population due to many students having left for the holidays, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was still filled with the magic and joy of the Christmas season.

Sadly, his joy was eclipsed by a dark fate that loomed over him from the shadows.

...

Outside of Hogwarts, in Diagon Alley, the massive structure of the Gringotts bank loomed over the bustling street, with its ornate pillars and gleaming bronze doors giving off an air of luxury and power.

At one of the cubicles in Gringotts, a piece of paper was placed in a pile, waiting for disposal. The pile of papers was suddenly taken away by Briprock, a low-ranking goblin clerk, pushing a trolley full of rubbish away. Since he wasn't the smartest of the bunch, he had to do the menial tasks.

Briprock was typical of his kind; small, with sharp teeth, pointy ears, and a large hooked nose. He was sly, distrustful of wizards, and greedy.

Being tasked with disposing of the blood relation test papers, he went to an underground furnace to ensure not even ashes remained of them. But for Briprock, it was a treasure trove, as his personal hobby was to extract the blood from blood relation test papers and keep it in storage, just in case he needed to steal something from one of the vault owners one day.

It was just another day at work burning the papers with less important surnames in the incinerator. But then Briprock found the blood-stained paper of one important bloodline and carefully examined it to ensure he hadn't misread it.

Briprock's mind raced with possibilities as he considered the wealth he could accumulate by stealing from the Lestrange vault.

"Hmm, a Lestrange... That boy came out of nowhere and took all that wealth. What a lucky hideous brat." Briprock muttered as he remembered the photograph of Happy in a small column in the newspaper.

"If he hadn't, the bank would have owned everything in the vault. I could have sneaked some things out, and nobody would have noticed before inventory...Such rotten luck!"

Briprock proceeded with his usual routine of extracting dried blood from the paper. Being a goblin, he was skilled in the magic required to perform the task effortlessly.

For the most part, it all went smoothly. He carefully collected a few drops of the precious liquid and prepared a vial to store it in, adding it to his collection of other samples he had collected in over ten years of time.

But then something strange happened.

"What the!" Confusion appeared on his face as he examined the vial closely. "The blood turned golden?"

Perplexed by the unexpected turn of events, Briprock decided to taste a single drop of the golden blood, as it was just blood and not something that would kill him.

"Ugh… Can't believe I'm going to taste this filth." He scowled but did it, for greed outweighed common sense.

Tap!

The single drop touched his tongue and vanished. Briprock's eyes widened at that very instant, and his brows shot up. He straightened his back and looked at the vial in shock and greed again.

"T-This… How is this possible? B-Blood turned into Felix Felicis?! D-Does he…Is all of his blood like this?"

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