Hydrus's name was very strange. The Book of Admittance at Hogwarts wrote "Audrey Astley," and the Marauder's Map also displayed "Audrey." When the goblins asked owls to deliver letters to Hydrus, the owls simply could not find her.
Name magic seemed to have failed on Hydrus.
It was as if Audrey Astley was her true name.
"There is nothing strange about this, child," Dumbledore took a happy sip of pumpkin juice. "When hundreds of millions of people associate you with Audrey Astley, even the most powerful magic cannot determine your true name. Because in the eyes of so many people, you are Audrey Astley."
Audrey nodded, indicating her understanding.
Dumbledore moved a thick stack of letters from his drawer and threw them onto the desk. "These are the letters Gringotts sent me this week, begging me to find Miss Hydrus Lestrange."
His twinkling eyes were full of inquiry. "What exactly did you do to them?"
"Nothing," Audrey replied. "I just didn't lend them money. After all, they wanted to borrow money from me to lend it back to me. I'm not a fool; why would I agree?"
...
The lack of loans from the Lestrange and Malfoy families was actually harmless. Gringotts eventually managed to gather two trillion four hundred billion Coupons before Audrey's deadline.
However, the international currency market was unpredictable. After Audrey stopped the "selfless" import of cheap supplies to Ukraine, the Coupon began to devalue.
In just half a month, the Coupon fell by 20%.
But this was insignificant to Audrey because all the Coupons in her hands had already been converted into assets.
Audrey could be indifferent, but Gringotts could not.
The entire Gringotts fell into a huge panic. A 20% loss in half a month—what kind of concept was that?
That was 20% of nearly four trillion Coupons, equivalent to over six hundred billion US dollars, over three hundred billion British pounds, and over sixty billion Galleons\!
Sixty billion Galleons\!\!
In the end, the goblins comforted themselves, believing this was the growing pains after national independence. Once the Ukrainian government sorted things out, the Coupon would appreciate again\!
Only Audrey and Grindelwald knew that the Coupon would not appreciate again. This crude paper currency would only become less and less valuable, eventually falling to the point where 1.3 million Coupons could only buy a single steak.
The massive wealth of Gringotts, or rather, the massive wealth of the wizarding families in the Americas and Europe, would eventually become the cave collection of a greedy dragon.
This move was originally intended to fleece Gringotts, but she accidentally used too much force and fleeced the entire Western wizarding world bald...
...
Time entered mid-March.
The weather gradually warmed up, and all living things in the world emerged from the cold winter, radiating vitality.
Except for certain goblins who were in a terrible fix.
Audrey had been eating and sleeping for two months. If it weren't for the mandatory Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, she could have slept in her dormitory until the O.W.L.s.
Good news came from Edmond: the Black Sea Shipyard now had the surname Astley. That was a shipyard capable of producing aircraft carriers\!
To celebrate, Audrey decided to go to the Forbidden Forest to play with the cute little animals. Jinhu had been missing for a long time and had presumably passed away peacefully. Without a pet, Audrey still needed to find some comfort for herself.
After all, she was human, not a real dragon. Without a companion, she would go stir-crazy.
As for Isaline? Don't forget, she was in the same year as Audrey and was also facing the huge pressure of the O.W.L.s. The exams were only ten weeks away\! How could she have time to accompany our lonely Audrey?
"Heidi\!"
Audrey appeared in the depths of the Forbidden Forest. She howled once, and not only did the unicorn Heidi appear, but the other little cuties in the Forbidden Forest also appeared.
Audrey flipped onto Heidi's smooth back and gently patted her neck. "No one in your herd has had any accidents recently, right?"
Heidi shook her head and let out a soft whinny.
It seemed Quirrell hadn't come to the Forbidden Forest to steal unicorn blood again.
This made Audrey very satisfied. Two thousand Galleons to buy the safety of these little cuties was money well spent\!
Heidi began to run through the Forbidden Forest. Magical creatures, big and small, followed behind like a beast tide; the scene was magnificent.
As the beasts galloped, the earth trembled slightly.
Approaching the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Audrey saw Rubeus Hagrid rushing toward her direction.
"Whoa, oh..." Hagrid exclaimed. "It's Audrey\!"
"Hagrid?"
Hagrid let out a huge sigh of relief. "I thought something terrible had happened in the Forbidden Forest. I didn't expect it to be you\!"
Audrey flipped down from Heidi's back and waved to the magical creatures behind her. "You all go back now; I'll come play with you next time\!"
Watching the magical creatures leave reluctantly, Hagrid marveled, "Audrey, I didn't expect you to be so popular with magical creatures. I mean, this is amazing\!"
Audrey smiled. "Animals have liked me since I was little. I guess it's my talent\!"
Hagrid stroked his big beard. "That is truly an enviable talent\! If I had a skill like yours, I'd wake up laughing in the middle of the night."
"By the way, Hagrid, the feathered hat you gave me for Christmas was fantastic\! I haven't found the time to thank you properly\!"
Hagrid smiled honestly. "Christmas was almost four months ago. I haven't seen you since the Quidditch match in January\! But it's understandable; you must be exhausted from the O.W.L.s\!"
He felt indignant on Audrey's behalf. "I don't know what the Ministry of Magic is thinking, making you learn in one school year what takes others five years to master\! Hermione told me you lock yourself in your room to self-study and stay up late every day\!"
Audrey smiled awkwardly as Hagrid led her to his hut. "If you ask me, it's necessary for you to come out and relax like this today\!"
Audrey was preparing to say goodbye to Hagrid, but when she looked up, she saw Hagrid standing there in a daze, seemingly thinking about something.
"Hagrid?"
"Oh, oh\!" Hagrid snapped out of it. "Audrey, I think I might need your help\!"
Audrey tilted her head. "As long as I can do it, just say the word."
"Come on, come inside with me\! I need your affinity with little animals\!"
Following Hagrid into the wooden hut, a wave of scorching air hit her face. In the chilly spring air, Hagrid's house was far too hot.
A Norwegian Ridgeback hatchling was wreaking havoc in Hagrid's house.
It bit, it scratched, it breathed fire.
Unicorn hair and some precious magical materials were being destroyed by it. If this were Audrey's cub, she would definitely give it a good beating, this wasteful little thing\!
"Audrey, you don't seem surprised at all?"
"Huh? How could that be? I'm stunned."
Audrey casually brushed Hagrid off and approached the little dragon. The little fellow, whom Hagrid had named Norbert, suddenly froze.
Its eyes seemed to contain tears. Suddenly, it wailed and crawled toward Audrey.
Audrey picked it up and scratched its chin with her finger. The little thing narrowed its eyes comfortably.
"It's incredible," Hagrid said, half in awe and half in jealousy. "You look more like its mother\!"
Audrey stroked the prickly scales on the little guy's back and asked, "What is it called?"
"Norbert, that's the name I gave it\! It's a Norwegian Ridgeback\!"
Audrey smiled. "Hagrid, why did you give a girl a boy's name?"
"Girl?"
Hagrid's eyes widened until they looked as big as apples.
"Yes, this is a little girl."
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]