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Harry won the match without any real suspense.
The effect of Release: Sealed Dark Wizard Tom was simple:
Win immediately.
The moment the card was summoned, both Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon Knight and Five-Headed Dragon vanished.
Harry won the Wizard Card championship again. Draco took second place, Neville took third, and once again the top three were swept by Hogwarts.
After the tournament ended, a Daily Prophet reporter calling herself Rita Skeeter appeared from nowhere and interviewed the three of them at length. Her Quick-Quotes Quill scratched away furiously, though no one knew what it was actually writing. She did not let them leave until the sun was almost setting.
They were exhausted, but the prize money left Harry and the others in excellent spirits. They were not short of money now, but winning something by their own ability still felt wonderful.
As for Ron, he received a consolation prize.
A Lockhart doll.
He planned to take it home for his sister or Mrs. Weasley. He remembered that both of them had once been Lockhart fans.
"Dark Wizard Tom is a very strong card. I need to build a set when I get back."
The invincible display of Dark Wizard Tom left a deep impression on the audience. Many wizards said they would collect the deck themselves.
Even if they could not release the seal, the Mysterious Alumnus: Tom card was already powerful. It could combine with any Dark Magic card.
More importantly, there were more copies of it than Dumbledore cards.
It could serve as a substitute for Dumbledore.
"Too strong. Summon it and you win immediately. Practically unbeatable."
"Shh. I heard from a friend at Witch and Poison Publishing that the next legendary version of Dumbledore is the counter to Dark Wizard Tom."
"See? I told you. There are no absolutely unbeatable cards in Wizard Cards."
"You just said it was practically unbeatable."
"In theory, if used well, even Fudge and Lockhart can win."
"Forget it. You would have a better chance with a gnome deck than those two cards."
Similar discussions spread among the wizards. Those who had missed the tournament because of other business all expressed regret. Next time, they would definitely participate.
Dudley was very satisfied with the result.
Dark Wizard Tom had become famous.
Everyone now knew Tom was powerful.
Next time, Dumbledore would defeat him.
And the time after that, everyone would be able to defeat Tom.
Gringotts.
This was the goblins' workplace, the only chain bank in the wizarding world, a place where wizards could store money or rent vaults. It was also, according to the goblins themselves, the safest place in the world.
As night fell, the goblins who had finished their day's work left their counters and headed home.
Even goblins did not live inside Gringotts.
They liked money, but they preferred money that belonged to them.
Mr. Goldbrick was usually the last goblin to leave work. It was not because he loved his job. It was because after finishing his work, he inspected every corner of Gringotts inside and out before leaving.
In simpler words:
He checked whether any customer had dropped money.
Sometimes, he really did find a Knut or two.
"Sniff, sniff. I smell money."
Goldbrick rummaged near a flower bed and pulled out a silver Sickle. Without another word, he slipped it into his pocket.
"Excellent luck."
In a very good mood after finding money, Goldbrick strode toward the door with shameless confidence. As he walked, he kept touching the Sickle through his clothes.
Just as he was about to leave Gringotts, he vaguely heard the sound of metal falling to the floor.
He stopped instantly and looked around.
Everything was quiet.
Nothing.
Perhaps he had misheard.
Goldbrick was about to continue walking when, just as his left foot moved forward, the sound of falling metal rang out again.
This time, he was certain he had heard correctly.
He also heard something rolling.
His long pointed ears immediately pricked up. He turned back at once, sniffing with his enormous gutter-like nose while searching in every direction.
When he passed one counter, he noticed something glittering on the floor not far away.
Goldbrick suppressed his joy and hurried over.
It was a shining cup.
The cup should not have been there. No goblin had authorized its removal from any vault, and no record showed it leaving one.
The moment he saw it, his heart began pounding wildly. His breathing grew heavy. He practically threw himself over the cup and covered it with his body.
He looked around nervously, like a thief, terrified that a second person might appear. But the quiet hall contained no one except him.
Only then did Goldbrick carefully take the cup from his chest and examine it.
"Gold?"
His natural sensitivity to money told him that the cup in his hands was real gold.
Not only real gold, but the same magically treated gold used to make Galleons.
Greed filled his marble-sized eyes.
"If it is not in a wizard's vault, then no one wants it."
"Goldbrick found it, so it belongs to Goldbrick!"
He gripped the golden cup tightly and muttered to himself.
He was so nervous that he did not notice the tiny cut on his hand.
A drop of blood slid down his palm and fell onto the cup.
In the blink of an eye, it disappeared.
Under the dim light, the pure golden cup reflected an unusual sheen.
Goldbrick interpreted it as the shine of money.
What he did not notice was the slightly twisted face that appeared on the side of the glittering cup.
That face had no nose.
Soon, it vanished again, as if it had been an illusion.
Goldbrick tucked the golden cup into his clothes as though holding an unmatched treasure. By coincidence or not, the cup rested exactly over his heart.
Three days later, the Gringotts goblin Goldbrick disappeared.
From the night he found the cup onward, he was never seen again.
No one knew where he had gone. No one knew whether he was alive or dead.
The Aurors performed only a routine inspection. They found nothing and left in a hurry.
They did not care whether Goldbrick lived or died. He was only a goblin, not a wizard. Coming at all was already enough.
The Gringotts manager cared even less. He was planning to put Goldbrick's wages for the month into his own pocket and hoped the goblin would never return.
Was there a shortage of workers?
Impossible.
A job at Gringotts meant dealing with money. Plenty of goblins wanted in. If Goldbrick did not do it, another goblin would.
As for the other goblins, they did not care either.
Most goblins cared far more about money than sentiment.
They could sell out even family, let alone colleagues.
Personal relationships?
Nonexistent.
As long as you could pay the price, goblins were your most loyal friends.
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