【Enter, stranger, but be warned】
【of what awaits the sin of greed】
【For those who take, but do not earn】
【Must pay most dearly for their deed】
【So if you seek beneath our floors】
【A treasure that was never yours】
【Thief, you have been warned】
【Beware of finding not treasure, but retribution】
Sherlock withdrew his gaze from these lines.
It was clear that this Wizard bank was very confident in its security measures.
How should he put it?
Every bank thinks this way until an accident happens.
As Sherlock pondered, he observed the tall marble hall before him.
With just a little thought, he had already discovered several loopholes.
Without magic, given one night, he could definitely get this bank into the news.
《Shocking! Bank Funds Vanish, You-Know-Who Bypasses Security and Leaves Calmly》
This was not an uncommon occurrence, just like the financial bond theft case that happened in London a year ago.
At that time, the Bank of England's response was a classic.
Phase one, declare nothing has happened.
Phase two, say maybe something has happened but we shouldn't take action.
Phase three, say maybe we should take action, but there's nothing we can do.
Phase four, maybe we could have done something back then, but now it's too late.
Wizard banks could totally learn from this.
It's just that Sherlock now knew that magic existed in this world.
Before fully understanding this unfamiliar concept, it was best not to act rashly.
When they reached the counter, an idle Goblin was led over by the Goblin who had guided them earlier, to handle the exchange for the three of them.
The exchange rate between Galleons and pound sterling was not fixed; today it was 1:5.
This was somewhat surprising.
One must know that it was 1991, and the pound sterling was still very strong.
In this situation, the value of the Galleon was actually five times that of the pound sterling, which was quite impressive.
Fortunately, what Mrs. Holmes was worried about did not happen.
Because they had brought enough money.
Enough to exchange for nearly a thousand Galleons.
However, just as they were about to make the exchange, an unexpected situation arose.
There was actually a limit on exchanging pound sterling for Magical World currency!
Sherlock, upon hearing the news, was initially surprised, but quickly became relieved.
In the non-Magical World, there are also limits on exchanging domestic currency for foreign currency.
This is mainly to prevent excessive capital flow.
Excessive capital flow, especially a large influx of short-term capital, can trigger violent fluctuations in the financial market.
Especially in certain economic circumstances, such as an economic downturn or increased financial market volatility, without foreign exchange controls, it can lead to large-scale capital flight.
This can then lead to a series of problems such as currency depreciation, financial market chaos, and even a financial crisis in more severe cases.
Therefore, for reasons such as maintaining foreign exchange reserves, protecting the domestic economy, and maintaining financial market order, the state imposes limits on the amount of foreign currency ordinary citizens can exchange each year.
Once this limit is exceeded, foreign currency cannot be exchanged again that year.
Since the Magical World has its own independent monetary system, it's understandable that there's a limit on exchanging for magic currency... like hell it is!
If everyone were restricted, it might be understandable.
However, according to the Goblin, Wizards from non-Wizarding families can exchange a maximum of 128 Galleons per year.
As for the limit for pure-blood Wizarding families, although the Goblin didn't say, Sherlock knew from observation alone that this amount was far above 128 Galleons.
He could even boldly assume that there was no limit for Wizarding families exchanging Galleons.
What else could he say?
It was just the old discrimination routine!
However, relying on his meticulous observation skills, Sherlock still found other ways on the other party's business form.
The 128 Galleon limit seemed to apply only to pound sterling.
So he asked again.
Indeed, Gringotts also purchased gold, jewelry, antiques, and so on.
In other words, although you could only exchange a maximum of 128 Galleons using pound sterling, you could exchange more using valuables like gold.
Sherlock's eyes immediately lit up.
He suddenly realized he had found a brand new way for those criminals in London to launder money.
Gringotts, the Holy Land of Money Laundering!
Provided they could get here.
Although the Goblin being questioned looked impatient, under Sherlock's persistent questioning, the other party still provided a piece of information:
128 Galleons was more than enough to purchase all the necessary items for a new Wizard's schooling.
After all, besides these things, attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was purely compulsory education, including food and lodging, requiring no fees.
This point was consistent with the non-Magical World.
In Britain, students begin compulsory education from kindergarten at age five until they finish secondary education at age 17.
During this stage, children of eligible age must attend school, and all parents must send their children to school.
Students will enjoy completely free national welfare, with the state responsible for necessary tuition fees, books, and essential supplies.
Age 11 is precisely the stage of finishing primary school and entering secondary education.
So, apart from this shopping expense before the start of each school year, theoretically, no additional expenses are needed.
Finally, after paying 640 pound sterling to exchange for the maximum amount of Galleons, Sherlock and his parents left Gringotts.
Even long after leaving Gringotts, Mrs. Holmes seemed a bit unhappy.
She was deeply influenced by the idea of 'poor at home, rich on the road', and had even begun to consider whether to go home first, bring gold back here to exchange for Galleons, lest her son suffer in distant Scotland.
Sherlock promptly stopped her from thinking this way.
“Let's go shopping first. If the money is really not enough, then we'll use that method.”
Mrs. Holmes agreed to Sherlock's suggestion.
Next was the shopping phase.
According to the school list requirements, Sherlock purchased a large pile of textbooks, as well as items for magic courses such as cauldrons, scales, and telescopes.
At this point, Sherlock found that the Gringotts Goblin's words were a bit exaggerated.
128 Galleons was just enough to buy the items on the school list; it definitely couldn't be called more than enough.
Looking at the prices of the items he had already purchased, three sets of plain work robes cost 20 Galleons, a telescope cost 10 Galleons, and a quill for writing also cost 1 Galleon.
The most outrageous thing was that a brand new textbook actually cost 9 Galleons.
Was knowledge in the Magical World really this expensive?
This matter made the already unhappy Mrs. Holmes even more upset.
Precisely because of this, she also firmly rejected Sherlock's idea of buying used textbooks.
Sherlock couldn't help but feel a bit helpless about this.
He was a typical pragmatist.
In his view, there was actually no difference between a used textbook and a new one, but the price was one-third of the latter.
This was practically a huge profit, wasn't it?
If he were making the decision himself, he would definitely choose used textbooks.
Unfortunately, his mother didn't agree.
In addition to the specified reading list, Sherlock also purchased a few extra books.
For example, 'Important Magical Events of the Twentieth Century' and 'The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts' which could help him further understand the Magical World.
There was also a bestseller by an author named Bell Grylls - 'Survival Handbook'.