Chapter 61.6- Doom Days

When the last left, a man and a woman who nodded in my direction before they did so, she turned to me with a smile on her face.

“You’re quite rude” She said, her voice having a musical tilt to it. I scoffed.

“Just not interested in wasting my time with this lot. What makes them special? Gold? What value is gold when we wield magic that can bend reality to our wills as we wish” I said.

“Well, you underestimate them. Mr and Mrs Mafell didn’t seem all too bothered by your little ward here, and they didn’t fail to see through whatever charm you’ve got up that’s only letting me see you out of the corner of my eyes” She said, lips quirked.

“Oh, I’m sorry about that. Forgot I had it up, even. Well, that’s all good for them. Probably some enchanted object made by a far greater wizard.” I said, twisting my wand to disable the minor illusion.

“Do you have a hatred for gold? That would be hypocritical, would it not?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, and before she spoke, she stepped into my space, trapping part of my robes between her fingers and feeling that.

“I might not be from around here, but even I can tell that these are expensive. Most of the sponsors are wearing robes made of this same material, except while those are cut in a way that makes it clear they are intended for special occasions, you even duel in yours.” She said.

“I don’t have anything against gold itself. We live in a world of magic, so how could gold be your primary concern. There’s a million things you could be doing, questions you could be answering, things you could be learning. I don’t like them because they already won this game. They’re some of the richest people in the world, and what do they do with it? They sit atop their mountains of gold, attending galas and banquets like this every other week or so, so they can laugh with each other about how much gold they have while doing nothing useful with it.” I took a breath. I had lived my first life forced to cater to and understand people like this.

“I dislike them because they are wasted potential— not worth your time or mine” I said finally.

“I disagree. That gold you scorn would go towards hiring enchanters to help make new greenhouses for my people, to hire storm tamers to prevent the rainy season storms this year that run over our farms, and maybe even professional Beast hunters to get rid of the worst of the creatures that call my part of the world home. You, Harry Potter, can scorn gold because you have it in large amounts. I cannot. And that is why I must win tomorrow. I do it not for myself as you do, but for a whole village who stands behind me. Now if you would excuse me, I have to go speak to those people you despise”

“You’re begging them for gold?” My incredulity slipped into my voice.

“Most definitely. I don’t have it, they do.”