HP: I'm Not Here to Rule the Wizarding World

Naturally, Dumbledore offered her a perfectly reasonable explanation.

"Perhaps you're not entirely aware, but the wizarding world doesn't use Muggle currency like pounds. The Galleons Gringotts exchanges for young Muggle-born witches and wizards are actually subsidized by the Ministry of Magic. If you don't attend Hogwarts, you won't receive that subsidy from the British Ministry of Magic," he explained patiently.

When Dumbledore mentioned Gringotts' currency exchange, Ariana instinctively glanced at Draco.

She hadn't forgotten she was still pretending to be a pure-blood. Knowing Draco's proud nature, if he found out she'd lied, their friendship would probably sink like a ship with a gaping hole.

But almost immediately, she realized something was wrong with Dumbledore's explanation.

"Headmaster, I'm afraid that doesn't quite hold up. If 100 Galleons is a Ministry subsidy for Muggle-born students, then why can children from poor wizarding families directly receive a 30-Galleon education grant?" Ariana shot Dumbledore a sharp look as if saying, Who are you trying to fool?

Seeing that she'd instantly grasped the core of the issue, Dumbledore sighed and offered a further explanation.

"Alright, wizards do occasionally use Muggle currency, but not much. That's why Gringotts limits how much Muggle-born students can exchange. If you want to reclaim your wand and magical belongings, you must make up the difference using wizarding currency, or you can enroll in another country's wizarding school and enjoy their Ministry's subsidies. But, unfortunately, the enrollment season has already passed."

In other words, her options now were to stay at Hogwarts or immediately pay back the Ministry's subsidy or she would lose her wand and other magical items.

Gringotts goblins couldn't directly enter the Muggle world, and few wizards would bother to exchange pounds. After all, most wizards were unwilling to interact with Muggles. Even Arthur Weasley, who always claimed to adore Muggles, actually knew very little about their world.

Since the demand for pounds was so low, Gringotts naturally imposed exchange limits.

As Ariana paused to consider, Dumbledore smiled and added, "Besides, the Ministry also subsidizes the purchase of your first wand. Typically, a wand costs between 20 and 50 Galleons. But for you, it only cost 7 to 10 Galleons."

Just a single unicorn tail hair cost a Galleon, and crafting a wand required many precious woods, with Ollivander's craftsmanship being uniquely irreplaceable.

How could a wand possibly cost so little?

Hearing Dumbledore's explanation, Ariana couldn't immediately find a rebuttal but she wasn't about to give in so easily.

"How much am I short? I can make up the difference later. I confirmed with Draco that my parents left me a Gringotts key in a box. There must be Galleons in there."

"Even if not, Draco's family is buying one of my villas, worth over two million Galleons! Money is not an issue," Ariana declared confidently.

But the moment she said this, all three professors in the room turned simultaneously to look at Draco.

They all knew the Malfoys were an old, wealthy family but two million Galleons? That was an unbelievable sum, even for them.

Draco's face flushed bright red under their intense stares.

Ariana, raised in the Muggle world, had no exposure to other wizarding families, so she believed whatever Draco told her.

But all three professors had lived in the wizarding world their entire lives.

Dumbledore and McGonagall might not know the Malfoy finances intimately, but Severus Snape was Lucius Malfoy's longtime friend he knew exactly how much they were worth.

"I don't recall Lucius having any interest in Muggle villas, much less spending two million Galleons on one," Snape remarked, his tone laced with sarcasm as he locked his gaze on Draco.

Ariana, noticing the doubt in the air, turned to Draco with a puzzled expression.

Draco clenched his teeth and pressed on stubbornly. "Ariana said her villa is enormous. Once we buy it, we can even use Muggle luxury cars to travel to London without worrying about Muggles seeing us perform magic. My father found that very appealing."

Unlike Ariana, Draco couldn't lie while maintaining eye contact. His guilty conscience was written all over his face.

Even Ariana still fairly inexperienced in reading people could tell he was lying.

Before she could call him out, Snape threatened coldly, "Draco, shall I summon Lucius to Hogwarts right now?"

Ariana was initially upset that Draco had lied to her, but seeing Snape corner him, she immediately stood by Draco's side and glared back fiercely.

"Call him, then! He's Draco's father there's no way he'd side with a morally bankrupt professor like you!" Ariana said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Snape was furious. He momentarily forgot his original plan to keep his relationship with Draco under wraps and retorted sharply, "Perhaps our brilliant Miss Corrine isn't aware, I'm Draco's godfather. His father, Lucius, is one of my closest friends."

Ariana didn't care about that at all. She remained firm. "Best friend or not, he'd never choose you over his own son."

As their argument reignited, Dumbledore sighed and finally cut in.

"We're here to discuss Ariana's withdrawal, not Lucius buying a villa. Draco, why don't you write home and ask him first?"

Turning to Ariana, Dumbledore delivered a more serious message.

"Ariana, your wand was purchased using Ministry subsidies. If you drop out, the wand must be surrendered to the Ministry. Even if you pay the difference later, there's no guarantee you'll get it back," he said solemnly.

Ariana's face twisted in disbelief. "What? Why? If I pay the full Galleon amount, why would I have to hand over my wand?"

Dumbledore, believing Ariana was Muggle-born, didn't know she was faking her pure-blood status.

"Do you have enough money to pay now?" he asked gently.

Without hesitation, Ariana turned to Draco. "As a good friend, you can lend me some money, right?"

Draco, whose bluff had just been exposed, was still grateful that Ariana had defended him against Snape. Of course, he wouldn't refuse.

"I've got over fifty Galleons in my dormitory. That should cover your wand. If not, I can ask my mother to send more," Draco promised firmly.

But Dumbledore shook his head, rejecting the idea that simply repaying the money would let her keep her wand.

"Even if you repay the balance, the wand still needs to be surrendered to the Ministry first. Once the process begins, no one knows what could happen along the way."

Of course, this wasn't an absolute rule but Dumbledore couldn't think of any other way to persuade Ariana to stay.

Her magical talent was simply too extraordinary. It would be a waste to let her walk away without a proper magical education.

And even though Ariana's social nature and openness were completely different from Tom Riddle's, there was always the danger that someone with bad intentions might lead her astray.

It was safer to keep her at Hogwarts, where she could be properly guided perhaps even become the next great wizard renowned throughout the magical world.

Just hopefully not another Voldemort.

Ariana had already caught on to Dumbledore's intentions and asked bluntly, "Headmaster, after all that talk, you just don't want me to leave Hogwarts, right?"

"I suppose I don't," Dumbledore admitted openly. "But everything I said is also true. If you doubt me, you can ask Draco."

Draco actually had no idea how the Ministry handled these cases. But seeing Dumbledore wink at him, he quickly realized the headmaster was giving him a chance to help keep Ariana here.

"The Ministry is painfully slow," Draco said as calmly as he could.

He wasn't technically lying he had visited the Ministry with his father and seen firsthand how sluggish the officials were. They worked at the pace of sloths.

And he really didn't want Ariana to leave Hogwarts. So, he could only apologize to her silently in his heart.

Most wizards used a single wand throughout their entire lives not just because wands were durable, but because their first wand was uniquely suited to them.

When Ariana had purchased her wand, Mr. Ollivander had emphasized this.

And ever since she got it, she'd felt as though a part of her old, frail heart from her previous life had finally been made whole.

Especially when she used it that feeling only grew stronger.

She had no intention of experiencing the feeling of dying young ever again.

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