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After a moment's hesitation, house-elf Winky timidly raised her hand.

"Head Chef, everyone at Hogwarts can do what you're asking. Serving and recording the daily lives of young masters isn't too difficult for us. But I don't understand how this can solve the current predicament."

The house-elf's voice trembled slightly, seemingly afraid of being punished for asking a question.

However, she knew that Aileen Casillana wasn't a cruel and ruthless witch. Although particularly assertive, she was often generous in answering somewhat foolish questions.

The Hogwarts Round-Faced Chubby Chicken Express's losses were primarily due to non-payment by some wizarding families.

House-elves have no way of discerning who holds the power of decision in a family. At the same time, they can't use harsh methods to collect debts—in fact, unless it's to protect a wizard, even an elf's master theoretically can't order them to use magic to directly attack other wizards.

Weak house-elves don't deserve to live.

Therefore, any house-elf who can serve wizards in the magical world must have considerable magical strength. And to ensure these "servants" don't secretly slit their throats one night, wizards have never stopped enslaving education, forcing them to actively abide by these rules generation after generation.

"It's simple: a credit system and virtual currency direct settlement."

Goblin Douglas raised a finger and answered softly.

He looked up at Aileen's expression and, seeing that she didn't intend to interrupt, continued to explain.

"Gringotts Wizarding Bank has developed a very mature accounting system over a long period of business dealings. As long as your financial system connects to Gringotts, deductions can be made directly... As for those with no money in their vaults, we can temporarily record them as negative numbers and adjust their credit rating, listing them as blacklisted customers."

House-elf Winky nodded as if she understood, while Kurt Meyer remained silent for a few seconds before suddenly speaking.

"But, if Gringotts Wizarding Bank directly deducts wealth from wizards' vaults, won't that cause a new round of turmoil? The recent unrest has just subsided, and the magical world isn't particularly friendly towards Gringotts right now."

"At such a sensitive time, if the goblins reach for the wizards' wealth again, problems are very likely to arise."

"Although we aren't afraid of conflicts in terms of absolute force, according to your plan, Miss, it's not yet time to openly proclaim our existence to the entire magical world. What if someone attacks Gringotts?"

The conflict between wizards and goblins... the confrontation between bankers and depositors...

Aileen thoughtfully glanced at Kurt, once again experiencing the political acumen of these elders.

Compared to the detail-oriented house-elves and the rule-focused goblins, they were better at thinking from a human perspective, especially about the potential drawbacks of subtle resistance and resentment.

"Yes, if Gringotts directly deducts wizards' deposits, it could trigger further debate or conflict."

Aileen nodded gently, speaking calmly.

"But Gringotts Wizarding Bank is only an executor this time, not a decision-maker."

"Hogwarts will protest to the Ministry of Magic and Gringotts, resolving the issue through regular judicial arbitration. Don't forget that more than half of the personal savings in the magical world now come from the galleons Hogwarts lent to Gringotts."

"In other words, these galleons returning to the wizards' hands have a unified label—[Hogwarts-Galleon], a debt identifier bearing a magical contract. I don't think either the Ministry of Magic or the Wizengamot have any reason to reject Hogwarts' legitimate legal claims for these funds."

"As for the blacklist? Just record it. Services must continue to be provided. After all, we are a conscientious large group—making a profit isn't our goal; changing the world is—"

Aileen had realized months ago that Gringotts Wizarding Bank would likely face scrutiny and challenges for a long time to come. In this situation, temporarily diminishing the subjective voices of the goblins and Gringotts and allowing the largest shareholder, Hogwarts, to exert pressure from the side was undoubtedly the simplest and most effective way to end it.

Gringotts Wizarding Bank couldn't withstand the wizards' anger, so naturally, they couldn't refuse Hogwarts' reasonable demands—compared to the mature legal industry of the non-magical world, the magical society was too weak in this regard.

Besides, even if the wizards' vaults didn't have that many galleons for the time being, it didn't matter. Under the joint witness and supervision of Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic, and Gringotts, installments could be made, slowly repaying the debt little by little—usually, this was relatively rare, as most wizards' family vaults could still afford the monthly food bill.

As for the personal account system established from now on based on the "Magical Identification Code (MID)," it completely eliminated this chaotic collective responsibility situation, ushering in virtual payments at least twenty years ahead of the times.

Within this, the value of the [Hogwarts-Galleon] wouldn't change, but as the Heavenly Mandate Conglomerate and Gringotts Wizarding Bank influenced more and more shops and industries in the magical world, making subtle and veiled purchasing power adjustments could be easily done. Not many people would turn away from a higher quality and more convenient life.

Of course, there were still some hidden dangers.

If the Ministry of Magic realized the power behind this series of payment methods in advance and wanted to use political means or other ways to forcibly seize everything Aileen managed... then the Hyperion might need to be deployed.

However, in Aileen's plan, whether this money could be recovered wasn't particularly important.

Sometimes, the process... is often more important than the result...

Hogwarts coming forward to collect debts? Through the existing legal channels of the magical world?

This sounded beautiful, but there seemed to be a serious practical problem.

As Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Dumbledore frowned and coughed lightly, interrupting.

"Miss Casillana, I may need to remind you of something. The current judicial arbitration in the magical world relies entirely on the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Wizengamot. If we follow your idea, the number of lawsuits may..."

"Oh, yes, of course. The current gentlemen certainly won't be able to handle it alone."

Aileen smiled slightly, her fingers tapping gently on the table, her angelic voice sighing softly.

"For so many years, the Ministry of Magic's financial income has relied entirely on the support of pure-blood families and the allocations from Gringotts Wizarding Bank. It's shocking that such an important institution for maintaining social stability hasn't even considered establishing a dedicated national tax department. It's truly sad."

"Gringotts Wizarding Bank has fully contracted its business and has the spare capacity to assist the Ministry of Magic in tax auditing. On the other hand, in commercial dispute cases, goblins can serve as legal assistants, helping wizards sort out the ins and outs."

"The unemployment rate affects social stability. Isn't the biggest problem in the magical world today that the growth rate of job positions can't keep up with the ever-increasing wizard population? With stable financial income, the Ministry of Magic can also consider expanding its recruitment."

Faced with Dumbledore's question, Aileen quickly replied without hesitation.

There are many ways to change the world, and one person eating the entire cake is undoubtedly the most foolish. Compared to ethereal ideals and superficial harmony under the power of force, collusion is the world adults prefer.

The Ministry of Magic has always craved more say, higher social status, and more favorable living conditions.

Perhaps there are still purely idealistic fools at the grassroots level, but anyone who chooses to engage in politics in the magical world and reaches a certain height will inevitably maintain considerable consistency on this point... Cornelius Fudge and Old Crouch are two of the most typical examples. As long as you understand their demands, politicians are actually the easiest people to communicate with.

Whether it's goblins, house-elves, or even allowing Hogwarts to have more say, none of these are as important to the Ministry of Magic politicians as improving their social status, family reputation, and personal wealth.

You see, some things are better done when the Ministry of Magic takes the initiative to propose them, which will obviously lead to a better cooperative experience for both parties.

And a month's worth of accumulated financial dispute cases is such a clever opportunity.

Such a large number of case acceptances would instantly overwhelm the magical world's current fragile judicial system, and the massive amount of money would constantly stimulate the Ministry of Magic officials receiving the cases, reminding them of their own poverty—more importantly, Hogwarts will continue to file new lawsuits for a long time to come.

Even if Dumbledore hadn't raised this question, Grindelwald would have asked proactively according to the original plan.

The current situation can be said to be the most perfect process, and Aileen's smile became even brighter.

"In fact, according to the information I have, Gringotts had previously considered providing this business for the Ministry of Magic."

"The full name of the project is Internal Revenue Service (IRS), mainly for the analysis of income-related matters within the magical world. It was just... well, delayed due to some reasons. And now all we need to do is to awaken the Ministry of Magic's memory and offer a more sincere cooperation plan."