After carrying his sleeping sister back to her room, Bell headed to another small living room in the castle. William and Elena were already waiting for him there.
"Bell, did you enjoy yourself tonight?" William asked with a smile.
Bell thought for a moment. Although he initially felt exhausted from greeting dozens of adults, he really enjoyed listening to a group of young wizards brag about their feats. So he replied, "Yes, I had fun."
William chuckled cheerfully.
"I'm glad you had fun. I called you here today to brief you on the family's situation. After all, in the future, the family will be in your hands, so even though it's a bit early, I think it's important for you to have a general idea of our family."
"You've met all the wizards who attended today. Each of them plays a crucial role in the magical world, whether in England or other countries. Today, they came to our house because of my invitation. Bell, this is a testament to the power of our family. The Minethil family has a history of over a thousand years and is one of the oldest families still in existence in the magical world. Even during the years when 'You-Know-Who' was terrorizing, they didn't dare to invade our family."
William spoke proudly of his family's greatness.
"Um... this..."
Looking at his father's prideful face, Bell felt a bit embarrassed to speak up. But only a bit embarrassed.
"Well, according to the information I've seen, there seem to be some discrepancies with what you've said, Dad."
William's laughter came to an abrupt halt.
"What you've read? Where, where have you read it?"
"Of course, I got the information that Lym brought me. It seems she found it in the library."
Bell recalled the library he had discovered a few days ago. The night they returned from Diagon Alley, he went to look for his mother to see the family library. What he found exceeded his expectations because he forgot that there was a spell called 'Undetectable Extension,' so the library was much larger on the inside than it appeared from the outside.
Bell also learned from Elena that all pure-blood wizard families had a family library. However, some families would only store valuable or exclusive magical knowledge in them, while others, like the Minethil family, would store all the magical knowledge they could gather in the library.
"A while ago, I became interested in our family's situation, so I asked Lym to bring all the records related to the family. According to the records, the known history of our family is a little over 500 years, and the true origin of the family is a mystery. Compared to ancient families like the Blacks or the Gaunts, our family doesn't appear to be as old."
"Moreover, there isn't a family that 'You-Know-Who,' uh, doesn't dare to bother. From what I know, as long as you don't directly oppose him, 'You-Know-Who' doesn't specifically target pure-blood families. After all, as powerful as he is, he's just one person, and one person can't rule the wizarding world. Pure-blood families are the foundation of his power and control. Though 'You-Know-Who's' mind is a bit disturbed, he's not foolish. So I think our family hasn't been targeted by 'You-Know-Who,' and there's nothing to be proud of. Not acting doesn't mean he wouldn't dare to do it; in fact, he could destroy us at any time."
Bell ignored William's pale face and the cold sweat running down his forehead and shared all the information he had gathered.
"Am I right, Mom?"
"Exactly, dear. Don't listen to your father's nonsense."
Elena rolled her eyes at William. She herself disagreed with sharing too much family information with Bell. After all, Bell was only 5 years old, and it was too early to talk about such things.
What surprised Elena the most was that, after having a few drinks at that night's party, William had dared to say those things. She didn't even know that such falsehoods existed in the records. Those false data had been deliberately fabricated to confuse outsiders. After all, the internal records of other families wouldn't accurately describe the Minethil family's situation either. And since all of this happened hundreds of years ago, if anyone questioned them, they could say that the other family's information is incomplete.
Elena didn't know if William was saying these things because he had had too much to drink or if he had convinced himself of his own lies. At this moment, she was longing to give William a kick.
"Um... Bell, don't worry about that. Our family still holds a prominent place in the wizarding world of England, and having a slightly shorter history doesn't mean anything."
William tried to regain his dignity as a father. Being exposed for telling lies, and even more, being exposed by his own son, was so embarrassing! Was there a hole in the ground where he could hide?
"And even though other families might be a bit stronger than us, they have no reason to harm us for no reason."
"Dad, I've always thought that having expectations for our enemies is a foolish act," said Bell calmly, taking a sip of tea from the table and leaning back in the chair, adopting the demeanor of a great person. If someone didn't know better, they would think he was the father and that William was the son.
Looking at the speechless William, Bell continued, "From what I know, our family in the wizarding world of England is just slightly above average in terms of position, let alone from a global perspective."
"Uh..."
William wanted to boast about his family's splendor in front of his son, but who would have thought that Bell knew so much about the family's current situation? Should a wizard of his age really be aware of these things? William was on the verge of tears.
In reality, Bell had been thinking about the family's situation and future all the time. After all, even if it wasn't considered in terms of aiding his study of magic, a stronger family meant his sister, Shanna, would be safer.
"Our family must have a lot of Galleons, right?" Bell asked.
"Of course!" William regained some of his confidence.
"Our family has its underground vault at Gringotts Bank, filled with Galleons and all sorts of treasures."
"But we don't use them, do we?" Bell seemed entirely indifferent and saw nothing to be proud of.
"So, what's the difference between filling the vault with Galleons or dirt? Both are equally useless."
William choked once more.
"How can there be no difference? Those are Galleons! They can buy anything!"
"No, Galleons can't buy anything, they can only buy what they can buy. And those things, as long as you have Galleons, anyone can buy them."
Bell looked seriously at his father.
"Dad, we are wizards, not Muggles. The only thing that can make us powerful is magic. If Galleons can't help us obtain more powerful magic, then they are worthless."
"No, no, no, Bell. For wizarding families, Galleons are essential. Only by having enough Galleons can our family continue to exist."