Hogwarts Raven's Claw

Chapter 639 Shopping
"It's not even ten o'clock yet, why are you awake so early?"

Mike said with a smile as he glanced at the clock on the wall.

The two of them fought until dawn last night, and the reason why Mike was able to get up early was entirely due to his tremendous mental strength.

As for Penelope, normally she should sleep until the afternoon.

Upon hearing this, Penelope sat in Mike's arms, closed her eyes, rubbed her head against Mike's chest, and then slowly said:

"I'm going shopping in Diagon Alley with Soraka and the others today."

Mike's face showed a look of sudden realization.

After the proposal last night, they quickly set the date for their official marriage and wedding with Professor Flitwick as witness.

Just three days later, on Saturday.

As a bride, Penelope naturally needs to buy some things.

To be honest, Mike actually wanted to postpone the time. After all, everything has just returned to stability and he still has a lot of work to do.

But Penelope couldn't wait, and would have gotten married right there and then, if it hadn't taken some time to prepare and distribute the invitations and door keys.

Mike expressed his understanding of this.

He and Penelope have been together for five years.

After so many years of living together, their emotional life is actually no different from that of a real couple.

There was a time when Mike even thought that the two of them could just continue living like this, and it didn't matter whether there was a wedding or not.

But in the end he decided to give Penelope a solemn proposal and a gorgeous wedding.

After all, for a woman, a wedding and a proposal represent more than just a ceremony, but also one of the happiest moments in a woman's life.

If the two of them continued to live in this nameless state, Penelope would definitely feel bad even if no one said anything.

Of course, the most important thing is that Mike discovered that based on Penelope's performance during the war last time, she now seems to have signs of developing into a politician.

This was not what he wanted to see.

Of course, this isn't to say that Mike is worried about Penelope seizing power.

Mike simply didn't want the relationship between them to change.

After all, for politicians, love and other things are fake.

Just look at the Clinton family in Muggle society. When two politicians are together, their married life will surely be filled with lies and fights.

Therefore, it became crucial to marry Penelope as soon as possible, and only a major event like marriage could draw Penelope's attention back.

Thinking of this, Mike touched Penelope's long hair affectionately and said:
"I'll go with you. We have some things for the wedding so it would be best if we could pick them out in person."

As soon as these words came out, Penello, who had buried her head in Mike's arms, sat up straight instantly, looked at Mike excitedly and said:
"Really?"

"of course it's true."

"But..." Penelope looked at the pile of documents on Mike's desk and said, "Don't you still have work to do here?"

Mike chuckled, and with a wave of his finger, a strange wind suddenly appeared, blowing all the documents on the desk down.

"Not anymore," Mike said, "and even if you're the Minister of Magic, you still have your wedding leave. As for work, let Benjamin and the others take care of it."

Penelope was stunned for a moment when she heard this, and then she cheered.

"Great! We haven't been shopping for a long time! Oh! It's getting late now, I have to put on my makeup! Honey, wait for me for a while, don't worry, it won't be too long!"

After saying that, Penelope rushed out of the office in a hurry, leaving Mike smiling and shaking his head.

Logically speaking, he should have been getting ready. After all, it was almost noon and really not too early.

But this wasn't the first time he had waited for his girlfriend to put on makeup.

So he knew very well that once women started washing and putting on makeup, it would take more than half an hour to finish.

This is true for both witches and ordinary women, even if the witch has spells to help her.

And the facts were exactly as he expected.

Penelope still didn't show up until Mike slowly finished his coffee, washed up, changed into a suit and finally came to the fireplace in the villa.

After waiting for another five minutes, Penelope finally came jogging over here.

"Sorry, Mike! You must have been waiting a long time!"

The voice came before the person arrived.

Looking at the pointer on the pocket watch approaching 11 o'clock, Mike smiled and said:
"No, I've only been here for 5 minutes."

Mike was telling the truth, but Penelope didn't believe it. In fact, she was very aware of how much makeup she put on, but as a woman, she really couldn't bear to go out without makeup.

"Thank you for your hard work, Darling."

Penelope said as she kissed Mike on the cheek.

Mike smiled and shook his head, but his eyes were still looking at Penelope.

To be honest, Mike didn't see any difference between Penelope before and after makeup. In his opinion, putting on such light makeup that made almost no difference was a waste of time.

But of course he would not say his true thoughts. Feeling the wetness on his cheeks, Mike took Penelope's hand and praised:

"You are so beautiful! For this beauty, it is worth waiting no matter how long!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Penelope's cheeks turned visibly red.

Mike also smiled when he saw this.

Then the two of them stayed in front of the fireplace for a while before finally stepping into it.

Accompanied by a slight feeling of dizziness, Mike and Penelope appeared on the second floor of Tufan Clothing Store.

This was the first stop of Penelope's shopping trip, and it was also the place where she, Soraka and Hilary agreed to meet.

When Mike and Penelope arrived, Soraka and the others had already been choosing dresses for the wedding three days later with the help of the shop owner. When Penelope saw the dress samples and fabrics neatly hung on the wall, her eyes lit up and she pulled Mike and ran towards Soraka and the others.

The commotion here naturally attracted the attention of Soraka and others. The three women soon started chatting together, while Mike stood silently by.

Perhaps because he saw that Mike was too lonely, the middle-aged gentleman shop owner came over, bowed to Mike and said:

"Mr. Minister, I sincerely wish you a happy wedding." "Thank you."

Mike responded politely. Seeing this, the shop owner adjusted his glasses and said:

"I wonder what you need from that wedding dress. I swear I will do my best to satisfy you."

"I don't really have any requests. Just listen to my wife this time."

Mike said this expressionlessly. To be honest, he didn't know much about clothing. He had relied on the store owner to help design his custom-made suits before, so he couldn't give any advice.

And Penelope is obviously very concerned about the custom-made dress this time, so it would be better to leave the matter to her.

Anyway, the owner is here, so no matter how weird the clothes are, they will definitely not be ugly.

The shop owner also understood what Mike meant, and he bowed and made a gesture of invitation and said:
"Then I'll take you to the rest area and wait. You can have some tea and snacks there."

Mike nodded and walked straight to the rest area. He had been to this store many times and didn't need the owner to lead the way.

Soon, the snacks and tea that the owner mentioned were brought up by a house-elf. Mike sighed and leaned back on the soft chair.

He was well aware of the speed at which women went shopping and chose clothes, so if nothing unexpected happened, he would have to wait here for a long time.

Thinking of this, Mike instinctively looked out the window.

The location of Tufan Clothing Store is very good, right in the center of Diagon Alley. Looking out from the window on the second floor, you can easily see almost half of Diagon Alley.

Today is Wednesday. Although it is not Tuesday, which is the nightmare day for office workers, it is still a weekday and Hogwarts is not on holiday, so there should be few people on the streets.

But at this moment, the streets below were bustling with people.

There were long queues at several newly opened restaurants. The long queues turned straight at the store entrance, extended into the distance, and disappeared at the end of Mike's business.

It is worth mentioning that among these people, Mike hardly sees any children who can serve as the main consumer force.

Seeing this, Mike nodded with satisfaction.

Because this phenomenon represents that at this stage the income of Ying country wizards has generally risen to a very considerable level.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many adults with relatively stronger self-control who would not come out to consume on weekdays.

This bustling scene reminded Mike of the bustling Diagon Alley during the summer and Christmas Eve. He dared to say that by then the entire Diagon Alley would be transformed into a crowded battlefield.

Mike even found some gorgeously dressed goblins and intelligent creatures of other races in the crowd, which were absolutely rare in Diagon Alley in the past, because compared to the United States, these non-human intelligent creatures with the ability to consume would prefer the United States. At least no one in the United States would point fingers at their appearance.

And now, these non-human intelligent creatures have begun to walk into Diagon Alley.

This is great news!
Because this proves that Mike’s previous equal rights work was effective.

All of the above made Mike realize that Diagon Alley must be expanded.

At present, there are too few public activity areas and shops in Diagon Alley, which is not conducive to commercial activities and will greatly increase the cost for merchants to enter Diagon Alley.

If Diagon Alley can be expanded, then the wizarding world in Britain will surely develop more rapidly.

Of course, this could also be a trap.

Because if the current prosperity of the Ministry of Magic of England is just a short-term bubble formed by enjoying the dividends brought about by policy changes, then the expansion of Diagon Alley will become meaningless.

Mike felt this deeply.

In his previous life, he had witnessed the bursting of the Japanese economic bubble. He remembered that the media at that time almost described Japan as a hell of exchanging children, so he had a deep impression.

But Mike doesn't think he has anything to worry about.

Because this grand scene was brought about by many factors, including policies, demographic dividend and war dividend.

The impact of the policy may soon dissipate, but the Muggle wizard population dividend and other war dividends given by the Ministry of Magic will definitely not disappear for a period of time.

In addition, research on mysterious objects and Muggle technology products and the establishment of multiple joint trade organizations are also progressing.

These two plans will continue to provide various benefits to the wizarding world of Yingguo in the future.

This means that the current prosperity can continue for at least a few more decades!

Thinking of this, a sincere smile appeared on Mike's originally expressionless face.

To be honest, as the Minister of Magic, there is nothing that makes me happier than seeing the country under my rule become more prosperous.

Just as Mike was enjoying this sense of accomplishment, a small hand quickly waved twice in front of him.

Mike quickly came back to his senses and looked, and saw Penelope blinking her big eyes and looking at him curiously.

"What are you looking at? You look so absorbed in it."

"Nothing." Mike shrugged and said, "I just think there are too many people on the street today."

After saying that, Mike noticed that Penelope had changed into a light blue dress. With her equally light blue eyes and long brown hair, she exuded a pure and energetic charm.

Since leaving school, Penelope's attire has become more mature and stable. She basically doesn't wear anything other than work clothes and formal wear. Now, seeing Penelope's different look, Mike was stunned for a moment, and then he instinctively asked:

"Eh? Aren't you picking out a wedding dress? Why are you wearing this?"

Penelope grinned upon hearing this. She had seen all of Mike's reactions just now. While she was secretly happy, she made an aggrieved expression on her face and said:
"I just tried it on because I saw that the dress was pretty. What? Doesn't it look good?"

"It looks good! Who said it doesn't look good!" Mike quickly responded, "In my opinion, you should wear more colorful clothes in the future. This will suit you best!"

"Yeah!"

"Of course!"

The smile on Penelope's face became even brighter, and Soraka and Hillary beside her couldn't help but laugh when they saw it.

As for the middle-aged shop owner, he was very self-aware and stood in the corner, watching his nose and his heart, pretending that he saw nothing.

Afterwards, they chatted and laughed for a while, and it was not until nearly one o'clock in the afternoon that they finally decided on the styles of the wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses.

But Penelope and her friends' shopping trip had just begun. They then went to Jix Dessert Shop to enjoy a meal called afternoon tea but actually served as lunch.

Afterwards, they went to Madam Primpynell's beauty and potion shop and a newly opened jewelry store.

Finally, when everyone returned to the Masonic secret realm, the bags they carried with them were almost filled with all kinds of clothes and cosmetics.

Mike felt sore all over his body, and he didn't know if it was because he was too tired from shopping, or because of the delayed onset of pain from last night's intense activities.

But despite this, looking at Penelope's beautiful smile, Mike still felt that it was all worth it.

(End of this chapter)