The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 396: What I Saw in Hogsmeade (Please subscribe, please bookmark, please vote)
"I heard that Harry wanted to set up a Defense Against the Dark Arts study group and extracurricular group at Ginny's suggestion. Ginny and Ron have been helping them recruit members these days. Unfortunately, I'm busy with the reading club, so I have to decline." Hermione said to Ryan while having breakfast at Hogsmeade.

"Harry also came to me, but I told him I couldn't spare the time." Ryan felt a little sorry for Harry, because according to his statistics, Neville, Luna, the twins and Hermione, who were supposed to be the backbone of the DA, all rejected Harry's invitation. Most of them felt that there was no need to join two similar extracurricular groups, so they naturally chose the reading club they had participated in for several years.

Of course, there were various reasons for their refusal. For example, Neville told Ryan that he was worried that it would be embarrassing if he could not keep up with Harry and the others. In this case, he would rather practice magic with these familiar people.

"I hope Harry won't be upset because several of us acquaintances turned him down." Hermione said to Ryan beside her after passing Filch's inspection and coming out into the cold and sunny outdoors.

"Shouldn't it be?" Ryan shook his head, trying to get rid of the strange psychological burden. "There are many people who support Dumbledore this year. With Harry's identity, he should be able to recruit a lot of people. I'm just a little worried about what Umbridge will do after knowing this. If those photos were released now, maybe they could divert Umbridge's attention."

"Okay, let's not think about that. Being a prefect for another year is tiring enough, not to mention there are so many things to worry about. Let's just take a good rest today." After saying that, Hermione took Ryan's hand and walked towards Hogsmeade.

They walked along the road and passed Zonko's Joke Shop, where Fred and George seemed to be discussing something with the gray-haired Mr. Zonko. As they squeezed in, they heard the twins and Zonko discussing the sale of the shop.

"I am willing to sell my shop." Zuko's voice sounded a little old. "When I opened this shop, I wanted to make money and bring joy to everyone. Unfortunately, as I get older, I no longer have the same inspiration as before. And I am tired of producing the same things day after day. So I am very happy to see you continue to bring joy to everyone on my behalf. However, my shop has been open for such a long time, I hope you can take care of me as an old man in terms of prices. I still need this money for my retirement."

"But why do we have to buy this property? Can't you rent it to us?" Fred said a little depressed. "We have just started our business, and although the prospects are good, we can't afford your house at all."

"My shop must be taken over along with the house." Jokowi insisted on this point. "Because the weather in the UK is not good for my legs and feet, I plan to live in warm Greece after retirement and never return to the UK."

Ryan saw this and signaled Hermione to call the twins out, and soon the twins met Ryan in an inconspicuous corner of the store.

"How much does Zuko's house cost?" Ryan asked directly.

"Did you hear everything?" Fred and George looked a little unhappy. "He actually asked us to pay 80,000 Galleons in one go."

"This is really too expensive." Hermione exclaimed in a low voice. Even according to the official price of Gringotts, it is equivalent to 400,000 pounds. In this era, you can already buy a two-story house in the wealthy area of ​​Manchester. But considering that this is a prosperous shop in one of the only two economic centers in the British wizarding world, and wizards basically do not pay property taxes, this price is acceptable.

"It's not expensive. We can even say that Mr. Zuko gave us a discount because we got along well with him." Fred and George looked a little frustrated. "It's a pity that we can't afford it now."

"How about this, I'll buy this apartment and rent it to you." Ryan said confidently. "I just don't know if you have any safe way to cash in the magic jewelry, because I don't have that much cash on me."

"This, this is too much for you." The twins whispered. "I always feel that there is too little we can do." "It's okay, this money is not given to you for nothing, the house is mine after the purchase. After graduation, I will live in the wizarding world, and I can't live without a house." Ryan smiled and comforted. "This house is not free for our store. Even if we do business together, you have to pay me my share of the rent. Don't worry, I will charge the average rent on this street."

"Thank you." The twins held Ryan's hand and said nothing. They knew what Ryan taking out the money meant.

"I will give you the things when I return to school, but you need to figure out how to turn them into Galleons." Ryan chose to change the topic to make the atmosphere less tense.

"Don't worry about that. As long as it's jewels, no matter where they come from, the goblins at Gringotts will exchange them for Galleons. They don't care what these things represent." The twins patted their chests and assured that everything would go well.

"Wait, where did the jewels you promised them come from?" Hermione asked quietly on the streets of Hogsmeade after saying goodbye to the twins. "Did you get the wealth in the Lonely Mountain when you went to Middle-earth last time?"

"I didn't want that treasure, but I found a way to get wealth for a long time." Ryan leaned close to Hermione's ear and said, "I may not have explained it to you in detail last time. In that world, I am the King of the Valley. After mediating the relationship between the dwarves and the elves, my country can trade with both sides. In this case, I have a lot of jewels from elves or dwarves in my warehouse. It is normal to take out a small part for investment."

"That sounds great, but you didn't get all this wealth by exploiting the residents of River Valley City, did you?"

"Believe me, I won't do such a thing. I just bring advanced knowledge and technology there. If I bring them a better life, naturally my share will be much more than before."

"That's good." Hermione nodded. Sure enough, after she knew that Ryan gained wealth by becoming a king, her first reaction was to care about whether the money was earned justly, and this was also what Ryan liked most about her: no matter what, her values ​​were very positive.

"The Hog's Head? I really hope Harry and the others can remember to bring their own cups. I've been interested in this place since I heard about it from Hagrid in my first year, but unfortunately Professor McGonagall doesn't think it's really suitable for students. Luna told me that their dean Flitwick said it's actually quite safe, the only problem is that the hygiene is a bit worrying." Ryan and Hermione found a seat by the window in the Three Broomsticks and sat down. Through the glass, they saw Harry, Ron and Ginny turning in from the side path. Harry and Ron were holding a gray bottle of butter beer in their hands.

"Judging from their expressions, their party today should have been quite successful. I just hope Umbridge doesn't find out about this, or she will come up with some bad ideas. Maybe even our reading club will be ruined." Ryan said, looking at the smiles on Harry's and the other three's faces. "It would be great if everyone had seen our photos, so that Umbridge wouldn't have time to poke her toad head around."

When they returned to the castle today, Ryan immediately got a large bag of jewels made by elves and gave them to the twins. Although the twins were a little surprised why Ryan had these things, Ryan directly said that this was given to me by my alchemy teacher, which dispelled all their doubts.

This was also the first time the twins heard Ryan talk about his teacher, but they could easily infer the level of his teacher from Ryan. It was logical for a powerful alchemist to leave a large fortune to his disciples. Even in the eyes of most wizards, for some powerful alchemists, there was no difference between 10,000 Galleons and 100 Galleons.

Thanks to their imagination, Ryan was able to transfer part of his wealth to this world, laying a foundation for further wealth transfer in the future.

(End of this chapter)