The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 502 Party
Under a big tree in the Forbidden Forest, Lupin said to Ryan in a worried tone: "Most of the magic plant cultivation in the UK is controlled by those old pure-blood families. They rely on house-elves to control the cost of growing those magic plants to a very low level. Our plantations only meet the orders of stores, and it is difficult to compete with those old families in the market. This is why I am worried about the arrival of newcomers. If more products are produced, the British market will definitely not be able to take them all."

"I understand what you're worried about, Professor Lupin. But I really found a huge market." Ryan explained with a smile. "This summer I went to China and signed a trade agreement with them. They are willing to do their best to purchase certain raw materials that they don't produce."

"Really?" Lupin's eyes widened, and then he asked cautiously, "But can the market over there take such a large batch of goods?"

"Don't worry, professor. What we sell are some highly versatile roughly processed products made from magical plants. They have a huge demand for these things. At the same time, their population is 20 times ours, and they have thousands of years of uninterrupted magical heritage. With such a prosperous market, no matter how much we produce, I estimate that the market there will be able to eat it all up."

"That's good." Lupin finally smiled in relief. After chatting for a while about some recent events, they left the Forbidden Forest separately.

It was lunch time when they came out. At the table, Ryan learned that Cormac McLaggen, who was competing with Ron for the goalkeeper position this time, wanted to get this position last year. Unfortunately, he was in the hospital during the team assessment last year because he made a bet with someone and ate a pound of Vixen's eggs.

"It's a very good thing that McLaggen wasn't selected," Hermione commented after hearing the news from Ginny. "This mental state is really not suitable for participating in some team sports that require brains."

Ryan agreed. In the wizarding world, foxes are like cockroaches or flies in ordinary people's homes. If a person eats about a pound of this thing out of a bet, and then thinks it's worth showing off, then it can only be said that this person has a brain problem.

The afternoon was spent in the library reading and studying. Ryan also used the time to finish reading an alchemy manual from the Black family that Sirius gave him. Although the alchemy products in the manual were all black magic products, many of the ingenious ideas in it were worth learning. Not to mention that with this introduction to black magic products, Ryan could specifically make alchemy props that could effectively fight against the heirlooms in the hands of the Death Eaters from pure-blood families.

"The power of death you control is different from the power of the mysterious man. It is not the final death, but the cyclical death transformed from life. Just like the life cycle in nature--" On the way to the hall for dinner, Ryan began to explain to Hermione some knowledge about the rules that she felt confused about. As a pioneer, Ryan's current knowledge reserve is enough to deal with Hermione's current problems. After listening to Ryan's explanation, Hermione showed an expression of sudden enlightenment.

"What you mean is that the power of death that I control is like plants that grow from the earth and return to the earth. It's a cycle of life and death, right?" Hermione looked at Ryan and asked.

"Yes." Ryan found that after Hermione learned the life magic she got from Iceland a few years ago, she gradually got the hang of studying the rules. He believed that Hermione would soon master the method of independent research.

When they reached the grand staircase in the main hall and were about to go downstairs, Professor Slughorn suddenly appeared in front of them and blocked their way.

"Mr. Liang, Miss Granger, I was looking for you," he said loudly, his hands resting on the sides of his bulging belly. "Thank Merlin for letting me stop you while you were having dinner. How about a simple dinner at my place tonight? I've prepared a small party, with only a few rising stars. I invited McLaggen, Zabini, and the charming Melinda Bobin - I don't know if you know her, her family owns a large chain of drug stores -"

"Of course, we're honored." Ryan bowed slightly to Slughorn. "We'll be there on time. Are there any requirements for clothing?"

"No, I just want everyone to relax. You can just wear your school uniforms." Slughorn's smile became even brighter. "I still need to go downstairs to find Harry. Let's meet again at eight o'clock." After that, Slughorn ran towards the restaurant. Hermione looked at his back and asked Ryan, "It always feels weird. I always thought that wizards don't have fraternities or sororities like ordinary people do in high school or college."

"As long as there are people, this kind of thing is inevitable." Ryan smiled, "But I don't think we will be the protagonists today. Slughorn probably called us just because he is optimistic about our future. He will definitely focus on those people with good family conditions. We are just going there to eat some good food and relax."

At 7:30, Professor Slughorn's small party was held as scheduled. However, Ryan did not see Harry appear. According to Professor Slughorn, Snape insisted that Harry should go to detention on time, so it was a pity that he could not attend the party today.

As Ryan guessed, Slughorn focused his main attention on McLaggen during this party, because McLaggen knew many big names. For example, a large part of the party was spent listening to McLaggen talk about how he went hunting with a group of big shots in the Ministry of Magic last time. And at other times, most of the time was spent listening to Slughorn nagging about how famous his former students were. But seeing that the dinner provided today was indeed very good, Ryan maintained a humble and attentive attitude throughout the whole process.

However, Slughorn was also a very sociable person. Although the focus was on McLaggen, he did not make others feel left out. For example, during the banquet, he praised Ryan's alchemy and Hermione's excellent academic level. While everyone was eating dessert, the arrival of Gwenog Jones, the captain of the Holyhead Harpies, pushed the atmosphere of the banquet to a climax again.

The party didn't end until nine o'clock in the evening. When Ryan and Hermione returned to the common room, they just saw Harry coming back from Snape.

"Good evening, how was your party today?" Harry greeted weakly. Sorting out the rotten Flobberworms from the good ones was not a pleasant task, especially since the caterpillars had a bad smell.

"Fortunately, the food tastes good." Ryan nodded seriously. "It's just that you need to listen to Slughorn bragging about the achievements of his former students today, or listen to McLaggen bragging about how many famous people he knows for two hours."

"It doesn't sound as appealing as I imagined, but at least it should be better than picking rotten bugs out of a pile of dead caterpillars." Harry shrugged.

"But at the end there was a Holyhead Harpy captain named Gwenog Jones who attended the party. But neither of us Quidditch players were interested, so we didn't say a word to her at all."

"You two are really, oh!" Harry suddenly felt sorry. The Holyhead Harpies are a very strong Quidditch team with a history of nearly 800 years. For Quidditch fans, it is a great thing to be able to get close to their captain.

"But we got her autograph for you." Ryan handed Harry a signed photo of Gwenog Jones. "I just mentioned it was a pity that you didn't go, and Professor Slughorn took the initiative to help us get this signed photo."

"Thank you so much!" Harry said after taking the autographed photo. He felt that tonight was not a completely unlucky night after all.

(End of this chapter)