Days wandering around Hogwarts

Chapter 721 High Bonus
As the weekend hustle and bustle of Hogsmeade gradually subsided, Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off on the path back to Hogwarts Castle.

As evening approached, the chill gradually seeped into the air, and the sky was shrouded in a gray twilight. Smoke began to rise from the village chimneys.

They discussed how to deal with Charles along the way, only to find that they didn't have many options.

As they walked onto the covered bridge, an unexpected figure was approaching from the direction of the castle.

She was a young witch, walking briskly, wearing a well-tailored dark blue business suit, and carrying a heavy-looking leather briefcase.

She exuded a capable and efficient professional aura, which seemed somewhat out of place with the leisurely academic atmosphere of the ancient castle around her.

“Miss Crevatt?” Hermione was the first to recognize her, her tone clearly showing surprise.

Penelope looked up at the sound, saw Harry and his two companions, and smiled.

“Potter, Weasley, Granger,” she greeted with a slight nod, her speech slow but each word clear and forceful, “What a coincidence.”

"What are you doing here?" Ron asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

“Isn’t it the weekend? I thought you and Percy would be…” He paused, as if searching for the right word, “…in your apartment, um…enjoying the weekend?”

He ultimately chose a more euphemistic way of putting it, but the mischievous expression on his face clearly had a hidden meaning.

Penelope's lips twitched almost imperceptibly, as if she was already used to such teasing from Percy's brothers.

She said, "Percy was thinking of you and asked me to bring some candy along the way."

"I've already given it to a first-year student in the Gryffindor Tower. He'll pass it on to you. You should be able to see it when you get back."

"On the way?" Harry seized on this word, his curiosity piqued.

Penelope works at Farbatton Castle, and even if she has to work overtime today, there's no reason for her to stop by Hogwarts.

Ron asked curiously, "What brings you to Hogwarts today?"

Penelope nodded slightly, her eyes shining with a hint of excitement, and said, "Not today, Ron."

"During this period, we were almost always at Hogwarts, but we just didn't have time to meet with you."

"We're very busy right now, and we have to work overtime until very late every day. We'll relax a bit after we finish this milestone today."

She looked very accomplished, but upon closer inspection, a hint of fatigue could be seen on her face.

"Working overtime? In the castle?" Ron was even more puzzled, his voice rising several decibels. "What kind of overtime is there at Hogwarts?"

"Did Charles send you to polish Filch's armor?"

He tried to make a joke, but Penelope's "you've never seen the world" look on his face made him shut his mouth in embarrassment.

“My position at Farbatton Castle has changed,” Penelope said, straightening her back with a hint of pride in her voice, “I am no longer in charge of administrative work.”

"Currently, I lead a newly established subsidiary, New Western Education Company, which is fully responsible for the research, development, testing, marketing, and subsequent maintenance of the two core projects, the 'Merlin System' and the 'Mobile Large Library System'."

A barrage of unfamiliar and high-sounding terms left Harry and Ron somewhat bewildered.

Hermione's eyes lit up instantly. Previously, the library's books were not available for loan, but now that she heard "the mobile library," she immediately made the connection.

“The Merlin system and the mobile Great Library?” she asked. “Charles’ new invention?”

“You could say that.” Penelope nodded, seemingly pleased with Hermione’s reaction. “These two projects are Charles’s top priority, the strategic projects with the most resources invested, and the core issues have already been resolved.”

"Simply put, the 'Merlin System' is designed to provide comprehensive intelligent assistance for Hogwarts' teaching, while the 'Mobile Great Library' is dedicated to breaking down the physical boundaries of knowledge acquisition."

“Specifically…” She glanced at the simple yet subtly magical watch on her wrist, “I’m sorry, the details are currently confidential. I can’t say more unless Charles agrees.”

"But it's fair to say that if successful, they will completely transform the way wizarding communities learn and study magic."

Her words revealed a grand vision, which Harry and Ron, though not quite understanding what it was, vaguely sensed was something extraordinary.

Hermione thought to herself, "I'll ask Charles what's going on later."

"So, Charles just lets you, and others, work on these things in the castle day and night?" Harry couldn't help but say.

He recalled a few words Charles had mentioned before and said, "He really knows how to exploit his employees."

He used the word "exploitation" somewhat awkwardly, but he conveyed the meaning very clearly.

Reflecting on his own experiences and those of other victims, his understanding of Charles's exploitative behavior deepened. Unexpectedly, Penelope didn't agree; instead, she shook her head, a hint of excitement on her face.

“Porter, you’ve got one thing wrong.” Her voice was clear and firm. “This isn’t exploitation; it’s creation, it’s opportunity.”

"Charles gave very clear instructions: as long as our team can complete the project objectives with high quality and quantity before the stipulated deadline..."

She paused deliberately, her gaze sweeping over the three young faces in front of her, then made a gesture and said in a more emphasizing tone:

"At least this many Galleons!"

silence.

The covered bridge seemed to be instantly silenced.

The gesture representing the numbers seemed to possess a magical power, piercing through the cool evening breeze, entering Harry's eyes, and then exploding in his mind.

Before him was not Penelope's excited, gleaming face, but rather a sky full of golden coins, like flocks of birds taking flight from a summer forest, shimmering with an alluring light.

If they only "sold" 100 gallons, how many times could their prize money "buy" them?

An indescribable bitterness mixed with intense envy suddenly surged into Harry's heart, making his cheeks feel hot.

He suddenly felt that being "studied" by Veela might not be entirely unacceptable, provided the price was right.

Harry could almost see Charles sitting in that little cabin in the Rocky Mountains, with huge ledgers and project schedules spread out in front of him, casually waving his quill pen, scattering handfuls of Galleons like pebbles, driving excellent wizards like Penelope to work hard for him, and incidentally compensating himself and other "experiment participants".
His thoughts became somewhat confused.

Ron's mouth was wide open enough to fit a dragon egg, and his breathing became rapid.

He nudged Harry's arm, his voice trembling: "Ha... Harry... did you hear that? Lots of Galleons!"

Even Hermione looked thoughtful; clearly, the impact of the huge prize money, and the vast resources it represented that could potentially be used to drive magical change, had deeply shocked her.

Penelope took in their reactions, and her smile widened.

She glanced at her watch again.

"I have to go now, I need to rush back to Farbatton for a project progress meeting."

"I hope you like the candy."

She nodded to them, said nothing more, picked up her heavy briefcase, and hurried past the three of them, her figure quickly disappearing into the deepening twilight at the other end of the covered bridge.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione remained standing in the same spot, not moving for a long time.

The cold wind howled through the covered bridge, fluttering the hem of their robes.

At that moment, they gained a deeper understanding of the saying "knowledge is gold".

"You'll definitely be very rich in the future."

As they entered the castle, Ron suddenly said something to Hermione.

Before Hermione could reply, Harry chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, we'll definitely be sleeping on beds made of gold coins from now on."

Hermione then chimed in, "You can do it too."

"Fred and George, I don't know if you've noticed, but they've been working really hard since the start of the school year."

Harry and Ron didn't notice the twins' situation at all. Hermione often went to the library and saw them many times, which is why she found out.

The three of them stopped talking abruptly when they reached the vicinity of the cafeteria.

Snape stood in the corridor, looking at them expressionlessly, looking more like a ghost than Peeves.

“Where is Charles?” he asked.

Harry replied, "In a very faraway place."

Snape gave them a cold look, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

Ron watched Snape disappear at the end of the corridor and asked, somewhat puzzled, "What's he going to do?"

No one can answer.

(End of this chapter)