The sickly, iron-fisted beauty in Harry Potter

In 1996, the United States, together with 32 other Western countries, signed the Wassenaar Arrangement, deciding to implement a new export control list and information exchange mechanism from November 1, 1996. China was still among the countries subject to export controls.

The Wassenaar Arrangement includes two control lists: one for dual-use products and technologies, and the other for military products and technologies. The former covers 10 major categories, including nuclear materials, electronics, and spacecraft, while the latter covers more than 20 categories, including ordnance, ammunition, weapon systems, software, and technologies.

This in itself is a significant business opportunity.

Of course, doing business with a major Eastern power these days doesn't really make you much money.

After all, at that time, the great Eastern power was facing a severe shortage of foreign exchange, so trying to earn pounds sterling from there was simply a pipe dream.

However, Dolly pondered that perhaps she could obtain some magical items from this great nation.

For example, the jade that Qiu Zhang gave to himself.

Without a doubt, the warm jade saved Dolly's life and provided her with tremendous help; without it, Dolly would have frozen to death in the icy snows of France.

As for how much benefit there will be in the future after becoming old friends with this country, that's something we hardly need to worry about.

Of course, that's many years from now; for now, we can consider something more practical.

In a sense, Akio's father's job was similar to Dolly's.

However, compared to Dolly's goal, Cho Chang's father was more of a businessman who wanted to earn foreign exchange from there.

This meant that Qiu Zhang's father did not receive much income, and his main business was investing and allocating resources within Europe.

So Dolly naturally considered engaging in technological exchanges with the great Eastern power as a plan that needed to be implemented.

Of course, one shouldn't do such things too openly.

For example, if you send out a large amount of data and technology without charging a penny, you might not be targeted now, but you might be held accountable later.

Although Dolly doesn't care about any business or even underworld threats, she still doesn't want to provoke Muggle countries, as that would put too much pressure on her.

As for how to start these businesses, it's actually quite simple: just go directly to Qiu Zhang's father.

However, Dolly will pretend not to get involved, and Vernon will take charge of everything.

Vernon had acquired his own company and was worried about the sales of his machinery. Knowing that Qiu Zhang had connections with Eastern countries, he naturally approached him.

Isn't it a perfectly reasonable excuse that these things have nothing to do with his daughter?

Once a stable communication channel is established, Vernon can directly contact the major Eastern power to discuss the issue of technology transfer.

Dolly thought they would be happy to accept the deal of exchanging technology for magical items.

As for how to acquire the technology, Dolly can simply continue acquiring companies or patents.

However, this also requires Dolly to earn more money.

The Dursleys' fortune had already exceeded ten million pounds, which was a considerable sum for a family.

However, for a single company, this is merely a drop in the ocean.

Fortunately, Vernon now has his own company, which makes it easier for him to take action on certain matters.

For example, in disaster-stricken Russia, Dolly could make a quick buck now.

That was the infamous 3M scam.

MMM was founded in Moscow in 1989. MMM issued shares in Russia, claiming that an investment of $100 could yield $500 within six months, with an annual return of up to 400%.

Driven by powerful advertising and the lure of high returns, people overlooked the risks involved.

By June 1994, the price of MMM stock had increased 36.5 times from its par value, reaching 37500 rubles per share.

In just six months, MMM attracted hundreds of billions of rubles with its pyramid-style investment return scheme, established agencies in more than 60 cities, and accounted for half of all trading turnover in Russia, earning 400 billion rubles a day from selling stocks.

On July 22, 1994, the Russian government, which had been ambiguous about MMM, suddenly issued a public statement expressing its skepticism about MMM's promised 400% annual return and stating that it would not guarantee the safety of investments in MMM.

Only then did investors realize that the enticing promises were nothing but a deception. Their confidence wavered, they stopped investing, demanded repayment, and the pyramid scheme collapsed completely. Those shareholders who invested later lost everything and became the biggest victims of the fraud.

This is a very typical Ponzi scheme.

If we consider the age Dolly was in her previous life, anyone with a modicum of sense could see the problem.

But it’s 1993 now.

Dolly has another year to participate and operate.

Moreover, compared to the small size of speculative stocks, this 3M scam has affected the entire Russian capital market. Dolly's small share in it will not affect the overall situation.

However, Dolly wasn't greedy and wouldn't wait until the very last moment to let go.

She has decided to invest all the funds the Dursleys can recover into this venture, and then begin an orderly exit in May of next year.

By the end of June, we will have completely exited the market to prevent premature fluctuations caused by the butterfly effect.

Of course, if things don't go well, Dolly can cut her losses and leave. She might earn less, but after all, she doesn't really make money from these things.

When Dolly had hundreds of millions of dollars in start-up capital, coupled with her good relationship with the great Eastern power, she was ready to start her business.

Perhaps then we can venture into some more long-term and profitable fields.

As for stocks, Dolly naturally wouldn't pass up the opportunity to make quick money, but as Dolly's capital grew larger, more and more changes occurred.

Dolly didn't know what the stock would become by then; the returns from a rootless existence could never compare to the stable profits from daily mechanical production.

As Vernon looked at the plan Dolly had written down, his initial anticipation for the future gradually faded, replaced by a sweating drenched in sweat.

He knew his daughter was unruly, but she immediately gave him two huge shocks.

Is it really not a leak of secrets to engage in technology exchanges with a major Eastern power that are practically free?

And those who invest in Ponzi schemes in Russia, aren't they afraid of Russian mafia coming after them?

"Dad, don't worry."

"In the future, this country will become the most powerful country in the world, or even the most powerful country. We can be secretly happy to become an old friend of this country."

"Didn't you say you wanted to travel around the world with Mom? How can you not go to this big country?"

Dolly hasn't forgotten that she wants to find her parents from her past life in this great country.

Although it may just be a meaningless obsession, it's easier to do this kind of thing only after becoming an old friend of a major power.

"As for the Russian mafia, do you think it was Russia that initially offered ambiguous support for this project, only to later turn its back on it?"

"We were just going with the flow, so you can't hold us accountable."

Vernon frowned in thought, then his face lit up with sudden realization.

Although he was still a little worried, Vernon quickly figured it out.

Compared to the dangers Dolly is currently facing, the Russian mafia may not be such a big deal.

Moreover, he trusted his daughter's judgment.

It's just Russia, he can just go there himself!

228

Chapter 228 Newt's Visit.

Dolly dared to do business in Russia.

This is because Russia's economic situation will continue to decline in the next two years, but a slowdown will occur after two years.

Although it was still declining, people at the time thought it was a sign that the Russian economy was beginning to improve.

That would have been a good opportunity to leave.

In addition, what Dolly did is still just a drop in the ocean compared to the Russian bigwigs.

She'd run away if she made 100 million pounds, or even tens of millions.

This level is actually only considered a small-scale retail investor, and it will not attract much attention.

Of course, this is done while adhering to the most basic logic of caution.

Dolly couldn't possibly invest all her assets; a portion would still remain in speculative stocks in the European and American stock markets to earn excess returns.

Even if the investment in Russia goes down the drain, Dolly will only need another year or two to accumulate experience.

After finalizing the plan, Vernon started making phone calls non-stop.

He has several promising young people in the company.

Although he used to have a bad relationship with his colleagues, that has been a thing of the past since he became the boss.

Because no one truly has a good relationship with the boss; everyone just pretends to.

Vernon certainly understood this, after all, he had done the same thing before.

But Vernon didn't care. As long as someone had the ability and the right attitude, they could gain Vernon's trust and grow with the company in the future.

Faced with such an opportunity, how many people would be willing to leave?

After finishing with Vernon's problem, it was almost noon.

For once, Harry didn't watch soap operas or play games; instead, he started practicing magic in the yard.

The area around the yard was under a Muggle-repelling spell, so there were hardly any pedestrians near the Dursleys' house.

The opportunity to use magic was one that Dolly had fought for, and Harry naturally wasn't going to let it slip by.

He first practiced the spell he had learned.

Dolly watched from the side and was surprised to find that Harry's spellcasting skills were much stronger than she had thought.

In terms of erudition, they certainly can't compare to themselves and Hermione, but judging from the power of those spells, many of them are at the level of Lv.2 and Lv.3.

Especially with weapons, you can easily blast a small crater into the grass.

This means that if this spell hits a wizard, even if the wizard doesn't have a wand, they will most likely be knocked to the ground by the spell.

As expected, Harry is essentially a combat-oriented wizard. Giving him a greatsword would truly transform him into the wizarding form that Dolly is so familiar with.

"Sister, shall we have a sparring session?"

Harry saw Dolly and waved excitedly at her: "But you can't use Transfiguration, or I won't have a chance at all."

"Okay."

Dolly didn't refuse, and the two of them began preparing for the duel.

This is all thanks to Lockhart. Without Lockhart's Duel Club, Dolly and Harry wouldn't even know how to proceed.