The Return to Hogwarts

The old vixen's drooping eyelids trembled.

"A fully functional alchemy workshop, Mr. Blaine--"

Mr. Barna's voice carried a hint of displeasure.

"You should be clear about its value."

“I know very well,” Amosta said calmly, “but I think the revenue from the Triwizard Tournament livestream should be enough to pay for the purchase of the Alchemy Workshop, right? In fact, I could use my rightful share of the revenue to acquire it, but I don’t have much time or energy to spend on that, so I chose this convenient method.”

Barna quickly did some mental calculations, then fell silent.

To be fair, this deal wasn't exactly a loss for it; however, the uncertainty surrounding Amostra Blaine's eagerness to acquire the alchemy workshop made it slightly uneasy. Lost in thought, its gaze suddenly fell upon the monitoring mirror on the table in front of it. The old goblin's eyes lit up, and it blurted out…

"You want to set up an alchemy workshop to mass-produce surveillance mirrors, is that right, Mr. Blaine?"

Barna felt he had found the truth. The surveillance mirror, this alchemical tool, had a wide range of applications. As its inventor, Amosta Blaine could easily obtain a production license, which meant that he could exclusively enjoy the profits from this invention. In the long run, he could also profit from using this invention in the Quidditch League. No wonder he had previously made excuses to refuse cooperation on the surveillance mirror.

“Ah, I already said it, Mr. Barna—”

Just when the old fox was certain he had discovered the truth, Amosta shook his head slightly and chuckled.

"I don't intend to widely integrate this invention into the daily lives of wizards. I need the alchemy workshop because I have other things that need to be mass-produced."

Chapter 541 The real purpose

2023-10-18

Amosta Blaine seemed to have said all he could. He picked up his teacup again, leaned back in his chair, and sipped his tea contentedly, quietly waiting for Gerson Barna to take over the business.

What is it that would make the renowned Amosta Blaine personally travel to Paris to negotiate this deal?

Mr. Barna lowered his gaze, staring at the plates of exquisite pastries in front of him, and remained silent for a moment.

It's impossible not to be curious, but Bana could tell that Amosta Blaine didn't want to reveal anything.

“Mr. Blaine—”

After a long silence, the old demon finally raised his head.

"We have no reason to refuse this business. All profits from the Triwizard Tournament livestream will be distributed according to your proposed plan. As for your personal compensation, if I remember correctly, we have a workshop in Diagon Alley that produces flying broom care kits. Starting tomorrow, the workshop will focus entirely on fulfilling existing orders and will refuse any new business. Machinery, workers, factory buildings, and land will be delivered to you as quickly as possible, however—"

Amosta raised an eyebrow, waiting for Bana to state his terms.

"Although I don't know exactly what you hope to use this alchemy workshop for, I imagine it's for producing another great creation of yours, is that right?"

"You want to get involved in the future business of this workshop?"

A smile played on Amosta's lips.

"Even if you know nothing about this business, or even whether it's profitable or not, that's not in line with the fairy's usual risk-averse style, Mr. Barna?"

"Yourself is our greatest guarantee, Mr. Blaine—"

The old witch laughed in a hoarse voice.

“You need a workshop, but that alone won't get anything done, will it? You also need capital, a complete raw material supply chain, and channels to promote your products. These things will also consume a lot of your energy, and these are precisely what we excel at. Letting us join the workshop's future operations can save you a lot of trouble. And that's all we ask for.”

A strange light flashed in the old witch's eyes.

"We do not interfere with the workshop's operational decisions; we only require 10% of the workshop's annual profits."

The saying "old age brings wisdom" perfectly describes this.

That old fox, Gerson Barna, was willing to risk losing a huge amount of Galleons in order to establish a mutually beneficial relationship with me.

"I will arrange for my friend, Remus Lupin, to contact you regarding the specifics. He is a werewolf, and I hope you have had a good time together."

Before the old fox could even rejoice, his thoughts were drawn to another piece of information in Blaine's words.

Amos Stark Blaine, who was just an unknown young wizard two years ago, has become famous across several continents in a very short time, especially in the European wizarding world. He is now on par with Albus Dumbledore, and because of his great age advantage and the strength he showed on Quidditch final night, many people are even convinced that the next half-century or even longer will be the era of Amos Stark Blaine in the European wizarding world.

And this wizard actually claims to have a werewolf friend!

Werewolves might be acceptable in the United States, but in Europe, they are considered lowlifes by official wizarding organizations in every country.

If Dumbledore had made that claim publicly, Barna might not have been so surprised, but Amostrath Blaine's first moment of fame was when he killed the infamous werewolf leader Greyback and his gang.

Fairies and werewolves are both considered outcasts by wizards. However, fairies' cunning has allowed them to find a place in the magical world, while werewolves face a much worse situation and suffer more severe rejection.

The fact that Amosta Blaine didn't shy away from telling others that he had a werewolf friend greatly boosted the old fox's confidence in becoming a true friend with Amosta Blaine.

"Mr. Blaine's friend is the fairy's friend—"

Mr. Barna's smile finally became much more genuine.

“I will put Jingo in charge of this matter. I believe he can get along well with this Mr. Remus Lupin.”

The discrimination between fairies and wizards is mutual. Since wizards look down on werewolves, fairies naturally cannot think of werewolves as noble creatures. However, Jingo, who accepted the task, dared not show the slightest dissatisfaction. He bowed respectfully to Mr. Barna and Mr. Blaine, indicating that he would do his best.

The meeting was undoubtedly a pleasant one for both parties, who each had their own agendas. The tense and unspoken atmosphere that had been hanging in the office since the meeting began dissipated the moment they reached a consensus, and the two finally began to enjoy the delicious food on the table.

"Oh, right--"

While Jin Ge was adding water to the teacup, Amosta suddenly asked out of the blue,

"A few years ago... that was after I graduated from Hogwarts. Following the ancient traditions of wizarding, while traveling through various magical civilizations, I heard someone mention that Gringotts would hand over the wealth in its vaults to the Ministry of Magic for wizards who died unexpectedly and had no heirs, right?"

The old fairy, who was leisurely savoring traditional fairy delicacies, felt her fingers tremble uncontrollably as she held the food, causing some crumbs to fall onto the expensive velvet tablecloth.

“This is the law of wizards, Mr. Blaine—”

The old witch nodded.

"It's a rule agreed upon by the fairies and wizards, and Gringotts strictly adheres to this rule in every branch it opens in every location."

"But I've heard there are other solutions?"

Amosta smiled noncommittally.

Not to mention Gerson Bana, even Jingo and Ladi, who had been serving the two, sensed Amosta's veiled meaning. In fact, this wasn't anything particularly secretive; among the fairies, those in higher positions were well aware of this and how the branch guilds would act.

They would collude with Ministry of Magic employees to take the lost heirs' wealth from the vaults—such as valuable antiques, magic books, stocks, and deeds—and sell them on the local black market. The funds raised would then be laundered through various means before being divided proportionally with the gold originally stored in the vaults.

This is a very large chain of interests, involving many mid- to high-level personnel in the Ministries of Magic of various countries and Gringotts branches.

Amosta Blaine's casual conversation about this at this time certainly wasn't an attempt to join this chain of interests, because for a wizard like him, such a method was far too undignified.

“I don’t deny it, Mr. Blaine—”

Mr. Barna said in the same casual tone,

"Regarding the situation you described, there may be some cases of irregular operations."

"How disappointing—"

Amosta clicked his tongue, looking regretful.

"If those guys at the Ministry of Magic put the same kind of effort into their work as they would into making money, they wouldn't be constantly criticized by the public for being incompetent—"

The conversation on this matter ended there, and the rest of breakfast was filled with pleasant topics.

Amostella vanished in a dazzling burst of firelight. While the two fairies, Jingo and Ladi, were still astonished by Fawkes' disappearance, the old fairy's face darkened the instant Amostella's figure dissipated.

"I need you to get to the UK branch immediately and investigate as quickly as possible the list of all the goblins and Ministry of Magic employees involved in what Blaine just mentioned, as well as the amount of wealth they embezzled. Bring one copy back and send another to Amosta Blaine."

After a moment of stunned silence, even Jin Ge, who was obedient to orders, hesitated and asked,

"You mean the British Ministry of Magic? We'll offend a lot of people, Mr. Barna."

"Amosta Blaine takes this very seriously --"

Mr. Barna, with a somber expression, said...

"Perhaps, this is the real purpose of his visit."

Chapter 542 Malfoy's Unease

2023-10-18

Wiltshire, Malfoy Manor.

The golden sunlight bathed the center of the estate, draping a villa with walls and floors made of precious marble bricks inlaid with swirling patterns, giving this classical and dignified building a beautiful golden veil. A flock of white peacocks strolled leisurely on the pristine green lawn, while an elegantly designed fountain sprayed rainbows into the sky.

Apart from the gardeners tending the gardens, there are hardly any people to be seen in the vast manor. However, since Greyback's uninvited visit, security at Malfoy Manor has become much tighter.

The manor's interior is now filled with numerous magical defenses against external enemies, and hidden in the shadowy corners are wizards who guard the courtyard. Anyone who enters the courtyard without permission will be met with a fierce and relentless attack.

The waiters inside the villa hurried about, preparing a sumptuous dinner for the manor's owners and their soon-to-arrive guests. In respectable pure-blood families, this task was usually done by house-elves, as was the case with the Malfoy family in the past. However, ever since the manor's original house-elf betrayed them, the manor's owners had refused to allow such a lowly and inferior creature to set foot in their home.

The atmosphere inside the luxurious villa was somewhat tense.

This was mainly due to the sudden return of the estate's owners—the Malfoy family had a vast business empire, with operations in various European countries and even other continents. To maintain this astonishingly large estate, the Malfoys, the owners of the estate, spent most of the year away from home, unless they needed to entertain important guests at the estate.

That was the situation today, but to the waiters' surprise, Mrs. Malfoy told them that there was only one guest visiting that evening.

"If there is any impoliteness at the dinner party later, the person who caused the incident will become fertilizer for the garden—"

After coldly uttering a single sentence in the banquet hall, Narcissa Malfoy, the mistress of the manor, gave the silent servants a warning look, turned around, and strode away. She walked through the maze-like corridors, past the foyer and the drawing room, and arrived at the study.

This study belongs to Lucius Malfoy, the head of the Malfoy family, and Narcissa is the only person who has the right to enter the study on her own initiative. Even the young master of the Malfoy family will be severely criticized and punished if he enters here without being summoned.

Lucius Malfoy sat quietly in the chair behind his desk, one hand on his cane and the other on the table, his calm gaze fixed on a piece of parchment just a few feet from his fingertips.

Lucius remained expressionless, but Narcissa, who knew him best, immediately sensed the unease in her husband's heart. She followed Lucius's gaze to the letter spread out on the table, then looked away as if burned.