Bring a fairy tale to Hogwarts!

"It's not a thing—it's a materials trading market, Mr. Van der Bohm."

"There is a lot of trade between the magical communities of different countries, and the trade of materials is one of the most important parts of it. If you can predict the exact time when the price of materials will drop and rise, we at Gringotts can stockpile—oh no, I mean prepare—essential resources in advance to ensure that wizards will not lack magical materials."

"If all else fails, we can settle for second best: if you'd be willing to help us predict the trends in the Muggle stock market, we would be extremely grateful..."

The fairy's ramblings became increasingly outrageous, but she also grew more and more excited, explaining various financial terms at length and occasionally mentioning things like "buying at the bottom" and venture capital. Her gaze towards Victor gradually became more fervent than that towards a savior.

After listening for a while, Victor interrupted him.

"You think I can do all that?" He gave it a strange look. "If I really could, why don't I invest and make money myself?"

The fairy paused mid-sentence, taking a long time to snap out of her reverie before stammering, "Uh... because of your noble character? Because you refuse to profit from divination?"

"If that's the reason, please reconsider, Mr. Victor. We offer you 30% of the profits from every successful investment! If you want a larger share, we can discuss it further..."

"It has nothing to do with profit sharing," Victor shook his head again.

"Predicting the future accurately comes at a price, and that price has nothing to do with wealth. The price will be something significant to you, such as emotions, desires, or even a part of your body."

"Not all fairies or wizards are qualified to trade; only those with a strong enough desire or special talent can do so."

The fairy sat there, dumbfounded.

After saying that, Victor took back the account number the fairy had opened while speaking from the table, nodded to it, and said softly, "My address is No. 7, Wisteria Road. If you have any further questions, you can contact me again..."

But as he turned to leave, the fairy suddenly stood up and bowed deeply to him.

Dressed in a scarlet, gold-trimmed garment, its movements were exceptionally sincere, its head bowed deeply, its nose almost touching the table. Hundreds of white candles burned from the magnificent hall ceiling, their light lending a solemn air to its actions.

It spoke in a completely different, solemn voice:

"No need, Mr. Van der Bohm, we agree to your request."

"Every fairy is willing to give up their hair, eyes, even their liver and heart in exchange for money. You can have anything you want—including our desire for money itself."

"If you're willing to accept this deal, please speak with our manager."

"He has been waiting for you for a long time."

……

At 3 PM, the Granger couple, having exchanged their Galonnaise, waited in the lobby, but Victor was nowhere to be seen. After asking the fairy nearby, they received the reply, "Please wait a little longer."

Mrs. Granger sighed sadly, looked at her family, and couldn't help but count the Galleons in her hand again.

"Five pounds to one Galleon, but there's a maximum exchange limit, Hermione, you'll have to be careful with your spending from now on."

"It's alright, Mom," Hermione said, taking it easy. "Professor McGonagall said that Hogwarts is a boarding school, so I won't have to spend any money there."

"I hope so. But I always feel that our experience hasn't been particularly fair..."

"Alright, Mary, don't talk about these things with the children."

Mr. Granger called to his wife, but only shook his head, leaving Hermione looking at them with confusion, unsure of what they wanted to say.

Hermione, being a child, wasn't very sensitive to other people's emotions, but the Grangers clearly sensed the goblins' impatience during the exchange. Even if wizards weren't as prejudiced against Muggle-born wizards, there was still obvious discrimination against Muggles.

...If the Hogwarts professors hadn't been relatively normal in their attitudes, the Grangers would have really had to reconsider Hermione's decision to study.

Ten minutes later, Victor finally emerged from one of the rooms, accompanied by a bowing fairy who seemed to respect Victor greatly, repeatedly bowing as she saw him off.

The Grangers were quite surprised.

Is she still the fairy who ignored them?

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Victor walked up to the Grangers and said.

"It's alright, Professor," said Mr. Granger. "Is there some trouble?"

"No, I just chatted with the goblins from Gringotts about some financial investments," Victor said briefly.

"They are 120% satisfied with the potential side effects of doing business with me."

"Is that so?" Mr. Granger said, seemingly understanding but not quite. "Side effects are a good thing? Uh... I guess it must be a win-win situation?"

"That's exactly right."

After a brief chat, they didn't dwell on it and went to the store with Victor to buy things.

Before leaving Gringotts, Victor discreetly slipped a small bag into his pocket.

As he stepped out, the fairies on either side of the door seemed to have been informed of something, and they bowed respectfully to him once more, saying in soft voices:

"Gringotts welcomes you anytime, sir."

……

Emerging from Gringotts, I found myself back on the most bustling stretch of Diagon Alley. The warm breeze instantly dispelled the solemnity I had felt earlier.

Opposite Gringotts' bronze doors is a Quidditch shop with two crossed brooms in the window and a sign that reads: "Nimble 2000, top speed".

However, first-year students are not allowed to buy brooms, so Victor took Hermione to a robe shop first and had three pure black cloaks made for both her and himself. Then they went to Flourish and Blotts on the other side of the street.

Flourish and Blotts is a small shop overflowing with all sorts of books. It's not exactly small, but with books piled up to the ceiling and shelves stacked upon each other everywhere, the remaining space seems incredibly small. Even the empty spaces are filled with wizards.

"Let me see, I'm still missing 'Standard Spells, Level 3' and 'Intermediate Transfiguration'. Damn it, I really don't want to go back to school."

"Fred, don't swear!"

At the entrance, a mother and son with red hair were arguing on the right. They were holding a book with a constantly changing cover, which piqued Hermione's interest even more.

As she looked over, the red-haired boy suddenly smiled at her in a friendly manner.

Hermione smiled back, flattered, finally experiencing what it felt like to be welcomed.

Now, she's in the mood to properly look at the books around her.

After passing the red-haired mother and son, she carefully examined a small note that had been written beforehand. She first went to the side to get a package of pre-packaged new student books, and then approached the shop assistant to ask:

"Sir, do you have any books here related to history, humanities, or magical items?"

Her cute face tried to put on a serious expression, which immediately attracted the attention of the shop assistant.

The young bookstore clerk spoke to her very politely, bowing his head.

"Yes. The most frequently purchased history books are 'A History of Modern Magic,' 'The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts,' 'Important Magical Events of the 20th Century,' and 'A Survey of Famous Modern Wizards,' which is most useful for young wizards just entering the wizarding world. Actually, there is also a very useful book called 'Hogwarts: A History of the School,' which can be borrowed from the school library, so we don't sell it here."

"Ah, we've gotten off-topic. Which one do you want?"

"all."

"all?"

The young shop assistant paused for two seconds, then suddenly widened his eyes.

He had freckles on his face and looked quite young, probably just graduated from Hogwarts.

"Yes, all of them," Hermione nodded firmly.

"If I want to get a perfect score on my first-year final exams, I need to have a complete grasp of all magical knowledge by the end of the first month. This includes the history of magic and spellcasting, so I need to understand all of the history of magic by the end of the first semester..."

"If I want to have the same knowledge base as all the young wizards in the wizarding world in the first semester, I should at least understand the basic magical events and common sense before the start of the semester. This way, I won't fall behind in my studies because I don't understand the jokes the professors make in class when I enter the school. So I should finish reading five books about the wizarding world during the summer vacation."

After rattling off this long string of words, Hermione blinked sincerely and looked at the young shop assistant.

The young shop assistant and Victor, who was watching from behind, both gasped.

Victor looked at Hermione with nothing but admiration.

"I, uh, I'll go get you the book."

The shop assistant turned away stiffly.

Standing there, Hermione realized his unusual attitude and noticed Victor's reaction. She instinctively turned to the professor for help:

"Professor Vanderbilt...Professor Vanderbilt, am I wrong?"

"Just call me Professor Victor, Miss Granger," Victor shook his head. "You're right, but sometimes you could pay more attention to balancing work and rest."

Hermione looked at Victor in surprise: "Didn't you try that hard?"

Victor remained silent for a moment.

How so? There really isn't one.

He's a lazy person, which is evident in the fact that even after being in the wizarding world for so long, he still hasn't finished reading the pile of books Hermione just bought.

—Anyway, it was already clear from the moment he arrived that there weren't many people in the entire magic world who could defeat him.

But after a moment of silence, Victor suddenly became assertive again, saying calmly:

"Let me put it this way, Miss Granger."

"Where I come from, if I work too hard, other people won't be happy. So for the sake of harmony, I think it's better if I work less."

Isn't that right?

If Victor works too hard, the people in the Vatican's Department of Magical Accidents in the fairy tale world will probably be working sleeplessly and in agony, racking their brains every moment to figure out how to catch him.

If he had worked even harder and devised a plan to open a chain store in three years and achieve a monopoly in five years, Victor would probably have a new nickname by now:

That damned Demon King Juan.