Hogwarts: I'm Harry's older cousin

Chapter 16. Gold and Galleons (Seeking votes during the new book launch period)

Gargamel was the name Dudley gave himself.

Dudley's impression of Gargamel was that he basically didn't cast spells, but just kept brewing potions, and Dudley felt that this was very similar to himself.

Although he had a thicker head of hair than the real Gargamel, and was physically strong enough to take on twenty skinny guys in one go.

You think this is a gathering place for wizards?

No! Dudley couldn't even get into a place like that.

This is the gathering place for the Squibs.

Since the Squibs couldn't cast spells, the room wasn't enchanted with the Unseen Stretching Charm. The image of a down-on-his-luck wizard wasn't great either, so don't expect the Squibs to be any better.

Squibs don't have an easy time in the wizarding world because they can't use magic. Not being able to use magic means they can't pursue magic-related professions, which means they have no source of income. After all, not every Squib is as lucky as Mr. Filch, the caretaker of Hogwarts.

If a Squirrel doesn't rely on her family for support, she'll have to find another way to survive in the wizarding world.

They are at the very bottom of the magical world.

Therefore, Squibs frequently travel between the Muggle world and the wizarding world in order to survive, and they are also the people Muggles are most likely to come into contact with regarding the magical world.

After all, those self-proclaimed high and mighty wizards would never even glance at Muggles.

The servant was the best-looking among the Squirrels, but even so, his clothes looked greasy and dirty.

Apart from a very few Squibs like Mrs. Figg, don't expect most Squibs to be hygienic. They refuse to use Muggle laundry detergent and cleaning agents, yet they don't have the wizard's "clean up" spell.

There's only one word to describe it: slovenly.

Wizards at least have Hogsmeade Village, but Squibs don't have that kind of power; they can only live in houses built by Muggles.

As Dudley passed a room, he vaguely heard several words coming from inside, such as magic and quick fixes.

The servant, with a fawning expression, led Dali into the deepest room in the house.

That was the agreed-upon meeting place.

Dali is one of their major clients, so naturally they have to treat him with utmost care.

Inside the room sat several duds who had been waiting for a long time. After Dudley entered the room, they all stood up and looked at Dudley with fawning expressions.

"Where's the stuff?" Dudley asked, getting straight to the point as soon as he entered the room.

The main problem was that the smell here was just too unpleasant. As someone with a normal sense of smell, or even a sense of smell that was superior to that of ordinary people, he didn't want to stay here for even a moment longer.

"Dear Mr. Gargamel, here is what you requested."

Inside the room, a slightly cleaner-looking Squib handed Dudley a small shoulder bag.

Dudley took the small handbag, opened it, and took a look. The handbag had obviously been enchanted with a seamless stretching spell, and the space inside was much larger than it appeared from the outside. However, the space was also extremely limited, and could only hold a few things.

Common medicinal herbs familiar to the magical world, such as Jumping Root, Gill Sac Grass, Bad Blood Grass, Angelica pubescens, and Sneezing Grass, are neatly arranged in glass bottles, along with several magic books.

"It'll be enough for me to use for a while."

Dudley glanced at them briefly. Although the potions weren't of the highest quality, they weren't too bad either.

The main problem is that he can't go to the Wizarding World to buy them himself, so it's already quite good that he was able to get these.

"The items are correct, but next time I hope to get some slightly rarer materials. Like Fire Ash Snake Eggs, Jumping Parachute Fungus Caps, Troll Snot, Sap Grass, and African Tree Snake Skin."

"Those things you mentioned aren't easy to get," the Squib said first, then rubbed his fingers together and added, "But if the price is right, it shouldn't be a problem. Since you're satisfied with what you've got this time, what do you think..."

The Squib was just saying it casually; many of the materials Dudley needed were contraband, things that even normal wizards would have a hard time getting, let alone them.

Dudley actually wanted some horn powder from two-horned beasts, but that stuff was a highly contraband, and it was unlikely he could get it through Squib.

"Money is no object as long as you can get it for me."

As he spoke, Dali placed the small handbag on the table and then emptied it out.

The group of duds in the room stared wide-eyed, their eyes filled with greed.

Under the dim yellow light, it was a bright, golden expanse, dazzling to the eyes.

It's full of gold.

The currency used for Dali's transactions with the Squib was naturally not the British pound; they only accepted gold.

It's not that Squibs are all outdated, but rather that gold can be used as a form of currency in the magical world.

If the magic stone hadn't disrupted the market by turning stones into gold, gold would have been the hard currency.

After all, one of the main raw materials of Galleon is gold.

Gringotts in the wizarding world does offer a service to exchange pounds for Galleons, with 5 pounds for 1 Galleon, but the annual limit is 1 Galleons, and it is only available to young wizards studying at Hogwarts.

Ordinary people simply cannot profit from price differences. Don't think those monsters are stupid; their desire and greed for money far exceed your imagination.

Even if you take this bag of gold to Gringotts to exchange for it, you'll only get a pitiful amount of Galleons.

Galleons are gold, but gold is not the same as Galleons; they require special processing and numbering by the fairies.

After deducting the cost of the magical materials, the Squibs only earn a meager profit; the fairies take the lion's share.

It has to be said that the wizard was really reckless, actually handing over his economic lifeline to a defeated race.

"It's a pleasure working with you."

Dudley was in a good mood after getting a free Unseen Stretch Charm pouch. Without even glancing at the gold on the table, he carefully put the pouch away and said to the Squirrel.

He doesn't lack money now, he only lacks potion ingredients.

Moreover, he discovered that as long as the potions were prepared well, he was not much worse than an ordinary wizard.

Some potions are actually quite powerful.

"It's a pleasure working with you." The Squibs were naturally overjoyed to have received the gold.

As for robbing Dudley to get the potion ingredients back, they never even considered it. As Squibs, they wouldn't need the potion ingredients anyway, and these days it's hard to find someone as generous as Dudley.

Offending him would be a huge loss.

Besides, Squib can't cast spells, so what are they going to use to rob someone? Melee?

Looking at Dali's incredibly strong physique, all his previous thoughts vanished.

Dudley left the alley and soon got into a car at the agreed location. The driver then drove to a property that Dudley had bought specifically to store his potions. There was still some time before noon, so he needed to put his things away first.

There's no need to let Penny and the others, who dislike magic, see it for the time being.

It's not the right time yet, at least not now.

Please vote for me! Please keep reading! I'm begging you, dear readers!

(End of this chapter)