The Vast Muggle Market

Boys' conflicts come and go quickly.

Especially since Basil possessed the regal bearing of the King of British Legends.

Young boys like Ron couldn't help themselves.

So, unlike Harry's conflict yesterday, which was forgotten when Basil questioned Professor McGonagall, this small conflict today.

As soon as Basil glared at Ron, Ron was defeated.

"My bad. If Fanta really wanted to eat Scabbers, he probably would have done it by now."

"Mmm," Ron rubbed his stomach and walked to the bedside, picking up a Chocolate Frog from the cabinet. Its packaging was half-open, and it was no longer very active. "Want to eat it? It's leftover from the train yesterday."

"No, thanks." Basil felt a little disgusted.

Even though he had cleaned off the Scabbers jam with a Scourgify, he still couldn't accept it psychologically.

"Let's go see Harry. I asked where the hospital wing was yesterday."

This was a lie!

In reality, he had just found the hospital wing on the second floor in his mind's Hogwarts.

"Okay," Ron swallowed the Chocolate Frog in one gulp and nodded.

Have you ever seen the Gryffindor common room at 6 AM?

Percy often did.

The sun, rising earlier on the Scottish Highlands than in other regions, shone through the round window onto the scarlet tapestries.

The witch, who always had her back to them, wearing a long scarlet robe, holding her hat behind her, and looking down at a black cat sitting at her feet, would reveal her true face at this time.

The young Professor McGonagall.

He saw these scenes almost every day.

As a Gryffindor prefect, he had to wake up early every day to update the notice board next to the round entrance.

He would post school notices, various advertisements, posters, and so on.

Not to mention that today was the day the first-year students would attend their very first class.

He needed to hand out the class schedule to every new student.

Thinking this, he affixed the "Forbidden Items in the Castle" notice to the board with a sticking charm.

The moment Ron and Basil entered the common room, they saw this scene.

Percy was yawning, sitting sprawled out, waving his wand.

Ron's expression was complicated, as if he had seen something shameful.

However, he was ashamed of himself.

He had only seen the glory of being a prefect, without noticing the hardships behind it.

Percy also saw them.

He quickly sat up straight and tidied his appearance.

"You're up so early?"

Basil: "We're going to see Harry. He didn't come back last night. He's still in the hospital wing."

At this moment, Ron spoke, "This is the first time I've seen you look so tired."

"Is being a prefect that hard?"

"Is this so-called power that important?"

Percy was stunned.

He hadn't expected Ron to ask such a profound question.

Then, he nodded without hesitation, "It's important. And this isn't hard work. It's the trust the headmaster and teachers place in me."

"The fruits of this power are not bitter. On the contrary, they are incredibly sweet."

"Just thinking that someone values me, and the boost this record will give me when I look for a job after graduation, makes me incredibly excited. I'm very happy!"

He looked at Basil, "From that diagram of yours, I can see your ambition."

"The best job in the world is in the Ministry of Magic."

"It controls the food, clothing, housing, and transportation of all wizards in Britain, everything about them!

"Money, honor, respectability..."

"Everything you can think of can be obtained there."

His expression turned gloomy, "As long as you don't follow our father's example and settle for mediocrity, sacrificing your future for some so-called dream."

"Settling for the thankless, disrespected, and low-paying position of Director of the Office for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

He looked at Ron solemnly, "Ronnie, you know, have you ever gone to see your father's work environment?"

"On the second floor of the Ministry of Magic, at the end of the corridor, opposite the broom closet, it was smaller than the broom closet. As the director, he only had one subordinate. Their two desks were squeezed inside, taking up the entire space. It was even difficult to stand up and stretch.

A row of filing cabinets lined the walls around the desks, filled to the brim with documents that seemed about to spill out. More precarious stacks of files were piled on top of the cabinets.

There was very little personal space. The only usable wall space in the office was covered with things his father was particularly fond of: several car advertisements, one showing an engine disassembled; two illustrations of letterboxes cut from Muggle children's books; and a diagram showing how to install an electrical socket. Next to the already overflowing inbox on the desk was a family photo of us.

Percy's voice was low, and even after many years, he remembered the layout of the office perfectly.

Ron lowered his head, his face as red as a monkey's backside.

Basil was full of confusion.

They were quite familiar with the structure of positions within the Ministry of Magic.

Even before his memories awakened, he had heard about it all from spending his days picking mushrooms.

"Your father is the director, right? And the Office for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures is an independent department, isn't it? It's subordinate to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic."

Percy nodded, "Is there something wrong with that?"

Basil asked tentatively, "Where did you get all your knowledge about the Ministry of Magic?"

Percy composed himself.

He wasn't Ron; he keenly sensed the implied meaning behind Basil's words.

Could his father's job be that impressive?

"My father, and that picture you have. I haven't delved into the details of anything else; I've been working hard to study. I'm taking 12 classes while also serving as a prefect."

Basil took a deep breath.

"Alright, I'm about to say something groundbreaking. Don't be surprised."

"The director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is not comparable to the directors of other departments. Not to mention your father heads an independent department."

"In a way, as long as your father doesn't want to, even the Minister of Magic or the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement can't order him around."

"Judging by the department's name, it's likely that your father is the one who drafts laws regarding Muggle items."

"In fact, when it comes to laws related to Muggles, your father can take the lead in drafting them if he wishes."

Percy was still a bit confused, "No one can control him, that's indeed very good. But Muggles? What's the benefit in that?"

"Work involving Muggles. Although discriminating against Muggles is politically incorrect, no wizard looks down on it."

Basil was incredibly frustrated, "Are you crazy? Do you know the global population statistics for 1991? How many Muggles there are? 5.383 billion!"

"There are 57.4249 million Muggles in Britain alone!"

"And our total number of wizards in Britain is only about 4,000!"

"Don't you understand yet? The Muggle world is such a huge market!"

"And the laws in this area are drafted and led by your father."

"Especially now, they say there are protection laws, but in reality, all aspects of the Muggle world have infiltrated the wizarding world."

"For example, Ron's sneakers, or the suits that Fudge and other Ministry higher-ups like to wear!"

"Even our wizard robes, the kind we all wear normally, can be mass-produced by factories in the Muggle world. Or we can buy the fabric and make them ourselves!"

"And the magic cameras, apart from the spells applied to them and the developing potions, are essentially no different from Muggle ones. We could buy them in the Muggle world and modify them, instead of buying finished products for 100 Galleons at Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment."

"Let me do some calculations for you. According to the current exchange rate, 5 pounds equals 1 Galleon."

"Nowadays, cameras in the Muggle world, which are much more advanced than those in the magical world, cost only around 300 pounds, which is just 60 Galleons. As for developing potions, they're one Sickle a bottle. The spells for magic cameras aren't difficult either; you can learn them yourself."

"For just 60 Galleons and 1 Sickle, you can get a magic camera."

"And the exchange rate I'm using is the official one from Gringotts. Normal Muggle families have a limit on how many Galleons they can exchange. In the black market, let alone 5 pounds for 1 Galleon, people are willing to exchange at 40 pounds for 1 Galleon."

Ron: "50 pounds, would anyone be willing to exchange?"

He was already starting to imagine converting the few Sickles he had into pounds, then going to the Muggle world to buy fabric, stationery, and other items to sell back in the wizarding world.

Basil: "Twenty Galleons is about one-tenth of a kilogram, and the price of gold is about 10,000 pounds per kilogram, so one Galleon is worth about fifty pounds."

"If it's really 50, or even higher, wouldn't people just convert it to gold and exchange it at Gringotts?"