Runcorn

The Isle of Wight is indeed beautiful, with stunning scenery and a pleasant climate; it's truly a rare and wonderful holiday destination.

Sirius had already spoken to Mr. Granger on the phone, and the excited Mr. Granger expressed his desire to at least spend a proper summer vacation on the Isle of Wight.

"Mr. Granger wants to spend the summer vacation, what do you think?" Sirius asked Harry.

"Whatever," Harry said nonchalantly. "There are only a few people in the Dueling Club anyway, so we can practice wherever we are."

Sirius agreed to Mr. Granger's suggestion. He then spoke with Mr. Weasley and Lucius, and after receiving a definite answer, they finalized their holiday plans.

It's clear that Lucius is as calm as a rock and not flustered at all.

Malfoy Manor is now protected by the Fidelius Charm, and Harry is the Secret Keeper of the sworn brotherhood.

This brings us to Lucius's intelligence; he was certainly much smarter than James.

Choosing Harry as the Secret Keeper was absolutely the right decision, arguably even better than choosing Dumbledore.

After all, you can't just arrest Harry and torture him, can you?

After spending two days at Grimmauld Place, Number 12, guests arrived at the mansion early on the third day.

The Malfoy family remained true to their Pure-blood aristocratic manners, dressed impeccably, as if attending a high-level meeting rather than going on vacation.

The Weasley family, were much more casual, dressed no differently from their everyday clothes.

A woman appeared beside Bill, her silver hair flowing smoothly in the breeze. It was Phoebe Delacour, a warrior of Beauxbatons.

A former Warriors player is still a Warrior.

Judging from the way their fingers were intertwined, Harry knew that the two of them were already a couple.

"Bill seems to be quite adept at romance," Harry thought to himself. "No wonder he's a man like Sirius; he's truly unbeatable when it comes to picking up girls."

Mrs. Weasley seemed somewhat displeased; she appeared to dislike Phoebe, but refrained from saying anything out of consideration for her eldest son.

The Granger family arrived last, as Mr. Granger had to drive them there.

When the men get together, they're bound to cause some trouble.

Sirius winked and beckoned a few men to go to the yard to show off his new car. Even inside the house, exclamations of surprise could be heard from the yard every now and then.

It's clear they all really like this one.

Lucius, in particular, knew that Mr. Weasley had made such Muggle cars before, but he had also seen the actual product—the car that Mr. Weasley made was not only cheap, but also a bit old and worn out, which did not fit Lucius's aesthetic at all.

However, the Bentley that Sirius designed perfectly suited Lucius's aesthetic.

"How much would it cost to get one of these?" Lucius asked, stroking his chin.

"Ten thousand Galleon," Sirius said with a smile, then lowered his voice and added, "This is through official channels. If you go through unofficial channels, a few dozen Galleon would suffice."

Lucius, who was already excited when he heard about 10,000 Galleon, became even more agitated when he heard about several dozen Galleon.

"You mean?" Lucius raised an eyebrow, "... using some magical means?"

This is coded language; Lucius, maintaining his composure, could not possibly bring up topics like robbery, and could only speak cryptically.

"Not quite," Sirius said with a chuckle. "You should know that some of the wizards' potions are highly sought-after in the Muggle world. For example, Potions that can cure some terminal illnesses are simply unavailable in the Muggle world." "You mean?" Lucius was even more excited. He wasn't thinking about the car now, but about the road that would make the Malfoy family great again.

"What else can I say?" Sirius shrugged. "Anyway, I think this path is pretty good, at least it has good prospects. But as you know, the Magical World these days, especially the British wizarding world, is full of old fogies. They don't think about how to make the Magical World better at all; their minds are full of backstabbing and infighting—"

"I know, you mean Fudge." Lucius nodded. "I've heard that Barty Crouch Sr. has been removed from his position as Director of the Division for International Relations and Cooperation, and someone else will be taking over—"

"It's me," Mr. Weasley cleared his throat and said, "And the position of Director of the Department for the Prevention of Muggle Misuse is being prepared to be handed over to Sirius Black."

Lucius leaned back strategically, filled with awe.

Merlin, how should I put it?

It must be admitted that the Ministry of Magic has truly brilliant foresight.

They have never made a mistake in choosing the head of the Division for the Prevention of Muggle Article Abuse.

Look at Mr. Weasley, he's a complete madman who abuses Muggle items.

As for Sirius Lucius, there's no guarantee how crazy this rebellious guy will get when he misuses Muggle items.

"So I've decided to take these things a long time to think about." Sirius smiled and looked at Mr. Granger, then at the other two of his peers. "The Muggle World is a treasure trove waiting to be explored. I believe that the Greater German Ministry of Magic under Miss Grindelwald's rule will not be content to keep wizards hidden in the background forever, so—we should also adapt to the times."

"You mean, let the Muggle know about the wizards?" Lucius frowned.

"No, of course not," Sirius said with a laugh. "We definitely shouldn't be the first to stick our necks out, but we can prepare in advance, spread our business among Muggle, and develop our operations. We can't just stand by and do nothing in the face of future changes, can we?"

"That's true," Lucius nodded in agreement. "If that's the case, then I have no objection—how many Galleon do I need to pay?"

"I think we can discuss this at our leisure, Lucius," Sirius said with a chuckle. "Our vacation is still a long way off. It's July 4th now, and I think our holiday will last until August 31st."

"We can discuss this carefully until then, can't we?"

"Okay." Lucius nodded in approval.

Around afternoon, everyone had arrived, and Pabbie brought the the Scamander family to Grimmauld Place, Number 12.

Cedric came too, and of course, he wasn't the only one.

"Amos!" Mr. Weasley said, laughing as he strode toward the man behind Cedric.

He was a red-faced wizard with a short brown beard, who seemed quite cheerful.

"Let me introduce you all. This is Amos Diggory," Mr. Weasley said, turning to the group. "He works in the Department of Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures— and this is his son, Cedric. I think you all know him, right?"

?

"Of course I know him." Cedric smiled shyly. "Harry and I are quite close; we're both members of the Dueling Club."

"Good heavens!" Amos Diggory's eyes widened instantly as he spotted Harry. "Harry? Harry Potter?"

Harry was used to the surprised reactions people had when they saw him, and he was used to everyone's first glance falling on the lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

"Of course, Cedric talked about you," Amos Diggory said with a laugh. "He told me about the Triwizard Tournament, and I told him, 'Cedric, you can tell your grandchildren about this someday. Just say you witnessed the birth of a legend!'"

You know what, Mr. Diggory's words were quite likable; at least everyone had a pretty good impression of him.

"Alright, it's about time," Sirius said, stepping forward. "I think we should leave too."

"Heading to the Isle of Wight —I've prepared Thestral carriage, but it's enchanted with Untraceable Extension Charm, large enough for us all to fit inside. Let's go."

They boarded the Thestral carriage, whose interior was as spacious as the Hogwarts Express carriages.

It has everything inside, including a bar, dining table, and sofa.

Fred and George cheered and were the first to walk to the sofa, turning back to ask, "Anyone want to play cards? How about something new—one of the new ones we learned?"

"Playing cards?" Mr. Granger asked with a smile as he walked over. "Is that a game wizards play?"

"No, I learned it from Muggle," Fred said honestly. "What's it called—well, blackjack."

"Oh, I know how to do that," Mr. Granger said with a smile. "But the adults have some other things to discuss. Perhaps you could play a few more times, what do you say?"

And so it was happily decided that Hermione would temporarily act as the card dealer.

"Why me!" Hermione exclaimed angrily. "I was planning to read a book!"

"Silly girl," Fred and George said in unison, "This is a time for everyone to get together. It's no fun if you go out and read by yourself. Come on, let's play some cards."

Several adults sat at the bar in the distance, drinking and chatting.

Meanwhile, the children on the sofa were excitedly preparing to start a new game.

"There always has to be a wager," Fred said. "Let's think about what to bet on, what do you say?"

"Want to keep the bet?" Ron asked, raising his hand.

"Oh, you don't have to play, my dear Ronnie little darling," George said, rolling his eyes.

Ron didn't want to back down; he actually really wanted to have some fun.

"If you want to play, there has to be a corresponding stake," Fred said with a grin. "The stake is Knut, how about it?"

I believe you can afford it; Mom gave you dozens of Galleon as pocket money.

The Weasley family are now living a much better life, and the Mr. and Mrs. Weasley have become increasingly generous—like Ron.

My allowance for a semester was a full twenty Galleon, something I never dared to dream of before.

Just two years ago, the Weasley family were very poor; now, they have finally become a well-off family in the Magical World.

But Mr. Weasley's ideas clearly went beyond that; he also wanted the Weasley family to move up in the social ladder.

As the saying goes, water flows downhill, and people's hearts always want to go higher once they reach a certain level. That's the same principle.

"Come on, let me explain the rules to you briefly," Fred said. "The goal of the game is to get your hand's total points as close to 21 as possible, but not more than 21. The game uses one to eight decks of Poker Cards. Each player starts with two cards, and the dealer receives two cards, one face up and one face down. K, Q, J, and 10 cards are counted as 10 points, and A can be counted as 1 or 11 points."

Other cards are valued at face value. If a player starts with an Ace and a 10, forming a "Blackjack" hand, and the dealer doesn't have the same hand, the player wins 1.5 times the winnings. The player can choose to continue drawing cards or stand, exceeding 21...

If you click, you'll "bust".

"Do you understand everything?" he asked again.

"Understood," everyone said in unison.

Fred began dealing the cards, giving two cards to each person.

"What do you say?" He looked at Ron, the first one.

"Get the cards," Ron said.

"No," Fred said, "Normally people don't say 'get the cards.' If you want the cards, you have to say that."

As he spoke, Fred tapped the table twice with his finger.

"Do you understand?" he asked.

Following Fred's instructions, Ron revealed his cards again, but instead of banging them on the table, he said, "No."

"No, it's not that I don't want to." Fred held out his hand, palm down, and waved it in front of him, instructing him to say, "Like this."

Ron exclaimed "Ah!" and waved his hand, mimicking Fred's gesture.

"That's right," Fred said with a smile, and continued to ask the next person if they wanted cards.

They fought for almost an hour and a half, ultimately ending with Ron emerging victorious.

"No?" Fred asked, somewhat bewildered. "How can you be so lucky?"

"Guess?" Ron said with a big laugh. He was overjoyed. Winning money was always a happy thing, and making his two older brothers question their existence was undoubtedly even more exciting.

Not far away, Bill and Phoebe sat peacefully by the window, holding hands and resting with their eyes closed.

I really don't know what couples in love are thinking. They can stay in this position all day without getting bored.

Harry was lying on the sofa, his head resting on Cassandra's lap, watching everyone play cards, when suddenly a wave of drowsiness washed over him, and his eyelids began to droop.

It must be admitted that Cassandra and Pabbie are quite different.

After all, you can't see Pabbie's face when you're lying on her lap, but you can clearly see Cassandra 'Cassandra little face when you're lying on her lap.

Sometimes this isn't a good thing.

As Harry thought this, drowsiness gradually crept in.

"Did you find it?"

In his dazed state, Harry thought he heard a voice like that.

It was very familiar; Harry immediately associated it with Voldemort.

"Of course, my master."

A creepy voice came from the other side, and Harry looked up to find himself in what seemed to be a cave.

He looked ahead and saw a figure with his back to him, wearing a classic black robe; it was clearly Voldemort.

Before Voldemort lurked a sleeping dragon.

The image of that dragon felt incredibly familiar to Harry.

It was him.

Runcorn?!