All Contracts

Mrs. Greengrass raised her chin. "See for yourself."

Tom picked up the parchments. Each piece was different; some were new, some were old, and some had torn edges that had been carefully repaired.

The paper was covered with writing, some in English, some in French, and some in languages Tom didn't recognize.

It was a contract! The first one was clearly the contract between Greengrass and Lestrange.

The content is: Lestrange must unconditionally do one thing for Greengrass without harming his own family's interests.

He flipped to the second page, which was with the France Pure-blood Bauer family. He had heard of this family before; the previous French Ministry of Magic was a member of the Bauer family.

Turning the page further, you'll find Avery, Carrow, Crouch, Borgin... the Sacred Twenty-Eight.

Apart from Longbottom, Weasley, Shacklebolt, the remaining twenty-five companies are all listed, some even having signed more than one contract.

Each one is a contract. Written in black and white, with a signature, a magical mark, and a date.

The earliest photos date back to the 15th century, while the most recent ones are from a little over a decade ago.

Tom gasped, looking up at Mrs. Greengrass in astonishment. "These contracts are all real?"

Mrs. Greengrass picked up her teacup and smiled demurely, "Of course it's true. Pure-blood families have marriage alliances, collaborations, and competition."

"We enjoy making friends and doing business, and over the centuries, we've gradually become 'friends' with these families."

Tom realized that the Greengrass wasn't just "well-connected"; they were creditors of all the Pure-blood families in Britain.

It's not an ordinary debt; it's the kind of debt where "you owe me a favor, and I can collect it from you anytime."

It's written in black and white, a magical constraint—you can't deny it even if you want to.

"What are the penalties for breach of contract?" Tom pressed, his eyes full of curiosity.

"Half of your magic will be permanently lost, and your lifespan will be reduced by half," Mrs. Greengrass said calmly.

"Don't worry, the binding force is extremely strong. Few wizards are willing to take this risk, since it's clearly stated in the contract that they won't lose too much benefit."

Tom whistled inwardly; this punishment was even crueler Avada Kedavra.

Avada Kedavra in one strike; once you're dead, you're dead, but your magic power and lifespan are halved, and you suffer terribly.

Therefore, very few wizards would be willing to take such a big risk and break their promise.

Tom grew increasingly curious and asked, "Professor Snape said that Voldemort had been to the castle before."

"Later, an order was issued forbidding anyone from provoking Greengrass. What exactly happened?"

Mrs. Greengrass reminisced, "I had only recently graduated, and my mother was still alive. It was she who persuaded the Dark Lord to leave."

"I remember giving him 100,000 Galleon, and ten contracts from outside Britain."

She paused, then added, "Actually, my mother secretly supports the Dark Lord, since he can bring more benefits to Pure-blood."

"But our family's ancestral teachings dictate that we shouldn't completely take sides and should rely on personal connections for survival, so this is the best we can do."

"The Dark Lord wasn't completely insane back then. He wanted to use the contracts we had to expand his overseas influence, which is why he showed us some respect."

"Unexpectedly, he was defeated by Harry Potter before he could even conquer Britain. It's so dramatic."

Tom could completely understand that the Pure-blood Slytherin were the ruling class and naturally disliked Albus Dumbledore's methods that harmed their interests.

Voldemort wasn't insane from the start; he gradually lost his mind after Harry reflected the Killing Curse and he made more and more Horcrux.

Everything comes down to perspective. Although Albus Dumbledore no longer had the support of Slytherin, the majority of students in the other three houses were Half-blood or Muggle-born.

That's why he was able to maintain firm control over Hogwarts and the Wizarding World.

Tom put the stack of contracts back on the table; even Voldemort couldn't do anything about Greengrass.

He's only a first-grader; it's better to just be friends with him.

Mrs. Greengrass looked at him. "The Sphinx eyeball you wanted last time was obtained quickly by me using a contract."

"I plan to use a portion of these contracts to help you make copies of the collections of all the Pure-blood families in the country."

"Except for a few core books that are hard to obtain, the rest should be fine, which should be helpful to you."

Tom's breath hitched for a moment. The entire library of all the Pure-blood families Pure-blood families, each with hundreds of years of accumulated knowledge, contained various secrets that were never passed down to anyone.

All the families combined, even if they can't compare to Hogwarts ' Restricted Section, can at least hold their own.

"Thank you so much, Auntie!" Tom didn't mince words, expressing his gratitude directly. "You've really helped me a lot."

"This is a win-win situation, and it's also a small token of my appreciation. However, you must understand that Greengrass will not directly take sides."

"Even if it's you and Daphne... the help I can give you can only be indirect."

"I understand, that's enough." Tom nodded, feeling quite pleased with himself.

These are resources that countless wizards could never encounter in their entire lives. What more could he possibly want?

As for ambition? He's Slytherin, you're asking him if he has ambition? That's obvious!

If someone has the ability and potential, why should a group of mediocre people point fingers at him?

Usachi poked his head out of his pocket, sniffed the parchment on the table, sneezed, and then withdrew.

Mrs. Greengrass looked at her and smiled. "This little one is quite clever."

"He just eats too much." Tom pulled Usachi out of his pocket. Its tail curled up around Tom's fingers and nestled in Tom's arms.

"The meteorite matter is already being handled; the warehouse at the fortress can last for a few days."

Stepping out of the study, Tom found the hallway quiet. He reflected on the day's conversation, lost in thought.

The power one possesses determines the rights one will pursue; this is a deserved reward, and there's nothing to be ashamed of.

Tom neither liked nor approved of Albus Dumbledore's aloof and powerful, detached nature.

A superior position is only useful when others respect you.

When Fudge finally broke off relations, wasn't Albus Dumbledore also thoroughly humiliated and forced to hide underground with the Order of the Phoenix for a year?

Having figured out Greengrass's background, Tom went all out and showed no mercy.

He then dragged Mrs. Greengrass into asking for a bunch of alchemical materials, as conducting alchemical experiments at Hogwarts was pure torture.

Everything had to be ordered by owls to Diagon Alley, but Britain alchemy wasn't popular.

The alchemy shops in Diagon Alley are small and stingy, and they're often out of stock of materials.

In fact, alchemy in Britain was just a niche hobby among wealthy wizards; they had no intention of making any powerful magical artifacts.