Piracy Runs Rampant

"Harry, thank goodness, you're here!"

Hagrid had rescued Harry from Knockturn Alley. Mrs. Weasley happily pulled Harry away from Hagrid and took a large brush from her bag, dusting the soot off him.

"You said the wrong address when you used Floo Powder just now. Luckily, you didn't end up too far away." Mr. Weasley asked, "Where did you go?"

"I went to Knockturn Alley. I saw Malfoy and his father arguing with the owner of Borgin and Burkes—the greasy old man who was always hunched over," Harry said hurriedly.

"Perhaps he wanted to get rid of some Dark magic items. Hmph, sooner or later, I'll catch him out," Mr. Weasley said.

Canopus listened quietly beside them. If he remembered correctly, Lucius had been selling off things from his home that could not see the light of day to Borgin this time.

But Borgin had nearly drained all his cash flow buying the fertility potion a few days ago. With Borgin short on money, the two were probably arguing over the price.

However, Lucius's goal was not to make money, but to get the items off his hands, so he had likely suffered quite a loss.

"Come on, children. Let's go withdraw some money from Gringotts." Mr. Weasley patted each member of his family in turn, straightened his back, and headed toward Gringotts.

The Grangers were in the Gringotts lobby, asking how to exchange pounds for Galleons. Hermione's parents looked somewhat uneasy, while Hermione herself seemed perfectly calm.

"Hi, I'm over here!"

Seeing the Weasleys and her friends, Hermione waved happily.

Mr. Weasley was deeply interested in Muggles and insisted on dragging the Grangers to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink. The Grangers also wanted to learn about the wizarding world through Mr. Weasley, so they agreed to go together once the Weasleys had withdrawn their money.

Canopus had no need to withdraw money. He remained in the Gringotts lobby and sat down to chat with the Grangers.

"Young Mr. Canopus, thank you for looking after Hermione at school," Mrs. Granger said.

"Just call me Canopus, ma'am." Canopus smiled. "Hermione is a very strong girl, and a clever witch as well."

The Grangers both smiled, proud of their daughter.

"I heard you come from a wizarding family, Canopus?" Mr. Granger asked.

"That's right. Why do you ask?"

"I'm curious—what sort of work could a girl like Hermione do after graduating from Hogwarts?"

Canopus felt that the Grangers were overly worried because they did not know enough about the wizarding world.

So, he roughly outlined several career paths in the wizarding world for them.

Canopus held up his fingers as he counted. "The first is joining the Ministry of Magic, like Mr. Weasley."

"The second is joining some sort of... business, like this place." Canopus pointed at the human clerks in one corner of the Gringotts lobby.

"Another option is using your own intelligence and talent to invent special magical items and become your own boss."

"That sounds much the same as our world," Mrs. Granger said, visibly relieved.

"Yes, we're all people. How different can we really be?" Canopus said with a smile. "Besides, with Hermione's intelligence and talent, she'll have no problem whichever path she chooses."

What Canopus did not say was that all these paths were controlled by the great wizarding families. Wizards from ordinary backgrounds could hardly ever rise to prominence.

Voldemort had used the banner of pure-blood supremacy to fool countless pure-blood wizards into dying for him. If not for the two wars, past and yet to come, devastating the pure-blood population, Hermione probably would not have become Minister for Magic even in the original story.

After chatting with the Grangers for a while, Harry and the others returned to the lobby. Mrs. Weasley's small bag was bulging, apparently stuffed full of Galleons.

"Honestly, thank you, Canopus," Mr. Weasley said quietly. "This year, every child can have new robes and new textbooks."

Canopus shook his head. "This is the result of your work, Uncle. There's nothing to thank me for."

"All right, then. This is the last time." Mr. Weasley winked.

Canopus did not want this matter to become a burden on Mr. Weasley's mind. There was no need for relatives to keep such careful accounts between themselves.

"All right!" Mr. Weasley raised his voice. "Go have a look around, children. We'll meet in front of Flourish and Blotts in an hour!"

The large group of children received twice their usual spending money from Mrs. Weasley and cheered as they disappeared into the crowd.

The Weasleys took the Grangers to the Leaky Cauldron, while Canopus and the trio strolled around the streets at leisure.

"Did everyone see this year's book list? Who is this Gilderoy Lockhart?" Hermione asked. "He's written so many books!"

"No idea. My mum really likes him," Ron muttered.

"Maybe he's a famous wizard?" Harry was curious too.

"Hermione, how long would it take you to write a fourteen-inch essay?" Canopus suddenly asked.

"A few hours, if I had reference books," Hermione answered at once.

"Professor Lockhart has written book after book. I really don't know how he managed to be so productive while going on adventures." Canopus subtly tried to prepare Hermione for what was to come.

Hermione frowned. She was not particularly pleased by Canopus's words. Still, she did not rush to defend Lockhart. After all, they would be seeing each other every day for the next year. It would not take long to find out what sort of person he was.

An hour later, the Weasleys, Canopus, and the others met up again outside Flourish and Blotts.

A huge photograph of a blond, curly-haired wizard stood at the entrance. It was Gilderoy Lockhart. He was holding a book signing inside Flourish and Blotts, and the store was packed with middle-aged women. He really was a housewife killer.

Just as they were about to squeeze their way inside, a somewhat sleazy voice sounded beside them.

"Are you Hogwarts students?"

Everyone turned to look at the speaker. He was a short, fat man with unshaven stubble, dressed in filthy robes that smelled of smoke.

"Oh, Mundungus, they let you out so soon?" Mr. Weasley stepped forward, shielding the children behind him. "Don't tell me you're planning to cast a spell at me from behind again."

"How could that be? Arthur, I was just confused for a moment—just a moment," Mundungus said with a dry laugh.

"I've got legitimate business today, see?" Mundungus whipped open his robe, revealing dozens of Lockhart's books stuffed into the pockets lining the inside.

"Very cheap. I'm only charging a little for my trouble."

Kano did his best not to laugh. He had sent Kreacher to approach Mundungus and have him sell Lockhart's pirated books.

Mundungus had wanted to pull his usual profiteering tricks, but Kreacher told him there were plenty of people with nothing to eat who would gladly do the job. It did not have to be him.

So he had been forced to sign a binding magical contract. He alone could sell the pirated books to Hogwarts students at a price only slightly above Kano's printing costs. Each person could buy at most one set, and every condition had to be met.

That tiny markup was Mundungus's payment for his trouble. The more he sold, the more he earned.

"Oh, Mundungus, you're truly shameless!" As a Lockhart fan, Mrs. Weasley's eyes widened.

Kano inwardly thought this was bad. Mrs. Weasley was probably going to boycott the pirated editions.

"I'll take five sets!" Mrs. Weasley declared grandly, waving her hand.