Destroy What You Can't Have!

After the match, Harry felt utterly awful.

A feeling of having let down the people and the audience rose within him. Harry hung his head low, not daring to meet anyone else's gaze. He was terrified of seeing disappointment in their eyes.

"Don't be sad, Harry. You flew very well," Wood said, miserable himself as he comforted the equally miserable Harry.

"But I still lost. Whether in skill or broomstick, I'm inferior to Gemini." Harry was dejected.

"Oh, enough." Fred waved a hand listlessly. "You're not the only one worse than him. He can fly without a broom, let alone while riding one."

"We all know how good you are. That guy's very existence is cheating. It isn't your fault. The result would be the same even if Charlie were here." George spread his hands.

Although everyone tried to comfort him, Harry still couldn't pull himself out of his mood.

On the Quidditch pitch, a group of little Slytherin snakes surrounded Gemini, chattering excitedly. Draco, especially, looked smug as he shouted, "I told you, the gap between your abilities isn't just a little one!"

As he spoke, he cast a triumphant glance at Harry, looking as though he were the one who had caught the Snitch.

Gemini was naturally quite happy about winning the match, though he wasn't as carried away as Draco.

On the second weekend after Slytherin defeated Gryffindor, Hufflepuff beat Ravenclaw in their match.

However, Ravenclaw's little eagles weren't too disappointed. Their new Seeker, Cho Chang, was only a second-year girl. Though she had outstanding Quidditch talent, she was still a little inferior to Hufflepuff's Cedric.

Thus ended the first Quidditch season of the school year. The final match, Slytherin versus Hufflepuff, would be held in June of the following year, after the final exams.

"Where did your broom come from?"

"I found it."

That was how Gemini answered Snape's question after the match.

Fortunately, Snape didn't make things too difficult for him. After all, Snape had been the one who said he wouldn't buy Gemini a broom, so Gemini had gotten a better one himself. It would have been rather unreasonable to blame Gemini now for not telling him.

Besides, the broom was absurdly fast, and Gemini had won the match. So Snape didn't trouble Gemini over the broom again.

Life after the match gradually settled into calmness. Other than weekly Quidditch practice and Night Wandering, nothing could stir Gemini's heart—unless the older Slytherin students came looking for trouble as a group. That might excite him a little.

Unfortunately, the Slytherin students now practically wanted to put Gemini on a pedestal...

Even peaceful days became dull after enough time had passed, and Gemini finally remembered his old trade.

From the very beginning, Gemini had known that coming to Hogwarts would inevitably affect his ability to make money.

The reason was simple: the Wizarding World's population was too small, and its economy even smaller. One could search the entire British Wizarding World and still find only a handful of people capable of swallowing a deal worth more than ten million Pounds Sterling.

Families like the Malfoys might be able to afford it, but it wasn't that Gemini looked down on them. At the end of the day, those Pure-blood families were merely living off their ancestors' wealth. They had no particularly good ways of making money.

As for why he had come to Hogwarts, on one hand, Gemini had no room to refuse. On the other, he wanted to fulfill a dream from his previous life.

This was Hogwarts. Claiming he didn't want to study here would have been complete bullshit.

But honestly, coming here had indeed affected Gemini's income.

He wasn't worried about losing a few years, but the collision between ideals and money truly made Gemini uncomfortable...

And so—

"I want to buy the Philosopher's Stone. Name your price."

It was another night of Night Wandering, and Gemini once again ran into the equally sleepless Dumbledore.

"Ho ho ho... I knew you'd be interested in that thing." Dumbledore chuckled. "Mr. Fox, how much do you think it's worth?"

"A stone with miraculous powers is still, fundamentally, a stone, no matter how miraculous those powers may be." Gemini pinched his chin and considered it seriously for quite a while. "Ten Knuts. Not a penny more."

Dumbledore seemed stunned by that shameless answer. He stared at Gemini in amazement for a long while before slowly speaking. "Minerva told me you were a child very skilled at making money. I didn't believe her before, but I do now. I think even the vampires of Eastern Europe would die of shame upon seeing you."

Gemini shrugged. "I'm flattered."

"But unfortunately, child, it does not belong to me." Dumbledore smiled kindly. "It belongs to an old friend of mine, and we have already agreed to destroy it."

"The last Philosopher's Stone in human history should count as a piece of wizarding cultural heritage, shouldn't it?" Gemini sighed lazily. "In a sense, what you're doing is a crime."

"The Philosopher's Stone's existence awakens greed in people's hearts. If it can truly disappear into history, that may not be a bad thing." Dumbledore spoke slowly.

"What a pity. It's a treasure that can turn stone into gold..." Gemini sighed wistfully. "If it were given to me, it would save me quite a bit of trouble..."

Dumbledore blinked. "It seems you don't care much about its ability to create an Elixir of Life. Instead, you're concerned with material things?"

"Who wouldn't care?" Gemini spread his hands.

It was merely an Elixir of Life, not true immortality. Just look at Nicolas Flamel in the films—his bones had become brittle.

"I'd guess the Elixir of Life can only greatly extend a person's lifespan. It definitely can't grant true immortality, so I care more about turning stone into gold. After all, money can't do everything, but without money, you can't do anything." Gemini spread his hands. "With money, I can buy whatever I want."

"I don't really agree with that way of thinking, Fox." Dumbledore felt that, as headmaster, he had an obligation to correct Gemini's mistaken ideas. "Love, time, and health—these are things money cannot buy."

"That's true..." Gemini smiled. "But you're changing the subject. Can't I have those things while also being rich? If I lacked them and also had no money, wouldn't that be even more miserable?"

Dumbledore said nothing.

"Money can satisfy most human desires, and when desires are satisfied, even if one isn't happy, one will at least experience positive emotions like joy and pleasure. If someone still claims to be unhappy under those circumstances, then they're either insatiably greedy or pretentiously hypocritical. Either way, they're not good people."

Gemini snorted. "That's why I hate people who sit atop mountains of treasure and shout every day about how unhappy they are."

The ones who regretted founding Alibaba, or claimed they didn't know their wives were beautiful...

Who were they trying to impress?

If they regretted it so much, they should donate it all! If they didn't know their wives were beautiful, then give them an ugly one! Then let's see whether they still complained!

Dumbledore felt both gratified and helpless.

He was gratified that Gemini had such a clear mind and would not stray down Voldemort's crooked path. He was helpless because Gemini's mind was far too clear, which meant he probably wouldn't walk the righteous path either...

Gemini wasn't disappointed that Dumbledore intended to destroy the Philosopher's Stone. That wasn't because he was so open-minded.

It was mainly because of the ugly mindset that if he couldn't have it, no one else should have it either...

If I can't have it, destroy it! Heh heh heh heh heh~

Of course, that ugly mindset was only self-consolation. Beyond that, Gemini was mostly simply open-minded. He liked money, yes, but what he liked even more was the sense of accomplishment that came from making money, as well as the goods in the Weapon Shop. Pure wealth held little attraction for him.

So while he found it a pity that the Philosopher's Stone would be destroyed, destroyed was destroyed. Quietly enjoying campus life at Hogwarts was quite nice too.

—I'm a dividing line—

Regarding prices during the Harry Potter era—

First, Harry Potter was set in the early 1990s, so whenever you feel a price is unreasonable, you must first consider the era!

In the early 1990s, my father's salary was a little over seven hundred yuan a month, which was considered very high in our small hometown. At the exchange rate at the time, that was only around fifty Pounds Sterling.

Earlier, I set the Leaky Cauldron's price at ten Sickles a day, including breakfast and dinner. Converted into yuan, that was nearly fifty yuan. By domestic prices at the time, that was already very expensive. Back then, a decent single room at a guesthouse cost only twenty or thirty yuan, while hotels charging fifty or sixty yuan already had very good conditions.

Even in Britain, given the Leaky Cauldron's environment as a centuries-old inn and the convenience of wizards' magic, ten Sickles was not cheap at all!

And in the original third book, The Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry paid fourteen Sickles to take the Knight Bus. For another three Sickles, he could get a sandwich and hot cocoa.

At first glance, those prices seemed high, but if you carefully looked at the place names mentioned in that passage, you would notice something.

Harry's trip from Privet Drive to the Leaky Cauldron was not direct. In that brief span of time, the Knight Bus made a complete circuit around Britain! It was faster than a damn fighter jet!

Who has ever taken a five-pound flight?

So, when it came to the prices in this book's Wizarding World market, I carefully weighed them against the economic conditions of the era and the uses of the items. Even if they were a little cheaper, they would not be too far off.

Then there was the protagonist's weapon pricing.

For instance, the Spider Serum from before. The protagonist asked for twenty million Pounds Sterling, and some people thought it was too cheap.

Honestly, it wasn't just you who thought so. I did too. If this thing were sold today, someone would definitely buy it even for two billion.

But first, everyone needs to understand one thing: if a product cannot be sold, then it has no value at all!

The sole value of a "commodity" is the money gained after selling it.

He sold it to Red for twenty million because Red could only come up with twenty million. Even if he sold his kidneys, at most he could come up with enough for an extra apple.

After assessing someone's financial strength, insisting on a price they couldn't afford might look fitting at first glance, but no one without a ten-year brain clot would do something like that...

The protagonist's goal was to make money, not show off.

If the prices of many useful items were set too high, how many people could afford them?

The Spider Serum cost only a few thousand Pounds Sterling in the Weapon Shop. He would profit even selling it for twenty thousand, let alone twenty million.

PS: The Spider Serum's initial estimate was a little too cheap. At the time, I wanted the protagonist to have some combat power early on, and I hadn't considered it thoroughly enough. But it's fine—consider it beginner benefits. The prices of future serum-type items will be adjusted.

Finally, regarding those who feel the protagonist's cheat is too easy to use, letting him casually earn tens or hundreds of millions.

That isn't actually the case.

First, the Wizarding World.

Its sparse population and narrow market alone proved that it couldn't possess excessive wealth. And not every Pure-blood family was rich, nor did being rich mean having millions or tens of millions of Galleons. That wasn't realistic. Perhaps such families existed, but there definitely weren't many.

So in terms of scale, the protagonist could not make deals worth tens or hundreds of millions in the Wizarding World. At most, he could sell novelty products, like an Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon or something...

Next was Muggle society. Given the protagonist's circumstances, it was impossible for him to sell weapons on a large scale. I had considered that idea, but my editor, Penglai, vetoed it. The main concern was censorship. Besides, the protagonist could not possibly conduct business with governments, no matter which country. It just wouldn't work. All I can say is that the waters run deep, and those who understand, understand...

One final point: I think I have made it quite clear that although Gemini was not particularly emotional and placed great importance on benefits, he was fundamentally someone with principles, boundaries, and convictions of his own.

So far, not a single reader has said they dislike Gemini's personality. That proves my characterization has been fairly successful, or at least that he is quite likable.

And isn't the reason everyone likes him precisely because he has gentlemanly manners, a sense of humor, as well as principles and boundaries?

If the protagonist went around stabbing several Muggle millionaires to death and then suddenly got filthy rich on the spot, sure, it would feel satisfying—but once you came to your senses, wouldn't it also be rather boring?

So even though his cheat is fairly powerful, because of the various restrictions and limitations, during the first half he may be strong, but only compared to ordinary people. Don't worry about the power balance. I will keep it balanced.

That's all, then!