You Didn't Take a Cut, Did You? Transfiguration Deduction!

Fudge stared blankly at his aide, the number the man had reported still ringing in his ears. It felt utterly unbelievable.

For a moment, he suspected that his aide had misread the figure, or that he himself had misheard it.

More than six thousand Galleons?!

How could a little wizard possibly spend that much?!

Yet after repeatedly confirming it with his aide, Fudge received the same answer.

He staggered, then snatched the stack of bills from his aide's hands.

"Let me see what Charle bought that could possibly cost over six thousand Galleons!"

As bill after bill entered his sight, Fudge's expression shifted constantly.

"Eighty Deluxe Meals from the Leaky Cauldron..."

"???"

"Wait, eighty a day?"

"Monthly billing?!"

"Damn it, do you think I've never been to the Leaky Cauldron? One serving would stuff me to bursting. Charle eats eighty servings every day?"

"Even if he were feeding Mountain Trolls—or dragons—in a room at the Leaky Cauldron, it wouldn't take this much!"

But that bill was merely a drop in the bucket. More invoices with outrageous amounts followed.

"Honeydukes mail-order sweets, one hundred of every kind..."

"Hiss, isn't he afraid his teeth will rot from all that sugar?"

"Has no one taught him that children can't eat too much candy?"

"Damn it, I said it long ago! Dumbledore, that Hogwarts headmaster, is always eating strange sweets. Like teacher, like student—the children haven't even enrolled yet, and he's already led them astray!"

If those bills were still barely within the range Fudge could accept—

Then the bills from Ollivander's Wand Shop, Flourish and Blotts, and the many shops in Diagon Alley that sold magical items turned Fudge's face livid. He completely lost it.

"What is going on? Why are there so many wand bills? There are twenty wands being submitted for reimbursement!"

"And all these magical items—Flourish and Blotts alone has a book bill of nearly three thousand Galleons?"

"Damn it, wasn't our agreement with Charle that only food expenses could be reimbursed? Nothing for other purposes was supposed to be covered, so why are these bills still being sent over?"

"At this rate, he'll spend all our political donations before long!"

Fudge glared at the aide who had drafted the Magical Agreement, his eyes full of suspicion.

"You didn't leave a loophole in the agreement so you could take a cut, did you?!"

The aide looked on the verge of tears.

"No, I really didn't!"

Fudge's expression was dark.

"You didn't take a cut?"

"Believe it or not, I'll bring over some Veritaserum and ask you myself."

The aide choked for a moment before hurriedly saying,

"As for taking cuts... Minister, you know how it is. How many people in the Ministry of Magic, top to bottom, don't take cuts?"

"But when I drafted Charle's agreement, everything was so rushed. Dumbledore was there too. I was focused entirely on getting the job done—how would I dare?"

"There is truly nothing wrong with the Magical Agreement. Every reimbursement request checks the buyer's true intent. Even if he buys food, if he is thinking about sharing it with companions rather than eating it himself when he submits the claim, the bill cannot pass."

Fudge frowned and pressed him.

"Then what is happening now?"

"The Leaky Cauldron meals and Honeydukes sweets—I'll let those slide."

"But how did the wand bills get approved? Twenty wands—are you going to tell me he dipped them in Salt and Pepper and Ketchup and ate them like chips?"

"And all those magical shop items. He bought a hundred bloody Quick-Quotes Quills alone—enough for an entire Hogwarts House! Did he buy them to suck on like bloody lollipops?"

"Not to mention the books from Flourish and Blotts. Over three thousand Galleons! How much parchment is that? Can Charle eat all of it?"

"So how exactly did these reimbursements get approved?"

The aide was drenched in sweat.

"Perhaps he truly is a once-in-a-generation genius who found some kind of loophole in the Magical Agreement?"

"Investigate. We have to investigate!"

"We can't let him use our Magical Agreement as a way to fleece us. We must regulate what he uses it for and make sure he truly ate what he bought, rather than charging every expense to us!"

Fudge nodded, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes.

"An investigation is inevitable. Otherwise, how much money would be enough for Charle to keep claiming reimbursements like this?"

"But I just used this matter for publicity and received widespread praise from the Wizarding World. That hasn't happened much since I took office."

"If we investigate it openly now, wouldn't all that effort have been wasted?"

"Besides, Dumbledore was present when this agreement was signed. He will certainly defend Charle. We must consider Dumbledore's opinion as well, and deciding who to send is another problem..."

After pondering for a moment, Fudge's eyes lit up as he thought of someone.

"I recall that among this year's Hogwarts graduates, there was a Metamorphmagus currently training as a Trainee Auror, correct?"

The aide immediately replied,

"Yes. A girl named Tonks."

"She was born with Metamorphmagus abilities and can alter her appearance. She is practically a natural at infiltration and disguise."

Fudge clapped his hands.

"Send her to investigate. Have her secretly gather evidence and find out whether there is a problem with the Magical Agreement, and whether Charle really ate all the things he bought."

"Once we have the evidence, we won't have to fear Dumbledore even if he speaks up."

"Besides, Tonks just graduated from Hogwarts. Compared to the Ministry's Aurors, she is more like Charle's senior schoolmate."

"With that identity, it won't seem overly sensitive even if someone finds out."

The more Fudge thought about it, the more he felt this was another stroke of genius.

"Making Dumbledore's person investigate Dumbledore's person—could I, Fudge, really be a political genius?!"

The aide beside him praised the idea highly, though he still raised one concern.

"But Minister, it may take Tonks some time to finish her investigation. What if Charle keeps submitting reimbursements like this in the meantime?"

Fudge shrugged.

"Nothing we can do. Until we gather evidence, let Charle keep claiming them."

"But we need to press Malfoy and those other families for more political donations."

A sneer appeared on his face.

"Who told them to have such huge weaknesses for us to exploit? If the little treasury is short on money, who else are we supposed to squeeze?"

"Go urge them. Let them suffer a little—the infamy will be mine to bear."

While Fudge and his aide were plotting how to investigate Charle—

Inside the Leaky Cauldron, Charle had more than a dozen Quick-Quotes Quills clenched between his teeth, sucking out their ink as though they were lollipops.

Whenever the frequency of the Deduction Point notifications in his mind slowed, he would bite through the quills, convert even their shafts into Deduction Points, then casually pull out another magical item from the large box beside him and start chewing on it.

At the same time, Charle was reading the massive tome Transfiguration: From Introduction to Interment.

It contained every piece of Transfiguration knowledge Hogwarts students needed to learn from first year through seventh year, touching upon every branch of Transfiguration—Vanishing, Conjuring, Human Transfiguration, Animagus Transformation, and Summoning.

Put simply, it was a Transfiguration reference book more complex, comprehensive, and in-depth than the standard textbooks.

If one thoroughly mastered this book, they would receive an Outstanding in every Transfiguration examination across all seven years at Hogwarts, even in NEWT-level courses.

Charle had initially considered studying works in Potions or Alchemy first. After all, brewing Potions and creating Alchemical Items could greatly speed up his acquisition of Deduction Points.

But considering that Quirrell would soon break into Gringotts, that chance to become rich overnight was simply too good to miss.

Besides, Potion brewing and Alchemical Item crafting were both practical disciplines. Books could explain the principles, but the true essence was often passed down orally—or even taught hand to hand.

Not to mention that he would need to purchase all sorts of rare materials. Buying ingredients for the purpose of brewing Potions could not pass the Ministry of Magic agreement's checks and therefore could not be reimbursed.

So Charle planned to study those two fields in depth after arriving at Hogwarts. For now, his priority was increasing his immediate combat strength.

And Transfiguration could greatly enhance a wizard's overall strength.

An outstanding Transfiguration master might not necessarily possess exceptional combat ability, but they would never be weak.

For a wizard to become truly top-tier, Transfiguration was an indispensable part of the equation.

There was an important reason for that: many applications of Transfiguration required no incantation, and sometimes not even a Wand.

For example, Sirius Black had his Wand confiscated, yet he was still able to escape Azkaban using Animagus Transformation.

In the original story, Dumbledore and Voldemort had also engaged in a spectacular Transfiguration battle.

During that Transfiguration duel, neither side uttered any incantations, and the rhythm of their exchanges shifted at astonishing speed.

If an ordinary wizard had been drawn into that stage of the battle, they would not even have had the chance to act before being defeated on the spot by swift, agile, silent Transfiguration.

Even Professor McGonagall, who had always been humble and cautious, had once said something like this regarding Transfiguration.

She believed that Transfiguration was more elegant than other branches of magic—and also superior.

Professor McGonagall was never an arrogant person. The fact that she could say such a thing showed just how profound Transfiguration was and how crucial an influence it had on a wizard's strength.

That was why Charle had opened a Transfiguration book first to obtain material.

By now, even though he was merely mechanically turning pages and sweeping his gaze over every line to provide material for Deep Blue, Charle had already been reading for more than five hours.

He finally turned the last page of Transfiguration: From Introduction to Interment.

Then Deep Blue's mechanical notification sounded in his mind.

"The host has obtained a large amount of Transfiguration material. The point cost of the initial Transfiguration deduction has been greatly reduced."

"Would you like to consume 5,000 points to conduct the initial Transfiguration deduction?"

At the sound of that notification, fervor appeared in Charle's eyes.

Previously, the initial deduction of Transfiguration had required a full fifty thousand points. Now, the cost had fallen dramatically.

Though obtaining additional material could further reduce the cost of the initial deduction, the effect would no longer be that significant.

The sooner he deduced it, the sooner he could enjoy the results!

Charle took a deep breath.

"Deep Blue, run the deduction!"