The Ministry of Magic had banned East-West trade?
Dennis gaped, his once-rosy face now as white as paper. No longer caring about the sickening stench inside the shop, he asked shakily:
"Why did the Ministry cut it off? Wasn't there talk of making it a Ministry monopoly?"
Giggs waved his Dragonhide Gloves-clad hands about, muttering irritably:
"How should I know? All I know is there's no stock left. Not a scrap.
Ah..."
The Wizarding World's system of family-run cottage industries meant demand at his shop had always been steady.
But steady sales also meant there was little chance of making a fortune.
Remembering the dizzying surge in sales a little while ago, Giggs licked his lips and sighed inwardly.
Those had truly been good times-those potions and herbology masters had waved glittering Galleons around, frantically buying products from the East.
They had been desperate to discover what new research results these things they had never encountered before might yield.
This was an entirely untouched field! They only had to accomplish something to become pioneers, and fame and fortune would flow to them like water.
Just like this Giggs before him, a mediocre junior member of the Potions Association who could not even brew Advanced Potions properly.
Through sheer luck, he had added that eastern plant called "ginseng" to an Invigoration Draught, creating a Super Tonic Potion and making a handsome profit.
Giggs still remembered what Dennis had looked like when he first came here to buy ingredients.
He had worn ragged, patched clothes and stood hunched over. Apparently, he had ruined his employer's potion and nearly lost even his underwear paying compensation.
He had spent his last little bit of money on ingredients, putting everything into the Invigoration Draught he brewed best.
Now he could even afford a Transcendence hat!