Sirius raised an eyebrow, his expression instantly turning serious as he answered in all earnestness:
"That's classified!"
He had no desire to let Scrimgeour go straight to Douglas to negotiate prices. That would spoil his "good thing."
Some of these products had been developed by Douglas, who had then given them the formulas;
Others were the fruits of Sirius's own research;
Dobby had also contributed several special devices designed specifically to deal with goblins.
Douglas had generously bought the finished formulas outright from the two of them, added some unknown rune, and then supplied the materials for Sirius and Dobby to handle production.
Since Sirius and Dobby were both Douglas's employees, he paid them no extra wages.
However, Douglas had given them distribution rights. They could buy stock from him and sell it to others. Douglas stayed out of pricing altogether; he only wanted his share of the profit.
Because of his status, Dobby could not openly sell these rather sensitive devices, so he had left everything entirely to Sirius, even giving him ninety percent of the profits.
To look after his good friend Moony, Sirius had brought him in to help make the devices too. But Lupin had never accepted the wages Sirius offered.
So Sirius had made his own little calculations, unceremoniously multiplying Douglas's prices tenfold. He planned to make a hefty sum off the Ministry of Magic first, then divide the proceeds according to each person's "contribution."
He knew perfectly well that if Scrimgeour went straight to Douglas, the price would certainly not be high.
Douglas had said before that they should make more to sell-the greater the quantity, the better. It was not because Douglas was some noble soul lowering prices to strengthen the Ministry of Magic.
Sirius had a vague feeling that, although he did