Inside the Academic Affairs Office.
Sirius had his feet propped casually on the desk, holding the latest issue of the Daily Prophet.
There was not a trace of anger at being attacked on his face. Instead, he wore a mocking smile that belonged to a Marauder whose prank had succeeded.
"Douglas, you have to see this."
He tossed the newspaper over, his voice full of delight.
"Lucius Malfoy has finally been unable to resist making his move. His writing is as... ornate and empty as ever."
Douglas sat leisurely opposite him. At those words, he merely raised his teacup and took a gentle sip, a mysterious smile crossing his lips.
"Let me guess,"
he said calmly after glancing at Sirius.
"Nothing but the same old clichés. For instance, our system has some sort of evil back door that reports to the Ministry of Magic how many rolls of toilet paper they have in their bathrooms?"
"More or less."
Sirius burst out laughing.
"The title is 'Beware! Who is spying on your fireplace?-Marauders Power Company's sugar-coated bullet.'"
"The article claims that although our Integrated Residential Defense Magic System provides security on the surface,
its mandatory connection to the Ministry of Magic's network is a shameless violation of every wizarding household's right to privacy."
"It also implies that this so-called back door will expose users' private information, and even the Ancient Magic passed down through their families, to surveillance by those Ministry bureaucrats.
It calls on all wizards who value freedom and tradition to join a boycott."
Every word of the article struck at the pure-blood families' sensitive, fragile nerves.
It did not attack the product's effectiveness, only the motives behind it.
"Look, apart from Lucius, the others don't even dare put their own names on it." Sirius pointed at the vague