5000 Was Such a Bargain!

5000 Was Such a Bargain!

After half a year of seeking guidance and studying, Bell had not only officially entered the field of Alchemy, but had also completed a round of Identify and Fill Gaps, making his foundations even more solid.

At the same time, by consulting several wizards with Auror backgrounds, he had learned a great deal of experience and knowledge and designed a training plan for himself.

Bell once again embarked on his journey of research and development. This time, he was confident that he would succeed!

The facts proved that Bell's instincts had not been wrong. In just one month, he successfully created the Shield Charm Ring. By channeling magic into it, a wizard could form Shield Charm protection.

The Shield Charm Ring's protective capabilities far surpassed the Shield Hat Bell remembered, but Bell was not satisfied with it at all. For wizards who had mastered the Shield Charm, this ring was meaningless.

The same was true for Bell, who had already mastered the Shield Charm.

Thus, this ring was merely a beginning. It was still far from complete.

Next, Bell planned to improve the Shield Charm Ring in two directions.

First, he would make the ring capable of storing a large amount of magic. That way, after activating it, a wizard would no longer need to consume their own magic. In a critical moment, it might save a wizard's life.

Second, he would set the ring to activate automatically when attacked. That way, if a wizard were ambushed, it could buy them time to react.

Besides the Shield Charm Ring, Bell also planned to use various existing magical items as references for further improvements and development, creating magical items that were more powerful and more practical.

For example, he could use the Sneakoscope as a reference to create magical items that could detect danger with greater precision; use the Magic Eye as a reference to create glasses that could see through concealment magic; use the Flying Broomstick as a reference to create Flying Shoes convenient for use in battle; and so on.

Bell did not know how much time and effort it would take to initially realize his ideas. But he knew that if he did not do it, he would never accomplish them!

As for hoping that someone else would invent similar magical items? Bell had never entertained such thoughts. Relying on others was inferior to relying on himself. Bell had always believed only in himself and his family.

"Bell! I heard you took five thousand Galleons to the Weasley Family today? What did you do with that much money?" William asked his Son over the dinner table.

He did not particularly care about five thousand Galleons. After all, it was only five thousand; he spent more than that on a single banquet at home. But this was money Bell had taken, so it was a different matter.

William knew that his Son's attitude toward Galleons was somewhat unusual. Bell truly did not regard money as money!

Ever since that night several years ago, when Bell had voiced his views about Galleons, William had worried that Bell would spend extravagantly. If that happened, even several more vaults full of Galleons would probably not be enough for Bell to squander!

Fortunately, things had not developed in the direction William dreaded. In fact, they had turned out even better than he had expected.

Not only had Bell not spent extravagantly, he simply did not spend money at all. He had never spent even a single Bronze Knut. Everything Bell ate, wore, and used was bought for him by his Mom, Elena.

Other than the taste of food, Bell had never asked for anything. The quality of his clothes, the value of gifts, and such things—he accepted whatever he was given and never found fault with it.

Compared to the Young Masters of other families, Bell was so well-behaved that he made his Mom happy enough to cry.

Even after Bell had recently begun hiring a Tutor and researching Alchemy, spending many Galleons and using up a great deal of magical materials, William would never stop him over such expenses. Rather, Bell could spend however much he wanted; William was more than happy to pay for it.

But today, after William returned home, he had heard that Bell had taken five thousand Galleons and apparently gone to the Weasley Family, only to return empty-handed?

The Weasley Family was so poor they could barely keep food on the table. Anything valuable they had would have been sold long ago, so what could possibly be worth five thousand Galleons? Could it be that Bell was finally dropping his disguise and starting to squander money like crazy!?

William felt that, as the head of the family, he had to firmly put a stop to Bell's wasteful behavior!

"Oh, I bought this."

Bell took a stack of parchment from his robes and handed it to his father.

William carefully flipped through it and discovered that the parchment explained how to modify a Muggle automobile?

William had indeed heard that Arthur Weasley was extremely obsessed with Muggle objects and often modified them with magic.

Strictly speaking, this behavior was somewhat against the rules. But since Weasley only amused himself with it at home, no one had the time to meddle in his affairs. At most, they would tell it as a joke for everyone to laugh about. After all, the Weasley Family was still an old Pure-blood Family. Though no one knew how they had become so poor they were nearly begging for food, their connections were still extensive.

But what use was this? William looked up and gave Bell a puzzled look.

"I think Mr. Weasley's technique is very valuable, so I bought it."

"That's it? You spent five thousand Galleons on this?"

William seriously suspected that his Son had been swindled. He decided that tomorrow, he would go settle accounts with Weasley. That piece of junk, and Weasley had actually dared to demand five thousand Galleons? It was not even worth five hundred! Had that man gone mad from poverty!?

"Yes, I thought five thousand was quite cheap. At first, Mr. Weasley refused to accept that much, insisting that a few hundred Galleons as a token would be enough. But I'm not the kind of person who takes advantage of others, so after I insisted, Mr. Weasley finally accepted it."

"..."

His plan to confront Weasley died before it could even begin.

Bell glanced up at his father's expression, which looked as though he had eaten excrement, and calmly said, "Don't worry. Five thousand really isn't expensive. This technique will bring us enormous profits."

Yeah, right. Like I'd believe that!

William ranted wildly in his heart. But reality was already what it was, and there was nothing he could change. He could only hope things would truly turn out as Bell said.

A month later, William had a banquet to attend that evening, so he returned home earlier than usual.

After changing into a handsome formal outfit and carefully tidying himself up in front of the mirror, William walked out through the castle gates with a warm smile on his face. He was going to use Side-Along Apparition to reach the banquet venue. Using Floo Powder would inevitably leave dust on him. Besides, performing long-distance Side-Along Apparition was also a display of one's abilities.

"Ah—! My eyes—!"

The instant he pushed open the doors, a dazzling light shot straight into William's eyes, leaving everything before him a sheet of blinding white. He could not see anything at all. If he had not known he was at home and that there were no signs of the Defense Barrier being breached, William would have thought he was under attack.