Harry's confinement is finally over.
Besides serving as a quill for Professor Lockhart and Director Lorne, Harry also went to Professor Snape to peel gallbladders from toads and to Filch to tidy up his dusty cupboards. He even discovered Filch's letter about learning spells quickly.
He even went to ask Hermione about this, Hermione told him that Filch was likely a Squib, able to see magical traces but unable to use magic.
" Squib are most likely non-wizard children born to wizard parents. They are not Muggle, but Squib usually return to the Muggle world."
Harry asked astutely, "So, can there be Squib among Pure-blood too? What will they do then? Abandon the child?"
Hermione shook her head. "I don't know either."
Harry felt a little disappointed. If he had known the answer, he might have been able to develop new phrases for his next verbal battle with Draco, such as "Your babies are Squib."
Theodore Nott is the only son of the Old Nott and the young master of the Nott Family. He maintains a Pure-blood relationship with Draco.
He was unusually out of control today.
After class, he walked up to Draco, and with just one look, he scared Crabbe and Goyle away. He led Draco to the secluded Black Lake and said angrily, "I didn't know the Malfoy family would play these little economic tricks like Muggle."
Draco, confused, asked, "What?"
"Your father!" Theodore stepped forward, his rage making him appear exceptionally agitated. "He encouraged my father to acquire the cards while he stood by and watched. Now the Magic Mobile Phone Shop is openly selling the cards, and all the effort and assets my father invested have gone down the drain."
Draco frequently wrote to his family and knew some of the details; he couldn't tolerate anyone humiliating his father in front of him. " Theodore, these assets are nothing to your family."
"But this made him lose face completely. He complained to me about the Malfoy family's political betrayal, and he's been being ridiculed by others at the Ministry of Magic lately."
"Stop making baseless accusations. As far as I know, it was your father who started the acquisitions."
"He just wanted to play a game, what did he do wrong?" Theodore angrily turned and left.
Draco wasn't in a hurry. In the circle of Pure-blood families descendants, apart from some senior students, Draco was already considered a genius.
His academic performance was among the best of the Pure-blood families scions, and his attitude towards external affairs and political decisions far surpassed theirs.
Regardless of the circumstances, his father's actions were indeed wrong; he couldn't have just encouraged the Nott Family and other Pure-blood to act while remaining a bystander.
It's estimated that the Malfoy family will be targeted for a while, but it doesn't matter. Political alliances between Pure-blood families are based on interests and blood ties; they are always in the same boat.
Lucius also had something to say.
It wasn't that he didn't try to acquire them; it's just that he wasn't aware of the market price at the time, and the acquisition price was too low. He was secretly amazed by the Nott Family's boldness in offering such a high price for acquisitions, which led to the situation where, by the time he followed suit, there were no cards left in circulation on the market.
The price went up smoothly, and the hype proceeded steadily—but who would have thought that Magic Mobile Phone Shop would miss the opportunity to turn its cards into luxury goods and collectibles, and instead openly offer cheap cards and redemption codes?
This made the Pure-blood families who hoarded the goods look like clowns.
Although the Malfoy family did not suffer any financial or reputational losses, the fact that they did not suffer any losses was the biggest loss of all. Recently, Old Nott has stopped greeting them whenever he sees them, acting as if they've encountered Muggle.
It's all that wretched Lorne Myles's fault, that cunning Muggle street vendor!
Lorne sneezed.
He doesn't have time to pay attention to these things now; ever since the rare items section came out, he's developed a new habit.
Go to sleep after midnight.
He wanted to see firsthand what strange and unusual items would appear in the rare goods section.
So far, Lorne has purchased Decayed Time-Turner, Sneakoscope that can detect traces of magic, the scales of Chinese Fireball, a transparent nightgown, and all sorts of inexpensive and high-quality magical Yaoyao.
What will today be?
No wonder everyone loves opening blind boxes; the thrill of it is truly irresistible.
Lorne was lying in bed, using his Levitation Charm to eat the grapes his students had brought him, but when he saw the product name under the golden light after the page refreshed, Lorne froze on the spot, even his Levitation Charm stopped abruptly, and the plump grapes rolled all over the bed.
Lorne didn't even look at the price; he simply tapped his finger and bought it.
The distorted feeling made Lorne feel as if he were lying on a cloud, and he immediately took out the items he had just bought.
A book.
" A Detailed Guide to Making Magic Mobile Phones "
The next day, when Lorne was attending Gryffindor, Ron couldn't help but ask with concern, "Master, your dark circles look like the visual residue from some kind of spell Seamus cast on you."
Lorne waved his hand, trying to indicate that he was alright, but when he saw Ron, he suddenly remembered that Mr. Weasley was very interested in Muggle mechanical gears, wasn't he?
He desperately needs an expert's help.
The book divides the creation of the Magic Mobile Phone into Ministry of Magic and non- Ministry of Magic. No one has been able to create the Magic Power Matrix for the Ministry of Magic yet. He checked and found that it was sold in the store. The Magic Power Matrix with the stone tablet was priced at three points of Power of Emotion.
As for the non- Ministry of Magic, Lorne understood even less. What was gear torque ratio? What was pressure angle? What was pitch circle? He was here to be an assembly line worker, not to take a college entrance exam!
Lorne desperately wanted to control this core technology, but he was too dull-witted and lacked knowledge. He decided to leave the professional work to the professionals, since only he could provide the Magic Power Matrix anyway.
" Ron, may I ask about your father's working hours?"
"Monday to Friday, 9 a. m. to 5 p. m.," Ron thought for a moment, "But sometimes there's overtime, and no overtime pay. That's what happened last time he worked all night checking for contraband."
Lorne's lips twitched. No wonder so many people coveted positions in the Ministry of Magic. Nine to five and weekends off—it was definitely better than being the head of the General Affairs Office, who had to ask for leave just to go back to the shop this weekend and worked eighteen hours a day.
"Okay," Lorne nodded. "Is there anything you need me to tell your family? I might be visiting your home soon."
"Yes!" Ron shouted, then looked around, shyly pulling out his wand, which had been broken in two and wrapped in bandages. "After I was hit by my own spell last time, I just angrily gave it a light slam, and it broke."
" Director Lorne, could you please ask my mother if she has any of Charlie's or Bill's old wands at home? Just a whole one will do..."
Lorne patted Ron on the shoulder and comforted him, "Don't worry, if things go well this time, your dad should have enough money to buy you a new wand."