Above the door frame hangs a bronze plaque; the words on it have been worn away and are somewhat blurred, but the words " Trophy Room " are still legible.
He pushed open the door and went inside. The light inside was dimmer than in the corridor. Several rows of glass cabinets lined the walls, displaying various trophies, shields, and yellowed certificates. Herman stopped in front of the last row of cabinets and pointed to the middle shelf, where a silver Quidditch Cup had a line of small writing engraved on the back. He didn't speak, but simply stood aside and waited for Harry to see it herself.
Harry walked over, her gaze sweeping across the glass cabinet door before she suddenly stopped.
Her gaze fell on the small print: James Potter, Seeker, Gryffindor Quidditch Team.
Next to it was a faded team photo. The people in the photo were still moving. A black-haired boy was riding on a broom, waving at the camera with a smug smile. The broom seemed to be part of his body as he held it.
Harry stood motionless in front of the glass for a long while before speaking, "This trophy..."
Herman added, "It must have been taken by your father when he was studying at Hogwarts."
He noticed that Harry's expression didn't change much, but her gaze lingered for a few more seconds longer than before, and she lightly pressed her fingertip against the edge of the glass case, as if confirming something.
Then she straightened up. "I'm leaving."
After saying that, she turned and walked out the door, her steps neither fast nor slow, just like usual.
Herman saw her slow her pace slightly as she turned the corner of the corridor, but she didn't turn around and quickly disappeared into the candlelight at the end of the corridor.
Draco watched the whole thing unfold, a puzzled look on her face. "Is she interested or not?"
Herman leaned against the edge of the cabinet. "If she wasn't interested at all, she wouldn't have stood there looking for so long."
Draco still didn't quite understand. "But she didn't say she was going."
Just as Herman was about to explain, Draco reached out and punched him on the shoulder. The punch wasn't hard, but it hit the wound right where it was, and Herman winced in pain.
Draco probably realized she had touched a place she shouldn't have, and quickly stopped.
Herman rubbed his shoulder and took a breath. "As long as the sponsorship fee is ready, Harry will definitely go."
Draco looked at him with a skeptical expression. "What if she doesn't go?"
Herman patted his chest. "If she really doesn't go, I'll step in."
Draco glanced at him, and finally relented, saying, "Alright then."
She walked out with lighter steps than before.
Herman lagged behind, standing at the door for a while, the pain in his shoulder still lingering, but at least he had managed to escape being forcibly crammed into the Quidditch team this afternoon.
As for Harry, he felt he had made the right bet; those few seconds she stood in front of the glass case were enough to tell the story.
Xiao Hei Herman returned faster than Herman had anticipated.
The next morning, a series of rapid, woodpecker-like knocks on the door startled Herman from his sleep.
He opened the door in a daze and found that Xiao Hei had somehow slipped into the common room in Slytherin's underground and was standing on the stone slab outside the door, with a thin roll of parchment tied to his paws, folded even more neatly than when Herman had sent it out.
Herman unrolled the paper, revealing the Goblin Kramer's handwriting—short, messy strokes that conveyed an urgent desire to make money.
The message was short, just a few lines stating that all medicinal herbs were in stock, with clearly stated prices, and a final sentence:
How should I make the payment? Bank transfer? I'll give you my account number.
After Herman finished reading, the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up slightly.
He turned and went into the dormitory, rummaging through the hidden compartment of his magic suitcase and pulling out a stack of things—a thick wad of deposit slips and receipts, all accumulated during his years at Cokeworth, but the most important of all was the sum he'd made from a double-cross at the end.
He picked up the stack of things and weighed them in his hand. The last time they met, Kramer's eyes lit up like a cat's in the night when he saw the pound. This time, the quote was written so quickly, which meant that the stocks he picked in the stock market were probably still falling. This little Goblin's judgment wasn't so good either.
Herman returned to his desk, picked up a quill pen, and wrote a line on the letter, "Send it as soon as possible, the sooner the better."
He paused for a moment and then added, "Also, there are other business opportunities we can do in the future. We can discuss that in detail once I receive this batch of goods."
He then stuffed a deposit slip into the envelope as well.
He tied the envelope back to Xiao Hei's leg and patted its wings. Xiao Hei shook its feathers and then waddled out of the corridor.
Herman stood in the doorway, watching the black shadow disappear at the end of the corridor. He felt that the money spent on Xiao Hei was definitely worth it; it was indeed intelligent. Had it even learned to speak human language? Could it give commands on its own?
That would seem smarter than Crabbe, Crabbe couldn't even remember the password to get in.
Herman couldn't sleep after returning to his room; an even bigger idea than buying Potions ingredients began to swirl in his mind.
The biggest event of 1991 was undoubtedly the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The sudden disappearance of the world's two poles left a profound mark on human history. Not only did ordinary people not expect it, but even professional institutions in the United States did not anticipate it. At most, they could only predict that the Soviet Union would gradually decline and even spawn several small independent countries.
All the preparatory plans were for how to continue nibbling away at the Soviet Union, but no one expected that the Soviet Union would simply quit and declare itself a capitalist country.
The real opportunity to make money after the collapse of the Soviet Union was to seize territory in Russia, divide up various assets, and even engage in buying and selling, or even become the king of war by selling arms.
But Herman couldn't take this path. The International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy hung over his head like a sword of Damocles. If an eleven-year-old wizard went to Russia to fight the oligarchs for territory, he would probably be targeted by the Ministry of Magic before he even got close enough to get started.
However, the Goblin is different. Since Kramer can bypass the wizarding world's regulatory system to speculate in stocks, it means that he must have a mature method to circumvent censorship.
Herman recalled the office he'd seen in Knockturn Alley, piled high with pounds and newspapers, and Kramer's "I want to make all the money in the world" expression. That guy probably already had several secret connections between the wizarding world and the Muggle world.
The collapse of the Soviet Union will not have a significant direct impact on the stock market in the short term. After all, the Soviet Union itself was not publicly listed and did not have large-scale import and export trade, so there is no question of shorting the ruble.
The ruble was already in a terrible state, and it was something that only existed within the Soviet Union and wasn't connected to the capitalist financial system. If you wanted to make money from it, you'd have to go there in person.
But Herman remembers clearly that there were indirect effects.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US dollar strengthened, while the prices of oil and gold plummeted.
For the United States stock market, falling oil prices mean lower costs for businesses, larger profit margins, and a prolonged upward cycle for the stock market.