Return to the Acolytes, Abernathy's shock!

At Argus's urging, Vinda ultimately refrained from fighting Aberforth because she was worried about hurting Argus.

The two returned to the manor they had bought from Malfoy.

"Argus, how has life at Hogwarts been?"

"Dumbledore hasn't been making things difficult for you, has he?"

Knowing Argus was coming back, Vinda had prepared some of his favorite foods in advance.

"No. The teachers there... are pretty capable."

"I thought so too. I remember that back in Austria, you weren't capable of taking on seven or eight adult wizards at once!"

Sensing the chill in Vinda's words, Argus hurried to explain.

"You can't blame me for that, Aunt Vinda!"

"I didn't know where in Hogsmeade you were waiting for me, so I could only look around one place at a time."

"Who knew someone would target me as soon as I went in?"

"So you're saying it's my fault?" Vinda Rosier's tone grew increasingly dangerous.

Argus knew very well that there was no reasoning with women.

Especially angry women!

The best way to handle a situation like this was to obediently admit his mistake!

"I was wrong, Aunt Vinda! I'll never do anything this dangerous again."

Hearing Argus's promise, Vinda nodded in satisfaction.

"I'm not blaming you. You're still too young, and you lack combat experience."

"The fate of all the Acolytes rests on you alone."

"If something happened to you, what would you have us do?"

"I understand, Aunt Vinda!" Argus nodded obediently.

"Understanding isn't enough. You have to follow through!"

The meal ended amid Vinda's motherly nagging.

After the meal, Abernathy arrived, and the three finally got down to business.

"Argus, as you instructed, all our shops in Diagon Alley will give ten percent of their profits to the British Ministry of Magic in exchange for their protection."

"It's just..."

"You just don't understand why we should do that, right, Uncle Abernathy?" Argus didn't mind his doubts.

He explained to him.

"We've only just entered Britain. Neither our resources nor our connections can compare to those of the deeply entrenched pure-blood families."

"Opening shops in Diagon Alley is like snatching food from a tiger's jaws. At a time like this, having someone shield us becomes extremely important."

Abernathy was still puzzled. "But with the Acolytes' current strength, protecting a few shops shouldn't be difficult, should it?"

"There's an old saying from the ancient East: a thief can keep stealing for a thousand days, but no one can guard against thieves for a thousand days."

"We can't keep large numbers of people stationed at the shops at all times. That's where the Ministry of Magic comes in."

"With that ten percent paving the way, even if the pure-blood families want to act, they'll have to ask whether the Galleons in the Ministry's hands agree."

"Those pure-blood families won't limit themselves to aboveboard methods." Vinda had weathered far too many storms and spotted the flaw at once.

The Ministry of Magic could block overt threats, but if the other side resorted to underhanded tricks, surely they couldn't have the Ministry act on their behalf again?

It wasn't as though the Acolytes ran the British Ministry of Magic!

"You don't need to worry about that. I've already made preparations!"

Argus was actually a little apprehensive.

He knew Vinda's attitude toward Dumbledore all too well and feared she would fly into a rage if she found out.

He had no choice but to conceal it for now and slowly reveal it to her when an opportunity arose later.

He took out the box holding the fantastic beast materials and placed it before Vinda as though presenting a treasure.

"Aunt Vinda, I brought you a special surprise today!"

Vinda paid it little mind and casually set it on the table.

"You staying out of trouble would already be the biggest surprise you could give me."

"I'm telling you, don't try those tricks you use to fool little girls on me. I won't fall for them."

As far as she was concerned, Argus spent every day at school, surrounded by young wizards who had yet to amount to anything.

Even if he struck up a relationship with a professor, winning their trust wouldn't happen in a day or two.

"Open it and you'll see!"

Argus's smile left Vinda somewhat puzzled.

She hesitantly opened the box, only for its contents to leave her staring.

It held a dazzling assortment of fantastic beast materials.

Most of them were things money alone couldn't buy on the market!

Abernathy cried out in surprise. "These... these are..."

"I got them at Hogwarts, all aboveboard and legal. There's nothing to worry about."

Abernathy was utterly thrilled!

These materials were all scarce resources!

Especially since the Acolytes had yet to find a stable supply, they directly resolved their most pressing problem.

"Wonderful!"

"With these materials, we can stockpile large quantities of goods ahead of time."

"When the shops open, we can fight the British pure-blood families on equal footing in a price war!"

Abernathy wasn't the only one excited. Even Vinda, who had seen so much of the world, couldn't help being moved by the sight of so many materials.

She looked at Argus with gratification.

When she first met Argus, he had been just a tiny little kid.

In the blink of an eye, he had already become a pillar of the Acolytes.

But Argus wasn't done surprising them. His next words truly made them feel that the times had left them behind.

"That was only the first batch. There'll be more, though the quantities might not be as large."

"The first batch! Does Hogwarts have such a stable supply?"

Abernathy was bewildered. He had spent ages searching for a stable supply and hadn't found so much as a trace of one.

You just take a casual stroll around school and somehow get this many materials!

Are you Merlin's own son or something?!

Argus explained with a look of humblebragging, "I'm on pretty good terms with Hogwarts' Forbidden Forest keeper."

"Quite a few fantastic beast materials are shed in the Forbidden Forest every day. In the past, the pure-blood families' shops always lowballed him."

"I told him I could buy everything at market price, so he sold them to me!"

"You're saying these materials only cost market price?"

This time, even Vinda was stunned.

She came from the Rosier family and had spent decades making her way in the wizarding world. She had seen countless materials.

She could tell at a glance that these materials were of exceptional quality, all top-grade!

Even twice the market price wouldn't have been unreasonable!

Yet Argus had bought them all at nothing more than market price!

And he had a long-term monopoly!

"Will the future materials be of this quality too?"

"No!"

Argus's answer made Abernathy breathe a sigh of relief.

That's more like it. If they were this high-quality every time...

How would anyone else get by?!

But his next words left Abernathy utterly flustered.

"These are all materials my friend had been stockpiling for a long time. He was a little careless about maintaining them."

"The quality of the later batches should be a little better than these."

Abernathy and Vinda exchanged a glance, then looked at Argus with complicated expressions.

Argus was puzzled. "What's wrong? I'm telling the truth!"