Daily Life at Hogwarts Chapter 1144: Defense against the Dark Arts store
Chapter 1146 Defense Against the Dark Arts Store
At night, shop No. 93, Diagon Alley.
Fred, George, Lee Jordan and Shannah who had just finished dinner were staring at the letters on the table and frowning. A few hours earlier, they had received bad news from Arthur.
Duke Bee and Zuko joked that the owner of the store actually asked the Ministry of Magic to conduct a monopoly investigation on their store because of their monopoly behavior?
The most ridiculous thing is that the so-called monopoly refers to the patents developed by themselves, and the other party has the audacity to want to obtain this part of the technology in order to ensure that everyone can "fairly compete".
"This is really surprising." It was the first time Shanna saw such a shameless guy.
"Probably we pushed them into a hurry." Fred didn't care about it. "However, I think they probably picked the wrong time. It is obviously impossible for the Ministry of Magic to pass such a ridiculous bill."
"It's hard to say, who knows if Zuko and the others will bribe the officials of the Ministry of Magic to formulate a bill that is beneficial to them." George frowned and said, "The morals of politicians are not trustworthy, otherwise why do you think Albert would rather give The Ministry of Magic will give a discount, and they will not let them default."
"I think it's because I've made too much money recently, which makes many people jealous." Lee Jordan frowned and said, "That's why they united against us."
"We should talk to Albert about this." Shanna suggested, "He must have a solution."
"That guy is probably still traveling after marriage, **** it, it's really enviable." Fred took a big swig of butter beer and couldn't help complaining, "When I get married, I must go on a trip Come back in a year and a half."
"Then you have to convince Angelina to agree to marry you first." Lee Jordan shook his head repeatedly. He didn't think Fred would be able to get married in the past two years.
At this moment, a red light suddenly flickered in the corner of the restaurant, and then they all clearly felt that the watches on their wrists were getting slightly hot.
This is not a good omen.
The four jumped up from the dining table in shock, pulled out their wands and pointed at the door, and exchanged glances quickly.
"What's going on?" Shanna asked uneasily.
"Someone invaded the store and triggered the detector left by Albert." George quickly explained.
"Who brought the Marauder's Map." Lee Jordan asked in a low voice, "If it doesn't work, we will withdraw first."
This is Albert's exhortation, to protect your own safety first in case of danger.
"The other detector didn't respond, so it shouldn't be a dark wizard." Fred muttered, "Besides, this time is not right, even if it is a thief, he should come to steal things in the middle of the night."
At this time, there were footsteps outside, as if someone was walking towards this side.
After the four of them exchanged glances with each other, they began to cast the Illusion Curse on themselves, and then moved to the corner one after another, preparing to see which daring guy was after them.
This is not the first time.
Since the sale of defense against the dark arts props has made a lot of money, there have been more people greedily peeking into their stores.
Only, after the Ministry of Magic opened the Defense Against the Dark Arts props store next door, the situation improved.
If it's those pink eyes again, I have to teach them some unforgettable lessons.
When the four raised their wands and aimed at the door, the door of the room was suddenly opened, and a familiar voice sounded from outside.
"It's me."
Albert glanced at the empty room, then glanced at the places where the four were hiding and said, "Come out!"
"Wow! You gave us a big jump just now, I thought..."
Lee Jordan breathed a sigh of relief, waved his wand to release the disillusionment spell on his body, and greeted Albert with a smile.
"Think it's a dark wizard?" Albert raised his eyebrows slightly, "If it's a dark wizard, I suggest you retreat immediately, and take the Marauder's Map with you, at least to be able to determine whether the person coming is an enemy."
"If it is a Death Eater or a dark wizard, the detector on the wrist will definitely show a red dot." Fred reminded.
"When did you come back?" Lee Jordan also planned to step forward to give Albert a hug, but he was cleverly avoided, "Why didn't you notify in advance."
"I'm here to give you a little surprise. By the way, let's see your reaction ability. The detectors can't be trusted. If you want to deceive this kind of thing, it's not impossible."
"That's not funny at all," Fred muttered. "Honestly, everyone was taken aback when the sensors went off."
"You are just inexperienced now, and you will be able to deal with it calmly after a few more times." Albert comforted.
"A few more times." The corners of their mouths twitched slightly.
Albert didn't care about other people's reactions. He looked at Shanna and asked with a smile, "Are you still used to this job?"
"The food and salary here are very good, but the work is so busy that sometimes I feel like I'm about to become a house elf." Shanna poured a glass of cold butterbeer for Albert: "When did you come back?"
"This afternoon." Albert reached out to take the glass of butter beer, but he didn't drink it, but put it directly on the table, and joked with a smile, "I came here as soon as I came back, lest some people be behind Blame me for being lazy!"
"You just know it yourself." Fred, George and Lee Jordan complained in unison.
"I think this is purely your misunderstanding. My job is not the same as yours." Albert said solemnly, "Look, I need to be responsible for the research and development of anti-dark arts props, and I need to help the store get the goods from the Ministry of Magic. Bring the order..."
"Okay, okay, don't make excuses for yourself." George interrupted impatiently. Although he felt that what Albert said made sense, many of them were just nonsense.
"How are the Defense Against the Dark Arts items selling?"
"It's very popular!" Lee Jordan said excitedly: "In just two months, we made a net profit of nearly 20,000."
Speaking, he picked up the account book on the table and handed it to Albert.
"This looks much more pleasing to the eye now. It took me a long time to figure out your bookkeeping before I could figure it out." Albert took the account book and looked through the recent sales situation, not forgetting to complain that the three of them were terrible. way of accounting.
"We had no experience in this area before." Lee Jordan quibbled.
"To be honest, it's less than I expected." Albert closed the account book and said.
"Just be content with it. I don't know how many people have suffered from pink eye recently." George couldn't help but give Albert a blank look: "Moreover, there are still a large number of orders from the Ministry of Magic that have not been completed. After that order is completed , should bring us more than 10,000 net profits."
When Albert looked through the bills just now, he found that most of the sales were detectors, and there were more than a thousand pieces in total (including the 500 pieces from the Ministry of Magic).
A lot of defense series props were also sold, but most of them were sold to the Ministry of Magic, and the rest could only be regarded as a fraction.
It is actually not difficult to understand. After the Ministry of Magic successfully suppressed the Death Eaters, everyone became optimistic about the future. All seek protection.
"It seems that Scrimgeour has done a good job recently." Albert sighed softly.
"Father said that those dark wizards will be killed."
"Yeah, many people think that the dark wizard was frightened by Scrimgeour's actions, and the Ministry of Magic has not stopped trying dark wizards until recently. I heard from my father that the last time the Ministry of Magic used your wedding to catch the one Seventy percent of the first batch of dark wizards were killed." Fred admired Scrimgeour's courage.
"Scrimgeour will let the "Daily Prophet" publish the list of dark wizards sentenced to death and the crimes they committed every day." George glanced at Albert and continued, "The effect is very good, plus With Harry's support, few people would say that Scrimgeour killed innocent people."
"Most people are bullying and fearful, and dark wizards are no exception. As long as they meet someone who is more ruthless than them, those people will naturally become more docile than sheep." Albert handed the account book to Shanna : "Tell me about the Defense Against the Dark Arts props store next door."
"That was Dad's idea." George explained, "He thinks that there are too many vendors in Diagon Alley selling low-quality Defense Against the Dark Arts props. Why not gather them together and sell them together?"
"Those Defense Against the Dark Arts items were initially screened by members of the Crisis Response Team and the Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Items Detection and Confiscation Office, and then passed to the Ministry of Magic Aurors for testing, as long as they can pass After checking, if the Defense Against the Dark Arts item is confirmed to be qualified, it will be allowed to be sold in the Defense Against the Dark Arts item store.”
"Last time, many people were jealous of our profits and sneaked into the store and were caught. Dad was a little worried about our safety. Later, he proposed this plan to the Ministry of Magic. Now, our next door has become The Ministry of Magic has a stronghold in Diagon Alley." Fred introduced to Albert.
"Every day there will be employees of the Ministry of Magic stationed next door. They are responsible for patrolling Diagon Alley and helping to maintain the stability of Diagon Alley to ensure everyone's safety. After all, Hogwarts students will be there during this time. Shopping in Diagon Alley.”
"Scrimgeour's approach has won unanimous praise from everyone."
"I remember you said before that Fudge's successor is..." Lee Jordan glanced at Shanna, and stopped talking.
"It's not convenient for me to know." Shanna raised her eyebrows slightly.
"No, Fudge's successor is unlucky." Albert finished speaking.
"It doesn't look like it." Shanna was a little surprised, because Scrimgeour looked capable no matter how he looked, and he didn't look like a hapless guy no matter how he looked.
"There is Burns in front of Scrimgeour, who is dead." George remembered Dumbledore's injury, and suddenly understood that Albert would say that Scrimgeour was unlucky.
After Dumbledore's death, Scrimgeour will become an obstacle to Voldemort's control of the Ministry of Magic.
It's really bad luck when you think about it carefully.
"I remember that the shop next door seems to be bought by you, right?" George changed the subject, he thought it was best not to let Shanna know about it.
These people all turned their heads to look at Albert, and couldn't help but suspect that the Defense Against the Dark Arts specialty store next door was set up by Albert.
"Well, it actually has nothing to do with me. It should be Diggory's plan. He asked me similar questions before." Albert said lightly.
As for forming a patrol team, it was actually Percetti's idea, because doing so would help increase Scrimgeour's reputation, and their shop was being targeted at that time.
Scrimgeour needs to make Albert owe favors in order to prepare for the fight against dark wizards in the future.
When all things come together, they become the thing next door.
"So, you really set up that store?"
"It's easy to attract jealousy and hatred if you make a lot of money, not to mention that we are still living alone now. We lent the shop next door to the Ministry of Magic to turn it into a specialty store for defense against the dark arts, so that the Ministry of Magic can help share the burden. Partial attention, and it can also ensure your safety." Albert took out his pocket watch and looked at the time, and continued, "Anyway, the Defense Against the Dark Arts store will be divided sooner or later, and it will make others think that we are not a monopoly Business..."
"Well, it's better to find a reporter to interview? Let everyone think that it's not us who monopolize the Defense Against the Dark Arts items, but the Defense Against the Dark Arts items sold by other people are too bad, so most people are willing to buy ours Product," Shanna continued with a smile, "can you use this to promote your own brand and give people the illusion of preconceived ideas?"
"Yes, that's probably it." Albert did not hesitate to praise himself, "It seems that you are very talented in this area."
"By the way, we received this letter not long ago, how can you solve this matter?" George took out the letter he had just read.
After reading the contents of the letter, Albert said with a smile: "It seems that not only Defense Against the Dark Arts props, but also your joke props are selling well!"
"What are you going to do?"
"Don't worry about the Ministry of Magic~IndoMTL.com~ As long as you are not an idiot, you won't trouble us at this point in time." Albert comforted, "You can talk to them about this matter first, if possible , can turn them into our shop."
"I don't think so."
"It should be easier for Zuko to joke about the store. I want to continue. He will probably be defeated by us soon." Albert analyzed: "At that time, you can swallow his store first, and then Give Zuko part of the benefits, everyone can make a fortune together, and they can claim cooperation with the outside world, so that we have one more branch in Hogsmeade, and there is also a ready-made helper to take care of the store."
"If Zuko joins and benefits from it, I think the owner of Honey Duke will also consider cooperating with us. Rather than being squeezed out of business, wouldn't it be better for everyone to become business partners and make a fortune together?"
"I always feel a little naive in your thinking." Lee Jordan muttered.
"Trust me, they will definitely be willing to accept our kindness. No one will have trouble with money, and if you want to grow your business, you should take a long-term view." Albert pulled out his wand Said, "Okay, there will be guests coming later, so prepare yourself!"