Chapter 1152 In action
At this moment, the atmosphere in the hall was frighteningly depressing, and several Death Eaters who had recently joined were holding their breath nervously.
“You don’t know who did it?”
After Voldemort asked, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Owner…"
Voldemort raised his hand to stop Bella from speaking, and continued, "It seems that someone is deliberately provoking me. Who do you think set off the devil's flame?"
Who released it? How would they know?
Maybe he is Lucius’s enemy. Besides, shouldn’t he ask the person involved about this kind of thing?
Of course, the Death Eaters don't dare to say nonsense, since this matter has nothing to do with them anyway.
There are not a few people who take pleasure in this misfortune.
"It may have something to do with Scrimgeour. That guy deliberately spread the news, claiming that Malfoy Manor was burned because Lucius betrayed the master, so..." Yaxley didn't finish what he said, but the meaning was already obvious. .
"Skrimgeour is indeed a trouble, but the possibility that he instigated this matter is not high." Voldemort did not think that this matter had anything to do with Scrimgeour.
"Master, this matter has nothing to do with the Order of the Phoenix, but I think Dumbledore may know something." Snape explained the information he knew to the Dark Lord unhurriedly: "That night, Dumbledore wanted me to Find out whether Lucius’s wife and son are still alive. From his reaction to this matter, I feel that he probably guessed something.”
"Oh, what a surprise." Voldemort stared at Snape and asked, "Severus, who do you think you are?"
"This fire is probably Albert Anderson's revenge." Snape said a name that surprised even the Death Eaters.
"You mean that **** mudblood did it?" Bella immediately stared at Snape, wanting a more accurate answer.
"As far as I know." Snape glanced at Bella and continued: "The Malfoy family is still offering a reward for that guy, and his shop seemed to have been ransacked that night."
“How could he…”
"Back when Lucius was getting married..." Snape looked at Bella who was gritting her teeth and reminded, "With that guy's character, he would definitely take revenge, so I think it was probably him who did this. It wouldn't be difficult for him to figure out how to use the Dark Mark."
Intense whispers resounded in the hall again, and everyone suddenly realized that the mudblood named Albert Anderson had quietly become their enemy.
"Master, please leave this matter to me." Bella suddenly raised her hand, "I have a way to deal with that mudblood."
"Oh." Voldemort turned his head and looked at Bella, "Do you have a way to kill that mudblood?"
"Yes, Master, that mudblood has a fatal weakness. We can target his weakness..." Bella became more and more excited as she talked, but she seemed to be worried that others would take away her credit, so in the end she did not reveal the so-called method.
Snape suddenly understood why Malfoy Manor was burned down by a fire.
"I leave that mudblood to you, kill him at any cost, don't let me down again." Voldemort looked at Bella, who was full of expectations, and finally agreed to give her the task of killing the mudblood.
"Scrimgeour is more trouble than I thought," Voldemort said to Yaxley. "Find a way to get rid of him, or create an opportunity for me to do it myself."
"Master, I'm afraid it will be difficult to succeed in a short period of time." Yaxley lowered his head in shame. Seeing that Voldemort gave him the opportunity to explain, he quickly explained, "Due to the murder of Bones last time, Scrimgeour had no confidence in his own. Security is taken very seriously, and he is currently living in a safe house protected by the Fidelity Charm, and it is said that the secret keeper is Dumbledore."
“In addition to staying at the Ministry of Magic, Scrimgeour is surrounded by a bunch of Aurors every time he travels.”
Everyone could tell that it was not that Yaxley was incompetent, but that there was really nothing he could do about the current situation.
“We could try to control Scrimgeour’s assistant and poison the drink?” someone suggested.
"No, Scrimgeour's diet is taken care of by a house elf. It is impossible to kill him by poisoning him. At present, we can only slowly infiltrate the Ministry of Magic." Yaxley also said when he learned the news Very helpless, "I suggest that you keep causing trouble for Scrimgeour and keep him busy and exhausted. Then the flaws will definitely be exposed."
"Very well, let's take action and find ways to cause trouble for the Ministry of Magic." Voldemort agreed to Yaxley's plan. He actually knew very well that it would not be easy to bring down the Ministry of Magic now.
…
In the early morning, after Cedric checked in at the Ministry of Magic, he went to the Defense Against the Dark Arts store in Diagon Alley to help as usual.
Sometimes, he felt that he was not an employee of the Ministry of Magic, but an employee of a specialty store.
Having just walked into the shop next door from the side door, Cedric looked at a group of people packing their things and asked in surprise: "Are you planning to... suspend business?"
"Yes, it's the off-season next. Even if the store is open, you won't be able to make much money. It's better to concentrate on owl mail order." Fred nodded.
“Because of the last incident?” Cedric guessed the reason.
“The profit from continuing to open the store is not high, so the risk is high, so we simply suspend the store operation.”
“What should I do if the black magic defense items in the specialty store are sold out?” he asked with a frown.
"We will still continue to provide goods to the specialty store." Fred forced the packed cartons into the suitcase, reached out to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and handed the suitcase to Cedric, which contained items for the Ministry of Magic and Goods prepared by specialty stores.
"Don't worry, we will give the goods directly to my dad in the future, and he will be responsible for delivering them to you." George patted Cedric on the shoulder and said, "By the way, this is a gift from Albert."
Speaking, George handed a bottle of French champagne to Cedric.
“Albert is back?” Cedric asked curiously.
“This is a gift he sent back.” George shrugged.
“That guy might be traveling around the world with his wife now!” Fred said in a sour tone.
“If you are free, come over and help me pack the things on the shelves.” Lee Jordan put the boxes on the ground and couldn’t help complaining to a few people.
“Are you done outside?” Fred asked with a smile.
"How can it be?"
Lee Jordan couldn't help but roll his eyes, turned his head and said to Cedric, "The neighbor asked you to quickly take the things over and check them."
“Then I’ll go first, thank Albert for me.” Cedric smiled and walked away.
"Why did you just..." Shanna asked in confusion.
“That’s to protect Cedric’s safety,” Fred shrugged and explained, “Sometimes knowing too much may not be a good thing.”
"I feel like you're talking about me." Shanna raised her eyebrows slightly, "Do I have to move there too?"
“Well, I suggest you move there together. It’s safer there.” A familiar voice suddenly sounded in the room.
“Why are you always so mysterious?” George said angrily.
"I'm here to arrange Shanna's affairs." Albert showed an apologetic smile to Shanna: "The situation is a bit unexpected. I didn't expect you to be involved."
"The Malfoy family is looking for me." Albert had no intention of hiding it and said directly, "Ten thousand Galleons is enough to make many guys in the gray area lose their minds. I think they will definitely figure out the relationship between this store and me. They After not finding me, presumably trying to find me through my friends.”
“So, you burned down their house?”
"I will sue you for defamation if you speak nonsense without evidence!" Albert turned his attention to Shanna again: "If you don't like this job, I still have a lot of manuscripts that need help editing and sorting. Of course, the salary It’s not that high, but it’s better than safety.”
“No need, I actually like this job.” Shanna shook her head.
"so be it!"
“After you are done with your work here, take the time to contact Jokowi.”
“Let us go, we really won’t be afraid of **** up.”
"I believe you." Albert continued to warn, "The Ministry of Magic seems to be planning to arrange a patrol team in Hogsmeade, but it may not be safe there, so your safety is the first priority in the past tense."
At this moment, there was a sound of footsteps outside.
Several people took out their wands and were alert.
Lee Jordan quickly glanced at the Marauder's Map and reminded: "It's Mr. Arthur, he is probably here to find you."
“Where are the Albertans?”
George discovered that in the blink of an eye, Albert disappeared from under their noses.
"have no idea."
Fred opened the door and walked out, greeting the people outside: "Why are you here?"
"Your mother was very worried when she found out about this." Arthur looked at his sons, "You really don't plan to..."
"You don't have to worry about this. We will temporarily move to a safe house protected by the Fidelity Charm, and we will only do owl mail order for a long time." Fred comforted, "Sirius' house is not very convenient."
“We will have Dobby deliver the goods in the store to your home, and then you will give them to Cedric.” George added.
"Okay, that's the case." Mr. Weasley was a little helpless, but he also knew that he probably couldn't convince Fred and George, so he said, "Remember to take time to go home, don't let your mother worry."
…
“Albert is really good at summoning people!”
"Come on, aren't you glad you can take a vacation?" Lee Jordan wanted to go over and kick this hypocritical guy.
If possible, he would like to talk to Zuko himself, but the house elves and Zannah alone can't do it. The items that have just arrived at the safe house need to be sorted out as soon as possible so that they can be shipped to the students who are mail-ordered by Owl.
“Why did Albert invite Zuko to join?” Shanna asked in confusion.
“Someone has to stand in front!” George said meaningfully.
After changing into formal clothes, Fred and George left the safe house together and apparated directly to Hogsmeade.
There has just been a light rain here, the hot summer has quietly receded from Hogsmeade, and the weather has become cooler.
Fred and George walked towards the familiar Zuko's Joke Shop.
At this moment, the owner of Zuko’s Joke Shop was sitting listlessly at the counter. Since the opening of the Weasley brothers’ “House of Fun” took away all the business in the store, he realized that the joke shop might not be able to continue.
"welcome…"
Zuko's eyes lit up when he saw someone entering the store. When he raised his head, he found that the person was actually the culprit who almost closed down his store, and his face suddenly darkened.
“Why, why do you two come to see me?”
Zoko suppressed the anger in his heart, but he still couldn't help but speak in a sinister tone.
There is no other way. In Zuko's eyes, these two **** in front of him are just here to make him unhappy. It's really a **** thing if they can speak in a pleasant tone.
Fred and George looked at each other, not paying attention to each other's sinister tone, and said straight to the point, "We are here to invite you."
"Invitation?" Zuko looked at the former customer with a strange expression.
“We’re going to open a branch in Hogsmeade,” said George.
"So, you plan to turn my store into your branch?" Zuko was stunned for a moment, and finally figured out what the other party was up to. He roared angrily at the two of them: "Get out, you are not welcome here, get out of here." go out."
"you sure?"
George looked at Zuko who was losing his temper and reminded him calmly: "Your store has lost its core competitiveness and will go bankrupt sooner or later..."
Before George could finish his words, he saw a curse flying towards him and quickly turned his head to avoid it.
The angry Zuko glared at the group of evil guests in front of him. He had already raised his wand, intending to use a curse to drive them out.
However, he soon found that he could not move.
"do not be angry."
“He will definitely be angry!”
“Say the words and we’ll leave.”
George looked helplessly at the old acquaintance who was restrained in place by a full-body restraint. He couldn't help but shook his head and said, "I have to remind you that the closure of this store is normal competition. At least we didn't engage in those dirty tricks like you." , don’t think that we don’t know what you did.”
"Think about it carefully. At least we are willing to share this cake with you, which is the greatest sincerity." George calmly explained the cruelest reality for Joko, "Of course, we don't mind waiting for your shop. After it goes bankrupt, if you buy your store and reopen a new branch, or find another store to open a branch, you will definitely have nothing by then."
George is actually reluctant to share profits with others, but he feels that Albert may have other deeper meanings in doing so.
"Think carefully, don't get into trouble with Garen." Fred smiled and patted Zuko on the shoulder, took out the wand in Zuko's hand and put it on the counter, lest this guy would attack them again after the spell was lifted. Recite curses.
After the full-body binding spell on Zuko was lifted, he immediately rushed to the counter, took his wand and pointed it at the Weasley brothers who had disappeared from the door of the store, but in the end he did not run over to sneak attack them, because from what the other party said, , Joko realized that the other party actually knew about the tricks he used that were not on the table, and it was considered sincere to come and invite him.
It’s just that in Zuko’s eyes, this matter was extremely hypocritical, but... His throat shook slightly, and he rushed out of the shop, looking at the two people who were about to leave, and shouted: "Wait, you guys..."
"We don't know much about this. Albert will talk to you personally when the time comes." George stopped, turned to Zuko and said, "We just came over in advance to talk to you about this matter."
“Cooperation can lead to win-win results.”
With that said, Fred and George walked towards the nearby owl postman. They were going to talk to the owner of the owl post office here about renting an owl.
“These bastards!”
Zoko clenched his fist and smashed it on the door frame, looked at the leaving figures of Fred and George, and roared angrily. He knew very well that the joke store could no longer continue to operate. After losing its product advantage, his store would lose its core competitiveness and would be eliminated sooner or later. Otherwise, they would not want to try to suppress their opponent's stores through other means. .
The plan failed.
Jokowi is a smart man!
He did not want to leave in despair and lose the galleons he had earned.
Yes, there is no need to struggle with Gallon.
At least it can have a decent ending.
Zoko suddenly wanted to see each other.
What kind of guy is that young man named Albert Anderson?
Just when Zuko returned to the store, he suddenly felt something behind him.
When he suddenly turned around, he suddenly felt that his whole body was light and airy, and the worries about the closure of the joke shop in his mind were swept away, leaving only a hazy, invisible and intangible joy.
Revised
(End of this chapter)