Chapter 770 Theodore Nott

Chapter 770 Theodore Nott

Fragments of sunlight shine through the gaps between the branches, and the courtyard covered with leaves is covered with warm light.

It happened to be the break between classes in the morning, and some students took the time to bask in the sun. There was a lazy owl postman standing on the treetops. The administrator, Mrs. Loris, was lying on the roadside, her eyes narrowed and her tail swept lazily.

"Why do we need to seek asylum? The crimes committed by Death Eaters will not implicate the family, right?"

Looking at Theodore Nott with a serious face, Loren was a little curious and carefully recalled the newspaper news he had read recently.

The trials of the Death Eaters are proceeding in an orderly manner and are coming to an end. Occasionally, you will see the verdict document issued by Woolworth's in New York in the newspaper. The penalty is basically certain. There is no need to worry about high fines, and there is no need to expect to leave prison in your lifetime.

As commissioner, Kohlhausen is responsible for communications on criminal extradition matters.

Although the MACUSA still retains the death penalty, the laws related to joint sitting have been abolished and the relatives of these Death Eaters will not be implicated.

"It would be a bit long to explain..."

Nott seemed to have anticipated his questions. He smiled bitterly and sat down on the stone next to him. They were caught in the storm and whirlpool. First, the high amount of bail money they received two years ago, and then the travel expenses they took away from the UK, and more than half of the family's wealth was lost. "

The Death Eater relative didn't seem to have finished what he said, but Loren saw that the other party didn't want to dwell on these details, so he didn't ask further questions. He just nodded calmly: "It's just that more than half of the cash has been consumed. The wealth accumulated by pure-blood families over the past millennium is mainly concentrated in In terms of land, shops, monopoly businesses and other industries... with your background, you should be able to fill this deficit in about ten years and restore the former glory of the pure-blood family. "

"Pure-blood glory is a thing of the past. The matter between Voldemort and Death Eaters is over, and no wizard will mention it for many years." Nott shook his head, "Pure-blood families related to Death Eaters will only gradually It has shrunk and declined and will never be able to regain its former status. We don’t expect the past, we just want to survive normally and pass on the family.”

"Has the situation of the pure-blood family gotten so bad?" Loren was a little curious.

"The twenty-eight pure-blood clans are just a self-proclaimed name. In fact, there are far more than twenty-eight wizard families with surnames. There are tens of thousands of wizards in the entire magical world, and there are more than 100 wizards doing business in this land. We, we are just a group brought together by common interests.”

Nott's expression was calm, and his statement voice was steady, revealing a maturity beyond his years: "After the Death Eater trial, Minister Scrimgeour needs to take responsibility for his wrong decisions. He is an upright wizard, even if he is about to be... He was dismissed from his post and wanted to do more despite the infamy, so he launched an internal inventory of the Ministry of Magic... Originally, due to the influence of the Death Eater relatives, our business was very sluggish, and Minister Scrimgeour's inventory activities even more... We have added fuel to the rack."

"Always talking about business, business..." Loren raised his eyebrows slightly and asked curiously, "What kind of business are you doing, and what does this business have to do with the survival of your family?"

"Before Voldemort came back, our business was very big. The serious business was in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, including clothing, cauldrons, stationery, candy, taverns..."

"Do you open a store?"

Loren was immediately happy.

They were talking about business, but it turned out to be business.

The standards of these pure-blood families are lower than expected.

"..."

Draco looked away silently, feeling slightly guilty.

Knott was silent for a moment: "We rent and sell stores, hoard raw materials and jointly manipulate product prices to control their profits within a certain limit. We buy low and sell high all year round to make profits."

"Tsk..."

Loren twitched the corner of his mouth, silently retracting the emotion in his heart, and continued to ask: "This is just a serious business, what is not serious?"

Draco and Nott secretly looked at his expression and confirmed that there was no emotion such as hatred or boredom. Nott breathed a sigh of relief.

"In addition, you should have heard Professor Snape talk about this part of the business. There was a period of time when we worked closely together." Nott paused as he said this. "These businesses stopped after Voldemort reconvened the Death Eaters. ”

"The potion business..."

Loren nodded with a clear expression, recalling the potion business mentioned by the professor in his mind.

In the first few years, in order to get close to the Death Eater group, Professor Snape collected some of the potions refined in the students' classes, plus the part he made up, and gave it to Lucius Malfoy and others, who were responsible for reselling it to backward areas. . Of course, the wizards in those places couldn't give them enough gold, so they used potions and alchemical ingredients to pay off their debts.

Commodities are exchanged for raw materials, which are processed and then sold back at a high price. This is what all humans do, whether Muggles or wizards.

"Including potions, but not just potions."

Draco immediately added: "The Malfoy family is mainly engaged in reselling potions. Because of our rich channels and the help of Professor Snape, we can earn enough profits just by relying on potions, while other pure-blood families only rely on potions." They each have their own main business to get a share of the profits.

"Other businesses include smuggling and selling magical animals. The magical animals here do not refer to rune horses or thestrals. These legal and compliant animals do not make much profit. They resell magical animals that are expressly prohibited by the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards, such as dragons, hippogriffs, boggarts, etc..."

"5X-level dangerous creatures."

Loren opened his eyes slightly wide, surprised and sighed faintly. If he had known that you were reselling these things, he would have bought a batch. "I remember that these are strictly inspected animals. Breeding and death must be reported. There are also strict procedures for entry and exit. There are also occasional spot checks by Newt Scamander. You haven't had any accidents for so long?"

Nott said softly: "During the tenure of Ministers Millicent Barnold and Cornelius Fudge, we received the news even earlier than the Minister's Office."

"So that's it..."

Loren nodded calmly, intending to turn around and report to Granger, the Minister in Charge, so that she can investigate and confiscate the illegal gains after taking office.

"As you said, the pure-blood family has a deep foundation. Even if Minister Scrimgeour launches a cleanup, clears your eyes and ears, and cuts off your channels... even if you lose these shady businesses, you are still richer than most wizard families. Why do you say that your family is about to die?"

"Not only these businesses, someone has already set their sights on us, ready to devour us rich but weak guys."

Nott's steady voice was a little more difficult: "The newspaper published detailed information about the Death Eaters, and some wizards noticed their surnames and associated them with pure-blood families... At first, it was the Quidditch supplies of Godric's Hollow. The store was owned by the Parkinson family. Last week, someone opened a new broom resale store next door and began to spread rumors without any evidence, saying that the Quidditch store was owned by the Death Eater of the Parkinson family. Someone bought their broom and was exposed. Eighteen years ago, the Death Eaters found their doorstep and murdered them.

"Then there was the wizard district of West Overton in Wiltshire. A bakery owned by a distant relative of ours was slandered. Someone spread rumors in the pub, saying that a dark wizard ate the bread here and was controlled by Voldemort and the Death Eaters. And my father happened to be a Death Eater..."

Loren listened quietly without saying anything , thoughts slowly surged in my mind, carefully analyzing the connection between these examples.

In Theodore Nott's story, many shops related to pure-blood families were slandered, resulting in poor business, while nearby shops of the same type benefited from it. The process was basically the same, but from the analysis of the details, it should not be an organized and premeditated collective action, and even the owners of the same type of shops did not know the rumor spreaders.

The previous few incidents were just coincidences, because there were more news about Death Eaters published in newspapers recently. Those shops were more than ten years old, and the nearby residents were familiar with the situation. Some strange rumors were spread while drinking and chatting, and their shop The shop was affected.

If things only stay at this stage, after a while, the crisis of public opinion will subside, which is similar to the experience of sixteen years ago.

But the following few events are more intriguing. It should be that someone discovered the pattern and began to spread and replicate similar events.

If it continues like this, more shops will slander their peers for profit until all the shops related to the Death Eaters go bankrupt.

"Similar slanders were initially limited to cousins ​​with close blood ties, but recently they have spread to distant relatives separated by several generations. Some wizards who just rented our shops were also slandered and defamed by rumors, and their business can no longer be done."

Nott's voice echoed under the tree, awakening Loren from his thoughts. His tone was steady and low, "We can and are willing to pay the price for the mistakes we have made, but it does not mean that we and the wizards related to us will close the shop, go bankrupt and liquidate, or even sell the family business at a low price and go to other countries... We also want to survive in this land."

Loren was particularly calm, even a little cold: "Why did you find me? What do you know? "

Looking at Loren's expression, Draco was inexplicably flustered and quickly explained: "I didn't reveal your identity. Theodore guessed it himself."

"Oh?"

Turning his head to look at Nott, he saw him nodding calmly: "I noticed it a long time ago. When you returned to school during the Christmas vacation in the first year, you exchanged gifts. Later, Vincent Crabbe complained that Draco had betrayed the pure blood... I was just curious at the time and noticed that there seemed to be some secret connection between Draco and you, so I secretly tested him several times, but to no avail."

The error-free version is reading! 6=9+Book_Bar first released this novel.

"..."

Draco looked helpless.

If Theodore hadn't mentioned those things, he wouldn't have noticed the temptations in the past, let alone that the things he thought were secret were actually full of loopholes.

"Then there were the clubs run by professors, the Animagus teaching class, the teaching of the Patronus Charm, the warrior training during the Goblet of Fire... Even standing next to the dazzling Miss Granger, you can't cover up your brilliance. "

Loren raised his eyes, thinking that this person might be trying to win his favor by praising Hermione.

It must be said that it worked.

"After Voldemort's resurrection, the situation became tense. There were a group of students in Slytherin College who did not want their relatives to return to the Death Eaters. I was one of them, so I planned to unite some Slytherin students to establish a secret organization. At this time, Draco took out the gold Galleon communicator.

"Alchemy is not the area that the Malfoy family is good at. There are not many alchemists in the entire magic world. So I began to think about who is most likely to provide the communicator... Later, similar products appeared in Weasley Magic Joke Shop."

"..."

Draco remained silent.

He still remembered the details of the resale. He thought he had made a lot of money, but he didn't expect to expose his true colors.

"Finally, in Professor Bagshot's Defense Against the Dark Arts class, I noticed the wand you used..."

Nott paused: "That was the wand that Dumbledore had used. "

Loren looked at Theodore Nott carefully, with surprise in his eyes.

In his past impression, Theodore Nott was not very special. He was similar to Vincent and Goyle. There was a Death Eater in his family. He had some pure-blood supremacy in his words and deeds. He had excellent grades in potions and was silent and quiet. He was not like others who fawned on Draco...

I didn't expect that with these minor clues, I could piece together such a truth.

"Before the news of Voldemort's downfall spread, I invited those people to turn the loose connections into a closer organization. I also did not reveal your identity. I just told them that I could contact the mysterious wizard who defeated Voldemort and wanted to seek asylum..."

After the voice fell, Nott secretly glanced at his expression. No matter how wise and mature he was, he was only a 17-year-old boy. Facing such an important moment, he would still be nervous.

Loren thought quietly, and raised his head after a moment, but did not give him an answer. Instead, he turned to look at Draco: "What does your father think? "

Draco blinked: "I haven't told him yet. He has been accompanying my mother during this time since he came back, and he seems reluctant to get involved in these things. Without Professor Snape's help, our potion business can't continue. The channels for reselling smuggled living creatures have been resold. When the situation was tense before, we handled the business that could be handled, leaving only some real estate for rent and sale on behalf of others."

"..."

No wonder Malfoy has been passed down for thousands of years.

Loren was silent for a moment, and looked at Nott with a calm expression: "Sorry, I can't give you shelter. I am still just an ordinary student at Hogwarts. I have no power and cannot influence the Ministry of Magic. Those illusory seats in the International Confederation of Wizards and the Wizengamot cannot be fulfilled. Maybe I will consider revealing my identity after graduation, but at least I don't have this idea now.

"Okay... I know."

Nott's eyes dimmed instantly, and he forced a pale and bitter smile.

"If the situation is really serious enough to threaten the survival of the family, I suggest you go to Headmaster Dumbledore, or ask someone to introduce Minister Scrimgeour. They may be able to provide help."

"Okay...thank you."

Nott had tried his best to win over Draco, showing the value of these family remnants, and even showing off his wisdom. He had prepared himself mentally before speaking, but when he really heard this answer, he still found it hard to accept.

He turned around and was about to leave, but heard a voice from behind.

"If, I mean if, after you have survived this storm, you are still willing to trust me, I have a business here that needs to seek partners."

Nott turned around, with a bright light in his eyes.