Harry Potter Morning Light

Chapter 1918 The guarantor of the harvest
Interest is like the wings of Icarus. If it flies too high, it will easily become usury, and then it will fall heavily. Necker used usury instead of raising taxes to recover France’s losses in the American Revolutionary War and increased the burden on the people. Fortunately, there was no wheat riot or peasant uprising in the countryside.

At the same time, it can’t fly too low. There will always be someone who will profit from it. The Fed lends only 1% interest, and other mortgage companies give customers about 5%. They hardly do anything and earn 4% interest in the middle.

In the same way, neither farmers nor citizens who buy food have benefited from food speculation, so the interest is converted into tax. It is a technical task to set the interest rate. Not only must it maintain a balance, but it also needs to be supervised. If you are not careful, it will cause very bad Impact.

French bankers are not as adventurous as British ones, not to mention farmers, even factory owners have difficulty borrowing from them, so farmers have to borrow usury.

Now that there are tax collectors to collect it, it is basically a steady profit without losing money. Even if the interest rate is low, it is still profitable if the amount is large.

As long as the weather is smooth and there are no natural disasters, you will not suffer great losses. Another thing is agricultural insurance, which is even more foolproof.

Farmers can also choose whether to borrow or not. A change in the atmosphere does not mean that everyone has become simple and virtuous all of a sudden. The Saha world is like this, with constant distress, and it is not as clean as the Pure Land. There are all kinds of people.

Severus took the captured prisoner out of the church and returned to Luxembourg. The other accidentally saw the reflection of the basilisk in the water and was petrified. He is still in the church. He is still alive, provided that someone can survive That resurrection potion.

Aurors would not be unaware of such a big commotion, and it could just attract Luxembourg's ambush, after all, Conseil knew about the innocent fountain.

Seeing that he had brought someone back, Orlando and Felix, who greeted him outside the carriage, were both surprised. As for the Malfoys, they had disappeared at this time, as if they had nothing to do with this matter—even the wand cloth at the crime scene Covered with Malfoy's fingerprints, they could still prove their innocence - and Hadji, who seemed interested in the coachman's position, was getting used to the reins and whip at the moment.

"I'll give you two choices, say it yourself, or let me tell you." Severus took out a bottle of potion "This potion can cure ignoring Occlumency and let you tell all the secrets , but your brain is also destroyed."

"What do you want to know?" the square-jawed man asked.

"What's your name?" Severus asked.

"Paul."

"The same name as the Pope?"

"That's my name."

"Okay, Paul, give me something to make it worth letting you go."

Paul was silent for a while, then said, "I know you have Veritaserum, give me a sip."

"How could someone ask for a drink?" Felix asked.

"If I said it without being tortured, I would have ended badly, as you should know, Death Eater." Paul growled.

Severus took out the veritaserum and poured it into Paul's mouth.

"Have you ever heard of the protectors of the Italian harvest?" Paul asked.

"It is generally believed that they were the predecessors of the European scavengers who went to the United States." Orlando said aside, "They were very active in the 16th and 17th centuries."

"They said the wizards would gather and destroy all the crops in the wheat fields and vineyards, and the protectors of the harvest would fight them, and if they won there would be a good harvest, and if the wizards won, it wasn't just bad weather that year, And there will be a bad harvest. It is said that they are born with fetal membranes, and some of them are diviners of spiritualism. They can see the world of the undead from the water, which is said to be because of the power of Venus." Paul said.

"Venus? Not Hades?" Orlando asked.

"He who cannot see the one he loves is hopeless." Paul said, "No matter who it is, as long as he can see the dead..."

"The Scavengers created the world?" Severus interrupted Paul.

"I don't know, I'm a wizard too." Paul stared into Severus' eyes and said, "They lived in Venus Fort in their best days, and it was full of crazy people, and every once in a while they would bring believers Traveling at night, they were also active in Germany, but at that time the goddess changed her name to Ole, it was a world full of undead, usually they used their souls to go there, leaving their bodies in a deep coma, like death In the same way, if the soul fails to return from the nocturnal gathering in time, it will result in true death."

"She's not dead," Severus said.

"I know, she still has nostalgia for this world, you, that's why we want to kill you."

"No wonder." Kreacher said aside, "They say you can't use spells to open the entrances and exits after dawn."

"There is no such restriction after opening the entrance in another way, but no one knows what the consequences will be. The last person who opened it is missing." Paul explained.

"I found a grotto with a crystal ball in it." Severus asked.

"That's how they do divination. I've heard of Sybill Trelawney. She's a celestial eye. She can see the future. They use spiritualism, using crystal balls. I don't know much about that. .”

"Why did they come to France?" Severus asked.

"Isn't this obvious?" Paul gritted his teeth and said, "We have integrated into the Muggle aristocracy, and Paris did not hold religious trials as often as other places. The Great Revolution was an opportunity they finally found."

"They're working for Bonaparte, too," Severus said.

"Don't ask what you know!" Paul said angrily.

"They were the ones who captured Duke Vincent de Téfle-Pic. He cast a concealing spell on his neck and escaped execution." Orlando said a little languidly.

"Where is Fort Venus?" Severus asked.

"I don't know, but I know that the werewolves are with them, and they have also become the 'dogs of God', which specialize in hunting down cruel and evil wizards, and will not harm good people."

Severus laughed.

"The church library has the trial files of the Inquisition, and that werewolf said that in the Inquisition," Paul said.

"You can say that you robbed the church library." Orlando teased.

"The Inquisition judges tried to prove that the Guardians of the Harvest and the Werewolves were with the Witches, followers and worshipers of the Devil, but there were plenty of 'witnesses' willing to testify to them that they did fight the Witches." Paul said, "You know what happened to those pastors?"

"You can just say it," Severus said impatiently.

"There was a purger who led the angry crowd into a monastery in Bordeaux, and dragged out the abbot who refused to swear an oath to the constitution. The National Guard announced his arrest to protect the priest, but those lunatics rushed into the monastery. Go to prison and kill him." Paul gritted his teeth "Now you know what kind of people you deal with? The scavengers are not native to the United States, they are mercenaries from 'different countries', I don't know what happened to them What disappears in France, that's all I know."

Everyone fell silent.

After a while Severus raised his wand and removed the bondage of light and shadow from Paul.

"You are not a bad person, Snape. There are many women in this world, and there is not just one mixed-race Veela. You can change to another one and start over." Paul turned and walked away after finishing speaking.

"Do you think he's right?" Severus asked.

"He's right," said Orlando quietly, "but I'm at your command, sir."

"Me too," said Felix.

"What about you?" Severus asked Hudge.

"Can I bring a gun?" Haji asked.

"You can try and see if the bullet kills the ghost," Severus hissed.

"I'll join." Haji said listlessly, "I would have stayed in my hometown if I had known."

　Benandanti
　
(End of this chapter)