Harry Potter and the Candy Factory

However, one day several years ago, Andromeda, finally unable to endure this suffocating oppression, eloped with her Muggle-born husband in pursuit of love.

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I haven't seen her since...

He remembered that day vividly.

Cygnus picked up the Black family tree, his eyes seemingly devoid of any emotion in their icy coldness.

With a heavy stab of his wand, Andromeda's name began to gradually burn, eventually becoming an indelible hole.

After doing all of this, Cygnus walked directly to young Charlie.

He squatted down, his two powerful hands clamped hard on Charlie's arms, causing him to wince in pain.

Cygnus seemed to see through Charlie's obedient exterior, recognizing the same restlessness within him as Andromeda.

He stared into Charlie's eyes, the deep-set sockets framing a gaze like a vulture.

Then, he said, word by word, "You are… the pride of the Black family, and in the future, you will become the master of this house… Remember, Charlie Black, do not be like Andromeda, and do not take her as an example. If that day really comes… I will not remove your name, but will choose to spare no effort to… kill you."

As his words entered Charlie's ears, he seemed to feel Cygnus's almost fanatical obsession and identification with pure-blood from those terrifying eyes.

Goosebumps instantly covered his entire body.

It was not until that moment that he seemed to understand—he had been terribly wrong all along.

The most insane person in this family was not his eldest sister, Bellatrix… but their father, Cygnus himself!

After saying these words, Cygnus retracted his hands that had been restraining him, and embraced him again, holding him tightly.

But he couldn't feel the slightest warmth of familial affection from this embrace.

There was only fear.

… … … … … … … … …

This memory seemed to be a nightmare, abruptly pulling Charlie back to the present.

"Huff…"

He gasped for breath and shook his head, as if trying to bury this memory deep in the recesses of his mind again.

"Fawkes?"

He lowered his head, looked at Fawkes, who was still curled up in a ball, and gently scratched its little head.

Fawkes twisted its neck, rotating its head one hundred and eighty degrees to look at him curiously.

"Want to eat something else… and by the way, come with me to take a stroll around the factory."

After Charlie finished speaking, he grabbed another handful of owl treats from the drawer and sent them to Fawkes's mouth, as if directly assuming its choice.

Then he stood up, didn't choose to put on a windbreaker and hat, and walked straight out of the office.

He slowly walked down the stairs, occasionally raising his head to look at the assembly line workshop that seemed to stretch on forever.

"Mr. Charlie!! Good morning!!!"

"Hello! Mr. Charlie!!!"

… … … … Every house-elf who saw him greeted him loudly with surprise.

Their faces were filled with happy and joyful expressions, full of a mental state that those fellow house-elves outside the factory did not have.

In fact, the house-elves living in this kingdom that belonged exclusively to Charlie did not regard those outsiders as their compatriots.

After receiving the ideological baptism taught by Charlie, they had gradually separated themselves from the collective of humans, regarding themselves as independent life individuals in the wizarding world, like goblins, like dragons, like centaurs.

Therefore, even though they had an almost blind worship for Charlie, they would not call him master. They would only use "Mr." as a respectful title to express their respect.

As for Russell… although he still called Charlie master, the relationship between the two of them was actually closer to that of "employer" and "employee."

Charlie would throw a few Galleons into Russell's money bag every month when paying wages.

Even though Russell himself had always said that he didn't need it, that he had chosen to become Charlie's "servant" because of Charlie's life-saving grace.

But Charlie himself couldn't break this rule.

And turning around… when these well-educated and value-reshaped house-elves, who had accepted a more advanced ideological baptism, turned back to look at those house-elves outside the factory who were humble, humiliated, and proud of it.

Their feelings were nothing but anger and contempt.

If you were to put it another way, it would probably be "pity their misfortune, and anger their lack of ambition."

"You too…"

Charlie wandered among the house-elves, occasionally greeting a few familiar ones.

"Tris, how is that little one in your family doing?"

"Robbie, it was indeed right to leave this production line to you."

"Iganda, look at you, you've gained at least twice as much weight as when you fought the Death Eaters!"

… … … … …

As Fawkes finished the last bit of food, it finally became too lazy to lie in Charlie's arms.

Or perhaps it was that the noise of the house-elves working and greeting him was disturbing its sleep.

Anyway, accompanied by a sharp cry, Fawkes opened its eyes, raised its head, re-groomed the feathers that had been tied up, then flapped its wings and took off.

It glided skillfully through the air above the assembly line and the gaps in the gear mechanisms, disappearing from Charlie's sight, going off to play on its own.

Charlie smiled wryly, patted the clothes that had been wrinkled by Fawkes, and casually picked up a piece of candy that had just been produced from the nearby assembly line, still warm, and put it in his mouth to chew.

"Ugh…"

After chewing a few times, Charlie, whose expression had been normal, suddenly changed his face and couldn't help but gag.

He endured the strong discomfort and swallowed it hard, without spitting it out.

His Adam's apple rolled, and when the candy slid down his throat, Charlie's face turned green.

"Damn it… is this a semi-finished product!? How can it taste like this!"

"I feel… I feel like I'm chewing warm cow dung."

Charlie gasped for breath and couldn't help but complain to a house-elf who was concentrating on his work beside him.

The house-elf turned around while doing his work and responded helplessly,

"Sorry, Mr. Charlie, this is not a semi-finished product, it is just a finished product that has just been made."

While saying this, he picked up a packaging bag that had not yet been used, and said, "Look, it's this… uh… Weird Explosion Candy."

"… … … …" Charlie's mouth twitched, and he was speechless for a moment.

After a long while, he nodded and turned to leave.

But for some reason, the house-elf was surprised to find that Mr. Charlie's face seemed to be even greener.