days at Hogwarts

Chapter 770 Theodore Nott

Fine sunlight shines through the gaps between the branches, filling the leaf-covered courtyard with warm light.

It happened to be the morning break, and some students took the time out to bask in the sun. A lazy owl postman was standing on the treetop, and the administrator, Mrs. Norris, was lying on the side of the road with her eyes narrowed and her tail sweeping lazily.

"Why do we need to seek asylum? The crimes committed by the 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 trial of the Death Eaters was proceeding in an orderly manner and was nearing its end. Occasionally, one would see the verdict documents issued by Woolworth's in New York in the newspapers. The punishment was basically determined, so there was no need to worry about high fines, nor to expect to leave prison during their lifetime.

As commissioner, Kohlhausen is responsible for communicating matters related to the extradition of criminals.

Although the Magical Congress of the United States still retains the death penalty, the relevant laws on collective responsibility have been abolished, and the relatives of these Death Eaters will not be implicated.

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

Nott seemed to have anticipated his question. He smiled bitterly and sat down on the stone next to him and said, "Ever since the Dark Lord... Voldemort made a comeback and the Death Eaters regrouped, we, the relatives of the Death Eaters, have been caught in the storm and whirlpool. First, there was the high bail two years ago, and then there was the travel expenses they took away when they fled the UK. More than half of the family's wealth was consumed."

The Death Eater relative didn't seem to have finished his words, but Loren saw that he didn't want to dwell on the details, so he didn't ask any more questions. He just nodded calmly and said, "It's just that the cash is more than half gone. The wealth accumulated by the Pure-Blood Family over the past thousand years is mainly concentrated in land, shops, and monopoly businesses... With your background, you should be able to make up for this part of the deficit in about ten years and restore the Pure-Blood Family's former glory."

"The glory of pure-bloods is a thing of the past. The matter of Voldemort and the Death Eaters is over, and no wizard will mention it for many years." Nott shook his head. "Pure-blood families that have a relationship with the Death Eaters will only gradually shrink and decline, and will never be able to restore their former status. We don't expect those things in the past, we just want to survive normally and pass on the family."

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

"The Twenty-Eight Pure-Blood Clans is just a self-proclaimed title. 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 we are not the only ones doing business in this land. We are just a group that has gathered together for common interests."

Nott's expression was calm, and his voice was steady, revealing a maturity beyond his age: "After the Death Eater trials, Minister Scrimgeour needed to take responsibility for his past wrong decisions. He was an upright wizard, and even though he was about to be dismissed, he wanted to do more despite the infamy, so there was an internal investigation within the Ministry of Magic...Originally, due to the influence of the Death Eaters' relatives, our business was very bad, and Minister Scrimgeour's investigation added fuel to our stake."

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

"Before Voldemort's return, we had a big business. Our main business was in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, including clothing, cauldrons, stationery, candy, pubs..."

“You guys open a store?”

Loren was immediately happy.

They talk about business, and it turns out it really is business.

These pure-blood families are less prestigious than I thought.

"..."

Draco looked away silently, feeling a little guilty.

Nott was silent for a moment. "We rented and sold shops, hoarded raw materials and jointly manipulated product prices to keep their profits within a certain limit. We bought low and sold high all year round to make a profit."

"Tsk..."

Loren pulled the corner of his mouth, silently retracted the emotion in his heart, and continued to ask: "This is just a serious business, then what is the improper one?"

Draco and Nott secretly looked at his expression and confirmed that there was no hatred or disgust in his expression. Nott breathed a sigh of relief.

"You should have heard Professor Snape talk about this part of the business. There was a period of time when we cooperated closely." Nott paused here, "These businesses stopped after Voldemort re-recruited the Death Eaters."

"Potion business..."

Loren nodded with understanding, thinking back to the potion business the professor had mentioned.

In the first few years, in order to get close to the Death Eaters, Professor Snape collected some of the potions made by students in class, added some of his own, and gave them to Lucius Malfoy and others to resell to those backward areas. Of course, the wizards in those places could not give enough gold, so they used potions and alchemical raw materials to pay off the debts.

Goods are exchanged for raw materials, and the raw materials are processed and sold back at a high price. All human beings, whether Muggles or wizards, do this.

"Including potions, but not just potions."

Draco immediately added: "The Malfoy family mainly deals in reselling potions. Because we have abundant channels and Professor Snape's help, we can earn enough profit just by selling potions. Other pure-blood families can only get a portion of the profits. They each have their own main business.

"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...."

"Level 5X dangerous creature."

Loren opened his eyes slightly, surprised and somewhat emotional. If he had known that you were reselling these things, he would have bought a batch of them. "I remember that these are strictly inspected animals. All breeding and deaths must be reported. There are also strict entry and exit procedures. Newt Scamander also conducts spot checks occasionally. You haven't encountered any accidents in such a long time?"

Nott said softly, "During the tenures of Millicent Barnold and Cornelius Fudge, we received news even earlier than the minister's office."

"So that's it..."

Loren nodded calmly, intending to turn around and inform the Minister-in-Chief Granger, asking her to 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 purge to eliminate your eyes and ears and cut 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 out?"

"It's not just these businesses. Someone has already set their sights on us, ready to devour us, the rich but weak guys."

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

"Then there was the wizarding district of West Overton in Wiltshire. A bakery owned by a distant relative of ours was slandered. Someone spread rumors in the pub 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, his thoughts slowly churning in his mind as he carefully analyzed the connections between these examples.

According to 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. Even the owners of the same type of shops did not know the people who spread the rumors.

The previous incidents were just coincidences, because there had been a lot of news about Death Eaters published in newspapers recently. Those shops were all old shops with a history of more than ten years. The nearby residents were familiar with the situation and some strange rumors spread while drinking and chatting, which affected their shops.

If things only stay at this stage, after a while the Death Eater incident will be over and the public opinion crisis will subside, similar to the experience sixteen years ago.

But the following incidents are more intriguing. It seems that someone discovered the pattern and started spreading and replicating similar incidents.

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

"Such slander started out as being limited to close blood cousins, but has recently spread to distant relatives several generations apart. Some wizards who simply rent our shops have also been slandered and defamed by rumors, and their business can no longer continue."

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 that doesn't mean we and the wizards related to us have to close down our shops, go bankrupt, or even sell our businesses at a low price and move to other countries... We also want to survive in this land."

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

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"..."

Draco looked somewhat helpless.

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

"Then there are the clubs run by professors, the Animagus classes, the Patronus Charm classes, and the warrior training during the Goblet of Fire... Even standing next to the dazzling Miss Granger, you can't overshadow your brilliance."

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

I have to say, it does work.

"After Voldemort's resurrection, the situation became tense. There was a group of students in Slytherin House who did not want their relatives to return to Death Eaters, and 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 something the Malfoy family excels in, and there are not many alchemists in the entire wizarding world. So I started thinking, who is most likely to provide a communicator... Later, a similar product appeared in Weasley's Magical Joke Shop."

"..."

Draco remained silent.

He still remembers the details of the resale. He thought he had made a fortune, 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 were using..."

Nott paused for a moment and said, "That is the wand that Dumbledore once 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. He had a Death Eater relative 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 didn't try to curry favor with Draco like others did...

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

"Before the news of Voldemort's downfall spread, I sent invitations to those people and turned 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 he finished speaking, Nott secretly glanced at his expression. No matter how wise and mature he appeared, he was only a seventeen-year-old boy after all. Facing such an important moment, he would still be nervous inside.

Loren thought quietly, and after a moment he looked up, but did not answer him. 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 since he came back, and he doesn't seem to want to get involved in these things anymore. Without Professor Snape's help, our potion business can't continue. The channel for reselling smuggled living creatures has been resold. When the situation was tense before, we dealt with the business that could be handled, leaving only some real estate for leasing and sale on behalf of others."

"..."

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

Loren was silent for a moment, then looked at Nott calmly: "I'm sorry, I can't give you shelter. I'm still just an ordinary student at Hogwarts. I have no power, and I can't influence the Ministry of Magic. Those illusory seats in the International Confederation of Wizards and the Wizengamot are impossible to fulfill. 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 himself to force 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."

"OK, thanks."

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

He staggered back and was about to leave when he heard a voice behind him.

"If, I mean if, after you get through this crisis, you are still willing to trust me, I have a business here that I need to find a partner for."

Nott turned around, his eyes shining brightly.