HP solves the mystery

The bells of the bell tower rang, and the noisy night fell into silence.

Now the sun is beginning to shine faintly on Hogwarts again. In the castle, the little wizards are all busy.

Lily still didn't often appear next to Severus, because Potter loudly said that he loved Lily in front of his good brothers after the Yule Ball, and vowed to marry Lily after graduation.

This incident caused quite a commotion in Gryffindor, because Potter's mother's surname was Black. They all thought that Potter would marry a pure-blood wife, but unexpectedly he ended up marrying Lily, who came from the Muggle world. They became a couple, which surprised them.

There were also some little snakes who couldn't see clearly and went to Regulus to tease him about whether his brother would also marry a Muggle or a half-blood.

Regulus laughed it off and repeatedly stated that his parents only had one child, and he had no brother named Black.

The registered letter of renunciation made them mute, and they did not dare to go to Gryffindor's territory to find Sirius's displeasure, so they could only leave in embarrassment.

"Regulus, I think you are still too gentle towards them." Little Barty said with an unhappy face. These people are really brainless when they are provoked by others to find trouble.

Regulus straightened his tie, his sleeves fluttered, and he seemed to be able to feel the burning pain in his left arm.

"Ahem, he's just a clown," he glanced at Little Barty casually and said calmly, "Pay attention to your father's movements, that adult has new instructions."

Little Barty nodded slightly when he heard this, saying that he would strengthen correspondence with his mother.

Although he initially wanted to join the Death Eaters because of his passion and Voldemort's power, he did not expect to receive a generous salary to reduce the burden on his family.

Peeves was still running around in the stairwells scaring students, and Filch had been thrown paper balls by him several times.

One day, Slytherin students went to herbology class. Severus accidentally saw Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall in purple robes passing by the corridor. The howling wind vaguely carried their voices.

"I don't think there will be any more trouble, Minerva." Dumbledore seemed to adjust his glasses, and the reflection of the lenses obscured his blue eyes. "Seize...the time...before I start...wise..."

"No, it's dangerous...the Ministry of Magic...Diagon Alley..." Professor McGonagall exclaimed, then lowered her voice and pursed her lips into a straight line.

They didn't know what they were discussing and walked towards the castle.

The weather was not bad on February 14th. Severus was sitting at the corner of the long table eating breakfast. He put sugar in the cereal and peeled an egg at the same time.

Little Barty leaned next to Andre, and the two frowned and said something.

At this moment, the mail arrived. The little wizards were already used to it. Hundreds of owls suddenly flew into the restaurant. These owls flew around the dining table until they found the recipient and threw the letter or package into their lap. until.

Regulus opened the package. Inside was a gift from his fiancée, Miss Carlo. The greeting card was light pink, and it was self-evident what was inside.

He glanced at Severus without any trace, and saw that the man was concentrating on eating breakfast without paying attention to him, and his heart was sore; but he had to continue on the path he chose, no matter how difficult it was.

Severus ate the eggs without realizing it. He skillfully used magic to block the falling owl feathers and bird droppings. When he finished the cereal in a few mouthfuls and was about to leave, hundreds and nearly a thousand more owls flew away. Come in.

They hovered over the hall, flying back and forth looking for the recipient, and finally flew straight to the Ravenclaw table, throwing letters one after another to the handsome blond boy.

The blond boy smiled brightly, showing his white teeth, and opened the envelope proudly.

Some wizards did not receive gifts on Valentine's Day, and they were very envious when they saw this scene. They didn't know who was so generous.

But the next moment they saw the mess on the plate, they were no longer envious, and even a little angry.

The eight hundred owls gathered in the hall dropped feathers and droppings on the ground, so the little wizards had to give up eating and left the hall to go to class, cursing.

Severus looked at the culprit and sighed in his heart, he was indeed the one who imitated the Dark Mark and projected his huge, glittering portrait onto the ceiling.

The blond boy Lockhart noticed that someone was looking at him. He raised his head and smiled with his white teeth, unaware that there was an owl feather stuck in his head.

Severus looked away, took his satchel and followed the group to the classroom.

Later, he learned that Filch was very angry and had to work overtime to pour feed for the extra owl, which made the little old man miserable.

Severus thought that this year's Valentine's Day would be the same as in previous years, with someone giving free chocolates, but when he returned to the dormitory in the evening, he didn't receive a box of chocolates today.

[Hiss... Don't be sad, Severus... It's the people in the school who have no sense...] The basilisk patted the back of Severus' hand with its tail and vomited words of comfort.

Severus turned away, please put the gloating expression on your face back. God knows how he could recognize the expression of a snake.

"I'm just sorry that I don't have free chocolate to eat, Herbo," Severus poked the basilisk on the head, "You have been single for a thousand years, do you want to find you a partner?"

The basilisk nodded crazily upon hearing this, [When will you help me find it? I’m actually quite boring as a snake...]

Severus: Damn, that was a miscalculation.

In the end, the basilisk's partner gave up. It sat alone on the small bed, curled up and looked at the black lake outside the window.

Basilisk: Woohoo...Humans are all big liars! Salazar is a huge liar!

The days passed quickly, spring came quietly, and the grass beside the black lake turned green.

Easter in April was another holiday, and this time Andre was repeatedly told by his family to go home for the holiday.

Severus chose to stay in school for the first time, not only because it was the last semester, but also to prepare for the upcoming NEWTS exam.

This also means that he will graduate from Hogwarts in June 1978.

Hogsmeade has been closed from time to time in recent years due to the trouble caused by Death Eaters, but it will be opened again soon.

Andrea returned home during the Easter holidays and wrote a letter telling him that Severus would bring him a gift.

There were only twenty students left in the school, and most of them were Gryffindors. Only one third-year student and Severus were left in Slytherin.

He was lucky, Hogsmeade was still open during Easter, and he also bought some Easter eggs at the suggestion of the basilisk, although they were all eaten by the basilisk in the end.

"Helbo, apart from the jars you mentioned, are there no other things left by senior Slytherin?" Severus took advantage of the school's professors and Filch to relax their vigilance during the holiday and took Helbo with him. Bo wanders around Hogwarts.

None of the people in the portrait in the corridor were inside, they were obviously gathering somewhere to celebrate the festival.

The basilisk flicked its tail and showed Severus the items in the secret room. There were not many useful items, not as good as Slytherin's locket. Seeing that he didn't believe it, he said helplessly, [Thousands of years are too long, the potions still have no effect, and the ancient magic books are not suitable for now...]

To sum it up, just go to sleep, everything is there in your dreams.

Severus rubbed his fingers together and inherited a snake, a huge and edible snake at that.

A man and a snake are hanging out at Hogwarts, but some people thousands of miles away are having a hard time.

"What is tax reform? Merlin, do we have such a thing as tax in the wizarding world?" A middle-aged mixed-race man who joined the Malfoy family scratched his head with thinning hair, and the ink of the quill in his hand almost stained the parchment black.

"Oh, don't talk about you. This is a vocational training program...the labor market..." A thin woman pointed her fingers at the big letters on the parchment with a hint of madness, "We are not the Ministry of Magic! Why should we pay attention to these! "

A group of people wearing wizard robes danced crazily there, shouting that they were going to kill the person who asked the question.

James Mead held the information "On Inflation and Deflation in the Magical World" that he analyzed in his hand, and smiled awkwardly and politely at the people in the room.

He really wanted to escape, but he couldn't.

At Malfoy Manor, Lucius walked into the conference room with a stack of reports from his subordinates on revitalizing the Diagon Alley economy this Easter, and asked Regulus to distribute them to the heads of the family attending the meeting. He sat on Voldemort's left hand. side.

Regulus sat opposite Lucius, and he sat further forward than his mother Walburga.

The red eyes under Voldemort's mask flashed, looking at the followers below, and clapped his hands, "Look at the results of your practice."

As the head of the Black family, Walburga usually negotiates trade with other countries in person because there are too few wizards available in the magic world. She has properties in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade Village, but As the master of the dark place, England, a small place, has been divided up by the nobles countless times.

Walburga took the report and read it carefully. She had already expected that the Diagon Alley plan was implemented by her son Regulus and several other family nephews in order to leave a good impression on his son in front of Voldemort. , she has put in a lot of effort.

Bella looked at each other irritably with her husband, Llan Strange. Voldemort's methods softened, and these 'thugs' had no use for them. The sense of loss in her heart made her become irritable.

"Your Majesty, our income from this operation has increased by 30%. Based on Mr. Mead's estimate, as long as we continue to maintain our position, I believe it won't be long before the Diagon Alley purchase channel is in our hands. ..." The head of the Norton family read the report at a glance and answered first. He was very surprised by the wizard's purchasing power. You must know that before this, his family's expenses depended entirely on the accumulation of his ancestors and the production of the plantation.

Voldemort nodded slightly after hearing this, seemingly satisfied with his answer.

But at the next moment, the slender fingers held the wand and pointed it at the head of the Norton family. His thin lips slightly opened, "I don't like when someone rushes to answer a question when I haven't asked it..."

The head of the Norton family was trembling all over, and cold sweat flowed into his eyes without daring to wipe them, "My lord, no offense, I'm just... I'm just too happy... please..."

"Cut out the heart and cut out the bones..." The gentle voice uttered cold words, and the people around the conference table tensed their backs.

The head of the Norton family fell off the chair, his face turned pale and his whole body twitched. He suppressed the screams and said tremblingly, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for my offense..."

Upon seeing this, Regulus glanced at Lucius, who shook his head imperceptibly, and then lowered his eyes, obviously not intending to interfere.

Regulus pursed his lips in thought and lowered his head.

When Voldemort saw that everyone on the table was silent, his frown slightly relaxed and he said calmly, "There will be no next time..."

As soon as he waved his hand, the spell on the head of the Norton family stopped.

The head of the Norton family stood up awkwardly and sat back on the chair, his left hand trembling from time to time.

The unpleasant episode ended and the meeting continued.

Under the encouraging eyes of his mother Walburga, Regulus reported to Voldemort. The summary was that the population base of the wizarding world was too small, but there was also little liquidity, and the market needed to be expanded.

Voldemort didn't say anything after hearing this, but tapped his fingers quickly on the table.

Everyone's heartbeats were beating to the rhythm, and the conference room was eerily quiet.

"Okay, let us people in the Ministry of Magic make some noise," Voldemort said after a long time. "Don't they protect Muggles? Let's invite some Muggles like that old guy in."

Everyone knew who Voldemort was talking about, the Mead who taught their men economics.

The benefits they gained after joining the Death Eaters were ten times greater than before, so they would not question Voldemort's words. After all, cooperation was profitable, and no one would be interested in him if there was no profit.

Moreover, they felt that Muggles were easy to use tools, and they did not attend their meetings, so they showed contempt, so they did not speak out against it.

Lucius raised his head and glanced at Voldemort quickly, feeling a little surprised. Has this gentleman finally discovered the Muggles' ability to make money?

The wizard who was shopping in Diagon Alley was surprised to find that there were more low-priced but low-quality goods here. One gold galleon bought more things than before, and he drank one more glass of wine.

The original store's business was bleak, and they hated the merchants who sold goods at low prices, but in order to make money, they had to lower their prices.

Although the wizards who bought things didn't know the reason, they all increased their purchases. This kind of advantage was not taken advantage of, and if the price increased, it would not be worthwhile to buy.

It was also their foresight that after the Easter holiday, the merchants who sold them at low prices left, and the goods in the Diagon Alley stores returned to their original prices. Some things seemed to be more expensive than before.

Some people are grateful to have stocked up, and some people are cursing the store owner for being evil, but they have to buy it. Who wants him to be the only one in Diagon Alley to buy those things?

Of course Severus didn't know this at school. All of this was told to him by Andre who came back and showed off the double-sided mirror he bought at a low price in Diagon Alley.

Severus looked at the double-sided mirror and praised it sincerely. There were no phones in the wizarding world, so the double-sided mirror was used as a video phone, and it was expensive.

"Andre, why do you only have one side and the other side?" Severus looked at the pattern on the mirror and asked curiously.

Andre blushed when he heard this, and replied angrily, "I left it at home, hum."

He said, grabbing the mirror and stuffing it deep into the drawer, holding a book and pretending to look at it.

Seeing his reaction, Severus was a little dazed for a moment, why was he so anxious?