At night, shop 93 in Diagon Alley.
Fred, George, Lee Jordan and Sana, who had just finished dinner, were staring at the letters on the table with frowns. A few hours ago, they received bad news from Arthur.
The owners of Bee Duke and Zuo Ke Joke Shop actually asked the Ministry of Magic to conduct a monopoly investigation on their shops on the grounds that their shops were engaging in monopoly behavior
The most ridiculous thing is that the so-called monopoly refers to the patents they developed themselves, but the other party shamelessly wants to obtain this part of the technology in order to ensure that everyone can "compete fairly."
"This is really surprising." It was the first time that Shanna saw such a shameless guy.
"Maybe we pushed them too far." Fred didn't care. "But I think they picked the wrong time. The Ministry of Magic obviously can't pass such a ridiculous bill."
"It's hard to say. Who knows whether Zuo Ke and his men will bribe the officials of the Ministry of Magic to make laws that are beneficial to them?" George frowned and said, "The integrity of politicians is not worth trusting. Otherwise, why do you think Albert would rather give the Ministry of Magic a discount than let them default on their payments?"
"I think we've made too much money recently, and a lot of people are jealous of us." Lee Jordan frowned and said, "So they united to target us."
"We should talk to Albert about this," Shanna suggested. "I'm sure he has a solution."
"That guy is probably still traveling after getting married. Damn, I'm really envious." Fred took a big sip of butter beer and couldn't help complaining, "When I get married, I must go out and travel for a year or two before coming back."
"Then you have to convince Angelina to marry you first." Lee Jordan shook his head repeatedly. He didn't think Fred could get married in the next two years.
At this moment, a red light suddenly flashed in the corner of the restaurant, and then they all clearly felt the watches on their wrists getting slightly hot.
This is not a good sign.
The four of them jumped up from the dining table in shock, drew their wands and pointed them at the door, and exchanged glances quickly.
"What's going on?" Sana asked anxiously.
"Someone broke into the store and triggered the detector left by Albert." George explained quickly.
"Who has the live map?" Lee Jordan asked in a low voice, "If it doesn't work, retreat first."
This is Albert's advice, to prioritize your own safety when encountering danger.
"The other detector didn't respond, so it shouldn't be a dark wizard." Fred muttered, "Also, the timing is wrong. Even if it's a thief, he should come to steal things in the middle of the night."
At this time, footsteps were heard outside, and it seemed that someone was walking towards this side.
After exchanging glances, the four of them began to cast Disillusionment Spells on themselves, and then moved to the corners, ready to see which daring guy was targeting them.
This is not the first time.
Ever since the Defense Against the Dark Arts items became popular and made a lot of money, more and more people have been greedily eyeing their shop.
However, the situation improved after the Ministry of Magic set up a Defense Against the Dark Arts shop next door.
If it's that group of pink-eyed people again, I must teach them some unforgettable lessons.
When the four of them raised their wands towards the door, the door of the room was suddenly opened and a familiar voice sounded from outside.
"It's me."
Albert glanced around the empty room, his eyes flicking over where the four men were hiding and said, “Come out!”
"Wow! You just scared us. I thought..."
Lee Jordan breathed a sigh of relief, waved his wand to remove the Disillusionment Curse on his body, and greeted Albert with a smile.
"Think it's a dark wizard?" Albert raised his eyebrows slightly. "If it is a dark wizard, I suggest you retreat immediately. Also, take the Marauder's Map with you. At least you can confirm whether the person coming is an enemy or not."
"If it's a Death Eater or a Dark wizard, a red dot will definitely appear on the detector on the wrist," Fred reminded.
"When did you come back?" Lee Jordan was about to go up and give Albert a hug, but was cleverly avoided. "Why didn't you notify us in advance?"
"I'm going to give you a little surprise and test your reaction ability. You can't trust the detector completely. If someone wants to deceive someone, it's not impossible."
"That's not funny at all," Fred muttered. "To be honest, when the detector went off, it really gave everyone a scare."
"You just lack experience now. You will be able to handle it with ease after a few more times," Albert comforted.
"Come a few more times." The corners of their mouths twitched slightly.
Albert didn't care about other people's reactions. He looked at Shanna and asked with a smile, "Are you used to this job?"
"The food and salary here are very good, but the work is too busy. Sometimes I feel like I'm turning into a house elf." Shanna poured Albert a glass of ice-cold butter beer: "When did you come back?"
"This afternoon." Albert reached out to take the glass of butterbeer, but did not drink it. Instead, he put it directly on the table and said jokingly with a smile, "I came here just after I got back, so that some people won't complain about me being lazy behind my back!"
"You better know that," Fred, George and Lee Jordan complained in unison.
"I think this is purely a misunderstanding. My job is different from yours." Albert said seriously, "You see, I am responsible for the research and development of Defense Against the Dark Arts props, and I need to help the store get orders from the Ministry of Magic..."
"Okay, okay, stop making excuses for yourself." George interrupted impatiently. Although he felt that what Albert said made sense, a lot of it was nonsense.
"How are the Defense Against the Dark Arts items selling?"
"It's a great seller!" Lee Jordan said excitedly, "In just two months, we made nearly 20,000 yuan in net profit."
As he spoke, he picked up the account book on the table and handed it to Albert.
"This looks much better now. In the past, I had to look carefully for a long time before I could understand your accounting." Albert took the account book and flipped through the recent sales situation, not forgetting to complain about the three people's poor accounting methods.
"We have no experience in this area before," Lee Jordan argued.
"To be honest, it's less than I expected," said Albert, closing the account book.
"Just be content. I don't know how many people have suffered from pink eye recently because of this." George couldn't help but rolled his eyes at Albert. "Besides, there are still a large number of orders from the Ministry of Magic that have not been completed. Once that order is completed, it should bring us more than 10,000 in net profit."
When Albert was looking through the bill just now, he found that most of the items sold were detectors, totaling more than a thousand pieces (including the five hundred sold by the Ministry of Magic).
A lot of defense series props were also sold, but most of them were sold to the Ministry of Magic, and the remaining ones were only a small fraction.
This is actually not difficult to understand. After the Ministry of Magic successfully suppressed the Death Eaters, everyone became optimistic about the future. There was no longer the sense of urgency that Voldemort had when he was resurrected, so naturally they no longer sought protection at all costs.
"It seems that Scrimgeour has been doing a good job recently." Albert sighed softly.
"Dad said those dark wizards are scared of being killed."
"Yes, a lot of people think that the dark wizards were frightened by Scrimgeour's actions. Only recently did the Ministry of Magic stop trying dark wizards. I heard from my father that 70% of the dark wizards that the Ministry of Magic caught with the help of your wedding last time were killed." Fred admired Scrimgeour's courage.
"Scrimgeour has the Daily Prophet publish a list of dark wizards sentenced to death and the crimes they have committed every day." George glanced at Albert and continued, "The effect is very good. With Harry's support, few people will accuse Scrimgeour of killing innocent people."
"Most people are bullies, and dark wizards are no exception. As long as they meet someone more ruthless than them, they will naturally become more docile than sheep." Albert handed the account book to Shanna and said, "Tell me about the Defense Against the Dark Arts props store next door."
"That was Dad's idea," George explained. "He felt that there were too many vendors in Diagon Alley selling low-quality Defense Against the Dark Arts supplies. Why not bring them all together and sell them all under one roof?"
"Members of the Crisis Response Team and members of the Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Items Detection and Confiscation Office will conduct an initial screening of the Defense Against the Dark Arts items. They will then be sent to the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic for testing. As long as they pass the inspection and are confirmed to be qualified, they will be allowed to be sold in the Defense Against the Dark Arts Items store."
"Last time, many people were jealous of our profits and tried to sneak into the store but were caught. Dad started to worry about our safety. Later, he proposed this plan to the Ministry of Magic. Now, the place next to us has become the Ministry of Magic's base in Diagon Alley." Fred introduced to Albert.
"There are Ministry of Magic employees stationed next door every day. They are responsible for patrolling Diagon Alley and helping to maintain the stability of Diagon Alley to ensure everyone's safety. After all, Hogwarts students will go to Diagon Alley to shop during this period."
"Scrimgeour's actions were well received by everyone."
"I remember you said before that Fudge's successor is a..." Lee Jordan glanced at Shanna and stopped talking.
"It's not convenient for me to know." Shanna raised her eyebrows slightly.
"No, Fudge's successor was an unlucky guy." Albert finished his words.
"He doesn't look like it." Shannah was a little surprised, because Scrimgeour looked very capable and didn't look like an unlucky person at all.
"There was a Bones in front of Scrimgeour, and he's dead." George thought of Dumbledore's injury, and suddenly understood why Albert would say that Scrimgeour was an unlucky guy.
After Dumbledore's death, Scrimgeour would become an obstacle to Voldemort's control of the Ministry of Magic.
If you think about it carefully, it is really unlucky.
"I remember that you bought the shop next door?" George changed the subject. He thought it would be better not to let Shanna know about this.
Several people turned their heads to look at Albert, and couldn't help but suspect that the Defense Against the Dark Arts store next door was set up by Albert.
"Well, actually it has little to do with me. It should be Digoriti's plan. He asked me a similar question before." Albert said lightly.
As for forming a patrol team, it was actually Percé's idea, because doing so would help increase Scrimgeour's reputation, and it just so happened that their shop was being targeted during that time.
Scrimgeour needed to make Albert owe him a favor so that he could prepare for the fight against dark wizards in the future.
All these things put together become the thing next door.
"So, you really built that store?"
"Making a lot of money easily attracts jealousy and hatred, not to mention that we are now the only one who can eat alone. If we lend the shop next door to the Ministry of Magic and turn it into a store specializing in Defense Against the Dark Arts props, the Ministry of Magic can help share some of the attention, and it can also ensure your safety." Albert took out his pocket watch to check the time and continued, "Anyway, the Defense Against the Dark Arts store will be separated sooner or later, and it can also make others feel that we are not doing a monopoly business..."
"Well, it would be best to find a reporter to interview us. Let people think that it is not that we have a monopoly on the Defense Against the Dark Arts items, but that the Defense Against the Dark Arts items sold by others are so bad that most people are willing to buy our products," Shanna continued with a smile. "Can we also use this to promote our own brand and give people a preconceived illusion?"
"Yes, that's about it." Albert did not hesitate to praise, "It seems that you are very talented in this area."
"By the way, we received this letter not long ago. Do you think we can solve this problem?" George took out the letter he had just read.
After reading the contents of the letter, Albert smiled and said, "It seems that not only the Defense Against the Dark Arts items are selling well, but your joke items are also selling well!"
"What are you going to do?"
"Don't worry about the Ministry of Magic. As long as they are not idiots, they will not cause trouble for us at this time." Albert comforted, "We can talk to them about this matter first. If possible, we can let them turn it into our store."
"I don't think that's likely."
"Zuo Ke's Joke Shop should be relatively easy. I think if we continue like this, he will probably be defeated by us soon." Albert analyzed: "When the time comes, you can swallow up his shop first, and then give Zuo Ke some of the profits. You can all make money together and claim to be a partner. In this way, we will have another branch in Hogsmeade, and we will have someone ready to help run the shop."
"If Zuo Ke joins and benefits from it, I think the owner of the Duke of Bees will also consider cooperating with us. Wouldn't it be better for us to become business partners and make money together instead of having our business squeezed?"
"I always feel that your ideas are a bit naive." Lee Jordan muttered.
"Believe me, they will definitely be willing to accept our kindness. No one can resist money. And if you want to expand your business, you should take a long-term view." Albert took out his wand and said, "Okay, there will be guests coming later, you should get ready!"