Harry Potter led the Gryffindor Quidditch team to another victory.
This made the Gryffindor table particularly lively tonight, attracting sidelong glances from the Slytherin side.
"Hmph, let them be happy for now! We Slytherins are leading them by a full two hundred points. Even if they win the Quidditch Cup this year, the House Cup will still be ours!"
The hundred points deducted from the twins was a significant blow to Gryffindor this year because the professors, seeing that Dana was gradually no longer ostracized by the young wizards, stopped "taking care" of him.
And Dana was a silent gourd in class, only doing his own thing. Unless the professors called on him, he would never raise his hand to answer questions.
This meant that the responsibility of earning points for Gryffindor fell entirely on the shoulders of the top students, led by Hermione—
But adding one or two points was a drop in the bucket, especially with a certain rather shameless head of house constantly favoring his own house while suppressing Gryffindor.
Draco Malfoy said with a grin:
"That's right, the House Cup will definitely be ours this year!"
Marcus Flint leaned over:
"Malfoy, I heard that Merlin City has generated over seventy million in transactions since its launch?"
Draco's lips curled up:
"More than that! The so-called seventy million in transactions is just a random guess by the reporters at The Daily Prophet!
My family's shop in Merlin City alone has over five million orders this month, and there are at least one or two hundred large chambers of commerce and families similar to ours stationed in Merlin City worldwide, not to mention the countless small families?
If you ask me, two hundred million is an underestimate!"
"That's so profitable!"
Marcus Flint was a little envious—his father was short-sighted and didn't pay attention to the new city in the early stages of its construction. As a result, when he saw others making a fortune in the new city, the whole family was filled with regret.
Marcus hesitated and asked Draco:
"Draco, I heard your family has a good relationship with Count Dentis. I wonder if you could help us get a shop in Merlin City?"
Draco sighed:
"I heard from Uncle Dentis that it's impossible to arrange for more families to move in for the time being—because wizards from the Americas and Asia are pouring into Merlin City, and the reservations for buying houses and land are already queued up beyond several thousand!"
"Uncle Dentis" at the Gryffindor table was cutting a piece of steak and putting it in his mouth. His keen hearing caught what Draco said, and he raised an eyebrow involuntarily.
"Dana, is the steak so delicious today? Is it worth raising your eyebrows for?"
Fred stabbed half a piece of beef from Dana's plate with a fork.
Dana laughed:
"Hey! If you want to eat, get it from the table yourself! What's the deal with eating mine?"
George forked the steak from Fred's plate again—
"Boss, I've already helped you punish this rude bastard!"
Fred laughed loudly, and he forked out a side dish from Dana's plate—a potato.
"George, our boss won't mind this little thing!"
Dana took another plate of steak and asked:
"When will your shop open? Merlin City is very lively now. There aren't many vacant shops like yours."
Fred put the potato in his mouth and said vaguely:
"We are now speeding up the product development—"
George continued:
"We probably have seventeen products that can be displayed, but the shop is too big. To fill it up, we need to be in our sixth year at least!"
Fred nodded:
"Also, we still need to study at Hogwarts for three years. We won't be able to look after the shop most of the time, so we need to hire some shop assistants…"
Dana cut the steak and said:
"The shop doesn't necessarily have to sell your own things—in addition to your joke toys, you can also sell some magical creatures and common toys that children love. First, it can fill the shop, and second, it can highlight the uniqueness of your own products."
"Good idea!"
The twins' eyes lit up, but then Dana continued:
"Also, if you need shop assistants, I can have the Count arrange a few attendants for you. They are capable, loyal, and reliable."
"How much salary should we pay them?"
"The Count will pay, you don't have to worry about it."
"That's great. If that's the case, we can open the shop this summer!"
Ron, diagonally opposite, noticed the lively conversation and the talk about the twins opening a shop in Merlin City. He felt a little proud and a little lost—
The twins were his brothers, and it was a very honorable thing to say that they could open a shop in the center of Merlin City.
But the twins were able to have such an opportunity because Dana had a good relationship with Count Dentis—
But he, Ron Weasley, was the first person in the family to get to know Dana!
However, thinking about his attitude towards Dana last school year, Ron smacked his lips uncomfortably and turned to Harry and said:
"Harry, your performance today was amazing! If we continue like this, our house will definitely win the championship this year!"
Harry blinked:
"Ron, it seems like you already said this before dinner."
Ron blinked too:
"Oh? Really? I didn't say it. Someone else must have said it to you. You're mistaken, Harry!"
Of course, Ron Weasley's conversation with Harry did not escape Dana's ears either.
He smiled slightly, put down his knife and fork, and got up to leave.
"Fred, George, I'm going back to my room to read."
The twins waved to Dana while eating and drinking.
This kind of interaction between true friends made Dana very happy, even though the two of them often called him boss now, Dana knew that these two had never drifted away from him.
Leaving the Great Hall, Dana turned onto the shortcut to the Gryffindor Tower—because it passed the entrance to the Potions classroom, Gryffindor students generally didn't want to go this way.
"Dana!"
Dana was stopped by a faint voice.
"It's Luna. What's the matter?"
Luna looked straight at Dana:
"The Blurting Humbles surrounding you have decreased a lot. Something troubling you must have been resolved. Congratulations!"
"Indeed, you guessed correctly. Thank you for your concern, Luna."
"No, I should be thanking you."
Dana tilted his head.
"Why?"
"Count Dentis has included our family in the protection range of Merlin City and has also provided an office space in the city for my dad's newspaper, so I want to thank you."
Dana: ?
Luna said cheerfully:
"Merlin City is full of your scent, Dana. Count Dentis has that scent too. I think you and the Count must have a deep relationship. If it weren't for you, the Count wouldn't have been so kind to our family, right? After all, we didn't know him at all before!"
Dana was speechless. As expected, she was the girl who could see through the flaws in his cat form at a glance.
"Your father loves you very much. He's really not easy, so be nicer to him in the future."
Saying these nonsensical words, Dana waved his hand and went straight into the spiral staircase.
Luna still smiled innocently behind him.
"Of course, I love my dad too."
After making two friends, Tom Riddle fell on the road to finding his third good friend, Dana Emrys.
Sixteen-year-old him—well, maybe the preservation effect of Horcruxes is stronger. Let's assume that he is only sixteen years old—
Sixteen-year-old him just wanted to find a good friend and then return to the world with the help of that good friend.
This was just a simple wish. What was wrong with him?
As for the harm that good friends would suffer as a result?
Shouldn't good friends help each other?
Look, before I borrowed your life force, I also generously taught you magical knowledge, didn't I?
But because of the damn Ministry of Magic, he was now in the hands of that old codger Dumbledore!
Locked in the cabinet in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts, he now had almost no possibility of making new friends!
Damn it, damn it, damn it!
He could only continue to wait silently, just like the past few decades, waiting in the dark for a destined person to open the diary.
But did he still have this chance now?
Ah—the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor!
Although he only took a few classes, he could swear that these were the happiest days of his life!
I wonder if this school year is over?
Those lovely students of his…
The little diary's judgment was basically correct. This school year was over.
Dana's second school year was magnificent, while Harry's second school year was uneventful except for some stumbles at the beginning.
So the young wizards boarded the Hogwarts Express and went back to their respective homes.
The second school year was over, but the story of the second school year was not over—
Who said that the little diary must be destroyed in the second school year?
Look, Tom Riddle is still thinking!
End of the Chapter.