"Very well..."
Lucius Malfoy stood up, seemingly wanting to say something harsh, but after a moment's hesitation, he said in a stiff tone:
"Thank you for your leniency, Dumbledore... I... I might need to have another talk with my son."
"That would be appropriate." Dumbledore said, "There's an empty classroom on the seventh floor, I think Severus would be willing to take you there."
"Of course."
Snape flicked his robe, and as he walked out the door, he gave Vid a glance.
His gaze seemed to say—"You just wait."
Malfoy followed with a tense face, as if he didn't want to say another word to Dumbledore.
He glared coldly at Draco and said, "Come with me!"
Draco recoiled slightly, but Narcissa had already stood up.
She took her son's hand and led him out of the Headmaster's Office.
Having his mother by his side seemed to give Draco quite a bit of courage, and after stepping outside, Vid could still hear him whispering:
"I really didn't mean it, Mom... could you talk to Dad for me..."
Narcissa softly said, "You shouldn't have done that, Draco. Vincent is a friend who grew up with you."
"He's changed!" Draco said angrily, "He's been talking bad about me behind my back..."
Vid made a face like he had a toothache.
What had Draco been saying earlier to defend himself?
His current statement sounded as if it had been intentional.
Perhaps he thought with only his mother around, he could afford to complain and whine.
But the spiral staircase structure of the tower made an echo chamber, allowing everyone inside to clearly hear the two whispering.
Within the room, Big Crabbe's gaze suddenly turned vicious.
Noticing Vid watching him, Big Crabbe quickly softened his expression and stood up to say goodbye.
"I should be going too, Dumbledore."
He rasped, "Vincent and his mother are still at St Mungo's."
"I'm very sorry that something like this happened to Vincent at school..."
Before Dumbledore could finish, the slightly ajar door was pushed open with a bang.
Malfoy Senior stood at the doorway, his pale golden hair seemingly carrying a chill.
"Ah, Lucius." Dumbledore asked gently, "Is there something else you need?"
Malfoy barely maintained his politeness.
"Sorry... for the disturbance."
His gaze shifted to Vid and said, "I want to buy this set of mirrors—name your price."
After leaving, he suddenly remembered that although they had reached an agreement with the Crabbe family, the images recorded by the Flow Mirror were still a leverage that could affect Draco negatively at any time.
So Lucius hadn't even bothered to bid farewell to the others and hurriedly returned.
Vid was somewhat hesitant.
Although the Flow Mirror had started production, its price had not been determined.
According to Mr. Machioni, the Flow Mirror was a groundbreaking invention and needed market research to determine the initial price.
But in any case, due to production limits, it couldn't be sold cheaply.
And this was just the Sub-Mirror.
They currently had no plans to sell the Mother Mirror.
In Vid's two seconds of hesitation, Malfoy seemed to have made some assumption and immediately offered a price.
"Six thousand Galleons."
He said decisively, "I'll pay six thousand Galleons for the set, along with the images within it!"
"Deal!"
Vid said decisively, then, under the watchful eyes of Dumbledore and Big Crabbe, he shrank the enlarged Sub-Mirror down and stacked it with the Mother Mirror.
With a swift motion, like performing a magic trick, he pulled out a palm-sized box from his pocket, placed the two mirrors inside, locked it, and handed it to Malfoy.
"Here's your mirror, Mr. Malfoy."
Lucius Malfoy gave him a deep look and said, "I'll send the money by owl."
"No need." Vid said, "Just transfer it directly to my vault—number 317, you can contact Gringotts' goblin Kuler. I hope to see the Galleons account by Monday's mail."
Next Monday, Gringotts would customarily send Vid a detailed account statement of his vault, down to each Knut.
Now it was already Saturday.
This meant Malfoy better make the transfer right after returning.
In everyone's mind, teenagers usually only complained about having too little allowance, not so blatantly demand payment.
Malfoy gave Vid a peculiar glance, took the box, and left without looking back.
Subsequently, Crabbe also took his leave.
"The Flow Mirror is a remarkable invention; perhaps every wizarding household will want one in the future. But at six thousand Galleons, perhaps only nobles can afford it."
Dumbledore said with a smile.
"Professor, if you want to buy one, a single Sub-Mirror is only 30 Galleons."
Vid paused for a moment and added: "That's the internal price."
"And the normal price?" Dumbledore asked curiously.
"Around one hundred or so. It depends on Mr. Machioni's decision."
Vid thought for a moment and said.
Recalling Malfoy's lavish 6000 Galleons, Dumbledore couldn't help but pause.
When Malfoy learned of the normal price, who knows how angry he would get!
Of course, given the previous rarity of the Two-Sided Mirror, that price wasn't so outrageous.
Vid cleared his throat and explained, "It's like this, he bought the whole set... the Mother Mirror is not for sale and is much more expensive."
"Will you make a profit selling them for 100 Galleons?" Dumbledore asked.
He rarely concerned himself with commercial economic issues, but since it involved Vid, he wanted to understand a bit.
Vid said, "We'll make a small profit. But if it's more expensive, many people won't be able to afford it. A television... I mean, a Flow Mirror's value increases with more viewers."
100 Galleons sounds like a lot, but in reality, most people can afford it.
Take Filch, for example, with a weekly salary of 15 Galleons, and living at the school, he could easily save up for a "television" in two months.
Then there's the Weasley family, known as the poorest in the Magic World, but with Arthur Weasley's salary, they could save up in a few months with some thriftiness.
The reason the Weasley family lives so tightly is mainly because the couple has no habit of saving, often running out of money by the end of the month, so much so that when school starts, their entire vault can't muster two Golden Galleons.
In actuality, most wizards, due to their self-sufficiency, place much less importance on money than Muggles. If they wanted, they could go years without spending anything.
For example, Dumbledore, who paid himself a modest headmaster's salary, has still managed to save a considerable sum.
However, upon hearing Vid's price, Dumbledore immediately took out the money and purchased a Sub-Mirror from Vid.
He fiddled with the mirror and noticed some switches on the side. After pressing, he curiously asked, "Why is there no picture?"
"It will only display content once broadcasting begins."
Vid leaned over and explained to the centenarian:
"For those who can't use magic, there's a knob on the side to adjust the volume."
"Currently, Sub-Mirrors can only display identical programs, but within a year, we'll offer viewers at least three different programs to choose from simultaneously..."
Dumbledore immediately understood: "Like Muggle television... you can change channels?"
"Yes."
"Can this mirror do that?"
"Of course not." Vid gave a capitalist-style smile: "It doesn't have that function yet!"
Dumbledore smiled at him: "...Vid?"
"Hmm?"
"You know magic is very dangerous, don't you?"
Vid blinked, "Of course."
"Do you know how many attacks Mr. Machioni has faced?" Dumbledore continued.
Vid was silent for a moment and said, "Perhaps then... there will be an old-for-new service or something like that?"
Dumbledore nodded in satisfaction.