"Edmond, why did you come?" Audrey suddenly asked.
Edmond rolled his eyes internally. Don't you know why I came?
"We've run into some issues with our ventures, and I need to discuss them with you," he said, turning to Isaline. "I'm just borrowing Audrey for a little while, alright, Miss Windsor?"
Isaline nodded, her face flushed. "Of course, of course, business is more important. Please go ahead!"
Watching Edmond and Audrey leave, Isaline suddenly felt a void in her heart, not even noticing Tsuruko approaching her.
"Senior Windsor, where did Senior Astley go?"
Isaline was startled, which brought her back to reality. "Oh, something came up with her family's businesses, and she went to handle it."
Tsuruko asked, "I still don't know what Senior Astley's family does?"
Isaline froze too. She knew Audrey was extremely rich (a whole room full of gold coins!), but aside from her status as a singer, she truly knew nothing about her family's businesses.
"Perhaps, something related to her singing career?"
Tsuruko realized, "I see! Senior Astley is definitely a global superstar now! I heard she earns eight million dollars from a single concert! That must be one of the most profitable ventures!"
Tsuruko suddenly smiled. "I first met Senior at one of her concerts. I even performed the opening dance for her!"
Isaline was barely listening to Tsuruko. In her mind now were only those heterochromatic eyes, like the beautiful cat Audrey had kept last term.
…
…
"You truly saved me, Edmond!" Audrey said with lingering fear.
Edmond gave her a frustrated look. "You brat, calling me for such a trivial matter! I have tens of millions flowing through my accounts every minute; are you trying to lose money?"
Audrey gave an embarrassed smile. "Sorry about that, I just didn't know who else to ask—I couldn't exactly call Teacher Grindelwald over, could I?"
"I must have owed you in a past life," Edmond rubbed Audrey's head hard. "By the way, the situation in Norway has been quite strange lately."
Audrey pouted and smoothed her hair. "What's wrong with Norway? Didn't that troublesome boy get defeated by You-Know-Who?"
"That boy is indeed confirmed dead, but strangely, every wizard who fought him that day and survived has been continuously murdered recently," Edmond said worriedly. "The Norwegian Wizarding community is in chaos, and it's affecting our business."
"Huh? Our business reaches Norway?"
Edmond covered his face with one hand. "You handle your role so carelessly… Gringotts' assets span the entire Wizarding world, and we've taken over everything, naturally including Norway!"
"Oh, alright," Audrey shrugged. "You really have your work cut out for you." She considered it. "If this situation can be reversed, reverse it. If not, abandon the Norwegian market. I think the great Eastern nation is about to rise, and we can shift our strategic focus there."
Edmond nodded. "Our previous cooperation with them was excellent. Twenty percent of the steel mills and machinery factories have already been relocated to China. They gave us immense support, providing people and resources. The production costs are less than a third of what they were in Ukraine!"
"Since that's the case, increase the relocation efforts. Ukraine will decline year after year. If we can't develop light industry in Ukraine, we will eventually be ruined by those greedy officials."
"Understood."
"Right, I want to build a Wizarding shopping complex, patterned after the Muggle ones. Do you have any suggestions?"
"Why the sudden idea?"
"Don't worry about why I thought of it, just tell me if it's feasible."
"It is."
…
…
Ginny Weasley leaned sickly on a sofa in the Gryffindor common room, white steam rising from her fiery red hair—the result of the invigorating potion Percy had given her. She had been feeling terrible lately—listless and unfocused.
Ginny watched Harry rush out with his broomstick. She wanted to say hello, but her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, and Harry didn't hear it at all.
The common room was noisy, but the clamor seemed entirely disconnected from Ginny. She felt separated from this cheerful world by a thick sheet of frosted glass.
Chapter 115: Scabbers on the Run
Just as Ginny was about to drift into sleep, Ron rushed out of the dormitory entrance, shouting wildly.
"Scabbers! Don't run!"
Ron ran stumbling, drawing annoyed looks from Hermione, who was writing homework.
"Ron, stop running around the common room!"
Ron complained, "Scabbers escaped! It has never been this frantic in the past ten years!" Ron showed his wounded index finger. "Look, it even bit me!"
Hermione put down her quill and said seriously, "Ron, Scabbers is very old for a rat! It might be dying!" Seeing Ron's confusion, Hermione continued, "That cat Audrey kept ran away to find a burial spot because it knew its end was near. Many animals have this habit, and I think Scabbers might be doing the same!"
"No!" Ron said miserably. "You're talking nonsense! Scabbers was perfectly fine! Mum even bought it a vitality booster!"
George and Fred burst out with their broomsticks. Fred laughed heartily, "Good heavens! Mum would rather buy medicine for Scabbers than a new pet for you! Ron, are you really her biological son?"
"Get lost, Fred! If you want Wood to break your legs for being late, keep standing here and mocking me! And you, Hermione, if you're not going to help, can you please shut your annoying mouth? I've had enough!"
Hermione shook her head helplessly. The current Ron was close to madness and spoke without thinking.
"Fine, suit yourself," Hermione said. "Just make sure you don't use your broken wand to capture Scabbers, unless you want to fill Hagrid's bucket with slugs again."
"That is truly a malicious curse, Hermione Granger!"
While they were talking, the Weasley twins had opened the common room door, and a grey rat shot out with a "swoosh."
"Scabbers!"
Ron cried out in shock, darting out ahead of the twins.
Scabbers fled through the castle, with Ron chasing desperately behind. Portraits constantly spoke up:
"Young man, don't run about! Mind you don't get caught by a professor and given detention!"
Ron couldn't worry about that now; he was focused only on catching Scabbers. Even if Hermione was right and the old rat was dying, Ron wanted it to die by his side. It had been with him for so many years; to say he had no affection for it would be a lie.
Scabbers turned into the corridor outside the Transfiguration classroom, then suddenly stopped, trembling and backing away as if it had seen something terrifying. It was utterly frantic.
A pair of small hands snatched it up.
"Scabbers, I finally caught you," Ron gasped. "Stop running away. Don't worry, I'll take care of you until the end!"
Strangely, Scabbers looked docile now, which warmed Ron's heart—See? Scabbers does understand!
"Woof!"
A robust bark.
Ron looked up and saw a large black dog glaring at him menacingly! Ron quickly pulled out his broken wand and waved it at the black dog. The broken tip spun with his movements, looking somewhat like a nunchaku.
"Get away! You foul dog! You just scared my pet!"
The black dog took a deep look at the rat in Ron's hand, a flicker of struggle passing through its eyes. Finally, it silently retreated into the darkness.
He had promised Audrey not to cause trouble in the school.
However, he couldn't let Peter Pettigrew escape Hogwarts!
Thanks to the wand Audrey gave him, he attempted to recreate the Marauder's Map. Fortunately, he succeeded. Although the map wasn't detailed, it was more than enough to track Peter's movements—it was a map that only showed Peter Pettigrew's location.
Perhaps this wasn't so bad? As long as he kept the pressure on Peter, the rat would eventually try to run away again. As long as he didn't cause chaos in the school, Audrey should forgive him, right?
Yes, I'll do that!
It must be said, this was very Gryffindor!
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