Chapter 918： breaking news

Chapter 918 Explosive News

On the streets of Hogsmeade, students can be seen walking around everywhere, especially the third-year students who have just been allowed to visit Hogsmeade. Every place here is new to them.

After a brief discussion, Albert and others decided to go to Zuko's Joke Shop first to get information and see if there were any new products in Zuko's store.

 The unchanged Jokowi Joker Shop cannot be their opponent in the future.

“You can start placing advertisements in the Daily Prophet this summer. Next semester is a good time to promote and sell joke props. Don’t miss it.”

When Albert came out of the Honeydukes Candy Shop, he casually said to Fred and George, "Don't openly advertise the truant candies. After all, students need to use them to skip class. If the professors know about it, the truant candies will It won’t work.”

“I guarantee that its truant use will not appear in the product instructions.” George said sincerely.

 “Or in the advertising,” Fred added.

"This is a good idea. You just need to give everyone a little hint, and they will know the real purpose of those candies." Lee Jordan laughed a little nervously, "As soon as the class starts, some students start to vomit. Nosebleeds, I don’t think even the professor can figure out the real cause for a while.”

"There are also wizard cards. I plan to release the Hogwarts Four Colleges series first." Albert threw an exploding gummy candy into his mouth and said as he walked: "There may be iconography issues in it, and we'd better put it out Combining games with learning can make our products more popular with everyone. At least, while playing games, everyone can also learn some useful knowledge. As long as we convince parents and make children like it, Wizard Card There will be no shortage of sales.”

"It sounds difficult, and how are you going to convince Snape?" Lee Jordan expressed doubts about this. They didn't think Albert could convince Snape. It was too difficult. The guy was like a stone, and Hard and smelly.

"Other professors should be fine. As for Snape, if he doesn't want to, we can replace him with the previous Dean of Slytherin." Albert had already thought of a response plan, "By the way, you go up That plan was very good, I am helping you revise it, it should be completed next month, and then you can start trying to sell wizard cards."

 “You actually still know the last Head of Slytherin?”

"Of course we know each other. The last time we went to the Magic School Potions Championship, it was Professor Horace Slughorn who led the team. It is said that he also formed the Slug Club before."

 “Slug Club, what a disgusting name.”

 The faces of the three of them all showed expressions of disgust.

"Professor Slughorn is a hedonistic, vain and somewhat snobby guy, but he is not bad at heart. When he was teaching in school, he met many famous wizards and had a wide network of contacts." Albert simply commented on Slughorn. Raghorn: "It's actually easy to deal with him. You just need to remember to give him a bottle of old mead every Christmas. On his birthday, send him a candied pineapple and a birthday card. He is my One of the best old friends I’ve ever met.”

“I don’t think he knows as many celebrities as you do.”

 “He must know more people than me.”

Albert knew quite a few people, but not many of them really kept in touch. Otherwise, how could he be busy?

“Which type of people do you think is more difficult to deal with?” George asked curiously.

"When it comes to exchanging knowledge, sometimes it's harder to write a letter than to write a paper for a magazine." Albert didn't lie. He talked about papers with them less often recently, and more often he invited people he knew to form compositions. Create a small circle, and then bring the problem to the circle to discuss it together.

Albert and the others crossed the road and walked into the small bar opposite.

The Three Broomsticks was still crowded as usual. When Albert entered, he felt a rush of heat. His eyes quickly swept across the bar, and he followed Fred, George and Lee Jordan towards the nearest empty table.

After they sat down, they exchanged glances, and finally got bored enough to decide by guessing who would go to Ms. Rosmerta to buy butterbeer.

 “Okay, you win!”

 Lee Jordan looked at the open palms of the other people and then at his clenched fists, shrugged helplessly and stood up.

 Albert took out two Sickles from his pocket and said, "I want the warm ones."

 “So do we.”

 Fred and George smiled and took out their respective Sicos and placed them in front of Lee Jordan.

 “It’s true.”

Lee Jordan took Sicco to the counter to buy beer, and soon got four cups of butterbeer heated with warm water. When he distributed the butterbeer to everyone, he raised his finger and pointed in a certain direction, and said in a low voice: "Look at that Look, what did I find?"

The three of them looked in the direction of Lee Jordan's finger and found Ludo Bagman sitting in a dark corner of the bar with a group of goblins talking.

“Bagman’s luck seems to be bad. Is he being troubled by goblins again?”

Fred smiled and clinked glasses with George, with unconcealed schadenfreude in his tone, "Do you think we should go over and add fuel to Bagman's fire? I believe he will definitely have a headache."

"If you go there, Bagman will definitely find an excuse to run away." Albert prefers to watch Bagman and the goblins competing over there. Unfortunately, the monitoring technology is still not good, otherwise they can drink beer here and listen at the same time. Listening to their words, I felt happy.

 “Would you like to use these?” Fred and George took out flesh-colored retractable ears from their pockets.

　　"If you want to eavesdrop, just try another method. This is too blatant."

“What do you think they are talking about?” Lee Jordan asked, staring at the excited goblins and taking a sip of butterbeer.

 “The goblins are collecting debts,” Fred and George said cheerfully.

"Bagman will definitely not pay back the money, and he probably has no money." Albert speculated, "If I were Bagman, I would probably gamble again with the goblin. If I win, the accounts of both parties will be Just write it off in one stroke. If you lose, it doesn’t matter if you owe another debt. Anyway, you don’t have to worry about having too many debts.”

"It makes sense. If I were Bagman, I would beat you to win the Triwizard Tournament." Fred patted Albert's shoulder hard and said, "After all, the other warriors are no match for you, and the result is already obvious. .”

 “The goblins are not stupid, they will definitely not agree.” George added.

"So, they are quarreling now." Lee Jordan looked at the menacing goblin with his arms crossed, and quietly took out a detection ball from his pocket, rolled it towards Bagman's position, and prepared to Under the guise of picking up balls, he eavesdropped on their conversation.

 After all, eavesdropping in an aboveboard manner is easy to detect, so it’s best to give yourself an excuse.

"That guy really loves these gossips. If you hadn't asked him to participate in the Wizarding Cards, I doubt that Lee Jordan would have become a reporter for the Daily Prophet or Wizards Weekly after graduation, like Rita Smith Kit likes to ask around for gossip." Fred said to Albert while looking at the back of Lee Jordan.

“We have already thought of the name of the newspaper column for him, and it’s called The Little Secret That Will Make Your Heart Beat.” George added with a smile.

"Let's continue to study the follow-up arrangements for the joke shop!" Albert felt that these two guys were too idle and was going to find something for them to do. He reached out and took out a notebook from the deformed lizard leather bag.

“I’ve always been curious, when did you get this notebook?” George flipped through the old notebooks and asked with raised eyebrows.

“Originally, I planned to sell black magic defense items specifically in the past two years to take the opportunity to make some money. Later, with your participation, I expanded the entire money-making plan.”

“I haven’t seen you playing with the protective bracelet for a long time. Which version is it now?” Fred asked curiously. They had known for a long time that Albert had this money-making plan and had been nagging about it for several years. Unexpectedly, the time had quietly approached.

"Version 3.2 has almost reached its limit now. There is no way to improve it any further. The effect is not very satisfactory. It is more durable than the previous protective bracelet. It can last for about two years now. In fact, I am not sure, but it will definitely work. Lasts longer.”

“If there is turmoil next semester as you say, it will really make a fortune.”

The two of them have not forgotten Albert's prediction about the turmoil in the magic world. "Perhaps, we should stock up on some dark magic defense items first, and then sell them out in one go."

"It's not the right time yet, but we can build up some reputation first, and then we can make a lot of money by providing defense packages to the Ministry of Magic. I have to say that most employees of the Ministry of Magic are really good at defense against the dark arts. "

“Probably we can get an order for five hundred copies.” George muttered, “We should be able to get nearly ten thousand galleons.”

“If you wear a fire dragon suit, you will definitely be more popular.” Fred suggested. "The protective effect of that thing must be very good."

"Do you think it's possible? Those clothes are too ostentatious." Albert didn't think the fire dragon suit would work. Many dark wizards particularly liked to use Avada Kedavra.

"Fire dragon skin is a good thing. Except for Avada Kedavra, it can basically block or weaken most magical effects. Whenever I really make a lot of galleons, I will definitely get myself a fire dragon leather jacket first." George said to Albert said, "Safe and handsome. Of course, if you can enhance the defensive effect of the fire dragon leather jacket, you can definitely make them a top-notch black magic defense item."

"This is a good suggestion. It can be made into a high-end fire dragon vest and worn on the body." Albert thought this was a good business opportunity. "With this thing, as long as you are not hit by the Unforgivable Curse, there will be no big impact." The problem is that pocketbooks can get hurt."

"Believe me, there will never be a shortage of rich people in the magic world, especially Aurors. If dark wizards are really rampant, they will all be eager to ask you to customize a set of fire dragon suits with super defense. As well as those high-ranking officials, they must be afraid of death. Pay more attention to your own safety." Fred looked very excited, he felt that the field of defense against dark arts was very promising.

"At that time, we can also divide the levels." George said with great imagination: "We can sell ordinary protective equipment and specially customized high-end protective equipment. After all, most wizards cannot afford high-end products. Well, it turns out that you I've thought of it for a long time, saying that you are planning to leave ordinary protective equipment to us to manufacture, is this really reliable?"

"Your Iron Armor Curse can be used skillfully. It is enough to make general protective equipment. Even though the time of use may be shorter, it should be able to prevent ordinary evil curses. And there must be a difference between high-level and ordinary. Otherwise, how can How about attracting that group of rich people to take the bait? It's like a normal broomstick and a firebolt."

“As expected of you, are you planning to directly monopolize the market?”

"Monopoly, no, what we want is a brand." Albert shrugged and said, "Even if someone competes with us to compete for the market in the future, they will not be able to compete with us."

“What’s going on with the magical witch series above?” Fred took the notes from George and flipped through them, and found that Albert had actually prepared many money-making plans.

 “When did you create so many beauty products?” George leaned his head over and asked curiously.

"These are not all my research results." Albert explained: "If someone else has to do this part, it should be separated separately."

 “Your girlfriend?” George asked.

“Isobel is also one of the researchers of beauty potions. Do you remember the two foreign girls at the last Quidditch World Cup?” Albert reminded.

“Remember, she is a very beautiful girl.” George joked, “At that time, we thought you had found two more girlfriends.”

"They are Isobel's friends. We met last time at the Magic School Potions Championship, and later we developed beauty potions together. I was a sidekick, sometimes helping the girls." Albert shrugged, "They opened a beauty shop in the United States and were welcomed by countless girls."

 “What beauty potion?” Li Jordan had already returned from picking up the detection ball.

“What girls like.” George shook the notes in his hand and asked, “What are they talking about?”

"As we guessed, Bagman wanted to offset his debt through a bet. The goblins did not agree with Bagman's choice of Albert's final victory as a bet, so they quarreled." Lee Jordan smiled at Albert said: "It seems that Bagman has great confidence in you."

While a few people were chatting, Rita Skeeter followed her pot-bellied photographer into the Three Broomsticks. As soon as she went to the bar to buy a drink, she stared at Bagman who was being entangled by the goblins. Cup of Mead ran to talk to Bagman and tried to interview him, but the conversation between the two parties was not pleasant. Bagman talked a lot of nonsense and quickly left with the group of goblins.

"Bagman seems reluctant to talk to us. What is he doing, and why is there a large group of goblins following him? He also said he was taking the goblins around Hogsmeade... That's nonsense... I bet something happened. "Rita Skeeter looked at Bagman's leaving back with interest, and said to her colleagues beside her, "...if we can dig something out, Ludo Bagman, Director of the Department of Magical Sports, will definitely His reputation will be ruined...This thing is really exciting...Follow Fu Zuo, let's see what secrets Bagman is trying to hide."

Fred, George and Lee Jordan looked at each other, ready to take this opportunity to tell Rita Skeeter about Bagman.

Just as they were about to stand up, they heard a sharp voice in the bar.

 “Are you trying to ruin someone’s life again?”

Many people turned their heads when they heard the sound. Rita Skeeter also stopped. After seeing clearly who was speaking, she was no longer in a hurry to follow Bagman and followed Harry with a smile on her face. Say hello, "Great Harry, I didn't expect to see you here..."

"Why did you do that to Hagrid?" Harry asked angrily.

"Our readers have the right to know the truth." Rita Skeeter still had a smile on her face, showing no embarrassment at all, "I'm just fulfilling my responsibility."

 “Who cares about him…”

 What Harry was about to say was interrupted by Hermione.

"The truth, are you sure?" Hermione looked at Rita Skeeter coldly, with the corners of her mouth raised contemptuously, "As long as you can get a story and enough Galleons, you don't care about anything, no matter who it is. Don’t let it go, is the truth more important than galleons? Obviously not, I know you care more about the sales of newspapers and how many galleons you can get, so this time you plan to confront Ludo Bagman—"

"You silly little girl, don't talk nonsense about things you don't understand." Rita Skeeter said coldly.

"Are you angry because of what I said?" Hermione sneered without fear of Rita Skeeter's gaze.

 “Oh my **** Skeeter, don’t you ever do anything serious?”

 Sirius appeared out of nowhere, stretched out his hand to hold the shoulders of Harry and Hermione, and looked at the angry Rita Skeeter with a smile.

"You actually have time to argue with a little girl here. No wonder the things reported by the Daily Prophet have become more and more **** recently." Sirius said with a heartbroken expression, "I used to like reading the Daily Prophet ", at least we can get some useful information, but now there is nothing in the newspaper except a bunch of rubbish. Or is it that the Daily Prophet is trying to use this **** to help the Ministry of Magic cover up the truth."

“Concealing the truth?” Rita Skeeter looked at Sirius with a smile, “Oh, are you going to share with me some big secret that I don’t know? To be honest, I’m very interested in your so-called truth.”

“Do you know the news that Peter Pettigrew is alive again? That guy also used the Imperius Curse to control and murder Barty Crouch, Director of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation.” Sirius said with a smile.

"We have already reported this matter. It seems that you have been in Azkaban for a long time and your memory has deteriorated a bit." Rita Skeeter scoffed sharply, "I suggest you buy a memory ball. Maybe it will keep you from being so forgetful."

"Then why didn't you report how Peter Pettigrew came back to life?" Sirius was not angry and asked with a smile, "You didn't investigate such an important matter clearly? You are still unwilling to report it."

“You made it sound like you knew it,” Rita Skeeter said coldly.

"Of course, I got the first-hand information." Sirius smiled, "Peter Pettigrew's mother died in Azkaban instead of Peter, so the body of Peter buried by the dementors was actually Mrs. Peter who drank the compound potion. "

The entire small bar suddenly became silent. Everyone was shocked by the news. They never expected that Mrs. Peter would be willing to do this for her son.

 “Do you have any evidence?”

  Rita Skeeter suddenly had a bad premonition.

"Mrs. Peter used half of the Peter family's property to make a deal with the Minister of Magic in exchange for the opportunity to visit her son in Azkaban. As a result, within two days, Peter died in Azkaban, and Mrs. Peter died soon after. , and Peter's house was engulfed in raging fire." The smile on Sirius' face became more kind, "This matter can be found out, even the Minister of Magic can't cover it up, I dare say the Daily Prophet must also know about it It seems that you don’t want everyone to know the truth. Is it because Fudge won’t let you know, or is it because the Daily Prophet received hush money and shut up on this matter?”

 Suddenly there were whispers in the bar.

"Someone has sworn that it was her duty to let readers know the truth." Hermione scoffed sharply.

Rita Skeeter looked at Hermione's messy hair coldly and fiercely, obviously with bad intentions.

Without giving Rita Skeeter a chance to speak, Sirius continued, "Poor Mrs. Peter, she sacrificed everything for her son, but got this result. Look what Peter did when he escaped from Azkaban What a good thing."

"Do you know why Peter Pettigrew used the Imperius Curse to control Crouch? You didn't even report what Peter Pettigrew did in Crouch's house. Could it be that the Daily Prophet has now become the mouthpiece of the Ministry of Magic? Yet?"

 Sirius was in a particularly happy mood, and he planned to break a big news here.

Rita Skeeter had a dark face and was about to leave, but Sirius used magic to stop her in place.

"Don't leave in a hurry. Everyone needs the truth, not the insignificant truths you say." Sirius played with his wand and said, "You are really incompetent. Since the Daily Prophet doesn't know anything, as a reporter, You should stay here and listen to what I have to say, then go back and write an article about the information I provided. Readers have the right to know the truth, otherwise what is the use of you? Do you think everyone is a fool? Or do you think Are we all fools?"

 Sirius's words were very sharp, and they directly made Rita Skeeter, who was frozen in place, begin to doubt her life.

 “Dumbledore is a party to this matter.”

Sirius smiled and said to the audience in the bar, "That night, he and Bagman went to Barty Crouch to discuss the security issues of the second event of the Triwizard Tournament. I think everyone knows this, but you I don’t know what Dumbledore encountered at Barty’s house.”

 So everyone swallowed their saliva and waited for Sirius to reveal the truth of the mystery.

"A very ugly baby who couldn't even handle life, but was able to pick up a wand, was the one who held Dumbledore down for a few minutes." Sirius raised the corners of his mouth happily and dropped a bombshell, "That one The baby is Voldemort.”

　　When the words Voldemort popped out of Sirius's mouth, there was a sound of gasping and knocking things over in the Three Broomsticks pub.

Mrs. Rosmerta's hand shook, and the whole jug fell directly to the ground, and she didn't even notice it.

"I know you don't want to believe the truth, but this is the truth. No matter what, the truth is there, no matter how you twist it or cover it up, it can't be changed." Sirius looked at everyone's expressions and felt even happier, "We don't know Voldemort Whether he is alive or dead, but he is indeed there, and he does not know what terrible way to turn into a baby. Of course, you can rest assured that the baby is dead, but Voldemort ran away under Dumbledore's nose. , according to Dumbledore's recollection, Voldemort at that time looked like a ghost, but he was not a ghost, and no spell could harm him."

"Mr. Sirius, is the devil who must not even be named really still alive?" a wizard couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know. We have found many experts, but they don't know what the situation is, but I think he should still be alive." Sirius said calmly, "It's just that, living in that form, his situation is very bad. Very weak, very weak. An expert told us that as long as Voldemort continues to wander in this way for a hundred years, his soul will decay and he will completely lose consciousness. By then, he may no longer be a threat."

 “This is really good news.”

"No, this is not actually good news." Sirius laughed at himself, "According to the latest news we got, Voldemort is dragging Dumbledore because he actually wants Peter Pettigrew to escape, because as long as Peter escapes, Voldemort will There is a way to turn yourself into a baby again. Of course, the Ministry of Magic actually knows about this, so Fudge asked the Aurors to hunt down Peter Pettigrew to prevent him from resurrecting Voldemort again."

As he spoke, Sirius took out a wanted list of Peter Pettigrew from nowhere, and joked with a smile, "Believe me, this is definitely the most expensive wanted criminal in history."

Peter Pettigrew's bounty was a full thirty thousand Galleons, which was really much higher than Sirius' original wanted number.

Everyone looked at Peter Pettigrew's wanted list and fell silent.

Peter Pettigrew’s wanted list of 30,000 galleons has always been criticized. No one really understands why, but it is indeed astonishingly high compared to the bounty, and it has attracted a large number of bounty hunters.

"The Daily Prophet really doesn't know anything? They just don't want to say it, maybe for fear of causing panic, but I think they are gradually becoming the mouthpiece of the Ministry of Magic." Sirius looked at Rita Sky with a half-smile. Te continued, "Don't worry, this whole thing is not over yet, I will tell you some news that the Ministry of Magic and the Daily Prophet are unwilling to tell you."

Everyone's heart suddenly hit rock bottom, and their eyes were fixed on Sirius Black, worried that some bad news would come out of his mouth again.

"Remember the Dark Mark in the World Cup, which was actually made by Barty Crouch. Well, you heard it right, Barty Crouch Sr.'s son is still alive. We have already passed Barty on this matter. The house elf at home confirmed this. I still remember that there was a report in the Daily Prophet at that time that "Barty's house elf was found at the scene." Old Barty gave the house elf clothes and fired the poor house elf. Elf.”

"I see. No wonder Winky walked so weirdly at that time. It would make sense if she was being dragged. No wonder Harry's wand was in her hand." Hermione suddenly realized.

“Now do you know what the Dark Mark is about?”

"After the World Cup, Peter brought Voldemort to visit Barty Sr., so the unlucky guy was controlled by the Imperius Curse. As for Barty Jr., he has been released and is executing some evil plan. We suspect that he is Trying to help Voldemort regain his original power."

 “Is this true?”

"It should be true. We once wanted to find Barty Crouch Jr. through a certain prophecy master who lived in seclusion in the UK. The prophecy master did not help us divine Barty Jr.'s hiding place, but he told us that later In those few years, the environment in the British wizarding world will become worse and worse, and he is already planning to move."

"Of course, divination is difficult to say, but we will soon be able to see some omens." Sirius shrugged.

 “Barty Crouch Jr. is still alive?”

"Yes, I don't think the news revealed by Barty Crouch's house elf is false." Sirius shrugged, "As for how Barty Crouch Jr. escaped from Azkaban Prison When he came back to life, his situation was actually similar to Peter's. Barty Sr. paid the price with his life for this mistake. This was actually the reason why Peter took the risk to silence him. They tried to cover up that Barty Jr. was still alive and Voldemort was trying to get his original identity back. The truth about power, because once old Batty is alive, he will tell everything. He knew too much and was silenced."

  Sirius waved his wand, unlocked the magic on Rita Skeeter, and said calmly, "Look, the information I revealed is more valuable than your pile of **** news."

  Rita Skeeter didn't say a word and walked away without looking back.

"I know you may think this is crazy, but whether you want it or not, this is the truth," Sirius looked at Rita Skeeter's leaving back and laughed at himself, "If the Daily Prophet becomes The Ministry of Magic deliberately concealed this part of the report. You can subscribe to this issue of "Defense Guide". I will explain the whole thing clearly from beginning to end, especially when everyone needs the truth. "Defense Guide" "Always bring the truth to everyone instead of keeping you in the dark."

 “So you’re promoting your own magazine?” someone couldn’t help but mock.

"Do you think it is necessary to promote a magazine that is about to be closed?" Sirius was not angry, but asked, "Sometimes, people don't like the truth because the truth is too cruel."

 Sirius ignored the others, smiled and said a few words to Harry, then walked towards Albert.

“Great speech, I found that your eloquence is surprisingly good.” Albert smiled and said, “Still looking for Peter Pettigrew?”

"That guy has a bounty of 30,000 Galleons. I think this is a good opportunity." Sirius made no secret of his malice. "We can split the bounty in half. How about it? It's a good deal, myself. Take action."

"It's really not bad, but this is not the place to talk about this." Albert stood up after drinking the butterbeer and said, "In a different place, the chances are slim now. I suspect they have left England."

"What are Fred, George and Lee Jordan doing to find Rita Skeeter?" Hermione asked as she walked to Albert's table carrying butterbeer.

"They plan to tell Rita Skeeter about Ludo Bagman." Albert shrugged. "They plan to use that woman's hand to retaliate against Ludo Bagman for using fake galleons to pay the bet." They even swallowed up their principal, but I don’t think the effect is big. The Ministry of Magic should know some bad things. In the end, the most it can do is make Bagman lose his reputation, lose his job and run away. However, I think Bagman He’s probably running away soon.”

 “Bagman owes a lot of Galleons?” Hermione couldn't help but ask.

"Many, not only goblins, but also wizards owe a lot of debt. We also set up a debt collection group to get back the principal of the bet and give Bagman a chance to pay back the money slowly." Sirius shook his head. He shook his head and said, "But Bagman seems unwilling to pay back the money, so you don't have to sympathize with him."

 (End of this chapter)