Chapter 1155 The Story of Paris (8)

For the poor, there is one place that they have the opportunity to patronize more or less in their lives, and this place is the pawn shop.

It's a business with a bad reputation because some pawnshops, like Bok Bokin, take advantage of people.

Although it didn't bear the name of the pawn shop, it was similar in essence. The Dark Lord's mother, Merope, brought a priceless Slytherin locket to sell, but Bok Bokin only gave her 10 Galleons.

The pawnshops in the 17th and 18th centuries accepted everything, ranging from jewelry, silverware and tapestries. There were many such places in Paris, the capital of Huadu. Rich people usually don’t send money directly, but they give beauties expensive jewelry. If the beauty doesn't like it, she can pawn it for money. Things as small as quilts, farm tools, and craftsmen's tools are actually beneficial to the poor. After all, ordinary poor people only have daily necessities, no artworks and decorations, let alone jewelry such as Slytherin lockets.

The little match girl froze to death on the street, and went to heaven to accompany her grandma by virtue of the illusion brought by the flames.

There was a year when a cold snap hit Paris and many poor people froze to death. French pawnshops distributed the pawned thermal products, quilts, scarves and coats for free.

Before becoming famous, artists would also make a living by pawning. Monet was poor when he was young, and he had an indissoluble bond with pawn shops.

When the Paris Commune came to power, it cleaned up those pawnshops.

Paris under siege does not support idlers, and tools must be distributed to skilled workers who are able to work.

At the same time, the Paris Commune used itself as a guarantee to return these things to the poor who had pawned the necessities of life without repayment, especially those National Guardsmen and their families, and they could get the things back with a voucher.

In this world, there are earls and dukes who scramble like hounds to pick up a handkerchief for Louis XV for a position;

The Paris Commune specially found out those pawn tickets and sent them door to door to the widows and families of the martyrs. Or provide another solution, temporarily return the things to them, and pay in monthly installments within five years.

Perhaps the reason why werewolves were unwilling to register with the Werewolf Office and accept the management of the Ministry of Magic, besides the fear of identity exposure and discrimination, there might be another reason.

To use the original text of the Paris Commune newspaper, a self-respecting person would not easily apply for a charity, even if it is a charity in a disguised form.

So Scamander's proposal for werewolf management ultimately failed.

Even experts in the protection of magical beasts cannot fully understand the lifestyles and thoughts of people from another world.

Pomona learned something from that Muggle newspaper, not only rich people have "pride", but poor people also have their own "pride".

This kind of pride of the poor is slightly different from the pride of the rich. In this world where the importance of a person is determined by the amount of money he has, if a rich person tramples on the other's pride because others are poor, then getting it will have dire consequences.

Next to Diagon Alley in England, there is a side street called Knockturn Alley, which is full of suspicious wizards.

Harry has been harassed since he came out of Boginbock, and if Hagrid hadn't shown up in time, he would be in danger.

There are always trees with such evil roots growing in dark corners, whether it is the Muggle world or the wizarding world.

These people usually don't dare to be too arrogant, and they rushed out from those corners when there was a chaos, and did all the appalling and evil things.

The well-dressed man became the prime target, whether he was a wealthy businessman or an aristocrat, guilty or innocent.

At this time, it is necessary to carry weapons with you, but in the face of thousands of mobs, it is the safest way to run to the barracks and the palace than to be a hero alone.

If the escapee is unlucky enough to trip over a skirt or high heels, after a while, an unidentified corpse will appear in the gutter.

No one knows who it was, but the bones of the poor and the rich lie together to form part of the bone wall of Paris's famous catacombs, which house not just the remains of plague victims, but those who died during the Revolution.

There is no epitaph and no one to commemorate.

Albus had reminded Sirius to be kind to Klitsch, but Sirius didn't listen. His attitude towards Klitsch was not good at all, although he was a very good godfather in Harry's eyes.

Double agent Snape took Pomona to a dark corner of Paris to inquire about news.

The hidden place is as glamorous as Diagon Alley, while the dirty corners like Knockturn Alley are hidden underground.

France is the largest black market distribution center in Europe. There is no difference between day and night in this dark tunnel. There is not even a public light source in it. It is all illuminated by the floating candles on the stalls.

Because of Nick Flamel, a big celebrity, a "Magic Stone" was placed on every stall, and there were also various human bone products.

Except that there is no human bone wall, this tunnel is almost no different from the catacombs. It is bitingly cold all year round, gloomy, and sneaky. It is really not a place for a well-dressed person to come.

She turned the invisibility cloak upside down before entering, with the black suede facing outward, covering herself from head to toe.

Severus was in his black coat and robe, and he acted like he knew the way, like it wasn't his first visit to this place.

Occasionally, Pomona could hear a violent cough coming from the mine. The sound reminded her of pneumonic plague and dragon pox, which wizards can also be infected with. Subconsciously, she covered her face with her hands.

People who visit here should care more about their pocketbooks than what those untrustworthy vendors sell.

Fortunately, they didn't go far, and they came across a shop.

The French call a pawn shop "Auntie's", and the name of this store is Aunt Kelly. On the signboard, a fat woman is holding a lace parasol. The bright colors are incompatible with the atmosphere in this tunnel.

They pushed open the door and walked in. Behind the counter in the shop was an old goblin with a serious face, looking at the newspaper with a sad face. Besides, there was a human apprentice, who was deftly cleaning the dust on the merchandise with his magic wand.

"What do you need?" The old goblin asked after flipping off their clothes.

"What do you have here?" Severus asked calmly.

"It depends on what you want?" The old goblin pushed his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"The blondbocks in the UK are not as good as before. I want to see products that are different from the UK." Severus said in a pure Queen's accent, "It doesn't have to be related to black magic."

"Preferably an antique that can be used as a gift." Pomona continued.

"Are you going to give it to a man or a woman?" The old goblin squinted at Pomona.

"Ma'am," Pomona said, "or a house full of women. There were a lot of women in that family."

"Then you should give every lady a present," said the old goblin.

"We're only going to give away one," Severus said. "Show us what you have?"

"Usually we don't welcome strangers to the treasure room." The old goblin sat slumped in the chair, with knuckle fingers crossed, as if examining the two of them.

"I know, you only bring regular customers into the back hall." Severus took out a large bag of Galleons from the deformed lizard leather pocket with his leather gloved hands, and placed it on the counter , let out a muffled sound "Are you familiar with it?"

The old goblin laughed immediately.

It jumped off the seat, ran across a small safe with a complicated structure with its fingertips, and took a bunch of keys from it.

"You two, please follow me." It said to the two humans with a humble attitude rarely seen in goblins.

The two followed it to the back door of the pawn shop, and when the door opened, they stepped down the steps, and in front of them was a railcar parked on a tunnel that looked very similar to the underground tunnels of Gringotts.

"Aren't you afraid of being robbed?" Severus asked the old goblin.

"If the things the robbers rob are going to change hands, who will they turn to?" the old goblin asked cunningly.

Severus looked at it for a while, first helped Pomona into the car, and then got into the car himself by pulling his robe.

After the two got into the car, the old goblin sat in the front row, inserted the key into the mine car, and pulled the lever. The mine car galloped through the dark tunnel, and soon disappeared.