Chapter 97
What's next? Harry asked curiously, What are you doing?
Yes yes...then we 'accidentally' noticed Filch's filing cabinet drawer, one of which read: Confiscated, Highly Dangerous.
Don't tell me you— said Harry, unable to help laughing, well, what did you do?
Fred winked at Harry and said, George threw another dung bomb to distract him. And I, quickly opened the drawer, and grabbed - this!
He said, pointing to the old parchment on the table.
It's not as bad a thing as it sounds, mind you, said George. We don't think Filch ever found out how to use the parchment . . . but he probably guessed what it was, or else he It will not be confiscated.
Do you know how to use it?
Oh, yes, said Fred with a smirk, this little thing has taught us more than all the teachers in this school have taught us!
Are you kidding me? Harry looked at the tattered parchment with disbelief on his face.
Oh, you said we lied to you? George spread his hands exaggeratedly, then took out his wand, and tapped the parchment lightly.
I solemnly swear that I have done nothing wrong.
Immediately, thin lines of ink began to spread out from the place where the wand touched just now like a spider web.
These lines intersected each other, extending to every corner of the parchment, and then some curved dark green writing began to appear above the parchment:
Suppliers of Aids to Magical Mischief-makers: Moonface, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs—Gentlemen proudly present the Marauder's Map!
This map exhaustively draws all the details of Hogwarts.
But the really noteworthy things are the little dots of ink that move along the map, each marking a name in tiny letters.
Harry was so surprised that he leaned over to take a closer look.
A small ink dot in the upper left corner shows Professor Dumbledore pacing the study; Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, prowling the third floor; and the mischievous ghost, Peeves, hopping around the prize room.
Harry's eyes flicked up and down the familiar corridors.
Uh— Harry suddenly raised his head and looked at the Weasley twins, Have you seen Maca?
Oh, let me see... well... maybe he has left school? George shrugged. Don't worry about that, today is mainly for you to see—
Following George's finger, Harry noticed something.
The map showed a series of passages he had never entered before, many of which appeared to lead to...
It's the one that leads to Hogsmeade, said Fred, pointing his finger along one of the passages. There are seven of them! Well, Filch knows four of them—
He pointed out the four one by one, But we're sure, and we're the only ones who know about the other ones...don't bother with the one behind the mirror on the fifth floor, we used it until last winter, and it collapsed—completely blocked. Living.
We don't think anyone has walked this one, because the Whomping Willow is planted at its entrance...
But this one—yes, look at this one. It goes down to Honeydukes' cellar, and we've walked it many times. You may have noticed that the entrance is just below this room, through this one-eyed An old crone's hunchback.
Moonface, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, sighed Jocha, patting the title of the map, We owe them so much!
Noble man, work tirelessly to help a new generation of rule-breakers! Fred said solemnly.
By the way, said George briskly, don't forget to wipe it off!
—otherwise someone else will see it, warned Fred, just tap it one more time, say 'joke done,' and it'll be a blank parchment again.
Then, little Harry, said Fred, imitating Percy's tone strangely, remember to behave yourself.
See you at Honeydukes, said George with a wink.
Then, they both smirked and left with contented looks.
...
In fact, Maca was indeed not at the school, and he was visiting the caretaker family of Hogsmeade village with Tyrande at the moment!
...Mr. Hosa, this event is also to commemorate the founder Hanjis. Maca sat on the sofa and said calmly, You have to know that I am also a member of Hufflepuff House, and Han Mr Keith too - it's an honor to our house.
Opposite him, a fat old man with a big brown beard was half lying on another bigger sofa. In terms of width alone, he was almost like some lost brother of Hagrid.
The fat old man Hossa looked at Maca lazily and said, Yes, this sounds like a good proposal... My great ancestor founded Hogsmeade Village here, and this is something worth recording. A major event in the history of English magic!
In fact, it is indeed recorded in the history of British magic. Maca echoed.
Yes, you're right. Hosa pointed at Maca with a plump finger, To be honest, I really want to go to this open-air party, but it's a pity. My body—you know that.
I don't care about people judging my body, it's not a big deal... But I have to say, it makes me feel a little tired. Hosa grumbled, It's really not very active. convenient……
Behind Hosa, a nurse-like woman patted his shoulder lightly.
Sir, it's time to take your medicine, she said.
Hosa narrowed his eyes and shook his fat head slightly.
Okay, okay—then I won't send you off, he said to Maca, son, I agree to this event—I have no reason to refuse—I will let my son participate in it on my behalf.
After that, Maca nodded to Tyrande who was sitting next to him, and then politely got up and said goodbye.
I said, ahem...Mr. McLean... After arriving outside the house, Tyrande had been staring at Maca, I think, I'm still not quite...ahem...not quite able to accept this fact— —”
The first thing a businessman cares about is profit, Maca said indifferently, but I am very happy. Sometimes, more humane cooperation is more conducive to continuation and development.
But I can't see how happy you are at all. Tyrande couldn't help cursing secretly.
After walking a few steps, Tyrande couldn't bear it anymore.
Mr. McLean, he asked again, I also want to ask, your event this time...cough...although it didn't cost much Galleons, but it was, cough...it was a lot of money— —”
You want to ask what is the value? Maca turned his head and asked.
Ahem... yes! said Tyrande.
This is a human investment with an uncertain return, Maca said naturally. As I said just now—I like cooperation with a more human touch.
After he said this, how could Tyrande, who often struggled in the magic world to do business, not understand? Indeed, building a good relationship with the students who are about to graduate is a low-cost and high-efficiency option.
If done properly, Maca can build a network of his own in just a few years. No matter how effective it is, the value that can be created will definitely exceed the cost of input.
And the most important thing is - this kind of investment is not complicated, and it does not require frequent follow-up operations.
The relationship between people is sometimes as simple as that.
It's like...ahem...a shrunken Hogwarts? Tyrande couldn't help but say.
But Maca shook his head: It still needs a strong strength to support it-the pharmacist's ability alone is not enough.
You want to be the next... Dumbledore? Tyrande's eyes widened.
In fact, Tyrande would have said Grinwald.
After all, the latter was more direct and more thorough; he left behind a dark legend in the wizarding world - but he failed, and Dumbledore personally defeated him in a duel.
However, Maca still shook his head.
I am who I am, not the next one. He said calmly, I don't have the love to protect the magic world, nor do I have the ambition to conquer and change the magic world... I'm just planning for a rainy day, that's all.
The two talked from time to time, and walked towards the main road of Hogsmeade village.
...
On the other side, Harry had followed the secret passage to the duke's cellar.
It was filled with wooden chairs, boxes, and barrels, presumably filled with various stocks.
Harry climbed out of the floor door and closed it carefully - the door was so integral to the dusty floor that it was impossible to see such a door on the floor.
He climbed slowly towards the wooden stairs that led upstairs.
Now he was sure he heard voices of all kinds, not to mention bells ringing and doors opening and closing.
Harry didn't know what he was supposed to do when he heard a door open very close and someone was going downstairs.
Get another case of jelly slugs, honey...they're going to run out of stock... A woman's voice came through.
Immediately, a pair of feet set foot on the stairs.
Harry quickly got behind a huge wooden crate and waited for the sound of footsteps to die away.
He heard the man moving boxes against the opposite wall. He felt that he might never have another chance—
Harry came out of hiding quickly and noiselessly, and went up the stairs as fast as he could; looking back, he saw an enormously broad back and a shiny head buried under a box.
He walked to the door at the top of the stairs, slipped out, and found himself behind Honeydukes' counter.
Honeydukes was packed, as always, with Hogwarts students, and no one gave Harry a second glance.
Harry walked among them, looking around.
