Chapter 235

Devereux approached slowly, lifted the mermaid leader up from the cold ground, held her wet hair with his fingers, and forced her to look directly into his playful and cold eyes.

"So, my dear leader, can you tell the difference between the big king and the big king now?"

His voice was low, with a chilling sense of oppression.

The mermaid leader's body was as stiff as a stone, his lips trembled, and finally he nodded extremely weakly.

Devereaux grinned, a smile that seemed harmless, but made the leader feel even more suffocated.

He gently let go of his hand, as if putting down a dirty thing, clapped his hands and stood up straight.

"Very good. Now that we have finally reached a 'consensus', it's time to talk about the details of cooperation."

he drawled, a hint of malicious amusement in his tone.

He waved his wand, and the ice began to slowly melt, breaking the spell that had prevented the leader from speaking, and Devereux believed that she had lost all strength and means.

The biting chill still enveloped the entire lake.

The mermaid leader was forced to support her body, her face full of unwillingness and humiliation, but in the face of Devereux's cold gaze, she did not dare to resist.

Devereaux paced slowly, like a tyrant patrolling his territory.

"First, from today on, you mermaids must do your best to cultivate and provide magical creatures such as Grindylow, horse-headed fish-tailed sea monsters, and loba worms for Hogwarts. The breeding, feeding, and training of these creatures are all It is your responsibility to deliver at least two hundred pieces every quarter. If one is missing, I will personally come and supervise it.”

The mermaid leader's face instantly turned pale. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but was forced back by Devero's cold eyes.

"Article 2,"

Devereux continued, his tone more relaxed, as if he was talking about an ordinary thing.

"The scales, blood, tears, and even bones of your clan will become important materials for the Potions class at Hogwarts. Starting from today, every adult clan member must turn in a certain amount of materials every month and do it themselves. Don't ask me to help, or I won't be so 'gentle' next time."

The leader's body began to tremble slightly, and his eyes were full of anger and humiliation, but he did not dare to attack and could only grit his teeth.

Devereaux raised his eyebrows, seemingly pleased with her reaction.

"The third and most important one. The Black Lake will be under the management of Hogwarts from now on. You can continue to live here, but all resources and all transactions must be approved by Hogwarts. Oh, by the way, In order to 'thank' my generosity, you have to pay at least fifty galleons in 'rent' every year, how about that, am I generous enough?"

"This is impossible!"

The mermaid leader finally couldn't bear it anymore and protested in a hoarse voice.

"This is simply a treaty of genocide!"

"Genocide?"

Devereaux sneered, leaned down to her ear, and his voice was so low that it sounded like it was coming from hell.

"Do you want me to try it now to see if you can survive until the clan is exterminated?"

The leader was so frightened by these words that she didn't dare to speak anymore. Tears filled her eyes, but she could only grit her teeth and nodded tremblingly.

Devereux stood up straight and clapped his hands in satisfaction.

"Very good, this is what negotiations should be like. Don't worry, as long as you are obedient, I am still very 'merciful'."

——

The negotiations went extremely smoothly, and the mermaid tribe has since been completely reduced to the "labor force" of Hogwarts. As long as Devereaux is still in school, these underwater creatures may never dare to make trouble again.

Devereux clapped his hands with satisfaction, as if he had just completed an ordinary business.

He turned around and glanced coldly at the mermaid leader who was thrown on the ice, showing no mercy for her half-dead appearance.

At this time, he glanced towards the shore and found Dumbledore standing there, leaning slightly sideways and covering his eyes with his hands, as if he had not seen anything.

Devereux naturally understood what the principal meant - since you handled it so "beautifully", then I'll just pretend I didn't see it.

The corners of Devereaux's lips couldn't help but curl up into a playful smile.

However, he soon noticed that Harry was lying not far away. He, who was originally unconscious, had woken up at this moment, staring at the half-dead mermaid leader behind Devereaux with his eyes wide open and a look of horror on his face.

"Oh, you finally woke up?"

Devereaux glanced at him coldly.

As soon as Harry caught his gaze, he immediately closed his eyes in panic, pretending that he was still unconscious, and moved as clumsily as a kid who had been caught.

Devereaux scoffed and shook his head.

"After Voldemort took over Harry's body, why did he act more and more like a child?"

With this thought in his mind, he turned and walked towards the shore.

Before leaving, he waved his magic wand, and the mermaid clan on the ice finally began to thaw. The clansmen who had been frozen into ice sculptures regained consciousness one by one and huddled together shivering.

The ice on the lake gradually melted and returned to its sparkling appearance.

Devereaux walked towards the two of them with a relaxed look on his face, a comfortable smile on his lips, and a joking tone in his tone.

"Principal, everything is done. Their leader is very happy that we have reached a cooperation. He even cried, haha!"

Before he finished speaking, he waved his wand and fired a stun spell directly at Harry on the ground.

"ah--"

Harry, who had not yet fully recovered from the shock, screamed and collapsed to the ground again, completely unconscious.

Dumbledore then slowly put down his hand covering his eyes, with a half-smile on his face, looking at Deveraux.

"Deveraux,"

he said in a calm tone.

"Although I admire your efficiency very much, I think your request to hand in 200 aquatic magical animals every quarter seems a bit... excessive. The total number of animals they domesticate and capture in a year is only 300."

Deveraux's smile suddenly became brighter, as if he had heard a wonderful joke.

He spread his hands and answered nonchalantly.

"I know."

Dumbledore was slightly stunned, then shook his head helplessly, with a helpless smile on his face.

"You really are... In fact, I think there are many more harmonious means to choose."

After a pause, he raised his head, with a hint of mischief in his eyes.

"But, Devereux, the way you spoke just now really looks like Professor Snape."

This sentence was like a heavy hammer, hitting Devereux's smile directly.

His face froze for a moment.

"Principal, don't make such jokes,"

He gritted his teeth and said.

"You said I look like Voldemort, which is better than this..."

(Second update! Do you think this paragraph is acceptable? I was quite free when writing it, but I was afraid that you would not be able to accept it, so I want to ask you if you think this level of description is cool or disgusting?)

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