Chapter 1081 The 5th Referee
On June 6, Wayne Enterprises' latest product, the Magic Communicator, was officially released.
This wearable communication device is epoch-making. In 2, when 1995G networks were not yet fully popularized among Muggles, the magic communicator already had ultra-low latency and supported simultaneous connections of a large number of devices.
The version with only basic communication functions is priced at 99 gold Galleons. Projection, photography, music, games, office, navigation, etc. are hardware configurations that can be added later. The top-of-the-line version with all the features is priced at 299 gold Galleons.
Compared with magic home appliances with projection function, the price of the magic communicator is not that high. The version with projection and camera functions only costs 139 gold galleons.
The average monthly income of a wizard is between 50 and 80. If you grit your teeth and save for two or three months, you can still buy it in full, and then slowly add more hardware functions.
On the day of release, wizards wearing magic communicators could be seen on the streets of the wizarding world around the world. Wayne Enterprises' new product was undoubtedly a success.
And all this is just the beginning. On the surface, it is a one-time purchase and lifetime free use, but Wayne Enterprises has already discussed with major magic appliance brands about the launch of the series on the platform.
Prongs was the first brand to agree to cooperate. Simply put, Wayne Enterprises bought out the series and then charged users through subscriptions.
The huge sales of the magic communicator did not make Vincent complacent. Instead, he was troubled by an extremely serious problem.
It was this problem that caused him to delay the decision to release the product. If Fudge had not opposed Wayne Media's news program, the magic communicator might not have been officially released this year.
And this extremely serious problem is the basis of the subscription model, online payment.
The existing payment method in the magic world is mainly cash, and the credit and accounting system is only available to individuals or magic families with deep financial resources. The subscription model can still use cash payment, but when the number of subscription items increases in the future, this will become an extremely inefficient thing.
This week, Vincent has been thinking about how to launch online payments.
There is no way around Gringotts, which is controlled by the goblins. Whether it is issuing a new currency or continuing to use the existing monetary system, Wayne Enterprises needs their consent.
Given the goblins' greedy nature and their monopoly over the wizarding world's financial system, they will certainly maintain traditional currencies to consolidate their power. Even if they agree to cooperate, the handling fee they charge for each transaction will be unacceptably high.
If there were other banks in the magical world, even if there were only two or three, Vincent would dare to bypass the banks and launch his own new currency.
After much thought, he decided to postpone online payment for the time being.
After all, the wizarding world is not the Muggle world, and the population is not as large as imagined. Even if the payment efficiency is lower, it is still higher than the efficiency of the Ministry of Magic.
The day before the last event of the Triwizard Tournament, Vincent and his friends confirmed the true identities of all the teachers and students in the school through the new map.
There were no hidden Death Eaters, and all the teachers and students at Beauxbatons and Durmstrang confirmed that they were the real ones.
But this does not mean that we can relax. The closer we get to the last project, the more we feel the crisis is coming.
On Friday, June 6, staff from the Ministry of Magic came to the school secretly to set up the competition venue.
They could hide the secret from other students, but they couldn't hide it from Vincent and his friends who had the new map.
Whenever they were not in class, they would stay in the Room of Requirement and keep a close eye on the Ministry of Magic's every move.
Since Bagman is still recovering in the hospital, the layout of the stadium is led by old Batty who has just been discharged from the hospital.
A whole morning passed, and there was no abnormality in the changes in either the name or the intensity of the magical characteristics.
At noon, everyone had lunch in the Room of Requirement.
"Umbridge!?" Fred stared in disbelief at the grey name that walked into the school.
George looked horrified. "What is this big pink toad doing here? Is it here to cause trouble?"
Hermione thought for a moment, "Mr. Bagman is not in a good physical condition to be a referee now. The referees of the previous Triwizard Tournament were three headmasters and two officials from the Ministry of Magic of the host country."
The twins stared blankly at the name walking towards the forbidden forest. "So, this big pink toad is the fifth referee replacing Bagman?"
Hermione didn't answer, which was considered as her consent.
Not only the twins, but even Qiu felt very uncomfortable.
Given Umbridge's behavior, can she be a good referee?
She spent all day and night thinking about how to get to the top. Even if there were no Death Eaters to interfere with this final project, she might cause some unexpected incidents by herself.
Vincent drank a mouthful of cream of mushroom soup to calm himself. "Such a self-righteous person will definitely give orders without knowing what he is doing. It seems that wizards all over the world will have fun tomorrow."
His somewhat alarmist remarks were unanimously agreed upon by his friends.
It was good enough that Umbridge didn't make things worse. It would be better to hope that Fudge would step down on his own initiative than to expect her to do a good job as a referee.
No one had classes in the afternoon, so they all stayed in the Room of Requirement to keep a close eye on her every move.
Every time she came in front of a staff member, the staff member's magical characteristics would suddenly become stronger, probably because he was ordered to use magic to make some arrangements.
As the staff spread further and further apart, the playing field for the third event grew larger.
The warriors already knew in advance that the final test would be held in a specially built maze. Judging from the current situation, this maze was obviously located in the Forbidden Forest.
"Ahaha——" The twins, who had been staring at each other all day, felt sleepy before dinner time.
They slept on the sofa and when they woke up they found that Vincent was gone.
George looked at Hermione, who had a calm expression, and said, "Dear Hogwarts Head Sister, where is your handsome boyfriend?"
The corner of Hermione's mouth twitched sharply, and she raised her hand and pointed at the three-dimensional Forbidden Forest map projected in front of her, "Go investigate the situation of the maze."
George said "Oh" and lay back on the sofa.
Fred perked up. "He won't be in danger alone, right? How about we..."
Daphne stretched out her right hand and moved her index and middle fingers back and forth over her nose, suggesting that she was aware of his trick.
"Let's not make things worse. You and George were caught accidentally. You probably won't be able to get back the things Aunt Molly confiscated from you in this lifetime."
Fred's smile suddenly fell.
It’s better to leave this kind of covert operation to good friends, they just need to wait patiently.
Not only is Vincent's silver name conspicuous, but he is also suspended in the air above the Forbidden Forest, presumably while conducting an investigation wearing flying boots.
There are not many wizards in the entire British wizarding world who have the ability to move around under the noses of dozens of Ministry of Magic employees.
……
……
