Chapter 564 Filch after a long absence

London finally became a little clearer in early July, but unlike the summer that most people remember, the temperature in London did not rise and was still in the very pleasant range of 20 degrees.

Mike took Franklin and others walking on the streets of London, looking at the cars and well-dressed pedestrians coming and going around him, and he felt as if he was in another world.

In the past few years, he had spent most of his time in the wizarding world, which made him almost forget what Muggle life was like.

After sighing for a while, Mike continued to move forward.

Their destination was a building on the Thames River, which was also a branch of the Los Santos Group.

There today, Mike will discuss the next cooperation matters with representatives from various minority groups such as goblins, Muggle wizards, centaurs and witches.

Mike had actually expected that these guys would come to him.

But what Mike didn't expect was that they would come so quickly.

Mike thought they could hold on for a while longer.

It seemed that Mike still overestimated them.

The reason why Mike set the meeting location at the Los Santos Group branch was precisely because of his distrust of these guys.

After all, those guys are greedy guys. As long as there is enough profit, they will not hesitate at all to sell Mike.

While thinking about it, Mike and others had already arrived at their destination.

This is an older building, but unlike other old buildings of this period, this building, which is used as a branch of the Los Santos Group, does not have those chromatic glass pieces installed on the exterior wall, but retains The original old window frames are removed, which also makes the building look unique.

Of course, the unique charm is based on Mike's aesthetics. In the eyes of most people in this era, this is just an ordinary old building.

At this time, in the lobby on the ground floor of the Los Santos branch, countless people in shabby and strange clothes were gathering here and lining up, preparing to receive the food and clothing distributed by the Los Santos Group.

These things are relief supplies specially prepared by the Los Santos Group. Due to the Ministry of Magic's crackdown on minority groups during this period, anti-minority voices in the wizarding society are getting stronger and stronger. This has also caused many Muggles who still have jobs to The wizard was instantly unemployed.

In this case, they had to rely on Los Santos' relief to survive.

Of course, the people gathered in the lobby of the Los Santos branch are not all Muggle wizards. There are also many Squibs who are living in difficulty. They are also on the list of people who can receive relief supplies.

It's easy to tell the difference between Squibs and Muggle wizards, because they always hate each other, and even the queues are divided into two piles.

Squibs were jealous of Muggle wizards' spellcasting abilities, but at the same time looked down on Muggle wizards because of their own blood.

Muggle wizards feel that those squibs without the ability to cast spells are complete waste, and living is a waste of food.

Mike didn't care about this kind of thing. Many times he even had the same idea as his fellow Muggle wizards, thinking that these squibs were incurable waste.

It is precisely because it is of no use value that Mike did not even contact the Squib during this multi-party meeting.

And the reason why Mike would include the Squibs in the relief list is just to show the Squibs to let other minority groups know that their Los Santos Group treats all groups equally.

After briefly observing the crowd gathered, and finding that the scene was orderly and there was no looting, Mike led a group of Freemasons toward the elevator.

But before he had gone very far, a small figure suddenly stood in front of him.

Mike looked down and saw a big, skinny cat with gray fur sitting at his feet.

Mike's expression became a little weird, because he always felt that the cat in front of him looked familiar.

After hesitating for a moment, he tentatively shouted:

"Mrs. Norris?"

"Meow!~"

The big cat in front of him meowed softly, then lay on Mike's feet and began to lick its fur.

Mike stopped Franklin from trying to catch Mrs. Norris and started looking around.

He knew very well that since Mrs. Norris was here, Filch must also be there.

Sure enough, after looking around for a while, he easily found Filch in the Squib team.

However, Filch's appearance at this moment has changed dramatically from when he was at Hogwarts.

He became thinner and had more white hair on his head. He looked as if he might fall down at any time.

Seeing Mike and others looking towards him, Filch instinctively wanted to cover his face with his hood.

Mike knew very well that this was Filch's fragile self-esteem at work. Although everyone in Hogwarts knew that he was a squib, he himself never admitted this fact.

Of course, Filch's move may also be because he is afraid that Mike and others will retaliate against him.

After all, he had caused a lot of trouble for Mike and Franklin at Hogwarts. Now that he had lost his status as a school janitor, it was completely normal for him to be retaliated against.

Shaking his head, Mike had no intention of retaliating against the poor old squib. He leaned over and stroked Mrs. Norris twice, took it off his feet and prepared to move forward.

But at this moment, from the corner of his eye, Mike caught a glimpse of Filch, who was still pretending not to recognize him and the others, suddenly rushing over in the distance.

Franklin, who was beside Mike, was the first to react. The wand in his hand pointed at Filch almost instantly.

Filch's body suddenly stiffened when the wand was pointed at him, and the muscles on his face were trembling constantly, but he still forced out a humble smile and kept bowing to Mike without saying a word.

Looking at the other party's rickety body, Mike naturally understood what he meant. With a flick of his finger, Mrs. Lorris, who was licking her fur at his feet, automatically floated back to Filch's side.

Filch was overjoyed when he saw this, and bowed deeply to Mike, then picked up Mrs. Norris and returned to the Squib team.

Unfortunately, his original position was already occupied, so he had to queue up from the beginning.

But despite this, Filch did not show any displeasure. He hugged Mrs. Norris tightly and walked quickly to the end of the line, his face still filled with a happy smile that had been lost.

Mike witnessed all this with a thoughtful look on his face.

He turned slightly sideways and said to Victor without turning his head:

"How are you doing with that wand you named it?"

"Reusable automatic wand! This name is not long. I sincerely hope you can remember it, boss!" Victor rolled his eyes and said, "Currently, the automatic wand has developed to version 0. I can't adjust its effect without reducing it." Some cheap materials were used to replace the original materials, but the cost is still relatively high.”

"Oh! I get it." Mike continued to say without looking back, "Then can this automatic wand cast the Death Curse?"

"This is impossible! The Death Curse is different from ordinary magic spells. Its release requires strong emotions, which is something that alchemy machinery cannot do!"

"What about the Divine Edge Shadowless Curse?"

After hearing this, Victor did not answer immediately, but followed Mike's gaze to Filch, who was waiting in line, and his expression suddenly became strange.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally said:

"It's possible, but the Magic Edge Shadowless Curse consumes a lot of magic power. If it is used by a squib, their magic power will be exhausted in just a few times."

"That's it." Mike murmured, "Then let's mass-produce some magic wands and send them to those squibs, so that they can be our cannon fodder."

As soon as these words came out, not only Victor, but also everyone else was shocked.

Benjamin frowned and persuaded:

"Mike, this is not a good deal. Those squibs can't help much even if they have the ability to cast spells."

"Whatever, it's decided."

After saying that, Mike walked into the elevator without looking back, leaving Benjamin and others looking at each other in shock.

They really couldn't understand what Mike was thinking.

Fortunately, the Los Santos Group has a big business. Let alone mass-produce a batch of magic wands, even if all the squibs in the country are issued a set of wands for daily use, it will not have any impact on the operation of the group. .

After shaking their heads, everyone finally decided not to pursue the matter further and followed Mike into the elevator.

The elevator door gradually closed. Looking at Filch and Mrs. Norris who slowly disappeared from his sight, the corners of Mike's mouth raised slightly.

Why did Mike do this?

Even he himself was not very clear about this issue.

Is it because you pity Squibs like Filch that you give them some hope?

Or do you simply think the scene where Filch raises his wand and attacks the Ministry of Magic Aurors is more interesting and want to take a look?

Or maybe both?

Who knows?

…

Pushing open the door of the conference room, Mike led a group of Freemasonry members and walked in grandly.

At this time, several people were already sitting on the large conference table in the conference room.

Among them, the one sitting at the top on the right side of the conference table is an old woman wearing a white dress with her white hair tied up.

This is a representative sent by the witch group, and also the leader of the famous group "Daughters of the Commonwealth" in the circle of ladies - Catherine Deller.

Next to her is Tongmen, the current president of Gringotts.

The remaining people are the centaur representative Gerald, the mermaid representative Lilith, and the Muggle wizard representative Karen Quint.

It is worth mentioning that the mermaid representative Lilith is a mermaid woman who looks very innocent, and is also very 'fierce'!

Just like what was recorded in Muggle fairy tales, Lilith's fish tail covered with crimson scales was completely immersed in a huge fish tank, while only two shells were used on her upper body as a decoration to cover her cruelty.

I don't know why, but when he saw her, Mike thought of the mermaid portrait in the prefect's bathroom at Hogwarts.

Seeing Mike and others appearing, Karen instantly stood up from her seat and hurried over to greet them.

"Mr. Townley, I finally see you!"

This is a middle-aged white wizard, but unlike ordinary middle-aged people, the excess hair on his face has been treated very thoroughly, making him look clean and energetic.

In particular, he has piercing eyes and an angular face. The combination of the two adds a bit of awe-inspiring righteousness to him.

It's a pity that at this moment, this righteous face is wearing an extremely flattering expression. This contrast makes Mike very surprised.

After sizing up the other person for a long time, Mike stretched out his hand and shook the other person's hand.

"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Quint."

"No, this is my honor." Karen said excitedly, "Mr. Townley, just call me Karen."

"Okay, Karen, then you have to call me Mike."

…

Mike and Karen talked for a while before finally returning to the conference table.

At this time, the witch Catherine and the goblin Tongmen nodded to Mike, while the centaur Jero raised his head proudly, as if he didn't bother to talk to Mike.

As for the mermaid Lilith, she kept smiling at Mike with a charming face. It looked like if her lower body was not still in the fish tank and unable to move, she would have jumped into Mike's arms when Mike appeared just now. .

After greeting everyone one by one, Mike stopped talking nonsense with them. He first arranged for the Freemasons to sit down on the left side of the conference table, and then he sat at the top position and said to Karen and others:

"Tell me, everyone, why did you come to me today?"

Hearing this, Catherine, Tongmen and others looked at each other in confusion, and finally focused all their attention on the Muggle wizard Karen.

Karen's body suddenly stiffened, but under the pressure of everyone's attention, she finally stood up and said to Mike with a sneer on her face:

"Mr. Townley, as you know, things have not been easy for us recently."

Hearing that the other party's title to him still hadn't changed, Mike nodded with a smile.

It can be seen that this guy named Karen is a very trouble-making person and hates promotion.

But that doesn't give him any points at the negotiating table.

Then Mike said:

"Of course I know this. You should have seen it when I came here just now. I have set up a relief point downstairs. Muggle wizards, squibs and even intelligent creatures of other races are on the relief list. As long as they encounter difficulties, If you can’t go down anymore, you can come and receive relief at any time. I think this is the end of benevolence and justice, right?”

Hearing this, the expression on Karen's face suddenly became complicated. He looked at McKenna's half-smiling face. He was about to continue talking, but he heard the centaur next to him, Jero, suddenly jumped onto the conference table and raised his hand. The spear in his hand was pointed at Mike.

"Hunters don't need your charity!"

Centaur Jero roared and was about to stab the spear in his hand, but using a spear to kill a legendary wizard was obviously not a wise choice.

"boom!"

Everyone in the conference room only heard an explosion, and then a thick red-black flame appeared out of thin air in front of Mike!