Drink Black Tea Calmly at Hogwarts

Sun Tzu said: Any method of using military force, such as driving thousands of chariots, thousands of leather chariots, carrying a hundred thousand armors, and providing food for thousands of miles, requires a thousand gold per day for internal and external expenses, guests, glue and paint, and chariots and armor. Then a hundred thousand troops were raised.

In layman's terms, war costs a lot of money.

Whether you are a wizard or a Muggle, this principle is the same.

Therefore, in addition to military operations, there is also an economic need to attack Voldemort and his gang.

Due to someone's reasons, the economic situation of Voldemort and his gang was not optimistic from the beginning. Not only was the number one moneybag among the Death Eaters severely damaged, but the head of their family was now plowing the sugar cane fields thousands of miles away, applying fertilizer and preparing for sowing. This made the current economic situation of the Death Eaters even worse.

Although the Death Eaters were induced by certain reports to loot several families a few years ago, and the loot they harvested could give them a breath of relief, the political impact of this incident was so bad that it cost them ten times the amount of loot. All irreparable.

Now that Voldemort and his gang have occupied the original site of the Ministry of Magic, their next step must be to reorganize the pseudo-Ministry of Magic regime, and this will also cost a lot of money. At least the wages must be sufficient.

"If the Death Eaters cannot quickly capture Hogsmeade, then their next move must be to compete for and control the Ministry of Magic's financial resources and trade channels." Scrimgeour made a decisive decision after roughly analyzing the economic situation of the Ministry of Magic. said.

The Order of the Phoenix and others couldn't get involved in this matter, and the meeting turned into a battle arena between the Ministry of Magic and the British government.

Mr. Rodney did not have a very detailed understanding of the financial sources of the Ministry of Magic, so he asked: "Are you sure you can cut off the funds flowing to the two-hole socket in this regard?"

Scrimgeour nodded and said: "Our fiscal revenue has two main parts, one is commercial taxes, and the other is tariffs on import and export trade."

"In terms of commercial taxes, the taxes from Diagon Alley, Knockturn Alley and Hogsmeade Commercial Street account for a huge part."

"Now that Hogsmeade is in our hands, Diagon Alley is a key point we want to fight for. We have sent people to persuade all the shops in Diagon Alley except Gringotts to temporarily relocate to Hogsmeade in the near future. Come."

"For those shops scattered across the UK, we plan to arrest the other party's tax collectors to prevent the Death Eaters from obtaining funds."

"Our only difficulty is the shops in Knockturn Alley. They will inevitably turn to each other."

Having said this, Scrimgeour felt helpless. Dark wizards gathered in Knockturn Alley, and it was inevitable that they would fall to Voldemort. And he didn't dare to let these shops enter the Hogsmeade defensive perimeter.

"What about the tariffs on import and export trade?" Mr. Rodney continued to ask.

"This point has basically been resolved," Scrimgeour said. "The Department of International Magical Cooperation contacted the Ministry of Magic of each country as soon as possible. They all support us, and the customs duties will be paid to the tax officers we send."

After talking so much, Scrimgeour felt his mouth was a little dry, so he picked up the tea cup in front of him and took a sip of tea.

The Ministry of Magic's financial revenue is naturally more than this, but what can be mentioned here is basically things that are easy to find out, such as taxes.

Mr. Rodney also knew that now was not the time to ask questions about some matters, so he ignored the question and turned to Scrimgeour: "We believe that the trade agreement between us on grain, daily necessities and other commodities We guarantee that we will not have any trade relations with the two-hole socket authorities. At the same time, we hope that both of us can further cooperate to combat possible smuggling."

After hearing the other party's assurance, Scrimgeour showed a rare smile on his face.

There is food in hand and no panic in mind. As long as the necessities of life such as food and cloth imported from Muggle society can be in the hands of the Ministry of Magic, he will be confident that he can win over the neutral factions among British wizards to his side.

Under the temptation of food,

He didn't believe that the businesses in Diagon Alley wouldn't move to Hogsmeade.

If you support the orthodox Ministry of Magic, you will have food; if you support the counterfeit Ministry of Magic, you will be hungry. It's as simple as that.

After Scrimgeour and Mr. Rodney discussed several related issues, the economic issues were settled.

After discussing military and economic matters, the Ministry of Magic cannot let others intervene in the remaining political matters. If necessary, it can just convene a few people for a meeting to communicate.

At this point, the work that requires joint coordination from all parties has basically been completed. The next details of cooperation do not need to be discussed by the big guys in person. After the big guys have negotiated the big framework and pointed out the way forward, the remaining Just leave the matter to the people below.

After the meeting, all parties hurriedly left Hogwarts. They needed to implement the relevant decisions of today's meeting as soon as possible.

As a result, the most idle person in Hogwarts is Harry. Her current task is to stay in Hogwarts and not run around.

There was still some time before dinner, and Harry, who had been sitting at his desk all day, decided to walk outside the castle to stretch his somewhat stiff body.

Today's weather is not good. The clouds cover the sun, making Hogwarts, which is located at a high altitude, a bit chilly.

After saying hello to Professor McGonagall and leaving the castle, Harry walked towards Dumbledore's tomb.

Today is the first time Harley has been here since the funeral.

Holding a bouquet made of wild flowers picked at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Harley looked at the tomb. She was surprised to find an old man here using a wand to clean up the fallen leaves around the cemetery.

Harley had only seen portraits of Grindelwald when he was young and middle-aged in books and chocolate frog pictures, which made her unable to recognize the waning old man in front of her.

Grindelwald, who was cleaning and playing with fallen leaves, just raised his head and glanced at Harley, then ignored her and continued to concentrate on cleaning the surrounding lawns and flowerbeds.

Harry placed the somewhat crude bouquet in front of Dumbledore's tombstone and stood there quietly.

Grindelwald has cultivated several gardens around the cemetery these days and planted some flowers.

"His mother used to grow flowers in his backyard. He always liked to sit by the flowers and read a book on sunny afternoons." Grindelwald used magic to eliminate pests in the flowers while mourning Dumbledore. Harley said as she walked up to him.

If Harley had a higher perspective, she would have discovered that the spells used by Grindelwald to clean up the bugs were all killing curses.

"Are you Dumbledore's relative?" Harry asked.

"Yes and no." Grindelwald replied without raising his head.

"Excuse me, what's your name, Cat?" Harley continued to ask, becoming curious about the man who guarded Dumbledore's grave.

Grindelwald just shook his head, not wanting to answer Harley's question.

When Harley saw this, she stopped disturbing him and walked to the flower bed on the other side of the cemetery to learn how to clean up pests and weeds.

Dinner was ready, and Harry, who was sitting in the garden in front of him, was ready to return to Hogwarts for dinner.

At this moment, Greenwald asked: "What's your name, little girl?"

Facing people who didn't know the details, Harley still reported the pseudonym in her current form. She replied: "My name is Lucy Scamander."

"Is Newt Scamander a relative of yours?" Grindelwald asked calmly.

"He's my grandpa," Harley replied according to the script.

The next moment, Harry felt that the old wizard in front of him was looking at him like two bayonets piercing towards him.

Harry, who was shaking all over, found that when facing the old wizard, he felt like facing Voldemort.

Harley's dam turned into a stick at this moment, and at this moment a figure suddenly appeared between the two of them.

"Sir, this is actually Harry Potter. He just used a little disguise and another identity to avoid the mysterious man." Professor McGonagall, who arrived in time, explained to Grindelwald in a cold sweat.