Harry Potter and the Candy Factory

Andre left, looking delighted after reaching an agreement with Charlie, and walked out of Charlie's office. ♦ ♦     ♦ ♦

In fact, Russell had made arrangements for his arrival long ago. After all, it was the first interaction with someone from the American magical community, so Russell himself put a great deal of thought into it.

The small notebook he carried with him had almost five or six pages dedicated to the specific details of this matter. Whether it was the accommodations or the specific itinerary for the visit, Charlie didn't need to put in any more effort; everything had already been arranged properly.

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With a muffled "thud," the office door closed.

Charlie, however, remained standing in front of the chair Andre had just been sitting in, quietly watching the door close again, lost in thought.

When the entire office returned to silence, free from any further disturbances, the smile and kindness that had been on Charlie's face quietly disappeared without a trace.

He paced back to his desk, but instead of sitting down, he stared out the window, watching the bustling crowd on the street, speechless for a moment.

The window glass reflected Charlie's blurred figure, and also reflected the coldness in his eyes… …

When there was no one around, Charlie no longer needed to wear that extremely smooth mask, and he could finally reveal the true emotions in his heart without any pretense. ☞ ♦     ♦ ♦

Charlie remained standing there, but his mind was in a state of turmoil, with countless events, both early and late, large and small, all connected by Dabu as a thread.

… … … … … … … … … … …

After a long time, when the crowd on the street outside the window finally thinned out, a breath of stale air was exhaled from his mouth.

Charlie closed his eyes, simultaneously calming all the complexities in his mind.

When he opened his eyes, the look in them returned to its usual clarity, and the coldness seemed to have never appeared, disappearing completely.

Looking at himself in the window, Charlie's lips turned up in a gentle and polite smile. After confirming there were no flaws, he slowly let it fade away.

"Snap!"

His thumb and middle finger snapped together, and with a crisp sound, Russell appeared by his side.

"Master… …"

At this moment, Russell had just managed to free himself from the chaotic affairs, and he rubbed his cheeks with both hands, unable to help but take a deep breath.

"How is Dabu?" Charlie naturally shifted his gaze from the window to Russell, immediately noticing the traces of blood on Russell's clothes.

"There's no major problem."

Listening to Charlie's words, Russell lowered his hands and couldn't help but grin, with a bit more animation on his face, continuing to say,

"Although a lot of his leg has already died, fortunately, his life has been saved… … The damaged leg can be replaced with a wooden leg… … Although it might be a bit troublesome when walking, fortunately, we are all very good at Apparition, so there's no need to worry too much."

Listening to Russell's words, Charlie pursed his lips without saying anything… … He naturally understood in his heart that losing a leg couldn't possibly be a small matter… … Russell was only pretending to be relaxed when he said it to him, just to make him feel better and not bear too much pressure.

"Go to the finance department and withdraw some money."

Charlie seemed to have made some plans in his heart. As he spoke, he turned his head and walked towards the office door.

"Go to the finance department and withdraw some money… …?"

Russell, who was originally thinking about Dabu, was stunned by Charlie's words.

He subconsciously repeated what Charlie had said, and then his mind reacted, and he quickly stepped forward to catch up with him.

Although he didn't know what his master wanted the money for, as a servant, he still asked,

"Master, how much money do you need?"

"Fifty thousand Galleons."

Charlie's pace didn't stop. He opened the door and walked out, saying the number as he did so.

"Fifty… … Fifty thousand!?"

Obviously, fifty thousand Galleons was definitely not a small amount of money.

Even Russell was taken aback by this amount, and even the pace he had barely managed to keep up with Charlie faltered.

He opened his mouth, looking at Charlie's increasingly distant back, and it took him a while to calm himself down again, hurriedly following along, but still couldn't help but cautiously continue to speak,

"Please… … Please forgive Russell's ignorance and presumption, Master Charlie… … Because this is almost the total amount of disposable idle funds currently available to the factory, Russell must ask, what does Master plan to do with this money?"

At this moment, the two had already walked out of the office door, and Charlie stopped at the place where he was about to go down the stairs.

He placed his hands on the handrail of the stairs, overlooking the little elves who were still working below.

"Hello, Mr. Black!"

"Hello, Mr. Black."

… … …

Even though they had just experienced that incident, when Charlie appeared, all the little elves still looked up and greeted him.

In their eyes, there was undisguised adoration, trust, and reliance… … They regarded Charlie as everything, giving him respect and love like a god. They had never questioned any of his actions. Every little elf living here firmly believed that he could lead all his compatriots to get rid of that shameful name, not have to be slaves, not have their heads chopped off, and be able to gain respect without being beaten or humiliated.

Like other magical creatures coexisting with humans, they would usher in a bright and beautiful, hopeful future.

At that time, they could also rightfully sit in a bar and order a beer, they could also have their own hobbies without being punished, and they could also earn rewards through their own labor to support their families… …

Even though this was not the first time Charlie had seen them look at him like this, for some reason, only now did he feel like a heavy stone was pressing down on his heart, making it difficult to breathe.

He smiled and waved to the little elves below, but the movements were not as light as usual, but rather a bit slow.

Charlie turned his head, looked at Russell who had caught up and was looking at him expectantly, and said with a smile on his face,

"Wasn't Minister Fudge waiting for me to send him money a few days ago? It just so happens that I'm free now, so I might as well take this time to personally send it over… …"

"But… … …"

Russell pulled out the notebook from behind and flipped through it quickly.

"But I remember, didn't you promise him twenty-five thousand Galleons??"