Hogwarts Homecoming

Delivering food to Remus?

Percy's eyes were drawn to the package in his left hand by Sirius' words, and he looked stunned.

Whether in the ministry or at home, he had heard about the grandeur of Professor Brain and Professor Lupin's Learning Machine Workshop. According to internal estimates from the International Magic Cooperation Department, the taxes paid by the Learning Machine Workshop this year are expected to be The Ministry of Magic's full-year business tax rate is up several percentage points from last year!

So, will Professor Lu Ping, who is in charge of such a large workshop, have no place to eat?

Percy's career in the Ministry of Magic has made him somewhat better. He didn't point this out, but said quietly,

"I um, oh. I also want to go to learn the machine shop--"

Sirius' words made Percy realize that Professor Lupine might still be working overtime in the workshop. Under Sirius' surprised gaze, he raised the document bag in his hand.

"Professor Brain entrusted me to give this to Professor Lupin——"

"Amosta?"

Sirius was even more puzzled,

"Isn't he at Hogwarts?"

Percy was glad that Sirius didn't hear about the mission assigned to him by the Minister of Magic, otherwise, he probably wouldn't look good on him.

"Well, I just came back from Hogwarts for some ministry matters. When Professor Brain asked me to return, I handed this document to Professor Lupin. What should we do with him?"

Percy didn't want to discuss this topic in depth. He looked at the criminal being stepped on by Sirius and tried to change the subject.

Naturally, some of Percy's little tricks couldn't be hidden from Sirius's eyes, but Sirius didn't want to pry too much into Percy's secrets. After slightly raising his brows and taking a deep look at Percy, Sirius looked at Cole with disgust. Kanter,

"Well, I'm afraid, I don't have time to escort him to the ministry now. I have——"

Sirius looked back at the Leaky Cauldron, which was still lit.

"I can ask the bar owner Tom to help take care of it first. He has owls there. I will write a letter to the ministry and Amelia will send someone to receive it."

As he spoke, he stirred his wand to make Colkant levitate and follow him, trotting across the white warm stone street and into the backyard of the Leaky Cauldron.

Ten minutes later, an owl spread its wings from the yard, circled twice in the sky, and then disappeared into the blue night.

"Come on, Percy--"

Sirius waved to Percy, who was still stunned in the yard, and shouted loudly with a smile.

"You're from Hogwarts, Percy, have you met Harry?"

Sirius led Percy towards the industrial area of ​​Diagon Alley. He knew that Percy, like himself, was not in a particularly good situation in the Ministry, so he didn't talk about work-related matters.

"Oh, Harry. Yes, I saw him, and Ron and Hermione—"

Percy's eyes twinkled and his cheeks flushed.

Not only did he meet the three of them, he almost had a fight with them in Professor Blaine's office. But he couldn't tell Sirius about this. He just nodded and said hesitantly,

"They were, well, in good spirits. But you know, Sirius, I was in a hurry to get back, so I didn't talk to them much."

"Is it?"

Sirius glanced sideways at Percy, frowned slightly and said nothing.

He had been Percy's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and he had also lived with Arthur's family for a while, so he knew Arthur, the third son, fairly well.

Among the mild-tempered Weasley family, Percy can be regarded as the ambitious one, and he has made no secret of his determination to advance in his career after entering the Ministry of Magic. To be honest, Sirius does not particularly admire Percy. With Percy's style, wanting to be a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Magic is not an excessive dream, but Percy's problem is that he is somewhat blinded by the desire for power and cannot distinguish what is the most important thing.

The dull atmosphere lingering around them made both Sirius and Percy feel uncomfortable, so they quickly went deep into the alleys of the industrial area.

When entering a certain area, the deafening roar tore apart the silence of the first night. The place was not as inaccessible as the outside. Even when night fell, workers coming and going shuttled through the workshops.

Percy followed Sirius to a park, which had the most workshops in the area. Even so, there were still three huge workshops under construction on a large open space in the park, and more than a dozen wizards. He was waving his magic wand to make steel beams fly up into the air and erected in the correct position.

After finally pulling his eyes away from the chimney with thick smoke, Percy looked at the only office building in the factory. Almost every office in the building had lights on. Percy could see something behind each window. Many figures flickered.

There were not only wizards and goblins guarding the gate of the factory, but they were obviously very familiar with Sirius. Sirius only told a few words about who Percy was and what he was here for, and the smart and capable guards let him go. When entering the factory area and waiting for the delivery of raw materials at the gate, every worker must be inspected by an honesty probe and a looking glass before being allowed to pass.

"The security here seems to be tighter than the Ministry of Magic!"

The formation at the gate shocked Percy a little, and he clicked his tongue.

"In fact, the security measures here are better than what you see——"

A smile appeared on Sirius's lips. He pointed to the roof of the workshop and the row of dense pine trees and bushes behind the park wall and said,

"There are skilled wizards in those places secretly monitoring the workshops. In addition, the park is protected by many powerful magics including anti-Apparition spells. I bet that even all the Aurors in the Auror Office of the Ministry of Magic Even if you want to attack here, you can't break through the defense here——"

"I do not understand--"

Sirius' explanation made Percy even more surprised.

"Why do you have to do this?"

"You have to ask Amosta about that-"

Sirius shrugged.

"This is his request. Remus spent a lot of time to build the defense of the workshop in a state of war."

The smell of anxiety in the air was not that there was a fire somewhere, but that the atmosphere here made Percy feel anxious.

Everyone walking through the park had a sense of urgency on their faces. No one was taking a leisurely stroll, everyone was trotting towards their destination.

Looking at the workers, administrators and alchemy experts who were coming and going, there seemed to be endless things to do, Percy suddenly felt a bit envious in his heart. It was not simply envy of their busyness, but envy of the lingering energy in these people. A sense of high spirits, this feeling cannot be found even in the Ministry of Magic.

"They seem to really love this job -"

As Percy followed Sirius towards the brightly lit office building, his eyes followed a group of well-dressed wizards running towards a workshop in a hurry.

"Oh, of course--"

Sirius said half-jokingly, half-intentionally,

"Remus pays them a very high salary. The most common worker here earns more than four hundred galleons per year, while the salary of experts and mid-to-high-level business personnel is comparable to that of professors at Hogwarts. Oh, seriously. Yes, if the ministry doesn’t give me a salary increase, I’d rather come here and work as a security guard!”

More than four hundred Galleons is just the minimum level? !

Percy's eyes widened in shock. This salary was even higher than his income at the Ministry of Magic, but this income was the lowest level here!

Sirius was very satisfied with the look of surprise on Percy's face. He patted Percy on the shoulder and pushed him up the stairs.

"Come on, I bet Remus is starving."

"Oh, isn't there a place to eat here? Why does Remus need you to deliver food?"

Percy, who was still in shock, subconsciously expressed his doubts.

"oh--"

A look of uneasiness appeared on Sirius's face, and he coughed twice.

"Ahem. You know, Remus has been living with me, um. He is used to the food cooked by Kreacher."