https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-1611-A-War-with-No-Victors-Part-61-/12529350/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-1613-A-War-Without-Victors-Part-63-/12529352/
Chapter 1612: A War Without Victors (Sixty-Two)
Chapter 1612: A War Without Victors (Sixty-Two)
"It can't hurt to give it a shot," Ginny interjected before Qiu Zhang could respond, echoing his sentiment. "Kingsley will likely be officially appointed as the Minister of Magic soon, and aside from the Aurors, he'll need to cultivate his own team."
Qiu Zhang looked at Ginny with a bewildered expression, completely taken aback by her statement, which all but spelled out the formation of a private clique.
"Harry said so," Ginny replied nonchalantly, ignoring the astonished glances from the two. "If Kingsley wants to realize his ambitions, he'll need his own people, and Hermione is obviously on board with that."
"Albert gave me similar advice as well."
But that wasn't what she truly desired.
Hermione's primary motivation for wanting to join the Ministry of Magic was to advocate for house-elves and ensure their rights, preventing wizards from treating them as slaves who could be beaten at will. She had never discussed this with anyone else, knowing they wouldn't understand, not even the open-minded Albert, who didn't entirely agree with her approach, believing she would only end up disappointed.
"Perhaps Albert sees a future for you in the Ministry," Qiu Zhang said, willing to trust Albert's judgment, just as Cedric had mentioned—he could see the future.
"I believe Witch's Beauty Boutique is having its grand opening in a few days," Ginny said, steering the conversation towards a lighter topic, sensing the previous one was a bit heavy.
"I heard there's an opening discount mentioned in the newspaper," Qiu Zhang said, her curiosity piqued by this transnational brand and whether it lived up to its legendary reputation.
There wasn't a young lady who didn't desire beauty.
"Let's go together then," Hermione suggested.
"I heard the owner of Witch's Beauty Boutique is a real beauty herself, and they are the best spokespeople for their own products," Qiu Zhang shared the gossip she had heard.
"They certainly are stunning," Hermione agreed, having seen their photos, and then she smiled and added, "You should know them as well."
"Oh? Who are they?"
Both ladies realized who Hermione was referring to.
"Isabella's sister, I think her name is… Katrina. I recall she was in Ravenclaw," Hermione explained, having noticed the curious glances from the two ladies. "Albert mentioned her in passing when he went to Australia to pick me up. He said my potion-making skills were impressive, and even if I didn't end up working at the Ministry, I could consider helping out at the boutique."
"Katrina owns Witch's Beauty Boutique?" Qiu Zhang was a bit surprised, not because Katrina had opened a store, but because she apparently knew Catherine and Valeria and had a good relationship with them.
Thanks to the boutique, these two ladies had become symbols of independent and powerful women, admired by young ladies worldwide.
"Is there a problem?"
"Katrina is indeed a beauty," Qiu Zhang said, recalling some gossip she had heard about Katrina. She lowered her voice and continued, "I never heard of her dating anyone during school, but there were rumors that she liked Albert, only to be beaten to it by her own sister."
This was undoubtedly a juicy piece of gossip that brought joy to many who had admired Albert. While there had been numerous ladies with a crush on Albert, it was indeed rare for two sisters to vie for the same man.
And in the end, there was no doubt that Isabella had won.
"It was more than just liking him," Hermione thought to herself, knowing that Katrina, like her sister, had become one of Albert's closest family members.
However, this piece of news was indeed explosive to most people, and there were probably very few similar cases in the entire British wizarding world.
In the following moments, the trio pored over Hermione's product catalog, listening to her explain the effects of the products she had used. Qiu Zhang's interest was particularly piqued by the product Hermione had mentioned, and she was curious to see if the soon-to-open Witch's Beauty Boutique lived up to its mythical reputation.
However, Hermione, being privy to more secrets, didn't share their eager anticipation. Instead, she longed for an opportunity to attend the welcome banquet for Catherine, Valeria, and Louise.
Yes, Hermione wanted to be there for that banquet.
As Albert's lover.
After all, all of Albert's lovers would be present, and she didn't want to miss out.
Ever since she had made an unbreakable vow with Albert, Hermione was aware that her life was now deeply intertwined with his for the rest of their lives.
Initially, she had felt insecure about this arrangement, but as she clearly sensed the acceptance from everyone around her, her mindset gradually shifted.
Yes, she had been accepted, not just as Albert's lover, but as a member of his family.
This made the shy young lady, who had just tasted the forbidden fruit, yearn to delve deeper into Albert's life and receive even more love! However, Hermione couldn't attend the welcome banquet because she couldn't afford to disappear at night. Doing so would raise suspicions, and she wouldn't be able to explain her absence.
She regretted this deeply.
No wonder Katrina had said she was making things difficult for herself.
Their private conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Hagrid.
"Hagrid, where did you get these watermelons?" Ginny asked, cutting open one of the watermelons from the basket with her wand and sharing it with everyone.
"Albert just sent them over. I think he grew them himself," Hagrid said, finishing half a watermelon in a few bites. He seemed to remember something, patted his head, and took out a bag from his pocket to hand to Hermione. "This is for you."
"What is it?" Hermione asked, taking the file bag from him.
"I think it's some kind of design drawing, but I'm not sure," Hagrid said, indicating that he was just delivering the item.
"Where is he?"
Hermione opened the file bag and glanced at the contents, recognizing them as power supply designs similar to the ones she had worked on. These seemed to be optimized versions of her work.
"He's discussing the cultivation of dangerous plants with Professor Sprout. I think he's planning to solve the supply issue for certain raw materials himself," Hagrid said, scratching his head. "But Professor Sprout doesn't seem too happy about it. She thinks it's too risky."
"It is risky, but it's worth it. Many of the raw materials are prohibited items that are hard to come by through normal means, and we could be blackmailed. Besides, we don't intend to cultivate them on a large scale," a voice suddenly said from outside.
The group turned their heads towards the source of the voice and saw George walking in with a smile on his face.
"What brings you here today?"
"Am I not welcome?" George asked, holding up a metal card and smiling. "I brought you VIP membership cards. If you don't want them, just say so."
"What's a VIP membership card?" Qiu Zhang asked, taking the exquisite metal card from George. She couldn't help but inquire further, "What's it for?"
"It gives you a discount," Hermione explained.
"How much?"
"Ten percent," George replied without hesitation. "Ordinary customers would need to accumulate 100 galleons' worth of consumption in the store to get one."
"That's extortionate," Hermione commented.
"But you have to admit he has a good business sense," George said, winking. "We're planning to do something similar soon, but the only problem is that the process is a bit troublesome."
"Won't that result in losing out on a lot of galleons?"
George, of course, wouldn't tell the others that they had already decided to secretly increase the prices of their joke products.
The old trick of raising prices before offering a discount.
(End of Chapter)
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