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Chapter 262: The Capitalist and the Wizard
Chapter 262: The Capitalist and the Wizard
"Very well..."
Lucius Malfoy stood up, as if he wanted to say something harsh, but after clearing his throat, he spoke in a stiff tone, "Thank you for your understanding, Dumbledore... I... I think I need to have another talk with my son."
"Of course," Dumbledore said, "There's an empty classroom on the seventh floor, and I believe Severus would be willing to escort you there."
"Certainly."
Snape flicked his robes and glanced at Vold as he walked out the door.
His eyes seemed to say, "You just wait!"
Malfoy followed with a tense expression, as if he didn't want to say another word to Dumbledore.
He glared at Draco with cold eyes and said, "Come with me!"
Draco flinched, but Narcissa had already stood up.
She took her son's hand and led him out of the Headmaster's office.
Having his mother by his side seemed to give Draco some courage. Once they were outside the door, Vold still heard him speaking in a low voice:
"I really didn't mean to, Mom... Please talk to Dad for me..."
Narcissa spoke softly, "You shouldn't have done that, Draco. Vincent is a friend you've known since childhood."
"He's changed!" Draco said angrily, "He's been talking behind my back..."
Vold winced, as if in pain.
How had Draco justified himself before?
His current statement sounded like it was intentional.
Perhaps, with only his mother by his side, he felt comfortable whining and complaining.
However, the Headmaster's office tower had a spiral staircase structure, and the automatic staircase was surrounded by a cylindrical tube, like an echo chamber, allowing those inside to clearly hear their whispers.
In the room, Crabbe Sr.'s eyes flashed with unusual ferocity for a moment.
As Vold watched him, Crabbe Sr. regained his composure and stood up to bid farewell.
"I'm leaving as well, Dumbledore."
He rasped, "Vincent and his mother are still at St. Mungo's."
"I'm sorry that Vincent had this accident at school..."
Before Dumbledore could finish speaking, the slightly ajar door was suddenly pushed open with a bang.
Lucius Malfoy stood at the doorway, his light blonde hair seeming to carry a chill.
"Ah, Lucius," Dumbledore asked gently, "Is there something else?"
Malfoy forced himself to maintain his politeness.
"Sorry... for the interruption."
His gaze shifted to Vold, and he said, "I want to buy this set of mirrors—name your price."
After leaving, he suddenly remembered that even though they had reached an agreement with the Crabbes, the recorded footage in the FlowMirror was still a liability and could potentially have a negative impact on Draco at any time.
So, Lucius didn't even bother to greet the others and hurried back immediately.
Vold hesitated.
Although the FlowMirror had already entered production, there was no fixed price for it yet.
According to Machiioni, the FlowMirror was a groundbreaking invention, and he needed to conduct market research before determining the price for the first sale.
However, due to production limitations, it couldn't be sold cheaply.
This was just the Daughter Mirror.
The Master Mirror wasn't even up for sale.
During Vold's brief hesitation, Malfoy immediately named a price.
"Six thousand Galleons."
He spoke decisively, "I'll pay six thousand Galleons for that set of mirrors, including the footage inside!"
"Deal!"
Vold agreed without hesitation, and under the watchful eyes of Dumbledore and Crabbe Sr., he shrunk the enlarged Daughter Mirror and stacked it with the Master Mirror.
With a swift motion, as if performing a magic trick, Vold pulled out a palm-sized box from his pocket, placed the two mirrors inside, locked it, and handed it to Malfoy.
"Here are your mirrors, Mr. Malfoy."
Lucius Malfoy looked at him intently and said, "I'll have an owl deliver the payment to you."
"No need," Vold said, "Just transfer it to my vault—number 317. You can contact Gnome Kuler at Gringotts. I expect to see the Galleons in my account by Monday's mail."
Next Monday, Gringotts would, as per tradition, send Vold a detailed account of the changes in his vault funds, down to every single Galleon.
Today was already Saturday.
This meant Malfoy should transfer the money as soon as he got back.
In everyone's perception, teenagers would only complain about having too little pocket money, but they wouldn't be so blunt in asking for payment.
Malfoy gave Vold a peculiar look, took the box, and left without turning back.
Then, Crabbe also bid farewell.
"FlowMirror is a great invention; in the future, every wizarding family might want one. But at 6,000 Galleons, only pure-blooded families can afford it," Dumbledore said with a smile.
"Professor, if you want to buy one, a single Daughter Mirror only costs 30 Galleons," Vold paused and added, "This is the insider price."
"Then what's the regular price?" Dumbledore asked curiously.
"Around 100 Galleons, I suppose? It depends on Mr. Machiioni's decision," Vold replied after a moment's thought.
Dumbledore couldn't help but pause, recalling Malfoy's bold offer of 6,000 Galleons.
When Malfoy found out the normal price, who knows how furious he would be! Of course, considering the previous scarcity of Two-Faced Mirrors, this price didn't seem as outrageous.
Vold cleared his throat and explained, "It's like this: he bought a set... The Master Mirror is not for sale and is much more expensive."
"If you sold it for 100 Galleons, would you make a profit?" Dumbledore asked.
He rarely concerned himself with business and economics, but since it involved Vold, he wanted to understand it too.
"We can only make a small profit. But if it's more expensive, many people won't be able to afford it. For television... I mean, for something like FlowMirror, the more viewers it has, the more valuable it becomes," Vold said.
100 Galleons sounded like a lot, but in reality, most people could afford it.
Take Filch, for example; he earned 15 Galleons a week and lived at the school. If he saved for two months, he could easily afford a "television" for himself.
Or the Weasleys, a famously poor family in the wizarding world. With Arthur Weasley's salary, they could save up for a few months and have enough.
The reason the Weasleys lived so frugally was mainly because the couple had no habit of saving. They were basically living paycheck to paycheck, so much so that when the school year started, they couldn't even scrape together two Galleons from their vault.
In fact, most wizards, due to their strong self-sufficiency, valued money much less than Muggles. If they wanted, they could go for months without spending a single Galleon.
Take Dumbledore, for instance; his salary as the headmaster wasn't high, but he had saved up a substantial amount.
But after hearing Vold's price, Dumbledore immediately paid and bought a Daughter Mirror from him.
He fiddled with the mirror and noticed some switches on the side. After pressing one, he curiously asked, "Why isn't there any image?"
"The content will only appear when the broadcast starts," Vold explained as he moved closer.
"If a Muggle wants to adjust the volume, they can use this knob on the side," Vold continued, introducing the mirror to the elderly man who was over a hundred years old.
"Currently, the Daughter Mirror can only play the same image as the Master Mirror, but within a year, we will ensure that viewers have at least three or more programs to choose from at the same time..."
Dumbledore instantly understood, "Like Muggle television... You can change channels?"
"Yes."
"Can this mirror do that?"
"Of course not," Vold replied with a smile akin to that of a capitalist. "It doesn't have that function yet!"
Dumbledore smiled at him, "Vold?"
"Yes?"
"You know that magic is dangerous, right?"
Vold blinked, "Of course."
"Then do you know how many attacks Mr. Machiioni has faced?" Dumbledore asked further.
Vold paused for a moment before saying, "Perhaps there will be services like trade-ins in the future?"
Dumbledore nodded in satisfaction.
(End of Chapter)
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