Hogwarts: The Exemplary Wizard I Am Chapter 659: Building a Nest for Norbert with Galleons - Novel Cool

Chapter 659: Building a Nest for Norbert with Galleons

Chapter 659: Building a Nest for Norbert with Galleons

Back in the sixth-floor tea room, Kyle found himself in the same private booth he had occupied a few days prior, even occupying the same seat across from none other than Professor Sascia, the renowned Potions master and St. Mungo's Healer-in-Charge, who had replaced Dumbledore.

For some reason, Kyle felt that the celebrated potion maker seemed a bit nervous.

He had seen this same expression on others before—Fred and George, the first time they had split the profits from their map sales.

They had looked tense but also expectant.

But this was Professor Sascia, the Healer-in-Charge of St. Mungo's, a famed Potions master, and a colleague of Snape's. Surely, she didn't lack for Galleons?

"How have you been?" Professor Sascia poured two cups of tea and asked, "Are your studies going well?"

It was a stilted beginning, like running into a long-lost relative you hadn't seen in years and feeling obliged to exchange awkward pleasantries. That was how Kyle felt at that moment.

"Yes, pretty good," he replied, taking the tea. "By the time I graduate next year, I should have around ten certificates."

"Ten? That's quite an impressive achievement." Professor Sascia remarked.

"It's just a possibility," Kyle said modestly. "It could very well be less than that."

"Is that so?"

The conversation seemed to hit a snag, and an awkward silence filled the booth.

Kyle, unaccustomed to such tension, wanted to break the ice, but not knowing Professor Sascia's intentions made it difficult. So, he opted for a change of topic.

"By the way, Professor Sascia, how is Mr. Sturgis doing?"

"He's doing well, thanks to your help," Professor Sascia's tone turned more natural as she spoke of the Dark Arts. "I was able to concoct a suitable antidote by early the next morning. It's very effective, and the effects of the Dark Magic have begun to fade. He should make a full recovery within a month or so."

"That's wonderful," Kyle said with a smile. "To be able to create a brand-new and tailored antidote in just one night, based on the characteristics of Dark Magic... No wonder Professor Dumbledore always speaks so highly of you as the greatest Potions master."

"I wouldn't say it's a brand-new antidote," Professor Sascia shook her head, her tone serious. "Dark Magic, though diverse in its branches, is interconnected. The curse afflicting Mr. Sturgis was a variant of the Heart-Eating Curse, which was quite popular over a decade ago. I've seen it far too often. With the addition of the phoenix tears provided by Professor Dumbledore, creating the antidote wasn't as challenging as one might think. The only requirement was time.

"And that's where the snake monster comes in..."

As she mentioned the snake monster, Professor Sascia paused briefly before continuing, "I never imagined I'd live to see a living, breathing snake monster. And it seems to obey your every command.

"But what puzzles me is that snake monsters are supposed to obey only the wizard who created them. Given the size of that particular snake monster, it must have existed for several hundred years, at least."

"To be precise, it's been over a thousand years," Kyle said. "However, due to certain unique circumstances, I'm afraid I can't divulge its origins."

"Of course, and that's understandable," Professor Sascia didn't seem too concerned about the monster's origins. Her primary interest seemed to lie with the creature itself.

With the topic steered towards the snake monster, she abandoned subtlety and got straight to the point. "The reason I sought you out is to inquire if you'd be willing to sell the snake monster. St. Mungo's is prepared to offer a price equivalent to ten fire-breathing dragons."

"I'm afraid that's out of the question," Kyle declined without hesitation.

While ten fire-breathing dragons were indeed a tempting offer, the value of the snake monster far exceeded any amount of Galleons. As an extremely dangerous creature, it was also safer to keep it under his control. He didn't fancy the idea of one day looking up and seeing a pair of gleaming yellow eyes staring back at him.

To dissuade Professor Sascia, Kyle added, "Its origins are rather special, and I only have the right to use it. Even if I wanted to sell it, Professor Dumbledore wouldn't approve."

"I see," Professor Sascia didn't seem disappointed, having likely anticipated this outcome. "What about materials derived from the snake monster? Surely, there shouldn't be an issue with those."

"As long as it doesn't affect the snake monster itself, I'm willing to consider selling less critical items like venom, snake blood, scales, and shed skin," Kyle said.

Was the real purpose of this meeting to purchase the snake monster's blood and venom? Kyle couldn't shake the feeling that this was Professor Sascia's true intention.

And the offered price was indeed tempting.

Sixty Galleons per ounce was almost the monthly salary of most Ministry of Magic employees.

And that was just for a small amount. Given the snake monster's size, even if Fox casually pecked at it, the resulting spillage would be worth several hundred Galleons.

The venom was even more extravagant. If drawing blood might affect the snake monster in some way, then collecting venom was absolutely harmless.

To the snake monster, it was like a fire-breathing dragon exhaling flames—an action it could perform daily.

Even with the most conservative collection method, a pint could be gathered in a few days, and feeding it a couple of Tupilaks would quickly restore what was taken.

Tupilaks were cheap; compared to venom priced at a thousand Galleons per pint, they might as well be free.

If he added snake sheddings and scales into the mix, he could make a profit of at least five thousand Galleons a month.

At this rate, by the time he graduated, he might very well be able to use Galleons to build Norbert a nest...

Kyle's heart began to race, and all he could see were Galleons signs.

However, after the initial excitement, Kyle soon thought of another possibility. He took a sip of tea to calm himself and asked, "Professor Sascia, I assume St. Mungo's won't be purchasing venom and snake blood indefinitely?"

"You're right," Sascia said with a smile as she refilled Kyle's cup. "The reason St. Mungo's wants to purchase the snake monster is to research and brew related potions.

"I've been looking through the potions and books left behind by previous St. Mungo's headmasters, and I found a record related to the snake monster in a three-hundred-year-old notebook.

"According to the notes, materials derived from the snake monster—including its blood, sheddings, and venom—naturally repel most herbs and are only compatible with a very small number of similarly venomous ingredients, making them extremely difficult to work with. There aren't more than three healers in all of St. Mungo's capable of brewing potions with these ingredients.

"But we can't dedicate all our time to researching new potions. I did a rough calculation, and a pint of venom would be enough for us to use for six months."

Kyle's heart sank.

A thousand Galleons for six months was still a substantial sum, but he had been thinking in terms of collecting a pint every three to five days. The difference was staggering, and it explained why Professor Sascia had offered such a high price earlier.

Kyle fiddled with his teacup, deep in thought.

"I don't have any venom or snake blood at the moment, but I do have this." He reached into his chameleon-skin bag and pulled out a palm-sized, greenish chunk with visible scale marks.

"Snake monster sheddings?" Professor Sascia asked excitedly.

Compared to venom and blood, she was even more interested in these sheddings.

They were the only non-toxic material derived from the snake monster, and they faced the least amount of rejection, making them the most versatile ingredient.

In the records she found in the portraits of previous headmasters, over eighty percent of the potion recipes that involved the snake monster required its sheddings.

The reason she hadn't mentioned it earlier was that the snake monster only shed its skin once every hundred years, and she wasn't sure if Kyle had any.

But here he was, pulling out a piece of shed skin.

And it was from a thousand-year-old snake monster, no less. There had to be more where that came from.

Excitement flashed in Professor Sascia's eyes, and her voice trembled slightly as she asked, "Do you have more?"

"A whole piece of shed skin," Kyle said. "About fifty feet long..."

"Clang!"

As Kyle's words landed, Professor Sascia knocked over her teacup.

Very few things could fluster her like this anymore. The first time she saw the snake monster was one such occasion, and now, hearing that Kyle had a whole fifty-foot-long piece of shed skin was the second.

The former was a surprise, and the latter was a delight...

"Would you be willing to sell it to St. Mungo's?" Professor Sascia asked hastily, but she soon seemed to remember something, and her tone turned tentative. "However, for the sheddings... we may not be able to purchase them at ten times the price of fire-breathing dragon hide. How about we start with five thousand Galleons for a five-foot-long piece of shed skin?

"How about six thousand Galleons, then? That's the highest price we can offer."

"You've misunderstood," Kyle said with a smile. "For a five-foot section of snake shedding, I won't take a Knut. I'll give it to St. Mungo's, along with a pint of venom."

Professor Sascia seemed taken aback by Kyle's words, her head snapping up.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "That's quite a substantial sum of Galleons."

"If we keep talking, I might really start to regret it," Kyle said, sounding a bit conflicted.

Five feet of snake shedding, plus a pint of venom, would amount to seven thousand Galleons... no, it would be worth even more.

When Sirius Black was wanted, the bounty on his head was only ten thousand Galleons, and this offer of seven thousand Galleons was almost enough to buy him out.

However, Professor Sascia had mentioned that they wanted these ingredients for research and creating new potions, and Kyle felt it wouldn't be right to take money for them.

Additionally, by giving away these ingredients, he would be earning a favor from a top potioneer, and this trade-off was definitely worth more than the Galleons.

Take Lucius Malfoy as an example; he had donated a significant amount of money to the Ministry of Magic, all for the sake of earning Fudge's favor.

From a certain point of view, Professor Sascia's favor was much more valuable and meaningful than Fudge's.

Kyle didn't hide his thoughts, and Professor Sascia naturally understood, but she didn't seem to mind, or perhaps she was very willing to owe this debt.

"How about this," she said, "consider these ingredients as a donation to St. Mungo's worth seven thousand Galleons. In return... I will personally support Albus' campaign to become the Minister of Magic."

"What?" Kyle blinked in surprise.

"Your headmaster is running against Fudge for the position of Minister, isn't he?" Professor Sascia said. "I was previously undecided about whom to support, as I am the St. Mungo's Healer-in-Charge, and even if I were to support someone in a personal capacity, others would associate it with St. Mungo's. This is unavoidable.

"However, I plan to resign from my position and fully support Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix."

"No, no, no... Please don't do that," Kyle waved his hands frantically, never expecting that this matter had reached even St. Mungo's.

Professor Sascia, however, was now the confused one.

She was certain that Kyle was a member of the Order, or at least an associate, and they were trying to get Dumbledore elected as Minister, weren't they?

The newspapers had been filled with this news just a few days ago, and many within St. Mungo's had been arguing about it. So, why was he now refusing her support?

"You probably don't know yet..." she prompted, "but I do have some degree of influence in the wizarding world, and my support could bring more people to Dumbledore's side."

"That's exactly what I'm worried about," Kyle said. "Professor Dumbledore has no intention of becoming the Minister, and he won't have that opportunity."

"You're underestimating Albus," Professor Sascia said with a smile.

"No, I'm serious," Kyle insisted. "In any case, just trust me on this—Professor Dumbledore will not become Minister, no matter how much support he receives.

"If you openly support him, it might cause a rift between you and the Ministry soon after, which wouldn't be good for you or St. Mungo's."

Seeing that Kyle wasn't joking, Professor Sascia's smile faded, and she turned serious.

If what Kyle said was true, then she really needed to reconsider whether to publicly support Dumbledore, as Fudge was certainly not a magnanimous man.

"How about this, then..." Kyle suggested, "Fox will send you a letter soon. When the time comes, just receive it in front of others and then write a reply to Professor Dumbledore, expressing an ambiguous attitude."

"Huh?" Professor Sascia blinked, not quite understanding what Kyle meant.

Hadn't he just said that Dumbledore had no chance of becoming Minister? So, why go through the trouble of creating an ambiguous facade?

She felt like she couldn't keep up with the thinking of the younger generation of witches and wizards.

However, since Kyle had suggested this, she would go along with it. At most, it was just a letter, and it wouldn't affect St. Mungo's in any way.

...

(End of Chapter)

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