Chapter 659: Reactions
Chapter 659: Reactions
Hermione felt a bit disheartened after listening to Liam, but she quickly regained her spirits. After experiencing so many things, she no longer viewed the world in black and white. So, while she was initially surprised that everyone had their own ulterior motives, she quickly accepted it.
"Of course, this doesn't mean they support us purely out of self-interest", Liam comforted Hermione. "I believe, when facing the Dark Lord and his army, they will still bravely step forward and fight to the death."
"You're right. Human nature isn't entirely bright, but it's certainly not all darkness", Hermione nodded seriously after hearing Liam's words. "Regardless, our plan has finally taken a solid step forward. I hope the newspaper's release tomorrow will have the effect we anticipate."
"I think everything will go as smoothly as we imagine", Liam said, reaching out with his left hand to pat the hands of the two people holding hands. "Don't worry; I think our readers will be very welcoming of these carefully selected news items."
The next morning, Ryan and the others quickly ate a sandwich and headed to Weasley's Joke Shop in Hogsmeade Village. In the room behind the Joke Shop, a large machine was rapidly spitting out copies of the newspaper. One wizard was waving his wand to control the entire machine, while another wizard sat at a nearby table for the final proofreading.
"Sir", the two wizards greeted Liam and Hermione when they saw them, but they didn't stop their work.
They were two of the Muggle-born wizards Liam had recruited earlier. Although recruiting and training so many Muggle-born wizards had slightly increased the shop's expenses, forcing Liam to develop a lot of high-profit products, these people quickly proved their worth after the war broke out and the business expanded rapidly.
As someone who knew the plot, Liam had been preparing for this war for a long time. He trained these people to be capable organizers, similar to how the 100,000-strong German Army was trained in the Weimar Republic. Therefore, even if they were now being sent out to operate independently, there was no problem.
"What's the current situation?" Liam asked. "Are there any issues we need to address?"
"Nothing for the moment, sir", the young wizard who was folding the printed newspapers replied. "Everything is going smoothly. According to the plan, we will print two thousand copies today, with one thousand five hundred being distributed in our controlled areas, and the other five hundred being sent to the south as planned."
At that moment, the witch who had been proofreading finished her task and also reported. "We've signed a long-term cooperation agreement with the Hogsmeade Owl Post Office. Once the printing is done, we'll deliver these to the Post Office."
With the help of the machine, the two thousand copies of the newspaper were quickly printed. Ryan and the others, along with the two staff members, delivered all the newspapers to the Owl Post Office in town and watched as the owls took off with them.
When Ryan and the others returned to Hogwarts Castle, it was just in time for breakfast. As they passed the Great Hall entrance, they saw owls delivering various letters to the students, many of which were carrying the British Wizardry Gazette.
"It looks like a lot of people are willing to buy our newspaper!" Hermione said to Liam, seeing this. "I hope they will accept and like our newspaper."
"Definitely no problem", Liam replied. "Have faith in the carefully selected content we've chosen, especially the things you picked. I think they're much better than the outdated content in the Daily Prophet. At the very least, in terms of attracting the attention of young people, even compared to the Daily Prophet in its normal state, our newspaper has an advantage."
Their suspicions were confirmed at noon. After lunch, Ryan and the others headed to Weasley's Joke Shop to check on the morning's newspaper release. As soon as they entered the office, they saw a large crowd of owls perched on the windowsill, filling the entire space.
"Did our magazine order anything by mail recently?" Hermione asked, surprised. The owls all jostled to the front as soon as they saw Ryan and the others, eager to be the first to deliver their letters. "We must have ordered way too much. The whole room is full of owls."
"I don't think this is something we ordered", Liam said after taking a letter from one of the owls and reading it. "These are letters from our readers. And from the content, it seems the first issue of the newspaper did quite well."
With that, he held up the letter and read it aloud with a smile. "The British Wizardry Gazette is the most relevant magazine I've ever read. Here, I found exactly what I needed. For example, I tried the cooking spell you featured at lunch today, and the apple pie turned out fantastic—"
"It seems they're all similar letters", Hermione said, taking another letter from an owl. "Let me read this one. Ah, it says he's glad to have learned the magic related to the war in the last section of the newspaper. As a father of three, he was always worried about not being able to protect his children, but now he feels confident he can protect his family in this war."
All the letters were the same, filled with praise. Liam knew this didn't mean their newspaper had surpassed the Daily Prophet, but it did mean that their publication met the needs and interests of its readers.
Those Pure-blood Wizards who were adversely affected by the newspaper either wouldn't read it at all, or any dangerous letters they sent would be intercepted by the checks in Hogsmeade Village. In any case, Ryan and the others wouldn't see them now.
"In any case, it looks like our newspaper has established a foothold here. I think the next step is to maintain the quality and keep up this positive momentum", Hermione said in a light tone after reading all the letters and treating the owls with a whole bag of owl treats. She seemed very satisfied with the current situation.
"You're right", Liam nodded. "We need to ensure each daily issue maintains this level of quality. By the way, who did we choose as the editor-in-chief of our newspaper?"
"Mr. Lovegood, Luna's father", Hermione explained, seeing Liam's wide eyes. "We needed an experienced editor, and there aren't many of them. Fortunately, the Weasley Twins managed to persuade Mr. Lovegood."
"What about The Quibbler?" Liam asked curiously, knowing how stubborn Xenophilius Lovegood could be. It wasn't easy to convince someone so passionate about their own magazine to work for others.
"I'm not entirely sure, but we entrusted Penelope with handling everything before the exams", Hermione shook her head slightly. "But I heard Penelope mention that the Weasley Twins agreed to a condition with Mr. Lovegood."
Hermione then pulled a letter from her Spatial Bag and unfolded it, saying, "When we were in France, Penelope sent me a long letter. Unfortunately, I was too busy to read it at the time—ah, here it is. The Weasley Twins agreed to open a reader letters and guest author column in the newspaper. They told Mr. Lovegood that this way, more people would see his writing."
"Regardless, it's good to have a professional in charge", Liam nodded. "I hope things continue to go as smoothly as today."
(End of Chapter)
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