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Chapter 694: Christmas Sale
Chapter 694: Christmas Sale
"It looks like things have recovered here", Hermione said, noting the bustling crowds on both sides of the street. It certainly seemed a lot more lively compared to the desolate state it was in a while ago.
"It's just Christmas", Liam said with a slight shake of his head. "This is just a release after everyone was on edge for so long. It doesn't fully indicate that things have truly improved. I think the only way for the situation to get completely better is for the war to truly end."
As they were talking, they had already walked to the front of Weasley's Joke Shop. Surprisingly, there weren't as many people as they had expected; only a couple of wizards with paper bags hurriedly walked out of the store.
"Didn't you say they stocked up for the Christmas sale? Why does it seem so empty?" Hermione asked, puzzled, looking at the quiet storefront. "I saw people everywhere in the other shops along the way!"
"It is a bit strange", Liam admitted, walking to the shop door and gesturing for them to enter. "But we can ask what's going on once we go inside. We're already here, after all."
Upon entering, Liam noticed that the shop, which was already full, now seemed even more packed. Half the store was filled with variously sized packages wrapped in colorful paper, and the Weasley Twins were working with several employees, waving their wands to wrap more boxes.
"What are you doing?" Liam asked, watching the magically flying wrapping paper and the various items being packed. "Why aren't there more people in the shop?"
"It's because we don't have enough staff to keep the shop running properly", Fred explained, pausing his work and looking up. "So this year, we decided to switch to an owl-order system for our Christmas products."
"From the looks of it, your new sales method seems to be working well", Hermione said, glancing at the piled-up goods. "You really are geniuses when it comes to running a shop."
"Of course", George said proudly, still busy with his work. "This year, we've received a lot of orders from Hogwarts, probably because Hogsmeade Day was canceled for safety reasons, and everyone wants to take advantage of the Christmas season to do some serious shopping. Besides that, the new Developing Potion Liam developed has been very useful."
"New Developing Potion? What's that?" Hermione asked, curious. "I know wizarding photographs move because of a special Developing Potion, but what's so special about the new one?"
"Of course, it's special", Fred said. "Liam's new potion can develop color photographs from the color film, so we used color photos for all our advertisements this year. From the orders we've received, it seems the first color magic poster in the wizarding world has been quite effective. At least one-third of the Hogwarts students have ordered from us."
"That sounds great", Hermione said, looking at the stack of goods and counting them. "But Hogwarts alone shouldn't be enough to sell all this, right?"
"You're right", Fred agreed. "Apart from the Hogwarts orders and some scattered individual orders, the bulk of the orders came from the new bank. Because of Liam, the bank ordered a large batch of goods from us to give to their customers as gifts, as a way to show appreciation."
No wonder the Panda People are considered the best businessmen in the Imperial Magic Community. They even know how to win over customers with small gifts. This strategy seems to be working well, especially after decades of dealing with Gringotts' poor service. Wizards have a very positive impression of the Panda People's enthusiastic service. According to the data Xiong Duosu sent over, the number of people depositing money in the bank has been steadily increasing, and many financial activities are starting to pick up. The bank is now running smoothly.
"Looks like there's quite a lot of stuff in here!" Liam said, pulling out his wand. "Let's help you out. It's Christmas Eve tomorrow, so we'd better wrap up this batch of goods quickly."
With Liam and Hermione joining in, the pace of packing the goods sped up considerably. They managed to finish packing everything before lunch. Afterwards, a few staff members used the Levitation Charm to float the goods over to the Owl Post Office.
"Finally, we can take a break", Fred said, watching the staff members leave. After mailing the items, they would head home to prepare for the annual Christmas holiday. "Our mum has prepared a ton of food for us, planning to reward us for our hard work over the past few months. Unfortunately, our younger siblings won't be able to come home this time."
"Ron and Ginny can't come home?" Hermione asked, puzzled. "I can understand if Ron isn't coming back, since he has his N.E.W.T. exams this year and might need to study at school. But what about Ginny? Why isn't she coming back?"
"Ron studying at school? Don't be ridiculous", George said with a look of disdain. "He'll probably use this opportunity to have a wild time. I wouldn't be surprised if he only starts rushing through his homework on the last day of the holiday."
"Why aren't they coming home, then?" Liam asked, curious. In his opinion, during such times, people should want to be with their families rather than staying alone at Hogwarts Castle.
"Didn't you know? Right, you might not, considering you've been out fighting all this time and probably didn't get any news", George said, his confusion quickly turning to understanding. It was normal for Liam not to know, given his recent travels and battles to rescue the innocent.
"Here's the deal: Hogwarts has required all students to stay at school during the Christmas break for safety reasons", Fred explained. "Ever since the attack on the Hogwarts Express, the school decided that students should stay in the safety of the castle rather than risk exposure to Death Eater attacks. Especially now that the Death Eaters are attacking indiscriminately, even targeting students."
"I can understand the professors' decision", Liam said. After the last Death Eater attack, they knew that the Death Eaters had no limits. In such a situation, the young wizards, scattered for the holiday, would be easy targets. Many of their homes were in enemy-occupied territories, making them impossible to protect.
"By the way, has anything significant happened at the school recently?" Liam asked, as he and Hermione were about to head to Hogwarts Castle and he was concerned about any new security measures that might prevent them from entering.
"Not much has changed", Fred replied. "Thanks to your help, the wand and material supply issues for the young wizards have been resolved, allowing teaching activities to run smoothly. I haven't heard of any other significant changes at the school."
"During times like these, no change is the best change", Liam nodded. "Hermione and I are going downstairs to make lunch. Why don't we all eat together? After lunch, we need to head to the castle to take care of some business."
"Great idea, we're all starving after a morning of work", George said. "I'm looking forward to your lunch. While our mother is an excellent cook, we've never learned her skills. Eating the pre-made meals from Three Broomsticks all the time is getting really old."
(End of Chapter)
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