Chapter 801: An Invention for the Wizarding World
Chapter 801: An Invention for the Wizarding World
In the Minister's office on the first floor of the Ministry of Magic, Kyle knocked on the door.
"Come in," a voice, belonging to Burns, responded from within.
Compared to when Fudge was in office, the Minister's office now appeared much simpler. The lavish and intricately crafted cherrywood desk was gone, replaced by a rather ordinary one.
The material and design were the same as those used in other offices, with the only difference being its significantly larger size.
This was unavoidable; if the desk were any smaller, it might not be able to accommodate the mountain of documents and files piled upon it.
Upon hearing footsteps, Burns looked up.
"Kyle? I didn't expect it to be you." She said, "What's up? Are you ready to return to work?"
"It might take a bit longer." Kyle replied, "I came here because of this."
As he spoke, he placed a button, a Galleon, and a Sickle on the desk.
"What are these?" Burns asked.
"Communication devices suitable for Aurors." Kyle explained.
"I almost forgot about these. Scrimgrub came to see me about them last week." Burns rubbed her temples, "There's been so much going on recently, but your Communication Parchment has already been put into use, and the feedback from the department has been excellent."
"That's good."
"Why are there three of them?" Burns looked at the items on the desk, "The button and Galleon seem much more convenient than the parchment. Are you asking me to choose one?"
"No, all three are for use." Kyle pointed to the Galleon and Sickle, saying, "These are the same as the parchment. As long as the correct passphrase is spoken, you can communicate with the person holding the Galleon through the Sickle.
"The Sickles are for Aurors on duty, and there are many of them. The Galleons are only two, one for the Minister and Scrimgrub... But if there's a need for more, I can make more. However, the Anti-Snooping Magic inside is quite complex, and it'll take around three to five days."
"What kind of Anti-Snooping Magic?" Burns asked seriously.
"Many." Kyle thought for a moment, "There's Name Magic, Voice Magic, Contract Magic, and Tracking Magic... In any case, once the user is determined, it can't be changed, and others can't use it."
"The confidentiality is excellent." Burns nodded, "What are their functions?"
"Each Sickle has a unique number, and the Galleon can communicate with all Sickles. However, the Sickles can only contact the Galleon and can't communicate with other Sickles."
"Oh, that's great." Burns said, picking up the Galleon and weighing it in her hand. She then asked curiously, "Are these real? I doubt it."
"Of course not." Kyle shook his head, "The real Galleons have specific fairy magic, which I can't imitate. These are the most common types."
I think these are the most ordinary items. Even if someone sees them, they wouldn't guess they're for communication.
"That's good. What about this one?" Burns turned her attention to the button.
"This..." Kyle pondered how to explain, "Let's say it's a magical signal. The button can transform into a brooch or an Auror badge and be sewn onto the collar.
"Normally, when an Auror uses the Communication Coin, to ensure clear communication, they should be no more than three feet away from their chest. Within this range, the magical signal allows for uninterrupted communication."
"What if they're further apart?"
"Then there will be static."
"Are there other restrictions?" Burns frowned, her satisfaction diminishing.
Although a three-foot distance wouldn't affect normal usage, the existence of limitations still made her feel a bit troubled.
"No, it's not a restriction, but an insurance." Kyle shook his finger.
"We can think of it differently. If there's static, it means the Communication Coin has been taken away by someone else."
Burns suddenly raised her head, instantly understanding Kyle's intention.
"You mean this button can confirm if the person holding the Communication Coin... is an Auror?"
"Yes, although it's not absolute, it should work in most cases." Kyle smiled, "But there's a prerequisite: the button must be kept secret from the Aurors. As long as they don't know, the Death Eater informants won't know about this insurance either."
"A perfect plan..." Burns tapped the desk with her fingers, without much consideration, she decided, "It's perfect timing since we haven't determined the identities of the Aurors yet. We can use these badges, and the Ministry will issue them uniformly."
"I think ID badges are fine too. Everyone must wear them to enter and exit the Ministry."
"But we've already set up Name Magic and Revealing Mirrors at the entrance. If we add ID badges, isn't that redundant?"
"It's for misdirection." Kyle explained, "Everyone will wear one, but the Aurors' will be special, so it won't arouse suspicion. Anyway, making these isn't difficult; it'll only take an hour or two."
"The only issue is whether the Ministry will agree."
"Don't worry about that. I can issue a notice, and it'll be implemented before the end of today's work.
"Amelia Bones looked up at Kyle with an appreciative gaze, "Why don't you consider coming back to work? I can give you a raise."
"I'm a bit of a coward," Kyle said with a smile, effectively declining her offer.
"Alright, I understand," Amelia didn't press further. She glanced at the small object on her desk and suddenly laughed, "I remember Susan mentioning that at home, she talked the most about the little group you had at Hogwarts and the deals you made."
"They were business partners," Kyle corrected, "The term 'group' doesn't sound very good. We were doing legitimate business."
"Alright, my mistake," Amelia waved her hand, "I recall there was a self-navigating map, exam amulets, Quidditch support items, and the like."
"Yeah, and some other small things," Kyle said, "We were young then, just making some pocket money."
"You made quite a bit," Amelia raised an eyebrow, "Susan gave most of her pocket money to you."
"Not that much," Kyle quickly shook his head, "The costs were high, we only made a little hard-earned money, enough for some candy."
"Is that so?" Amelia teased, "There are people who do business like this?"
"It's about making friends, money doesn't matter," Kyle said.
"In that case," Amelia's expression turned serious, adopting an official tone, "Let's discuss the compensation. Are you willing to be friends with the Ministry of Magic?"
"Huh?"
Kyle was taken aback, his mouth twitched slightly.
He had been a little confused earlier, not understanding why Amelia suddenly brought up the school's affairs, but he didn't expect this.
Amelia Bones, she wasn't like this before.
When she was the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, everyone knew she was fair and honest. But now... she's become so... corrupt.
To save a little money, she's using this method to take advantage of a student... well, he's graduated, so he's not exactly a student.
But she doesn't need to spend her own money, it's on the Ministry's account.
Indeed, the position of Minister of Magic can easily change one's character.
"To be honest, I'm very satisfied with what you've brought," Amelia smiled at Kyle's changing expressions, "How do you plan to transfer this to the Ministry of Magic?"
"I heard you clearly," Kyle said, "I'm talking about transferring, which means that afterwards, you cannot sell this product in any form, not even similar ones."
"That's a different price," Kyle said.
"I'm discussing this with you," Amelia stood up, "I've thought of two ways for now. The first is a direct payment."
"How much can the Ministry offer?" Kyle asked.
"Five hundred Galleons."
"A bit less," Kyle frowned.
If it was just buying these items, forget five hundred, even fifty Galleons would be fine, it's a friendship price after all.
But if it's a transfer, it's too little.
He spent half a month researching this, trying nearly a thousand different magical rune formulas.
This is a magic phone.
Kyle was certain that in the wizarding world, where communication mostly relied on owls, just the messaging function alone would make him a fortune.
Not to mention the additional privacy feature.
Take the 'Galleon' for example, it's combination of seventeen different magical rune formulas and six advanced magical symbols.
Unless it's someone like Nika or Dumbledore trying to eavesdrop, it's basically impossible! So five hundred Galleons isn't just a little less, it's way too little, one could say it's outright robbery.
He said this just to give Amelia some face.
"I know," Amelia glanced at Kyle, "But you also know the Ministry doesn't have that many Galleons at the moment."
"I can accept an IOU," Kyle said calmly.
"How would the interest be calculated?" Amelia asked.
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"You're being too polite," Kyle waved his hand, "Susan and I are friends, and she's my old customer."
"So no interest is needed?"
"The interest will follow Gringotts' standards."
Amelia's expression froze, and she subconsciously asked, "What did you say about Susan?"
"I'm emphasizing that we're friends," Kyle said matter-of-factly, "When doing business, we should find topics that make the transaction more comfortable for you, so you can spend this money more comfortably."
"So you're saying this to me?" Amelia pointed at herself.
"Of course, I can't be the one at a disadvantage."
Seeing Kyle's matter-of-desires, Amelia felt a bit of a toothache. She suddenly wasn't so appreciative of the young wizard in front of her.
"Let's be direct, how much money do you need?"
"Alright, I'll take a little loss," Kyle clenched his teeth, took a piece of parchment, and wrote a string of '0's on it.
Amelia looked down at the parchment.
When she heard Kyle say he'd take a little loss, she had some expectations.
But the next second, when she saw the string of '0's on the parchment, she almost choked.
"One hundred Galleons, are you crazy? This is impossible!" She almost shouted in exasperation. "These are just small trinkets, how can they possibly be worth so much?"
"Not one hundred, but one hundred thousand," Kyle corrected. "Minister, you may not be very familiar with alchemy... which is understandable, after all, Hogwarts doesn't teach this. But this is the current market trend."
"And if you think about it carefully, this is something that can compete with the Owl Post Office. Do you think one hundred thousand Galleons is enough to buy the Owl Post Office?"
"That's different."
"They're both for delivering messages, what's the difference? Even this form of communication is more convenient and efficient."
Bones remained silent.
Kyle smiled slightly.
In fact, he had confused a concept. Even if these communication coins were to become popular, they would never replace the Owl Post Office. At least when Hogwarts sends out admission notices every year, they would definitely choose to use owls.
Moreover, given Kyle's current level of proficiency in alchemy, this item had a distance limitation. It could only be used within the UK, and beyond that, it would be useless.
However, Kyle didn't mention these points, and Bones didn't know about them either.
As they say, Bones might be excellent in other aspects, but in alchemy... she was really not good at it.
Bones bowed her head and pondered for a moment.
"I must remind you that this is to deal with the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters."
Apparently, Bones felt that reasoning wasn't going to work, so she chose another approach... climbing up the moral high ground.
"I know, so I said we could owe you," Kyle had anticipated this and spoke calmly. "You can use it first, and slowly repay it after the matter is resolved. I still have great faith in Lady Bones' character."
Bones twitched at the corner of her eye, unsure whether to be happy or not.
"Perhaps we can choose another way," she said in a low voice. "Consider this as your achievement. When you return to the Ministry of Magic, it will be your accomplishment. It can even help you climb to the position of Deputy Minister without any problem."
"You also know that Dolores was tortured by the Death Eaters with the Cruciatus Curse. She suffered a great mental trauma and has been unconscious at St. Mungo's. The Ministry of Magic just happens to need a Deputy Minister."
"Wait..." Kyle then realized the big promise he had made to Bones and asked, "The Cruciatus Curse... I remember it being used only twice, right?"
"There was one more instance that wasn't publicized," Bones sighed. "On the day Fudge died, wasn't there a lot of people who were sent to St. Mungo's for treatment?"
"That's right, I was there that day too," Kyle said. "But what does that have to do with this?"
"Listen to me," Bones continued. "One of the people who were hit by the Death Eaters' Imperius Curse, while receiving treatment, suddenly became violent and used the Cruciatus Curse on Dolores, who was in the same ward."
"What was he trying to achieve..." Kyle was a little puzzled. "The Death Eaters are so certain they won't get hurt when attacking people around them during a rescue?"
In the British Wizarding World, St. Mungo's has always been a neutral place. No matter if it's Death Eaters, the Order of the Phoenix, or the Ministry of Magic, they all intentionally avoided St. Mungo's.
And St. Mungo's also never questioned the identity of those who came in for treatment. They would treat injured Aurors and Death Eaters alike.
This has become a customary practice, after all, everyone wants to keep a backdoor option open.
Even more than a decade ago, when Voldemort's power was at its peak, the Death Eaters only monitored St. Mungo's and did not control it.
Kyle even suspected that Voldemort's resurrection potion might have been obtained from St. Mungo's... of course, it was just a suspicion, and he believed that Headmaster Sascia would not hand over such a thing to Voldemort.
"In the end, the Aurors found out. That time, it was just a misunderstanding." Bones said, "The Death Eater who used the Imperius Curse might have wanted to cause some trouble for us. His orders were to create chaos by attacking people during the rescue, but he didn't know he had been sent to St. Mungo's."
"Including the two people who suddenly became violent at the Ministry of Magic, they were controlled quickly. As for the one at St. Mungo's..." Bones hesitated. "That day, the healer was very busy."
Bones' eyes flickered.
"So, was Umbridge just purely unlucky?"
"That's right," Bones nodded. "Remember to keep this confidential and don't tell others. Now we need some voices to boost morale."
"I understand," Kyle agreed.
"Then, what's your decision?" Bones asked. "Do you want to be the Deputy Minister?"
"Can it be now?"
"I still need to observe for a period of time," Bones said. "The position of Deputy Minister is important, and it's not something I can decide on my own."
"Then I'll take the Galleons," Kyle firmly rejected the offer.
"But the Ministry of Magic doesn't have that much money, and even if they do, it's impossible to spend it all on a few communication devices."
"You can owe it."
After going around in circles, the matter returned to where it started.
(End of Chapter)
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