Chapter 845: "The Defense Guide"
Chapter 845: "The Defense Guide"
"Good morning, Sirius," Lupin poked his head out of the kitchen, looking at Sirius, who had just entered the tent, and asked curiously, "Why don't you look very happy?"
"I just went to find Ludo Bagman, that guy only paid me half of what he owed me from last night." Sirius had no good feelings towards Bagman, who was trying to welch on his debt.
"When did you place a bet?" Lupin looked at Sirius in shock, never expecting that his old friend would be secretly gambling, which was definitely not a good thing.
"I thought you would be more interested in how much I won." Sirius pulled a chair and sat down, then placed his legs on the table nonchalantly, lost in his own thoughts.
"Okay, then how much did you win?" Lupin asked helplessly.
"About... one thousand galleons, I guess." Sirius replied.
"What?" Lupin widened his eyes in disbelief.
"One thousand galleons," Sirius repeated.
"Stop gambling! Know when to quit while you're ahead!" Lupin completely ignored the black smoke slowly rising from the pot and tried to persuade his old friend. He couldn't understand why Sirius would take the risk of gambling. What if he lost? How much had he bet to win a thousand galleons?
"Bagman didn't have enough galleons to pay me, so he suggested that I continue betting." Sirius glanced at Lupin, whose face had turned slightly gloomy, and said casually, "I've agreed. After all, these galleons are all extra. Even if I lose them all, it doesn't matter. Besides, I won't necessarily lose."
Lupin fell silent. He also knew that he wasn't in a position to lecture Sirius, and finally said, "Don't be too greedy. Know when to stop," before turning back to the kitchen to continue making breakfast.
"Lose? Will I lose? No, I won't."
A strange smile appeared on Sirius' face. He didn't think he would lose, and besides, this pile of galleons wasn't all his money. Half of it belonged to Albert.
In fact, Sirius didn't like gambling either, but he had met with Albert yesterday, and the two had privately reached some agreements under the pretext of making money together.
Well, they did make a big profit, and the unlucky Ludo Bagman lost a lot because of it.
However, Sirius didn't feel sorry for Bagman at all.
If it wasn't for Ludo Bagman trying to lure him into betting, Sirius might not have agreed to Albert's proposal.
Well, that was just a lame excuse. In Sirius' opinion, why wouldn't he earn some extra galleons if there was an easy opportunity? He wasn't a fool.
Moreover, from Albert's tone, Ludo Bagman didn't seem very reliable, otherwise, Albert wouldn't have asked him to retrieve at least half of the galleons after winning the bet.
"Good morning, Sirius." Yawning, Harry walked into the dining room, smelling the burnt scent in the air and said in surprise, "It's rare to see Professor Lupin burn the food. By the way, what were you talking about just now?"
"Nothing, Harry." Sirius didn't want Harry to pick up a gambling habit, so he changed the subject and said, "Remus and I are planning to start a magazine on Dark Magic Defense, called 'The Defense Guide.'"
After their initial discussion, Sirius intended to accept Albert's suggestion to start a magazine related to Dark Magic Defense.
Considering Lupin's previous position as the Dark Arts Defense professor at Hogwarts, he had a natural advantage in this field. And Sirius himself had also fought against dark wizards, so he could be considered quite skilled in this area.
Working in a field one is good at and interested in can more easily maintain passion, invest more energy, and achieve success.
Of course, starting a magazine wasn't easy, as neither Lupin nor Sirius had any experience in this area.
Who would be the chief editor?
Venturing into unknown territory without any expertise could easily lead to failure and even significant financial losses.
"A magazine similar to 'Witch Weekly' or 'Today's Transfiguration'?" Hermione asked Sirius curiously.
"Yeah, if it's just the two of us, we'll probably publish an issue every half a month." Sirius nodded, "We'll include some content related to Dark Magic Defense. Remus should be better at this since he used to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. And I can also help him come up with some other ideas."
Harry and Hermione exchanged glances.
To be honest, they weren't very optimistic about Sirius starting a magazine, even less so about him becoming the editor-in-chief.
"What do you think about this, Professor Lupin?" Hermione asked Lupin, who was busy in the kitchen.
"I think the probability of losing money is quite high. Understanding Dark Magic Defense and running a magazine about it are two different things." Lupin wasn't as optimistic as Sirius. Neither of them had rich management experience, and they might easily mess things up.
"Speaking of starting a business, I really admire Albert. He started investing in Fred and George's shop a long time ago." Ron yawned and sat down next to Harry, "From the beginning until now, I don't know how many galleons he's put in, and he always believed that their shop would be a huge success."
"Maybe he had it divined a long time ago." Harry said without thinking, "Sirius, if you want to start a business, you can ask Albert to divine it for you."
"Harry, divination also has its limitations," Hermione disagreed with Harry's view.
"Are you really going to start a magazine?" Lupin brought the food from the kitchen and asked Sirius, who was deep in thought.
"Even if I lose all the galleons I won, I won't feel heartache."
This was actually one of the reasons why Sirius was willing to help Albert. He needed an excuse to convince Lupin to help with the magazine.
Otherwise, he would never have agreed, and an unexpected windfall was undoubtedly the best excuse, shouting the slogan, "It doesn't matter if I lose it all."
"Lose money? I think you can ask Albert for help. As long as the price is right, he will definitely be willing to lend a hand." Ron suggested.
According to him, Fred and George had a clear idea of how to run their shop, and most of these insights came from Albert's guidance. Moreover, Albert often wrote articles for magazines, so he clearly knew how to arrange the content better than they did. If it was Albert, he would definitely be able to provide them with many constructive suggestions.
However, how to convince Albert to help was actually quite difficult. If they wanted Albert to put in effort, they would naturally have to give him sufficient benefits. But Albert obviously wouldn't care about those galleons, so what could they use to persuade him?
In the end, it was Ron's words that enlightened Sirius. There was a big difference between his industry and others'. If Sirius could get Albert to join them, he naturally wouldn't stand by and watch the business lose money. Instead, he would be willing to lend a hand.
Sirius' goal was simply to find a job for Lupin, and as long as they didn't lose money, he could accept it.
(End of Chapter)
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