The Magical Principles of Natural Philosophy at Hogwarts

The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, apologized to the public in a rather embarrassing manner. Although no one was killed, so many people were injured, which is also a very serious safety accident in recent years.

Fudge's picture was featured on the front page, a truly ministerial treat.

From the inefficient and ineffective overall performance of today's magic government, it is not difficult to see the minister's governance style and personal ability.

Of course, being the head of the government of the British magical society must have a few tricks in itself, but Fudge's ability may only be reflected in how to make himself a minister.

Erwin skimmed through this issue of the "Daily Prophet" and found many interesting things.

There are many different voices in this issue, some criticize the person in charge of the dead body; some call for cutting the expenditure of the Law Enforcement Department. The main theory is that since it is so incompetent, the bloated system should be streamlined; If Sirius Black was executed directly, there would be no trouble now; there were even those who bluntly said that Fudge was not suitable to be a minister.

It was a mess.

This shows that although the "Daily Prophet" is the official mouthpiece of the Ministry of Magic, it is not controlled by the Minister of Magic, and there are factional power struggles within the Ministry of Magic.

As for the instigator of the chaos in Hogsmeade, the existence of this supposed protagonist has not been mentioned much. It seems that most people take it for granted that it is Sirius Black.

Even though Fudge repeatedly emphasized that the identity of the chaos maker could not be determined, the fugitive was still blamed.

That's good news for Erwin, of course, and means he's not exposed.

At this time, the glass of cherry sauce cream special iced drink he ordered was almost finished, and Erwin signaled the owner that he would like a refill.

"Here we go," said Florin Fusco, the owner of the ice cream shop, smiling, and he seemed a very amiable man.

Renting such a large facade to open an ice cream shop in Diagon Alley, a place where every inch of land is very expensive, shows that Florin Fusco should not be a bad-hearted person, and his family property should be very rich, after all, Fusco has the surname It also represents a wizarding family that has been passed down to this day. There was once a Hogwarts headmaster. Florin should have inherited a lot of inheritance.

At this time, the wind chime at the door rang, which meant that a new guest had arrived.

"Mr. Losario?" Florin's surprise was beyond words when he saw the visitor.

Erwin followed the sound and found that it was an old gentleman, dressed in the style of the eighteenth century, with a slightly fat body and a kind appearance.

It doesn't even look like a wizard.

"Why? Don't you want to sell desserts to an old guy like me?" The old gentleman smiled and took off his top hat.

"When...of course not, very... very honored." Florin stuttered a little.Erwin frowned slightly, he felt the sincerity of the ice cream shop owner.

The visitor seemed to be a remarkable figure.

Every summer vacation, especially the few days before the start of school, is the best time for the business of Fusco Ice Cream Shop, but it will plummet immediately after the start of school.At this time, there were no other customers in the shop except Erwin and the old gentleman.

The old gentleman went straight to Erwin, sat down, and put his top hat on the table.

"No offense, sir, but you should not be the one I'm waiting for." Erwin said, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"I heard from Miss Sally that someone here has an appointment with her manager." The old gentleman said with a kind smile.

Sally is the name of the female clerk in Lihen Bookstore.

"It's me." Erwin nodded.

The manager of Lihen Bookstore is a tall, thin, middle-aged man named Fryer, obviously not the one in front of him.

"That's right." The old gentleman nodded slightly, "I am the owner of the bookstore, you can talk to me directly if you have anything to do."

Erwin's pupils shrank suddenly.

Owning a bookstore doesn't sound like a big deal, it just seems like an ordinary petty bourgeoisie.

But Lihen Bookstore is the only bookstore in the UK.

Hogsmeade doesn't have a bookstore.

This means monopoly, and probably not just the monopoly of book retailing, but may even include printing and publishing.

And magic books are the most important means for wizards to pass on knowledge, at least for now.

In other words, this unattractive old gentleman in front of him is probably one of the actual giants in the British magic world.

"This is a real big shot..." Riddle whispered in Erwin's ear.

"Of course I do," Erwin replied.

Only such a person has the ability to praise Lockhart, a practical idiot, as a "superstar".

And Erwin hadn't even heard of the other party's name, and Mr. Losario was not on the small group list that Lockhart gave him back then, which meant that Lockhart didn't dare to reveal his name.

No wonder Florin Fusco also looked quite panicked. At this time, the shopkeeper was asking the old gentleman what kind of cold drink he would like, and his tongue seemed to be still in a stiff state.

"One copy of your signature is enough. I have some private matters to discuss with this young man. Can you help us create an undisturbed environment?" the old gentleman said with a smile.

Fusco nodded hurriedly. He closed the store door without any hesitation, hung up the closed sign, and then closed all the curtains that were enchanted so that they could completely block the outside view.

After finishing these, he quickly delivered the cold drink ordered by the old gentleman, then bowed respectfully, quickly retreated to the back kitchen, and closed the door tightly.

"I've known you for a long time, Mr. Frost." The old gentleman said.

"Just call me Erwin, Mr. Losario," Erwin said.

It didn't take much thinking to know that Lockhart had already given him a full confession, not to mention that with the other party's social status, it was easy to find out the details of Erwin, so of course he could be called by his name directly.

"It's really rare for such an outstanding young man like you to maintain a humble and polite attitude." Mr. Losario nodded slightly.

He paused, "I remember that your principal has arranged for you to go to the United States? Now that you have appeared here, that means you can already perform such a long-distance apparition?"

Erwin was silent, which was regarded as acquiescing. The other party even knew that he was an exchange student, so it must be impossible to hide it.

"As expected of Dumbledore's personal student." Losario sighed, and then said seriously, "Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking for your secrets. In fact, I really like to see outstanding young people shine. Those medicinal materials should have helped you a lot earlier." The old gentleman blinked.

When Irwin was studying the Red Dragon I, Tollohart bought a lot of medicinal materials that were considered contraband, and now it seems that they all went through the channels of the British magic giant, otherwise his ability is not very good. It is possible to buy such a large amount of high-grade medicinal materials so quickly.

This also means that the old man in front of him should also know that Erwin has developed the Red Dragon Type I that can improve the blood of magic.

What a Lockhart, apparently submissive, has actually reported everything he knows about Erwin.

There are no pure fools in this world.

However, all the old man in front of him knows is that Erwin is a secret that is ready to be exposed, and he doesn't seem to have any malicious intentions.

"Are you friends with Professor Dumbledore?" Erwin changed the subject calmly.

According to the usual practice, Professor Dumbledore must be moved out when talking to someone stronger than himself.

"Friend? It should be considered." Losario smiled, "But there is not much intersection between us two old people, except when Hogwarts purchases books from me."

He paused, "Okay, young man, you are looking for Fryer, you must have some needs?"

Now down to business.

"I need all the information about dementors, including their birth method, body structure, living habits and intelligence level, and all detailed data, preferably finished books." Erwin said without hesitation: "I believe Someone should have done some research on this.”

Losario stroked his beard, neither refused nor agreed, "I think you should know that private research on dementors is illegal?"

"I know." Erwin said, "so I need exact information. The Ministry of Magic seems to regard them as a stronger deterrent than Aurors, and even claims that dementors cannot be destroyed, but this can only deceive the magician. Someone who doesn't know anything or a teenager."

If a spiritual monster that feeds on human emotions and souls and can split itself, if it is really indestructible, how can the Ministry of Magic control them within the scope of Azkaban?

The reason why people are people and dogs are dogs is because dogs do not have the ability to resist people, so they are obedient.

"Very insightful idea, very good." Losario nodded slightly. "As an old man with little life left, I am willing to help young people. Children like you should not be restricted by rules and regulations."

He didn't ask Erwin why he needed the dementor information.

"Thank you so much." Erwin took a deep breath, "So how much should I pay?"

Facing such a giant, he couldn't use Lockhart as a bargaining chip, because for Losario, Lockhart was at best a relatively advanced money-making tool, so Erwin knew very well that he needed the other party's help You must pay the price.

If you only need to pay some Galleons, that would be great.

"Money?" the old gentleman smiled, "to me, money is probably the most meaningless thing in this world. I don't need anything in return, young man, just be a friend, or you can think that I am right Your investment..."

"In fact, I think the investment is just a transaction in disguise." Erwin said: "Accepting the investment means that more will be repaid in the future."

Losario froze for a moment, then laughed, "Interesting idea, interesting young man, but this statement is indeed true. Anyone with a vision will be willing to invest in you. This is really not a kindness."

He was sitting upright, "Then follow the normal procedure, let's make a deal, since what you want is information, then exchange it with information."

As soon as the old gentleman became serious, Erwin immediately felt invisible pressure.

"What do you want to know?" he asked quietly.

"You just need to answer one question for me." Losario's eyes flickered, "The person who taught you alchemy, how is your health now?"

Erwin remained silent, and a lot of information could be obtained from this question alone. For example, the other party already knew very clearly that it was not Dumbledore who taught him alchemy but someone else.

It seems that it is not particularly difficult to think of Nicole Flamel. After all, there was a disturbance about the Philosopher's Stone in Hogwarts two years ago.

But this is also normal, as long as it is a secret, there will be a day when it cannot be kept.

So the correct approach is not to rack your brains to hide the secret in fear, but to try your best to have the strength to protect it on the day the secret is revealed.

"You don't need to tell me his name, you just need to tell me about his physical condition. After all, every master alchemist of that level is the wealth of all human wizards." Losario said unhurriedly.

Erwin remained silent for a while, "Forgive me for not being able to answer this question."

If this is really answered, it is almost equivalent to directly reporting Nicole Flamel's name.

Of course Erwin couldn't be that stupid.

Facing a character of this level, lying is meaningless, because a single lie requires countless lies to maintain, and it is almost impossible to weave a chain of lies that can fool Losario.

So he can only say that he can't answer.

"Not being able to answer is itself an answer." The old gentleman smiled again, "The transaction is completed."

Erwin's mouth twitched.

Sure enough, the current Minister of Magic is just a clown who was pushed out?

"Someone will deliver what you asked for later, is there anything else you need, Erwin?" He put his top hat back on his head meticulously.

Erwin shook his head slightly.

"It was a pleasure talking to you. I hope we will meet again one day." The old gentleman held out his hand, and Erwin shook him.

Mr. Losario left, and the moment Erwin opened the door, he saw a neatly dressed wizard waiting for him at the door.

It should be a bodyguard or something, which shows that Losario's personal strength may not be very strong.

There was no sound in the ice cream shop, Erwin thought for a while, and then knocked on the door of the back kitchen.

It took more than ten seconds for the door to open, and Fusco poked his head out cautiously, "What's the matter, sir?"

"Mr. Losario is gone," Erwin said.

If you don't remind me, God knows how long the owner of Fusco will lock himself in the back kitchen.