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Chapter 859: Purchase Plan
🕑 Added 2023-09-01 04:18:49 +0000 UTCGinny smiled softly and followed Mrs. Weasley with Hermione to serve food.
"The meeting is over, Dung!" said Mr. Weasley. "Evan and Harry have arrived."
"Eh, Evan?" said Mundungus, peering balefully at them through his matted ginger hair, and suddenly jumped up, "Blimey, he's here. Yeah … you’re all right, Harry?"
"Yeah," said Harry.
He had seen him after being attacked by Dementors before, and knew that Dumbledore had assigned him to tail Harry. But Mundungus left his post without authorization to buy stolen cauldrons.
Mundungus fumbled nervously in his pockets, still staring at Harry, and pulled out a grimy black pipe. He stuck it in his mouth, ignited the end of it with his wand, and took a deep pull on it. Great billowing clouds of greenish smoke obscured him in seconds.
"I owe you an apology, Harry," grunted a voice from the middle of the smelly cloud. "I was..."
"For the last time, Mundungus," called Mrs. Weasley, coming out with a tray of food, "will you please not smoke that thing in the kitchen, especially not when we’re about to eat!"
"Ah," said Mundungus. "Right. Sorry, Molly."
The cloud of smoke vanished as Mundungus stowed his pipe back in his pocket, but an acrid smell of burning socks lingered.
"Really, you are all the same," said Mrs. Weasley, putting the food on the table.
Mundungus blinked sadly, and breathed a sigh of relief when Mrs. Weasley went back inside.
It was clear that he had little courage, and he gave a feeling of being unreliable.
But he was loyal to Dumbledore. He’d been at the wizarding underworld for many years, so he knew many swindlers and thieves, and had access to information that ordinary people couldn’t hear, as well as many channels for buying and selling contraband.
Evan was going to ask him to purchase broomstick production materials for him and help sell those priceless works of art.
But he had to check the price in advance, and not let Mundungus rip him off too badly.
"Have you seen old Figgy since?" Mundungus asked.
"No," said Harry, "I haven’t seen anyone. I’ve been alone in the room for four days."
"See, Harry, I wouldn’t have left," said Mundungus, leaning forward, a pleading note in his voice, "but I had a business opportunity..."
"Yeah," said Harry, not wanting to talk about this subject with him, but Mundungus went on and on.
Evan sat down next to Harry and Ron, and felt something brush against his knees. He lowered his head, and it was Crookshanks, Hermione's bandy-legged ginger cat.
After deciding to go to Egypt with Evan, Hermione asked Ginny to take care of the cat.
When he saw Evan, he brushed against his knees affectionately and wound himself once around his legs, purring.
As soon as Evan bent down, he jumped onto his lap and curled up.
"I really shouldn't have left, but the cauldrons that fell off the broom were of good quality and at a very cheap price, only one-fifth of the normal price. It was a big deal, as long as I could get it..." said Mundungus.
"Actually, I also have a big deal to talk to you about," said Evan, scratching Crookshanks behind the ears.
"Hmm, big deal?!" Mundungus turned his head and looked at Evan in surprise, as though he had just noticed him, "Ah, Evan, hello, I’ve heard of you. They all say you’re a very powerful young wizard. What’s the big deal you’re talking about?"
"Well, I want to design and produce broomsticks." Under the staring gaze of Mundungus, Evan continued, "You know, it takes a lot of materials to produce a broom. I don't have that much time. I need a person to help me purchase them."
To make a broom, from the handle to the end, it involved nearly a hundred materials, and there were many invisible but indispensable materials, including mind sensing devices, air sensors, invisible cushions, flight magic drives and so on.
Especially as it came to all core devices, Evan did not plan to buy ready-made ones.
He planned to research and design all by himself from the inside out, so the amount of various materials involved was beyond imagination.
Among the people Evan knew, no one but Mundungus had the energy and patience to do this, and to do it well.
Evan planned to give Mundungus a fixed price for each broom material and let him buy it.
As long as the quality of the things bought met his own requirements, it was his business no matter how much money he could make from it.
In this way, more than ten minutes later, Evan and Mundungus finalized a purchase contract for 2000 Gold-Galleons.
He was going to make a detailed list for him in a few days, and ask Mundungus to buy all the needed items.
Evan repeatedly emphasized that this was a long-term business, and Mundungus shouldn't deliberately cheat him or run away with the money.
Although he was not very reliable, he could still keep his promises in business, otherwise others would not trade with him.
As for the works of art brought back from Egypt, it was also a good idea for Evan to wait until he was short of money, and sell them directly to the goblins in Gringotts or the pure-blood wizard families who were interested in them.
After the two had reached an agreement, Mundungus became obviously enthusiastic about Evan.
At Evan's inquiry, he said a lot about Knockturn Alley and the underground world of London, which he was very familiar with.
Harry and Ron talked to Mr. Weasley about Sirius and wanted to know what he was doing in Norway.
"The stew is ready, Fred and George, come and help move it out." Mrs. Weasley shouted from inside.
Mundungus didn't pay attention at the twins who had suddenly vanished. He had been studying the plates and goblets that Ginny had just taken out.
"Blimey, look at this, mate, I dare say this must be pure silver."
"Yes, I heard Sirius say that this is the finest fifteenth-century goblin-wrought silver, embossed with the Black family crest," said Evan. "I suggest you don't think about these things unless you want to be torn apart by Sirius."
"How can I? I'm not that kind of person..." said Mundungus vaguely, polishing the goblet with his cuff.
"Fred … George … NO, JUST CARRY THEM!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked.
Everyone turned their heads and looked around and, a split second later, dived away from the table.
And Evan kicked Mundungus, who was still immersed in the goblet.
Fred and George had bewitched a large cauldron of stew, an iron flagon of butterbeer, and a heavy wooden breadboard, complete with knife, to hurtle through the air toward them.
The stew skidded the length of the table and came to a halt just before the end, leaving a long black burn on the wooden surface.
The flagon of butterbeer fell with a crash, spilling its content everywhere, and the bread knife slipped off the board and landed, point down and quivering ominously, exactly where Mundungus’s right hand had been seconds before. He looked terrified, his face pale.
If Evan didn’t kick him to make him avoid in time, his right hand would have been penetrated by the knife from top to bottom...
