A magical journey that begins in Azkaban.

Chapter 520 Airship Merchant
"Oh, you are here..." After Bellingrum got off the airship, he saw little Batty at a glance.

It blurted out these words almost without thinking, directly revealing their previous whereabouts. Fortunately, the masked Rogge quietly kicked it with his toes to remind it not to talk nonsense.

Bellinrum immediately understood what he meant, and his eyes moved quickly as he looked for a suitable excuse: "We just circled in the sky for a long time and didn't know where to land."

"That greedy and rude guy, Narlak, didn't even tell me your address, Mr. Cedric." As it said this, it deliberately shifted its gaze away from Little Barty's face and turned to Cedric next to him.

Although Cedric felt a little awkward, he didn't care too much. He looked up at the airship and asked worriedly, "Did the heavy rain just now cause any trouble to you? Are the food and water supplies still clean?"

"Completely dry and absolutely clean!" Bellingrum replied quickly, "Black Jack, go up there and get some food down for Mr. Cedric to see."

Roger nodded slightly, turned around, got on his broom and headed for the airship. He knew in his heart that Bellingrum would never sell him out so easily and cheaply.

After all, the airship was loaded with two containers of wealth and tons of supplies. If he really wanted to betray them, Bellingrum would definitely choose a more appropriate time.

"Where did you find this wizard?" Little Barty frowned and stared at Rogge's back with suspicious eyes, as if he wanted to find some flaws in him.

Then, in a dark, suspicious voice, he asked, "Don't tell me it was those Aurors from the Ministry, or members of the Order of the Phoenix."

Bellingrum looked calm, laughing and shaking his head vigorously. "If those guys were willing to cooperate with me, I wouldn't have to go through so much trouble to cross the Atlantic Ocean on an airship. You don't know that I have to pay the toll for the captain Black Jack. This hateful, black-hearted gangster! How damn hateful!"

It sighed with regret, annoyed that it could not use the Floo Network to travel back and forth quickly and sell the supplies to the generous and stupid Death Eaters.

"Oh, what a great opportunity to make money!" It cast its eyes around the dilapidated streets, staring at the dim windows and ruins of dilapidated shops, and sighed: "The jewels, diamonds, and gold in the city are all wealth. It's a pity to just lie in the ruins. You, don't you go to see them?"

"If you can continue to help me transport the supplies, I can let the snake people collect these treasures for you." Cedric said generously, pointing his finger inside the building: "The payment is in the box, follow me."

He walked towards the tall building with big strides, and Narlak followed behind him with small steps. But Little Batty still stared at Rogge, his eyes as sharp as a blade, unwilling to move away.

He looked the mysterious captain up and down, carefully taking in his every move, his scrutiny full of caution and suspicion.

"It seems that you have protected the supplies very well." Little Batty tore open the package and squeezed the soft bread. Then, he opened the jar of biscuits, took out a piece at random, and put it in his mouth to chew.

The biscuit was very crisp, without any signs of being damp. The moment he bit it, a scent of wheat and sweetness filled his mouth, relaxing his tense nerves a little.

However, Little Batty is still secretly measuring Black Jack's degree of danger and reliability.

Suddenly, he asked tentatively: "Why do you keep wearing a mask? Can you take it off for me to see?"

"This?" Rogge calmly touched the mask and responded in a French accent: "On the one hand, it is very expensive. I paid Bellinrum 5000 Galleons to get it. If I don't wear it every day, wouldn't it be a big loss?"

Barty was stunned for a moment, but had to admit that this reason was simple, powerful, and convincing. The other party seemed to be a person who was very obsessed with money.

He considered it carefully and asked, "What about the other side?"

"Of course it's to protect myself. The mask is another identity." Roger's answer was quite straightforward. "In addition to the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters, I also do business with other wizards, including Aurors and White Wizards."

"Whether legal or illegal, as long as it can make money, it's a good method." Roger smiled mysteriously and unknowingly led the topic elsewhere: "Sir, it is rumored that the Dark Lord has divided territories among his men. Where is your territory?"

"New Jersey, a small place by the sea." Little Batty couldn't hide his displeasure in his tone, and his brows were full of unwillingness.

He served his master so loyally, but in the end he was only given a small territory. However, those vampires and werewolves who later defected to Voldemort were able to occupy a larger territory in the south.

"Why, is it that even the garbage made by Muggles is worth selling?" Little Barty sneered, looking at Roger with disdain and contempt in his eyes.

"Maybe?" Roger remained calm and leisurely took out a spade playing card from his arms. There was a line of golden words printed in the middle: Airship Merchant, Black Jack.

He blinked mysteriously and continued, "The Niffler can help wizards find lost treasures, and the Bowtruckle can identify trees that can be used to make wands."

"There are also Muggle libraries, museums, and bank vaults... Although their green papers are useless, many wizards in the wizarding world have a habit of collecting them."

"I know." Barty nodded, pretending to be calm and showing off his knowledge of this subject: "Some wizards like to collect cat plates, golden snitch, pictures, and matchboxes."

“Some people like to collect cultural relics such as books and manuscripts.” He glanced at the playing cards in his hand, and there was a string of unknown numbers near the edge.

Little Batty thought for a moment and put it in his pocket.

He raised his head and said with contempt: "Those are useless decorations. No one will care about them except you French wizards who are particular about sentiment.

I do have the collections you mentioned in my territory, but they need to be exchanged for Galleons or potion materials."

"No problem, sir." Roger took out a telephone from his pocket and generously gave it to him: "The numbers on the poker cards are our phone numbers. Just dial the dial in order and you can contact the airship captain, Ms. Maledy."

"Can we get in touch no matter how far away?" Little Barty's eyes lit up, and he was obviously very interested in this magic prop.

"That's the theory." Rogge nodded, "But in some special places, it may be restricted."

Little Barty hummed in understanding, realizing that the airship merchant was referring to places like Hogwarts that were strictly protected by magic.

Bellingrum carefully examined the gold bars and precious jewels in the box, and was very satisfied with the profit of this trip. He hoped that the Dark Lord would be locked away from the wizarding world forever. In that case, he could earn ten or a hundred times more money and wealth.

At the moment, this "insignificant" profit can only barely fill its stomach.

"Is your airship fast?" Cedric looked at the boxes of supplies that the snake people had unloaded and asked, "We have a group of wizards that need to be transported here. Money is not a problem. Just name your price."

Bellingrum did not answer immediately. He thought for a moment and said, "This spaceship does not belong to me. I have to discuss it with Captain Black Jack first."

Seeing that Cedric had no objection, it immediately turned back to the airship cockpit and found Rogge to discuss the transportation of the wizard.

"No." Roger rejected the mission unceremoniously. "I have to go to the west side of the Rocky Mountains, and then I will use the Floo Network to teleport back."

"Nagini will continue to fly the airship, sail westward, and eventually complete the journey around the world." He took out an international pass issued by the Ministry of Magic's Department of Transportation from his pocket, which allowed him to use the Floo Network without restrictions and travel across the world. "How did you get it?" Bellingrum stared at the official seal on it with envy, with a little resentment in his tone: "You wizards are really selfish. You have such a pass, but you don't give it to us goblins!"

"Oh, that's because they're worried that you'll resell supplies to the Death Eaters." Roger sneered and changed the subject, "You just witnessed their battle with the Order of the Phoenix. You should understand that under the Dark Lord's blockade, the Death Eaters can still use Apparition freely."

"Using my airship to transport wizards, who do you think those wizards are?" He brought the subject back to the topic.

"Prisoners?" Bellinrum was not a stupid goblin. After Rogge's reminder, it immediately understood the actual meaning of the "transportation" mission that Cedric mentioned.

"But Death Eaters never leave anyone alive. The wizards they capture are either killed on the spot or tortured first and then killed mercilessly."

"That was the way they did it in the last war." Rogge said, his eyes fixed on the gradually empty cabin, his voice low and whispering, "Perhaps this time, in addition to simply killing for fun, the captives have greater value and use to them."

Bellingrum took a deep breath, and his Adam's apple moved unnaturally. He looked at Barty and Cedric chatting and laughing below the deck, and suddenly felt an unprecedented chill.

"Then...then I will reject them now?"

"No, it's not you who refuses, but me." Rogge patted its shoulder and whispered a few words in its ear.

Bellinrum suddenly opened his eyes wide, and an exaggerated smile appeared on his face: "Black-hearted Rogge, you are indeed the most terrible, stingy, and greedy wizard!"

"Fortunately, we are friends!" It shouted exaggeratedly, excitedly raising its broad palms and clenching its fists to show its joy.

Roger curled his lips in disapproval and muttered in a low voice: "You really know how to praise people."

Bellinrum jumped off the airship, and walked up to Cedric with an embarrassed look, pointing at the airship with his thick fingers, as if discussing something with Cedric.

"Master, are you going to let Nagini sail alone?" Nagini unhappily leaned on his shoulder and complained about the master's "heartlessness" in a coquettish tone. "What's the point of completing the round-the-world voyage without the master?"

Roger did not indulge her willful behavior. He pinched her hard as punishment and then spread a yellowed sea chart on the table.

"This is a magic nautical chart, similar to the Marauder's Map. Just say the name of the shipwreck, and its location will be displayed on it." After saying that, he walked towards the display cabinet on the right side of the cab.

There was only one solitary glass bottle, displayed on a pedestal in a mahogany lattice. The pedestal was also inlaid with a rectangular metal plaque with the words "Central America" ​​engraved on it.

"Look, what is this?"

Nagini turned sideways and looked at the old, broken sailboat in the bottle. After thinking for a moment, she whispered, "Is this a sunken ship called the Central America?"

"Yes, just like your crystal castle, I cast the traceless expansion spell and the solidification spell on the bottle." Roger nodded and continued to explain: "Then, I used the shrinking spell and the repair spell to put the sunken ship inside."

"But master..." Nagini touched the magic sea chart on the table hesitantly. She had already guessed the real purpose of this voyage: to salvage a shipwreck full of wealth on the seabed.

"It's okay, go ahead." Roger smiled.

"Master, I don't know the names of those sunken ships."

"Hey, I have detailed files on shipwrecks." Rogge took out a thick stack of printed A4 paper, on which was densely listed a series of information including the names, models, sea areas where the shipwrecks occurred, etc. of various shipwrecks.

"About a hundred years ago, British Muggles established the Britannia Protection and Indemnity Club, which is specifically used to insure certain risks of ships."

"Together with the West of England P&I Club and the London Steamship P&I Club, basically they have detailed records of ship information from all over the world."

"As for the earlier shipwrecks, Mr. Andrew, the asset manager of the Travis family, also helped collect and summarize them."

"Here is the Gist, which was sunk by a German U-boat in 1941; there is also the famous Spanish Golden Fleet destroyed by a hurricane in 1715; and there are the Black Angel and Atocha from even earlier times..."

Nagini carefully read through the thick shipwreck files in her hands. On the one hand, she admired the detailed information contained therein, but on the other hand, she felt sad about the lonely work in the future.

"Master, can't we wait a little longer? When you graduate, we can go salvage them together. Nagini is not afraid of hard work, but she is afraid of not being with her master."

Roger shook his head and firmly rejected her request: "My dear Captain, the impact of the snake virus has not been completely eliminated. The Muggles' shipping activities have almost all stopped. This is a good time for us to take action."

"Salvaging the sunken ship at this time can avoid the trouble of being discovered to the greatest extent." He pointed his wand at the console and the airship model in front of him quickly enlarged.

"The top of the airship can be closed to prevent water from entering. In addition, its bottom can also be opened to facilitate operations on the seabed."

"You don't have to worry about the safety of the entire airship," he waved his hand firmly and said, "Although the goblins are greedy, their forging skills are absolutely first-class. Even if the airship is sunk into the Mariana Trench, there will not be a small hole the size of a gravel on its hull."

Then he began to demonstrate to Nagini how to control the airship, and patiently explained: "After the specific location of the shipwreck is shown on the nautical chart, you only need to control the airship to dive directly. Then adjust the diving depth so that it hovers above the shipwreck."

"If you follow this set of spells and the trajectory of your wand swinging, the airship will automatically release the floating spell, shrinking spell, repair spell, and bubble head spell... and pull the entire sunken ship into the airship."

Nagini nodded, reluctantly accepting the temporary separation from her master.

The entire salvage process has been basically automated. All she needs to do is find the location of the shipwreck based on the information in the shipwreck archives, and then let the airship dive to the bottom of the sea.

Finally, according to Rogge's request: bury the remains at sea, sort out the property, and preserve the shipwreck in a glass bottle.

At this time, Bellinrum also negotiated a new deal with Cedric and trotted back happily: "He agreed! He wants me to help build a magic hot air balloon, and it also needs the mark of the Dark Lord."

Roger unceremoniously held up three fingers and said, "Very good, I want 30% of the profits, as we agreed before."

"You..." Bellinrum glared at him and was about to jump up and denounce the other party's greed.

"Don't get excited. You can exchange them for other things for me. For example, artifacts and artworks from museums, books, rare books, manuscripts from Muggle libraries, or even herbal seeds, precious wood, dragon dung, antique furniture... anything that is valuable to me or the airship is fine." Roger gestured to the empty cabin inside the airship, "This place urgently needs a lot of materials for decoration and layout."

"Moreover, I also came up with the design of the hot air balloon, including its control system. I also have to help you contact Dawlish and study the restrictive spell of the fairy wand." Rogge said confidently.

(End of this chapter)