The Bard of Hogwarts

Chapter 319 First Board Meeting

As Penelope sighed, the atmosphere on the second floor of the shop became somewhat eerie.

The space, which is over 100 square meters, was originally used as a warehouse, but now it has been cleaned up neatly.

A long table nearly twenty feet long was placed in the middle, with twelve high-backed chairs on each side of the table.

If there were any Hogwarts professors here, they would know that the people sitting in the chairs were all former "famous" students of the castle.

Marcus Flint, Mina Burke… and even Percy Weasley with short red hair.

All of these people were involved in the operation of FilmMirror.

……

"I feel like this happened rather suddenly. Does any of you know why?"

Marcus sat in the chair, glancing around as if asking a question with a smile, but his eyes seemed somewhat cold.

But this behavior only frightened the young wizards in the castle; none of the eleven people present cared and completely ignored it.

When the atmosphere became somewhat awkward, Mina Burke, a former Slytherin prefect, eased the tension:

"Don't ask! Everyone knows if they know, or you can ask Malfoy, he knows better than anyone."

"I asked, but he wouldn't tell me!" Marcus explained with a smile when someone chimed in.

Percy sat in his chair and quietly watched the two perform.

Marcus and Mina, one in charge of Diagon Alley and the other in charge of Knockout Alley.

The conversation between the two was clearly a test of the others, but unfortunately, no one present was a fool, and everyone tacitly remained silent.

……

Time ticked by in this slightly awkward atmosphere.

soon.

In the shops on the second floor, everyone present felt a faint chill.

As a blue halo flashed, a figure appeared in the room, and a familiar voice rang in everyone's ears:

"I'm sorry to have kept you all waiting."

Ino smiled and looked at the familiar faces in the room, nodding in greeting.

However, his smile and politeness were destined to be in vain, because everyone present unconsciously lowered their heads.

The blue phoenix, even just a fleeting glimpse, has been seen by many as a direct confrontation with curse and death.

"Oh! Sorry! I forgot about Fid's characteristics. But there's nothing I can do about it, as you all know, the fireplaces in the school dormitories aren't connected to the FiluNet."

Ino spoke slowly, but his emotions were sincere, and every word was full of earnestness.

Looking at the twelve shareholders who were involved in the operation with their heads bowed, a smile flashed in Ino's eyes.

That's exactly the effect we want. He plays the good cop, and Fidel plays the bad cop. Regardless of whether there are problems with the operation, this move is essential. After all, in the world of purebloods, reputation is often not as useful as strength.

Having achieved his goal, and adhering to the principle of moderation, Ino gently stroked the phoenix's back:

"Fid! Go home and play with the little people. Now you've scared my friends."

The blue halo flashed again, and Fide's figure suddenly disappeared.

……

a long time.

With the phoenix gone, although a chilling atmosphere still lingered in the second-floor room of the shop, the palpable despair and fear were gone.

"That's just how Fed is, but everyone could have some chocolate, that would be helpful."

Ino took out the liqueur-filled chocolates she had prepared beforehand from her pocket.

The chocolates were placed on the table, and in an instant, a large plate of them were replicated and then presented to everyone.

"Thank you, Mr. Swinburne! This is the best chocolate I've ever had."

Marcus looked at the chocolate in front of him, picked up a piece, unwrapped it, and decisively put it in his mouth, seemingly completely disregarding the rule in the magical world that one cannot eat random things.

After that, everyone else started eating candy.

Perhaps, as Lupin suggests in the original story, chocolate helps to alleviate emotions.

Within a few minutes, the atmosphere on the second floor eased.

"Thank you for the compliment, Marcus," Ino replied with a light laugh as she sat down in her chair.

"Actually, there are about two things we're discussing in this meeting today. The first is about the Bulgarian team's finder, Viktor Krum..."

He had made a promise regarding Krum, and he needed to give him a positive response to fulfill his promise.

"...That's how it is. Krum came to me. What do you think about this?"

After recounting what had happened, Ino fell silent, leaving the problem to everyone else.

At the same time, Marcus sat up straight as if by reflex.

"No, that's not true! Please believe me! We haven't received any letter! It's really not true. Our Principal, Karkaroff, has been the one communicating with us regarding Durmstrang..."

Marcus sounded somewhat agitated, but that was understandable, since he had always been in charge of the business dealings that were out in the public eye.

However, in his haste, Marcus changed "I" to "we," which made those present frown.

Percy, in particular, gave Marcus a very displeased look. He was there to advocate for the Weasley family's interests, not to inexplicably share their responsibilities.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry to interrupt! I know nothing about this. Mr. Flint handled all the correspondence and sales."

Percy's words resonated with the others, and everyone present, except Mina, nodded in agreement.

"You..." Marcus felt insulted and was about to get angry when he saw the gentle, smiling face in the main seat.

"Excuse me! Please wait a moment." Marcus stood up and walked to a locker in the corner of the room.

After a while.

A pile of letters and a thick notebook were placed on the table.

"These are all the correspondence with Karkaroff, and this is the sales invoice from after the World Cup, with detailed records of pre-sale funds, orders, and quantities."

"Oh, and truth serum! I'd be happy to drink it."

Marcus said this in a fit of pique. He felt betrayed. Everything was fine until the incident, and out of the twelve people, only Mina trusted him.

Upon hearing about the truth serum, Ino frowned slightly. He knew very well that if Marcus were to drink the truth serum, the business would be over, not to mention the favors he owed to old Flint and Newt.

Truth serum was out of the question, but the accounts could be checked, and besides, his intuition told him that Marcus didn't seem to be lying, nor did he have any reason to lie.

As one of the few top pure-blood families, if the Flint family had been so short-sighted, they might have been eliminated by history long ago.

Just like when he released records and books, Flint was willing to lose money to promote them, just to do someone a favor.

With this in mind, Ino made a decision.

"Don't mention truth serum, we're all friends! As for Krum's situation, I think it's a problem on Durmstrang's side, but that's none of our business..."

His initial concern was that these people would unite, but now it seems that out of the twelve, only Mina and Marcus are close.

"Thank you for your trust!" Marcus said earnestly.

"No! You proved yourself with facts." Ino pointed to the ledgers and letters on the table.

He didn't intend to take on this favor; official business could only be handled according to the rules.

Marcus wasn't stupid. Realizing he had misspoke, he gave an embarrassed laugh and said nothing more.

"Alright, now let's talk about the second thing, the three-way championship."

Ino reached out and gently tapped the table.

"This is an opportunity for us to launch a special commemorative edition, but it's not easy. We need to get the two dear directors on board first..."

Ino shared his thoughts, saying that he found the Triwizard Tournament a bit boring in the original story, especially the last two matches which felt completely uninspired by the audience.

Hiding underwater, dodging in mazes... they're practically afraid of people.

Now is the perfect opportunity to make the competition more entertaining; we should at least remove the underwater event.

(End of this chapter)