Chapter 327

The three stood at the intersection of a busy shopping street.

They had just come out of a clothing store and the twins had changed into a casual dark blue jacket and jeans, as they gestured to each other’s new look.

“The clerk almost touched the wand I had pinned on the back of my waist.” Fred said apprehensively.

Felix called a cab, “First to Charing Cross, then to Sam’s Finest Machinery.” He said to the driver, then looked at the twins, “We’re going to pick up Professor Lupin fist, he’s coming with us.”

The cab driver, with the characteristic early morning listlessness on his face, lazily passed through the streets and alleys, “Charing Cross is up ahead, where are we stopping?”

“A little further on, that park next to the record store up ahead.”

The driver glanced over his shoulder, “Here on business?”

“Something like that,” Felix twirled a glowing coin, the driver shook his head, feeling dazzled, the car pulled over, and he said warily, “Waiting on the curb also counts as time.”

“There will be no less for you.” Felix said carelessly.

It wasn’t long before a middle-aged man suddenly appeared next to the record store as if he had been there from the beginning. Fred rolled down the car window and waved at him, “Professor Lupin, this way!”

Lupin smiled as he walked over and got in the car, “I didn’t expect you to come over like this.”

“How was the recruitment?” Felix asked, he then explained, “It’s easier to go by car, I actually wanted to rent a car.”

Lupin glared at him, “Only now you thought of asking about it? You said you’d help out before, and then you disappeared for a week.”

Felix shrugged, “I went to Albania.”

Lupin’s face turned serious, he had heard Sirius say that Voldemort was once lurked up in the Albanian forest, he cautiously glanced at the twins, who were listening with ears pricked up, and asked vaguely, “Did you find anything?”

“Not what you think,” Felix said, “I was looking for the former residence of an old friend, but unfortunately it was so old that only a crumbling ruin remained.”

Hearing that Felix didn’t search for the trail of Voldemort, Lupin didn’t care too much, he talked about the company: “The candidates are all interviewed, according to your request, I recruited 37 in-”

“Is there anyone I know?”

“The six people you recommended have good abilities, in addition, not counting Clearwater, there are three new graduates this year …”

After almost half an hour, the car stopped in front of a factory.

Felix paid the fare, led them to the entrance, and after a few minutes of reporting their names at the guardhouse, a middle-aged man trotted over.

“Are you Mr. Hap?” The man said enthusiastically, “I’m the Supervisor of Sam’s Finest Machinery, Hobart Nott, we spoke on the phone earlier.” The twins squeezed eyes at each other and mouthed: Nott.

Felix had no reaction to the surname, which had a special significance in the magical world, and introduced them with a natural expression, “This is Remus Lupin, the general manager of Future World, and these two …” he looked at the twins who had straightened their chests. “They’re visiting for, um, holiday social practice.”

“No problem, Welcome! Welcome!” Hobart said hurriedly.

On the way into the factory, Lupin asked in a whisper, “How does he know about the Future World? Did you tell him?”

“I registered a shell company with the same name with the British government.” Felix said with a smile.

“Is that necessary? It seems very troublesome …” Lupin asked in bewilderment.

“Not so much trouble, I just found out an interesting fact.” He whispered a few words into Lupin’s ear.

“What did you say!” Lupin stared incredulously as the twins and the Supervisor Hobart looked over, and he smiled apologetically before whispering, “Is what you said is true, that there are people in the magical world smuggling gold and silver wares this side?”

“Not exactly something new,” Felix said, “There are always clever people who plunder some old family silverware, then turn around and sell it to non-magical folk collectors. Imagine goblin-made silverware that repels dust, with a unique historical weight.”

” Aren’t they afraid of being discovered by the Ministry of Magic?”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Felix laughed: “There’s a void in that aspect of the law, and, guess who did this, just a few petty thieves? Although they do very stealthy, everything is traceable.”

Waves of shock welled up in Lupin’s heart, and he felt his perception of the wizarding community had been turned upside down.

“Pure-blood family?” He kept mulling it over, ” Nah, I was under the impression that quite a few families had declined lately, maybe they were part of it, and they had been maintaining this secret!”

His mind quickly flashed through the names of several families, some of which did not have a long history themselves, but became very rich in just a few decades.

Lupin said hesitantly, “But the Gringotts stipulates that there is a limit on the number of pounds that can be exchanged for galleons.”

Felix said casually, “In the black market, bartering is not a problem, pure gold, and pure silver are also valuable in the wizarding community, and reselling them is at least tens of times more profitable.”

Without waiting for Lupin to think it over, Hobart led them to a factory, and he said humbly, “We have prepared a variety of fine engraving equipment, and we hope it will meet your company’s needs.”

“This is a mechanical engraving machine with an overall all-steel structure, diamond blade head, high-precision ball screw, and conductor. It can be operated manually or manipulated with a simple program. We have ready-made samples, wait a moment, I’ll get it here …”

He left for a moment and brought back a three-foot-long brown board with a complex pattern carved on it, which he described as “used by many customers for high-end furniture patterns.”

The twins looked at the sharp, curved tip of the blade and were just about to reach out and touch it when it suddenly buzzed and spun, then turned into a blur of shadow.

“Look out!” Hobart shouted, “It’s already spinning at two thousand rpm, very dangerous.” He glanced at Felix, which meant, watch your bear Kids!

“Fred, George, you don’t want to leave your hands here, do you?” Felix asked softly.

The two boys smiled sheepishly and Fred inquired, “Can we have a demonstration?”

Hobart saw that neither Felix nor Lupin objected, and felt a lot more hope for a deal, “No problem!” He said in a relaxed tone, and then called a professional, the employee took the board, looked at it carefully, turned it over and clipped it to the back of the workbench, then pressed the control button next to it, the rotating carving knife with a curved blade began to move up, and the moment it came into contact with the board, the wood chips tumbled and rolled up a wood splinter.

The twins watched in awe as the blade moved nimbly across the board. After five minutes, when the board was removed, they repeatedly compared the patterns on the front and back, and they were identical, unable to pick out a single difference.

“Think about whether it can be used in your products.” Felix said, Hobart glanced at them groggily, guessing in his heart that it might be for them to make some toys, but as long as it can be sold, he did not care what it could be used for, anyway, the manual is marked with hundreds of dangerous issues, if you do not follow the operation, don’t expect them to pay a penny if there is an accident.

“Next is the laser engraving machine …”

“Higher precision, faster carving speed, and the transition are delicate and natural, no less than some hand carving artists. It can work on all kinds of flat surfaces, sheet metal, glass, leather, fabric, canvas, etc.”

“What about parchment?” Fred asked with interest.

“Parchment?” Hobart froze for a moment, “Maybe you could try a printer?”

“Come on, Fred, don’t be ridiculous.” Felix said lightly, “Mr. Nott, can you find me a slate?”

“Sure, I remember a similar sample in my office.” Hobart hurriedly left.

With only four people left on the scene, Lupin inquired, “Can we bring it for use?” He gestured to the small computer, “It looks complicated.”

“There’s no need to bother with it,” Felix said, “I just need the machine part …”

His hand rested on that mechanical engraving machine, his magic went to sense and touch the tiny parts, and a ripple of magic spread within a slightly invisible view. After a few seconds, the quiet curved blade head suddenly spun up, and under his control, the curved carving knife engraved a rune on the edge of the wooden board.

Felix gently blew away the wood chips, his fingertips brushing over the carved-out mark, showing that a magic power remained.

“What do you think would become if you combined this with the principles of a Magic Portrait and gave it a most basic intelligence?”

———-

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