Chapter 153: Four Families
The train arrived at the station in no time. Sofia and Albert were waiting to pick him up again.
After greeting Hermione's parents, Ethan got in the car and headed home.
After lunch, Ethan removed all his Undetectable Extension items from his luggage and headed downstairs.
As he passed through the living room, he called out to Sofia. "I'm heading over to Grandpa's place. I'll be back tonight."
"Cyril isn't home. He's busy with business at the shop in Diagon Alley right now," Sofia replied.
Ethan paused to think for a moment. "Then have a car take me to Croydon. I need to drop some materials off at the manor."
He spoke vaguely, but Sofia caught his drift. He was heading to Shafiq Manor, not the vacation home in Croydon.
"All right, just a moment." She immediately made the call. Ethan took his belongings back upstairs and cast a few more Undetectable Extension Charms to avoid any trouble on the way.
As soon as he received the notice prohibiting magic use during the holidays, he burned away the Trace with Fiendfyre. He wasn't worried about being tracked.
An hour later, Ethan arrived at the vacation home in Croydon.
After instructing the driver to wait, he left the estate on foot, alone. Once he passed through the gate and confirmed no one was around, he ducked out of sight and flew toward Shafiq Manor.
Upon arriving at the manor, Ethan found a clear space in the backyard and pulled a pile of corpses from his bag.
He used the harvesting method Snape had taught him yesterday to quickly process the Acromantula remains.
"There were still so many left!" Two hours later, darkness had fallen, and Ethan had processed less than half the stock.
"We'll talk tomorrow."
Ethan left Coco to clean the stains on the ground and the remaining unprocessed corpses outside. He then flew back to the vacation home and, from there, took the car home.
When Ethan arrived home, he found Cyril Shafiq had also returned from Diagon Alley and was waiting for him to join them for dinner.
"Did you just get back from the manor?"
Ethan nodded. He glanced at the busy cook in the kitchen and lowered his voice. "Yeah. I gathered some materials from the Forbidden Forest while at school. I haven't finished processing them yet, so I'll have to continue tomorrow."
"We can talk at my place later," Cyril said, understanding the situation.
At the dinner table, the three of them didn't press Ethan too hard about school. Instead, after the meal, they gathered around Cyril and asked him about his semester.
Ethan had written home every week that semester, mentioning a few things that had happened, but to avoid worrying his parents, he hadn't mentioned the Basilisk.
Of course, Cyril knew about it because the Daily Prophet had covered the story. He had written to Ethan to ask about it.
Consequently, Ethan wrote him a separate letter, explaining what had happened. He assured Cyril that he wouldn't be harmed because of his Parseltongue ability and asked him not to tell Sofia and Albert about the Basilisk.
Later, Ethan made up an excuse about needing Cyril to take him to Shafiq Manor to continue processing the materials and said goodbye to his parents.
The two of them apparated to Shafiq Manor.
"Is the Basilisk situation resolved?"
"Mm-hmm. Aside from the culprit still being at large and the petrified students not having recovered, everything else is settled. Plus, there was an unexpected bonus."
Ethan had only mentioned it briefly in the separate letter to Cyril. Now he was explaining the details to him, hiding the fact that he'd known about the Basilisk for a long time.
After he finished speaking, Ethan took out a seamless wooden box, a small velvet package, and a stack of parchment sheets from the bag. "I found Salazar Slytherin's legacy. Inside the box are two magical items and a stack of manuscripts."
Ethan carefully pulled on his dragon-hide gloves and opened the package. "Grandpa, do you know where I might find instruments that can detect cursed items? I tested them with spells and found nothing, but I'm still not entirely at ease."
Cyril listened as Ethan explained what the two items did. He thought for a moment. "Knockturn Alley should have them. Take a look there tomorrow."
"Mmm. There's something else. I found a Horcrux in the Chamber, possibly left behind by Salazar." Ethan carefully described the emerald's appearance and took out the copy he'd made of Secrets of the Darkest Art.
Cyril flipped through the book. "So, what do you plan to do about these ancient, powerful wizards? It wouldn't surprise me if they left some contingencies behind."
"After all, I told you earlier that one of our ancestors destroyed a Horcrux belonging to Herpo the Foul."
"I even suspect that, aside from Salazar, who created a Horcrux, the other three founders might still be alive."
"Hmm? Why do you say that? Have you found something?" Ethan was startled.
"Just a guess. There are many long-lived wizards in history. Besides Nicolas Flamel, whom you met, who has lived for more than six hundred years thanks to the Philosopher's Stone, there are other wizards who have achieved longevity through various means."
"Take Hogwarts, for example. Headmaster Armando Dippet, who came before Dumbledore, was already over three hundred years old when he became Headmaster."
"Really? How did he live so long?" Ethan had only heard the name from Hagrid, not long ago. He was the Headmaster who expelled Hagrid fifty years ago.
"I don't know. It's a mystery." Cyril didn't know the details either. "So, given that the Four Founders were superior to Dippet in both power and status, it wouldn't be strange if they were still alive today."
Ethan felt that Cyril made a valid point. After essentially confirming the existence of Salazar's Horcrux, he could no longer be certain that the other Founders had truly passed on.
"I want to find a green gem about the size of that Horcrux and make the switch."
"There should be one in the vault. That works out perfectly. You can come with me to Diagon Alley tomorrow and take a look at the new shop decorations."
"Sounds good. I also want to see what Knockturn Alley is like. I hear that quite a few Dark Wizards gather there." Ethan nodded.
Cyril laughed. "That's an exaggeration. While Knockturn Alley does have its share of Dark Wizards, there are some ordinary shops there too, though not many. Occasionally, respectable wizards go there to make purchases as well."
There was still plenty of time. By ten o'clock, Ethan had finished processing the materials from all the Acromantulas and other magical creatures, discarding the waste.
He managed to extract some blood from the remains, but since the creatures had been dead for so long, the yield was poor.
He also set aside some spider corpses to harvest their carapaces later.
"Coco, clean up the flesh and blood. Wash the remaining carapaces and put them in the warehouse."
"Yes, Master."
Cyril and Ethan Apparated back, leaving Coco to finish cleaning up alone.
"Good night, Grandpa. See you tomorrow," Ethan said to Cyril before returning to the villa next door.
Early the next morning, Cyril took Ethan to Diagon Alley.
"What do you think? Does this meet your requirements?" Cyril asked, showing him the layout of the shop.
As the shop prepared to open, Ethan wanted to create more than just a place to sell cards; he also wanted to hold simple competitions here to attract more buyers. He had proposed these ideas in his letter to Cyril.
"Very good." Ethan was satisfied. Everything was proceeding according to plan. Compared to the progress photos Cyril had sent him earlier, it looked even better in person.
The shop now featured not only a drink area, a card display area, and a sales section, but also a dedicated honor wall for future competitions.
"Head upstairs and take a look. I've also set aside a studio for you," Cyril said, leading him to the second floor.
The second floor was much larger than the first. Someone must have cast the Undetectable Extension Charm.
Ethan looked doubtful. "Is this approved by the Ministry of Magic?"
Cyril nodded. "Yes. Many shops in Diagon Alley use this spell to expand their storage space. Actually pulling it off, however, is incredibly difficult, so few succeed."
"As I mentioned in my last letter, we've basically secured cooperation from several families. One of them is the family of the current Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge."
Setting aside the Wizarding Cards business for now, Cyril had suggested that Ethan find several families willing to cooperate.
In a world without copyright laws, such a lucrative business would inevitably attract countless competitors. Therefore, to better secure a monopoly, the standard Pureblood tactic was to bring other powerful Pureblood families on board to safeguard their interests.
Consider products like Chocolate Frogs or Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, which Ethan and the others ate regularly. These were highly profitable and easy to copy, but they had several powerful Pureblood families backing them.
In the past, through coordinated efforts, they had eliminated all competitors, becoming the sole producers of such goods in the country.
The Wizarding Cards were no exception. The underlying mechanics were difficult for students to replicate, but for other alchemy masters, they were relatively easy to crack. The main selling point of this business was the gameplay, not the technology or the production costs.
So, to keep this business firmly in their hands and avoid being squeezed out by imitators, they had to find some allies.
Furthermore, these shares were not a gift; they had to be purchased with Galleons.
This perfectly mirrored the situation in the Muggle world. Without copyright protection, a uniquely creative product would soon be flooded with imitations.
Thus, once Cyril made the suggestion, Ethan immediately understood and agreed.
Naturally, he discussed it with Fred and George as well. Having lived their whole lives in the wizarding world, the twins accepted the proposal without hesitation.
"Which families?"
"Our tentative list includes four families: the Longbottoms, the Fudges, the Abbotts, and the Malfoys."
"I selected these families carefully. Each has its own strengths, and they complement one another quite well."
Cyril proceeded to explain his reasoning behind the choices.
The Longbottom family had a deep and storied heritage. The current generation included an international merchant, Algie Longbottom, Neville's great-uncle.
Partnering with the Longbottoms would offer significant advantages in promoting the Wizarding Cards internationally.
As for the Fudge family, little explanation was needed. Their selection was driven solely by Cornelius Fudge's position as Minister for Magic.
Although Ethan knew Fudge wouldn't remain Minister for much longer, the Wizarding Cards project didn't require a long timeline. Two or three years would be plenty of time for the business to take off. Even if Fudge stepped down, he wouldn't be able to make much of an impact on the industry afterward.
Moreover, even if Fudge weren't Minister for Magic, the Fudge family was an established pureblood family. While it wasn't among the Sacred Twenty-Eight, it still held some influence.
As for the Abbott family, Ethan wasn't just returning a favor to Tom Abbott for his kindness during the summer; he was also taking the Abbott family's influence into account.
After all, the Leaky Cauldron claimed to be the oldest pub in London. Suggesting they lacked influence naturally raised the question of how they'd managed to hold onto such valuable property.
As for the Malfoy family, they were included simply because Lucius had pushed hard for it himself.
It was possible that Draco had told Lucius about Ethan creating the Wizarding Cards, allowing Lucius to see the product's potential. He had actively sought out Cyril, handled various arrangements, and introduced Cornelius Fudge.
Consequently, Cyril allowed them to join, though the share allocated to them was the smallest. After all, the Malfoys' main business in the apothecary industry didn't align well with the cards.
Ethan had no objection to the other three families participating, but the Malfoy family gave him pause.
The tension between the Malfoy and Weasley families was palpable. In truth, the two families had no deep-seated historical feud. Their initial discord had stemmed entirely from an ideological disagreement.
One faction believed in Pureblood supremacy, while the other was sympathetic to Muggles. One side aligned with the Death Eaters, and the other joined the Order of the Phoenix. Over the years, this rift widened until it became the bitter enmity seen today.
The Malfoys were wealthy, whereas the Weasleys were relatively poor. Lucius had mocked Mr. Weasley's finances many times, prompting Arthur to go after Lucius through his work at the Ministry of Magic. As a result, the conflict between the two families intensified.
"I should tell the twins about this. I just hope they won't start fighting once Ron wakes up."
Ethan rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. The Wizarding Cards had originally been just a side project, meant only to help the twins earn money as quickly as possible.
Besides, the situation had evolved far beyond his initial expectations. What started as a casual side project was now poised to become big business. Since the Shafiq family couldn't manage the scale alone, they needed to bring in partners and expand the operation to ensure the pie grew larger for everyone.
For Ethan, the impact was minimal. His only concern was that a future falling out between the Weasleys and Malfoys might cause unnecessary complications.
However, now that things had reached this stage, he couldn't simply cut the Malfoys out of the deal. He couldn't rely on subtle leverage to force them out, not when they had already put in the work. He had no choice but to be honest with the twins.
========================================
------------------------------------------
Chapters on Patreon progress: Currently at;
1. Harry Potter: Satan? Nah, Just My Family Crest = CHAPTER 320
2.Marvel: Cosmic Forger of Infinity = CHAPTER 224
3.Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World = CHAPTER 322
4.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 151
support me on Patreon for instant access to the 120+ advance chapters: patreon.com/redofic