A Special Gift, Arranging Harry Potter

Beep beep~

A car horn suddenly sounded outside, and Fudge immediately rose to his feet.

"Please excuse me for a moment."

Fudge gave the two of them a smile, straightened his clothes, and headed outside.

"What’s out there?" Aaron asked curiously. "A wizarding mode of transportation?"

"That’s the Knight Bus, an emergency transport for wizards in distress," Jeans explained. "It’s normal that you wouldn’t know about it, Young Master, since you’ve never been in distress.

The kind of distress we mean here is mainly… poverty."

Aaron’s eye twitched, and he was suddenly grateful that he had at least some money to his name.

Before long, Fudge came back in, ushering someone inside. It was none other than the famous Harry Potter.

"Harry, why are you here?"

"Aaron." Harry looked pleasantly surprised, but the next second, that surprise turned into dejection. "I ran away from home, and I turned my aunt into a balloon."

"She bullied you first, didn’t she?"

Harry nodded. "I put up with everything they said about me, but she insulted my mother. I… I lost control."

"Heh! What kind of people are you lot?" Aaron said speechlessly. He then looked at Fudge. "Minister, Harry only caused the Ministry of Magic a little trouble. Please do me this favor."

"Of course, of course." Fudge smiled with a trace of excitement. "The Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes had already been dispatched to deal with it. His aunt has been restored to normal and had her memory erased.

She won’t remember a single thing about it, so the matter has been resolved perfectly, without any damage done."

Only then did Fudge look at Harry and introduce himself. "Nice to meet you. I’m Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic."

"H-hello," Harry said nervously. He had seen Fudge once the previous year, but at the time, he had watched under the cover of the Invisibility Cloak as they took Hagrid away.

"That’s all there is to it. Nothing serious happened."

"So… I won’t be sent to Azkaban?"

"This was just an accident. The Ministry of Magic deals with many accidents like this every day.

If we sent everyone to Azkaban, that prison would have run out of space long ago."

Harry let out a heavy sigh of relief. "Then will I be punished in any way? Like being expelled from Hogwarts?"

"No." Fudge shook his head. Remembering why he had come, he added seriously, "However, I hope you won’t leave Diagon Alley before term begins.

Your lodging has been arranged in Room Eleven, and you must return here before dark every day. Tom will keep an eye on you for me."

"All right, no problem," Harry said.

This was not bad news for him. On the contrary, it was wonderful news.

It meant that he would not have to live under his uncle’s roof before school started, and he could study magic without anyone stopping him.

"All right, that’s it. I have to go. I’ve still got a mountain of things to do."

Fudge said goodbye to Aaron and Jeans, then hurried out of The Leaky Cauldron.

"That was really strange," Harry said in confusion, but he quickly remembered something. "I should have stopped him.

If the Minister for Magic signed my permission form, I could go to Hogsmeade Village."

"He wouldn’t," Aaron said, shaking his head. "And even if he did sign it, Dumbledore might not let you go."

"The Young Master is right," Jeans said. "Fudge is the Minister for Magic, after all. He has always been very particular about following the rules in public. Fudge is not your parent or guardian."

A flash of regret crossed Harry’s face. Then he looked at the two of them excitedly. "I never expected to see you here."

"It’s perfectly normal to see us here. Didn’t I tell you I opened a drink shop in Diagon Alley?

I’ll be at my Small Shop these days. If you need anything, come find me anytime," Aaron said. "Oh, right. Did you receive the birthday gift I sent you?"

"Well…" Harry hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head guiltily. "You shouldn’t have sent it directly to the Dursleys’ house. The moment Dudley saw the gift box, he claimed it for himself.

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley wouldn’t even let me look at it. They guarded that gift like their lives depended on it, so I still don’t know what you gave me."

"That doesn’t matter." Aaron waved it off casually. "Did your cousin look pretty miserable over the next few days? Did your uncle and aunt keep smiling and trying to comfort him?"

Harry nodded instinctively. "How did you know?"

"I gave you a set of exam papers, one for each of Dudley’s current subjects, complete with the handwritten signatures of the people who wrote them.

Tsk, tsk. To any student, that represents a teacher’s deep affection. Mr. and Mrs. Dursley would never let you have those papers."

Harry stared blankly, his mouth opening slightly. "You really are something else. But isn’t that a little too cruel?"

"Hm?"

"Uh… Dudley deserves it." Harry smiled, somewhat excited. "He had a miserable look on his face for four whole days. I’ve never seen him feel so wronged."

"The Young Master originally wanted to give you a set of Flying Broomstick maintenance tools, but he was worried you wouldn’t be able to get to your broom, so he changed his approach. He hoped you could have a few easier days."

Harry was flattered. Ron and Hermione had secretly sent him gifts by owl, while Aaron had openly left his gift right at the front door. But the result had been exceptionally good.

"Please come with me, Mr. Potter." Tom stepped forward with a smile. "Room Eleven has been prepared. I’ve already moved your things upstairs. Your owl is there too—it flew over five minutes ago."

"Thank you so much."

"See you tomorrow, Harry. We need to go home," Aaron said, waving as he left The Leaky Cauldron with Jeans.

"See you tomorrow."

After getting into the car, Aaron held the steering wheel and asked with interest, "Uncle Jeans, the reason Fudge personally came to arrange things for Harry Potter is because Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban, right?

Was my judgment wrong? Did Sirius Black really escape to take revenge on Harry Potter?"

"I don’t know, and I suggest you don’t waste your thoughts on such unimportant things," Jeans said indifferently. "Sirius has been imprisoned for twelve years. He’s dangerous, but Harry Potter is the only one he’s after. He isn’t a threat to you, Young Master."

Aaron nodded, not particularly concerned.

With his current strength, he would not need to fear Sirius even in a direct confrontation. Still, it was better to avoid trouble when possible.

The next day, Aaron arrived at Diagon Alley early.

He had barely opened the shop when Harry Potter appeared before him.

"So this is your shop?" Harry looked around curiously at the interior. "You didn’t hire anyone?"

"I did originally, but I was going traveling some time ago, so I let them go.

But it doesn’t matter. It’s just a little drink shop. Jeans can handle it by himself."

"I never said that," Jeans said as he stepped out of the fireplace. "Hiring people is necessary. Hogwarts will be starting soon, and there’ll be more and more students in Diagon Alley."

"You can handle that." Aaron yawned, utterly unconcerned. Employment pressure in the Magic World was no small matter either. Once they put up a hiring notice, finding staff would be easy.

"Can I work here?" Harry asked eagerly.

"You?" Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Didn’t your parents leave you an inheritance?"

"That’s true, but I still have five years left at Hogwarts, and those Galleons are only barely enough," Harry said awkwardly. "And after I graduate, I definitely won’t be living with the Dursleys. Everything in daily necessities costs money, so…"

"No need to say any more. I understand." Aaron interrupted him. "The work here is easy. Watch the shop, sell things, and collect payments.

Nine to five, with a two-hour break at noon. Meals included, lodging not included, though that doesn’t matter for you. Fudge has already arranged for you to stay at The Leaky Cauldron until school begins.

There are only three weeks until term starts, so the pay won’t be high. How about thirty Gold Galleons?"

"That works." Harry immediately agreed. Thirty Galleons meant ten Galleons a week, enough to cover his expenses before school started.

"Very good." Aaron directly took thirty Gold Galleons from the counter and placed them in Harry’s hands. "That’s your pay for this period. Work hard."

"Uh… isn’t this inappropriate?" Harry asked uneasily. "I haven’t done anything yet!"

"It’s an advance. It’ll save you a trip to Gringotts to withdraw money."

"Thank you, boss."

"You’re welcome." Aaron waved his hand. This salary was considered low by Magic World standards, but Harry Potter was only thirteen. A minor wizard should be grateful to have a job at all, and the benefits here were definitely better than those at other Diagon Alley shops.

Harry sat behind the counter. At first, he was somewhat unaccustomed to it, but after serving several customers, he became proficient at his new work.

Since coming into contact with magic, this was the first time he had dealt with so many unfamiliar wizards. To him, it was a different kind of pleasure.

The only thing he had to watch out for was keeping the scar on his forehead covered. Otherwise, with Harry Potter’s fame, working in peace would have been nearly impossible.

Whenever there were no customers, he could take advantage of the downtime to flip through magic books or finish the essays assigned by his professors. It was a hundred times happier than being at Vernon’s house.

Aaron practiced drawing advanced Magic Arrays in the room behind the shop. Seeing his new employee work so diligently filled him with satisfaction. Especially when he closed the shop that evening and found it spotless, with the accounts on the counter neatly organized, he was even more pleased. He even began considering whether he should give Harry a raise.