Dormitory Meeting

Christmas was approaching, and the land lay blanketed in silver.

The hand that would one day cast its shadow over the entire Wizarding World was currently curled up before the fireplace with a cat, dozing off.

Some time ago, Fudge had come to Hogwarts and taken Peter Pettigrew and the Dementors outside Hogwarts away, but Sirius Black’s wanted notice had still not been revoked.

Other than that, there was not much going on. The shop renovations were on track too. Life at Hogwarts was truly easy and carefree…

"We’re back~"

The dormitory door was pushed open. Seeing Adam jerk awake on the sofa, Klon could not help pulling the jio he had just stepped into the dormitory back out.

"It’s fine, I’m awake. Come in."

Adam stretched lazily. He habitually shook his head before remembering that he was still in human form, so he ran his fingers through his hair twice and looked toward the dormitory door.

Good. All four of them were back.

Meeting!

The four put their bags away, sat down on the sofa, and helped themselves to some melon seeds and candies from the plate.

"Ahem! This meeting mainly concerns the following matters."

Pushing up a pair of glasses frames he had no idea where he had gotten, Adam looked at the parchment in his hand.

"First, regarding the convenience shop. The renovations for Dreamy Dessert Workshop have been completed, and it is scheduled to open on the weekend before Christmas. Naturally, the convenience shop will no longer need to bear such a heavy burden of selling desserts."

Yes, heavy. Adam had Clow Cards, so whenever he launched new products, he truly did whatever came to mind—from pastries and cupcakes to candied lotus root and eight-treasure porridge. He sold everything.

For candy alone, how many varieties were there once all the shapes and flavors were combined?

As a result, it had taken Uther and the others quite a while just to remember which desserts were located in which section of the food cart, and even now they were not entirely sure.

Now, Adam had moved most of the more shelf-stable desserts, such as candies and pastries, to Dreamy Dessert Workshop. The convenience shop only needed to sell desserts with a stronger need for immediate consumption, such as milk tea and Four-Fruit Soup.

Naturally, no one objected. The convenience shop had belonged to Adam from the start. If they had not been helping him watch over it, he would not even have needed to tell them.

"Come to think of it, Adam, hadn’t you planned to hire Eugene and me as store managers before? Why has Ambrosius become the manager now?"

Bernard asked, rubbing his chin.

"Because I found work that suited you better…"

The plan had gone off track, but Adam glanced at the parchment. There were only a few casually written outline notes on it anyway, so he simply tossed it aside and continued.

"By the way, would any of you be willing to become Minister for Magic?"

"…Huh?"

The moment he said that, all four froze.

"No, wait… how… do you have connections?"

Bernard could not help asking.

That was the Minister for Magic! For Muggles, that was basically the British Prime Minister!

Why did he make it sound as casual as opening a branch store and appointing a manager?

"Mm."

Adam nodded.

"It’s complicated to explain in detail, so I’ll keep it brief—The Dark Lord is about to return. When that happens, he will probably purge the Ministry of Magic. After that, I’m confident I can put you in the position of Minister for Magic—as long as you’re willing."

"Wait, wait, wait—"

Uther rubbed his temples. He had learned that gesture from Adam, actually.

"Why don’t you explain in detail instead? Make it long. Your brief version is a little too concise. There’s way too much information… First of all, who is the Dark Lord?"

"The Dark Lord… could he be that one…"

Klon’s little face went pale.

"The one Harry Potter defeated before…"

"Yes, that one."

"Wasn’t he dead long ago?"

"He died, but not completely."

Adam nodded.

"He has remained in a state of being a fragmented soul, and he will return in another year or two."

"Hiss—"

Klon could not help drawing in a sharp breath.

"Did you divine that?"

Eugene looked at Adam thoughtfully.

"Half deduction, half divination. Mainly deduction. Do you remember our first Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?"

"Professor Quirrell?"

"That’s right. Voldemort was possessing him at the time, and the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets during our second year was also brought out by one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes."

"Horcrux…"

Uther frowned.

"No wonder you said he died, but not completely."

"Hm? You know about Horcruxes?"

Adam looked at Uther in surprise.

"When it comes to researching resurrection and immortality, isn’t our family rather famous?"

Hearing Uther’s explanation, Adam thought about it and realized that was true.

"Then why did they turn themselves into mummies instead of using Horcruxes to prolong their lives?"

"Because Horcruxes prolong one’s life in the mortal world, and the mortal world has no need for an immortal Pharaoh."

Uther shook his head.

"Besides, a divided soul is not recognized by the god Amun-Ra."

Adam understood.

No one cared whether you were immortal in the underworld. After all, no one could truly know what went on there. But if you wanted to rule forever in the mortal world, you would have to ask whether your sons, wives, and ministers agreed.

What? You alone wanted to be immortal?

If, under those circumstances, you also lost the recognition of the god Amun-Ra, then it would be difficult for the Pharaoh not to meet a bad end. His legs were probably still twitching while the linen wrappings were already being wound around him.

Osiris really missed you in the underworld!

Uther explained to everyone what a Horcrux was, conveniently saving Adam the trouble. Taking advantage of that time, Adam conjured a drink for each of them.

"Why is mine brown sugar ginger tea?"

Klon frowned after taking a sip.

"Yours and Eugene’s are both brown sugar ginger tea. It’s cold now, and you have to train in the snow, so don’t catch a cold. I only added two slices of peeled ginger five minutes before it finished cooking, so the ginger flavor won’t be too strong."

Since Adam had put it that way, Klon could only take small sips. Eugene, on the other hand, remained perfectly composed.

What a joke. Before Adam had learned to use the Purifying Charm to remove scallions, ginger, and garlic from dishes, Eugene would find ginger disguised as bits of fish in braised fish chunks three or four times out of ten. He was already completely immune to such a tiny amount of ginger flavor!

Returning to the main topic, Adam did not say much about the future. He only said that The Dark Lord would definitely return, and that everyone simply needed to be prepared when the time came.

"Should I have my parents leave the country for a while when that happens?"

Bernard could not help frowning. He had come to understand The Dark Lord somewhat and knew that he was a fanatical supporter of pure-blood supremacy. Many of his Death Eaters took pleasure in torturing and slaughtering Muggles.

"That would be best."

Adam nodded.

"The Dark Lord’s reach does not extend overseas for the time being. If necessary, I can provide a safe house."

Uther had mentioned the matter of safe houses on the Hogwarts Express at the beginning of the school year. Bernard’s eyes lit up when he heard that.

"I’ll talk to my parents when I go home for the holidays."

"Mm."

There was no need to worry about Uther. Eugene and Klon’s families would be fine as well. Their families naturally had ways to protect themselves. As long as they did not raise a banner and openly oppose Voldemort, there was no need to worry about their safety.

Adam had long since prepared a safe house for his own family. There would be no need to persuade them when the time came. After all, his grandparents had directly fled to China back then, clearly well versed in the principle that one could lose land but not people. Madam Li and Mr. Reed’s shop was not so indispensable that it could not manage without them.

If worst came to worst, they could simply close those businesses for now and reopen them later. Did Adam, future tycoon that he was, really care about such trifling sums?