Make the Sun Never Set Again

"I was only tossing the idea out there. By then, I might not even want to open any other shops."

Adam took a sip of milk tea, then, just as Cedric breathed a sigh of relief, said languidly,

"Or maybe I’ll just buy up all of Hogsmeade and turn it into one giant mall."

"…You’re joking, right?"

Cedric asked cautiously.

"Mm-hm~ Who knows?"

Adam chewed on his tapioca pearls, wearing the expression of someone who took responsibility for none of his words.

He was already planning to open an amusement park. What was one mall? He might really do it someday.

The first floor could have a tavern, an afternoon tea shop, the Dreamy Dessert Workshop, and Klon’s Magical Menagerie. The second floor could sell student supplies, accessories, and miscellaneous goods, with a branch of the Magical Trick Emporium. The third floor could sell men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing, everything from affordable and secondhand items to luxury designer brands. The fourth floor could have proper restaurants—Chinese food, Western food, and Wizarding World specialties split among several restaurants. The fifth floor: a cinema!

He could scatter fast food shops, milk tea shops, and all kinds of snack stands throughout every floor, then open a separate snack street in the basement. Simply perfect~

If Hogwarts allowed students to stay overnight in Hogsmeade, Adam could even open another floor of hotels!

The only concern was that Hogwarts students and Hogsmeade residents might not have enough wool for him to fleece that hard… As expected, he still needed to harvest tourists. Maybe he could open another chain mall in Diagon Alley?

Anyway, once Voldemort came to power, property prices in Diagon Alley would probably plummet. If few people were selling, Adam would buy some land and collect rent. If many people were selling, he would just open a mall in Diagon Alley~

Coming back to himself, Adam looked at Cedric in front of him.

"By the way, why weren’t you out on a date with Cho today? Why did you come here alone to drink?"

It was Butterbeer, but it was still beer~

Although visiting Hogsmeade seemed like a great outing opportunity, Hogwarts Castle itself was large enough and magical enough. Unless they had something to buy, upper-year students were not especially enthusiastic about visiting Hogsmeade.

"I asked Klon where you were and came here specifically to find you."

Cedric took another sip of Butterbeer, frowned as he thought for a moment, then spoke.

"It’s mainly because of Eugene… He’s been too absorbed in training lately—I’m not saying being dedicated is bad, but something about his condition is wrong. He’s even a little reckless with his life…"

"I understand."

The moment Adam heard that, he knew why Cedric had come looking for him. Cedric had probably asked Uther and the others first, gotten no answers, and only then come to ask him… Fortunately, he had been the last one asked.

"There was a problem with Eugene’s family before, but it’s been resolved now. He’ll get his state of mind back on track afterward."

"Oh…"

Cedric nodded and did not ask further. As long as nothing was wrong, that was good enough. He downed the rest of his Butterbeer in one gulp, casually wiped away the foam, raised his glass in farewell, and left.

After casually having roasted chicken leg rice for lunch, Adam headed straight to Klon’s home. Klon’s father, Steven, was already waiting for him there, and as soon as Adam arrived, Steven took him to meet the person who intended to sell the property.

The man’s son had been transferred to India two years ago. He had done quite well at work, thought the food there was good, and planned to settle down there. Besides, British wizards were indeed treated very well in India. After considering it for two years, the man himself had decided to move there as well, so Adam’s desire to buy the place came at just the right time.

Hmm… Good food. Adam was momentarily speechless. Still, Klon’s father probably had not told the man what Adam intended to do with the land.

By the way, management in the Wizarding World was truly lax. Once you bought a plot of land, as long as you did not break the law, you could do whatever you wanted with it.

Since both parties sincerely wanted to make the deal, and Klon’s father was there to facilitate it, the transaction went through very smoothly. Once the contract was signed, the land and the house built on it both belonged to Adam. Since the man had been in a hurry to leave, he had not even taken most of the large furniture.

Standing before the house, Adam nodded in satisfaction.

The house stood at a corner in Hogsmeade, at the obtuse angle of a Y-shaped intersection. The three roads led respectively to Hogsmeade’s bustling commercial district, residential district, and outskirts—the area where the Magical Menagerie was located.

It perfectly satisfied both Adam’s needs and the Klon family’s dining needs.

"Property in Hogsmeade is pretty sought-after. We only caught this opportunity by chance. Otherwise, it really wouldn’t have been easy to find someone willing to sell."

Hearing Steven’s words, Adam was not too surprised. Hogsmeade itself was a famous attraction, and it was right next to Hogwarts. Of course property there was in high demand.

After parting with Steven, Adam sat at the entrance of his newly purchased property and could not help but start thinking.

If he wanted to buy up large stretches of land in Hogsmeade, then aside from overwhelming people with money, he could probably only wait until Voldemort became powerful and Professor Snape became headmaster. But the question was, did he want to keep Voldemort around for that long?

Forget it. If Voldemort was eliminated too early, the entire British Wizarding World would remain stagnant forever—the decayed, outdated Ministry of Magic, the nobles who styled themselves pure-bloods… If Adam wanted to grow bigger and stronger, he would be bound by the existing rules and unable to act freely. Since Voldemort was already such a ready-made breaker of the deadlock, why not make good use of him?

Besides, there was only so much wealth in the Wizarding World. If Adam did not want to casually print money and cause inflation, yet still wanted to occupy part of the resources, then he either had to make the cake bigger or get rid of a few of those who had previously divided it.

But only children made choices. Adam wanted both—the cake had to grow bigger, but he wanted both the expanded portion and the original cake! If possible, he even wanted to use this chance to take the financial system back from the goblins.

It was not that Adam loved money so much. Resources like these represented influence. If you did not seize them, someone else naturally would. Just look at Professor Dumbledore, who had chosen to support Fudge instead of becoming Minister for Magic himself. The strongest wizard of the century had been forced out of the headmaster’s position…

Thinking of Professor Dumbledore, who had knocked Fudge and the others unconscious yet had still only been able to leave through Fawkes, Adam felt it was such a waste. Did being a good person really mean having to live with a gun pointed at you?

Then Adam had to say sorry—he was not a good person… He had not been sorted into Hufflepuff because the Sorting Hat sensed it. He had chosen to go there himself! Though he was sincere toward his brothers, if they were really cut open and examined, even that little Malfoy, Draco, could be considered innocent and kind compared to Adam!

Adam had no intention of playing with power. He did not understand that sort of thing, so he chose to play with the economy instead. With the Twin Card and the Sorcerer’s Stone in hand, he could toy anyone to death in that regard—and they had better pray that Adam only played with them economically…

When the time came, with Gringotts in one hand and the monopoly industries of the British Wizarding World in the other, whether the Wizarding World was chaotic or not would be up to Adam!

He could even expand into the Ministries of Magic in other countries. Back then, British Muggles had engaged in industrial dumping—couldn’t Adam do the same? Clothes and accessories, potion ingredients, magical creatures and their derivative products… The costs of those things on Adam’s side were low enough to drive anyone into despair!

It was time to make the sun never set again!