France, the hidden district.
Heinrich wore a gloomy expression as he slapped away Kim's hand when it tried to drape itself over his shoulder.
Kim shook his head and sighed. "As your senior, your lack of respect toward me is truly disappointing."
"Senior?" Heinrich sneered. "I don't recall you ever being my senior."
"How am I not?" Kim argued confidently. "In terms of age, I'm older than you. In terms of qualifications, I joined Johnny Silverhand before you did."
Seeing Heinrich turn his head away, Kim grinned and continued, "I also have more experience running stores than you. Calling me your senior isn't excessive, right?"
Heinrich ignored him and stared toward the other side instead.
"Someone's coming."
At the moment, they were standing in another hidden area, Corner Alley.
Every place in the world had its darkness.
Corner Alley was exactly that kind of place.
French wizards who disliked following the rules often came here to buy things that could not normally be purchased elsewhere.
And today, the bodies scattered all over Corner Alley made it obvious that a fierce battle had taken place here.
Aside from Heinrich and Kim, several wizards stood nearby, occasionally casting Sleeping Charms on anyone who showed signs of waking up.
The moment they heard approaching footsteps, everyone became alert.
A man slowly emerged from around the corner.
The man seemed completely unsurprised by the scene before him. Removing his hat, he smiled and said, "This was the last shop illegally reselling Silverhand products. The Aurors will take over from here."
The newcomer was a French Auror.
Corner Alley was filled with illegal dealings, and the Aurors had chosen to turn a blind eye to Silverhand's actions against the dark forces there.
What the Auror had just said was also a warning. That had been the last target. If they continued, the people backing those dark forces would no longer remain silent.
Heinrich stared coldly at the Auror while Kim sneered.
"You don't actually think this is enough, do you?"
The Auror's smile stiffened slightly. With an awkward chuckle, he added, "Oh right, I almost forgot to mention this. A shop in the hidden district is about to be sold. The owner urgently needs money."
Urgently needing money meant the price would be very cheap.
The French Ministry of Magic had tacitly approved of Silverhand cleaning up the dark forces and was even willing to offer them a prime location.
Heinrich said flatly, "Go back and tell those people that Silverhand has no need for charity."
A trace of displeasure flashed through the Auror's eyes, but it vanished quickly.
Smiling once more, he said, "I'll pass the message along."
He nodded and watched Heinrich and the others leave.
His gaze swept across the fallen wizards scattered around the alley as he muttered to himself, "They brought in someone troublesome this time."
Minister for Magic Charles Roland had personally instructed them to give Silverhand special treatment. The Auror turned to those behind him and ordered, "Take them away. Tell everyone the Aurors made the arrests."
More than a dozen Aurors stepped out from behind him.
Very few of the people in Corner Alley had clean records anyway.
Arresting them was easy. The Aurors only needed to casually come up with a charge.
After Silverhand arrived in France, they immediately began displaying their strength. At first, there had only been two of them, but as time passed, their numbers gradually increased.
One week later.
The French branch of the Johnny Silverhand specialty store officially opened in the hidden district.
Kim was responsible for managing it. He was already extremely familiar with Silverhand's business operations.
Back when he was in America, he had often helped Nagini manage branch stores as well.
The very first shipment of Silverhand products caused explosive demand the moment it arrived.
With the French Ministry of Magic giving them special approval, every inspection and review process passed unusually quickly.
The Minister for Magic was greatly looking forward to the political achievements Silverhand would bring him.
Meanwhile, others were already secretly calculating how to claim a share of the profits.
Then the branch store experienced its first major sensation.
Gilderoy Lockhart appeared in the French hidden district.
This was a truly heavyweight guest, one of the magical world's biggest celebrities.
He had come to serve as the store's spokesperson.
Just like the American branch, Lockhart became the spokesperson for this one as well.
...
—Massive Success: Johnny Silverhand Opens French Branch, Gilderoy Lockhart Appears in Person—
—Gilderoy Lockhart's New Book—
—Gilderoy Lockhart Interviewed: Regrets Missing the Chance to Fight for His Alma Mater—
The newspapers were filled with Lockhart's name.
John raised an eyebrow as he read through them.
With Silverhand sparing no effort in promoting him, Lockhart was no longer the same man he used to be.
Once, he had merely been a famous author.
Now, Lockhart was portrayed as a powerful wizard, a fighter against Death Eaters, a brave warrior, and a heroic protector of the people.
The moment his new book went on sale, it shattered previous sales records.
Even the matching shampoo products were selling overseas and receiving excellent reviews.
His wealth had long since reached the point where he could never spend it all, and now he had become passionate about charity work.
Just like Damocles, once a person's wealth reached a certain level, money itself was no longer their pursuit.
—Gilderoy Lockhart Announces Half of New Book Profits Will Be Donated to the Young Wizards Fund to Bring Warmth to Children Affected by the Japan Incident—
The moment this news broke, the Japanese Ministry of Magic, which had gradually faded from public discussion, was once again pushed back into the spotlight.
The Japanese Ministry of Magic continued dragging things out. Their Minister for Magic bowed in apology again and again, yet never produced any actual solution.
Inside the country, the various political factions continued fighting each other for power.
Outside pressure kept mounting.
The Japanese Ministry of Magic hated John to the core.
John felt no fear toward any of this.
If the Japanese Ministry of Magic continued making trouble, he would not mind making them suffer even more.
Tommy had sent him a letter informing him about the matter of returning the Muggle children to their homes.
The incident was still continuing to spread.
Some of the Muggle parents had been killed, leaving their children orphaned.
John frowned.
"It seems they died far too easily."
John did not regret what he had done to Mahoutokoro. He only regretted letting those people die too painlessly.
The abused Muggle children now had nowhere to go, which gave John a headache as well.
"I can't exactly raise a group of Muggles inside the magical world."
He silently considered possible arrangements for them.
Voldemort's face suddenly appeared in his mind.
"Perhaps I could open an orphanage."
As his fingers rubbed against the ring on his hand, John felt the idea was workable.
He had become so used to thinking like a wizard that he had nearly forgotten there were simpler solutions.
An idea gradually formed in his mind. He could simply gather up all the homeless Muggle children and raise them together.
Of course, opening an orphanage would not be an easy matter.
Still, it was not as though he had no solutions.
Taking out a sheet of parchment, he began writing a letter to the Old Man.
"Perfect. Dad can play the role of a great philanthropist too."
After finishing the letter, he handed it to Basil and watched the snowy owl fly out of the castle.
John also took the opportunity to write a letter to Lockhart, thanking him for his donation to the Young Wizards Fund.
Thanks to Lockhart's celebrity influence, the Young Wizards Fund experienced a massive wave of donations.
Prominent figures from every field began donating to the fund, as though refusing to do so would make them seem out of place.
As a result, the already wealthy foundation made another enormous fortune.
...
John's schedule for this school year was very simple.
Attend Hagrid's classes, search for the secret chambers, and occasionally discuss matters related to the Bloodborne Curse with Slughorn.
He had plenty of free time and had practically wandered through every corner of Hogwarts.
He had even visited the Restricted Section several times.
Madam Pince pretended not to notice what he was doing.
"There's nothing anywhere. Just where exactly is this place that supposedly no intelligent person could ever find?"
John was beginning to doubt whether the chamber even truly existed.
He had searched almost every place connected to wisdom, even the Headmaster's office.
Yet there was still no trace of Ravenclaw's chamber.
As for searching for Hufflepuff's chamber, there were not even any clues to begin with, which gave John a headache.
"Then again, if it were easy, I wouldn't have gone seven years without encountering it once." John comforted himself a little.
After returning to the common room, he received several reply letters.
One was from his Dad. It informed John that a piece of land had already been purchased on the outskirts of London.
Since John intended to build an orphanage, and the situation was special, it could neither exist within the magical world nor attract too much attention from Muggles.
The outskirts were a good choice. Building houses there would not draw suspicion.
However, the staff still needed his Old Man's help to recruit. John had no intention of letting wizards become caretakers.
With the way wizards thought, he was afraid those Muggle children might end up seriously harmed.
After all, one could hardly expect much Muggle common sense from a group of people willing to throw children off buildings to test whether they were Squibs.
The second letter was from Lockhart.
The former Ravenclaw student mentioned in his reply that his new book would focus on romance.
He wanted to challenge his weaknesses and attempt a new style of writing.
Hearing that, John immediately recalled the books Lockhart had written before, filled with banshees, vampires, and similar creatures.
Weren't those romances rather twisted?
Wise people do not fall in love.
John suddenly wondered what Ravenclaw's understanding of love might actually be.
Speechless, he lowered the letter and could only wish Lockhart continued success.
Just as he reached for the third letter, his hand suddenly stopped.
"Wise people do not fall in love?"
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