Isn't that where the Gaunts' old house is? And old Riddle, who lives there too!

Sure enough, these are the ghosts of Voldemort!

"Have you spoken to Dumbledore?" Lockhart asked.

"Of course." Moody didn't hesitate. "He just left."

"That's good."

Lockhart didn't believe that Dumbledore couldn't guess what was going on behind the scenes. He probably paid more attention to Voldemort than himself. He probably knew what was going on when he heard the name of the bar.

Having said that, there are several unsolved mysteries that do not conform to the logic of the characters' behavior in the HP Seven. One of them is why Voldemort hid the Horcrux there even though he knew that his ancestral home had been exposed.

The old house of the Gaunt family was not put on too many spells, and at most a Muggle exorcism spell was added later, and then Voldemort made the resurrection stone of one of the dead saints into his own Horcrux and threw it there. , this heart is simply too wide.

If it is said that Voldemort did it on purpose, using this resurrection stone as a bait to trap Dumbledore 7, then he would be too willing to spend a little money.

Lockhart knew very well that Voldemort was just like himself in this regard, he was an egoist, and he would never trade his soul for someone else's life." Even if it was only 1/7 of his own soul, even that Man is Dumbledore as well.

And after Snape "killed" Dumbledore, Voldemort didn't find out that Dumbledore's real cause of death was actually the resurrection stone he had cursed for a long time, otherwise he should have discovered that Snape was a spy.

However, it was not until Harry and the others destroyed the golden cup that Voldemort realized that they were searching for his Horcrux. When Voldemort hurriedly searched for his Horcrux, he discovered that the Resurrection Stone and the pendant had long since disappeared.

What happened after that was taken for granted. In a panic, Voldemort recalled Nagini to his side, daring not to let him away even one step.

This also proves from the side that Voldemort has no idea of ​​using the resurrection stone as a "bait" at all. He is the weakness of Dumbledore who accidentally hit him.

As for Snape, I have to say that he was indeed a perfect spy, and he didn't reveal it until the end. Maybe Voldemort once suspected him, but until Voldemort killed him, he still thought Snape was a spy. A loyal servant.

Voldemort probably didn't know that three Horcruxes had been destroyed by now. He took the initiative to expose Little Hangleton to the Order of the Phoenix because Ludo Bagman's trajectory was easily investigated, and it was very likely that he wanted to cover up. Will want to cover up. On the other hand, it is estimated that he also wanted to test Dumbledore's alertness to him.

But in any case, it is unlikely that he will continue to leave the resurrection stone in place.

Chapter 347 Countermeasure mistakes

Lockhart was the next day to learn about the Auror Office investigation from Moody's because he was sending Gemma home.

Ludo Bagman has been fired from the Ministry of Magic since his gambling was exposed, and he has since become penniless, and in theory he still owes a large sum of money to the Ministry of Magic, which he probably won't be able to repay for the rest of his life.

When a person owes a debt that is almost impossible to repay, some people choose to grit their teeth and work hard to pay it back, such as Shi Yuzhu and Luo Yonghao, as well as those respectable people in the Douban group who are still gritting their teeth to repay the debt.

And more people choose to break the jar, for example, bet it, brother, they have nothing to ask for other than looking for a chance to get a small loan, or like Ludo Bagman, drinking all day long to worry about.

Because of the loss of income, Bagman drank mainly on credit, and he could never pay it back, and soon most wizard bars no longer welcomed him.

So he started wandering around in many Muggle taverns, still buying wine on credit, even drinking overlord wine, and every time before drinking, he had to put a pain mask on himself, and made a Muggle bartender when he had no money to pay the bill. Getting ready for a beating.

This spell was originally learned from others when he was a Quidditch hitter, in order to make himself less guilty after being hit by a Bludger. After retiring, he thought he would never use it again. Thinking of this spell in his hands actually glowed a second spring.

As for being called to the police by residents, Bagman usually doesn't have to worry, because British Muggle police basically don't care about such trivial matters as a few pounds of alcohol.

After all, since the era of Margaret Thatcher, the British government has been reducing the funding of grass-roots civil servants such as the police, and many small towns have cancelled police stations as a result. do not

Speaking of the township police station, even the London Police Service has been selling offices to subsidize fees.

As a result, after the 21st century, the London Police Department announced that "economic disputes" under 50 pounds would not be filed, and they had to allow the police to go out to work part-time to supplement their families, because the wages were really not available.

Since the police can't count on it, the bartender will at most beat Bagman to the end. The plot in "The Police and the Hymn" is really not purely fictional.

Just one day after Bagman was thrown out the door again drunkenly by the bartender, a man appeared in front of him.

The man looked at Bagman with interest for a while, gave him a ham sandwich, and asked him about his past.

Bagman also didn't remember what he said to that person, only that he remembered nothing when he ate that meal.

"He's under the Imperius Curse," Moody said. "I've made an investigation. The man provided him with poison, a potion, and a plan of action to poison Three Broomsticks. Wait for Luo's attention. After being drawn to Hogsmeade, he used the secret passage to infiltrate Hogwarts..."

"But that guy didn't expect him to succeed, did he?" Lockhart asked, frowning, "Such a crude plan, even if we don't intervene, they won't succeed.

Nor was Moody confused in speculating about Voldemort's intentions:

"Who knows, maybe it's just to test our defenses, but I don't want to make a fool of myself, so I pretended that someone was going to assassinate Fudge, but I was actually going to attack someone at Hogwarts," he said.

Seeing that Moody had already figured it out, Lockhart didn't have to inspire him any more: "That is, he could have chosen anyone to execute the plan, but he chose Ludo Bagman to confuse the public."

Moody murmured, "Yeah... but I don't quite know who they're targeting, Fudge? Not like. Dumbledore? No way. That's just..."

"Harry Potter," Lockhart said with him on the answer.

And Lockhart knew better than Moody, he knew that Little Hangleton buried the bones of Lord Riddle, Lord of Voldemort's father.

Since Barty Jr. allowed Ludo Bagman to be exposed, Voldemort must have obtained his father's bones at this time, and the two must have moved to other places.

In other words, Voldemort was one step away from resurrection.

Lockhart decided that after the new year, he must go to 12 Grimmauld Place as soon as possible to get rid of the locket that Regulus hid there.

In this way, when Voldemort is resurrected, his Horcruxes will only be the resurrection stone, Nagini and Harry.

and many more! No... fooled!

"Has Headmaster Dumbledore gone to Little Hangleton?" Lockhart asked anxiously.

Moody saw Lockhart's anxious expression and looked a little puzzled: "It's gone... What, are you worried that he will be killed? Don't worry, even if that **** is still in his prime, he is not Dumbledore's opponent..."

"No." Lockhart shook his head with a wry smile, "It's not that, I just suddenly remembered... Well, Voldemort is also proficient at modifying people's memories, and we've been tricked again this time.

Voldemort could obviously use the power of little Crouch to modify Bagman's memory, so that the Aurors thought Bagman was an Imperius in other places, but he didn't do it, even if he didn't know Bagman Man's whereabouts are good, so is the investigation

But Voldemort's temptation is not so simple, and he is not only tempted by Huo

Gwarts' guard strength is strong or weak.

If only a few ordinary Aurors went to Little Hangleton to check the situation, then Voldemort could conclude that the wizarding world had not realized Voldemort's return at all, and he could be bolder next.

But if the person who went to check the situation was a member of the Order of the Phoenix he knew, or Dumbledore, it could only show that the Order of the Phoenix had realized the seriousness of the problem, and Voldemort and Barty Jr.'s next moves would be more secretive.

And now Dumbledore has rushed to Little Hangleton...

"...What a pity, they must have set up an alarm or a trap in Little Hangleton, waiting for Headmaster Dumbledore to come to the door! Although the Headmaster is unlikely to have an accident, as long as he is there, Voldemort will know it immediately. We're already on his guard," Lockhart concluded.

Moody was silent when he heard it -- something he hadn't even thought of, and it looked like it might be true.

There are so many tricks. Moody commented rather unhappily, "Looks like I'm going to have a good discussion with the Headmaster... Gilderoy, remember to come to the Hogwarts Chamber of Secrets after the new year, where our Order of the Phoenix New Year's duel training is held. If you have any dissatisfaction with your combat power or combat skills, you can ask Dumbledore well.

Lockhart nodded: "Okay.

Chapter 348 No one knows how to dig a corner better than me

For Lockhart, the biggest variable of this little accident at the Christmas ball was the resurrection stone.

This means that Voldemort's plan has changed a lot from the one Lockhart knew, except that Voldemort still needs his father's bones and Harry's blood, he has no idea what the other party will do next.

More importantly, Voldemort would definitely take the Resurrection Stone as the Deathly Hallows and Horcrux away from his hometown. If he wanted to destroy the Horcrux next, he had to think of other ways. He couldn't expect Dumbledore to destroy it. .

...and many more! Lockhart suddenly thought of something.

If it was in the animation, Lockhart's head must have been lit by a light bulb at this time.

Now that Voldemort is inconvenient to move, it must be little Crouch who takes care of him, and Voldemort's return to the living stone must not be concealed from him. So can you use this to do something about it?

The next few days were calm, and the students, professors, and staff of the Ministry of Magic were still in the Christmas spirit, as if nothing had happened.

And Lockhart also took this opportunity to give his second debriefing report at the pure-blooded reception.

He introduced the local situation to these snake sect wizards, and made a contribution to his own people: all in all, we have established a firm foothold in the local area and united 20,000 wizards in Nigeria, and they will be our defense against them. Best line of defense for Muggles, apart from us, whether it's BP, Shell or others

Companies, who want to extract oil for less than four times our cost.

Lockhart's report caused applause from the wizards present, especially Mr. Farley and Lucius Malfoy.

According to what Lockhart said, almost everyone who invested in the shares could get a lot of income from it. It only took a few months to get back the capital, and the next thing was pure profit.

These profits translate into tens of millions of pounds, and these figures will continue to increase in the not-too-distant future.

At this time, the pure bloods felt a sense of relief—the family business handed down from their ancestors, they finally did not lose it all, and even had a surplus.

Before that, the sword of Damocles called "Sit and Eat the Mountain" had been hanging over their heads. No one wants to be like them, but they keep watching their own family slip in that direction, and even in order to maintain their "noble", they still have to stay Pretending to be pretentious in front of ordinary wizards: this feeling is really not enough for outsiders

But now all these unpleasant pasts have vanished, and the bright road has appeared in front of them, and all they need to do is stand firmly on this road and squeeze other people who want to go up.

Regardless of how to achieve this new monopoly alliance, there is an urgent problem for pure-bloods to solve, that is, whether to convert all profits into gold, and then pile them into their own vaults.

Lockhart has been planning for so long, in fact, at this moment, how could he let this group of short-sighted people get away.

He told these pure bloods that only part of the profits of the oil company will be taken out for dividends, and the rest will be invested in the company's expansion, on the grounds that the opportunity is rare.

"The new president of BP is about to take office, and his campaign policy is to prepare several oil fields under the company's control to be divided into small pieces, then auctioned separately, and then the money raised will be used in the capital market to annex other oil companies. I plan to use the In the name of our company, it is a rare opportunity to take pictures of these fields with rich oil and gas reserves.

In addition the company needs a sum of money to buy Muggle equipment - of course, according to the agreement between us and the Prime Minister, we must buy British products and use the services of British companies. "

Purebloods understand Lockhart's strategy.

These people are wizards and dignitaries, and they can be regarded as the first group of wizards to "see the world". When ordinary wizards were still ignorant of the Muggle world, they had already used them in their villas on their own family territories. Various Muggle items.

So they naturally know that if the Sniffing Drilling Company wants to continue to make money, it must be inseparable from the support of the Muggle government.

\"So, how much dividends can we get?" You Pureblood asked eagerly

Speaking of which, they are not afraid of being laughed at. The money that these pure bloods used to invest in shares was almost all his wife’s dowry book or even his own coffin book, because if they didn’t spend so much money, they would not even participate in the “Sacred Twenty-Eight”. Eligibility for investment. But it is precisely because of this that they are already very shy and need money very much to get through this embarrassing time.

Although they can understand the logic of "in order to make more money, we have to invest more money", but if the result of "long-line fishing for big fish" is that they will starve to death the next day, then they may not accept it. .

"We tentatively set the dividend to be 10% of the profit." Lockhart looked at the statement in his hand: "But because we have hedged through the futures market, handling fees and commissions must be paid to traders. This speculative profit

There is also a 20% capital gains tax on the mined oil; the oil extracted is traded in the UK, so it has to pay the British value-added tax; those of us who have a name on the Muggle side have to pay a high personal income tax, which is a progressive tax rate; There is a 6% depreciation of the physical gold after conversion into gold, plus the fees from British banks and Gringotts..."

The pure-blood wizards let out a whine in unison - no matter who it was

, When paying taxes, his mood always gets bad.

Finally, some people couldn't bear their temper: "Just say it directly, what is the number?"

Lockhart did not continue to tease, but simply reported a number

"...The amount that ended up being 1.4 million Galleons," he said.

The wizards present were instantly overjoyed, especially the wizard who just asked the question. His family's shareholding ratio is 2%, which means that he can get 28,000 Galleons at one time, enough for him to repay the debt and renovate the family's ancestors. home.

"Ha, I can buy a new wagon!" the guy shouted.

Although the pure-blooded wizard's performance was a little rude and not in line with his noble status, the wizards present graciously chose to forgive him, because not only him, but almost everyone was almost unable to contain the joy in their hearts.

For example, Lucius Malfoy, when he heard the dividend number, he unknowingly raised his legs on the sofa, and he didn't even notice that the family heirloom silver crutches with snake heads slipped and fell to the ground.

As the largest investor in this oil business, the Malfoy family can enjoy a quarter of the income, which is a full dividend of 350,000 Galleons, which is ten times more than their pledged donation to the Slytherin Alumni Association in the next few years. more.

Not to mention that this is just the beginning - the 1.4 million Galleons are just a quarterly profit share, not even the total profit for the whole year, and they can make more when they buy those oil fields from BP . Maybe from next year

In the beginning, the money was more than the return on all his investments combined.

Malfoy was wealthy anyway, so while the numbers surprised him, he was the first to recover from that ecstasy.

He picked up his cane calmly and asked Lockhart, "How much tax do we pay?"

Lockhart said without hesitation, "950,000 Galleons in taxes."

The consequences of his remarks were disastrous—how happy the wizards were when they heard 1.4 million Galleons, and how annoyed they were when they heard the tax figure.

Even Mr. Farley was taken aback: "How much?"

"950,000 Galleons in tax," Lockhart repeated, "and we've avoided some tax, or more."

There is no way, who makes some of these pure-blood wizards almost unable to hold on, if they are not in a hurry to turn their profits into gold, in fact, Lockhart can find a way to continue to avoid taxes.

But there is no way, he now needs a sum of money to boost the confidence of wizard investors, so in the case of eager to realize, he can only accept blackmail from the British Muggle government.

Travers was a toll collector in the wizarding world. After hearing this number, he was the first to sit still.

"Why are we paying so much tax?" he demanded. "This is blackmail! We're being blackmailed by a bunch of Muggles?"

Not even my dad...bah, not even the Ministry of Magic dares to tax us pureblood wizards that much—that's Travers' subtext.

The purebloods agreed to pay taxes to the Muggle government because they believed that if they wanted to make money from Muggles, they had to show their sincerity first.

But they never thought that the price of this "sincerity" would be so great

- This is already nearly half of the income to the Muggle government.