So Lockhart got up early, washed his face with cold water, and was ready to go out for a morning run.

By the door, he saw the **** dog sleeping in a pool of ooze on the cushion.

He thought that after turning into a dog, Blake would lie on the ground and curl up in a ball to sleep like a normal dog.

But he was obviously not pretending to be enough. Not only was the whole dog lying on his side, but there was also a large pool of saliva flowing from the corner of his mouth, making a snoring sound.

Lockhart shook his head, then quietly opened the door and walked to the lake.

Because it wasn't the weekend yet, Hogsmeade was still very quiet, and many shops had not yet opened. Lockhart could only see people in twos and threes running on the road, and they all went out to the lake in the early morning to fetch water.

As it happened, Lockhart saw a man on the road, and he was one of the people Lockhart planned to visit in the next few days.

"Good morning, Devis!" Lockhart greeted a bald man.

The person who was called was using a moving spell to direct eight wooden barrels to roll diagonally on the ground. After hearing Lockhart's cry, he turned his head and looked a little surprised.

"Lockhart! Oh, I thought you had resigned from Hogwarts." He stopped.

""Yeah, resigned, but the Ministry of Magic sent me here to work again... As it happens, I'm going to your place to discuss a big business, you'd better call Bens, are you free this afternoon? "

"I was with him, and my wife just baked some cookies..." DeVes raised his eyebrows. "What business?"

"You'll find out soon enough." Lockhart was trying to whet his appetite.

"Devis-Bains" in Hogsmeade is a shop that sells and repairs magical equipment. During the school hours at Hogwarts, it mainly deals with the business of Hogwarts students, and also picks up other villagers in the village. like the almost necessary carpenter in a Muggle village.

After the duel club was established last year, students who had damaged magic equipment in duels often came to them to repair them on weekends, and their business has improved a lot because of this.

After hearing Lockhart's talk of "big business", Dewes's heart immediately became a little itchy - the Wezeac brothers made a small fortune last year, but Dewes and Bans could only Eating what others eat and earning some maintenance fees makes both of them uncomfortable.

Originally, the wizarding world was highly self-sufficient in economy. The difference between having money and having no money was just a difference in houses and clothes and potions. It was not so difficult to survive.

But this world is afraid of comparison, and there is nothing more uncomfortable than watching others make money while you have no water.

Watching Lockhart run away, Devez stood there for a while, and then remembered that he should continue to fetch water.

In addition to DeViss, Lockhart saw several acquaintances on the way to the lake.

They are all business residents in the village, such as the owner of Wenrenju Stationery Store, the owner of Joko Jokes Store, and the clerks employed by the international chain store, Fengya Wizard's Clothing Store.

After seeing Lockhart, they all greeted him kindly. After all, this is the big money lord, who can not only consume himself, but also make everyone prosperous together.

We all got along very well in the past year

Lockhart naturally wanted to show his side of the people, just like the prime minister who went to the second-hand store to buy clothes for a show, and chatted enthusiastically with everyone he saw - for a while, I was afraid that there would be someone who didn't know that he had been here. .

Only in this way, the effect of exercise is greatly reduced.

But Lockhart didn't care. In addition to exercising, he came to the lake to inspect the water environment around Hogsmeade. He wanted to see if the water could be supplied after the Triwizard Tournament was held.

Although Hogsmeade is the only pure wizarding village in the UK, it, like Muggle villages, is still built near a water source.

There is only a train station between Hogsmeade and Black Lake, and it takes only a few minutes to walk. Therefore, since ancient times, if the residents of Hogsmeade wanted to fetch water, they have relied on the most primitive method of "self-pickup by the lake". Finish.

Just like Mr. DeVes, who controlled several barrels with a spell, one day at a time, with ease.

If you are good at spellcasting, you can even use the "Clear Water AguamantiJ, to fetch water, which can call water from a nearby water source. However, this spell is taught only by the sixth grade Hogwarts spell advanced class, not everyone Wizards can, and it's hard to use them in desert areas that lack water around them.

It is precisely because of the convenience of spells that Hogsmeade did not learn from Muggle villages, and built a well or a fountain in the center of the village, because it was not necessary.

Although this is completely sufficient for their own consumption, if foreign tourists who come to watch the Triwizard Tournament in the future also live here, then the method of fetching water from wooden barrels may not be able to meet the needs of so many people.

As someone with great ambitions to make this Triwizard Tournament an event that will be talked about many years from now, Lockhart certainly cannot tolerate his own

He's going to make this little mistake, he's going to re-install a water system in Hogsmeade

Of course, the wizarding world also has a tap water system. The principle is roughly the same as that of the Muggle plumbing system. The time when wizards introduced pipes was roughly the same as the time when Hogwarts was transformed, both in the 18th century.

For example, at Hogwarts, one of the boys' bathrooms is on the seventh floor. If there is no running water system, it is difficult to imagine Mr. Filch carrying hundreds of buckets of water every day.

The tallest tower at Hogwarts is the Astronomy Tower, the North Tower is home to the divination classrooms and offices, the headmaster's office is in a separate small tower, and the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers are the common rooms and dormitories of the two houses. .

Therefore, the location of the Hogwarts high water tower is not difficult to guess. If there is no accident, it should be located in the only tower with neither offices nor classrooms - the West Tower.

Professor Flitwick's office is closest to the West Tower. Lockhart guessed that this may be because he is responsible for replenishing dozens of tons of water in the West Tower with a spell every morning. Of course, Flitwick will definitely not use "clear water like a spring". , instead it will spray the Aqua_EruicT with a "water jet"

The Ministry of Magic is a lot easier to deal with relatively - because it's located in London, it has direct access to the Muggle plumbing system, and because the Ministry is underground, they don't even have to pressurize the water, it's on the 8th floor of the Ministry of Magic The "Magic Brothers Fountain" in the lobby is proof of that.

Hogwarts can use towers for water towers, and the Ministry of Magic is underground in London, so they just have to solve the water problem to get running water. But there are no particularly tall buildings in the village of Hogsmeade. The only advantage is that it is very close to the water source.

So if he wanted to introduce a water system, Lockhart could only use the same method as the ancient Romans to build aqueducts one by one.

Chapter 165 The Economic Basis of the Wizarding World

The Ministry of Magic's grant to Lockhart was 300 Galleons, which of course would be enough to build an elevated aqueduct, and even if he bargained a little better, the mason could spare him another fountain.

But the problem is that Lockhart can't use all 300 Galleons on this thing. There are so many places to prepare for the Triwizard Tournament. If it is spent just on the water, then his ambitious plan Can't expand at all.

For this? He has to think a little more.

By the time he got back to the screaming shack, Dobby had already made breakfast and had been waiting for him for a long time.

Fried bacon, eggs, two slices of toast, and a bunch of small tomatoes, although not complicated, but the level of deliciousness still makes Lockhart emotional.

It seems that it is not without reason that pure-blooded families want house-elves. No matter who they are, they will become lazy after being served to this extent, and then become dependent.

Just when he started to eat, the **** dog huddled behind the door finally woke up.

It opened its big mouth humanely, yawned, then rolled over and sat up, raising its claws, as if to rub its eyes.

But when it saw Lockhart who was eating breakfast, it froze for a moment, as if remembering something, then put down its front paws, and quickly shook the hair on its body a few times, just like an ordinary dog. .

Lockhart, who was concentrating on reading the newspaper, ignored him.

He mainly looks at information on oil prices. Since the end of the Gulf War in 1991, Iraq has been defeated because its oil wells cannot produce.

The resulting gap in international oil trading has also been occupied by OPEC, and the oil pricing power has been completely handed over to the Middle East and Europe and the United States. Even the newly born Russia needs to take a breath.

The Soviet Union disintegrated and Iraq was easily defeated by the U.S. military using asymmetric warfare. At this time, the United States could be said to be invincible in the world. Even the military of a certain country in the east lost its voice and had to curl up and secretly study the tactics of the U.S. military.

With a strong military, it naturally has the right to speak in politics. The New York Oil Exchange also controls nearly 60% of the world's oil trading volume. And "allies" such as the United Kingdom can only temporarily avoid the edge and pick up some leftovers behind the United States.

The reason why the world's second largest oil trading center in London can keep its trading volume is because the North Sea still produces oil, and the oil of many countries in the Middle East, Africa and Europe are priced with reference to it, so it can keep a part of the oil. Pricing power.

Among the oil priced with reference to the "spot Brent crude oil price" in long-term contracts, African oil plays an important role. Nigeria alone has Bonny Light Oil, Bonny CNPC, Brass River Crude Oil, Esclavos Crude Oil, Forcados Crude Oil, Pennington Crude Oil, Ibodo Crude Oil and many other varieties.

And whether these oil products can be traded in London is very important to the British, who are relying on this to choke the **** of the whole European.

Lockhart has been thinking, if wizards want to maintain a "dissociative but not lack of cooperation" distance from the Muggle world, where should they cut in.

A truly stable relationship requires both parties to rely on each other and be able to benefit from each other's exchanges and cooperation. Otherwise, even if the two parties are temporarily forced to unite under the influence of some external force, they will fall apart as soon as the external force disappears.

What is happening now is that Muggles have survived for hundreds of years even without what the wizarding world produced, and have thrived after the Industrial Revolution.

But on the contrary, the wizarding world is in great need of the things Muggles produce - from agricultural products to ordinary raw materials and simple industrial products, they all need them. Even if there are alternative spells and items in the wizarding world, the high cost of manpower and material resources will also be Let wizards choose to use cheap muggle creations.

As American steel magnate Carnegie said: "Two pounds of ironstone are mined from Lake Superior and shipped to Pittsburgh, 900 miles away; a pound and a half of coal is mined, made into coke and shipped to Pittsburgh; half a pound of lime is mined and shipped to Pittsburgh; mined a small amount of violent ore in Virginia, ship it to Pittsburgh—use these four pounds of raw material to make a pound of steel, and the consumer pays only a penny for the pound of steel.”

While a wizard can use magic to mine ore and make steel, he can't reduce the cost of a pound of steel to a penny anyway, even with only one person from start to finish.

1 cent, this is half a nut, a copy of the Daily Prophet is much more expensive, and considering the amount of steel consumed by wizards, such a low price cannot even cover the labor cost.

Minpa later inflation, the price of a pound of steel rose to 24 cents, 12 nut is not acceptable profit margin for wizards, if they want to use steel, they will definitely go directly to the Muggle hardware store to buy it.

Since wizards need to import from the Muggle world in terms of fast-moving consumer goods and raw materials for production, this also means that the economic foundation of the wizarding world is actually built on the Muggle economic foundation, regardless of whether the pure-blood families admit it or not. Admit it is so.

Just like what Dumbledore wrote in the preface to Fantastic Creatures and Where to Find Them, Muggles could raise nearly £800 million, or about 150 million Galleons, for a charitable foundation that supports comedy , and the money that the foundation finally gave to the silent book company was only a little bit of it, but this number was enough to make the entire wizarding world lose its voice.

From purebloods to the Ministry of Magic, everyone seems to have suddenly forgotten

He also formulated the "Secret Law", and tacitly sold the textbook "Where Are Fantastic Creatures" as an absurd fantasy novel to the Muggle world.

Since this is the reality, Lockhart doesn't plan to make a fat man again. If he was made Minister for Magic, he would definitely obediently put on a friendly gesture while the Muggle Prime Minister was still being fooled, and shouted "Let's be friends with local tyrants".

Of course, kneeling and licking without a bottom line cannot make the wizarding world respectable, just as licking a dog can never be favored by a goddess. In order to get the attention of the Muggle world, the wizarding world must show a strong side in military, cultural and economic aspects. Only in this way can those who have only the logic of "I have a gun in my hand, you don't" in their minds. Politicians wake up.

Not to mention that after the Muggle world learns of the existence of the wizarding world, it is impossible to let it exist for a long time under the nose, because it is "uncontrollable"

If the wizarding world can slowly master Nigeria's oil under Lockhart's plan, then the British financial world will definitely admire the wizards." Even if it is to fight against the New York Oil Exchange, they will also choose to win over the wizards - their status is so come.

In addition, Lockhart has many big plans—such as cooperation in military, intelligence, medical care, and health care products. These are still temporarily in the strong period of wizards, but after the completion of human gene sequencing and the advent of the Internet age, wizards will I am afraid that the last advantage of the world will also be wiped out. Even if they want to cooperate again, I am afraid that even their hole cards will disappear.

Oil prices will be relatively stable in recent years, which is a good opportunity for wizards. If the layout can be completed before the financial crisis of 1998, then the wizarding world can officially extend its tentacles to the Muggle world.

After putting down the newspaper, Lockhart found that the black dog that Sirius Blake turned into was sitting in front of the dining table and staring at the plate in front of Lockhart, his eyes full of infinite longing.

Boy, where's your dignity? Lockhart looked sideways.

So he picked up the few pieces of bacon left on the plate with a fork, and wanted to pass it under the table, but when he was halfway up, he remembered that it was a little disrespectful, so he put the whole plate on the ground.

"Dobby!" he shouted deliberately at the house-elf, "Didn't I say, I don't like overcooking bacon, you see—it's shrinking!"

"I'm so sorry, Master, that Dobby pierced his hand with a fork."

"Stop... I'm going out to meet guests today. Just follow the instructions yesterday and wash this dog for me!"

"Okay, obey."

Then, Lockhart threw aside the Financial Daily and the Daily Prophet in his hands - Sirius would definitely read these papers when he knew no one was there.

Next, he wrote a letter to his brother-in-law William, telling him the progress of the oil well development, so that he could open an account in the futures market. Company" name.

Sniffers can find gold and treasure, and they hope the name will bring them good luck

If possible, I hope you can have a good relationship with the relevant people who are professional in oil futures. If there are related dance parties, clubs, and alumni associations, just join in, don’t be afraid to spend money…” Lockhart wrote in the letter wrote in.

Chapter 166 Blindfold the donkey's eyes

Immediately after breakfast, Mr. DeVes prepared refreshments for Lockhart's visit.

Lockhart, of course, had to fulfill his contract. He promised to visit but didn't go, which was as serious as releasing a reader's pigeon. If you want to continue in this business for a long time, this reputation cannot be damaged.

For the sake of business, he was warmly received by the other party. After a few chats between Lockhart and Mr. DeVes, he brought up the "business" in a businesslike manner.

■

■

"Now I'm a staff member of the Ministry of Magic's 'International Tournament Office', in charge of preparatory work for an international tournament..."

"International Wizarding Tournament?" DeVes and Mr. Bans were both overjoyed

Last year it was only Hogwarts that hosted the Dueling Club: their business has multiplied several times, and it is hard to imagine how thriving their business would be if there were international competitions.

"I'm afraid it's not that good, but it's about the same. There will be a lot of foreigners coming to Hogwarts to watch the game, but there won't be too many people participating in the game... I should keep this a secret."

Halfway through his speech, Lockhart seemed to remember something, and added another sentence. The two shopkeepers exchanged glances, then turned their heads together: "Don't worry, of course we will keep it a secret for you."

Lockhart smiled, and the smile was full of hints: "Of course I believe you can keep the secret... Anyway, let's look at the business first. First, on behalf of the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts, I will build a water system in the village. , this is the equipment we need to clear

Single...you see. "

Mr. DeVes took the list and frowned after a few glances.

"Water towers, wind booster pumps, high-molecular polyethylene pipes...sounds like Muggle stuff."

As a person who specializes in tinkering and repairing various objects, he is not unfamiliar with Muggle things. There are even Muggle bicycles, propeller blades and other things in his shop, so he can see it at a glance.

"It's Muggle stuff, and it's about £800, or 00 Galleons," Lockhart said.

"Why do you want to buy Muggle things?" DeVes asked inexplicably, "You can let us do it, and then use the mud to turn the stone into a pool, and fill it with water like a spring every day.

"In that case, we need to pay you 200 Galleons for the construction, and you have to hire someone to refill the pool every day, which will cost you an additional 40 Galleons per month, right?" Lockhart asked back.

Dewes stopped talking.

"But after replacing the system, we only need to check it once a year, use a 'clean and new' on the water pipes, and use a 'refresh' on the windmill bearings, and it doesn't even take 10 minutes before and after." Lockhart continued. One more sentence.

Mr. Bans shrugged. "I remember you came to do business with us? If you're going to buy Muggle stuff, you don't seem to need us."

"If Muggle construction teams could get into Hogsmeade, I think I would.

oo that's why I hope you two are responsible for building this system. "

Lockhart stressed to them that he didn't hire anyone because of the cost, but because of the inaccessibility of Muggles.

Of course, what he didn't say to the two wizards was that according to the current labor costs in the UK, it is very likely that the materials will only cost a few hundred pounds, but the installation costs will also cost

Hundreds of pounds.

The two immediately refused: "But we don't understand how Muggle plumbing works, and we never did."

"Just learn, I'll pay you." Lockhart said succinctly, "To be honest, our budget for this project is 200 Galleons, the more money you save, the more money you earn for yourself. The more...you'll help me, right?"

"But we really..."