Chapter 224: Purging Paris
“This trip to Paris does involve the idea of surveying the market…”
Hearing Mrs. Rosier take the initiative to mention the Projection Mirror business, Melvin was very cooperative, slowing his eating pace, and chatting about the development of Projection Mirrors during breaks while enjoying the delicacies, starting from leaving Ilvermorny and mixing in Broadway, all the way to selling Projection Mirrors into the homes of countless wizards in Britain.
“……At that time, I had just arrived in London and wanted to find a magical medium for playing moving pictures. The initial idea was to use Developing Potion, but the shop assistant told me that high-quality Developing Potion cost several thousand Galleons and could only play for ten minutes.”
Mrs. Rosier had clearly heard Old Vida’s introduction and had also learned about Projection Mirrors in advance through her own channels, but she still patiently listened to Melvin talk about these trivial matters, and timely asked for details while casually praising a couple of times.
“Winning over tavern owners to help with distribution and providing expensive custom services—this isn’t selling Projection Mirrors, it’s selling style.” A faint smile played on Mrs. Rosier’s face, her tone not high when speaking, but her praise made one feel valued, “If the Projection Mirror business expands to Paris, the Rosier family will definitely pay a high price to procure them.”
The protagonist of the conversation changed, but the atmosphere at the dining table remained harmonious. Kristin and Mr. Rosier, the father and daughter, sat silently beside them, playing the role of background at the dining table—this kind of occasion was clearly not their first time.
“It just borrowed some sales ideas from Muggle luxury goods.” Melvin was extremely modest.
“Melvin, I’d like to ask, when will it be possible to buy Projection Mirrors in Paris?” Mrs. Rosier asked impassively.
“Distributing Projection Mirrors here still has a long way to go.” Melvin sighed with feigned regret, “I have no acquaintances in Paris, I can’t even find the door to a tavern, and I don’t know what the honey mead here tastes like. I’m probably unable to replicate Britain’s distribution model.”
“The Rosier family has close ties with the current Senior Deputy Minister, and has familiar wizards in the Traffic Bureau who can help with introductions. Additionally, we are also involved in some tavern business, though it’s just renting and selling shops and reselling brewing materials…”
Mrs. Rosier paused slightly, “If you are willing to trust the Rosier family, we can provide some insignificant help.”
Seeing the two really starting to talk business, Kristin could no longer sit still and took the initiative to interrupt the conversation: “Distributing Projection Mirrors requires thorough preliminary preparations. In Budapest, Aunt Vida ran into a lot of trouble precisely because of insufficient preparation…”
In her description, the distribution work was very difficult: upfront investment to open the market and stimulate wizards’ demand for Projection Mirrors, handling procurement and transport, and later dealing with all sorts of troublesome customers, entertaining high-end custom clients, handling after-sales consultations… In short, it was very complex and required full consideration and thorough preparation before discussing.
“Professor Levent is just here to survey, Mother, you should also think it over carefully. Perhaps you can discuss it in detail with Aunt Vida again.”
Kristin finished saying all this in one breath.
Mr. Rosier beside her was stunned, his eyes weaving expressions of heartache and delight. It seemed the life of wandering outside had truly tempered her; when had his usually taciturn daughter ever said so many words.
“My Kristin has really grown up.” Mrs. Rosier gave her a deep look, her long eyelashes drooping down, shadows concealing the fine lines on her face, as if she had truly fallen into thought, not continuing to press.
The dining table temporarily fell quiet, with only the clinking of silverware. Melvin slowly ate the foie gras. He could feel the gazes cast his way from beside him. As the only one at the table not surnamed Rosier, all three would unconsciously look at him a few more times before quickly shifting their gazes away.
Kristin breathed a slight sigh of relief. They had discussed it before entering: mentioning the Projection Mirror business was just to cope with Mother, they could talk but not make commitments.
But Mother was, after all, the shrewd Rosier, and she had nearly proposed distribution. At that point, Professor Levent would be cornered by her words and find it hard to refuse, perhaps half-pushing and half-agreeing.
She didn’t want to put Melvin in a difficult position.
Melvin wiped his mouth with the napkin, breaking the silence at the dining table: “Compared to distributing Projection Mirrors, I hope the Rosier family can provide wonderful moving picture content.”
“Oh?”
The three Rosiers simultaneously raised their eyes to look at the young professor.
“In fact, selling Projection Mirrors is just to earn some short-term meager profits. The truly long-term valuable business is shooting programs. The Daily Prophet in Britain has already begun expanding news mediums, with very substantial advertising profits. Our school’s Care of Magical Creatures professor produced Animal World and has reaped considerable gains so far.”
Melvin said with a smile, “The Malfoy and Nott pure-blood families are preparing to shoot History of Magic to expand their family influence.”
Mrs. Rosier’s ice-blue eyes lit up slightly.
Kristin was about to say something when she suddenly noticed Melvin making a hand gesture to her under the table, signaling her to hold off for now.
Kristin’s heart stirred slightly, suspecting Melvin had noticed Mother’s displeasure—but that displeasure was directed at her, not related to Melvin. Actually, there was no need to really promise the Magic Mirror Club business; just some polite words to gloss over would do, Mother wouldn’t mind. To secure this business, she would agree to send people to assist with the screening work.
The two businessmen began chatting details. Kristin turned her head to speak softly with her father, serving as background noise for this business meeting. Over there, Melvin and Mrs. Rosier had already raised their wine glasses, their smiles sincere when clinking glasses—though still like business dealings, at least they were harmonious and sincere business partners.
Feeling she owed a big favor, Kristin sighed quietly in her heart.
She had planned to cope and coax Mother, then compensate later in her own way—whether borrowing Madame Maxime’s influence or introducing Romania’s business, it could benefit the Rosier family. They could also gain an advantage in the Ministry of Magic’s factional struggles, though it would be harder for her to reconcile with Mother on this occasion.
Mrs. Rosier wasn’t really the traditional gentle type of mother, nor a vicious witch who harshly mistreated her daughter. She simply shouldered the entire family, flipping through contract documents all day, sparring with noblewomen and cunning opponents for so long that it was hard to express emotions normally.
But Mother was Mother, and Kristin could feel that kind of emotion. As the head of the Rosier family, having expectations for her only daughter was normal. If she followed the arrangements to study Alchemy, enter the Ministry of Magic or get close to Nicolas Flamel, letting the Rosier family regain its glory, their relationship might even be harmonious.
But she just didn’t like Alchemy, didn’t want her future arranged by others, and was unwilling to talk about business and interests all day.
Professor Levent provided a new choice, benefiting the Rosier family, and allowing her to reconcile with Mother.
After all, this was her home; she couldn’t stay in the Pyrenees Mountains every holiday—Madame Maxime even traveled outside every year.
Mr. Rosier heard them mention preparing to shoot History of Magic and couldn’t help but feel curious, asking: “Professor Levent, which period of History of Magic do they plan to shoot? The early days of the British Ministry of Magic?”
“The time span is very long; it should start from the establishment of the Wizarding Council.”
Melvin recalled Lucius’s script, uncertain about the exact time period.
Mentioning the Wizarding Council piqued Mr. Rosier’s interest. He seemed particularly knowledgeable about that era’s history and spoke at length, analyzing the Wizarding Council’s management system and internal structure from an academic perspective, noting that the Wizarding Council was not only the predecessor of the Ministry of Magic but also of the International Confederation of Wizards, standardizing human definitions, determining intelligent creature races, and managing dangerous magical creatures.
Hearing him mention historical details, Melvin suddenly realized this History of Magic was even more grand and lengthy than expected, involving not only British wizards but also other countries and even other races—not just changes in pure-blood families and ordinary wizards, but also the migrations and evolutions of non-human intelligent creature groups.
Melvin grew slightly excited, suddenly looking forward to this History of Magic production.
Magical intelligent creatures would also be interested in their own related history. If relevant content appeared in the moving pictures, centaurs, merpeople, and veela would take interest in Projection Mirrors, providing an opportunity to expand Projection Mirrors to other creature groups.
At this time, the house-elf came to serve the after-dinner desserts. Kristin seized the chance to state the purpose of the trip: “Mother, the Magic Mirror Club matter may have to be put on hold for a while. These past couple of days, we’ve been investigating the Purifiers case, with several hundred little wizards’ information needing screening. Can the family send a batch of manpower to help?”
Mrs. Rosier glanced at her. No wonder she suddenly brought the young professor home; even mobilizing her own family’s forces required careful planning. She was both annoyed and amused: “What exactly is the case? Even with Beauxbatons and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement’s Aurors combined, manpower isn’t enough, and you still need to come home for aid?”
“Specially inviting Melvin to plead your case—do you think I’d refuse you?”
“After drifting outside for two years, do you still remember your surname?”
“……”
Kristin shrank her head; this usually steady witch now looked like a little girl who had done something wrong.
“Tomorrow morning, I’ll have people assemble at the Ministry of Magic. You give them the orders yourself.” Mrs. Rosier said expressionlessly.
……
The faint light from the crystal candlesticks spilled down. The person seated at the head of the antechamber dining table saw off the guests, her waist and back bending into an imperceptible arc as she leaned back in the chair and sighed softly. The house-elves cleared the dining table even more nimbly, afraid of angering this matriarch.
“Nino says Kristin saw Melvin off.” Mr. Rosier beside her said, “Melvin didn’t want to stay overnight, and they didn’t take an Enchanted Carriage either. After seeing him to the door, they Apparated away. Kristin is still in the garden and will be back soon.”
“I know.” Mrs. Rosier pinched the bridge of her nose, her voice slightly fatigued.
“No definite cooperation intention was reached in that business just now, right?” Mr. Rosier stood up to knead his wife’s shoulders, “In the past, when talking business at the dining table, you always demanded definite commitments from the other party, best to sign a contract. This time, it seems like nothing was asked for, just some vague willingness.”
“The tacit understanding Melvin and I reached left room for both sides. Over these years, I’ve been very eager in business talks, but those were all unimportant businesses. Melvin is different.”
Mr. Rosier nodded, his hands moving gently: “Projection Mirrors are big business.”
“What I want to invest in isn’t just the scale and profits, nor just Projection Mirrors, but Melvin himself.” Mrs. Rosier said softly, “He has cultivated his own forces in Romania, Budapest, America, and Britain, amassing wealth in a short time through Projection Mirrors that other families haven’t accumulated in centuries… Such point-stone-to-gold magic—he is the new Nicolas Flamel.”
Mr. Rosier was stunned. In France’s Paris, the name Nicolas Flamel was almost on par with Merlin.
……
The next morning, before dawn.
At Fürstenberg Square, a group of wizards stood in the morning mist, their figures hazy and indistinct, with the Rosier family crest pinned to their chests, expressions solemn.
Two figures stood in front: one was the young lady of the Rosier family, and beside her was investigation team temporary member Melvin.
Not far away was the Ministry of Magic’s birdcage elevator, with Aurors constantly hurrying past holding folders, people coming and going, occasionally casting appraising glances this way but keeping their distance to watch from afar, not approaching.
After Mr. Bonnel and Mr. Grevis left last night, they had directly recalled off-duty Aurors, who had patrolled according to the materials all night. After several hours of overtime, they had only eliminated a batch of local little wizards—essentially finding no effective clues.
However, narrowing the screening scope was equivalent to advancing the investigation progress. They believed they could soon lock onto the cultists and Obscurus’s tracks.
The wizards hired by the Rosier family had no official positions and couldn’t be summoned for overtime like the Ministry of Magic. They were only gathered in the morning, assembling at the Ministry entrance. Kristin was distributing envelopes, only saying to screen student materials, without revealing the Obscurus matter.
At this moment, Kristin was arranging methodically: “What you need to do is confirm student identities, report any anomalies promptly. If you encounter unexpected situations, don’t engage—return to the Ministry of Magic immediately or notify others nearby. The purpose of this operation is screening; capture is not your concern.”
“Yes, Miss.”
A series of air-cracking sounds rang out, and the figures of this batch of Paris local wizards vanished into the morning mist.
“Very much like a Captain of the Aurors.” Melvin said softly.
Kristin turned to look at the young professor and pursed her lips: “Let’s get started too.”
The two walked side by side out of the square, their figures flickering and shuttling through the streets of Paris City Area. No obvious sounds were heard; they just slightly lifted their feet—one moment on the street head, the next already at the street tail.
A breeze blew from the Seine River bank. On this midsummer June morning, the mist was particularly thick. The sun rose, but the thick fog still hadn’t dispersed, with people in odd attire occasionally appearing on Paris streets and alleys.
Kristin lowered her voice: “I’ve checked all the envelopes; no little wizard named Bastard.”
“It might just be a nickname the cultist gave. That girl’s real name isn’t this, right?” Melvin quickly flipped through the envelope in his hand. No familiar names, but he did see a Bastien—this was a typical French name.
