Fudge stared blankly at his aide, the numbers the aide had just reported still echoing in his ears, a feeling of disbelief washing over him.
For a moment, he suspected his aide had misread, or that he himself had misheard.
Over six thousand Galleons?!
How could a young wizard spend that much?!
But after repeatedly confirming with his aide, the answer Fudge received was still that number.
He stumbled, then snatched the stack of bills from his aide's hand.
"I want to see what in the blazes Charle bought that could cost over six thousand Galleons!"
As bill after bill came into view, Fudge's face kept changing.
"Eighty deluxe meals from the Leaky Cauldron..."
"???"
"Wait a minute, eighty meals daily?"
"Monthly billing?!"
"Damn it, do you think I haven't been to the Leaky Cauldron? One meal there is enough to stuff me to death. Charle eats eighty meals a day?"
"Even if he was feeding Mountain Trolls or even Dragons in his room at the Leaky Cauldron, it wouldn't cost this much!"
However, this bill was just a fraction. More bills with exaggerated amounts followed.
"Honeydukes mail order, one hundred of each type of candy..."
"Hiss, isn't he afraid of his teeth falling out from the sweetness?"
"Didn't anyone teach him that children shouldn't eat too much candy?"
"Damn it, I said it long ago, Dumbledore, that Hogwarts headmaster, loves to eat all sorts of weird candies. The upper beam is not straight, the lower beam is crooked. Even kids who haven't started school yet are being led astray by him!"
If these few bills were still barely within Fudge's acceptable range, then the bills from Ollivander's Wand Shop, Flourish and Blotts, and many other shops selling magical items in Diagon Alley made Fudge's face turn ashen, completely breaking his composure.
"What in the world is going on? Why are there so many wand bills? A full twenty wands need to be reimbursed."
"And so many magical items, and even a book bill from Flourish and Blotts for nearly three thousand Galleons?"
"Damn it, wasn't the agreement we reached with Charle only for reimbursing food expenses? Anything used for other purposes couldn't be reimbursed, so how did these bills get sent over?"
"At this rate of spending, our political contributions will be gone in no time!"
Fudge stared intently at the aide who had been responsible for drafting the magical agreement earlier, his eyes full of suspicion.
"You didn't leave a backdoor when drafting the agreement, did you, planning to take kickbacks?!"
The aide wanted to cry but had no tears.
"No, I really didn't!"
Fudge's expression was deep and meaningful.
"You didn't take kickbacks?"
"Do you believe I'll get some Veritaserum and ask you?"
The aide choked, and quickly said.
"Kickbacks, well, Minister, you understand this. Which of us in the Ministry of Magic doesn't take kickbacks?"
"But with Charle's agreement, it was so rushed that time, not to mention Dumbledore was also present. I was only focused on getting the job done, how would I dare!"
"There's really no problem with his magical agreement. Every time he submits for reimbursement, it checks the true intention behind his purchases. Even if he buys food, if he's thinking of sharing it with friends instead of eating it himself when submitting for reimbursement, the bill won't pass."
Fudge frowned and pressed on.
"Then what's the situation now?"
"The Leaky Cauldron meals, the Honeydukes candies, I won't even count those."
"How can wand bills also be sent for reimbursement? Twenty wands, are you going to tell me he dipped them in salt and pepper and ketchup and ate them like fries?"
"And the various items from the magic shops, he bought a hundred Quick-Quotes Quills, enough for an entire house at Hogwarts. Did he buy them to suck on like lollipops?"
"Not to mention the books from Flourish and Blotts, over three thousand Galleons, how many sheets of parchment is that? Can Charle eat all of them?"
"So how did this reimbursement get approved?"
The aide was sweating profusely.
"Perhaps he's truly a genius and found some loophole in the magical agreement?"
"Investigate, we must investigate!"
"We can't let him use our magical agreement as a way to fleece us. We must regulate his usage and ensure that the things he buys are truly consumed, and not just any expense being put on our tab!"
Fudge nodded, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
"We definitely have to investigate, otherwise how much money do we have to cover Charle's reimbursements?"
"But I just used this matter for publicity and received widespread praise from the wizarding world, which is rare since I took office."
"If we were to investigate this with great fanfare now, wouldn't all our efforts be in vain?"
"Besides, Dumbledore was present when this agreement was signed. He will definitely protect Charle. We also have to consider Dumbledore's opinion. Who to send to investigate is also a problem..."
After a moment of contemplation, Fudge's eyes lit up, and he thought of someone.
"I remember among this year's Hogwarts graduates, there's a Metamorphmagus who is training as an intern Auror, isn't there?"
His aide quickly replied.
"Yes, it's a girl named Tonks."
"She was born with the ability of a Metamorphmagus and can change her appearance. She's practically a natural at stealth and disguise."
Fudge clapped his hands.
"Let her investigate. Secretly collect evidence and see if Charle buying so many things is really because there's a problem with the magical agreement, and if he's really eaten them all."
"As long as the evidence is collected, we won't be afraid even if Dumbledore speaks up."
"Besides, Tonks just graduated from Hogwarts. Compared to the Aurors at the Ministry of Magic, she's more like Charle's senior."
"With that identity, it won't be too sensitive even if people find out."
The more Fudge thought about it, the more he felt this was another stroke of genius.
"Having Dumbledore's person investigate Dumbledore's person, could it be that I, Fudge, am truly a political genius?!"
The aide beside him also praised this idea profusely, but still raised a concern.
"But Minister, it might take some time for Tonks to get results. What should we do if Charle continues to claim expenses like this during this period?"
Fudge shrugged his shoulders.
"There's nothing we can do. Before we collect the evidence, let Charle claim them."
"However, we need to urge the Malfoys and those other families for their political contributions."
A sneer appeared on his face.
"Who told them they had such a big handle? The vault is short on money, who else should we squeeze if not them?"
"Go and urge them. Let them suffer a bit, I'll bear the bad name."
...
Just as Fudge and his aide were plotting to investigate Charle.
Inside the Leaky Cauldron, Charle was holding over a dozen quick-quotes quills in his mouth, sucking the ink out of them like lollipops.
When the frequency of the deduction point prompts in his mind decreased, he would bite off the quill, converting even the penholder into deduction points, and then casually take out other magical items from the large box next to him to chew on.
At the same time, Charle was also flipping through the massive tome Transfiguration: From Introduction to Interment.
This book integrated all the Transfiguration content that needed to be learned from the first year to the seventh year at Hogwarts, covering various branches of Transfiguration—Vanishing, Conjuring, Human Transfiguration, Animagus Transfiguration, and Summoning.
In short, it was equivalent to a more complex, comprehensive, and in-depth Transfiguration reference book than the textbooks.
By thoroughly understanding this book, all Transfiguration assessments during the seven years at Hogwarts, even the NEWT courses, would receive excellent evaluations.
Charle had originally considered reading works in the fields of Potions or Alchemy first, as brewing potions and making alchemical items could greatly increase his progress in obtaining deduction points.
However, considering that Quirrell would break into Gringotts soon, this opportunity to get rich was simply too good to miss.
Furthermore, potion brewing and alchemical item making were practical subjects. Books would explain the principles, but the truly essential parts were often passed down orally or even hand-to-hand.
Not to mention the need to purchase various rare materials. Buying materials for the purpose of brewing potions could not be reimbursed through the Ministry of Magic agreement.
Therefore, Charle planned to delve deeper into these two fields after going to Hogwarts. For now, the priority was to improve his immediate combat power.
And the field of Transfiguration had a huge impact on a wizard's overall strength.
An excellent Transfiguration master might not be particularly strong in actual combat, but they would certainly not be weak.
And to become a top-tier wizard, Transfiguration was an indispensable part.
There was a very important reason for this: many applications of Transfiguration did not require spells, and sometimes not even a wand.
For example, Animagus Transfiguration. Sirius Black's wand was confiscated, yet he could still escape Azkaban using Animagus Transfiguration.
In the original work, during the battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort, there were also very exciting Transfiguration attacks and defenses.
In this part of the Transfiguration duel, neither side chanted any spells, and the rhythm changed extremely quickly.
If an ordinary wizard were to participate in this part of the battle, they wouldn't even have a chance to strike before being defeated on the spot by the fast, flexible, and non-verbal Transfiguration!
Professor McGonagall, who was always humble and cautious, had also made such a statement in the field of Transfiguration.
She believed that Transfiguration was more elegant and also superior to other fields of magic.
Professor McGonagall was never an arrogant person. The fact that she could say such a thing also indicated that the field of Transfiguration was indeed profound and had a crucial impact on a wizard's strength.
Therefore, Charle first opened the Transfiguration book to obtain material.
At this moment, even with the mechanical turning of pages and his gaze quickly scanning each line of text to provide material for Deep Blue, Charle had already been flipping through for over five hours.
Charle finally turned the last page of Transfiguration: From Introduction to Interment.
In his mind, Deep Blue's mechanical prompt sounded.
"Host has obtained a large amount of Transfiguration materials. The points consumed for the initial deduction of Transfiguration have significantly decreased."
"Do you wish to consume five thousand points for the initial deduction of Transfiguration?"
When this prompt sounded, a fervent look appeared in Charle's eyes.
One must know that the initial deduction of Transfiguration previously required a full fifty thousand points. Now it had decreased significantly.
Although obtaining more materials could further reduce the consumption for the initial deduction, the impact wouldn't be as great.
Deduct early, enjoy early!
Charle took a deep breath.
"Deep Blue, deduce for me!"
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