Rhys was completely stunned.
Before heading to Hogwarts, he had left some money for Lupet.
This money was meant to cover her rent and living expenses and to support her continued completion of tasks for the secret society. What he never expected was that Lupet would use this money to open a dessert shop.
And judging by the size of the shop, it seemed like Lupet's business was doing quite well?
Seeing Rhys's expression change, Lupet' became nervous. She quickly explained, "Master Rhys! It was too conspicuous for me to rent a room alone at the Leaky Cauldron for a long time, so I rented a place in the alley instead."
"But the rent here is really high, and it wouldn't be good to just sit back and do nothing. By chance, I had learned how to make desserts and bread while wandering in France, and I remember you really like sweets. So, I took the liberty of opening a dessert shop that mainly sells various cakes, pastries, bread, and iced drinks. If you're not satisfied, I'll close the shop right away."
Lupet' explained her actions cautiously, afraid that anything she said might upset Rhys and lead to punishment.
Although she said she would close the shop immediately, deep down, she didn't want to. She had put too much effort into this place, and it was her first real home. How could she be willing to give it up?
Rhys raised an eyebrow: You don't say...
But honestly, he was quite pleased with the idea of living above a dessert shop. In the future, he could simply ask Lupet' to make any sweets he wanted.
He became even more thankful for the decision he had made back then.
After listening to Lupet's explanation, Rhys smiled genuinely. "I'm glad to see you've built a new life for yourself. Congratulations."
Seeing Rhys's response, Lupet let out a sigh of relief, her heart finally settling back in her chest.
Then she seemed to remember something and quickly pulled out a small notebook from her pocket.
"Master, this is the ledger for the past year, detailing my profits and expenses. Please check—"
"You keep it," Rhys waved his hand dismissively, not interested in looking at it.
Though Rhys couldn't claim to have wealth all over the world, he certainly wasn't after a werewolf's small business, even if her startup capital came from his donation.
"Doing the tasks I assign you is the best way to repay me."
Speaking of tasks, Lupet's expression froze. It wasn't that she hadn't done anything; rather, the secret society hadn't given her any tasks this year!
All she had to do was subscribe to a few newspapers, summarize and compile the news, and then send it out by owl. At the end of each month, ten Galleons would promptly be deposited into her account.
Lupet even started to feel like she was some kind of journalist for a newspaper.
"If there are no new actions, just wait patiently. We have plenty of time," Rhys said calmly. Dealing with a reclusive organization like the secret society was like fishing; you had to wait quietly for the right opportunity.
Given enough time, the secret society would naturally take action.
"Come on, let me take a look around your shop," Rhys said, waving his hand as he pushed open the door to Lupet's dessert shop, which had a "Closed Today" sign hanging on it.
The shop wasn't very large. Apart from the wall with the entrance, the other three walls had glass display cabinets about a meter high and several meters long. In one corner of the room was a cash register, and next to it, a door led to the kitchen where the desserts were made.
From the display labels, Rhys could tell that the cabinet on the left held various cold drinks and chilled juices, the one on the right showcased French bread, and the cabinet in the middle was for desserts.
Rhys took a closer look and found that Lupet's shop sold desserts like éclairs, Napoleon cakes, waffles, cheesecakes, tiramisu, mousses, and more—mostly common Muggle desserts.
Curiously, Lupet didn't sell any of the popular magical world desserts.
After asking about it, Rhys understood that because of her werewolf status, magical confectioners refused to take her on as an apprentice in France. It was only the Muggle dessert makers, who knew nothing about her background, who accepted her. As a result, all the desserts Lupet knew how to make were non-magical.
However, this unintentional choice worked out well. There were few dessert shops in the magical world that specialized in selling Muggle desserts, so Lupet's shop filled a niche.
She quickly built a loyal customer base, primarily consisting of Muggle-born wizards who came to Diagon Alley for shopping, as well as some single male wizards.
After all, a dessert is a dessert—it doesn't lose its appeal or flavor just because of someone's heritage.
"The second floor is the bedroom, right? I'll go take a look."
"Huh? I've booked a room for you at the Leaky Cauldron—"
"Cancel it. This is more convenient."
Ignoring Lupet's attempts to dissuade him, Rhys headed straight up to the second floor of the small building, which was her living space.
Lupet had rented a two-story house with a basement: the ground floor housed the dessert shop and kitchen, the second floor was her residence, and the basement was used for storing dessert ingredients.
Due to the sloping roof, the layout on the second floor was much more cramped compared to the first. Most of the space was taken up by the bedroom, with a small portion allocated to a rather narrow washroom.
The bedroom was quite messy, with a pile of blankets and some small clothes strewn across the bed, along with a heap of knee-high socks mostly in black and white.
The shoe cabinet in the corner was overflowing with various shoes and boots. The wardrobe next to the bed was filled with clothes, both clean and dirty.
Beside the shoe cabinet was a desk cluttered with two thick stacks of torn-up newspapers and a half-finished scrapbook. It was clear that Lupet had been diligently carrying out the tasks Rhys had assigned to her.
Seeing the room in such disarray, Lupet felt a bit embarrassed and hurried forward to tidy up the mess on the bed.
She hadn't expected Rhys to insist on staying here instead of choosing to stay at the Leaky Cauldron—she had really underestimated the allure of desserts to Rhys.
"If your customers were to see what the second floor looks like, you'd probably lose a lot of them," Rhys said, taking out his wand. He helped Lupet organize the clothes into categories and neatly placed them back into the wardrobe.
Lupet awkwardly laughed. "Some customers have really strange quirks. Last Christmas, there was even a customer who asked if I could pack the desserts and bread into a sock."
"..." Rhys thought he had truly seen it all.
After Lupet finished tidying up the clothes, Rhys waved his wand and cast an Undetectable Extension Charm on the room, expanding the once cramped space to three times its original size. He also conjured a wall, creating a separate bedroom for himself.
"We're wizards; we need to learn to solve problems with magic."
"But using the Undetectable Extension Charm without authorization is illegal, and it's a really difficult spell..."
Rhys: "..."
'Wait, why is the modern Ministry of Magic so strict about this?'
...
Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office
After the Hogwarts Express whistled and departed, Dumbledore finally had time to attend to his own matters. He took out the peculiar remains and placed them on his desk.
Based on the remains of this creature's reactions, it seemed to have had a deep connection with Gryffindor during its lifetime. The one who killed it was likely Gryffindor himself. However, it appears that Gryffindor didn't completely destroy it, allowing it to break free from its seal a thousand years later and wreak havoc upon the world.
As Dumbledore stared at the remains, he recalled the strange magic it had used—magic unlike anything he had ever seen before.
'It seems somewhat similar to the vaguely described "Domain" mentioned in ancient texts. If that truly was a Domain...' Dumbledore carefully recollected the details of his encounter with the remains.
Meanwhile, the temperature in the headmaster's office gradually rose. Eventually, a sudden flame ignited at the tip of Dumbledore's finger.
Fawkes, perched on the sycamore branch outside the window, immediately let out a loud cry.
Dumbledore quickly lifted his head, shifting his gaze away from the remains. The flame on his finger extinguished, but behind his half-moon spectacles, his eyes still seemed to burn with an intense fire.
"A Domain...?"
Dumbledore's low murmur echoed through the office.
_________
Read 12 Chapters ahead of WN-
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