Chapter 16: Gold and Galleons

was the name Dudley gave himself.

Because Dudley's impression of Gargamel was someone who rarely cast spells, just continuously brewing potions, and Dudley felt that this aspect was quite similar to himself.

Even though he had a head of thick and lush hair and a physique that could take on twenty of such thin guys at once.

Do you think this is a gathering place for wizards?

No! Dudley wouldn't fit in there.

This was the gathering place for the Squibs.

Squibs couldn't perform magic, so the room wasn't enchanted with the Traceless Extension Charm. The image of these down-and-out wizards wasn't impressive, and you couldn't expect Squibs to have a good appearance.

Life in the magical world wasn't easy for Squibs because they couldn't perform magic. Being unable to do magic meant they couldn't engage in magical professions, which in turn meant no source of income. Not every Squib was as lucky as Mr. Filch, the caretaker at Hogwarts.

If Squibs wanted to survive in the magical world without relying on their families, they had to find alternative paths, seek other means.

They were the lowest class in the magical world.

So, to survive, Squibs often went back and forth between the Muggle and wizarding worlds. They were also the ones Muggles were most likely to encounter in connection with the magical world.

After all, those wizards who considered themselves superior never deigned to look a Muggle in the eye.

The appearance of the servants was the best among this group of Squibs, but even so, their clothes looked greasy and dirty.

Except for Mrs. Figg and a few other Squibs, don't expect most of them to care about hygiene. They refused to use Muggle laundry powder or cleaning agents, and they didn't know wizarding spells for a " Clean Up."

Only one word could describe it: sloppy.

Wizards had Hogsmeade Village at least, but Squibs didn't have that kind of influence. They could only live in houses built by Muggles.

While passing by a room, Dudley vaguely heard a few words inside, such as "magic" and "shortcut." The servant led Dudley into the deepest part of the room.

That was the agreed-upon trading location.

Dudley was their big customer, so they naturally had to be careful and attentive.

Inside the room, a few Squibs who had been waiting there for a long time stood up as Dudley entered. They looked at Dudley with obsequious expressions.

"Where's the stuff?" Dudley cut straight to the chase as soon as he entered the room.

Mainly because the smell here was unbearable, and as someone with a normal sense of smell, even surpassing ordinary people, he didn't want to stay any longer.

"Respected Mr. Gargamel, this is what you asked for."

A slightly cleaner-looking Squib in the room handed a small messenger bag to Dudley.

Dudley took the bag and opened it directly. The messenger bag had obviously been subjected to the Traceless Extension Charm. The space inside was much larger than it looked, but the large space was still extremely limited, only able to hold more things.

jumping root, gillyweed, fluxweed, valerian root, sneezewort, and other commonly known magical herbs were neatly arranged in glass bottles, along with several magic books.

"Enough for myself for a while."

Dudley glanced briefly. Although the quality of these magical herbs wasn't top-notch, it wasn't too bad either.

Mainly, he couldn't go to the wizarding world to purchase them himself, so getting these was already pretty good.

"The stuff is correct, but next time, I hope to get some slightly rarer materials. Like Ashwinder eggs, Leaping Toadstool Caps, Erumpent horn, Snakewood, and African tree snake skin."

"The things you mentioned are not easy to come by." The Squib said this first, then rubbed his fingers and continued, "But if the price is right, there shouldn't be a problem. Since you are satisfied with this transaction, how about…"

The Squib just mentioned it casually. Among the materials Dudley wanted, many were prohibited items. Even normal wizards would find it challenging to obtain them, let alone them.

Actually, Dudley also wanted some powdered unicorn horn, but that stuff was beyond prohibited—expecting Squibs to get it was highly unlikely.

"As long as you can get it for me, money is not a problem."

Dudley placed the small messenger bag on the table and then poured its contents out.

The group of Squibs in the room stared, their eyes fixed on the dazzling and golden pile, gleaming brightly under the dim light, blinding to the eyes.

It was all gold.

Naturally, the currency Dudley used for transactions with Squibs couldn't be pounds; they only accepted gold.

It wasn't because Squibs were antiques, but because gold could barely function as a circulating currency in the magical world.

Without Philosopher's Stone turning base metals into gold and disrupting the market, gold was considered a hard currency. After all, one of the main ingredients for Galleons was gold.

Actually, Gringotts offered pound-to-Galleon exchange services. Five pounds could be exchanged for one Galleon, but the yearly limit was a hundred Galleons and only applied to young wizards attending Hogwarts.

Ordinary people couldn't take advantage of the price difference to profit. Don't think those goblins were idiots; their desire for money and greed far exceeded your imagination.

Even exchanging this bag of gold at Gringotts would only yield a pitiful amount of Galleons.

Galleons were gold, but gold didn't equate to Galleons. Special processing and numbering by the goblins were needed.

After deducting the cost of magical materials, Squibs only made a hard-earned living, with the bulk of the profits taken by the goblins.

I have to say that wizards are really crazy, actually entrusting their economic lifeline to a defeated race.

"Pleasant cooperation."

Getting a bag with a Traceless Extension Charm made Dudley feel good. Without even looking at the gold on the table, he carefully put the bag and said to the Squibs.

Now, he wasn't short of money; he lacked magical potion ingredients.

Moreover, he found that as long as the potions were brewed well, he wasn't much worse than an average wizard.

The power of certain potions was quite extraordinary.

"Pleasant cooperation." The Squibs, having received gold, naturally had nothing more to say.

As for robbing Dudley and taking the magical potion ingredients back, they didn't even consider it. As Squibs, they had no use for magical potion ingredients, and finding someone as generous as Dudley these days wasn't easy. Offending him would lead to significant losses.

Moreover, Squibs couldn't perform magic. What would they use to rob? Hand-to-hand combat?

Looking at Dudley's sturdy but unconventional physique, any thoughts they might have had were extinguished.

Dudley left the alley and, in no time, boarded a car at the agreed-upon location. The driver then took him to a property. This place was Dudley's purchase, specifically used to store magical potions. There was still some time until noon, so he had to put away the items first.

There was no need for Petunia and the others, who disliked magic, to see it yet.

At least it's not the time yet.

(End of this chapter)