Chapter 118: Resolve (1)

As soon as Alia heard Arthur's voice, she stood up and displayed her perfect curves to the fullest.

"Wow,"

Lockhart whispered, but as Arthur's gaze swept over, he quickly closed his mouth.

Arthur took off his hood, showing his handsome face, which made Alia stop for a moment.

Although it had only been a few months, Arthur standing before in front of her had grown even more.

Looking at the dazed Alia, Arthur couldn't help but smile.

"What's this? You don't recognize your boss after a few months?"

Arthur's teasing woke Alia up from her daze. Her face turned a little red, and instead of answering Arthur, she looked at Lockhart.

"Who is this?"

Lockhart looked at Arthur and got his permission before taking off his hood and showing a bright smile.

"Hello, I'm Gilderoy Lockhart and Mr. Gaunt's subordinate. Nice to meet you."

Alia looked at Arthur with a strange expression, wondering if he was going to school or trying to get involved with Hogwart's business.

Ignoring her strange gaze, Arthur took a seat at the head of the table, followed by Alia and Lockhart.

"Alia, tell me about the current situation and your plans,"

Arthur said, getting down to business.

Alia's expression turned serious, hearing Arthur mention the situation, and she began explaining the current situation.

"The Alia family has a total of 76 regular wizards and 30 werewolf wizards. The top five are qualified to pass the Proudfoot Assessment."

"We now own five shops in Knockturn Alley and one location in Diagon Alley, but it is temporarily rented to a new company that makes broomsticks."

"The situation is good right now, but our growth has been slowed since the Ramsay and Frank families joined forces."

"Those two families have always been after the werewolf wizards and those lawless wizards. However, their work has become harder and harder since our rise. They finally got united not long ago."

"Last week, they attacked one of our potion shops, but it was just a test and was quickly stopped. However, they will not give up easily."

As Alia spoke, Arthur started to realize what kind of power he now had.

Tapping his fingers lightly on the table, Arthur asked,

"How is the infiltration of the Ministry of Magic going?"

Alia looked a little bit embarrassed when she heard Arthur's question.

"Only a few Ministry employees who were born to Muggles have agreed to work for me. The people in Knockturn Alley aren't very friendly to us."

Arthur understood the meaning behind Alia's words.

It wasn't just that they weren't friendly; they were clearly looking down on Alia.

For the entire wizarding world, the wizards in Knockturn Alley were like rats in a filthy sewer.

Many of them hadn't even learned at Hogwarts.

(according to this canon, some were weak in magic or separated wizards from various parts of Europe).

Since they were the best, came from good families, and worked at the Ministry of Magic, they naturally looked down on Alia and her subordinates and would never hire them.

After a moment of thought, Arthur spoke up,

"I'm going to let Lockhart take care of the Ministry of Magic. I brought him here so that you could all meet him. If Lockhart needs help in the future, you should do everything you can to help him."

"Now, let's talk about those two families in Knockturn Alley. What are your plans?"

When Alia heard what Arthur said, she looked at Lockhart, who remained quiet, and realized why Arthur had brought him along.

But she quickly brought her focus back.

"I was going to try to win over one of the families so we could work together to get rid of the other, but now that you're here..."

Arthur nodded.

Alia's strategy was sound—split and conquer.

However, Arthur didn't want to be troublesome. At this point, he didn't think it was worth his time to deal with these small families in Knockturn Alley.

He straightforwardly rejected it, saying, "No need to go to all that trouble. I only have one question for you: Can they be brought under our control? We should have a chance to get rid of them completely, if possible."

Alia didn't expect Arthur to be so determined.

She thought for a moment and then said,

"In fact, the wizards in Knockturn Alley do respect the strong. If you can use your power to bring them under control, you have a good chance of winning them."

At this point, Alia chuckled bitterly.

After all, she was the one who submitted to Arthur's strength in the first place, wasn't she? But she was glad now that she had made that choice back then.

Alia continued, "On Christmas Eve, they will have a banquet where members of both sides will meet. The goal is to end their long-standing rivalry toward each other and show us what they can do."

When hearing this information, Arthur's eyes lit up, and he immediately spoke,

"So on Christmas Eve, all these people will gather just to make things easier for me. I can't help but appreciate their efforts."

Allia looked at Arthur with a strange expression.

Arthur was great in many ways, but sometimes he didn't speak like a normal person.

Lockhart beside them also felt the same. Their relationship between them not only didn't speak like a normal person but also didn't do things like a normal person.

Arthur told Alia, "The day after tomorrow, have some of your subordinates positioned in their territories. Get ready to take control when it's your turn."

Alia looked worriedly at Arthur and said, "But if we send too many subordinates out, won't the front lines be..."

"Don't worry about that. I'll be the only one to take action that night. You won't need those subordinates of yours,"

Arthur waved his hand to reassure Alia.

Lockhart spoke up to calm her, saying, "Don't worry about our boss. His power is terrifying."

In fact, Lockhart might have known the most about Arthur's power out of everyone there.

He had seen Arthur changing himself close to being useless into someone with fighting abilities closing the level of elite Aurors.

We can only imagine how strong Arthur himself must be.

When Alia heard what Lockhart said, she had no choice but to believe him.

Arthur's eyes were shining with excitement.

Finally...

It was time to make a big move.

...

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