Chapter 169 - Torture and Secrets (1)
After the wake, Asterion stood behind a desk and looked at the pile of papers with a grim expression. The pile of papers was at least thirty centimeters high, with at least hundreds of sheets, if not thousands.
He finally understood the popular saying: "Only one who takes care of the house knows the cost of maintaining it."
The cost of maintaining the Black Mansion each month alone was enough to support tens of thousands of ordinary families. To maintain this high cost of living, House Black owned many industries in Diagon Alley and many places in Britain. Which, in turn, cost a lot of money to maintain and support.
Why is it so difficult for ordinary people to get rich in the wizarding world?
This is easy to explain. Noble houses in England and powerful families in other countries controlled virtually every sector of the economy in each country.
By creating individual monopolies, they made it virtually impossible for ordinary people to get rich like in a normal society. Combine this with the corruption in the Ministry of Magic and you have an extremely unjust society based on caste and nepotism.
Every piece of paper in front of Asterion was a report, compiled by Narcissa, of all costs and profits at the end of each month and year.
House Black spent about twelve million gold galleons a year to keep everything running smoothly, and the profit from all this investment was about nineteen million gold galleons.
Frankly, it was an amount that hardly any family could spend in a lifetime, but of that nineteen million, twelve million was simply reinvested, creating an almost perpetual cycle of profit, and all the rest, which was about six million, was kept in the Black Vaults in Gringotes.
From the above profit, you can imagine how much money House Black has accumulated in its thousand years of existence. Of course, wizards didn't spend as much in the old days as they do today, but it was such a large sum that Asterion could shake England's economy to its core if he wanted to.
That was just House Black; other noble houses, even if they didn't come close to House Black's fortune, still had very large fortunes. One of the reasons Dumbledore never attacked and exterminated these parasites that fed off the land.
Wiping out the noble houses would probably only lead to the worst economic crisis any country in the world has ever faced. Not to mention the international damage, since England was also a major importer in international trade.
Leaning back in his chair, Asterion stroked his forehead and let out a heavy sigh of fatigue, admiring Arcturus even more for taking care of House Black on his own for so long.
Seeing Asterion's condition, Narcissa spoke in a gentle tone. "Asty, you don't have to force yourself, I usually do that, you just have to concentrate on your studies."
Asterion rolled his eyes at her words, Narcissa not only worked as his secretary in the Clock Tower, but also took care of House Black's finances. You could say the woman worked more than eight hours a day.
Knowing this, Asterion couldn't leave Narcissa as overworked as before, it was too cruel and unfair, even if Narcissa didn't seem to mind.
"Cissy, ask Andromeda if she would like to be hired to help with House Black's finances." Asterion spoke in a calm tone. He couldn't just hire anyone to help with the finances, it had to be someone he could trust, and Andromeda fit the bill.
After all, it was an astronomical sum, and when it came to money, you can never underestimate human greed.
Narcissa was surprised and after some thought she nodded with a smile on her lips.
"I'll talk to her." Narcissa spoke in a slightly excited tone. The idea of working with her sister seemed more than ideal in her eyes.
Suddenly, Narcissa's eyes fell on the girl sitting on the sofa, dressed in men's clothes, her long black hair covering the entire office sofa.
She was holding a large cookie in her hands and eating adorably with her cheeks puffed out like squirrels, the whole picture looking extremely adorable.
Even though it wasn't the first time she had seen the girl, she was still amazed at how much the girl resembled her cousin, she was practically the female version of Asterion.
Narcissa didn't ask about the girl's origins, Asterion was the Lord of House Black, no longer the child she had cared for and loved as a young girl, she couldn't question Asterion like she had before.
"Asty, is Morgan going to Hogwarts?" Narcissa asked, looking away from the girl and towards Asterion behind the desk.
"Yes." Without looking up, Asterion replied, reading the report in front of him in a calm tone.
Although Rose and Dumbledore would probably find out Morgan's identity, Asterion knew that they wouldn't say anything, after all, in their conception it was only a cursed spirit in human form.
An extremely powerful cursed spirit.
For the moment, they would never know how important Morgan Black was to Asterion.
And it would stay that way for a long time, he didn't want to tell anyone until the time was right, including Daphne. The fewer people who knew, the easier it would be to carry out his final plan.
"Cissy, I'm going back to Hogwarts today." Asterion spoke and added. "There will probably be a meeting of the Twelve Lords this week." Narcissa lifted her head and looked at Asterion in surprise, a meeting of the Twelve Lords was very rare, there had only been one since the Clock Tower was built, a meeting held because of Grindelwald and his attacks.
Now that another one was scheduled, she could imagine that something very serious had happened. It would be enough to summon all twelve Lords of the Clock Tower.
"Yes, I'll get everything ready." Narcissa nodded and spoke in a serious tone. Although she didn't know what the meeting was about, she knew that people would probably die.
-
Hogwarts - Dungeons.
Walking through the dark corridors, illuminated by the flickering flames of torches, Asterion stopped in front of a rusty metal door and flashed a cold smile.
Opening the door, Asterion saw a cell made of moss-covered stones, and a strong, pungent smell hung in the air; it was obvious that the sanitary conditions of the place were not the best.
In the middle of the cell, a woman was tied to a chair, her hair disheveled and her face pale, her once elegant dress dirty and somewhat worn. Her lips were parched from lack of water, but despite her condition, her eyes were more than bright.
It was Verucca Buckthorn-Snyde.
"Forgive my tardiness, I was busy with more important matters than meeting you, Miss Buckthorn." Taking off his jacket and laying it folded on an old table, Asterion spoke in a gentle tone.
"If you speak now, I can be a gentleman." He began slowly folding up the sleeves of his shirt, unaware of the look he received from the woman stuck in the chair.
"What an honor to have the great Asterion Black torment me in person." A hoarse but still proud voice escaped the woman's parched lips.
Asterion couldn't help but smile, seeing the woman's pride still strong despite the circumstances. Although he didn't understand why she was so proud, maybe it was because she was a high-ranking member of a secret organization, but he didn't care.
"Sorry, I don't give autographs, especially to my enemies." Asterion finished folding the sleeves of his shirt and turned to the woman in the chair.
"Let's get started." Asterion smiled coldly as he pulled on white silk gloves.
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Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 170 - Torture and Secrets (2), Chapter 171 - Conspiracies and Secrets (1), 172 - Conspiracies and Secrets (2), 173 - Conspiracies and Secrets (3), 174 - Conspiracies and Secrets (4), 175 - Conspiracies and Secrets (5), 176 - Conspiracies and Secrets (6), 177 - Conspiracies and Secrets (7), Chapter 178 - Decision and two wives (1), Chapter 179 - Decision and two wives (2), Chapter 180 - The Old King of Camelot (1), Chapter 181 - The Old King of Camelot (2), Chapter 182 - The Old King of Camelot (3), Chapter 183 - Second Trial of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (1), Chapter 184 - Second Trial of the International Tournament of Witchcraft and Wizardry (2).