Chapter 10: What is Money For? (Edited)

"Really? From what I know, the Weasley family is nearly bankrupt, but in this generation, they have 7 children. You can say that in the entire wizarding world, you won't find a more prosperous family than them, right?"

Thinking about the Weasley family, Bell remembered Ron, Harry's companion and good friend, and somehow that put him in a bad mood.

"As for the Black family, one of the oldest pure-blood families in Britain, I don't know how many Galleons they have. But the family heir, Sirius Black, was sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban and is unlikely to have any offspring. The Crouch family, an ancient family with a long tradition, seems to be quite wealthy. The head of the family for this generation, Bartemius Crouch Sr., was about to become the Minister of Magic, and he definitely had power and influence, but the family heir, Bartemius Crouch Jr., died in Azkaban. And old Crouch has no intention of having another heir, so it can also be considered to be on the verge of extinction."

Bell looked at his father.

"So, what do you say about the Galleons?"

William didn't want to talk and looked to his wife Elena for help.

William felt that if he kept talking, he would just clam up. Can you imagine the scene where a 30-year-old middle-aged man is left speechless by a 5-year-old? Right now, all he wanted was a bottle of '82 Lafite Rothschild to calm his inner distress and then sleep until the next morning. He hoped this wouldn't leave a lasting impression, or he might find himself avoiding conversations with his own son in the future.

Elena, who had been listening to the conversation between father and son from the side, was amazed.

"Bell, how do you know all of these things? Have you read them in some book?"

"You know, Mom. I was stuck in my room for a long time. When you stay in one place for a long time, it's natural to get bored, so I had to find something to do. After studying for a while, I used to reflect on all sorts of random things, and over time, I started to develop my own opinions on things."

"Oh, my poor Bell."

Elena approached with tears in her eyes and hugged Bell tightly.

"It's okay now, darling. You're free to go wherever you want."

"I'm okay, Mom," Bell said with difficulty, "but if you don't let go soon, I'll be in trouble. You're hugging me too tight, and I can't breathe!"

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Elena quickly released Bell.

"You're right, dear, but what can we do about it? Strengthening the family's power is no simple matter. The Minethil family's ancestors worked hard for hundreds of years to get where they are today."

William looked at Bell again and decided that if Bell couldn't offer a better solution later, he would definitely tease him. He was being a little petty and nitpicky today, and no one could stop him!

As for whether Bell proposed a viable solution, what would he do then? If he could come up with a solution, wouldn't it be easy to find flaws in it?

"Retrieve the Galleons and secretly train wizards loyal to the Minethil family. From what I know, many wizarding lives are not going very well. If we offer benefits and favors, couldn't we attract some trustworthy individuals? No matter how much money we spend, money is disposable; we'll earn it back. And the value of those wizards far outweighs the Galleons."

"In the initial stage, we can take it slowly and focus on stability, trying not to attract the attention of the outside world. Besides, the most important thing is quality over quantity. Loyalty always comes first for family wizards. Based on ensuring loyalty, we should conduct rigorous training regularly. At the very least, our combat ability should not be inferior to that of the Aurors. We can start with a small goal, hmm... like gaining the power to 'overthrow the Ministry of Magic at any time.'"

William and Elena stared at Bell in silence. Just having the power to overthrow the Ministry of Magic was a small goal? They should remember that even at its peak, 'You-Know-Who' couldn't overthrow the Ministry of Magic. So, what would be the main goal? World domination?

"However, if we have too many people, it will be hard to avoid the Ministry of Magic's notice. The Ministry of Magic will never allow such behavior. On the other hand, with only 1 or 2 people, it won't make sense," pointed out William, looking for flaws.

Bell, clearly a novice in these matters, hadn't noticed this obvious point. Today, William would take the time to give him a lesson in harsh reality.

"Don't we have many businesses in our family?" Bell asked.

"Of course, our main family industry is the manufacturing of magical statues. Wizard's chess is our secondary industry. Additionally, we have farms in many parts of the world that breed dangerous magical creatures to obtain magical materials used in statue manufacturing. In fact, all major industries in the wizarding world are controlled by various pure-blood families," explained William.

"So, the problem is simple," Bell shrugged. "These days, there are many dark wizards hiding somewhere, some of whom are former Death Eaters whose whereabouts are unknown. So, shouldn't we have guards at our factories? There are so many dangerous magical creatures on the farms, and wild magical beasts cause problems from time to time. We need trained wizards to oversee, right? Their job is dangerous, and we're a kind family, so we should spend money to help them improve their magical skills and ensure their safety. No one should oppose this, and if someone does, and someone gets hurt or killed on the job, they will be held responsible. Increasing the staff is a normal labor requirement, and if we hire double the employees, we call it a 'position requirement,' if we hire triple, we call it 'employee care.' We'll accumulate gradually this way. How about starting with 100 people in the first phase?"

William and Elena were completely surprised. William even stopped looking for flaws.

Listen, what kind of idea is this? Clearly, they were gaining a great advantage, but Bell acted as if it were an act of great kindness and benevolence. How could he come up with such a clever idea? If William kept looking for flaws, he might remember it and plan to take revenge in the future.

William thought that Bell had surely inherited the influence of his mother and had not received his own dose of integrity.

"Wait a moment," William said as he rummaged through his pockets.

"Let me take notes."

Finally, the Minethil family expansion plan was established.

Being the leader of an ancient pure-blood family, William had considerable skills. Often, he was only limited by the times and his perspective, not thinking much about possibilities. After Bell's suggestion, a series of plans and considerations immediately came to mind, and he was eager to put them into practice.

William remained excited in the living room as he refined his plans, while Bell was led away by Elena.

"Bell, why don't you bathe with Mom? By the way, mother and son have never taken a bath together," Elena said enthusiastically.

"Mom! I can bathe on my own. And I can walk on my own too. Let me go!"

ヽ(*.>A<)o゜< p>

Bell fought with all his might, but it was in vain.

"Bell is blushing! He's so cute! Haha!"