Chapter 16: 5000 Is So Cheap! (Edited)

After half a year of tutoring, Bell not only officially entered the field of alchemy but also conducted an in-depth review that further strengthened his foundations.

He also learned many experiences and knowledge from various Auror wizards and designed a training plan for himself.

Bell embarked on his development journey once again, this time with much confidence that he would succeed.

Reality proved that Bell's intuition was not wrong. In just one month, he successfully created the Shield Charm Ring (which allows the creation of a Shield Charm by injecting magic).

The protection of the Shield Charm Ring far exceeded Bell's initial impression of the "Anti-Spell Hat," but he was not satisfied at all. For wizards who mastered the Shield Charm, this ring was useless, just like for Bell, who had already mastered that charm.

So, this ring was only the beginning, far from being finished.

Next, Bell planned to improve the Shield Charm Ring in two directions.

First, make the ring capable of storing a large amount of magic. This way, wizards wouldn't have to spend their own magical energy after activating the ring, which could save their lives in times of crisis.

Second, set the ring to activate automatically when the user received a surprise attack. This way, wizards would gain time to react when suddenly attacked.

In addition to the Shield Charm Ring, Bell planned to continue improving and developing various existing magical artifacts to create more powerful and practical magical artifacts.

For example, inspired by the Two-Way Mirror, he would create a magical artifact that could detect specific dangers. Or taking a cue from Moody's Eye, he would make glasses capable of detecting hidden spells. Or, based on flying broomsticks, he would develop combat-friendly flying shoes, among other projects.

Bell didn't know how much time and effort it would take to achieve his goals, but he knew that if he didn't try, he would never succeed. As for relying on others to invent similar magical artifacts, Bell never entertained that idea. He always relied on himself and his family rather than depending on others.

...

"Bell, I heard that today you took 5,000 Galleons to the Weasley house. What did you use so much money for?" At the dinner table, William asked his son.

Actually, he didn't care much about the 5,000 Galleons, after all, it was only 5,000 Galleons, and he spent much more than that on a single house party. However, what worried William was that the money was taken by Bell, and that made the nature of the matter different.

William knew that his son had a unique perspective on money. Bell truly didn't consider money as something valuable from that night several years ago when he expressed his opinions about Galleons. Since then, William had been worried that Bell would spend money recklessly, which would mean they would need even more Galleons in their vault.

Fortunately, things hadn't gone in the direction William feared. In fact, they had gone better than he expected. Bell not only didn't spend money cheerfully, but he didn't even spend a single Knut. In terms of food, clothing, and everything else, Bell always received what his mother, Elena, provided him.

Besides the taste of the food, Bell never asked for anything in particular. He didn't care about the quality of clothing or the preciousness of gifts; he was content with what he was given, without making any demands.

Compared to other young heirs of families, Bell was incredibly obedient, so much so that his mother, Elena, was extremely happy with him, to the point of crying tears of joy.

Even after Bell started hiring tutors and studying alchemy, spending large sums of Galleons and consuming many magical materials, William never opposed these expenses. He was willing to pay whatever amount was necessary.

However, today, when William returned home, he heard that Bell had taken 5,000 Galleons and gone to the Weasley house, apparently returning empty-handed.

The Weasley family barely made ends meet; they had sold everything valuable a long time ago, so what valuable thing could there be in the Weasley house worth 5,000 Galleons? Was Bell finally going to reveal his true nature and start spending money extravagantly?

William, as the head of the family, felt that he needed to immediately put an end to any frivolous spending by Bell.

"Oh, I bought this."

Bell pulled a bunch of scrolls from his pocket and handed them to his father.

William carefully examined a scroll and found that it contained instructions on how to modify a Muggle car.

William had heard about Arthur Weasley's obsession with Muggle objects and his penchant for magically modifying them.

Strictly speaking, this activity was somewhat prohibited, but no one interfered in his affairs since Arthur Weasley always did it in the privacy of his home. Most of the time, people simply laughed it off. After all, the Weasleys were an old pure-blood family, despite their financial situation, and they had a wide network of contacts.

However, William raised his gaze and gave Bell an incredulous look.

"I thought Mr. Weasley's technology was valuable, so I bought it."

"Is this it? You spent 5,000 Galleons on this?"

William seriously suspected that his son had been ripped off and decided to confront Arthur Weasley the next day. How dare that guy ask for 5,000 Galleons for this? It wasn't even worth 500! Was he completely bankrupt?

"Yes, I thought 5,000 was a fairly reasonable price. At first, Mr. Weasley didn't want to accept so much money, insisting that he only needed a couple of hundred Galleons as a friendly gesture. But I'm not one to take advantage of others, so after my insistence, Mr. Weasley finally accepted."

"..."

The plan to confront the Weasleys fell apart.

Bell looked up and noticed the disgust on his father's face but remained calm. "Don't worry, Dad. The 5,000 Galleons really aren't expensive. This technology will bring us huge benefits."

William thought to himself, "Believe what you want!"

Reality was already set, and William couldn't do anything about it. He could only hope that Bell was right.

...

A month later, William was planning to attend a party that evening, so he returned home earlier than usual.

He put on a stylish suit and, after fixing himself in front of the mirror, walked out of the front door of the castle with a warm smile on his face. He intended to use the Apparition Charm to get to the party's location. Using Floo Powder would inevitably stain his clothes with dust, and performing long-distance Apparition was a way to showcase his skills.

"Argh! My eyes!"

However, the moment he opened the door, a bright light blinded him. He felt everything turning white and couldn't see anything. If he didn't know he was at home and that the protective barrier hadn't been breached, he would have thought he was under attack.