Chapter -16 Business with Squibs.

Chapter 16.

Dudley had decided to call himself Shadow.

He thought of Shadow as someone who didn't really cast spells but was always busy brewing potions, which felt a bit like his own life.

Sure, he had a thick head of hair and a strong build that could easily take down a bunch of those skinny guys.

Did you think this was a hangout for wizards?

Nope! Dudley felt completely out of place here.

This was a spot for Squibs.

Since Squibs couldn't perform magic, the room didn't have any of those fancy extension charms. The vibe of a struggling wizard wasn't great, and Squibs didn't have it any better.

Life was pretty tough for Squibs in the magical world. Without the ability to do magic, they couldn't chase after magic-related jobs, which meant money was tight. Not every Squib was as lucky as Mr. Filch, the Hogwarts caretaker.

If Squibs weren't leaning on their families for help, they had to find other ways to get by in the magical world.

They were at the bottom of the magical society.

That's why Squibs often moved between the Muggle world and the wizarding world; it was the easiest way for them to bump into magical folks.

After all, those self-proclaimed superior wizards wouldn't even glance at a Muggle.

The servant here looked the best among the Squibs, but even he had clothes that looked a bit greasy and worn.

Aside from a few exceptions like Mrs. Figg, most Squibs didn't really care about cleanliness; they wouldn't use Muggle laundry detergent or cleaning products, but they also couldn't cast the wizarding spell to tidy up.

If you had to sum them up in one word, it would be: messy.

Wizards had Hogsmeade; Squibs didn't have that luxury. They could only live in homes built by other Squibs.

As Dudley walked past a room, he caught a few words floating out, like magic and crash course.

The servant, wearing a flattering smile, guided Dudley to the innermost room of the house.

This was the spot they had agreed on for trading.

Dudley was their big client, so they were eager to make a good impression.

Inside, a few Squibs had been waiting for a while. When Dudley walked in, they all stood up, looking at him with eager expressions.

"Where are the goods?" Dudley asked right away as he stepped into the room.

Honestly, the smell in here was pretty awful, and with his keen sense of smell, he didn't want to linger any longer.

"Respected Mr. Shadow, here's what you asked for."

One Squib, looking a bit cleaner than the rest, handed Dudley a small shoulder bag.

Dudley opened the bag and noticed it had been magically enhanced; it was bigger on the inside than it looked, though still a bit cramped.

Inside were neatly arranged glass bottles filled with familiar magical ingredients like Jumping Root, Gillyweed, Bad Blood Grass, Angelica, Sneezing Grass, and a few magical books.

'This should do for a while.'

Dudley took a quick look; while the quality of these potions wasn't top-notch, it was decent enough.

He couldn't just pop into the wizarding world to buy them, so this was a pretty good score. "Everything looks fine, but I'd love to get some rarer materials next time. Like fire ash snake eggs, jumping mushroom caps, giant troll mucus, liquid grass, and African tree snake skins."

"The things you mentioned are pretty hard to find," the Squib replied, nervously rubbing his fingers. "But if the price is right, we can make it happen. Since you're happy with what you got this time, what do you think?"

The Squib was just chatting; many of the materials Dudley wanted were contraband, even normal wizards would struggle to get them, let alone Squibs. Dudley also had his eye on some powdered unicorn horns, but those were among the most forbidden items, so it was unlikely the Squib could get them.

"As long as you can help me find them, money isn't an issue."

Dudley said as he placed a small bag on the table and poured it out.

The Squibs in the room stared wide-eyed, their eyes sparkling with greed.

Under the dim yellow light, the sight was dazzling and almost blinding.

It was all gold.

Dudley traded with the Squibs using gold, not pounds; they only accepted gold.

It wasn't that the Squibs were old-fashioned, but gold was the only currency that really worked in the magical world.

If it weren't for the Philosopher's Stone messing with the market, gold would be the go-to currency.

After all, gold is one of the main ingredients for Galleons.

Gringotts does offer a service to exchange pounds for Galleons; 5 pounds can get you 1 Galleon, but there's a yearly limit of a hundred Galleons, and it's only for young wizards at Hogwarts.

Regular folks can't take advantage of the price difference; don't think those goblins are naive; their greed is beyond what you might imagine.

Exchanging this bag of gold at Gringotts would only get you a tiny amount of Galleons.

Galleons are made of gold, but gold doesn't automatically mean Galleons; it also needs the goblins to process and number it in a special way.

After covering the costs of magical materials, the Squibs only make a small profit, with most of the earnings going to the goblins.

It's worth noting that wizards are pretty oblivious, actually trusting their financial future to a defeated race.

"Pleasure doing business."

With a no-blemish extension charm bag in hand, Dudley felt pretty good; without even glancing at the gold on the table, he carefully tucked the bag away and said to the Squib.

Right now, he didn't need more money; he just needed potion materials.

Plus, he realized that as long as he brewed the potions well, they weren't much worse than those made by regular wizards.

Some potions were actually quite powerful.

"Pleasure doing business." The Squibs were in a good mood after receiving the gold.

As for robbing Dudley to get the potion materials back, that thought never crossed their minds; as Squibs, they had no use for potion materials, and finding someone as generous as Dudley was a rare treat.

Offending him would mean big losses.

Besides, Squibs couldn't cast spells; what would they use to rob? Hand-to-hand combat?

Seeing Dudley's strong build, any initial thoughts they had quickly vanished.

Dudley left the alley and soon hopped into a vehicle at the agreed spot; the driver then took him to a property he had bought just for storing potions. There was still some time before noon, and he needed to put everything away first.

No need to let Petunia and the others, who weren't fans of magic, see it just yet.

At least, now wasn't the right time.

Note : Guys, some power stones will be really helpful.