Chapter 564: Filch, the long-lost one

London finally became a little sunny in early July, but unlike the summer that most people imagine, the temperature in London did not rise, and it was still in the very pleasant range of about 20 degrees.

Mike walked on the streets of London with Franklin and others, looking at the cars and beautifully dressed pedestrians coming and going around, and felt as if they were in another world.

In the past few years, he has spent most of his time in the wizarding world, which has made him almost forget what the life of a Muggle should be like.

After sighing for a while, Mike continued to move forward.

Their destination is a building located on the banks of the Thames, which is also a branch of the Los Santos Group.

There today, Mike will discuss the future cooperation between the two parties with representatives sent by several minority groups such as goblins, Muggle wizards, centaurs and witches.

Mike actually expected these guys to come to him.

But what Mike didn't expect was that they came so soon.

Mike thought they could hold on for a while.

It seems that Mike still overestimated them.

The reason why Mike set the meeting place at the Los Santos Group branch was because he did not trust these guys.

After all, those guys are greedy guys. As long as there is enough profit, they will not hesitate to let them sell Mike.

While thinking, Mike and others have arrived at the destination.

This is an old building, but unlike the old buildings of this period, the building used as a branch by the Los Santos Group does not have those chromatic aberration glass pieces installed on the exterior wall, but retains the original old window frames, which also makes this building look unique.

Of course, unique charm is based on Mike's aesthetics. In the eyes of most people in this era, this is just an ordinary old building.

At this time, in the lobby on the ground floor of the Los Santos branch, countless people in ragged and weird clothes are gathered here and lined up to receive food and clothes distributed by the Los Santos Group.

These things are relief supplies specially prepared by the Los Santos Group. Due to the Ministry of Magic's crackdown on minority groups during this period, the voices against minority groups in the wizarding community are getting stronger and stronger, which has also caused many Muggle wizards who originally had jobs to lose their jobs instantly.

In this case, they have to rely on the relief of Los Santos to survive.

Of course, not all the people gathered in the lobby of the Los Santos branch are Muggle wizards. There are also many Squibs who have a hard life. They are also on the list of those who can receive relief supplies.

It is easy to distinguish between Squibs and Muggle wizards, because they always hate each other, and even queue up in two groups.

Squibs are jealous of the spellcasting ability of Muggle wizards, but at the same time they look down on Muggle wizards because of their own bloodline.

Muggle wizards think that those Squibs who have no spellcasting ability are completely useless, and living is a waste of food.

Mike doesn't care about this kind of thing. Many times he even has the same idea as his fellow Muggle wizards, thinking that these Squibs are hopeless waste.

It is precisely because they have no use value that Mike didn't even contact the Squibs during this multi-party meeting.

The reason why Mike included the Squibs in the relief list was just to let the Squibs set an example and let other minority groups know that their Los Santos Group treats all groups equally.

After observing the crowd for a while, Mike led a group of Freemasons to the elevator after finding that the scene was orderly and there was no looting.

But before he walked far, a small figure suddenly blocked his way

. Mike looked down and saw a gray, skinny big cat coiled at his feet.

Mike's expression became a little strange, because he always felt that the cat in front of him looked familiar.

After hesitating for a moment, he tentatively called:

"Mrs. Norris?"

"Meow!~"

The big cat in front of him called gently, then lay on Mike's feet and began to lick his fur.

Mike stopped Franklin's attempt to catch Mrs. Norris and began to look around.

He knew very well that since Mrs. Norris was here, Filch must be here too.

Sure enough, after looking around for a while, he easily found Filch in the team of Squibs.

However, Filch's appearance at this moment was greatly changed from when he was in Hogwarts.

He became thinner, and there were more white hairs on his head. He looked as if he might fall down at any time.

Seeing Mike and others looking at him, Filch instinctively wanted to cover his face with his hood.

Mike knew very well that it was Filch's fragile self-esteem that was at work. Although everyone in Hogwarts knew that he was a Squib, he never admitted this fact.

Of course, Filch's move might also be because he was afraid that Mike and others would retaliate against him.

After all, he had caused a lot of trouble for Mike and Franklin in Hogwarts. Now that he had lost his status as a janitor, it was normal for him to be retaliated against.

Shaking his head, Mike had no intention of taking revenge on the poor old Squib. He leaned over and rubbed Mrs. Norris twice, and after taking it off his feet, he was ready to move forward.

At this moment, Mike saw from the corner of his eye that Filch, who had been pretending not to know him and the others, suddenly rushed over.

Franklin, who was beside Mike, was the first to react, and his wand was pointed at Filch almost instantly.

Filch, who was pointed at by the wand, froze, and the muscles on his face kept trembling, but he still forced a humble smile, and kept bowing to Mike without saying a word.

Looking at the other party's hunched body, Mike naturally understood what he meant. With a slight wave of his fingers, Mrs. Norris, who was licking the fur at his feet, automatically floated back to Filch's side.

Filch was overjoyed to see this, and bowed deeply to Mike again, then picked up Mrs. Norris and returned to the Squib team.

Unfortunately, his original position had been taken by someone, so he had to start queuing from the beginning.

But despite this, Filch did not show any displeasure. He hugged Mrs. Norris tightly and walked quickly to the end of the line, his face still filled with a happy smile of regaining what he had lost.

Mike witnessed all this, and a thoughtful look appeared on his face.

He leaned slightly to the side and said to Victor without turning his head:

"How is the research on that wand you named?"

"Reusable automatic wand! The name is not long, I sincerely hope you can remember it, boss!" Victor rolled his eyes and said, "At present, the automatic wand has developed to version 2.0. I used some cheap materials to replace the original materials without reducing its effects, but the cost is still relatively high."

"Oh! I see." Mike continued without turning his head, "Then can this automatic wand release the Killing Curse?"

"That's impossible! The Killing Curse is different from ordinary spells. It requires strong emotions to release, which is something that alchemical machines can't do!"

"Then what about the Knife of Assassins?"

Hearing this, Victor did not answer immediately, but followed Mike's gaze to look at Filch who was queuing, and his expression suddenly became strange.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally said:

"It's possible, but the magic power consumed by the Sharp Shadowless Spell is relatively large. If it is used by a Squib, their magic power will be exhausted in a few times." "

Is that so." Mike murmured, "Then let's mass-produce some Sharp Shadowless Wands and give them to those Squibs, and let them be our cannon fodder."

When this was said, not only Victor, but also everyone else was shocked.

Benjamin frowned and persuaded:

"Mike, this is not a cost-effective deal. Even if those Squibs have the ability to cast spells, they can't help much."

"Who cares, it's decided."

After saying that, Mike walked into the elevator without looking back, leaving Benjamin and others looking at each other.

They really couldn't understand Mike's idea.

Fortunately, the Los Santos Group is a large and powerful company. Not to mention mass-producing a batch of Sharp Shadowless Wands, even if all the Squibs in the country are given a set of daily use wands, it will not have any impact on the operation of the group.

Shaking their heads, everyone finally decided not to pursue the matter and followed Mike into the elevator.

The elevator door gradually closed. Looking at Filch and Mrs. Norris who slowly disappeared from his sight, Mike's mouth corners slightly raised.

Why did Mike do this?

Even he himself was not very clear about this question.

Was it because he felt sorry for a dud like Filch, so he gave them some hope?

Or did he simply think that the scene of Filch raising his wand and attacking the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic was more interesting and wanted to see it?

Or, both?

Who knows?

...

Pushing open the door of the conference room, Mike led a group of Freemasons to walk in.

At this time, several people were already sitting at the large conference table in the conference room.

Among them, sitting at the top on the right side of the conference table was an old woman in a white dress with her white hair tied up.

This was a representative sent by the witch group, and also the leader of the famous group "Daughters of the Federation" in the circle of noble ladies - Catherine Deller.

And below her was the current president of Gringotts - Tongmen.

The remaining few people were the centaur representative Jello, the mermaid representative Lilith, and the Muggle wizard representative Karen Quit.

It is worth mentioning that the mermaid representative Lilith is a mermaid woman who looks very pure and is also very "fierce"!

Just like what is recorded in the fairy tales of Muggles, Lilith's fish tail covered with crimson scales is immersed in a huge fish tank, and her upper body is only covered with two shells as decorations to cover the ferociousness.

I don't know why, when he saw her, Mike thought of the mermaid portrait in the bathroom of the prefect of Hogwarts.

Seeing Mike and others appear, Karen stood up from her seat in an instant and walked up to greet them quickly.

"Mr. Townley, I finally see you!"

This is a middle-aged white wizard, but unlike ordinary middle-aged people, the excess hair on his face is dealt with very thoroughly, which makes him look very clean and energetic.

In particular, he also has a pair of piercing eyes and a sharp face, which together add a bit of righteousness to him.

Unfortunately, at this moment, this righteous face was wearing an extremely flattering expression. Such a contrast made Mike feel very surprised.

After looking at the other party for a long time, Mike stretched out his hand and shook his hand.

"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Quit."

"No, no, it's my honor." Karen said excitedly, "Mr. Townley, you can just call me Karen."

"Okay, Karen, then you have to call me Mike."

...

Mike and Karen talked for a while before finally returning to the conference table.

At this time, the witch Catherine and the goblin Tongmen nodded to Mike, and the centaur Jello looked up proudly, as if he disdained to talk to Mike.

As for the mermaid Lilith, she smiled at Mike with a charming smile. It seemed that if her lower body was not still in the fish tank and could not move, she would have jumped into Mike's arms when Mike appeared just now.

After greeting everyone one by one, Mike stopped talking to them. He first arranged for the Freemasons to sit on the left side of the conference table, and then he sat at the top seat and said to Karen and others:

"Tell me, everyone, why did you come to see me today?"

Hearing this, Catherine and Tongmen and others looked at each other, and finally focused their attention on the Muggle wizard Karen.

Karen's body stiffened for a moment, but under the pressure of everyone's gaze, she finally stood up and said to Mike with a smile on her face:

"Mr. Townley, you know, our life has not been easy recently."

Hearing that the other party's address to him remained unchanged, Mike smiled and nodded.

It can be seen that this guy named Karen is a very good person who knows how to deal with things and hates to be flattered.

But this does not give him extra points at the negotiation table.

Then Mike said:

"Of course I know this. You should have seen it when I came here just now. I set up a relief point downstairs. Muggle wizards, squibs and even other intelligent creatures are on the relief list. As long as they encounter difficulties and can't make ends meet, they can come to receive relief at any time. I think this is the most benevolent and justified, right?"

Hearing this, Karen's expression suddenly became complicated. He looked at McNair's half-smiled face and was about to continue talking, but he heard the centaur Jello next to him suddenly jumped onto the conference table and raised the spear in his hand and pointed it at Mike.

"Centaurs don't need your charity!"

The centaur Jello roared and was about to stab the spear in his hand, but using a spear to assassinate a legendary wizard is obviously not a wise choice.

"Boom!"

Everyone in the conference room only heard a bang, and then a ball of rich red and black flames appeared out of thin air in front of Mike!