After going to Professor Dumbledore to pick up the papers, when Joel returned to the auditorium, the students had already woken up and were sitting at the long table preparing to have breakfast.
Sirius Black's nighttime break-in at Hogwarts Castle came to nothing, and neither Dumbledore nor the professors could find any trace of this notorious murderer.
But Harry is now being supervised as a key protected object. Since Sirius Black is trying to enter the Gryffindor common room, he will definitely plot something against Harry.
Even Snape had been nervous these past two days, and from time to time he had to watch the Iron Triangle return safely to the common room before he could feel at ease.
Even though Joel knew that Sirius Black was not a Death Eater who betrayed the Potters, nor was he a heinous murderer, he still stayed with Haylis for the past two days.
Haylis didn't know about this. If she didn't protect Haylis because she knew the plot in advance, her girlfriend would definitely feel sour in her heart.
But recently, he has also been thinking about how to help Sergey overcome his difficulties. Helping gamblers quit gambling seems to have been an eternal problem.
Joel couldn't think of any solution, so he asked his girlfriend.
"Hailis, how do you think a gambler can get rid of his gambling addiction?" Joel reached out and rubbed Hailis' seaweed-like hair.
"Gambler?" Haylis was sitting on the sofa in the common room, holding a book of business management in her hands. When Joel stroked her, she looked as satisfied as a well-fed kitten.
"Hmm..." Hailis thought hard, but finally gave up, "I don't really understand these things either."
Joel settled for the next best thing, "Then how do you think a gambler can keep himself from losing his fortune?"
Seeing that Hailis was hesitant to speak, he quickly spoke again, "Don't talk about ways to help gamblers improve their gambling skills. Assume that he is a guy who will lose every time he gambles."
"That's very simple," Haylis's eyes lit up when she mentioned this topic, "Buy the casino he frequents and let the gamblers gamble there..."
"Hire someone and find a few agents to accompany him, and the money you make ends up going to the casino," Haylis said eloquently. "The casino's money is your money."
Joel:…
This method seemed so reasonable that he was speechless.
"But why are you asking this question?" Haylis was a little curious. She remembered that Joel didn't have any relatives.
"Nothing, nothing." Joel hurriedly made a joke and walked over.
In the end, no effective method was discussed, and Joel did not plan to expand his business territory into the gambling industry just yet.
But Sergey's father sent a letter soon after.
"Your father asked me to go to the Lowy ancestral house?" Joel took the envelope from Sergey's hand and opened the letter to read. "Have you ever mentioned me to him?"
Sergey looked a little shy, "Well... I said you took good care of me when I was in school, and by the way, I also talked about your achievements in the past two years."
Joel looked at Sergey's face. Although he had changed into a set of second-hand robes, his blond hair was still combed straight and his expression was still cold. A strong sense of disobedience focused on him.
Joel read the letter carefully twice. Mr. Rowe wanted to meet him and thank him for taking care of his son.
The intention is unclear, but Joel is ready to keep the appointment.
If he doesn't go, Sergey will also meet with his father. Regardless of the conspiracy, he will just deal with it directly.
Joel was not stupid enough to follow Sergey to the appointment without any preparation. He spent two or three days arranging everything.
Mr. Rowe sent another letter, urging him so urgently that Joel and Sergey had to rush to the Rowe family's old house on a Friday night.
They took the Knight Bus to the small town of Bath near London, where the British architecture is quite well preserved and there is an ancient Roman bath.
The ancestral home of the Rowe family was built here, standing close to the mountain. Muggles can also see its full view. It has a magnificent appearance and an astonishing area. It looks like a manor.
"Your family is okay," Joel followed Sergey and walked into the front of the manor. "I think you were rich back then?"
Sergey nodded, with a bit of pride on his face, "The Rowe family was also considered a big family in the 19th century. It once monopolized the British and French potion material trading market. It was only after the outbreak of the second wizarding war 50 years ago.
, the Luo Wei family is gradually declining..."
He took out a bunch of bronze keys from his robe pocket and inserted them into the keyhole of the manor's door.
There was a crisp click, and a transparent barrier covering the front of the manor slowly fell like a rain curtain. Sergey pushed the door hard and invited Joel to enter.
"This place hasn't been cleaned for a long time since my grandfather passed away," Sergey led Joel towards the castle. "It turns out that this place is full of red roses..."
His mood dropped visibly.
Pushing open the gate of the castle, you are faced with a long and narrow corridor, with portraits covered with black cloth on both sides of the corridor.
"This is the portrait of the ancestors of the Luo Wei family. I usually take away the black cloth before leaving the castle, but it seems that my father has no face to face the ancestors."
Sergey raised the corners of his lips and said half seriously and half mockingly.
As they advanced all the way to the end of the corridor, they were greeted by the smell of alcohol, which was extremely fishy.
A man in a black robe was lying on the sofa in the living room, very drunk. There were empty wine bottles around him. The black robe was dirty, and his whole body exuded a sour smell.
Joel is now convinced that Mr. Rowe is not only a gambler, but also an alcoholic.
Sergey sighed, raised the wand in his hand, and a stream of water flowed from the tip of the wand onto the man's face.
"Ahem..." The man coughed twice, and two lines of water flowed from his nostrils. He quickly sat up from the sofa.
"Li Zai Gan is a demon?" the man asked angrily, his tone distorted due to choking on water.
"Didn't you keep threatening to sell the old house if I didn't come back?" Sergey frowned, obviously very dissatisfied with his father, "Now I'm back."
"Ah..." Pat Rowe shook his head and finally woke up from his hangover.
"Is this Mr. Joel Taylor?" Mr. Rowe was very enthusiastic. He staggered down from the sofa and stretched out his hands.
Joel shook hands gently with Mr. Rowe.
"Young people are promising, young people are promising..." Mr. Luo Wei's voice was unclear, and his eyes were cloudy and uncertain. It seemed that he had been drinking and gambling in recent years.
There was a bit of a fake smile on his face when he spoke, which made Joel feel uncomfortable. He always felt that this person was insincere and seemed to want something else.
"Mr. Rowe," Joel took out his wand and cast a summoning spell, conjuring two chairs out of thin air. He was obviously showing off to Sergey's father. He sat on the chair and looked at the man opposite, "We are
Isn’t it time to talk about your intention to sell off your property?”
"What's there to talk about?" Mr. Rowe dismissed it. "My father's will before his death is that Sergey and I own half of the estate. What's the problem if I only sell my half?"
"What's more, I am his guardian now. It's not anyone else's turn to dictate this matter, right?" Mr. Rowe's attitude was contradictory to before.
"How can the manor be sold separately?" Sergei rarely raised his voice, "You obviously want to embezzle the family property!"
Suddenly, Mr. Rowe slowed down his tone again, "I don't want to sell this mansion either. I was born and raised here and I have a lot of affection for it."
He said this with deep affection.
Sergey sneered, "So you still want to sell the old house after saying so much?"
Mr. Rowe shook his head. He picked up the wine bottle next to him and took a sip. "This is why I asked Mr. Taylor to come here."