"Howard, do you know how dangerous this is?"
"Dangerous? Of course I know—but if I don't take risks, my territory and business will be destroyed by those damned werewolves sooner or later. When that happens, forget about danger—even staying alive will be impossible. And your boss won't get his annual big dividends, and you won't get your monthly extra income either.
Of course, if you're saying you can give up those Galleons, then pretend I said nothing. I'll find a place to hide right now and earn what I can before those damned werewolves and opportunistic Dark wizards plunder all my business and territory. Anyway, my wife and children already have American citizenship, and the money is enough for them to live in luxury for life. Even if I die—it's enough!"
Hearing Howard say this, the masked Auror fell silent instead.
Just as Howard said, they couldn't possibly give up such a large sum of dividends and extra income. This masked Auror alone had been doing this for three years and already had a big house at home—recently, his family was considering buying a house-elf. According to his wife, only families with house-elves could be considered respectable—could be considered as initially stepping into pure-blood family circles.
The masked Auror deeply agreed with this—so just as Howard said, he was reluctant to give up such a large dividend. Although recently, Auror Office Head Rufus Scrimgeour had been increasing investigation pressure on Howard—and acting rashly could easily leave traces for him to catch—this matter had indeed reached a crisis situation affecting everyone's income and had to be resolved.
Fortunately, during Christmas—even if that stubborn old Scrimgeour could skip the holidays—others definitely had to celebrate, so their surveillance and patrols wouldn't be too strict.
Thinking of this, the masked Auror slowly nodded. "You make sense, but you must bring fewer people. Otherwise, if there are too many, making a big show will easily be discovered by others. This is our bottom line."
Without any hesitation, Howard immediately nodded. "Fine, I'll do as you say. I'll only bring four people."
"Four people..."
The masked Auror frowned under his mask. His idea was to only let Howard bring two people, but considering Howard had already made concessions readily, he didn't say more. After all, including himself and Howard, it was only six people—which wasn't really that many. There shouldn't be any major problems.
Thinking of this, the masked Auror said directly to Howard, "Alright, then four people. Bring your men, and let's secretly leave here to go to the agreed location for negotiations. Don't take too long when we get there."
"Fine—let's act now then."
Howard drew his wand and waved it lightly. Immediately four Dark wizards Apparated to Howard's side. Among these four, two were Marlowe's subordinates. Seeing themselves summoned here, they exchanged very subtle glances—then each stood beside Howard with downcast eyes.
"Let's go; follow me."
The masked Auror directly Apparated, transforming into white light that shot skyward. Howard and his four subordinates followed suit—all transforming into light and flying into the air after him.
Hogsmeade.
Howard and the others entered in two separate groups.
This location was chosen by the masked Auror's boss.
Compared to other places, this was more secretive. Scrimgeour and his people rarely came near Hogwarts. It was said that Scrimgeour actually disagreed with Dumbledore on many political views—so he generally wouldn't come to Hogwarts. His last visit to Hogwarts was for that recently prominent Sean Bulstrode.
They entered an old shop on the edge of Hogsmeade.
This was at the edge of Hogsmeade, where few people usually came—so it had gradually become desolate.
Howard walked in and saw some counters in the shop, as well as scattered, quite old toys and similar items—knowing this shop had probably been a toy store before.
Not paying much attention, Howard led his people to the interior of the shop. Three other masked Aurors wearing the same masks were already waiting there—with one sitting at the only clean table, and a clean chair placed opposite him.
"Howard, please sit."
Howard knew very well that the other's voice was magically altered. This magic seemed to be attached to their masks—so he had no intention of guessing the other's identity from their voice.
Howard didn't dare to either.
"Hello, I wonder if you already know about the difficulties I've been facing recently."
Nodding lightly, the masked Auror boss said, "He's already informed me. You can wait patiently for those werewolves—the Ministry has already begun preparing to handle it. We'll also help you with this matter, so there won't be major problems. But we also have requirements—the dividends cannot decrease, and for solving this problem, our dividends need to increase by five percentage points."
"That's impossible—five percentage points is too much!"
"It's not much at all. Compared to our contribution, five percentage points is quite fair."
"If you don't contribute, then you'll get nothing in the future."
At these words, the masked Auror boss suddenly let out a scoff. He slowly leaned closer to Howard, staring at him through the mask's eyeholes, sneering, "Howard, perhaps you've misunderstood something—since you began cooperating with us, whether you continue doing this is no longer for you to decide."
"What if I just won't do it? Kill me? But what if I'm not afraid to die?"
"You're indeed not afraid to die—but what about the mother and child at 18 XX Street in San Francisco, USA? Are they afraid to die?"
Hearing this address, Howard shot up from his seat, staring at the masked Auror boss and saying word by word, "How do you know their address!"
Seeing the furious Howard, the masked Auror boss smiled mockingly. "Why wouldn't I know?"
"What exactly do you want?"
"Didn't I just say—the dividends can't decrease, and we need to increase by five percentage points."
"Two percentage points—no more."
"Fine, that works. See, I'm quite reasonable, aren't I?"
"Resolve those werewolves quickly—or my business can't continue."
"Of course, you just need to go back and wait—"
Before the masked Auror boss could finish speaking, the windows and doors of this abandoned shop exploded open. A group of Aurors rushed in—with Rufus Scrimgeour leading the charge, directly releasing a brilliant red light at the masked Aurors' boss.
"No need to wait—you have no future!"