Joanne had long since grown used to Tver's schemes being everywhere. By now, even if he only smiled or cleared his throat, she felt it had to be loaded with meaning.
So her thinking had completely changed.
To keep Catherine from becoming too calculating at such a young age, Joanne began pestering Tver with questions.
Of course, the main reason was that she wanted to take the opportunity to have Tver clear up some of her own doubts.
"By the way, I heard the sales of The Adventures of Young Kid and the Vampire didn't meet your expectations?"
When it came to her own work, Joanne was naturally most concerned.
As far as she knew, the book had already been translated into more than a dozen versions at astonishing speed and distributed across dozens of countries, all of them either wealthy or heavily populated.
Although the print run was limited, meaning it could only be sold in the major cities of those countries, and the total sales had not quite matched the level of publicity.
Even so, Joanne was already more than satisfied.
In an era where technology was not especially advanced, a book's reputation and sales needed time to build. Only once the readership gradually expanded would a real wave of popularity form.
And this was already practically a dream start, far beyond anything Joanne, a formerly ordinary housewife and now a single Mum, could ever have imagined.
What left her uneasy was that before Bulstrode brought her and her daughter here, she had quietly revealed one piece of news. Even though things were already going very well, Tver was still not satisfied.
"This is already the best that can be achieved in this era. How could I be dissatisfied with the sales?" Tver shook his head.
"My expectations were simply too high. They went beyond what was possible."
To be precise, Tver had overestimated the kind of atmosphere the promotional methods of this era could create.
Although the magical wizarding world presented in Young Kid had drawn quite a bit of attention, that attention was still mostly confined to traditional newspapers and television programs.
Too few people saw it, and even fewer could take part in the discussion.
Simply put, Tver was disappointed because this era's threshold for popularity was too low. It was purely an objective limitation.
But thinking about it, the original Harry Potter books had also grown slowly from Britain at first. Only after they were released together with the film series did they gather a huge worldwide fanbase of people longing for the wizarding world.
Joanne looked at Tver's relieved expression, then asked a little cautiously, "Then should I still continue with my next book, the rewrite of Year with the Yeti?"
Keeping Catherine from having too much contact with Tver was one thing in life, but Tver was also her boss now. Being a little reserved when discussing work was only natural.
Joanne comforted herself inwardly. After all, she could not do without Tver.
His salary, that was!
"Of course you have to write it…" Tver felt the capitalist smile on his face alone deserved the fanciest lamppost.
"And it isn't just this one. I've already arranged the book after that for you too. You didn't really think I brought you here only to improve Barty's impression of you, did you?"
Joanne immediately realized her caution had been wasted. She should have taken the chance to ask for a raise.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Seeing that her daughter was not paying attention to them, she planted both hands on her hips in a huff.
"Say it. What do you want me to do this time?"
"Go shopping."
"?"
"To be precise, experience the lifestyle of the wizarding world firsthand, in greater detail than before. And then…"
Tver pointed beyond Honeydukes, toward Hogwarts Castle, which appeared faintly in the afternoon sunlight.
"Take some of the stories that happened in that school over the past five years or so, adapt them slightly, and write them down."
"What stories?"
Tver's solemn attitude immediately stirred Joanne's curiosity. The previous times he had assigned tasks, even when revision notes had been sent over one after another, Tver had always acted as though he were letting her practice.
But now, it seemed the time had come to test the results of that practice.
Just as Tver was about to speak, Catherine suddenly came over holding a pile of sweets.
"Mum, these are all the tasty sweets Grandpa Crouch recommended. Try these first. They're called Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and they're really fun!"
Her face was full of excitement, but when she raised the Every Flavour Beans in her hand, a flicker of mischief flashed through her eyes.
Clearly, she already knew that some of the beans did not taste nearly as nice as she described.
But Joanne's attention was not on that.
"I remember things here cost Galleons. How do you have the money to buy so many sweets?"
"Consider it my welcome gift to Catherine. Of course, Madam, I will make up a gift for you as well."
Barty seemed to have regained his shine. His whole bearing was filled with a bright, positive energy, no longer the grim sharpness brought on by war.
Joanne looked at Catherine, who had started acting pitiful, and found it rather hard to refuse.
"Think of it as your travel allowance. Our company does provide that much in benefits." Tver grabbed the Every Flavour Beans and placed them in Joanne's hand.
"How about this? Leave Catherine to Barty and Bulstrode and let them take her around Hogsmeade. We'll find a place to talk about that story."
Since the boss had spoken, Joanne could only nod.
The moment she received her mother's permission, Catherine happily dragged Barty and Bulstrode away, barely even bothering to say goodbye to Mum.
Feeling a little jealous, Joanne picked up an Every Flavour Bean and put it in her mouth while asking curiously, "Then where are we going… Ugh, what is this flavor? Why does it taste like boogers?!"
Tver held back a smile. "Let's go to The Three Broomsticks. It's a very good pub."
Though she said she hated it, Joanne had actually taken a liking to the strange flavors of the Every Flavour Beans.
By the time Tver led her to The Three Broomsticks, only half the bag of beans was left.
There were not many people in the pub, but Madam Rosmerta seemed busy with something, leaving only one server moving about.
Once two glasses of Butterbeer had been served, Tver felt he could not delay any longer. Otherwise, Joanne was going to be completely fascinated by all the magical foods of the wizarding world.
"I imagine you already know about Hogwarts, Britain's only Wizarding School?"
"Mm-hmm." Joanne took small sips of Butterbeer, but her bright eyes were fixed on the various drinks at the other tables.
She would never have known without trying it. The food in the wizarding world was actually this fun.
It was not that it was exceptionally delicious, but that strange and novel feeling gave her a wonderful sense of surprise, as though every single thing was worth trying at least once.
"…"
Tver was silent for a moment. Then he slowly began telling the story in his mind.
"And five years ago, a student named Harry Potter entered Hogwarts…"
Yes, Joanne's next job was to write the story of Harry Potter.
Of course, Tver would absolutely never allow his own image to appear in a book, especially a book that would very likely end up on the big screen.
So the story Tver would tell, and the story Joanne needed to complete, would only be the original version.