During his first semester at Hogwarts, Lucien had been separated from Vita for the longest time since arriving in the wizarding world.
After years of living together day and night, Vita had gradually become something far closer to family than a mere guardian.
In many ways, she had already taken on the role of his mother.
The only thing Lucien never quite understood was why older witches seemed obsessed with dark green robes.
Vita dressed that way constantly.
Professor McGonagall did too.
Do older women simply share the same fashion instincts?
"Come on," Vita said warmly after noticing him standing there absentmindedly. "I'm taking you home."
She clearly misunderstood his silence as homesickness after months apart.
Stepping forward naturally, Vita took Lucien's hand and guided him away from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
After several Apparition jumps through secluded locations, the two finally arrived back at the manor they had purchased earlier that year.
Although Lucien hadn't returned for months, the manor remained spotless.
Not a single speck of dust could be found anywhere.
Even the gardens had been carefully maintained.
Clearly, Vita had continued looking after the place personally during his absence.
"Are you hungry?" Vita asked immediately. "I prepared all your favourite dishes."
Unfortunately…
After spending months eating food prepared by Hogwarts house-elves, Lucien now found Vita's unchanged cooking skills extremely difficult to tolerate.
Still, he forced himself to eat enthusiastically.
By the time dinner ended, Lucien's smile looked slightly strained.
Finally escaping the dining table alive, he immediately picked up the latest financial report from the Saints Group.
The numbers instantly improved his mood.
In only a few months, the company's profits had already approached twenty thousand Galleons.
That figure was terrifying.
In the wizarding world, ordinary Ministry workers earned roughly sixty to eighty Galleons per month.
Even Hogwarts professors only received around a few hundred annually.
Harry Potter, widely considered rich among young wizards, had inherited merely tens of thousands of Galleons accumulated over generations.
And yet the Saints Group had earned nearly twenty thousand in only a few months.
Lucien sighed softly.
"No matter the world…"
"Capital always remains the most profitable business."
Continuing through the report, Lucien eventually noticed something amusing.
Several Diagon Alley shops had already begun copying Saints Group sales methods in order to protect their own businesses.
Lucien immediately sneered.
"You people really don't think at all."
"You believe copying my sales methods automatically means you'll make money?"
Then suddenly, a smile appeared on his face.
"Perfect timing."
"Christmas is almost here."
"I suppose it's time to show them what real marketing actually looks like."
Vita looked curious as Lucien immediately began outlining a detailed Christmas sales plan.
The more she listened, the more stunned she became.
"Is this really a good idea?" Vita asked uncertainly. "Won't this affect our profits heavily?"
Lucien shook his head patiently.
"We operate using low-profit, high-volume sales."
"Actually, our profits aren't even low. We simply earn slightly less per item."
Then he tapped the financial report calmly.
"A product only has value once it's sold."
"If inventory simply sits in storage, it's worthless."
"Besides, we've already secured our position in Diagon Alley."
"The next step of replacing Gringotts will require enormous reserves of Galleons."
"The correct approach now is converting inventory into liquid wealth as quickly as possible."
Vita's eyes narrowed slightly.
"And what exactly are you planning for Gringotts?"
Unlike business strategy, this was something Vita understood very well.
Lucien smiled faintly.
"Gringotts has remained peaceful for too long."
"The last major incident there happened when I first entered Hogwarts."
Vita immediately understood.
A dangerous smile appeared on her face.
Back in the old days, Grindelwald had pulled similar operations countless times.
And now—
She finally had a chance to experience that excitement personally.
"Don't worry," Vita said calmly. "I'll make sure the goblins remember it."
"And preferably," Lucien added casually, "let Gringotts' wealthy clients witness everything personally."
Vita's smile widened.
"Leave it to me."
…
Three days later, Christmas arrived.
The entirety of Diagon Alley had transformed into a festival of lights, decorations, enchanted snow, and floating gift boxes.
Everywhere, wizards carried shopping bags while festive music drifted through the streets.
Except—
Almost nobody was actually shopping normally.
Instead, enormous crowds packed themselves around every Saints Group store throughout Diagon Alley.
The streets looked less like a shopping district and more like a battlefield.
Early that morning, word spread throughout the alley:
During Christmas, every Saints Group store would reduce prices massively while introducing additional spending discounts.
Spend ten Galleons, save three.
Spend twenty, save seven.
Spend fifty, save twenty.
The more you bought, the more you saved.
And purchases across different stores could combine together.
The wizarding world already struggled horribly with mathematics.
Now they faced layered discounts on top of holiday sales.
Nobody stood a chance.
Many witches and wizards nearly collapsed trying to calculate whether they were saving money or somehow earning money by buying things.
At some point, everyone collectively reached the same conclusion:
It was practically free.
The moment that realization spread, the entire wizarding population of Diagon Alley lost their minds.
If Lucien hadn't prepared in advance, the wizarding world's first-ever shopping stampede might genuinely have occurred.
"Assistant! One vial of Acromantula venom!"
"Yes, sir! Please take your receipt. Payment will be processed at the central checkout station farther down the street."
"Assistant! I need Boomslang skin!"
"Sales assistant! Bring me detoxified leopard saliva!"
"I want winter robes!"
Before one customer even finished speaking, ten more people immediately shoved forward behind them.
Originally, Lucien believed assigning ten employees per shop would be excessive.
Now?
Even twenty staff members per location barely managed to cope.
The Aurors assigned to maintain order had long since vanished somewhere inside the chaos.
Several even joined the shopping frenzy themselves.
After all, Aurors earned barely over a hundred Galleons monthly.
If they missed a sale like this, who knew when another opportunity would appear?
As noon approached, the crowds not only failed to shrink—
They became even larger due to word spreading rapidly throughout wizarding Britain.
Finally, Lucien stepped forward personally.
Using a Sonorus Charm, his calm voice echoed across the street.
"Please remain calm."
"Saints Group has more than enough stock."
"There will absolutely not be shortages, so there's no need to push."
Then Lucien smiled slightly.
"For guests waiting outside, we've also prepared a complimentary rest area."
"Unlimited tea and drinks will be provided."
The crowd instantly erupted into cheers.
At Lucien's signal, Saints employees quickly arranged tables, chairs, and refreshment stands nearby while additional queue barriers were installed outside every shop.
Unlike the earlier chaos, the situation gradually became organized.
Not far away, however, several pure-blood shop owners nearly ground their teeth apart from anger.
After desperately copying Saints Group sales methods, they barely managed to preserve some customers.
And because Christmas approached, many even lowered prices again personally.
Yet none of it mattered.
Lucien's holiday promotion simply crushed them completely.
Now the Saints stores were so crowded people physically couldn't squeeze inside.
Meanwhile, their own shops sat nearly empty.
Some locations had fewer customers than employees.
Several shop owners looked ready to cry blood.
Then suddenly—
Boom!
A deafening explosion echoed through Diagon Alley.
....
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