Ah, that's it, thank you so much, Percy!
Remus blinks his eyes, then immediately understands and his face breaks into a pleased smile as he eagerly begins to open the file bag.
Percy was curious about the file bag, and even Sirius, who was chatting excitedly with Amelia, stretched his head to ask curiously.
"What's that, Remus?"
"Oh, you know how much I'm short of help here, Sirius –"
Remus undid the seal, struggling to pull out a thick stack of parchment, saying.
"We're not just short on skilled workers, we also lack high-level talent – researchers proficient in alchemy, and business people skilled in communication and negotiation."
But you know, most outstanding graduates from Hogwarts are taken by the Ministry of Magic, and it's difficult to find enough talent within the UK.
I've tried to hire from other workshops with high pay. It's also difficult, most of them are the eldest sons of wizard families and won't leave for gold. These are the excellent talents I picked out from over a thousand resumes, after training, they can take on more important responsibilities. For example, opening up markets, handling business affairs and dealing with magical departments of various countries.
Amelia, I'm afraid you'll need to issue the employment notice to this young man and ask them to report within three days. Oh, bloody hell, Amos tied it up too tightly—”
With a loud splash, the parchment in the file bag was scattered everywhere by Remus. Percy, who was focusing on listening to Remus's complaints, was startled when the flying parchment retreated one step back and unconsciously grabbed a strange one that seemed to be specifically aimed at his face.
"Oh, oh no——"
Remus blinked his weary eyes, drew his wand and waved it at the scattered parchment, and then the scattered resumes fluttered back to him like tired birds returning to their nest, leaving only one in Percy's hand.
"Thank you, Percy –"
Remus said casually, stretching out his hand to draw the parchment held in front of Percy by him, but it didn't move ——
"Percy?"
Remus looked confused and asked, putting a bit of force into his hand, but it still didn't move.
The parchment blocked Percy's face, Remus couldn't see his expression. He twisted his head to avoid the obstruction of the parchment, and when he saw the tearful face, Remus was stunned.
London, Holborn District.
Push open the window fan, a dispersing breeze carrying away the heat rushed into the room, fluttering a few chestnut curls draped on the slender white shoulder blades.
Fortunately, the residential area far away from the business center was not polluted by the neon lights of the city. At midnight, one after another neat little buildings were also dark, allowing the dim starlight to break through the heavy blockade and fall into the girl's bright eyes.
A soft sigh mingled with the breeze, and a slightly melancholic gaze fell upon a pot of blooming cherry grass on the windowsill, gently swaying in its stance.
The thing of coming to London for work encountered a lot of resistance, because everyone at home wanted to stay in Glosstered County to help manage the family farm, and also because they had a crush on the silly son of a farmowner who owned a larger plot of land next to their family's farm.
Normally, the one who would finally give in would be her, but an advertisement for a job posted on the Daily Prophet saved her from a life suffocating.
A very dignified job, along with a salary and generous benefits that even the most stubborn family would hesitate over, gave her another chance to set foot in London.
After a long negotiation, she finally obtained the consent of her family to go to the workshop for an interview and give it a try. If she wasn't hired, she would have to immediately return to Glosstered County and spend the rest of her life in that desolate farm.
A week had passed since the end of the interview, and the confidence given by the satisfied smile of the interviewer when she left was becoming thinner and thinner. Now, every hour she spent was a kind of unbearable torture.
Should I write a letter to Professor Lupin?
The girl gently bit her lower lip and her gaze fell onto the open letter paper next to her desk, which was filled with ink from a quill pen.
The idea wasn't just pop up in her mind, but for the past three days, she has been hesitating whether to write a letter to Professor Lupin.
The shock of her former Defense Against the Dark Arts professor becoming the head of a well-known workshop had faded even before she saw the workshop's job advertisement in the Daily Prophet and hesitated about sending in her resume. Now, what she was hesitating over was whether or not to "pull strings."
During the interview, the stern-looking interviewer emphasized when introducing the workshop that their workshop placed great importance on "fairness". If she could join the workshop, she needed to bear this in mind as well.
And the attempt she was wrestling with was obviously not related to fairness.
After a moment of silence, the girl still left the windowsill and sat down at the desk.
On the open letter paper, there was already a line of words. The girl stared at that line for half a day, and finally crumpled the letter and threw it into the trash can beneath her feet. Then, she took out a new letter paper from the drawer.
The moon quietly climbed the high sky and fell on the other side. In the narrow but cozy room, the breeze never stopped, but it had become the last lamp in the sea of thousands of lights.
The words on the letter paper still hadn't ventured beyond the first line, and the wastebasket at her feet was already filled with discarded balls of crumpled paper.
Whoosh!
A strong gust of wind rushed in, making the light blue cotton curtain flutter in the wind. At the same time, there were also loud braking sounds and farewell sounds in my ears.
Why would there still be people so late at night?
The girl's blurry eyes left the letter paper and looked out the window in a daze. She found that her pot of cherry grass had been blown over by the strong wind just now and was teetering on the two iron bars of the burglarproof window.
"Oh —"
The girl gave a short gasp of surprise, leaving her seat and hurrying towards the windowsill. She managed to save the delicate cherry grass from falling before it hit the ground below. Just as she was about to sigh in relief, a glance caught the rapid departure of a tail light in the distance, and her expression changed.
"Knight Bus?"
She quickly peered down at the ground below, but the bloke who had come off the Knight Bus that had left had walked into the building and was not visible.
Is there a wizard here?
The girl furrowed her eyebrows and tightly hugged the pot of cherry grass.
Although she has been living in the countryside, she knows from the letters between her classmates and the Daily Prophet that the magical world in Britain is currently tense. She has not heard anything about the dreadful thing Professor Dumbledore has announced about Hogwarts, but it is one of her mother's most important reasons for not wanting her to leave.
Thump, thump, thump——
The girl tiptoed towards the clothes rack in her slippers, fumbling a little as she pulled out her wand from the pocket of her wizard's robe hanging on the rack. Then, she slowly backed up to the window, waved her wand to extinguish the table lamp on the desk, and stared cautiously at the door outside.
The room suddenly fell into oppressive silence, and the girl could only hear her own quickened breathing and the rapid approach of steps in the hallway!
It's meant for me, but how could that be?!
All the short-term renters in this building are Muggles, and she is the only wizard. How could that be?!
In a short time, the girl's forehead was drenched with sweat. She stared in terror at the closed door, her mind a mess.
What should I do? What if I'm attacked later? What should I do then?!
Professor Black seemed to have taught her some experience, but she had forgotten most of it. If... if...
Thump, thump, thump!
The knocking on the door, like a series of heavy hammer blows, struck at the girl's heart, sending her to hell, but the sound that followed pulled her back to life.
"Is it you, Penelope, are you in there? Are you asleep? I just saw the lights on in the room!"
Click!
The sound from the other side of the door caused Penelope to shiver, and the flower pot in her hand clattered to the ground.
"What's going on? What kind of noise is that?"
The cracking sound made Percy tense up, and he raised his voice to ask.
Penelope opened her mouth, but she found that she could not make a sound. Only two clear lines of tears were flowing down her cheeks.
Bang!
The piercing thud echoed in the late-night building, followed by a few curses.
"I thought—"
Percy rushed into the room, staring at the girl by the window. He saw the broken flowerpot at her feet and also the tears streaming down her face, heartbreaking.
Cool breeze circled around the room, protecting the youthful innocence named "Youth".
Suddenly, the door closed, and the two people in the room ran to each other, embracing tightly and engaging in a passionate kiss, tearing at each other's clothes.
The broken pot of cherry grass on the ground still shone brilliantly (End of Chapter).
