"The Burrow, here we are." Allen's figure appeared next to a dilapidated garage, surrounded by a small yard.
It wasn't the first time Allen had been here. He looked at the crooked, magically constructed stone building in front of him. It looked even worse than the last time Allen had been here.
The last time he was here, there were still a few fat brown chickens pecking at their food in the yard. This time, however, there were some patched leather boots, a fishing net woven with different thicknesses of fishing lines, and a rusty crucible.
Mrs. Weasley, who was cleaning the kitchen, saw Allen in the yard through the open window. She patted her wet hands on her apron and quickly walked out.
Thinking of Mrs. Weasley's particularly warm way of greeting, Allen's footsteps gently moved back two steps.
"Allen, I'm so happy to see you," Mrs. Weasley said briskly. "I was going to wait for your reply before paying you a visit, but I didn't expect to see you here instead."
Allen breathed a sigh of relief. He followed Mrs. Weasley into the cramped Burrow.
Ron, who was in the kitchen, saw Allen's figure enter his house. His eyes widened, and the spoon fell into the bowl with a thud.
The Burrow's living room was small and rather crowded, but every piece of slightly old furniture had been wiped clean.
Allen sat on a chair in front of a wooden table. Mrs. Weasley pointed her wand towards the kitchen, and tea and snacks flew out of the kitchen.
After politely tasting them, Allen stated his purpose for coming. "Mrs. Weasley, don't blame George and Fred. They are indeed very talented in developing new magical toys and magical equipment. I am very optimistic about the two of them opening a joke shop. In Hogsmeade's Joko's joke shop, their daily turnover is almost more than a month's salary for an ordinary official of the Ministry of Magic. The toys George and Fred invented are more interesting than Joko's, and the business value they can create will far exceed Joko's in the future. "
"Thank you, Allen." Mrs. Weasley frowned slightly. "Arthur and I hope they can focus on their studies. Their results are really terrible. With such results, I'm afraid he won't be able to join the Ministry of Magic in the future. "
"Mrs. Weasley, I think it would be best if you asked George and Fred about their wishes. It would be best if you didn't force them to take up a profession they don't like, or do something they don't want to do. It would be very painful. Besides, you know their personalities. If they go to the Ministry of Magic, I'm afraid they'll cause a lot of trouble. After all, they are not Percy. They are not suitable for politics. "
Allen's persuasion made the twins sitting on the other side of the table nod in unison.
Just then the front door banged and Mr. Weasley came straight in and sank into a chair. He had taken off his spectacles and his eyes were closed. He was a thin man, a little balding, but what little hair he had left was as red as his children's. He was wearing a green robe and looked travel-worn.
"Molly, you wrote me to go with you to Deputy Minister Harris's house. Did they reply?" He mumbled and reached for the teapot. He took a big gulp of tea and sighed. "Take out the new robe I bought last year. It's still very decent."
"Give us the gold coins we collected to make up for what George and the others spent, then return it to Allen. We'll have to live a very tight life again." Mr. Weasley sighed.
"Arthur, we don't have to go." Mrs. Weasley's voice was a little awkward. "Allen has already arrived at our house."
"Allen?" Mr. Weasley asked blankly. "He's arrived at our house?"
He put on his spectacles and looked around. When he saw Allen smiling at him, he immediately jumped up.
"Ah, Mr. Allen Harris, I'm very happy to see you." Mr. Weasley quickly walked over and shook Allen's hand as he stood up.
When Allen told Mr. Weasley the reason for his visit, Mr. Weasley wasn't as resistant as Mrs. Weasley. He felt that Allen was right. Instead of letting the children work in a job they didn't like and live a mediocre life, it was better to let them work hard and do what they liked.
"Their talent for inventing and creating should be inherited from their father," Allen said flatteringly. "I know Mr. Weasley once used magic to turn a rusty car into a flying car. Do you have any other similar inventions? “
Mr. Weasley opened his mouth wide and looked at his wife guiltily. He blinked at Allen. "Of course not. I don't touch these things anymore."
Mrs. Weasley puffed out her chest like a bullfrog. She looked at Allen and swallowed the words that were at the tip of her tongue.
Allen, who was constantly casting Mind Extraction, understood that they were on guard against their own family and were unwilling to speak the truth.
"That's a pity. Recently, I've been thinking of applying to the Department of Prohibiting the Abuse of Muggle Items to conduct research on Muggle TVs. After the modifications are completed, I intend to officially sell them. Our wizard radio stations are too outdated." Allen spread out his hands.
"TVs?" Mr. Weasley hurriedly asked. "The kind that can retain images of people for a long time? If we don't use loopholes to officially sell them through legal channels, we might have to spend a large sum of gold coins. I — I mean, I didn't intentionally leave loopholes in the laws I wrote to prohibit the abuse of Muggle items. "
"Gold coins are not a problem for Family Harris. I hope to invite you to be the host of these Muggle item modification projects. The treatment will be excellent, and you will definitely be satisfied." Allen pretended not to notice Mr. Arthur's self-revelation and nodded with a smile.
"Family Harris is powerful. There must be a suitable person to host this project, right?" Mr. Weasley was not in a hurry to agree. He needed to improve his family's living conditions, but he did not need others' sympathy.
"Mr. Weasley, your duties in the Ministry of Magic can help us to promote the Muggle TV modification project faster and more efficiently. I'm sure no one in the magic world knows better than you about the procedures and legal issues that need to be handled during this process. With you in charge, I'm sure the project will be very smooth. "
Allen pretended to speak in a businesslike tone, but he had a deeper reason. He was going to set up a TV station in the magic world.
In order to avoid arousing the vigilance of the conservatives, Allen first planned to only produce some programs that had nothing to do with Muggle and only belonged to the wizards themselves. When the wizards became accustomed to television and Family Harris' power and reputation in the magic world increased, he planned to gradually broadcast some Muggle programs, especially military ones. This would allow the wizards to gradually familiarize themselves with the world of Muggle and become vigilant of their weapons and development prospects. By then, he would be able to rely on his growing strength and the reputation of defeating Voldemort to form the general trend. The conservative faction would no longer be able to stop him from carrying out a reform that would break the secrecy laws, just like how they stopped the radical Grindelwald.
In addition, the TV station's control over public opinion was much stronger than the few newspapers and magazines. After all, the Daily Prophet controlled by the Ministry of Magic wasn't entirely his property. Recently, they had been following Fudge's orders and constantly attacking Dumbledore. When the matter was exposed, their credibility in the magic world would no longer exist.
Lastly, this was also to rope in the members of the Order of the Phoenix. He didn't need them to betray Dumbledore and follow him, but at least he could ensure that there were a few people in Dumbledore's camp who would maintain a favorable impression of him. Perhaps in the future, he could sow discord between Sirius and Dumbledore. It was said that he was very dissatisfied with Dumbledore's decision to use Harry as bait in the hegemony tournament.
"But I still have a job at the Ministry of Magic." Mr. Weasley hesitated for a long time before finally speaking. On the one hand, his family was really tight on money, and on the other hand, modifying Muggle items was his hobby. He was really tempted.
"You can take this project as a part-time job. As far as I know, the Department of Prohibition of Misuse of Muggle Items is still very... free. I won't limit you to how much time you have to complete this project. I believe you can use enough time to complete it." Allen advised.
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