(A/N: Bonus Chapter! Enjoy!)
"Why is our store's name like this?" Adrian turned his head to look at Irene with a confused expression. The latter looked calm and composed, waving her wand and hanging up the sign before explaining.
"Don't you think this name is very appropriate? We can't call it the Dark Magic Store directly, right? The Ministry of Magic wouldn't allow that name to pass registration review."
Adrian looked suspiciously at Irene, thinking she must have just registered the store's name. Otherwise, she wouldn't have kept the store's sign in a corner gathering dust until today when she learned the Ministry might come to inspect, then hung it up in a hurry.
"All right, let's open it like this today!" After setting it up, Irene patted some dust off her body and walked into the store again, though her cheeks were slightly red.
She shouldn't have picked that store name back then.
In view of this, Irene continued to give Adrian the important task of watching the store while she hid in the basement. She said she planned to make some simple magical items to fill the store in the coming days and satisfy the Ministry inspectors.
"Can I take this sign down first?" Adrian sighed, sat down at the counter with a book in his hand, and glanced at the store that had been almost emptied.
Rows of shelves stood empty there. Only a few shelves still had one or two magical items. If you didn't know better, you'd probably think this place had been ransacked.
"I can't go on like this," Adrian sighed. This was his magic shop too, after all. It seemed he needed to find a way forward.
Otherwise, Adrian felt he might not even be able to buy textbooks. After all, he needed to buy Lockhart's series of books next semester, they were numerous and expensive.
Just as Adrian was thinking this way, the system prompt sounded in his mind.
[Ding, task is being generated...]
Adrian was stunned. He hadn't expected to be able to activate a mission at this time. He'd thought this function was turned off when the system was updating.
Adrian looked curiously.
[Task: Revitalize Blackwood's Unusual Magical Items Shop]
[Mission Objective: Pass the Ministry of Magic inspection within one month]
[Task Reward: Determined by final evaluation]
[Mission Description: Deep within Knockturn Alley lies a once-famous magic shop, now on the verge of closure. You can't stand by and let it fade into obscurity. To restore its former glory, you must breathe new life into the shop, and ensure it passes the Ministry of Magic's strict inspection.]
"So the Ministry's inspection will be in a month?" Adrian muttered to himself after scanning the mission information.
He'd thought it would be sooner.
But thinking about it, the Ministry of Magic, as an official agency, handled affairs according to procedures. In addition, there were many people involved, and news had been leaked by insiders long before the Ministry took any action.
Dougt had gotten gossip revealed by insiders, which was why he'd been so uncertain.
Adrian was quite speechless thinking about this. It was foreseeable that when the Ministry really started to move, they'd only catch some dark wizards with no connections. Those with ability would have already dealt with things.
Like old Malfoy, who'd disposed of the Horcrux in advance after receiving news in the original timeline.
Fortunately, this kind of operating mechanism at the Ministry was great news for Adrian. It meant he had a month to prepare and pass the review.
Adrian turned his head and glanced in the direction of the basement.
Although Irene had said she'd make some simple magical items and put them on the shelf to fool the Ministry inspectors, Adrian didn't think that was very reliable. And the reward for completing the task was based on evaluation, Adrian wasn't going to settle for the lowest rating.
It would be best to use the Ministry reviewers to promote this magic shop.
This wasn't impossible, as long as he could come up with some magical items impressive enough for the Ministry to purchase.
Adrian remembered that in the original work, the Weasley twins, after leaving school, had made Shield Hats (and Shield Gloves) in their joke shop that the Ministry of Magic purchased, a full five hundred sets!
Maybe he could also make something similar. If he could impress the Ministry members who came to inspect, the evaluation would improve, right?
Thinking of ways to complete the task, Adrian took out a notebook and began to scribble, sorting out his plan for transforming Blackwood Unusual Magical Items Shop.
In his vision, it would be best to make the store cater to everyone, selling everything.
During normal business hours, it would sell general defensive and support magical items. In private, they could sell some extremely dangerous and lethal dark magical items. In short, as long as guests needed it, they could buy everything they wanted here!
Adrian even felt that after his alchemy level increased, he could still sell some real alchemy products here.
'Hmm... my potions could also be sold!'
The next day, while eating, Adrian talked about his grand store renovation plan.
Irene just smiled casually, saying he wouldn't think that way once he started learning how to make magical items.
"Is it really that difficult?" Adrian asked in confusion.
"Of course, and it's boring. You'd better be prepared to suffer. In a month, as long as you can learn some basics, I'll be very satisfied." Irene rubbed Adrian's head, telling him not to daydream.
"My learning speed is quite fast," Adrian thought to himself, especially when using Experience Card Mode.
After eating breakfast in a hurry, because she was going to teach Adrian how to make magical items, Irene simply closed the magic shop, there was nothing to sell anyway.
After entering the work area in the basement, Irene didn't start teaching immediately but asked first, "How do you think a spell's release process works?"
"Use the wand to guide the magic in the body, plus gestures and incantations," Adrian replied after thinking for a while.
"Yes, like the Levitation Charm." Irene gently waved her wand and floated a carving knife as she explained.
"Lifting the object is the final effect of the spell, and all we need to do is use gestures and incantations to let the magic in our body know that we want this thing to float."
Adrian nodded. Combined with the books he'd read these days, he roughly understood.
If the body was a pistol, then magic was a bullet, and spells and gestures were the actions of loading and pulling the trigger.
"In other words, magical items replace gestures and incantations. We only need to inject some magic power to release magic directly," Adrian concluded.
"Very good." Irene was satisfied with Adrian's quick understanding. She'd been worried Adrian was too young to grasp it.