章 439: Chapter 439: Caractacus Burke (Edited)
"Aaaaaah! Borgin, I'll kill you!" A piercing scream echoed from Burke, an elderly man with white hair who knelt on the floor, furiously pounding the ground.
If anyone recognized the identity of this old man, they would be surprised because they had never seen the famous Mr. Burke lose control in such a way.
Burke was older than Borgin, and in recent years, he hadn't concerned himself much with the store's affairs. But what had happened today was too big, too shocking, even for him.
In addition to Mr. Burke, there were two young employees in the store. They were Borgin and Burke's employees, whose main task was to visit wizards in various parts of England who had collectible items and negotiate with them to sell their items to Borgin and Burke. Of course, it would also be great if they showed interest in buying something.
The reason why Burke was so furious was obvious: the store was completely empty and clean as if a moving company had cleaned it. Apart from the secret room where he kept his belongings, there was nothing left.
Seeing this scene, Burke understood that this was not the work of the Ministry of Magic. However strict the Ministry of Magic was, it wouldn't confiscate tables, chairs, and counters. The culprit behind this completely empty place was his partner, Borgin.
No wonder Burke was filled with anger towards Borgin.
However, after the anger, Burke calmed down instantly and made the same decision as his partner: escape! He had to flee because all the things he had stored in the store had also been confiscated and taken away.
Unfortunately, Burke was too slow.
Operation "Whirlwind" had already ended, and the Ministry of Magic had achieved great success. Almost all items related to dark magic in Knockturn Alley had disappeared completely. Wizard merchants were arrested, and in addition to the wizards selling these items, this operation also destroyed a werewolf hideout in Knockturn Alley and arrested hundreds of foreign suspects.
Although the wizarding world didn't have institutions and systems like passports, visas, and customs to strictly distinguish between national and foreign citizens, foreign wizards had an obligation to report their entry into England to the Ministry of Magic.
These foreign wizards in Knockturn Alley had not reported to the Ministry of Magic. Fines and registration procedures awaited them. If they couldn't pay the fines, they would be deported.
The Ministry of Magic staff had already withdrawn from Knockturn Alley, leaving it completely deserted like a haunted place. Only the shop owners sat lifelessly in their stores, waiting to be dealt with by their behind-the-scenes boss.
Crack! Crack!
A series of explosions rang through the air as Ministry of Magic personnel and Dementors withdrew, and then the people behind Knockturn Alley arrived.
"Burke," the door of Borgin and Burke was pushed open, and Lucius Malfoy entered with a somber expression. But before he could continue speaking, several more people entered, all of them prominent pure-blooded nobles in the wizarding world, including Torquil Travers, the head of the Travers family, and the leader of the Flint family, among others...
"Mr. Burke," after greeting some of the old acquaintances, Lucius Malfoy looked at Burke expressionlessly, "I plan to redeem my properties I've stored here. Here's the contract and the money, please verify it."
Burke: ...
He took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind.
"Of course, Mr. Malfoy, let me take a look at your contract..." Mr. Burke took a pair of glasses from his pocket and put them on, then carefully examined the contract that Lucius Malfoy had brought.
Lucius Malfoy felt a slight surprise inside him, as he expected Burke to suffer great losses and not be able to deliver anything. But who would have thought he could actually do it.
Very interesting. All the pure-blooded nobles who came here just wanted to plunder in the midst of chaos. They wanted to take advantage of the fallen Borgin and Burke to recuperate. That's all they can do.
After reviewing the contract, Burke nodded to Malfoy. "Right, it's the contract issued by our store. However, according to the provisions of the contract, if you withdraw now, a certain amount of fees will be deducted..."
"No problem," said Lucius Malfoy as he casually waved his hand. In his mind, he muttered to himself, 'I want to see what ideas you have in mind.' He thought that Burke was completely fooling him since he couldn't actually deliver the items he had put as collateral here.
"Very well, please wait a moment while I handle the contracts one by one," Burke respectfully bowed to Lucius Malfoy with seriousness. His white hair fell over his forehead, and his beard quivered slightly on his face.
Lucius Malfoy wanted Burke to settle his matters first, but he didn't want to offend others, so he had to suppress his internal annoyance and wait in silence, watching Burke approach the next pure-blooded wizard.
"Let's see, you don't seem to mind the deducted fees either, right? Very well... You left four items in our store as collateral, of which the Cursed Eye was lost, but the other three items are in perfect condition. According to the contract, after deducting the fees, I should compensate you with three hundred seventy-one galleons. I'll go to Gringotts Bank later to withdraw the money..."
"Can you compensate me first with my money?" hurriedly asked the wizard, prompting the people around him to collectively roll their eyes, thinking to themselves, 'Why didn't I have the courage to say that first?'
"Of course, Mr. Bursted," Burke nodded slightly, then proceeded to handle the contract of the next wizard.
Behind Bursted was Torquil Travers, and when his turn came, he showed a smile saying he wasn't here to recover his own stored possessions, but only here to see many "old friends" in the store and join in the fun.
No one believed that statement; everyone thought Torquil Travers had been fooled by Burke.
After about fifteen minutes, Burke had processed all the contracts, except for Torquil's. All the wizards wanted to recover their own collections, and around a dozen items had disappeared. Burke would have to pay thousands of galleons for that if only a dozen treasures had really gone missing. That amount of money was not a small sum for Burke; it was practically all his available cash.
"We've kept the valuable items stored in a secret chamber. Please follow me to retrieve your collections," Burke said as he headed to the store's basement. Some pure-blooded wizards followed him with a certain degree of disbelief.
Only Torquil Travers stood there thinking. As an elderly person who had experienced a lot, his instinct told him that things weren't that simple.
As someone who had lived through Grindelwald's tragedy and the wizarding war unleashed by Voldemort, Torquil Travers believed in stability above all, without acting hastily.
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