HP: Hogwarts Snake

Chapter 466 Lia's Report

Fred is a persistent person.

Leah had always known this since their first meeting until she captured him, but she never expected Fred to be so persistent.

The plan was to send him away—but that obviously didn't work out. Fred not only stayed until now, but also moved into Leah's house with the excuse, "Don't you feel uneasy if you don't keep an eye on me?"

This was certainly not the direct cause. It was because Fred was very eccentric and shrewd, and his mischievous personality was well-received in Leah's establishment. Before long, he started causing trouble and frequently showed signs of wanting to run away.

His tendency to run away was very obvious, so it was particularly fake. In the beginning, Leah would always give him a couple of electric shocks after laughing to show her authority. Later, seeing that Fred was really incorrigible and his resistance to electric shocks was getting stronger, she stopped giving him electric shocks as often.

To be honest, there was a time when Leah felt that her authority was a reward for Fred, and that feeling was so strange that she stopped doing it.

However, not punishing doesn't mean abandoning responsibility. But Leah's energy is limited. Because she was unwilling to relinquish power, she had many things to do. Thinking she would spend less energy, she simply gave in.

As the bridge connecting the Piazzia family to the magical world at this stage, Leah cannot afford to lose her foothold in the Muggle world. There must be related interests for people to feel at ease. Fortunately, it requires much less effort; she just needs to keep a respectable appearance while collecting money.

It mainly involves small taverns in the wizarding world. The taverns themselves aren't busy, and the only stable thing there is Maggie's regular need to transfer assets. She has laundered a lot of money overseas, probably like other wizards who come to her door, quietly paving the way for a rainy day.

Many people are doing this. Those with connections do it themselves, and those without connections look for her most prominent connection. Since she has all the connections that Maggie has, of course she has to handle Maggie's affairs.

This job isn't too tiring; it's just a matter of talking and signing documents. There are people specifically responsible for managing the finances for her. She just needs to keep a good balance and spend some time maintaining the channels.

The problem was that the team she led was part of the search party, and they had to join in the hunt for the escaped wizard. This was partly to prevent her already favored team from standing out even more, and partly to try to save as many people as possible.

Yes, save more people.

There must have been a reason why Leah saved Fred and let him stay at her house. Such indulgence must have had some personal bias involved. However, the prop that made Fred fake his death was not something Della made specifically for Fred; it just happened to be used on Fred.

Della always said "save if you can" in a cold tone, but she did far more than those who just talked the talk. Lia believed that there was no girl in the world more gentle and beautiful than Della.

To ensure that this kindness and beauty were truly realized, Lia put a lot of effort into this matter, and also offered generous bonuses and benefits to motivate her subordinates to work harder.

Her subordinates mainly focused on making arrests, while the nominal 'executions' were all carried out by Lia. She knew that bloodshed and numbness would gradually destroy a person's heart, so even though she knew the deaths were fake, she didn't let her subordinates experience that fake numbness.

Treating subordinates as human beings was a major reason for Lia's stable position.

“That’s the situation recently,” Leah said to Della, who came to her office, as she mentally recounted her current predicament. “After the big roundup, a lot were caught. Now, apart from those who slipped through the net, there are only the occasional new employees who have escaped from the Ministry of Magic.”

“I know. You’ve put in a lot of effort before, so it’s normal. It’s good to relax now. You can take this opportunity to unwind,” Della, who was known for her clear-cut rewards and punishments, was even more amiable when speaking to Leah. “If you’d like, you can go on vacation abroad in batches.”

“Then I won’t stand on ceremony. It’s good for everyone to change our environment.” Leah didn’t refuse. She always believed that her lack of politeness with Della was proof of their good relationship.

“That’s good. By the way, I checked the list a couple of days ago,” Della, who was still smiling, changed the subject, “Fred is still vacant.”

Facing Della's questioning gaze, Leah swallowed hard, but calmly said, "He's not very obedient, so I locked him in my house."

The Lia family is indeed protected by her magic spell, and their security and confidentiality are very good.

Della raised an eyebrow, showing no dissatisfaction. She was genuinely just there to understand the situation. She had always trusted Lia's abilities, and Lia's minor exceptions weren't necessarily a bad thing. One shouldn't befriend someone without quirks, and it's reassuring to have people with flesh and blood in their subordinates.

“I was going to ask you if your pursuit of him has softened,” Della joked to ease the tension, “but now that we’re living together, I don’t know how to ask anymore.”

Lia carefully observed Della's expression, and only relaxed after confirming that her current expression was genuine. "There's nothing to worry about. In my opinion, the probability of him being kicked out of the house in the future is still very high."

Della understood. "Does a meaningless question not need an answer?"

Leah nodded slightly, but for some reason felt a little guilty about her answer. She added, "It's nice to have someone who can laugh by your side when you're really tired..."

"I'm glad my Leah is in a good mood," Della said, not dwelling on the topic she considered low-risk, and started a new one, "By the way, what are the people you lent to Sheena doing?"

“Oh, Elsa, the doctor from before, she just updated me on the situation the day before yesterday,” Leah said immediately, having prepared for this topic. “Although she broke a leg and an arm, she did it very decisively and the aftermath was handled very promptly. The medical conditions on Sheena’s side are also quite good, so healing is not a problem. She may even be stronger after recovering.”

"So you suffered and ended up in a terrible state, but tried your best not to cause any lasting damage, right...?" Della pondered the probability of this being exposed and continued to ask, "Only legs and hands?"

“They were hitting him all over, but they were using skillful techniques. It looked terrible, but they didn’t hurt him inside,” Lia continued. “Elsa said that was all child’s play and that it probably wouldn’t even leave a scar, so she didn’t say much more.”

“That’s acceptable on the surface, but it’s hard to say what will happen when the guy up there goes crazy. I’ll send some medicine to your tavern in a couple of days,” Della made a decision immediately. “Have your men work hard. There will be a signal when it’s time to administer the medicine. Make sure Sirius Black is completely stuffed when he gets there.”

“No problem,” Lia nodded, then belatedly asked after receiving the order, “But isn’t he right at the foot of your manor? Isn’t it inconvenient to check on him normally, Della?”

“It’s actually very convenient, but I don’t want to watch,” Della sighed. “They’re clearly a domineering sister-in-law and a heartless brother, yet they have this strange kind of affection between them. I just can’t stand it, so I keep my distance from them.”

Thinking about Sheena and Maggie's personalities, Lia paused for two seconds, then sighed for Della, "You've had it pretty tough too, Della."