Raven's Claw at Hogwarts

Chapter 639 Shopping
"It's only ten o'clock, why did you wake up so early?"

Looking at the clock on the wall, Mike said with a smile.

The two of them fought fiercely until dawn last night, and the reason why Mike was able to get up early was entirely due to his huge mental strength.

As for Penello, normally she should sleep until the afternoon.

Hearing that Penello sat in Mike's arms, he closed his eyes and rubbed his head against Mike's chest before slowly saying:

"I'm going to go shopping in Diagon Alley with Soraka and the others today."

There was a look of sudden realization on Mike's face.

After the marriage proposal last night, they quickly confirmed the official marriage and the time for the wedding under the witness of Professor Flitwick.

Just three days later on Saturday.

As a bride, Penello naturally needs to buy some things.

To be honest, Mike actually wanted to delay the time. After all, everything has just returned to stability now, and he still has a lot of work to do.

But Penello couldn't wait. If she didn't need to set aside some time to make preparations and distribute invitations and door keys, she would have liked to get married on the spot.

Mike understood this.

He and Penello have been together for five years.

After so many years of getting along, the emotional life between them is actually no different from that of a real couple.

For a while, Mike even felt that it was enough for the two of them to live on like this forever, and it didn't matter whether there was a wedding or not.

But in the end he decided to give Penello a solemn marriage proposal and a gorgeous wedding.

After all, for women, wedding and marriage proposal represent not only a ceremony, but also one of the happiest moments in a woman's life.

If the two of them have been living in such an unknown way, even if others don't talk about Penello, they must feel uncomfortable.

Of course, the most important thing is that based on Penello's performance during the war last time, Mike found that she now seems to have signs of developing into a politician.

This was not what he wanted to see.

Of course, this is not to say that Mike is worried about Penello taking power.

Mike just simply didn't want the relationship between the two of them to sour.

After all, for politicians, love and everything are false.

Just look at the Clinton family in Muggle society. If two politicians are together, their married life must be full of lies and fights.

So it is very important to marry Penello as soon as possible, and only such a big event as marriage can bring Penello's attention back.

Thinking so, Mike touched Penello's long hair intimately and said:
"Let me go with you. It happens that there are some things to be used in the wedding, we'd better go and pick them out ourselves."

As soon as this remark came out, Penello, who had buried his head in Mike's arms, sat up straight instantly, looked at Mike excitedly and said:
"Really?"

"of course it's true."

"But..." Penello glanced at the pile of documents on Mike's desk and said, "Don't you still have work here?"

Mike chuckled, and with a wave of his finger, a strange wind suddenly appeared, blowing all the documents on the desktop down.

"It's gone now," Mike said, "and even the Minister of Magic has a marriage leave. For work or something, just let Benjamin and the others support it."

Penello froze for a moment when he heard the words, and then cheered.

"It's great! It's been a long time since we went shopping! Oh! It's getting late now, I have to go and put on my makeup! Darling, wait for me for a while, don't worry, it won't be too long!"

After saying that, Penello rushed out of the office in a hurry, leaving only Mike shaking his head with a smile.

Logically speaking, he should also be getting ready. After all, the time is approaching noon, so it's really not too early.

But it's not the first time he has done things like waiting for his girlfriend to put on makeup.

So he knew very well that as long as women start to wash and put on makeup, they will definitely not be able to do it in less than half an hour.

It's the same whether it's a witch or an ordinary woman, even if the witch has a spell to help.

And the fact is really as he expected.

Penello still didn't show up until Mike finished his coffee slowly, washed up again, changed into a suit and finally came to the fireplace of the villa.

After waiting for another 5 minutes, Penello trotted over here.

"Sorry, Mike! You must have been waiting a long time!"

Before the person arrived, the voice came over.

Looking at the pointer on the pocket watch that was approaching 11 o'clock, Mike smiled and said:
"No, I've only been here for 5 minutes."

Mike was telling the truth, but Penello didn't believe it. In fact, she also knew how ink stained her makeup was, but as a woman, she really couldn't bear to go out without makeup.

"Thank you Darling."

Penello kissed Mike on the cheek while talking.

Mike smiled and shook his head, but his eyes kept looking at Penello.

To be honest, Mike didn't see any difference between Penello's makeup before and after. In his opinion, it's a waste of time to put on this kind of light makeup with almost no difference.

But of course he wouldn't speak out his true thoughts. Feeling the moisture on his cheeks, Mike took Penello's hand and praised:

"You are so beautiful! For this beauty, no matter how long you wait, it is worth it!"

As soon as this remark came out, Penello's cheeks turned red visible to the naked eye.

Mike also smiled when he saw this.

Then the two of them scribbled in front of the fireplace for a while before finally stepping into the fireplace.

Accompanied by a slight dizziness, Mike and Penello appeared on the second floor of the out-of-the-ordinary clothing store.

This is the first stop of Penello's shopping trip, and it is also the place where she, Soraka and Hillary agreed to meet.

When Mike and Penello arrived, Soraka and others had already selected the dresses for the wedding three days later with the help of the shopkeeper, and when Penello saw the dress samples and fabrics neatly hung on the wall, his eyes closed. It lit up, pulled Mike and started running towards Soraka and the others.

The movement here naturally also attracted the attention of Soraka and the others. The three women quickly chatted together, while Mike stood silently aside.

Perhaps because he saw that Mike was too lonely, the middle-aged gentleman shopkeeper leaned over and bowed to Mike:

"Mr. Minister, I sincerely wish you a happy wedding."

"Thank you."

Mike replied politely. Seeing this, the shopkeeper adjusted his glasses and said:

"I don't know what needs you have for that wedding dress, but I swear that I will do my best to satisfy you."

"I don't have any requirements. This time, I will listen to my wife."

Mike said with a blank face. To be honest, he really didn't have much research on clothes. The shop owner helped design the custom-made suits before, so he couldn't give any opinions.

Moreover, Penello is obviously very concerned about the customization of the dress this time, so it would be better to leave this matter to her.

Anyway, with the shopkeeper around, the clothes they make will not be ugly no matter how weird they are.

The shopkeeper also heard the meaning of Mike's words, bent down and made a gesture of invitation and said:
"Then let me take you to the rest area and wait. You can drink tea and have snacks there."

Mike nodded and walked straight towards the rest area. He has been to this store many times, and he didn't need the owner to lead the way.

Soon the snacks and black tea mentioned by the shopkeeper were brought up by a house elf. Mike sighed and leaned back on the soft back of the chair.

He has a deep understanding of the speed at which women go shopping to pick out clothes, so if there is no accident, he will have to wait here for a long time.

Thinking of this, Mike instinctively looked out the window.

The location of Out of the World Clothing Store is very good, right in the center of Diagon Alley.Looking out from the windows on the second floor, you can easily see almost half of Diagon Alley.

Today is Wednesday, although it is not Tuesday, which can be called a nightmare for office workers, but since it is also a working day and Hogwarts is not on holiday, there should be few people on the street.

But at this moment, the street below is full of people coming and going, very lively.

There were still long queues at several newly opened restaurants, and the long queues made a straight turn at the entrance of the store, and then stretched farther away until they disappeared at the end of Mike's career.

It is worth mentioning that among these people, Mike hardly sees children who can be the main force of consumption.

Seeing this, Mike nodded in satisfaction.

Because this phenomenon means that the income of wizards in the country has generally risen to a very considerable level at this stage.

Otherwise, there will never be so many adults with relatively stronger restraint, it is impossible to come out to consume on weekdays.

The current hot scene also reminded Mike of the grand occasions that Diagon Alley would usher in during the summer vacation and Christmas Eve. He dared to say that the entire Diagon Alley would definitely turn into a crowded battlefield by then.

Mike even found some gorgeously dressed goblins and intelligent creatures of other races in the crowd. This was an absolute rarity in Diagon Alley in the past, because compared to the country, these inhuman intelligences with the ability to consume Creatures would prefer America, at least where no one would point fingers at their appearance.

And now, these non-human intelligent creatures have begun to walk on Diagon Alley.

This is great news!
Because this proves that Mike's previous affirmative action work is effective.

All of the above also made Mike realize that Diagon Alley must be expanded.

Right now, there are too few public activity areas and shops in Diagon Alley, which is not conducive to commercial activities and will greatly increase the cost of merchants entering Diagon Alley.

If Diagon Alley can be expanded, then the country's wizarding world will inevitably become more rapid.

Of course, this could also be a trap.

Because if the current prosperity of the Ministry of Magic is just a short-term bubble formed by enjoying the dividends brought about by policy changes, then the expansion of Diagon Alley will become meaningless.

Mike is deeply aware of this.

In his previous life, he had witnessed the bursting of the neon economic bubble. He still remembered that the media at that time almost described Neon as Yi Zier's hell, so he was very impressed.

But on this point, Mike thinks he has nothing to worry about.

This is because the prosperity this time is caused by policies, demographic dividends, and war dividends.

The influence of the policy may dissipate soon, but the Muggle wizard population bonus and other war bonuses given by the Ministry of Magic will definitely not disappear within a period of time.

In addition, the research on mysterious objects and Muggle technology products, as well as the establishment of multiple joint business organizations are also constantly advancing.

These two plans will continue to provide various benefits to the wizarding community in the country in the future.

This means that the current grand scene can last at least another few decades!

Thinking of this, a sincere smile appeared on Mike's originally expressionless face.

Truth be told, as a Minister for Magic, there is nothing more satisfying than seeing prosperity under one's own rule.

And just as Mike was enjoying this sense of accomplishment, a small hand waved quickly in front of him twice.

Mike hurriedly looked back, and saw Penello looking at him curiously with big eyes flashing.

"What are you looking at? So engrossed."

"Nothing." Mike shrugged his shoulders, "I just feel that there are a lot of people on the street today."

After saying that, Mike noticed that Penello had put on a light blue dress, paired with her same pair of light blue eyes and long brown hair, she showed a pure and rich The flavor of vitality.

Since leaving school, Penello's dress has become mature and stable, and he basically doesn't wear other clothes except overalls and dresses. Now that he suddenly saw Penello's different look, Mike was stunned for a moment, and then Instinctively asked:

"Huh? Aren't you picking a wedding dress? Why are you wearing this?"

Hearing that Penello grinned, she saw all Mike's reaction just now, and while she was secretly happy, Penello made an aggrieved expression on her face and said:
"When people see this dress is beautiful, they try it on. Why? Isn't it good-looking?"

"It looks good! Who says it's not good-looking!" Mike reacted quickly, "According to me, you should wear more colorful clothes in the future, so that it suits you best!"

"yes!"

"Of course!"

The smile on Penello's face became brighter, and Soraka and Hillary on the side couldn't help laughing when they saw this.

As for the middle-aged shopkeeper, he stood in the corner with self-knowledge, watching his eyes and mind, pretending he didn't see anything.

After that, the few people chatted and laughed for a while, and finally decided on the style of the wedding dress and the bridesmaid's dress until it was close to one o'clock in the afternoon.

But Penello and their shopping trip had just begun, and then everyone went to Jix Dessert Shop to enjoy a meal called afternoon tea but actually it was lunch.

After that, I went to Mrs. Primpinell's beauty potion shop and a newly opened jewelry store.

Finally, when everyone returned to the secret place of the Freemasonry, the traceless stretching spell bags that everyone carried were almost full of all kinds of clothes and cosmetics.

Mike felt extremely sore all over his body, and he didn't know if it was because he was too tired from shopping, or because of the delayed outbreak due to the intense activities last night.

But even so, looking at Penello's beautiful smile, Mike still felt that it was all worth it.

(End of this chapter)