Hogwarts: Bourne Returns from Warhammer

Chapter 79 A Different "Modern History of Wizards"

"This is real?"

Ron stared and opened his mouth.

"Of course, what fun would it be for me to lie to you kids?"

He, Percy, was sitting on the sofa in the common room, tapping the spine of a celebrity biography titled "From Tea Boy to Minister of Magic" with his fingernails, making a clicking sound.

After the Halloween dinner, Bourne started asking around, how to place an order for a custom-made broomstick from the factory?
Unexpectedly, after asking this question, he discovered a problem: even his Grandpa Horace didn't know how to customize a broom.

Horace's original plan was to go to the broomstick boutique and buy the most expensive broom for competitions for Bourne. This may be because he doesn't like riding brooms. The old man's understanding of this kind of alchemy prop is quite simple. The more expensive, the better.

In the end, Professor McGonagall, who was very good at Quidditch and broomsticks, gave Bourne some advice: go ask Percy, the Weasley family has access to this.

So Bourne grabbed Harry and Ron and found Percy in the common room. And Percy didn't hide anything, and told them about the Weasley family's network in a concise and clear manner.

This news will shock Ron for a whole year!

"There aren't many wizards in the UK, and it's normal for pure-blood families to be related to each other," Percy shrugged. "In fact, only outsiders like the Malfoy family like to emphasize... well, What a long family history.”

With that, Percy winked at his youngest brother. "Their family only has a history of two to three hundred years, and it relied on marriage with the traditional British pure-blood wizard family to get on the list of the 'Twenty-Eight Holy Pure-blood Wizard Families'."

"Then since our family is related to the owner of the broomstick factory, will we be able to buy cheap broomsticks in the future? Maybe they will even give them away..."

Although Ron was usually very interested in "speak ill of the Malfoys", at this time he wanted to know the answer to this question.

As a result, Percy poured cold water on him directly: "Unfortunately, this is impossible. The relationship between those people and us is not as close as you think.

Relatives are relatives, and business is business. They can clearly distinguish between them.

What's more, those people are only distant relatives of our Weasley family. "

Ron grinned depressedly.

Then, Percy told these little wizards about "distant relatives" and how they are "distant".

Or, from a certain perspective, he taught these little brothers a lesson.

The history of broomsticks used by European wizards can be traced back to 962 BC!
At that time, broomsticks were generally made at home, so there were problems such as insufficient polishing and non-aerodynamics, which resulted in a very poor user experience at the time.

Moreover, due to the limited magic level of the maker, the ordinary flying broom can only fly forward at one speed - it cannot perform complex activities such as rising, falling, pausing and so on.

The key is, it can’t fly far!
The broomstick at that time was just a means of transportation for short distances.

By the 12th century, wizards had learned to barter, and everyone began to trade brooms from professional craftsmen.

At this time, broomsticks, because their riding comfort had been greatly improved, so wizards not only regarded them as a mode of transportation, but also began to enjoy the fun of flying on broomsticks, which resulted in many broomstick games - Quirk The Diqi movement was also born at this time.

From the 15th century to the early 20th century, many broomstick crafting families like the wandmaking family Ollivanders gradually became very famous in the industry.

This list is very long. Let’s briefly summarize a few tasks to sort them out——

Elio Smeth: Invented the "Invisible Cushion Charm" in 1820, which brought the comfort level of riding a broomstick to its peak.

Elijah Grimm: The "Oak Arrow 79" made by Elijah Grimm became the first broomstick to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

Ladis Booth: The "Moon Dream" produced by Ladis Booth has set a flight altitude record that has not yet been broken by other brooms.

Leonard Jewkes: The "Silver Arrow" produced by Leonard Jewkes became the first true "Quidditch broom" because of its excellent straight-line acceleration capabilities.

However, starting from the late 18th century, because they recognized the destructive power of Obscurus and witnessed the rapid development of Muggle society, some far-sighted elite wizards began step-by-step and precise operations.

The wizarding world began to gradually accept those young Muggle wizards who came from Muggle families and showed magical talents.

Take the UK as an example. Around the 19s, the number of wizards registered by the British Ministry of Magic exceeded 40 for the first time! (In 5000, this number reached 1991 to 2, most of which were contributed by wizards and their descendants from Muggle families.)
The expansion of the population base will inevitably bring about some changes in society, even in closed circles like the magical world, which appear to be very conservative even if they start to reform.

For example, in order to improve supply efficiency, the Ollivander family's wands began to use only cores made of three magical animal materials.

For another example, the production method of broomsticks, a popular "home alchemy tool", has transformed from the craftsman model to the factory model.

In 1926, three brothers, Bob, Bill and Barnaby Ollerton, founded the Sideways Broom Company and mass-produced their competition broom - the Sidesweep - which became an instant hit. success. Within a year, every Quidditch team in the UK was riding the product.

In 1929, two Falmouth Falcons athletes, Randolph Cage and Basil Horton, established another competition broom company, the Comet Trading Company, and launched the product "Comet 140", which broke the Austrian broom market. The LeTown brothers had a monopoly on the competition broom market.

"Comet Broom, the brake is easy to use!" This advertisement was published by Comet Trading Company in the Daily Prophet for a whole month!
From 1934 to 1937, the two broomstick companies Sideswipe and Comet continued to compete, and both sides continued to launch new products of their own.

At the same time, other broomstick manufacturing factories also sprung up all over Europe.

For example, the Black Forest Company launched a very elastic "string-free arrow" in 1940, but its speed still did not catch up with the Comet and Sweep series; in 1952, the Black Forest Company produced a new type of broom "Swift" , the speed has been greatly improved compared to the off-string arrow, but the lifting power is slightly insufficient, so it has not been favored by professional Quidditch teams.

In 1955, the Cosmic Broom Company developed the "Meteor Broom", which was the most affordable racing broom to date. It caused a short-lived craze at the time, but people soon discovered that the model's performance would improve rapidly after being used for a long time. decline. Later, Cosmic Broom Co., Ltd. also declared bankruptcy in 1978.

In 1967, the Nimbus Racing Broom Company came out with the "Nimbus 1000", which once again set off a wave of excitement. Nimbus combines the safety of old-fashioned oak arrows with the maneuverability of the best sweep series, giving the broom a speed of one hundred miles an hour and the ability to make -degree turns anywhere in the air.

Therefore, the Nimbus series was immediately favored by professional Quidditch teams across Europe. Subsequently, various models of Nimbus competition brooms were launched, and the company also became the leader in the broom industry.

However, no one is checking it now. If you check the information carefully, you will find: starting from the factory production of broomsticks, from the three brothers of Alton, the founders of Sideswipe Company, Horton of Comet Trading Company, to the Nimbus Devlin Whitehorn of the company, although none of them are wizards from pure-blood families, as long as these people's family trees go back one or two generations, the pure-blood surname "Weasley" will appear!

"It's good that you know, don't talk nonsense..." Percy whispered to several junior students, including his younger brother. He also cast a silent barrier spell for this purpose, not wanting what he said next to be heard by others. People hear.

"...the alchemy techniques that these broomstick factory founders had to master when they started were all investments from our grandfathers and great-grandfathers.

However, in return for this investment in knowledge, the Weasley family received more than just Galleons.

What we charge is knowledge - running those broomstick companies, all new spells and new technologies invented and created must be shared with the Weasley family - this seems to involve an 'unbreakable oath', anyway, Bill is so Tell me. "

Hearing "Unbreakable Vow" for the first time, Harry asked curiously: "What is this?"

Before Percy could explain, Bourne gave the answer first: "This is one of the strictest magical contracts. Those who make an oath must abide by the agreement, even at the cost of their lives. Once If the oath is broken, the lightest result will be the tragic death of the oath-breaker, while the more serious consequences may affect the oath-breaker's descendants for several generations..."

While Ron and Harry looked horrified, Bourne silently added:
The Weasley family are indeed smart people.

Thanks to Horace's preschool education, Bourne has a far better understanding of the magical world than the average adult wizard, and knows the underlying logic of its operation.

knowledge is power.

Magic is everything.

Why are twenty-eight pure-blood families "sacred"?
The reason is simple. These families once mastered most of the knowledge in the magical world.

It is precisely because of this knowledge that they can monopolize resources that ordinary wizards cannot obtain.

For example, Bourne has been able to eat nutritious meals made from the meat of magical animals such as Riem cattle and fire dragons since he was a child. It is difficult for ordinary wizard families to obtain these ingredients, even if they cannot afford them.

The reason why other wizards and the Ministry of Magic would acquiesce in the pure-blood family's monopoly on magic resources is because this qualification is "beaten".

Why can wizards lay down laws against other magical intelligent races? Why can only wizards have wands? Why can goblins after the rebellion be suppressed only work in Gringotts and the Goblin Factory?
Was this something that was negotiated at the negotiation table?

That is impossible.

What cannot be achieved on the battlefield is even less likely to be achieved at the negotiation table.

The dominance of wizards among many magic races mainly relies on powerful wizards to plunder them from other magic races.

As for wizards with high magical powers, before the wizarding world absorbed a large number of Muggle-born wizards, they basically came from those twenty-eight families.

However, due to the large number of Muggle wizards joining in, the composition of the wizarding community in the magical world has been completely changed. In addition, the twenty-eight families have not always had outstanding figures and masters appear in every generation, so the twenty-eight families are not what they used to be. Infinite scenery.

In order to deal with this situation, the Twenty-Eight Pureblood Families also took some measures accordingly.

For example, the Slughorn family to which Bourne belongs relies on opening up the chain of magical animals, magical plants, and various downstream potion finished products stores, and cooperating with the operation of the Extraordinary Apothecary Association to form an ecosystem suitable for the survival of their family. .

The Weasley family, although they do not have a monopoly on resources, have been deeply involved in the Ministry of Magic for generations - the smooth Minister of Magic and the iron-clad Director Weasley.

Plus, the Weasley population was booming.

As well as the knowledge investment in alchemy product factories such as flying broomsticks in the past hundred years, as well as the new knowledge and new technologies obtained as an opportunity.

The Weasley family is actually on the road to continuous development. Moreover, the current sons of Arthur, the current head of the Weasley family, all have promising futures.

Bill is recognized as a magical genius.

Charlie is strong. (Isn’t this the main force for the next generation of branches and leaves?)
Percy has ambitions for power and is the perfect person to inherit the Weasley family's legacy in the Ministry of Magic.

Although George and Fred were naughty and mischievous, they showed their family talent in making alchemical tools at a young age.

Ron... has a wide range of contacts, and it would be no exaggeration to call him a "little social expert".

The surname Weasley is expected to usher in a prosperous period in the next hundred years!
However, not all pure-blood wizard families can find a path suitable for family development.

The Black family, who are "so poor that they only have gold galleons left", is actually a kind of tragedy.

The pure-blood family, which is not as rich as the Black family and does not have the same inheritance as Slughorn and Weasley, is undoubtedly even more miserable.

Of course, ordinary wizards (most Muggle wizards) don't think so. They simply think that those pure-blood families like to "put on airs" and are "not friendly enough" to Muggles and Muggle wizards.

This contradiction is difficult to reconcile.

It was precisely because of this almost irreconcilable conflict that when Voldemort began to cause chaos, some pure-blood families chose to support him, and some even joined the Death Eaters.

In fact, excluding the fact that Voldemort himself is powerful enough, and relying solely on his stinking ideology and a goal that is ridiculous compared to the old man Grindelwald, if it were not for this contradiction that has appeared in the wizarding world in modern times, the so-called 's "Rise of the Dark Lord" is definitely not going to happen.

(End of this chapter)