Harry Potter and the Candy Factory

Trees lined both sides of the road, red leaves gradually falling, and as time passed, autumn had faded, ushering in winter.

The originally scheduled Christmas release date was also drawing nearer, with only about two months left.

Charlie was spending more and more time in his office.

From just one morning at the beginning, he now wouldn't step out for two or three days at a time.

Even Russell, his personal assistant, rarely saw his master except during breakfast and lunch.

While touched, Russell couldn't help but worry, fearing that Charlie might have problems due to overwork.

Fortunately, everything was normal, and nothing happened.

This book is first published on the entire network by 𝕥 𝕨 𝕜 𝕒 𝕟 . 𝕔 𝕠 𝕞

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

At this moment, inside the office, the heavy curtains were slowly drawn again, completely covering the floor-to-ceiling glass window, leaving no gaps.

The entire room lost its usual radiance and brightness.

All around was a dark gloom, as if forming a space isolated from everything.

If one didn't look at the clock ticking on the wall, no one could tell whether it was day or night.

Here, only the white candle quietly burning on the brass candlestick on the desk served as the sole source of light.

Melted wax flowed down, gathering in the grooves of the candlestick base, forming smooth, shallow wax pools like puddles after rain.

The faint flame quietly burned on the wick, occasionally swaying slightly due to Charlie's somewhat large movements.

The candlelight continuously sent out weak and dim light, carrying a hint of imperceptible warmth, shining on the desk, on stacks of documents, on the quill that continuously wrote without stopping, and also on Charlie Black's face, which rested on the desk and lacked its usual refinement… … …

Perhaps because he hadn't taken care of himself for too long, his golden hair no longer had its previous smoothness, nor did it have the sunlight floating on it.

Sparse stubble also grew on his cheeks, occupying his lower jaw area.

A faint weariness surrounded his brows, and even in his eyes, one could vaguely see a few traces of bloodshot.

His original temperament had also changed, becoming more like the vicissitudes and roughness of a middle-aged man.

But he still couldn't stop… … because, in a way, the documents in front of him could be said to encompass all the plans for the Charlie's Chocolate Factory next year.

At the same time, they also represented the specific direction of all suitable things next year.

Whether it was the decision-making and implementation of candy vending machines, or the welfare and post-planning of Muggle employees.

Or the sales strategies of the two types of candy, and the quarterly reports provided by various distributors—including distributors in the Muggle society, or many shops and partners in the magical world.

These all needed to be handled by him personally, and even Russell and the other supervisors couldn't provide the slightest help on these issues.

Everything had to be looked at by Charlie bit by bit, thought about bit by bit, and then give all the documents appropriate decisions.

It could be said that at this moment, Charlie Black was sitting here, and the two fingers holding the pen handle gently slid twice, which could determine the survival of many people, and could also make countless related practitioners feel a huge impact like a tsunami.

Because he was the so-called "leader", at least in the entire European dessert industry, Charlie's Chocolate Factory's actions often foreshadowed the specific trends of the entire industry in the coming year.

Charlie could even be sure that when Scent of Violet and Snow Lemon officially hit the market, it wouldn't be long before there were countless corresponding products such as "Amazing Violet Candy", "Delicious Violet Candy", "Fire Lemon", "Water Lemon"… … … etc., which would spring up like a fountain, dividing up this market.

Therefore, every time at this time, Charlie had to gather all his energy, put on the most solemn and serious attitude, to face every document in front of him.

In order to ensure that there would be no mistakes, so that Charlie's Chocolate Factory could continue to sail safely along the course planned by Charlie Black, avoiding turbulence, under the watchful eyes of all kinds of obvious and hidden forces… …

Although this process was undoubtedly painful and torturous, fortunately, such a process only occurred in this month of the year.

In the other days, he could still be like usual, happily stroking Fifi, while aimlessly finding a production line, wandering around in the name of inspecting work.

"Lane… …?"

After an unknown amount of time, Charlie's quill rarely paused, he rubbed his sore eyes, looked at the signature marked on the latest document under his hand, and couldn't help but fall into contemplation.

This wasn't the first time Charlie had seen this document appear on his desk.

It could be said that Lane would submit it almost every once in a while, as if it were a habit, to seek his consent.

The document wasn't anything very important.

It was just a discussion about whether a filled candy called "Melon Delight" could be sold in Muggle society.

The so-called "Melon Delight" wasn't a new candy.

Many years ago, it had been a popular product of Charlie's Chocolate Factory and was loved by the wizarding community.

And Lane was one of the enthusiasts of this candy.

Therefore, he had communicated with Charlie many times, hoping to register "Melon Delight" in the Muggle society market.

However, facing Lane's proposal, Charlie had to consider an important issue.

That was that a magical plant unique to the wizarding world—"Bubble Bean Pods"—was actually added to "Melon Delight".

The elves on the assembly line ground the dried Bubble Bean Pods into powder, and then added them to each candy according to the proportion, as a material to add to its taste.

In a sense, Bubble Bean Pods powder could also be said to be the key core to the popularity of "Melon Delight".

Therefore, due to this reason, in order to prevent being caught by the Ministry of Magic for any small mistakes, causing unnecessary trouble, facing Lane's several proposals, Charlie ultimately chose to refuse.

But now, perhaps because the situation had gradually changed, and the Ministry of Magic had implicitly acquiesced to Charlie's Chocolate Factory's intention to bring the relationship between Muggle society and the wizarding world closer, facing this proposal, Charlie already had different ideas… …

The feather quill, which had paused, began to move again, slowly tracing downwards from Rhine's signature. It passed over the content written in neat, block letters and finally stopped at the blank space at the bottom.

Then, the quill moved again, swiftly and smoothly writing the following words:

"Approved. Please come to the factory around Christmas to discuss the specific implementation plan."

As he wrote this sentence, a faint smile appeared on Charlie's lips. Perhaps because his mood had improved, the weariness in his brow lessened.

After finishing, he picked up the document and placed it on top of the thick stack of already approved files to the side. Charlie's gaze moved on to the next one.

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

Just as he was preparing to deal with the next document, a sudden knock on the office door interrupted Charlie's thoughts.

Charlie subconsciously raised his head and looked at the clock hanging on the wall. Seeing that the positions of the minute and hour hands did not indicate mealtime, he turned to look at the door.

"Come in," Charlie said as usual, straightening his body and stretching languidly as he spoke.

He didn't know how long he had been working continuously, but judging from the stiffness in his neck, shoulders, and spine, it must have been at least five hours.

At this rate... he should be able to finish processing the thick stacks of documents on his desk in a few more days.

Thinking of this, Charlie couldn't help but feel a little encouraged, and his spirits were renewed.

The door slowly opened, and as expected, Russell's figure appeared before Charlie.

After all, during this particular time, only Russell could enter the office as an exception.

"Good evening! Great Master Charlie!" Russell said, holding a piece of paper in his hand, bowing slightly as he greeted his master as usual.

"It's already evening..." Charlie pinched the space between his eyebrows and couldn't help but sigh.

Just as he refocused his gaze on the paper in Russell's hand, intending to ask him why he had come,

Suddenly, a dark brown shadow shot down like an arrow from a bow, swiftly moving through the gap of the opening door. With a "whoosh," it rushed into the office.

"Coo-coo! ! Chirp-coo-coo-coo! ! ! !"

Immediately following this, a familiar cry rang out, mixed with a hint of anger.

Before Charlie could react, he only saw Fervent steadily land on the desk. Then, extending its claws with a ferocity as if bearing a deep hatred, it viciously kicked the stack of documents that happened to be placed on its usual sleeping spot.

"Whirr! !"

Papers scattered, flying everywhere. The nearly meter-high stack of documents was directly kicked away by two-thirds, leaving only a few dozen sheets on the desk.

The gust of cool wind that came in with it extinguished the burning candles, plunging the office back into darkness.

All of this happened in an instant. Charlie, whose brain was already numb, naturally couldn't react as he usually would.

He could only watch helplessly as everything unfolded, and then let Fervent, the "culprit" who had kicked over most of the documents, chirp contentedly, flap its wings twice, and steadily land on the "ruins" of the document stack, curl up its feathers, roll into a ball, and fall asleep without a care in the world.

"Fervent! ! !"

At this moment, the first to react was Russell, who had not yet entered the office.

Seeing this sudden event unfold before his eyes, Russell's heart tightened. His eyes widened, and he was so frightened that he almost jumped off the ground.

He rushed into the office in a few quick steps, raised his hand, and with a flick towards the scattered documents, an invisible force instantly gathered, intercepting all the papers that were originally scattering in all directions in mid-air.

"Swish, swish, swish…"

The paper rustled in the wind. As Russell's gestures changed, it began to reconverge, transforming into a long dragon, roaming in the air.

After confirming that nothing unexpected had happened to all the scattered documents, Russell finally breathed a sigh of relief.

With a "thump," the magic maintaining the long dragon dissipated, and the documents were restacked in another corner of the desk.

"You're getting more and more disobedient! ! ! You bad owl! !"

After dealing with everything, Russell glared angrily, scolding Fervent, who was sleeping directly on top of the few remaining documents on the desk.

Charlie's gaze also followed to look at Fervent.

"Haha, don't blame it. It seems I've been busy with these documents these past few days, not letting it in or taking the time to play with it, so it got angry."

However, he wasn't angry, only amused. He shook his head, and while speaking softly, he reached out his hand and stroked Fervent's feathers as usual.

Fervent's wings were icy cold, with a few strands of unmelted ice still clinging to them. It was clear that it had just returned from outside.

"Coo — — —"

Its closed eyes didn't open, but it subconsciously twitched its feathers twice with Charlie's stroking, and let out a soft chirp before continuing to sleep on its own.

"What's the date today?" Suddenly, Charlie raised his head and asked Russell, who had already come before him, out of the blue.

"Uh…" Russell was stunned by the sudden question, and then quickly replied,

"Today is October 25th, Master. In three hours, it will be October 26th."

"October 25th..." Charlie repeated Russell's words, then slowly stood up from his seat and turned to lift a corner of the heavy curtains.

Outside, it was still a desolate and deserted night. The moon was nowhere to be seen in the sky, and even the stars were scarce, with only a few still shining faintly.

"Halloween is in a few days, right?" Charlie asked thoughtfully.

"Yes!" Russell quickly nodded, then raised the paper in his hand, glanced at it, and continued,

"Actually, Russell came for this matter. On Halloween, Headmaster Dumbledore hopes that we can…"