The Astley siblings' tour was extremely successful. It took only seven days to achieve the set goal, raking in fifteen million.
Audrey was grinning from ear to ear every day. Her past self was too silly; if she had known hunger marketing worked so well, what was she doing running around everywhere for gigs in previous years?
Like now, occasionally showing her face to make a quick buck, her commercial value actually rose instead of falling!
Indeed, what one cannot obtain is the best. People are just cheap!
When she was a model worker, they didn't cherish her. Now that she started fishing for three days and drying nets for two, they were throwing heavy money to lick her boots...
Look, an American entertainment company sent an invitation, hoping the Astley siblings could also hold a tour in the United States, but Audrey refused.
As a result, the other party increased the offer daily. It was now January 8, 1992, and Audrey's appearance fee had risen from one million to six million dollars per show...
Peter Waterman wasn't shortsighted either. Using the excuse that Audrey needed to continue her studies, he declined the American offer. His calculations were shrewd—wait until Audrey's summer vacation, then go to the States to make a killing. Perhaps after half a year of fermentation, Audrey's value would rise even more!
Although Audrey didn't rest well during this Christmas holiday, she didn't complain a bit!
That was nearly ten million in income!
After all, if she wanted to rest, there was plenty of time at Hogwarts...
Moreover, she could still enjoy herself at home for the last two days of the Christmas holiday—except for Snape being somewhat of an eyesore, everything seemed so wonderful!
Until Cornelius Fudge, the current Minister for Magic, personally visited the Astley residence.
He was a portly, short man, with gray curly hair firmly held down by a lime-green bowler hat.
He looked very generous and amiable, not at all like the man standing at the peak of power in the British wizarding world.
"Hello, Miss Astley," Fudge took off his green hat and smoothed his hair. "This is our first meeting. Very glad to meet you; I am a fan of yours!"
A Minister's visit naturally required advance notice; an owl had long since brought news of the Minister's impending arrival.
So Audrey not only knew who the man before her was, but was also prepared to host him.
"Please come in, Mr. Minister." Leading Fudge into the living room, Audrey shouted upstairs, "Brother! I have a guest; play the piano a bit softer!"
The next moment, the melodious piano sound in the mansion ceased.
"Mr. Minister, truly discourteous. My brother is too obsessed with music."
"No, no, no," Fudge beamed, not minding at all. "Actually, I would prefer if we could talk accompanied by music."
Audrey didn't speak. She gestured for Fudge to sit anywhere and waved her hand. The teapot automatically filled the teacup in front of the Minister with black tea.
"Extremely excellent non-verbal, wandless magic, Miss Astley," Fudge complimented. "Your talent is truly unparalleled! Worthy of an ancient magic genius who only entered school at sixteen!"
Audrey waited quietly for Fudge to continue.
A Minister for Magic visiting suddenly couldn't possibly be just to praise her; there must be other purposes.
Sure enough, Fudge continued, "But I came this time to talk about your underage magic usage outside of school, Audrey. Oh, please allow me to call you Audrey."
"As you wish, Mr. Minister."
"You have studied at Hogwarts for quite some time now. Naturally, you know of the existence of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery. I think you should also realize yourself that you have violated the law."
Audrey shrugged, noncommittal.
Fudge took a document from his pocket and placed it on the coffee table.
"This is your warning letter. If you make this mistake again, you will face the danger of being expelled from Hogwarts."
Audrey suddenly laughed. She waved her hand and summoned fruits and snacks from the kitchen.
"Alright, Mr. Minister, I cast a spell again. So please hurry up and expel me!"
Cornelius Fudge was stunned. He didn't know how much effort Dumbledore had spent to persuade Audrey to attend school.
Now that Hydrus Lestrange's reputation had been cleared, Audrey remaining at Hogwarts was merely to fulfill a promise. She didn't want old Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic to fall out because of her, after all, it was the Ministry that "required" her to attend Hogwarts.
But now, if the Ministry expelled her from Hogwarts with their own hands, that would be simply wonderful!
Killing two birds with one stone, perfect for both sides. What could be better than this?
Fudge was caught off guard.
'Why doesn't this girl play by the rules?'
"I've long wanted to live in America, Mr. Minister," Audrey said happily. "You know, the ghosts at Hogwarts are too annoying. I'm desperate to leave that place!"
Fudge was quiet for a few seconds before speaking, "No, no, I mean, that's not what I meant, Audrey." Only in his surprise, he stuttered more or less. "I just hope you can respect the law. Yes, respect the law. Punishment is secondary; the key is, the key is you should have reverence for the Ministry of Magic!"
"I have always been full of reverence for the Ministry, Mr. Minister!"
Audrey smiled like a flower. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have agreed to go to school at Hogwarts."
"Fine, fine," Fudge took a sip of black tea. "Let's skip this topic. Just be careful in the future."
Audrey was disappointed inwardly. It seemed the Ministry's desire for ancient magic was no less than Thetis and those goblins, to the point where they could tolerate her rule-breaking behavior.
Fudge cleared his throat, steadied his mind, and said seriously, "I need to talk about the second matter now."
He realized Audrey wasn't the kind of little girl who could be easily fooled, so his gaze became much more serious. "According to news revealed to me by Gringotts, Miss Astley has a vault at Gringotts, estimated to hold about over a hundred thousand Galleons?"
Audrey frowned. "Mr. Minister, is saving money against the law?"
"Of course not, my dear," Fudge laughed. "It's just that as a little wizard who grew up in the Muggle world, where did you get so many Galleons? The pound exchange service Gringotts opens to little wizards every year has a limit."
"So what does Mr. Minister mean?"
"A few months ago, a family surnamed Gray reported to the Ministry that their family vault was stolen, losing a hundred thousand Galleons. Currently, we have opened a case for investigation, and Gringotts will actively cooperate with us."
"Audrey, if you cannot clearly explain the source of those Galleons, you might be listed as a suspect by us and undergo interrogation."
This was a threat, a naked threat.
If Audrey restored her identity as Hydrus, this could naturally be resolved. After all, the Lestrange family had always been the masters of the Gray family. How could there be logic in a servant questioning a master for stealing the servant's money?
But Audrey didn't want to restore Hydrus's identity too early, because the mainstream in the wizarding world still despised Muggles. If she restored her identity as the eldest Miss Lestrange, and then wanted to use her identity as a singer to make big money in the Muggle world, she would face verbal attacks and written condemnation from all strata of the wizarding world, especially the pure-blood families.
Audrey Astley could sing for money in the Muggle world; the eldest Miss Lestrange could not!
Restoring identity required prerequisites: either possess absolute power to suppress everything, or change the status quo of the wizarding world and broaden the wizards' horizons.
Restoring her identity with only disadvantages and no benefits was absolutely meaningless behavior.
For those hundred-something thousand Galleons?
Are you kidding! The concert she just finished earned her wealth equivalent to almost two million Galleons!
So, now was not the time to restore her identity.
Her original plan was also to inherit the Lestrange family fortune after the Battle of Hogwarts, after the high officials of the Ministry headed by Order of the Phoenix members came to power.
And now, if not for external factors, whether she restored Hydrus's identity or not didn't matter anymore, because Audrey's identity was more popular in the wizarding world!
Audrey pondered carefully.
If the Ministry really wanted to investigate her, they probably would have done so long ago. Fudge wouldn't have run over specifically to tell her this.
Then there was only one reason for Fudge saying this: the Minister needed something from her!
This was an old politician's trick. First oppress someone to an unbearable degree, then make them accept a slightly better terrible request...
Using her natural Legilimens constitution.
Sure enough!
Audrey instantly understood everything.
"Alright, I understand the situation, Minister Fudge," Audrey leaned back on the sofa. "Although I have a very legitimate source for that wealth, it is my secret."
Audrey: "I know what you mean. Just say what you want me to do; no need to beat around the bush."
Cornelius Fudge nodded. "Then I'll be direct." He took an invitation letter from the inner pocket of his gray suit. "Gringotts wants to develop and research a Nordic ruin, but cannot crack it. They once sought you out, but you refused."
The Minister said, "You know, Gringotts and the Ministry have very deep cooperation. It's rare for Gringotts to make a request. Although I am the Minister, it's hard to refuse."
"If you can participate in this excavation, we will verify for you that the gold in your vault has an absolutely legitimate source, legal and compliant!"
Audrey sighed.
Compared to the goblin rebellion planned by Ranrok a hundred years ago, this time seemed even more troublesome!
Yes, when Thetis found Audrey, Audrey had used the Legilimency gained from Thetis to read her thoughts.
The goblins were indeed going to rebel again.
Compared to Ranrok's path of armed rebellion a hundred years ago,
The mastermind of this goblin rebellion had actually grasped the power of speech within Gringotts and could even influence the Ministry's decisions because of it!
This was a bit terrifying!
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