The next day, 9: 30 AM, Diagon Alley 126a.
At the entrance of a short white building, Felix smiled as he shook hands with a woman in a purple dress.
"There's no need to send me off, madam.
It's an honor to continue working with you. "
"Oh ~ Mr Heip, you're too humble. Your books are always so inspiring."
Felix walked down the dark brown wooden steps and blended into the crowd. At this moment, his heart felt relaxed. 'The first book is done, it didn't take much effort.'
'But the next part is the main event.'
He walked along Diagon Alley and turned a corner in front of Gringotts Bank. Along the way, he counted the shop numbers.
"Diagon Alley South 13a, 14b, 15a … … So, shop number 15b should be opposite." Felix turned around and saw a 7-storey building.
The building was dirty and dilapidated. The letters on it had fallen off.
He could barely make out the letter L, which cast a shadow over his upcoming collaboration.
In the gap between the building and the house next to it, there was a row of huge rubbish bins. There were also traces of the letters L.C.A on them.
He followed the dark staircase to the second floor and pushed open a door of oak, which was covered with scratches. A cacophony of noise and chatter entered his ears.
It was as if he had arrived in another world. The walls were filled with colorful comic books, and these drawings covered the walls tightly.
The main character of the drawings was a little boy wearing a beret and a striped shirt. He was active in different scenes. Being chased by a group of bowtruckles. Waving a small wooden stick in his hand. Riding a single-horned rhinoceros, excitedly turning around to call for his companions. Wearing a wizard's cloak, standing on the roof of a farmhouse … …
But Felix could see that these drawings were old. Some of the drawings' colors had faded, and some of the drawings in the corner were covered with purple mold.
All these showed that this publishing house used to be glorious, but now it was in decline.
"Is anyone there?
Mr Andes? "Felix shouted.
After a long time, a door was pushed open beside him. The door was hidden among the layers of paintings, and Felix did not notice it for a while.
A skinny, middle-aged wizard with a stubble on his beard stared at him and asked in a nasal voice, "Felix Heip?"
"It's me. I think you're Mr. Andes?
We made an appointment. "
The sorcerer let go of the doorknob. "Come in, it's a bit messy inside." He stepped back into the room.
Felix frowned slightly, but he did not say anything. He followed the wizard into the room, which reeked of an unpleasant smell. All sorts of junk were piled up haphazardly, and he even saw a few plates of leftovers in the corner.
This made his scalp go numb, and he subconsciously wanted to use Phantom Transfiguration to leave this place.
The only thing that comforted him was that he saw fresh paint and canvas in what could barely be called a studio. The half-finished painting on it was excellent.
He decided to take a deeper look, but the premise was that the room had to fit his taste.
"Clean it up!
Clean it up!
Whirlwind Sweep! "
Felix waved his wand repeatedly, cleaning up all the trash in the room. A sudden gust of wind appeared and repeatedly raged in the small room. The windows rattled, and the tables and chairs shook violently. However, the dust and dirt on them were quickly peeled off and swept into the gust of wind, finally forming a cloud of murky air.
He opened the window, and a silver swallow flew out from the tip of his wand. "Do me a favor, I remember seeing a dustbin when I came in." The swallow nodded at him, flapped its wings, and flew out of the window, followed by a long gray dragon.
"You, you …" The male adept called Andis stared at Felix with his mouth agape, tongue-tied.
"Please take a seat, Mr. Andes." Felix waved his wand and pushed the cleaned chair in front of him.
Andes sat down with a blank expression. He looked around, and it took him a while to react. "This seems to be my house?" He muttered in a low voice, and then his face turned red as he shouted angrily.
Felix sat opposite him, and said calmly, "Mr. Andes, let's make this short.
Since you agreed to this visit, I assume that you have a need for submissions from the outside world. "
"And as your potential partner, I have the right to make a request of you, at least before you explicitly refuse."
"You …"
Felix tapped his ring with his wand, and a stack of sketches flew out. "This is my manuscript, 'The Adventures of the Little Wizard Mikeji'. I mentioned it in my letter.
You can take a look at it first, and then you can decide whether we should continue the conversation.
I don't want to waste our time. "
The wizard held the sketches and looked at him with puzzled eyes.
"What are you waiting for?"
The male adept gulped and let out a dry laugh. "No, nothing."
He quickly lowered his head and began reading. At the same time, he mentally labeled Felix as a strong-willed adept.
The wizard decided to pick out a few flaws and chase him away. If he wasn't satisfied, he would run out to the streets and ask for help …
As time went by, Andis, who was careless at the beginning, became serious.
He made various comments from time to time.
"Not bad."
"Interesting."
"What is this? Heaven … Wheel?
What does it use to spin? Is it really not magic? "
"Heavens, two cups of water can turn red when poured together?
I guess it's some kind of transparent magic potion. "
At some point, he pulled a chair next to Felix and began to discuss with him.
"I like this part, I think it's very intelligent —"
Felix looked over. It was the scene of Mikeji and his new muggle friend going to the shop to buy clothes.
"What should I say?"
Mikeji looked at the dazzling array of clothes in the shop and asked nervously, "I don't understand at all. I'm just an idiot from the countryside."
"Don't worry, I don't understand either, but my mother told me a trick," said his friend.
Mikeji looked at his friend and confidently said to the shop assistant, "My friend here only has a budget of fifteen pounds, but he needs a shirt, a pair of trousers, and preferably a bow tie.
Can you do it, ma 'am? "
"Of course, young gentleman," the young shop assistant said with a smile. She looked at Mikeji's figure and turned to get the right clothes.
His friend smiled at Mikeji. "How about it? It's not that hard, is it?"
… …
After about half an hour, Felix asked, "What do you think?"
Andes's expression turned shrewd as he quickly assessed the value of the sketches. After seven or eight minutes, he said hesitantly, "To be honest, I'm not sure."
"Personally," he added, "this is a very interesting children's comic, but I'm not that confident in my own taste.
As you can see, this publishing house has had its glory days, but since I took over, it's failed a dozen times.
In the end, I had to sell the thirtieth anniversary edition of the old book. "
"Mr. Andes," Felix said, "I haven't asked you yet. What do the letters L.C.A stand for?"
"They're the initials of the three founders. The A is Andes. It was founded by my grandfather and two of his good friends," said the wizard.
"Then your company's masterpiece, The Adventures of Martin Migus …"
"It was my grandfather's idea. It was his personal experience. When he was still a child, he once received a Muggle boy who had strayed into the world of magic. They played happily for a week before they were discovered.
The staff of the Ministry of Magic erased the boy's memory and sent him back to his home. "
Felix nodded.
He took out several parchments from his ring. They were filled with various tables and data.
The parchments were fluttering and stuck to the wall.
"Mr. Andes, I can't prove that this manuscript will definitely help your publishing house turn around, but we can analyze the data. Since your company was founded, you've published a total of seventeen comic books. Of course, The Adventures of Martin Migus is the most famous. I've obtained some data from my friend in the Ministry of Magic, who is in charge of publishing publications. It's obvious that relatively novel content is more popular …"
"At the same time, this manuscript, which is positioned as a children's publication, doesn't appear to be too young and childish. It's also very friendly to adults.
If you're willing, we can work together. "
Andes didn't have much choice, unless he wanted to continue eating the leftovers from thirty years ago.
Therefore, when Felix gave him a reasonable reason, he naturally agreed.
Their initial plan was very conservative. They would first publish a hundred books to test the waters. Even if they failed, it wouldn't be a big deal.
At best, it would just be a waste of Andes's time. But what he didn't lack now was time.
After finalizing the cooperation, Andes showed him his ancestral craftsmanship. He scribbled and changed one of Felix's sketches, and tapped it with his magic wand. Soon, the whole picture was filled with color, and the sketches became more exquisite.
In the picture, a little boy was standing on a huge Ferris wheel. He was standing on his tiptoes and looking down through the window. Beside him was a half-eaten vanilla ice cream floating in the air.
Half an hour later, Felix walked out of the L.C.A. building. He was in a very good mood.
He was going to return to the office through the public fireplace in Diagon Alley, so that he wouldn't have to walk some distance to the edge of the Forbidden Forest with Phantom Transfiguration.
But at this moment —
"Professor Heip?"
Felix turned around and saw a familiar figure in the crowd. He said with some surprise, "Potter?"