A Thin Bloodline

Edmund sighed:

"No, that's not it. My family isn't in business, and I'm not trying to sell you anything—I just hate brooms, that's all."

Sirius smiled slyly:

"Just kidding, Edmund. I know your father is the Deputy Minister of Magic in Germany."

Edmund wasn't surprised; given the kid's personality, it would have been even stranger if he hadn't tried to investigate him.

James paused, looking both surprised and hesitant.

"But didn't you say... your father and Dumbledore didn't get along?"

Edmund sensed that Hagrid, who had been fiddling with something in the back, had also stopped. He couldn't help but glare at James.

"It's a wonder you still remember what I said... but that's giving him far too much credit. Does he even deserve to be at odds with Dumbledore?"

Edmund scoffed.

"He feared Dumbledore more than Grindelwald. He was even somewhat afraid of Dumbledore. If my father had any redeeming qualities, it was that he was somewhat self-aware."

Aide Mongolia laughed strangely.

Even with his divine weapon, Oscar Soman couldn't cross that chasm.

This brings us to the magical mechanism of the genie's dagger:

Generally speaking, as long as the holder carries the artifact with them, it will automatically emit a small amount of magical influence.

Even before a crisis arises that requires it to unleash its power, it will strengthen the holder's abilities, protect the holder's safety, and enhance the holder's charisma.

Therefore, even without "using" the artifact, simply holding the genie's dagger, which symbolizes power, will enhance one's abilities.

As a result, Mr. Soman became very confident, believing that as long as he didn't go to Dumbledore's territory, he was invincible.

Then, he encountered Voldemort.

What a tragedy.

Before being upgraded, Old Soman was at best a mediocre talent. Even though his strength was decent, his mediocre mind was still not worthy of truly top-tier abilities.

He lacks the imagination and creativity unique to geniuses.

Therefore, although old Soman managed to escape danger using the power of the dagger, and even slightly outmatched Voldemort in a contest of strength, he simply couldn't imagine how he could defeat a wizard of Voldemort's caliber. After Voldemort countered his moves three times, Soman broke down.

This caused them to miss the best opportunity, allowing Voldemort to escape and indirectly leading to Edmund's death.

"From what you're saying, it's as if he became the Deputy Minister of Magic because of his own 'self-awareness'."

Sirius paused slightly after speaking. He looked disgusted, suddenly realizing that he had spoken like the "Black family" again.

Edmund was quite used to this style of communication. Compared to Lucius, Sirius was relatively direct in his speech:

"It's not fair to assume he rose to power by currying favor with Dumbledore," Edmund chuckled and shrugged. "But I can't really say much more."

After a moment of silence in the cabin, before the big man Hagrid served the young visitors hot tea and snacks, James spoke.

What kind of work does the Ministry of Magic do?

He spent most of the day trying to come up with a topic to break the silence.

"My grandfather was also a bureaucrat in the Ministry of Magic. My dad always talks about him, saying that he had to argue with people every day and always complained that being a bureaucrat was extremely boring."

Edmund chuckled upon hearing this and cleared his throat.

"Oh, their job is very, very difficult. Having a fight to fight with sounds pretty good—do you want to know what the first priority is for the German Deputy Minister of Magic?"

James looked curious.

"To live."

Edmund's name is short for Edmund.

"Good heavens, this is too much for him—he has to ensure he survives, every single day! Can you imagine, James?"

James was stunned; this time, Sirius understood the joke. He burst out laughing and, for the first time, patted Edmund on the shoulder.

"So pitiful! It's so hard for them to even keep breathing—"

Sirius shook his head back and forth, then accepted the hot tea and biscuits that Hagrid offered.

When Hagrid handed out his biscuits, Edmund noticed with his sharp eyes that the half-giant seemed to have given him slightly fewer than James and Sirius.

It was somewhat amusing. Edmund glanced at Hagrid with amusement, then his attention was immediately drawn to the "cookie."

Edmund held the unidentified object, which he called a "snack," and felt that its texture was similar to granite. It was about the size of a crucible lid, dark and heavy.

For a brief moment, he thought he was being targeted.

But when he looked at the "snacks" in the hands of the other two people, he found that they were exactly the same as the one in his hand.

James kept a straight face, clearly trying to remain calm; while Sirius cautiously examined the "cookie" in his hand, which looked like crucible residue and smelled like fully burned charcoal.

This pretentious boy looked very innocent and confused.

…………

James' fifth offensive possession was successful, after which his molars crushed the "rock pancake".

Sirius gave up on his seventh attempt, and Edmund suspected that all his attempts were just to please James.

He no longer had this demand, and Edmund surrendered directly.

"How does it taste?" he asked James.

"If you say it's delicious, then I would suggest my father serve it to Grindelwald as dessert. He deserves it."

Before James could even laugh, Sirius burst into laughter again.

The reason the former didn't have time was simple: he hadn't swallowed the rock-skin cake in his mouth yet—that certainly took some courage.

"Edmond Soman! Stop with your lame jokes!!"

Edmund smiled smugly, but before he could begin to boast, the half-giant who had remained silent as if he had been observing them all along suddenly stood up.

An incredible light shone in those dark eyes:

"You...you're surnamed Soman?" Hagrid's voice trembled slightly.

"Yes, that's right...! No wonder you have such eyes... I remember now! I remember now!"

He looked extremely excited, and suddenly stepped forward and rudely hugged Edmund, exposing him to a strong, animalistic stench.

It felt like being slammed into a solid mud wall…

But he was still the one who understood the situation best. He knew that the other person had "recognized" him.

It seems this guy really is a die-hard Dumbledore fanboy; his attitude changed so drastically for that meager bloodline. It's quite amusing.

What's even funnier is that this big guy didn't explain anything, he just started sobbing.

This put James and his companion in an awkward position. They offered a few words of comfort, but seeing that Edmund and Hagrid were not prepared to explain, they decided to take their leave early.

Edmund wasn't going to immediately use Hagrid's connection to find out about Dumbledore, so he followed the two and prepared to leave together.

Seeing this, Hagrid suddenly turned back into the inner room, took out a large bag of rock cakes, and stuffed them into Edmund's hands without saying a word.

……

I really don't know if this is a good intention or a bad one.

But Edmund accepted the bundle of hidden weapons for the time being.