Chapter 226: Christmas Ball: Part-Duo (2/2)
”Good, now chill. It's Christmas, have some fun,” said Quinn before looking around the ballroom with a sigh, ”now, if you three Slytherin will excuse me,” he sighed more, ”I'll have to show my face to some people and engage in small talk.. . I swear I'll have to do something that'll give me a lifetime pass from this.”
When Quinn left, Theodore turned to Daphne and Blaise and asked. ”What did he mean by that?”
”He doesn't like parties,” said Daphne.
”And, he came alone, so I guess he needs to chat with some people,” Blaise guessed.
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- (Scene Break) -
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Cornelius Fudge walked around the ballroom, smiling and nodding to people as he passed them by. He was looking around to see who was talking to who, trying to get the lay of the land and if some new connections were forming that he needed to know about.
'Hmm, everything's looking good,' thought Fudge.
But then he saw a group of people gathered around in a group with great chatter happening in there. It made him curious, what was happening and what were they talking about. Fudge walked towards the group and heard someone speaking to the group.
”It's all about adding value to your business.. . matching what your competitor is doing isn't good enough — giving the public what they have seen before isn't good enough, it's redundant to show them the same thing they can get another place.. . you have to give them something extra, something that would catch their eye enough to sway them away from your competitor.”
Fudge moved closer towards the group, and because he was the Minister, he didn't need to muscle his way to the front of the crowd as people gave him the way.
”So, to attract customers to your business, you need something new.. . but that doesn't mean you need to release new products every season to generate that new wave of revenue. Let me tell you something: only around five to ten percent of products every year are truly original; the rest of the new things you might see in the market are little improvements to existing products.. .”
Fudge finally made his way to the front to see the backside of a person dressed in a blue checkered suit talking to the entire group, who all were looking immersed and were hanging to his every word.
”So, remember to be greedy.. . not about money. That's actually secondary. You need to be greedy about progress and not stop in a spot and think that you can relax now that you're ahead of the pack. If it takes effort to get ahead, then it'll take more effort to stay ahead. You all need to add value to your products, to your process, to your employees, anything you do better will help you better your business, and if you're better, your customers will line your coffers with their pockets very much happily.”
Fudge watched as the person turned toward his direction and saw a familiar face.
It was Quinn West.
'Wests are at the Ball?!' thought Fudge surprised and taken aback. It was a critical time for him — he needed all the time he could get — and here he was standing, staring Quinn West in the face having no prior information about his presence.
He looked around to find George West, but there was no sign of the man with the most gravity of anyone invited.
”Ah, Minister didn't see you there,” said Quinn, ”I wish you a Merry Christmas and hope you're having an auspicious Yuletide.”
”Thank you, Quinn,” said Fudge, ”I wish the same to you and hope your good health.”
”That's kind of you, Minister,” said Quinn smiling.
Seeing that the Minister had occupied Quinn, the crowd dispersed with only a few hanging around, but at a distance.
”What were you doing there, Quinn?” asked Fudge.
”So you heard that,” Quinn sounded shy, ”that was just the little ol' me trying to see if I could share something that I learned from hanging around family shops.. . though I don't think I have something of use to offer in this regard.”
Fudge recalled how everyone was listening to Quinn's words and shook his head.
”It looked like everyone was deeply interested,” said Fudge.
Quinn simply smiled.
”Quinn, I didn't know you were here. I must've missed the announcements,” said Fudge, and even if he did, some of his people should've informed him — someone was getting fired today, ”I would like to greet your grandfather, if you'd guide me towards him.”
”My grandfather isn't here today, Minister,” said Quinn happily, ”he got occupied with something and has been busy for a few days, so he couldn't attend today, and I came in his place because I was free.”
”Ah, is that so,” Fudge tried his best not to sound disappointed.
”Yes, but if you'd like me to pass along a message, I'd be happy to do so,” said Quinn courteously; of course, if it was some bullcrap, his grandfather wouldn't hear a word of it.
”No, it's fine. I'll talk to him myself.”
”Alright.”
”How's Hogwarts going? I'm hearing good thing now that Dolores is at the castle.”
”Madam Umbridge?” said Quinn and then just smiled, refusing to comment.
Fudge looking for all things positivity from his initiatives, took that as a glowing recommendation.
”Minister, if you see Madam Umbridge, tell her that I wish her a Merry Christmas and that the remaining of her Yuletide goes well,” said Quinn before taking his leave.
After a while, Umbridge, who was also present at the Ball, came strutting towards Fudge.
”Cornelius, so this is where you were. Lucius Malfoy wants to talk to you,” she said.
”Oh, Dolores, I'll be there in a minute,” said Fudge, ”also, I just met Quinn West.”
”.. . What?”
”Yes, he said to wish you a Merry Christmas. What a sweet and intelligent boy he is. Please make sure that you take care of him at Hogwarts. I'm sure Quinn personally will do great things in the future; you should've listened to his words; they were insightful,” Fudge then went onto pile praises for Quinn onto Umbridge as she stood there turning to stone with every word that came out of Fudge.
After Fudge left to talk to Lucius Malfoy, Umbridge remained rooted in her spot. She wasn't expecting to hear praises of Quinn from Fudge's mouth. She wasn't expecting to hear anything about Quinn — the winter break was supposed to be the time free from the mention of the boy's name.
But now this happened. Umbridge could read between the lines. Fudge wanted to maintain a positive relationship with Quinn. But that was the last thing she wanted.
'I must reveal his true face to Cornelius,' she thought.
Umbridge felt someone looking at her and turned to look up towards the second floor to see a figure leaning towards the railings.
It was Quinn West.
When their eyes met, Quinn raised the goblet in his hand towards her with a smile on her face before pushing himself away from the railings and walking away while still looking at Umbridge, to whom that smile looked one of mocking.
Her breathing heaved as anger started to build inside her. Her eyes remained affixed at the place where Quinn stood as her eyes turned red with fury.
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Quinn West - MC - Creating jobs, Dancing, Dishing advice, Raising glasses — overall mad lad.
Daphne Greengrass - Daughter - Is now gathering courage.
Sophie Greengrass - Mother - Guiding her daughter is her duty and pleasure.
Jacob Greengrass - Father - ”Hmm.. . what?!”
Dolores Umbridge - Furious - Oh so, furious.
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