[199] An Unseen Chain

When Hall returned home, he keenly sensed something was off about the atmosphere. He gave Ron a look. Ron blinked, confused.

"Tonight's dishes..." Hall sat down next to Ginny, his gaze sweeping across the table. Every dish was unlike Molly's usual style. Classic Scottish food had been replaced with refreshing Southeast Asian cuisine. For Molly, who usually didn't allow anyone to offer opinions in her kitchen, this was a huge change.

"Mum read a magazine." Ginny gave Hall a helpless look and whispered. "It seems a lady who often goes grocery shopping with Mum lent it to her, and then..."

Ginny gestured towards the table. See for yourself.

Hall was silent for a moment. He truly hadn't expected Russell to be so capable.

Hall had also seen the magazine at Malfoy Manor today — The Ladies. Unlike Witch Weekly, the name set a clear tone. It was aimed at mature women, not girls still in school. And the magazine's way of attracting attention was quite unconventional.

Hall knew that the most universally accepted aesthetic pursuit was visual appeal. The most direct form of good looks was sexiness. That was a bit harsh, but it was the truth. Of course, as a published magazine, it couldn't go into the adult entertainment industry. But finding a few well-built male models to show off their physiques on the cover — muscles, abs — that was fine.

Sales instantly soared. Reputation instantly plummeted. The publisher didn't care. The money was already made.

But the content inside was substantial. Clothing and styling tips, kitchen tricks, everyday life hacks. Find good writers to promote how to teach women to love themselves more. The reputation among mature women instantly soared again.

With positive reviews and high sales, The Ladies quickly captured a significant portion of the market share that Witch Weekly had previously held. If it hadn't been a bi-monthly rather than a weekly, Witch Weekly's sales would likely have been even more dismal.

"It tastes pretty good." Hall decided to stop thinking about it and reached for the Thai curry. It had been so long since he'd seen such authentic rice. Give him a big spoonful.

"School starts in a week, right? Summer vacation went by so fast! I feel like I haven't done anything!"

"No, no, no... Ronnie, this vacation wasn't short at all. We can't wait for school to start! I wonder what courses are in this year... Wait, The Monster Book of Monsters? What's that?"

The Weasley family's dining table was unusually lively early in the morning. Molly had recently become obsessed with The Ladies, so she was also very interested in the cookbooks. From Southeast Asian cuisine to Chinese to Korean to Japanese — she'd never seen anything like it. The magazine described food culture and the connection between women and food in an elegant yet straightforward style. Molly was immediately captivated.

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The Weasleys had one major advantage: they could enjoy any dish — unless it was absolutely awful. Hall was no exception. At first, he wasn't quite used to the flavours, but he quickly adapted. Molly's cooking skills were so good that even bad British food could be salvaged, let alone other cuisines.

With Hogwarts about to start, the morning meal was becoming increasingly full. That morning, an owl delivered each child their new term's book list.

Percy emptied a badge from his envelope.

"Oh! Percy!" Molly turned from the kitchen and saw the badge in Percy's hand. She put down her plate and rushed over to hug him excitedly. "I knew you could do it! This honour belongs to you!"

The Head Boy badge meant Percy was the best male student in Gryffindor's seventh year. Molly was delighted. Percy was also happy, but being hugged by Molly, his face flushed red.

"This badge is really beautiful! It would look even better on your brand-new robe!" Molly's words silenced Percy. Compared to the old clothes that had belonged to Bill and Charlie, Percy also wanted a new outfit to match his Head Boy badge.

"Oh my god, Percy's the new Head Boy?" Fred said. "I can already picture him all dressed up, yelling at us!"

"It's a disaster—" The twins exchanged a glance and burst into laughter.

Only Ron genuinely worried. "If Percy becomes Head Boy, he'll definitely dislike me even more!"

Meanwhile, Molly and Percy reached a peace. "Kids, let's go to Diagon Alley today! Shopping! Buying! New textbooks, new clothes!"

The point wasn't going to Diagon Alley. It was new. Molly said to buy everything new. This was incredibly rare for a family with eight children.

"I'm off today. I can come with you and pay for it," Arthur said cheerfully. Seeing the satisfied expressions on his children's faces, he felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

Then Arthur noticed Hall's expression wasn't quite right. "Hall, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Hall pursed his lips. "I just saw this year's Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, and I'm a little worried."

Not just a little. He was very worried. Hall had almost forgotten. The Defence Against the Dark Arts professorship was still a one-year job. Lupin had already been the professor for a whole year last year, so he couldn't continue. Sirius could continue as a teaching assistant, but the course still needed a new teacher. Do you know how hard it was to find a reliable DADA teacher? For most of last year, Hogwarts was surrounded by Dementors. Anyone without guts wouldn't dare come.

After a two-way selection process, the position still went to Gilderoy Lockhart.

"Lockhart!" Molly saw the name and let out a piercing scream. Everyone seemed unfazed. Only Percy, standing next to Molly, was startled, his ears nearly deafened.

"Lockhart? What Lockhart? Harry?" Ron looked bewildered.

Hall tapped the table. "The one who gave Harry a whole set of books at Flourish and Blotts last summer."

Ron's eyes widened. "Oh! I remember now! Harry ended up giving the whole set to Hermione, didn't he?"

Hall nodded. Hermione liked Lockhart. At this point, Hall felt a headache coming on. He'd almost brought Witch Weekly down. How was Gilderoy Lockhart still so active? Then Hall remembered — without becoming a professor at Hogwarts, Lockhart's true colours hadn't been exposed. Witch Weekly's sales were down, but Lockhart still had his fans.

"I'll take Defence Against the Dark Arts in the Forbidden Forest this year."