...
Afterward, Kael went to the office next door.
Before long, the things he needed were delivered. Whether intentionally or not, it was Cedric who brought them.
"Kael?"
He placed a large pile of silver blocks on the table, "I was just wondering, who would want these kind of things."
What he brought was impure silver, not very valuable. Of course, the real Sickles were quite similar, just with a special Goblin process added.
"These are the raw materials," Kael said, "Did Minister Bones ask you to do anything else, or just deliver the items?"
"She said if needed, I could help out," Cedric replied.
"Do you have time now?"
"Yeah, ever since the Weasley Brothers arrived, we've finally been able to catch our breath," Cedric said with a smile. "You really helped a lot by bringing in three helpers all at once, other departments turned green with envy when they found out."
"Small thing, really small, you don't need to treat me to dinner," Kael waved his hand indifferently and said, "Well, in that case, just stay. We need to make quite a lot this time, and I might not be able to finish it all today by myself."
"What exactly are you doing?"
"Didn't Minister Bones tell you?"
"No, she just asked me to deliver the stuff and help out," Cedric said. "I didn't even know you were at the Ministry of Magic until I got here."
"Alright…put simply, it's the usual work."
Kael spoke as he lightly waved his wand, cutting a small piece off from the silver block, then waved again, transforming it into a round silver coin. As for the details, they were pretty simple, the patterns and lines on both sides were done in less than half a minute.
Seeing Kael's actions, Cedric suddenly understood.
"I know, you're making Sickles," he said, glancing nervously at the door and whispering, "But this kind of money can't be used, people would spot the fakery immediately, and if it gets out, the Goblins wouldn't spare you."
"Did you leave your brain in the office drawer when you came?" Kael looked at him irritably. "This is the Ministry of Magic, do you think I'd make that kind of thing?"
"Then what are you…"
"These are fake," Kael pointed to the silver coins on the table. "The raised shapes, sizes, pattern directions, let's put it this way, there are five places on these that differ from real Sickles, they just look similar."
"Then what are you making?"
"Communication Coins."
"You could have mentioned this earlier," Cedric glanced at Kael. "If you had, I would have understood immediately."
"I really think you left your brain in the drawer," Kael shook his head. "Alright, let's get to work, just follow the standard I showed earlier."
Cedric didn't say much more and immediately got to work.
Thanks to his school experience, he worked quickly, averaging a prototype per minute, and his craftsmanship was precise, identical to Kael's demonstration piece.
While Cedric worked, Kael sat beside him, inscribing magic text talismans on the prototype coins.
This was the most challenging step; if it was just creating silver coins, Kael could handle it alone without Cedric's help.
Fortunately, these were much easier than the golden ones, requiring only a magic text formula with a talisman inserted in the center. Once practiced enough, it took about five minutes to complete.
By midday, after following Kael for half an hour, Cedric was able to grasp the basics and started assisting.
Of course, his proficiency didn't match Kael's, occasionally making mistakes, but it didn't matter. A simple charm could wash away the unfinished talisman, and he'd start over.
Talismans that couldn't be modified were tossed aside, discarded casually, as Minister Bones had provided plenty of raw materials, so wasting a bit wasn't an issue.
The two worked from morning until evening, but only managed to complete…half of the task.
They couldn't help it, Minister Bones requested too many, and after drawing magic text talismans all day, Kael's wrist felt sore, and he truly didn't want to continue.
"Let's go eat!"
Kael put away his wand and directly stood up.
But from sitting for so long, he staggered up, almost sitting back down.
"Are you alright?" Cedric asked, rubbing his wrist.
"I'm fine," Kael said. "Just a bit regretful."
"Regretful?"
"Had I known the workload was this heavy, I wouldn't have agreed to a discount."
Kael originally thought making a hundred coins would suffice, completing them in a day, but unexpectedly, the amount tripled, and the workload skyrocketed.
"Discount?" Cedric was more puzzled. "What's this about?"
"Don't ask, you wouldn't understand," Kael stretched. "How about going to Grimmauld Place today, I don't think you've stayed there before, and we can go together tomorrow."
"Sure," Cedric quickly agreed after a brief thought.
"Don't you need to inform your dad?"
"No need, I can tell him through this." Cedric pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket.
The two then quickly tidied up and left the Ministry of Magic.
However, they didn't return together.
Cedric knew how to Apparate, heading directly to a phone booth two streets away from Grimmauld Place, which was set up by Moody as a fixed Apparition spot, surrounded by a Muggle Repelling Spell to ensure it wouldn't be occupied.