"You can borrow a thousand Galleons without leaving any note," George said, not making things difficult for Malfoy and not caring whether he left a record.
"Fine, I'll borrow a thousand Galleons," Malfoy said bluntly, immediately taking the maximum amount.
"All right, sign here," George said, not preparing any formal contract. He simply found a sign-in sheet and added, "This sheet records your participation in the Mutual Aid Society today, as proof you were here. Don't forget."
Malfoy looked at it suspiciously, then signed.
"Here you go. That's quite a sum—you might want to count it again," George said, handing him a large package. "Luckily, you only borrowed a thousand. If it were ten thousand, the owls would be going back and forth, and the delivery people would be crying."
"Is it really that simple?" Malfoy glanced at the bag, staring at the coins in disbelief.
"You can also use the Mutual Aid Society to 'lend' your study experience, magical skills, or even spells you've invented. You could sell them to Ginny Gallon at an annual 10% interest rate in exchange for other things," George said, thinking Malfoy was rather unlucky—this was the reality of the world.
"You know, as a Ravenclaw student, our most important collection has always been books. If you want more, you can offer some rare volumes. Once we verify the copies, we'll return the originals," George told the Malfoy family. These rare books were indeed valuable.
"All right, I'll consider it," Malfoy said, pleased to have easily borrowed such a large sum. Ignoring George, he secretly hid the package under his robes and left with both hands holding it.
After Malfoy left, a blonde girl approached. "President, who was that? I saw him with a big bag—how much did you lend him?"
"Sorry, Kate, this borrower's information is confidential," George replied. Even though it wasn't a big deal, he would keep it private.
Kate Winslet had previously been one of George's main clients and was now also a member of the Mutual Aid Society.
"Kate, was there anything noteworthy in the study notes you received today?" George asked.
"Not really. At first, most of the notes I took were just repetitions," Kate replied, frowning.
"That's normal. Almost everyone is willing to take notes. You can't expect everyone to be as outstanding as you," George said, unfazed; the recent progress had already exceeded his expectations.
"President, you exaggerate. My mind-reading isn't as powerful as you claim," Kate said, feeling slightly embarrassed after all the praise George had given.
"You're too modest. You don't see the potential of reading magic. For a wizard, knowledge is power. Reading magic alone can help someone remember the contents of a book instantly—it's incredibly powerful," George said, valuing Kate's skill highly. As soon as he learned of this magic, he sought her out.
At first, George only intended to meet Kate a few times to establish a friendship. Once she graduated, he planned to have the books sent to his hometown bookstore.
After working with her, George realized that Kate, a fellow Ravenclaw, was extremely sociable. He quickly revised his plan, having her join the Mutual Aid Society slightly later, responsible for organizing study notes and related materials.
Kate, with her remarkable reading talent, was arguably George's greatest gain during this period. He had already decided that after Kate graduated next year, she would work in his bookstore, with better arrangements to follow. In short, he couldn't let talent slip away.
"Is reading magic really that important?" Kate, a Ravenclaw student and a true scholar of the house, wondered. She loved reading so much that it occupied most of her life, yet she considered reading no different from Quidditch or traveling.
She was somewhat surprised that George valued reading magic so highly. Most importantly, her reading magic had been created for the pure enjoyment of reading—it wasn't meant for reading magical tomes.
"Although reading magic currently has limitations and can't magically read books, this may not last forever," George said optimistically. "Magic is knowledge, but knowledge isn't only magic. Even if reading magic ultimately only works on ordinary books, its value is immeasurable."
"Yes, knowledge is not magic," Kate said. She wasn't sure reading magic would continue to develop, but she agreed with George's point.
It was precisely because George valued reading and respected her that she was willing to leave her comfortable home and help this first-year student.
"Good treatment is only part of the reason…"
"Having few friends and being unable to refuse reading UU content is another part…"
"He doesn't look like a student, which is also part of the reason…"
Watching Kate once again sink into the quiet of the manor, distancing herself from the mundane world, George smiled to himself. Perhaps he had been like this in his past life. This Mutual Aid Society was already a huge success. If Kate had graduated a year later, it would have been a disaster.
Although George was confident about the Mutual Aid Society's growth, he still approached it with patience, not expecting immediate huge returns. Unexpectedly, even though he had only seen a small part of the magical world, that small part had brought him great gains.
"Is this a reward? Or does fate favor active creators?" George wondered. His ideas were only beginning to yield significant returns, leaving him somewhat overwhelmed.
The original concept of the Mutual Aid Society stemmed from seeking breakthroughs. It was limited to first-years, with the important library collections being hard to access. Besides themselves, there were no other resources in the school.
After some thought, he saw the Mutual Aid Society as a way to break through limitations.
On the other hand, it was also motivated by a desire to help students like Ron, who came from poor families.
With this in mind, the initial purpose of the Mutual Aid Society was to provide basic funding for wands, textbooks, and uniforms for students like Ron. Another purpose was to acquire study notes from older and younger students, since magical knowledge in the wizarding world differs from that in the real world.
Knowledge of magic can be directly converted into power. Advanced spells are difficult to obtain in advance, but acquiring notes for advanced spells is much easier.
"Everyone, be sure to give this story a Powerstone! Also, 30 advanced chapters of this story are uploaded on my Patreon—you can go there and read them.
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