Even though Steven was eager to write the letter and Wade said he'd be fine alone, Steven didn't abandon his duty.
He discussed the letter's wording with Wade for a while, then began talking about the magical creatures he raised.
Professor Morrie, while disagreeing with his desire to travel to dangerous magical creature habitats, didn't entirely dismiss Steven's dream. After graduating from Hogwarts, Steven acquired a farm, where he had been raising many "little darlings" over the years.
Wade knew that Hagrid at Hogwarts also liked raising dangerous creatures, like dragons, calling them "cute little animals." He thought Steven was similar, but upon closer inspection, he found out Steven's creatures were genuinely cute and mostly harmless magical beings, such as Diricawls, Augureys, Fwoopers, Puffskeins, Fairies, and Crups.
The most dangerous among them was an Occamy, a creature that could expand or shrink its body at will, becoming as massive as a dragon, yet subsisting on insects, birds, and mice.
"I've always wanted to raise a Grani," Steven said. "You know, a type of winged horse. Granis can fly and run faster than the wind. But besides the mythological Sigurd, no one has ever tamed a Grani."
"Are these winged horses hard to tame?"
"They are very free-spirited animals, yearning for liberty and unwilling to be bound."
Steven continued, speaking of other winged horses—the Thestrals of Hogwarts, the Abraxans of Beauxbatons, and the fire-breathing Aethon.
Some wizards looked down on any magical creatures other than themselves, regarding them as inferior animals. But Steven was fascinated by them, knowing various creatures like the back of his hand. Wade felt he had learned a lot just by talking to him.
Suddenly, someone's arrival interrupted their conversation.
It was the blond wizard from the small stone platform earlier. He approached with a look of dejection and frustration on his face, greeted Steven, then looked at Wade and forced a smile: "Mr. Grig, I regret that we won't have the opportunity to collaborate this time. I hope you'll contact me when you have new works in the future; I'm sure I can offer a satisfactory price."
He handed over a business card with the wizard's name and contact information.
Steven's eyebrows shot up, losing his smile. His previously simple and gentle expression immediately turned somewhat cold.
Wade took the business card, smiling, and said, "I hope there will be such an opportunity in the future."
The blond wizard relaxed slightly, then quickly excused himself and left.
"You're not actually planning to work with him, are you? He mispronounced your last name," Steven said, displeased.
"Yes, he mispronounced it," Wade said, putting away the business card. "But it doesn't matter, because I wasn't planning on remembering him anyway."
The blond wizard seemed to have flipped a switch, as two more wizards successively came to say their goodbyes, saying similar things and leaving their business cards with Wade.
This time, however, they finally remembered Wade's full name.
After they left, Steven quietly introduced them to Wade.
"—Don't work with Bolton. He seems easygoing, but he's actually ruthless and often manipulates contracts. He just wouldn't dare to trick my father."
In other words, Wade would easily be at a disadvantage if he dealt with Bolton.
A wizard with a middle part and a goatee came to say goodbye, holding a noticeable black cane.
"Mr. Grey, I truly admire your talent, but unfortunately, Professor Morrie and I have a significant disagreement on the price—I hope we can stay in touch; perhaps new opportunities will arise in the future."
"Of course, thank you for your time and effort," Wade said, taking his business card.
Cyrus Sharp, that was the wizard's name.
"Sharp is a very capable person, always able to get his hands on various hard-to-obtain items, including many illegal ones. I heard he was in Azkaban three times when he was young—my father doesn't really like him, but sometimes he buys things from him," Steven later explained.
"He got out after going to Azkaban?" Wade was surprised; in his impression, Azkaban was an isolated island in the vast sea, a prison with no exit.
Steven misunderstood Wade's meaning and explained, "Yes, because he's very cunning and good at concealing his crimes; each sentence never lasted more than half a year."
"Oh—um—I see."
After hearing that, Wade realized he had been foolish—the movies only showed Death Eaters sentenced to life imprisonment, which didn't mean life imprisonment was the only sentence in Azkaban.
The wizards gradually left, until only Marchioni emerged from the small stone platform, loudly "complaining" as he walked: "Dear Professor Morrie, I was once your student too, but now I feel as if I've never received any special favoritism from you—of course, I'm not complaining, I just want to tell you that even if I've left school, I will always respect your decisions and hope you can also spare me a tiny bit of attention and care."
He gestured with his thumb and forefinger, showing a tiny gap to illustrate how humble his request was.
"Oh, come on, when have you ever been at a disadvantage, you rascal?" Professor Morrie retorted grumpily.
Indeed, though Marchioni was complaining, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up, a triumphant expression on his face.
He walked briskly and easily towards Wade, removed his hat, and bowed, saying with a wide smile: "A pleasure to meet you for the first time, Mr. Wade Grey, allow me to introduce myself—I am Marco Marchioni, dealing in all types of magical item transactions. I believe our encounter today is certainly a stroke of luck, and I look forward to building a deep friendship with you, bringing more positive changes to the wizarding world in the future, or rather—earning more money!"
"—Hello?" Wade was startled by his exaggerated movements and instinctively looked at Professor Morrie.
Professor Morrie nodded and directly stated the final result: "Marchioni is willing to pay 50,000 Galleons for the technical license of the Book of Friends, and for every Galleon he earns using the Book of Friends in the future, he will pay you 3 Sickles."
Marchioni's radiant smile stiffened slightly—clearly, while this price would still allow him to earn a lot of money, the thought of possibly not having to pay so much initially filled him with heartache and frustration.
So he continued to grumble incessantly, criticizing Professor Morrie for being too biased towards Wade, completely "carving meat" from him, a poor businessman.
Professor Morrie remained unmoved, as if Marchioni's voice was just a fly buzzing nearby. He quickly drafted the contract and, as a witness, supervised Marchioni and Wade in establishing the agreement.
The advantage of the magical world was that there was no need to worry about business partners violating agreements, because the cost of breaking a contract was often more terrifying than death.