“That, my fellow bug exterminators, will be highly profitable”, Lyra brought a tray with sandwiches from the kitchen, smiling gleefully.
“Oh?”, Harry and Hermione looked at her inquisitively, while Viktor grabbed a sandwich with ham and cheese.
“The total yield was much above my expectations. There were more spiders than I expected, and at least half of them were mature specimens, born before the war. Also, the critical thing with venom harvest is time; it dries quickly after death and you guys used the accelerated time spell to get it over with more quickly, which accidentally produced yield only ten percent under the theoretical maximum: 850 pints overall, or 483 litres, safely stored in magical, unbreakable casks”.
“Woah”, Harry grabbed his forehead. “Professor Slughorn mentioned that the venom is a hundred Galleons per pint. That would make this worth…”
“85000 Galleons”, Hermione saved him.
“Wrong”, Lyra’s smile acquired the look of a stock market shark. “It would be 85000 Galleons at pre-extinction prices. I might have made it slip, during my visits to St. Mungo, Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley, that the species is extinct in Britain, and the only sources in existence are imports from Borneo, and, well, me”, she pointed at herself and curtsied elegantly.
“You didn’t sell it yet, did you?”, Hermione smiled appreciatively.
“No chance. Stored as it is, it will keep forever, and since we’re not actually pressed for cash, it will stay in that magically protected vault in the attic as our long term trust fund, to be sold on demand, as the market prices spike. I sold a few casks to each regular customer, to prove that I control the supply, at old prices. However, as the news broke, the price quadrupled, and it’s currently holding steady at 400 Galleons per pint”, Lyra grinned, resembling a Goblin banker.
“Wait, that would be… over 300000 Galleons”, Hermione’s eyes went wide.
“Somewhat more, but yes. However, I expect prices to rise further”, Lyra nodded, as Harry and Hermione looked at each other.
“Wouldn’t you give St. Mungo a discount? After all, they are a hospital?”, Hermione’s eyes softened.
“Sure I would; as much as they gave me for our childbirth and visitation bill”, Lyra grinned. “I’ll give them 25% off if they ask nicely”.
“Devious”, Viktor made a villain impression with his eyebrows.
Lyra shrugged. “Shrewd businesswoman”, and she blew him a kiss.
“Slytherin”, Harry and Hermione looked at each other and said it at the same time, breaking into laughter.
“What about the Ministry contract?”, Harry wondered.
“I visited the clerk. There was some enormous and ridiculous sum for the general public, but for the Aurors, it’s a bonus amounting to two years pay for each of us. Since all four of us together get around 11000 Galleons a year, this was 22000 Galleons, and I made arrangements for it to be paid out immediately”, she shrugged.
“If I’m getting this correctly, you just made a business deal that amounts to the content of Harry’s Gringotts vault prior to Sirius leaving him the Black family fortune?”, Hermione wanted to make sure.
“Somewhat less, I think, but close enough”, she assented.
“Thank heavens you’re managing our money, because girl, you’re the best”, Hermione was amazed.
“You should see my dad. Guess where I learned it all”, Lyra winked.