Aristocrat (HP/SI)

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Nine months flew by like a day. It was like Richie was caught in Groundhog Week. Not a day, because every week was the same, only the tasks that needed to be done changed.

Studying - first the curriculum of the last year of high school, then comprehending the knowledge of both classes of high school.

Madame Marchbanks in her tutoring did not deviate from her method. The old lady still continued to give Richard new spells, which she considered useful, but only after the young wizard had mastered the previous spells perfectly. In addition, during the training of her young ward she did not keep silent, but told interesting stories, enlightened Richie about the realities of the magical world, talked about great wizards and significant historical events, especially paying much attention to what she had caught in her life.

In the magical arts, Richard could not be called a genius. A talented and tenacious craftsman, capable of silently conjuring a half dozen spells, the most difficult of which was duplicating an object. But against the background of his peers, in the opinion of the elderly sorceress, young Grosvenor was very talented. It was understandable, not many children could conjure until they fell down without distractions and tantrums. Ritchie's arsenal of wandless spells remained the same - a small set of levitation, summoning, and destruction. Basically, all the techniques he'd invented on his own back when he thought he was a mutant.

The wizards' workshop under Arthur Weasley continued to function properly and produce amazing artefacts, most of which were shipped to the British secret services for huge sums of money. According to the documents it was passed off as refinement of equipment, something like a tuning workshop for aeroplanes and cars.

Had it not been for the funds from MI6, Richard would have had to sell some of the shares to pay taxes on the profits from the 1990 scrapes. But as it was, it was a small bloodbath and moreover, a decent amount of money allowed him to add to his stock package and make other investments.

By May, thirty young magicians were already working in Richard Grosvenor's magical office. The selection criteria were serious: creativity, good command of charms, minimal racism against ordinary people. They were mostly muggle-born and half-blood wizards who lived among ordinary people.

The first thing the mages did was create ways to get to work and to their homes quickly. Firstly, a portal fireplace was wired into the office. Secondly, each employee was enchanted with a portal from a pass. Richard also got several portals. Now he could easily travel between the magical office, his home in London and Eton Hall Manor, or to one of these places from anywhere in the world.

Having passed all his exams, Richard felt an inexpressible sense of joy. At last he had finished school! Euphoria overwhelmed the young Grosvenor. He wanted to do something out of the limits, to fool around, to change the environment, to breathe the air of freedom.

It didn't bother Richard at all that freedom was rather elusive, because in just three months he would be going to Hogwarts, where he would have to study for at least five more years, and ideally seven.

Richie decided to give up and have a proper holiday while the opportunity arose.

When he got home, he found his father and spoke to him straight away:

- Dad, remember we agreed that when I graduated from school, you would consider me an adult and give me some freedom of action?

- The conversation was a little different, but let's say. Is there something you want, Ritchie?- I want to go travelling, see the world.

- What's stopping you? I remember a year ago, you were free to travel the world.

- I want to do it in my own aeroplane, and I'll need Steve as pilot and security guard.

- And John as a chaperone," said Mr Grosvenor.

- There's a complication..." Richard hesitated. - Dad, my plane was enchanted by wizards. It can fly at five thousand miles per hour, is as safe as possible, and can become invisible both in the visual spectrum and to military radar. But that's not all, it can also instantly travel to a point it's already been to. For example, I can fly to Australia in a couple of hours and instantly return to Britain.

- That's a problem. Is the aeroplane really safe? - Gerald asked anxiously. - You're my only son, I wouldn't want to lose you.

- It's safer than any airliner. Dad, not only is my plane enchanted to the hilt, but it has a parachute escape system. I can travel the world fast and stealthily, but not with John. He doesn't know about magic.

- If memory serves, you have a four-seater, right?

- I do.

- Then take Scott Potter with you, too. Scott and Steve together can protect you. And since Scott can't leave his nephew alone, bring your mate Harry.

- That's a great idea! At least I won't be bored.

- Ritchie, what about your magic tutor?

- Pfft! Dad, it's only a couple of days a week. I can put a plane in my pocket and travel to Madame Marchbanks from anywhere in the world and come home or continue travelling from where I was.

- I can't get used to the possibilities that magic gives," Gerald shook his head.

- Magic can do anything! At least that's what my mentor said. And you know, Dad, after I learned that wizards can do with matter and space what is possible only theoretically and mathematically, I begin to believe in it.

- What about your business?!

- Nonsense! - Richard dismissed it. - If it hadn't been for Hogwarts, I'd have invested heavily, but as it is, I've done my best not to think about work for the next seven or eight years. I think I've made a very successful investment.

- A good investment?! - Gerald asked sarcastically. - And I was told that you had some left-handed people come to you and you gave them money. Something like twenty million pounds.

- Dad, you don't understand! - a wry grin creased Richard's face. - This isn't a handout, it's a venture capital investment in a promising business. These are not ordinary people from the street, but programmers, engineers, scientists who have great ideas. They used the invested funds to create their own companies, and I have a solid share in them. Computer games and programmes, such as antivirus, a browser for the operating system with a graphical shell, a social network for people to communicate, an Internet search engine and much more. All this will make me a huge fortune. You'll see - in seven to nine years, these companies will be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Given that I've invested no more than a million pounds in them, the profits are going to be enormous. Dad, I'm going to be richer than you!

- Ha-ha-ha!

Gerald had something to laugh at, because at the moment the Grosvenors are the richest people in Britain, even richer than the royal family.

- I'll be glad, son, if such a thing happens.

Going on a trip straight away proved impossible. Harry Potter had his last exam at school on the twelfth of June. Harry was looking forward to this day and tried to cram for the exam as soon as possible. After all, he had already made arrangements with Richie for a trip around the world a couple of weeks ago.

And so the thirteenth of June came. The white aeroplane took off down the long straight road of the Eaton Hall estate. At an altitude of about five hundred metres the plane disappeared. To an outside observer it appeared as if the flying machine could not be seen because of the glare of the sun, but in fact the plane had become invisible.

Stephen's hand hovered over the lever labelled "afterburner".

- Sir, are you sure this thing works? - He half-turned to Richard.

- Steve, it's been tested a hundred times. Hit it!

His lips began to move, he whispered something very quietly. Richard thought the pilot was saying a prayer. But when Steve crossed himself, Richie realised it wasn't.

- Amen!

Steve pressed the afterburner lever, and all the occupants of the plane were squeezed into their seats. The sky suddenly leapt forward. The ground below whizzed past the belly of the plane at an incredible speed. On the speedometer, the arrow froze in front of five thousand miles an hour.

- It's ear-splitting! - Harry exclaimed excitedly. - Are we really travelling at the speed of a rocket?!

- Almost seven Machs! - Steve muttered in amazement.

Scott Potter was as pale as chalk. He was sitting with his eyes closed in the front seat next to the pilot, gripping the armrests tightly.

- Mr Potter, are you all right? - Richard asked with concern.

- 'Yes... Yes, yes, yes...' he mumbled not very truthfully.

- Uncle Scott?! - Harry turned his attention to his kin with concern. - Are you sure you're all right?

- Everything's just fine, Satan up Thatcher's skirt! - Mr Potter said through clenched teeth. - Except for one little thing: my fear of heights.

- Mr Potter, I think you ought to have a whisky or a brandy," said Ritchie with a look of expertise. - It would make you feel better, and we wouldn't have to worry about your pale appearance.

- That's a good idea," Mr Potter said hoarsely. - Have you got anything to drink, lad?

- Just a moment!

Richard pulled out a small, book-shaped satchel with many pockets. Each of the pockets had a photo card on one side. After flipping through a few pages of the strange book, Richard stopped at an image of small bottles of alcohol. He opened the zip and pulled out a long box of miniature bottles of various alcohols from a flat pocket. Each bottle was only fifty millilitres. Such bottles are usually found in hotel room bars.

- Sir, cognac, brandy, tequila, whiskey, gin, vodka?

The detective examined the bottles with scepticism.

- Give it all, lad. I can't get drunk on one of these.

- Sir, these are just samples. Just pick one drink.

- All right, cognac it is.

Richie nodded, took out a magic wand from the inside pocket of his jacket, took out a half-litre mug from his valise and dripped a drop of cognac from the bottle at the bottom.

- Richie, what are you doing? - Harry asked, watching his friend's actions with curiosity.

- Look. Engorgio!

In front of the amazed onlookers, the cognac droplet turned into a full mug of alcohol-scented drink.

- Awesome! - Mr Potter said, snatching the mug from Richard's hands.

- Wow!" Harry exclaimed. - These are the spells from the standard spell book for second year! I didn't know that spell could be used like that.

- Isn't there anything in the textbook about it?

- No, Richie," Harry shook his head. - All it says is that you can magnify objects with this spell.

- My tutor told me that you can increase the amount of drink or food with this spell. Really enlarge animals and fruits of plants to get more meat or crops. So I have prepared an inviolable supply just in case.

Richard shook the book-bag in the air before shoving the bottles of alcohol back in.

- Is that a bag! - Harry asked. - Is it bigger on the inside than it is on the outside?

- You guessed it. So is the valise. I keep food and drink samples in the satchel.

- Won't the food go to waste?

- No, Harry. I had this bag custom enchanted for me. It's got a stasis spell on it, which means that any food can stay inside forever, or rather until the enchantment on the bag wears off, which is at least a hundred years.

- Do they sell normal bags like your valise?

- Of course, Harry. There's a shop in Carides Market that sells enchanted bags. You can go there via Lute Lane or Flower Alley. I recommend the latter, as you'll often find marginalised people and scum in Lute Lane.

- Whoa! We've never heard of that market with Uncle Scott.

- I've heard of the Carides Market, and I've even been there," Mr Potter corrected his nephew. - I just didn't think there was anything for us to do there. Everything we need can be bought in Slanting Lane.

The plane flew completely silent. At such an insane speed you expect a strong rumble, but since the aircraft was moving with the help of portal magic, there were no such problems: the cabin was quiet, there was no loud pop, inherent in fighter jets when switching to hypersonic. So the passengers didn't have to raise their voices to talk.

- Harry, did I tell you what Princess Diana did for Christmas?

- No. What?

- She gave everyone cashmere jumpers.

- But, Ritchie, that's a good gift!

- It certainly is. Harry, you probably don't know... It's a royal tradition to give Christmas presents as a joke.

- You didn't tell me about it.

- On Christmas evening we usually gather at Sandringham, led by Elizabeth the Second in the drawing room, and give each other inexpensive funny gifts. The routine is that one by one we enter the room and place our signed gifts on the table without anyone noticing who the wrapping is from. I mean, it's obvious to everyone, but the rules.

- Richie, do you and your father have your own rooms in the royal palace? - Harry asked in surprise.

- No. Naturally, we have guest rooms. Since dinner is too late, we spend the night at Sandringham and then go home in the morning. But I was talking about the drawing room. Gifts are placed on the table where the person for whom the gift is intended is to sit.

- I see. What's wrong with cashmere jumpers, anyway?

- They're ordinary, Harry. Expensive, quality cashmere jumpers. It's a great gift in a simple family, but not in a royal family. You see, the man who has everything is sceptical about practical gifts. Why?! I have everything! I'd be happier with a Kinder surprise than a jumper!

- And how did the Queen react to that? - Harry asked.- Mmmm... To put it mildly, Princess Diana wasn't quite understood. And she seems to have realised she'd done something stupid. You should have seen the look on Grandma Lisa's face as she examined the jumper. It was the same look of amazement a simple working man would have given to a pink rubber penis that a work colleague had given him as a gift.

Harry laughed and said:

- I can imagine if Uncle Vernon had been given something like that by another headmaster... He'd be squeamish, holding the thing up with two fingers and looking at it with big eyes.

- Check it out, Harry. Give your aunt and uncle some original presents for next Christmas.

- That's a great idea, Richie! - Harry was very enthusiastic. - I'll give it a try. What fun presents were there?

- Hmm... Princess Anne, the Queen's daughter, gave Princess Diana a toilet paper holder.

Harry Potter laughed and asked:

- Does Princess Diana use it!

- I don't know, I'm not in the habit of looking in toilets in other people's bedrooms.

- Richie, what did you get the Queen? - Harry asked curiously.

- A portrait of Lenin.

- Lenin? - Harry asked in incomprehension.

- Lenin?! - Scott stretched out in amazement.

- LENIN?! - exclaimed Stephen in surprise.

- Lenin! - Richard nodded affirmatively.

- You've done something weird, boy! - Mr Potter grinned.

Harry looked sadly from one man to the other and asked in bewilderment:

- 'Will someone explain to me - who is Lenin?

- Bald, mouthed, liked to climb on an armoured car and make speeches," said Richie.

- 'Nephew, Vladimir Lenin was a famous Russian revolutionary who overthrew the monarchy. A very original gift for the Queen. How did she take it, though?

- Lady Ferguson, Duchess of York, laughed like a madwoman. The Queen and many others were amused by my gift.

Scott Potter sipped from his glass of brandy, shook his head and said:

- Giving the Queen a portrait of a revolutionary who fought against the monarchy in the circle of the aristocracy... Yeah, boy, you rock hard!

- Cheap, funny and harmless are the criteria my father asked me to use when choosing Christmas presents," Richard shrugged nonchalantly. - No one said you couldn't give the Queen a portrait of a Communist!

- I see," Harry said. - Richie, where are we going?

- North America, Cape Cod.

- Why go there?

- We're going on an adventure. Harry, haven't you ever dreamed of being a treasure hunter?

Young Potter's eyes lit up with excitement.

- Treasure? Pirate treasure?

- No, much better and richer.

- Richie, do you want to dig up treasure?

- The correct word is "get it from the bottom.

- We're going to look for a sunken treasure ship?

- Yes, Harry.

- But how?! Or do you have a pirate map?

- No, I don't have anything like that. I just know roughly that a British ship loaded with gold, diamonds and platinum sank off Cape Cod during World War II.

- How close?

- I don't know. About 50 miles offshore.

Scott's happy snort came from the front seat.

- Do you kids have any idea what fifty miles of ocean is?! That's a devil of a distance. You could be looking for this ship for years, decades!

- Sir," Richard replied calmly, "you're forgetting that Harry and I are wizards.

Young Potter fixed his glasses and turned to his friend:

- 'Richie, treasure is cool, but why do you need it, you're already rich aren't you?

- Harry, if you put it that way, why do we need to go to Hogwarts, we're already wizards? Or why do people buy a lot of clothes and fill their wardrobes with them when one suit is enough to live in? A person should always strive for the best: to become wiser or at least smarter, richer and so on.

- You'd better tell me, boy," said the drunken detective to Richard, "how will you divide the profits if you find the treasure?

- That's a strange question, sir. I organised this expedition, I provide all its members with equipment, and you work for me. What kind of sharing is there to talk about? Only Harry is here as my friend, my associate and my assistant. If he takes an active part in the expedition, I'll give him ten per cent of the treasure I find. You two can only expect a decent bonus. In general, the Russians say you shouldn't share the skin of the unkilled bear.

- Hmm. That makes sense. Devilishly logical! - concluded Detective Potter. - Steve, how much further are we going to go?

- About another half an hour, if the navigation equipment is correct.

- The devil! - Scott exclaimed with delight. - Forty minutes to America in a small single-rotor aeroplane! Unbelievable!

Half an hour into the flight, Steve switched from turbo mode to normal flight. There was a wild field running under the aircraft's landing gear where the aircraft was decided to land. What was the pilot's surprise when the aircraft calmly reduced speed at his will and landed almost vertically.

Possessing incredible stamina Stephen exclaimed expressively:

- This is not an aeroplane, but some kind of UFO! It takes off and lands like a helicopter, has the speed of a rocket and, damn it, it's invisible!- Sir, that's not all...

Richie was meaningfully silent. It wasn't until everyone had climbed out of the plane and into the street that he pointed his wand at the flying machine and it shrank to the size of a small toy under the influence of a non-verbal spell.

Scott, Steve and Harry froze as pillars of salt. Their eyes flew out of their orbits as they watched Richard, with a smirk on his face, carelessly picked up the plane and stuffed it into his valise.

Scott dropped his rucksack to the ground and took a big gulp of brandy from the mug he still held in his right hand to calm his nerves.

Then Stephen could not stand it and exclaimed indignantly:

- Sir, you can't treat machinery like that! The aeroplane is very fragile!

- Nonsense, Steve," Richard replied nonchalantly. - This plane is under such spells that in its scaled-down form nothing would happen to it, even if it were run over by an asphalt roller. So, gentlemen, shall we go or shall we drive?

- What are we going to do? - asked the slightly shaken detective.

- We have a car and bicycles," Richard replied.

- Boy, tell me, do you have a car with British plates or no plates at all? - Scott asked.

- No plates, sir. But it can also fly and become invisible.

- Then get the bikes. We don't want any trouble with the local cops.

- Whatever you say, sir. You're more experienced in these matters than I am.

Two adults and two children pedalled briskly on off-road cross bikes with front shock absorption forks and multiple speeds. It was hard going at first, but once the cyclists got off the field and onto the motorway, things got much better. On both sides of the road, single-storey houses began to appear.

The adults stopped by one of the locals and asked him about it. It turned out that the British had arrived in the town of North Chatham.

After driving about fifteen more minutes through quiet green streets, the travellers arrived at the Old Harbour Inn, where they rented four rooms. Although each room was considered a double, there was a large double bed. Richard thought it inappropriate that several gentlemen would be sleeping in the same bed. He was not in the habit of saving money, so he boldly paid for the room hire a week in advance with his platinum credit card.

Young Grosvenor had chosen the most luxurious room with a decorative fireplace and a small Jacuzzi. Otherwise his room did not differ from the others: one room with a big bed, a spacious bathroom with a shower, a bedside table, a TV set, a telephone, an air conditioner and that was all. To be more precise, there were two more armchairs in his room, while in the other rooms there were ordinary chairs with backrests instead of armchairs.

The time difference between London and Boston, according to which time the inhabitants of the peninsula lived, is five hours. The travellers, who set out at ten o'clock in the morning and spent a total of two hours on the road, checked into the hotel at seven o'clock in the morning local time.

Everyone rested for about an hour, after which they went down to breakfast. The food was simple but tasty and dominated by seafood.

Scott Potter was pretty wasted, so it was decided to leave him at the hotel. Harry, Richie and Steve saddled their bikes, armed themselves with the map of the peninsula that the hotel had provided free of charge, and set off for Harwich Port, less than six miles away.

Six miles on a smooth tarmac road is only half an hour of leisurely cycling.

At the harbour, Stephen arranged to hire a small motorboat for a week. The man turned out to be even more talented than Harry Potter had thought. During the rental it turned out that Steve's surname was White, and he, in addition to piloting small aircraft and driving cars, knows how to drive yachts and boats, in addition to possessing the appropriate documents. Without his licence it would have been possible to rent a boat only with a sailor, and it was desirable to exclude an extra person in the adventurous event.

The two young adventurers and a couple of their escorts were not able to set sail until the next morning, when Detective Potter was fully fit. But the boys had plenty to do, for example, travelling around the peninsula.

Cape Cod is made up of many small towns that are more like big villages in size. There are no high-rise buildings or huge crowds. People come here for a quiet and peaceful holiday. There are no restrictions on settlements - you ride a bicycle quietly through one town, a sign - and you are already in another town.

The main principle of locals is that everything should look like two hundred years ago: houses covered with shingles, or made of wood, brick, discreet signs, no neon and light effects, pots of flowers even on the beaches - in general, simple rustic beauty.

Cape Cod's main asset is its beaches. There are about thirty of them, not counting the very small ones. Naturally, Harry and Richie couldn't miss a chance to swim in the sea. They spent the most time on the beach.

After it was well past noon, Richard took everyone out for pizza. Some might find it strange that the most delicious Italian pizza is made by Greeks in a backwoods American diner, but it really is. Richard, accustomed to chef's cooking, was pleasantly surprised. Harry and Steve similarly appreciated the pizza and were going to come here again.

Living by the sea has its own advantage - there is fresh seafood all year round. Fish restaurants exist all over the world, but the local places had their own flavour. In one of these restaurants after visiting the local museum and decided to have dinner adventurers, joined by a wrinkled detective Potter.

Cape Cod has no gourmet cuisine or delicacies, with the exception of lobster, which is quite cheap. All seafood is cooked quite simply and hearty, but that makes it even more delicious. The main secret is that it takes only a few hours from sea to plate.

All four uninvited guests of the United States appreciated the famous seafood soup - clam chowder. The dish was born as a chowder made by poor people from clams, fish, cream and herbs. In the novel Moby Dick, an entire chapter is devoted to this soup.

The night passed, and the next day came. Harry was looking forward to going to sea. Richard was no less anxious to discover a great treasure.

The old fishing boat started its engine and sailed into the ocean.

- Richie, how are we going to find the treasure?

- Harry, magic can do anything!