Aristocrat (HP/SI)

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***

The diesel engine rumbled and the ship sailed away from the pier. Richard headed into the captain's cabin to see Stephen, Harry followed him. Scott Potter had turned pale from the first moments.

Richard stopped beside the detective and asked sympathetically:

- 'Sir, are you all right?

- I'm fine," Scott grumbled unhappily.

- Are you sure, sir?

- It's seasickness, lad," Scott's face turned slightly green, and the man struggled to keep from gagging. - It's okay, I'll swim.

- Sir, I'm sorry to put you through all this. If I'd known you were afraid of heights and couldn't stand the bobbing, I wouldn't have bothered you.

- It's all right, kid. Don't mind me. I'm just gonna sit here in the fresh air.

- Sir, please put on a life jacket and try not to fall overboard when you're "breathing fresh air overboard".

- Get out of here!

As soon as the boys were out of sight of the deckhouse, Scott rushed to the side of the ship, where he parted from his breakfast with an eerie sound.

- Uncle Scott doesn't look like himself," Harry said.

- Stress, hangover, not feeling well," Richard said in a calm tone. - I can understand that. It's a shame, but I don't know any seasickness charms.

- Neither do I," Harry said. - Richie, I think it would be a good idea for you to learn how to brew healing potions at Hogwarts, and to study healing charms.

- I'm not interested in potions, Harry.

The boys found themselves in the ship's cabin. The cabin of the ship was small. There was a couch and a chair. At most four people could fit in this room.

- Here we are," Stephen said to the boys. - Sir, what's your course?

- Just a second.

Richie took out his wand, placed it on his right palm and twirled it.

- Edicto ship Port Nicholson!

The wand twirled on his palm like a wolf, but after a while it froze and a thin red beam burst out.

- Sir, head east," Richard said after checking the compass on the instrument panel.

- Aye, sir," Stephen replied.

- What are those spells? - Harry asked curiously.

- It's an analogue of Accio, except that instead of attracting the object in question, the beam points in the direction of what you're looking for. But you can't find wizards or artefacts with these charms, only ordinary things without a drop of magic.

- Cool thing! - Potter Junior exclaimed excitedly. - Can you teach me? I often can't find a second sock.

- Harry, no problem. But I'm afraid it won't help you find socks.

- Why not? - Harry was surprised. - They're not magical.

- The thing is, Harry, socks disappear into another universe. They are kidnapped by sock monsters. So, alas, no enchantment can show us the way there.

For a few seconds Harry hung back, trying to digest what he had just said. Tense creases smoothed across the young Potter's face and the corners of his lips crept upwards.

- So you're joking! - he exclaimed.

- You don't believe in sock-snatching monsters, but there are! - Richard continued, barely restraining a smile. But the twitching corners of his lips gave him away.

Harry Potter laughed. Richie laughed after him.

- All right, Harry, let's go on deck," Richard glanced at the dashboard. - We've got about five hours to go, judging by the speed we're travelling. You'll have time to learn the search spell.

On deck, Harry learnt a new spell.

After a few hours of sailing, the boys went up to the deckhouse, and with the help of spells began to periodically clarify the course. Soon the beam of the spell began to point downwards at an angle, and the boat began to make circles until the beam rested on the deck.

The depth was measured first. It turned out that there were as much as two hundred and thirteen metres to the bottom. This made it impossible to anchor. Steve decided to drift.

- Sir," said the bodyguard to Richard, "how are you going to get the treasure?

- Dive in and get it.

- Sir," Stephen continued, "it's too deep and the current is too strong to dive.

- Magic can do anything!

Richard went on deck and took two small, toy-like spacesuits out of his valise. Using his wand, he enlarged them to child-size.

Harry watched his friend's actions with delight. He expected to see something new and magical.

A pale Scott sat in the chaise lounge and looked at the spacesuits tiredly.

- Are those scuba diving suits? - he asked.

- Almost, sir," Richard replied. - They're supposed to be space suits. But this is only one of the first prototypes so far.

Mr Potter raised himself up on his elbows and looked closely at the spacesuits made of silver material with a transparent glass hood.

- Where's the air tank? - he asked.

- Sir, there's no need for air tanks. These suits have an air bubble enchantment on them. They'll always have as much air as they need.

- Boy, you heard Steve," said the detective, "there's over two hundred metres to the bottom. Even if you have an infinite amount of air, you'll die! The pressure will crush you to a pulp. And if this does not happen and you start surfacing in time, you will get caisson disease and die. Besides, you could be washed away by the current. No, kid, I'm not letting you dive.

- Sir, this is a state-of-the-art wizarding design I personally commissioned. The suit has everything you need to survive: spells make the suit incredibly strong; spells inside ensure perfect temperature in conditions from minus one hundred to plus one hundred degrees; plus protection against high and low pressure, overload, radiation, cosmic rays and more.

At first Harry was upset at Uncle Scott's words, because once he saw the spacesuits, he wanted to dive to the bottom of the ocean. But when Richard began to list the functions of the artefact, the boy's heart was filled with hope that all was not yet lost.

- And the current? - continued the detective.

- Everything is provided for, sir," Richard replied. - These spacesuits are enchanted like flying brooms. They can fly in the air at a hundred and fifty miles an hour and can reach twenty-five knots underwater. In theory they can even fly in space, but unfortunately there has been no opportunity to test this yet. We can return back to the ship at any time with the help of a portal. All we have to do is tie the exit point of the portal to the deck of the ship. Not only that, but the suit also has built-in diagnostic witchcraft spells. If they detect that the pilot has become ill and is on the verge of fainting, he will be immediately evacuated to the exit point by the portal.

- If that's the case, these are cool spacesuits," said Mr Potter. - Can these things be made bigger?

- Yes, sir. The size is adjustable for users from our height up to two metre tall people.

- Then Steve and I will dive.

Steve shook his head negatively and said:

- Scott, I can't dive. I have to stay on the ship to keep it in one place.

- 'Mr Potter,' said Richard, 'unfortunately these prototypes have a slight disadvantage - they can only be operated by wizards.

- But why? - Scott wondered.

- Sir, as a prototype the developers took typical artefacts, in which the control is performed by the wizard's mind with the help of a small amount of magic. To fully control the entire cascade of charms, you need an artificial intelligence: a miniature computer or its magical analogue. Neither of them exists yet, but the magicians at my enterprise are trying to create something similar. So far there is no artificial intelligence, these toys are only for wizards.

- Hah! Toys! - grinned the detective. - We should have such toys for our astronauts.

- I'm working on it, sir. If everything goes well, then in thirty or forty years it will be possible to make a technical analogue, close to the characteristics of the magical original. All we need is more effort and a lot of money. A lot of money.

- Is it really safe? - The detective asked excitedly.

- Absolutely, sir. The wizards have tested these artefacts to a depth of one kilometre.

- To hell with you, you juvenile kamikazes, dive! - Mr Potter waved his hand tiredly.

Harry jumped up and down with joy. He was excited to go on an exciting underwater adventure.

- Richie, what do we need to do?

- I'll explain everything. But first we need to attach these things to the back of the suit.

Richard took out two small plates with long metal tentacles. Using his wand, he enlarged them.

Harry Potter rounded his eyes in amazement and exclaimed with delight:

- Oh my God! Are those really Dr Octavius' tentacles!

- What did you think! - Richard said proudly. A triumphant smile graced his face. - They are! It's true that it's not very convenient to operate them without an ISKIN, but you can get used to them in the same way you get used to driving a car with pedals, lever and steering wheel. At first you think, "Oh, my God! There are so many things! How do I operate it? The steering wheel... I'll grab it with my hands. How do you change gear with the lever? I'll have to let go of the steering wheel with one hand?! Scary... And the pedals... Why are there three? I've only got two legs. Okay, black guys with big phalluses can still get away with it, but what about all the other guys and girls?"

Harry embarrassedly dabbed his eyes. He was embarrassed by Richard's vulgar jokes. Scott, on the other hand, burst into a carcal laugh.

Stephen said:

- Gentlemen, if my help is not required, I will leave you. I have a ship to run.

- 'Yes, yes, Steve,' Richard nodded. - We can manage on our own.

- Um..." Harry scratched the back of his head, looking at the tentacles and spacesuits. - How do you hang these things up?

- It's simple, Harry. Watch. You take the tentacles, put them on the back of the suit. Preferably above the waist, cos they'll make jokes about where your arms come from. And you press the single red button on the plate in the middle between the tentacles. It's the same way to remove it, but you have to hold the button for ten seconds.

After the above procedure, the silver spacesuits had four flexible steel tentacles that grew from behind their backs and had three fingers on each end.

Once in the spacesuits, Richie and Harry took some time to learn how to use them. It wasn't until an hour later, when the boys were no longer confused by the metal limbs, that they decided to take the plunge.

Richie took the magic wand with him inside the spacesuit. It rested in a special compartment on his right forearm and rested against his body. Harry repeated after his friend. It was uncomfortable to conjure this way, but still possible.

Richard created a search spell, flew up into the blue sky and followed the red beam that shot out of his hand like a laser into the depths of the ocean.

Harry hesitated a bit, but still soon took off after his friend. He experienced the incredible thrill of the feeling of flying. The blood pounded in his head, making him forget everything. Suddenly he was seized with a sudden, intense, almost boundless joy. It turned out that he, who had been so afraid of appearing cowardly and inept in his friend's eyes, could still fly with the help of a spacesuit. He flew - and it was easy, and it was wonderful. He leaned back a little and rose higher, folded all four tentacles into a tail and dove into the blue ocean after Richard.

Harry caught up with Richard fairly quickly and was on the same level with him. It was as easy to swim underwater as it was to fly, but the speed was much slower, but it didn't feel like it.

Harry thought he heard loud cries of profanity from Uncle Scott as he took off.

The view underwater was amazing. But the deeper the young divers dived, the darker it got.

Richard swung his right hand and a ball of Lumos appeared on it, illuminating everything for five metres around.

Harry realised that he needed to do the same. He waved the hand that his wand was touching and said:

- Lumos!

Two balls of light were now dispelling the underwater darkness.

The divers dived deeper and deeper. Once in a while Richard switched off the lights to orient himself with a search spell. The divers charted a direction and moved in it by the light of a couple of Lumos orbs.

Harry gasped in delight when the silt-covered hulk of a giant steel ship appeared below.

Both boys felt a thrill of excitement. They were on the high seas for the first time, on an exciting adventure, and they had a real shipwreck right in front of them.

Suddenly Richard's voice rang in Harry's ears:

- We need to find the entrance to the cargo hold.

- What? How are you talking to me?!

- There's a magical analogue to a walkie-talkie built in, I've switched it on. Harry, use your tentacles to cling to the side of the ship and follow it to the left.

- All right, Richie, I got it.

The huge bulk of the ancient refrigerated cargo ship was half buried in the seabed. Richard and Harry moved excitedly from bow to stern, using an underwater variation of levitation and occasionally clinging with the rest of their tentacles to the sides of the ship.

The boys swam past a rusty pipe.

Harry spotted something in the Lumos light and exclaimed:

- Richie, look, there's a big hatch!

- Just what the doctor ordered! - Richard cheered.

The boys tried to open it with their tentacles, but it wouldn't budge.

- It's rusted," Potter said.

- Harry, you're Captain Hindsight. Open it.

- HOW?!

- Who's the one who said he knew the unlocking spell?

- You think it's gonna work against rust?!

Harry's bright green eyes, which were perfectly visible through the transparent helmet, expressed a tonne of scepticism.

- Hell no! Harry, I think the hatch is locked.

- Ah-ah-ah! Got it. Just a second.

Harry Potter pointed his wanded hand at the trapdoor and exclaimed:

- Alohomora!

Sounds travelled well in the water. A loud scraping sound reached the boys' ears.

- Well done, partner! Harry, let's try to lift the hatch with all our tentacles on the count of three.

- Now.

Confused by the controls, Harry managed to grasp the edges of the hatch with the three fingers of his steel arms. Richard found it easier, as he'd already had some training with robotic limbs.

- So, one... two... THREE!!!

At Richard's exclamation, both boys tensed with all their might. The steel arms sprang upwards. There was a terrible screeching sound, and the hatch began to give way. And then, for some elusive moment, the robotic limbs flew upwards, along with the lid, which swung open completely.

The boys saw a dark opening. It was eerie. A shiver ran down Richard's back. Harry shivered, but didn't want to show his fear to his friend.

Gaining courage, Potter interrupted the long silence:

- 'Well, shall we swim inside?

- It's fucking scary!

- Me too," Harry admitted, glad he wasn't alone in his feelings.

Richard was in a state of confusion. On the one hand, they had travelled a long way and were already at their destination, but the darkness of the hold, faintly broken by the light of the spells, was terrifying. He tried to think of an excuse to keep himself out of it.

- Scott and Steve must be worried about us. They've already laid a brick each.

- I guess so," Harry shuddered at the loud rustle of silt sliding off the side of the ship.

- Shall we go back, rest and try again? - Richard suggested hopefully.

Harry was scared, but he didn't want to give up the adventure halfway through. But just in case, the boy clarified:

- How much treasure is there?

- A lot!

- How much treasure?

- Maybe more than a dick! - Richard tried to hide his fear behind a sneer. - There must be ninety tonnes of platinum, ten tonnes of gold and about half a tonne of diamonds.

- HOW MUCH?! - Harry's eyes widened in unbelievable amazement. - That's... That's...

Potter couldn't even imagine such a huge pile of treasure. A picture of Scrooge McDuck's safe from the Duck Stories cartoon series came to his mind's eye.

- Let's get in! - Harry said firmly, overcoming his fear.

- Well... Okay, let's go," Richard agreed grudgingly.

Harry dived boldly into the hold. Ritchie swam in after him. Both boys were scared out of their wits, but they pushed forward through the huge hold. The bottom was covered with silt, the walls were rusty, the darkness was pitch black, and only two small spells illuminated the small space around them.

- The container! - Harry exclaimed happily.

- Yes, a container," Richard said. - It seems to be locked. Harry, can you give me a masterclass?

Harry Potter pointed his right hand at the container.

- Alohomora.

There was a click. Harry eagerly pulled the steel tentacles towards the doors and swung them open with a loud snap.

The boys swam closer and stood frozen. Richard turned his head to Harry, looking astonished. Richie himself looked equally dumbfounded.

- Stones? - Potter stretched out disappointedly.

- Stones," Richard nodded.

- Stones..." Harry stretched out quietly.

- Stones, for fuck's sake! - Richard exclaimed.

- Where's the treasure? - Harry asked.

- In the cunt..." Richard wanted to make it short and succinct, but remembered that that was not the proper way for an aristocrat to put it. - Somewhere.

- Maybe in another container? - Harry suggested hopefully.

- Maybe," Richard agreed.

As they swam on, the boys found the top of the container, which was almost completely covered with silt.

They enthusiastically began digging out the steel box and pulling it to the top with their steel arms. They soon succeeded.

- Alohomora!

Again there was a click, a scraping sound, the container flaps opened and two boys' heads in the magic light, looking inside with great hope.

Silence...

Richard, turning his head towards Harry, seemed to hear his vertebrae creak. Potter's face was drawn out in amazement. Richie was farting his eyes like an Alderaanian hypnojabe.

Harry broke the silence with a sad voice:

- Stones...

- Stones? - voiced Ritchie.

- Stones," Potter nodded.

- Stones?!

- Stones, for fuck's sake! - Harry confirmed, saying the last word in Russian with a terrible accent.

- What the hell is going on here?! - Richard couldn't help himself.

- I don't know, I don't know... Richie, you said there was treasure here. Or are these stones precious?

- I don't think so. They look like ordinary cobbles.

- Richie," Harry looked at his friend suspiciously, "how did you know about the treasure?

- It's... An epiphany...

Richie didn't want to admit that his information had been picked up in his past life from the galaset. One day he was surfing the net, doing nothing, going from link to link, and came across an article about the biggest treasure finds. He remembered a giant treasure that had been discovered in the early twenty-first century. All he could remember then was that the hoard was incredibly rich and that the ship had sunk fifty miles off the Cape Cod peninsula. But there seemed to be some murky story - the ship was never raised from the bottom either because of the lack of the necessary equipment, or the British government, which in fact is the owner of the ship, forbade its lifting.

- Let's find the container and open it," Richard suggested.

- Let's give it a go.

Once again the search was successful. Another container was dug up and opened. This time the boys stood staring at the pile of cobbles for a long time with their faces stretched out.

Harry couldn't stand it any longer.

- What the hell is going on here?! Satan Hitler by the thigh! Why are there cobblestones in all the fucking containers?

- It's all fucked up!!! - Richard stretched out.

- Richie, do you know something?

- I think I know something.

- И? - Harry said in a questioning tone.

- It's all stolen!

- Really?! - Harry looked at his friend sceptically.

- A long time ago," Richard continued.

- Well? - Harry grumbled unhappily, demanding more.

- This ship was carrying lend-lease payments from the USSR.

- Richie, who are you talking to? - Harry's eyes were filled with incomprehension.

Richard rolled his eyes and sighed heavily.

- It's hard to deal with people who haven't learnt history. Harry, World War II - ever heard of it?

- Sure.

- The Germans fought against Europe and the USSR. The Americans and the British, under the Lend-Lease Mutual Aid Treaty, supplied the Soviet Union with military equipment, stew and so on. The Russians paid for these things with gold, platinum and precious stones.

- So, Richie, am I understanding this ship was supposed to be carrying payment for military supplies?

- That's correct. But, apparently, someone had the bright idea to steal all the valuable stuff, and the ship was sunk on the approach to the US, simulating a German U-boat attack.

- That's it! - Potter couldn't take it anymore. - Let's go back to the ship.

- I'm of the same opinion. Only, Harry, what shall we tell our men?

Harry thought for a while.

- Mm-hmm," he said. - We'll tell them we haven't found anything. There's no ship here. I don't want to be embarrassed.

- That's another way out. Say portus for travelling.

Richie disappeared. Harry panicked for a second, but repeated after his friend:

- Portus.

Young Potter felt a jerk and after a moment realised he was on the deck of the boat. Richard was standing opposite and with ineffable pleasure on his face, trying to remove the helmet from his head.

A pale detective waddled anxiously over to the boys.

- Are you guys all right? - he asked.

- I'm fine, Mr Potter," Richard replied. - Tell Steve to go back. We'll just holiday in Cape Cod, enjoy the beaches and the culinary delights of the Americans.

- Harry? - The man looked anxiously at his nephew.

- Everything's great, Uncle Scott! - Harry replied in an exaggeratedly cheerful tone. - There's nothing there. It's just the ocean floor. We're really all right. I can't wait to eat that wonderful pizza again.

- You're not going diving again? - Mr Potter asked hopefully and with a hint of excitement.

- No, we've had enough of that," Harry turned his head sideways.

- Right! - Richard agreed. - Diving is great, but it's better on land.

- That's good! - The detective rejoiced. - I hate the sea. I hate the sky! I'll tell Steve to keep the petrol running and give it full throttle. It's better on the shore...

As the boys got out of their spacesuits, Harry asked:

- Richie, what about the suit and the tentacles?

- I'll shrink mine and put it in my bag. You do what you want with yours.

Richard opened the compartment on his forearm and pulled out his wand. Harry looked at the young Grosvenor in bewilderment.

- What do you mean, mine? - He asked.

- The spacesuit is yours, Harry. A gift.

- A gift?! - Potter's eyes widened in amazement. - But it must be expensive.

- Harry, it's not appropriate to ask about the price of gifts. Just accept it and say thank you.

- Thank you! - A big smile spread across Harry's face. He was looking at his new spacesuit with delight. - Erm... Richie, where am I going to put it though?

- Shrink it down and put it in your pocket until you get yourself a bag with invisible expansion.

- There's just one little problem," Harry faltered. - I don't know the shrinking spell... Not yet! But I'll learn it at school.

- I'll help you. Get your wand out.

Harry took his wand out of its holder. Richard used non-verbal charms to shrink the spacesuit along with the steel arms. Harry picked up the miniature artefact and placed it carefully in the side pocket of his jeans.

- Richie...

- What?

- Can Dr Octavius' tentacles be used without a spacesuit?

- No problem. You stick them on your clothes and you're good to go. I don't recommend it on bare skin, though. They say it hurts like crazy. On the jacket and T-shirt also not worth it - they will tear. But a sturdy leather waistcoat or jacket - it's please.

- Awesome! I'll be like a superhero now," Potter said excitedly.

- More like a supervillain," Richard grinned. - Remember what Dr Octavius was like.

- It depends on the person, not the device he uses! - Harry said firmly.

- I agree. That's it, Harry, no more adventures this summer. Just the sea, the beach, good food and a quiet holiday.

- Oh, yeah..." Harry said excitedly. - I've had enough adventures. It was fun, though.

- That's a good point. It was fun... But I won't be able to look at the stones now. Such a disappointment...