Aristocrat (HP/SI)

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***

The next day, Richard received return letters from his father and Mr Weasley.

In addition, Grosvenor Senior called his son on the magophone and chatted with him for a while, inquiring about everything: how he got to school, where he got in, what the living conditions were like, and so on.

Mr Weasley agreed to the expansion of the wizarding staff and expressed his joy at the increased funding.

At breakfast, young Grosvenor watched the Gryffindor table intently. More precisely, he was watching what Ronald Weasley was eating. He seemed to be the one who was supposed to be the hero's best friend according to the series, but that wasn't certain. The black guy Dean Thomas also fits the role of the hero's friend. The chubby and shy blond Neville Longbottom looks like the actor from the second series of the holoseries who hung around Harry Potter.

One problem - all these boys were happily gorging themselves on meat and in no way even thought to demonstrate their vegetarian leanings.

The last one under suspicion was Seamus Finnigan, a fair-haired Irishman. But he too, as it happened, was happily eating meat.

"Bloody hell! - Richie thought. - It's not like the show. The Potions Professor doesn't give away that he's gay in any way; none of the Gryffindor boys are vegetarians; and not a single black female classmate! I wonder who Potter's girlfriend is, then? After all, Harry only socialises in his faculty with Ron."

***

Richie quickly found common ground with his roommates. Gradually, he found his way to his Ravenclaw classmates with the help of his well-tongued tongue and made friends with them. He was followed by the rest of the Puffenduys in his group.

Since there were only twelve students in their group, it wasn't hard to find common ground.

Richie crossed paths with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley a few times, continuing his friendship with them. It turned out that Gryffindor and Slytherin students were similarly grouped together. Only they had far more students, twenty-eight for both faculties. Gryffindors and Slytherins did not find common ground between them, moreover, they competed with each other and almost feuded. Richard rejoiced that things were quite different in his group. Accordingly, the lions and snakes lived in more cramped conditions, which also spoke in favour of choosing Puffendoo.

In his spare time, Richie practised spells, trying with persistence to make at least minimal progress in transfiguration.

On the third day of his studies, the boy took out two ingots of rare earth metals and began copying them. Justin was in the room at that moment. He was interested in his friend's study and the boy asked:

- Richie, what are you doing?

- I'm practising the spell of creating a duplicate.

- Does such a spell really exist?

Instead of answering, Richard waved his wand, mentally marked a point on the iridium ingot, selected five more points and imagined that the metal was splitting into five parts and reassembling into two. On his bed were two identical cube-shaped silver ingots weighing twelve kilograms each.

- Wow!" Finch-Fletchley exclaimed in amazement. - Cool. Can everything be copied like that?

- Only ordinary objects without a bit of magic. You can't copy gold, silver, diamonds, rubies and emeralds.

- Can you copy an audio player, for example? - Justin asked.

- You can, as long as there are no electronic components containing silver and gold.

- That's cool. Are we going to be taught this spell?

- In the sixth year. If you want, I can teach you.

- Come on!

Richard tried to teach Justin the spell of duplicity for a while, but after a couple of hours of wand-waving to no avail, Finch-Fletchley lost interest.

- Screw him! - Justin said in frustration. - It's too complicated a spell. I'll learn it later. They don't teach it in the sixth year for nothing.

- As you wish," Richard shrugged. - It's your right.

- Why metal? - Justin asked.

- Heavy objects are harder to copy. A bar of metal is compact, it's more convenient.

Richard evaded a truthful answer. In fact, he was not only practising the spell, he was also building up a stockpile of rather expensive rare earth metals. Iridium and palladium were much more expensive than silver and very close to gold.

Tell him he was going to sell the resulting rare earth ingots to Justin's father soon, it's hard to imagine the consequences. At the very least, young Finch-Fletchley would realise the value of the metals and tell his dad how easy it was for Richard to get them. Then Mr Finch-Fletchley would probably have discounted the price several times over. This way, everyone's on the plus side. The banker would get the metals at ten per cent below the market price, Richie would get the gold he needed to invest in the magic business. After all, the workshop is becoming more and more expensive. The salaries alone for the three dozen wizards and Mr Weasley are ten thousand galleons a month. Plus grants for research and prototyping for about the same amount. Worth adding more staff to that, the costs go up even more. And the bank vault at Gringotts had a limited resource of funds.

Sure, Ritchie received decent payments from the British secret services for glamourising various equipment, but they paid in pounds. It would be possible to convert pounds into gold and then into gallions, but for a young businessman such an act seemed insane. After all, he could get funds for the operation of the magic workshop from practically nothing.

Soon a report from Detective Potter was sent through Grosvenor Senior by Darth Vader. Scott had done a great deal of work in a short amount of time. He provided a decent amount of data on Hermione Granger and the Patil twins. There was everything: dates of birth, copies of medical records, a list of school honours, punishments and other information that could be obtained legally and illegally.

Not stopping there, Ritchie had instructed Scott Potter to get dossiers on all of his classmates except Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley, but first and foremost on the entire Malfoy family. It was going to take a long time, but it was important for the boy to know who to contact, who to stay away from, and who to make friends with.

On the nineteenth of September, after breakfast, Richard stopped in front of the staircase just outside the exit from the Great Hall. Students from different faculties were passing by.

- What are you standing there for? - Justin came up to him.

- I want to talk to someone. Go to transfiguration without me, Jas, I'll be there at the beginning of class.

- OK.

A line of Gryffindors stretched past Grosvenor. Richie said hello to the older Weasley children, then to Harry and Ron, who returned the greeting and continued on their way.

- Hermione," Richard called out to the pensive girl.

- 'Hello, Richie,' she stopped. - Did you want something?

- Hermione, happy birthday to you!

The thoughtfulness on Hermione's face was replaced with delight. She watched with anticipation as Richie pulled out a bulky package in colourful wrapping paper, tied with a pink ribbon, from a dragon-skin mailbag enchanted with Invisible Expansion.

- Is that for me?!

Hermione was puzzled and gladly accepted the gift.

- Thank you, Richie! But how did you know when my birthday was?

- Rumours are rife.

I couldn't admit to Richard that he'd picked up the information from the same place he'd picked up the information about the girl's illnesses, her bad relations with her classmates in junior school, her excellent grades, and so on.

- Can I open it?

- Of course, Hermione. That's what presents are for.

The girl unwrapped the wrapping paper with bated breath.

A few upperclassmen from Gryffindor who were passing by looked at a couple of freshmen with interest and walked on.Hermione expected to see some trinket, but found a tight black knitted jumpsuit, a knitted ski mask with an eye slit, a wide leather belt with a wand sheath, leather gloves, and comfortable soft-soled shoes. For a while she stared at these clothes in bewilderment, something about them seemed familiar. Suddenly Granger's eyes lit up. Rounding her eyes, she stunned and asked in a trembling voice:

- Richie, is that a ninja costume!

- You could say that. If you notice, the garment is tighter in some places. Inside, it's reinforced with an enchanted mesh that absorbs impact and strengthens the fabric to the strength of light body armour. This set must be worn as a complete set. A triple tap on the belt plaque activates an invisibility spell that will last up to one hour, and then takes 24 hours to recharge. The shoes have a silent step spell and a glue spell, just like the gloves, which means that the shoes allow you to walk silently, and together with the gloves and patches on the knees and elbows you can climb vertical walls. Gluing is controlled on the principle of a flying broom, i.e. mentally and without any problems - you just need a little practice. In addition, the clothes have spells for water repelling, warming and cooling, so that you can feel comfortable in any weather. And with the enlargement spell, you'll be able to adjust your size along with your height change.

- A spy super suit! - Hermione whispered excitedly, clutching the bundle tightly to her. - Only... Why do I need it?

- I don't know," Richard shrugged. - But you got into Gryffindor, so I guess it'll come in handy.

- Thank you, Ritchie. You're... You're a real friend. I'm sorry I didn't get into Puffendoor. I persuaded the hat to send me to Gryffindor.

- It's OK, we're at the same school. It'll just mean we'll see each other a bit less. It won't stop us hanging out. Gryffindor's a good school too.

- Well... I guess so," the girl replied with a sour face. - I think I'd be better off studying with you. What a fool I was to beg for the hat.

- Do your classmates hurt you? - Richard asked with interest.

- No," Hermione shook her head sideways. - No one wants to be friends with me. They all think I'm an overachiever and a crammer.

- I don't think so.

The girl smiled forcefully and replied:

- Says the boy who, at eleven, had finished high school and was about to go to university!

Richard laughed good-naturedly.

- You can't argue with that!

- Richie, do you still need help with those topics we talked about when we were applying?

- I really do, Hermione. It's a matter of life and death. The future of humanity depends on this data.

Hermione assumed her usual haughty look and said:

- 'I think you're exaggerating.

- I am?!" Richard put his forefinger to his chest. - Exaggerating?! You're not! Hermione, tell me, have you ever dreamed of going into space to other stars and discovering a new planet like Earth?

The girl hesitated a little, but answered:

- Yes, there was such a thing. I like to read science fiction.

- This isn't science fiction. No, Hermione, it is quite realistic to realise in the next twenty years. But not with the help of technology, but by combining technology and magic. Hermione, you can keep a secret, can't you?

- Yes.

- Then I'll tell you a secret. With your help I want to build a fleet of space transgalactic ships and send expeditions to explore the galaxy. Already now, based on the spells with which the Hogwarts Express works, a powerful reactor with endless free energy and an analogue of a perpetual motion machine are being developed to make the ship move in outer space. The only thing left to do is to get the methodology of creating the Distributing Hat, so that on its basis to create an artificial intelligence to control the starship. So, slowly, inventing one thing or another on the basis of things familiar to wizards, we can get closer to the goal - space travel to incredible distances.

Grosvenor Junior's rousing speech hit fertile ground. Hermione became enamoured with the idea of space travel. The girl was breathtakingly excited by the prospects that opened up. Magic was cool, but really, the little muggle-born witch had noticed that wizards treated magic as something mundane. And Richie had just opened her eyes to the fact that magic could be used more globally. Hermione saw a giant starship travelling several light years in an instant.

- I'll help you, Richie! - Hermione promised in a firm voice. - I'll help you!

- In that case, here you go," Richard handed the magophone to the girl. - You know how to use it. Press one to contact me.

- A mahophone? Me?! But there aren't many of those.

- You're my friend and companion, Hermione," Richard smiled warmly at the girl, igniting a sensual flame in her heart. - That way we can keep in touch with each other. Call me if you learn anything new, want to meet me, or if something happens.

- Thank you! Oh, Ritchie, we have to go to class.

- Yeah, we do. Have a good day, Hermione. Happy birthday again. I wish you all the best.

Shining with happiness like a little sunshine, Hermione almost skipped off to class, wrapping the wrapped gift back up on the way.

Richard hurried off to the transfiguration classroom. Hurriedly walking alone through the corridors of the ancient castle, he didn't even think to hide a happy smile.

"I think this fish has bitten," he thought. - A spy costume (the Weasley workshop makes them for the secret service) would be just right for such an inquisitive girl. I wondered how long she'd have the patience not to sneak into the Forbidden Section of the library. Hopefully, Hermione would immediately find the booklet I'd put in the package with the description of the duplication spell. An invisible ninja costume and such charms in Granger's hands... Mm-hmm... I'm sure by the end of the year I'll have the recipe for the Distribution Hat in my pocket. According to Hermione's file from the school psychologist, she's an intelligent, inquisitive, and stubborn adventurer, for whom you set a task and she'll tear down every obstacle and achieve her goal, no matter what. A very useful person."

Before entering the transfiguration classroom, Richard glanced at the platinum Philippe Patek, the chronometer on his left arm, and noted that there were a few minutes left before the lesson began.

Stepping into the classroom, he caught the stern gaze of the instructor.

- 'Good morning, Professor McGonagall. You look lovely.

- Come in, Mr Grosvenor," the professor said sternly. - Lesson will start soon.

- Hello to everyone I haven't seen. Padma," Richard nodded in a friendly manner as he walked past the first desk of Ravenclaw students, "that's a wonderful pearl necklace. It accentuates your beauty perfectly.

As he passed the second row of desks, where Justin sat on the left and the Ravenclaw boys on the right, Richard shook hands with all three of them, stopped at the third row and bowed politely to the right.

- Miss Turpin, good to see you. You have a charming smile.

The girl, hitherto silent and a little frowning, turned pink with embarrassment and smiled involuntarily.

- Miss Brocklehurst, that's a lovely lipstick, it emphasises the outline of your lovely lips perfectly.

Brocklehurst, unaccustomed to compliments, stiffened and stared at Richard like a hunted doe staring into the eyes of a predator.

- S-thank you," she said, stammering slightly. - R-richie, you can call me by my first name.

- Okay, Mandy. I'll take that under advisement.

- Me too! - blushed Turpin.

- By all means, Liza," replied Grosvenor.

Richard realised that if he didn't compliment his Puffendoo classmates, the girls would hold a grudge, so he turned to them and repeated his bows.

- Hannah, that's a lovely hairdo. The braids accentuate your beauty perfectly. Susan, you're as charming as ever.

- K-hem! - There was a loud cough.

Richard turned round and found the stern look of a displeased McGonagall.

- Mr Grosvenor, if you're done seducing the girls, can we get to class already! - The professor asked with pressure.

- 'I dare not delay the lesson, Professor McGonagall,' Richard replied politely, taking his seat beside Justin.

- In that case, Mr Grosvenor, show us how to turn a match into a needle," McGonagall said dryly. - Here's a match.

The voiced object lay on the table.

Richard waved his wand and muttered a transfiguration formula. The wood turned almost immediately into silver steel, sharpened and ear-shaped.

- Not bad," the professor commented, looming over Grosvenor. - One point for Puffendoodle. Tell me, Mr Grosvenor, have you been practising?

- Exclusively in an authorised place and under the supervision of experienced students, ma'am.

- Remember," the professor said to everyone, looking round the classroom with a heavy gaze, "never conjure on your own - it can be dangerous! School rules forbid witchcraft in the corridors.

"Yeah," Richard thought ironically, "you can't do witchcraft in the corridors, you can't do it yourself, and you can't put a match in a needle and turn it inside out. No one observes these rules! Whoever wants to practise spells in their bedroom. The seniors are still kids, even in a friendly faculty like Puffendui. They're not interested in wasting time looking after the little kids while they practise spells. Everyone knows this, and yet Professor McGonagall pretends that it's okay since the rules weren't technically broken."

Richard concluded that wizards from school were taught the rule: "No one is a thief without being caught" or "If you can't, but you really want to and no one sees you, you can."

***

A couple of days after Hermione's birthday, Richard received an owl-sized package of correspondence, which he immediately put away in his bag.Grosvenor Junior didn't get to the letter until shortly before breakfast and found the Malfoys' dossier there.

To give a squeeze, an ancestor of the Malfoys had arrived in England with William the Conqueror in the eleventh century.

According to some sources, Armando Malfoy was a close friend of William, though more likely a court magician. For his loyal service, Malfoy received one of the finest parcels of land in Wiltshire near Stonehenge.

After the conquest of England, William the Conqueror divided the country into "manors", the owners of which became known as barons. Those who owned many manors were called "great barons" and those with fewer were called "lesser barons".

Dukes and marquises appeared in the fourteenth century, viscounts in the fifteenth. Although life peerages were created in earlier times, they were not created in a legal way until after the "Appellate Jurisdiction Act" in 1876.

Without delving into British law, one thing that can be said is that Lucius Malfoy holds the hereditary title of Baron of Malfoy Manor, but has no seat in the House of Lords.

Lucius Malfoy does pretty much what the Grosvenors do, but the scale is much smaller. He continues the work of his ancestors - he rents out land and officially pays taxes to the Crown. But that's about it.

The Malfoys' income by the standards of ordinary people is quite modest, for example, last year they received a net profit of seventy-five thousand pounds from the rent. Not bad for a landowner, but this amount is not astronomical either. By the standards of wizards, it was a fortune - fifteen thousand galleons. As much as fifty monthly salaries of the head of a large department of the Ministry of Magic.

From the rent Lucius transfers twelve thousand pounds into magic money officially through Gringotts, and from the rest he pays a bribe of five hundred galleons (presumably, but almost exactly) to the Minister of Magic and finally transfers the rest of the pounds into magic currency through murky schemes. Apparently, Lucius' hubris prevents him from negotiating with the goblins, but it's more likely that he's greasing the Minister in this way, giving him a formal excuse for the bribe.

In general, a little bit by little... In the magical world there are no big expenses, so the Malfoy generations managed to accumulate a good fortune, but only by the standards of wizards. In the world of ordinary people, the same father of the Patil twins, not the richest man, but still in the world top, is already richer now.

On the bad side, Lucius Malfoy was a member of a terrorist group of far-right wizards in the seventies and early eighties. After Tom Riddle's death in eighty-one, raids and detentions of terrorists from his Death Eaters group began. And Lucius was also detained, but managed to pay off. He was eventually released with the wording that he was under the influence of a subjugating Imperio spell. He also managed to get his mates Goyle and Crabbe, whose children were now studying with Draco, off his back. Lucius was rumoured to be part of Riddle's inner circle, and after his boss's death, he almost managed to lead a decapitated terrorist group. But the wizards at the Ministry of Magic, who had their tails pinned down by the Queen's ultimatum, acted decisively.

After reading the dossier, it had become abundantly clear to Richard that the Malfoys, Crabbe's and Goyles were not to be dealt with. As an aristocrat, Lucius Malfoy is tainted. Himself receiving rents from ordinary people, while fighting against the same people. At most, one could turn a blind eye to racist anti-Muggle views if it was extremely profitable, but not a clinical case of idiocy. Fighting those who bring you income is beyond comprehension.

Incidentally, it's worth noting that Arthur Weasley is currently earning more than the Malfoys. His salary at the Ministry is two hundred and fifty galleons, the salary of the head of the workshop is a thousand, plus a decent bonus for useful samples of magotechnology once or twice a month.

And the dossier showed that there was animosity between Lucius and Arthur, and in public Baron Malfoy had several times veiledly insulted Mr Weasley as a beggar. Richie would look at the idiot Baron's face when he finds out that his nemesis earns more than him.

***

Richard thought this Sunday morning was marvellous. The beauty of it was the leaden clouds on the ceiling of the Great Hall... I mean, it's terrible weather outside, but the castle is relatively comfortable and almost warm, and there's no need to go outside because it's a day off and there's no astronomy class going on in the Astronomy Tower outdoors.

- Richie, why are you so happy? - Justin asked with a frown. - Look at the clouds!

- Justin, you're not romantic," Richard replied, warming his hands on a hot cup of tea. - The weather's just whispering: "Take tea and a book, wrap yourself in a blanket and enjoy the fire in the fireplace." What am I to clouds, what am I to heat when my friends are with me?!

There was applause behind Richard's back and a jocular tone was heard:

- Lord, you are a poet! We are delighted!

Smoothly turning back around, Richie found the grinning faces of the Weasley twins.- Good morning, gentlemen," Richard lifted his cup of tea. - Lovely weather. Would you like a cup of tea?

- Oh, how could I?! - Fred pretended to put his palm to his chest near his heart. - Sitting at the same table with your lordship.....

Richard realised that this was a subtle allusion to private conversation.

- Gentlemen, I know a place with a fine tea. If you like, I can take you there.

- We can't refuse Your Ladyship," George bowed jokingly.

- Justin, I'm going for a walk. Don't be bored.

Richie headed out of the Great Hall in the company of the twins.

- Gentlemen, if you know more interesting places..." Richard raised his right eyebrow with a hint.

- I do," Fred said more seriously. - Let's go.

The boys reached the fourth floor of the north wing and found themselves in one of the abandoned classrooms, which did not look neglected inside. It was clean, had a few cauldrons, two chairs with ragged upholstery, and a lot of empty vials.

- Please, sit down," Fred invited the freshman to sit in the chair.

Richard sat down comfortably in the chair. The twins stood on the sides of the second piece of furniture and leaned on its back.

- Now, gentlemen, I believe you are ripe for conversation.

- We have something to show you, Lord," George said with a little excitement.

- Curious, go ahead," Richard replied favourably.

Fred showed a small candy, and like a professional travelling salesman began to describe it with expression:

- Gentlemen, I present to your attention a unique product. We have named it "Canary Fudge." Anyone who eats this candy will turn into a giant canary for a few minutes. We've been testing this candy on each other.

- Can any of you demonstrate it? - Grosvenor asked.

- Look, and don't say you haven't seen it," replied Fred.

Fred swallowed the candy and grew yellow and green feathers, looking like a huge canary.

Richard rubbed his chin thoughtfully and said:

- Curious. This is a joke item, I suppose?

- Yes," George confirmed. - My brother and I love jokes and pranks. One day we thought we might try to open a shop like Zonko's in the future.

- Yeah, I see," Richard interlaced his fingers and put his hands on his stomach. - Is it safe? Is it safe? Is it a way to achieve any effect? For example, to change a person's appearance, and not for a few minutes, but for a longer period of time.

- It's safe, but it needs to be tested on volunteers," said Fred.

- It's trivial," George replied. - To turn into another person, there's a Reversal Potion. You brew it for a month, add a hair of the person you want to turn into that person for an hour.

- I see. I'll keep that in mind....

Ritchie scrutinised Fred as a canary, who was walking amusingly around the room on half-bent legs and making wings with his elbows.

- And yet, gentlemen," continued Grosvenor, "any ideas for something useful rather than humorous? I like the concept: eat and change, but the essence of change... Hmm... Unorthodox, to say the least.

- Is the Lord interested in something specific? - George asked.

- Perhaps I'm repeating myself, but I'm interested in useful, even short-term effects. For example, levitation; disguise in the form of invisibility; changes in appearance and so on; increased strength, agility, reaction, stamina; protection against bullets, knives, that sort of thing.

- Levitation? - Fred stopped squirming. - Ha! It can be done. Do you think, George, we could make a potion to put on clothes that would give short-term levitation?

- We could try charms or combine it with a potion," George said thoughtfully. - We'd just need the ingredients for experimentation.

- Gentlemen," Richard opened his arms, "I don't want to restrict your creativity in any way. You may continue to invent humorous things. I can see that you are talented. To create such candy at such a young age is worthy of respect. I am willing to give you a small grant for scientific and magical developments, but with one condition.

The twins cheered and picked themselves up. Fred turned back into a human and asked:

- What is it?

- You will have to devote at least part of your time to developing useful things. The criterion is that it can be used by Muggles.

- Very well, Lord," Fred replied with a serious look.

- Come by the Puffendu dormitory this afternoon. Will a hundred galleons be enough to get you started?

- A hundred galleons? - Fred said, hiding his joy. - Do you think we'll have enough change, George?

- Hm... My brother, Fred, I don't know... It's only a hundred. But what can we do? We have to agree.

- Your Ladyship, we'll settle for the change," Fred said with a smile on his face.

- Gentlemen, how long will it take you to work it out?

- About a couple of months," George replied.

- I expect to see you in two months. Share your development, or at least a progress report and ideas. If there is a prospect for further co-operation, you will receive another grant.