"Yes, sir. Donky was taught the sciences so he could teach reading and writing skills to the master's children."
"Wonderful! One less problem. And one more thing, Donky—your main task is to make sure the wizards don't harm me. Crooked spells, carelessly cast enchantments on artifacts, or, on the contrary, a curse deliberately built in. Do you understand? Will you be able to keep an eye on that?"
"Sir, Donky can feel magic. Donky will be able to warn the master of impending danger."
"Excellent. Donky, officially you'll be listed as a free house-elf working as a caretaker. For British wizards that will be extremely unusual, but it will explain why you wear clothes and remove any suspicion that you're spying for me."
"Donky understands, sir. Donky will pretend to be a free house-elf if that is what the Lord wishes."
"So that your cover doesn't collapse like a house of cards, you'll receive a salary—two hundred Galleons a month. You may spend the money however you like."
"Donky will receive a salary…" the elf said phlegmatically. "If my kin find out about this, they will think Donky has gone mad. But neither they nor anyone else will know that Donky is actually a scout. Donky is glad to serve the Lord and be useful."
"You please me with your perfect behavior and composure, Donky. Get settled in—this is all your domain now. Perhaps in the future my house will appear somewhere nearby."
Harry and Richie spent their time cheerfully. They caught fish in the lake and then cooked their catch over hot coals.
Everyone stayed overnight in the house; there were enough bedrooms for several people to share comfortably.
In the morning, Richard and Harry walked to the hangar and discovered three airplanes there. While young Potter climbed over the planes with boyish curiosity, inspecting them inside and out, Richie thoughtfully examined the aircraft. The hint was obvious—Alex Blade had heard the proposal and passed it on to his superiors at MI6, and they had agreed, providing a generator, the airplanes, and a military vehicle that functioned as a portable radar station with a control console inside the cabin.
Now, about the airplanes. The first was a Shadow R1, a reconnaissance aircraft based on the twin-engine turboprop Beechcraft King Air. The second was a transport twin-engine aircraft, the Britten-Norman Islander in its military Defender modification. It could carry up to nine passengers, transport nearly one and a half tons of cargo, and be used for parachute jumps. The third aircraft was a civilian four-seat monoplane, a Lancair IV.
And no, Richard did not suddenly become an expert on vintage aviation overnight; it was simply that each aircraft came with accompanying documentation. On the papers for the last, smallest airplane was a signature:
Lost Property.
It was impossible not to understand such a blatant hint. MI6 was practically stating outright that they were gifting the civilian airplane to Richard, as evidenced by the documents registering the aircraft in the name of young Grosvenor. At the same time, the intelligence services hoped to get the enchanted military planes back.
The picnic and the rest overall had been wonderful. Returning, however, proved much harder.
***
A hectic period began for Richie. He had to supervise the sale of shares, arrange with Arthur Weasley to begin work on enchantments, instruct Gringotts to make monthly payments from the vault to Mr. Weasley, call Alex Blade and coordinate the arrival of specialists to work with the wizards. In short, Richard spent the rest of June spinning like a squirrel in a wheel.
From selling the Pepsi shares, Richie earned four million seven hundred thousand dollars. The Altria Group securities brought the young businessman another nine million seventy thousand dollars. As a result, the boy's fortune—taking into account the funds that had to be placed into an account until he came of age—surpassed one hundred million dollars. To be precise: one hundred three million seven hundred seventy thousand. The leftover remainder was transferred to a bank account for current expenses, while the round sum remained waiting for the next investment.
Starting in mid-June, Arthur Weasley, along with a group of ten talented young wizards he had recruited, began working on creating advanced technology of the future—replacing outdated technology with magic. Richard hoped the mages would gain experience, and later he would expand the staff and move on to creating space technology. As for why he needed all of this, the boy tried not to even mention it in his own thoughts, lest he scare away his good fortune.4
At the end of June, the house-elf spy delivered his first report: a thick folder containing every sin and blunder committed by the employees of the magical enterprise. Richard could almost feel his fist tightening around the bells of every mage working for him. A few more reports like that—and the young Lord would have a firm grip on all his employees with reliable kompromat. So he wasn't particularly worried that the mages might run off to competitors—Richard would have something to hold them back with or press them if necessary. And competitors would always appear. There might be none now, but that was temporary.
The entire month of July flew by for Richard in the blink of an eye.
At the beginning of July, Richie visited the United States in the company of Harry Potter, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Prince William, Prince Harry, and numerous attendants. Among them were Gerald Grosvenor, Scott Potter, Prince Charles, Princess Diana, Justin's parents, and a large security detail for the VIPs. For the flight to America, they used the royal aircraft.
(End of Chapter)
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