Young Grosvenor had absolutely no desire to risk his head—even for the hypothetical chance of living long enough to see advanced nanorobotics and genetic engineering. It was far from certain that a Philosopher's Stone was even hidden within Hogwarts. Therefore, the boy set his mind to work at full capacity, determined at the very least to minimise the risks while still securing some benefit—even if the Philosopher's Stone turned out to be nothing more than a figment of Harry Potter's imagination.
To begin with, the obstacles had to be dealt with.
The first was Dumbledore. A powerful wizard, and one who must not be present at the school at the time of the "stone retrieval operation."
The second—professors.
McGonagall would not leave her office of her own accord. Sprout spent all her time in the greenhouses. Flitwick, according to older students, was utterly indifferent—he had never once been seen patrolling the corridors. Even the very public scuffle among Ravenclaw students made his true attitude towards his pupils perfectly clear. He could safely be disregarded, as could most of the other professors. Snape, however, patrolled the castle like a hawk. Quirrell was a dark horse—he appeared to be a stuttering weakling, yet his magic was undeniably powerful. That was suspicious. And then there was Argus Filch, the school caretaker.
Therefore, Snape and Quirrell would need to be temporarily removed, and Filch… perhaps, distracted by some means.
Richard began extensive preparations. He did not choose a specific date for the operation—such an effort would be meaningless.
The first thing the boy did was write several letters to various individuals. Then he contacted Mr Weasley and enquired whether it would be possible to propose legislation to the Minister for Magic—one that would allow the enchanting of Muggle technology not merely for personal wizarding use, but also for sale to ordinary people, disguised as advanced technology. Naturally, with the condition that such enchanted items would be masked as technological devices and fitted with self-destruct charms.
It turned out that the British Ministry of Magic could not pass such a law due to the Statute of Secrecy. Instead, it would have to be advanced through the International Confederation of Wizards. And that, in turn, would conveniently draw Dumbledore out of the country. Moreover, in this case, the adoption of such legislation would take priority.
After prolonged questioning, Richard came to understand that certain members of the Confederation would find such a law highly beneficial. Their wizards would be able to sell magical products to Muggles under the guise of high technology. Indeed, similar proposals had already been put forward several times by representatives from the United States, the USSR, Japan, and Germany. That meant at least four votes could already be considered secured.
Wizards from poorer nations—even within such a serious international body that governed the magical world—were not above accepting bribes. By Muggle standards, the sums expected by African and South American representatives were laughable, yet by wizarding standards, their demands were rather substantial.
Within the International Confederation of Wizards, each country was represented by a small delegation which plays little real role. Only the head of the delegation—the Chief Warlock of that delegation—truly carries weight. This individual was proposed by the Ministry of Magic and approved by the Wizengamot.
The approval, however,was largely ceremonial, though in theory the elders of the Wizengamot could reject a candidate and put forward one of their own.
Albus Dumbledore currently held the position of Supreme Mugwump of the Confederation—something akin to a parliamentary speaker. He possessed limited direct authority, but some influence nonetheless. As such, he could not simultaneously serve as Britain's Chief Warlock.
Richard reached the British representative to the Confederation through a recommendation from Madam Marchbanks and, via owl correspondence, hinted at a substantial reward. He received an equally veiled but affirmative reply. All that remained was to send someone to deliver the payment.
The Confederation consisted of just over a hundred Chief Warlocks. For the law to pass, a majority of their votes would be required. Those nations aligned with the United States and the USSR would almost certainly support the measure. The remaining task was to purchase the votes of representatives from third-world countries. Judging by the rates quoted by the British wizard, it would cost no more than fifty thousand Galleons per Chief.
Richie granted Mr Weasley carte blanche to spend up to one million Galleons on bribing Confederation representatives. It was not enough to guarantee an overwhelming advantage, but the boy was currently limited in his available magical funds. The entire plan rested on securing just enough votes for a favourable outcome.
During his conversation with Arthur Weasley via the wizardphone, Richard had to employ a great many arguments to convince him of the necessity of such a law—for the prosperity of wizardkind as a whole.
Mr Weasley proved far too honest to comfortably offer bribes. And yet, the young Count Grosvenor managed to find the right arguments to persuade Arthur.
He spoke of the danger of wizarding stagnation in the face of rapidly advancing Muggle technology. He argued that such a step was essential for sustaining the magical economy; and, above all, he painted a vision of wizardkind reaching the stars — finding a new world where witches and wizards might live happily without Muggles, claim as much land as they desired, and do as they pleased without regard for the Statute of Secrecy.
There, they could introduce magical creatures and breed them in vast numbers, securing an abundant supply of potion ingredients and more.
Yet to achieve that—to find such a world and reach the stars—some form of cooperation with ordinary people would be required: purchasing steel and other materials for the construction of a spacecraft. It would be far better to trade, offering something of their own disguised as Muggle goods, than to resort to theft and thereby risk a far more serious breach of the Statute of Secrecy.
In addition to his honesty, Arthur proved to be something of a naive idealist. After three such conversations, Richie had not only persuaded Mr Weasley, but had also infected him with a remarkable enthusiasm.
Arthur Weasley set about his task, delivering bribes to the appropriate witches and wizards.
(End of Chapter)
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