***
On the evening of July 11th, Richard, accompanied by Proudfoot, Portkeyed to Rich's Workshop. At that time, Mr. Weasley was in his office on the third floor.
Construction was in full swing all around. A huge skyscraper was being erected by wizards-seven stories had already been built. Nearby, a fence surrounded a massive pit for a bunker. Several wizards, using bags with Undetectable Extention, generously sprinkled a sand and gravel mixture onto the ground, then magically compacted the mixture and laid granite slabs, reduced to the size of bricks, on top. These slabs, in turn, were enlarged and glued together with spells. Thus, a road was being built. Cheap, fast, reliable, and durable. Given the thickness of the granite slabs and the sand and gravel cushion, such a road would last for centuries. If they rolled a couple of inches of asphalt over it, mixed with rubber crumb (from tires), and enchanted this surface for durability, it would be even better. Such a road would be indestructible, despite temperature fluctuations, loads, precipitation, and other factors.
Soon, Richard found himself in Arthur's office. The room was furnished sparsely, containing only the bare essentials: a simple desk, a comfortable armchair, a pair of stools with backs, and filing cabinets along one wall. The desk was piled high with papers.
Arthur Weasley looked up from his paperwork, looked at his visitor, and his face lit up with a joyful smile.
"Lord Rich!" he said delightedly. "I was just about to contact you."
Richard nodded to Mr. Weasley and, without asking permission, sat down on one of the chairs facing Arthur.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Weasley," he said. "Do you have some business with me?"
"Yes, yes," Arthur nodded a couple of times. "Sir, excuse me, I wanted to ask..." The man hesitated a bit and fiddled with the document he still hadn't let go of. "Sir, I want to resign from the Ministry of Magic and focus solely on the workshop. It's become too much of my time and energy due to the expansion of staff and tasks. I have to spend the night in the workshop."
"Very well, Mr. Weasley," the boy didn't object. "After the easing of the Statute of Secrecy, we don't have such a great need for our own man from your department at the Ministry."
Arthur Weasley's face lit up with happiness.
"Thank you!" he said fervently. "Thank you, sir! Now at least my wife and kids will be home to see me. I also wanted to ask..."
"Yes, yes?" Richard raised his eyebrows, urging Arthur to continue.
"A reporter from the Daily Prophet has approached me," Weasley said. "They want to interview me and take a picture with my family. May I, sir?"
"Of course, Mr. Weasley. You are free to give any interviews you wish. I only ask that you refrain from disclosing any classified information or any information that could discredit the company or my name."
"No way!" Arthur exclaimed. "I never even thought of such a thing. Thank you!"
- Mr. Weasley, I heard that you have a brother, Billius, who has been to the Moon?
"Cousin Billius," Arthur corrected. "He's my uncle's son. But indeed, Billy did travel to the moon. He collected a large quantity of moonstone there, selling it made him fabulously rich. Now Billy travels the world, mostly preferring expeditions to various dangerous places."
- Mr. Weasley, do you know what spells your cousin used?
"Um..." Arthur mused. "He told me about it during family gatherings, but I wasn't really paying attention. I know Billy traveled to the moon through a portal. Apparently, he used various spells for protection: a modified air bubble and the like. Why?"
"Mr. Weasley," Richard said, "I think it's very important to involve a wizard who managed to walk on the moon in the space program! Sir, you understand that the help of such a wizard would be invaluable?"
A flash of inspiration crossed Arthur's face.
"Oh, Merlin!" he exclaimed emotionally. "Why didn't I think of this before? Forgive me, Lord..."
"I'm really curious, why?" Richard asked with interest.
"You see," Arthur ruffled his hair excitedly, "I'm so used to seeing Billius as a frivolous joker... We mostly meet at rare family gatherings. And there's drinking and fun..."
"I understand, Mr. Weasley," Richard nodded. "You're not used to taking your cousin seriously. However, if he really did travel to the moon, this wizard has something to share with us. It's an invaluable experience."
"Of course, sir," Arthur agreed. "I'll definitely contact Billius and ask him to help us. I doubt he'll refuse. And if he finds out we're planning to fly into space to other planets... Oh! He'll beg to be on the spaceship crew!"
"Okay, I don't mind. Now that we've settled that, let's move on to more important matters," Rich continued. "Mr. Weasley, I need the best researchers for a very important project, which will be carried out under the auspices of the Unspeakables with the permission of Her Majesty and the Minister of Magic. The project is top secret, and all researchers assigned to it will be required to sign magical non-disclosure contracts."
"What kind of project is this?" Arthur asked curiously.
- Research into the deadly Unforgivable Curse and ways to counter it.
Arthur's eyes widened at this information.
"What?!" he exclaimed in amazement. "But everyone knows it's impossible to defend against Avada!"
"There is a way," Richie shook his head from side to side. "According to reliable information, a lightsaber beam is capable of deflecting a deadly spell. I want a defense developed that can automatically deflect Avada."
"That's astonishing!" Arthur's gaze lit up with interest, and his face expressed extreme curiosity. "How did you find out about this?"
"Mr. Weasley, that's classified information," Richard replied. "Just know that it's true. We'll need a bunker for the research. How are we doing with it?"
"So far, the shell for the two lower floors is ready," Arthur replied. "We're building a bunker based on the Ministry of Magic's model. It will take up almost the entire site. That's why construction is taking a long time. We have to proceed very carefully, since most of the work is being done under existing buildings and the lake. But if necessary, we can deploy mage construction workers and make one floor of the bunker usable for researchers in a couple of weeks."
"I'd be grateful if you'd do so, Mr. Weasley," Richard said with an air of importance. "An Unspeakable specialist will be in charge of the research. Security will be handled by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I think that's all we need to know about the important matters. Tell me about the progress of your research and show me your latest findings."
"Of course, of course," Arthur quickly left his workplace, "come with me, sir, I'll show you everything."
Richard spent several hours inspecting his magical facility. He watched dozens of wizards at work. He tested new prototypes. He talked with the wizards. After the inspection, he was very pleased.
***
Richard spent July 15th working at the Rich Group office, sorting through a pile of paperwork. A cautious knock on the door distracted him from this tedious task.
"Come in," he said.
Dan Silver squeezed past Proudfoot, whose athletic figure was visible in the doorway, into the office.
"Sorry, you asked to come in," Dan said.
"Mr. Silver, have a seat," Richard said. "I've reviewed the hedge fund documents. Not bad."
"Thank you, sir," Mr. Silver replied with a faint smile. "But I don't quite understand—why do we need a hedge fund?"
"For currency operations," Richard answered matter-of-factly.
Mr. Silver's expression shifted in surprise.
"Currency trading?" he asked.