CHAPTER ONE: THE BEST OFFER

Jimmy Potter stood between his father and grandfather in the Grand Prix 2 paddock after the Japanese round, staring down at the tires on his Advanced Vehicle Systems Proton 3. It had been an extremely close, competitive race, and it had been made more difficult by the fact that his left front tire had blistered three laps from the end. Ever since the banked portion of the Fuji Speedway had been updated in 2023, navigating the circuit placed tremendous forces on left front tires; not only was there the banking to contend with, but the long right hand sweeper leading onto the main straight was the most important corner on the track.

Jimmy had barely been able to hold his lead until the end. A blistered tire loses some of its grip because it reduces the contact patch with the road. A blistered tire also runs hot, which further compromises its ability to hold the road. And of course, a blistered tire has a greater chance of suddenly blowing out at a critical moment.

"I'm pretty sure it would have let go if I hadn't used a mild durability charm on it," Jimmy told Arthur Weasley. "You know I wouldn't do that to cheat, but I'm not going to risk my life on whether or not a tire fails on the banking."

"Don't you worry about it, boy," said Arthur. "We lost two of the greatest drivers in the world to failures like that at Monza. Don't you ever be ashamed of the fact that you can use your ability and training to the fullest!"

"Right," Harry said. "As long as you don't go hurling body binding curses at the other drivers, I don't think anybody's ever going to figure out you sometimes use magic to keep from wrecking."

"Besides, half the competition are wizards," exclaimed Arthur. "The greatest drivers of their generations have been magical people. It's well-known the Schumacher brothers attended Durmstrang."

"And even if there were jokes about their sexual orientation, every girl who's ever been a successful racer went to Beauxbatons," Harry joked.

"Anyway, Henri almost outbraked me going up into the hairpin, but luckily it's a left-hander so I didn't have to be careful. Then I just hung on and prayed as we dashed around the sweeper…he could never get his momentum back after I shut the door on him."

"Well, it was a very cool finish, James," Harry said. "I'm glad your mother wasn't here…Ginny would have broken my hand on the last lap!"

"Does have a strong grip, my daughter!" laughed Arthur.

At that moment, a tall man with a grey beard and wearing a long black coat approached them. "Great drive, Jimmy, absolutely fabulous car control," he said.

"Thanks, Mr. Nickels," Jimmy replied, brushing his longish dark amber hair back from his forehead. He bent over and placed his helmet in the seat of the dark green car. Two of the AVS crewmen began pushing it off in the direction of the transporter.

"Please call me Don, Jimmy. Just two more rounds to go, my young friend. Have AVS said anything to you about their plans for next year?"

"Not really. Dad?"

"I don't think Andy can pull off the move into Grand Prix One," Harry said. "Andy Andrews is a great guy, and AVS has been wonderful to work with, but let's face it…we've been propping him up for two years. Not even my family can support a truly competitive Formula One team."

"And there are your other children as well," Nickels said.

"Right."

"How do you manage all that, Harry? You must go crazy trying to see all three of them in their competitions."

"Ginny and their grandmother are really good about looking after their Quidditch, and James and I see as many matches as we can, right, son?"

"Mum's a whiz at keeping us all organized…sometimes you'd think she was my Aunt Hermione!" Jimmy said.

"Actually, Ginny says Lily has a right good chance of getting an even bigger contract than she had. A real natural flyer, that girl. And Al will definitely get a shot at the World League too. I think he's good enough for anyone, but if no one else will give him a chance, he'll play for our team." Harry and Ron Weasley had bought the Chudley Cannons after they retired, and Ron managed the club for which he had been a lifelong fan and goalkeeper.

"Great. What an extraordinary family you all are, and so kind and good to everyone as well. Well, look. The reason I stopped by. I wondered if the three of you could do me the honor of joining me for dinner tonight. I have a private dining room reserved at the hotel," Nickels said. "It will be a business meeting, but please come relaxed and prepared to enjoy lots of sushi and Kobi beef."

The three looked at one another. There was a subtle exchange of information and agreement between them. "Absolutely!" Jimmy said. "We'd be delighted."

"See you around eight, then," Nichols said. "The concierge will be expecting you in the lobby, and will know exactly where to direct you. I'm looking forward to it, mates!"

They returned to the hotel, and Jimmy went through his usual post-race workout. Top racecar drivers are athletes. The sport requires tremendous upper body strength, and the sort of physical endurance expected of cross-country runners, footballers or Quidditch players. Jimmy liked to lift weights for 30 minutes after a race. His physical trainer told him that lifting after the event, when he was already used up and physically tired, was the best way to build additional strength. On non-race days, Jimmy often trained for four hours, with a long running component in his regimen.

After his workout, Jimmy showered, changed, and joined his father and grandfather in the lobby. James, Harry and Arthur were escorted into the private dining room. Don Nickels was already there, sharing cocktails with a beautiful blond woman. She was tall and slim, her hair bobbed short just at the bottom of her ears. Expensive jewelry hung from her lobes, her wrist, and around her neck and fingers. "My wife Penelope," Nickels said.

"Pleasure," said the three guests.

"Please call me Penny," she grinned, as the double meaning began to dawn on them.

"And just how long did it take you to find a Penny Nickels?" Harry asked with a huge smirk.

"Oh, not so long! She pretty well found me in school," Don replied.

Don Nickels was a lanky six-foot-six. His long face was lined and craggy, to the point it almost looked scared. He wore a grey goatee-style beard and mustache surrounding lips that most generally stayed in a non-committal straight line across his face. His grey hair was rather long, and swept back on the sides. At times, it looked like folded wings on the sides of his head. His eyes were blue, sharp and intelligent. He was dressed, as usual, neck to toe in black.

Nickels was a mysterious and shadowy character in the racing world. He was almost certainly a wizard, but would not admit to it. He had simply appeared on the scene one day, and two months later, reappeared with his own team. He said that he came from the United States, and his accent was borderline southwest American. It was said that he had operated a rent-a-ride Formula Atlantic team in the support series for Indianapolis 500 racers.

It was also rumored that he could be a dangerous man. According to at least one legend, Nickels had headed a secret Central Intelligence Agency department in which wizards and witches were used for espionage. While all such information was classified, and no one had ever proved whether this was grounded in fact, it was true that international auto racing provided excellent cover for people who wanted to move about the world. Nickels never confirmed or denied his professional background.

"However, it is true that I had an ancestor deeply involved in the sport," Nickels was telling Arthur and the Potters. "He spelled his name differently, but he was very active in racing in both the US and overseas. He made his money and connections selling tires, here in Japan as it happens. Had an unfortunate run of bad luck in Formula One racing; lost several drivers to freak accidents. Very sad actually. Some of his team stabbed him in the back and stole his company away from him in the end."

"Yes," Arthur said. "I've read a bit about the transformation of Shadow Cars into Arrows in the 1970s. Some wizard named Black Jack Olive, or Martini, or something Italian like that involved, wasn't there?"

"Erm, well close enough," Nickels said, choking back a laugh. "There was an Italian banker who lost his head over the deal. Literally. They found his body along a railway and his head several miles away!

"Anyway, I assume by now you have guessed why I wanted to host you tonight," Nickels continued. "Phantom Cars intends to advance into Formula One next year. Jimmy has won the Formula Ford Festival race, the Monaco and Pau Formula 3 races as well as the championship, and he has won five GP2 races this year. It appears he will be the GP2 champion merely by finishing well in the two remaining races.

"I would like to talk to you about Jimmy becoming our lead driver next season. I think I am actually in a position to offer you a contract that will go a long way towards paying back your investment in James over the years. We have a substantial sponsorship package in place, but I will admit that some of it is contingent upon our signing Jimmy. That gives you some negotiating power I don't usually give up," he said, not looking particularly happy about revealing that information.

"Right. Well, stepping up to GP1 is certainly the next logical move for James," Harry said. "But it has to be the best offer. We've seen some pretty impressive young drivers flame out in Formula One because they took a less than competitive seat. One non-negotiable is that Arthur runs Jimmy's car."

"I already expected that would be the case, and given his record with Jimmy, we wouldn't have it any other way."

"Who are the sponsors?" Jimmy asked. "I'm not willing to endorse just anyone."

"Of course, of course! We have already secured overall team sponsorship from Wizard Products. Wizard will havethe only large logo on the car. Most appropriate, don't you think?

"The cars will be dark green and gold, just like your AVS car. Those happen to be Wizard's main color scheme in their stores. I'm sure you've been in a Wizard store, haven't you?"

"Oh sure! Everyone gets all their muggle electronics and gear from Wizard," Jimmy said. "I'm liking the sound of this more and more as you go along, Don!"

"Arthur, I have a question. Is your grand-daughter Rose still seeing Scorpius Malfoy?"

"Well that's an abrupt turn of direction, Don, but yes, she is. Fact is, they recently became engaged, although I'm not sure how happy Hermione and Ron are about that development."

"Well, I think it's brilliant, and it should hopefully make this next part a little easier to swallow. The one thing I was afraid you might not like about the Wizard Products association was the ownership, given the past history of your families. You do know that WP is owned by Draco Malfoy, don't you?"