Harry left the Well and MI-7 quickly, efficiently blending into the busy subway station that hid the main entrance to MI-7 and onto a train. The exact location Harry did not care about. Once seated he cast a number of charms around himself and transfigured his clothing into a sharp business suit. When the train stopped at the next exit, Harry lowered the charms and walked off within the mass of humans and headed to street level. When he reached street level he walked into a dark alley and disappeared into a shadow, emerging on the far side of London by the Mundane Headquarters for PGB Inc.
Crossing the lobby, Harry said hello to a number of his employees before reaching the secure private elevator that would take him to the upper floors of the building which were restricted due to the amount of magic used up there. Swiping his hand over a custom designed scanner mounted beside the elevator door, it read magic signature and biometric data, Harry strode into the elevator and waited for it to take him to his office.
As the doors to the lift opened, Harry walked out and right past his secretary and into his office. His secretary quickly followed him along with another woman. "Mr. Potter. Is there anything I can get for you?"
"No Monica. I need some time with Barbara though." Harry replied.
"Of course. Coffee?" Monica asked.
"Nothing yet. Thank you." Harry said before Monica left the office.
Once she was out gone Barbara turned to Harry "I was not expecting to see you for at least two weeks. Your godfather mentioned that you were going out of the country when he called not thirty minutes ago."
Harry smiled and sat down behind his desk. "I'm actually getting to leave in a few hours Barbara. The problem is I have not booked a flight yet."
"And that surprises me why?" Barbara said. "Just like your Grandfather and your father in that way. Where are you flying too this time?"
"Chicago and I need to go as James Black." Harry said.
"Then it'll have to be Jessie as she is the only Learjet in our fleet that is registered as belonging to Mr. Black. I'll contact the flight crew. Where are you staying James?"
"Nicholas has said his office in Chicago would be for the meet."
"I'll make sure James has a room at the Presidential Towers as they are the most discrete and exclusive of the Magical/Mundane places in Chicago. I'll also make sure you have a car and driver." Barbara finished in her usually no bullshit tone she used when Harry was being stupid. She perfected it with dealing with Charles and James Potter.
"Thank you Barbara. How is the family doing? I didn't get a chance to ask last week. Did your grandson finish his project?" Harry asked.
Harry bit back a smile as Barbara settled into one of his office chairs and began to speak about her family. Barbara Gordon was a 60 year old squib and had worked for the Potter family as what would be now called a Personal Assistant in their mundane business since Charles Potter first hired her at 19 as a secretary. Though she was more than that now; she was a friend and confidant to all the Potter men and the reason why PGB Inc. came into being. No one would accept an 11 year old running a large company let alone so many companies in the mundane world so Barbara, who had been running most of the mundane Potter/Gryffindor Businesses since James Potter went into hiding, rolled out her plan when she first met Harry. Harry of course had already known about this crazy idea when he met Barbara in his past and approved it immediately.
Barbara was actually Chief Operating Officer & Senior Vice President of PGB Inc., handling the day-to-day operations of the business, but she refused to give up her position as Harry's Assistant; since he did not come to the office very often, she as able to handle both jobs. Besides, Harry also had Monica as a secretary, who was also Barbara's secretary, who handled many of the dull tasks.
"My little Ray did finish it. When his family moved to America, I was not sure if he would stay in scouting, I thought their program was so much different than ours, but he did and he is now going to be an Eagle Scout. That makes three generations of Scouts in my family to earn the highest award in Scouting. My husband Donald earned his Queens Scout Award before we met of course and then our son Alexander earned his when he was 17." Barbara said.
"Good for him Barbara. Are you and Donald flying out for the ceremony?" Harry asked.
"He just earned it two nights ago. I guess there is still paperwork that will have to be sent to their national office, and then they can plan the awards ceremony. You know those Yanks; always need their paperwork done first."
"Let me know when and I'll make sure you, Donald, and the family can go. You can take one of aircraft and make it a vacation. Where are Alexander and his family living at?"
"Southern California on their west coast; not Los Angeles, but close from what they tell me. Alexander of course is enjoying working for the Walt Disney Company. I have no idea exactly what he does, but he loves it. He says he has the chance to use magic and mundane ways at the same time. Jennifer, his wife, is teaching University at USC.
"Olivia and her family are still in Plymouth. Johnathan is still a member of the 3rd Commando Brigade and is due for another promotion. Hailey and Spencer, their two twins are entering school next year. They all grow up so fast."
Harry nodded, thinking about all his children, grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren he left behind when he jumped back.
Barbara pulled herself together and got up, leaving the office. "I'll get these details sorted out. How soon do you want to leave?"
"As soon as possible, Barbara; anything I need to take care of while I am here?" Harry asked.
"The latest information on the state of the Greengrass Estate is on your computer. PGB Investments is already jumping into that mess."
"Thanks Barbara." Harry said as he began to fire up his computer and look over the requested information. Barbara took that to mean she was dismissed and left the office.
PGB Inc. had a number of businesses and subsidiaries it owned either partial stakes in or completely. They also managed a number of companies for others. Overall it was way too much for Harry to handle, which is why Barbara was his godsend. When Barbara retired in the old timeline, Lily Luna, Harry's baby girl, took over as Chief Operating Officer and hired Spencer Wayne, Barbara's grandson, as President of PGB Investments Mundane Division.
"Ragnock has been placed in charge of the Greengrass Estate." Harry mumbled to himself as he read thru the files. "At least there will be very aggressive building of capital."
An hour later, Barbara entered the office to see Harry signing off on his computer. "That signature tablet is great Barbara."
"Good. James' car is downstairs. I have all of James' travel documentation here as well as your goblin necklace. James' luggage is ready downstairs and is being loaded by Henry." Barbara said as she held out the necklace to Harry.
The necklace was a goblin secret that allowed a person to become someone else and no one in the world, either thru magical of technological means, could tell the difference; except for the goblins of course. If someone wearing a necklace was to enter Gringotts or any goblin controlled business or territory, they would be escorted to the president or leader immediately without any delay without their identity being questioned. Harry had experienced this a few times already as James Black.
The necklace also masked the user's wand or magical focus so that no one knew what it was. The only thing it did not mask was the wearers' animagus form and their patronus.
Harry put on the necklace and morphed into the 25 year old James Black complete with an Anderson & Sheppard black suit with red collarless shirt, high gloss dress books, and a Raleigh Extra Long Trench Coat that came down to the hem of his pants. To top off this look was leather gloves and black Ray-Ban sunglasses. James did not wear a hat.
"Thank you Mrs. Gordon. Please keep the place running until either Harry or my Father return please." James Black said in his baritone voice.
Barbara handed James a large envelope that he placed in one of his coat pockets, which had an undetectable expansion charm on it. Barbara then escorted James over to the far wall which revealed a hidden portal. James stepped thru the portal and into another office in the building that belonged to James Black. James then left the office and headed down to the lobby and into the waiting car and off to the charter terminal at London Heathrow where the Learjet Jessie was waiting for him.
Ten hours later, James Black was in his suite at the Presidential Towers in Chicago, Illinois in America. After a quick shower and dinner, James was ready to head out and scope out the city when his room phone rang. Moving to the desk where the desk was located, James picked up.
"James Black."
"James, it's your father." Orion Black, who was Sirius' alter ego, said over the phone.
"Hi dad. How is life in Scotland?"
"No idea. I am in New York at the moment."
"Why?"
"Your Grandfather Nicholas asked me to check in on some of his investments here."
"Anything I should be aware of?"
"Nothing except that your young hot wife is looking to gut you like a pig when she sees you" James shook his head. Ginny would be very pissed when Bill finally told her what had been wrong with Harry Potter lately. Oh well.
"It seems that someone in London decided you should not be left unsupervised. So as soon you left for the airport, she called your grandmother (Perenelle) who called your wife."
'Ginny was coming to Chicago!' James thought. 'Not good! Molly Windham Black will kill James Black!'
Suddenly there was a knock on the door and James looked up.
"That should be her now. My suggestion, apologize to your wife and then have your meeting. It's scheduled for the day after tomorrow 9am. Molly has the information. Goodnight son." And with that Orion hung the phone.
James looked at the phone and then at the door which would not hold his wife or Harry Potter's wife much longer. Knowing he had to face the music, he wandlessly lowered the wards he placed and opened the door. James watched as Molly and one of the bellboys entered the suite.
"My bags can go to the master bedroom." Molly said to the bellboy as she stood in front James and his desk. James took a moment to study his wife, she was gorgeous. At 5'8" she was rather tall, with long wavy brown hair that went past her shoulders. Her eyes were ocean blue with a beautiful tan complexion. She looked she could be a movie star from the 1940's. She was dressed in a business suit that accentuated her long legs and her magnificent cleavage. It was feat not many people could pull off. However no matter how beautiful Molly Windham was, James knew Ginny Potter looked even better.
After tipping the bellboy and asking they not be disturbed, Molly raised the wards around the suite and then turned her stare back her husband, who was beginning to get nervous.
"We need to talk." Molly said.
"Ok." James said.
"Actually, Harry and Ginny need to talk." Molly said.
James sighed and removed his necklace, transforming back into Harry Potter while Molly did the same and became Ginny Potter.
Harry stood and moved his way to the bar where he made himself a strong drink. Though he was almost 17 in this body, he had a passion for high quality alcohol thanks to his long life before. Pouring himself and Ginny a glass of Johnny Walker Blue, Harry crossed to his wife handed her a glass and then sat down on the couch, Ginny followed.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Ginny asked.
"Cyrano Greengrass was picked up and released because he was not marked. I know he was a Death Eater Ginny. I saw his mark. I was so pissed at myself for enjoying life this time around that I felt guilty." Harry admitted.
'That is where this is coming from.' Ginny thought. For all his powers and talents, in many ways, Harry Potter was still that scared 11 year old who believed everything was his fault. It took most of her life to get Harry to understand that sometimes shit happens the first time.
"Listen to me Harry James Potter. I am going to explain this to you one more time. It is not your fault. You are not infallible. You are human. I am glad you were able to help Daphne and her family. I spoke to Cyrus before I took the Concorde to New York and he said he owes you a debt that can never be repaid. You protected his family estate from his evil brother and more importantly the lives of the three most important people in his life, his girls: Astoria, Daphne, and Dowager Greengrass. He wouldn't have cared if you summoned a demon from hell to deal with Cyrano. Neither do I nor our family."
"I really have been an ass about this, haven't I?" Harry asked. He knew the moment Ginny appeared that he had been very wrong about his outlook on the situation.
"Yes you have. Now we are meeting with Tom the day after tomorrow. Nicholas' office is already ready. Tomorrow afternoon we'll do some sightseeing and get a lay of the land. But for tonight…" Ginny rose from the couch, finished off her drink and started strutting to the master bedroom, losing clothing along the way.
Harry looked at his wife, then his drink. He finished his drink and headed after his wife, only stopping to summon chocolate, whip cream, and cherries from the kitchen on his way.
They did not exit the room until late the following day.
Two days later, James Black and Molly Windham-Black were waiting inside a conference room at the offices of Newman, King, & Leeson. Newman, King, & Leeson were a law firm based in Chicago, but had offices all over the world. They specialized in international law including copyright, international human rights, and international contracts. It was a small field, but they were considered the best at what they did. As a service to their clients, the firm allowed them, for a fee, to use their offices for meetings around the world. This service included the conference room, private smaller rooms for private chats, telephone, fax, and data services, a secretary who handled all the details of the space, a transcriber if needed, translator if needed, notary if needed, and there was one partner on call for any legal issues.
Overall it was a great idea and business was beginning to pick up. It was the brain child of Nicholas Newman, Chief Senior Partner twenty years ago when studying about the Templar Knights. Of course Nicholas Newman, also known as Nicolas Flamel, did not need to study the Templars; he was one of them and worked with Jacques de Molay on how the Templar Knights handled their business.
At three o'clock on the dot, the door to the conference room opened and Marilyn, the firm's secretary assigned to this meeting, stepped in.
"Mr. Black, Mr. Riddle is here."
James straightened him cuffs. "Send him in Marilyn. And please do not disturb for anything once we are started."
Marilyn escorted Mr. Riddle into the room. He looked almost identical to the picture Harry Potter had seen days ago.
"Mr. Black, thank you for meeting with me." Riddle said as he shook James' hand. James felt Riddle try to release magic thru his hand into him. It made James smile. James squeezed a little harder than was polite and then looked into Riddle's eyes.
"Not a problem Mr. Riddle. But I would try to contain your abilities if I were you." James smirked when he saw the shocked look on Riddle's face. "Please allow me to introduce my wife, Molly Windham Black. Please, have a seat." He motioned to Riddle to take the chair on the other side of the table from him and Molly. "Thank you Marilyn." James said, dismissing the squib.
"I am so sorry Mr. Black. I did not realize I was still leaking magic. I do that when I get nervous." Riddle said, trying to play the sympathy card.
"Why would you be nervous Mr. Riddle? James & I wouldn't hurt a fly. A snake however, they can all die." Molly said.
"Molly." James said as he looked to Riddle apologetically. "I'm sorry Mr. Riddle; Molly was bitten earlier in the week when we were sightseeing at the Grand Canyon. Rattlesnake came out of nowhere and bit her in the leg."
"It is alright Mr. Black. Mrs. Black, did you provoke the snake in anyway?" Riddle asked.
"No he just came out of nowhere. I thought long and hard about it afterward, but no I think I was just in the way of him and where he wanted to go." Molly said.
Riddle seemed to the mull that over for a moment before answering. "Some snakes are very territorial. They will attack even something bigger than they are if they feel they are encroaching on their territory."
"You seem to know a lot about snakes Mr. Riddle." James asked.
"I love snakes and reptiles; according to family legend, my many times great-grandfather was related to Salazar Slytherin in some way. I do not know for sure, I was raised here in America by my aunt and uncle. My mother and father were killed when I was fifteen months old by a madman in Canada."
'He is using Harry Potter's story to cover up for himself' James thought.
"That sounds like Harry Potter's story." Molly said.
Riddle smiled at that. "Yes it does. I must ask him one day if his story was based off of my life."
James remained silent, not wanting to curse the man in front of him. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke. "Mr. Riddle—"
"Please call me Tom."
James and Molly both looked shocked at this. "—Tom then. Tom, what can I do for you?"
"I own a rather small, but very successful, import and export business. I have slowly expanded internationally as far I can go. The problem is most of the Wizarding World is still within the sphere of influence of the British Empire."
"You mean Commonwealth." Molly piped in.
"I was raised to call it the British Empire." Riddle said. "Well as you know the import and export laws are very tricky for the Commonwealth. In fact, to be a wizard business, you need to be sponsored by an established company within the Commonwealth already."
"What do you sell and buy?"
Riddle slide a portfolio across the table to James and Molly who began to read it. It seemed that Riddle Trading Company dealt with a number of difficult to obtain potions ingredients and other hard to obtain items for the magical world.
"Why me?" James asked.
"Because of all the other companies, you are the only one who seems to understand that we are better than muggles. Sure you parade around and show off your squibs and muggle slaves and call them employees but at the end of the day they are slaves to you, the pureblood." Riddle said, getting the Voldemort glee in his eye.
James had to remain calm when he spoke. "You're right Tom. But you must understand my father is a big believer in Dumbledore and his Lord Protector of the Realm. I can't stand it personally, except for my half-blood wife here. But she acts like a true pureblood. Don't you?"
Molly smiled "Of course."
Riddle smiled at the couple, knowing he had them. "If you sponsor my company, it will give me the cover I need to get into England and make contact with some old friends. Once I have contacted them, I can have the Dark Lord return to England and deal with Potter and Dumbledore. Then he will reward you as the new Lord Black." Riddle said.
"Sold. How shall I contact you?" James said.
"My main office is in New York. Here is my card." Riddle used his wandless magic and sent the card to James.
"It will take a few weeks to get the paperwork thru. I'll call once it is done. Then you'll need to come to England and apply for your license at the Ministry of Magic." James said.
"I look forward to it." Riddle said. "And now, I must depart, I have a portkey back to New York to catch." Riddle shook hands with the Blacks before leaving the conference room. Once he was gone, James banished the paperwork back to his office in London before speaking out loud.
"Please tell me you got everything he said."
"We did." Ron could be heard.
"I need a shower. Ask Bill to create new necklaces for James and Molly, these are going to be destroyed. They are just…" Harry trailed off.
"As soon as you get home, I'll have Charlie toast them with Optimus." Bill said.
Molly & James Black left Chicago for a meeting in a Seattle that night. At the same time, Harry & Ginny Potter took a portkey to New York where they met with Sirius Black and headed back to England via the Concorde.
Once they arrived in England, they made their way to MI-7 where the rest of the council was waiting for them. As soon as Harry sat in his chair, Dobby arrived with a glass of Pepsi and Pepper-Up potion. Harry downed both of them before Dobby conjured a ruler and had it smack Harry in the back of the head a couple of times.
"Next time Harry Potter Sir decides to run off without telling people, he remembers." Dobby said before popping away.
Everyone was laughing at Harry, most notably Albus and Alastor who were on the floor laughing so hard they were crying. "So now that Dobby has put me in my place, can we please get back to the business at hand?" Harry asked as he crossed his arms across his chest and pouted, which set everyone off again for another 5 minutes.
Finally everyone calmed down and they could get started. "How did it go?" Nicholas asked.
"As well as I thought it could. He is Tom Riddle, and he is Voldemort." Harry said before his and Ginny's meeting was dissected and reported on.
"General West, what do we know about the Riddle Trading Company?" Bill asked.
"Thanks to the spells used to copy the portfolio, we were able to use that as a starting point. Riddle Trading is legitimate, to a point. Many of their earlier finds are questionable, but more importantly there seems to be a small but steady stream of items that just appear in their holdings, with no record of where they found them or acquired them. Now there is always a small percentage of this in any business, but this is very routine as if it is on a schedule. For the last 4 years, the company has used these ghost holdings to leverage more and more capital." West reported.
"What about contact with other businesses?" Ron asked.
Bill spoke up. "Gringotts knows there is something up with Riddle Trading. They seem to corner the market on what we would call mid-level rare finds throughout the Americas, Pacific Islands, and Asia. Not enough stuff to raise any red flags by anyone, but just enough for someone like us to take a second look at. Gringotts has discovered that an independent goblin named Perot and his people are taking a lot of jobs for Riddle Trading."
"Didn't he try to win the American Presidency?" Arthur asked.
Albus smiled. "Indeed he did. But he lost the vote and went back to mining for oil from what I heard."
"Bill, can we put on pressure on this goblin and make him talk?" Harry asked.
"Doubtful. Perot is not a member of any of the great clans. In fact he is persona no grata on all goblin lands. That is one of the reasons why he didn't win the election. He was too restricted." Bill answered.
"However, I think a meeting between him and I could very fruitful." Nicholas said. He was still a legend and many magical races held in high esteem. He had joked once that he could probably have tea with Voldemort and survive.
"Agreed." Harry said.
"Hermione? The Ministry paperwork?" Harry asked.
"It is being filed as we speak, using the older methods that Riddle would know about, not the newer methods we use most of the time now. Once we get the approvals, we can then file for the travel visa for him. The Unspeakables are already working on allowing him thru the wards, as well as creating the containment unit for him."
"Time frame?" Harry asked.
"For everything, 5 weeks."
"Then Riddle dies in 7 weeks." Harry said. "Anything else? Very well, dismissed. Ron, Hermione? Dinner tonight at Lionfire, do not be late."
The elves at Lionfire Hall served dinner promptly at 6:00pm every night. Unless told by Harry beforehand. It gave Harry and his family a known set time during the day to help plan around. It also gave a built in break during very long days, which Harry had often. Tonight dinner was just the siblings.
After a wonderful chicken dinner, Harry and the others retired to his office, where he would hold sensitive conversations.
"What is going on brother?" Hermione asked.
"The war is coming to an end. After Riddle is gone, what do we do?" Harry stated.
"Well. How much better do you think we are now than we were?" Ginny asked.
"Ginny, we are so far ahead of where we were in 30 years, but we are also far behind." Ron answered. "The Dark Lady needs to be dealt with, before she can gain any more power. We also have dumbasses in the Ministry to deal with and the social problems that have plagued England for centuries."
"The Dark Lady is handled, Perenelle handled it." Harry said.
The Dark Lady was the creation of another Dark Lord who used necromancy & mundane genetics to create the ultimate user of Black Magic. When she was born a female, the dark lord thought he failed and sent her away to be raised by some of his followers. When she returned about age 16, she killed this minor dark lord and all of his followers.
Perenelle recovered the remains of Morgan Le Fey before she set out and found the dark lord. After eliminating the dark lord and his followers, she destroyed all his research as well. The Dark Lady would not be an issue this time around.
"Harry, the only thing I worry about is us turning into the very thing we swore we never become." Hermione said.
"Controlling people who thought they knew better than everyone else." Ginny answered.
This brought the entire conversation to a dead halt as everyone thought about what they had done and what they wanted to avoid. It was Ron who finally spoke up. "After Riddle is dealt with, we need to explain everything to the ICW and the United Nations. Let them make the decisions from there."
"What about Rule 5?" Harry asked.
"We are protected by General Order 97. Since we are all Unspeakables, or were." Hermione said.
Harry sighed and looked at his family. "Very well; let's handle Tom and then we go before the ICW and the UN."
The other nodded in agreement and continued to talk well into the night about anything but Tom Riddle.