Non-Compliant or Just How Angry Was He

by Lil Nezumi

Just how angry was he that his life was not his own, that his future had been irrevocably mapped out and that he was being forced into an unloved machination of a marriage. Well he was angry enough to do the ritual, cast the spell and let his body die... See chapter one for more.

3. Chapter 3

CH 3

Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter

It was approximately their fourth meeting at Gringotts where many things had been discussed, but those hired to be the financial team were working together quite nicely.

Harry didn't have any kind of prejudice against any magical creature or their gender, he never did. He trusted them to follow their own codes and not screw him over financially since it would be detrimental to their own income and honour if they did so. Culturally he knew that they were stricter among themselves in relation to how they properly conducted their business with the magical humans so he was not worried about his chosen advisors.

"Where do you want to be living," Sibilo, one of the few female goblins he'd ever seen, asked him.

She was a second-cousin to Griphook and had taken the top accountant, vault manager and investment tracker position for Harry's estate since she was really anal about numbers which was a good thing to the boy's way of thinking. Plus not many goblins within the bank wanted to give her any kind of authority for real work due to her gender and her non-married status.

Her only potential career option had been to accept working for the small 'undersized human' as she'd called him the first day they met and still called him that much to his private amusement. "What are you planning to do with your time while you wait to attend Hogwarts? You are planning to attend Hogwarts or were you thinking of attending some other magical school?"

"I'm planning to attend that school pending a few changes. However I'm seriously considering on taking up the study of potions and getting the N.E.W.T. for it out of the way," Harry told the female goblin going over his estate and financial accounts. "I know that house-elves can monitor home schooled individuals along with tutors sending and correcting work via post owl. It's not like essays require much supervision and potions practical work will depend on successful completion of potions which can be monitored and timed by anyone. Doesn't have to be house-elves it just has to be someone magical."

"From what I've heard about that particular Hogwarts Professor," Galamar said. "It might be a good idea for you to go that route. You should consider studying Magical History too."

They'd already set up his personal financial corporation that would oversee him as kind of a magical ward. It would monitor his schooling in name only. It officially supported the signed documents that had released him from his Aunt's care several days ago.

That company would also be used in dealing with the affairs of estate management in conjunction with Sibilo and the Gringotts estate records. They even had three human lawyers on retainer that had been vetted by the goblins to work with them and with Galamar to deal with things that had been sent to the Wizarding World's Boy Savior via post owl.

Their presence had ensured that Harry was legally protected. His family money would continue to remain safe from external manipulations despite his physical age. His magical age could not be disputed due to the ritual and the subsequent properly filed paperwork.

Sibilo had nodded to that hesitant suggestion. "You'd have to register for home schooling, but that can be done with your GFN to ensure anonymity. Potions are something that can be learnt on your own if you happen to have good resources and appropriate learning manuals. Unfortunately you can't take your O.W.L. or N.E.W.T. exam with that number alone. You do have to appear at the Ministry's testing site to write them. We can ensure your privacy after the fact in relation to the final result, but only if it is needed. Your true record can be stored under an alias only until you enter formal schooling."

"I'd take security with me when I go for testing as Harry Potter," Harry nodded to Griphook who'd been hired to guard the room for their transactions and for external security measures like whenever he had to travel as Harry Potter rather than as Lunar Black. The small goblin nodded in agreement. "But I'm not sure about studying what humans consider to be proper Magical History just yet. I think I'd prefer getting a different perspective on the subject first." They looked surprised, but shrugged and continued on with their joint work.

The boy's persona of Lunar P. Black was secure and no one really wanted to mess with a short person that constantly hid their features. They wouldn't mess with him because of his stature as many humans were wary of short people due to goblins and some of their hybrid descendants. Professor Filius Flitwick was a prime example as he'd been rumoured to have a dash of goblin in his ancestry and was not a person to mock considering his extensive and successful dueling history.

For the past four days they'd scoured the estate papers and had ensured that his parents' Wills had been read and dealt with. Those Wills which had originally been rumoured to have been missing were actually found stuck to a file that contained information on a defunct company that one of his supposedly and really distantly related cousins had requested the immediate Potter family invest in. It had been his great-grandfather's decision at the time.

The only reason for keeping that kind of information on a finished company was to keep the personnel information in order to prevent anyone that had been associated in running the defunct company from trying to gain any kind of loan from the Boy-Who-Lived or from his family coffers again.

"I've been patient with you on the matter of house-elves Lord Potter," Sibilo said with a waggle of her long bony finger that ended in a sharp claw-like finger nail. "But you owe me at least three in order to keep your vaults in good shape and to clean them to my exacting standards."

"Understood," Harry said with a nod. "I've recently visited the Potter Manor House. Only five have remained alive and bonded to the Potter Family, there are no others living on any other property. They have no wish to move away from the regular family properties, but I have given them permission to seek out mates so long as the children were pledged to be raised in service to the Potter Family. But I'm going to have to go through the Office of House-elf Relocation to get some more for here and to travel with me personally. There has to be some that are used to working in shops or whatnot. They'll at least know how to organize shelves and such. Do you have any type of preference?"

"Two used to working in shops and in material organization, one, if not two for office assistance work, for filing and making sure that there are proper copies for all necessary parties," Sibilo said. "You'll need to consider getting several to deal exclusively with your 'Fan Mail' and ensure that we can deal with the inappropriate ones. Or else start using your family elves to deal with the mail with standard replies."

"True," Galamar said. "I'd love to deal with some of those too if you don't mind. It's an art to reply in a snotty tone and still make the public feel beholden to you." He then pulled out a file for the boy to review as he explained what he'd discovered, "You were quite correct about that house in the woods just outside of Little Hangleton. It's available for purchase along with several acres of land surrounding it, but there are a couple of fading wards on the place and it looks like the building's spells or charms are fading too. It will need reinforcement and I'd recommend an overhaul of the base blueprints. I'd suggest a strategic relocation of the entire thing or a tear down and rebuild," he paused to look over the map and then pointed to a section quite distant from the main road. "Perhaps moving it further back on the property so that it's not too close to the muggle road or the town itself?"

"Excellent idea! We'll need muggle repelling charms on all hiking paths and all possible access roads," Harry said. "I've been thinking about purchasing more tracts of land surrounding the place including that set of rail road tracks nearby and the old station near Cod Beck River Crossing. (…i…) Are the trains still running through that particular line?"

"No," Galamar told him. "That particular train line was shut down about twenty years ago, but since the rails and tracks are still intact you can own the line and even purchase a train car or two to run on them to keep them up and maintained. You can purchase a few abandoned lines in the countryside too, but you'd have to employ a maintenance crew for all of them in order to keep everything running smoothly and to maintain the muggle repelling charms if you're planning to make the line a magical one."

"Brilliant," Harry said. "I've always wanted to own a train line or two. I'll need a couple magical engines in vivid colours quite like the red Hogwarts Express, but I think I'd like to start with green, yes bright grass green with dark silver and black accents. The trains will only travel from one end of the line to another or maybe in circuit, yes a circuit is a better idea."

"We'll set up way stations for magical folks and only charge a sickle or two for transit. Maybe with something of a day pass or a weekly pass…A weekly pass that can be purchased at…oh…comparable to UK Transit monthly which is about 16G 3S 11K, (…ii…) but I only want to set up weekly passes so that'd be about 5G 6S 23K. No, no, a fraction less, so at 3G for an adult weekly pass and a day pass at oh," he huffed. "About 10S yes, that's a nice round number and it will make them choose the weekly pass over a day pass if they're smart about it, children under the age of ten ride free with an adult or else they need a special pass at the same price as a weekly adult, but it'll be good for a month's time… yes, yes that's better and we can set up a child's monthly pass for 7G. We may sell more of those, but they'll have to be photo ID type of passes for the monthly ones especially for those belonging to small children, can't have them getting kidnapped from the trains. So some kind of tracking or monitoring system will have to be added to those ones too, adult monthly pass will have to wait to see if that kind of service is required for them too."

"The trains will be for those that can't apparate or floo very well or can't afford the Knight Bus or are unable to purchase portkeys. Those things are heavily regulated anyway." He explained, "I'd want each line to have only seven cars. Three cars for travelers in a double or triple decker fashion, two expanded ones for luggage and magical pets, one car which will be exclusively for Owls so that it can be used cut down on their flying distance. That'll be useful especially if they are older owls or unsuited for long distance travels like the smaller Scops sized owls or any that'll need a rest from carrying heavy parcels. The final car will be placed between the baggage or pet cars and the travelers' car. It'll be used for services and the trains must include two security persons per train car."

"What do you mean services," Sibilo asked as she'd rapidly made notes on paper related to her client's requests. She used a quick-quotes quill at its most accurate setting.

"The services car will be split in half. One side will be a dining car with full meal service, but no bar as that'll prevent the need for alcohol dispensing and bar type responsibility licences. We could sell unopened bottles though, hm, something to think about. The other half will be comprised of four to six booths or stalls of magical wears that a traveler can go to, to purchase whatever they may need," Harry explained. "Like emergency tailoring services or a place to purchase replacement robes if needed. Magical knick knacks or books for a traveler or perhaps some kind of bag or trunk quick-repair service; the exact services don't have to be decided quite yet since the stalls will be operated by those seeking to rent the space, but don't want permanent store location. I'm more interested in setting up a few way stations or maybe take over the old ones that are no longer in use. Maybe we can look into purchasing a couple of muggle 'ghost towns' too."

"Ghost towns," Galamar asked. "What are those?"

"Towns that have been abandoned by muggles," Harry explained. "There are literally whole towns, buildings and all that are available for purchase from the British Ministry (…iii…). If we can purchase one or two towns, we could legally convert them into magical communities for the muggleborns and their families or for those in our society like werewolves or other creatures that have been pushed to the edges. The Statute of Secrecy would have to be enforced and there'd have to be a scouring of official muggle records to effectively delete the towns from old archives in a plausible way. They'd be ideal places to set up as sanctuaries for those that are considered neutral and whose only purpose in life is to lead a fulfilling magical life without contributing to the conflict linked to the fighting that happened between the Light and Dark Wizards or conflicts with Ministry Laws."

"That sounds very ambitious," Sibilo wrote everything down.

"It is," Harry replied with a sombre nod. "Just add it to the growing list of things I'd like to do before I have to go to any magical school by age eleven. This is technically a six year plan, but much can be done if we consider most of the angles and have everything ready for appropriate signatures."

"Why tracks of land in the Little Hangleton then," Galamar said. "It's mostly dense forest out there."

"I want two things out of that place," Harry told them, folding his hand in front of him as he looked at the goblin. "I want to create a breeding program for aged post owls. It'll mainly be for less well to-do families or for people that have invested a great deal time and magic into training personal owls and want to gain a reliable replacement owl. The second thing I want to do is create a hobby winery with a 'Little Hangleton' or just plain 'Hangleton' private label for the Wizarding Community only. I intend to grow the vines in temperature controlled, magical greenhouses too since a mix of natural and magical growth may just make something new."

"You should consider getting wild snazzle vines for that then," Sibilo said as she continued to itemize her notes. "They'll add that little something to your wines and they live in symbiosis with other vine-type plants. What types of wines are you planning to make?"

"Just a standard set for now," Harry replied. "A good white and red, plus a sparkling variety, maybe an ice wine or dessert wine. It will depend on how quickly the bottling plant can be set up as well as the acquiring different types of casks, digging out the aging holds or underground barrel storage and setting up a reliable pressing system. I'll have to research how I'd like them to be processed first." He paused and then said, "Wouldn't snizzle vines be more appropriate?"

"Snizzle vines are hybrids between snazzle vines and cherry trees. They could theoretically make a mildly sweet and sour red wine all on their own, but the plants do not have a symbiotic relationship with other vines and are very temperamental. You'd have to keep the snizzle vines separate from any plants other than their parent plants of cherry trees and snazzle vines," Sibilo advised. "Snazzle vines love mixing and sharing space with other growing vine varieties. You'd get many unique blends out of them and new hybrid plants too."

Harry shrugged and said, "Something to think about then and I might need someone with a background in Herbology or Magical Horticulture for that. It'll take time to learn the process. We'd need to start growing the vines before even thinking of the bottling process. I do have a bottle making company that provides all bottles for the 'Beer 'n' Swill Company'. They're the ones that produce the bottles for the Butterbeer label. So I know the cost for bottles won't be exorbitant for anything we need." He paused and then said, "See if they make bottles compatible to muzzle fizzy pop drinks. If not find out if someone is experimenting with the muggle recipes to provide us with a comparable equivalent or if they have a magical processing plant for their labels. I sometimes hate going into the muggle community for those things because I have to leave them there due to their methods of packaging."

The goblins nodded at that. It was sound thinking and their magical community could use a new wine maker or label. They barely had good magical British made wines and this would boost interest in their magical community projects.

Sibilo continued to make notes with multiple quills as they were jotting down every possible needs or requirements for the projects to even begin getting off the ground.

"I'll look into the business side for city contracts," Galamar told them. "We need to be sure that we can sell the wine with the name Little Hangleton or just Hangleton on it. You may have to set it up to sell some version of it to the muggle town or other muggle communities too or else pay for the privilege of using the town's name."

"I'll think about it. I believe small communities would only require small amounts," Harry said. "It wouldn't take much to have a delivery service. However if I were to do that, I may have to have at least five or six muggle or even squib workers to keep up a muggle front that would include a sommelier or someone with a good nose and sense of taste. Those people are not cheap either so maybe we can find squibs for that part of the business?"

"True, true," Galamar replied. "What about the owl breeding program?"

"I want to set up a place like a protected area of forested land, a reserve if you will, made only for the successful breeding of post owls. It'll be a place that I can have access by use of a broom or other magics and it will also be a place where food will be abundant for the growing of the owlets even if we have to import rodents," Harry said. He pointed the large expanse of land surrounding the old Gaunt House. "I know that not all owls will produce magical postal birds, but in a safe, cordoned off, magical environment at least one or two of a clutch will be able to live lengthened lives as magical post owls. I'd want to allow for more cross breeding as this will create stronger hybrid magical owls." He shrugged at their incredulous looks and said, "I love owls and birds have always been an interest of mine."

The goblins looked to one another and shrugged. They had similar thoughts. Most of which boiled down to the one that nearly all humans took up strange interests and their young looking client was no different.

"Get me two or three house-elves first," Sibilo said. "We'll continue with a run through of your properties tomorrow. Get your current elves here too that way they can aide with inventory and double check the building blueprints are up-to-date for those that they know about."

"Right," Harry replied as he pulled up the black facial mask.

"How are you so successful in hiding with that muggle contraption on your face," Griphook asked.

"It's called movie magic," Harry replied and giggled at their confused expressions. "Muggles make movies quite similar to moving pictures for the books in the Wizarding World, but instead they use everything they can as props. I can see clearly through this material, but no one can see me because it's specially made that way. No magic was used in the making of it nor was magic used in the alterations to make it fit which makes this a very good, non-magical disguise for me."

"Crazy muggle stuff," Griphook commented, but then escorted his client out of the bank. "Make sure you get her the needed house-elves or she'll request more payment for her services or she could cancel her working contract with you." He warned, but somehow he knew that his cousin would never terminate her employment with the boy. It was good business, it would keep her occupied and she brought prestige to the family cave.

"Understood," Harry replied. He knew that the female goblin would never leave the work, but he could respect her wishes and get those house-elves employed and bonded to his family name.

Harry - James - Potter

Three months later, Harry was taking the maiden voyage on his first train line called the Regina Line. He'd named it after his Mum's middle name. It traveled from the outer West End of London area starting at platform three and one half. It did a semi-circuit to a few outlying villages by a southerly route.

The train functioned much like the Knight Bus in that muggles couldn't see it and it traveled at high speeds. There were ten magical stops for the line, nine at unused stations in the middle of nowhere that had been refurbished and set up with housing for the ticket vendors, magical guardians with trained crup guard dogs and muggle repelling charms. Within that train route there was one stop at a dead muggle town that he'd been able to easily purchase from the muggle government without any fuss. It was purchased with money from donated vaults that had been gifted to the Boy-Who-Lived by grateful families that have passed away without issue or anyone contesting their Wills.

The Regina Line finished at the outer East End of London at platform seventeen and a quarter. The train was supposed to pause at the East End for fifteen minutes and then run the semi-circuit back. It was to run four times during peak work hours, two times each direction and then four additional times, two in the early morning and two late in the night for those that required alternative lighting conditions to continue to live their extended lives safely.

There were plans to expand the line in order to include a magical version of the 'Orient Express', but this one would travel past the little known magical reserves for endangered magical species. Dragons were bound to be popular sites, but there were also the ones that catered to sub-divisions of equines species from Unicorns to Pegassi to Hippogriffs, etc…

Those odd numbered train platforms linked to the Regina Line had been in existence for a long, long time. They'd been slightly neglected for the more popular one of nine and three quarters for the long distance travel between Hogsmeade and London. A few others were as popular like thirteen and two thirds and fifty-two and three eighths that traveled to border towns that were dual managed by the English Ministry of Magic and the neighbouring Ministries of Magic.

Trains rarely traveled to platforms three and one half or seventeen and a quarter anymore. The responsibility of station maintenance belonged to the magical trains or magical rail lines that required them to be there. Their maintenance needed to be justified in order to perform a service to the magical community and the use of those two stations had fallen into decline over time.

Just another thing that Harry's company had taken over. His money management company had opted to have subsidiary divisions for the purpose of running the smaller individual businesses that the Boy-Who-Lived had needed in order to take care of the numerous large projects that had been brought forth from his youngish mind.

They were good projects and many people, including those with creature backgrounds that were interested in an honest day's work. Word had gotten around that his companies welcomed all species and hybrids for employment mainly for the purpose of populating and maintaining his towns, train stations and rail lines. Maintenance and guard work at the stations themselves and on the trains were just one aspect of his contributions to the larger Wizarding community.

He didn't want to see that wonderful world shrinking as it had during that second civilian war with Voldemort at the helm. Their magical society had suffered enough because of it.

There were several, very specialized, beings that he'd hired to take care of erasing the three towns he'd successfully purchased from all muggle maps and from all official muggle records. They were well skilled in falsifying records and changing town histories to make them disappear and seem as though the towns had been ravished by some plausible natural disaster. That particular choice had been easier than expected, but they couldn't all be destroyed by natural means. Thorough record erasure had been required too.

One of his mixed race construction crews were due to set up the complicated wards that he planned to surround the towns which included closing off some of the road way off ramps or 'quaint country roads' touristy side roads and putting heavy muggle repellent charms on the rest of them. This would allow those that traveled by horse or Pegasus drawn carriages to freely do so without encountering muggles or their metallic, petrol burning and disturbingly noisy vehicles.

They planned to set up 'No Trespassing' signs, tall barbed wire fences with magical protections to keep them from being cut by any means. Many faded construction signs would be strategically placed and charmed to repel all true muggles or culturally blinded squibs, magic could tell the difference between someone raised around magic or not. There would be illusion type charms and spells set up to clearly indicate in some visible fashion that some type of construction job had been left unfinished, rendering an area truly unsafe for humans.

Soon people and families would be able to move into that first town; once the buildings had been cleared of all muggle electricity outlets, all wiring, transformers and electric poles. He wanted to make sure that there'd be no electrical interference and no way for muggles to trace the towns through electric means or even by radar.

The whole process was due for completion in about six months' time for that first town which had to be up and running for a full year before they completed work in the other two towns. They were using it as a template, but also as a way to test the minimum and maximum size of a place before it turned into something like a larger city complete with poverty and rich living within the same areas. Such things were inevitable when populations increased and Diagon Alley with its limited branches leading to darker territories was no different. It would take quite some time for a town to grow beyond its initial boundaries though and the management teams were not worried about that. That was just the way life grew.

Harry had decided to hold a lottery for the naming of the first town with the prize being a free residence within district one hundred which was closest to the train station, amenities, like visible apparition points, a primary public school of mixed subjects in magic and muggle standards, plus other magical shops, inns and pubs. There were five districts in the town and all numbered in the hundreds within a set number of city blocks, but the town was still larger than Hogsmeade.

The one hundred block area could be considered centre town and the other districts were expanded outward in a circle with the two, three, four and five hundred set being separated by the cardinal points of North, East, South and West. It was going to be a place where the muggleborns and their families could hopefully find employment and satisfying lives within a mixed community of magic and muggle together.

The first business to set up in the town had been a Gringotts Banking Branch with housing included for the goblins living there and a secure underground portal connection with the Primary Bank in Diagon Alley. The connection was to ensure that daily and nightly deposits were done and sent to the proper vault accounts. The process was a test run actually. Otherwise the branch would deal with the paperwork for the town and businesses using some other method for vault deposits, probably something like magical shop transactions.

Harry, himself had purchased an apartment block in the south four hundred. It was known as building twenty-seven on the town's blueprint. It had six stories with each floor containing four apartments of mixed design. All apartments contained a minimum of two bedrooms, a kitchen, small dining room and larger living area, plus a full bath and a half bath. The half bath was connected to what could be considered the master bedroom and only contained a simple shower stall, toilette and basic vanity sink.

He used magic and a magical construction company to make all rooms seem slightly bigger so as to fool true muggles, but it contained built-in expanding charms for those that knew how to ask for the rooms to be enlarged. Rental prices would be based on the number of charms needed to maintain a specific look and size to an apartment which was set out under the individual rental contract.

He couldn't wait to move in there. He'd already hired a maintenance crew of two dwarves for the building. The job allowed them to live on site, occupying one of the first floor apartments, specifically tailored to their needs. He didn't care that in modifying the apartment for them that they basically had a four bedroom condo style with two full baths. Whatever would keep them happy and working well in order to maintain the building and its surrounding grounds was all he really cared about at this point in time.

Harry grinned as he looked out of the train windows. The whole trip was supposed to take only fifteen minutes to twenty as comparable to Knight Bus speeds or the relative speed of the Hogwarts Express that can travel a great distance in less than a day. He supposed that he could shorten the trip by missing some of the stops, but that would be a needs based decision that his company would have to do when they evaluate how often the trains are used for when and where the people are coming or going.

He walked up and down the train's cars. As he walked through the owl car he had to smile as it was currently in use by two small Scops owls with letters tied to their legs and one large barn owl carrying a fair sized package.

(…Safe journey friends…) He told them in Strigizoot (…iv…) the languages of owls. (…Let me know if anything needs to be added to this rail car…)

(…A snack bucket or something to replenish our energy…) The large barn owl hooted in tired reply. The car already had watering stations, but the snack bin was a good idea. The young human already had an idea on how it'll look and its functions, but it required a maker and a magical production patent first. (…It is very rare to see an avian speaker…)

(…I know…) Harry hooted out a laughing sound and pulled ever present treats from one of his many pockets and fed them to the owls. (…Took me completely by surprise after my third magical maturity. At least I was in school learning about owls and their breeding cycles at the time. Feel free to spread the word about these special train cars and I'll work on something to allow you to feed without having to hunt while you're delivering your post…)

(…Thank you…) The three owls said. The two Scops went to sleep after eating the treats. The large barn owl finished his snack, looked around, hopped to one of the openings in that train car and then flew out of one of the larger weather protected openings set up for those carrying larger parcels.

Harry returned to the dining car and ate his picnic lunch while his train traveled its designated circuit towards the east end of London. He knew that he have to have a smaller train line either to travel in through the regular underground on some of the abandoned lines, perhaps to get from one unused station to the other or else have a second train traveling in the opposite direction at the same time or maybe ten to fifteen minutes apart.

'There's also the possibility of acquiring more abandoned stations along a northern route,' he thought. 'That might be the better idea, that way more people will have access to the same service and then I can at least connect a second mixed town-like community to the rail lines.'

Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter

TBC...

(…i…) Cod Beck – real stream or river that crosses a rail line, but does not appear to have that many surrounding villages. So in this story Little Hangleton, rumoured to be a part of Northern Yorkshire (hp lexicon), now is near the Cod Beck River which is needed to suit this part of my story.

(…ii...) Figures based on London Transit – 81$ for a month pass, used WW Currency Converter to calculate the fee.

(…iii…) There are towns in the U.S. and Canada where if you have the money you can buy the whole of them, so I figured they must exist too in the UK. If not, well then in this story I'm saying they do.

(…iv…) Strigizoot, the spoken language of owls (Hey, if snakes have their own language, why not owls?) and Striparole is the name of a person that can speak Strigizoot – made up name from 'Strigiformes' the superorder biological classification for Owls in general and something related to the word 'Hoot' based on the sound that owls make. This is my idea. It originates from my twisted mind and head, as of Sept. 05, 2014.