Draco(Harry) spun wildly around in the sooty flames of the flue network but managed to land on his feet as he emerged from a great marble fireplace in a large hall. Harry stood up and flinched as two women appeared out of nowhere with brushes and began removing all the ash residue from his clothes and hair. Harry forced himself to stand still for a minute for this to be done. Only when the two women began to withdraw did he walk forward. Luckily, an older woman approached and began talking without Harry having to say a thing. "Young Master Draco, it's a pleasure to see you again sir. Your father will be with you shortly, if you would like to wait." She said indicting a plush lounge outside a large set of oak doors ornately carved with the image of a beast with the head of a lion and the tail of a great snake. The same symbol was inlaid into the table in front of Harry. Harry had barely sat down when a young man hurried over to him with a mug and a plate of sweets. These were duly placed in front of Draco(Harry). Harry picked up the mug and took a sip. It was hot chocolate with about ten sugars added. It was unbearably sweet. Was Draco in the habit of having this much sugar all the time, Harry wondered. Harry did take the opportunity to take another hit of the polyjuice potion. The potion and sweet chocolate almost cancelled each other out in taste but Harry's mouth felt like a doormat. Luckily Harry didn't have to worry about drinking more, as the doors swung back and Lucius' voice called out. "Draco in here!"
//Now for the acid test// Harry thought to himself and taking a deep breath walked into Lucius Malfoy's office. Lucius sat behind a large antique desk in the lavish office. Everything in the room seemed to be designed to intimidate the visitor. It was certainly working on Harry. Harry walked slowly up to the desk and waited for Lucius to look up from his work. It was some time before Lucius finished and looked up at the boy in front of him.
"Draco, I hear you gave my man Perkins a grilling at the station. What was that about?" Lucius said eyeing Draco(Harry) with a very searching look. Had Harry given himself away with the man at the railway station after all? He had no choice but to bluff it out and Dobby had given him an excuse to try if anyone noticed anything strange about Draco but Harry didn't have much confidence in it at all. But the time had come to try it.
"I was bored, father" Draco(Harry) replied with a slight shrug.
Lucius laughed, "Excellent, nothing like playing the game with a subordinate. Keep them on their toes. I hope we have the opportunities to play the game together a few times before you have to go back. It's the one thing I miss about not having you underfoot. But to business. You received my message about…" Lucius tone had become more dire and he looked at the doors before continuing, "about the summons for you to attend the meeting tomorrow. The Lord asked specifically for you to be brought before him. Are you ready?"
"I am not sure, father" Draco(Harry) replied, "you haven't told me what it is about!"
"We shall see Draco, we shall see!" Lucius replied with an unpleasant glint in his eyes. "Draco, the Dark Lord does not tolerate weaknesses of any sort in his followers. I hope for your sake, you have not given in to any unfortunate habits. I won't be able to help you if you have."
Harry had a good idea of what Lucius was driving at. "No, father." Lucius looked at Draco(Harry) with a searching stare that worried Harry. Would he notice something wrong with the boy standing before him. It wasn't long before Lucius shrugged. "Now go amuse yourself for an hour while I finish some work, then we shall go back to the Manor together." Lucius said now dismissively as he turned back to the papers on his desk.
//Well that was a warm welcome home// Harry thought to himself sarcastically.
"And Draco, you still haven't read that overview of the corporation's businesses written by my predecessor. It would not hurt for you to show some interest, especially if you have plans to follow me as the Chief Executive Officer." Lucius continued, "I know your objection but it is an excellent overview even if it was written by a Potter.
Harry almost blurted out his surprise. A Potter, Lucius' predecessor! Harry forced himself to appear calm even as his heart rate jumped higher. "If you insist father." Draco(Harry) said in a reluctant drawl.
"I do Draco" Lucius said pointedly, "My secretary has it. Now leave me."
Harry retreated from Lucius' office. He should have been glad that his first meeting with Lucius had gone so well but he was distracted by the revelation of a Potter having been Lucius' predecessor. Harry hurried over to the secretary.
"My father said you had the Business Overview he wants me to read" Draco(Harry) told the secretary. Harry was getting good at acting disinterested. Meanwhile his heart rate soared and his palms sweated.
"Yes Master Draco, it's here" she said handing Draco a large book bound in a thick leather cover with the same emblem on its cover as was carved on Lucius' office doors. "You can use the conference room if you want some quiet, sir."
Harry was soon seated alone at the long conference table with the large ornate book in front of him. His hands trembled as he opened the cover. There was the title page and it read: The Chimeria Corporation. An overview. By James Potter, Chief Executive Officer.
On the next page were some tables listing version dates and in the middle of the page was a small note, which simply said "For Harry". Harry felt the page with his fingertips over that comment for a long time. His father had written this summary for him. But why?
Harry forced back the tears beginning in his eyes and reluctantly turned to the first page.
The more he read, the more fascinated he became. The corporation had interests in everything in the wizarding world from Gringotts bank to Bertie Bott's Every Favoured Beans and a large number of muggle businesses too. Harry was lost in the detail of the complex business structures outlined in the book. He would need time to understand how they all fitted together but one thing was obvious, James Potter, Harry's father, had been the architect of the corporation's many interlinked businesses.
Then Harry came across the table of shareholders. It listed the magical familles who where the major shareholders in the Chimeria Corporation. There were many names he recognised. Potters, Malfoys, Longbottoms, Goyles, Diggerys, Crabbes and Harry recognised many other names, names from the reports Dumbledore had showed him, reports from 15 years ago, names of those murdered during Voldemort's rise to power before he fell and the names of the death eaters killed in those attacks. In the table each of these names had been crossed out, their family lines ended and with it their shareholding in the corporation. For the shares were passed through each family in perpetuity becoming null and void on the death of the last heir of each family. And with the end of each family the shares held by the other families increased in the percentage of ownership of the corporation. Harry realised he himself being the last Potter heir owned about 25 percent of the entire corporation. He was rich. Most people would have been overjoyed to have discovered that but Harry also realised one other thing that chilled him to the core. This chart linked nearly all the seemingly random attacks of Voldemort's rise to power 15 years ago and several new names had been crossed from the Chart. Harry knew these to be the attacks of recent months. What Harry had before him was the single most important piece of information the army of light could have. With it he could predict who would be attacked in the future.
"I'm impressed Draco!" Lucius' voice jarred Harry out of his thoughts, "I expected you to have given up by now. Come, its time we go. Dinner awaits"
Harry knew he had to do something. He asked "Father, may I take this home so I can continue to study it?"
"If you wish." Lucius said with an intrigued look on his face. He yelled at a young man passing the door outside. "Smithers, come get this book for my son, then get his trunk and follow us to the manor." And without further word Lucius strode from the room. The young man hurried in and grabbed the book from Draco(Harry) while bowing to him. He waited while Draco(Harry) walked out the door before following and grabbing Draco(Harry)'s trunk from where it had been placed nearby. Lucius reached the middle of the Hall just in front of the great marble fireplace and turned. "I'll see you at the manor Draco." And he disparated in front of Draco(Harry) and was gone. Harry had a problem, he didn't know the exact thing to say to the fire to get him to the manor. In desperation he said to the young Mr Smithers "Your go first."
Mr Smithers looked very surprised but Draco(Harry) covered well with. "You don't think I want you crashing into me at the manor do you?"
"No sir, of coarse not Sir!" Mr Smithers replied seemingly satisfied with the story. He grabbed some flue power from the mantle of the fire and with the trunk in one hand and the heavy book in the other, he threw the powder in the flames stated clearly enough for an attentive Harry to hear "Malfoy Manor House". Draco(Harry) now had the information he required and soon followed.