[Hogwarts, Scotland.]
Nate had just taken his end-of-year exams. He had scored well in Charms, Herbology, Potions, DADA, History Of Magic and Astronomy getting above Exceeds expectations in all of them.
After his last talk with Dumbledore, the old man had kept a respectable distance from him. Nate wanted the man to maintain it forever but Lord Voldemort's second rise to power would inevitably make Nate a part of his plans.
' Not that I have any objections, I hate the pureblood block. One of them has tried to kill Grandpa.' Lucius Malfoy held a lot of influence thanks to the Black line's end. Draco Malfoy was the one set up to inherit the Black fortune. Since Sirius Black was not dead, the fortune was not inherited by the boy yet.
Sirius Black was another dilemma Nate suffered from. He had made subtle inquiries about the man from Babbling and what he had been told made Nate's stomach turn.
' He is hated by most people who think he betrayed the Potters.'
Nate couldn't help the man due to his lack of influence of power and positioning in the ministry and developing influence for a man that won't even be functional for a long time was useless. The Greys at one point in time were heavily involved as the Neutral block in the wizengamot but they never held any active positions in the ministry itself.
Nate's family's political leanings had always been traditional, they finally changed when his grandfather took charge after the sudden and unfortunate of his father.
Nate's family was still aristocratic and was only thriving due to old money that had been inherited but his family now was moving away from the dependency on the stored funds to self-sufficiency thanks to his father's magical prowess in charms and his mother's prowess in transfiguration. Nate's Grandmother was the one who dealt with finances with some help from Alexander Grey. His grandfather was a prodigy of the likes of Minerva McGonagall.
They had a total of seven shops selling gift items around southern Europe. The newer Greys never expanded towards the centre of the continent thanks to the nobility in Germany and Austria not being fond of them after the war against Grindelwald. The countries that they operate in were Spain, Britain, Portugal, and France.
His family's political influence suffered because the traditional yet moderate neutral block hates them. The leader of the said block was friends with Nate's father despite the risk of angering his faction.
Nate had pointed out that he must befriend Daphne Greengrass, she would be a good friend if her father was any indication and could also act as his eyes in the house of snakes.
The progressive faction was splintered after the sentencing of the Lestranges, Augusta Longbottom and Amelia Bones along with a few others had split away from Albus Dumbledore's block of which William Grey was a part. Though William was still on good terms with the two women.
Only the pureblood faction indeed remained united, yet they had also suffered a lot of damage in the aftermath of the war.
The Ministry seats were also pretty messed up for the same reason. Fudge should have never been a minister, but he would pacify the larger united traditional faction without leading to the reunification of the two progressive factions due to outrage on the position's appointment.
In reality, the Magic Of Minister was selected by the wizengamot, instead of being elected by the population as lawfully dictated.
' Not that I care, Ildathach will take care of it for me.' Nate never planned on solving problems for Britain. He could simply toss all this on Miach's spiritual head to handle while Nate enjoyed an eternity of fun in the shabby tower that Miach would construct which Nate would enchant and design for himself.
Nate had no way of helping Sirius realistically without involving Dumbledore, who in turn without proof would not be able to contest the man's innocence. The problem lies in the fact that Peter Pettigrew was bloody important to Voldemort's second rise to power.
The reason to allow for the wizard's resurrection at all was simple, Nate had read about Prophecies in his free time, from the ravings of the very few experts in Divination. He had gotten a few but very important insights into their workings.
Prophecies did not represent a certain future, they represented a series of events that were inevitable if even one of the events was fulfilled. These events were inevitable once the thing had been set in motion.
Harry Potter, the moment he was born was set to face Lord Voldemort but only one of them would survive the confrontation.
The only events Nate could influence would be the release of the basilisk and how the events played out in the fourth year, Touching Pettigrew was impossible before the Dark Lord's resurrection. The man was too important a piece in this game.
' The needs of the many outweigh the want of the few, huh.' Nate knew that if he had cared about Sirius Black enough, he would have broken the man out of Azkaban anyway, but Nate was a hypocrite and couldn't allow the man his justice.
' He will be thankful if I succeed anyway.' Nate consoled his conscience.
Tonight he would be providing the centaurs their illegal portkeys and the pack would move out of the forbidden forest.
' I will have to track down the Unicorn herd and move them to Ildathach along with the Dragon, Hagrid will get.'
His thoughts were interrupted by a certain redhead dormmate, "Oi! Grey, do you reckon the idea has any merit?" the boy questioned.
"What idea?"
"We plan to develop and sell pranks through owl-order."
' An opportunity to gain money for buying things and not having to answer to answer to grandfather.'
"It is a great idea. Willing to let me join?" Nate spoke.
George looked at him warily, "I didn't know, you liked pranking people."
"I don't but I can develop things that people would buy. Expand your available inventory. You will manage the whole business and development of your products. I will supply my own products and receive payment for each product, discussed individually of course."
George nodded showing his understanding before walking away and grabbing Fred who had been talking to Angelina Johnson, a member of the school quidditch team.
George then whispered into Fred's ear. Fred who had been standing casually straightened suddenly.
' It is amazing how different, yet so similar they are to one another.' Nate was genuinely awed by how well the twins synced with each other.
Fred came in and said, "Hello, Nate. My less handsome brother tells me you have a deal for us."
' So he is the mind of the brothers? Or the finance manager?'
"Well yes, I would like you two to be the ones managing the business side of my developments, the owl order service is easy to manage. I will just be responsible for manufacturing."
Fred nodded slowly, "We will only work in percentages. The profits of the products can be divided depending on the product itself. And the ownership of the product itself?"
"You own the patents under your names, while I know the process itself. Stops us from double-crossing each other." Nate suggested. It was a grey area since he couldn't sell the items anywhere else but they won't be able to
"Fine, but you will have to invest in us when we start opening shops. We plan to start a competing business against Zonko's" Fred said with a shark-like smile.
' Damn, what have I got myself into?' Nate suppressed the sudden chill that he felt, and he realized that the two boys were far more intelligent than he had given them credit for.