Chapter 8: New Inventions and Proposal
Sorry, this chapter is really late. I've been trying to relax from school; it's my Spring break, and I wanted to make the most of it.
At long last, the weekend was here, and the students in their third years and up who received written permission to head into the city were out enjoying themselves. Entering a big mall, the gang decided to split up and go into the different shops. Wandering through the mall by himself, Harry stumbled upon a shop that he found to be curious. Benjamin's Archaic Shop. Whatever it was. . . the place looked promising, and it might prove beneficial to him.
Upon entering the place, he could see shelves full of artifacts and several books. If he had to base a guess, then there was a possibility that the place might sell things that are normally frowned upon in some areas of the world. From what he could tell, it would seem that the wizards and witches of magical Britain would heavily frown upon the items. Just when he was going to head into a section, a man who appeared to be in his mid-seventies emerged from his office with a severe look.
"What do you want, child?" The man looked agitated about having a customer enter his shop. Though, given how the place looked creepy and felt cold, it was highly likely the man meant business.
"I'm looking for anything that might be useful in your decrypted shop," Harry returned with a glare. "Do you have anything scrolls or books that would be considered powerful or otherwise worth looking at?"
"Your British," the man narrowed his eyes at Harry. "Why don't you try the shops over there?"
"Do I look like I am interested in that garbage those weak-willed cunts allow? They believe they always know what is best but are too weak-minded to understand that magic is more than just light and dark and should be studied in all forms." He looked the man dead in the eyes. "So, I will ask you again. Do you have anything that is worth looking at, or should I take my business elsewhere?"
The man looked momentarily surprised by what the boy had said, as he apparently had some balls to speak like that to him. He might be young, no older than 11 or 12, but he certainly had a pair and didn't give a shit about what others from his home country thought. It's been a while since someone with a spine from that laughing stock of a country had graced his establishment with their presence. Thinking for a few minutes, he directed the boy to follow him into the back, where he housed his good stuff.
"If you are determined to grow more powerful, then I suggest looking through those scrolls," pointing to the section. "Be warned now that some of them are rare and were not easy to come by. When you've grabbed what you wanted, come to the register," turning around to leave the boy to it.
Harry walked over to the area and pulled out a handful of schools, and read them one by one to see which ones might have something of interest. After two hours of looking, he returned to the register with the items he wanted; scrolls and some books. Having spent countless hours looking through the Slytherin grimoire and anything he could find relating to magical orbs or something similar, he knew exactly what he needed.
Eying the items in front of him carefully, the old man looked at Harry before telling him the total price. "An interesting selection you have here. I do not know who you are, but you got an eye and a lot of courage to be wanting these particular scrolls and books. 31,755 Dragots."
Raising an eye at the steep price. Though, in all fairness, he felt he shouldn't be surprised as the things he picked out were rare and important. Then taking out his wallet, he took out the necessary amount and placed it on the counter before him. In return, the man put the purchased items into some bags and handed them to his customer. He then watched as the boy left.
Deciding to make another stop, Harry went to a shop that sold magical shampoo for his unruly hair. He did not know if this was a Potter family trait or something, but his hair refused to stay down, no matter how many times he would brush it or use his metamorphmagus abilities. The only thing he did know was that it would only stay down if he used some special shampoo. He would need to send a letter to his grandfather and ask if this was genetic for all Potter males or did something happen? Either way, it was nice to be allowed some time away from his schoolwork for a while. All of his homework had already been completed, so that meant he could have the weekend off to do what he liked.
The young eleven-year-old walked through the shop to the men's section, but to his surprise, he saw that Sophie was also present in the shop. "Hey, Sophie," she turned her head away from a shelf to look at her friend with a look of surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the very same question," she approached him with a raised eyebrow. "Why would you come here? This doesn't look like somewhere you would shop at."
"Touche," agreeing with her. "However, I have to keep my hair down somehow. No matter how hard I try, this thing refuses to settle or remain under control." Pointing to his unruly jet-black hair and eliciting a short laugh from her, as she knew he often struggled to keep his hair tamed. "What about you? From what I've seen, you're more like a tomboy than anything else?"
"I like to browse through stuff like this occasionally. Besides, I am still a girl, you know," holding her nose high into the air. "Plus, my mom's birthday is next week, and I'm trying to find something she might like."
"Need some help?" He offered. Having spent enough time around her, Natalie, and Jade, not to mention Lauren, Susan, and Amelia, he had an idea of what females were into. "We can get what we need from here and meet the others by the food court for lunch."
They spent roughly an hour looking through the shelves filled with shampoo bottles, body washes, perfumes, and candles. Eventually, they found what they were looking for, left with their items, and headed to the food court to meet their friends. Coming up the stairs, they saw the others already in different lines and went to join them.
Andrew saw Harry coming up behind him and Natalie. A smirk appeared on his face when he looked at some of the bags Harry was carrying. "Seems like you had fun. Got anything good?"
"A couple of things, yeah," said Harry. He then added, "we might be able to start our projects sooner than later. If all goes as planned, our designs should be ready within a couple of weeks or at least a month. However, you choose to spin it. We'll be ready."
"You really believe our projects will become a hit? How can you be sure they will sell?" Asked Natalie.
"Because it is time for the wizarding world to stop being so stagnant with its entertainment, and I bet you a week's worth of desserts that once everyone sees what we're creating, they will sell like hotcakes," Harry replied in a positive voice. "All we have to do is draw up the plans, create them, and have them patented before we begin selling them." Ordering their food, they found an open table with the others and began discussing their future plans.
". . .we have the materials we need and the name for our future company. However, there are several things we need to address first," Jade commented as she stopped to eat some of her mashed potatoes. "To start, what kind of products will we sell? Who's going to run the company while we're in school? And will our parents/guardians agree?"
Jeremy responded, "if the adults agree, then the way wizards and witches communicate with each other can be taken into a new generation. We can even improve how people listen to different song albums based on a person's desire. But more than that, we can create and later sell something for those who like to be up in the air."
"And we each get a sixth of the earnings," said Harry after eating some of his sandwich. "This way, no one feels cheated or can say they didn't receive their shares."
"Best of all," a smirk grazed his lips. "If they become a hit, we can set up different branches worldwide and sell to the populace after covering the different areas here in MACUSA. How much do you think the people will pay to get their hands on our products once they're massed produced?"
Andrew smiled, "this will leave the people at a loss for words once they see what we have created. When do we start?"
"Tomorrow." Then deciding to change the topic of conversation. "We still have a couple hours left. Where do you guys want to go?"
Jade was the first to speak. "I need to get some more parchments and "Sweets shop it is then," Natalie chimed. "For some reason, I have a craving for sour candy. Though I wouldn't mind some jelly beans or those Mini Chewy SweeTART. They might be small in size, but they're big on taste."
Finishing their lunch, they headed to the candy store to restock on their candy supplies. While he didn't always eat candy, he did indulge himself every now and then, as it helped give him a little extra energy. As he filled his bag with Assorted Sours and Sour Apple bites, he got the feeling that someone was following him. Someone who shouldn't be here. Both his magical senses and avian senses told him to be careful. One of the abilities he discovered a Tsunamibird had was that in addition to having really good eyesight, they had heightened senses and could sense things from a great distance. Whoever this person is? They were under a powerful disillusionment charm and put a serious silencing charm on their feet. However, they failed to erase their magical signature. They probably didn't think someone so young would be able to sense their presence.
He didn't know who this person was, but answers were needed as there was no telling if they had any friends nearby. Heading to the register, he passed a knowing look to Andrew, telling him to inform the others and to play along. Harry gave the required amount and walked out of the shop with Jade, and the two began talking in Cantonese.
"What's going on?" Asked Jade.
"There's someone under a disillusionment charm that's been following me," he explained, much to her surprise. "They don't seem bad or evil, but whoever they are? They've done a good job of ensuring no one could see or hear them."
A tiny grin formed on her lips as an idea popped into her head. "Follow along," she whispered. "You know I heard that the No-Majs have Clubs for teenagers and adults. Perhaps it's time for the wizarding world to get some."
"What an idea," sounding impressed, catching onto what she was doing. "Merlin knows it could be an ideal spot for those who'd want to relieve their tensions. They could even grab some food, dance on the dance floor, and even sing some songs. What do you think they'd prefer? Muggle? Magical? Or both?"
"I'm not biased toward either, really," she admitted as they continued walking. "So, long as I like them, then I don't entirely care where they originate from."
The disillusioned person following them was keeping a fair distance. He and a few others had arrived the day before to locate the Potter boy after finding no trace of him anywhere in Britain. Their employer had paid them a decent amount of money to find and report their findings. At first, it seemed unnecessary to hire people from their firm to just locate a child, but after learning who the individual was, they readily agreed. It was surprising to see that the child they were sent to locate was wearing the uniform of Merlin's Magical Academy. Because, like so many others, he believed the boy would be attending Hogwarts, not somewhere abroad. Another thing he found intriguing was that he was apparently good friends with the Representative of magical California's children. In addition, there was the topic of what their current projects were that got him curious. Just what were they planning? What products?
Maybe if he and the others found out, they could ask for a bonus. Taking his badge, he contacted the others and told them to rendezvous at his position. When the other three arrived, he shared with them what he had learned so far and potentially profitable idea if they followed them to learn more. The others agreed and kept a good distance away from Potter and Zhang while simultaneously observing them.
Harry and Jade left the mall with the others an hour and a half later. Still sensing they were being followed, Harry gave the signal and directed them into a dark alley, where he cast the disillusionment charms on them. Not too later, the people following them entered the alley to see the kids were gone. "Where did they go?" One of them asked as their disillusionment charms melted off. "I saw them go this way. I'm sure of it!"
"Calm down, Jonas," a person to his right walked to stand beside him. "Don't forget why we are here. And remember, they're just kids."
"Marcus is right." This time a female approached. "Our employer wanted us to locate the child and report our findings," she said, calming down her colleague.
Jade erected some anti-apparition and portkey wards from where she was to keep everyone from leaving the area. Meanwhile, Harry conjured a deep black fog as Andrew cast a wide area confundus charm. Sophie, Jeremy, and Natalie then disarmed and stunned the four unknown individuals.
"That was easier than expected," commented Jeremy, kneeling down to collect the wands of the fallen people. "Who do you think these guys are?" He asked while waving his wand over them to see if they had any other wands, emergency portkeys, etc, on their persons.
"Given their accents, I say they're British," Natalie took away their badges and handed them to Harry. "Do these mean anything to you?"
Receiving the badges, he carefully looked over them, seeing they all had the same design. They weren't Aurors from the British Ministry, that was certain. These badges showed they were from a private firm. "Far as I can tell, they're not from the British Ministry. No, these guys belong to a firm called the Magical Investigative Association. Unlike the Major Investigation Department, which answers to the President of MACUSA, these guys answer to whoever hires them.
"This is interesting and all. But why would they be after you?" Andrew cut in.
Harry glared at the Investigators. "I think my absence from magical Britain got the attention of a few people. One, in particular, is probably still fuming over the fact that I did not show up like he thought I would," he replied.
"Dumbledore," Andrew hissed. "That crazy old man must really be desperate if he's willing to hire some Private Investigators to locate an eleven-year-old."
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small bronze badge his grandfather had given him before he started school and told him to use it only in case of emergencies. This will definitely qualify. Channeling some of his magic, he spoke into the badge. "They'll be here shortly," he said, putting the badge back in his pocket.
"Who did you—" Jade was cut off when the wards she erected fell apart, and two people appeared behind them.
"Grandfather, Uncle," Harry greeted them. "We have a problem," using his wand to point at the stunned Investigators and handed the badges over to them, as Jeremy gave them the wands he confiscated.
Charlus looked seconds away from taking his own wand out and cursing these fools into the next century after looking at the badges. Arcturus did not look that far behind as he kicked one in the face breaking his nose. "You were right to contact me when you did," Lord Potter said. "All right, this is what is going to happen, no arguments. You all will return to school! No more sightseeing! Arcturus and I will take care of these clowns."
"We'll probably find out who sent them," Arcturus added, cracking his knuckles.
"Lord Black," Natalie hesitantly spoke as a cold shiver ran down her spine when the man's cold silver eyes narrowed at her. "We think Dumbledore is the one who sent them." Immediately went pale when his eyes were set ablaze at the mention of his name.
Arcturus then looked at Charlus and gave him a knowing nod, which was returned. "You all did well. Leave this to us now," his voice indicated they were dismissed.
Just when Natalie, Andrew, and Sophie turned to leave, Harry stopped them. "Hold on, guys," they looked back at him. "There could be more here, so let's make this easy."
He immediately transformed into his animagus form. Sophie's eyes then went wide. "I see what's on your mind," realizing what he intended to do. She turned to the others, "he wants to water-travel us back to school. It's similar to how phoenixes use fire and thunderbirds use lightning to quickly travel to distant areas."
"Wait, can you actually do that?" Jeremy asked. Harry gave him a nod. "Then let's move. Everyone grab a tail feather."
Without hesitating, they all grabbed one of Harry's tail feathers, and he ascended into the air before vanishing in a large sprout of water.
"He's getting better at traveling," Charlus commented though Arcturus quickly dismissed his words.
"Let's interrogate these buffoons back at my house. But first. . ." He pulled out some magical suppression cuffs and gave two to Charlus. "I don't want them running off," slapping the cuffs on two of them, he then conjured four burlap sacks with silencing charms over their heads.
Charlus grabbed two while his friend got a hold of the others, and they apparated to Black Manor in Britain. Heading inside, Lord Black summoned two house elves and requested some vials of veritaserum while he and Charlus took them to the dungeon. The two threw them inside, and Arcturus manipulated the chains so they would bind the prisoners to the floor. A minute later, one of the house elves returned with three bottles of veritaserum, then gave them to their master.
"Time to get answers," Arcturus waved his wand reviving the stunned individuals. The four looked fearful when they saw where they were, and one of them looked moments away from yellowing his pants when he saw Lords Potter and Black standing only a few inches away. "Do not even think about escaping. No one on the outside knows you four are even here, and if any of you somehow managed to get free of your cuffs, then the wards around my manor will make you experience my ire. Let me demonstrate," snapping his fingers.
The four screamed in pain as the wards around the dungeon activated, and they felt like their bones were being shredded and their limbs being torn apart. After what felt like hours which was actually four minutes, Arcturus willed the wards to stop allowing the individual to fall on the floor in pain and panting. "Now that you fools are aware of your predicament, it's time for answers. Why were you idiots tailing my nephew and his friends?"
"We were only doing the job we were paid for," the man with the broken nose said.
"Who hired you?" Charlus asked.
"This is just a job," one of them said, though he quickly regretted it when the wards activated, and he fell onto the floor screaming in pain. "Y-You ca-can't. . .do. . .th-this. We ha-have. . .rights." He screamed again when Charlus hit his arm with a bone-exploding curse.
"You lost those damned rights when you intended to harm my grandson," Charlus' brown eyes narrowed at the man.
"We never intended to harm him or his friends," the woman cried. "All we were going to do was follow, listen, and report to our employer and see if we can get a bonus. We swear."
"And who hired you?" He had a feeling it was Dumbledore, from what Ms. Dawson said, but he wanted to be sure. When none of them said anything, he took a step forward. "If neither of you says anything, I will rip the information from your minds and risk permanently damaging them beyond repair. Legilimency can be very painful, and no one will think to look for your bodies in the Acromantula colony in the Forbidden Forest. I hear Acromantulas love to eat meat." They all went extremely pale.
"Wait, wait!" The one on the left cried, bringing the two Lord's attention to him. "We can't say. The contract we all signed was specific. We keep the name of our employer confidential, locate, observe, and report our findings about the Potter boy. That's all."
Charlus and Arcturus looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes and nodded their heads. "For your sakes. . .you better not be lying." Before the man could say anything, Charlus used legilimency to enter his mind to see if he was actually being truthful. Arcturus did the same with the other. Pulling out, they looked into the others after finding nothing at first.
Spending the next twenty minutes looking through their minds, the two eventually pulled out and stunned them again before putting them under the ear-buzzing charms. "What they say is the truth. Their contract forbids them from giving up their client's name. Though we now know that they are not alone and have the names and locations of others. France, Brazil, and Poland," remarked Arcturus. "While there is no doubt in my mind that Dumbledore is the one who hired them. There is also the fact that they cannot be arrested just for doing their job. However, I think I still know of a way to keep what they saw quiet and how to deal with the others." A smirk appeared on his face.
Charlus mirrored Arcturus's smirk with his own as he knew what his friend was thinking. "Time to get to work," raising his wand at one of the frightened individuals.
(0^0)
For over a month, the Ouroboros Squad had been working hard on their collective projects and completing their school work. In addition to academic work, they had spent a great deal of time working in their respective rooms and in the research labs developing and testing their inventions. At the minute, they were in one of the testing areas of the Research Building, putting the finishing touches on their current invention. Two handheld glowing cubic boxes with some runes carved into their designs, their corners and edges surfaces were bronze and had a lot more details. The cubes were glowing blue-green and emitting soft melodious music.
Andrew, Harry, Natalie, and Jeremy were standing back while Sophie and Jade were doing the enchantments. The four were evaluating the magic coming off of the cubes and making notes. It didn't take long, but the cubes started to glow white, showing that the process was nearing completion. The white light faded away when Jade and Sophie finished chanting.
"Well, here goes everything," Harry approached the two cubes with his wand in his hand and, with a wave, levitated them into the air. He then took out two blue crystals, tossed one to Jeremy, and levitated one of the cubes to him. "The moment of truth is finally here. Time for phase 2."
Taking that as his cue, Andrew stood next to Jeremy and erected some wards blocking the others from seeing and hearing them.
Harry tapped some of the runes, and a second later, the soft melodious music coming from the cube grew. Suddenly the cube started to float and spin in the air as the bronze corners twisted and separated. He then placed the crystal inside the box, and the corners drew back and started changing the cube's form. The inner light shined as the box took on the shape of a polyhedral. The crystal inside then projected a life-sized image of Jeremy.
"Hey, Jeremy. Can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear," Jeremy responded and added. "Can you hear me?"
"Perfectly," Harry's lips formed a proud smile. "Hallelujah! It works!"
"Finally," Natalie exclaimed. "It may have taken longer than we thought, but we finally managed to create another way to communicate with others. This makes our sixth invention."
Jade removed the wards around her brother and friend as the life-sized projections vanished, the crystals left their containments, and the objects returned to their original cubic shapes. "The Prometheus box is a success. Now it's time for phase 3."
"That is a rather interesting invention the six of you have created," a voice from behind caused everyone except for Harry to immediately turn around to see the Headmistress standing near the door with her arms folded and a smile on her face.
"Good evening, Professor Stone," whirling around and giving her a respectful bow. The others followed suit. He walked toward her with the glowing box in his right hand. "This is one of the projects we've been working on," handing the object to her so she can evaluate it for herself.
Mariah carefully examined the unique design in her hand, as it was nothing she had ever seen before. "What did you all call this? The Prometheus box?" They all nodded in confirmation. "What exactly does this thing do?"
"It is basically another form of communication. This and another invention of ours will help improve communication with those in different locations," Jeremy explained. "In the wizarding world, people often use the Floo network, owls to send letters, or the protean charm to convey messages. However, they each have flaws, like being intercepted by unknown parties, cut off while you are in the middle of a conversation with someone, or used by someone else to get information. We even added a security precaution so that the boxes will only work when synchronized with their owner's magical signature. Therefore, they will be the only ones who can use them."
"And they parent-controlled?" Mariah handed the box back to Harry.
"Of course," Sophie said. "The parent or guardian shut the device down whenever they choose."
Natalie quickly added, "we would like your permission to give a demonstration of what we've been working on to our guardians."
She curled her lips while thinking about the request to have their guardians present so they could demonstrate what they'd been working on. Admittedly the Prometheus box could be very useful, and she silently wondered what else that had created. Thinking for a few minutes, she finally answered, "all right. Your six can demonstrate your inventions, but," she held up a hand to stop them from cheering. "I will have to bring some people from the Headquarters of MACUSA to get this patented. When will you like to have the demonstrations?"
"Next Friday at six-thirty in the evening," Andrew suggested. The other exchanged a couple of glances and then agreed.
"Very well then," Mariah nodded her head. She turned the other way, but before she started to walk gave a final few words. "Dinner is going to start in less than ten minutes."
Just as she left, their stomachs growled. "The woman makes a point. Let's put our stuff away and grab some dinner," Jeremy rubbed his growling stomach.
Harry laughed, throwing an arm around his friend's shoulders. "Come on, egghead. Hopefully, the line won't be long when we get down there."
And soon, they grabbed their bags which held their inventions and went to drop them off in their rooms. All the while chatting about the name they intended to call their company.
Sophie was the first to speak, claiming she had an idea. Everyone's eyes widened at her suggestion, and had to admit it had merits.
(0^0)
Next Friday at around six-fifteen, Charlus apparated to the entrance of the Academy with Sirius appearing behind him, holding Lauren's hand. Arcturus wanted to come but had to attend to some business in Britain and thus sent Sirius to go in his place. When he found out about the Private Investigators tailing his godson, Sirius was all kinds of angry and moments away from flooing into the Headmaster's office, ready to tear Dumbledore apart. The only problem was that they couldn't prove he did it without revealing what happened to the Investigators. However, that didn't mean they would sit idly by and do nothing. His grandfather and great-uncle obliviated and altered the memories of the Investigators, so they believe that Harry was attending Koldovstoretz in magical Russia. When they reported to the old goat fucker he wasted no time writing a letter to the Headmaster and requesting a meeting. Evidently, in his haste, Dumbledore had forgotten that he was not very popular in magical Russia.
The people did not forget about the atrocities committed by Grindelwald and his forces. Russians did not forgive easily and have a long memory, especially of how many of their own perished during the Great War. Headmaster Ieronim only agreed to the man's request out of professional courtesy from one Headmaster to another. The day Albus showed up, he immediately asked if he could speak with Harry Potter, but Ieronim looked at him as if he had grown a second head. He explained that the boy was not a student of Koldovstoretz and even showed him the book of admittance for the students who were supposed to arrive for their first year. Much to Albus's frustration, he could not find the boy's name anywhere in the book and left to return to Britain, where he spoke with the Investigators. The information they gave him was wrong, and when he demanded to know where they looked, the seven said they couldn't remember. This resulted in an angry Albus, who flooed back to his office and let out a primal scream as he failed to locate the boy and lost a decent amount of money.
That was a good laugh when Phineas told them. After the security guards validated their identities and checked Charlus and Sirius's wands, the three were allowed to enter. Lauren tugged against her father's sleeve, "daddy, where are we going?"
"The Research Lab," Sirius grinned. "Apparently, Harry and his friends have created some new items and would like us and a couple others to see.
"Any idea what they've created?"
Sirius shook his head. "Only that they would be a surprise." He then passed a look at Charlus, "all right, old man. Where is this place?"
Charlus sent his nephew a mock glare before showing him and Lauren where they were going. While walking, he subtly took his wand out and hit Sirius with a stinging hex. The young Black male cringed when the spell connected to his left cheek. "I kind of asked for that," rubbing his sore cheek with his free hand.
Charlus gave him a look that said, yes, you did. Lauren giggled in amusement.
They approached the building where they found Professor Stone, the Huangs, Dawsons, Mrs. Walker, and the children. Lauren let go of Sirius's hand and ran toward Harry. He caught her in his arms and hugged her back. "Good to see you, Ren. But what are you doing here? I thought you would be in Britain?"
She gave a pouty expression that he was very familiar with, "daddy said I could come this time. Also, I wanted to see my big brother." Harry affectionately rubbed her head.
"I missed you too, little one. I'll definitely make more of an effort to write to you." He looked up to see that Sirius and his grandfather were approaching.
"Hey, pup. How's my favorite godson doing?" Sirius opened his arms.
"Only godson," Harry wrapped his arms around Sirius, and the two hugged. "And I still managed to become an animagi before you," he teased.
Sirius placed a hand over his heart and pretended to look hurt, "rub it in. Why don't ya? I'm never going to live down how you achieved an animagus form before I did." A large smile tugged at his lips. "I still say it's unfair, seeing as I couldn't become an animagus until my fifth year, yet you got yours during your first."
"Don't worry, Sirius," Harry patted him on the back. "You're not that old to learn some new tricks."
Scoffing at what he just heard, "blasphemy! How dare you, of all people, call me old. I will have you know that I, Sirius Orion Black III, a handsome man despite being in his early thirties."
"Did your horrible banshee of a mum tell you that?" Harry quipped while both Charlus and Lauren laughed at the expression on Sirius's face when he mentioned Walburga.
Sirius had to do a double take as it would be a cold day in hell if his dead bitch of a mum ever complimented him. Thank Merlin bitch was dead, as she had a set of lungs that would frighten and make a banshee envious. Just last week, he was able to finally remove her portrait from the wall and had it moved to the basement. The old heifer had the thing permanently stuck to the wall, so the only way to remove it was by destroying the wall. Sirius gleamed at Harry, "you would make a fine Marauder."
"Anyway, down to business," Sirius's voice became neutral. "Grandfather sends his regards as he wanted to come but had to deal with some business in Britain. Why was it so important that we have to come here today?"
"Now, now, Sirius," Harry waved his finger. "The others need to arrive first. Also, we have a proposition we'd like to make."
The Newmans and two representatives from the MACUSA Headquarters appeared a few minutes later, and Professor Stone spoke. "Thank you, all, for coming on such short notice. The six of them," gesturing to kids behind her, "have spent a great amount of time working on some inventions and have a proposal they like to make."
"And what would that be?" The woman from the Patination Office enquired.
Jeremy confidently stepped forward, "the six of us would like to create our own company and a handful of shops to distribute our latest products," declaring their intentions. Many of the adults stared at them with wide eyes. When it looked like one of them was about to speak, he raised a hand, "before any of you say anything, we like to give you all a demonstration of what we were able to create. Harry, if you will?"
"Mmhm," Harry brought out what looked like a muggle metal surfboard without the fin at the bottom. The board was black with green streaks and had a glowing orb in the front. "This is a hoverboard. As you can see, it looks similar to what muggles call a surfboard, but it is much more, as it functions like a quidditch broom. However, unlike the broom, where we will constantly have to hold on, we can just stand up."
"Wouldn't that be dangerous?" The other person from Headquarters asked. "If you don't have anything to hold onto, then how will you avoid falling and be able to steer."
"So glad you asked," Harry jumped onto the board as it hovered in the air. "Observe," the orb glowed green when he leaned forward and shot forward and higher into the air with incredible speed.
The adults watched as Harry sped high in the air executing several aeriel maneuvers with incredible speed and not falling. He was actually riding it like it was a surfboard which impressed and left them stunned to stillness. Hundreds of feet into the air, Harry looked down at everyone and maneuvered the board to head straight down with incredible speed. Just when he was about to hit the ground at the last minute, he laughingly pulled up and circled around the audience.
"Cool, huh?" A big smile crossed his lips as he folded his arms.
"That was incredible!" Lauren exclaimed.
"I would have to concur. You were zipping through the air with great speed," Professor Stone said. "If I may ask. How were you able to maintain your balance while flying through the air like that?"
He stepped off the board when it landed on the ground. "That will be because of the enchantment on the board, which prevents the rider from falling. Even flying at 220 miles per hour wouldn't be enough to knock me off this thing."
"In other words, he could not fall off no matter what," Sophie surmised, then added, "especially if he was flying upside down. His feet would remain attached to the board."
"Say, for instance, if you want to go in a particular direction, all you'd have to do is lean and angle the board in the direction you choose to go. And best of all, it can easily be stored in one's pocket." To demonstrate, Harry placed his hand on the orb and turned it 45 degrees to the left. The board then shrunk until it was palm-sized.
There was a collection of applause. Sophie then brought out their next invention, which happened to be a large silver hover-scooter. The thing was blue with a red orb in the front. Stepping on board, she grabbed the hand bar and maneuvered herself into the air, performing some maneuvers of her own. "Much like the hoverboard, I can quickly travel through the air. However, I do have something to grip onto, and this thing cannot shrink."
"Brilliant invention, dear," Sophie's father praised. "How fast can you travel?"
"Top speed is 180 mph."
"Now for our next two inventions," Jade stepped forward with two prometheus boxes and explained how they worked in great detail. To demonstrate, she had Natalie take a box, the crystal needed, and for two of the adults to join her inside. "Here we go," tapping the correct runes and putting the crystal inside; everyone watched as its corners twisted apart, the box expanded, and a projection of Natalie and the two people who went with her appeared. The audience stared in disbelief, "this might seem similar to the projection screen produced by a pensieve, but it is not."
Natalie then picked up and continued, "the Prometheus box is capable of showing a life-sized projection of someone no matter where they are on the planet. This way, family members can communicate, different Ministers of Magic can speak from their respective countries without leaving their Ministries, or business associates want to speak with their lawyers and investors, etc." She explained how they intended to sell the prometheus box before cutting hers off and rejoining the others outside.
"Another form of communication we designed are these," holding up his left arm and rolling down his sleeve, revealing a unique-looking watch. The thing had a wide black metal band with a dark grey face-plate in the middle, similar to how a muggle would dial a phone, a blue orb. "This watch does more than simply tell time. It works as a communicator. Observe." Turned the dial three clicks to the left until a small blue projection of Jeremy appeared, and he pressed the two grey buttons on the side. A small blue holographic image of Jeremy appeared on the watch.
"The image you see now is only a projection and can be altered to any size the person wishes, like a small projection of the person standing on the watch like I'm doing right now," a smiling Jeremy said. "Or a life-sized image."
Jeremy projected a life-sized projection of Andrew in front of everyone to show what he meant. "The watch has three different communication methods: call someone without a projection, with a projection, or send a message. This thing will only work when synchronized with its owner's magical signature." They switched their communicators off. "But more than that, this can tell if a person has an injury, been poisoned, and has a homing beacon so the parents can find them. Other than the Prometheus box, which is primarily designed to work for work headmasters/headmistresses, Ministry Wizengamot's, or businessmen, these can work for anyone. That includes Aurors and ICW agents who are on field missions." He continued for a couple of minutes, explaining the purpose of the watch they created, how they were to be used, and how each one had different functions.
"A lot of people are going to want these," Mrs. Huang's mind wandered to the Director of Magical Investigations Department and the Director of Magical Law Enforcement. She will also be able to keep in touch with her children. "These watches are going to become very popular."
"So glad you approve, but the fun the as only just begun," a smiling Harry pulled out a small box, though unlike the Prometheus box, which was blue-green with bronze linings, this one was black with silver linings. "This is called a Galaxy box. As its name suggests, it can project an image of everything in the Milky Way galaxy. That includes stars, the planets in our solar system, the moon, asteroid belts, incoming comets, and meteor showers. These can be used for those who are taking or interested in Astronomy or by those who wish to have a small planetarium in their bedrooms."
"Instead of looking through a telescope to try and look for the different planets, star constellations, meteor showers, comets. These will show you everything that is happening in our solar system and galaxy." When he tapped a few of the runes, the box hovered into the air and opened, revealing a deep black sparkling ball. The thing then exploded and popped out the different planets and stars within the solar system. "Pretty cool, huh? This is a projection of everything that is going on in space."
"Everything?" Professor Stone asked.
"Everything," the kids all said in unison. Sophie then added, "whatever is happening in our solar system out there is being shown to us down here. You can even zoom in on a planet or constellation if you choose with this," pulling out a muggle wireless nunchuck controller. Easing her thumb around the joystick, she moved the solar system around in different ways, zooming in and out, and even showed them the Milky Way Galaxy. "This can be used for more than educational purposes. It can also be used as a source of entertainment. The only catch is that the person will have to do it when the sun is down or somewhere without much light." She deactivated the Galaxy box and returned it to Harry, who put it in his bag.
"And last but not least, our final invention," Natalie brought out a large green oval-like container with two black stripes and two silver glowing orbs on each side. She gripped both sides and twisted them into different directions opening it. Natalie then pulled out a red crystal, put it in one of the two containers, closed, and twisted it to ensure it stayed together. Twisting one of the silver orbs, she activated the device, and much to everyone's surprise, The Weird Sisters' song: This Is the Night started playing. "This is not only limited to songs created in the wizarding world but also ones created by muggles."
Turning the song off. "We figured that the Record companies would find these most beneficial as they can make significant money by selling off the songs created by the bands they manage. They can sell them song by song or by albums. All the bands will have to do is sing into these crystals," removing the crystal from the container.
"That concludes our presentation," Harry said with his arms folded. "All we need now are your approvals to start a company so we can get these things on the market. Seeing as how we are still minors and cannot take an active role in managing a company. We figured we approach you all. That way, you can decide who runs it in our place."
"Interesting," Mrs. Walker said. "But let me ask this: Do you all get the same share, or dies one of you get more than the other?"
"This was a group effort, Mom," Jeremy replied. "We all agreed to take an equal share in the company. Whatever earnings we make from these products gets divided between us. No one gets more or less than the other."
"Ownership will be divided between the six of us. So whatever amount of money we earn in total will get evenly divided between us," Natalie stood by Jeremy.
Zhang looked at his children. "Andrew, Jade. Are the two of you okay with this arrangement?"
"We are," they said together, standing beside their friends and showing their support.
"This goes for me as well," Sophie stood beside them.
"We are all in agreement about this," Harry said in a final tone of voice.
Charlus created a privacy ward around them, so the adults could privately talk about this evening's developments. Lauren gave them—mainly Harry a hopeful look. She really liked their creations, especially the hoverboard and the music player. To her, the former looked like it had amazing potential along with its counterpart, the hover-scooter. Hopefully, her Dad and the others agree to the proposition.
A half-hour later, the privacy ward came down with the adults all wearing an expressionless mask. Charlus soon spoke, "we applaud your creations as they were quite innovative, and they can offer a great number of possibilities," he said in a cool voice. "As such, we have reached an agreement . . ." a paused suspension caused the six to pale a bit. "You have approval."
"Oh, Merlin," Jade placed a hand over her beating heart like it was about to burst out of her chest, and she would have fallen had it not been for her brother, who caught her.
"Come on, sis. You stay with me here," he pulled out a bottle of water from his bag and gave it to her. She nodded a thank you before chugging it down. Amanda laughed a little at her daughter's reaction.
"Have the six of you decided on a name for the company?" Amanda asked.
"Trinity Inc," Andrew replied. "We hoped to set up shops in each MACUSA state first and then branch out into other countries."
"Then there is a lot of work that needs to be done," the woman who came from Headquarters said. "If you all are serious in this endeavor, then please come by our office tomorrow so we can get the paperwork done," she looked really happy. "The Prometheus box and the watches are going to sell like hotcakes. I can already tell!"
The adults then started to leave until only Charlus and Sirius were the only ones left. Lauren was bouncing on her feet. She really wanted to try the hoverboard. Harry smiled as he shook his head. "Have patience. Once they've been patented. You can have an overboard." Lauren excitedly hugged him, to which he returned.
Releasing her, he went to speak with his godfather and grandfather. "Can I talk to you guys before you leave? There are a couple of things I'd like to run by the two of you."
"Such as?" Charlus raised an eyebrow.
Harry led them to a room in the Research building with a smile on his face. Closing the door, he elaborated on his ideas for the multiple businesses their families owned or have invested in over the years.
A/N: Arcturus and Charlus were not too happy to discover that a group of Private Investigators had been tailing Harry. Though that paled in comparison to learning that they'd been hired by Albus Dumbledore. Even if they couldn't prove it, there was no way they'd sit idly by and let them report Harry's location without a few tricks up their sleeves.
The inventions Harry and the others created will become a hit. A hoverboard, hover-scooter, Prometheus and Galaxy boxes, the music player, and the watch are only the beginning. No need to worry as the magical orbs and crystals are exclusive mainly to Harry. Also, let me point out that the Prometheus and Galaxy boxes are based on the Jedi Holocron from Star Wars.
Next Chapter: A snake and a stone
