Title: Harry Potter, The Magnate
Chapter 1
Lost Boy
England in the late 1980s had experienced an era of stability. The nation was not at war, although it had forces in Cypress and Belize. Margaret Thatcher became the longest serving PM of the 20th century early in 1988. The country had recovered from the Falklands blip earlier in the decade. The government was functioning well with political consolidation having a main role in the development of the country. On the 29th of July 1988, the primary functions of the Education Reform Act began. The Act had been signed into law earlier in the year with the mission of consolidating management of Britain's educational system. All schools in the nation had been preparing for the transition for months but had sped up greatly since schools had closed for the summer. You wouldn't necessarily think that the Education Reform Act would need a classified rider but it did. This classified portion allowed for the long-needed updating of school administrations including levying automation procurements for all primary schools. Secondary schools and beyond were to be updated in subsequent years. Computer training for school administrators took place during the second week of June, which enabled them to complete the data migration requirements of the Act prior to the 29 July start date. The Sandford Monument Primary School in Surrey was particularly challenged with completing this task, since all three of the school's administrative staff were rapidly approaching mandatory retirement and were less than computer savvy. They completed the data requirements, including student records late on the afternoon of the 28th and initiated the data migration, which took place overnight.
The classified portion of the Education Reform Act required that all data being managed by the new Central Education Management Office be shared with various other British government organizations including the Ministry of Defence. MoD needed the information primarily for recruitment purposes, although there were some relatively niche requirements being fulfilled. One of them was Project 19: Lost Boy. Put simply, Project Lost Boy was the muggle search for Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived.
The English government had maintained awareness of the magical population of the UK quietly and efficiently since before the Reformation in the 1500s. In the late 17th century, English magicals came under a high level of scrutiny by their non-magical counterparts; some had been attacked and a few killed. Further, other European nations had experienced similar issues which necessitated the creation of the International Code of Wizarding Secrecy, which included both the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy and the Official Magical Secrets Act. These activities seemingly cut off information concerning magical Britain from the muggles, who would, over the ensuing centuries, forget their existence. At least that was the plan.
Unfortunately for the magicals, this plan leaked like a sieve. British wizards and witches were still represented in the peerage, with prominent families continuing their association with the Royals, including the Potters, the Longbottoms, the Bones, and the Greengrasses all of whom held large land partitions due to their support in protecting the crown both politically and militarily. Those four families had maintained loyalty to the crown while some had wavered. Further, a large portion of the magical population were muggleborn witches and wizards, whose parents were beholden to the crown. So, not a great plan, although most of the population became ignorant of the magicals over the next 200 years.
The government, from a leadership perspective, was not at all ignorant of the magicals. This included the rise and ultimate fall of Lord Voldemort (aka Thomas Marvolo Riddle) and the disbanding of his Death Eaters. They were aware that both the Longbottoms and the Potters had been targeted by Lord Voldemort and had been in hiding and that both families had been cataclysmically impacted during Voldemort's demise. They knew that Neville Longbottom, the current Lord Longbottom given his parents' condition, was under the care of dowager Longbotton at The Bear's Den, the Longbottom ancestral manor. Lord Fleamont and Lady Euphemia Potter had survived the Voldemort era, but their son and daughter in law, James and Lilly Potter, had perished in the fighting. There was a story about the events that made it back to the royals that indicated that their toddler son, Harry, had inexplicably destroyed Lord Voldemort and that the magical world was celebrating him as 'the Boy who Lived'. Lord Fleamont reported to the crown that he was working with the wizarding government and the Wizengamut to find him, but died unsuccessful four years later along with Euphemia from Dragon Pox, although no other cases of Dragon Pox had been noted that year in the UK. At that point, the muggle queen met with her PM and several other ministers and made it abundantly clear that they would locate and protect the new Heir Potter immediately. The magical government and the Wizengamut remained recalcitrant when it came to Harry Potter's location. Somehow, the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, was the only person aware of Harry Potter's location and had taken custody of him, citing magical guardianship rights. This did not stop the muggle government's search for Harry Potter. It only drove it into secrecy. Soon, Project 19 was created and Major Michael Cartwright, previously from the Regiment, was selected to lead the search. The crown assigned Amelia Bones as adjunct advisor and Michael created the team that would execute the search. It quickly became clear that finding a child who had not been born in a muggle hospital was problematic, especially one that had not yet entered the muggle education system; if he entered at all. Additionally, trying to get information out of muggle primary schools was like trying to herd cats. No two schools acquired and maintained data the same way and teachers' methods for recording information could be best described as arcane. This in part necessitated the Education Reform Act.
At 6:31 a.m. on Saturday the 30th of July, the overnight data dump from the Central Education Management Office concluded and the computer-based search for Harry Potter began. It concluded at 6:33 a.m. Senior Data Analyst Alice Totenbridge executed the search and reported the findings. "Amelia," she reported still going through the data, "there are 14 Harry Potters who are both going to primary schools and are 8 years old." She said slowly, "Two are orphans and one of those has black hair. He lives with his aunt and uncle, the Dursleys, at #4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. His aunt's maiden name is… Evans and his middle name is… James."
"That's him," Amelia said. "Let's get some people in here. We need some help."
000
Saturday July 30, 1988, 1125 a.m.
"Hello," Michael Cartwright said into the receiver of his home phone.
"Mike, it's Amy. Can you come into the office?" said Amelia Bone, Senior Auror for the Ministry for Magic and sometimes consultant on Project 19.
"We need Ved as well?" Mike answered
"Yes please," Amelia said.
"30 minutes. OK?" Mike queried.
"Thank you," Amelia hung up the phone.
Mike quickly called Ved and let him know that they were needed at the office. Then he quickly changed into Sunday casual clothing. Essentially, comfortable clothing suitable for the office, but would stand up in a briefing to a superior if it came to it. Then he hopped into his SUV and started navigating toward work.
Mike and his team, thirty or so analysts, some team leaders, a couple liaisons with Scotland Yard, MI5, MI6 and the like and his legal advisor, Vedant Abda, were situated out of the MoD's National Army Museum facilities.
The National Army Museum team had the job of maintaining all the Army's various museums on military posts in the UK and in other countries. They also maintained all the Army's collections of military antiques of interest, which meant they had various warehouses for storage and shops where cleaning, restoration, photography, cataloguing and so forth took place. Their headquarters was situated in a relatively nondescript, 35-floor office building in London, called the D. G. Hogarth Building, named for a prominent archeologist from the late 19th and early 20th century. The museum team, consisting of leaders, researchers, and administrators took up the top seven floors of the building. The bottom 28 floors were maintained by the museum team but were used as additional space for specialized teams working projects for various government agencies. Most of these projects required some level of Information Security or INFOSEC, so the building was made into a secure facility with additional security personnel, government police, and guards. Each project had secure space and equipment that would allow them to do their work. Mike arrived at the Hogarth building at 1145 and given that it was Saturday, quickly made it through the four security checkpoints between the parking structure and his office. Ved caught up to him just as he was entering the elevator. "Do we know what's going on," Ved asked.
"Not yet." Mike said. "I imagine they went through the data this morning, so this might just be a back brief. If he's going to an English school, we might finally know something."
"Well, let's not get our hopes up. Our best guess was that this would only work about 45% of the time." Ved responded.
Mike and Ved met Amy as they entered their combined offices. "From the look on your face, I'd guess that you think we've found him," Mike said.
"It's him." Amilian said. "We're ready to brief you in the conference room."
As they started moving toward the conference room, Mike asked, "who outside of our team knows that we've found him."
"It's just us Mike. Nobody knows anything," Amy answered.
000
Entering the conference room, Mike said, "keep your seats" to those gathered, half of whom were standing. All took their seats. "I understand we may have some leads," Mike said. And the briefing began.
000
"So, we know where he is. Has anybody seen him yet?" Mike asked.
"We have a team at the house across the street." Amy said. "They have infrared on the house. There are four occupants, two adults and two children. Petunia and Vernon Dursley have one child, Dudley, who's 6 months older than Harry. We're sure the smaller of the two children is Harry."
"I must say that I don't understand why we are just now finding out about this aunt." Ved said. "What do we think is going on there?"
"We're not sure, but I remember meeting Petunia Dursley years ago. I was with Lilly when she attended the Dursley wedding. I have not thought of her once since the beginning of November 1981. Further, I'm having some difficulty keeping her in my memory. It's like I forget about her completely every five minutes or so. If I didn't have her name written down to remind myself, I'd forget all about her." Amy said. "Alice seems to remember her name without issues though. There's some kind of magic at work here, most likely a ward."
"A ward that only affects magicals?" Ved asked.
"It makes sense. He has to interact with muggles at school and home." Amy advised.
"A ward would make it a locational issue then. As soon as we move him out of the house, he'll no longer be impacted by the ward?" Mike asked.
"No. I'm affected by the ward and I've never been near Privet Drive. We probably need some distance; Potter needs to be 40 or 50 kilometres away from Privet Drive. If Potter is the one powering the wards, then the longer he's away from Privet Drive the better. Eventually, the ward will fail on its own. Remember, Albus Dumbledore is one of the smartest and is definitely the most powerful wizard in the country. We'll need to examine Potter to make sure there aren't any charms on him or his clothes that would allow Dumbledore to find him. And the best solution would be to have him under wards of our own and get a ward master on the ground at #4 Privet Drive to see what kind of ward array we're dealing with." Amelia advised.
"Potter Manor in Yorkshire?" Mike asked.
"If we have Potter with us. We'll need him to take control of the family wards. Since his parents and grandparents are dead, he should be able to take control of the wards as the new Lord Potter." Amy commented.
"OK. Here's how I think we should do this. We empty out his neighborhood, say nine blocks square with Potter's block in the center. We can send in some MI5 agents to get that done. It's Saturday and hot as hell outside. Let's pick a resort or a couple of resorts, move the families out quietly by the end of the day. Put in some security personnel to keep everything nice and contained. We scout the routes we want to take to move Lord Potter to his ancestral home today and put a couple roving patrols out so we know what's happening on those routes until we can get Lord Potter relocated. One primary and one alternate route should do it. We'll need a security team at the manor and we need to think about what state the manor might be in since it's been empty for the past four years. It's unlikely that he or his cousin will return to his current school, but we can think about education sometime in the next couple of weeks. We'll need a cover story so we can get the family moving. The Bank of London cover works I think." Mike said. "How's that sound?"
There was ascent across the table.
"I'll bring in another auror for additional magical security." Amy said.
"Benny, can you coordinate today's activities with the relevant agencies and keep me updated?" Mike asked of his number two in the outfit.
"Sure thing Mike." Benny Sizemore said. "You meeting with the ministries today?"
"I'm going to call as soon as we're done here." Mike said. "Actually, I think we are done. Thanks everybody. Good work!"
As the conference room emptied out, Amy commented "I think the manor is going to be fine. The Potter family is extremely wealthy. They'll have had house elves to take care of the property until the new lord arrives."
"Good then. That's one less thing to be concerned about." Mike said. "I'll let you know if anything comes out of my meeting with the ministers. By the way, I want Remus Lupin found. Drag him back here if you have to, but I want him with us tomorrow and I don't want Dumbledore to be aware of it, so let's sort out any charms problems that might exist."
"He's totally loyal to Dumbledore, you know." Amy said.
"Maybe. Let's figure that out together. I'd also like a magical family with him at Potter Manor. A relative maybe. Somebody who would be a good influence on him. Any ideas?" Mike asked.
"The Tonks family would be a good choice. They're distantly related and both are light magicals. Andromeda is a nurse at St Mungos and Benjamin is a lawyer. Both are very sharp. They have a teenage daughter as well. I can't remember her name, but I'll put together a dossier. It'll be done before you get back."
"Thanks Amy. Gotta go." Mike said as he left the conference room.
"Ved, let's go. We can call number 10 from the car." Mike said as he headed toward to door, Ved in tow.
000
Once Mike and Ved were on the road, Mike initiated the call to #10. "Hello, Anne Colridge here."
"Anne, it's Michael Cartwright." Mike began.
"She's been waiting for your call Michael. Come right over. How far out are you?" Anne asked.
"I'm about 10 minutes out if the traffic continues to be agreeable." Michael answered.
"She'll be ready for you when you arrive. BTW, both the Queen and the Queen Mother have called this morning, so no pressure or anything!" Anne provided.
"OK. No pressure noted." Mike said. He could feel his blood pressure rising.
"Pull right up to the front please. Today you get special services," she said.
"Right. See you in 8 minutes." Mike hung up the phone.
"Lots of royal interest this morning," he said to Ved.
000
Saturday July 30, 1988, 1315 p.m.
"Right, come in gentlemen. Have a seat." Mike and Ved entered the Prime Minister's office.
"It's been a while since we've spoken Colonel Cartwright. I hope you have good news for us today." The PM said.
"I do ma'am, although it's Lieutenant Colonel." Mike responded.
"Oh? I may have misspoken," the PM said as she opened her desk drawer and withdrew a packet of papers. "What do we have here?" She stated to nobody. "A brand new promotion packet for some chap named Michael Cartwright. Apparently, it just requires my signature," she said, her pen hovering over the signature block of the paper. "Were you able to locate the boy?" she asked with apparent anticipation.
"Yes ma'am," he said.
"Ah then!" she said as she signed the document. "Anne," she said into her intercom, "please take this promotion packet and have it properly processed." Anne retrieved the package and gave Mike a big smile on the way out of the PM's office. "Now, tell me what's going on," the PM ordered.
The Army's newest Colonel brought the PM up to speed on the happenings surrounding Lord Harry James Potter.
A few minutes later, "That's good information and a sound plan. Let's fly him up to Yorkshire instead of driving. That'll cut down on the security concerns. You can take my plane. Get with Anne this evening to coordinate information. What else can I do to help?" she asked.
"I'd like some help with my team. I won't need 90% of them after today," Mike said.
"That may be, but let's keep everything in place right now until we're sure we've completed all of the tasks assigned and that there isn't significant mission creep. I'm sure that we'll be able to keep Lord Potter's interest for a little while with the new house, especially one as large and magnificent as Potter Manor. Young boys, however, recover quickly from new things. I like the idea of additional influence from the magicals and the Tonks family sounds fine. Are they going to be able to provide him with a pro muggle view I wonder, considering that they're from a pureblood family. They're part of the Black clan aren't they?" she asked.
"They are ma'am. What did you have in mind?" Mike asked.
"I think we need to look at Lord Potter as more than just a boy. He's famous in the magical world and incredibly wealthy, so he'll have celebrity status and a huge financial influence if he chooses to use it. I'd be happy if we had some more muggle born witches and wizards around him and let's face it, he'll be bored stiff if left alone. I don't think we want that. He's part of the peerage, but he's totally untrained for his duties to the crown. I think we need to figure out what kind of education we need to provide him and get that rolling as quickly as possible. I'd like to see a plan late next week that addresses these issues. Let's say Thursday with a Friday morning meeting to go over it. Think about this broadly. I want to influence this boy, but I don't want it to be nefarious or even negative. Now, I think you'll tell me that you don't have access to the Ministry for Magic and, therefore, you won't be able to get a list of young muggle born magicals. Then I would ask you, Colonel, who in the British government has thus far had the greatest success at locating magicals on demand?" the PM asked.
"Ah! I guess that would be my organization ma'am, unless some unknown organization has been working in parallel with my mission," he responded.
"I quite agree. You have the lionshare of the expertise and are in a better position than anybody else to be productive here. So let's put that team of yours to work on this new data stream that you've already shown me great expertise with. Thus far, your team has been highly administrative, which is exactly what we've required from you. In the near future, I see your team becoming more involved with the operational side of governance. Maintain your purely administrative and analytic function or grow them if you need to, but also give consideration into what you would need to function operationally. Finally, in my estimation you'll soon need to be able to communicate across numerous sectors of the government, both nationally and locally. You need people for that, so build it into your plan. As far as I can tell, there's really no security supporting Lord Potter. Let's build in a robust security mechanism to your "being redefined" mission.
A couple more things to help you. First, you're a relatively new Colonel and were only briefly a Lieutenant Colonel. I think you need some direct mentorship. Do you know Brigadier Smithson? I see that you do. He is both a staunch firebrand and extremely effective. I'm attaching him to your team for the next two months to help you however you see fit. He'll be able to open some doors for you that you haven't yet figured out that you can open for yourself. Don't let him run over you, because this is your mission. Finally, I can't help you find all of the muggle born magicals in the UK, but I can help you find one. As I'm sure you're aware, we keep tabs on people who have been of great service. When you were just arriving at the Regiment, there was a Major just getting ready to muster out. I wonder if you remember him," the PM said.
After a couple of seconds, Colonel Cartwright said, "Daniel Granger?"
"Yes, that's right," she said. "Major Granger mustered out at the end of 1975 and returned to school where he received his degree in dentistry and met his future wife, also a student of dentistry. They gained their licenses in 1978 and opened an office in Crawley. Their only child, Hermione Jane was born on the 19th of September 1979. She's currently one year ahead of Lord Potter in school. At the end of last year, we sent a team into the school to conduct IQ tests on all the students in her grade. Everything was very normal and her parents received the very welcome news that their daughter was blessed with a fine mind and a 150 IQ. Any parent would be proud. Those results got us some interview time with her teachers who reported that she was indeed an excellent student always able to answer any question on any topic she'd been taught. Unfortunately, her high level of understanding is not such a glowing attribute for her classmates, who regard her as something unfamiliar. In other words, she's friendless. The interviews indicated that very occasionally, some odd circumstance would occur near or centered on Hermione Jane. We believe it to be accidental magic not only because of the incidents themselves, but also because her mother's maiden name is Emma Peverelle. I see you understand the significance of that name. Here is Major Granger's contact information. Meet with him and his wife today or this evening. Make sure they understand that the conversation you'll have with them falls under the National Secrets Act. Let them know what's happening with them and explain about Harry Potter. They will likely not know anything about it. Regardless, bring them up to speed. We'd like the Grangers back in service and Hermione with Harry Potter. She needs a friend and so does he. We'll go a long way to ensuring that the Grangers are well cared for while they continue their service to the crown. By the way, the 150 IQ thing was a fabrication. She was so far ahead of the test that we don't truly know where she stands as far as IQ is concerned; certainly north of 200, but how do you tell that to a parent without freaking them out. We plan to send in a new team with a new test next year, but we may not have to if all goes well with you this evening. Colonel, this is a twofer. We want them both to remain ardently pro-muggle. Her parents will understand. On luring the Grangers back into service, Emma cannot be a member of any military organization, so we're offering her a civilian position. If Dan Granger asks about continuing his military service, offer him anything including Colonel as long as his position is directly under you as your Deputy. After all, what could possibly go wrong with two brand new Colonels in charge."
"Ma'am, that's quite a lot," Mike said."
"Well, Colonels do a lot. So do PMs."
"I'm beginning to understand that," Mike responded.
"One last thing Colonel. About three weeks from now, you should expect an invitation from Crown Services for you, the Grangers, the Dursleys and Harry Potter to dine with the Queen and her family. Some of your effort should be to get yourself and them ready for such an eventuality. In line with that, here's a list of five people all of whom work for the Crown and can be of service to your immediate mission. Do some research on them and pick two. Send the names to Anne and they'll report the next day to whatever location and/or person you choose. Thank you, Colonel, for finding Harry Potter and for your continued efforts." The PM said.
Reading the clear dismissal, both Mike and Ved stood. Mike said, "Thank you ma'am." Then both turned and left her office. As they were passing Anne Colridge's desk, she said, "Mike, I'll have a transcript of your meeting with the PM on your desk by the time you get back to the office."
"Thank you, Anne," Mike said as he turned away to continue his day.
000
July 30th, 1988, 1530 p.m.
"Hello, Granger residence," a young voice said into the phone.
"Could I speak with your father, young miss?" Mike said into his phone.
"One second please. I'll find him." She said and set the phone down.
Hermione found her father in his den and let him know that he had a phone call waiting. "He called me young miss daddy," Hermione said.
"Thank you, Hermione," he responded.
Picking up the phone, Dan said, "Michael Cartwright, correct?"
"Yes, this is Michael Cartwright. Were you expecting my call Mr. Granger?" Mike asked.
"Hermione told me this morning that you would call today to invite me and my wife to dinner. She said I should accept and that we were 'on the cusp of change,' whatever that means. I assume this is about Hermione and that bullshit IQ test she took her last month of school," Dan said.
"It is partially about your daughter, but it's also about you and your wife. I am calling to invite you and your wife to dinner this evening if you are free." Mike said.
"Where you'll explain exactly what's going on, is that right? At the conclusion of which, we'll be asked to make some kind of choice or decision. Is that about it?" Dan asked.
"Yes. That's it exactly. McFee's Fine Dining at 1900?" Mike asked
"Well, McFee's is far from fine dining, but their Mulligan Stew is passable. I assume this is more about the private dining rooms than the menu. Just come to the house. I over-bought steaks this morning by two. I must have been daydreaming or something. Can you be here by 1700? I'd like to build in decision making time if you don't mind. Hey, you don't have your wife with you, do you?" Dan asked
"I can just make it by 1700 and it's not my wife. It's much, much worse than that. It's my lawyer." Mike said.
"Oh good! Nothing ever goes wrong when the lawyers get involved." Dan said hanging up.
"Sorry Ved. I don't have time to drop you off," Mike said.
"No that's alright. I'm looking forward to it. Things sure are starting to get interesting. Oh, by the way, you're going to need more lawyers in order to continue your mission. You know that, right?" Ved remarked.
"Yes, I do." Mike answered
000
July 30th, 1988, 1702 p.m.
Mike pulled his SUV into the Granger's driveway and turned off the vehicle. He took two more minutes to finish his update with Benny and then opened the door. He and Ved stepped out of the vehicle where they immediately saw a young girl with wise eyes and completely chaotic, bushy hair.
"Colonel Cartwright, Mr. Abda, please follow me." Hermione said leading them through the house to the back yard, where the Granger parents were putting the final touches on dinner.
Dan said, "Hermione told us you like your steak just shy of medium rare," looking at Mike. "And you, Mr. Abda, like your steak well done."
"That's right for me," Mike said.
"For me too," said Ved.
"She also told us that you're a Colonel. Is that correct?" Dan asked.
"A newly minted one," Mike replied.
"If you don't mind my saying, you look too young to be a Colonel, unless you were a Lieutenant at 14," Dan responded.
"I recently helped the government resolve a long-standing problem and while I was presenting my briefing to the PM, she saw fit to promote me. I certainly wasn't expecting it," Mike said.
"I see," Dan said, not seeing at all.
"Steak and Salad, lemonade for Hermione and beer for the adults. I have Budweiser, Budweiser and Budweiser."
"I'll have a Bud," all three adults said at the same time.
Having retrieved the beers, Dan said, "let's sit down, shall we."
"May we call you Dan and Emma?" Mike asked.
"Of course," Dan said.
"I'm Mike and this is Ved," Mike said. "Do you mind if we talk while we're eating?"
"Not at all," replied Dan.
"Ved, do you mind doing the honors?" Mike asked.
"Dan, Emma, what we're about to discuss with you is covered under the National Secrets Act. You can discuss this material amongst yourselves, but with nobody else. Discussing this with anybody outside this group could lead to prison for all involved." Ved said.
"OK," Dan said. "We have some practice with keeping secrets. Let's go."
"Is Hermione staying for the conversation," Ved asked.
"It wouldn't matter is she stayed or left. She'd still hear the conversation. She can listen to any conversation she chooses. By that I don't mean that she has our permission to listen. She just has the ability to hear any conversation taking place that she's interested in. 15 meters or 1500 Kilometers, it makes no difference. She'd be able to hear it if she wanted," Dan said. "I'm certain that you guys know exactly what I'm talking about."
"We're aware of magic, if that's what you're asking," Mike said. "I wasn't aware of anybody having that particular ability."
"Hermione?" Dan asked.
"He thinks he understands, but it's only intellectually, not viscerally. He doesn't get it in his gut. He doesn't know right from wrong yet." Hermione said. "You have Amelia Bones on your team. You should keep her as close as possible. She's a powerhouse. Nothing like Harry Potter. He's a never empty well of magical fury, but totally untrained. He is only now awakening. We're at a crossroads and Harry Potter is what we must decide. We follow him and maybe that's the difference between him being a savior or a destroyer. Are we the catalyst he needs to remain with the light or are we the wrong chemical at the wrong time. I cannot see it. The third choice is to neither follow or oppose. That choice leads to disaster for all. We must follow or oppose. Trust or distrust. That's all there is for us. If we trust, it must be without question. If we don't, we must oppose with all that we have, our skills, our efforts, our treasure."
"If we follow and trust, will you be able to tell later?" Dan asked.
"Being near him will be like staring straight into the sun. I'll be blinded by his light whether I'm looking at him or not. But, if I turn my sight off, relegate my vision to just visible light and color, I'll not be able to sense anything."
"Wait. I'm not sure what's happening here!" Mike said.
"Sir," Hermione said, "I've been speaking with him nightly, although for the longest time, he thought he was talking to himself. He is beginning to see a wider world. One that contains laughter and hope, but also horror and remorse. He is 8 and 80. His 8-year-old self is curious, surprised, happy, eager. His 80-year-old self is impatient, angry, disgusted, pitiless. His 8-year-old self is ready to live. His 80-year-old self is ready to destroy. There is only love in the 8-year-old. There is only fear in the 80-year-old. Two horsemen riding the same horse."
"Is he mentally ill?" Mike asked.
"No"
"Is he magically ill?" Mike asked.
"I don't know, but it's the right question at least." Hermione said.
"Well, I don't know what I was expecting, but this isn't it," Mike said. "She's absolutely right though, the choice is about Harry Potter and whether to follow and hope or oppose and hate. Tonight, I represent the muggle government and that body has elected to support him. That could expand later of course. Ved and I will leave you alone so you can decide."
"There's no need," Dan said. "We're already decided. We hope Harry Potter is the medicine and the cure and not the poison that kills us all. Where do we start?"
"In Little Whinging tomorrow morning. We'll pick you up at 0700" Mike said.
"We'll be ready." They all said.
000
Sunday July 31, 1988, 12:00 a.m.
The newly eight-year-old Harry Potter answered the phone on the third ring. "Hello", he said, "Dursley residence."
"Hello, my name is Michael Cartwright. Is Mr. Vernon Dursley available?" a strong male voice said.
"One minute please" Harry said, laid down the phone and stepped into the parlor. "Phone for you Uncle Vernon."
"Who could be interrupting my Sunday" Vernon groused as he stood to move to the telephone. Vernon stepped into the hall and picked up the phone. "Hello", he said having place the receiver to his ear.
"Mr. Dursley, my name is Michael Cartwright. I'm a senior account manager with the Bank of London. It's important that I speak with you today if you can make the time."
"Mr. Cartwright, it's Sunday. I don't usually meet with people on Sundays," Vernon complained.
"I understand, however, it's important that I speak with you today in person. I could be at your door in 10 minutes if you can make the time for me. We'd also like to speak with your wife, Petunia, if she's available." Mr. Cartwright said. "This should be a profitable conversation for both of you."
"Profitable?" Vernon queried and then continued without waiting for an answer. "Very well. My wife and I will meet with you. I'll see you in a few minutes."
"I have several colleagues with me and we'll be at your door in 9 minutes. Thank you." Mr. Cartwright hung up the phone.
Vernon stepped down the hallway into the kitchen. "Petunia…".
000
Sunday July 31, 1988, 12:10 p.m.
Vernon had just returned to his well-broken in chair to continue reading his paper. As he sat, he thought, 'These types are never on time'. He heard three firm knocks on his front door almost immediately upon picking up his paper. Surprised, he struggled to stand so he could answer the door. "Hello Mr. Dursley, I'm Michael Cartwright", Mr. Cartwright said when Vernon had opened the door. "This is Vedant Abda, in-house counsel for the Bank of London, and behind him are Ms. Bones and Mr. Shacklebolt, consulting investigators for the bank. Do you mind if we step in?" Both Cartwright and Abda were well dressed, clearly professional businessmen, while Bones and Shacklebolt were dressed in matching charcoal grey suits without ties and both wore mirrored sunglasses.
"Please do", Vernon said as he opened the door wider to allow them entry. "We can sit at our dining table to have our discussion" he said as he led them through the parlor into the dining room. Petunia Dursley was just setting the table with tea and biscuits, cups and saucers as they entered.
"The tea needs to steep a bit more," she said. They took their seats around the table except for Bones and Shacklebolt who remained several feet away from the table as if providing security.
Vernon opened the discussion with "What is this all about?"
"Well, let me tell you a little about what I do and that should lead us to why we're here. May I call you Vernon and Petunia?" Michael asked?
"That's fine, Mr. Cartwright," Petunia said.
"Mike and Ved" Cartwright said as he pointed first at himself and then at his lawyer. "I do work for the Bank of London; however, my whole time there has been spent running a team of analysts and investors who have been looking after the accounts of one family. This family is beyond wealthy with land holdings in over 20 countries, business holdings in more countries than that and a very broad stock portfolio with holdings largely focused on technology, including communications, computer hard and software and medical technologies including medical research and new drug development and they have stock in numerous petrochemical companies. Their main goal has been to fund various philanthropic organizations including educational funds, universities, and various art institutions here in the UK, in Europe and in North America. While they perhaps lead the world as being the wealthiest family existing, I'm certain that almost nobody has ever heard of them. If I've done my job correctly, and I have, their ownership is hidden behind so many layers of cutout companies that it would be indecipherable to almost everybody. Their holdings altogether are probably valued somewhere between 200 and 300 billion dollars U.S. As it happens, the owners of all this wealth up until 4 years ago were an elderly couple who lived in Thwaite. Both succumbed to a disease, some type of pox, in 1984. They had one son, who would have inherited everything if he hadn't himself along with his wife been killed in an unexplained attack at their home in late 1981. This younger couple was known to have had a son; however, we've not been able to locate him. We've expended considerable resources in trying to locate this child. We're certain that he hasn't left the UK but we haven't been able to find him. We do have reports that he survived the attack that took his parents' lives. Ved, please continue."
"Vernon, Petunia, in 3 months it will no longer matter that we can't find this child as he'll have been missing for 7 years and will be declared legally dead. It will not matter if he is later found alive as his holdings will have irreversibly changed hands. While we have broad control of all this family's holdings, each individual company or institution has a board with a vested interest in taking individual ownership. Essentially, this family's wealth will be torn asunder, never to return. This is where you come in. The boy has numerous distant relatives, second, third and fourth cousins, but only one close relative. An aunt who lives on Privet Drive in Surrey, England. That's you Petunia. If we can't find this boy, you'll take possession of his family's vast holdings sometime in November or December of this year. We're here to help you make that transition so we can preserve this family's wealth and legacy for the future"
Vernon and Petunia looked at each other in amazement at what they'd been told. "Well, about that" Petunia began, but was abruptly interrupted by the sound of bumping and pounding on the ceiling from the floor above. Bones and Shacklebolt looked at each other and quickly headed to the staircase and the second floor of the small house. Following the noise down the hallway to the right from the top of the stairs, they entered a small bedroom where they witnessed a rather stout lad with his back to his clothing cupboard clearly trying to keep the door closed. Every couple of seconds, whoever was in the cupboard tried to get out making the door bulge outward but couldn't displace the large boy keeping it closed.
Bones and Shacklebolt heard a muffled "You're the worst cousin ever" from inside the cupboard, after which, the stout boy laughed and shouted "Shut it, Harry. Mum and Dad are still busy downstairs." Immediately after this, the boy noticed he was no longer alone in his bedroom. The larger of the two consultants pointed his finger at the boy, cutting off his laughter, and beckoned him from his place at the cupboard, which prompted the door to fly open when next his cousin Harry kicked the door to achieve release. The door flew open, bounced off the wall and reclosed firmly. But it didn't reopen. After 10 seconds, Ms. Bones went to the door of the cupboard and knocked lightly. There was no answer, so after another 5 seconds she opened the door to find a young lad, about 8 years old, sitting on the floor of the cupboard with surprised eyes looking at the Senior Auror.
"Harry Potter I presume!" she said.