In the letter he expressed his joy at Harry being alive and well after reading about it in the Daily Prophet. Taking a moment to compose a quick reply, he thanked the retired professor for his well wishes before placing the sealed letter to one side so that Serenity could deliver it later.
...
The man was a bit of a windbag, but there was absolutely no denying the man was an incredibly skilled potions master, and was the man responsible for marking his work.
He opened his codex at these thoughts and placed a reminder to ask the former professor for up and coming potioneers he knew about, pre- or post-mastery, people who maybe hadn't gotten a fair deal in magical Britain. His information might be a bit dated, but he might have kept up-to-date on some level. The man would work even harder to give him some names if was given a finder's fee as well.
Since he was already in the ingredients business and looking to expand there, it was only a small step further to hire on people who could brew the potions. The apothecary business was a lucrative one after all and would make an excellent new business for the Potter family to get into, albeit one that might earn him a few more enemies. If he introduced innovations like at home, rapid delivery of as needed potions, any time of day or night, he could make a killing and set himself up as a better alternative than his competitors.
He could see it now, he would bond one or two elves to the business, the customer calls out the elf's name, the elf shows up at their home and they place their order, the elf returns with a premade potion from his inventory in seconds, the price charged to the customer's account.
He could charge a decent premium for such a service. He quickly grew excited. Why should he even stop there? At home delivery had been around for decades in the muggle world, why not introduce that in magical Britain as well? It'd be easy to attach an elf to a restaurant to deliver food to magicals for a premium. Instead of only a phone number on their menus/advertisements like in the muggle world, a floo address and elf name would be listed.
They'd need to come in beforehand and be introduced in person to the elf for their call to be heard in the future, but that was a small inconvenience for such a useful service. He shook his head to clear his mind; this would require a great deal of thought, but the gold was in the details.
Perhaps he should buy up all the available elves in Britain, Ireland and France? Many of his plans for his businesses required quite a bit of elf labor after all. The idea for fast elf delivery was sound, but he needed some way to stop his competitors from simply copying the idea and offering it themselves.
Could he patent the idea with the ICW and prevent its use by his competitors? And maybe he should just take this idea all the way and simply hire Slughorn to head up a possible future potions/apothecary division? The man was both good at making potions and an incredibly networker.
Leaving his bedroom, he wandered into the library, only to find Remus was already there, busy working his way through a pile of books whilst taking down various notes. This was the third day in a row he had found Remus in the library making notes, but this time he recognised a couple of the books as defence against the dark arts texts. Harry's natural inquisitiveness kicked in, as his inner Ravenclaw spoke up. "Why are you reading third year DADA texts Remus?"
Remus paused for moment to look up from his note taking, "I just received the DADA curriculum from the Headmaster. I felt it would be prudent to start planning my lessons for next year," the werewolf replied.
"Fair enough, far better to do it now rather than at the last minute," Harry noted aloud in obvious approval, as he moved to the nearest bookshelf. "But you have, however, overlooked something rather important."
A good minute passed by before Remus responded to his baited observation, "What have I overlooked then Harry?"
"The Chief Warlock is no longer the Headmaster of Hogwarts, professor McGonagall is," he answered plainly.
"Therefore it's her decision, as Headmistress , who exactly fills the role of DADA instructor now, not the Chief Warlock's," he said, even as he put a book back on the shelf before continuing on with his explanation.
"If I were you, I would arrange a meeting with her first to confirm the state of things, before you go to all this time consuming effort to plan a course you may not even be teaching. And don't take this the wrong way Remus, she may know you, as a person and as a former student.
And otherwise like you and consider you a friend, but do you truly think she will hire a werewolf as the new DADA professor so early in her tenure as Headmistress, when so many eyes will be watching her every decision, second guessing her at every turn? With all her plans for change, would she be willing to spend her limited political capital to defend that choice? I sincerely doubt she would be willing to take the risk in appointing you; the Board of Governors would be all over it, not to mention the Prophet." He finally turned to face his godfather's best friend to gauge his reaction. Would the man be mad at him for pointing this out?
His argument seemed to finally be understood and recognized as the likely outcome, as Remus gave a sigh of disappointment, knowing that Harry was probably right. "Thank you for pointing this out to me Harry," Remus offered emotionlessly, before getting up from behind the desk to leave the room.
He decided to throw the disheartened Remus a bone, "If I'm wrong and you want some help preparing for next year, just ask, I can give you some good advice on what I believe would be the best approach for teaching my age group and the amount of time likely needed for each spell and topic. And if you're looking for paid work, I have an opportunity that would be a good fit for you, if you were interested that is," he offered easily.
"What type of work Harry?" Remus asked.
"As you may have heard from Sirius, the Potter docks are in the process of being rebuilt and expanded, along with my holdings in the surrounding alleys and lands. I need someone to monitor and manage it for me during the project, to be my eyes and ears on the worksite daily, to keep the builders honest and on track, to report to me regularly on what's happening, to get my decision on the various matters that will inevitably crop up.
If someone is there representing me, looking over their shoulders, it's a lot more likely to be completed on schedule and at the level of craftsmanship I want," he explained, his tone serious.
"A huge part of my family's fortune is tied up in this project and my family's future is on the line; I need someone there to make sure everything is on track, someone I can count on." This last bit was to reassure Remus that this wasn't just some act of charity on my part, that this was an important task that I couldn't give to just anyone.
"I thought Sirius was meant to do that for you?" Remus probed.
"Yes, normally Sirius would be, but this is going to be a very time consuming task Remus. This is going to be a huge undertaking. Sirius is already busy enough handling both my political interests and my pre-existing businesses, as well as re-establishing the Black family interests.
He's going to be spread far too thin to do this any justice, no matter how much he may want to. Yes, Andy and Ted are helping where they can with the various legal issues that have and will continue to crop up, but they have their own law practice and clients to consider. Even after the construction is completed, I'm still going to need an individual to supervise it in my place until I finish my formal schooling," he answered, as he casually leaned against the bookshelf.
"How huge are we talking?" Remus asked, visibly interested in the idea.
"Huge is an understatement, now that I think about it, maybe colossal is a better word to describe the size of the project," he answered thoughtfully as he stroked his hairless chin, but internally he was grinning ear to ear.
"The new docks will be double the size and depth of the original ones when they're completed. There will also be a new shipyard facility for the building, maintenance and repair of small to large vessels. That's a service that none of the other docks offer. The idea is that it'd be a far more efficient use of their money and time to deliver their cargo to my docks, where they can unload as well as get the needed maintenance/repairs done on their vessels.
I'll likely offer a discount on maintenance services if they use my docks exclusively for their shipping needs in Britain. In addition, as of a few weeks ago, I now own 97% of the alleys and lands surrounding the docklands, rather than the 40% my family controlled before the war. I fully intend to build up those areas to offer retail shopping, dining, entertainment, hotels, residential housing, and more." Remus' eyes bulged out in shock at the numbers and just how ambitious this plan was, before placing a hand against the wall to steady himself.
"Think about it seriously Remus and give me your answer by Sunday if you want the job, if not, I'll find someone else," Harry finished, before leaving the library and the man to his thoughts.
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A/N : if we get 400 power stones by the end of the week, I will release an extra chapter ;)
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