Just as Harry was deep in thought, the fire had already spread to the staircase and surged up to the second floor.
This wasn't a fire as Muggles understood it. When Harry had just started learning magic, he'd experimented and discovered that even a sheet of metal could catch fire, and once ignited, it wouldn't go out for a long time.
The flames raged violently.
A few people exited the Leaky Cauldron and stood on a London street.
Outside, all was peaceful.
Muggles passed by, unaware that right beside them, a raging inferno was underway.
The flames engulfed the Leaky Cauldron's narrow wooden door. Before their eyes, in under ten seconds, it had been reduced to a pile of ash, revealing a blazing red interior.
A few minutes later, the fire died out—everything that could burn had burned.
In front of them was nothing but an empty lot, covered in ashes from the burned wood.
Harry stood where the Leaky Cauldron once was. Above him was the sun. Sunlight now fell freely upon him—no longer blocked by the gloomy, sunless first floor of the bar.
Harry was very satisfied. He'd rather have this bare, empty land than the previous state of the Leaky Cauldron.
He took out the blueprints for his hotel, which he had long prepared, and handed them to the fat foreman.
Harry didn't want to turn his hotel into some modern-style building from decades in the future.
After all, this was Britain, and this was a wizarding hotel.
There was still a difference between the aesthetics of Muggles and wizards.
Harry had originally thought it would be difficult to find a design that wizards could accept. But to his surprise, it wasn't as hard as he'd imagined.
He had gone to the British Museum and looked through books on the architectural changes in Britain over the past century, and found many images that aligned with his ideas.
Luxury, extravagance, nobility.
After that, Harry referenced many of London's top luxury hotels.
A complete image of the hotel formed in his mind.
He began gathering materials, taking photographs—every detail he could think of had a corresponding image.
That was what he had been busy with these past few days.
He had visited various five-star hotels, Cambridge, famous historical buildings… He even snuck into Buckingham Palace.
Over two hundred photos in total.
The fat foreman looked at the pictures and said, "This is too luxurious, too difficult to build. Our company alone can't manage it."
He hated to say it, but Harry's two-month deadline was completely unrealistic.
Just one of the presidential suites Harry had referenced shocked him.
The grand living room upon entry was larger than most three-bedroom homes. Floor-to-ceiling glass walls offered a view of the Thames, lush green embankments, and the bustling heart of London in the distance. A sofa faced this scenery—just sitting there with a drink, enjoying top-tier service, was pure luxury.
And that was just the living room. The suite had three bedrooms, a servants' room, and a study. Each bedroom came with its own bathroom and toilet. The luxurious finish of the bathrooms alone made the foreman think, If I could live in a bathroom like that just once in my life, it'd be worth it.
Let alone the rest of the exquisitely decorated rooms.
He wore a pained expression. "Merlin's beard, we're just ordinary wizards…"
Harry gave him a disgusted look. And you call yourself a wizard? Can't even handle this? Pathetic.
"Alright, I get it. I'll contact another construction company. You'll work together. It has to be the fastest and the best. If I'm not satisfied, you won't get paid."
...
Harry really loved contracts.
Everything could be settled with a contract—every clause laid out clearly. There was no need to worry about either party cheating, because the consequences of violating a magical contract were unbearable.
So Harry had no hesitation handing his money over to two construction companies.
Maybe in the future, he could open a shop in the Muggle world dedicated to selling all sorts of magical contracts. Who he sold to would depend on fate. It could even contribute to urban legends.
As for the name?
Pawnshop No. 8—yeah, that had a nice ring to it.
Harry's total assets were about seven hundred thousand Galleons. Buying the Leaky Cauldron had only cost a little over three hundred Galleons.
Compared to the cost of building a new bar, that was barely even a rounding error.
According to estimates from the two construction companies, building the hotel would cost about six hundred thousand Galleons, which was more than 30 million RMB.
Building a luxurious hotel for 30 million would be impossible twenty years later—you'd need at least several hundred million. But this was 1997, and currency back then wasn't comparable to future values. That's the only reason Harry could afford to build such a grand hotel.
Harry hadn't originally intended to invest so much into the Leaky Cauldron.
At first, he thought spending tens of thousands of pounds to upgrade it a little would be enough.
But he never imagined the place was in such a terrible state.
If he poured more money into it, it would be like putting gold leaf on dog poop.
Just thinking about that made his skin crawl.
That's what led to his decision to rebuild the hotel entirely.
Initially, Harry's plan was to make the new Leaky Cauldron just a slightly more upscale hotel. He never meant to put in all his money.
But after seeing all those palatial castles and mansions in books, the version of the hotel he had imagined was gradually upgraded—until it became what it was now.
As a result, Harry was about to spend over 90% of his wealth on it.
But he didn't regret it. A luxury hotel of his own was far better than a pile of cold, hard coins.
The golden Galleons in Gringotts were completely emptied out. After converting the remaining Galleons to pounds, Harry calculated he had less than £100,000—not even 1 million RMB.
What could you even do with less than a million?
Well, Harry was planning to spend even that last bit, down to the last Knut.
After walking around the streets of London, he'd already decided what to spend it on.
...
In Diagon Alley, a miscellaneous goods shop suddenly moved out.
It didn't attract much attention.
But the next day, a group of professionals arrived—they were a renovation team.
The first thing they did was change the shop's name. A white background, with two bold yellow 3D letters on the wall: 魔堡 (Magic Castle).
Next, the wooden door was taken off and replaced with two glass doors. Inside, wizards matched pictures with their wands—painting, wallpapering, installing new floors.
In less than an hour, the entire shop had been completely transformed.
Even the original owner would no longer recognize it.
Clean, transparent, bright, tidy.
The aesthetic clashed dramatically with the rest of Diagon Alley. It was like a rainbow in a black-and-white photo.
Soon, dozens of delicate little wooden tables were moved in.
Once the work was finished, the wizards locked the door and left.
Sunlight shone through the glass, lighting the interior.
The residents of Diagon Alley were very curious about this new shop. Magic Castle? What do they sell here?
...
Harry thought his idea was absolutely brilliant. Diagon Alley sold everything—but not food. (Honeydukes didn't count.)
So what if he opened a Muggle-style fast food restaurant?
How wildly successful would that be?
As for what kind of fast food?
Did he even need to think about it?
KFC, of course!
Follow the path of the successful, and you won't go wrong.
He couldn't call it KFC though—wizards were still cautious when it came to adopting Muggle things.
Since the most famous item at KFC was the burger, Harry decided to name the fast food joint:
-
-
-
⚡ The Rebirth of Harry Potter
📢 Magic Reborn! 📢
The Rebirth of Harry Potter has 100+ chapters ahead available on Patreon! ⚡
Discover the wizarding world's new fate before anyone else.
🛑 Also on Patreon:
Star Wars: The Rise of Mandalore
Cyberpunk: The Relentless
Cyberpunk: Lucy Adopted Me and I Got a System
My Cyberpunk 2077 Simulator
My Girlfriend's a Cyberpsycho—Who Knew?
Game of Thrones: Secrets Beneath the Dreadfort
Dragon King of Ice and Fire
Star Wars: Relics of the Past
R18: Reincarnated in Her World
🔗 www.patreon.com/c/MrMagnus👤 SrMagnus🐦 https://x.com/SrMagnusBook
⚠️ Vote with Power Stones!