Chapter 14

8th December, 1991: Gringotts

It was pretty easy for Harry to leave Hogwarts early in the morning. Harry had taken an aging potion and used glamour charms to mask his facial structure before meeting his, hopefully, future employees. He had taken the modified aging potion to increase his height and weight and to change his voice from that of a kid and used glamour to hide his face and hair. It was a good disguise and even Grapplescrew had been impressed. People would take the glamour as the only disguise and no one would think about connecting him to an eleven year old boy who should be at Hogwarts.

The people he had called for had yet to arrive when he reached Gringotts. He had ordered the goblin at the door of the meeting room he had acquired for the day to send them in one by one, in the order in which they arrive. The room had a round table with comfortable wooden chairs around it. He chose a chair opposite to the entry door for himself. Blood quill and contract parchments were placed in front of him. Another door led from the room to a sort of parlor, in which refreshments had been arranged.

The first one to arrive was Alwin Diggory and was sent immediately to the room. A distant cousin of Amos Diggory, Alwin was in his mid forties. He was a half-blood and his father had been banished from family for marrying a muggle girl. He had met him in the future, after the war was over. He was one of the men who had helped in the reconstruction of Hogwarts and had built a good business in the construction field after some years. If Harry remembered correctly, Alwin had been working in construction since he was young.

"Welcome Mr. Diggory, please take a seat," Harry greeted the man. He had a bald plate, with blond hair on the sides. He was sporting a thin moustache, clean shaved, wearing gray robes which looked almost new. It looked like the man had come to impress him. Harry was thinking on what to say, when Alwin asked him, "So you called me here regarding a job opportunity, Err … Sir"

"Yes Mr. Diggory. I am looking to hire a manager for one of my new ventures," Harry said. "I am starting a new construction firm from and want someone who is not only experienced but also creative at the helm."

Alwin looked shocked at hearing that, "That's, that's a very big job for me. I am a simple constructor, Sir. I don't know anything about running a company."

"I am not looking for someone to manage the finance, Mr. Alwin. I would have hired a goblin for that. I want someone who knows the work intimately, who will work hard and who will not do shoddy work to earn more profit. Can you be that person Mr. Diggory?" Harry asked the man.

"Um… yes, I can do that, I think..," he said not sounding convinced of his own words. After he had signed the agreement, Harry had given him a file that had the first few projects that he wanted to be undertaken by the construction company and had told him to wait in the adjoining room.

The next few meetings went the same way. Remus had confessed to being a werewolf before signing the agreement, but felt relieved to hear that he was already aware of it. The man looked better than ever in Harry's opinion and was very grateful for the Werewolves Health Potion that his company produced. He had already thanked Harry three or four times by the time he was told to wait in the adjoining room.

Drake Dickson had looked like Christmas had arrived early for him. He looked giddy at the thought of managing a Quidditch team even if it was Chudley Cannons. Harry knew about the man as he had tried to hire Harry, unsuccessfully, for playing in the Quidditch World Cup for Wales Quidditch Team. It was the first time Harry had heard that Wales too had a team. Man had tried to invoke Harry's patriotism for his country but had been rebuffed politely. Wales had reached Quaterfinals that year before finally losing to Krum and Bulgaria.

He had almost quit on the spot when Harry had recommended some players for him to hire. In the end Harry had managed to placate the man saying that he could first scout them and then hire them if they were as good as Harry believed. One of the players Harry had recommended was none other than Victor Krum. Harry had never seen someone as good as him and would love to have him on his team. Victor had been selected directly to play for national team in the future so Harry was reasonably sure they could get him before anyone else.

Sebastian Montfort was a tall and lanky man. He had reedy thin arms with no muscles on his body that could be discerned, but only a fool would dare underestimate him. The young man had been a brilliant Auror in Romanian Ministry before being fired in mid eighties by his bigoted boss. The reason for that was Sebastian's grandmother in law. He had married a Veela and his boss had fallen to the allure of the grandmother of the bride on the wedding day and embarrassed himself in front of his wife and half of the Ministry. He had been a laughingstock in the newspapers for weeks regarding that.

After loitering in France for nearly a decade, Sebastian had been hired as an Auror by Britain, after the war, to fill their depleted ranks. He had been the best of the lot and Harry had learned loads from him. He had accepted the job readily, as Harry knew he would.

The last one to enter the room was Alice Longbottom. Harry had never met her before as by the time the Nerve Regeneration Potion had been invented, she was already dead. Her round face had filled up; her hair had regained its colour and reached till her shoulders. She looked fit and a beautiful smile was present on her face.

She had just came to thank him but looked very interested in what Harry had to say. He wanted her to head the charity which he would be starting to support those who needed their help. He outlined everything he wanted to do and was happy to note that she looked excited at hearing it. She was a hero in this world and her popularity was on a high. It would look good for the company to have her as its charity department's head. In the end she had signed the agreement too after confirming that she could hire her husband as an employee.

"My agenda is very simple. I want every witch, wizard, goblin, werewolf and all other creatures to have equal rights in this world. I want to abolish the discrimination that is so rampant in our world. I want every magical race to come together and work as a single unit. But we cannot do that. We are not Law Enforcement, so we cannot make laws or arrest witches and wizards from the street for being a bigot. What we can do, is provide an alternative to those who are downtrodden. I want to provide an environment in our organisation, where bigotry is treated as the vile thing it is. We cannot change the laws which promote bigotry but we can fight against them in our own way.

Hogwarts provides funds for orphan muggle born students only, we will provide funds to every magical child whose family is hard pressed to do so. Squibs are thrown out of this world by their own families; we will look after them and provide for them too.

Marauder Industries will become a symbol of equality. Every customer and employee will be treated on their own merit and discrimination will not be tolerated. You all have your files in front of you. They list some ideas and some suggestions for you, read it and if you have any questions you can owl Grapplescrew for an appointment," Harry said looking at each of them and continued.

"Grapplescrew has assigned Goblin Managers to each of you. Sufficient funds would be transferred in the accounts to start you up. First task for you will be to hire reliable people that you will need.

Remus Lupin will be the manager of Curiously Charmed, Sebastian Monfort will be the manager of Marauder Security, Drake Dickson will be the manager of Chudley Cannons Quidditch team, Alwin Diggory will be the manager of Magical Developers and Alice Longbottom will be the manager of Helping Hand.

They will all be registered as subsidiaries of Marauder Industries. You will be provided temporary offices in MudPotions Lab but you can have your own offices where you deem them necessary. Grapplescrew will answer any questions you have and ask him if have to contact me. Thank you," Harry stood up to shake hands with everyone till only Remus was left.

"Where do you get the idea for naming your company 'Marauder' Industries?"

Harry froze for a second, and then thought of an excuse. "I got the name from Hogwarts Mr. Lupin, that's all I am able to tell you right now."

Remus nodded at him before leaving. Harry took a gulp of air to soothe his nerves. He didn't want to hide his identity from them but was afraid that they won't take him seriously. If they knew he was only eleven would they take orders from him as readily as they were doing now? He wasn't too sure about it.

"Mr. Potter your last appointment has arrived," the goblin guard told him. "Send him in."

His last appointment was with one Victor Ogden. Victor Ogden was famous across the Isles for winning the cases of arrested Death Eaters citing the Imperius Curse as defense. As far as Harry knew the man himself was never a death eater, neither in the first nor in the second war. He was a ruthless barrister and did not shy away from bribing court officials to his clients benefit. He was not picky on what clients he took and his fee was nothing to scoff at.

"Welcome Mr. Ogden," Harry greeted him cautiously.

"Would you remove your glamour Mr. no name. I don't work for unknown people," he replied gruffly.

Harry removed the glamour knowing the man had no idea he was behind Marauder Industries. He had arranged a meeting with him via the goblins only mentioning him as an important client. "I am Harry Potter, Mr. Ogden." Ogden looked Harry up and down, his face never betraying his emotions.

"Aging potion I would guess," Ogden commented. Harry just smiled at him.

When they had taken their seats Harry explained to Ogden what he wanted him to do. Assuring him that money won't be a problem and after promising him a hefty bonus on success they signed a contract.

"Your Godfather will be with you pretty soon Mr. Potter, don't worry." Victor Ogden said before leaving.

8th December 2018

Fudge twisted his favourite bowler hat, fitting it tightly on his head. He had lost too many of them in the floo and wanted to keep his favourite one safe. He had wanted to stay and rest at his home on Sunday, like he usually did, but it wasn't to be. He had been called for an urgent meeting in Ministry.

Christmas was near and his approval ratings were higher than ever so Fudge was naturally confused as what was so important that his Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge had asked him to come to the Ministry on a Sunday morning. Umbridge was a very good employee as far as he was concerned. He could have selected someone more competent as his Senior Undersecretary but he needed someone who was loyal to him. He had to frequently accept various 'donations' as Minister of Magic and didn't want anyone knowing about the favours he had to do for these donations. It wasn't like they were harming anyone by doing it, Fudge thought. They were just harmless donations from respectable families, as Umbridge would put it.

He arrived at the atrium with a burst of green fire. Ministry was nearly empty barring a few wizards in navy blue robes, which was the colour of robes, wore by Magical Maintenance Department. He remembered a man named Orford Umbridge, who worked in that department. He was a squib who used to mop floors in atrium on Sundays before he disappeared some years ago. It was before he became a minister. He had forgotten about him but after hearing those nasty rumours a while back, the ones that claimed he was the father of Dolores, had reminded him of the man. Come to think of it they looked somewhat alike.

He had dismissed those rumours obviously; Dolores was the daughter of a former Wizengamot member and not some squib as she had told him herself. He along with his retinue was able to board an empty lift and in short order he had reached his office.

He was taken aback to find that not only Umbride but Lucius Malfoy, one of the more frequent donors to the Ministry coffers, and a large donor towards his election campaign, was also present there. "Lucius my dear friend, I didn't know you were going to be here today. You weren't waiting too long for me, were you?" he asked knowing he was nearly an hour late but he was the Minister of Magic and they could wait a little if they were going to disturb him on a Sunday morning.

"No no Cornelius, I and Madame Undersecretary were having a pleasant conversation here," Lucius said.

"Minister, Mr. Malfoy had been telling me how to get that goblin run company under our thumb," Umbridge smiled at him. She was looking hideous in that pink cardigan but not everyone can have his keen sense of style, he thought.

"Is that so?" Fudge asked looking at Malfoy expectantly. This matter had been a thorn in his side since he had became the Minister but he was not too sure that anything could be done about it.

The goblin had registered with ICW and they had already informed him that the company belonged to a wizard, they just divulge his name. He had asked Dirk Creswell, who was Head of Goblin Liaison, to look into this matter but the man hadn't been much help. He had sent messages asking for advice from Dumbledore himself but was informed that there was hardly anything that he could do. He would listen to the man, as he had donated a large amount of galleons but was sure this was a waste of his time.

"This goblin has been playing us all for fools, Cornelius. He doesn't have any Wizard behind him. Most likely he has stolen the secrets of the potions that he has been selling from some poor Wizard and now is intruding upon the business of upstanding members of the society. I learned a week ago that he bought Chudley Canons, that team had been in the hands of that same family for many centuries and now a goblin owns it," Lucius stated angrily.

"How do you know that he bought Cannons? Many people have tried before but they were all refused. It could just be a rumour," Fudge said a little mystified.

"I came to know from a trusted source that the goblin that runs MudPotion Lab had also bought Cannons a week ago," Lucius assured him.

"So what we can do about that? ICW has already answered that it is a wizard owned corporation but they won't tell us the Wizards name. Dumbledore himself doesn't know the name and the man is Supreme Mugwump of ICW," Fudge said thinking Lucius had just come to complain here.

"I was looking in the laws and decrees passed by the Wizengamot and found an interesting article. I wrote it down in a parchment," he said while taking out a parchment from his pocket and reading from it.

"Here it is, 'By the Decree of Warlocks of Wizengamot, Tis herby did declare yond all merchants wilt present themselves ere Wizengamot at which hour did doth ask, on the failure of which their business would beest be seize. Decreed on summer solstice of 1564'.

This was passed after a muggleborn opened an apothecary in Diagon Alley while hiding under an alias deceiving the respectable members of a society but is still applicable. So you could ask Dumbledore, to order this wizard to present himself as only he is able to do that in his capacity as Chief Warlock of Wizengamot and once he fails to appear you could seize the business from that goblin and sell it to other respectable wizards, who could in turn increase your next election fund exponentially," Lucius finished, smirking at Fudge.

"But what if someone does come Lucius?" he asked knowing that goblins were smart enough to have listed a wizard owner even if he was only a figurehead.

"Then we will know whom the goblins control Cornelius, those creatures have forgotten their place and it is our duty to remind them," Umbridge said with a passion. Fudge always felt uneasy at this type of talk, the last thing that he wanted was another goblin rebellion. "Now now Umbridge don't be too hasty, we will question the Wizard who will be sent by the goblins and if we don't find anything amiss, we would have to let him go."

"Of course Minister," she said smiling innocently.

"And a donation to the St. Mungo's if he arrives for the meeting," Lucius smirked.

"I will go and meet Dumbledore myself regarding this. Next meeting of Wizengamot is at Winter Solstice, we could ask him to come then," Fudge said nodding towards Malfoy. It wasn't even noon yet but Fudge poured himself a goblet of the oak matured mead after both Malfoy and Dolores had left and toasted himself at his good fortune.