The Third Time is a Charm

Chapter 26: A Business Strategy

That evening during dinner, Severus and Harry asked Becca the questions burning in their brain just waiting for answers.

“So, how many houses is this manor under? This is an underground manor, right?” Harry wanted to know.

Becca nodded yes and then answered his questions. “Fifteen houses and two streets, five houses across including number four which is in the middle. The five houses across the street from number four and then five houses behind and the street Wisteria Walk. As you know Harry, that street runs parallel to Privet Drive. This was so we could be reasonably sure that if the builders of this subdivision were off from our original schematics, we would have it covered. We didn’t want this place to be under the wrong houses, although we would have made adjustments if that had happened.”

“You also need to know the house of number four is wired and we also have a surveillance room that has twenty four hour security watching them. I am taking no chances that they might see little Harry at a playground or try to kidnap him for some reason. Vernon is actually a very angry, violent and bitter man and he will slip up sooner or later. He was a known pedophile in another time line, but only one other that I know of. I really believe, Harry, that the only reason he didn’t try to sexually abuse you was Dumbledore’s brand on your thigh. As crazy as it sounds, he protected you from that if only for his own devious plans. Another reason for the surveillance is to monitor Dumbledore’s actions; we have to know if he comes to visit to see Harry so we can make contingencies on his plans. We do not need that meddling old fool to come here.” Harry nodded; he had already thought about that.

Severus suddenly realized that there was a question he should have asked long ago. “If there was a slave brand and sexual protection spells on Harry, how were we able to consummate our bond? I would have thought the spells would have kept us from being able to do that.”

“I can only assume the spells Dumbledore used are from the Voodoo ritual, not the wizard magic that we use. Because Harry is a wizard, his magic is prevalent and would cancel the spells in the place of a soulmate bond. The other magic cannot sever that bond.” Becca replied.

The older man then did some quick calculations in his head, then turned to Becca and asked. “And this place, are you telling us that this facility is over fourteen hundred square meters?” As he was speaking, his voice rose in disbelief at the prospect of the mass amount of space they were living in.

Becca shook her head in the negative and said “One level is approximately that size but the majority of this facility is three levels except the pool and flying room, those are two levels high each for the air space. There are also classrooms besides the training rooms; we also have a mini theatre and vault room and two potions labs as well. Each level is secured by muggle computer technology, security cameras and runes with magical warding spells. Every level also has its own security pass, so if you get through one level you have to know how to get around the computers and wards on the second level. From the third level down, there are three doors, in the reception room where we arrived, that go to the tunnels that have muggle golf carts. Each tunnel runs to a muggle facility. One is a bus station, one to a subway and the other comes out near a shopping mall. In order to find us and get to us you would have to get through the wards on the houses above ground, get through the first level of this place, get through the second level, then get through the third and cover all three escape routes, and believe me when I say no blasting curse is getting through the floor or ceiling, that stuff is near impenetrable. We will reprogram the computers tomorrow, I imagine you will want to get out of here and take a look around to see what we have done. Gorbink will be here in the morning and go over your financial portfolio then we can discuss some business plans or put that off for another couple of days. It is up to you.”

“Why this level of security?” Severus wanted to know. “It seems as if you are planning for the end of the world, not that I am not grateful, but no one needs this much security.”

“This manor is not just where we live, it is a safe house for those that have pledged their allegiance to us and may come to harm where they are. We actually own four more of these on a smaller scale. There are underground facilities under the medical center, publishing house, fashion house and pharmaceutical house all located in muggle areas. You have to remember, we are in a war already.”

Severus and Harry were starting to feel lost again. It was just too much.

“What do you have planned for now? I haven’t even finished my education and I don’t know much about business.” Harry reminded Becca.

“You train Harry; you train here with the others. Gorbink will teach you finance and business strategy while we finish building Prince Conglomerate. Severus can teach you potions and DADA or if you wish you both may learn from Shashi. He is a light elf and I think you only met him briefly when he was leaving. He lives in one of the houses on Wisteria Walk, using glamour of course but he is happy. Says he likes seeing the muggle way of things.” She said with a smirk in remembrance of a conversation she had with him. “Of course, we cannot use magic in the above ground residences. At least not wizard magic, it is detectable and would seem strange for too much to be used around little Harry Potter. Under the ground, however, we can use all the magic we want as they cannot detect that. So Harry, you can train as much as you want in any of the training rooms and not be detected by the ministry or anyone else. The wards are not set yet above the ground, we have to do that after that old coot leaves infant Harry on the doorstep. Then after he sets his wards we will reset them using our blood instead of Petunia’s. They will work better that way and believe me, I don’t think even Dumbledore will be able to get through them when we are finished.”

Becca started yawning and Harry and Severus encouraged her to go to bed for the night. They wanted to go through some more of the information in the office and had slept earlier so they were not as tired as the young woman.

When they returned to the war room, it was almost midnight of the first day they arrived. This would take some time getting used to. Harry looked at Severus and asked. “Do you know when our appointment is with Gorbink?”

“No” Severus answered, “but I think we can spend eight days in the war room area if you think you can stand it, we would be finished about eight in the morning here. Then we can have all our questions for Gorbink and make a trip to Diagon Alley. What do you think?”

“Sounds good to me,” Replied the younger man, “I suppose that someone could make it worth my while.” He said seductively with a grin. “We should be well versed in what is going on. I will definitely be ready to get out of here by then.”

“Let’s see if we can get an elf to bring us some tea.” Severus smiled at his mate. He was really being a good sport about all of this. He knew Harry was more of an outdoor person and not used to staying indoors all the time.

“First Born!” Harry hissed before they went back. The snake slithered up to him and bowed his head. “Would you like to join us in the war room?”

The snake hissed back, “Yes, master, we would like to spend some time with you.” So The Seven followed Harry and Severus into the war room to look around, and spend time, with their masters.

They obtained their tea from an elf named Cook Caddy. It seemed all the elves had titles or job descriptions before their names, at least the few they had come into contact with, and then the two adults entered the war room again with seven snakes.

Third Born, who was slithering around the top of the bookcases, found a journal for Prince Conglomerate. It was a business plan for several different companies and it was full of the type of information that Harry and Severus were looking for. It was also in parsletongue. Becca took no chances it seemed.

Third Born hissed “Master! I have found something” She then knocked the journal off the shelf but a few loose papers fell out. Severus picked up the journal while Harry picked up the loose papers.

“Severus these are business contracts but they are with the acromantulas, the centaurs and the unicorns. I didn’t know they would even enter into contracts with wizards. Aragog tried to eat me in second year. Said he would not deny fresh meat to his children ‘when it wonders so willingly into our midst’ **as I recall. That was scary, they would have gotten us too, if it were not for the flying car that had gone wild in the forest and came to save us.”

“Very good Third Born, you have done well in finding this book.” Harry addressed the snake still on top of the bookshelf.

“Harry, this book is in parsletongue.” When Harry made a move to take the book to translate, Severus stepped back. “No, you don’t understand what I am trying to tell you Harry, I can read this book but it is in parsletongue. Wasn’t that the gift that Salazar gave us? Are some of the other gifts starting to manifest?” Severus gave a searching look to Harry, “Do you feel any different?”

“Just more in love with you everyday,” Harry smirked back. It was so rewarding to have his mate be able to share his gift and to not be the only one that could understand the snake language. He left the book to his mate to translate and started roaming around other parts of the room. He came across the book about Voldemort again and started reading. Severus had already read most of the book and made a few comments on the side space so the book could be edited. He loved some of the passages in the book though, some made fun of Voldemort outright, and some made you really think about what the war was really about. He started to read a few passages that really caught his eye.

…So this Tom Riddle, who was raised in a muggle orphanage, has decided that pureblood supremacy is for the betterment of the world, but what does he know about it? How does he come by this decision? Yes he went to Hogwarts, and yes he might be the heir of Slytherin, at least he claims to be, but with what proof? Why would anyone take his word for it? He is tricky and he uses his skills well, the skills of coercion, duplicity, and a charm that would make a dead man rise up to follow him. So is this the pureblood way or is it just the way of a con man as the muggles would say? A man who has so much confidence in himself so everyone follows because he seems to know what he is doing and can convince others that this is the way for them to benefit?

Harry could almost see how the purebloods were convinced to join him. So he read on.

…So this man, this Tom Marvolo Riddle aka Lord Voldemort, convinces you that a mark is imperative to show unity in his cause. He does not tell you the mark is essentially a slave brand put to another use and that he now has access to your magic. He siphons your magic off little by little growing in power while promising you that you too can be as powerful as he. The truth is you most likely already are if you stop giving him your power. Your ancestral home contains your family’s residual magic. When each family member dies, their magic goes into the manor of the family, strengthening the protection wards and keeping the family line safe. So this Tom Marvolo Riddle then he asks for your property or to move into your home as your guest in support of the cause. In actual fact this man has no special magic; his specialty is thievery and deception.

Harry laughed when he read this, he hoped this book could be published but he knew both Voldemort and the Ministry of Magic would block its publication.

…The next thing you must understand is the nature of a slave bond, in this case, when the master dies so does the slave. Tom Riddle doesn’t tell you this and you don’t know what spell is being used because he speaks in a language you do not understand, but I ask you now, would you do business and sign a contract without knowing the language it was written in? The mark can be removed, but another parslemouth would need to do it if Tom Riddle won’t, and we all know he will not give up his slaves.

...Pureblood families follow this man because they were targeted by this “con man” and told the others are no good, but I have to ask, if you destroy everyone else, whom will you rule over? Is not the king that takes care of his people more revered that the king that is most feared for his cruelty? Where do your loyalties lie? Do they lie in yourselves, your families, and your world or in Tom Riddle that punishes you for every assumed misdeed that he creates? What is the pureblood way? To destroy and steal from others? To raise your children to do the same? To enslave people as property or to build your businesses, your economy and your world? If you enslave every muggle and half blood, who will buy from your businesses? These slaves only become dependent on you and take away from your resources not add to them…

Harry could not believe Becca actually put this in writing. If this book was ever found, it would cause an awful lot of terror with the purebloods. She was stating most assuredly that all the Death Eaters would die.

After a few hours of reading, Severus came over to him to show him what he had been studying.

“Harry, Prince Conglomerate is a company started in another timeline. Becca has used the proven methods used in the former timeline to create the wealth here so that it can fund several charities that can help our world. Love, Prince Conglomerate was started and run by our counterparts. You and I are Prince Conglomerate. This is how Becca knew how to do some of the things she has already done.” Severus said, awestruck. “We, as in our counterparts, contracted with the acromantulas to give them fresh meat for an agreement to leave the centaurs alone and for the potions ingredients we could harvest safely from them. The centaurs provide hand carved gifts for the home decoration division and we provide them with warding and another underground facility similar to this one, on a much smaller scale, so they can safely hide their young as the war is prevalent.”

“Well I can see how we could negotiate with the spiders. I know from experience you can’t blast through their shells. I had to face one in the Triwizard Tournament. I could also explain all the silk sheets and other things around here.” Harry pondered when Severus made a break in his dissertation about the company to get a sit of tea.

“They hired werewolves and Remus was in charge of that in the other time line. They travel abroad on mission trips, helping different victims of major natural disasters and find rare potion ingredients. The pharmaceutical division actually makes homeopathic medicines for muggles and there is another division that helps people to start their own businesses. Many of which provide products or services that Prince Conglomerate uses or delivers. The mini floo was a huge success in the other time, being all the rage with the elite and purebloods. I have to admit that they do serve a good purpose giving safety and keeping you off your knees to talk to someone.”

“That’s not all Harry. They also have a few hospitals, blood banks and other things. They have the Vampires as a protection service for the price of blood from the blood banks. The fairies and pixies give us potion ingredients in exchange for protection and the unicorns give us, freely given, hair for protecting them from the spiders. Every one works together.”

“Harry, the level of cooperation in this is incomprehensible. All the magical creatures are taken care of by taking care of a need and getting something back to take care of another’s need. There is even a Gringotts II, so that magical creatures can do business because, by law, they are not allowed in the wizard bank.” Severus shook his head in wonderment and added. “There must be at least twenty different magical beings in this plan cooperating together to not only see to their needs but to protect you and the prophesied baby Harry. Most of these that are dark creatures are ones that before had joined Voldemort for the promises he made to them. Prince Conglomerate doesn’t make promises; they actually do something about it.”

Severus and Harry continued to discuss the dynamics of Prince Conglomerate and added to their list of questions for the meeting with Becca and Gorbink. A few hours later they went to bed and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow. The Seven were intertwined in front of the fireplace also resting as their masters slept.

So it went for days, Harry and Severus going over the plans of Prince Conglomerate. They found out that originally the name was used because the name ‘Snape’ was associated with Death Eaters and the name Potter created such havoc with fans and the press that they avoided using that name too. The wizarding world had nearly forgotten about the Princes since the name had died out with Severus’ mother. It was a logical conclusion and worked well now since they had the same problem here, on top of there being another Snape. They agreed that changing their name to Prince was for the best.

The next thing Harry found the last day they were staying in the war room area was a book of pranks aimed at the Dursleys. It was a list of things that could be done to drive them absolutely insane. Harry and Severus were laughing so hard their side hurt, when the description of the three dimensional image of the two lovers in the back yard. The idea was that no matter when she looked through the hole she would see only the two snogging. There was some kind of recognition software implanted in the fence and she would be the only one to see the men kissing. If she looked in the back yard of the other houses bordering her, she would find homosexual activity in every neighbor’s yard, oh she would be driven so mad. There were other things like having a piece of trash appear on her lawn every time after she picked it up. Harry could hardly wait and, for the first time, he began to feel good about living here.

There were a few other books written for Prince Publications that Harry and Severus read and edited a little to include some of the things that had happened in their time line. Then when the time came they left the war room and appeared with The Seven back into the sitting room of number five Privet Drive. They joined Becca for breakfast served by Cook Caddy again. At the last minute Gorbink came in to eat also, but did not discuss any business until breakfast was completed and they moved back into the war room. Severus and Harry were actually itching to get out of the place, but wanted to find out a few things before taking off for Diagon Alley.

Gorbink confirmed much of what Harry and Severus read and deduced from the information in the office. Gorbink had a charge card for each of the men and handed one to Becca also. The men decided they were going to take the next two weeks off to enjoy the Christmas Holidays, something Harry had never been able to do and then start on the business things at the first of the year.

“What of the employees of Prince Building Contractors? Those beings are the ones that make the substance this building was built with and they have been waiting to start doing the mini floos that were proposed. We need to get started with that idea.” Gorbink was worried about his people and Severus liked that he considered the others.

“Please explain that Harry was nearly killed only a week ago and we have need of a rest. They in the meantime will be paid through the end of the year and given a month’s wages as a Christmas Bonus. This should assure them that their jobs will be in tact. We will contact the Daily Prophet and tell them of the mini floo to generate interest and possibly get some orders even before they come back from the holiday vacation.” He turned to Harry and asked “Do you agree love?”

Harry nodded and turned to Gorbink. “Is there any reason we should avoid the bank or Diagon Alley? Severus and I want to get out of here. Also will these cards work at muggle stores?” Harry had noticed the logo of a well known muggle credit card company on the lower right corner of the cards.

Gorbink said “Yes they will, and here are your statements showing what you own in the vaults at Gringotts. Also there is one vault here in this facility that has galleons in it if you want to take some cash with you. You need to use a little glamour but you should be alright. The Death Eaters are active but not much.”

Gorbink bowed to the other three and left the room. A minute later they heard an elevator going up to the surface.


** This is a direct quote from The Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling