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Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.
Chapter 104- Back in Business!
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"I'm singing in the rain, I'm singing in the rain. What a wonderful feeling, to be rid of those little shits!" I whisper sing to myself as I jaunt down Diagon Alley, relishing in the freedom I am now enjoying. I walk down the street, feeling the best I have ever felt. I beat my fate, or whatever you want to call it. From now on, it is free sailing, uncharted territory, and it is all up to me, no cannon getting in the way. Originally, I am supposed to be wasting away in the mental ward of St Mungos, but no, not me.
Like, look at this little playground right here. There is a little kid sitting in the sand area all by himself, making a sandcastle with no one even looking after him. There's actually no one in the park right now; his parents must have gone to a shop or something. Anyway, this little kid is meant to be there right now, creating his sandcastle in peace; that was the original timeline. But now, I am here, and I can do whatever I want and make a mess of that timeline just because I can.
"Hello," I say, and the little boy looks up from his sandcastle, confused as to why I am interrupting his playtime. "Hello?" He replies with a confused look on his face that soon turns into mortification. Why did it take such a drastic turn? Because I lashed out with a leg and sent my foot straight through his sandcastle, scattering his sand structure in the winds and blasting his little chest with bits of sand. His creation is completely decimated, and he looks at me with horror.
"W-Why?" He questions, and I look down at him with what is no doubt the most happy smile he will ever see in his life. "Because I can." And with that, I turn and walk away, laughing all the while. Truly, life is fantastic right now. Not for that kid, obviously. Some random guy came up and kicked his sandcastle into nothing, but he will get over it; life is great for me right now. And so, with a skip in my step, I continue on down the street and towards my home and place of business.
After returning to London and getting off of the Hogwarts train, I decided not to use any magical transport; instead, I decided to enjoy my new lease of life by taking it easy. So I got a taxi and had them drive me to the Leaky Cauldron, and then I came in and had a butter beer and made niceties with the general populace, which I had been removed from for a year, and now I am on my way back to my kingdom. Lockhart Consolidated. Lockheart Incorporated? Locked Hearts? I have honestly forgotten what I called the place; oh, here it is now; let's see what I called it.
Wizarding Wealth Advisors. Or WWA for short. I could have sworn I called it Locked Hearts, unlocking your dreams, or something like that, but... Oh, wait. I remember now. Andromeda told me it was a stupid name and handed over a document to sign to change the name. I just changed it because Andromeda knew what she was doing, and I trusted her. I also had some woman under the desk distracting me, and I would have signed anything. Actually, now that I think about it, every time Andromeda was handing me stuff to sign, I always had a girl under my desk.
She was a clever girl; she knew exactly what she was doing. I respect that; I also don't really care because I know everything I agreed to, which only made my company better. She would just rather not have a conversation with me to explain it and waste time. I read the stuff, but I never asked questions when I saw that it was fine. Andromeda truly is the best worker you could ask for. Well, there's only one way I could imagine that she would could be better, but she has already made it very clear that that was not going to happen.
Striding up to the front door, I grab hold of the handle and throw the door open with a bang. "Daddy's home!" I shout out, and the hustle and bustle going on inside comes to a halt as everyone pauses what they are doing to look up at me, and I bask in their awe. Which doesn't last very long as they all immediately get back to what they are doing, ignoring me completely. Not gonna lie, I was expecting a bigger welcome back, and I am feeling a bit put out. That is until I am approached by quite the fetching sight.
"Mr Lockheart, Mrs Tonks has been expecting you. Right this way." The definition of a blonde bimbo says to me, walking up to me in full office attire, blonde hair in a ponytail and thick black square-rimmed glasses on her face, not to mention the red lipstick and tight clothing. I was immediately taken, and so I fell in line easily. "Well then, lead the way beautiful." The blonde giggles at that and then turns around and walks away, heading out of the reception area and into the bullpen.
"So, you must be a new hire since I haven't seen someone as resplendent as you here before..." I hit her with a bit of the charm before trailing off, leaving it open for her to answer and tell me her name. "Ah, yes, I am new here. Just started today." She replies, smiling brightly but not actually giving me her name. Hm, just started today, did she? I just came back today, and she is definitely the ditzy type who doesn't look like she'd actually be capable of serious work.
Is this my new secretary that Andromeda has gotten to keep me busy and sated while she does all the work without me messing it up? Because I would be alright with that, especially with just how bodacious and voluptuous this woman is. It is after walking for a few minutes that I finally realise that this place is way bigger than the last time I was here, and I come to the conclusion that Andromeda must have splurged for some space expansion work because I am walking down a corridor that never used to exist. I wonder if she got the upstairs where I live done as well, I did give her a key to look after the place.
"Here we are, sir." The blonde stops in front of a door right at the end of the corridor, and she knocks before opening it up and walking straight in. "How many times have I told you to knock?" I see Andromeda reply from her desk, working on some papers and not even looking up. Didn't this girl say she started today? Just how many times has she come in here without knocking today? She is definitely a bimbo that has been hired for me, specifically. I can basically taste it with how incompetent she seems right now.
"Sorry, ma'am. Won't happen again." The blonde replies with another giggle, and Andromeda just sighs, telling me that the blonde has said that every other time as well. Deciding to make myself known, I entered the office, pushing by the blonde who is stood in the doorway, scraping out bodies against each other, completely accidental, I swear. The blonde doesn't seem to mind either way, just smiling at me while biting her lip; yeah, she's definitely here for me, I can tell.
"Andromeda, how long has it been. It seems like it was only yesterday that you were shouting at me for one thing or another." I say, walking up to her desk cautiously whilst trying to project casualness. If I'm honest, my last few interactions with Andromeda hadn't been the best, and I have no clue why. She acted cold with me and was very passive-aggressive, making cutting remarks that I had no idea how to deal with because I had no clue why she was acting that way. I just hoped whatever it was was over, and she would be back to normal.
"Hello Gilderoy, how was your time as a teacher? How much did you fuck up your students, and I mean that in more ways than one." She finishes a biting remark, one that is entirely truthful because she knows exactly who I am. Andromeda is the person who knows me the most in this entire world, and I really don't like it when she isn't on good terms with me. "Ah, actually, I didn't go after the students, though there were one or two that came for me. I was more interested in the other teachers." I reply, being entirely truthful. I don't like to lie to Andromeda if I can help it.
"Like who, Professor McGonagall?" Andromeda scoffs, still not looking up from her work, but then, after a bit of silence from me, she looks up in disbelief. I just smile at her awkwardly. "She looks very different with a de-ageing potion in her." I say, making my point that I didn't go after an 'old' woman and did it with someone that looked good. And then I hear a snort from behind me. "Haha, now way! You can fuck right off!" I turn around to see the blonde guffawing at what I just said, but I can only look on, puzzled, as she doubles over laughing.
She shouldn't be doing that as she's... not at our level? I don't really know how to explain it, but she shouldn't; in fact, she should have left the room already. "Nymphadora..." Andromeda says, sufferingly, looking at the blonde who stands straight and wipes at the tears in her eyes before winking at me and making her breast grow even larger, straining against her shirt to the point the buttons nearly pop off. "Nym?" I can't help but say incredulously, wondering why the girl is here and pretending to be someone else.
And then I remember that Andromeda is here. "-phadora?" I finish smoothly so that Andromeda doesn't catch on to the fact that I called the shapeshifting girl a nickname. I don't like to lie to Andromeda, but I'm not about to let on that I know her daughter and have had intimate relations with her. "That's right, you know my daughter, don't you?" Andromeda says, looking at me with narrowed eyes, and I just nod my head in agreement.
"Yeah, I think you've mentioned her once or twice," I say because the woman had complained a few times about her daughter and her shenanigans. Thankfully, my words hold up as Andromeda nods her head after a second. "Right, well, the girl is an Auror in training. I'm letting her spend her time around her trying to blend in and practice changing herself to blend in and be different characters. Today, she is being a blonde bimbo, and nobody around here has caught on." I just nod along, smiling as I do so, just wishing for this situation to end, as I feel very awkward right now.
"Oh, that must not make sense for you, Gilderoy. You see, my daughter is a Metamorphamagus, which means she can change her appearance and body at will to look like anyone. Hell, she could even transform into me if she wanted to." Andromeda smiles sweetly at me, but I am taken by the memories that pop up in my head of Nym when she says that, remembering her daughter doing that exactly under my desk when her mother was in the room. "Haha," I look to see Nymphadora laughing again. "See you later, Mr Lockhart." She says teasingly. Then, she leaves the room and goes back to her bimbo persona. I literally see her stumble just before the door closes, though that could just be her being her usual clumsy self.
"So," I start, Andromeda raising an eyebrow at me, and after a moment of silence, I find my bearings and continue. "How's business been? Anything new I should be informed of? Like, for instance, the inside of our business gaining a lot more space?" I ask, looking around the woman's office as I do so. She was using my office the last time I saw her, but I guess she got tired of that after I flooed in and found her doing something. I'm not quite sure what as she quickly hid it, but her face was red, and she was very short and cutting with me. Whatever it was, I am sure she didn't want anyone to know, and that's why she's got her own office now.
"Gilderoy, everything has been approved by you. I sent you letters explaining and requesting things, and you signed everything. In fact, you would send them back straight away, signed, so I don't think you were paying much attention, which I can understand given what was going on in that school. You approved the expansion and my office." Andromeda explains, putting down her quill and reclining in her chair, which does something splendid to her chest and is something frustrating to me, but I ignore it to the best of my ability.
"...Did you get my place upstairs expanded?" I ask, just curious if I have more space upstairs, not that I need it. But I could get a proper gym there and get some fun stuff put in. Honestly, I kind of recall approving the expansion, but I was just honestly signing everything Andromeda sent me after briefly skimming it. With everything going on in that school, I made the decision to place my business to the side and focus on battling Tom Riddle and my own survival. I trust Andromeda, and I know nothing she does will hurt the business or me, but now that I am back, I do need to know what has been going on.
"No, I did not. I am sure you have a lot of things up there you want to keep private, so I left it unchanged. I can get it done for you if you want." Andromeda replies, and I take a moment to think about it before shaking my head. "No, it's fine. I don't need it, you're right. Anyway, it's time to get me up to speed on how things have been. Hit me, Andromeda." I say, taking the seat opposite her desk. I am a bit confused as she looks down at her hand, but then she begins to speak.
"Right, well, first off, the brooms have been going good. Nearly every single Quidditch team in the country and abroad have bought them for their teams. At this point if you don't have one of our brooms, you are automatically going to lose the match. This will be even better when we finally release The Firebolt 1.2 this year. The teams will scramble to get hold of them, not wanting to lose because of inferior brooms. With our current business model, we'll be raking in money every year when we release the new brooms with minor improvements." I sit there and listen calmly, not interrupting as Andromeda lays it all out.
"With how we are making a limited supply of brooms and then slowly releasing them over the years, increasing scarcity and hiking up the prices, we are making over ten times what we are spending to manufacture the brooms." I smile at this, glad my plan worked out. I just went with the Apple business plan, releasing new products with minor improvements but improvements nonetheless, and then using the Sony method of having low supply, increasing the price of my product. It was money for nothing, basically.
"Moving on, we have a whole host of new businesses that we are invested in, proving true our name as Wizarding Wealth Advisors. We are basically the equivalent of a muggle bank, just without holding the money for them, which Gringotts does. We handle loans and investments, obviously with interest added on top and consequences if they do not abide by the terms of the agreement." That's another thing I learned once Andromeda started running things, magical contracts. I initially used a blood magic contract thing when I hired Andromeda, but once she came on, she showed me a method that was much less troublesome and illegal. Magical contracts.
They work on the same principle as the Goblet of Fire, with magic being the guarantor. We are held to the terms of the contract, and if someone breaks or doesn't fulfil their side, they must pay remuneration. If they refuse, their magic is taken from them, pretty much confirming that they will definitely pay up. A much better method than the one I used and a technique I learned all the Purebloods used, which was why I didn't know about it, as I am a half-blood.
"Operating as we have been, we are now invested in multiple businesses, which is why I had to hire more people to look after our interests in the business. Some are doing well, and some are failing, but either way, we will receive profit. We have even gained a few shops in Diagon Alley due to failed businesses, which we are renting out to other people. We have also gained a few properties which are not being used right now. I was waiting for you to decide what you wanted to do with them. Renovate them? Demolish and sell the land? Start a business? Keep it for yourself? It's up to you, Gilderoy." Andromeda finishes, surprising me with just how good things are going.
I've basically got an infinite money machine, and I don't even have to do anything. It truly was the best thing I ever did hiring Andromeda; now the only question is, what do I do with these new properties?
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Alright, I am back. Turns out, a lot of people want me to continue, and I do too, so that's what I am going to do. It was overwhelmingly in that favour, with a few wanting a reboot and a couple wanting a new fic, strangely a Percy Jackson one, but I've never read the books or seen the movies. Anyway, back to schedule, though I am hopeful that when we get into May, I will take my two other stories off of hiatus. From The Smoke and Amarillo's Pirate Adventure will return at some point in May, I stake my name and balls on this.
Upcoming Chapters:
Hero: Chapter 105- Wizards Renovating Houses!
Super: Chapter 107- Brushing Shoulders With The Upper Class.
Legendary: Chapter 109- An Unexpected Friendship.
Galactic: Chapter 113- Knives and Fire.
Mythic: Chapter 114- The Cry.
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That is all for now. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I will see you in the next one!
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