"I'm sure there is a reason he was hired for the post," Nicholas expressed, as he topped up his wine glass, before gesturing around the table, silently inquiring if anyone would like more. She covered her glass with her hand, making it clear that she was fine, whilst stopping her teasing of her husband under the table.
...
Resting her knife and fork on the plate in front of her, she patted her lips delicately with her napkin. "So, Harry, what are you thinking to take as your elective choices next year? You already mentioned an interest in runes," she said, directing the chat away from the 'idiot' DADA teacher and onto safer grounds for the meal.
"Runes, Arithmancy, and Care of Magical Creatures," his reply was instant and unwavering. 'Strong and firm. Decisive,' she noted, finding such traits impressive in one so young, as she respectfully listened to the future Lord Potter. There was no nervousness at all speaking so candidly with a group of adults. "I have no interest in Divination, however; it doesn't help that the teacher is a drunk," his features clearly showing his distaste for the subject and its teacher.
"Far better to focus on useful skills and subjects. I can always conduct my own independent studies if there is a need for it." She smiled at the final remark, already expecting Daphne would make similar choices, with the notable exception of the mandatory 'Muggle Studies' in place of COMC. After all, her daughter would never be raising animals like some commoner; she would just hire others to do so.
"What about you, Daphne?" Sirius asked, sipping his wine.
"The same as Harry, Lord Black, with similar reasoning as well," her daughter replied evenly, her mask still in place as the perfect pure-blood daughter. This was quite unlike Astoria, who openly yawned, much to her and Nicholas' own embarrassment, even if she didn't allow it to show on her face and alert her guests. However, before she could send her youngest a warning look, Sirius spoke up.
"Addressing me as 'Lord Black' is unnecessary; it makes me feel old and ancient," Sirius expressed, before turning to her youngest with an indulgent smile. "What house do you think you'll be in, Astoria?" encouraging her youngest daughter to speak.
"Slytherin!" her daughter exclaimed, happy at being invited to talk with the adults. "But Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad either."
"I think you would make a rather good Gryffindor," Sirius teased, as her husband choked on his food, whilst she caught Harry discreetly rolling his eyes at his godfather's remarks.
She watched as her youngest daughter gave a rather un-ladylike shrug of her shoulders. "I'd much rather be with my sister," causing her eldest daughter to smile fondly at her sister's response.
"Slytherin House has many useful qualities; it encourages one's independence and individual ability more than the other houses through intense competition and a strict hierarchy," Harry added, entering the discussion and defending the fourth Hogwarts house, even if it was not his own. "But it's not the best house for making friends, as individual ability often comes at the cost of true friends… So choose your friends wisely." This bit of advice showed a surprising amount of wisdom for his age.
"That's a very wise observation, Harry," Nicholas expressed, mirroring her own assessment of the remark. "What makes you say that?"
"I was almost sorted into Slytherin," he said, giving a simple but rather vague reply. He elaborated in response to their sharp questioning looks. "Slytherin is all about reaching the top. It's about the climb, and Slytherin House encourages its members to hone the skills necessary to 'reach the top' in the relatively low-stakes environment of school, where a misstep's consequences aren't quite as serious as it would be in the real world.
On the way 'to the top,' friends can often slow you down or outright stab you in the back. The best way to get around that is to make friends and allies with individuals who compensate for your weakness, and ideally, you would in turn compensate for theirs. There has to be a mutual gain; otherwise, you will always be worried about them discarding or betraying you for advantage."
"That's a rather jaded outlook, Harry," Sirius argued.
"I prefer the word realistic," Harry quickly countered as he used the napkin. "The real world is an unfair place with many harsh realities to it. Some people suffer at the hands of others just because others can make them suffer," sending Sirius a look which quickly sobered up the Lord, a private meaning passing between them, catching her experienced eye. 'Interesting,' she silently noted, thinking back to Daphne's supplied information on the lad and the knowledge that he was raised in the muggle world with his mother's relatives.
'Maybe his childhood wasn't a good one?' she speculated. It would explain his unusual maturity and rather pragmatic outlook on life while so young. "The best thing you can do is help yourself. Slytherin teaches this better than all the other houses. The world we live in is about power in one form or another. Some people want it. Others have it and desperately want to keep it."
"Maybe," Sirius offered, before shaking his head in sadness whilst reaching for his wine glass. 'Someone so young shouldn't see the world like this, true or not,' Sirius thought privately.
"Now that we are done with dinner, shall we move on to dessert?" Nicholas asked, as the group nodded. The house-elf quickly appeared and took all the dirty plates away before a series of fresh clean plates appeared, along with half a dozen different cakes artfully arranged down the middle of the table, along with some fruit for show.
Once again, she was taken by surprise at how Harry went for the firm green apple instead of any of the sweet cakes like most kids she knew. After all, the apples and fruits were purely for show, as his dessert knife cut the apple up into eighths.
"Cynthia? I see you have a question?" Harry observed, a hint of amusement dancing in his eyes as he faced her, clearly noticing her surprise. As she gathered herself, she wondered what she did to give herself away.
"Yes, the fruit is normally just for show," she stated firmly, her veil of ice rising.
"My apologies, I was unaware of that," he offered back, but clearly not bothered by it.
"Harry, Daphne said that you had a possible business proposal you would like to discuss with us," Nicholas began, interrupting the potentially uncomfortable exchange between his wife and guest.
"Indeed, I was uncertain if it was acceptable protocol to discuss business matters whilst enjoying such a fine meal," Harry replied back, his words easily Slytherin in nature, as she noticed Sirius' interest spike, making it clear his godfather had no foreknowledge of this topic.
"Of course, this is an open discussion," her husband encouraged. "Would you like more wine?"
"If you don't mind," Sirius answered, whilst she held out her own glass as well.
Cutting into her piece of carrot cake, Harry spoke up again. "I noticed there is an opportunity in the clothing market which could be rather profitable if handled correctly." This aroused her interest, given that she was the one who primarily handled their family's lucrative clothing line, since her husband didn't have much interest in fashion or, frankly, the eye for it.
"Non-magical clothing has become increasingly popular with the younger generations, and this will only grow in time. However, there are no magical stores or chains which reliably supply these cutting-edge fashion trends, forcing muggleborns and half-bloods to buy such products from the non-magical markets. I, myself, at times, find wizard brands too conformist, with far too little selection and diversity, and frankly a bit old-fashioned for my tastes, considering I grew up in the non-magical world. I propose creating a fashion brand which caters to this underserved market segment.
We can easily adapt to current non-magical fashion trends but give them a magical twist by adding runes and enchantments to increase the standards of the product and other charms, such as animation charms for logos or images," Harry suggested as she looked over at her husband, finding the idea rather appealing, innovative, and well thought out for a second-year student with minimal exposure to magic or business.
Several minutes passed in silence as they all ate their dessert before Nicholas finally spoke up. "It's an interesting proposal; there is indeed a possible new market, but there are several significant problems I foresee. First, there is a risk to the Statute of Secrecy when you talk about enchanting muggle clothes.
Muggleborns could unknowingly wear such enchanted clothes in public, unlike with wizard robes. I admit it's a low chance, but there is a chance for exposure, and that will have the Ministry up in arms. Then there is the fact that many of my colleagues in the Wizengamot will feel threatened by this new business, fearing increased muggle influence in our culture, and will move to prevent such developments. Then there is the Weaver's Guild to consider, and I can assure you, since I'm a member of the guild and know how they operate, that they will move to prevent you from entering this market.
The competition is intense enough already, and they will not welcome a newcomer who seeks to undermine all their members' businesses with new ideas that they'd be hard-pressed to compete against. They will use their considerable influence and move to stop you before you even open the first store, even with my help, which I assume is the reason you approached me. Frankly, I'm not sure it could be done."
"That's unfortunate," Harry stated, his expression unchanged at the bad news. "Just how competitive is the clothing sector then?"
Speaking up so her husband could have some of his dessert instead of talking, "The Weaver's Guild is not just located here in Great Britain; it's one of the few guilds around that spread across the whole of Europe. There are dozens of clothing brands whose controlling families are located here in Britain, though. Even then, there is a significant chance of other families outside of Britain moving to stop you as well," she advised.
"I was aware guilds still existed in the magical world but was not aware of the current strength of them," he replied. "What other guilds are international in their area of influence?"
"There is the Fishing Guild; they control who has the rights to fish where, who can catch what, and what the agreed price of certain fish is on the open market. Then there is the Wand Crafter's Guild; they control wand making. They are the strongest of the guilds in direct influence, as they have direct ties with the magical governments and the law enforcement of their respective countries.
They supply lists of all the wands that they've sold and their customers, as well as apply the tracking charms of the respective countries. The Ministries protect them. Then you also have the Potions Guild, similar to the others. They control what potions get sold, what the official brewing instructions and ingredients are, what the price is, who is approved to purchase, etc. Those are the 'Big 4,' as they're known," she listed.
"The Broomstick Guild is pretty powerful as well," Sirius added, taking the group by surprise. "They managed to get flying carpets banned entirely in most of Western Europe, if I recall. That's a shame considering how useful a flying carpet can be."
...
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