Aristocrat (HP/SI)

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***

Richie had caught Dumbledore's brooding gaze several times over the couple of days of study. It was unnerving, making him worry and think the worst.

Eventually, back in his dormitory, which Richard shared with his fellow Puffendui students, the boy laid out on his couch with the last available magophone. He spent a long time hypnotising the artefact with his gaze, before making up his mind... Taking the enchanted handset, he set off for the owlery....

In the evening of the next day, Richard's magophone receiver rang. The boy was in the Puffendui drawing room at the time. He hurriedly hid in his bedroom where no one was at that time, only then did he answer the phone.

- Richard here.

From the speaker of the magophone came a familiar chesty female voice, full of eroticism:

- 'Count Grosvenor, it is a pleasure to welcome you. This is Madame Bagnold. Do you still remember her?

- How could one forget such a charming lady....

- Oh, what am I talking about," the ex-Minister of Magic said in a playful tone. - If you had forgotten about me, you would hardly have sent such an amusing artefact.

- Madame Bagnold, though I am too young to appreciate a fine work of art or the beauty and charm of a delightful woman like you.

- Oh, Count," said the ex-minister, a touch of amusement in her voice, "you flatter me grossly. But fortunately for you, I am fond of flattery. Shall we not beat round the bush?

- What about talking about the beautiful weather, complimenting each other, shaking hands, probing the ground? - Richard hinted.

- Count, let's pretend we're past all that," said Madame Bagnold. - Or have you fallen for me?

- Madame, I must confess that I liked you very much not only as a woman, but also as a minister.

- And you didn't like Fudge? - Madame Bagnold's voice was full of irony.

- We disagreed with him.

- What opinions, if you don't mind me asking, exactly? - the woman asked with genuine curiosity.

- Fudge is an idiot. But worse than that, he's a proactive and unpredictable idiot. And this... um... alternatively gifted one has decided to arrest me to the delight of the Dementors. You've been Minister of Magic for ten years... Do you think my grandmother would like that?

A woman's lively, gleeful laugh came from the speaker.

- Fudge isn't an idiot, he's a moron! - stated Bagnold after she'd finished laughing. - It makes a lot of sense to me now. No-one should make Granny angry.....

- I wouldn't dare do that myself," Richard agreed.

- So, Count," continued Bagnold, "since we've decided to skip the idle chatter, perhaps you could regale my ears with some interesting gossip.

- There are rumours that someone wants to put his own man in the Minister of Magic's chair," Richard said with a hint.

- Such rumours circulate among wizards all the time," the sorceress replied. - For example, Barty Crouch is supported by liberals, Scrimgeour is interesting to the ultra-left, and Malfoy - to the ultra-right.

- And I'm interested in you, sweetest Madame Bagnold.

- Is that a declaration of love?! - The ex-Minister was openly amused and fountaining with joy.

- Of course it is," said Richard sarcastically. - If my father and Uncle Charlie could come to the phone right now, they'd say they liked you too.

- I see," Bagnold became more serious.

As an experienced politician and no less experienced woman, she perfectly caught all the nuances of the dialogue and deciphered the double and triple meaning. If to translate the speech into the language accessible to the common man, then seemingly simple and joking negotiations are reduced to quite a definite proposal: "I want to see you in the role of Minister of Magic. The Royal Family supports me and will approve of your candidacy."

- Count, I am a fragile woman..." a sad meaningful sigh accompanied Bagnold's speech. - It is very difficult for me to live in this cruel world ruled by men.

- I understand completely, Lady. I'm sure it would be much easier for you to bear the hardships of life in this cruel patriarchal world if you had a secret admirer who would throw a million galleons at your brooches.

There was complete silence in the receiver for some time, and one could distinguish an agitated breathing. At the other end of the magophone, the ex-minister fumed. She was used to a very different size of bribes, much smaller. It didn't immediately dawn on her that it was only for "brooches", i.e. campaign funding, until Richie added:

- I'm sure your secret admirer loves strong women, especially ministers. And he'll probably give his lady of the heart some change for costume jewellery. A thousand and a hundred galleons a year.

- So modest?! - Madame Bagnold was indignant, having very quickly realised. - I wouldn't even go out with such a suitor. If we were talking about a million....

- Ladies! Ladies! God forbid you should meet such a suitor! Where would you find such a man? Well, my father could be one, he's a billionaire. But he's not really interested in wizards and wizards. I, for instance, am but a humble millionaire. I'm sure your heartfelt admirer isn't that solid, but you shouldn't reject him if he adds a hundred thousand to his bread and butter.

- 'Ah, Count,' sighed the ex-minister erotically. - I wish the admirer would add another three hundred thousand for caviar.

- It's not good to eat a lot of caviar - you can get fat... And anyway, did I hear correctly that it was about thirty thousand a month, or is this artefact defective?

- No, no, Count, - the satisfied ex-minister decided to stop there, - your artefact works perfectly. I have always dreamed of such an admirer who would give me thirty thousand galleons a month for costume jewellery. Oh! I would probably even turn a blind eye to all his faults and support him in all his endeavours.

- What selflessness! - Richard pretended to admire him. - Ladies, my respects. It has been a great pleasure to speak with you.

- Count," the chesty, erotic voice seemed to penetrate Richard to the very core of his being, "and what a pleasure it was to hear you... I can't tell you in words... Be sure to give my regards to your father and godfather.

- I will, ladies. Good luck in your endeavours.

- You too, Count.

As Richie disconnected the wireless connection, he thought:

"I should have accepted my father's sponsorship. Somehow the Galleons in the Gringotts vault are melting fast, as if I were Kai from The Snow Queen, and the coins were made of ice, and it was a hot summer. Here's minus another million chips, and the new year of 1992 has just recently arrived."

***

A fortnight passed. The middle of January turned out to be very snowy. Dumbledore took no action on Richard. Harry Potter was still angry at the Headmaster and was plotting his revenge.

Richard, on the other hand, was actively preparing to save the world and his own arse, and if he failed, at least to save a part of humanity and people close to him. And the first point in this plan was to build a spaceship, and the second was to deprive a potential villain or villainous wizards of a possible source of long life and treatment, i.e. stealing the Philosopher's Stone.

The first advances were already in place. In "Grosvenor's Workshop" the development of artificial intelligence based on the methods of creating living paintings and the Distributing Hat was in full swing. Consultations of specialists-scientists and engineers in the development of an iskin and docking of technologies of information storage and transmission with magic chips were not lacking.

There were also positive developments in politics. Firstly, Arthur Weasley and the Chairman of the ICM from Great Britain managed to buy most of the votes in the International Confederation of Mages. The exact date for an unscheduled ICM meeting was set. Secondly, Madame Bagnold, who became the owner of a document that allowed her to get a million galleons from Grosvenor's safe, began active political activity: bribing Ministry officials and representatives of the press, blackmail and other exciting activities that precede any election. The ex-Minister assured Richard in another magophone conversation that with such serious funding she was sure to become Minister again, despite the rivals' intrigues.

Richie decided to devote the day to preparing the operation to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone. To this end, the first thing he did was to fish out Hermione Granger and seclude himself and her in one of the abandoned classrooms that had no living portraits.

- 'Richie,' Granger looked round the dusty room, 'you wanted to talk to me?

- Hermione, there's an important assignment for you. You're going to help me, aren't you?

- Of course! - Granger said with lively interest. - What do you need to do?

- I want to know what the Philosopher's Stone looks like, - Richard answered. - Hermione, please find this information. And I also ask you very much to keep my interest a secret. Can you do it in the next two or three months?

- I-" Granger hesitated. - Yes, I can. I'll go through the whole library, but I'll find it.

- Thank you so much. Hermione, I'd really appreciate it. To make it easier to find, I'll give you a starting point - the creator of the last known Philosopher's Stone was an alchemist called Nicholas Flamel. He's something in the region of 600 years old.

- Is he really still alive? - Hermione asked in surprise.

- Yes," Richard said with a nod. - That's the whole point of this stone - to prolong a person's life.

- Richie, why do you need it? - Granger asked curiously. - Wouldn't it be better to find the recipe for creating the Philosopher's Stone?

Richard laughed. Having calmed down, he uttered:

- Hermione, if only it were that simple... Do you really think that with the availability of the recipe for Great Making, mages would live only slightly longer than ordinary people? If you don't see the Elixir of Life in magical pharmacies, then the recipe for creating the Philosopher's Stone isn't in the public domain either.

- I'll look for it," Hermione said stubbornly.

- Look. If you find it, that would be wonderful.

- I think I'll go to the library right now," Hermione said.

- Commendable zeal.

- Richie, are you with me? - Hermione asked.

- No, I'm sorry. I'd love to keep a lovely young lady like you company, but unfortunately, I have a lot of business to attend to. Business... Being away at school hasn't made it go away.

- Okay, I'm sorry. It must be hard running a business at such a young age, huh?

- It's not easy, Hermione. Very hard. But what can you do? I'm a Grosvenor, which means I have to be the best.

After Hermione left for the library, Richard called Fred Weasley and arranged a meeting. Fred invited the young Lord to his secret underground laboratory, where Richard immediately headed.

Fred and George waited impatiently for their guest. As soon as the door closed behind Richard's back, Fred said:

- Good afternoon, Lord. If this is about the new development, we don't have anything ready yet.

- Greetings, gentlemen.

Richard bowed politely to the twins.

- Fred, where are our manners," said George. - Good afternoon, great and incomparable Earl.

- Oh, indeed," Fred splashed his hands. - It is a pleasure to welcome you to our laboratory.

- Gentlemen," Richard's gaze travelled round the room and stopped briefly on the cauldron that stood on the fire. A bluish liquid was bubbling in it. - Please forgive my sudden visit. I have some confidential business of the utmost importance to attend to.

- Yes, yes," Fred stared at Richard curiously.

- Gentlemen, this is a very dangerous business. Are you prepared to risk it?

- Richard, tell me," said George, burning with curiosity.

- Gentlemen, on the afternoon of the fifth of June, two people are to be eliminated for a few hours: Professor Quirrell and Professor Snape.

- Eliminate?! - George asked in horror.

- Eliminate professors?! - Fred asked excitedly.

- Temporarily, gentlemen. Temporarily! They should be unable to patrol for three to five hours, as long as possible. Can you manage?

- Well," George stretched out with a very thoughtful look. - It's complicated, and it's really quite large and dangerous.

- The price of the matter..." said Fred.

- That's a good question, gentlemen," Richard smiled, realising that since money was involved, the boys would agree. - A thousand galleons. And if you should happen to be caught and seriously punished, I will compensate you for your inconvenience. But it's very desirable that you don't get caught.

The twins looked at each other for a while. Wide smiles graced their faces. The boys turned to Richard and simultaneously said:

- We agree!

- It'll be the joke of the century," Fred added.

- Oh, yes, brother," George agreed.

- All right, gentlemen. This is a down payment," the pouch of three hundred gold coins changed hands, and Ritchie bowed again. - I dare not take up your valuable time, gentlemen. Good day to you. I do hope it all works out for you. The rest of the amount after the "joke" is over.

***

The clock was ticking rapidly. Richard was immersed in the study of magic. He was once again concentrating on practising his transfiguration spells, perfecting them to perfection. And a little time, as before, he continued to devote to copying valuable metals, because, being at Hogwarts, it was difficult for him to earn money otherwise. Of course, his assets were gradually growing, but sometimes gave surprises. So, for example, in autumn Nokia shares fell in price almost twice, but by the end of December almost returned to the previous level. Naturally, this upset Richard. If he had known that Nokia shares would fall so much in October, he would not have bought them in September. He hadn't lost anything, but he could have made something like ten million dollars.

Spring came, but the snow continued to lie outside. It was not until April that it began to melt and nature began to come alive. The windows of the castle overlooked the budding buds of the trees and the grass that was making its way to the sun.

On the third of April, Richie was returning from dinner from the Great Hall to the Puffendu dormitory in Justin's company. Near the barrels, the boys spotted a lone Gryffindor student.

- Hermione, hi," Justin waved hello.

- Good evening, Hermione," Richard said. - Are you waiting for me?

- Hi, Justin, Richie," Granger said. - Richie, I found what you were asking about.

- Magical," Grosvenor Junior's lips curved into a happy smile.

- Found what? - Finch-Fletchley inquired curiously.

- Justin, Hermione was looking into the historical chronicles," Richard replied. - If you're interested in the history of magic, you can come with us and hear what my good friend has found out about it.

- History of magic? - Justin said it like he was talking about something horrible. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "No, you don't need me. Bince is enough for me.

- Professor Beans! - Granger corrected.- That's right," Justin replied, "a boring ghost professor. I'd rather play explosive fool with the boys.

- Have a good game," Richard admonished his mate. - Hermione, it's lovely weather today. How would you like to go for a walk in the fresh air? They say the lake has an incredible charm this time of year.

- I'd love to," Granger smiled maturely.

On the way out Hermione was torn with the urge to speak up. She kept up a conversation about her studies, but somehow without fire, though she could usually talk about her classes endlessly.

As soon as the pair of first-years stepped out into the fresh air and into an open space with no one close by, Granger blurted out:

- Richie, I found everything!

- Everything?

- Yes, everything! The picture of the Philosopher's Stone and the recipe for creating it.

Richard froze like a dumbfounded man. He slowly turned his head towards Hermione; at that moment it seemed as if the boy's neck was carved out of wood and was making the squeak of an unlubricated cart wheel. Richard's face was a mask of inordinate amazement: eyes wide, mouth open, eyebrows raised.

- The recipe for the Philosopher's Stone?! - he asked in a hoarse voice.

- Yes, yes," Hermione nodded vigorously. - The book was written by Nicholas Flamel himself in the seventeenth century. It's called Mutus Lieber.

- THE RECIPE FOR CREATING THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE?!!!! - repeated louder to the stunned Richard, bulging his eyes harder, though it seemed - where more? - IN THE SCHOOL LIBRARY?!

- But it's a school of magic," Hermione replied. - 'And-and-and...

- И?

- There's one small problem there...

- What's that? - Richard asked.

- Flamel's book is encrypted in the form of engravings, and other wizards' studies on this book say that so far no magician in three hundred years has ever managed to decipher "Mutus Liber".

- Another thing! - Richard was relieved and gradually gave his face its former silicate brick expression. - I thought that any curious schoolboy could make his own Philosopher's Stone. And here it turns out that the book is encrypted in such a way that a lame mare with a whole staff of wizards can not approach.

- And yet, Richie, why do you want this information? - Hermione asked curiously. - Do you really want to create the Philosopher's Stone?

- It would be nice, but there's little hope. Hermione, I'm trying to get all possible useful information about the most valuable achievements of wizards. I'm very grateful for your help. I don't have enough time for anything.

Hermione looked very pleased. She liked receiving praise.

- 'I brought copies of all the Philosopher's Stone and alchemy books that weren't enchanted. That's over a hundred folios.

- That's thorough! - Richard said respectfully. - Let's sit in the sun and you can hand me all the books.

- Richie, do you think it's possible to decipher the Mutus Liber?

- Logic says it's possible.

Richard took a small book of engravings in his hands and began to scrutinise the pictures. Hermione too was looking at the pages of Flamel's work.

Engraving number one shows two angels on a ladder to heaven, with a man lying in front of it, with the moon and stars above at the corners, and the whole page of the drawing is braided with the stem of a rose with thorns and leaves, and the flowers themselves at the lower corners. "Mutus liber in quo tamen" is the inscription on the first page.

- Richie, do you understand anything? - Hermione looked at the boy with hope in her eyes.

- Hmm..." Ritchie, out of habit, borrowed from his father, ran the back of his hand over his chin thoughtfully. - We should not forget that alchemy is the science of transformation and perfection... Therefore, the book describes not only the stages of making the Philosopher's Stone, but also the stages of self-improvement of the alchemist.

- Yes, something like that was written about by research wizards," Hermione said.

The boy continued flipping through the book.

- Notice, Hermione," Richard said, flipping through all the engravings, "the pages of this small book illustrate the symbolised actions of an alchemist while revealing the technology of alchemical procedures. We see here drying, evaporation and distillation, heating over an open fire and a kind of thermostatisation, decanting and filtering, calcination and dissolution, the use of scales, a blowpipe and the like.

- I've noticed, too, that a lot of the symbols show the work of a chemist," Hermione said proudly. - Maybe they are all successive stages in the making of the Philosopher's Stone?

- Quite possibly," agreed young Grosvenor. - But surely in addition to that we need to reproduce and make up for all those nuances, which are many in the book and which we have not been able to decipher. Note the engraving in which the alchemist sleeps with his head on a stone, and in it you can see a cavity from which a stream flows to his feet. The moon in the sky at this moment is in the last quarter. So it can mean, for example, that the wizard must be in some way in close contact with the stone for three weeks.

- Or maybe not," Granger noted. - It could mean that one must begin some sort of procedure in the fourth lunar quarter.

- Perhaps," Richard agreed. - Notice the stairway to heaven and the two angels blowing church horns. One is bigger, the other smaller. I believe that angels are symbolic of success. There are two of them, so there are two ways to create the Philosopher's Stone: fast and long. And judging by the allocation of the big angel, this book describes the long way of the Great Work, and the short way remained in secret, that is, in the head of Nicholas Flamel.

- And I thought they were just angels," Hermione frowned. - How did you see something like that in them?

- Hermione, in this book every drawing carries some meaning, it's a cipher in which every little detail is important. Anyway, our brains aren't big enough to decipher it yet.

"Our human brains," Richard thought to himself. - And an Iskine specially sharpened for decryption might be able to crack the cipher embedded in these engravings. All it would need to do is upload a vast knowledge base of everything, especially magic.

- Ritchie, I'm confused by the difference in the Philosopher's Stone," Hermione said. - In Mutus Liber, it's a cobblestone, but in the book written by the medieval alchemist Jacques Tolle, who talked to Flamel and saw his stone, it's depicted as a small blood-red stone with sharp edges.

- It's probably just a piece broken off from the main Philosopher's Stone," Richard said. - It makes sense, and it fits in with my theory.

- Which one? - Hermione showed a great deal of curiosity.

- Nicholas Flamel has many such pieces of philosopher's stones, but he tries to present them to the public as if they were one stone.