บท 4: Why Beg When You Can Earn
"30% for me and 70% for you?" repeated Vernon with a frown. "And the 30% would be enough for me to live comfortably for 2 lifetimes? Tell me boy, what are you going to do with the remaining 70%?"
"I need them for my future growth, Uncle Vernon," replied Harry casually. "For my growth, money and resources are a must. Being who I am does not come cheap. In fact, even the 70% may not be enough."
"So you know?" asked Vernon with a frown. Despite the fact the Dursleys had warmed up to Harry and had warmed up to them, it remained a fact that they had not revealed his ability to use magic or the fact his parents had been magical. To say they were surprised by him knowing of his heritage was an understatement.
"Of course, I know," replied Harry with a knowing smile. "How else do you explain my growth if not for the fact that I'm magical?"
Vernon was shocked when he heard Harry blatantly admit he was magical. He even flinched at hearing the word "magical". Even if he had warmed up to Harry, it was primarily due to his good behaviour around them, his helping Petunia around with the household chores and helping him out with his job resulting in him getting promoted and making more money. He may have warmed up to Harry and his view on magic may have slightly changed due to that, but he still did not like anything related to magic. He still viewed magical beings to do with them as freaks.
"Don't worry, Uncle Vernon," said Harry reassuringly as if sensing the thought patterns of the beefy man. "You have already seen how much I can help around. Our partnership can only be a win-win situation. I will keep my abilities a secret from everyone and you won't even notice anything "strange"."
'The boy is right about one thing,' thought Vernon as he pondered what Harry had said. 'He has helpe me out quite a lot already. If he can help me out more using his freakish abilities, then it's only a win-win for me.'
To say that his intelligence was due to him possessing magic was complete bullshit. Harry was a natural born genius. He had managed to gain two degrees in Computer Science and Engineering and Medicine in his previous life by the tender age of 18. He had been the top of his classess in both degrees. That was in the 21st Century where the Information Age had long been in full bloom. The knowledge he had gained from those two degrees coupled with the fact that he was an avid reader and in the possession of an Eidetic Memory, he had gained the knowledge of other fields as well, such as literature, mathmatics, agriculture and politics. His knowledge in those areas may not have been as deep as Medicine and Technology as he had not studied them systematically, however, he could give any graduates of those fields a run for their money.
With that knowledge serving as a base, Harry would have to be a full blown retard to not make use of that to his advantage in order to gain success in this world where they were still learning to change their diapers.
What he had been doing so far was to gain an understanding of where the non-magical world stood in terms of technological and scientific advancements compared to his previous world. This was because the Muggle world was never explored in the original story and he had nothing to base the Muggle world on.
The more he read about it, the more confident he grew that money was just waiting for him to claim. All he had to do was to show something for it. And he had too many things to show. It could not be any more easier for Harry.
"Alright, boy, I agree," said Vernon finally once he collected his thoughts. "Now speak."
"Right, the longterm investments will be to invest in technological companies like Apple, Microsoft and Dell," said Harry. "This can also be considered a shortterm investment as they have a lot of new products they are developing and planning to release."
"Them technology companies?" asked Vernon, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course, technology companies," said Harry matter-of-factly. "This is the beginning of the technological era and we know it. These are amongst the few companies that has the technology geniuses behind it."
"Don't tell me that they're people ... like you?" asked Vernon suspiciously. "How am I supposed to know? Maybe they are maybe they're not. What does it matter? They're making technology for everyone to use and we can make money from that if we time our investments right and place it in the right place."
"How soon are we looking for a return?" asked Vernon.
"From as soon as 1 year and as late as 30 years," replied Harry, shrugging his shoulders.
"You think they're going to be around for as long as 30 years?" asked Vernon, surprised.
"I truly hope so because the investment we make today could very well be worth hundreds of thousands, if not millions," said Harry with a grin.
"How would you know that?" asked Vernon.
'You bloody oaf!' cursed Harry in his mind. 'Should I say that because I know the future? For God's sake, stop asking stupid questions!'
"Because they're the leading companies in technological advancements," replied Harry. "If they can't stick around that long as the leaders, who else can? Plus, I've done my research on them. Even if they can't last 30 years, it will be enough for us if they can last for the next 10 years at least."
"Why's that?" asked Vernon curiously.
"Because it's stupid to leave your money in the hands of others," replied Harry. "The best way for your money to make more money is for you to handle it yourself. As we are not rich right now, we will have to settle for the next best thing; investing on others. These companies are the best options right now."
"I see, you have a point," said Vernon as he fell deep in thought.
Seeing Vernon thinking, Harry didn't say anymore and started eating his breakfast.
Throughout their conversation, Petunia was silently watching Harry and Vernon. She was proud that Harry was growing up so smart. Although her son, Dudley had calmed down from throwing tantrums after being influenced by Harry and was behaving more seriously, she could not help but to feel a tinge of disappointment as she compared her son with her nephew.
Life truly was not fair. She was always lived in her sister, Lily's shadow when they used to live together with their parents as children, and now her son had to grow up in a similar way in Harry's shadow. The only thing that lessened that disappointment was the hope of her son would someday grow to awaken his own magic the way that her sister had all those years ago.
As if sensing her thoughts, Harry looked up from his plate and stared straight at Petunia's eyes. 'This woman still hasn't truly gotten over her jealousy. Sigh ... truly a pity.'
Harry then looked at Dudley who was chewing down his breakfast like his pig of a father.
'Urgh ... that piggy habit of this fool is truly hard to break ... He really is his father's son ... How revolting!'
Harry then returned his gaze back to Petunia and saw that she was still staring at him.
'I wonder ... is her jealousy towards her sister really due to her inability to use magic?' wondered Harry. 'Is it because she can't do something that her sister can? Is that pig going to grow up like his mother? Since I was already matured before my soul took over original baby Harry's body, I retained my intellect, maturity and emotional intelligence, so what I'm showing now is something I already had when I came over. This pig of a cousin of mine naturally isn't a genius. He's average at best. Maybe ... if I can help him use his pea-sized brain even a little, it would help him improve considerably. Maybe this women might truly overcome his negative emotions. It can be very dangerous for people to harbour negativity for an extended period of time. That's probably why she was so twisted in the original story.'
"Alright boy, when do we start?" asked Vernon, breaking Harry's train of thoughts.
"Hm? As soon as we sign our legally binding written contract," replied Harry, smirking widely.
"Written contract?" repeated Vernon, confused.
"You didn't think a verbal contract would be sufficient, did you?" asked Harry, raising an eyebrow. "Of course, if I was to use magic, then our verbal contract will be even more binding than a normal written contract."
"A written contract is fine," said Vernon quickly as he waved his hand.
"Splendid," said Harry happily. "The contract is all ready and I'll bring it for you to read and sign once breakfast is finished."
"Yes, splendid," said Vernon as he felt cold sweat run down his spine.
The fact that Harry was always calm, composed scared the hell out of him. He had been like that even since the day he first arrived at number 4 Privet Drive, he had never cried, raised his voice or make any unnecessary sound. Vernon had this nagging feeling that Harry was not a child, but a grown adult in the form of a child. The biggest contributing factor to this feeling was the unnatural intelligence Harry had displayed the past few year. This unnerved him a lot.
Oh, Vernon Dursley ... How right you are ... How very right you are ...
After breakfast was finished, the Dursleys went to the living room whereas Harry went to his room to fetch the contract for Vernon to sign.
Vernon took the contract from Harry and began reading it and was, at first surprised and then shocked at how precise and detailed it was.
In brief, the contract had stated that Harry Potter and Vernon Dursley would be working in partnership to invest in technological companies. For the contract to come into effect, Vernon would loan Harry £5,000 and Harry would return it with 10% interest 24 months after the loan was issued. They would then make a joint of investment of £5,000 on the technological companies stated in the contract and the profit would be divided between them 30:70 in Harry's favour. It was also stated that by signing the contract, Vernon Dursley would not ask what Harry Potter would do with his money nor would he have the right to touch it. In the event that the contract was infringed upon by any party, the other part had the right to ask for compensation for any losses they experience from the violation of the contract. The contract would be in effect for 5 years, effective of the day it was signed. The contract had also stated that both parties were of sound mind and Petunia was the witness during the interaction.
Harry had already signed the contract and all that was needed was for Vernon and Petunia to read and sign it.
With a shocked face, Vernon passed the contract over to Petunia so she could read it as well as she had become curious for Vernon's shocked state.
As she too finished reading it, her shock was even greater than her husbands. 'Is this really a child or a monster?'
"If you don't want to sign, I could always find other investors," said Harry with a blank expression.
"No, it's fine," said Vernon with a weak smile. "I'll sign. I'll only lose out if I back out now."
"Yeah, me too," said Petunia.
Thus started Harry's plan to make money. He knew that until he could access his family vault in Gringotts, he needed some way to make money. He could not ask Vernon for money because one, he would not give Harry the amount he needed and two, Harry's pride would not allow him to plead for money when he had a myriad of other ways to make it.
Harry always lived by the motto his parents from his previous life had taught him: Why beg when you can earn?
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