章節 7: A Deal with the Devil
"I have a business proposition for you, which I am quite confident will net both you and the Black family vaults quite a bit of money," begins Lucian trying to excite the goblin.
"And how would this be payment for your previous request, Young Black?" asks Furgok.
"Ahhh, that's the beauty of it. It's not. I'm willing to pay for the educational materials in full. The business venture is to open a dialogue and hopefully ensure continued cooperation."
Arcturus looks at Lucien trying to puzzle out where he is going with this. If he knows his son at all, he always has some type of angle to pull.
Lucien pulls out a handful of papers from his notebook and begins to write a few sentences on each one of them. He then turns them face down on the darkly stained wooden table and looks at Furgok.
"On this table, there are three business ventures I would like to invest in. As our account manager, is this something that is within your purview?" asks Lucien slyly.
"Of course! Gringott's is the finest investment and banking institution in the world," answers Furgok somewhat incensed.
"Good! Then I will begin to discuss with you the contents of each of these sheets. If this is an investment that Gringott's would like to take part in, please make a note and you can speak with my father about it afterward."
Lucien then looks at his father who smiles and gives him a nod.
'Speaking like a true Black! If these ideas are as good as he thinks, we may need to open up another vault!' thinks Arcturus as he silently praises his son.
Unknown to them both, Furgok's thoughts were venturing into the opposite spectrum. 'This little boy... Sure, he has impressed me to this point, even going as far as to learn our tongue, I will humor him and listen to his ideas. They may not be that bad for a child.'
Lucien flips over the paper which contains a few sentences or writing along with an illustration. He then reaches into his moleskin pouch and pulls out a burr.
"Do you know what this is?" asks Lucien.
Both Arcturus and Furgok take a look at the seed pod and nod unsure of where this is going.
"And I assume you've had them stuck to your clothes before? You may have even found one stuck to the fur of an animal in your care."
Both adults nod once again.
"Good! So have I, in fact, I was curious as to why this occurs and why they are such a pain to get out."
"Burrs themselves have hooked spines coming off of the pod itself which will stick to any looped material such as clothes and even animal fur if there is enough of it."
Lucien then shows them the illustration of a strap with tiny hooks on one side and the base which has tiny loops.
"This," says Lucien pointing at the illustration, "is what I like to call Velcro. It's a portmanteau of the french words for velvet and hook."
"Think of all of the applications this can have not only in the magical world but the muggle as well. I'm actually quite sure we will make much more money manufacturing these for muggles. They can either be sewn on the things such as jackets to replace buttons or used with an adhesive so two objects can be stuck together but removed when needed."
'Ahhh sorry Mestral... I need this more than you do,' thinks Lucien as he offers his silent condolences.
"So, father, Furgok, what do you think?"
Both Arcturus and Furgok look at Lucien dumbfounded. They didn't expect him to come up with such a clever invention. Especially not one specifically meant to target the muggles.
Furgok took a second before he answered, "I think this product has great potential and can be used for many more applications than we are currently thinking of. The idea to market this toward the muggles is where the brilliance really lies. As they have no magic to rely on, this fastener could come in handy. "
Arcturus nods, "I agree, son, I think this is definitely an investment worth looking into. Its potential is limited only by imagined uses. It could become quite useful for muggles during wartime."
"The next topic," Lucien flips the second paper over, "is a little bit of magical genius that I'm surprised no one has thought of yet."
"My second idea is for a global business utilizing portkeys," Lucien announces, "but these would be exclusively for werewolves."
Lucien takes a pause before continuing, "We would provide portkeys to be used the evening before the night of a full moon to take said werewolves to a different point around the globe where it is still daylight before porting them back to their starting location once dawn has broken. I suggest we have a handful of locations set around the globe."
"This will be a boon to the Werewolf population and if done properly we can corner the market before anyone knows what hit them. Most werewolves would pay a pretty penny to skip the transformation. We can even use them as labor to man the stations if need be," Lucien announces.
Once again, Furgok and Arcturus look gobsmacked.
"It may not be a cure for lycanthropy, but it's definitely the next best thing. We can even provide for the port keys to be delivered to each individual at the beginning of each month. No reason to out someone for a disease they never wished to have, right?"
Arcturus nods while Furgok begins to scribble notes on the parchment in front of him.
'This could work,' Furgok thinks to himself before setting his pen down.
Lucien seeing that they are both satisfied continues with his final pitch.
"This last bit is actually something that the muggles are already using. The idea itself is credited to Leonardo DiVinci but optomized by a french physician toward the end of last century."
Lucien flips over the last piece fo paper and gestures toward the illustration.
"These are called contact lenses. They work as a replacement to glasses by using a method that I'm not fully versed in. They are currently made of glass and are quite rigid and may cause slight irritation to the eye."
"Although this may be a problem for muggles, this can easily be overcome by magic. All it will take is for them to be spelled with a self-cleaning charm, as well as a softening charm and cushioning charm to remove discomfort. All that's left is for the customer to hit them with a simple sticking spell and place them on their eyes."
"This should remove all irritation and allow for them to maintain their cleanliness for better visuals. I would recommend for them to be placed in a liquid solution each night before being spelled with a reparo and a quick scourgify before repeating the process of wearign them."
Arcturus slaps the table, "This is brilliant Lucien! A true gold mine! Men and women will buy them purely for vanity's sake, not to mention the practicality of the product itself. Glasses can be quiet bothersome, especially when spells are flying."
Furgok can't help but to agree, "These are truly remarkable ideas, please give me a moment to speak to my superiors about both your request and the inventment opportunities."
When Furgok leaves the room Arcturus turn toward his son and gives him a proud smile.
"Lucien, those ideas were truly extraordinary. I plan on speaking with Furgok after this whether or not Gringotts chooses to invest. With this, we may be able to increase our gross income by at least double in the next 10 years! Hahahah!"
Lucien knew his father was excited to get a chance to rub it into all of his friends' faces. Not only is his son a brilliant inventor, but now the Black's bottomless piles of gold will continue to get deeper and deeper.
Furgok returns to the conference room and takes his seat before speaking. "I have spoken to the higher-ups and they have given me clearance for you to receive the educational materials. Please pick them up sometime tomorrow at your leisure. The cost will be taken directly from the Black family vault."
"We are also happy to inform you that we would like to invest as well in the three projects mentioned earlier. We have many contacts at our disposal that can be utilized and would be happy to speak with Lord Black about this after the meeting."
Arcturus nods, a vicious grin on his face mirroring the goblin's.
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