73 73. A Real World Problem

If you want, you can read 30 chapters in advance on -patreon.com/misterimmortal.

_____________________

Happy withdrew his hand with a sneer. "What? Why would I let you do that? I'll call CPS or something on you!"

"Blessed by the mother of fate itself! You will achieve great things… for you are more blessed than even the ancient Kings!" Professor Trelawney persisted in her madness, groveling before Happy. "Just once… let me hold your hand again."

"..."

Happy quickly returned to his seat and grabbed his stuff to run away. "Everyone! Class is over; let's go to Hagrid's now."

"Let's go!"

As if he was the teacher, rather than Trelawney, everyone listened to his announcement and followed him behind to leave the class. They still had a good half an hour before the next class started, though.

"What got into her all of a sudden?" Ron mumbled. "She's rubbish."

Happy shrugged. "Well, it's a strange subject. It's great when it works, and a scam when it doesn't. After all, Trelawney did make a noteworthy prophecy once—about Harry—the boy shall vanquish the Dark Lord or something."

The three abruptly stopped walking and just stared at Happy leaving.

Happy paused a few meters away, yawning, "What?"

"You know too many things." Hermione blurted out, staring at him with narrowed eyes. "As if… You're always a few steps ahead of others."

Happy smirked. "Come on, Hermione, how can I do that? It's not like I own some crazy legendary Time Turner to go back years in the past and see everything myself—Time Turners are regulated."

"Yeah, right…" Ron and Harry shrugged and followed him. But Hermione remained behind, her face almost as pale as Hedwig's feathers. She felt weird when Happy looked into her eyes and talked about the time-turner. It was as if…

'He knows? But how?'

Soon enough, they all gathered around at Hagrid's hut, from where he took them to another area for their first meeting with a Hippogriff.

Happy knew what was going to happen, so he already stepped back before Hagrid asked who'd like to touch the creature. Sure, he wanted to make friends with it too, but it was better to let Harry be the guinea pig first.

'Until he takes the ride, I'll devour this limited edition extra silky foot-long chocolate bar!' Happy took out the chocolate from his robes and began to peel it slowly, softly, ensuring he didn't make much noise.

'Ugh! Who designed this crappy wrapper—it's impossible to tear with bare hands.' He struggled with it while the class continued, and Hagrid explained about the creature.

"Now! Who'd like to come and say hello?" Hagrid asked, and everyone moved back.

"Kwaaa!" The Hippogriff abruptly screeched and began to move forward before Harry could even bow.

Hagrid panicked, "Harry, don't move! He's curious…Don't make any sudden movements!"

"Buckbeak! Stop there." Hagrid tried to command.

"Kaaaa!" But the Hippogriff ignored him and walked past Harry, toward the crowd. All the students continued to step back in fright, clearing the way—all except one.

"Ugh… This damn wrapper—I will buy this company and shut it dow—"

"Kyaaaa?"

Happy slowly looked up, and tried not to panic. The Hippogriff's face was just a foot away from him, and was also staring at the chocolate bar with interest.

"Happy! Don't move." Hagrid instructed.

"Awoooo!"

Just then, Koko came flying from the sky and landed on Buckbeak's head, tapping his webbed feet, as if greeting it.

"Koko? When did you make friends with him?" Happy stood straight, not bothering to act reserved.

Koko proudly made Hippogriff noises and talked with Buckbeak. In no time, the feathered-winged eagle horse looked at Happy with different eyes—almost filled with excitement.

"Come on…Don't tell me you want this chocolate. It's a limited edition." Happy stepped back. "At most, you get ten percent."

"Woof!" Koko protested by barking and communicated with Buckbeak.

Then, to everyone's amazement, Buckbeak turned to his side, showing his climbable back. Koko stood there and tapped his feet as if inviting Happy.

"Negotiations with a ride?" Happy easily understood and rubbed his chin. "Hmm… Alright, make it three rides per week, and then you can have ninety percent of this."

"Huehuehue…" Koko emitted a hyena-like laugh, and with that, the deal was made. Buckbeak proceeded to help Happy open the wrapper with his sharp beak, and soon the three were enjoying the finest chocolate known to them.

Meanwhile, the students and Hagrid watched the entire scene in utter confusion, admiration, and… God knows what—it was a totally new emotion. A mix of comedy, seriousness, and madness.

"Awooo!" Koko rejoiced at the flavor.

"Kwaaaa!" Buckbeak echoed.

"Hell yeaaah!" Happy cheered them on.

Just a boy, a winged horse, and a goose—nothing to see. Everything was normal.

Hagrid found his chance and came over to tame Buckbeak back to good behavior. "I've never seen ye' act like tha' boy."

Finding the courage, the other Gryffindor and Slytherins came closer to see the creature.

"How did you do that?" Ron questioned in awe. "That was amazing."

Happy had no damn clue. "I was just trying to eat some chocolate, buddy."

Hermione narrowed her eyes again. "Hmm… Trelawney was right then. You do have the luck of the devil."

Happy nearly snorted, trying to hold his laugh. 'It's actually Grandpa God.'

After that event, Harry and Happy got one ride on Buckbeak's back. Then, Happy helped Draco get it, too, causing him to start liking the creature. Then he helped Ron and Neville, but Hermione refused due to her fears.

All in all, Hagrid's first class went a lot better than the gentle giant ever expected. To that, Hagrid even invited him to a story night and hot chocolate at his hut, anytime in that year.

With that, the first day came to an end without anyone getting injured. However, although the evening was upon them, Happ's day was far from over. It was about time to meet with Christopher Gardner in New York and discuss the latest business deals. Since the business was new, he had to spend a little extra time on it.

So, he went to the seventh floor's secluded corridors with Koko and slowly began to jog.

Woosh!

A portal appeared, and he disappeared into it, only to instantly appear in the living room of his high-rise apartment in Manhattan, overlooking the Central Park. The apartment was expensive, but it sure had one fine view.

"Hands intact, feet intact... still alive," he did a safety check, a habit for all long-distance teleportations. "Koko, go check the refrigerator. Get yourself a banana and bring me a can of Coke—the drink."

"Meow."

Afterward, Happy dialed Chris' number on the landline and told him to quickly come to his apartment. Since they had already decided on the meeting today, it didn't take the man more than half an hour to arrive.

And to Happy's luck, by then, his order of Chinese fried rice had also arrived. It always felt weird seeing Koko enjoying chicken pieces, but the boy liked it, so who was he to judge?

Ding Ding!

"Koko, go check the door."

Eventually, a bewildered Chris entered, trailing behind the adorable goose. The poor man tried his best to get accustomed to his strange boss, but it was just too much at times.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Lestrange." Chris took a seat beside Happy on the couch. "Quite a view from here."

Happy shrugged and continued to eat. "Well, you can use it—not this one, of course. Take the unit above mine. It has the same view. Your son will love it, and no rent."

Chris looked dumbfounded, "How many units did you buy?"

Happy smirked and relaxed on the couch. "I bought the whole building, Chris—I love my privacy. Now, show me the papers; and grab some food. Tell me how much we made and what deals are in the way."

Chris nodded resolutely and retrieved a few pages from his bag, and handed them to Happy. Then, he took a box of fried rice and began eating while Happy paused. He had learned to never question Happy about anything regarding food, otherwise it would turn into a lecture.

Happy smiled the entire time he was reading. "Alright… the UN ordered rice and wheat worth three hundred, and India ordered a hundred million worth of sunflower oil… Wait, why is there a cross mark on most of the African nations?"

Chris sighed, shaking his head. "Mr. Lestrange, I tried my best, trust me—I met with their local warlords, Presidents, Prime Ministers—I met everyone I could. But sadly, they don't care enough about their people to buy food."

"What?" Happy was taken aback. "Then… focus on nations that genuinely want help. You can decrease the price per ton by fifty dollars at max. We won't suffer any losses even then, I can guarant—"

Chris interrupted. "Mr. Lestrange, they simply don't care."

Happy stopped speaking and silently looked at the sheets of paper. Sure, he was smart, but not in terms of geopolitics or even local politics.

"Why? We're giving so much at such a cheap price." He inquired.

Chris explained in the simplest words he could. "They don't feel the need to improve the lives of their people, Mr. Lestrange. Let's take Burundi, for example, the poorest nation in the world. Their GDP is nine hundred million dollars—on average, a person earns less than a hundred and fifty dollars a year.

"Most of Africa is like this, poor and starving. But Africa is full of resources, something the world wants. So, the governments, warlords, and military generals mine the minerals using the same cheap labor to extract resources and sell them without any taxes. Which means the country earns nothing from its natural resources. The miners remain poor, and only the bosses get rich. It doesn't help that dictatorship is the norm there, and democracies never last more than a few years."

Happy felt taken aback. 'How could someone live on one hundred and fifty dollars a year?'

"Why don't the developed nations do something? We can at least oppose dictators."

Chris smiled, but there was no joy in it. "Who do you think buys their natural resources? Why do you think those few democracies fall each time?"

Silence loomed in the room. Happy, for the first time in his life, became self-aware of how tremendously privileged he was. Not just in one, but both lives. If he was born somewhere poor in his past life, he reckoned he'd have died before the age of ten.

"What can we do?"

"Nothing," Chris replied. "Unless you want to start an army and take over countries, we're helpless."

Happy nodded and gazed at the ceiling. 'Is this what you want, Grandpa? But I'm not a politician or a warrior…'

"By the way, we need to temporarily pause rice export a bit. Prices are coming down, so let's allow them to stabilize again fir—"

"YES!" Happy suddenly jumped up. "That's it! Those African nations' warlords are rich because their natural resources are in demand—what if we crash their prices by cutting them off? Poaching away all their buyers. Bankrupt these warlords, then resume the normal supply and use the money taken from the warlords to feed and educate the people using Non-Government Foundations?

"We don't need to kill or wage war! Nor do we need to disrupt the market." Happy excitedly suggested.

'I can try asking the African Wizarding school for help.'

Certainly, there was an idea.

________________________

Join the Monke family - Discord https://discord.gg/misterimmortal

Special thanks to *phong thanh nguyen* *andy cohen* *Martin Bosley*