34 M-Phones, and home problems

Chapter 34 –

As Nathan gazed at the people gathered in the highly secure, magically warded apartment they had arranged on the non-magical side of London, he couldn't help but frown in pity. On the surface, the people looked relatively unimportant. Well dressed, but not overly so, magic tended to cover most of the outward appearances of people. These were the kind of people one would overlook when you took a stroll through Carkitt Market or walked alongside the magically extended section of the Thames.

There was the middle-aged assistant who ran the stores in Greengrass apothecaries, Mrs. Mary Adams. Just beside her was the bet collector, Mr. Richard Horton who worked at the illegal bookies in Knockturn alley, with his friend who served fire whiskey and food to the patrons who frequented the place, a Mr. Kenneth Persons. Behind them sat the slightly balding man, who was quite young despite his looks, Joey Stenhouse. He was usually found half-drunk, and passed out by the entrance of Knockturn, or sometimes in a corner booth of the Leaky Cauldron.

There were at least fifty to a hundred more people like them in the conference hall.

Two things connected all these people. They were all muggle-borns and half-bloods, and they were people who had scored in the higher brackets of their OWLs and NEWTs when they completed their education at Hogwarts.

Mary Adams, previously Mary Atherton had scored straight O's in her NEWTs for her final year. She had aspirations of being a healer. But, her apprenticeship with the head healer at St. Mungos was rejected, and instead, the position that she deserved was passed over to Elizabeth Tuttle, who had barely scored an Acceptable in charms. Mary had tried to gain an apprenticeship with Madame Pomfrey, but an active duty Hogwarts healer was apparently not allowed to take on an apprentice. The Board was afraid that their children's care would be hampered if the healer on duty took on other tasks as well.

Similarly, Richard Horton was the captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, during his years at Hogwarts, and had tactically mapped out his team's coordination and formations, it was because of him, that Hufflepuff was able to secure a hundred-and seventy-point lead against Gryffindor. But, the professional scouts had found the seeker from the Gryffs, a pureblood who is currently a prominent player for Puddlemere United, overlooking the leadership quality that Richard had displayed. The poor man had tried changing careers to become an Auror as well, and for a time he had been accepted into the department. He did have fantastic dueling skills, and tactical awareness, and he was made in charge of a team, which coincidentally comprised of all muggle-borns.

His team was sent on a rescue operation when Azkaban had initially been sieged, and when they had called for backup, none had arrived. Mr. Horton and his only friend, Kenneth Persons, was the only survivor of that encounter with death eaters. But he didn't quit the department then. No, he was one of the first men to have been laid off, when newly appointed Minister Fudge thought it prudent to cut the department funding.

And as for Joey Stenhouse, he was a charms prodigy that had rivaled Lily Evans on her best day. But, the difference was that she gave birth to Harry Potter, and died to Voldemort's curse on the day the dark lord supposedly died. He didn't. It was because of this, that no one knew his name in the magical world. All he got from that War, was the death of his non-magical parents, and muggle-born fiancé, and a shit ton of trauma to wrap the whole thing in a nice ribbon.

It was not difficult convincing these people to join Nathan's company, especially after Nathan offered them triple their pay from their current jobs. In the case of the jobless, he matched their pay to those of the others. These were the people that Nathan had intended to recruit, and eventually, build his country for.

"The contract has no holes, right? We don't want what we discussed getting out of this room." Nathan asked looking at Sirius after he read through the contract.

"Yep, it will cover any and all breaches of secrecy. These people will move to that nifty little Island you've found. I must say, finding an unoccupied Island, in International waters, and claiming the territory is ingenious if a bit crazy. This whole thing is like the ultimate fuck you to my family. Me, Sirius Black, a freedom fighter for muggle-borns, helping them to establish their own country. My mother would be rolling in her grave. I love it!" He exclaimed.

Nathan rolled his eyes at the older man's antics and redirected the conversation "They, don't need to know that yet. Heck even you know, because you're basically funding half the damn projects. You didn't tell Remus, did you?"

Sirius shook his head, still chuckling with mirth as he replied "No, no. I didn't. All he knows is that you're hiring muggle-borns for your company."

Nathan sighed in relief, he didn't need people unnecessarily knowing about his plans.

"They are very few in numbers though," Nathan observed, as he refocused on the people who were excitedly chattering amongst themselves in the conference as they all read through the document that Jolene was passing around, and signed in blood after they were satisfied with the conditions.

Sirius sobered up as he said "Unfortunately, the people you have selected to help out, are the same people who were targeted en masse by the Dark Lord in his campaign. Many of them died, and those that survived are still hesitant at best when purebloods like me try to reach out. Heck, Remus said that convincing Joey over there was like speaking to a wall initially. I am happy it worked out though. What are you going to do with these people anyway?"

Nathan surveyed the people who were smiling with a little hope at the chance they had received "I will move them to Antillia first thing tomorrow. I had people help me repair a lot of the old homes and locations. It should be fit for people to move in. Once they are there, we've already begun setting up a basic factory of sorts to produce the first line of M-Phones. The secrecy contract and the wards that I have had set up there will make it impossible for our eventual competition from ever finding the place."

Sirius nodded "I hope you know that having a hundred people will not make a country. It will be a settlement at best." He pointed out.

Nathan nodded in acceptance and said "yes, I know. The plan is essentially simple at its core, to be honest. These people will constitute to the early formation of the settlement there, they will set up around the largest working factory, mine. Eventually, as we increase hiring, more people, muggle-borns, half-bloods, and sentient creatures as well, will increase the population there. With the increasing population, other industries will eventually form. Manufacturing, Entertainment, food, education, military, etc. I want to eventually set up shelters for the unemployed in all seven magical countries, that will act as our front for the emigration office afterward. There will come a time, when we have a working civilization on that island. More cities around the different industries, that these people decide to form. Up to seven in fact. I have a feeling the people from the seven countries will stick together for quite a while."

"That is good, but what about the government?" Sirius asked finally.

"That is something that my friends and I are still debating, but that's for the future, lets's focus on what we are doing now. Alright?" Nathan replied as he noticed his mum was done with the contracts.

"All done, blood signed. Even a legilimens won't be able to find about this. Unless they have signed the contract as well." She replied.

"Alright then, is the portal ready?" He asked her.

She said, "Yes, I will bring it around inside." And she left the room.

Sirius nudged Nathan and asked "What portal?"

Nathan smiled "Well, we needed some way for people to reach the island for the first time." As Jolene pulled in a giant floating doorway into the large apartment.

Nathan walked over to the doorway, as he gathered everyone's attention.

Clearing his throat, he grandiosely said as he pushed the door open "Welcome! To Antillia, your new home!"

oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo

As Nathan returned to Hogwarts to finish his second year, Sirius had already launched the first official product of their company. He had acquired a shop in Diagon Alley, so that the widest group of people, both new and old to the magical world, would be attracted to buy the phone. They had become quite a commodity in the magical market. None of the pureblood businessmen had any idea that the video calling feature was a muggle innovation, that would show up some years in the future in the non-magical part of the world.

They were under the assumption that Sirius Black, a well-known pureblood, was behind the innovation of the phone. There were even some rumors that the whole thing was Harry Potter's brainchild. That was almost perfect for Nathan. He reaped the benefits and got none of the added scrutinies. It was an unintentional way of using the pureblood laws against them.

The M-Phone did face significant resistance from the ministry. Some members in the wizengamot believed that it was a threat to Owl-based letters, which it most definitely was. But their argument was met with intense backlash from people who had already acquired the phone, as it naturally aided in the ease of most other businesses in the magical world.

His musing was cut off when the crying form of Mary-Anne followed by Carlisle who looked extremely disturbed and was trying to console her friend walked into the compartment of the Hogwarts express that he was sitting in.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

But he got no answer, as Carlisle shook her head to prevent him from asking again. She mouthed the word 'later' to him, as she gently rubbed her friend's back.

Nathan nodded and decided to give her some space, he left the compartment only to be hit head-on by a panting Jeremy.

"Oi, what's the big idea?" Nathan asked, as he got up and dusted his clothes.

Jeremy took big gulps of air, as he tried to get his breathing even. Eventually, he said "I just saw Mary have a big fight with her parents. She was crying, so I came rushing to check on her. Is she inside?"

Nathan nodded but said "I think, Carlisle and Mary, want to be left alone for a while. We should give them some space."

Jeremy sighed as he stared past Nathan at the door of the compartment, but he relented. Nodding he sighed "Alright, let's go to some other compartment, we will check on them later."

oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo

"How can they do this to me? I thought they had no problems with all this?" Mary Anne sobbed on Carlisle's shoulder. "It's….. it's like they don't care about me anymore."

Carlisle softly murmured as she rubbed her friend's back saying "You're overthinking things, Mary. I am sure there has to be something she forgot to say."

"What could she forget? Carlisle, you were there. My parents are getting a divorce, and neither want to have anything to do with me! What could she have forgotten to say!?" Mary Anne screamed.

Carlisle couldn't say anything to answer her, or calm her friend down, even though she desperately wanted to do something to help her. But she had nothing to say, she just let her friend continue sobbing on her shoulder.

She hadn't realized that Mary-Anne's parents had problems with her being a witch. They were not all that religious and didn't seem to have any qualms over her attending Hogwarts earlier. Though in hindsight, it was obvious that they did, they just hid it well. They didn't know how to react to the situation and had shut off. They had let Mary-Anne accompany Stark Expo the previous year, and had barely made any arguments over her spending Christmas break with Nathan's family.

The cracks that weren't visible earlier in their seemingly happy family slowly became obvious to Carlisle, she hoped that she would be able to help her friend however she could. She would write to her own parents and request them to file for guardianship for her best friend. If Mary's parents didn't want anything to do with her, then she would step in however she could and help her friend through this. After seeing Nathan suffer in the cave in Antillia, she did not want any of her friends to go through anguish again, whether it be physical, or mental. She vowed to always be there for all of her friends.

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