7 The Most Profitable Business

A crowd gathered in front of the Nightowl Bookstores, eagerly looking inside. A police tape blocked the entry of any outsiders but did nothing to stop people and reporters from getting to look inside.

Inside stood many life-size stone statues of armed men stood, each holding a gun and pointing at an imaginary receptionist. Most were assuming this was some kind of art stunt, a novel experience of residents in an otherwise mundane day.

But Commissioner White begged to differ. He took one look at the SUVs standing outside and traced their number to its owner Kent Smith, whose face coincidently matched with the face of one of the statues. If that was not enough, he traced all the accomplices that entered the country along with Kent, and voila, except the heiress of Frost Industries, every one of them seemed to have a statue made for them.

Just then an inspector came with a report, "Sir, no trace of them. Last they were seen was in CCTV camera, heading in this direction."

"And Emma Frost."

"No sign of her either."

White rubbed his forehead. He was right, this definitely was one of 'those' incidents. That is why he was here and not in his cozy office, because in the entire department he was among the few that were authorized to know about magic and he was here waiting for their representatives to arrive.

'God hope they do not just send mind wipers and be done with it.'

That was the usual procedure as far most incidents were concerned but this time he needed an actual Auror. The heiress to multi-billion dollar empire is missing and White had no doubt he would start feeling the pressure from above when the news gets out.

"Agh",

A crash and White turned to see a young woman with atrocious bubblegum pink hair lying on the floor near the police tapes. She immediately got up like nothing happened and introduced herself, "Hi, I am Auror Tonks, at your service."

White sagged in relief, "I am commissioner White."

"I guess this is for what you must have called me", Tonks pointed at the statues behind him and White nodded.

"Hmm... they look like stone", She discretely cast a spell to check what spell might have been performed. Getting results from the spell, she relaxed.

"No signs of transfiguration or anything like that. No..." she looked around, "...magic used within. They are what they look like, genuine statues.", Tonks cheerfully finished.

White relaxed, "Good... This seems to be an elaborate prank then. Now we just need to find them...", he looked at the people gathered outside and shouted, "And someone clear the street."

He moved towards the exit, "Thank you Miss..."

"Bang", "Bang", "Bang"

Both White and Tonks turned, gun and wand in hand but what they saw immediately stopped in their tracks.

Every statue was turning into humans, stone vanishing like ice on a hot pan. Tonks had the presence of mind to shout, "Get their guns!"

Police around them jumped into action, wrestling out guns from the hands of still frozen men. By the time everyone was free, Kent and his men had their own guns pointed at them.

White sighed in relief until a camera click sounded he became keenly aware of the reporters standing outside. He groaned, "I am gonna get fired."

Tonks replied, "Me too."

_____________________________________

"Hoot"

Harry closed the book he was reading and looked at the bed. Kyle stirred and opened his eyes. For a moment he looked confused before sitting up, panicked.

"What...Where am I?"

"At my home."

"At your...oh", Kyle looked around in wonder. He was sitting in a four postal bed Harry conjured along with a perch which sat beside it. The room resembled the Ravenclaw dorms, just more warm and cozy. A lot of books, tomes, and notebooks were neatly stacked near the walls along with a study in one corner.

"For a runaway, you have quite a home."

Just then the events of last night came back to Kyle. "Wait, Harry, you are a mutant?"

"What's a mutant?"

"Oh, the people with superpowers, like flying and...stuff."

Harry just shook his head in the negative, "I don't think so."

"Huh, then how did you...you know, turn them in stone?"

"If I tell you, you will have government after you, trying to wipe your mind", Harry answered, not completely joking.

Kyle shrugged, "Nothing new"

Harry raised his brows at that, but when Kyle did not elaborate further, he did not ask. He should have guessed Kyle too was in hiding.

Harry got up, offering his arm to Hedwig and she climbed to his shoulder with practiced ease.

"We can talk later, now rest. I healed your wounds but you will feel sore for a while", He left the room, leaving behind a very confused Kyle inspecting his body.

He passed the living room and knocked on the door. No response came.

Harry waited a minute before knocking again. Again no response. Harry and Hedwig exchanged glances. His guest was awake, Harry was sure.

"I am coming in.", Harry loudly yelled and unlocked the locking spell on the handle before stepping in.

Just then, a figure hiding just beside the door attacked Harry. Because the attacker was without magic, Harry could not detect the incoming attack.

But he did not panic, and with just a single command, his magic froze the attacker in the air.

Emma struggled to move her limbs, to swing the small table she fashioned as a weapon but nothing worked. Harry just waved his hand and Emma flew back and fell in a chair. A table appeared in front of them and Harry sat opposite Emma.

Seeing chairs and tables appearing out of nowhere along with the display of telekinesis, Emma did not dare to try anything on the deceivingly weak-looking boy.

"I know you must be feeling stuffy but Miss, it is not right to attack a child out of nowhere."

Emma bowed his head, feeling guilty.

"But I am more concerned with why is that White King after me? And how did you even find me?"

Emma swallowed, even when sitting across Harry, she could feel no mental presence from him. Hell, she was feeling more mental signature from White owl sitting on his shoulder and that was not supposed to be possible. She took a deep breath, debating on trying to lie before discarding the idea.

"White King, Winston Frost, he is the owner of Frost industries, a multi-billion dollar empire covering everything from pharmaceutical to weapons manufacturing and one of the three kings of Hellfire club, an extremely powerful underground organization of top dogs of the society", Emma said grimly.

"He has been searching for a ghost group moving obscene amounts of money in the Middle East and Africa with near-absolute political immunity. Why, I don't know. He traced the group back to London and ordered me to find them."

"You are being awfully cooperative for someone who was ready to murder me a minute before."

"I did not work for him by choice", Emma replied hotly, absentmindedly rubbing the bruises up his arms and was slightly surprised to not feel the usual pain.

"But how do you find me?", Harry asked.

"We searched for months, keeping track of transactions before the group finally slipped. We obtained details of an 800 million dollar business investment under the Potter family and I tracked you, the last Potter"

"Hmm, that's intriguing but how did you find me?"

Emma threw up her hands and answered, "I was forcefully strapped to a Helmet and forced to read minds of the Entire city until I homed on someone intimately familiar with the name Harry Potter! Happy?"

Harry looked at Emma, thinking of all the things she said. White King, Ghost group which has somehow access to Potter money. He knew his family was rich, but to have Eight Hundred million in liquid assets.

Maybe someone wanted that money, that's why his every year at Hogwarts was filled with one danger after another. Someone was after his family's money and he just an unfortunate victim.

He left the wizarding world to get away from the madness and pain, away from the remainder of what he lost, his parents, Hermione, Sirius. But even with all the bigotry, hate, madness, and unfairness, he was willing to let bygone be bygones.

"You said business investment, in which business?"

Emma stared him right into her eyes and said, "The most profitable business of all, War."

And suddenly, Harry no longer felt forgiving.