Ch20. Reasons why go ‘muggle’

Harry walked along the Diagon Alley clad in a shirt and jeans, disguising himself as a muggle-born, and pondered about the business deal he just made.

Michael Smith. Harry didn't really want to deal with a drug dealer but the guy was perfect for his plan. He was a coward that was willing to put enormous effort to earn money and is quick on the uptake. Show him enough force and he will never betray you. At least not until someone stronger comes along. And considering his little brain mistook Harry for a Sith Lord from Star Wars... Yeah, he got that covered. Michael will pose as a figurehead and make him money while buying all available shares of future best businesses.

While yes, Harry could always make more muggle money with a simple Gemino Charm, that needs time. Time, he could use for learning other spells and getting stronger. It is just not worth it. After all, the chance that Dumbledore will off himself by choking to death during one of his grandfatherly speeches is pretty low. And that is the most viable way he could go onto his next great adventure due to himself. Harry really doubted someone who can defeat him will just randomly pop up.

He also tried to use Gemino Charm on galleons. The result was... abysmal to say the least.

Ted explained why galleons can't be duplicated and it seems every single coin was co-made by wizards and goblins. The problem comes from the goblin side. These greedy bastards would never let a knut leave their hands without it having some kind of protection against counterfeiting.

Harry had many reasons to invest in the muggle world, to be honest.

For example, gold.

In the wizarding world, gold is a very valuable commodity. It is used for enchanting, rituals, warding, jewelry, crafting, as currency, anything really. The magical and common uses of gold increased its value greatly. And then there were goblins. Again. These little rascals gave additional value to every single useful metal that left their hands and usually bought them in bulk, offering very little for them. They acquired it cheaply and sold it manufactured in some way for exorbitant prices, raising the value of gold a lot higher than it was in the muggle world.

The next reason why go 'muggle' was the influence it could bring. Influence, that would help Harry immensely if something went awfully bad between muggles and wizards.

Harry shuddered when he remembered his previous nightly expedition. He almost shat himself when he saw the costly magical shielding amulet being ripped apart in seconds after the machine guns started shooting! He expected more from magic! He had to take a cover and use his magic perception to find out where his enemies are and take them down with his telekinesis. Not for a second, he left his cover before he was sure all shooters are incapacitated! That was the only reason he was able to flex in front of Michael! No powerful spells. No hocus-pocus. Just attacking in an unexpected way while cowardly hiding. Results were good, the process... quite embarrassing. Harry, however, doubted his plan would work against trained soldiers.

The silver lining for Harry was, by the end of the encounter he found out a way to use his telekinesis to project forcefield in front of himself, making a very strong and almost impenetrable shield.

And wasn't that a mistake! Harry almost keeled over after he dealt with Michael's men. Stopping bullets with telekinesis is no small feat for him just yet! The last move, the chokehold was done through sheer willpower! He was so exhausted after doing it, he had to sit down and even support his head, thanking every deity he didn't overexert his bound core! That's why he kept the debate with Michael short and concise. He was tired! Alas, in order to ensure Michael's loyalty, he had to flex. So flex he did, and hard. No matter if he barely managed to wobble his way home afterward.

After that night, Harry desperately hoped no wizard is stupid enough to break the Statute of Secrecy because he knew, wizards with all their nifty little tricks, can't survive intercontinental missiles. Much less an atomic bomb! Heck! Wizards would have a hard time keeping a machine gun at bay! Even their shielding spells are quite frankly engineered to block spells. Not insanely fast small lumps of metal with high velocity and density. Nay, bullets would tear Protego in seconds.

Remembering that tidbit, Harry frowned in displeasure. He sighed and hoped Obliviators would do their job properly. It also made the problem called Voldemort and his Death Eaters even more pressing. Who knew when these nutjobs decide to blow a muggle government building for shits and giggles! With another sigh, Harry decided to put some time into learning Fidelius Charm. Just in case.

Oh, Harry was aware the wizards are not as helpless as they appeared. Nay. If a millennia ago the founders of Hogwarts were able to build a magical castle, make sentient items like the sorting hat, cover the entirety of said castle and even a nearby forest in such a strong notice-me-not ward it is still going strong a thousand years after, and even create a masterpiece such as Room of Requirements, Harry was pretty sure that with enough effort, wizards could think of many ways to efficiently deal with muggles. But that would take time and effort. And no wizard would give the effort to invent 'dark' highly destructive spells or stronger shielding charms that have 'no use'. Not when they still believe in their superiority. Nay. Harry knew it would take a quite strong reality check for them to put the effort in. He just hoped he would not be anywhere close when the wizarding community received said reality check.

He was not so delusional as to believe the muggle governments didn't know about the wizarding world. They surely did and most likely even had contingency plans for a possible war with them! This was no book nor movie anymore. He doubted after the massacre Voldemort pulled off ten years ago, the government didn't prepare for something similar. Harry would be surprised if they didn't have anti-magic weapons at least drafted by now. When too many accidents happen at the same time, someone is bound to notice it. No matter how many mind-wipers the Ministry of Magic has.

Of course, there is always that near impossibility that Cornelius Fudge is in contact with the muggle government regarding the relations between our two 'worlds'.

Yes. Impossibility. Harry wouldn't put his hopes into a guy who insulted another Minister of Magic straight into his face, thinking the guy who manages an entire wizarding nation came to England not knowing English or not having any translator at hand. Nay. It would be more sensible to hope Fudge has no interaction with the muggle government. Lest the good old Cornelius say something stupid and actually starts the damn war.

A good politician, they call him. Harry scoffed. Sure. As if controlling the public opinion was hard when the Ministry owns the sole wizarding newspaper in the entirety of wizarding Britain and purposefully discredits the other newspapers. The lazy and believing attitude of wizards didn't help the situation much either.

Nay. Harry would rather gather influence in the muggle world and in case some problem arises, he would try to steer the opinion about the more magical variety of earthly inhabitants towards an unhostile way of dealing with them. And who knows, maybe he could hire some thugs to give wizards the reality check himself!

Or not. He knew he was not ready to have blood on his hands just yet. Nay. If he was, Dursleys wouldn't end up in the clutches of the police, after all.