Chapter 28

So if it wasn't already obvious, my plan is to start investing in all the companies and businesses now that are just starting up or haven't even been created yet, and then I will just watch the money roll in. Wanting to do some research to see which companies exist right now, which have existed for a while and which have not yet been created. Right now, I have my eyes on investing heavily in two particular companies, with a lot more to come in the future.

The first is Five Guys, the gourmet burger restaurant which was actually founded in 1986 by a group of 'five guys' in Arlington County, Virginia. At this moment in time, Five Guys are still just an American chain with a few stores in a few states. I am going to invest to the point of being a significant shareholder and begin franchising its business model and investing a lot of money to have it become international, way ahead of its time. Mcdonalds, by this point, is already established and profitable, so I will make my own better franchise.

Next is Vodafone. The British mobile telecoms firm just came into being this year following the demerger of Racal Electronics. I remember that Vodafone was quite a giant in my time and was one of the planet's leading mobile phone companies, expanding to a number of countries worldwide. But I won't just be investing in these two; I will be investing in many more.

With the use of mind magic on my side, I will find it easy to go out there and use my abilities to influence the minds of a few people and make them agreeable to selling me some of their shares and percentages for a fair price, of course. I only plan to take a small part of each shareholder's share, enough so that I have quite the amount but not enough that I will actually have any input in the company, and I can just watch the money roll in.

The sorts of companies that I plan to use this method with are Coca-Cola, Sony, H&M, 20th Century Fox Television, Mcdonald's, McCain, Walmart, Nike, Intel, Starbucks, Microsoft and Apple. These companies will stay around and at the pinnacle of their market for decades to come, and I will be quietly collecting some of the profits as the years go by.

And as the years go by, I will continue to invest in these companies if needed and keep maintaining the same position I have in these companies. Aside from that, I will invest when other famous companies start up, such as Amazon, eBay, Netflix, Google and any other companies that pop up that I know for a fact will do well in the future.

But for me to do this, I need a muggle identity, and luckily for me, I actually technically grew up in the muggle world since Gilderoy lived with his witch mother, his muggle father and his two squib sisters. He went to a muggle primary school, and then after that, he went to Hogwarts, so I have all the documentation and papers for my muggle identity, except it just stops at eleven years old.

Thankfully Britain isn't that bothered about keeping its records neat and orderly in this decade, so it isn't hard to just come back and resume the identity. But, of course, I do have to go around and add some new documents, such as a driver's license, some qualifications and degrees, and all of that shouldn't be too hard to do with my mind magic at my disposal.

So now is the time to go out and do all those things, sort out my papers and start investing in those companies.

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Well, that was easy. I just went out in a magical disguise that was basically just myself with a few differences here, and they're just so no one from the magical world would recognise me, but so that my features would match what I had as a child, blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin. So I got myself all the documentation I needed, went and found some people who would have been in my year and altered their memories to include me, as well as the teachers.

I went out and took a severe amount of Galleons out of my vault. I only paid the Goblins for the vault, and they had no clue what was inside, so I took a hefty amount and left with it. I then disguised myself as a muggle-born and went to exchange the Galleons for British Pounds, and I obviously got scammed.

The conversation of Pounds to Galleons is way more than the conversion from Galleons to pounds, the Goblins obviously being crafty bastards and making money hand over fist. I didn't care because even if the amount was lowered, it was still a significant amount. It also helped that I changed my disguise every time and exchanged my funds in several different transactions, and I wasn't caught out since I was doing it at the Gringotts money exchange building and not at the actual bank.

Then I went and did my little mind magic trick and opened a bank account and invested in the companies I mentioned earlier, having to search out some of the big wigs in those companies and use my magic on them. Then, of course, there were a few more things that needed to be done and a few complications, but it was all sorted with some help from a few experts.

And now, here I am in my muggle Gilderoy disguise, having a drink at a local muggle bar after a hard day of work. Man, does alcohol have a serious kick, and yet it is so addicting. I am glad I already have Lockhart's resistance and familiarity with the drink since this is my first time drinking, and I am enjoying it heavily.

I am here to celebrate my first successful day of being a businessman, and everybody knows that being a businessman consists of being a piece of shit that takes advantage and cons people out of their money by any means necessary. And you know what, the perfect thing to go with this drink would be some friendly female company.

I quickly turn around from where I am sitting at the bar and promptly take a glance around the room, scoping the room and looking around for any women that catch my eye. And I quickly zoom in on a pair of girls in the corner of the bar, sitting at a booth quietly enjoying themselves in the corner. Then, noticing that their drinks are empty and they are still sitting there, I pick up my drink and start walking over, planning to pay for their next drink.

Admittedly my eye is only on one of the girls over there, that is a buxom blonde with a curvy waist and a beautiful face. In comparison, her friend is a chubby brunette girl that's presence is really diminished in the shine of her friend's radiance. Neither of them seems to notice my approach since they are lost in conversation, and they only look up when I finally reach their booth and start to talk, drink still in hand.

"Hello, how are you two lovely ladies this fine evening?" I open my mouth and say, smiling charmingly at them both, the line having naturally left my mouth, having memories of Gilderoy saying the same thing to countless fetching witches. I make sure to address both of them since the blonde seems to be very good friends with the chubby girl, and she most likely wouldn't give me the time of day if I completely ignored her friend.

"Ah, we are good, thank you. Is there something that you wanted?" The confident blonde replied after a moment, the brunette noticeably quieting down and becoming timid when she noticed me. Again, I look at the blonde, and again I flash my smile, having used it numerous times in the past to charm many witches.

"Ah, well, you see, I was just sitting at the bar, and I couldn't help but notice you over here, and so I was wondering if I could buy you both a drink and get to know you better." I say, completely expecting her to accept and for my night to unfold perfectly and wake up the following day with the blonde in my arms, which is why I am completely flabbergasted that the exact opposite happens.

"Oh, sorry, but we are having a girl's night out tonight, away from our boyfriends. We are actually about to go and meet our other friends now, but thanks for the offer." Saying so, she moves to stand up, grabbing her purse, and her friend quickly follows her lead and gets up as well. Shocked since I have countless memories of that working, I blank out for a second, but when I see the gorgeous blonde walking past me, I quickly do a quick mind scan, not wanting to lose the chance that was before me.

Getting a quick read of her surface thoughts, I am barraged by feelings of anger, annoyance and disgust that are directed at me. Confused as to why she would have these emotions, I quickly delve in deeper into her mind, and she has no protection to stop me being just a muggle.

And I quickly learn that she sees me as some sleaze that is trying to get into her pants on account of my crappy line and wandering eyes. She thinks I am just pretending to be nice to her friend, faking it. She was angry and annoyed because I had just interrupted her time with her friend, and she knew I would continue to hound them if they stayed here, so she lied about having a girl's night out and went to leave.

I let them go, quickly taking a seat at the now evacuated booth and having a revelation, an epiphany.

I was just a sixteen-year-old loser that had never really talked to a girl and certainly didn't have any experience flirting or dating. I was completely clueless and was not at all suave, but I thought since I came here and took over Lockhart and took his memories that, I had become a ladies' man, and the proof was there when I had continuously slept with loads of witches.

Except, now I realise that is entirely untrue. I wasn't suave. I wasn't a ladies' man though I did have confidence, a fool's confidence. All those witches I slept with and all the ones in Gilderoy's memory are his fans. They slept with him because of his fame and money, and that was all. Fame and money that was all based on lies and fraud, and they ate it all up like stupid sheep. So I have been fucking sheep.

Well, no more. I am actually going to start going after women with some substance, women with personalities and traits that I like. But to do that, I will have to become more confident and experienced when it comes to women, and I can't do that in the wizarding world where I am famous.

Starting now, I am going to begin prowling the streets of London and going to various places to start meeting with women and gaining more experience. And I am sure my Legilimency will help me to know what they want, just to aid me in my endeavours.

Starting now, Gilderoy Lockhart is starting his crusade as a womaniser, with a goal to bed all the hottest women in the wizarding world. Whether they are married or not, whether they are batshit crazy and locked up in Azkaban and even if they are dead at the current moment.

I will find a way to live out my fantasies. Otherwise, what is the point of this second chance?