Magic Knows No Boundaries: Windfall for Wheezes (Patreon)

There was a knocking at the door.

"Anybody gonna get that?" Fred hollered from his workbench where he trying to solder a billywig stinger into a whoopie cushion.

"I'll get it!" Lee said.

He saw his discolored triplet put down the measuring cup and flour before running ti the door and wrenching it open. He turned back to his current ill-advised project assuming it was just another customer. They were finally getting busy

"Hello Mister Jordan. Aren't you going to let your new benefactor in?" A cool but giddy voice greeting Lee from the front door.

"Um... Are you Hadrian Morrigan?" Lee said after a moment.

Everybody in their miniscule apartment dropped everything and stumbled to the front door. George and Angelina charged in from the kitchen, covered in flower and still wearing their aprons and oven-mits. Katie put down the mixing bowl she was currently mixing and the sound of Alicia stumbling out of bedroom and knocking over yet another mountain of boxes they would have to re-orgnaize later.

But they all made it to the door where the swarmed the young professor.

Messy black hair? Check. Green eyes? Check. Air of mischief and Dumbledore-y all-knowingness? Double check. Facial expression crazy enough to make you believe he'd willingly date Bellatrix black? Oh yeah.

"Come in! Come in! Plenty of packages to sit on if you don't mind getting baking ingredients all over your clothes." Fred commanded.

They parted and let the man inside where he found one such pile of boxes waist height to pop a squat.

"It does smell lovely in here. I came here expecting a joke shop being run out of a tiny apartment, and instead find a pastry shop running out of a tiny apartment." He teased.

"Yeah. It's the best we can do even on six part-time incomes. But business is finally picking up." George said. "Did you like the box we sent you?"

"Loved it!" He said. "Was a little disappointed not to receive any canary creams."

Fred and George looked at one another with matching consternation. Psychic show off.

"What are canary creams?" Katie asked.

"A failed experiment from two years back." Fred said. "We couldn't get them to actually turn people into oversized canaries. The beak and eyes weren't right, and they made you grey instead of yellow."

Morrigan hummed.

"I would recommend switching the canary feathers for crane feathers, and for color add extract of golden tentacula. Dilute it as much as humanly possible though." He advised. "But anyhoo. Instead of talking products you will be releasing in the future, let's talk business. I want to invest in your little business endeavor."

It took a lot of self-restraint not to fist pump into the air at his pronouncement, but somehow George managed.

"What did you have in mind, sir." Katie asked.

"Please, please! Let's not get bogged down with the honorifics like sir... call me professor." he said with a grin.

George and Angelina snorted at the joke. But Morrigan stopped smiling at his own humor in favor of frowning at Katie.

"Miss Bell, shouldn't you be attending Hogwarts for your final year?" He asked.

Katie shrugged.

"I bailed. My fiancé already offered me my second choice in dream job, and with the war going on getting NEWTs seems less important than working and building a family." She explained. "Besides, as you showed I can always just take them later and with a few years of self-study I'll probably score higher."

Morrigan nodded at this reasoning.

"So, let's address the elephant in the room far too small for an elephant." Morrigan moved on. "You all need larger facilities to operate out of. This simply will not do."

Ouch. If he was about to propose investing enough to purchase or rent a proper store, then the percentage of dividends he would demand as a result might break the bank. There would be no profitability for the rest of them.

"And as I'm sure Albus told you in the last meeting, I recently purchased the Shrieking shack from him. it is yours to operate out of." Morrigan said.

Now that was an unexpected windfall.

"But I thought you were going to run a werefwolf shelter out of it?" George pointed out.

"And I shall. Three days out of the month. The rest of the month will see all of that space going unused. And worse, now that I'm a professor at Hogwarts with my won quarters, it is also going unlived in for the rest of the month as well. This is an enormous security risk, as there are many out there who would wish to do werewolves harm, or else sabotage the project." Morrigan explained. "With you six operating your shop out of there, that would add an additional layer of security and put my mind at ease."

Fred nodded along with his reasoning.

"So, it'll be our store for all of the month except the days of the full moon?" Fred summarized. "Do you also require us to volunteer at the shelter?"

"Only if you want to, but I would prefer you didn't." Morrigan said. "I know you six work twenty-four seven, as most new business owners do. Six people working eight hour shifts in pairs. I suggest instead you take those three days per month off. How many business owners can claim to get monthly vacations? Oh, and you should know the attic is essentially my apartment, and shall now be your apartment. When does your lease here end?"

"It's a month to month. We can technically end it now and move in tomorrow." Angelina said.

"That is excellent. The place does need some work to be a proper store. I have filled nearly every room with military style barracks, but they can easily be enchanted to have a switching transfiguration to swap between being bunk beds and store shelves. And the place does need a woman's touch, in fact it could even require three ladies to complete the task of making it presentable." He explained. "I will pay for any such improvements, in addition to a storage shed to put your products during the full moon."

Wow. This was by far a better deal than they could ever have hoped for. It almost seemed too good.

"And what do you expect in return for this business relationship?" Fred and George said at once.

Morrigan leaned back in though.

"Well, let's see. In exchange for renting out both a living space and workspace, I will already be getting your services as a layer of security and any work you put in to add equity to my property value. That is already almost enough in return. But I would also like to fund your future research and development as needed. In exchange for that I want..." He paused and pretended to count everyone in the room, pointing at them one by one until he landed on himself. "Seven. I want one-seventh of all profit. Not gross! Profit."

That was a steal, although taking into account the other benefits he pointed out that they were providing him it did seem close to fair, if slightly benefitting them. Fred was ready to reach out a hand to shake on the offer when his twin dropped a bucket of cold water on them all.

"Cut the crap." George said angrily. "What is the extra catch you want in return."

Morrigan lost all jovialness and returned George's serious expression.

"There are two." Morrigan admitted.

Here we go.

"In the likely event I die, I want you all to take over the shelter." Morrigan started. "Which is a huge addition to your workload, but I would word the contract that you are left in charge of who to pass it onto. Essentially, I will be making you the executioners of my will."

Oh. Well, that wasn't too bad.

"This of course comes with the added benefit That the Morrigan estate and the value therein will fall equally between the six of you." He explained. "Which I think should make up for the added headache this catch will bring you."

that was a bit much. It explained why he offered such a sweet deal up front.

"And the second catch?" George pressed.

Morrigan sighed. He clearly wasn't looking forward to their reaction to this one.

"There is a piece of parchment in that drawer over there." Morrigan said, pointing to George's workbench. "I want it."

Katie rolled her eyes.

"We all know about the map, professor. You can speak openly." She said.

"Oh, thank god! yeah I need the map." He said, his cheerfulness returning.

"How do you even know about it?" Lee asked.

"I'm about to lie to you. I need you to pretend to accept it." Morrigan said. "I saw it in a vision. That was the lie. Now for a truth, I require it now that I'm at Hogwarts, and you do not now that you're out of it. It is also no secret that Hadrian Morrigan is not my real name, as I only just inherited it. I need my true name to remain a secret or else I cannot succeed in my mission."

Finally! The mystery of this man was at their fingertips. And yet he was asking them up front not to open that pandora's box?

"What is your mission?" Angelina asked.

"The question on everyone's mind lately." Alicia said. "Watch him try to skirt around answering it."

"Voldemort." He said. "I am her to destroy Voldemort and end his war. that is my only purpose. I am even willing to subject myself to an unbreakable vow if that's what it takes to convince you, but my identity must remain a secret, even from you, and the map will be an invaluable tool for me regardless."

Fred whistled at the confession. It made sense, if they so much as peeked at the map during the welcome feast later that evening the cat would be out of the bag. And that he was willing to go to these extremes meant his identity might be significant enough to lose the war if it got out. He seemed Ernest, was a man of good humor, and was trusted or at least liked by far more scrupulous and wise people than them. Hell, Garrick Ollivander as a character reference was close to proof enough that he was on the side of good, wherever that side was. Speaking of Ollivander.

"Meet us at Ollivanders in ten minutes." Fred said. "He will perform the vow, and he can be a legal witness to our verbal contract until we can have the goblins hash out a proper contract."

Morrigan nodded, stood up and left without another word. When the door closed they immediately went into crisis mode.

"I want to trust him! I really do!" George admitted.

"Same. But I also really, really want to solve the mystery of Hadrian Morrigan." Alicia said.

"Professor Hadrian Morrigan." Katie corrected.

"It's a moot point. We will never get an offer that good again in our lives." Lee pointed out. "We have to accept it!"

"That doesn't mean we have to like it." Angelina finally said.

"The unbreakable vow is the only reason we should accept." George said.

"Oh right! Because having our own mansion, dream store and inheriting the power of an ancient and noble house aren't reason enough!" Katie countered.

They all had to concede to that point.