Wall Street is a street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City, only one-third of a mile long and 11 meters wide.
Despite its narrowness and short length, it is known as the financial center of the United States.
The headquarters of huge conglomerates, banks, insurance, shipping, railways and other companies like JPMorgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs, Blackrock are concentrated here.
The famous New York Stock Exchange is located here and it also remains the headquarters of several major exchanges such as NASDAQ, the American Stock Exchange, and the New York Mercantile Exchange, etc.
It is a hub for a large number of financial professionals: traders, brokers, bankers, managers, and more.
Alaric easily found a suitable target here.
Jordan Williams, born in 1964, entered Yale University at the age of 20, subsequently earning law and business degrees from Harvard University and Columbia University .
Currently working for Morgan Stanley, he also has experience of working in world's largest banks such as Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and Credit Suisse.
But the main reason to select him was, he is single and has assets worth millions of dollars to his name.
He was the most suitable target Alaric could find in a short amount of time.
On the day Alaric found him, Jordan had just finished work and was preparing for his Christmas vacation.
There couldn't be a more suitable time.
Alaric cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself, tracking Jordan to his apartment—this was just one of Jordan's properties near Wall Street; he also had a small villa on Long Island.
Alaric waited outside his apartment until 1 a.m. After ensuring there were no onlookers or surveillance cameras around, he took out his wand and pointed it at the door.
"Alohomora."
The door opened, and Alaric quietly entered the apartment.
Though he didn't turn on the lights, the outside street lights allowed Alaric to see every corner of this luxurious apartment.
A huge aquarium, exquisite carpets, shelves filled with fine wines, and antiques and crafts from around the world—all showcased the owner's wealth.
Truly a wealthy man of Wall Street.
Alaric smiled faintly, closed the door behind him, and then began to explore the apartment—this would be "his" for the foreseeable future.
When Alaric reached Jordan's bedroom, he was sound asleep, with a half-empty glass of red wine on the bedside table.
However, as a precaution, Alaric cast a Sleeping Charm on him to prevent him from waking up due to pain. He then plucked a handful of hair from Jordan's head.
Next, he took out his cauldron, filled with the Polyjuice Potion. Alaric put the hair he had just obtained into it.
The potion made a loud noise, bubbling like boiling water, and foamed vigorously. In a second, it turned into an unappealing grayish-white color.
"Ugh, evil —Jordan Williams's essence," Alaric poured himself a cup of the gray potion, looking at it with disdain. "Should I consider a different method?"
"Yes, dad, turning yourself into someone else is not an interesting choice. You obviously have unparalleled beauty, why do you want to turn into an old man?" Orianna agreed, nodding.
In this apartment, she no longer needed to maintain the size of a toy; she had reverted to her original size.
Hearing Orianna's suggestion, Alaric couldn't help but feel pleased but pretended to be helpless.
"Alright, alright, but this guy is only thirty years old, still in his prime. What do you mean by turning into an old man? Also, what's this about unparalleled beauty? While I appreciate your compliment, I..."
"I don't care, I don't care. This guy is an old man compared to my daddy." Orianna shook her head defiantly, her mechanically styled voice adding a peculiar cuteness to her pouting.
"Dad, you will always be 18 to me."
Alaric couldn't help but inwardly rejoice. She's truly an adorable daughter.
"Okay, let it go." Staring at the murky gray potion, Alaric mustered the courage to drink it.
It tasted awful, like overcooked cabbage.
Immediately, Alaric's internal organs began to churn, as if he had swallowed live snakes.
Suddenly, a burning sensation spread rapidly from his stomach throughout his body, reaching his fingertips and toes.
Then came a terrifying sensation of melting, as if his skin were bubbling like hot wax.
He watched in horror as his hands began to grow larger, fingers thickening, nails widening, and joints protruding like bolts.
His shoulders stretched, causing unbearable pain; a stinging sensation on his forehead indicated that his hair was creeping towards his eyebrows.
His chest expanded, thighs elongated, and even his feet increased by two sizes.
Luckily, he had the foresight to change into loose pajamas before drinking the potion; otherwise, his shirt, trousers, and shoes would have burst open.
At his feet, Himari was startled and jumped far away, taking a while to react...
She circled around Alaric, sniffing here and there, only to confirm that he was still the same Alaric. Then, like a child who felt wronged, she pounced into Alaric's arms.
"You scared me just now. Quickly, pet me, or I won't forgive you—this is what she means," Orianna playfully provided a voiceover for Himari's actions.
Meanwhile, she curiously poked and prodded Alaric to see how he was different from before.
"It's amazing, completely different, without a trace of your original self." She marveled at the effects of the Polyjuice Potion.
"Apart from your soul, Dad has completely become someone else."
Even Himari nodded in agreement.
"Yes, this potion is indeed miraculous." Alaric said. His voice was no longer soothing and pleasant; it became deeper and hoarser, resembling Jordan's voice.
"The Polyjuice Potion probably transforms a person at the genetic level into someone else. If I were to undergo a DNA test now, the doctor would never find any difference between me and the real Jordan."
The duration of the transformation effect of the Polyjuice Potion was about two hours. In other words, he needs to take the potion every two hours to maintain the transformation.
But the dose he made was large enough to last him for two weeks.
The next step was to obtain Jordan's memories so that Alaric could accurately mimic his words and actions, preventing any suspicion from being discovered.
Although this financial executive had entered university at a young age and could be regarded as a highly intelligent person, he was not as skilled in Occlumency as someone like Snape.
So, Alaric easily delved into his memories using Legilimency.
In these memories, he not only got a general understanding of Jordan's life and his habits, but also learned about Jordan's knowledge and operating methods of the financial world - although it was only a cursory glance, it was enough for Alaric to use whenever he needed it.
After all, his goal was to profit from the collapse of the Soviet Union, which didn't require precise judgment or sophisticated operations.
Following the general trends and utilizing historical knowledge would be sufficient.
Finally, he poured a large cup of specially brewed highly concentrated Petrification Potion that he got with the help of Orianna, into poor Jordan's mouth.
Jordan's body immediately stiffened.
This dosage would ensure that he remained petrified for a long period and without taking the the potion to remove petrification, he wouldn't return to normal.
The advantage of petrification was that the petrified person would remain in the same state, just like a real stone with no changes whatsoever, until the petrification was lifted.
During this time, the petrified person would have no recollection of what had happened.
So, Alaric could safely leave Jordan in the apartment and travel to Eastern Europe without worrying about whether Jordan would die of hunger or thirst in the next two weeks.
Now, he was ready for everything and could start his journey to wealth at any time.
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