On Sunday, I delivered the promised artifact along with the letter to Malfoy and also explained my new idea to Greengrass. The idea came to me when I'd gone to bed. I don't want to say that the idea is completely banal, but it's pretty close. Here's the gist.
At Hogwarts, about a third of the available greenhouses are used for educational purposes, that is, they grow a wide variety of plants, as well as for internal needs, that is, the staff potionist processes the ingredients into finished potions. Some of the potions, most of them, go for internal needs, the other part goes to the hospital as well as some of the ingredients.
Next. A third of the greenhouses are in working condition, but there are no labor reserves to work in them, so the greenhouses are mothballed, and the last third is practically destroyed. In general, the school should have not only a potions teacher, but also a separate specialist with an assistant to process raw materials. In the greenhouses, too, there should be more than one woman working with the help of students, but we see a completely different picture. Even before Armando Dippet, the school began to decline, so it's not fair to blame everything on him and Dumbledore, but it should be added that these two didn't even lift a finger to change the situation.
I won't talk about the masters and lesser "comrades", because the English are by nature very stingy, and they live and work "by the book", that is, within the family business. In Hogwarts you have to invest a lot of money — yes, but everyone, for some reason, looks at this issue comprehensively, and the devil is known where, right? So I'll finally get to the specifics. My idea is that I have been given carte blanche with greenhouses, even if they are broken, to repair them is not such a big problem. What matters to me is the fact. Next, I'll hire more wizards. Two potion masters who have had their hands full will be transferred to the school's laboratory on a visiting basis, without the need for a permanent presence.
As for the lab — there is more than one, and it is quite decent, but mothballed. The magicians are also cleaning the greenhouses and cultivating plants of "medium" level, that is, there will be no competition for my future plans, and what competition, when all this business will belong to me, but under the careful guidance of the Board of Trustees.
So part of the profit will go to me and part will go to the school as a separate profit item. I had hoped not to have to pay taxes on the business, as they do in the simpleton world where taxes are cut for patronage and sponsorship, but I was deceived. Henry said the Ministry doesn't care who does what where: if money is made, taxes must be paid. There's a good chance they'll give me a discount, though, and that might increase my credibility.
Henry and I talked for several hours, going over the nuances and details, and he even supported my suggestion that we rent the school's premises for the specialists' work, otherwise the kind headmaster might demand more compensation than he intended.
Lord Greengrass promised that the matter would pay big dividends, not only monetarily but also politically, and so it would be taken up immediately. As long as there is a wave, as long as there are strong movements in the ministry and a lot of inspection commissions, it is possible and necessary to take advantage of the situation and promote new projects, especially such promising ones. Especially if someone else pays for it.
According to initial estimates, my investment will not exceed thirty thousand gold, which can be recouped in a full year. And this is provided that the plants are grown only at the standard "average" level, if you arrange the premises with a specific microclimate, the profit will increase. For example, there are many bogs in Britain, even in its magical corners, and bogs have their own slightly different life. When it comes to magical swamps, the differences are much greater.
So Lord Greengrass gave me a book on the subject and explained that it would not be very difficult for an artifactor to set up the necessary facilities. But he also added, rather vaguely, that if I took it on, he had acquaintances in Eastern Europe who would take such goods with their hands, but only if it was he, Greengrass, who sold them. We understood each other, shook hands, and I, as a future son-in-law, was invited to address each other by our first names.
Sunday evening passed in a warm atmosphere. I invited Lizzie to my house for dinner, introduced her to Chirico and the maid, and called her my girlfriend. But my words somehow faded into the background, and Elizabeth herself only looked at the girl. The girl didn't react like Lupin, but her interest was piqued, so poor Kiriko fell into the energetic blonde's clutches, from which I pulled her out and sent the girl, tired of such attention, to bed. But while Lizzie was squeezing Kiriko, I was thinking about babies.