That was one useful thing he picked up from his cursed uncle's ranting. Time was money in business. You were always looking for ways to make the business more efficient and effective; lower overall expenses meant greater profits.
...
Turning to the designers, a question formed on his lips. "Do these warehouse designs take into account that my customers may be shipping and need to store live animals and magical creatures?"
"They do," the first designer replied with a sharp nod of his head. "The warehouses are designed to be capable of securing and maintaining any ICW Class Four-X rated magical beast. Further modifications would have to be made for anything more dangerous and would be extensive, but it's certainly doable with enough time and money."
"Good. I don't foresee needing the capability for Class Five-X creatures, but it's good to know it's possible if needed in the future," Harry replied as he looked back at the plans.
The high-security warehouse was designed to make use of individually lockable sections, with elaborate private security wards for each customer, capable of personalization, with several highly trained guards and magical creatures watching over the contents of the high-security warehouse as a whole.
In short, they were like vaults, but ones that he could charge a hefty premium for and guarantee a steady revenue source. If the customer was willing to pay for extra security, they could even select their own creature guardian for their vault alone from a selection he'd provide them.
Of course, he would be keyed into every vault's base ward template, no matter what changes they made, in case they needed to be accessed for whatever reason. The closeness to the docks themselves would be particularly appealing to his customers, he thought.
Of course, there would be space expansion charms liberally added to all the structures, increasing their total storage many times over. In fact, the expansion possibilities were dependent only on the amount of magic pumped into the permanent runic enchantments.
Very few places could support a great deal of expansion on a permanent basis, as the magical energy needed daily was simply too much, but his Potter ancestors had specifically chosen the docks' location many centuries ago due mostly to it being located right on top of an intersection of three ley lines.
Next to this building was the Ministry Customs office, where goods could be inspected and any relevant taxes and tariffs paid, as well as where his own people would operate from to monitor the warehouses' incoming goods and to ensure the Ministry acted in accordance with the law themselves and the treaty with the Potter family signed centuries ago granting them the docks and favourable rates for their customers. The Ministry was well known for its corruption and infiltration during the war, and thus they would be closely watched by Potter personnel.
Connected to the Customs Office, but with planned wards preventing Ministry personnel from entering without escort, was a rather impressive three-story security building, designed with barracks, training rooms, sleep areas, and a small infirmary for the security staff. It was meant to coordinate security for the entirety of the Potter lands, including the docks, dry dock, retail and residential sectors, as well as the entertainment district.
From this building, all the extensive wards and protection magics on the Potter lands could be monitored and controlled. The surveillance charms around the Potter lands would also eventually feed into here, but control and override functions would also be placed in his own private office in the nearby Manor.
However, unlike his office, the security building would also house several holding cells for criminals, such as smugglers, until Ministry Aurors could arrive, investigate, and remove them.
The holding cells would also be perfect for drunks and other disorderly patrons on the Potter lands. Of course, the cells would have the best security features possible for a short-term holding facility. He certainly was not building a jail to hold people long-term.
It would also be used as a holding area for any unauthorized individuals accessing the site, such as members of the public trying to apparate to a location other than the public apparition point or use the private staff Floo entrance rather than the main gate.
The planned wards would identify staff members by their pre-recorded magical signatures, just like the wards that worked around a household, but would instead reroute unauthorized persons to a holding cell for processing, where a sleeping enchantment would be placed immediately and automatically over the cell's occupant, inducing a deep sleep from which they would not awake until someone with the requisite authority woke them up by disabling the enchantment.
Naturally, all magical items would be automatically stripped from them and shunted aside into a magically isolated stasis chamber for examination or destruction by security. Subduing a criminal on his property could be as easy as placing a touch Portkey on the person in question, which would immediately drop them into the holding cells.
Then there was the primary operations center, located next to the main security offices, meant to control the day-to-day operations of the site, where the shipping activities would be coordinated, where the work crews would receive their orders, which ships would be designated as priority, where to unload or load cargo, etc. It would also hold the site's administration and all the other staffing requirements for running an active business like accounting, HR, and the like, with a connected Floo terminal and apparition point for employees.
Finally, there was the main gatehouse, the main entrance to and from the dock area, with a high brick wall around the perimeter which would be protected by numerous wards against damage and magical transportation, separating the dock area from the shopping, entertainment, and residential districts, with a small gatehouse down at the other end of the site at the dry docks for the facility's staff to use in entering and leaving the work area and transitioning to the shopping district.
Looking up from the plans, he looked over to the senior designer, a grey-bearded wizard wearing rich purple robes. "Have professional warders been consulted in the creation of all these plans? Because one of my requirements for any designs was its ability to be properly secured, both in general terms as well as against violent attack.
These docks were destroyed by dark wizards before; I want to ensure that that never happens again," he stated firmly, giving the designers a sharp look, making sure that they understood just how serious he was about the matter.
"Absolutely. We have two master-level warders on our payroll, and they both participated in the creation of the designs we're showing you today. While these designs aren't meant to act as a comprehensive security and warding plan for your docks and lands, the designs keep security concerns firmly in mind. An Auror with wartime experience also consulted with us on these designs, using the ward scheme of three sevens," the designer replied.
The only thing he could do was nod. He had no idea what that ward scheme was, but he would look it up, as well as begin looking for a team of independent warders to check the planned wards. Hopefully, they could also discreetly add to them, expanding the site's defences.
"Good. Now what about the plans for the small city manor for my family?" he asked them as the trio of designers went through the papers, looking for their designs. Looking over to his godfather, "What do you think about all this, Sirius?" he asked, wanting a second opinion.
"It looks great, Harry," Sirius offered after consulting the designs as the requested manor house was set up on the easel for easy viewing.
"It keeps the traditional elements of the old docks, but it's bigger and grander, more impressive, and it looks like it's designed with possible expansion in mind. I'm sure that's what you're going for.
However, I would commission some artisans and sculptors. Seemingly decorative statues in the gardens and gargoyles on the roof can easily be magically hardened, animated, and charmed to act as deadly physical guardians.
Maybe even commission some guard statues like they have at Hogwarts. Better looking than guard trolls and less smelly too; you also don't need to feed them, which is a big plus in my book."
"Thanks for the suggestion. I plan for this to last, and this way I can always expand the site without having to close it down," he stated with a smile before accepting the new plans.
"Thank you for your hard work, gentlemen," he said to the designers. Looking at the new plans, the house wasn't like a traditional family mansion or manor house found in the countryside; instead, it only took up two and a half plots, where houses would have otherwise been.
It had a nice stone wall with elaborate gardens, water features, and statuary circling the house, adding to its grandeur as well as providing a buffer zone for security and privacy.
...
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