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HOGWARTS: REGULUS LORD OF THE STARS
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American Horror: Grind Edition
Avery Manor, Buckinghamshire.
A house-elf shuffled into the study, letter in hand, and bowed low. "Master, a letter for you!"
"A letter? Give it here." Jack Avery snatched the envelope. It had been ages since anyone wrote him the old-fashioned way. This had to be important.
Dear Mr. Avery,
I am Remus Lupin, manager of the Flying Feather Magic Phone factory. It is my great pleasure to write to you today.
For centuries the Avery family has been a cornerstone of wizarding communication. More than eighty percent of Britain's owls come from your bloodlines—an extraordinary achievement.
I believe you already know that Flying Feather is equally dedicated to making wizarding communication faster and more convenient, improving everyday life for all of us.
Our goals are clearly aligned, and we see tremendous potential for cooperation. We would therefore like to extend a sincere invitation: please join us for a private tour of our factory this Saturday.
With warm regards,
Remus Lupin
Factory Manager, Flying Feather Magic Phones
Jack Avery's eyebrows shot up. He had spent the last few months quietly investigating Flying Feather—especially its owner, Sullivan, and this very factory manager, Remus Lupin.
He was already certain Sullivan was the same Chinese alchemist his old Death Eater squad had been sent to capture all those years ago. But Avery had worn a full mask the entire time, and even when he drank the brain-eating worm eggs he'd only lowered it halfway. He was confident he'd never been identified.
What he didn't know was that Sullivan had been watching everything through hidden surveillance wards that night. The wards had scanned and recorded half of Avery's face in perfect detail, waiting for the day Sullivan returned to Britain to settle the score.
Right now, though, Avery's mind was racing. This invitation made zero sense. They had never met. Strictly speaking, they were direct competitors. Why the hell would Flying Feather invite him to tour their most guarded secrets?
There had to be a catch. And yet… the temptation was real. Their own reverse-engineering of the Magic Phone was crawling along, and they still had zero clue how the Magical Network even worked. If he could get his hands on that technology, the Avery family's future would be secure for generations.
Sullivan had played a perfect open-handed gambit. He knew exactly what Avery wanted, and he knew the man would come even if he smelled a trap.
"Fetch Rad for me," Avery snapped at the house-elf.
A few minutes later the gaunt old wizard who led the phone-replication team hurried in.
Avery handed him the letter. "Read this. Tell me what you think."
Rad scanned it quickly. He had no idea about the old grudge between Avery and Sullivan; to him this looked like pure opportunity. His eyes lit up. "My lord, you must accept! And please take me with you!"
Avery gave him a flat look. "You don't see any problem with this?"
Rad blinked. "What problem?"
Avery jabbed a finger at the signature. "We're competitors. Why would they invite me to their core facility?"
Rad chuckled. "My lord, do you honestly believe Flying Feather plans to make its real money selling phones?"
Avery frowned. "Of course. What else?"
Rad leaned in, voice dropping with excitement. "Not at all. After studying them for months, I'm convinced their future revenue will shift from hardware to the Magical Network itself.
"Think about it. Britain has maybe fifteen thousand witches and wizards total. Even if every single one buys a phone, the market saturates in a few years. No more growth.
"But the network? Right now Flying Feather offers it for free. Once wizards get used to the convenience and phone ownership climbs, what happens next? They start charging for network access.
"Then there's Wizard's Chess. I'd bet more than a thousand people are playing ranked matches online every single day. Unlock special colored pieces and boards at certain ranks. Imagine they release a premium, gorgeous chess set that actually costs money—how many players do you think would buy it?"
Avery sucked in a sharp breath. He himself was one of those thousand players, currently grinding toward Glorious Gold and pushing hard for Honorable Platinum. If a flashy, exclusive chess set dropped, he'd probably drop Galleons on it without thinking twice.
"So you're saying this might actually be a real business offer?" His suspicion started to ease.
"Exactly. Flying Feather is clearly production-constrained. To grow the network fast enough to monetize it, they need way more phones in circulation. The quickest way? Find partners. They may have already reached out to others. My lord, accept the invitation—and please bring me along."
If Sullivan had been standing there listening to Rad, he would have given the man a slow clap and seriously considered poaching him. The old wizard had nailed his long-term strategy almost perfectly.
With Rad's enthusiastic backup, most of Avery's doubts melted away. He sat down and dashed off a reply.
Dear Mr. Lupin,
I was delighted to receive your invitation. The old glories have faded; new stars now shine across the wizarding world.
Flying Feather Magic Phones is clearly the brightest of those stars. It would be my honor to tour your factory.
I will arrive in Hogsmeade Village at ten o'clock sharp this Saturday and will be accompanied by one of my retainers. I hope that causes no inconvenience.
Respectfully,
Jack Avery
The owl carrying Avery's letter reached Hogsmeade later that same afternoon. Sullivan happened to be at the store when it arrived. Lupin read the reply, then turned to his boss with a raised eyebrow.
"All right, Su. You mind telling me why we're inviting this guy to our shop? From what I know, he's probably got ties to You-Know-Who."
Sullivan grinned. "Remus, drop the 'probably.' I can tell you flat-out: Jack Avery is a Death Eater. Not just back in the day—he's the one who helped Quirrell lure Dumbledore away from the castle last term."
Lupin absorbed that, looking even more confused. "Then why the hell are you inviting him here? We can't let a Death Eater get anywhere near Magic Phone technology."
Sullivan clapped him on the shoulder. "Relax, Remus. I know exactly what I'm doing. Let me tell you a story. More than ten years ago, one night a gang of Death Eaters broke into my house…"
He gave Lupin the short version of what happened that night. When he finished, Lupin's eyes widened in understanding.
"So you're saying… those brain-eating worm eggs are still inside him?"
"Exactly." Sullivan's smile turned sharp. "All we need now is a small blood sample to activate them. After that, Jack Avery stops being a Death Eater and becomes our very own puppet."