Chapter 89
Although the Greengrass family is low-key, they actually own a considerable number of businesses. They are the second-largest shareholders of the Ogden Distillery (the largest being the Ogden family), and they have many business collaborations with the Wizarding Cauldron Company. However, their biggest business is their magical creature breeding farm.
The Ogden Distillery is a supplier of high-end whiskey, and Professor Lockhart's favorite, Ogden's Fire-whisky, is their signature product; the main business of the Wizarding Cauldron Company is kitchenware for wizarding families, and they are also the largest sponsors of all concerts by Cetina Wobek.
The wealth and social influence of the Greengrass family rank among the top among many pure-blood families. Gareth himself is a member of Wizengamot and also replaced Lucius as one of the twelve Hogwarts governors after Lucius fell from power. With the support of the Greengrass family, Soren feels more confident about his future plans.
["Ally" Greengrass Family Acquired!]
In the five days that followed, Soren spent time with the three girls.
Sometimes, Soren would teach them about the Occlumency spell, and sometimes he would explain to Astoria the important points to pay attention to in the upcoming semester's coursework.
In addition, Gareth would sometimes take him out to network with new people, such as Oscar Regibitt, the big boss of the Romanian Dragon Breeding Zone. The Romanian Dragon Breeding Zone is the largest dragon breeding area in the world, housing at least eight varieties of dragons: Chinese Fireball, Welsh Green, Hungarian Horntail, Norwegian Ridgeback, Peruvian Viper-tooth, Romanian Longhorn, Swedish Short snout, and Ukrainian Iron-belly.
This dragon breeding zone was established in the early 19th century by Oscar's father, the renowned dragon expert, Harvey Regibitt, and within just a few decades, it surpassed the Swedish dragon breeding zone to become the largest in all of Europe. In the following decades, it became the leader in the global dragon breeding industry; together with the Greengrass family, a leader in the magical creature breeding industry, they are indeed a perfect match.
Oscar is not content to rest on his father's achievements; recently, he plans to further expand the dragon breeding zone's business, so he has been seeking financing within his small circle, and Gareth, being a peer in the industry, was one of the invited individuals. Gareth conveniently brought Soren along, allowing him to join this small circle.
Soren invested ten thousand Galleons in one go, acquiring one-fifth of the breeding zone's equity, becoming the second-largest shareholder, and his boldness was recognized by that circle, allowing him to expand his network even further.
As a result, another big player in the circle actively approached Soren to make connections.
Philbert Devreel, the manager and behind-the-scenes boss of Puddle-mere United.
Puddlemere United, founded in 1163, is the oldest team in the Quidditch League of England and Ireland. This team has won the British-Irish League 22 times and has also lifted the European Cup twice.
However, ever since the dangerous and formidable Gwen Jones became the captain of the Holyhead Harpies a few years ago, Puddlemere United's championship status and popularity have faced severe challenges.
Gwen Jones is an outstanding Chaser, but what is even more memorable is her colorful personality and speech; she has publicly stated that witches are better suited for playing Quidditch than wizards, and no one dares to oppose this view; in fact, the Daily Prophet once stated that no one dares to contradict any opinion of the "outstanding but dangerous" Gwen Jones because those who oppose her usually end up transformed into a slug.
Her flamboyant and self-centered personality has attracted a large number of fans.
While some have thought about dealing with her, her family, the Joneses, is not easy to mess with; her aunt, Hestia Jones, has close ties with Dumbledore, and she herself is a favorite student of potion master Horace Slughorn. She is not only a member of the legendary "Slug Club" but also gifts Horace free match tickets every year, maintaining a close relationship.
This season, Devreel plans to take action. His primary plan is to poach, extensively poaching other teams' outstanding players with high salaries. To accomplish this, he needs financial support. Just the transfer fee for the Holyhead Harpies' star Seeker, Vilda Griffiths, is as high as one thousand Galleons.
Therefore, after hearing about Soren's substantial investment in the fire dragon breeding area, he approached this rising star in the business world.
Soren was quite surprised; this was the first person to actively seek him out for investment, indicating that his reputation in the business world had truly opened up. At the same time, he couldn't help but think that he finally could own his own team like the wealthy Muggles in his previous life.
Soren was not overwhelmed by excitement; after carefully reviewing the prospectus, he added a few conditions to ensure that his interests would not be compromised by unforeseen circumstances, specifically that the team's management must secure insurance for any accidents involving the players.
He didn't remember the plot of Quidditch very clearly, as this part of the story was not mentioned in the original work but appeared in an officially published Daily Prophet. He only vaguely recalled that the recruitment behavior of Puddlemere United seemed to have angered many, and it seemed that eventually, a player had an accident.
After several discussions, Soren ultimately purchased a quarter of Puddlemere United's shares for three thousand Galleons.
[Shares of the Romanian Dragon Breeding Area acquired!]
[Shares of Puddlemere United acquired!]
Soren's cash on hand significantly diminished. However, his own expenses were not high; life at Hogwarts did not require much spending, and while living at home, he obviously did not need to use his own money. Although he was currently staying at Green Manor, it was clear that Gareth would not charge him for living expenses.
Of course, Soren's money continued to flow in from the publishing house, Miracle Alchemy Workshop, Elbe Broom Company, and even the artificially cultivated mushroom trading business, which, while not very profitable, still brought in small amounts of Galleons regularly, with an annual total return from all investments of about eight thousand Galleons.
Overall, even if the investments in the fire dragon breeding area and Puddlemere United ultimately resulted in losses, he would only need a few years to restore his financial power.
At the same time, Soren thought about the upcoming Quidditch World Cup; it seemed he should take advantage of this World Cup to earn some money.
Under Gareth's instructions, Daphne also took Soren to tour the Greengrass family business during this time, expressing the family's trust in him while also showcasing the family's strength and value.
As the leader in the magical creature breeding industry, the Greengrass family's magical creature breeding farm indeed opened Soren's eyes.
The stable housed all breeds of Thestrals: the gray Graphorn, the massive Mooncalf, the chestnut-colored Erumpent, the extremely rare Night Mare, and various hybrid breeds between different species.
"Is it okay for us to cultivate hybrid species like this? Isn't there the 1965 'Animal Breeding Experiment Prohibition Act'?" Although Soren knew the power of the Greengrass family, he did not think it wise to leave any incriminating evidence in these matters.
Daphne smiled and said, "Of course it's fine. Our family's breeding farm is one of the few businesses in all of Britain with a special permit. In fact, Hogwarts has one too... So if something strange and dangerous appears in Hagrid's magical creatures class next semester, please don't be surprised."
Soren suddenly remembered the incident in the original story where the Weasley twins used Puffskeins to breed Pygmy Puffs, which they then openly sold in their joke shop, clearly having obtained a special permit in advance. Later, Pygmy Puffs became the best-selling product in the joke shop's "Magical Witch Series."
When Soren shared his inspiration for breeding Pygmy Puffs, Daphne tilted her head and thought for a moment, "We also have a dedicated area for cultivating Puffskeins, mainly providing them to various pet shops in Diagon Alley for sale as wizarding pets. Come on! I'll take you to see it!"
The two walked to the area where Puffskeins were cultivated, which was enclosed by a low fence and filled with leftover food. Various colored Puffskeins happily licked the food with their long, pink tongues.
"That one is an Appaloosa Puffskein," Daphne pointed to a larger silver-haired Puffskein. "It has the ability to expand and contract. Since the caretaker in New York was banned by the American Magical Congress in 1925, our family is the only one in the world that still has this breed of Puffskein."
"I believe there is still great potential for plushies as pets. If we could cultivate more pink and light purple plushies that women like, and then shrink their size a bit more, they would definitely be very popular," Soren expressed his opinion. "I can help with this aspect as I have some knowledge in species modification."
Daphne's eyes sparkled as she stared at Soren. "Is there anything you can't do?" With that, she flashed a sweet smile. "Let me talk to my dad about this. It can be a collaborative project between you and our family, and if it succeeds, you can also share in the profits."
The two then visited a large water pool where horse-shaped water monsters were kept. The horse-shaped water monsters are shapeshifting creatures; they do not always appear in the form of horses. The most famous horse-shaped water monster, the Loch Ness Monster, is depicted as a plesiosaur from the Jurassic period.
In the garden, there was also a large group of cat raccoons and tail-wagging dogs, running around and performing various agile movements under the guidance of the keepers.
The breeding farm had hundreds of employees, all professional magical biologists. Each keeper only needed to care for and train one specific magical creature as specified in their employment contract. They had a deep understanding of their respective magical animal fields and often shared many bits of knowledge with Soren that couldn't be found in books.
As they walked to the unicorn breeding area, Soren saw a group of snow-white horse-like creatures with spiral horns on their foreheads, strolling gracefully.
Among the unicorns, there were two small unicorns that were entirely golden, as if made of gold, and they had not yet developed their signature long horns. Young unicorns typically start to transform their fur into silvery-white at around two years old, grow their horns around four years old, and reach adulthood at about seven years old, at which point their fur becomes a beautiful pure white, making even the purest snow look dull in comparison.
Not far from the unicorns, there stood a proud-looking, somewhat solitary horned creature, covered in jet-black fur with piercing eyes, exuding great majesty. Even with Soren's knowledge, he couldn't identify it.
"What is this?" Soren inquired.
Daphne was pleased with the effect this creature created. "This is the legendary unicorn other breed."
The two spent most of the day at the breeding farm and finally arrived at the last corner they hadn't explored.
It was a towering redwood tree that could only be accessed via a special magical lift. On one of the branches, Soren surprisingly spotted a phoenix nest!
"Don't think too much. Even with our family's strength, we haven't managed to obtain a phoenix. As far as I know, only our principal, Dumbledore, has a phoenix in all of Britain," Daphne paused and continued explaining. "This is actually a subspecies of phoenix, a bird that is a hybrid of a phoenix and a peacock. It cannot be reborn from fire, but its feathers and tears are still precious materials."
Even if it was just a subspecies of phoenix, it was still quite remarkable. Soren's assessment of the strength of the Greengrass family was raised another level in his mind.
Time passed in this rare leisure, and soon August 18 arrived.
Gareth, accompanied by butler Morgadon, Soren, and his three daughters, used the magically assigned door keys to head to the venue for the Quidditch World Cup—Devon, Dartmoor Wilderness.
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