The Strength of an Ally

Although the Greengrass Family keeps a low profile, they actually own quite a few businesses. They are the second-largest shareholder of Ogden Distillery (the largest being the Ogden Family), and they also have many business collaborations with the Sorcerer's Saucepot. But their biggest business is their Fantastic Beasts breeding farm.

Ogden Distillery is a supplier of premium whiskies, and Professor Lockhart's favorite Ogden Firewhisky is their signature product; The Sorcerer's Saucepot's main business is kitchenware for wizarding families, and they are also the biggest sponsor of all of Celestina Warbeck's concerts.

The Greengrass Family's wealth and social influence are among the highest of all Pure-blood families. Gareth himself is a member of the Wizengamot and also replaced Lucius as one of the twelve Hogwarts School Governor after Lucius's fall from power. With the support of the Greengrass Family, Skylar felt more confident about his future plans.

[The "ally," the Greengrass Family, has been acquired!]

For the next five days, Skylar spent time with the three girls.

Skylar would sometimes give them pointers on the Occlumency, and sometimes he would explain to Astoria the things she needed to pay attention to in her studies for the next semester.

In addition, Gareth would sometimes take him out to make new connections, such as Osca Rigibit, the big boss of the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary. The Romanian Dragon Sanctuary is the world's largest Fire Dragon breeding area, with at least eight species of dragons: Chinese Fireball, Welsh Green Dragon, Hungarian Horntail, Norwegian Ridgeback, Peruvian Vipertooth, Romanian Longhorn, Swedish Short-Snout, and Ukrainian Ironbelly.

This Fire Dragon breeding area was founded in the early 19th century by Oska's father, the renowned Fire Dragon expert Harvey Rigibit. Within just a few decades, it surpassed Sweden's Fire Dragon breeding area to become the largest breeding area in all of Europe. In the following decades, it became the world's leader in Fire Dragon breeding, rivaling the Greengrass Family, the leader in the Fantastic Beasts breeding industry.

Oscar wasn't content with simply resting on his father's laurels. He recently planned to expand his Fire Dragon breeding business again, so he raised funds within his inner circle. Gareth, who could be considered a competitor, was one of those he invited. Gareth then casually pulled Skylar along, getting Skylar into the inner circle as well.

Skylar invested 10,000 Galleon in one go, acquiring one-fifth of the shares in the breeding area and becoming its second-largest shareholder. His generosity was also recognized within that circle, allowing him to expand his network of contacts.

Sure enough, another big shot in the circle took the initiative to approach Skylar and befriend him.

Philbert Devril, manager and behind-the-scenes owner of Puddlemere United.

Puddlemere United, founded in 1163, is the oldest team in the Britain and Ireland Quidditch League (also known as the British and Irish Quidditch League). The team has won the British and Irish Quidditch League 22 times and has also won the Europe Cup twice.

However, Puddlemere United's championship status and popularity have been seriously challenged since the dangerous and formidable Gwenog Jones became captain of the Holyhead Harpies a few years ago.

Gwenog Jones was an excellent Beater, but what was even more memorable was her distinctive personality and mannerisms. She once publicly stated that witches were better suited to Quidditch than wizards, and no one dared to disagree with this view. In fact, the Daily Prophet once said that no one dared to oppose any of the opinions of the "brilliant but dangerous" Gwenog Jones, because those who opposed her were usually turned into woodlice.

Her flamboyant and self-centered personality has surprisingly attracted a large number of fans.

It wasn't that no one wanted to deal with her, but the Jones family she came from was not to be trifled with. Her aunt Hestia Jones had a close relationship with Dumbledore, and she herself was a beloved student of Potions Master Horace Slughorn. Not only was she one of the innermost members of the legendary "Slug Club," but she also gave Horace free tickets to his games every year, and the two maintained a close relationship.

This season, Devril is planning to do something. His primary plan is poaching, a lot of poaching, to lure away the best Chaser from other teams with high salaries. To accomplish this, he needs financial support. The transfer fee for just Virda Griffith, the Holyhead Harpies's ace chaser, was a whopping 1,000 Galleon.

Therefore, after hearing about Skylar's large investment in the Fire Dragon breeding area, he approached this tycoon who had risen to prominence in the business world.

Skylar was quite surprised; this was the first person to proactively seek investment from him, indicating that his reputation in the business world had been thoroughly established. At the same time, he couldn't help but think that he, too, could finally own his own football team, just like the Muggle tycoons of his previous life. (Several major Premier League teams had been bought by wealthy individuals.)

Skylar was not blinded by excitement. After carefully reviewing the prospectus, he added several conditions to ensure that his interests would not be harmed by any accidents. In other words, the team management must purchase insurance for any accidents that might happen to the players.

He didn't remember the Quidditch plot very clearly, since this part of the story wasn't mentioned in the original book, but appeared in an officially published Daily Prophet. He only vaguely remembered that Puddlemere United's poaching of players seemed to have angered many people, and then it seemed that some players ended up in trouble.

After several rounds of discussions, Skylar ultimately bought a quarter of Puddlemere United's shares for 3,000 Galleon.

[Stake acquired in Romanian Dragon Sanctuary!]

[Puddlemere United stake acquired!]

Skylar's cash reserves dwindled significantly. However, Skylar's expenses were not high; life at Hogwarts didn't require much money, and he obviously didn't need his own money when living at home. Although he was currently staying at the Greenery Manor, it was clear that Gareth wouldn't charge him for living expenses.

Of course, Skylar's money continued to flow in from the publishing house, the Miraculous Alchymia, Ellerby and Spudmore Broom Company, and even from the Cultivated Fungus Trade. Although the profits were not large, small amounts of Galleon were still regularly received. The total return on all investments was about eight thousand Galleon per year.

In summary, even if the investments in the Fire Dragon Breeding Zone and Puddlemere United ultimately result in losses, he only needs a few years to recover his financial strength.

Meanwhile, Skylar thought about the upcoming Quidditch World Cup, and it seemed he also needed to make good use of this Quidditch World Cup to earn some money.

At Gareth's behest, Daphne also took Skylar on a tour of the Greengrass family's businesses during this time, expressing the family's trust in him and showcasing the family's strength and value.

As expected of the leaders in the Fantastic Beasts breeding industry, the Greengrass Family's Fantastic Beasts breeding farm truly opened Skylar's eyes.

The stables housed all breeds of Pegasus: grey Graniian Winged Horse, enormous Abraxan, chestnut Aethonan, extremely rare Thestral, and Half-blood from various breeds.

"Is it okay for us to breed Half-blood species like this? Isn't there the 'Ban on Experimental Breeding' of 1965?" Although Skylar knew the power of the Greengrass Family, he didn't think it was a wise idea to leave any leverage over these matters.

Daphne laughed and said, "Of course, no problem. Our family's breeding farm is one of the few businesses in all of Great Britain that holds a license. In fact, Hogwarts also has one... So please don't be surprised if any strange and dangerous new species appear in Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures next semester."

(Note: Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewt can be used openly in the Goblet of Fire project, which is obviously perfectly legal.)

Skylar suddenly remembered the Weasley Twins in the original story using Puffskein to create Pygmy Puff, which they were then able to sell openly in their joke shop, clearly having obtained a prior license. Later, Pygmy Puff even became the best-selling item in the joke shop's "WonderWitch Range" products.

Skylar shared his inspiration for cultivating Pygmy Puff, Daphne tilted her head, thinking for a moment. "We also have a special area here for cultivating Puffskein, mainly supplying them to the major pet stores in Diagon Alley to be sold as wizard pets. Come on! I'll take you to see it!"

The two walked to the area where the Puffskein were being cultivated. It was a Puffskein nest surrounded by a low fence, filled with leftover food, and Puffskein of various colors were happily licking it with their long, pink tongues.

"That's an Appaloosa Puffskein," Daphne said, pointing to a large, silver-white Puffskein. "It has the ability to expand and shrink. Since the breeder in New York was banned by the MACUSA in 1925, our family has been the only one in the world that still possesses this breed of Puffskein."

"I think there's still a lot of potential for Puffskein as pets. If we could cultivate more pink and light Puffskein that appeal to women, and then shrink their size a bit, they would definitely be very popular," Skylar suggested. "I can also help with this; I have some knowledge of species modification."

Daphne's eyes Winky as she stared at Skylar. "Is there anything you can't do?" she asked, then gave him a sweet smile. "Let me talk to Dad about it. It could be a collaborative project between you and our family. If it's successful, you'll get a share of the profits."

The two then visited Kelpie that was kept in a large pond. Kelpie are a type of Transfiguration creature; they don't necessarily appear in the form of a horse. The most famous Kelpie, the Loch Ness Monster, appears as a plesiosaur from the Jurassic period (similar to Lapras from Pokémon).

There was also a large group of Kneazle and Crup in the garden, running around and performing various agile movements under the direction of their keepers.

This farm employs hundreds of professional Care of Magical Creatures. Each breeder is only required to care for and train one type of Fantastic Beasts specified in their employment contract. They have extensive knowledge in their respective fields of Fantastic Beasts and can often share fascinating facts with Skylar that cannot be learned from books.

Upon reaching the area where Unicorn were kept, Skylar saw a group of horse-like creatures, pure white with spiral horns on their foreheads, strolling with elegant steps.

Among the herd of Unicorn were two baby Unicorn, their bodies entirely golden, as if cast in gold, their signature horns yet to grow on their heads. Baby Unicorn typically don't start to turn silvery-white until they are two years old, begin to grow horns around four, and reach adulthood around seven. At that time, their fur will turn a beautiful pure white, making even the purest snow appear dull and colorless in their presence.

Not far from the herd of Unicorn stood a solitary unicorn creature with its head held high. It was covered in jet-black fur, with piercing eyes and an extremely majestic appearance. Even with Skylar's knowledge, he could not recognize it.

"What is this?" Skylar asked.

Daphne was very satisfied with the effect the creature had created. "This is a legendary Eastern Unicorn, known as the Xiezhi in China. Europe Unicorn can easily distinguish between good and evil in people's hearts, so only the purest women approach them; but the Xiezhi has a completely different ability. It is born with the instinct to distinguish right from wrong and to be impartial and incorruptible, so it is very popular in the China Ministry of Magic, and those who can keep it as a pet are generally honest and upright public officials."

The two spent most of the day at the farm, finally arriving at the last corner they hadn't yet explored.

This was a towering redwood tree, accessible only by a special magical elevator. Hidden among its branches, Skylar even spotted a Phoenix's nest!

"Don't overthink it. Even with our family's strength, we haven't been able to acquire a Phoenix. As far as I know, in all of Great Britain, only our Headmaster Dumbledore possesses Phoenix." Daphne paused, then continued, "This is actually a subspecies of Phoenix, a Qingluan, a hybrid of Phoenix and a peacock. It cannot be reborn from the ashes, but its feathers and tears are still precious materials."

Even if it's just a subspecies of Phoenix, that's still quite remarkable. Skylar's assessment of the Greengrass Family's strength rose to another level.

Time passed in this rare moment of leisure, and soon August 18th arrived.

Gareth, accompanied by his butler Morganton, Skylar, and his three daughters, used the Ministry of Magic prepared Portkey to travel to Dartmoor in Devon, the venue for the Quidditch World Cup.