Chapter 104 - Steve Jobs

It was a tough day for Steve. Just like how it had been for a few years now since he was fired from his own company.

The company that he from his own hands into billion dollar colossus.

Being fired from his own company had devastated him and he had not been able to eat and sleep properly for weeks.

But he came out of his depression. Because he had faced numerous setbacks in his life and had defeated all of them one way or another.

And being fired from his own company was just that for him. Another setback.

A few months after he was fired, he pooled up all his capital and started yet another company.

Under his leadership the company flourished and this time, he learned from his previous mistakes and became a better leader.

Previously he was a great visionary but not a very good businessman. With his new company, he tried to solve that problem and learned how to become a great businessman.

And now, a few years after being fired from Apple, he realized that getting fired was probably the best thing that ever happened to him.

It opened his eyes to his many glaring weaknesses that he refused to acknowledge at that time and thus helped his become a better version of himself.

But regardless of how good a leader he had become, the fact remained that his company was still in the early phases and he had to be there constantly in order to make sure the whole thing doesn't collapse upon itself.

It was like creating Apple all over again. Just that he had far more experience this time.

It was thrilling.

It was exciting.

It was exhausting.

And that was why when he saw the young boy coming out from the dark corner of his office wearing some kind of medieval robes, he wondered if he was hallucinating.

Gods, if this was another one of Xavier's prank to loosen him up then he was so getting it.

Then as he was thinking about how he was going to deal with this cosplaying kid, the kid spoke

"You're a hard man to find Mr Steve Jobs." The child said with an air of casualness that still seemed to ooze authority for some reason and he realized that even if this was Xavier's idea, there was no point in getting angry at the kid who had such a great talent in acting. So he decided to stay silent listen to what the kid had to say.

After all, a little bit of entertainment never killed anyone.

"But then again. That might have been because it's hard to find addresses from up in the air." The kid said with a smile and then he remembered something and added.

"Oh, how negligent of me. I forgot to introduce myself. Hello, I am Harry Potter. A wizard." The boy said and gave him his hand which Steve shook with a smile.

"A wizard." Steve asked, getting intrigued. So this was Xavier's idea of entertainment. To get a child magician to perform for him.

Well, it was… innovative, he would admit to himself.

"Then… I guess you're going to perform some magic for me?" he asked.

The kid looked at him curiously for a moment before he smirked and said "I wasn't really planning on showing you magic so soon. But I guess that if we're going to have a proper chat then it is mandatory that you understand the seriousness of this situation."

Now he was really intrigued. The kid was a dam good actor and seemed capable of making up lines on the go. Maybe he would give the kid a hefty tip when he leaves.

"Hold my hand Mr Steve. And don't let go, no matter what." The kid named Harry said and he grabbed the kid's arm tightly and wondered what would happen next.

Would the kid pull out a coin from behind his ears.

He hoped that was not the case.

The trick with the coin behind the ears was an old thing and he really, really wanted the kid to do something awesome.

Well, the kid did do something awesome.

In fact, what happened next would change Steve's whole life.

All of a sudden, he felt himself getting pulled from his navel and then he felt like he was being forced to squeeze in a small straw, and his body was travelling at a very rapid pace.

Then he was suddenly deposited in a place filled with sand feeling more disoriented than he felt as a child that one time when he and his friends decided that spinning around was a very good idea.

He was on a beach.

That was as far as he thought before the disorientation overwhelmed him and he emptied the contents of his stomach on the sand.

Then he felt a small hand massaging his back and he heard Harry say "It's alright. The first time is always very disorienting for everyone."

And he would never admit to anyone that he looked at the boy and then screamed like a little girl.

No. That never happened.

"Wha… What? Where? Who… Who are you?" he asked as he fell on his buŧŧ and started pulling himself away from the boy in panic.

This was not real was it?

This was… this was just some sort of weird dream.

He pinched himself a few times but the pain was real.

He chanced a gaze at the terrifying boy who had brought him from his office in Silicon Valley to… here. Wherever here was.

And he realized from amidst his fog of panic that he boy was giving him an amused smile.

"I guess Minerva deserve some respect after all." The boy said with a grin "She usually does this part of explaining magic to muggles without scaring the shit out of them. But I have to admit that this is quite amusing."

"Perhaps I should find a few more muggles to do this with." The boy said with a grin and Steve gulped.

He had never really believed in devils and gods but if those entities existed in reality, then the devil must look like this child.

Maybe this child was the nephew of the devil or something.

"But I don't want you panicking for this meeting. So here." The boy said and took out a vial from… a purse? And threw the vial at him which caught with fumbling hands "Drink this. It will calm you down."

"What is it?" Steve asked, not really sure if he wanted some random green liquid given to him by a stranger.

The liquid could turn him into a radioactive rat for all he knew.

"It's a calming liquid." He boy explained patiently "And don't worry Mr. Steve. I have no intentions of harming you."

He gave the boy a sceptical look.

Wasn't this the kind of thing that Kidnappers said to their victim.

Wait!? Was this a kidnapping?

Oh what was he thinking.

Of course it was.

"Can I… not drink this… thing?" he asked but then the boy gave him an almost feral grin and he realized that he really did not have an option and drank the green liquid at once and retched at the taste immediately.

It felt like he had drunk someone's week old piss and he had a feeling that he would never get that taste out of his tastebuds.

But then it suddenly happened.

All of his thought processes became clear and all the fear and panic he was feeling went away immediately, only to be replaced be a deep sense of calm and peace.

"It's a calming draught." The boy… err… Harry said. "It's worth two galleons in the apothecary. Can be really useful when you're getting ready for a big presentation or a big fight."

Now that he was finally able to listen to Harry with a calm mindset, he noticed that there were some words in those few sentences that he had never heard before in his life.

Harry had said that the… Calming Draught was worth two Galleons so he could ȧssume that Galleons must be the form of currency used by these… wizards.

Isn't that how Harry had introduced himself.

A wizard.

What a foreign concept.

But there was something that Harry had still not told him about.

"Why am I here?" he asked "What do you want from me? If you've brought me here for your entertainment then I must tell you that I'm a very bad dancer and an even worse singer."

The boy gave him an incredulous glance for a second before he started chuckling. The chuckles turned into full blown laughter and soon enough, the boy was rolling on the ground with his hands on his stomach, trying to contain his laughter all the while he gave the boy a weird stare.

The boy seemed a little… unhinged.

And that worried Steve. He also had the distinct feeling that if he had not finished the Calming Draught then he would be truly panicking for his future right now.

After a full minute of laughter, the boy finally calmed down and wiped the tears off the corner of his eyes.

Then the boy started mumbling to himself and Steve could hear a few words like "The Great Steve Jobs" "The Greatest company" and what not.

Then the boy noticed him at staring at himself and smiled before waving his hand and Voila, a table and two chair grew out of the dirt.

Like literally, the dirt particles started climbing up upon themselves before settling up in place to give the structure the look of a table and two chairs.

And then before his very eyes, the crude looking dirt furniture changed into wooden furniture of the highest class and Steve wondered how much a person would be able to earn if he was able to turn dirt into such fine craftsmanship.

Well, he was really not in the mood or situation to calculate right now but he could guess that for such a person, sky would be the limit.

"Let's have a seat Mr Steve Jobs. We need to talk about what I want from you after all." The boy said confidently and Steve hoped that the boy was not talking about his kidney, or lungs, or heart. He very much liked them in his own body and would rather not give them away as charity.

"And what is it that you want?" he asked cautiously.

"Why, to be the chairman of the first Magical company in the whole world." The boy said grandiosely and Steven wondered if his hearing had failed him at last.

"Pardon?" he asked and the boy smiled mysteriously.

"Mr Steve, I'm going to make you an offer that you can't refuse."

And after a whole hour of explanation, Steve Jobs had decided to become the CEO of the company named Magical Goods.