Trading with the Muggle world wasn't all that bad, once you got used to it. Mostly, it was much the same as Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade or Ottery St. Catchpole; figure out what was needed by whom, get a decent price,
store the goods, transfer them, get paid and do it all over again. When you treat your customers right they buy from you again. When you treat your supplier right, they search you out when they get good deals.
Zacharias Smith sat in his small office with his wand in his hand, gave it a flick and the french press coffee maker floated over to his desk and filled his cup. Looking over the day's sales and deliveries, he reached for his cup without looking, took a sip and put it back. Yes, it was going to be an easy day. Three deliveries coming in, most of it going right back out without need to store it. A small profit from the transactions would make the morning's effort worthwhile. He looked at his sheets again.
Yes, Docker Ltd, late three times this month with deliveries. "Don't bother coming back," Zacharias said to himself. Hawthorne Products, year after year of being on time and on price, they were due to deliver first today.
Hawthorne himself usually called beforehand to ensure the order was right and he was ready to take delivery. A most considerate supplier in so many ways.
The old style phone on his desk rang and when he picked it up, it was Mark Hawthorne, right on time. "Hawthorne, you old dog. How's business?"
"Quite well," Hawthorne said with amusement. "Say, Zacharias, I'd like to stop by to talk about some new suppliers I've been in contact with. They make quite a good pitch and the cost of their goods is most reasonable. If you're interested I'll bring lunch. What do you say?"
Zacharias laughed. "Hawthorne, you're always coming up with something, but you do bring very tasty lunches. I'll make sure to have the coffee to match your lunch. Should I expect you at noon?"
"Noon it is," Hawthorne said. "My delivery should be there around twelve thirty so it should all fit in nicely. We get to talk and I get to see my delivery gets to you on time. It's all good, yes?"
Zacharias smiled in amusement. "Yes, it's all good. See you at noon then." He hung up and chuckled to himself. A man that was always a pleasure to do business with. The best Muggle supplier he'd ever have, he knew that.
Right at noon, Hawthorne was knocking on his door.
"Zach, old man. Good to see you again," Hawthorne called out in a booming voice. He held out his hand.
Zacharias took it and answered, "Good to see you, my old friend. I have the coffee ready. Good brew too."
"Yes," Hawthorne said, "always the best. I brought corned beef sandwiches from the deli by my office, some really tasty horseradish too. I'm sure it'll meet with your approval."
Both of them sat down, Zacharias automatically reaching for his wand then stopping, reached over and poured the coffee. "So, Hawthorne, what kind of deal you have in the works?"
Hawthorne took a long sip and set his cup down. "Ah, excellent as always, Zach. I contacted some textile suppliers in Malaysia. They deal with Chinese manufacturers. If I can go with larger stocks than I have in the past,
I get a pretty good discount compared to the smaller shipments I've been doing. To do that I'm looking at thirty percent increase in deliveries. I've lined up a few more dealers so that's looking good, but if you can see your way to picking up a bit more it'll be at a discount. If we can work something out, both of us do well."
They talked and ate, trading bits of gossip and trade news, who was doing well and who wasn't, transport costs, fuel costs, everything two businessmen needed to know to keep their noses above the water while making enough profit to pay employees and overhead.
Hawthorne looked around. "You know, Zach, whenever I'm here I don't see anyone else. How do you do your shipping? Surely you don't do the driving yourself."
Zacharias smiled easily. "Ah, well, I manage to get everything done,
don't you know. Part timers and all that. My nephew helps out when he can."
"But, I'm just curious you know, I don't ever recall seeing your delivery lorries," Hawthorne said. "What model do you use and where do you get your decals? Always looking for good sign makers."
"Trade secrets," Zacharias said with a mischievous grin. "If I gave away all my tricks, how would I stay in business?"
"You are a magician of you do it without lorries," Hawthorne said with a soft chuckle. "But you've been dealing with my family's company for fifteen years, always pay on time, so there's not much I can say more than you're a good man to trade with."
"May it always be so my friend," Zacharias said with a smile. "I'll see if I can spot a bit more cloth. I can always find a way to sell dry goods. Let me do some figuring and see what I can come up with. You have an prospective price list?"
Hawthorne laughed. "It just so happens ..." and rached into his briefcase.
The delivery lorrie honked outside so they both got up. Hawthorne held out his hand. "I have a few more clients to talk to so I should be getting a move on. Talk to you later this week, okay? I promise to make as good a deal for you that I can."
Zacharias helped the driver move the pallet jack around his storage area, marking off each box on his tally sheet. The area was just big enough to hold one lory delivery at a time so it had to be stacked carefully if it was to fit. Then it also had to be stacked so he could make deliveries in the proper order.
The driver finished up and left, Zacharias looking at his paperwork with one eye out watching the driver. Another quick look around and Zacharias closed the doors. Inside, alone, he took out his wand and moved several cases into position and got to work on deliveries.
Outside, Hawthorne had thought of a better proposal just as he reached his car, turned back and headed right to the storage unit he knew Zacharias had been using. He knocked and got no answer, tried the door and the handle moved.
"Zacharias, you in here?" he called out as he opened the door. What he saw was an empty room, leftover wet tracks from the pallet jack leading to spots on the floor completely devoid of boxes. But his driver had been there just twenty minutes ago, no way could anyone have emptied the place out in so short a time. Especially without a lorry to haul the boxes.
"Zacharias?" he called out again, looking around. Still nothing. He took a few steps when a loud crack sounded in the room, echoing back and forth as he flicked his eyes nervously around the empty room and turned.
There, where the boxes should have been, stood Zacharias, staring at him.
"Hawthorne. Something I can do for you?" Zacharias asked in a measured tone.
"Uh, you see, well, I thought of something and came back," the stunned man said. "The door was open ..."
"And you came in," Zacharias finished for him. "So, what was your idea?"
"Uh, it was something, well, tell you the truth I can't think right at the moment," Hawthorne said. "What just happened? You weren't here, nothing was here at all, now you are. That's not possible."
Zacharias took a deep breath and said, "Perhaps we should retire to my office. Another cup of coffee, perhaps?"
"Yes, that would be a good idea," Hawthorne said. "Maybe something stronger."
In the office, Zacharias put the coffee maker and both mugs on the table and sat down. "I've been doing business with your firm for fifteen years, Mark," he said, using the man's first name. "I wish to continue doing business with you. You always have what I need, you deliver on time, your billing is accurate. All good things, don't you agree?"
"Well, yes, of course," Hawthorne said. "But what was that I just saw?
I know my driver unloaded a dozen pallets of goods you ordered and now they're gone. One minute you were gone and the next instant you were right there behind me. What was that all about?"
Zacharias took another long breath while he decided what he should do. He had the authority to Obliviate anything that might cause a difficulty but that might create even more problems. Hawthorne was no dummy and would wonder what happened to the time.
Zacharias made his choice and to hell with the Ministry and their paranoia. "I provide goods for a unique community, you might say," he said.
"We rather prize our privacy, very much prize that. I need you to tell me you are going to forget everything you saw, at least a promise to never talk to anyone about today, and I mean that most seriously."
Zacharias pulled out his wand to bring the coffee pot over, pointed it and muttered a few words. The pot shivered a little and he waved his wand again to bring it over and refill his cup. "Would you like a little warm up?" he asked in a pleasant voice.
Hawthorne stared at the pot floating in midair, hovering right above his mug, tilted just enough to be ready to pour more coffee.
"Is that ... is that what I think it is?" he asked staring at the stick in Zach's hand.
Zacharias chuckled softly. "Depends on what you think it is," he said.
"A magic wand?" squeaked Hawthorne, wide eyes staring at the pot then back to the wand.
"Why, I do believe you are correct," Zacharias said evenly, looking at his wand and casually turning it around. "Elm with dragon heart string. Had it since I was eleven."
"So you grant wishes and all that?" Hawthorne asked.
"Don't be absurd, I'm not a genie," Zacharias said. "It helps me channel energy to make things happen. Can't violate conservation laws, you know. Physics is physics."
Hawthorne stared a moment longer and turned his eyes to Zacharias.
"So you're saying you're a magician?"
"We prefer wizard, actually," Zacharias returned. "And yes, I am. We keep to ourselves as much as possible. Historically, our societies haven't gotten along very well. Someone always wants to take advantage of the situation for personal gain, be it money or simply power over others, so it's best if we keep to ourselves as much as possible."
Hawthorne frowned and said, "But you're telling me."
Zacharias smiled a little. "Yes, but who are you going to tell that won't think you're mad or just hallucinating? Can you imagine telling your friends you met a wizard with a magic wand? What would they say? Yes, I'm telling you but I'm quite sure you won't be spreading the word around."
"Hmmm, yes, I think I can see what you're saying," Hawthorne said in a quiet voice. "Do you do magic as a business then?"
Zacharias chuckled again. "If I did wouldn't you think I'd be living in a mansion with servants and fancy cars and all that rot? So no, I don't use my magic in business. Well, I have to admit I have done a bit of truth seeing,
but that's all. No more than you would use your internet to research a client's ability to pay their bills. It's not very ethical to take advantage and I do have a moral base the same as you. We're not that much different.
Actually, we're very much the same in every respect, only I have a particular skill that you don't have. But do you see it as anything different than some that can hit a cricket ball with uncanny ability or paint a scene that tells you the mood and how the people in the painting treat each other? It's just a skill, inborn and no, I can't teach you to use what you don't have." Her'd seen the look in his eyes.
"Never really thought of it that way," Hawthorne said. "I guess I've always imagined it being like Ali Baba or Alladin. You know, a genie poofs up and grants wishes and everyone's happy."
Zacharias looked closely at his coffee mug. "No, everyone doesn't turn out to be better people or richer or smarter simply because they have magical abilities. They're just the same. But there have been some pretty awful times in recent history, another reason to keep things private you might say. Since then there have been good things that have happened but,
as far as this conversation goes anyway, we stay on our side of the fence and don't interfere with our neighbors. It's better when we stay in our own realms."
Hawthorne looked at his friend, the man he'd done business with for so many years. "So then, how many wizards are there and how have you stayed hidden for so long?"
"Let's see," Zacharias said, "a few thousand or so in the UK. And we have stayed hidden because we have laws that keep wizards and witches from telling Muggles, that's you, non magical people, about all this."
"Laws to keep things secret?" Hawthorne asked. "But you're telling me. Won't you get in trouble?"
Zacharias looked Hawthorne in the eye. "You gong to tell anyone? No?
Then there's no problem. If you did, you would get a visit from the Aurors or the Obliviator Office. They'd erase your memory. Sometimes it works quite well, other times, uh, not so well. So right now we are both taking a big chance. If you feel this is too much a burden for you, that we can't continue being businessmen and friends, I can offer you the chance to have your memory altered. I just can't guarantee you won't lose more than just what you've heard in the last hour.
"You understand what I'm saying?" Zacharias asked. "We stay friends,
continue doing business just we have in the past. Or you can opt to have your memory changed. Do you have any questions about that part of things?"
"No, I guess not," Hawthorne said after a few moments. "You're still the same man as you were this morning. I'm the one that's a little different now. But I'd rather not have this be a difficulty for you and me. I thinks it's just like hearing you're Catholic or Protestant or Liberal Party or Labour or such like. You're a man I like doing business with, a person I call a friend. I don't want that to change. We are taught to be forgiving and give fellowship so I can't see myself making you out to be anything other than I know you are. Well, perhaps a little different. I don't have any other friend with a real magic wand." He grinned.
Zacharias reached out his hand. "Thanks Mark. I appreciate it and I feel the same."
Hawthorne took a long sip, set his cup down and said, "I'm curious about something. If I hadn't agreed to keep your secret, what would you have done?"
They both looked at each other intently before Zacharias said, "You wouldn't remember much of today and the Ministry would have put me on trial for violating our secrecy, probably put me in jail and you'd be doing business with someone else with no memory of me or any of our dealings."
"Oh. They take it that seriously?" Hawthorne asked.
"Very much so," Zacharias said. "It's a grave breech of the law and there are very few exceptions to it."
Hawthorne took another long sip of coffee, then another as he worked it all out in his head. "Yes, I guess they would, take it seriously." His eyes looked about the office with the notebooks and filing cabinets. Much like his own office if a bit more compact. Fifteen years of trade with not one problem in delivery or billing. That was a good record in anyone's books.
"If you don't mind, may I ask you a personal question?" Hawthorne said.
"Go for it," Zacharias answered.
"Are you married?"
"What?" Zacharias shot out in surprise.
"Married. You know, the ring, a mortgage, kids and the like."
"Well, yes," Zacharias said. "It's been hard sometimes, but I have to say I'm happily married. Two kids, Peter is eight and Cassie is ten. Cute as a button she is."
"Then I'd like to invite your family to my house this weekend for dinner and drinks," Hawthorne said. "My kids are older, ten and thirteen, but I'm sure they'd like to meet your kids. There is one condition though."
"And what would that be?" Zacharias asked, eying him carefully.
"No business talk," he said and grinned. "Just good folks having dinner together. I'd like to meet your family I think. Purely a social occasion. You play cards?"
"Uh, no, not like I think you mean."
"Ah well, won't matter. We can just sit and talk, get to know each other outside the office, as it were," Hawthorne said. "I won't say I'm not intrigued to actually have dinner guests over that can turn me into a toad or some such, but I think it'd be a good hoot up. Anything you don't care to eat? I have Muslim friends so we're quite used to food restrictions. It won't be any bother."
"No, we don't have that kind of thing, not specifically for wizards,"
Zacharias said. "It all depends on one's culture and beliefs, really."
"Yes, of course," Hawthorne said. "Just wanted to make sure. Say about five in the afternoon?"
"Sounds good to me," Zacharias said. "But there's one condition."
"And?" Hawthorne asked with genuine curiosity.
"We get to bring the dessert," Zacharias said. "Heidi makes the most scrumptious pumpkin pasties you'll ever have. They just melt in your mouth."