Chapter 50

That afternoon, Dan's mother, Diana Granger, arrived. After greeting everyone in the sitting room, she was introduced to Harry.

"Has Robert and his family arrived yet?" Diana asked.

"They arrived this morning. I believe they are in the library at the moment." Dan replied.

"This house has its own private library?"

"Yes. We got the books ourselves." Dan said.

"You have done well, son." Diana said as she looked at Dan. Dan swelled up in pride at hearing his mother praise.

"You must be tired from your trip. Why don't we show you the choice of rooms before I take you to the library?" Dan suggested.

"That sounds grand." Diana said.

She was lead upstairs to the first option by Dan accompanied by Emma. It was a modern bedroom with a magnificent view of the country side. Sheep and cattle could be seen grazing in the distance. The bathroom had all the modern conveniences including both a shower (with adjustable shower head) and a deluxe bathtub (with water jets for relaxations).

"This is better than a hotel," Diana said. "Let us see what other options you have but they will have to be quite spectacular to beat this."

Dan then lead her through all the empty rooms. The next bedroom she entered Diana immediately said. "Too plain.". The one after that was "too dark". Room after room Diana complained for various reasons like "It was too boring", "It was too far from everyone else." and "It is too bright.".

The final room Dan showed his mother was a a period bedroom with a brilliant view of the gardens. Its ensuite had an antique clawfoot bathtub with matching vanity and mirror. After a thorough inspection by Diana. She announced.

"This is just right." Making everyone laugh as they realised she was doing a parody of the Goldilocks fairy tale as she inspected each bedroom. While Dan moved his mother's bags to her new room, Diana asked Emma.

"Do you need help preparing dinner?"

"Meals are prepared by machine. So if you want anything then tell us and we will take care of it." Emma replied.

"What if I want a midnight snack?"

"There are fruit and nuts on the side table. Snack food, tea and liquor in the cabinet next to it."

"What if I crave a type of fruit that is not here?" Diana asked to whine her daughter in law.

"Tell us and we will see what we can do." Emma replied. Enjoying the mind game she was playing with her mother in law.

"Can you get me some fresh Kiwi fruit and longans? I had them on one of trips to the tropics and I really like them." Diana said as she tried to give Emma an impossible task.

"I see what I can do." Emma said even though she had already decided to send one of the houseelves to the tropics via the Vanishing Cabinets to get it for her mother in law.

"Thank you, Emma." Diana said just as Dan came in with the bags.

"Let us go find Rob." Dan suggested.

They found Rob and his family in the library with used plates, bowls and cups littered around them.

"This is a great library. It is bigger than the one at my school." Amy said as she Dan and Emma enter.

"I found books that would be useful for my exams that I did not know even existed." Bryce said excitedly in support of his sister's statement.

"If you write down the titles we will get you a spare copy of the books before you leave." Emma offered.

"Thank you Aunt Emma." Amy and Bryce said happily together.

"I think you should limit yourselves to 5 books each. We do not want to abuse Aunt Emma's generosity." Shirley said.

"If we don't restrict them, they would probably try to take the entire library back home with them." Rob said cheekily.

"Let them get more than 5 books if they it will help them with their up coming exams. Besides if you limit them to 5 books we will probably have trouble getting them to leave the library the entire time you are staying here." Dan pleaded on Amy and Bryce's behalf.

"It does not feel right taking so many books without paying. If it will help with their exams at least let us pay for it." Shirley said.

"Maybe they can consider it their Christmas present for this year." Rob suggested.

"We already brought their proper Christmas presents. Besides we brought the library in bulk with multiple copies of all books in case some books get stolen by our party guests. So it does not deprive us of anything if they take the books and duplication these books is very cheap. It costs about a dollar for the materials and labour." Dan explained.

"Besides consider this sharing the good fortune we had lately with our family." Emma added. Rob turned to Shirley who nodded her head.

"Okay. If you are sure." Rob said. He then turned to his children and said. "You can accept more than 5 books but the number will be determined by the amount of space we have in the trunk of the car. We are not going to be putting any books on the roof of the car. So pack early so that we can work out how much books we can fit."

Amy and Bryce high fived each other before they started planning.

"Amy could you help me pack since you seem to know how to fit more into a suitcase." Bryce said to Amy.

"Okay." Amy said reluctantly. "But your will owe me."

"Fine." Bryce replied.

"What should we do with the dirty dishes?" Shirley asked. "I don't remember the way to the kitchen and I did not want to get lost."

"You should create a map of the place. It is enormous." Bryce added.

"It is not that big and you will get used to it after a while. In regards to the dirty dishes. Just put them in any empty closet you find nearby. Remember to leave the door of the closet ajar so that the cleaners know you have things you need cleaning. If you have any laundry that you need done just leave the clothes in the closest closet to your room and it will be taken care of it." Emma said.

"You are spoiling us. This service must be very expensive." Rob said.

"We don't know. The households we provide the power to are paying for it." Dan replied.

"Those solar panels must be pumping out a lot of power to cover the cost of the cleaning service. How many households do you supply power to?"

"I don't know. At least a hundred." Dan replied.

"I think we are going to have trouble getting your relatives to leave." Emma whispered to Dan.

"We can always ask a team of security personnel to force them out." Dan joked.

Everyone started moving the dirty dishes into a nearby closet. After the dishes were cleared off, Shirley asked Emma.

"Can you get a wet cloth for me so that I can wipe down the table."

"Don't worry about it. It would be taken care of by the cleaners. They come by once during the day and again at night." Emma assured Shirley. "Why don't we go to the dining room to have dinner?"

"That sounds like a great idea." Dan said in support of his wife's suggestion.

"I agree." Diana said as she wanted to spend time with her family before she loses them to the library. "It would give me time to get to know my adopted grandson. By the way, where is he and Hermione?"

"I will look for them." Emma said as she left. Dan then lead everyone to the dining room.

"What would people like?" Dan asked after everyone settled into the dining room.

"What would you recommend?" Diana asked.

"Well I feel like mexican. So for entree I was thinking tacos with 10 sauces. You should at least like one sauce. While for main recommend Grouse in a dark mole sauce. You get the gamy favour of the grouse competing with the depth of favour from the Mole sauce creating a symphony in your mouth. The recipe for the particular Mole sauce is from southern Mexico and it usually takes 3 days to prepare." Dan replied.

"If the recipe says it requires three days to make. How can it be ready so quickly?" Diana asked.

"I don't know." Dan replied.

"Since Dan can not tell you. I speculate it could be done by rotating the mixture in a heated pressurised ball. The rotation ensures the mixture is cooked evenly while having it in a ball shape increases the area that is exposed to the heat. Being pressurised would ensure that no heat escapes and gets lost making it a lot more efficient." Rob speculated using his knowledge of engineering.

"That sounds about right." Dan said.

"How about dessert?" Bryce asked.

"I was thinking Cafe Opera. It is a french chocolate cake which you are all going love." Dan assured everyone. The dessert was not going to be prepared by the house elves like the other dishes but brought from a famous French patisserie. "Is everyone happy with the menu?"

Everyone nodded.

Dan came back into the Dining Room a little later pushing a trolley lading with food.

"The food looks and smells great. Who knew that machines could produce such good food?" Diana said.

"It should taste delicious too." Shirley said as she remembered lunch.

"Tuck in everyone." Emma announced.

"These sauces taste great. I don't know which one to choose." Diana said sampling the various taco sauces.

The meal was a great success. Everyone ate more than what was good for them. After a break to recover, Bryce asked.

"Can I be excused so that I can go back to the library to study?"

"That is fine, Bryce." Rob replied.

"Can I go too?" Amy asked.

"Sure." Rob said.

"I will go to and keep an eye on them." Hermione said.

"Who is going to keep an eye on you?" Emma joked. "How about you, Harry?"

"I am thinking about playing some pool in the game room before going for a swim to burn off the dinner I just ate." Harry said as he got up.

"Okay. Have fun, dear." Emma said.

"Now that the kids are gone can I offer anyone a drink?" Dan asked. "Maybe something with a punch, we have a large selection available."

"You do you Napeleon Cognac by any chance?" Robert asked.

"I believe we do." Dan replied. "Shirley, How about you?"

"Lady Grey Tea." Shirley replied.

"Harrods, Twinnings or some other brand?"

"Harrods." Shirley replied.

"Harrods it will be." Dan said. "You mum?"

"A little bit of sherry would hit the spot." Diana said.

"Any particular brand?"

"Surprise me." Diana said.

"Your usual?" Dan asked Emma who had started loading the dirty dishes back onto the trolley.

"Yes, please." Emma replied. Dan then started to help his wife to load the trolley. Just as they finished Bryce can rushing back in followed by Hermione and Amy.

"Do the cleaners have keys to the house?" Bryce asked.

"They do. Why do you ask?" Emma said.

"I think the cleaners were here while we were having dinner since the dirty dishes from earlier are gone and the library is totally cleaned. Even the books we had out were put away." Bryce said.

"Well they are paid to be discrete from what I have been told." Emma replied.

"Can you the cleaners not to put away any books we have taken out?" Bryce asked.

"Just leave a note next to your dirty dishes with your request. In fact I recommend that you write a thank you note next to all your dirty dishes and laundry. Emma suggested.

"That is a great suggestion. We don't want to piss off such helpful people." Shirley said.

"Okay." Bryce and Amy replied.

The next morning Harry went for a swim before breakfast. He was swimming regularly in case he had to perform the second task in Triwizard tournament. It was also a great way for him to stay fit since he was not playing Quidditich this time round. When he arrived at the dining room for breakfast, he found the room already occupied by all the adults.

"Where is Hermione?" Harry asked after greeting everyone.

"Probably in the library with Amy and Bryce." Emma replied.

"Do you mind calling them for breakfast, Harry?" Diana asked.

"I will help." Dan quickly added with a grin on his face.

"Me too." Rob said with the same grin.

Once out of earshot of Diana, Emma and Shirley. The three guys stopped to discuss their plan for waking the sleeping family members.

"How should we do it?" Rob asked.

"I was going to use a gong." Dan said.

"I was thinking of placing my hands on Hermione shoulders." Harry replied. He knew that he had to stop Hermione from reaching for her wand.

"Okay. Dan you use the gong on Bryce, Harry wakes Hermione and I wake Amy with a bucket of cold water." Rob suggested.

"Agreed." Dan said as he went in search of a gong.

"Agreed." Harry said.

They moved into position over their intended targets. Rob used one hand to count down to coordinate their actions. At zero, Rob pour cold water on Amy, Dan gonged Bryce and Harry shook Hermione awake while preventing her from doing anything else. Amy, Bryce and Hermione all screamed and started yelling expletives. Rob, Dan and Harry were laughing their heads off.

"Why did you do that?" Hermione said outraged.

"It was extremely funny watching your reactions?" Rob said.

"Payback is a bitch." Amy said threateningly. Bryce and Hermione backed her up. The look on their faces told Harry, Rob and Dan that they were serious. They were now doubting the wisdom of their little prank. Rob decides to break the silence by saying.

"I am going to the city with mum this morning. Do you guys want to come too?"

"Sorry got to study." Amy said.

"Same." Bryce said.

"Dad, does you or mum have anything planned for us?" Hermione asked.

"We have a business appointment after breakfast for Emma, you, Harry and me. Don't you remember." Dan said while looking in the eyes of his daughter. Hermione immediately realise that her father is talking about house inspections in the US. Judging by the way, Dan was acting, she was pretty sure that he had not told the rest of the family about their plans to move.

"It totally slipped my mind." Hermione said.

"Who is staying home to stop these two from hosting a party?" Rob joked while Amy and Bryce rolled their eyes.

"I believe Mum is staying home." Dan said. "She also wants to check out this library."

"Everyone off to clean up and change so that we can have breakfast together." Rob announced.

As Rob, Shirley, Harry, Hermione, Dan and Emma cleared the Breakfast table, Dan asked Rob and Shirley.

"Are you going to be back here for lunch?"

"We are going to the bank so who knows how long that is going take especially so close to Christmas. We will try to make it back in time. Are you guys going to be back for lunch?"

"Yes. We should be back in time for lunch." Emma replied.

"Thank you again for your offer to invest some money for us. I still can not get over the fact that I did not connect the Times article about Daniel Granger to you. my brother." Rob replied.

"I always knew you were the dumber brother." Dan said.

"But I got a higher score than you at the end of High School." Rob countered.

"By one mark." Dan said.

"It stills counts." Rob said in a tone that was reminiscent to school kids fighting in the playground.

"Before the English final, you punched me in the nose." Dan said in a raised voice.

"Enough. Both of you behave." Shirley said forcefully. It was evident that she had experience breaking up these things.

"Okay." Rob said even though it looked like their was something else he wanted to say. "What are you guys doing this morning? You mentioned an appointment but not with whom."

"It is private." Dan replied. Rob and his family decided not to push thinking it was related to Harry's adoption.

A/N Sorry for the delay.

Thank you for reading. Your reviews and comments are appreciated.