Augustus Granville's Publishing Debut
24th March 2004
"Augustus Granville?" Arthur stared at the name printed on the books.
"I didn't chose it," the headmaster sighed, "I told the publisher to use a pseudonym...clearly I took it for granted that they'd choose a decent one. By the time they told me what they'd settled on, it was too late to change it."
"I don't think it's a bad name," Molly said. She was flicking through another of the books with interest.
There were three textbooks in total, all of them updated versions of old and trusted books. Updating textbooks was a tricky business in the Wizarding World. Their society was generally resistant to change and most school books hadn't been updated for decades or even centuries.
Severus had written his own notes into the existing books and sent them to a publisher on Lucius' advice. Fortunately the publisher was an old friend of the wizards' otherwise they probably wouldn't have given him, an ex Death Eater, a second glance. Now, there was 'New and Improved Advanced Potion Making,' 'Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts for Beginners,' and 'Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts.' Why exactly Lucius Malfoy was on a first name basis with a publisher, Severus didn't know, and he didn't really want to know either.
For some reason, Molly and Arthur had been delighted when they'd heard about the books and they were overjoyed that they were now in possession of some advanced copies. The books were due to be released to the public in a few days and the marketing campaign had been nothing short of phenomenal. It wasn't often that books were updated after all.
"I could hardly publish them under my own name," Severus added.
"I don't see why not," Arthur shrugged.
"Well, I'm not expecting to become an overnight success, but I would like to sell them." Severus said, dryly.
"You'll sell them," Molly assured him, confidently.
"So my publisher assures me," the headmaster said.
"What made you change your mind about all this?" Arthur asked, curiously. "You didn't seem all that keen to publish a book, let alone three," he said, and he was right.
Harry had once suggested, several years ago, that Severus should publish his notes for the 'Advanced Potion Making,' though of course without some of the more sinister spells he'd written in his own copy. But at the time he'd been very reluctant. Now he seemed to have relented without much resistance. Over the last few years Severus had made some considerable changes to how things were run at Hogwarts, shocking some and delighting others. It looks like he'd turned his attention to the outdated textbooks as well now.
"Lucius...convinced me otherwise," Severus admitted.
"Oh?" Arthur blinked.
The Malfoy's and the Weasley's would never be the best of friends but they could just about sit in a room together without a feud erupting. They did it for Severus' sake if nothing else since he was their mutual friend but it was probably for the best all around if they kept as far from each other as possible.
"Apparently it'll make my fortune," Severus scoffed. "He's got nothing better to do than meddle in my affairs," he explained.
"Well, in this case, I have to agree with him," Arthur replied. "It's a good idea," he said.
"You're not charging a lot of money for them," Molly observed.
"I'd I did, I'd price myself out of the market," Severus said, smoothly.
The truth was, he didn't want less fortunate families to feel that they had to scrape together enough money in order to buy new textbooks for their children. He knew how difficult it had been as a child with little money having to buy a different set of books each year. It was easy enough when they were second hand but when they were new it was much more difficult. So he'd persuaded the publisher to make the books cheap. It wasn't like he really needed the money; he'd inherited a little along with Prince Manor and his Hogwarts salary was more than sufficient for his needs anyway.
"I'll bet that went down well with Malfoy senior," Arthur said and Severus scoffed.
"It comes from having been spoilt all his life. All my efforts to teach him the value of money seem to fall on deaf ears," the headmaster replied.
"You can use this one for your presentation to the Potion Masters Conference," Molly remarked, holding up the Potions textbook. "I bet you'd win. Where is it this year?" she asked.
"Venice," Severus answered.
"Lovely," she smiled, "I've always wanted to go to Venice."
"As I said last year," the headmaster said, exasperated, "You're welcome to come. Although I really don't see why you're so interested."
Molly and Arthur had expressed an interest in attending the Conference last year and the year before that. The Potions Masters were allowed to bring guests but Severus didn't see why why they'd be interested at all. They weren't exactly subtle about wanting to go with him though. As his friends, they were naturally curious about how he acted in a professional setting and a small holiday wouldn't go amiss either.
"I really don't..."
"We'd be delighted, Severus," Arthur said quickly before his wife could turn down another Conference. "And when you win, I'll open a bottle of Champagne. I found an excellent muggle brand a few years ago," he grinned, excitedly.
"You are aware that if I use the book publicly at the Conference, the fact that I used a pseudonym will have been a waste of time," Severus remarked.
"Surely...just to a few people there, it won't make a difference," Molly replied.
"And when they tell others?"
"Aren't they supposed to keep the presentations secret? Confidentiality and all that?"
"Like secrets at Hogwarts?" Severus said.
"Ah...yes, good point," she said, "It's a shame though."
"What are you going to present instead, then?" Arthur asked.
"The Wolfsbane improvements," Severus answered and they nodded. He'd improved it to the point of a mostly painless transformation now.
"Good choice," the red headed wizard nodded, "That'll be hard to beat."
"Let's hope so," the headmaster said.
"Remus is coming then? Since he was the..." Molly trailed off.
"Test subject?" Severus smirked a little. "I'm not running a holiday tour, Molly," he said.
"I never said you were," she replied, smiling fondly at him. Molly took great pride in the fact that she, along with her husband, were some of the few people that Severus actually called by their first name now, although it had taken a lot of gentle persuading to get to that point.
"I have to get back to the Manor," Severus said, "Malfoys' are easily bored easily and the last time they got bored, my unsuspecting library paid the price."
"Your library?" Arthur furrowed his brow.
"Don't ask,"'the headmaster sighed, standing up. He generally spent the weekends at Prince Manor trying to stop Lucius from destroying something else in his boredom or his frustration.
"Alright, dear," Molly said, shaking her head. "Good luck then," she added and then he was gone.
