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Chapter 16 - Assorted Developments

Or, the chapter in which the Headmaster offers an unexpected suggestion and I make some welcome changes in my personal life

When the returning students filed into the Great Hall the following evening, it was obvious that the Weasley twins had spent most of their journey to Hogwarts broadcasting the news about JP to anyone who would listen. Everyone was staring at us, while JP – who I'd firmly attached to his lead – responded by literally jumping with excitement at the sight of so many new faces. (Just look at how many more people there are, master! I want to go over and meet them all! Now!) However, I thought that my over-excited hound might spoil the feast, so I kept him with me. The Headmaster's welcome speech included a joking reference to him. "As you may have noticed, there has been a new four-legged arrival to the school. His name is JP and he was sorted into Slytherin on Christmas Day. Hopefully he will not lose that house too many points for bad behaviour!" As I'd previously requested, he went on to explain that people should not feed JP, and that any students who were not fond of dogs should let me know, so that I could cast a suitable spell to prevent him from approaching them in future.

I'd expected that Joshua Hutchinson would come and find me later in the evening but he couldn't even wait that long, and he came bounding over towards the end of the meal.

"Happy New Year, Professor!" he said cheerfully. "I had to come and meet JP. Oh, he's lovely!"

"Yes, and doesn't he know it?" I watched while he patted and stroked the dog, receiving plenty of licks and wagging tail movements in return.

"He seems to like me, doesn't he, Sir?"

"He likes everyone, Mr. Hutchinson, there are no exceptions. I've even seen him try to make friends with the statues. I imagine that if an assassin broke into my quarters one night with the intention of stabbing me then he'd be licking the hand that didn't hold the knife."

"He is a bit of a power snuggler, I have to admit…"

"Indeed. His capacity for wanting attention seems to be limitless."

"Is he settling in okay?"

"Indeed he is. As far as this dog is concerned, Hogwarts is an adventure playground created entirely for his personal enjoyment."

He laughed. "Dogs are like that. We're all just there to keep them fed and amused."

"Even the ghosts regularly play with him now," I said. "JP keeps trying to catch one, and then they swoop away at the last moment, like a matador's cloak being pulled aside when the bull roars past." This silly game had become one of JP's favourites, and the ghosts were all too willing to oblige him. I'd even seen the Bloody Baron playing it with him the other day.

"So, you're not angry with me then?" he asked, giving me a sidelong glance. "Because I did know about JP before Christmas."

"You and about thirty other people, yes. I am not angry, Mr. Hutchinson – believe me, if I was then I would certainly have brought that fact to your attention by now."

"Phew! That's a relief. I'll help you look after him, I promise. I can take him for walks and so on. I'd really like to."

"Thank you. He'll be boarded at Mook Farm dog kennels during the weekdays, but if you wish to walk him at the weekend, or on the lighter nights when they arrive, then you may. Incidentally, I trust your own dog is well? And the family also?"

"Yeah, everyone's great. We had a really nice Christmas. I'll tell you all about it when I'm cleaning the Potions classroom next time. I'd better go now, we'll be heading back to the common room soon. Bye!"

I allowed JP to roam freely around the Great Hall during meals from then on. Usually he'd stick with me until his own food had been eaten (and he certainly licked that bowl clean when he was done) before going off to greet the students and see if any of them would share their food with him. Only a few people were willing to chance it, fortunately.

As the term progressed, it became apparent that JP was extremely popular with almost everyone. Only seven students asked me to apply the spell which Meredith Mook had taught me to keep him at a distance; this was either because they'd had bad experiences with dogs in the past or because they claimed that exposure to dog hair caused them to develop allergic reactions. The vast majority of people liked him, and indeed he quickly gained a devoted group of fans (nicknamed 'The Dog Squad' by the other students) who would willingly play with him or take him for a walk. JP soon became a regular visitor to all four common rooms, plus the staff common room and even Mr. Filch's office, where he succeeded in the supposedly impossible feat of winning the qualified approval of both our grumpy caretaker and his snooty cat. I soon found that students who'd always been nervous around me were now willing to come up and talk about JP; it was as if the dog acted as a bridge between myself and them. And while it might have led to my having to endure regular inane and repetitive conversations about dogs, it did also mean in some entirely illogical manner that my reputation among the students was generally enhanced. Somehow they seemed to feel that because I had a dog – and one provided by Harry Potter as well – that it made me much more acceptable in their eyes. Whoever would have thought it?

Now, you may be wondering why JP was such a hit with the students when they paid practically no attention to the other dog on the premises, i.e. Hagrid's pet Fang. I was curious about this point myself, and when I asked that celebrated dog lover Joshua Hutchinson about it, he replied: "Fang's cool, and I do pet him sometimes, but he's pretty hard to control. I nearly broke a rib in my first year when he tried to jump up at me! Plus he can drool a river over you when he wants to, and he's eaten my homework twice. I mean, that's the lamest excuse you can give when your homework's late, nobody believes it, but it was really true! I think people like JP because he's small and cute and easier to play with. You know how I feel about dogs Professor, but some of them are harder to love than others, if you know what I mean?"

I nodded solemnly. This confirmed what I had already suspected; only someone as mental as Hagrid could possibly think that giant hound of his was special.


As feared, Harry did not let my next birthday pass without celebrating it, though I managed to keep the festivities to a minimum. We went to a French restaurant in Guildford, where Harry played the same trick on me as I'd done on him last summer by arranging for the waiters to sing 'Happy Birthday to You' while delivering a cake. If only I'd pretended to him that due to some unusual effect of magic I was exempt from birthdays, and in fact, never aged at all…

Mind you, that particular evening was also when I achieved one of my most impressive influencing achievements with the Dursleys. When I'd arrived to pick Harry up, Vernon and Petunia had literally just opened a letter from the Smeltings Headmaster which confirmed that Dudley's application to attend his school was now finally approved, and they were exceedingly triumphant about it. Their son was out and Harry had not yet come downstairs so I was the first person to hear the 'good news'. However, my immediate concern was that Dudley might start slipping into his bad old ways when he found out, which could lead to trouble for Harry. I therefore suggested to the Dursleys that they conceal this fact from their son, and instead they should tell him that his acceptance was provisional, and would only be confirmed at the end of the summer term. I made a convincing argument of it, on the grounds that this was actually better for Dudley. I especially dwelled upon the toughness of Nathan and his friends, pointing out that all five of them had recently taken up kick-boxing and Nathan himself was now enrolled in a Surrey county training scheme for promising young boxers. After I stressed that any physical confrontations with them might not end well for Dudley, the Dursleys were convinced and they agreed to go along with my suggestion.

Shortly after the ordeal of my birthday was over, I commenced research into how to auction off a property in the muggle world. There was a lot to it, I found. After making preliminary enquiries at a couple of estate agents in Cokeworth, I was directed a firm of local property auctioneers. They supplied me with a sellers' pack, including a long and detailed questionnaire to fill in. Many of the questions on the form might as well have been written in a different language, and the ones which I did understand seemed impossible to answer because I didn't have the required information. And then there was the enclosed 'Guide to a Successful Sale' leaflet, with a list of points to consider which just made me despair. For a start:

"Does your home have kerb appeal?"

No, and nor does any other house in the area. There's a reason why I'm trying to sell, you know.

"Would decluttering some of the rooms make your property look more inviting?"

No. There is no change in existence which would make that house look even remotely inviting. Ideally, a viewer should tour it while wearing a blindfold.

"What are the main selling points which will make your house stand out in a crowded market?"

It'll probably be the most ramshackle, shoddy piece of rubbish that potential buyers have ever seen. By a mile.

And so on…

I was glumly reading through all of the documentation again one evening, while JP sat next to me on the sofa with his wet nose firmly pressed against my arm. I'd been finding that whatever I spent my time doing, he wanted to be part of it. He was deeply unimpressed with the fact that I didn't let him sleep in my bedroom and made futile attempts to sneak in there every night. JP was so keen to remain with me at all times that if I got up (or even sometimes seemed about to get up), then he'd leap to his feet and run over to the door, placing his head next to it so that if I did open it, then yes!, he'd be able to get himself through the door before I could stop him, and then he could come with me instead of being left behind, which in his opinion was absolutely the worst fate that that could ever possibly befall him.

I pushed the paperwork aside despondently, just as there was a knock on the door. It was a very familiar knock. "Get the door for me, will you? It'll be the Headmaster." Naturally, JP merely continued to sit where he was. Honestly, you'd think Harry could have found me a pet who'd be willing to complete the odd errand or two... but no, I have to do everything myself. So I stood up and went to open it, holding JP back as he quickly followed me so that he didn't slam into Dumbledore.

"Ah, good evening to you both," the Headmaster, patting JP. At least he didn't go on to pat me. "Can I come in?"

"Of course."

Dumbledore had been calling around a good deal of late, in fact we usually spent some time together most evenings, and his company was exceedingly welcome. Eventually I got JP to calm down, and we returned to the sofa.

"Sorry about that," I said. "He should be used to seeing you by now, but he loves visitors and likes to make that fact highly apparent."

"Please, there's no need to apologise – he's as energetic as a young dog should be at his age."

"Hmm, too much energy there sometimes. Fortunately, by the time I collect him from Mook Farm at the end of every afternoon, he's generally used up a lot of his energy running around after the other dogs."

"It's going well at the farm, I trust? You're finding the services at Mook's to be acceptable?"

"More than acceptable, Headmaster – their assistance is invaluable. I'd find it almost impossible to manage without them. And I don't think I've said, but thank you for arranging it. I suppose it must have been expensive."

"Oh, not so much," he said, winking at me. "Meredith gave me an excellent discount, on account of our friendship. He wrote to me the other day, by the way, and he mentioned in his letter how well you were doing with JP."

"He did?"

"Yes, he said that when he first met you on Boxing Day, you looked as if someone had hit you with a dozen stunning spells, but you've made great progress since then and he's very impressed at how hard you're working to make sure that JP is happy and healthy."

"That's good of him to say," I replied with appreciation. Meredith Mook was a man whom I was starting to respect, and I felt extremely pleased that he had spoken of me positively.

"Hmm, and I would echo those words. You should be proud of yourself, Severus. However, I see that you have a lot of paperwork to hand. Did I interrupt something of importance?"

"Oh, nothing really. I've just been thinking about selling my house but it's not going well."

"Really? Why is that?"

"Well, it's muggle-built and in an entirely muggle area so it seems best to sell it at a muggle property auction, but I don't know how to fill in these documents; they're very confusing and some of the terminology baffles me. It's annoying, because I would like to make a will but I want to get rid of the house first."

Dumbledore looked concerned. "Is there any particular reason why you'd like to make a will, Severus?"

"Oh no, I'm not ill or anything like that; it's just that I would like to leave my possessions to Harry, so that he's provided for. The house, though, is not exactly pretty and it'll be hard to sell, so I'd rather not leave that to him."

"And if you could sell the house, what will you do with the money?"

I shrugged. "Put it in my vault, I suppose."

He smiled at me. "Alternately, you could buy a nicer home for yourself. Wouldn't that be more fun than merely salting the money away?"

"There doesn't seem much point in doing that. After all, I'm here almost all of the time."

"Yes, I know what you mean… I don't own a property myself." Suddenly his eyes lit up. "You know what we could do, if you were able to sell your home? We could buy a house together! The money from the sale plus some of my savings put together should be more than enough. We could use it in the holidays, either separately or at the same time. What do you think, it is a good idea? And before you answer, consider all of the many advantages which it would bring."

"You may need to list them for me…"

He gave me one of those aggravating smiles. "Harry could come and visit, for one thing. We'd get somewhere with a spare room for him to use."

This took me completely by surprise. "But Headmaster, you didn't want Harry to even set foot in my house. You said it was important not to show him any potential alternative homes to Privet Drive. He's asked me more than once if he could visit Cokeworth to see it and I've had to refuse him."

"Well, take him now! If you're selling soon then it's an excellent time to pop by. I'm not worried now about Harry visiting any home of yours, as I was; I know you've made it clear to him that Privet Drive needs to remain his permanent residence, and his magical protections are more solid than they ever have been. I hardly think that a week's visit to our house would affect that, just as his stays at the Burrow didn't."

"I see. Well… thank you, I'll do that. But even so, I don't see how I can sell. The rituals to purge the house of all remaining magic are horrendously complicated, and the muggle legal system even more so."

He smirked at me. "Now Severus, we don't need to let little difficulties like those get in the way of our ambitions, do we? Not when we're the head of Slytherin…"

"They are hardly little difficulties," I remarked, pulling a face at him. "I've read these forms over and over, it really doesn't make a difference."

"Yes, but supposing we could circumvent the practical challenges, what do you think about my suggestion of us jointly purchasing a property? I honestly find myself quite excited at the thought of it! I'm sure we would have a most enjoyable time together."

He sounded so warm, so very friendly, that I couldn't hold out any longer. "I think it's an excellent idea."

"Splendid! Well then, we'd better be getting on with things, hadn't we? I will assist you with the magical purging, though we'll leave that until after your visit with Harry. And I'll find you a suitable muggle to help with the paperwork – I'm sure one of our muggleborn students will have a relative who can assist."

"You're full of good ideas tonight, aren't you? Did you really just think all of this up on the spur of the moment?"

"Well, it did just come to me in a flash of inspiration, yes. I've considered getting myself a house several times, but I didn't like the thought of sitting there in splendid isolation. But with you around, everything will be different. When will you tell Harry?"

"I'll send him a letter about it tomorrow. I'm sure he will be interested. But Headmaster, why would you choose to do this with me, when you have so many other people whom you could ask?"

He looked fondly at me, eyes fiercely bright. "It's very simple, Severus – the way that you feel about Harry is the way that I feel about you. I never expected to have a son, especially at my age; it really is the most wonderful surprise."

I almost lost it then, so unexpected was this declaration, so warm and tasting of hope for the future. I couldn't reply for almost a minute, but eventually I managed to say that I felt the same. We spent the rest of that evening in happy conversation about our new home.


For one of his advanced years, the Headmaster can move quickly when he chooses to. A mere five days later he had arranged for me to meet with William Tinderworth, the parent of a sixth year muggleborn student who ran a company which specialised in property sales and restoration. After I explained the situation, a deal was agreed whereby Mr. Tinderworth would basically represent me in the sale of my home, completing all required repairs and preparing any documentation and so on, in return for twenty per cent of the sale price. I offered him the chance to work for a fixed fee instead, just in case the house wouldn't sell, but he merely grinned and said that no house he took on ever didn't sell.

"I've been in this game for nearly thirty years, Professor," he said cheerfully. "You wait and see, I'll get rid of it for you."

And so it was agreed that I would bring the keys to him once the house had been divested of all magic and let him have free rein to prepare it for sale. I was instructed to bring along as well any paperwork about the place which I could find, though I knew there would be practically nothing. Mr. Tinderworth mentioned a number of points that I hadn't thought of, such as the fact that I'd need to arrange for mail redirection. As I was unsure where I could redirect it to, he suggested getting a Post Office box; this would allow me to collect the mail from a Post Office branch in the vicinity of Hogwarts. This sounded quite convenient and I decided to look into it. It seemed that it would also be necessary to connect the house to muggle water, gas and electricity suppliers; we'd even need to start paying property taxes to the muggle Government.

"It won't be too expensive, just for a couple of months; we can say you were abroad before and the house was empty," he commented. "Don't worry Professor, I'll sort everything out." I gratefully accepted his offer and was happy to have finally made some progress.

Harry was pleased when I offered him the chance to visit Cokeworth, and we agreed to spend some time there on the last Saturday in January. When I arrived to collect him for the visit, I had JP with me for the first time, as I knew that Harry was keen to see how he'd grown. Dudley opened the door when I knocked, and JP performed his usual 'NEW PERSON! I'm so excited to see you, are we best friends for life now?' act. People who don't know my indiscriminately friendly dog sometimes incorrectly see this as a personalised compliment, and a sign that they are specially well regarded by him. I realised that this was the case now.

"Cute dog," Dudley said with a grin, and stroked his head. "He likes me."

"He's friendly, isn't he? Is Harry ready?"

"I dunno. Come in and ask."

I followed Dudley inside. I could hear Vernon and Petunia chatting in the kitchen. I called upstairs for Harry and heard a vague shout in reply, so I waited for him while Dudley stroked JP. I wondered if anyone was immune to my furry friend's charms.

Harry came downstairs cheerfully, but when he saw us, his face darkened immediately. "Come on Professor, I'm ready now – let's go," he said in a sharp tone. Dudley reluctantly stopped stroking JP and we headed out.

"You shouldn't have let Dudley touch JP," he said hotly when we were walking down the street. "What if he'd ended up like Whiffle?"

"What happened to Whiffle was an accident Harry, I told you that."

"Well, I wouldn't want there to be another 'accident', that's all," he said, bristling with indignation.

"Harry, I was right there, supervising, at all times. JP was never in any danger."

"You'd only have to look away for a moment," he replied stubbornly. "I wouldn't chance it, if he was my dog."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't take chances with JP's safety, Harry. If I thought there was any kind of issue then I wouldn't have brought him along. Now, we have an interesting day planned so let's not argue. Why don't you take hold of the lead? I think JP would like it if you walked him."

Harry did as I requested, while giving me a dirty look which clearly told me that he believed I was wrong and he was right, and one day I'd regret not listening to him. However, he let the matter drop and we walked in relative amity to one of our usual apparition spots so that I could take us to Cokeworth.

I wasn't actually sure how long our tour would last. We had agreed to look at my house, the library where I'd spent that rainy day reading Treasure Island and the park where I first met Petunia and Lily. I didn't think the town itself had any other attractive features to see, unless Harry would like a guided tour of the dirty local river (complete with added shopping trolleys and other unpleasant waste), or the abandoned mill and closed down cinema, or perhaps the many boarded-up properties in the poorer areas of town, of which my area was the poorest? Probably not, which was why I thought we'd have a relatively short visit.

After many days out with me, Harry accepted the usefulness of apparition but didn't like it. JP, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy the experience immensely. Naturally I kept a very firm hold on him when we apparated, and he arrived at the other end no worse for wear and keen to look around his new destination. I landed us about a quarter of a mile away from my house, so that Harry could see the neighbourhood. He was quiet and wide-eyed as we walked through the tattered streets.

"After you've seen inside then I'll show you the rest of town, which is in somewhat better condition," I said as we arrived at the house.

"Okay. It's, erm…"

"No need to be tactful, Harry – I did warn you that it's a mess."

"No, it's fine; I just hadn't realised… I guess it looks a bit different to Little Whinging."

I smiled. "Yes, just a bit."

I took him into the house. Mafty had been over to clean it a couple of days ago and I'd asked him to light a fire before we arrived, but the place still felt clammy. It had a rather desolate air to it, which I was more aware of than usual because I was with Harry and imagining how it must look to him. The furniture was shabby and threadbare, and there were no really positive features. However, Harry did like the fact that access to upstairs was enabled via a secret door, which seemed to be part of the wall until you looked at it closely. I let JP off the lead and he started sniffing around. I expect that one way or another, there was quite a lot of sniffing potential in the place.

Harry looked around the rooms downstairs. "There's plenty of space for one person," he said. I mentally congratulated him on coming up with something complimentary to say.

"True. Even when there were three of us, it wasn't crowded."

"Can I go and see upstairs?"

"Yes, of course. The small bedroom to the left is the one which I occupied at your age."

He clattered up the stairs, JP following. I looked around the living room, somehow feeling as if I was simultaneously seeing it for the first time and the last time. (A strange sensation, that, given that neither fact was true, but I felt it distinctly). I was glad that I was going to be separating myself from this place. It held no good memories and I was a different person now, so it was only right that I should move to a different home – if, that is, someone would choose to buy this one from me.

Harry came back downstairs. "Your old bedroom is quite a good size, Professor."

"Yes, it's reasonable enough."

"Professor, were you very unhappy here?"

I smiled at him. "Not wholly. As a young boy, I had the promise of magic to keep me company. I read textbooks and learned incantations, and I dreamed of the days when I'd stroll around the Hogwarts corridors, astounding all and sundry with my spell-casting prowess."

"And did you?"

"Well, not right away; I was only a first year, after all. Over time however, I did build up a reputation as the one in my year to beat for Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"That's what I want to do – build up a reputation, I mean. If I was known to be a really good wizard then people would think about that when they saw me, and not the silly Boy Who Lived thing."

I gave him a hug. "I have every confidence in you, Harry. You will do well, and you will make friends, and Hogwarts will be all that you hope it will be."

He smiled. "Thanks, Professor. Shall we go to the library now? I don't think we should stay here any longer. It makes you sad to be here, and I don't like to see that."

I nodded, and put JP back onto the lead before we left. He didn't seem to like Spinner's End much either, I thought; my dog was quieter than I'd ever seen him. But he livened up when we started walking towards the less seedy part of town where the library was situated. It looked almost unchanged from when I was a small boy, except that what had once been the house next door was now converted into the library's car park. Unfortunately, there was a large sign on the door stating that no dogs were allowed, and neither of us wanted to leave JP outside. We decided to try and sneak in past the library staff, creeping by their counter like ninjas in a swift and silent assault on the premises… and we were doing fine until JP made a leap towards one of the librarians, after which we were firmly instructed to leave by an irate female member of staff who took our presence as a personal affront. We exited stage right at a rapid pace, with the librarian following to make sure we actually left while reciting all of the by-laws and council regulations which we had just broken by bringing a dog into her sacred library. "It's guide dogs allowed in the library only, as I'm sure you both know very well!"

Giggling at our close encounter with muggle officialdom, we walked on and I led the way to the park where Lily, Petunia and I had first met. This, thankfully, did allow dogs. I pointed out the very spot where the three of us had our first conversation and told Harry what had happened then. He snorted with laughter when I mentioned how I'd used accidental magic to drop a tree branch on his aunt's head, and said that he wished it had been a whole tree.

After that, we made a quick detour so that Harry could see the house in which Lily had grown up. This had changed considerably since the Evans's time; an extension had been built to the side, the front lawn paved over to create a driveway and the exterior of the house painted a different colour. We considered knocking on the door and seeing if we could persuade the current owners to let us look around, but in the end decided that it wasn't really worth it. To end our little excursion to my home town, I took Harry to the one decent eating place which Cokeworth possessed, in my opinion – a shabby fish and chip shop with a silly name ('In Cod We Trust') situated in a grim alleyway, but the food was consistently good, and there was a small courtyard at the back where we could sit and eat. Even better, we had it to ourselves as the day was chilly, though of course we used warming charms to remain comfortable. JP made short work of his portion and badgered us constantly after that for more. I was firm in refusal however, because I had to be careful with his diet; despite my best efforts, Hogwarts students were giving him snacks on a regular basis and he was starting to look rather rounder than I'd like. All in all, I felt that our trip had gone quite well – and I was looking forward to saying goodbye to Cokeworth for good.


The following week, it was time to start the process of removing the magic from my house. I firstly arranged for it to be disconnected from the floo network and gave Mafty orders not to go there unless there was an emergency. Both of these things were an inconvenience, but they were necessary steps. I'd already set up a Post Office box at the nearest muggle Post Office to Hogwarts, some twelve miles from the school, so any mail would be sent there for my collection. I gave this address to the Dursleys, and I told Harry that he could pass it to Stuart or any of his other friends when he left for Hogwarts. I would need to go and collect the mail myself a few times a week but that could be managed.

The next step was for me to clear out the contents of the house. Much of it was magical in origin, and even the muggle goods could have become steeped in inherent magic over the years, so I chose not to leave anything behind. Some things I took back to my rooms at Hogwarts, such as books and clothes, but much of it I destroyed – for example, the furniture was old and not really worth keeping. Once the place was entirely empty, the Headmaster and I spent a long and tiring day completing the highly complex rituals required to drain the house of all magical residue. Thanks to his help, I then applied for and was awarded the all-important Certificate of Muggle Suitability from the Ministry. This meant that we were ready to move to the auction stage.

During the next few weeks, I was summoned into William Tinderworth's office several times to sign reams of papers relating to the house auction. During my the third visit at the end of February, I was shown the auction brochure and asked to approve it. There were various interior and exterior pictures of the house included, and honestly, you wouldn't think it was the same place.

"You've made the property look quite reasonable," I said in disbelief. "I can't imagine how!"

He grinned at me, and tapped the side of his nose. "Tricks of the trade, Professor, tricks of the trade."

"You must know an awful lot of tricks, then." He smirked at this. "But in these pictures it has furniture and accessories – where did they come from?"

"Oh, I've got a warehouse full of the stuff. I use some of it in every place I sell. Houses that are dressed properly draw more interest than empty shells; it gives them a homely feel. And that puts the price up! We've painted all the rooms, as you can see, and made everywhere much lighter. That always helps too. Apart from that, we just tidied up the back garden and sorted out the gas, plumbing and electrics to make sure they operate properly."

"Well, I can only compliment you on your work. Do you feel that we have a good chance of achieving a sale now?"

"Reasonable," he said, smiling at me slyly. "The area's run-down, but fortunately for us it's not a high crime location. A lot will depend on the price you'll accept. We need to discuss that now and agree a reserve price, which is the minimum you're willing to take at auction. The buyers won't be told what the reserve is but the auctioneer will have that amount in their minds to work with. Now, the average cost for a property of that type in the area is around £18,000 – if you sell it through an estate agent, that is. At auction, though, people are looking for a bargain. I know you're flexible on price, but how much lower are you willing to set the reserve?"

I considered this. "Would £10,000 be acceptable?"

"Go to eight, maybe?"

"If we sold at that price, how much would I make?"

"Auction fees including all legal costs are ten per cent, and with my twenty deducted as well, you'd be left with £5,600."

I agreed to a reserve price of £8000. Even at that price, I'd make more than enough. The Headmaster had already researched the cost of magical homes, indeed he was waving leaflets under my nose nearly every day about this and that house. My half of the purchase price was unlikely to be above 20,000 galleons, which was only about £4,000 at current exchange rates.

"Mind you, I think you'll get more," he commented cheerfully. "It's a solid enough house. I didn't know about Cokeworth before this; I have to thank you for bringing it to my attention."

"Thank me?"

"Absolutely. That place is ripe for renovation! I'm currently considering my options for other property purchases there."

"Why on earth would you? It's a dump," I said bluntly.

He grinned. "True, at the moment it is, that's why it's cheap. People like me love cheap! Imagine though, if it had a little investment… there's nothing there which couldn't be fixed, and if I'm first in line then I could make a tidy profit." He rubbed his hands briskly.

"As a Slytherin, I admire your ambition – but if you don't mind me saying, but this sounds like a risky strategy. You've done an excellent job for me, and I wouldn't like you to lose money on my account."

"Ah no, Professor," he said, chuckling hard, "I appreciate the concern, but I'm too wily an operator for that. There are opportunities in Cokeworth, a lot of them. You ever heard of Walt Disney World?"

"The one in Orlando?"

"That's it. Well, when Walt Disney first decided to build a theme park in Florida, the place was pretty much empty and the land was worth peanuts. But Disney was smart about it, see; he bought all the land he needed under different names, because he knew that if people found out he wanted it then the price would shoot up. I could do the same in Cokeworth, on a much smaller scale of course. You see what I mean – buy a good few houses and some land for bugger all money on the quiet, then work with other people to improve the surrounding area before I sell them on for a nice profit in a rising market. If I buy first and buy low then it'll be good news if others follow my lead later on. I'll need to generate interest in Cokeworth, you see – make it become known as up and coming, start a trend, so it seems like the next new thing. Something fashionable, even, if I do it right!"

I laughed. "Cokeworth fashionable? I highly doubt it."

"Oh, I can make it happen," he said with enormous self-confidence. "Though if I do, you'd make more on your own sale. In fact, it could be worth you waiting a year or so to put your house on the market, because by then I might have been able to drive up the average house prices in the area."

"Thank you for the suggestion, but I'm keen to sell now. I'm planning to use the money for another house purchase, you see."

"Ah, right. Well then, I'll ask you keep everything I've told you a secret for now, while I make my plans."

"I will, and I wish you good luck," I said. I shook his hand and took my leave, somewhat stunned at the idea that someone might want to have anything to do with Cokeworth when they didn't absolutely need to.

The auction of my house took place six weeks later. It was held on a Saturday which meant that Harry and I could attend. I was delighted when after a fairly steady round of bidding, it sold for £12,400. The Headmaster was ecstatic when he heard, and soon after that we signed the documents which made us joint owners of Puffin Place, a pleasant house in the Devon countryside. The property was about three times the size of Harry's home at Privet Drive, and it was situated in an entirely rural setting; you couldn't see another building in any direction, which I very much liked. It also came with five acres of countryside, including JP's favourite feature – a wide, shallow, slow-moving river with crystal clear water. He wouldn't go near to the Hogwarts lake for anything, but I think this river was different because he could see the river bed and so he knew it was safe for him to flop around in. Harry was impressed with the place when I showed him around, and we made plans for him to stay with us for a week or so in the summer holidays. The house had plenty of room for him, and there was a large meadow outside which we decided would be used regularly from then on for his quidditch practices.

And to conclude this chapter of my journal, I should add that five months later I received a cut out article from the Cokeworth Echo from William Tinderworth, which gave details of initial plans for the creation of a new community regeneration scheme for the town, backed by Cokeworth's Member of Parliament and local council members. I admired Mr. Tinderworth's entrepreneurial spirit and wrote back to wish him well, but I still suspected that it would take an inordinate amount of time and effort for him to turn Cokeworth into some kind of midlands Biarritz.