Chapter Forty-Seven

Tech and Support

Jennifer crunched hurriedly over the snow, shaking off her boots at the door as she went to the Commissary before the doors opened the next morning and went over to her friends.

"Don't you dare put any of those milk-carton eggs on your plates today, because I have a full plate of pumpkin scones in my pocket with a tray of jams and cream to go with it," Jennifer whispered excitedly.

"Really? What's the occasion?" Gretchen asked curiously.

"He's congratulating me for giving Steve a piece of my mind, actually. I told him about it last night," Jennifer answered in a low voice. Lav, Gretchen, and Kay all had a good laugh at that, so much so that the Commissary doors opened and they nearly missed it, going in to get their coffees before heading to Jennifer's table.

"I have to say, it's a weird thing to congratulate you on, Jennifer, but I will gladly share in your good fortune," Lav said when they got to the table. Jennifer opened her cloak pocket more so she could ease out the silver handled serving tray first, gently pulling it out before grabbing the bigger plate filled with plain and pumpkin scones. That's when Lav spotted a folded note on her side of the tray under one of the scones. "Oh look! A note!"

"Hey, give me that! That's private," Jennifer protested with a laugh, but Lav leaned back in her chair out of Jennifer's reach and quickly read it.

"Darn, it's not racy or anything," Lav complained. "'Remember as you put you ghosts to rest to tuck them in tight so that they don't haunt you later down the road.' That's it, that's all it says." She handed the note to Jennifer. She smiled warmly and read it for herself. "Care to explain it?"

Jennifer sat down and got herself a pumpkin scone and some cream.

"He sends me a small note every day, actually, they help keep me going. They're always short, positive, and supportive. Honestly, he's been a lot more regular in sending me messages than I have been sending them back. I tend to use the mirror when I have something to say," Jennifer explained. "No matter what I do, he seems to come up with something positive to say about it. Even when I chewed out Alva Powers."

"Why, what did he say about that?" Kay asked curiously.

"Mostly that he'd have loved to have been there to see it as many times as he'd been tempted to say the exact same thing to one of the parents. Then he named off some of the parent names he would have liked to have said it to just to make me laugh," Jennifer admitted with a grin. "In fact, in some ways, I think it's why he send us this treat this morning, too," she added, folding the note back up before putting it in her overalls pocket. "You see, Severus was just as badly bullied in school as I had been."

"Oh yes, I heard about that," Gretchen said, and Jennifer nodded.

"In many ways, I felt he was bullied much worse than I was, but the funny thing is, he's always felt that I was the one who had it worse," Jennifer said with a smile.

"Of course, you care about each other," Kay said with a shrug, picking out some jam.

"We also dealt with it in different ways. Severus tried to get even with them, and it ended up turning into hatred. I shrunk away from it and tried to bury it and ignore it. I kept reminding myself... as Rosemary and Wind always reminded me when I got really low... that I wouldn't be in school forever, and that we'd all be going our separate ways and I'd probably never have to deal with them again," Jennifer explained.

"Until now," Lavender said. Jennifer nodded at her. "So what he's really congratulating you for is the fact that you stuck up for yourself instead of shrinking away from it, is that it?"

"Yes, that is exactly it," Jennifer agreed with a smile. "Although to be fair, I couldn't have done it without Wind's coaxing me onto that bench to begin with," she admitted. She glanced around and noticed Wind and Brenda sitting with each other. "I'll be right back," she said, grabbing a couple of small plates off the line and putting a couple of pumpkin scones and a dab of cream on each, taking them over to Wind and Brenda and setting them down in front of them with a smile.

"Oh, good morning, Jennifer. For us?" Wind said curiously when she saw her enigmatic smile.

"For you. For always helping me to be my best self," Jennifer explained to Wind, then looked at Brenda, "and one for you, for sticking up for me, even when he doesn't tell you everything."

"I'm just doing my job really," Brenda protested.

"There's no 'just' about it. It's important, and deserving of a thank you," Jennifer said, then went back to her table again.

"She always knows when to remind me that it's worth all the trouble, doesn't she?" Wind commented to Brenda with a smile.

"That's how it's suppose to work. You support your teachers, and they support you," Brenda said.

"Now, if we could only get the same cooperation out of the school board," Wind said. Brenda chuckled.

"Never going to happen," she said, taking a bite out of the scone.

The next day, the four of them were just finishing up breakfast when Jennifer heard Radiance in the hallway next to the Commissary.

"What is she doing? She knows she's not allowed in here," Jennifer said, looking over at the entrance.

That was when she saw a familiar face peeking in rather nervously. She jumped up from her seat, hurrying over and then dragging Ben to her table excitedly.

"Don't tell me. Another one of your kids," Kay guessed with a grin.

"Everyone, this is Ben Clemmons. He's my son-in-law, married to my eldest daughter, Alex," Jennifer said enthusiastically. "He works with hybrid computers."

"Oh, so the security guy Jennifer volunteered to look at the school computers, then," Lavender said.

"Yes, exactly. Ben, this is Lavender Carmody, Kay Sinclair, and Gretchen Becker," Jennifer introduced. "Gretchen was an exchange student at Hogwarts for a year."

"Yes, Alex helped me get settled at the school when I didn't know much English. I always went to her whenever I got stuck," Gretchen said.

"I'm surprised she isn't with you. I thought she would have had to escort you here, Ben," Jennifer said, a bit disappointed.

"Oh, she did, she came in long enough to take me to Brenda's office and make sure they gave me keys that would work for me, actually. But once that was settled, she had Radiance lead me here so she could get to the Ministry," Ben explained.

"So Brenda had keys you could use?" Jennifer asked with interest.

"Yep, all taken care of. I can come and go as I need to now," Ben agreed.

"What do you mean by keys he can use?" Kay asked in confusion.

"I'm a bit magically challenged," Ben chuckled.

"He's non-magic," Jennifer explained. The other three blinked at that. "Do you want some coffee or anything?"

"No, I'm ready for work, just show me where the Wizardnet Lab is and the instructor so I can get started," Ben replied.

"Yes, alright. Let me toss my cup in the wash bin, and I'll take you over to the Wolves Den," Jennifer said.

"The what?" Ben laughed, following her.

"The single wizards' corner. Just don't tell them we call it that," Jennifer said mischievously. He chuckled at that, following her to the other side of Commissary. In fact, it was pretty obvious where they were going, considering that there were three professors sitting there all staring at a pumpkin Tome which quickly got closed the moment they came over.

"Good morning, Jennifer," said Ray.

"Hello, Ray, hello Asher. Frank Byrd, this is Ben Clemmons," Jennifer said with a smile.

"Oh, you're the net security guy," Frank said, shaking his hand.

"Yep, that's me," Ben said, shaking his hand.

"Are you about done, Frank? If not, I'm going to show him to the Wizardnet Lab," Jennifer said.

"I'll get it, Frank," Ray said, getting up. "I have a key, so I can open it up."

"Lovely," Jennifer smiled.

"I'll be over there in five minutes," Frank promised. The three of them stepped out of the Commissary, pausing for a moment so that Radiance could perch on Jennifer's shoulder.

"Ray Eldridge is the Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor, Ben. He helps me with Competitive Defense Club, but he also fills in for Frank in the computer lab sometimes... so does Asher Smith, although he has mostly college classes. I'm sure you'll run into all three of them while you're working here," Jennifer explained.

"Oh I see. So you three are the computer nerds at the school," Ben said.

"Oh, god no. Frank is the only one who fits into that category. I'm just a casual user," Ray protested. "As for Asher, it's just a hobby."

"I've met a lot of people who have computers as a hobby that know nearly as much as I do about them," Ben said. "Speaking of which, are they all Wizardnet devices on campus or is there a hybrid I can use?"

"Yes, there are a couple hybrids, one in the lab, and one in Brenda's office. The students here only have access to Wizardnet devices, though. There's no working wifi in the area, and the two computers are on fiber cables," Ray said.

"One less thing to worry about then," Ben said, and Ray opened the door and let him inside.

"I'm afraid the computer may be a little out of date," Ray said as he switched the power bar on.

"It's a school. Worse, it's a wizard school. Of course it's out of date," Ben said with amusement as Ray logged him in. "That's all right. I'll see what I can do to upgrade it."

"So how long is it going to take, anyway?" Ray asked. Ben glanced at Jennifer.

"School gets out in two and a half weeks," Jennifer said.

"You know, that's about how long it's going to take me," Ben replied. "What a coincidence."

"Yes, isn't it?" Ray said dryly.

"Until then, I suggest students save their work on personal devices, external drives, or the Wizardnet Nebula, since I'll have to reset the system a few times during the process," Ben explained.

"So POW testing is out of the question," Ray said.

"That's the general idea, yes," Ben agreed, and began exploring the computer.

"Don't worry, Ray. He's not doing it to milk the clock or anything; he's donating all of his time for this," Jennifer said with a smile.

"Really? For the entire two and a half weeks?" Ray asked in surprise.

"It's no big deal. Being in apart of a large family has its advantages. Aurelius or Alicia will make sure the kids get picked up from school, and my wife tends to work late anyway. Even with the time difference, we'll more than likely get home around the same time every day," Ben explained. He stared at the screen with a thin thoughtful smile. "You know what, Jennifer? Excuses or no excuses, this network really is a complete mess. It is seriously overdue for a security upgrade." Jennifer beamed at him.

"Good, then I won't have to wear my spectacles all the way up if Brenda or Wind asks me about it," she said happily. Ben chuckled at that.

"No, you definitely won't," Ben agreed and got to work, while Jennifer reluctantly went to open up her classroom for her waiting students.

When Benjamin met Jennifer in the Commissary for lunch, he made the mistake of grabbing a ham sandwich. He had been expecting that the square meat on it wouldn't really look like ham. He had even been expecting the brightly colored square of oily cheese food product. But then he picked up the piece of square white bread and inspected it critically, flipping it over once before showing it to Jennifer. She couldn't help but laugh outright at his expression.

"I understand the necessity of schools to economize, of course, but couldn't they have at least put margarine on it or something?" Ben asked.

"Most Americans don't butter their bread when they make sandwiches," Jennifer informed him.

"But this bread looks like it'll taste like a sponge! I'm not even sure it qualifies as bread! What do they use instead of butter?"

"Mayonnaise, generally, sometimes ketchup and mustard. If you go to a restaurant, they might toast the bread with butter on the grill, but that's about the closest you'll get. They think it's strange to put butter on a sandwich, actually," she admitted. Ben stared at her. "Fortunately for you, I nipped some wrapped butter pats from breakfast because I knew you were coming," Jennifer said, and put her hand in her cloak pocket. Then she frowned, pulling out a butter crock with a note on it. "Apparently, we got a free upgrade."

"Great! It's nice to know that something is real on this sandwich. I think I'll be bringing my own lunches from now on," Ben decided.

"That's probably a good plan," Jennifer chuckled, then opened up her note.

Instead of hording butter pats at the risk of soiling your books, blankets, and such, simply ask me when you need a taste of home. I know I often taunt you to try to incur favors, but I hope that even without viewing my expression that you know your husband's banter when you hear it. No matter how insignificant you think the request, you have but to ask. Never doubt that you are my first priority, and short of a crisis in the castle or another possible destruction of the universe scenario, I'll be sure to get it straight away. If there is a crisis of such level, then you will need to be patient, but rest assured, I will get back to you. And if for some reason the crisis ends in failure, then you can expect me to deliver the requested item in person, for I have every intention of spending my last moments on this earth with you, even if it is at the request of something as simple as a crock of butter. ~S

Ben pulled the crock over to his end of the table, but then became distracted as Jennifer's face got redder and redder.

"Jennifer? You okay?" Ben asked.

"Oh! Um, yes, sorry," Jennifer said, folding up the note and putting it in her bib pocket, holding it next to her for a moment. "He told me to ask next time instead of trying to horde condiments."

"Then why do you have same expression you get when he whispers to you at a wedding?" Ben asked. For some reason, that made Jennifer blush all the more, but she was saved from further comment when a student walked up with a tray.

"Ms. Craw? I was just checking to see if our lunch was off for today," Truman asked.

"Oh! No, not at all, please sit down! Actually, you're the entire reason that I forced Ben to eat in Commissary," Jennifer said, pulling out a chair for Truman.

"It won't happen again, right?" Ben teased with a chuckle.

"Truman Ford, this is my son-in-law, Ben Clemmons," Jennifer introduced.

"Hi. I think I saw you in the Wizardnet Lab earlier," Truman said.

"More than likely," Ben agreed with a smile. "I'm upgrading the school's computer and Wizardnet programs."

"He also has two sons and one of them is in training just like you are," Jennifer explained.

"Really?" Truman said. "Is that why you're so easy to read?"

"No, it's because I'm not a wizard," Ben explained.

"Oh! But you work on Wizardnet devices?" Truman said, intrigued.

"Both types of computers, actually, I'm a programmer," Ben explained. "After college, I started out working for a Muggle cybersecurity firm, but after the boys came down with Tangerine Spots, I realized that trying to stay at a Muggle firm when the better half of my life kept invading wasn't maintainable, so I adapted with the times. Now I'm self-employed, and I help hybrid and wizard businesses troubleshoot problems with their systems. It lets me work from home for the most part, except for big jobs like these. Since my wife has a very demanding job, it helps the family that I can work on my own schedule, too."

"And she works for the government somehow?" Truman picked up.

"Minister of Mysteries. I suppose it'd be like head of the Wizard version of the CIA here," Ben said.

"Wizard Investigations Agency," Jennifer offered.

"So like Wizard MI5 or something?" Truman asked.

"Yes, something like that," Ben agreed with a smile.

"That does sound like a demanding job," Truman decided.

"It certainly was last year," Ben agreed, Jennifer nodding to him emphatically. "Anyway, I don't suppose you'd want to meet my sons sometime? Rus is a couple of years younger than you, and the oldest, Jay, is a lot closer to your age. Rus is the Truth Seeker, and I'm sure Rus would like to meet someone near his age with the same talent."

"Yes, I'd like that," Truman agreed.

"Maybe we can invite him to Yule this year?" Ben suggested, looking over at Jennifer.

"You mean Christmas?" Truman asked.

"No, he means the First of Yule... Winter Solstice. It's not really celebrated here, even among Wizardkind, Ben, but perhaps that means his parents wouldn't mind? I'll ask them for you, Truman, if you're interested," Jennifer offered. Truman grinned.

"I'd like that," Truman agreed.

"Ask if they wouldn't mind if he stayed over a couple of nights too, Jennifer, to give him more time to adjust to the time change," Ben said.

"Yes, alright," Jennifer agreed. "Truman, you should eat your lunch. Ben's going to be working here for a bit; he'll be here every weekday until school gets out, so you'll have plenty of time to ask him more questions."

"Especially if your parents agree to let you come visit," Ben added with a nod.

"Fine, but I do have one more question," Truman said, staring at Ben. "Why are you putting butter on your sandwich bread? That looks positively disgusting."

"There, you see?" Jennifer said with a chuckle, turning her attention to her lunch as well.

It wasn't until Thursday that Steve showed up again.

As it happened, it was on the same day that Andrew had come to teach her classes for the day. Jennifer was eagerly practicing the microtransfiguration techniques that Andrew was instructing the class on, even while Steve Mason and Superintendent Brian Charleston was inquiring in Brenda's office, before being led to Wind's office. Wind seemed didn't seem to be expecting them, but at the same time, he really didn't seem surprised either. He stood up with a smile, greeting them.

"Terribly sorry, did I miss an appointment?" Wind asked.

"No, I'm afraid we didn't make one this time," Brian said apologetically. "I hope it's not too inconvenient."

"I really don't care if it is or it isn't," Steve said.

"That would explain why you never make an appointment," Wind agreed.

"Gentlewizards, please," Brian said firmly. "Wind, we simply have a few questions about the report you sent me on the Wizardnet system upgrades."

"Yes, like why this man was hired without our approval. He is an outside contractor, and I have a hard time believing he's qualified to service Wizardnet computers when he's not even a wizard," Steve said. "No wonder he estimated that it'd take so long. He's probably milking the clock."

"Steve, Wind did send me his credentials. He is more than qualified," Brian intervened.

"Yes, and as to why I didn't ask for approval, I really didn't need to," Wind replied. "Mr. Clemmons generously donated his services for free when he heard about our breach earlier in the year."

"If he donated his services, then he's definitely not milking the clock," Brian decided.

"Then he's intentionally taking his time to prevent the students from taking their POW test, knowing they're likely to have poor scores! I have heard some of my nieces and nephews say that most of their teachers have a different agenda this year than what is normally taught, not the least of which being Ms. Craw, who I am told hasn't even bothered with standardized tests at all!" Steve snapped.

"Jennifer teaches a hands-on course, Steve. You can't learn to create items from a book, it requires mastering how to manipulate the materials with your hands. I know, I used to teach that course," Wind reminded him.

"Wind, I don't have any trouble with Jennifer's decision to teach them basic work skills, but I must admit that I am concerned that these security upgrades will prevent a second round of POW tests not to go out. Can't these upgrades wait until we get back in January so that we have some idea on how they're doing? Then, if need be, you can skip the next test and give us two spaced out properly... one this semester and one next," Brian suggested.

"Perhaps Mr. Clemmons himself could better explain why this must be done now," Wind suggested, glancing at the clock. "Classes are just about to let out. Let's walk to the Wizardnet Lab before lunch so that you can speak with him yourself."

"That sounds like a good idea," Brian agreed before Steve could comment again. Wind smiled, showing them both back out.

By the time they got there, the students had wandered out for lunch. Frank had come over to the main computer and was watching Ben work, asking questions every now and again to get a better idea of what Ben was working on. Neither of them were surprised when the three wizards came in; Brenda had sent them an Insta-Owl not long after they had arrived.

"Here we are," Wind said. "Frank, Mr. Clemmons. Might I trouble you for a moment?"

"Sure," Ben said, and the two of them came over.

"Mr. Charleston, Mr. Mason, this is Benjamin Clemmons. Mr. Clemmons, Mr. Charleston is the Wizard School Superintendent for schools in the area, and Mr. Mason is on the school board," Wind introduced.

"Nice to meet you," Ben said.

"The superintendent was wondering if there were anyway that the students would be able to take their POW tests before the end of the year," Wind said.

"Is there a paper or parchment version of some kind?" Ben asked.

"Of course not. POW tests are a highly sophisticated testing system that requires Wizardnet devices to run it," Steve said with irritation.

"In that case, I'd say no," Ben replied. "I'm going to need to take the system offline to work on it, and I'll also have to reset it a few times, which means that any information placed on the system while I'm testing it would be lost in the process. Perhaps you should rely on traditional methods for the time being."

"Perhaps if you explained to them why it was so important that you upgrade our systems just now?" Wind suggested.

"Of course, I'd be happy to," Ben said, then walked up to Steve. "Mr. Mason, do you have a log in name and password entered in the school's website?"

"Yes, of course I do. All of the school board members do," Steve said.

"Then, with your permission, I would like to show you through your account what the problem is," Ben said cordially. "What is your name on the site?"

"SAMason," Steve said. Ben walked over to one of the student computers and sat down, while the other Wizards gathered around curiously.

A line of ones and zeroes flashed up along with a small window that read regular number sequences, and he began inputting so quickly that Frank was the only one of them with the faintest of ideas what he was doing or when exactly he broke out of the system itself, tracing back Steve's WP number. Steve and Brian tried to follow the processes as best they could, but it had been so fast that before Steve could even be alarmed by the fact that Benjamin had broken into his personal Net-Owl address, He had managed to bring up the dashboard on Steve's Wizardnet device at home and pulled up his bank account, his Wizcoin wallet, and even his Charmbasket account.

"Any questions?" Ben asked calmly. Steve's jaw dropped at seeing his personal financial records on display in front of the rest of the wizards there. "Or should we order something from Charmbasket while we're at it?"

"Turn that off and fix this security leak at once!" Steve demanded, his face red with surprise and anger.

"Of course, Mr. Mason, that's what I'm here for," Ben said calmly, closing down the different windows and logging out.

"Fixing this is definitely much more important than the POW tests," Brian agreed. "You will do what you can to have this working properly before we get back from the holidays?"

"Of course I will. Barring any hidden surprises, it should be finished in a couple of weeks or so."

"Thank you," Brian said. "Shall we get lunch across the way, Steve?"

"Fine," Steve.

"And you, Wind?" Brian said.

"No, I have other plans, but I thank you both for your support," Wind said with a polite smile, showing them both out.

Ben and Frank watched them go before Frank shook his head with a chuckle.

"Some support! If you hadn't shown them that back door, they probably would have tried to get you to hold off the upgrade," Frank said.

"That's why I did it," Ben grinned, getting up. "I'd better go meet my brother and mother-in-law for lunch."

"I don't suppose you'd be interested in having dinner with me and the guys tomorrow night?" Frank asked as they walked out the door.

"I'll need to text my wife to be sure, but I should be able to since it's Friday," Ben agreed.

"Great," Frank said, and he locked up for lunch.