Ch. 28 — Spider Farming
Hogwarts would soon be out, with Marietta successfully graduated. Josephine and her George couldn't be happier.
The Marietta they had known as a little girl had grown up. She was self-assured and held her head up high. She was doing something she liked and enjoyed, and didn't have to scramble for a living in the meantime. Then there was the fact that her daughter had been one of the group that brought down the pure-bloods, the Death Eaters, and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. She had principles, stood beside them, and wasn't afraid to fight for them, if need be — as she had proven.
She was happy, and that's all that really mattered to Josephine.
Josephine was so proud of her, she thought she might burst.
Well, except for not having a boyfriend yet. Josephine wanted grandchildren, now that it was safe to have them. Not yet, though. She was a bit too young to be a grandmother. Maybe in five or ten years.
But Marietta really should have a boyfriend by now!
Josephine wouldn't object to her dating that nice Longbottom boy — he had potential! Not to mention being a quite-reasonable pure-blood.
Terry Boot seemed nice, too.
She hoped and prayed that Marietta didn't decide to chase after Fred or George Weasley, or one of them, her. She didn't think her heart could take twins' pranking.
Adding to her anticipation of the coming summer was that Marietta would spend her weekends at home, with the family. Or, well, planned to spend most of her weekends at home. Her schedule with the ship meant she worked five days out of seven, in rotation. Which, in turn, meant her days off sometimes would be in the middle of the week.
On the other hand, she had told her parents to make time for two weeks aboard the ship starting the weekend after graduation. They were getting a tour of the solar system! Following that would be a two-week tour of France. Or maybe Italy. They hadn't decided yet.
Diagon Alley had changed, too. Now it looked and sounded more like it had seven years before, when she and George had taken Marietta for her school supplies that they didn't already have. It was so unlike how the Alley had been for the last three years.
There was a new addition to the Alley, too, besides Quark's.
The twins had opened a prank store, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, just before Christmas, which appeared to be doing great business. They still had their prank and candy display in one section of Enterprise, by and on the left wall. It was all space-themed, however, to fit in with the rest of the shop's selections.
Their new shop catered to more general audience. It was an instant success.
Plus, even more exciting, George, her George, was now the manager of the video-store chain, Return to Tomorrow Videos, one of which was on the other side of each of the Enterprise stores — they had two other stores, now!
She always got to have lunch with her husband! With the floos in the Enterprises, it didn't even matter if they were in different countries. It didn't hurt that a Quark's restaurant always opened in the magical shopping area just before or after an Enterprise opened. While the pubs catered to local cuisine, all five thousand selections were available for the asking.
It was amazing how easy it was to get a special "international" license when you had unlimited galleons at your disposal. All they had to do was accurately report any merchandise they transported through their floo for the proper import/export fees to be paid to the requisite governments, promise not to transport illegal substances, and restrict its use to authorized personnel only.
They didn't mention their Vanishing Cabinets, naturally. Those were their access to the Requirement and the completed Galileo. They were behind some very secure magical and tech locks and disguises. Every door to a room with a cabinet was hidden by a tech cloaking-device and a muggle- and magical-aversion spell that subtlety directed your interest away from that part of the wall. Even if a magical finited that spell, the tech cloak kept them from seeing anything. Only someone wearing a comm-link could see the door, or even open it. The locks on the door prevented anyone else from entering. If anyone apparated or portkeyed into the room without a comm-link, they would be magically stunned immediately. If the stunners failed to stop whomever it was from continuing to move, the tech from the ship would render them unconscious.
Hogwarts was their central hub, so that was where they put one of each pair — a central terminus. An over-sized cabinet-pair had been made with one at Vanishing Cabinet Central and the other on the Requirement. Three cabinet-pairs linked the Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and Paris Enterprise stores. The extra pairs were currently being used to supplement the one to the Requirement.
It turned out that the cabinets did need magical woods. Oddly enough, the Longbottom Estate had several of the required trees in multiple-acre plantings! It turned out that the Longbottoms supplied a portion of the raw wood used in wands and other magical enchanted items — such as broomsticks! Neville had already started several saplings at Uranus Base.
One ten-yard-tall tree supplied more than enough wood to complete a half-a-dozen cabinets, three sets of two. Cutting down that tree and cutting it into the requisite pieces took an entire day for Lee, Angelina, Alicia, and the twins. Each pair of cabinets had to be enchanted at the same time. With five of them working together, that had taken only a day for each set. A week later, they had had six pairs, and had placed them where they were needed.
They grafted saplings onto the stumps in exchange for the two they took down. That way it already had a fully developed root structure and would grow quickly. From the condition of the stump, and the spells Neville cast at that time, she had been told, this had been a long, well-practiced method of maintaining the Longbottom position as a trusted and consistent supplier.
The next planned business specialized in video-machines. She had been told that they featured a new "game" of an X-wing fighter that was an "immersive" experience. The hardest part had been getting LucasFilm's LucasArts to give them a license, she had heard. It had taken months of negotiations. It was only when they had asked how many tonnes of gold George Lucas wanted, then at seven million dollars a ton, for the entire company that a deal had been struck. They were now part-owners of LucasFilm, with the option of first refusal should George decide to sell his portion.
Once they had enough games installed across the world, they planned to allow "squadrons" to organise and accept missions. She wondered how long it would take for the "independent" arcade sites to realize the games only needed to be plugged into the mains for the linkage system to work.
Josephine was quite pleased with the store, now. The display floor had quite a few more gadgets, robes, and artwork. Combat Officer Lieutenant-Commander Luna Lovegood's painting of Uranus had been sold, replaced by one of Jupiter and another of Saturn. The one of England and the Continent on Earth with the moon making periodic appearances on either side hadn't made it a week after being displayed. Neither had the Earth-rise from behind the Moon. Nor the Earth-rise from the Moon.
Several of Lee Jordan's Galaxies had sold. He hadn't mentioned that it included a zoom-in feature, the silly swot. She suspected that the original was based on the ship's library. It didn't just randomly "populate" the sections too far for Earth telescopes to see. He had probably had the library update it to current observations, and extrapolated the other stars based on their original orbital trajectories. As a result, though no one realized it but her, it actually showed the true positions for a significant number of the stars.
The adult overcoats, privately called civilian-combat-robes by the store clerks, were still selling. But not as earnestly since the Death Eaters had disappeared into Azkaban, the Veil, or the woodwork. You were far more likely to run into a pickpocket — although, they, too, were getting scarce.
Apparently, one of the Crew — you could hear the capital when they said it — had taken exception to having his parents be a victim to one, once. He had deployed several of their "hover-stones" to the Alleys, and watched for known pickpockets. Once tagged, he had simply observed them breaking the law before compulsing them to go to an Auror and confess their crime, offering a memory of the event.
The expanded pouches and bags were solid sellers, though. As were the Headless Hats and the Shield Hats.
She had heard a rumour that the twins were working on something called a Switching Sweet, or possibly a Gender Ginger. She wasn't sure how she felt about something with that sort of name. Depending on exactly what it actually did, she might get a set for her and her George to try.
She was a lot more likely to try one of their Cat-chews, which gave someone furry cat-ears and a tail. For some reason, they expected those to be a big hit in Japan. Outside of using them as a prank to greet newcomers to Enterprise, she didn't see the appeal, herself.
The pure-blood owner of the shoe-store had been furious when they had hired away his half-blood shoemaker. Their shoes were actually high-tech carbon-tube infused versions that were tougher than dragonhide shoes, which was what they were made to look like. The customer just stood on a metal plate and the shoemaker magically altered a generic pair of shoes or boots for a perfect fit. He added any colour or other cosmetic embellishments the new owner might want on them. Next came the comfort and growth charms to ensure the shoes remained perfect for an adult for the rest of their lives, or for a child for the next several years as he or she grew.
Then he went into the backroom. The distant computer built the high-tech materials over the magicked material, with provisions for the new owner's growth, if any. An unbreakable charm on the insides completed the process. The customers only waited a few minutes for their finished purchases.
He was quite happy with his new job, and increased pay.
Josephine had made special arrangements with Madam Malkin to sell their "reinforced" student robes through her shop, without more than a ten-percent markup. The cost for the improved robes was only a bit more than what Malkin had paid for the materials for the regular robes, the twins had made sure. The difference for her was that she didn't have to alter them to fit as she did the regular robes — all she needed to do was provide the measurements and the robes. This way she had an incentive to upsell their robes from her regular ones while making the same profit, and the customer only paid slightly more.
Tomorrow, Josephine planned to visit the Enterprise in Paris, followed by the new Enterprise in Dublin the next day. Naturally, all three had signs in the windows proclaiming, "Opening Soon!" with another on the door that said, "Openings available! Now Hiring!" Their clientele were mostly Half-bloods and Muggle-born. Pure-bloods rarely darkened their doors — with the exceptions of those of the Crew who were pure-blood. Or pure-bloods who had been told by the pure-blood Crewmembers to investigate the shops.
They were searching the Indian Magical District in Bombay for an appropriate location for a fourth store. The Chinese government's anti-wizard pogroms made a store, there, impossible. But they were looking closely at neighbouring Japan. They were negotiating for a lease on a store in Bulgaria's Sofia.
She had never dreamed she or her husband would be shop managers, never mind both a manager of a chain of stores! It was difficult to believe that only been one year ago she had been afraid her daughter had been tricked into a shady business that might lead to her, and their own, doom. Ha!
Best. Decision. Ever!
Lee fairly danced onto the display floor of Enterprise from the back-area that mid-afternoon. Things had quieted down from lunch. As soon as he saw her, he rushed right over and hugged her, spinning them briefly in a circle.
"Lee," she cried out, attracting the attention of her store clerk. "What's got into you!?" He set her back down and they both took half-a-step back She looked at him suspiciously.
He placed both hands on her shoulders and said, "We did it!" Then, again, hugged her and spun in a circle.
This time, when he let go, she made sure to step out of range. "Did the twins hit you with another over-powered cheering charm?" she asked apprehensively.
Used to their antics, Charlie, the clerk, went back to her job of restocking the candy and prank display.
Lee took three strides to the register-counter, pulled a box out of his pocket, and unshrunk it. Opening it quickly, he took a fancy tube out of the box. It was silvery in appearance with black bands and small, rectangular protrusions. It was about as long as from his wrist to his elbow. "Ha!" he said proudly, triumphantly holding it up in one hand.
She stared at it critically. "So," she said dryly, "you've invented a torch?"
He gave a heartfelt sigh of disappointment. "No," he said, slightly offended. "A lightsabre!" He moved his thumb. Abruptly, there was a beam of brilliant-blue light coming from the device that was at least a yard long, if not four-feet, and as round as the device itself. It was accompanied by a hum that she immediately recognized.
"Holy shit!" she said, then clasped her hands over her mouth as she stared at it wide-eyed.
Charlie, now standing beside her — had she apparated? — breathlessly said, "I want one!"
Lee grinned at them. "Okay," he said mirthfully. He lowered his arm slightly. "Here!" He tossed it at her.
They both screamed and darted in different directions.
The beam cut off with a whip! sound as soon as he let go. The torch fell to the floor between the two witches as Lee dissolved into laughter.
They stared back and forth between him and the lightsabre. They both had a hand over their chest as they calmed down.
"Lee!" angrily shouted Josephine. Both witches now had their hands on their hips.
The wizard just laughed a bit harder. After a moment, still chuckling, he walked over and picked up the device.
"Relax," he said. "I had it set to toy-mode. It's perfectly harmless." He held up the device, and abruptly the beam and hum were back. He swept the beam down and across his opposite arm. The beam did not cut off his arm, as the two witches half-expected. Instead, the portion of the beam that touched his arm seemed to stop there, as if his arm were impenetrable. In effect, it was as if he had swept a huge low-powered laser-pointer over his arm, Josephine saw.
They stared, gobsmacked.
"The next setting is training mode." The hum changed slightly and the beam turned yellow.
He turned back to the desk and picked up one of the flyers announcing the new store in Dublin. He held it up between thumb and middle finger, with his other fingers spread wide across it. Then he swept the beam over the paper and his fingers.
Josephine inhaled sharply as she saw him start, then gasped as pieces of the paper fluttered to the floor, but his fingers, and the paper behind them, were left unharmed.
He turned to the counter and sliced across it with the beam, leaving a slight scorch mark. "It lets you practice until your control is such that you aren't a danger to everyone around you, or yourself."
A very sensible idea, Josephine's opinion.
"The third setting is tool." He put his hand on the counter-edge, at the side, and again swept the beam, now a vibrant-orange, over his hand. The counter top was cleanly cut through, as was the side where the beam emerged.
His hand was unmarked.
He pulled out his wand and repaired the damaged counter.
"The final setting is weapon, and it cuts through everything." The beam was now red, and he carefully held it so that it wasn't going to touch anything. "Fortunately, we were able to figure out how to make it detect the person holding it, so you can't cut yourself by accident." He waved his hand through the red beam without any visible injuries. "We had the basic lightsabre months ago, but designing the safety features was challenging." He shook his head.
"This one's mine," he said as he clicked it off and clipped it to his belt.
"The other ones in the box are all the toy versions — they are light and sound only. They're different shades of blue and green, set by a dial in the bottom of the handle," he explained. "They have a battery similar to the ones we use for the tech-cloaks that should power them for a decade at the toy setting.
"The professional-level units also have a cavity for your wand, so you can cast magic with them, undetected, too."
He started taking the lightsabre boxes out of the bigger box and setting them on the counter. "Here are the bands and other embellishments you can add," he said, setting down a large, square box beside the smaller rectangular boxes. "These let the customer customize them. They don't really do anything." There were pieces that snapped onto the bases, others that slid over the tubes and locked into place, and still others modified the end that the beam came from.
"We figure that ten galleons is a fair price, right?" He looked at Josephine.
She picked one up, awed. "Oh, yes," she breathed. Anyone who was a Star Wars fan wouldn't balk at that price.
Then he showed them how to turn them on. Playfully, the two witches swung the beams to cross each other in a mock swordfight, expecting them to go through each other. Both jerked back, startled at the crackling crash as the two beams bounced off each other as if they were solid.
Lee grinned. "That took a lot of finessing, I was told, but they act just like they do in the films." He smirked, "Except chop off body parts. Only combat-specialist crewmembers get the higher-powered ones." He paused. "Oh, and they can actually stop a cast spell."
They stared at him, again.
He shrugged. "The beams are solid energy, spells are solid energy, is it really a surprise the beam disrupts the spell?"
Both witches slowly nodded.
It didn't take more than a few minutes to set up a display on the wall behind the register. The lightsabres dangled from their clips with several clear bins below for the embellishments. There was an illustration of two lightsabres with their beams crossed as a background on the wall.
The two witches picked out their choices for embellishments, made sure their names were etched into the bottoms so they wouldn't get confused, and started playing with their new toys.
They barely noticed when Lee left.
All the lightsabres were gone before dinner.
When Josephine messaged him with her book, he promised two hundred more tomorrow morning. She planned to take a third of them with her to Paris, and the other third to Dublin.
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Then it was the day of Hogwarts' Graduation Ceremony, Friday the thirteenth.
Just like Diagon Alley, according to her daughter, the anxiety and fear that had permeated the school in the previous years had dissipated. That was royally evident at the school when they arrived via floo in Hogsmeade.
The muggle-born and half-blood parents were relaxed and over-joyed at seeing their sons and daughters finish their education — safely. The muggle parents, here by special dispensation, had spent most of the morning admiring and exploring the castle. It was a wonderful change from previous years.
The graduation ceremony had been just perfect. It was as if the castle itself wanted to show-off to the parents. The day was perfect, and the castle and surrounding grounds meticulously prepared.
Josephine even saw three unicorns watching from the edge of the forest.
Watching her Marietta graduate from Hogwarts was something she had been looking forward to for years. Despite the large number of graduating students, it was easy to pick her out. She had an assurance about her that most of the others lacked. Well, those who were not crewmembers, that is.
The crewmembers just looked . . . more confident, more comfortable in their skins. They were easy to pick out if you knew what to look for. They had the air of people who could react instantly to any threat, and deal with it handily. They didn't have the slightly hunted look many of the parents and relatives still did, as if they expected something awful to happen. They were like Aurors, only . . . not.
Everyone, while happy and joyful to be here at the ceremony, had momentary lapses into sadness. They likely remembered someone who couldn't be here, and they would never see them again.
She was rather surprised at just how many of the Crew were here. Not only did she recognize all the students who had graduated last year who were Crew members — not just Fred, George, and Lee — but a fair number of older muggle-borns and half-bloods who had come into Enterprise since last summer, as well.
It was amazing how much had changed.
They ranged from adults who were old enough to be her parent, or even older, all the way down to the Weasley twins who were her bosses. No matter that they insisted the Admiral, Harry, was the actual owner of the shops. Apparently, now that they had a second ship, the Galileo, he couldn't be just a Captain, anymore. Granger, though, was still his Number One. From the way they stood, close to each other, and the glances they exchanged, it was a term that had another meaning entirely, to the couple.
The Weasleys' spent most of their time at their prank and joke shop, now. For all that they were Crew, they preferred their feet on the ground. Their goals were not space-oriented, except as a tool to their success.
Plus, with Tom Riddle, Voldemort, gone, they had lost some of their intensity and were more happy-go-lucky in their approach to life. It showed in some of their new products.
There were a number of Crew who fit that description, the DSF Marines, especially. She had heard a few of them were getting involved in Ireland's muggle troubles. They were catching more than a few trouble-makers from both sides of the conflict. There's nothing like catching a criminal in the commission of a crime to guarantee a stay in jail. The logic the Marines were using was that as long as the miscreants were in jail, they couldn't commit any mischief. Eventually, all the bad actors would be incarcerated, or get the message drummed into their heads that they would be caught, and things would quiet down.
Compulsion charms for the captured ones to tell the truth to the newspapers, bobbies, and courts when they were "returned" from Uranus Base helped assure the trials and subsequent convictions were fair. They also took care of any medical issues their prisoners had — might as well, there wasn't a reason not to, after all.
Astonishingly, there were a few who were innocent, guilty of only having violent friends. They also found a few who needed medical help for their families.
She had to stifle her laugh. The boy was an Admiral, with a crew of loyal wizards and witches capable of going one-on-one with Death Eaters, acromantulas, and other dangerous creatures. She had a feeling they would be more than willing to face down a dragon for him. Knowing that he had successfully faced-down a Dragon as a fourteen-year-old Fourth-year was quite impressive to them. To her, too.
Actually, it was quite impressive to everyone!
He wasn't out of school, yet! He still had a full year left before he could graduate. Yet, he had people triple his own age, or more, listening to his every command, and obeying without the slightest hesitation.
Because he had earned their trust and obedience.
She knew there were muggle generals who wished they had such loyal soldiers! Never mind the Ministry Directors who craved even a fraction of the level of respect he had from his people. They would faint dead if they ever learned the truth of who Harry Potter really was, and what he commanded.
She could only shake her head and cheer her Marietta on in her chosen career — piloting a starship! Not that they would be doing anything like that soon, unfortunately, her daughter said. The ship apparently needed a special fuel that they were in the midst of generating.
She was a bit puzzled about that. Marietta had told her they weren't actually making the fuel, yet. They were making the Depots that would make the fuel for them. Why that would take another eight months, she wasn't sure.
But it was what it was.
In the meantime, Marietta had told her they were researching all the stars they wanted to visit, starting next summer when the fuel became available. She was plotting out the various courses, in detail, as well as every variation imaginable.
Josephine, for all that she wasn't an explorer, wanted to go with her that summer. If only for a little while. To actually see another sun, to step on another planet that had never seen her Sun's dawn.
She was a Star Trek fan, after all.
Her George suddenly whistled loudly and started to clap. Belatedly, she realized it was Marietta crossing the stage. Josephine enthusiastically joined him, clapping until her hands hurt. She was so proud; she thought her smile would never leave her face.
She wasn't surprised to see a significant number of others doing the same — all Crew, of course.
Afterwards, came the pictures. An entire roll's worth of film. Marietta alone, Marietta and her parents, Marietta and her favourite professors, Marietta and her friends, and Marietta in pictures in front of the castle, in front of the forest, in front of the lake.
Several Mermen, and the unicorns, watching from lake and forest, respectively, made for excellent backdrops!
Josephine must have hugged and kissed her Marietta at least a dozen times, as had her George.
Then it was off to a celebratory lunch in Hogsmeade. After that, it was to a cinema featuring a newly-released film, Marvin's Room — which was quite good, she thought. Then to home.
Marietta would be off to the ship tomorrow to prepare for their two-week tour of the solar system, next weekend.
A tour with all the parents! It sounded thrilling.
Even though Josephine had seen Uranus, already.
They planned to start with Mercury, and leisurely work their way outwards to Pluto.
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Instead of sneaking off to the ship, they were taking the train back to London, unlike the graduates who had gone home with their parents or guardians.
As always, there was a constant flow of students running up and down the train, meeting up and making plans for the summer.
Not long after the train left the station, Luna and Ginny slid open the door to Harry's cabin. Hermione, Ron, Lavender, Neville, Hannah, and Susan were also there.
As soon as the door was closed again, Luna cast a silencing spell on it. She turned to Harry, smiling. "Oh, good," she said, looking a few inches over his head. "Not a sign of any nargles!"
Ginny sighed. "Admiral," she said, letting him know that this was something to do with the D.S.F., "We had a thought the other day."
Harry looked at the two and nodded to show he was listening.
"Well, sir, we have the acromantulas under control and it's only a matter of a week or so before we wipe them out. However, do we really need to do that? It seems almost a waste, and a lost opportunity, just to wipe them out." She glanced at Luna who was examining the air above Hannah's head and frowning.
"The silk is very valuable, and it can't be duplicated in the replicator. So, Commander Lovegood and I thought that we could move them to a Greenhouse Base at Uranus Base and trade them their silk thread for food. Deliver a ball of thread that weighs a certain amount and get a cow, another amount gets a goat, and so forth. If we used a replicator for the food, it would be a great way to harvest silk without any cost or risk to us. We could make it completely automatic. They drop a quantity of silk onto a scale, it's scanned for purity, then the reward is supplied on another scale — a tit-for-tat trade setup."
"Ranch them?" said Hermione, quirking an eyebrow and looking back and forth between Harry and Ginny.
"Yes. We know the big ones are smart and you can make bargains with them, Aragog and Hagrid proved that. If it's a choice between being wiped out or living in a giant greenhouse trading silk for food, I think they'd agree."
Harry looked at the others in the cabin. "Do you think it would work?"
Luna was staring at the air over Susan's head.
Ron sat and stared out the cabin's window at the moving countryside. He gave a small shudder. Finally, he nodded and turned back to the rest. "It could work, we just need to determine how much silk we can use and sell. If the ship is too big or the ratio between food and silk delivered is wrong, we could end up with tons of surplus silk." He shrugged. "Not that that matters, our cost is nothing. We can just store the silk, or maybe see if we can sell it to the muggles, too."
Harry nodded slowly. "Sure," he said to Ginny and Luna. "Talk with Commanders Lee and Neville to set it up." He shrugged. "As long as the spiders are gone from the Forbidden Forest by September, I don't care."
Luna blinked and looked from Neville to Harry. She said in her dreamy voice, "Since Commander Longbottom is dealing with a minor nargle infestation, we'll go see Commander Jordan." She grabbed Ginny's hand, who now was frowning and staring at Neville, and dragged her out into the passage, after removing the silencing spell.
As the door slid closed, again, Neville was blushing as everyone stared at him.
Then they went back to their previous conversation about the upcoming planetary-tour. Neville, unfortunately, would not be joining them. He intended to stay home with his parents, who were still trying to recover their mental equilibrium. He had decided that subjecting them to the ship, and the tour, would be too much for them, given that they still had difficulty differentiating reality from dreams.
Unlike his previous trips on the train, Draco did not make an appearance with his bookends, to Harry's relief. He wasn't interested in the drama the boy always brought. That the Malfoys were struggling to make ends meet brought Harry much not-so-secret happiness.
Although the word struggling had a different meaning for the Malfoys. Their remaining investments were paying more than enough to keep any muggle family happy in the upper-income bracket of the middle-class. However, they were a witch and wizard-child who were used to living at the very top of the social and financial heap, of having their every desire immediately fulfilled.
They had never had to plan for expenses or limit their purchases. Not overspending their earnings was a constant battle. Especially as the witch had never been shown any of the financial dealings of the Malfoy family. She was continually being blind-sided by business obligations she had never known existed.
Plus, several of her former-husband's more esoteric business contacts were shameless exploiting her ignorance.
At least that's what he had been told by Sirius, who kept a close eye on his cousins. He, too, wasn't above taking shameless advantage of his cousin's ignorance to prevent the Malfoy name from every regaining its former foothold in society and the ministry. "I arranged," he had explained, "through a third-party, to rent her one of the Black properties. Then I loaned her the money to pay the rent until her finances stabilized." He had chortled. "She's paying higher-than-market rate for the rental while paying interest on the loan that was "cheaper" than what I had bribed the Goblins to offer her." He had shaken his head happily. "The Goblins got an instant profit, and I secured a healthy income at the same time!" He laughed again. "I'm also selling her groceries from the ship's replicator at grocery-store prices, while she thinks I have Winky getting them from the grocery store to save her the humiliation of being seen doing such a mundane house-witch task.
"She thinks she's getting a bargain because of me being a 'generous and foolhardy' Gryffindor. If she only knew that I'm making back my whole monthly 'loan payment' off of her, plus her grocery bill, and she thinks she has to start making the loan payments, with interest, next year!" he had concluded.
Sirius was shrewdly scary when he wanted to be, Harry decided.
It was a delightful scene at King's Cross Station at when they arrived. The cloud of fear that had hung over everything last year was gone. Instead, there were smiling faces everywhere, and squeals of delight at seeing parents and siblings, again.
Well, that was mostly true. The Slytherin families were subdued, especially those whose children in previous years had been looking down on, sneering at, and cursing-in-the-back those they considered "inferior." Most of those families had lost a father, older brother, or older sister, to "mysterious" circumstances over the last year. Or who had confessed to being murderers and committing numerous criminal acts, and ending up either in Azkaban for long prison sentences or tossed through the Veil.
Harry didn't care. For the first time since the beginning of Second year he felt . . . safe. It helped that he knew he wasn't going to be stuck at the Dursleys.
He had made the same arrangement with them this summer as Hermione had made last year. An entire year's salary to ignore his coming and going during the summer.
It still weirded him out to see his uncle smiling at him after he passed through the barrier.
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