… - …
Chapter Twenty-one
Welshpool
1996
Monday January 1
Harry got up extra early the next morning, went to the shop, glued a set of blocks and brought two extra Wand Shop white shirts back home. He made an easy breakfast of pancakes, bacon, toast, sliced fruit, juice and coffee and asked Winky to set the shirts at the end of Amelia and Susan's bed. Harry had happily slept on the couch in the entertainment room.
Amelia got up a bit later and gratefully accepted the cup of hot coffee that he'd handed her. She was wearing the Wand Shop shirt.
"Hi," greeted Harry, realizing that Good Morning or Happy New Year would sound horrible under the circumstances.
"Thank you for your quick thinking last night. I completely lost my focus after seeing those flaming paintings. Connie left a message that the village CCTV video showed the fuel truck and five cars filled with flunkies driving up and back."
"Why so many?"
"Apparently they emptied all or part of a 3,500 gallon fuel truck using five gallon pails. Connie mentioned that there was a long burn path which that apparently used as some sort of fuse to light and put a bit of distance before the big whoosh."
"At least we got some of your stuff out. I had Nobby and the Hogwarts elves bring it to your home in Welshpool. Where's Welshpool?"
"This home is in Crawley, correct?" He nodded. "Welshpool is 200 miles NW of here in Montgomery."
"Maybe you could take me there after. I can't apparate to coordinates yet."
Amelia cautioned, "Two hundred miles is pretty far. To be honest, a third of my, err Shack's Aurors can't reliably apparate to coordinates."
"Distance doesn't seem to be an issue if I've already been someplace."
"Connie mentioned that you caught onto it quickly."
"She was an excellent instructor. Was it OK that I showed her the flares?"
"What flares?" As he suspected, she hadn't completely remembered the previous evening.
"When I was finished getting stuff, I called accio evidence and the three half-burned roadside flares showed up. I just tried it. I had no idea if I'd get anything."
She thought for a minute and finally said, "I get it. There were a couple of open windows in the kitchen and dining room. They could have poured fifty gallons of fuel through those windows. The others were charmed to be unbreakable. Otherwise, a brick house would have a hard time catching fire that originated from the outside."
Harry asked, "Why fire? Oh, never mind."
She encouraged him, "Go on."
"Ogden. His place was burned down. For some misguided reason, he blames you. He doesn't have any wands. This had nothing to do with Cormac. I bet if you check, the truck had been stolen for days, not hours. He had nothing personally to do with it. I bet he had a rock-solid alibi for last night, He figured out where you live somehow, made a guess that you would go out for New Year's Eve and had some goon watch your place.
"By 8pm, they concluded that you weren't hosting some party and all of Britain's law enforcement types wouldn't be in your back yard and called the truck. Unless the CCTVs are good enough to pick up a license plate, the only information that you'll really get is that there were 15 henchmen. That's my guess."
"I'll let you know what Connie and Anna find but I'd be surprised if it was materially different."
By then Emma and Dan had joined them and had sat quietly until they'd finished. Harry loaded up their plates and was going to do his own, when Susan and Hermione joined them. He made them plates and they all sat together. Harry asked, "What's Welshpool like?"
"My husband and I had it built just before the war. It's not too far from Powis castle by the mountain. It's a small town of about five thousand. It's quite picturesque. I'll make a portkey after breakfast and we can go there and take a look."
When breakfast was finished and cleaned up, they took a portkey there that she'd made. While the two-hundred mile trip only took seconds, it was a far rougher ride than the portkeys made by the goblins.
It was a big brick two-story that looked like the grounds had just been tended. In truth, 150 elves can be a force of nature. The kitchen was large and airy with a scrubbed wooden table that could hold eight. The pantry and refrigerator were freshly stocked. There were four large bedrooms upstairs along with several bathrooms. Two were set up. One contained Susie's school trunk and was all made up, the other was Amelia's. Everything had been freshly washed and neatly folded.
Downstairs in the family room. The extra furniture was neatly placed in a corner and stacked. The paintings had been cleaned and were lined up along the walls. Amelia was honestly surprised at the amount of their things that the capable young man had been able to retrieve.
Much to Hermione's relief, the library contained a dozen stacks of books which had been cleaned and were neatly stacked on the floors from the other home. Seeing that there was nothing that obviously needed doing, the Grangers and Harry excused themselves and took the portkey back.
Dan commented, "You hear about most people who've had their house burn down and they're happy if they have their wallet and car keys – maybe a photo if they're lucky. They lost their home but were able to keep half of their belongings. They were fortunate that you were there."
Unwilling to accept the praise, Harry reflected, "At least nobody got hurt."
… - …
Ragnok picked up the document that chance had dropped onto his lap.
The bearer of this document has exclusive rights to the formula and use of the brand name Fire Whiskey providing that it is continually produced. If no product is produced in 12 consecutive months, the license becomes void and anyone can produce and sell the formula.
George III January 20, 1820
Ragnok noted that it was signed just a few days before the first monarch that he'd met had passed away. If Ragnok had his way, Ogden or his overly-entitled nephew would never put another drop into a barrel.
He ordered the distribution of five million galleons into Harry's vault, four million into Redeye's vault and the other million into the general fund.
… - ...
Tuesday January 2
Bones Manor destroyed by Arson
By Cheryl Whitehart
Bones manor was destroyed by fifteen as-yet unidentified arsonists. The estate in Folkstone was home to Susan Bones. Susan, age 15, orphaned heiress of the Bones clan who currently attends Hogwarts and is a well-liked witch said, "I'm sorry that the house was completely destroyed. It had been in my family for ten generations."
No one was hurt.
… - …
Finally having the discussion that they'd put off for a day, Hermione declared, "I can't believe that you're not more rattled that you were almost killed by one of your own wands?"
Harry gently suggested, "Remember when we were in class and Daryl talked about the absurdity of assigning blame to an object?"
"Of course but it sounded more logical in the abstract than our own building."
"Agreed but Cormac used a wand that I'd made and sold him to go off on Redeye and me. He had a wand Purchase Permit card and if we want to assign blame or failure, six weeks of washing dishes apparently wasn't enough in his case to counteract sixteen years of letting him be a completely spoiled arse. Some people have no respect for the law and never will.
"The wand I used saved all of Susan's stuff, or better stated, the wand I used helped me to save all of Susan's stuff. Riddle and I both used wands made from feathers donated by Fawkes. How ironic is that?"
He continued, "It was pretty easy making a wand for McGonagall or Hagrid. I don't think he's going to pop a bolt and go off on all of his forest friends. As we work our way farther down the list, we're going to get more of those people – their dads or uncles were Death Eaters or low-lifes who more or less supported their beliefs. Our society is based in the premise that anyone who can wield magic is allowed to go buy a wand and carry it around unless they do something stupid and lose that right.
"You're clever enough to come up with some precise statistics that would show that young Slytherin men are six times more likely to do bad things with their wands than young Hufflepuff women and you'd be right. Yet wizarding society states that for a magical, owning a wand is a right – until you do something bad and lose that right. No one wants to look at the root cause - that no one ever told McLaggen that he couldn't do whatever he wanted."
She admitted, "I know you're right. It's just that emotionally, it's easy to say that it's the wand that almost killed you. I almost lost you again. I thought this was over."
He observed, "There's always something. Two weeks ago, Doris Crockford went off on those two at Tom's. She claimed that they were checking out her ankles and she conked them over the head with her new cauldron. People are goofy. Speaking of checking out body parts, do you want to count the trees in the store room with me?"
She nodded hungrily.
Apparently counting six tree stumps was very hard on clothing.
… - …
"Thomas McMaster – you get your lying arse over here. We didn't do nothin for seein in the New Year cuz, I have a job to do for da Boss. You came home smelling like the arse-end of a forest fire with fuel oil all over ya and yer lying tongue told me you were out chopping fire wood."
She slammed the newspaper down onto the kitchen table.
"Then I see this. Ya burned down the home of a fifteen year-old lass - an orphan to boot. Tell me why I shouldn't take my cleaver to you when yer sleeping and cut your willy into snack bits for the dog?"
"Get yer lying arse out of my house and don't darken my door until her house is as good as new. Now get out!"
… - ...
While Harry and Hermione were fitting wands, Emma was sitting in the breakroom enjoying a power nap. Dobby and Winky climbed onto the LazyBoy recliner on either side of her as usual. Winky poked Dobby. Emma noticed and said, "Hi you two. What's up?"
Winky said, "Dobby has something he needs to show you."
Dobby held up the envelope and she opened it. Daryl had licensed Dobby and Winky as Journeyman Wandcrafters. Winky said, "We finished his class on weekends. We was able to pay for class from money elves made working with Bright Moon lady."
"The other elves loaned you the money to pay Daryl?"
"No. They gave us all of their gold coins. Elves share when other elves be needing help."
She helf each of them a little tighter and asked, "So what would you like to do?"
"Dobby wants to glue blocks at night. Dobby can be very good at that and sanding. Dobby is not strong enough to be indenting canals without magic, which Daryl says is ruining good wood blocks. Harry Potter sir glues at eight, noon and four during day. Dobby wants to be gluing and sanding at night."
Emma thought about their idea. On the surface it made a lot of sense.
"Dobby and Winky wanting to be not working on Saturday so we can go do elvie things."
Suppressing a snort, Emma asked, "What about you, Winky?"
"Winky can helping Dobby some but Winky Sees magic. Winky Sees magic and knows best wand to give to wizards and witches when they walk in room. Winky doesn't think most witches and wizards are wanting elf finding wand for them so Winky puts best wand in front of you when they walk in room. You can be saying try this one and finish sale much faster. Bone lady is wanting us to sell many more wands. This is Winky's idea."
"How many more?"
"Hundred."
"You want us to go from fitting seventy-five a day to a hundred?" That sounded doable.
"No, go from making 180 a day to 360 and go from selling 75 a day to 175. Twenty seconds to fit wand and two minutes for yabby-dabby with customer."
… - ...
After doing the math together a few times, Hermione summarized, "As of the end of December, we've sold 6,179 plus 5,000 for France and Germany. We made 15,885.
"Go forward, we can make 7,500 a month and with two sellers we can sell 3,675 using yabby-dabby – 4,500 if we work three sellers or sell a bit longer each day."
Winky and Dobby nodded enthusiastically.
Hermione continued, "The rest of Europe is likely to start placing orders."
Harry added, "Daryl and Devlin are likely to call and ask for a few thousand feet each. We'll run out of strand sometime about the first week of May."
Emma suggested, "What if we try three fitters plus Winky for a week? The space would be tight. I know it's nice to have a break a day or two a week but I think we should try."
Winky said, "Too hard in winter. Ladies bring big cloaks and bags and floor is wet from slush. Two with yabby-dabby is being good. Better to be selling one extra hour."
She added, "Newsy paper will start saying wands are going to other places. Some people will think that is very good. Some will say is wrong. No one will be thinking that is not their business. Hagrid needs to wakey wakey big ugly spider monsters late in April. Winky wonders if beach charm Emma talking about would work in forest? Maybe is better to be selling many wands when spider strand is gone. If we sell to fewer other places in May for two weeks, we have enough." She was obviously excited.
Emma summarized, "So you're saying we should schedule three fitters in May and work our way through the list?"
"Yes. Dobby can be finding trees and making sliced blocks. On weekends in May, Harry Potter and goblin friends be going to Hogwarts and trading sheep for strands. Three weekends and you having enough for rest of summer. In September, you go two times. Mr. Hagrid finding big surprise in August. Harry Potter goes back to Salem school in June and learns new things from Mr. Darryl."
It sounded like a plan. Harry went to talk with Barchoke. They agreed that Harry should continue to charge 30G per wand.
… - ...
Greta Macmillan summarized her financial report. "Sales Tax held at 34,000G. Estate took a giant leap to 16,000. Expenses were 80,000. The Cash Balance is 201,000. The floo powder arrived and is being distributed in the lobby. The alley shops that sell floo powder should receive their orders in another week."
"Thank you."
… - …
Monday January 8
Sylvia Clearwater (Penny's mum) received her Masters in Transfiguration from the Ontario Institute but had never taught on a regular basis in a classroom aside from the obligatory stint as a teaching assistant. Instead, she used the craft on a nearly a daily basis as a partner in a small tool making/machine shop where she transfigured dull bits back into sharp ones and acted as a human CNC machine which required a fair bit of power and an excellent eye for detail. The cost savings was substantial and on average, her transfigurations only needed to last a few weeks.
When she saw the advertisement for a one-semester teaching stint, she made arrangements to continue the urgent aspects of her job on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings.
… - ...
Regulus Moonshine was a potions master who had spent much of his life trying to distill and age a 25 year-old single malt whiskey in just 90 days. In the last year, he became quite successful at it. As such, his costs were much lower than Ogden's before Ogden had two unfortunate incidents at his facilities.
It had been over 30 years since Moonshine and Ogden had been civil to each other. At this point, neither would help the other man out if the other was on fire and they had a running hosepipe in their hand.
Moonshine's daughter – Rose was, by any measure, a smart woman of 32. Like her father, Rose had earned her mastery in potions. Unlike her father, everyone got along with her perfectly. She was the picture of kindness.
She saw the advertisement that Minerva had finally placed (Teach potions for six months) and sent her CV along with a nicely-worded cover letter.
As such, both women brought something to the table that their teaching peers never had – real world career experience.
… - …
Clearwater's first class was the seventh years. There were eighteen in the class. Sylvia introduced herself and asked, "How many are in your year?"
Angelina replied, "Sixty Professor."
"When you were a first year, how many were there in your year?"
"Eighty-two."
"What happened to the rest?"
"Angelina replied, "Some died, some moved away, others disappeared."
Sylvia remarked, "Thank you, Eighteen of sixty two decided that knowing transfiguration would be useful, either as a profession, or on a CV to impress a potential employer. Other than in education, who can name a job or company that uses transfiguration?"
Silence.
"The first part of your assignment for the week is listing six different businesses where people are likely to use transfiguration on a regular basis. The second part of your assignment is to list every transfiguration that you have done, not related to a class assignment."
"The third part of your assignment is to go outside and find a large rock and transfigure it into something that you think is useful. Go out and visit it every day for a month to see how long it lasts. Don't renew the transfiguration or bother anyone elses. You may be dismissed, or you can sit quietly and read the first four chapters."
… - …
Moonshine's class was similar. Hers started with sixth years. She started out with a smile and a greeting. "Good morning. My name is Rose Moonshine. I'd like to get to know you a bit. Here's a bit about me. I went to Hogwarts. Professor Slughorn had just retired after my fifth year and Professor Snape did what he could to discourage people from continuing on. Hopefully that was a habit that was quickly given up. He wasn't much older than we were – maybe four years or so."
As she expected, the classmates gave each other a few smiles.
"Let's talk about safety in the classroom. By a show of hands, how many of you use safety glasses or goggles when you brew?"
Silence.
"How many of you use a thermometer to help you brew?"
Silence.
"Ventilator? Splash shields? How many of you have ended up in the hospital wing at least once from brewing?"
Everyone had their hands raised.
"While we're on the subject, what would you guess to be the leading cause of injury in a magical home?"
Katie Bell raised her hand and replied, "Potions accidents."
"That's correct. My point is that having a safe place to brew is just as essential as having the proper ingredients and tools, understanding standard techniques and having a recipe. Stirring with a table spoon is not the same as a glass rod. Simmering at 140 degrees F is not the same as 180."
The class nodded in agreement.
"What careers use or make potions on a regular basis?"
"Auror."
"Very good.. Every Auror carries several generic antidotes as well as a vial or two of blood replenishing potion. What else?"
"Healer."
"What else?"
Silence.
"You'd be pleased to know that every restaurant in the Alley uses cleaning potions."
The class laughed.
She continued, "The first half of your assignment is to list six occupations not mentioned today that are likely to need to make a potion at least once a week. The second half is to list every potion that you've made outside of school."
She concluded, "Next time we'll talk about storing ingredients. Have a good week." By noon, the school was buzzing about the new instructors.
… - …
Minerva stood silent and transfixed, unable to move a full five minutes before she took off her invisibility cloak and shifted to leave Rose Moonshine's classroom. She was shattered by what she had observed in the last hour. Walking quickly, she returned to her office. Sitting at her desk she opened her cabinet and pulled out a fresh bottle of single malt.
She let out a long sigh of frustration as she thought about what she had seen. Pouring a generous helping into her crystal glass; she took a mouthful and savored it as she sat back and pondered what she'd observed first in Clearwater's Transfiguration class and then Moonshine's Potions class. She had never experienced a class like these before. Talking about real life experiences? Asking about practical applications of what is taught? Her experience had been to go to class, learn the magic, remember the magic, test on the magic and nothing else. Even in her experience here at Hogwarts teaching, never had anyone, not even dear Albus, ever thought to discuss practical applications, let alone what to do with magic in the real adult world.
She was aware that there were books, seminars and actual classes on delivering instruction. She'd never personally read them or attended them but she knew of them. Filius mentioned those sort of things from time to time. Albus didn't support the idea of using muggle-developed techniques to teach magic. If the greatest wizard in the world didn't see the need, why should she?
Invariably she used her meager book allowance to purchase another volume and renew her subscription to Transfiguration Quarterly.
… - …
Thursday January 11
Sirius studied the Summary Estimate that Sneerwell had prepared for the Malfoy Estate. He had always heard that the majority of Lucius' money had come from Narcissa via the Blacks and wondered why there had been such a difference in the totals between the two sisters.
2M G Vault
2M Property in Wiltshire
200K Property in Italy
100K Household
200K Jewelry
65% interest in The Daily Prophet (unpriced – business is expected to fail)
He had previously called Anna and the others and they had agreed to meet at the front gate of the property in ten minutes. "Let's go, Mooney."
Anna suggested, "Let's do the house first, then the outbuildings then the grounds. Layla, can you Look for hidden doors, hidden stairways or hidden areas? Please tell Sirius or I when you find some."
Arthur and Perkins had searched the house a year ago and hadn't found any of those. He wisely didn't advertise the fact.
They weren't in the house a minute when she stated, "There be many secrets. There be dead people in the house."
Anna called Connie. In five minutes she and Shackelbolt arrived. Anna briefly explained why they were there.
Seven hours later, they had found the passageway from the study to the second basement/ dungeon/playroom, two dead preteens and enough torture equipment to give everyone who was there nightmares for a month.
Layla had also found two secret passageways off of the study, a secret room and the hidden safe under the floor. She also said there were secrets in the desk and not to touch it.
The secret room contained financial volumes, galleons and large stacks of paper currency that he had won cheating at casino games. (not cursed)
The hidden safe under the floor contained every type of poison, illegal potions, cursed blades, a cursed necklace and a passable replica of the diary that Riddle had given to him for safekeeping.
When the bodies had been removed and the main floor inspected, Anna went and found Layla and they sat down on a sofa together in a quiet place. Anna asked, "Are there more dangers or traps on the first floor?"
Layla nodded
"Can you tell me what they are?"
"Desk in study room will cause house to be on fire if opened wrong."
Anna asked, "Can you See the right way to open the desk?"
Layla thinks so.
"Can we send the desk away and make the house safe?"
"Not yet."
Anna asked, "Can we take the other things out of the house without causing the fire?"
"Layla thinks so."
"Are there dangers upstairs?"
"No."
"Can we take things out of the upstairs without causing the fire?"
"Layla thinks so."
Anna asked, "Are the books in the library safe to remove?"
"Layla thinks one book is bad and should not be touched."
Anna asked, "Can you show me which is the bad book?"
"Yes."
"Layla, can you wait here? I'll be back to talk with you in fifteen minutes."
"Layla waits here."
… - …
Anna gathered the others outside the house and said, "Layla has Looked through the house. She told me that the second floor can be picked over. From what I've seen, the artwork is quite valuable and should be removed. She told me that there are no other bodies in the house. The library is clean and all of the books can be removed by hand except one, which she said not to touch. I suggest that we take her on her word. The items found in the secret room can be removed. The items in the safe under the floor are all cursed.
"Most importantly – Do not touch or bump the desk in the study. It can activate traps which would set the entire house on fire if not disarmed properly. We can not simply remove the desk. That said, I suggest that we clear everything out that is obviously valuable today and work on the trap tomorrow. Are there any questions?"
Remus suggested, "It's four now, should we stop for the day, develop a plan for removing the high value items and take it up again in the morning?"
Sirius asked, "Anna, are you available again tomorrow?"
She replied, "Yes. Let's start again at nine. You should see if you can round up a few more elves for the day. Call Bright Moon unless you had a different idea."
No one had a better idea. She concluded, "OK. I suggest that you take the items that you found in the secret room now and bring them to your vault. Leave the rest. I'll tell Layla. She's exhausted herself today."
… - …
Friday January 12
When they met up again the second day, it was a larger group. Sirius had taken Anna's advice and hired six elves for two days. They decided to move the cursed items outdoors where they could be examined and destroyed.
Remus picked up the artwork, good plates, china and had the silver service moved outside. The Bright Moon elves boxed them up and transported them to the warehouse.
Sirius and Demi gathered the jewelry and she placed it in the cases to bring to New York City. When they finished, she left.
Arthur helped with the kitchen items to be sold then they moved the kitchen table and chairs outside.
The team of elves effortlessly picked up the clothes, checked the pockets and the like in between moving the other items back to the warehouse. They moved to the library next. Following Layla's advice, they hand carried the volumes out of the library where the elves boxed up the books and marked the boxes before taking them to the warehouse.
After the high value items and much of the furniture had been moved, Anna and Sirius met with Layla. Sirius asked, "Can you make the desk safe now?"
"Layla thinks so. Other people are outside house now."
Anna softly said, "Take your time. We aren't in a hurry. Tell us if we should need to leave or move the desk outside. OK?"
"Layla is ready."
Anna glanced at Sirius and nodded to Layla.
She pulled the bottom-left drawer out about the width of a hand and put the key in the center desk lock. She turned the key a quarter turn and pushed the bottom-left drawer back in and turned the key the rest of the way-around. She said, "Desk can now be looked at and moved outside. Not touch key while desk is on property."
Sirius asked the the elves move the desk to the warehouse.
After the more valuable items had been removed, Sirius asked, "Would anyone like anything that's left in the house? We're going to have everything else boxed up and sent to the charities."
Arthur replied, "I would be happy to pack up a few boxes, though I would ask if they could possibly be marked and stored in your warehouse, as I don't have room for it right now?"
"Certainly. Help yourself."
He filled four boxes with everyday dishes, shirts, trousers, belts and some other small items that had been left behind.
Anna asked, "What's next?"
"According to Sally, there are three outbuildings and the grounds themselves to look over." He looked uncomfortable for a moment and asked, "Anna, I was wondering if there was any way that you would consider working with us on either an occasional, regular part-time, or on a full-time basis?"
There, he'd said it.
He added, "We have a hundred of these estates to go through, so there's plenty of work. You clearly know what needs to be done on the front end. I can pay you whatever you need."
She looked him in the eye and reminded, "A good salesperson knows when to stop selling. I'll ask Kingsley if I can take a one-year leave-of-absence. I expect he'll say yes. That will give us enough time to learn how to get good at these property investigations and dispositions. Demi and Remus seem to have a good eye for what's worth selling. I'm sure that Sally will get a good price for the properties themselves. I'll be here tomorrow morning at nine, talk with Shack tomorrow afternoon and we'll go from there. OK?"
Exhaling a breath he didn't recall holding, he said, "Perfect. Thank you."
...-...
When they got home and finished dinner, Sirius asked, "How do you think the day went?"
Remus replied, "First and foremost, the place didn't burn down. I know it wasn't today but this is two-for-two in terms of finding a serious pile of unexpected cash. What did it come to?"
"About 200,000G factoring in conversions."
Remus observed, "Layla was brilliant. The only loose end is the significance of the cursed book. Is it an anti-theft device, the spirit of Uncle Joe, or Merlin's lost diary? We don't know if we can just vanish it, or if the trap needs to be disarmed.
"I expect Demi will be successful selling the jewelry. I think she made a good decision not to make a separate trip for the few pieces that were found in the Lestrange place."
Remus replied, "I've got a lot of work in front of me, getting the artwork and furniture sold. I'm sure the Bright Moon elves did a great job moving everything. How do you see it?"
Sirius replied, "About the same. I'm still waiting for Arthur to find his place."
"Maybe his place is helping whoever needs a hand. I'm sure he'll be able to help with the sales."
"With what? His amazing knowledge of the fellytone? He'll need proper identification and really have to step up his game."
"Look at the bright side," observed Remus.
"What's that?"
"He's affable, willing to help and we didn't get stuck with Percy."
"Point."
Remus looked at his lifelong friend and said, "Thanks, Sirius."
"OK but for what?"
Lupin admitted, "I enjoyed working at Hogwarts but it was a Damocles Sword everyday wondering when Severus or someone would let something slip. This is the most fun I've had since the time you, James and I flew our brooms through Cindy Blossom's dorm window and switched her underwear with Filch's."
Sirius observed, "True – except for finding the two bodies of those kids who'd been left in Malfoy's dungeon, it was a pretty good couple of days."
Remus asked, "Will Sally will be there tomorrow?"
"Yes. She was closing on the Lestrange property today. She should know where the out-buildings are."
"How much property is there?"
"I think about 60 acres."
"Maybe there's a tree or three that Harry could use?"
Black replied, "I called him. He, Hermione, Dobby, and Winky will be there tomorrow. Let's keep our eyes open. There could be some magical animals too. We have no idea what they were doing out there."
"How did you do with Anna?"
"She sounded interested. We'll see. I'm tired."
"OK. I'm going to sit here a bit longer and listen to the surf."
… - ...
Saturday January 13
Dan and Emma asked the teens, "Where to today?"
Harry said, "We're going to visit with Sirius and Remus and help them for a bit."
Dan gave Harry a meaningful look and said, "Remember the rule?"
Harry nodded and they were gone. When they got to the shop, Hermione asked, "What was that about? Is Dad checking up on my virtue again?"
Harry replied, "Rule Number one – No monsters. Sorry, he hasn't asked about your virtue, at least to me. I'll check on it if you want."
"I do, but next year, OK?"
"It's a date."
Sirius and Remus met Harry and Hermione at the Wand Shop and said, "We'll side-along you. Dobby and Winky know how to get there." With two loud Cracks, they were gone.
Hermione decided that side-along was a horrible substitute for quality portkeys. She asked, "So what's left?"
Sirius replied, "There is a cursed book in the library, the the buildings out on the grounds and I thought you might be able to find some wood that would be useful. Sally, this is Hermione Granger."
"I remember you. You made my wand. Thank you again." Hermione smiled.
"This is my Godson, Harry."
Sally replied, "Good morning. I'm helping by selling the properties."
Harry said, "Nice to meet you."
Hermione said, "Good morning, Mr. Weasley."
"Hello Hermione and Harry. Thank you again for the wand. It works perfectly."
Sirius looked around and saw Harry, Hermione, three elves, Sirius, Remus, Anna, Sally and Arthur. "Demi's in New York. Looks like everyone else is here. Out buildings or the book first?"
Harry said, "Let's go look at the book first."
They walked into the library. Winky looked at Dobby, who said, "Bad book. Use big-snake juice."
"Dobby be right back." He returned with a tiny bottle, a medicine dropper and a pair of rubber gloves. He looked at Harry. It felt wrong, kind of like bad master Malfoy's old diary but different. Harry felt it too.
Harry put on the gloves and put three drops onto the book. There was an audible sizzle followed by a spooky sounding moan. Afterwards, the book crumbled into dust. Harry vanished the flakes and dust then said, "That one was pretty easy. What's next?"
Dobby took back the bottle and vanished the gloves and dropper then popped away to return a minute later. They walked outside.
The first building looked like a rusted metal shed. Dobby said, "This is not right; building has charm to look different."
Harry put his left arm on Hermione's shoulder, who put her left arm on Sally and so forth. Harry said "Cast Finite on three. One, two, three, Finite Incantatum."
Goodbye shed. In its place stood a single car garage sized brick building with a door. Harry looked at Dobby and Winky, who nodded.
Winky and Layla Looked in the building. They nodded and Sirius walked in. Inside, there was a chest of galleons, some potion vials, robes, a death eater mask and several smashed wands. There were also two chairs and a small bed.
"Looks like a bolt hole, or someplace to stay if the tattoo club business ran too late," observed Harry.
Layla took the chest and popped over to the Gringotts vault and met them at the second location just as they were reaching it. It was a children's play house – nothing more.
The third building was a two story brick house of very average size, several windows and one door. Harry sensed the ward at the same time Winky and Layla each squeaked, "Snake Man!" The wards felt as strong as if they'd been applied yesterday.
Harry hissed, "Open."
Dobby said, "There is a snake in there, like the one you're wearing. Dobby is thinking it is sleeping."
Harry hissed, "Close."
"Lupin observed, "I suppose it makes sense. He had to live somewhere. What should we do?"
"Winky, what else was inside?"
"Layla?"
"I think Dobby be right."
Hermione uncharacteristically stated, "I think we should blow it up. Getting his personal recipe for banana bread isn't worth fighting another basilisk. It would be better to just blow up the building or burn it down than risk it. If we burn it down, and there's a million galleons on the shelf, the gold will still be there."
Harry looked at Dobby and held up one finger. Dobby shook his head and held up two. Harry nodded and Dobby and Winky popped away.
While they were gone, Harry looked around at the trees. There was a yew tree and three large white oaks nearby. He said, "Those three and that one look good."
Ten minutes later, the elves had come back and there were tree sections neatly set on the ground. The rest had been vanished. Arthur looked on and knew that his entire family was vastly outmatched by those two teens and their elves who worked together like it was an everyday occurrence.
Harry said, "I'm going to open the door. Dobby and Winky will quietly place the drums inside. Sirius and Remus, cast reductos to burst the drums then cast Incendio. I'll seal the door shut and that would be a good time to leave. Be sure you hit the drums and not the back wall with your blasting hex. If this goes pear-shaped everyone should have somewhere to apparate to in mind. It could get sporty real quick."
Remus said, "I doubt that the fire will spread any farther with those trees gone. Sirius?"
"I don't think any of the rest of us care to fight a basilisk and you've already got that merit badge. The ground is pretty wet. I'm not worried about the fire. Arthur?"
"I agree. How can I help?"
"I think we're good. Let's do it."
"Open."
The two barrels were placed inside the door and the two elves reappeared behind Harry.
"Reducto." They both hit their barrel."
Harry heard the snake hiss, "What is happening? Master?"
"Inflambre."
"Close."
For a minute, Harry could hear the big snake writhe around screaming; knocking over furniture. Fortunately, the door remained shut. Then there was only the sound of the fire and a horrible thick column of black smoke emerge from the windows as they broke, then the roof. Twenty minutes later, the fire seemed to be dying down a bit The outer brick walls were still upright and the fire remained largely contained. They would never know if Riddle had written his manifesto to conquer the world or his plan for world peace. In balance, they were all safe.
… - …
When Harry and Hermione returned home, Dan asked, "How was your day?"
They were strangely quiet. Finally Hermione said, "One of the buildings we looked at contained a basilisk snake inside. Harry and Dobby and Winky tossed a fire bomb of sorts inside, sealed the door and that was that."
"Good man, Harry. Let's all go out for pizza."
… - …
Sunday January 14
Harry, the elves and Hermione met up with Sirius and Remus on Sunday morning. On the walk to the burned-up house, the air still smelled of burned, wet-wood. There was nothing recognizable inside except a few burned rib bones and a few coins. Harry transfigured the remains of the building into two sequoia trees. None of the elves Saw anything unusual.
Remus asked, "How is it that you just happened to have two barrels of 180 proof alcohol on hand?"
Hermione replied, "We use it to make shellac for the wands. We go through loads of it."
Remus nodded; her words made sense.
Hermione asked, "What's next for the estate biz?"
Sirius replied, "The property is cleared. Sally will find the best way to put the home and property on the market. Demi Greengrass should either be in New York City city, or flying back after selling the jewelry. Remus and Arthur have a warehouse full of household property, furniture and artwork to sell off."
Hermione asked. "Have you considered using one of the big auction houses? There's the chance that you'd pick up some really valuable piece and sell it for a fraction of its worth to a second hand shop by accident."
Sirius admitted, "There's that."
She added, "There's also the very real eventuality that they looted someone's home along the way and you'll get in hot water trying to unknowingly trying to peddle a famous stolen painting."
He asked, "Are there books or magazines that list stolen works?" Answering his own question he said, "I bet Amelia or Anna would know." He added, "Well, thank you both again. Thank you both as well, Dobby and Winky. I'll call you in a week to check up on you.
"Sounds good."
… - ...
Monday January 15
Minerva ate her breakfast quickly and quietly in the great hall. She got up and silently left through a side entrance and made her way to Rose Moonshine's lab where she taught the practical side of potions. She went into the front right corner and sat down in a small hard backed chair. She first cast a disillusionment charm over her followed by a notice me not charm, and then a silencing spell, and finally one to mask her scent. Then she tossed her invisibility cloak over herself for insurance and settled down for class that she had anticipated for a week. She wanted to hear the result of the challenges Rose had given her class last week.
"Yes Miss Weasley, do you have a question?" asked Rose.
"Last week you asked a lot of questions. Why aren't these questions routinely asked by the other professors?"
"Do you mean Professor Snape?"
"No, I mean in every class, no one ever asked us questions like you did. No one ever voluntarily explained the practical applications in class or safety protocols like you did."
Rose Moonshine looked at her class. "Do you all feel that way?"
Most of the class started talking then. Rose smiled and held up her hands for quiet. "You must understand that the teachers here are mired in tradition. It's how it's always been done. It was the way they were taught; it was the way they have emulated what and how they learned for their long careers. Why should I change, is their attitude."
Rose made air quotes as she said: "They are out of touch with what's happening in the real world or newer teaching styles. They didn't know anything else. Think of it. How long was Headmaster Dumbledore here? 95 years all told? He was 115 when he died and effectively spent his entire life living in an old castle. It's no wonder that he was completely out of touch."
Parvati Patel snorted; "How about Binns? 80 years as a ghost!"
"Do you think any of them realized what you must do to get a job today? Or what kind of job you could do? Did they think to inspire you in any way?"
Minerva couldn't wait for the class to end so she could go to Penny Clearwater's class. Was she that out of touch with today's children and their needs? I've been teaching the same way for decades. Why haven't we kept up?
… - ...
Back at the ministry, Michelle Wood said, "Minister, you have a call – Sirius Black."
"Thank you Michelle. Good morning, Mr. Black."
"Good morning, Minister."
"How's the estate business?"
"Fine. I have several items of interest to report. Other than a cursed book that moaned when Harry poured basilisk venom on it, there were no other surprises in the Malfoy house itself."
If destroying a cursed book or horcrux was the opening act, Amelia feared the finale. She could sense his build-up. For all of his shortcomings, Sirius was a masterful storyteller – even when he was telling the truth.
"We were searching the grounds and outer buildings on the property and ran across Voldemort's house."
Silence.
"The elves told us that there was a twenty foot basilisk in the house."
Silence. She literally didn't know what to say, or if he was going to drop an even bigger announcement.
"Harry, Winky and Dobby put together an improvised fire-bomb, tossed it in and sealed the door. The whole house burned for about four hours. We went back the next day and found a bit of overcooked snake. Everything else was ashes." He was worried that the news of an intentionally set house fire would be upsetting to her.
Her immediate reply was, "Was anyone hurt?" She was thinking, What is it with Britain and basilisks? The nature of the house fire never entered her mind.
"No. No one was hurt. As you would say, everyone went home at the end of their shift."
Letting out a breath that she'd held, she replied, "Excellent. That's excellent."
He added, "My question is regarding artwork. Are there any means of identifying something that is stolen before I send people out to sell it?"
Back on solid footing again, she happily replied, "Yes. There's a monthly magazine you should subscribe to. I'll have Michelle call you back with the details but it has photographs and contact information for each item. In the future, if you find something, we'll do an adjustment against what the beneficiaries would be paid. We should put in a 60 day hold-back to them as it might take you a while. Given the origins of the estates, I wouldn't be surprised if you found a few. Good thinking."
He said, "Thanks. That should work fine. Doubtless some of their gold is stolen but there is little or no way of identifying that. Artwork is one-of-a-kind."
She said, "That's really excellent news regarding the Riddle house. He had to live somewhere, I'd have loved to have gone through his home but not at the loss of anyone. How far away were the elves then they could identify that it was his house?"
"About 200 feet. Harry felt it at the same distance."
"Brilliant. Those are remarkable skills to have. What's next?"
He said, "Sally will list the property and Remus and Arthur will begin selling the furniture. We'll get one of those magazines and go through it then Hermione suggested that we look at the auction houses for the artwork. If we are able to sell everything, we'll look at the Parkinson estate. If not, we'll hold off and look at one of the others first."
"Very good. Thank you."
… - …
The conversation was strained at the Three Broomsticks. Molly asked, "So what happened yesterday that you didn't want to talk about?"
Arthur replied, "In the span of an hour, Harry Potter destroyed a horcrux, disabled a trap, found a chest of gold, found you-know-who's house, found another basilisk and destroyed them both. I stood by and did nothing but watch."
"Are you certain?"
"He was standing there talking to his girlfriend, making jokes with his elves the entire time. They probably went out for dinner after. I was a hundred feet away and I had a nightmare."
Molly asked, "When Ginny was taken down to the Chamber of Secrets in her first year, would you have rather that it had been Ronnie who had to fight those two monsters?"
He admitted, "No, not really."
"Those are my thoughts exactly. He's an incredible young man and our family has benefited from knowing him but it's safer to stay five-hundred feet away from him."
… - …
Back at Hogwarts;
"This is unusual for us to meet outside the normal staff routine Minerva, what's on your mind?" asked Pomona as she picked up a cup of tea and chocolate biscuit from the sideboard.
"I've been observing the new teachers and I'm amazed at some to the topics they discuss in their class."
"You seem out of sorts about it Minerva," observed Poppy. "Are you OK?"
She admitted, "I'm not certain."
"What could they be teaching that you find so bothersome?" asked Flitwick.
"Do any of you talk about the practical applications of magic and how to use it once the students leave Hogwarts? She looked at the teachers, each in turn.
Pomona just shrugged her shoulders, no.
Flitwick smiled and shook his head. "I try to but admit that I don't do it with every lesson. The reading that I've done on instructional theory has shown that students learn faster and retain more if they see the practical application of a subject."
Minerva observed, "Our new Potions and Transfiguration teachers do just that. They talk about jobs and careers that use their subjects and how what they learned that day can be used in their everyday life, or how to apply it to a career."
"Do you think it's our responsibility to point out the uses for this information, or to simply teach the application, Minerva?" asked Sprout.
"I don't know; that's why I asked you here."
Poppy asked, "How are the students responding to the method?"
McGonagall admitted, "They're very excited. They're asking some tough questions about why they never had this aspect in class before. It's making them think about the use of magic and the possibility to leverage it for a career. I overheard Ms. Brown and Ms. Patil excitably talking about potions and the creation of beauty supplies and make up. I heard the Creevey brothers talking about uses in photography. Have we done our students a disservice by not talking about this in our classes?"
"Perhaps you should all incorporate this into your teaching and not wait for career counseling in fifth year," suggested Poppy.
"I think you have a good point there, Madam Pomfrey. I cannot think but we have waited too long to have such a discussion with Wandmaker Hermione Granger for instance," said Flitwick.
"I always thought Ms. Granger would be taking over as a transfiguration professor from me in the future," mused Minerva.
Poppy started laughing. "No Minerva, Hermione has no interest in teaching your subject. She wants to be healer. She wants to help people, not turn matchsticks into needles."
"I guess I'm behind the times Poppy. What about Potter? He wants to be an Auror, doesn't he?"
It was Flitwick's turn to laugh.
"No Minerva. The only person who wanted him to catch dark wizards was Dumbledore. Harry's made serious gold as a wand crafter now and has talked about being a treasure hunter as a hobby. If he chose to, he certainly has the power and finesse to excel at enchanting."
"I think we're getting off track here. Should we start teaching the practical application of magic as to living life and embracing employment opportunities once the students leave Hogwarts or should we remain as we are?" asked Minerva.
"I think we should always point out uses for the topic of the day," voiced Flitwick. "If the non wanded classes remain, as I'm all but certain that they will, what we currently consider to be the core subjects will probably become electives after the second or third year. If we want students to stick with our topics, we need to get in the habit of demonstrating the value and application of the information."
Minerva thought long and hard after her fellow teachers left. Am I so utterly out of touch with my students? Perhaps I'm not the best of transfiguration teachers. Should I go back to teaching, or has the world passed me by? Is it time to step away?
A/Ns
What a profound difference in teaching styles. Tom wrote most of the teacher discussion.
As I was writing the Riddle house section, I kept wondering what magazines would he subscribe to?
Should Harry and company have attempted to kill and harvest the snake?
Thank you for reading.
I'd love to see a few writers take up my story challenge as found in my profile.
… - …
