Chapter Twenty-six

Settling In

Friday June 28, 1996

Harry was glad to have spent the month with Daryl. It felt more like a parting of peers, of friends than anything else. He was about to find a restroom to apparate from when he saw the three Grangers smiling and waving. Harry saw Hermione running towards him as she launched into one of her delicious hugs. After they finally let each other go, Dan asked, "How did it go?"

"We made some exotic wands. I may have made the most powerful wand in the world. I made a really cool staff, summoned a sunken chest of pirate treasure, had some great meals with Daryl – that sort of stuff."

Dan asked, "Any monsters?"

Harry thought for a moment as Dan grew worried, then replied with a smile, "Not a one."

"Good man," replied Dan, as they reached the Land Rover.

As they were driving home, Harry said, "I brought some of these back as souvenirs." He pulled out a handful of the Spanish Doubloons.

Emma looked at one and asked, "Wherever did you find these?"

Harry replied, "I summoned them out of the ocean when we were out on this big rock, testing out my new staff."

She asked, "You mean like Gandalf?"

"I suppose."

She just shook her head in wonder.

Harry asked, "How are things here?"

Hermione said, "We fitted our 30,000th wand a week after you left. The last twenty-five were incoming first years. I suspect Gringotts may have misplaced the last five-hundred Purchase Permit cards. I know some people didn't get theirs but there probably were extenuating circumstances."

… - …

Peter "Sparky" Finch had a business that was sort of the opposite of John Macmillan's. Whereas John did renovations, Peter did tear down work. Specifically, his employees did the tear down work. Peter made his money salvaging sorted material via the summoning charm and vanishing the remains. Having that skill would allow him to be the low bidder on jobs and make his real money on the side.

Since the Great Wandout, he'd lost access to that extra income and he'd lost money on every job since. Fortunately the long time business owner had the financial resources to weather a bad year. He received his new wand when Harry was in the US, right after Augusta Longbottom. He hadn't been on any Don't sell to these people list, just at the end of the line.

At ten pm, he arrived at the job site and began his task. "Accio copper wire." Thousands of feet of electrical wire flew into a pile. Using another charm, he melted off the insulator material and he vanished it. For an hour, he called different materials – copper pipe, aluminum, steel, lead and the like and sorted them into different piles.

When he took those materials to the recycling center, he received a much better price due to their having been sorted. His business was back in the black again.

… - ...

At Hogwarts, the leaving feast was vastly different than the opening feast last September.

Minerva McGonagall looked at Barchoke from Gringotts and nodded to him. He nodded back and she stood up, walked to a podium set up at the corner of the raised dais, cast an amplification charm on and tapped her crystal goblet with a butter knife. Three loud clear rings like a brass bell peeled out crisply thru the Great Hall of Hogwarts. She waited until the murmur of voices abated and silence filled the hall.

"Attention students. I trust you enjoyed the main course. Before pudding is served, I have a few words and an announcement. Another year, a momentous year of incredible change that started a year ago with the final event of the Tri-Wizard Tournament has ended. We saw tragedy as teachers and Headmaster Dumbledore passed on. We all experienced life without a wand, some for longer than others. We saw and experienced great hardship, again some more than others. Many could not cope. Our society has endured gut wrenching change. Students we expected to return this past September did not."

Minerva sipped water from her goblet.

"Last September, the Goblin Nation stepped up and funded this past school year. We are indebted to them for their sacrifice and generosity to us in a time of great need. They have given us the opportunity to start a new journey. We have begun the journey to bring the magical world into the 21st century and to give you all the tools to blend into the non-magical society that is far larger than Magical Society. Hogwarts has seen a new curriculum, new teachers, non-magical's here, a new Board of Governors and this is only the start of great changes to still to come.

"I know there has been talk about my status for months. I have taught and been an administrator at this school for many years. I recognize that I'm ill equipped to guide this school and usher in the vast changes needed for all of you to succeed. With the end of this year, I am stepping down as Headmistress and hope be returning to the classroom to only teach."

There was silence in the hall and then an explosion of sound as everyone started talking at once.

"SILENCE!" Minerva stared at the occupants and they looked sheepishly at each other and were silent.

"I'd like to introduce you to Hogwarts newest headmistress, Anne Chambers. She's a Brit, returning home after many years at Salem across the pond. She has masteries in Charms, Enchanting and Transfiguration. She is the former director of student life, housing, and transportation at the Salem Academy in the United States."

Ms. Chambers walked up to the podium to total silence in the hall. She shook Minerva's hand. "Thank you, Minerva for the introduction."

At that point scattered applause started and first one then another person stood and clapped. Soon the hall shook with the standing ovation for Minerva. Allowing it to go on for a minute, Minerva raised her hands for quiet.

"Thank you all. Now Ms. Chambers has a few words for you."

"Thank you again, Minerva. I'm looking forward to the challenges we all face. The coming year will bring many changes to Hogwarts. Some traditional things like the Express and House system will be retired. The entire curriculum will be revised beyond what you experienced this year, core classes and electives will be expanded. Physical education and a variety of intramural sports will be kept."

A great groan came from the student body and the chatter started.

Ms. Chambers held up her hands and silence fell upon the hall. "Thank you. As I was saying, the changes will be extensive; new dorms for each age group who will be boarding will be in place. Some of you may choose to be day students who travel back and forth each day to and from your homes. There will likely be some new faces as the school will be open for part-time students. In the evenings, there will be some adult education courses. By the second semester, I expect that there will be offerings for several masteries.

"More information, including how to purchase text books will be sent to your homes in the coming weeks to enable you to plan for next year's opening in September."

"I also have a simple assignment for all of you who will return next September for the summer holidays."

She waived her wand and a paper envelope appeared in front of every returning student in the hall.

"In that envelope is the only assignment you have for the summer. In it, you'll find 300 pounds. Yes, you heard me correctly. The school has given every one of you 300 pounds. Your single assignment for the summer is to learn how to blend in with the rest of the world. I want you to go out into the non-magical world, go shopping, and use the entire amount to buy some teenage clothing, so you can look like you belong without attracting undue attention. Additionally, I'm also offering some prizes next September, when you return, to any one of you who can obtain a summer job in the non-magical world. You will need to provide me with six weeks of pay stubs and a brief letter telling what you did and learned. There will be plenty of time next September for us to get acquainted. You will find I'm a very hands-on and accessible Head. So, I don't want to hold up pudding any longer. Dig in!"

… - …

Saturday June 29

Every magical in Britain was reading the Quibbler headlines.

Hogwarts has new Headmistress

New Headmistress Anne Chambers

By Cheryl Whitehart

Blockbuster news came out of Hogwarts at the end of year leaving feast as Headmistress Minerva McGonagall announced she was stepping down and may return to teaching, Then she introduced the new head, a British ex-pat with several masteries, who has spent almost twenty years in the United States and was most recently a Director at Salem Witches Academy. After a brief introduction, she shocked the school by giving all the returning students 300 muggle pounds with an assignment to go shopping so they can blend in! See page 2 for complete details.

Finally there was a headline that every witch or wizard could agree on. It was time for the Dumbledore/McGonagall regime to end. There were some raised eyes at the summer assignment but as they hadn't directly been asked to pay for it, there was very little real grumbling. Almost every student had raved about the improvements to the potions and transfiguration courses this year. They seemed willing to give Chambers a chance. That said, more than a few hoped that McGonagall would choose to leave entirely.

… - ...

Harry and Dan spent a fair number of evenings studying maps looking for sites for the elves. Dan suggested, "Maybe one of the old airfields from the war might be available. The airfields where the RAF or the Yanks kept their planes during the war were pretty much all shut down or returned to their original owners."

"Where were they?" asked Harry.

"All over, there there were a bunch that were concentrated in England, near the French coast," replied Dan. "Depending on the equipment and how large the air wing was, they might be pretty small or quite large. Amelia might have a contact with someone in the PM's office who might be able to help. Asking the obvious question first, do you have enough money?" He knew far less of Harry's finances than Emma.

"I could probably write a bank draft for eighty million pounds. I could go treasure hunting for a few weeks if I needed more. I could do sixty million without disrupting anything."

"OK. We'll table that for a minute. Say four thousand acres plops down in your lap. What would you do?"

"Invite the elves to plant trees and live there. My belief is that they could take a grassy field and get the trees to grow twenty times faster than usual. In other words, in five or ten years, it would be old forest. At that point. I could get most magical animals to migrate there."

"OK. Let's stop there for a bit. Maybe what you need isn't necessarily six thousand acres that you own, as much as some sort of unbuildable buffer zone – a marsh, cliffs, a loch or a river. If you look at the area around Hogwarts, there must be some reason that civilization hasn't encroached on the area in a thousand years."

Harry replied, "There must be a loch nearby. I should take a broom ride around and try and map it out a bit."

Dan replied, "Or ask Minister Bones and explain what you're looking to do and the like. They must have a detailed map of the school. Let's talk about collecting strand for a minute. How much did you collect in October?"

"Sixty thousand feet."

"Was that all that was available?"

"No. We ran out of the plastic fish-line spools. We probably left half of it uncollected."

Dan asked, "Could you have gotten more beyond that?"

Harry replied, "I could have bought another hundred sheep and taken everything that they'd made and asked if they could do the same thing a handful of times. I still can."

"Does strand have a shelf life?"

"I'm not certain that anyone knows; let's say five years. Where are you going with this?"

"It would be a world easier to buy 320 or 1,000 acres than 8,000. If your friends can make old forest in a decade, your business needs for wood are met with ten acres. If you're trying to raise invisible horses and unicorns, you just need a heavy-duty buffer to keep people off the property. If you're trying to help the elves find a permanent home, you should get their input. Let's look at Scotland the next time we do maps. I'll see if I can find a map or book with old airfields."

Dan thought for a minute and suggested, "Let's look at your property in Gloucester this weekend and see what's there. You could ask about starting a forest on part of it. The next time you talk with your friend Hagrid, ask about collecting another batch of strand."

Harry replied, "Sounds good. Thanks."

… - …

Later that evening Emma asked, "What did Harry have to say?"

Dan replied, "He's the oldest teenager I've ever encountered but deep down, he's still almost sixteen. We talked about buying an old airbase, treasure hunting, raising magical animals, monsters, writing checks, finding a home for the elves, treasure hunting, flying on a broom and the prime minister. What did you and Hermione talk about?

"The usual – bodice rippers. That and she's still interested in exploring becoming a healer."

… - …

Anne showed her course options plan to Augusta and Amelia

Basic track - nonmagical – english composition 1, maths 1, science 1, history 1 (1/year)

Advanced track (electives) english 2,3,4 math 2,3,4 science 2,3,4 history 2,3,4

Basic track - magical - charms, transfiguration, potions, herbology, defense (2 years)

Electives - defense 3-7, charms, 3-7, transfiguration 3-7, potions 3-7, herbology 3-7

Other electives - astronomy 1-5, runes 1-5, arithmancy 1-5, creatures 1-5, healing 1-2, enchanting 1-2, business basics 1 and estate management 1. These classes included adult students.

There were six 70 minute periods a day starting at 8 am with five minutes between classes. The classrooms were all on the formerly forbidden third floor which had twelve classrooms and restrooms; all within easy walking distance.

There was PE on Saturday (everyone had to sign up for at least something) football, cricket, broomstick basics, junior quidditch, varsity quidditch, apparition & drivers education were offered. All of the Saturday offerings were on a semester basis. Most were in the mornings, some were in the afternoons.

She explained, "The course offering list is designed for incoming first year students. The Nonmagical basic track is an introduction to nonmagical subjects. It is designed for years 1-4.

"The magical basic track is a two year introduction to the core magical subjects. As such, there are no electives for first or second years as all six class periods are predetermined." Essentially they'd substituted a nonmagical class in place of years of Binns and astronomy.

"Beginning with their third year, students, with the approval of their parents, can choose the topics that they want to take. They can shift to a primarily nonmagical path; what I refer to as the 75 percent nonmagical / 25 percent magical track. Boarding students in grades 3-5 would normally take six classes. With approval from their parents, they could take five if they chose and were enrolled as a full-time student. By the ministry rules, they need at least one OWL in a wanded subject to be able to keep their wand after age 16. They can also keep it if they are enrolled in a wanded subject class, or have a privater tutor. Those rules apply, irrespective of age.

"Should a student want to go a 50/50 track, they would sign up for a blend of magical and nonmagical electives. The advanced classes have prerequisites; you would need to have passed charms 2 to enroll in charms 3 and so on. Students on the 50/50 track should reasonably acquire several OWLS and a few NEWTS by the time that they finish.

"Some of the classes, such as healing, enchanting, business basics and estate management are more appropriate for the older students - students who have already earned one or more OWLs. That certainly could also be a fifth year student if they tested and passed early.

"Many students will elect to take the 75-25 track. After passing the four basic nonmagical courses they would enroll in the magical electives. Depending on which classes offered OWL certifications and when they took the exams, students could easily finish with the same number or more OWLS them they would have last year. NEWTS in six or more subjects would be possible, depending on if the exams in history, care, arithmancy, runes, healing and enchanting were rated as OWL or NEWT. Ideally the reformed board and the examining authority will publish those decisions before spring semester."

Anne asked, "What questions do you have?"

Augusta commented, "This plan works well for the existing younger students. It certainly will help the students meet others outside of their year. What about the current fifth years and above?"

Anne replied, "The authoritarian perspective would be to insist on their taking at least one of the nonmagical basis classes a year. My personal opinion is that requiring that would be needlessly confrontational. The easier route would be to call a passing grade in the one semester classes offered this year as having passed the basic track classes. Should someone enroll in science 2 by example, the normal two week review can simply highlight the missing material."

Amelia agreed, "A transition of sorts is the best idea. What else?"

Anne asked. "What would you think of offering an eighth year as an opportunity for a student to take more electives? The intent would be to better prepare them for Mastery classes?"

Amelia and Augusta looked at each other and nodded. Amelia replied, "We like the idea much better in a non-boarding environment. They're simply too old, or in some cases, may be married by then. We have the same viewpoint with respect to any eventual masters program offerings."

Anne replied, "Given the castle facility and the ready availability of rooms at Hogsmeade, I agree. The reality is that students will not have learned everything that is useful to know by the time they've been through seventh year. On a different subject, were the end-of-year teacher class ratings by the students tallied yet?"

Augusta replied, "Yes. Potions, transfiguration and charms tied for first. Here's a copy."

Amelia admitted that this was as good a time as any for the inevitable discussion to take place.

Anne remarked, "Even though they were originally hired on a semester basis, I intend to offer contracts to Professor Clearwater and Professor Moonshine."

Amelia asked, "What of Minerva?"

"I see four options that she could consider. She could take over the masters program and teach masters transfiguration. Or Moonshine could refuse the offer, McGonagall teaches transfiguration this term and I make the offer again in the spring. Or she could teach the masters level transfiguration class on a part-time basis. The other option is she could retire.

"Look at the ratings that you gave me when I interviewed from the previous year. Her class scored lower than the one taught by a supposedly dead death eater."

"How?"

Anticipating the question, Anne replied, "Emma Granger told me. She was told by Winky who works at the Wand Shop. She used to work for the Crouches. That's not the point."

Resigned to the inevitable, Amelia said, "Run with your options."

… - …

Spending her last evening at the hotel. Anne studied the student ratings of the various instructors again. She remained disappointed that McGonagall had only offered them one semester contracts. It was as if she'd set herself up to fail. She was tempted to fire everyone and let them re-apply for their position but she had enough people to hire as it was and just sixty-two days to have them in place.

One problem that she wasn't facing was a short-term cash shortage. Bones had come through with a total of almost three million in the Hogwarts portion of the school endowment funds, including a surprising amount designated for adult education and enough to launch a masters program. There were also several million designated for a primary school that would certainly benefit Hogwarts in the future.

She decided to issue three-year contracts to Keen, Leuty, Anderson and St. Ives – the four Gringotts hires. Rose Moonshine had accepted her offer but had asked for a single-year contract as her family business situation was fluid. Sylvia Clearwater was fine with a three-year deal but wanted Tuesday evenings and Saturdays off so she could attend to the business that she had an interest in. Anne was happy to accommodate both of them as there would be the opportunity for field-trips to both locations.

Flitwick and Babbling, who'd had a very busy summer, renewing runes and wards for people were easy choices. Alice Sinistra asked about newer telescopes. After showing her what was in current use, that was a quick yes. Becky Vector stated that her job would become much easier now that she didn't have to teach single digit multiplication to students that had never taken any maths courses.

Hagrid would have been easy to let go until Flitwick mentioned that there were literally thousands of class XXXXX creatures inhabiting the forest and Hagrid had done an exceptional job working with the centaurs, keeping them where they belong. Instead, she committed to evaluating what he knew and tutoring him on teaching skills.

Sybil Trewlany was the first casualty. Anne offered her a 2,500G severance package and stated that she was welcome to do tutoring if students were interested.

Master Healer Poppy Pomfrey clarified that she was actually employed by St. Mungo's and permanently stationed at the castle. Anne offered her a very fair stipend for teaching the healing course, which she happily accepted.

That left Pomona Sprout and Minerva McGonagall along with ten full or part-time open positions.

… - ...

Sunday June 30

Anne invited Sprout to the Three Broomsticks that morning. In the ten minutes that she was waiting until their appointment, Anne thought about Pomona's negative reaction when she'd suggested expanding what was being grown. Since everyone else spoke very highly of her, she decided to explore Sprout's reasoning.

After the usual pleasantries, Anne asked why she'd been opposed to increasing the production of saleable plants.

"First and foremost, the Hogwarts charter has a non-compete clause with any plant grown by a domestic producer and states that we will provide a cutting, seed or bulb of any plant to an established grower on demand. In other words, if we decided that growing mandrakes would be a profitable venture, Longbottom or Abercrombe could ask for enough cuttings, seeds or bulbs to grow their own and by charter we would help them. Once they started growing them we can't sell them. It would be a nightmare to administer. We can grow as much as we would internally consume."

Anne asked, "How big are the grounds?"

"Six by six miles, though the lake and forest take up a fourth of the area. Hogsmeade is separate and borders us on the west, the cliffs on the south. The meadows to the east are a part of the grounds. Much of it is an inch or two of topsoil on top of rock, not suitable for farming."

"What about the forest?"

"It's best left alone. Again, there are clauses in the charter and a separate deed Most of the inhabitants of the forest and lake preceded the school." She didn't offer details about the forest; that was Hagrid's tale to tell. Anne didn't seem interested in the forest.

"What do the potioneers purchase that can and can't be grown here?"

"First, there's everything related to animal parts – eel eyes, rat spleens and the like. Our own plants are limited by sunlight limitations or those requiring excessive heat over a long growing season. In short, we don't grow plants normally found in South America or the Mediterranean.

"What about hydroponics or grow lights?"

"Longbotton added them to his operation He's experimenting with them."

"A former student of yours?"

Sprout replied, "Yes. He's the most promising student I've ever worked with. His betrothed works with the elves. She left last Christmas and he followed her and vastly expanded the family business. I wish him all the success on the world. He's a good lad."

"I see. How did you view Professor McGonagall as head of the school?"

"With the wand situation, she was set up to fail. She never wanted it, not really. It was dumped in her lap and she came to accept it."

"How did she do as an instructor?"

"That's hard to say. Dumbledore dumped all of his administrative responsibilities on her. That completely ate into her student office hours and time that should have been devoted for head of house duties. In hindsight, Dumbledore's three full-time positions did a lot of damage to the school."

"Do you think she was an effective instructor?"

"Heavens no, but she had two and a half jobs and no one to complain to. Dumbledore had an adversarial relationship with the board. Aside from Augusta and Amelia, it was loaded with Death Eaters – actual killers! Former minister Fudge was completely intimidated by Dumbledore and was far too busy holding his pocket open for anyone who would drop a sack of coins into it in exchange for a favor."

"Do you think she would be effective in developing a masters program here? Developing it, finding the students and finding the instructors – hopefully at the same time?"

Sprout was intrigued by the idea and said, "Keep going."

"It wouldn't do to hire six master-level instructors if there were no paying students. Conversely, it wouldn't do to to find thirty students if there were no instructors available. You pretty much have to survey for interest, make a decision on a class or two to start off with and grow it from there."

Having heard her, Sprout replied, "I think she'd do an outstanding job and on a start-up basis would volunteer to be one of the instructors. What sort of background did you look for with the masters instructors at Salem?"

"We looked for people who've had their masters for at least five years and had some actual career experience utilizing it."

Sprout replied, "Rose, Sylvia and Poppy certainly fit that description."

Anne replied, "Good to know. Now lets get the terms of your contract settled, shall we?"

… - …

Seeing as McGonagall knew that she'd done an abysmal job as head and had seen Sylvia Clearwater teach Transfiguration to several completely inspired sets of students, she was expecting to get kicked to the curb. As such, she jumped at the chance to head up the masters project.

Anne offered her a two-year contract at the same money that she'd been making as head. Honestly, she hoped that Minerva would run with the program and finally be able to make her lasting mark on the school.

… - ...

Monday July 1

Anne brought in the entire staff for an introductory meeting. She explained the course list and the idea of allowing the students/parents to choose among several different proportions on nonmagical/magical learning paths. Depending on the student/parents selection, she illustrated a 75/25 scenario where the finishing student would be fully qualified to go to university through having taken the usual qualifying exams and also have passed a few OWLS. She illustrated physician, accountant or solicitor as possible careers that could be pursued with additional education from a student starting from this path.

Next, she illustrated a 50/50 where the student essentially will have finished high school with a-levels as well as a handful of OWLS and a NEWT or two, She referenced, opening a business that would apply magical skills to replace nonmagical labor such as the contractor who oversaw the rebuilding of Susan Bones' family home, an automobile body shop, or an enchanter as reasonable career paths that a 50/50 blend could logically lead to.

Finally she illustrated the 25/75 path where the finishing students would have earned a handful of NEWTS, be reasonably competent on the nonmagical side and not make a fool of themselves out in public. She referenced students going on to attaining masteries or training to become healers, potioneers or herbologists wanting to take this career path.

After a short break she continued, "On a micro level, the introductory class sessions in every course should be focused on the topic of any safety concerns – a discussion, not a lecture, focusing on what they would be able do do using the skills at that level. It is not acceptable to state that after nine years of studying this subject that you would be qualified to teach it and leave it at that. I'd rather hear that after two years, they'll be able to competently make simple home remedies, or safely grow this class of magical herbs, perform most basic household charms or make temporary changes that would be useful in these situations.

"At the end of year one and year two, after that have a bit of grounding in the topic. I'd expect that you'd have the same discussion of the topic with an illustration of attainable skills should they elect to pursue the topic to the OWL level. At the end of fourth year, I'd expect the same discussion of what they could expect to be able to do with the information if they attain their NEWT.

"Make no mistake about it – this is commercial education. The students and their parents are paying good money with the very reasonable expectation of skill transfer and a logical career path for their time, money and effort.

"My expectation of instructors are that they have demonstrated competencies in their topic, primarily at the mastery level, or through significant hands-on or career experience. Additionally, I expect that they have demonstrated competencies in the art of skill transfer – they they have taken coursework in teaching.

"Third, that they have demonstrated an aptitude at teaching, From the reviews that I've read, your former colleague Severus Snape had the first, was never taught the basics of delivering instruction and had little interest and absolutely no aptitude for teaching. He should have come in on a normal probationary basis, been on a performance improvement plan by the middle of first semester and been sacked by the end of the first year.

"In our situation here, I will happily offer workshops on delivering instruction on Sunday afternoons and hope to see you there, I want each of you to be the best instructors that you can be. What questions can I answer?"

Flitwick had been expecting this from Ms. Chambers and knew that she was right. To his knowledge, he was the only one of the legacy Hogwarts instructors to have taken coursework in the topics of education and skill transfer. Further, from everything that he'd heard, nowhere in her interview process had the phrase, hold the current course been used. The board wanted changes and he personally welcomed it.

… - ...

While Ann Chambers was explaining her expectations to her inherited staff, Regulus Moonshine walked up to the counter, where the teller asked, "What business do you have?"

Regulus replied, "I have an appointment with Barchoke."

"Gumeye will take you there. Please follow him."

They reached his office where Gumeye knocked and announced, "Regulus Moonshine is here for his appointment." Moonshine was invited in.

He sat down and asked, "How can I help you, Barchoke?"

Barchoke replied, "You are in the distilling business, is that correct?"

Moonshine replied, "Yes. I'm hoping to expand my operation."

Barchoke asked, "Could your current formula be modified to produce, bottle and sell firewhiskey?

Moonshine replied. "Easily but that's a licensed product."

Barchoke slid the license document across his desk for Moonshine to look at and asked, "Is this what you're referring to?" After a moment, Barchoke stated, "It was freely given to us. To my question?"

Moonshine replied, "Yes, yes. I could make a batch and have it ready to sell in 90 days."

Barchoke said, "I'll ask you a question that I once heard of Sirius Black asking. How much money do you have in your pocket?"

He checked and replied, "One hundred and twenty galleons."

Barchoke replied, "I'll sell you the license for one hundred galleons if I have your word that you'll immediately use it and agree to not resell the license for at least ten years."

A smirk appeared on Moonshine's face. He handed over the gold and replied, "Agreed. So where did you get this?"

Barchoke explained that it had been in vault surrendered by Ogden after McLaggen had been convicted of trying to kill Redeye and Harry Potter. He wrote out a bill of sale, Moonshine signed it and was given a copy. They both felt like they'd gotten the better deal.

… - …

A/N s

So her suggestions were to go out and get some good press, highlight success stories and avoid controversy. What could possibly go wrong?

Thank you for reading.

Mutt N. Feathers' Restrain story is well worth a look. It's a Marauder era tale that's an easy read. There are some follow-on tales as well. Story ID 13895438