Chapter Twenty-seven

New Elf Land

Saturday July 6, 1996

Nobby and Dobby asked if they could talk with Harry.

"Sure. What's up?"

"Elves would like to be having home for elves."

Harry replied, "Dan and I have been looking for tracts of land in Scotland. We think we could make an animal reserve and some forest at Loch Lochy by Fort William."

Dobby said, "That would be safe place to be raising giant hairy ugly beasties but elves wants to be living by Harry and Hermione Potter. Dobby heard of perfect place that Hermione would be liking. All elves can easily be living in area same size as old bad master had. Dobby and Nobby can be setting up wards to keep extra people away. Harry Potter needs to be doing this soon."

"OK. What's the rush?"

"Many elves be having baby elves soon."

"How soon is soon?"

"Six weeks. Harry Potter needs to be calling Sally Daily today."

"OK. Can Hermione, Dan and Emma see it before we buy it?"

"If you be needing to. Layla says it is perfect."

… - ...

An hour later, Emma, Dan and Hermione accompanied Harry and Sally to the property. She explained, "There are two pieces of property here. There is the 120 acre Parkinson estate and the ten beach houses, which are offered as one lot. There is a road of sorts that runs through the 120 acres and connects to the beach houses. That's the only access, so they could be quite private."

"How is it that they came to be for sale?" asked Dan.

"The beach house owner had vowed that they never would be for sale as long as Conrad Parkinson or his ilk were living. He must have just found out and that's that."

Emma asked, "How much are the two properties?"

"The 120 acres with the manor house is 52 million pounds. The ten beach properties sitting on about an acre each are 18."

The view was stunning. There were two decent size towns nearby. The 120 acres would be a developer's dream. In the same breath, the elves clearly saw it as their paradise.

"With a bit of work from Ted and Demi, you could get the larger property rezoned as agriculture. Dan, you could relocate your practice if you chose to, or enjoy a six second commute."

The manor was nice, though effectively useless, as neither Harry, nor the Grangers had any interest in living there.

Harry asked Hermione, "What do you think?"

"It's beautiful. How many wands would we have to sell to afford it?"

Harry admitted, "All of them."

Dan asked, "What would you do with the other beach houses?"

Silence.

Selling them would mean keeping or expanding the road, which would defeat the reason for being there in the first place. Renting for the summer to other friendly magicals was an option. This would be a very different experience than Loch Lochy by Fort Williams, or the property that he looked at near Aberdeen.

Harry replied, "Rent them for the summer, I expect." His mind focused elsewhere, Harry asked, "Dobby, could the manor be moved?"

"It might be possible, Harry Potter sir. It would be requiring all of the elves to be moving it."

"Just an idea."

Harry circled back to Dan and asked, "Did you have any ideas?"

"About the same. You'd have to be pretty selective about who you rented them to."

"We could always take a few of them down."

Harry asked, "Sally, if we're interested, what are the next steps?" Emma looked shocked but didn't say anything.

"Sirius has been holding off buying the estate. If you're interested, I'd suggest going with Demi and meeting with the current owner of the beach properties. I'd suggest coming to terms with them first and if you do, Sirius will act on the estate."

… - …

"Please, Harry Potter, sir."

Harry admitted, "Dobby, I'm not certain that I have the money. I need to go talk with Barchoke."

"We be going now, Harry Potter, sir."

Two hours later, they had figured how to do it and the arrangements were taken care of. Harry had taken a one-year loan on the Gloucester property. Amelia (via Sirius who was happy to help) sold the property and the other owner accepted the offer.

They went back to the Wand Shop and Winky said, "Elves will be paying Harry Potter back someday. Winky promises."

… - …

For sake of comparison, one hundred-twenty acres is about the size of a typical tournament golf course. The land in this case faced a fairly low cliff at the sea and a lower cliff on the other; kind of like a really large corner lot. The beach houses were on the lower end.

… - …

Meanwhile. The elves were making plans of their own. Some three hundred were currently crowded into the Wand Shop work room.

Speaking in the elegant elvish language, Dobby said, "We have been offered a wonderful home. We will be able to live without subjugation and we will have a place where our children can safely be born and grow. It will take some time and a lot of work to turn it into old forest but we will be up to the challenge."

He showed them a diagram of the new elf land.

"We need immediate help in three different areas. The first is to search for the wizard coins that the previous owner likely buried there."

Layla explained how her Sight had been obscured at the Umbridge farm. Dobby explained what to do with them when they found some. Some were tasked with searching the big house while most would begin the search of the grounds.

They left and the next group of elves came in. Again Dobby showed them the map and Nobby gave directions about warding the perimeter of the property.

They left and the largest group came in. Dobby showed them specific areas of the map and explained what he wanted done. An hour later, the six hundred elves began their task.

… - ...

As they were having a late lunch after looking at the paperwork, Emma asked, "What are your thoughts about the manor?"

Harry replied, "I think the land itself is perfect and I'm delighted with the beach houses. I don't know if the elves are interested in the manor but I have no desire to live there. Dobby told me that it was a real possibility that it could be moved."

Emma suggested, "Maybe it could be used as a school."

Hermione kicked that idea to the curb replying, "Depending on where somebody wanted to put it. If we put it at the far corner of our property, we'd still be bringing hundreds of people to our property. If we can't easily move it and the elves don't want it, my inclination would be to salvage the building material. Even if it were moved, it couldn't suddenly appear in a public location."

As they walking back to the car, Emma was quietly talking with Dan, saying, "I've never seen anyone spend 70 million in one day; let alone do it to make someone else happy."

Dan replied, "Me either."

… - …

The Elvin perimeter team went out and "found" tens of thousands of seedlings that could be used for the hedge – hawthorn, boxwood, holly, wild rose and yew.

- ...

The coin team first searched every inch of the manor. After they did that, using garden shovels they literally did a test dig every three feet or so and Looked to see if anything was buried. As that was quite taxing, they worked in shifts.

- …

The Elvin warding team went out and found thousands of palm-sized flat stones and stacked them into twenty piles until they could be finished. Over the course of a week, they magically etched several runes on each of them. Unlike the humans, they used a decentralized warding scheme. None of these were minor tasks and most of them had day jobs. They didn't mind working through the night a bit.

… - …

Sunday July 7

Hogwarts Tuition Changes Announced

By Cheryl Whitehart

Newly appointed Hogwarts Headmistress Anne Chambers announced several new programs as well as tuition changes for the September term.

Traditional full tuition and room/board was raised from 500G to 550. Legacy and sibling discounts were discontinued. Chambers commented, "It costs just as much to feed students regardless of who their parents or siblings are." She also commented that, "The new tuition rates still don't nearly cover the costs."

Chambers announced, "There are additional educational options available. Full-time day students now can walk, portkey or take the floo to/from school and are served lunch for 425G. There is also a per-class option of 100G per course per year. Several classes are also available on a night school basis."

Heidi and her husband Jim Phillips read the news with interest. Like Cyrus Greengrass, their magical plant import business withered and died in the last year. They had been barely hanging on when they received news that Longbottom acres was domestically growing the same plants that they'd been importing. They shut down their business while they still had some money saved and were looking for something else.

They'd seen the recent Hogwarts listing for house parents in the positions available section of the Quibbler, interviewed with Anne Chambers and had accepted her offer. That their niece, Hannah Abbott, was still attending the school in September sweetened Chamber's already generous offer.

… - ...

Ragnok mentioned that the so called Gold Room in Gringotts could easily be compared to the currently inoperable Room of Requirement at Hogwarts, though the former proceeded the latter by several thousand years. Since neither Harry, Amelia, Shackelbolt, Connie, Anna, the Grangers, nor Hagrid, the Eye brothers, nor the Account Managers had seen both, they immediately took him on his word.

Naturally Hermione had to ask, "When were you first at Hogwarts?"

Ragnok replied, "The early-middle 1800s. 1830 if memory serves me. I went with my father, Gagnok. Ottaline Gambol was an insightful Minister of Magic, much like Minister Bones. She adapted the technology of the day and had the Hogwarts Express developed. Like with your friend, Dobby, there may have been some questionable procurement involved."

Hermione gasped, "She stole the train?"

Ragnok came as close as old goblins get to laughing at the memory. He replied, "No, she purchased the train. However, she "acquired" the tracks going from London to Inverness, repurposed them to stop at Hogsmeade and changed the last five miles to form a return loop."

He continued, "Back to your question, there was a Room of Requirement that Professor Ravenclaw had built, similar to this one. I suspect that she examined the runes for this room and her perfect memory allowed her to create her own version. I believe that it was in the main building on the seventh floor.

"Such a room can be configured to the user's request. The items made in the room are not permanent, though people and items brought into the room can leave unharmed. This room can become an ocean side beach, a New York hotel, the Eiffel tower restaurant or similar. It is time for dinner, then a few more words afterwards."

There was a long buffet table. Harry tried a bit of almost everything, though he was glad to see a tub of iced Orange Crush bottles at the end. He and Hermione sat at a table with Inspector Hammer and Anna Daily.

Connie mentioned working several cases that Sirius and Anna had brought her in on relating to some of the estates that they'd been dispositioning. She said, "I wish he'd have just burned a few more of the buildings than he did. Those tattoo club people were vicious freaks."

Harry gave an involuntary flinch at her words. Some wounds take a lifetime to heal.

… - …

After they'd been fed and the plates cleared away, Ragnok stood and the room quieted. He started, "I believe that everyone here is aware of both the recent and underlying circumstances for our gathering here tonight. We do not live in a perfect world, but it is far safer and offers more opportunity to those who choose to work hard than it was.

"A unique and wondrous opportunity presented itself to us a year ago. In return, we offered Mr. Potter and his friends an opportunity and jointly developed a plan. The wandcrafters continuously refined the plan, then they masterfully executed it. In their first month of operation, they managed to craft and select appropriate wands for fifty people a day. In doing so, they aided the return of the Healers at St. Mungos, the Aurors, the floo system operators and some of the merchants of Diagon Alley. In their most recent month, they averaged four hundred people a day which literally allowed several thousand people to return to their place of work or business.

"In addition, they crafted and allowed for the sale of an additional 30,000 wands across Europe.

"In Britain, 30,000 people saw their lives changed last June. I heard it equated to the nonmagical people losing access to their water, natural gas, electricity, telephone and transportation. Doubtless, hardship ensued. Some found opportunity and made small fortunes helping others. Others wallowed in despair.

"Some made changes to their situation and brought electricity and water into their homes. Too many did nothing and waited for assistance from others.

"Significant steps were made at Hogwarts. They will seem insignificant when compared to the changes in the coming years. Congratulations."

… - …

After the organized speeches had taken place, Hagrid, the Eye brothers, Kingsley, Connie and Anna said their thank yous and good nights.

Ragnok, Harry and Hermione were at one table while Dan, Emma, Barchoke and Amelia were at the other.

Ragnok said, "I want to thank you again. I had literally bet my life on your success and I'm happy to say that we're still here. Harry, what do you envision as the next steps?"

"I just spent a spend a month with Daryl Whitehorn and learned a bit about advanced wandcrafting. My Master's project was accepted. I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to work and learn from such a master of the craft. That said, I envision primarily continuing to make and sell generics for the rest of Europe for the next two years."

The Director nodded and replied, "Very good. Hermione, what are your thoughts?"

"Long-term, I have an interest in becoming a healer. Short-term, I'd like to talk with some people and learn what the next handful of steps would be. In the mean time, Harry and I have a lot of work to do."

"Very good... and your plans for each other?"

They both said, "Very much so."

Hermione added, "We plan on getting married someday and raising several little wandcrafters and healers."

"Have you talked much about it?"

"Not until tonight."

"I see. What can I do to help either or both of you?"

Harry replied, "Assuming that the wand retail prices drop soon, as you envisioned, we're happy with the 30/25G rate and split. We hope that you'll continue to stop by the shop whenever your schedule permits."

He looked at the two of them and said, "Thank you both. I will endeavor to stop by more often and share an Orange Crush with you. That said, without any significant interruption fitting wands here, how many do you estimate could be manufactured and delivered in a month?"

Harry glanced at Hermione who said, "Without making commitments for my mother who still has responsibilities at their dental clinic and allowing for the occasional day off, I believe seven to twelve thousand a month is a reasonable expectation, provided that our access to acromantula strand is unimpeded. Dobby and Winky remain committed to helping us. We will need to step-up our search for certain varieties of legally harvest-able trees."

Harry asked, "Have you received any feedback from the countries regarding Dobby's allocation plan?"

"The usual. Everyone believes that their need is the greatest. That said, every country has received some, so their emergency services are functioning. No one else is actively exporting either wands or core material."

Harry raised his bottle in a toast and said, "Cheers."

… - …

There was no chinking of bottles or toasts being made at the other table. In short, Emma wanted one or both of them to research the fate of the other nine hundred people who had their magic bound between 1950 and 1981.

Emma was persistent. "Surely the means exist to look through The Book of Magical Births."

Barchoke remarked "Twelve thousand names."

She asked, "And find those who have been lined out?"

Barchoke remained calm. She had personal standing in the issue and he replied, "Two thousand names, for any number of reasons which the book does not list." The fact was it was much easier to start with a known person and look back than the other way around – especially with changing names.

She suggested, "Hand the list off to the DMLE."

"Illegal. Every nation has their data privacy laws."

She persisted. "OK, How did you find out that I was in the book?"

"Your daughter (a family member) made the request, knew your birth date and maiden name. Colin Creevey could make the same request for his mother or father when he gains adult status. My expectation is that one or the other will be listed."

Dan asked, "So essentially, any nonmagical parents could make the request?"

Barchoke replied, "Yes, though in fairness, a modest fee would be charged. But then what?"

Not understanding the complexity of the procedure, she stated, "They'd get unbound."

"That is much easier said than done. There might be a small handful of practitioners in Europe who could reliably do it and another fifty who might attempt it and make matters worse." Barchoke didn't mention that he felt that all fifty of them worked at St. Mungo's.

Emma said, "But I..."

"Arguably received the best care available in the Western Hemisphere," observed Barchoke."

"And I shall thank Healer Windsong until my dying day."

He nodded and replied, "She also calls you a friend."

Still hoping for something but not really knowing what she asked, "Minister, what are your thoughts?"

Amelia observed, "Nine hundred people involuntarily had their lives changed. Another three hundred were murdered. Would you rather know that the bad guys were permanently stopped, or read about the unsolved atrocities in the newspapers? Neither of us have the means of changing the past. Honestly, I don't believe that it would benefit anyone to have these stories printed in the papers. Worse, it could easily give others a very bad idea."

Barchoke added, "Circling back to the Creeveys, if they come in, I will personally pay to have the Book of Magical Births searched and should they choose an unbinding, I will personally pay for that as well. Colin is an ambitious lad and he has made me laugh on more than one occasion. I expect that Hermione would welcome having another student to tutor, should they choose to learn some magic. The binding apparently hasn't damaged their ability to have children who are able to wield magic. That said, they will need to very clearly be instructed that theirs is not a situation that can be discussed, or it would end up in the paper. With that, can we table the conversation and let it go for tonight?"

Feeling like she won at least a toe hold, Emma replied, "Yes. Thank you."

… - …

Monday July 8

Harry was working in the shop when Dobby popped in saying, "Here is a big box from Daryl." He opened it up and read the note.

Hi Harry,

Happy Birthday (a bit early) Please find enclosed 500 shreds from a Chinese fireball. They should be enough to get your custom wand operation off to a good start. Also, please find 100 shed skin shreds from one of the pieces of shed basilisk that you had given me. A 1/8th inch strip should work very nicely. Dobby would have a good eye for cutting them. He has an astounding sense of distance.

I'm taking a twelve month sabbatical from Salem. Mandy, who you met and I are sailing in her sail boat down though the Panama Canal and back up to Nome Alaska. Naturally, I will keep my eyes open for interesting core components and wood. The basilisk heart should be nearly ready by the time I get back. It's stored in my Gringotts vault here in Salem. I added your name to the vault in case something happens.

Should an emergency arise, I can be reached on my satellite phone. You have the number. Say hi to Dan, Emma, Hermione, Dobby and Winky from me.

All the best,

Daryl

He showed the letter to Hermione and Emma, who asked, "Harry, how large was this sunken treasure chest that you found?"

"I suppose it was the size of one of the white liquor boxes."

"And it was filled with those gold doubloons?"

"Yes. I expect that there were a thousand or two. I took about fifty."

She said, "I had one appraised. They said it was worth about a thousand pounds."

"Nice. I wasn't sure. He'd guessed about the same. He tried to give them back to me several times. I suppose I could sell these dragon heart strings for about the same. Emma, finding the chest took me about the same amount of time and effort as filling the refrigerator. I thought it was pretty cool and am pretty sure that I could go back and do it again."

… - ...

While Harry and Emma were discussing sunken treasure, Minerva and Pomona went to the ministry to get a passport. After the applications were filled out, photos taken and sent on to MI5 to be expedited, they were on their way. Neither had been out of Britain in ages. Afterwards, Emma took them and Poppy out for a shopping trip to Selfridges to buy a few new outfits each for their upcoming adventure. Three hours later, they were fully kitted out. Emma made certain they they each purchased an extra blouse and a comfortable pair of walking shoes.

The next stop was the ministry, where they picked up their documents.

Passports in hand, the four women went to Gatwick airport to purchase tickets. Emma drove them from her home to Gatwick in the Land Rover. Sprout and McGonagall were in the back seat staring out the window at the traffic and all of the buildings. They reached the airport and Emma wisely selected Valet parking. They got to the ticket counter where Emma purchased their tickets usong her credit card, desperately hoping that one of the witches wouldn't pull out a bag of coins. While she would have preferred an isle seat, she selected two A(window) and two B (center) seats in business class. She had thought about buying them portkey watches but decided that the full experience would be best in this case.

On the way back, Emma asked, "Does everyone have luggage appropriate for a weekend trip?" The school trunks would be way too large."

"I don't." admitted Sprout.

"We have loads; I'm happy to lend you a bag." The Travel Pro carry-on size with wheels would be perfect for their weekend excursion. Poppy and Sprout each borrowed one. Minerva was talked into taking one, so their luggage would match. Her 1940s suitcase would be much harder to carry around. The three Hogwarts staffers agreed to meet early at the Grangers on Friday morning.

Tuesday July 9

The next afternoon, the wandcrafters decided to take stock of where they were.

Emma pointed out that they'd made 60,000 wands.

Hermione replied, "60,000 down, 140,000 or so to go. How many orders do we have to fulfill?"

Harry replied, "Open orders – those that have been paid for but not shipped, are 50,000. We retained the option to cancel them. New orders keep coming in at about the rate that we're shipping the old ones."

"How much strand do we have?" asked Emma.

Winky said, "92,000 feet."

"If we're using 10,000 feet a month, we'll easily be OK. We should be able to collect another 100,000 feet in September." observed Harry. We can put it in the company vault until we need it. Daryl thought that it would easily last ten years if we stored it in plastic tubs with lids."

Emma pointed out, "Sooner or later, you're going to get some competition. Your best defense against that is to keep delivering as promised; hopefully closer to 10,000 a month than 7,000."

Harry asked, "How many wands do we have in stock?"

Winky replied, "2,225 finished."

Emma asked, "Who are we actually selling these to?"

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione, as if it were a ridiculous question.

"Harry, when you were at Salem, we saw an article in the Quibbler. The Master Wandmaker and four students in Bucharest were killed in a car accident. When I asked, Barchoke admitted that more than a few countries don't have wandcrafters."

"The guy from Romania? Daryl mentioned him."

Emma replied, "Right, The ICW law says that a wand can only be sold by a licensed Wandcrafter. If on June 24, this Carl Racz and Daryl were the only Masters that we know of and Racz was the only one left in Europe, either he took on 20 students in a year, which is possible, or...?"

She continued, "My question is, are the wands being sold to Gringotts, or via Gringotts?"

"Dobby knows. "France has wand shop in Marseille. His shop is like old Ollie Vander, not Harry Potter's. Germany has same shop in Hamburg. Norway has shop in Oslo. Other places wands be going to Gringotts."

Emma asked, "So the answer is, some of each. How do you get to be a master wandcrafter?"

Harry replied, "In addition to the five years of experience, you complete a master's project and another master, in my case Daryl, certifies it."

Emma said, "So for the sake of discussion, there are fifteen countries that have asked for wands and eleven of them don't have a licensed wandsmith of their own. The four that we know of collectively have made five or six thousand wands before they ran out of core and have been acting as resellers ever since. You're saying that they have no path to becoming wand masters?"

"Correct."

Hermione asked, "How can we find out about the other countries?"

Emma replied, "Consider the possibilities;

* Gringotts could have imported licensed wandsmiths to act as sales agents on a temporary basis.

* Gringotts could be selling them illegally.

* Gringotts could be buying them and hanging onto them.

*Gringotts could be buying them and reselling them to wandsmiths for more than the five or ten galleons over what we're wholesaling them for."

"None of these are really nefarious plots. They have to pay the rent on the space and wages to the wandcrafter." Harry asked, "Dobby, how many languages do you speak?"

"Dobby doesn't know. Elves can be talking to most people and beings if they wants to. There are many places that Dobby hasn't been."

"How about you, Winky?"

"Winky used to go with old master Barty – many places. Winky can be talking and reading from many places."

Amazed at what she was saying, Emma said, "I'll go get the paperwork from the wand orders." When she returned, she added, "They're all in English but they list addresses."

She came back and asked, "If Switzerland is ordering wands – specifically if Gringotts Switzerland is ordering wands and they don't have a wandcrafter, what happens to the wands?"

Harry asked, "Who has a wandcrafter?"

Dobby replied, "Greece, Germany, France, Corsica and Norway."

Emma added, "Romania had one."

Harry declared, "That's it. We cancel the orders to the other countries. We find out what happened to the hundred wands that we sent to Belgium last month and we get a few answers. In the mean time, we ship the open orders to Germany and Norway next."

Thinking a bit further, Harry asked, "Does it matter if the wands are being resold a time or two?"

Emma said, "Maybe; I'm a bit sensitive to the idea of single-car accidents. Then the only other wandmaster that we know disappears for a year."

Harry hesitated for a moment and replied, "A treasure chest of gold literally landed at his feet. He took a leave from his job and ran off with a pretty girl for a year. It sounds like a fun time to me."

Hermione smirked, "Oh, it does, huh. Got anyone in mind, lover-boy?"

"Now that you mention it, yes I do."

Before the two teens could start planning their itinerary, Emma pointed out, "We have another set of blocks to glue and then we need to pick-up dinner."

… - …

Wednesday July 10

Amelia went back to Barchoke's office that morning. After the necessary greetings he asked, "What is on you mind, Minister?"

"I'd like to talk about the 900 witches and wizards who were bound. One thought that I had was a reasonable percentage - you pick – a fourth, maybe a half might not have children yet and represent incremental potential customers for you and taxpayers for me. My questions are; how much work would it actually take to find them and how much work would Windsong, or one of her helpers actually have to do to unbind them?

"My idea was to try a sample – you pick the number – ten or twenty-five for sake of discussion. My thought was to send two of the younger aurors to attempt to find the people. Then select a team to go and talk with them and give them a choice. It's not impossible that they would have a sibling or niece/nephew who also has magic.

"If out of the sample, we conclude that it's too much work, or the response is too low, then we drop it. It could be beneficial and if we keep it out of the paper, I don't see much risk."

Barchoke considered the idea for a minute. He estimated the benefits and risks at plus one and minus ten. Either way, there was a compulsion or memory charm involved. If it went badly, then much of what they'd gained in the last year could be wiped out. If the list was written down and it fell into the wrong hands, minimally the bad guys might conclude that it was possible to find others. Twycross and Thicknesse were made, not born to be destroyers of lives. Finally he asked, "What happens when, not if, word of what happened gets out?"

She was about to say that would never happen when she realized that there were other clever people, other Hermione Grangers who could put the pieces together. She replied, "We blame it on the Malfoys, and on Umbridge. There are no living witnesses to refute it."

Barchoke had been ready to politely see her out of the office when she came up with a masterstroke. The best part of it was that it was nearly the truth. No one from the Nation would be implicated and people would believe anything about the Malfoys. Naturally he would seek Ragnok's approval. If they started in 1982, as far as Twycross went and worked back a few years, they would have enough students to seed a night school.

He replied, "That is an exceptional idea. I see no holes in it other than the risk of liability in that Dolores was a ministry employee, though for a different minister. I will speak with Windsong and her two assistants and get a quote. I don't know how taxing the procedure is on her. I'd like you to identify two people who you absolutely trust who are able to competently navigate the nonmagical world. Let us assume that 3/4th of the people who we find will be female and likely as not have name changes. I'm thinking that the 15 – 20 year-old people would be easiest to identify. I will talk this over with Ragnok Can we meet again tomorrow at this time?"

"Perfect. I'll be here. Should we agree on it, I'll go collect the two people and bring them back."

… - ...

Thursday July 11

As Bob Sunset and his partner Alyx were walking towards Gringotts with Minister Bones, Amelia was reflecting on the morning's earlier meeting with Barchoke. They had agreed to start with fifty names. Amelia's people would do the legwork of finding the people, demonstrating magic, explaining that they were born with it, had it blocked and offer to have it unblocked. If they were able to convince the victims, Windsong, or her granddaughter, Maysong would do the unbinding for a nominal fee, paid by the Ministry, after getting them to agree not to discuss the circumstances. Should the person choose to not go ahead with the unbinding, they would be obliviated.

Amelia had agreed with Barchoke's recommendation to keep their actions off the books for as long as possible to keep the program out of the newspaper. She didn't want to fall down the same slippery slope that Fudge had as the Prophet had slowly transformed into a mouthpiece of what seemed to be best for wither him or Malfoy.

They walked into the Silver Room where the attendant closed the door behind them. Amelia had them sit and began, "I'm offering you both an occasional temporary duty assignment. It is not one that either of you would be able to talk about or even mention that you have a project. It pays standard overtime and is not illegal. You would be helping to right an old wrong. You simply cannot mention it. Are either or both of you interested?"

They said yes and took a magical vow not to discuss the work outside of the group.

Amelia said, "As of now you both will be reporting to Connie Hammer and be ranked as investigator trainees. Investigation is a very good field. I hope you two make the most of your opportunity. Relating to this project, you will receive a list of names and birth dates of some British citizens – about a dozen a week. I want you to find as many of these people as possible. The deliverable will be an address, photograph and ideally a telephone number. They shouldn't know that you were searching for them."

Alyx (the cleverer of the two) asked, "What can you tell us about these people?"

"The first few groups will be older teenagers probably 16 – 20 in age. For the most part, they will be women. What they have in common is that a criminal illegally bound their magic and performed an obliviation on them when they were toddlers. The name and nature of the criminal is outside the scope of your investigation. Please leave it that way.

"Essentially the contact team would calmly reach out to these people, explain the existence of magic and explain that we believe that they have the ability to wield magic. On a follow-up visit, they would explain that their magic had been bound and offer them the choice of having it unbound and to learn the basics at no charge to them.

"Should they accept, we would carry out our end of the arrangement. Should they decline, we would perform a basic obilivation of the offer."

Bob asked, "What makes you believe that a bond that old can safely be removed?"

Amelia replied, "I've recently seen one twice as old successfully removed."

Alyx asked, "When do we start?"

Amelia replied, "You report to Master Investigator Hammer, tomorrow morning at nine."

… - ...

That afternoon, Dobby and Winky found Emma, Hermione and Harry in the breakroom. Winky gave Dobby a sharp look and Little D went into what apparently was a rehearsed conversation.

Emma asked. "What is it?"

Winky gave Dobby a nudge and he said, "Dobby and Winky be needing some things from Harry Potter and Harry Potter's Hermione."

Harry asked, "What do you need?"

"Elves be finding many seeds and seedlings and have been planting them. Elves also be needing some bigger trees."

Harry replied, "OK. Where do we find them?"

"There are many trees on Harry Potter's property in Gloucester."

Emma asked, "Can you move a tree?"

Dobby replied, "That be very easy for elves. There be vinewood trees with many big branches on Harry Potter's property."

Harry replied, "Go ahead. Do you need any help?"

Dobby replied, "Harry Potter needs to say, Dobby can move trees to new elf land."

Harry repeated his words and felt a new bond between Dobby and himself.

Winky gave Dobby the look and Harry asked, "What else?"

Dobby said, "Harry Potter and Hermione must stay night in new elf land and be consecrating bond."

Emma caught the just of their request and asked, "Did you mean consummating the bond?"

Frustrated, Winky spoke up. "Dobby meant both. They be blessing land and each other."

Hermione's mind was racing. She clarified, "It's more of a dance around the campfire and sleeping together; not one of those novels." Fortunately, a customer came in and she dashed off to help them.

Satisfied and slightly amused with her daughter's answer, Emma asked, "What are you doing with the vinewood trees?"

Winky replied, "Elves be born on them."

Emma asked, "Would you rather have your babies in our home or in the mansion instead?"

"No. True elves be born in woods, in trees."

Emma's mind drifted to the massive treehouses in the LOTR movies and she thought that she understood. She replied, "When Dan and I had Hermione and I was ready to go back to work, we made a room at our practice where Hermione could sleep during the day. Later on, we arranged our work hours, so one or the other of us could be with her. If you want, you could do something similar. We could rearrange the storeroom to meet your needs, or you could work whatever fits your needs the best."

Harry asked, "What else can we do to help?"

Winky poked Dobby again and he admitted, "When elves be finding coins in new elf land buried in ground, elves put many coins in Harry Potter's Gringotts vault. Elves put some coins in Bright Moon Vault."

Harry hadn't checked or thought about his vault since he'd purchased the property for fourteen million galleons a few weeks ago. He asked, "How many did you find?"

"Fifteen million so far. Elves are checking one more time to be sure."

He was stunned by the revelation. Winky said, "Winky told Harry Potter the elves would be paying Harry Potter back. Winky Saw it."

Emma had done the quick math and wanted to point out that Harry had effectively been handed the beach houses for free but understood that this was his conversation with the elves. She didn't say a word.

Harry thought back to his godfather and realized that Sirius had known that the coins were most likely there when he'd sold Harry the property without doing a walk through. He replayed Dobby's words in his mind and asked, "So the loan on the property in Gloucester...?"

Dobby stated, "Loan is paid off."

Completely surprised by his comment, Harry asked, "How many more coins did you find?"

"A million more so far." Emma smiled; they all received the property for free.

Harry replied, "Excellent. That was an excellent idea, Dobby."

Hermione asked, "When do you want to move the trees?"

Dobby said, "Other elves be listening. They are being moved right now. Big house be taken apart tomorrow."

Harry asked, "Dobby, can elves build a house?"

"Maybe, if they have a good idea what it should be looking like."

Harry had an idea.

Emma asked, "Do you want to get a set of sleeping bags? They also have smaller ones. I'll go get four and bring them back here. You finish up."
… - ...

After dinner at Hogwarts, Minerva went to the kitchens to visit with Nobby. The kitchen which normally saw thirty or so house elves bustling from task to task was empty. She went to the laundry room and it was also empty. She recalled her prior conversation with Filius and heard her own words ringing in her memory - Ridiculous. That would never happen.

She walked back to the transfiguration office.

… - …

When Harry, Hermione, Dobby and Winky arrived at the New Elf Land, Harry was flabbergasted. All two thousand elves in Britain were there. Nobby and Dobby stood and in the elvish tongue said, "Welcome Harry and Hermione to our New Elf Land. May you find peace and satisfaction while you are here."

Remarkably, they understood every word. They walked around the area, examining the growth on the hedge row. It appeared that everything had taken root and grown a foot since being planted a few days earlier. They walked a ways until they saw the transplanted vinewood trees. Many of them had six to ten big branches. There were forty of them grouped together. Harry could see the first of the tree homes that were being built. They put their hands on Dobby and Winky's shoulders as they walked to it. Winky said, "There is where my babies will be born."

Hermione said, "We're happy for you, Winky. Harry and I offer our blessings on this land and we wish you generations of happiness and love here."

Harry added, "Hermione and I offer our blessings and wish that all elves and those who visit here will find peace and safety here."

When they went back to the main group, Nobby led the other elves in saying, "The elves await the birth of the true elves. We thank you for your blessings and bestow onto you two our wishes for your health and happiness as you go through your lives and have a family of your own. Let us eat and drink together."

They ate together, sang songs and danced into the night. When it was time to sleep, Dobby and Winky were next to Harry and Hermione in their Star Wars sleeping bags. They all had very happy dreams.

… - …

Friday July 12

Before they apparated home, Dobby and Winky showed the two teens where they were moving the road to the beach houses. The road was currently exactly in the middle of the land. They were going to move it to the other edge, just inside the berm. Dobby said, "That will be safer for little elves who would be running and playing in the middle of the forest. The road will be at the edge of the first beach house."

Harry replied, "That's an excellent idea, Dobby." Winky looked at her mate with pride.

Harry and Hermione left to get ready for their day.

… - …

On Friday Dan drove Emma and the three Hogwarts professors to the airport. Before leaving, he asked, "Does everyone have their passport?" As everyone did, they were on their way. He dropped them off at Arrivals, wished them a fun trip and kissed Emma goodbye. The sheer immensity of the airport facility was more than a bit intimidating to Sprout, who had rarely left the security of her greenhouses or the wizarding section of London. Fortunately, the Travel Pro bags had excellent wheel and the women easily pulled their bags behind them. Pomona asked, "Are the air terminals all this large?"

"Emma replied, "No. A few are larger; most are smaller. Hermione told me that the one in Inverness is much smaller."

"That's how they got home," remarked Minerva. "One of the students told me a cockamamie tale that she'd transfigured bicycles and ridden them home.

"She did but they rode them from the castle to Inverness."

The boarded the DC-10 jetliner and had a relaxing flight.

… - …

Mary Masters was a thin woman, apparently in her late thirties. She wore large glasses with plastic frames that somehow worked well on her. Behind them were the bluest eyes that Minerva had ever seen. Like Daryl had done, She was waiting at the airport outside of customs, holding a sign that read McGonagall. She easily fit everyone's luggage in her Dodge Caravan minivan, After getting them to the Inn and taking them where they wanted to go, she drove Minerva to her office. Mary asked, "How can I help you?"

Minerva replied, "First, I'd appreciate an overview of your various masters programs – what topics are offered, how many hours a week do they meet, amount of independent study, length of the program and tuition.

"Second, I'd like to get a copy of any sales brochures and the like.

"Third, I'd like to understand your sales process – Are the existing students presented to? What is the sales process for individual adults compared to businesses, return on investment and the like?"

Mary replied, "Happily. First, you should understand; I'm not an academic. I've always been in sales. The company that I was working at received a clumsy sales pitch from Salem ten years ago. I was certain that I could do better, I made a sample sales pitch and here I am. There are 300,000 witches and wizards in the US. At the same time, there are five larger schools that teach magic, so each of our markets are about 60,000 witches and wizards. From a marketing perspective, we don't encroach on the other territories, unless an individual student or firm makes an inquiry."

She showed the course catalog and the brochures for each program. They were professionally done. Each program listed business types and occupations that typically used that discipline. McGonagall noticed that part was easily a fourth of the brochure. Then it listed the benefits of having those skills. From a high level, it listed topics covered. It also referenced days and times. Several of the brochures also stated that additional days and times could be customized for an additional fee. Some of the courses began once a year while the more popular topics started every semester.

Mary explained, "If you break a two year program down into four parts, it can be easier to take. Transfiguration by example is four parts. A student would need to complete all four parts to receive certification. That doesn't mean that they need to take all four parts within two years. Many need to stretch it out to accommodate their work or family situation. Others want to get it done as quickly as possible. That implies that every Master Instructor for a topic teaches the same overall curriculum."

McGonagall asked, "You mentioned return on investment several times. How does that fit in?"

"When and individual or a company goes out and spends 10,000G on a piece of equipment, they expect to get something back; generally either more revenue, or lower expense. Let's say that they had to enchant something that they used or sold on a fairly regular basis. They could use a for hire (rent) enchanter, who might charge 15G to do the job. Alternatively, they could train and use their own person, who they pay 5G to do the task. What's the difference?"

"10 galleons."

How many times would they have to do that task to make up their investment?"

"1,000 times."

"Essentially. How about from an individual's perspective?"

She replied, "If I were unemployed and had nothing else to do and it took me two years to complete the course, and I had, or could borrow 10,000G from my rich uncle, it would be two years of my time to take the course and if it allowed me to find a job, it would be three years before I had my money back."

Mary asked, "What if you were currently making 9,000?"

"Two years out of work, losing 18,000G and 18 years making it up and the 10,000G for the class. That's 30 years. If I could work half time, I'd only be out 9,000 from not working. It wouldn't take as long."

"Right. Most people would conclude that only making 1,000G a year more wouldn't be a very good return. If they were also out of work for two years, it would be a deal breaker for most people. That's still not very good."

Mary summarized, "From a strictly monetary perspective, it's easier to sell classes to someone who isn't currently working or who isn't making much money. Back to the company example, you also need to factor in the loss of that person for the time they're not at work.

"It's less expensive for a company or a person to take a class in their spare time than company time, or time when they have to take off from their work."

"That makes sense," observed Minerva. "Our hospital was very willing to enroll people for potions masteries while scheduling their work around their class times."

"Right and knowing that people are working, the professor doesn't assign needless homework; ideally a ratio of less than one hour per class hour. If they assigned a half hour per class hour, the student has 18 hours per week where they can't sleep or work to fit into their lives."

Minerva observed, "So from a strictly financial perspective, my best prospects for students are going to be young people, or people who are employed in a situation where they can work around the class times, or people who will be able to learn a lot more with their new knowledge."

Mary replied, "That's your challenge. If a laborer was going to be an enchanter and both jobs paid the same, it would come down to intangibles such as their enjoying the new job far more than their old one, not monetary." Mary added, "Your hospital is funding these, knowing that some of the students are going to get their degree and go work someplace else."

McGonagall acknowledged, "It's a complicated decision. The school needs to make money, or at least cover the expenses. The student needs to believe that they'll make a lot more money, or have a better life. Finally the business needs to believe that they'll be better off, their people wont immediately walk out the door, or at least believe that society would be better off with more of those skilled people around."

Mary nodded. "Exactly. The instructors always need to explain the benefits of what they're teaching, or the students will believe it to be worthless and a waste of their time until they stumble upon a practical use for the information."

McGonagall swallowed the bitter pill of realization that her teaching style had diminished her students; appreciation of transfiguration. Turning a turtle into a teapot – No one would drink out of it, heating water with it would kill the animal and 3/4th of the students would probably rather have the turtle.

… - ...

At dinner that evening, they each talked about their day. Pomona had met with the senior herbology professor. She observed, "We had far more in common than differences, The curriculums from year to rear were very close. Aside from electric lights in the greenhouses and a bit more reliance on technology, the classes could be swapped. They have virtually no access to living dragons, so we use it for fertilizer and they use a commercial formula. That's a function of circumstance. As for farming, there is a nonmagical agriculture program in place at the facility. My point is that in their case, the equipment infrastructure is already in place and they simply borrow pieces of equipment from time to time. They have a twenty acre plot. It's a circumstantial opportunity.

"Much of the land around Hogwarts itself is an inche or two of of topsoil that's on top of rock. It's mostly sand. The better acreage doesn't belong to the school. There's probably twelve unused arable acres. Hardly enough for commercial anything. How was your day?"

Poppy replied, "I attended a theoretical lecture on limb replacement using a conjured, enchanted limb, such as an arm."

Emma replied, "Via a pensieve, I've seen one done."

McGonagall added, "Good heavens. Where? How? Who?"

Emma replied, "I shouldn't have even mentioned it. Minister Bones called it a State Secret.

Sprout was going to argue the point when Poppy added, "I heard something about it myself. I was told in no uncertain terms that it was a secret and we'll change the subject. What did you do today, Emma?"

"I met Jo St. Genovese, one of the instructors from when I was here a year ago. We had a nice lunch and I walked around, enjoying the day. How did your meeting with Mary Masters go?"

Minerva replied, "I have an armload of ideas, suggestions and marketing pieces that we can adapt. She pointed out that out best prospect for masters candidates are the existing sixth and seventh year students and she reiterated the importance of continuously referencing the practical uses of what we teach."

Emma asked, "What else did she mention?"

"We talked about an individual or a business being able to see a return on investment for their education purchase. Essentially she pointed out that people spend their time and money on education, either as a career investment, hoping to get a better position, or to improve their business, or they're essentially doing it for entertainment."

Poppy pointed out, "Those are all valid points."

… - ...

Saturday July 13

Dobby and Nobby went to the Bones residence that morning and asked to talk with Amelia and Susan.

After they sat down, Nobby said, "Elves would like to rebuilding big house on hill for Susan. We have all the building material from old Parkinson manor that we took apart for Harry Potter. If you having pictures of old house, Elves can rebuild."

Amelia thought for a few minutes. She had mentally kicked herself a hundred times for not purchasing proper insurance on the property. There would be several building inspections along the way and she'd previously thought about using Macmillan to do the work and realized that she simply didn't have the funds without selling her home in Welshpool.

She asked, "How much would it cost?"

Nobby replied, "There may be some pieces like pipes and wires that elves don't have from Parkinson big house but there are many boards, windows, doors, trims and floorings that can be reused. Elves want to help Harry Potter's friends."

Amelia said, "Can I have John Macmillan come talk with you? I'll find as many pictures of the house as I can."

Dobby said, "Here is my phone number." He handed her a card like Harry had that said, Dobby Potter, Licensed Wandcrafter and had his cell phone number.

She replied, "Thank you, Dobby. Thank you, Nobby. I will ask Smidgen to bring over the pictures this afternoon."

She was amazed by the offer; less so by their reasoning for making it. The teen had an uncanny ability to make friends with unusual beings.

… - …

Sunday July 14

"Look at what the cat dragged in," smirked Dan as Hermione dropped into a chair.

"Tea please."

"What time did you and Harry get home last night?" asked Dan as he put a cuppa down in front of her.

"About midnight. After we were done at the Quidditch game, we went to Vincenzo's like you suggested; the food was awesome by the way. The match was over at eight. After dinner Antonio took us to the bar and served us coffee and tiramisu. He sat and talked with us until midnight and then sent us home. You never said you served with him in the military."

"It was a long time ago."

Harry remarked, "The game was exciting and fast, only two hours or so. The harpies were clearly the better team and won. There was a problem at the game. Someone tried to kill Amelia."

With an uncommonly stern look, Dan asked, "What happened?"

"Somebody whacked her a couple times with a machete and apparated away before anyone could grab him."

"Is she... How badly was she hurt?"

"She won't be playing tennis this week but her vest saved her. Her arm was cut pretty badly. I portkeyed her to Windsong."

"Harry means to say that he kidnapped her right out from under her bodyguard's nose and disappeared. It took a half an hour to contact them and let them know that she was OK."

Harry observed, "He'd gone to the WC." (referring to the guard) "The only ministry numbers that I have are hers and Connie's. She must have been charging her phone or had it off."

Dan's mind raced between being thankful that Harry had gifted Amelia a protective vest, wondering how bad a machete cut to an arm could be, how much of a challenge repairing the damage must have been for Windsong and having read too many mystery novels pointing to the guard's convenient absence. No one had recognized the assailant. There wasn't anything to do.

… - …

A few hours later, John Macmillan called and they met at the shop. Harry wasn't certain what, if anything, that the elves had done yet with respect to warding, so he took the safe approach and successfully side-alonged him to the beach houses. He said, "It's not far. We'll have to walk from here."

The elves were still working but the carefully sorted piles were massive. Eighty beautiful windows, thousands of board feet of exotic wood planking, oak framework lumber, thirty foot long beams, solid walnut interior doors, cabinets, ten of the most beautiful tubs that he'd ever seen – everything was first rate and in perfect condition. The exterior had been brick and granite block and there were tens of thousands of perfectly cleaned bricks. Everything that the elves had recovered could either be used in the project or be sold.

He thought about the project from the pictures that he'd seen and from having seen the foundation of the house on the hill in Folkstone. He estimated that the Parkinson manor was four times larger than the Bones estate.

As John was licensed and the elves weren't, he'd have to nominally oversee the project and schedule the inspections. He estimated that the hardest part of the job would be to get the elves to stop at the inspection points. Beyond that, he'd have to do the plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling. He wasn't certain that he could afford to purchase all of the material but this was exactly the stuff that he continually searched for when doing work on client's homes – especially the well-to-do ones.

He asked Harry, "How much do you want for the materials?"

Harry asked, "This stuff? Nothing. The elves want it gone. You can have whatever you don't use. Honestly, I was hoping that you had a warehouse to store it in and could take it all. How much will I owe you for the stuff you'll need to buy?"

"Nothing. I'll trade my work for the rest of the material. We'll settle up later when they pick out the interior electrical lights. As for the warehouse, I do have one."

"How soon will you be able to start?"

"Tomorrow. I was able to get enough drawings to be able to get a proper set of blueprints made. They'll be done in a week and I'll get the permits. As a reconstruction, there will be less hassle. How much help will I be able to count on?"

"1,400 elves can be an absolute force of nature. They did this in about four hours. They can bring it to your warehouse today if that works?"

"That will work."

Harry replied, "Great. Just give Dobby the address and he'll get everything there neatly stacked. Thanks."

… - ...

The sixty elves found McGonagall in the staff room and Filius noticed them. McGonagall asked, "What do you need?"

Plucky replied, "We is leaving Hogwarts, Professor. We came to say goodbye."

McGonagall felt as if she'd been gut-punched. She asked, "Why? What will you do?"

"We are going to live in New Elf Land that Harry Potter bought for us. Many elves are having babies and there is lots to do."

"What about the children?"

"There be 320 true elf babies to take care of. They are needing much attention."

Filius kept her from embarrassing herself any further and replied, "We wish you all success and happiness. We thank you for everything that you have done here at the school and want each of you to know that you are all welcome to return."

After they left, she said, "The nerve."

Filius observed, "If the school switches to a day school, the others will be gone within a week."

"They wouldn't."

"That's what you said last time."

… - …

Monday July 15

The wards team had finished placing the stones every three feet around the perimeter of the property except by the road that ran to the beach houses. They assisted the perimeter team in raising a steep eight foot high berm around the perimeter. As one area would be finished, other elves immediately began carefully planting the seedlings so eventually their roots would hold the ground together. As they planted and watered the seedlings, they spoke to them in elvish. Their words would have more effect than the best fertilizers in the world.

- …

John was astonished. The Bones house on the hill property was completely cleaned up and the foundation was as clean as if it had been poured yesterday. He'd call for the first inspection tomorrow.

- ...

Amelia read the Quibbler piece with interest.

The most recent education endowment balances are as follows

Hogwarts – Building Fund 2,600,250G

Hogwarts – Operating Fund 1,200,700

Adult Education Fund 200,000

Masters Program Fund 350,050

Lily Potter Primary School – Building Fund 4,900,950

Lily Potter Primary School – Operating Fund 1,500,720

A total of 13,000,000 had been donated so far. 1.5 million had been spent on roof replacement for the castle and 2 million would be spent of the electrification project, starting with the dormitories and classrooms.

The St. Mungo's Endowment board had authorized a 250,000G transfer to the Master Program Fund. The other numbers were staggering. She hadn't expected Potter or Black to donate what they did; not realizing that seven million came from the unpublished and memory charmed Fudge claw back project. In fact, Harry and Sirius had donated a total of four million to the primary school fund. If the Wand Shop employees and Black's employees were added, along with the St. Mungo's endowment fund, the rest of Wizarding Britain had donated less than a million.

… - …

Hannah and Susan were reading their copy of the Quibbler. They both wanted to teach or work at the new school when it opened.

... - ...

Friday July 19

Back at the Wand Shop, Harry asked, "Dobby, have you been to Gringotts in Marseille?

Dobby replied, "Yes, Harry Potter."

"Is the bank lobby as large as the one in London?"

"No, Harry Potter. London has twelve teller windows, Marseille has eight."

"Do they have conference rooms like the London Branch?"

"Yes. Two large rooms."

"Thanks, Dobby."

… - ...

Back at the Granger dental clinic, Abby reported her latest news of the weird.

Balmoral Castle announced that longtime groundskeeper Robbie Coldstone retired last week. Coldstone who had served 46 years reported that he was having trouble keeping track of the trees. Donations to his retirement gift fund can be made at this address.

"He was that guy who lost those oak trees last year."

She was surprised when Dan commented, "Please write them out a cheque for five thousand pounds and send it today."

"OK Dr. G." She loved her boss' crazy sense of humor.

… - …

As Abby was speaking, the elves were finishing their hedgerow plantings. Those seedlings that had been planted first were doing as they had been told and their roots were growing both outwards and down into the berm at an amazing rate. Other elves kept watering and talking to the little seedlings. Over time, the roots would hold the dirt berms in place.

… - …

In the meantime, the coin team had finished the first pass of their task of digging little holes every three feet. In total they had found just over fifteen million galleons. They put fourteen million back into Harry's account, completely repaying him and they put the rest into the Bright Moon account. The net effect was that Harry received the beach houses for free, the elves had a place to live until their forest was planted and began to grow. They also had a place to call home. They would go over the property again to see what they might have missed the first time through.

… - …

Sunday July 21

At Gringotts, Barchoke said, "Harry Potter came to see me with his French plan yesterday. Essentially he wants to to arrange secure space in the Marseille branch for the wandmakers to sell wands there for ten days beginning October 5. They would sell up to 6,000 wands, assuming that many people came to get one. He wants to sell them at 500G per wand."

Ragnok asked, "How did he arrive at that price point?"

"Badeaux had been selling them for 2,500-5,000G. He offered a 50-50 split if we provided security, made the arrangements and paid any taxes out of our end."

"I assume he wants his usual security team. So we'd pay the Marseille branch 10G per wand to send out the cards, use their room, handle the deposits and provide outside security. In doing so, the wandcrafters would be providing them a tremendous service. If they treat the wandcrafters well, they might be willing to come back. Have they ever sold 800 in a day?"

"No, they have been reluctant to place the elves in a selling role here and have used them as support."

Ragnok admitted "I was very wrong when I had suggested that they charge 25G. The higher prices seem to be holding. Could they be persuaded to make one of these trips a month? Other countries would most likely gladly pay the same price."

"In theory, yes. The first trip would have to be flawless. They could sell wands for a week and go sightseeing for two days."

"What are his next steps?"

"He would want to hear back from us as to the overall feasibility. That was his due-diligence. The next phase would be to find out which of the other wandcrafters would be willing to make the trip."

… - …

Windsong was delighted to see Amelia back for a follow-up visit. She found her to be an interesting human, like her friend Emma. She asked, "How does your arm feel?"

Bones replied, "Far better than I ever thought that it would. I have full use of the arm, the muscle seems to be as strong as it had been and there is no pain."

As she had been describing her condition, Windsong Looked and didn't See anything that indicated a problem. (Women can multi-task)

She commented, "The mine workers of my people lose limbs far too frequently. Each of the mines have two healers working there. They are busy far too often. Your wound was very deep but clean and your arm was still attached when Harry Potter brought you to me. I'm glad that I was able to help."

Amelia smiled and replied, "Thank you again." She meant it.

A/Ns

Selling the wands in other countries will be a life changing event for the wandcrafters.

Thank you for reading my stories.

OMAKE

One afternoon, Anne walked down to Hagrid's house. He was outside, feeding one of the thesterals. He said, "G' afternoon, Per'fesser Chambers. How are you today?"

"Good afternoon, Hagrid. I'm fine. What are you doing?"

"Taken' care of one of the thesterals."

She looked at the ground by Hagrid and saw a dead rat. Frowning, she took a few steps toward him and held our her arm. Suddenly she squeezed her hand and withdrew her arm as if she'd received an electrical shock.

Hagrid said, "Er, I'm not sure ya know 'em well enough for that, Ma'am. You ever see anyone die before?"

In a frosty voice, she replied. "Not yet but the afternoon's early." She never went to visit Hagrid again.

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No one died in this chapter. I may send them grocery shopping sometime. Serious money can be used as the most powerful weapon on the planet. Get over it.